Water Bottle

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"Stickers" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/250 sec, ISO1000
 “Stickers” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。

Today’s photo is of my Liberty Water Bottle, which I got a couple years ago. I like it because it isn’t too big and is great quality. I bought a 16 oz. black one which has a ninja/motorcycle helmet kind of design (with a poor attempt at the kanji for “mizu”), but it looks kind of suspicious since it is all-black. I guess I am just a bit paranoid about it, so I slapped some stickers on it to make it a little more conspicuous.

"Kanji?" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/80 sec, ISO6400
 “Kanji?” Cedar Park, 2017

Even though my Liberty bottle is relatively small, it’s still just a tad too wide to fit comfortably in the water bottle holder on my Patagonia Minimass bag. It’s a really tight fit, and since I keep my Anker battery in the interior pocket on the other side of the holder, it has even less room and doesn’t slide in easily. So, I left the Liberty at home while I was traveling in Morocco, and I just re-used a small plastic water bottle that I picked up at the store. It made me a bit sad to use the environmentally unfriendly bottle, so I think I’d like to find a slim eco-bottle soon.

The Patagonia bag is pretty great, but the only downside is the single small water bottle pouch. If only it were a little wider! Perhaps a little DIY project is in order to remedy it. Or if there is an add-on holder that I could latch on somehow, that might work. Must look into this!

******************

Update: After fiddling around a bit, I moved the large battery back to the other side of the interior to make room for the water bottle. I think it will work!

"Bottle and Bag" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO6400
 “Bottle and Bag” Cedar Park, 2017

Catching Up or Not

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"The Cloud" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/16, 1/250 sec, ISO200
 “The Cloud” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Well, the two week vacation has altered my schedule a bit, as I try to play catch-up with my blog. I usually like to post something every day but while on vacation I didn’t have the time, nor energy, to do that. I did write outlines for each day, though, and have edited the photos so now I just need to fill the posts out. It’s fun, but takes time.

Progress has been made and I have finished up with my Morocco posts and am currently working on Spain. Besides the post-a-day blogging, I also have been posting to my 365 project, where I take a photo every day. Taking the photo is actually not a problem. But posting it to the Flickr group is something that I’ll need to do.

I guess I have something to keep myself busy with this weekend!

Today’s photo is of a cool cloud that was hovering over our house this afternoon.

I hope you had a nice Friday!

おやすみ

Birkenstock Sandals

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"Mocha Birkenstocks" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/150 sec, ISO200
 “Mocha Birkenstocks” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Behold, my new Birkenstock sandals! Yes, I finally bought a pair of hippie Jesus sandals. They are the common “Arizona” two-strap design, in suede Mocha. I really like them!

While traveling, I often wore my plain rubber flip-flops, but I wanted something with a little more style, even if that style is somewhat polarizing. 😛 In Morocco, I saw a few people wearing leather sandals, and they looked comfy, but I didn’t really shop for any… however, I have wanted Birkenstocks for a while now so I kind of had my heart set on a pair.

Back in Austin, I went to the InStep store and checked out all the colors and got fitted with a pair of size 39 regulars. The people who work at InStep are extremely knowledgeable (almost fanatical) about Birkenstocks, so the service was amazing. After I bought my sandals, the salesperson even said, “Welcome to Birkenstock”. So funny!

You aren’t supposed to wear these sandals for more than a couple hours a day after you first get them so that your feet get used to them (there’s even a warning sticker in the box), but apparently, after a couple weeks, they will turn into “the most comfortable shoes you ever owned”. We’ll see!

I hope you had a nice Thursday!

またね～

Pinball and Dinner

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"Pinball Action" Austin, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/60 sec, ISO3200
 “Pinball Action” Austin, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today I dropped off my wife and 15-year-old son at the airport for their month-long trip to Japan. Then, I worked the day at the office before meeting my visiting brother and 13-year-old son at Pinballz for some fun arcade games. It was great playing pinball and some old consoles like Tempest! Had a great time and enjoyed a nice beer as well.

After that, it was time for dinner and my brother wanted some southern food, so we went to Mouton’s Southern Bistro. I’ve wanted to try this restaurant for several years now, so this was a good chance. The food was delicious and the portions were generous as you can see below! So stuffed… ☺

"Chicken Fried Steak" Leander, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/150 sec, ISO200
 “Chicken Fried Steak” Leander, 2017
"Jambalaya & Etouffee" Leander, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO200
 “Jambalaya & Etouffee” Leander, 2017
"Po-Boy" Leander, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.2, 1/140 sec, ISO200
 “Po-Boy” Leander, 2017

I hope you had a great day!

またね～

Back on Schedule

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"Kitty kitty" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO2000
 “Kitty kitty” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Well, today it was “back to work” for me. Surprisingly, I only had about 250 emails to go through, although my work queue jumped to 25 new requests. 😨 It’s a challenge being the sole graphic designer in the company, but it’s good work, and pretty fun. And I get to manage a lot of contract work too. Good stuff!

Anyways, I’ve fallen behind on my daily posts due to our two-week vacation, however, I have the photos for each day processed, and outlines written for each day. So, I’ll post them to the corresponding date so it will keep my postaday effort going. 🙂

Today, please enjoy the photo of our two cats, who were happy to see us when we came home! 😻

またね～

BBQ with my Brother

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"Family Dinner" Austin, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/80 sec, ISO3200
 “Family Dinner” Austin, 2017

こんばんは。

Today we took it easy and slept in. We were pretty tired from yesterday’s travels, and my brother is still on West Coast time, so it worked out nicely. We pretty much just hung out at the house all day, watched the Dodger game, and then went out for a yummy dinner.

My brother wanted to sample some Austin Barbecue, so we headed to Freedmen’s for some brisket, ribs, pork belly, slaw, and potato salad. We also got salmon and pit-chili, and it was all so good! Austin has so many great BBQ places, but Freedmen’s flies a bit under the radar. However, it’s some of the best BBQ in town!

"BBQ Poses" Austin, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/550 sec, ISO200
 “BBQ Poses” Austin, 2017
"Big Rib and Brisket" Austin, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/60 sec, ISO3200
 “Big Rib and Brisket” Austin, 2017

I hope you had a nice day!

おやすみ