Category Archives: Daily Life

A bright Sunday

29 October 2006Daily LifeCode Changes, District Nurse, Dressings, File Server, Firefox, Glamorgan, Ie7, Input Window, Internet Explorer, Linux, Linux System, Minor Surgery, Previous Version, Royal Glamorgan Hospital, Spell Checker, Storage, Tabbed Browsing, Third Party, Wednesday Afternoon, Work In ProgressStephen Brennan

It’s been a little while since I posted so here’s a brief update.

I spent the first three days of last week at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital on ward 7 having some minor surgery, the staff on the ward were really nice and even the food was pretty good once they allowed me to eat some!

I returned home on Wednesday afternoon and have been having daily visits from the district nurse to change my dressings, I’m not very mobile at the moment but I’m still managing to keep up to date with the orders that I’ve been receiving.

I recently upgraded to the new versions of Internet Explorer (version 7) and Firefox (2.0), a few minor issues with the new IE7 and the way that my on-line viewing galleries handle password input. Unfortunately Microsoft have decided to block the password input window by default in IE7. I’ve implemented some code changes that enable password protection to work correctly within the default limitations of IE7.

The new Firefox 2.0 browser is a very nice improvement over the previous version, it now has an in-built spell checker that uses UK English and the ability to save and re-open tabbed browsing without having to use a third party plug in.

I also upgraded my Linux system to the latest version of Ubuntu (Edgy), the upgrade process wasn’t as smooth as it should have been but everything now seems to be set up and updated correctly. The Linux system is mainly used as a file server and back up storage for ‘work in progress’, it performs better, faster and more reliably than using Windows file sharing.

A cool and dry Sunday

15 October 2006Daily LifeStephen Brennan

We went for lunch with my Mum to John and Ida’s in Pontypridd and then to B&Q to help my Mum choose new wallpaper for her living room.

I did a little more work on the web site this afternoon, mainly changes to the Flash background animations and uploaded a copy of Andrew and Natalie’s album design to the sample albums section.

A busy Saturday

14 October 2006Daily LifeAmendments, Emailed, Living Room, Natalie, Rose, Tea, Wallpaper SteamerStephen Brennan

I went over to my Mum’s this morning to strip the wallpaper off her living room. I used the wallpaper steamer and all the old paper came off fairly easily.

Andrew and Natalie called around this afternoon to confirm their album order, I completed the final set of changes and created the album and print orders.

Jason and Jennie emailed a small number of amendments to their initial album design, which I completed and up loaded to my web site for them to approve.

A mainly dry Wednesday

11 October 2006Daily LifeAustralia, Lyn, Miskin Manor, Photographers, Rest Of The Day, Roadshow, Uk RepresentativesStephen Brennan

I attended the Albums Australia roadshow at Miskin Manor this morning and it was very interesting to see the new range of albums and cover materials they are using. It was an excellent opportunity to meet up with Lyn and Jeff the UK representatives and meet with other local photographers.

I spent most of the rest of the day working on album designs.

A very wet Sunday

1 October 2006Daily LifeCars, Feet, Half A Mile, Job, Natalie, Nissan, Nissan Patrol, Peugot, Railway Bridge, Shoes, Socks, Tow Rope, Trousers, Wellies, WellingtonsStephen Brennan

We went out to lunch at John and Ida’s in Pontypridd today, excellent as always!

There was a very impressive cloud burst while we were driving home and the road under the railway bridge at Llantwit Road in Treforest was flooded to a couple of feet. The cars in front all turned around but as we were in the Nissan Patrol a few feet of water isn’t a problem. 🙂 A Peugot had become stranded and I offered him a tow, I didn’t have any wellingtons with me so it was a shoes and socks off job and roll up my trousers, naturally the water was quite cold. I attached the clip on tow rope that is always in the back of the Patrol and towed the stranded driver home, which was only about half a mile further along Llantwit Road. I must remember to put a pair of wellies in the car!

I completed the initial album design for Andrew and Natalie later this afternoon.

A wet and thundery Saturday

30 September 2006Daily Life, Posts with ImagesBlack And White, Black White, Colour Image, Image Variations, Notebook Computer, Palm Tungsten, Palm Tungsten C, Time Today, Tungsten CStephen Brennan

I spent some time today getting my Palm Tungsten C to synchronise correctly with my notebook computer.

I’ve also been working on album designs recently and I thought I’d post some examples of common image variations.

Here’s the original colour image

colour

Here’s a black and white version

mono

Here’s a sepia version

sepia

and here’s a blue tint version

blue

A wet and dreary Wednesday

27 September 2006Daily LifeBright Sunny Day, Conservatory, Mutations, Overcast, Posts with Images, Summer Break, Swing, Taking Shape, Temperature, Tenses, Wedding Album, Welsh, Window BlindsStephen Brennan

An overcast and wet day. The roof and window blinds have been fitted in the conservatory and it makes a big difference to the light and temperature, just need a bright sunny day now to be able to properly judge the improvement.

Welsh class this evening, it’s proving difficult once again to get back into the swing of it following the long summer break but Julie is giving us plenty of practice speaking in various tenses and using all those tricky mutations that are a feature of the language.

Andrew dropped in their selection of images for their Jorgensen wedding album last night and I’ve been working on the initial album design, it’s taking shape very nicely.

A very windy Thursday

21 September 2006Daily LifeStephen Brennan

I spent most of the day entering up my accounts, nearly fully up to date just the bank reconciliation to carry out tomorrow.

Processed some more print orders and created an additional web gallery.

I received an email from Sam and Sophie, they’re delighted their wedding album is ready so quickly and will be collecting it on Sunday afternoon.

The conservatory blinds are being fitted next Tuesday, a little behind schedule, I’m really looking forward to being able to view the computer monitors without the glare that happens once the sun comes around to the rear of the house in the afternoon.

A wet Monday

18 September 2006Daily Life, Posts with ImagesCar Port, Closer View, Colour Laser Printer, Colours, Conservatory, Display Shelves, Eizo Monitor, Fences, Few Days, File Server, Image Processing, Initial Design, Linux, Minor Changes, Notebook Computer, Slideshow, Sophie, Web Galleries, Wedding Album, Window BlindsStephen Brennan

It’s been a very busy few days. Sam and Sophie called around a few days ago to collect the DVD slideshow of their recent wedding and sat with my notebook computer and selected the images for their wedding album. I emailed them an initial design for their album the next day and they emailed back a few minor changes that evening, the final design was then approved and the files sent to the lab for printing. I’ve also been busy making up albums and processing orders from our web galleries.

The work on the fences has been completed, the only outstanding work is a new roof for the car port and the roof and window blinds for the conservatory which are hopefully being fitted at the end of the week. Here are a couple of snaps that show part of the conservatory interior.

This is where I spend most of my working day! Colour laser printer on the left, then the notebook computer which is used for most tasks including email, image processing etc., unfortunately the colours on the notebook aren’t terribly accurate so images are viewed on the Eizo monitor to the right. When not processing images the Eizo is used to view the Linux file server (which is located upstairs). The album display shelves are on the right.

conservatory #1

and here’s a closer view of the album display

albums

A busy Monday

11 September 2006Daily Life, Posts with ImagesStephen Brennan

I had an email from Rachel this morning, she’s decided to book me for her wedding. 🙂

I enjoy restoring old and damaged photographs and here’s one I’m working on at the moment, it isn’t quite completed at the moment as I still need to do a little more restoration work.

Here’s the before image

Original

and this is the retouched version

retouched

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