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Interesting to note the similarity in today's main picture (3/29/06) and the one eight years ago today. Capturing shades of red and blue is always a challenge on a digital camera, as well as the compression process. There was a lot of experimenting during those early days in '98 - technical details which most Pasty Cam viewers would find boring, but which we had to refine nonetheless. Shaded orders, gradient backgrounds, daily weekly, and monthly page layout were all items which Jonathan and I fiddled with in those early days. It would be a few months yet before we settled in to the format which has lasted to the present.

As with many of those early photos, this one was taken out our back picture window overlooking the dunes along Lake Superior, or to the far left by the woods. Our family got into a habit of pointing out photo opportunities, around the house and when we travelled, by simply saying, "Pasty Cam shot!". To this day, if we are watching TV and see something like a sunset or ocean panorama, one of us will remark, "Pasty Cam shot!"... which always brings a smaile and a laugh.

Approaching the end of that first full month in 1998, the Pasty Cam was firmly becoming a daily habit.

more tomorrow

What a glorious day here in Toronto. Birds are
singing, crocuses blooming and daffodils
about to pop out.

I'd love to know where my post went. It seems to get lost quite a few days. I posted at around 7:30 and I see it's gone now just as it was yesterday. Anybody know what happens?

I looked back on the 28th and it's not there either. It just disappeared.
Anyway, Sur5er I told you that I could never do your job as I couldn't stay awake all night. Hats off to you. And Janie I told you that my brother also has a Gay Bar t-shirt that he wears all the time. He sure does get a lot of looks when he wears it.
Once again, good morning everyone.
Charlie, could you see what happens to my posts every day? Thanks

Deb,

It's a little risky to post messages before the picture of the day has been uploaded, for logical, technical reasons. The file which is uploaded may overwrite your note in the process of publishing. The What'sUP page, however, does not overwrite, so you occasionally will see messages out of order, when the daily update is published (see below).

Good morning I hope to be able to start working in my shop soon. What a beautiful day. Precious stayed home yesterday taking care of my grandson, flu, guess what she is home today with the flu and a sore throat.Joe is my grandson not flu, which he had. Glad the animals are gone but Jimmie our cat is going around looking for the other cats and the dog. My son has been in his new house for a few days, it sure is quiet here. Sur5er,I had one of those jobs where I would work late into the night, don't miss that. Still can't go to bed early though.

Deb S., your message is in the Cam Notes section, although there's no pic there yet.

Good morning all! It's a beautiful day here in MN. Supposed to get to 55 today but pouring rain tomorrow and Friday. Oh well, it will get rid of the dirt and then be nice on the weekend. Can't beat that.
Janie, My son has a Gay Bar t-shirt too. He loves to wear it and answer 500 questions. Only in da UP, eh?
Sur5er, Hope that case gets over soon. You must be SO tired. I could NOT do that. Hats off to you
Mikie, I'm sure Precious will get used to your family being gone soon and love the peace and quiet again. I love when my son comes home from college, but it's nice and peaceful when he goes back.
Have a great day everybody!

Thanks Deb, i am a little depressed today. Just made a fried spam and velveeta cheese grilled sandwich. Now I will have to walk for about an hour to rid myself of the calories. For some reason I miss the snow but am happy that I can get out side in just a tee shirt soon.

So who gets the early bird?

Mikie, you do wear pants "with just a tee shirt" on don't ya? Sorry, I just couldn't resist, lol!

First post after the picture was posted, right?

Tim, that might be you then, right? Good luck.
Another beautiful day here in AZ. Wish you were here.

JH: You must be the Early Bird!

Janie, Only wear the tee shirt with pants on sundays. the rest of the week I wear shorts, Bermuda type,and my skinny dipping days are long gone. I wouldn't want to scare anyone by going semi Au Natural.

Marsha, maybe I am, we'll see. I hope they didn't run out again. Ha Ha.

Good afternoon everyone :) When I let Bailey Su and Da Abbi out at about 4am, the birdies were already chirping away...what a wonderful sound.
Mikie, I love the midnight shift. I started working it years ago, when my daughter was young...figuring that way I would always be home during her waking hours ;) And to this day, I get some of my best work done, during the wee hours.

Thanks for all the well wishes, on this paperwork...it's much appreciated...and definately keeps me going ;)
Just finalized plans for a girlie girl week in northern Michigan and hopefully da UP, in July. And hubby is working on plans for us, for a lost weekend getaway in da UP. Yeeeeeeeee haaaaaaaaw!

Hi today again life continues!

This one album from internet;

http://users.utu.fi/~jpkesk/hkindex.html

You click all blue text and pictures is revealed!

