Alex & Sasha lounging on the couch

Here are a couple more photos of Alex and Sasha.

A rainy walk with the cats

I took the cats out for a little walk after lunch.

Alex nibbled on some of the flowers outside the back door.

The rain was a bit too much for Sasha, so she hid under a car. :)

Scenes from Bergshamra

Here's the convenience store in Bergshamra Centrum where I buy my monthly bus & subway card.

The subway.

Biking in Ursvik, first ride with new derailleurs.

This evening I went riding in Ursvik with Elina and Petter. I nearly ran into a one-year-old moose calf in the trail! This was the first time I had seen a moose in the wild, so I was pretty excited. I was just a few meters from him and closing fast when we saw each other. He was standing in a pool of sunlight and right in the middle of the trail. I came to an abrupt halt and he quickly ambled off to hide behind some trees. If you look closely in the above photo, you can see him!

For those of you squinting to find the moose, he's standing behind the skinny trees in the right half of this crop of the original photo. He is facing to the left and slightly away from the camera. Shortly after I took this photo, he ran away. I'm just glad I didn't run into his mom.

This was my first ride with new derailleurs. They work pretty well, but I need to fine-tune them before they'll be perfect. The new rear derailleur works exactly opposite from the way my old derailleur did, so I'm still getting accustomed to it. A few times, out of force of habit, I accidentally switched to a higher gear instead of a lower gear when starting to climb a hill. One learns quickly not to make such mistakes!



This is the same place where I took a photo of myself and Lotta a few weeks ago. It's a good photo spot because it's in an open meadow with lots of light and there is a place to rest the camera (a sign post).

Petter zooming along.

Elina negotiating the overhanging branches.

Cute couple.

Here we are at the end of the ride.

And lastly for now, a picture I took of myself by where the E18 goes by Brunnsviken. It was about eight thirty in the evening when I took this photo!

Shimano XT derailleurs

Last night I installed new front and rear derailleurs on my bike. I had to replace them because they had both become bent, probably due to impact with rocks or stumps. I decided to upgrade to slightly better components from the Shimano Deore XT line. Below, you can see the the new rear derailleur.

I chose to get the "rapid rise" version of this derailleur. With a rapid-rise derailleur, downshifts are effortless and upshifts require effort.

In other words, shifting to a larger cog (lower gears) is done with a simple click of the right middle finger, and requires no exertion from the right hand. This is nice for downshifting quickly in preparation for a climb. With a few quick clicks of the right middle finger, you're in the right gear, and you don't have to expend any physical effort with your right hand.

The derailleur works this way because the spring in the derailleur is set up so that it naturally pushes the derailleur up to a larger cog. This arrangement is also called low normal. Typical rear derailleurs have a spring that pushes down toward the lowest cog (top normal). With a rapid rise derailleur, when you push the lever with your right thumb, you work against the spring to move the chain to a lower cog (a higher gear); and so it's shifting to a higher gear that requires a bit of physcial effort. This makes sense, because it's when you need to downshift that you have the least energy and time to spare. The shifting that requires physical effort is saved for the sections of trail where you can relax a bit, namely the downhill or flat sections.

Another advantage of having a rapid-rise rear derailleur is that both front and rear shifters work in the same way: you pull to downshift and push to upshift.

Here is the new front derailleur. Less exciting, but still an improvement over what I had before.

The front derailleur was tricky to install because I had to thread the chain through the derailleur. In other words, there was no way to put the existing chain inside the cage of the derailleur without breaking the chain. Some front derailleurs have a screw you can loosen to open the cage; but not this one.

I opted to use a new chain because it will be a bit stronger than a chain that has been broken and put back together.

