Shockingly I've actually been to Natchitoches. I was at Barksdale AFB up by Shreeveport. Me and a few friends had the weekend off and had nothing to do so we took a truck and just went south and wound up in Natchitoches. Very small town (pop. 18k) but it's also the movie set for the movie "Steel Magnolias". There were flyers everywhere telling you where Dolly Parton stayed and where the beauty salon was. I was the biggest thing to ever happen to that little town.
Was was even weirder for me was that Natchitoches is the sister city of Nacadoches, Texas, which is the town I graduated high school from. I had heard there was a sister city in LA, never thought I would actually go there some day....
tdekany wrote:
Iām sorry my friend, that is not how it works. God has nothing to do with what one makes.
Not sure if I understand what you mean but as far as my life, God has everything to do with what I make. Have you ever read Matthew chapter 6? In it Jesus told a great parable by pointing out how the birds don't plant or reap, but you never see them go hungry because God feeds them. He went on to point out how the flowers in the field do nothing and yet they are more beautiful than all of Solomon's riches. He then asks "Are we not more valuable than the birds and the flowers?"
Jesus then points out how people struggle and worry over these same things, what we will eat and what we will wear as if God is incapable of taken care of us as he does the birds and the flowers. He then says to all of us in verse 33 "Seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you"
The point I was making with companies like Chic Filet and B&H is that they honor God first by closing one day of the week. And God honors the back by making them prosperous despite only working six days a week. It's a matter of trust. Something that I learned early on a Christian, putting God first in everything I do and He has been faithful in taking care of my needs. So yes, He has everything to do with what I make...
tdekany wrote:
Helps their competitors to make more sales on those day they are closed.
I disagree. I read an article a while back about who was the top earning fast food restaurant an of course, McDonald's was # 1 because of the shear number of restaurant's they own. But when the compared the gross income and divided it by the number of restaurants it turns out that Chic Filet was #1 despite the fact that they are closed on Sunday's. In both cases (B&H and Chic Filet) they opt to close one day of the week in honor of God, and God honor's them in return. Funny how that works.....
Be patient. I have sent them a few lenses over the years, sometimes I get quotes in just a few days, other times it can take two or more weeks. I got a little antsy the first time and called, all they told me was that it had indeed arrived and was in the process of being evaluated. In all cases, I was happy with the price they quoted.
Could be worse. I bought a internet switch by Netgear from Best Buy that died 17 days after purchase. I took it back to Best Buy to exchange it with receipt in hand, but I was told no, they only warrant Netgear products for 15 days. I believe Netgear generally make good products, I think I just got a bum unit. Best Buy should have stepped up and did the right thing but they did not, so no more Best Buy for me.
I am, I collect their shot glasses even though I don't drink. But it's cool because each of them have the location they came from. Being in the AF Reserves (retired now) help me get some from places around the world such as Paris and Panama City. Been to several state side cafe's, the best one so far was in Dallas. It was two stories high and looked lake a court house from the front. I had "The Supreme Court of Rock and Roll" on the front of the building. Inside there were three floor to ceiling stained glass windows, one of Elvis, one for Jimmy Hendrix, and one of Jerry Lee Lewis. Pretty cool.
I live near two cafe's, one in San Francisco and one in Lake Tahoe, still drop in every once in a while for dinner. Foods good, just overpriced...
I have a laptop with 256 gb SSD that is for running the programs only. I use an 1 TB external hard drive to back up all my pictures in the field. I just plugin both the hard drive and the camera into the laptop at the same time. Makes it easy to transfer them to the desktop (twin 3 TB external set up in a mirror RAID configuration) once I get back home.
Works for me...
I used one for a wedding, did a great job of diffusing the light, no harsh shadows. I tried several other diffusers, none work as well as this one.
Take a quick drive up to "A" mountain, just outside of town. Great view overlooking the city, great shot right after dusk.
ricardo7 wrote:
I'll take the money any day. I don't need a master.
Yep, it all about perspective. Money is a great tool, you cannot live in this world without it. But it's just that, a tool.
Quoting God again on the matter "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
The guy portrayed in the video master is money and he doesn't even know it. Like many people today, they work long hours to buy expensive houses and expensive cars and at what cost? His marriage, his family, his health? We have a love for money and it that love that "has pierced us with many griefs". Sadly, most of don't even see this.
We plan for retirement and dream of what we will do once we are no longer working, but what about the life after this one? Have you planned for that one also? What's a hundred years on this earth in comparison to an eternity after?
And yet this is nothing new. Jesus said this almost 2000 years ago ""No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."
There are many people in this world that have never learned that. Money is a great servant, but it's a lousy master!
Get the VR. Any lens over 100mm becomes difficult to hold steady, the VR will help this dramatically. It will come down to "getting the shot" or "missing the shot". I have VR on my 70-200mm, huge difference from the days of my 80-200mm that did not have VR
Use the 3D. I used this mode last year taking pictures of my daughters sledding down a hill. Despite their sometimes erratic movements, the camera (D610) got all 50+ pictures in perfect focus. I was very impressed