Headaches already!!

Getting engaged is fun. Planning a wedding is not fun.

Rob & Christina's Engagement Story

As many of you have heard, Christina and I have finally gotten engaged. Due to sheer number of people asking us how it happened, whether I screwed up (hehe) and whether or not the performance was worthy of her saying yes, we've both decided to sum up our experience in this short story.

You may or may not know that I'm not the most careful schemer when it comes to planning surprises for Christina. She has ruined many of my previous attempts to surprise her. That made planning this engagement that much more difficult. The idea I finally settled on was to go with her to New York City and propose to her while skating at the Rockefeller Center in front of the giant Christmas tree. I didn't really have a date or a plan set for this, I just knew "skating" and "Rockefeller Center". Great idea right? Read on!

The trip to New York went as planned and we even got Jasper and Darana join us! On Friday, December 30th, our third day in New York, we decided to that we'd definitely skate somewhere in manhattan and maybe at the Rockefeller Center. Even though I was planning on asking her at the rockefeller center, I would have been happy with proposing at central park or any other skating rink in Manhattan. The day started badly with miserablely cold weather. Througout the day, We made our way to several ice rinks, and EVERY single one was completely PACKED with people. The Rockefeller Center was the worst, with people lining up for hours to skate. Needless to say, we didn't get to skate anywhere. Christina was soooooo disappointed because she suspected I would propose when we went skating. She doesn't like crowds so she was in a pretty bad mood once we decided to leave. I don't like crowds either so I was also annoyed. To top it off, my mind was in a frenzied panicbecause I had absolutely no backup plan!! I really had no idea what to do. Walking away from the ice rink, I prayed to God that somehow, the opportunity would arise where I could propose.

Riding on the bus back to our hotel in New Jersey, I noticed that the waterfront in New Jersey overlooks the Manhattan skyline. A light went "click" in my head and I knew that was where I wanted to take her. As soon as I got back to the hotel, I looked up the directions to the waterfront with Jasper. I then told Chris to bundle up because we were going out. She reluctantly agreed to go.

The waterfront was everything I could ever have imagined. After parking, Chris and I split from Jasper and Darana and immediately we walked through a path littered with beautiful street lamps and even walked under a small wooden arch that looked like it belonged in a wedding ceremony. It was quite romantic. We continued walking and we eventually came to an abandoned pier. I made Chris climb a fence to get there (she HATED that part). Once over, we had the quiet dark pier to ourselves. Chris was so afraid we'd be busted for trespassing by cops. She kept looking over my shoulder, expecting a big cop to show up and arrest us..haha. I brought along my MP3 player with headphones and played our song "Amazed" by Lonestar as we danced. After the song I professed my love to her (very cheesy). At first she laughed at me, then she cried. I guess Chris likes my cheesy lines! After the chesse, I was about to propose....standing up. Luckily, before I could ask, Chris said "wait!" and gently pushed me down on one knee and then I popped the question. Even though she doesn't remember it, she did say "Yes Rob, you're the man of my dreams"...haha...ok, she just said "yes". After slipping the ring on her finger I asked her if she liked it and she said she couldn't see it because it was too dark.

After proposing, we joined Jasper and Darana in a seafood restaurant called "Arthur's Landing" that we passed by walking to the dock and we all had possibly the best dinner of our entire trip. The restaurant also overlooked the manhattan skyline, providing a breathtaking view that we will all remember.

This entire proposal was not planned. I just happened to see the waterfront. We just happened to find the romantic path. We just happened to find the abandoned dock. We just happened to find the amazing restaurant. The plans I had to to propose to Christina fell apart but in return God blessed us with the perfect place and perfect circumstances for our engagement. It's almost as if God said "No, my way is much better" and from the happy look in Christina's face whenever you talk to her about our engagement, God was right.

God Bless you All!

Rob and Christina

I asked.....

and she said yes!

More details to follow (I'm still in New York/Boston until Jan 20th)

From Black Creek Pioneer Village.  

Shot at the carpenter shop in Black Creek Pioneer Village 

Shot at the carpenter shop in Black Creek Pioneer Village 

Shot at black creek pioneer village 

I hate being sick AGAIN.

For Sale: NIkon 24-120mm f3.5-5.6 AF-S VR Lens
Price: $480
Condition: Excellent! Slight wear on the lens cap

I hate being sick.

