Updates from around the Fort

It’s been a busy few days, so I thought I’d let everyone in one what’s going on. First, I’ve been throwing together a photography website, using some input from some friends. It’s looking good so far, and hopefully it will be done tonight or tomorrow night.

In terms of my lens, my insurance company contacted me and has cut me a cheque for the 70-200mm f/2.8L, so hopefully I’ll have a new one of those this weekend or early next week. I’m also buying a used 24-70mm f/2.8L tonight (I hope, assuming my bank machine gives me enough money), which rounds off my kit rather nicely. That will mean I have the 17-40mm f/4.0L, the 24-70 f/2.8L, the 50mm f/1.4 and the 70-200 f/2.8L.

I’ve actually been debating a bit about putting my money towards the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS (image stabilized version). It’s about $800 more, but it has image stabilization in it so you can in theory hand-hold it in a few stops less of available light. Apparently though (and this is just from reading reviews online), many people don’t think it’s as sharp as the non-IS version. It’s also noticeably heavier than the non-IS version. While I haven’t decided what to do yet, I’m leaning towards getting the non-IS version, which is what I had before.

My place is still rather clean, which is nice because I’ve taken up reading again. I’m probably going to be taking my Macbook Pro to the repair facility soon to fix the “no wakey from sleepy” problem that I’ve been plagued with since I bought it. After talking to a girl on the phone last night, she thinks it’s probably either the motherboard or the sleep sensor in it. Unfortunately, I’ll have to lose my laptop for 7-10 days, which would mean I’m basically computerless during that time. It might be a fun adventure, so we’ll see.

Another interesting tidbit of information is that I set up a VoIP phone at home here. That’s particularly noteworthy considering that I’ve been involved in the VoIP industry for nearly four years now, but don’t have a home phone line. I’m not going to mention names here, but there’s a local VoIP phone company that charges people on the order of $20-$30 a month for VoIP in your home. I managed to sidestep them completely and get my own DID (direct inbound dialing) number (which is basically a phone number that some company translates into the IP world for you) from a wholesaler, and also get outbound termination (the ability to make phone calls using VoIP) for the low, low price of (and get this), $4 a month + usage at 1.1 cent a minute anywhere in North America. I also tacked on a San Francisco phone number, which set me back a whopping 99 cents a month.

So now I have both a Vancouver number and a San Francisco number at home, and will probably pay around $6 a month for a home phone, just by taking the middle man out of the equation. Something’s rotten in the state of Denmark people.

That’s it sports fans, you’re up to date.