I'm rather happy that I was able to buy a nikon sb-24 for 65 dollars. great deal for a 20 yr old flash that's all in demand because strobist.com turned it into a hot item. It's a great little off-shoe flash from what I hear. No TTL, but who cares when you have pocketwizards? (or poverty wizards courtesy ebay.)

Great deal, some quirky issues. the batteries had been in the flash for a good decade I'm guessing. Calcification pervasive, corrosion of the contacts. Nothing some vinegar couldn't remove. Nothing turns on. Charge batteries just to be sure. If I toggled the on/off switch quickly, ooo ooo a light! Found a spec page on the flash saying it needs 1.5volts. The rechargeable are rated at 1.2volts. Tried it today with some random energizer batteries and there you go. On nearly every time! I think, great, I'm in the clear. Not quite. Just my luck. The zoom doesn't work, so I'm stuck at the widest zoom settings. Great for modifiers like snoots, umbrellas, softboxes, etc. Horrible for controlling light from spilling or being able to concentrate light. Sigh. I guess I'll live.

Besides that, I opted to start taking the bus to work again. For a couple months I was driving to work. Would use the car for groceries and skating. I woke up early, got out the door early. But...and there's always a but...two things went wrong. three. I used the wrong bus pass when I got on the bus, so it said I didn't have any credit on it. Got off the bus, only to realize the right pass was in my wallet as well. waited 10 minutes for a bus. missed my second bus by a block, waited for the next bus. not the rapid bus, but it drops me off half a block from work vs 3-4 with the rapid. Got on it, but realized at the next stop I had dropped my fedora at the bus stop! ugh. I had to get off and run back to get it. Luckily it was still there. I got to work late, and I felt like crap. Hadn't been awake 2 hours and my day sucked.

But on the plus side, I'm good. but it's going to rain tomorrow until saturday. means no skating. ugh. But I might tinker in my studio for a bit. Get used to the idea of flash photography. for my studio work, I tend to use continuous lighting. So this is going to be...odd.

How's everyone else doing?