Stuck in Las Vegas.

I knew I wouldn't make it. I had only 30 minutes to connect from my flight out of Atlanta to my flight to Vancouver in Vegas. Aircraft problems and paperwork delayed the flight out of atlanta by an hour and lo and behold, I'm now stuck in Vegas for a day. I guess there are worst places...

I'm going out to the casinos in a few minutes...

Here's how I spent my birthday yesterday, starting at midnight to today, all time is in ET:

12:00 - 1:30am At the hotel bar, celebrating the last day of training with 30 others...
1:30-2:30am Packing
3:00am - 7:15am sleeeeeep
7:15am - 8am road travel to our training facility
8am - 12pm final exam (ugh)
12pm - 1pm lunch
1pm - 3pm final conference
3pm - 6pm road travel to airport with a stop at wendy's for a crappola dinner
6pm - 10pm check in and wait at the gate
10pm - 11pm flight delayed
11pm - 2am travel to vegas
2am - 5am missed the connecting flight, booked hotel for night and rebooked flight
6am - 11am sleep.....
11am - 12pm breakfast in the hotel
12pm - 1:30pm relax, internet
1:30pm - going to casino....

Me looking geeky in a fire suit 

From Toronto to Boston to Atlanta to Rome

It's been forever since I've blogged. I'm in Rome, Georgia right now and there's absolutely nothing here. We're staying about 30 minutes away from the firefighting training facility and it's that far only because there's nothing closer. I swear, I'd go crazy if I had to live here...

I was in Boston last week and this week, I'm in Rome, Georgia for practical training. On monday, I did firefighter training!! Crazy isn't it!??? Pictures of me and others fighting a propane tree fire are below. After fighting the propane fire, they put us into a closed room with one sprinkler head and started a fire. Man, when that sprinkler head went off, it pushed 400 degree heat down towards the floor where we were and you could just feel the heat through the firefighter gear. Visibility was 0, I couldn't even see my hand right in front of my mask. Crazy!!

At the end of it all, I can't believe i got paid to have fun that day....I also have the utmost respect for firefighters. Putting on all that equipment in 40 degree heat, then running towards a fire when everyone is running away demands appreciation from all of us. So to all you firefighters out there, thank you, you guys are crazy.

I can't wait to go to Vancouver this friday to see Chris and go camping. I love holiday...

Side view of our team at work! 

Shot of us putting out the fire... 

Close-up shot. The only thing stopping a fireball from killing us is the thin sheet of water mist we're spraying...

From Boston to Atlanta to Rome

It's been forever since I've blogged. I'm in Rome, Georgia right now and there's absolutely nothing here. We're staying about 30 minutes away from the firefighting training facility and it's that far only because there's nothing closer. I swear, I'd go crazy if I had to live here...

I was in Boston last week and this week, I'm in Rome, Georgia for practical training. On monday, I did firefighter training!! Crazy isn't it!??? Pictures of me and others fighting a propane tree fire are below. After fighting the propane fire, they put us into a closed room with one sprinkler head and started a fire. Man, when that sprinkler head went off, it pushed 400 degree heat down towards the floor where we were and you could just feel the heat through the firefighter gear. Visibility was 0, I couldn't even see my hand right in front of my mask. Crazy!!
At the end of it all, I can't believe i got paid to have fun that day....I also have the utmost respect for firefighters. Putting on all that equipment in 40 degree heat, then running towards a fire when everyone is running away demands appreciation from all of us.

I can't wait until friday to see Chris and to start a week's holiday camping out in Vancouver....

So I'll be in Vancouver again in August. Our camping trip in BC has been planned! We're going to hike the Juan de Fuca trail. It's a 48km four day hike along the west coast beach of Vancouver Island. It should be beautiful and I already can't wait!

I'll also be spending a few days in Vancouver! The best part about all this is that I'll be going straight to Vancouver from my business trip to Boston and Atlanta. That means I'll be away from home from August 8th until the end of the month! Woohoo! Another holiday to look forward to. Samurai Sushi here I come.....

Coming on the trip: Joe, Karyn, Rob, Christina, Cheryl, maybe Matthea???

