Good choice of lenses. I would also suggest that you have circular polarizer filter for each lens. They will deflect the glair and enhance the color. Worked great for me when I was there about the same time of year that you plan to be there. Good luck.

I always liked the front door sign that read, "We shoot every third sales person and the second one just left!"

The information regarding the Black Boxes on marine vessels being obsolete when compared to the Black Boxes in aircraft; was reported by the NTSB during a live news conference (Fox News). She went on to say that they have been debating for a number of years as to whether they should mandate marine black boxes be upgraded to equipment equivalent to the black boxes required on aircraft. Notice that the statement was the marine black boxes were obsolete WHEN COMPARED to the current black boxes on aircraft.

The head of the NTSB went on to say that the bridge was one of hundreds in the US that would not withstand even the slightest failure without total failure. There were no secondary support mechanisms built into this bridge.

I was only going by what the head of the NTSB said during her initial press conference after they had had a chance to get the minutes in question just before the accident. She went on to say that the the entire Black Box information was still available and would be reviewed for the weeks/months before the accident.

I hope you don't think that 8mph is a high rate of speed. The ships momentum (even at 8mph) would have carried it forward hundreds of yards after the loss of power. The pilot even gave the order to drop anchors but it doesn't look like that happened. The anchor dropping mechanism is totally manual and would not have been effected by the loss of power. This information was reported by FOX News. The "Black Box" carried by marine craft is very primitive compared to the "Black Box" on aircraft. The information recorded was not continuous information but snap shots taken a specific intervals. This information was reported by the head of the NTSB.

I understand completely and applaud you for your caution. Most internet users don't understand the dangers and how easily they can be hacked.

What ever works best for you. The more security you have the better. As a former systems software engineer for very large companies, I have always had Admin authority on all the machines in the company. I guess I am just used to having Admin authority and use it with a great deal of discretion. Currently all my systems are behind at lease two separate routers and two separate firewalls that I control before hitting my internal network. Corporate support has made me very careful and cautious with regards to internet connectivity and security. The possibility of being hacked is very real and can be very destructive. I respect you caution regarding the dangers of being hacked.

Either run as Admin or as Admin and go into your account and add Admin authority to your ID. You can also add your ID to the Admin group. Then log back in with your ID (now with Admin authority) and run again. If you give your ID Admin authority; you will have Admin authority until you wish to remove it. I always give myself Admin authority on all my machines since I manage them. That way I don't have to log off and back on again when I need to initiate Admin level actions.

If someone was at the Ramada with a Nikonos setup they might have been there to take underwater shots in the pool. Whether they were going to shoot the pool looking damage or individuals individuals engaged in hanky-panky; only the camera owner knows for sure. Most likely individual had to leave in a hurry because of some illegal activity. It's better to expense the camera than to go to jail. All spectulation. You're right though, not a piece of equipment you're likely to forget.

I wouldn't carry one in your car unless your tires are in constant need of air. If that is the case I would just buy new tires. I not only have all my scuba gear but I still have my Nikonos V underwater rig with strobe. I am still in the process of scanning the hundreds of underwear slides I have accumulated over the years and reliving those times.

As scuba diver, we used to sing, "When a fish bites your thigh like a big a pizza pie, that's a moray." Actually they are very gentle creatures and their skin feels like velvet. Dive with them at Sting Ray City, Grand Cayman Island. The underwater photography is great and it's only about 15' deep.

Want a real subwoofer; check out "Velodyne Acoustics". I have a Digital Drive 10 Plus and it has its own 1250 watt RMS class D amplifier that will drive you out of a 20'x25' room with 12' ceiling very little effort. It is matched with my 5 Bowers & Wilkins 805 D4 Diamond Series loudspeakers for a complete surround sound experience.

I live in Austin Tx and have a Casio watch that receives the signal from the Naval Observatory. It corrects its self every 24 hours and even knows what time zone I'm in. I never have to worry about these damn time changes or what time zone I happen to be in. To get good reception, I just leave it on the window sill every night and it gets any correction needed before morning. It is also powered by tiny solar cells and never needs a battery.

I am a retired IT professional with 40 years experience. I have worked in and managed data center resources. I believe in backing up everything. The system drive as well as data drives. I currently use Carbon Copy Cloner to completely backup each drive on a daily schedule. I have had to recover both system drives and data drives and if you routinely schedule your backups then recovery can be very easy. In my case I use both Carbon Copy Cloner to recover the disk image and then use Time Machine to recover any data changes from the time of the backup to as close to current as I can get. It's better to have too many backups than to have to rebuild a system or a data drive.