Spring is in the air in the UP ... and most everyone has cabin fever. A bit of snow left, and some ice still on the Portage, but folks are in shorts and out in their lawn chairs reading, just taking in the sun.

How strange! I read Deb's post about her message disappearing. Then I had to leave my computer, came back and my message, which I had already seen as posted, had disappeared. Are the April fools out already?

humm. put another message on cam notes, and when that posted, the first, lost, message came back!

Mary says: I'm not sure if this is what's happening for some of you, but it could be that you don't have your settings so that the pages you visit refresh each time you visit them. You can check that setting by following these directions:
Open an Internet Explorer Browser page
On the upper left of the page, click on "Tools"
Scroll down and click on "Internet Options"
In the middle of this pop-up window, you should see "Temporary Internet files", click on the "Settings" button.
Where it says, "Check for newer versions of stored pages:", make sure "Every visit to the page" is checked.
Then click OK at the bottom of that window.
Again click OK at the bottom of the next window.
Your computer should be set to display a current view each time you go to a site now.

Remember also, that if you just click the "back" button you won't be getting a "refreshed" view of the page, unless you then click the "refresh" button on your toolbar. Hope this helps!

The picture from 8 years ago is so nice! There's nothing like a beautiful sunset. It's so serene. Makes you want to look at it forever.

Sur5er,
The midnight shift is wonderful. I have always tried to work midnights when at sea. Its quieter and its always nice to have a little sun after work.
Congrats on your upcoming trips to MI. Can't wait for mine either, even if its only for a couple days before I head South, again.

MrsBill, Thanks for the picture :) No snow here....but still too cold to do the Yooper warm weather outfit, of a sweatshirt and shorts.

Marc, Yep...something about about being awake, when everyone else is sound asleep...and besides, you get to do a lot of star gazing too, while at work :)
My future son-in-law worked the midnight shift at the PD in Florida...and when he transferred to a PD, here in Indiana, he was all excited about being put on the day shift. I tried telling him that I had tried that once...but found that the PD during the day shift is a bit hectic. But what do I know, eh. Anywho, he just found out that the PD is putting him on the midnight shift next week...and he is all excited about being back on midnights.

Sur5er, My son is a police officer in farmington Mi and is now on second shift. He prefers midnights also, but took a promotion to shift commander. I loved midnights when I was young and that was during the days of big wheels that had a little spring that made a sound when the wheel went around. I finally had to tell the neighborhood women to not yell at the kids to be quiet as mr Du Long is trying to sleep, the yelling bothered me more then the big wheels did. This was in the days before everyone had air conditioning.

Mikie, Oh yeah, I remember the Big Wheel...the only reason I could understand why they made so much noise, was since cars couldn't see them, they could at least hear them.
Right now, I live next to an elderly couple...who seem to be losing their hearing. So when they are outside, they have to shout to each other so the other one can hear them. That's definately an eye opener. Or her laying on the car horn, when she wants him to hurry up to take her into town.
With your son on the afternoons, at least it is a lot better than the day shift...you figure about 5pm everyone in the office goes home...and it's just the officers and dispatch, from that point on...meaning the noise and activity gets cut in half, and you can concentrate on what you have to do. Not like during the day shift, when the pd is like a city on speed ;)

Mikie, Here's the link to the Monroe County Prosecutor's Crime Victim Unit, that I did for Michigan...adapted from the crime victim program that I wrote for the PD.
http//www.co.monroe.mi.us/monroe/default.aspx?Pageld=387

http//www.co.monroe.mi.us/monroe/default.aspx?Pageld=388

Mary,
Your computer setting advise should be helpful...a lot of us are using Mozilla firefox these days, and the fixes & setting adjustments are different...like you can't clear your Google search history the same way as in IE..
My maturity consists in the discovery that after a point, I understand more and more that there are some things which cannot be understood!

Sur5er,
Our shifts out here are 12 to 12 so even though I'm on "days", I get a bit of star-gazing, or rig-gazing, which might be more appropriate here in the GoM.

I just returned from standing out on deck watching a big rig slide by, lit up like a giant Christmas tree, topped with a 40 ft. flame. The flame is from a long pipe extending above the rig that flares off the unwanted natural gas. After all these years out here, that is one sight I have never gotten used to.

Everyone must have called it an early night, tonight, eh.
Marc, I never knew about the pipes on ships, that flare off the natural gas. Goes to show, that you learn something new everyday :)

Er.... the pipe is not on the ship, but on the oil rig. Me thinkith 4:03 A.M. is a bit late even if you like the night shift.