Last weekend Jeanine was in Lebanon, Indiana for her thirtieth high school reunion. Today I downloaded photos from her camera and found this one of her posing with the school mascot and yearbook. She reported having an absolutely wonderful time and has reconnected with many long lost friends. She also had an opportunity to visit with Bradley, her nephews son and her great friend Monica. I think after taking stock, Jeanine concluded that her life has turned out pretty well since high school. The other photos which included her classmates turned out too blurry to post but were clear enough for me to conclude that Jeanine is still the hottest girl in her class.

If I have an addiction, it is the constant pursuit of finding the right tool for the job. My tripod collection (to which I made an addition from Craig’s list this evening) is a case in point. Each one of these carbon fiber tripods is designed and optimized for a specific application. The ideal tripod would be weightless, infinitely adjustable and able to support the heaviest telephoto lens/camera combination. In the real world one must trade each of these attributes for another and hence the array of sizes, shapes and weights.My work horse is the second tallest but there is no way I was going to drag it to the top of Kilimanjaro (that application was better served by the second shortest). If I go more than a few months without using one of these then it winds up on eBay or Craig’s list. My passion for tools is in their use rather than their collection.

Incidentally this photo does not include the stand on which I mounted my camera to make this photo. Although technically not a tripod it is yet another tool in the camera support family. Speaking of families, I wonder if I could have saved money by buying the two big tripods first and leaving them alone in a candle lit room with some nice wine and mood music.