D70 vs. F80 (indirectly film vs digital comparison)

A few people have told me they're surprised I bought a digital camera and they wonder how good my D70 is and if it's worth it. This blog entry will be a comparison of my D70 Digital SLR and my F80 film camera. Many of you won't care, so don't bother reading, but if you're interested, here's a short comparison:

Benefits of F80
- In general, better quality pictures are possible with proper technique, film, etc.
- more reliable
- amazing bright and large view when looking in viewfinder
- able to use AA batteries with add-on vertical grip
- so easy to use, almost intuitive controls
- will never go out of date
- no menus to fiddle around with. Changing settings is quick, direct and easy.
- I love the sound of the shutter when you push the trigger. It sounds solid and professional

Drawbacks of the F80
- film is expensive in the long run compared to digital
- cannot meter with manual lenses
- not the colour 3D matrix meter that D70 uses, only 10 segment matrix meter (not a big deal)
- need filters to change look of pictures
- Flash sync is a slow 1/125 sec. Big drawback compared to the D70

Benefits of D70
- immediate viewing of pictures allows for correcting framing, exposure, etc.
- Uses Nikon's Colour Matrix meter. This is the most advanced metering system in the world, my camera can actually distinguish colours! It measures reds, yellows, green and blues to make them appear as they should
- 1.5X crop factor makes telephoto lenses longer (eg a 200mm lens becomes a 300mm lens for free!)
- ability to change appearance of pictures to simulate all sorts of filters, film types, etc.
- Best flash system in the world. Wireless flash capability when used with Nikon's newest flashes - Can sync to 1/500 of a second with Flash. This is a huge advantage over the F80 and over almost every other digital SLR out there, even the $5000 Nikon D2x
- I can hold 1,200 shots at basic quality or 179 shots in RAW mode on my 1Gb card. That's like 50 rolls of film!!
- unbelievable battery life. I think I can shoot like 2000 shots or some crazy number like that before the battery drains. Lithium Ion rules!
- most important settings are changeable without having to go into menus. (eg. iso, white balance, quality)

Drawbacks of the D70
- doesn't feel as good in my hands as my F80
- learning curve. White balance, colour mode, iso, quality, shutter, aperture...settings go on and on. If you don't understand photography, it'll take you a long time to learn to use the D70 to it's fullest potential
- 1.5X crop factor makes expensive wideangles, not wide (eg. breathtaking 18mm becomes boring 27mm)
- cannot meter with manual lenses
- will be out of date in a year
- post processing necessary to get best quality pics
- no vertical grip available from Nikon (3rd party is available but not an ideal solution)
- some settings are buried in menus. (eg. switch from continues autofocus to single is an option found only in the menus. Can't change it directly.)
- seems to be more susceptible to electronic problems sometimes (not mine, but i've read of some people having problems requiring repair)
- The shutter doesn't sound as refined as the F80

Conclusion
In the end, both cameras are great and they are intended for different uses. If you want to learn the intricacies of photography, go with the F80. it will force you to pay attention to composition and lighting. Digital makes us lazy because if a shot isn't what we want, just press delete and reshoot. If you want to shoot lots and lots of pictures but aren't happy with your dinky point and shoot digital, the D70 is great. I'll explain in a later post why it's so much better than point and shoot digitals.

In my opinion, the D70 is still the best low-end digital SLR on the market. The only other camera that is close is Canon's 20D which might even be better. However, the canon is also significantly more expensive than the D70.

For me, I use both the F80 and D70. For an important stationary scene, the D70 takes the initial shot, allowing me to see how it would look on film and then the F80 takes the money shot.
I like variety and tend to use both cameras a lot.

Women...

Christina's family bought a kitchen-aid yesterday and now they're baking up a storm in the kitchen as I'm typing this. Seriously, the whole house smells like sweet bread and cakes. If I liked sweets it would be heaven!

It's funny how Chris and her mom were so excited to get the montrous mixer. Seeing Chris' eyes light up as she assembled it made me realize how different us guys are. I got excited the same way the first time I picked up my Nikon D70! Women...I guess we are just wired differently, because i could never imagine getting excited about something that allows you to watch as it beats eggs at lightspeed.

Whoever invented the kitchen-aid is a genious. Not because it's a cool machine, but because he could fetch hundreds of dollars for it. Think about it, attach a motor to piece of clean bent steel and voila, you have a kitchen aid. I swear the first one was probably made from junkyard motors and metal....

Genious...Mr. Kitchen-aid is just rolling in his millions of dollars.