Going back to Stockholm

Earlier this evening, my friends Steve & Jill came over for a visit. They brought their darling children Anna Rose and Grant. We sat out by the pool while Steve and the kids swam, and then we shared a desert of cherries, dark chocolate, and champagne. Steve & Jill (and their adorable kids) are some of my favorite people, and I wish I could see them more often

It's now midnight on my last night in Austin for a while. In about 5 hours, I'll wake up and head to the airport. My parents have generously offered to drive me there, even though it will be very early in the morning. Here's a photo I took on the flight from Stockholm to Philadelphia ten days ago. Soon I'll be on the same flight, but going in the other direction.

Now, it's time for me to go to bed. I'd like to get at least a few hours of sleep before my flight tomorrow. Being sleepy can be a good thing becuase it makes it easier to sleep on the long hual flight. But unfortunately, I have a couple of flights and a long layover in Philly before I catch the flight over the pond.

See you on the other side.

Conan's Pizza is unbeatable

I went to Conan's pizza last night with my folks.

This is the shop in the shopping center on the Northwest corner of the intersection of Burnet Road and West Anderson Lane.

We ordered our usual -- a large deep-disk Savage.

Naturally, I had to add some extra jalepe�os. Yum!

Here's my new camera wit the f/2.8 70-200mm zoom lens attached. I'm having a blast taking photos with with camera and learning how to use it. I'd like to thank David Hill and Rod Cole for their help choosing the right equipment.

I created a new weblog for photos of Ethan & Kelly's wedding and related festivities.

Nationaldagen 2006

Today I had a couple of bananas and coffee for breakfast, and saved my apetite for lunch: a nice big hamburger made with the left-over ingredients from Sunday's barbecue. Today is Sweden's national day (nationaldagen) so I hung up my new Swedish flag in the balcony doorway.

Why eat at McDonald's when you can make a real cheesburger for the same price?

In the afternoon I biked down to Bergianska Trädgård and met up with Lisa. We found a sunny place beside the lake an enjoyed the lovely sunshine.

Cheers!

The morning had been cool and cloudy. But in the afternoon, the clouds moved away and the sun warmed things up. It was a perfect Swedish summer day.

Hi, Mom! Oh, that makeshift houseboat has been on Brunnsviken for the past few summers. It is a bit of an eyesore, but so far no one has found a law that the inhabitants are breaking. :)

After finishing off a couple of beers, we biked to Lisa's place to grill some bratwurst. Lisa's flat is on the top floor of a building that is located on the crest of a hill, so in the evening, the sunlight just pours in through her kitchen windows. Here's the view in the other direction, toward the Southeast.

And here's the Western view.

After dinner, we had some Lipton Marocco tea, which is a soothing mint tea flavored with orange and other spices.

On the way home, I snapped this shot of the last of the evening sunlight falling on the pine trees across the lake. In the distance on the left side you can see Kaknästornet.

Yesterday I did some last minute errands downtown. Here is Kungsgatan looking toward the West from Hötorget.

And of course the Malmskilnadsgatan bridge over Kungsgatan, as seen from Sveavägen.

Drottninggatan was packed with shoppers and tourists. I stopped to chat for a while with a woman and her daughter because the woman had a Nikon camera similar to the one I just bought. They were from Golden, Colorado and just in Stockholm for a couple of days.
I got all my shopping done even though I did have to visit several different stores to find all the items on my list.

I went biking in Järvafältet with Lisa this mornig. On the way back I stopped by the bike shop to have them take a look at my rear deraillieur, because it was causing problems during the ride. The helpful guy at Cyckloteket informed me that I had whacked the heck out of the derailleur and that it would need to be replaced. I had been thinking about upgrading from Shimano LX to XT anyway; now I have an excuse. On the way back home from the bike shop, I drove around the East side of Brunsviken. The sun came out and it was really lovely.

The buildings in the background are boathouses. I saw severa folks rowing on the lake.

Nikon D200

In June of 2006, I bought a new Nikon D200 digital SLR camera and several lesnes. Most of the photos posted to my weblog since then were takne with the new camera.

