‘Formidable‘ (but in the nicest possible way) characterizes her. She will be a formidable candidate. I am not sure WHY anyone would bother to run against her in the Primary. She, in my opinion, will be a WALKOVER in any Primary. I doubt whether we have any other Democratic contenders with her resume, hands-on-experience, recognition, PRESENCE & charm.
I gather than current N.H. Governor, ‘Chris Sununu‘, has already described her as such. That counts. Sununu (like his dad), despite many actions to the contrary, is not a total idiot!
I knew now Senator ‘Maggie Hassan‘ when she was our {splendid} Governor. Cinde reminds me of HER — & to be fair also of ‘Jeanne Shaheen‘. I only met Gov. Shaheen once, but her office helped me twice when she was in D.C. Cinde worked for Jeanne Shaheen’s husband. I am totally convinced, after seeing her last night, that she will be our THIRD OUTSTANDING Female Governor. Yes, I can — & if I have the time WILL — campaign for her. She won me over — & that is NOT easy given that I am crotchety cynical.
Over the last 6 weeks, in my trips to ‘Laconia‘, I had heard snippets of unstinted praise for her. That is why I made a point of going to see her last night. I am glad I did. She motivated I. That is always good.
Well, I will be keeping a CLOSE eye on her.
I have to MAKE SURE that SHE is the NEXT GOVERNOR of New Hampshire.
This ‘Mini Cooper’ has been at our beach the last few days. I immediately spotted the UNION JACK tail lights & was ‘gaga’. Wow. How cool. I had to take some pictures.
I even looked it up. It is STANDARD on ALL Mini Cooper Ss sold in Britain. Not so in the U.S. You have to buy them separately. NOT sure whether they pass INSPECTION in some state — like New Hampshire. But, they are cool. Had to share them with YOU. Enjoy.
Click to ENLARGE.Click to ENLARGE. Link to this Facebook page.Click to ENLARGE. From above Facebook page.
There are NOT in ‘Eastport‘, Maine per se, but that is best known landmark.
Over the last few years I have had SOME, but alas NOT enough, interaction with this tribe — both near Eastport & North of ‘Calais’. But, I do NOT know them, alas, as I do my beloved ‘Navajo‘. I would love to rectify that. I would LIKE to make it up for this event. I missed it last year — because I had NOT heard of it, until it was done. This year, I started making inquiries before it was too late.
Took some digging yesterday & the Eastport Library helped me locate the Facebook page. Now at least I have somewhere to start from.
Still getting to know this camera. This was 2nd day with it & I only took a dozen pictures on the first days. So, these are still very early images when it comes to my experience with this camera. I am sure I will do better with more use & practice. But, I don’t intend to use this camera much — definitely not every day.
In my old age, with all the experience I have had with cameras, I now, finally, know what works for I & what I want.
I like & NEED the range of superzooms — even more so than ever before because my ‘Google’ ‘Pixel‘ phones give me insane ZOOMING capabilities; e.g., 20x on my current ‘Pixel 7 Pro‘.
This Tamron will be on my X-S20 MOST of the time! That was the case 2019-2020 when I had its full-frame equivalent on my ‘Canon’ ‘EOS’.
The only downside to this lens is its size & weight — BUT for its reach, it does very well. However, this lens is a tad too heavy for comfort on a long, arduous hike. That will be the only time I will switch it out for a smaller, lighter lens.
I like Tamron lenses. This works for I — & that is all that matters.
I was getting fed up of people asking me what kind of camera I used. Plus, I wanted one for shooting events, especially concerts, with a superzoom.
I had been THINKING about it for 9 months or so! I am now too old to rush in.
To be honest I did have two other cameras, a ‘Panasonic ZS80’ & a ‘Panasonic ZS200’, BUT I NEVER USED them. Finally, about 6 months ago I sold them both ‘online’. Hence, the ‘REAL’ in the title. I didn’t consider the Panasonics real! They were toy cameras.
Yes, this, unlike my last REAL camera, a ‘Canon EOS RP‘, is NOT full-frame. But, I didn’t want full-frame!
My needs & preferences have changed DRASTICALLY.
My Google Pixel Phones, currently the Pixel 7 Pro, will continue to be MY MAIN ‘cameras’ as they have been for the last 3 years.
