Went to the outlet shops near our house and found these shoes. They are super comfy and only $30. Should be great for skating too.
New Shoes!
Switching the Toothpaste
For the past month or so I have been alternating between two different kinds of toothpastes. It wasn’t a deliberate decision, but since I have a few sample tubes of toothpaste in the bathroom drawer from past dentist visits, I have a nice little collection going. My main toothpaste is one of the less-minty baking soda types, and then the samples are various minty ones, and when choosing which one to use, I pretty much base my decision on which tube is closest to me (which can be decided by mere millimeters!)
I don’t know if it is just my imagination, but it seems like when I switch up the toothpastes, my teeth feel cleaner. Maybe it’s the combined power of multiple types of toothpastes at work? It’s probably just all in my head.
At any rate, using multiple types of toothpaste is pleasing to me. I think that’s because it adds a little variety to something that hardly ever changes. This has got me wondering: if I add even more types of toothpaste to the collection, would brushing teeth become even more fun?
Some of the things I think about when doing daily tasks…
When Can I Run?
I’ve been sidelined from running for a month now, and for the past week or so, the itch to run again has gotten really bad! Everytime I see someone running in the neighborhood I feel I should be out there too!
My knee still has some pain if I twist it a little bit, but just flexing it regularly without turning left or right feels pretty good. So now I am left to decide when I should start running again. Part of me thinks it should be okay to start now, but then another part thinks that I should wait until all the pain is gone. Luckily for me, it doesn’t take long for my body to adjust to the running routine again.
Truth be told, it has taken longer than I thought it should to heal. There were a few days where I didn’t see any progress and I thought I should really go to the doctor and get checked out. Happily, the knee has been healing better this past week, and since we didn’t go to the skatepark this last Sunday, I am thinking one more week, then I will be good to go!
Crossing my fingers and toes…
Silent Star Wars
An oldie but goodie for a Sunday night.
Fujifilm XF1
A new camera for me!! The circumstances of me needing a new camera were unfortunate though – I lost my beloved Panasonic DMC TS-2 camera. One day I took it to the park where we went bike-riding and to the splash pad… but that’s the last time I remember seeing it. I have no idea how I lost it. I did have the Eye-Fi card in it that day, so at least the photos were copied over to my phone automatically, but the camera itself is gone. I still have a tiny bit of hope that it will be found (probably somewhere silly), but since I did give it a couple months to show up and it never appeared, I decided to go ahead and get a new camera to replace it.
My first thought was to just get the same type of camera, which would be the latest Panasonic version in that series. Waterproof cameras are great in that they are worry-free – I can get one of the rugged cameras wet, drop it, and just not have to baby it at all. But…. I have had my eye on the Fujifilm cameras for a while so I went ahead and got one of their compact cameras – the Fujifilm XF1.
The XF1 is an older model (debuting in September 2012), but has a number of features that I wanted:
- Able to shoot RAW
- Compact size
- Full manual controls
- Fast F/1.8 lens (at wide setting)
- Silent operation
- Available at a fraction of its original price
The XF1 also has a unique way of powering up. You twist the lens from it’s retracted position and the camera will turn on. It’s really nice since it also opens the lens cap. This lens ring also manually adjusts the zoom position so you have great control over focal length. The downside to this is that it is truly a two-handed operation, whereas the traditional power button and power zoom can be done with one hand. But, it kind of suits the camera’s retro design.
The other camera I was looking at is the new Fujifilm XQ1. A couple things I like about the XQ1 is that it has wi-fi, uses the newer X-Trans sensor, and comes in all-black. However, it doesn’t have the cool power-up and lens ring. Also, being a new camera, it’s pretty expensive.
After using the XF1 for a month now, I can say that I am really happy with it! It is a solid performer, and with the lens in its fully retracted position, can easily fit in a pants pocket. I like to carry it with me wherever I go! The only option that I wish was available is the ability to turn the LCD display off while still in shooting mode. But it’s not too big of a deal since I’m not really a street or “stealth” shooter.
One final thing: it’s a Fujifilm, so it’s kind of like my namesake! W00t!