I had originally intended to buy Nikon's impressively versatile 18-200 VR zoom lens, but it was in short supply so I ended up getting the much faster (but also much heavier) f/2.8 70-200 mm VR zoom. Below is a photo of the D200 with this lens attached.


And here is a more-or-lest complete list of what's in my camera bag today.

Camera

• Nikon D200 10.2 MP digital SLR
  

Lenses

• 50mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor
• 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor
• 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor

Flash

• SB-800 AF Speedlight
  

Accessories

• Lexar 4 GB Professional Series 133x CF card
• Extra EN-EL3e rechargeable battery
• Bogen/Manfrotto 3001BN tripod with 3030 pan/tilt head
• LowePro Stealth Reporter 100AW camera bag

Only the 18-70 zoom is a DX lens, which means I'll be able to use the other two lenses on any future full-frame sensor camera Nikon may choose to release. Also, the fact that two of the lenses can be used on a wider range of Nikon cameras might make them easier to sell if I decide to part with them later.

I should clarify that the 70-200 zoom does not fit in the 100AW camera bag. I bought the smallest of the Sealth Reporter series, and it's too small to accomodate such a large lens. I will probably buy a larger camera bag soon.

I purchased the camera, 18-70 zoom lens, memory card and battery from Wolf Camera. The other items I picked up at B&H Photo-Video. Two of the lenses and the flash had mail-in rebates. I also got a free HP PhotoSmart 335 printer because of a special offer just for the week of Memorial Day.

I'm having a blast taking photos with with camera and learning how to use it. I'd like to thank David Hill and Rod Cole for their help choosing the right equipment.

New Camera!

Ever since it was announced, I have been thinking about getting a Nikon D200 digital SLR camera. Yesterday, I made the purchase.

I have been debating which lenses to buy with the camera. I had pretty much decided to get Nikon's 18-200 VR zoom lens, because it offered a lot of capability at a decent price.
Unfortunately, the lens was in such high demand that it was almost impossible to come by. Even if I could have found a store with the lens in stock, the typical asking prices have been about 100-250 USD more than the street price when the lens was first introduced. Finally, I head from one of the retailers that there were some manufacturing problems with the lens that affected the focusing mechanism; and that Nikon was retooling its production of the lens, with plans to resume shipments in four to five weeks.

The tight supply and concerns about manufacturing defects led me to consider other options. I ended up spending a lot more than I had originally intended to, but I got a kit that I think will be very versatile.

Camera

• Nikon D200 10.2 MP digital SLR
  

Lenses

• 50mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor
• 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor
• 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor

Flash

• SB-800 AF Speedlight
  

Accessories

• Lexar 4 GB Professional Series 133x CF card
• Extra EN-EL3e rechargeable battery
• Bogen/Manfrotto 3001BN tripod with 3030 pan/tilt head
• LowePro Stealth Reporter 100AW camera bag

The big item, aside from the camera, is the 70-200 zoom lens. It was expensive. However, from all the conversations I had with photographer friends and from everything I have read about the lens, it seems like a real winner. Only the 18-70 zoom is a DX lens, which means I'll be able to use the other two lenses on any future full-frame sensor camera Nikon may choose to release. Also, the fact that two of the lenses can be used on a wider range of Nikon cameras might make them easier to sell if I decide to part with them later.

I bought the camera, 18-70 zoom lens, memory card and battery from Wolf Camera. The other items I picked up at B&H Photo-Video. Several of the Nikon items have mail-in rebates, so I'll be able to save a little bit of money if I can remember to send in the paperwork. I also got a free HP PhotoSmart 335 printer with my purchase because of a Memorial Day sale Wolf Camera is having this week!

Once I learn how to use my new camera, I look forward to posting more some photographs taken with the camera.

Last night I went to the rock gym for the second night in a row. My arms were a bit tired but I still had a good time. I climbed a couple of routes on the new tall wall.

I took my camera with me on the way up and managed to get a couple of photos from the top.

It's not easy to take photos like this.

It's a long way down. That's Lisa holding the other end of the rope.