The Fuji is just for special occasions. I plan to go days, weeks & during the winter, MONTHS, without using it.
So, I am NOT going crazy. Got the kit lens + one SuperZoom. I will tell you about that later.
I will at most get 3 other CHEAP lenses — all PRIMES I think because I already have two zooms that cover a huge reach.
As with the last 4 cameras I bought (& 5 altogether) I bought the camera kit & superzoom lens from ‘Cardinal Camera‘ (rather than Amazon)! That says something as most of you know that I do 95% of my shopping on Amazon (given that I do own a fair amount of Amazon shares).
But, I LIKE CARDINAL CAMERA — ‘Kurt Seelig‘ (the owner) & ‘Scott Lui‘, Kurt’s main man. Scott, who I have dealt with before, takes good care of I. I am happy. More on Cardinal Camera in future posts.
Click image to play the YouTube video or use the embed below.
Wow. I have always been a HUGE fan & consider myself lucky to have seen him perform TWICE — once in ‘Tempe’, Arizona c. 1981 & then 34 years later in ‘Wolfeboro‘, New Hampshire. The second time, I was fortunate enough to be a stagehand for the show! So, as you can see, I got to meet him. He was JUST WONDERFUL. Will never forget. Then, in his 70s, he had a very soft, gentle voice. Personification of a gentleman.
I never realized how HIGHLY he was thought of by his ‘peers’. This video gives you some idea.
Lots of videos about him on YouTube. Look around enjoy.
With ‘Gordon Lightfoot‘, at a ‘Great Waters’ concert, in July 2015.
Google for more. Also many more videos on YouTube.
This winter, where we had a few BRUTAL days, was the last straw. I am getting a top-of-the-line, whole house ‘Generac‘ (with ‘Kohler‘ a possibility too). All told, with the underground 500 gallon propane tank I am also getting, it is going to cost me around $10K.
Yes, I could pay for that with my investments. SMILE. Remember, I do allude to having owned ‘Amazon‘ shares for over a decade. The issue is TAXES — capital gains. It is CHEAPER to BORROW at 6.6% (or more) rather than paying taxes. That is the whole concept of ‘buy, borrow, die‘ — especially at MY age. So, I decided I should get a ‘Home Equity Line of Credit‘ (HELOC) rather than trying to pull out all the money I need for this project all at once.
I have 3 three bank accounts: Fidelity, Bank of America & Meredith Village Savings Bank (MVSB). I have had all of them for over 20 years.
I personally don’t use the MVSB account that much. Wife does. I use them mainly for the Safe Deposit Box we have with the. My pensions (& I get a few) go to BofA since two of them are from overseas (i.e., UK). I also have multiple BofA credit cards — & those are my main credit cards. I do a lot of business with BofA — daily.
So, when I wanted an HELOC I contacted BofA. They were polite etc. & got the process going. But, it was interminable. I could never see the light at the end of the tunnel. It just dragged on & on & on. They were slow as frozen molasses. Most of the time they seemed confused.
Then I needed to use the Safe Deposit Box to retrieve some documents. While at the local branch, i.e., Alton, I realized how FRIENDLY they are. I happened to ask them about an HELOC. They gave me a name. I contacted her. WOW! She was AMAZING. So helpful, SO COMPETENT & responsive. It was like night & day compared with BofA. I actually felt that they KNEW what they were doing — unlike when I was dealing with BofA.
Their document submission system is ALSO MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better than what they have at BofA. The MVSB very slick. A joy to use.
The MVSB process went quick. I could see the progress online PLUS they were very responsive. A week into the process with MVSB I was much further along than I was with BofA — & I had started dealing with BofA at least 6 weeks earlier. I called up BofA and told them rather nicely to take a HIKE!
I got my HELOC from MVSB a few weeks ago. I have yet to use it.
The whole process was smooth & slick. The CLOSING was a delight. I had fun.
No hesitation, no reservation. I wholeheartedly recommend MVSB if you are looking for an HELOC. Oh! There rates are GOOD TOO! {Smile} {I think better than BofA (but I won’t vouch for that).}
So, at a time when small banks are under some ‘scrutiny’ I fully ENDORSE MVSB. Lot to be said for friendly, local banks as opposed to the BIG impersonal ones.
