We'll be seeing the pictures tomorrow then, right after you charge the battery.

Did you kill Bambi? For want of a battery, the baby deer was lost? :eek:

I was so focused on taking pictures, that if the battery hadn't died when it did, I might have -- though it probably would have done some serious damage to my car -- the hood is aluminum and thinner than a Pepsi can.

I'll download the ones I've taken and see if any are post-worthy. The camera was set for 6MP, so I'll need to shrink the pictures before posting.

What are the size and format restrictions for posting pictures?

When you go to post a picture, it will tell you the restrictions if your pic is too big. Keep in mind that not everyone has superspeedy connections, and UT is footing the server space bill.

What I do is open the pics (however big) in Photoshop, resize the image to be 300-750 pixels wide (depending on subject, usually about 500, but that sometimes is even big) then there is an option to "save for web" I do that, which gives the options of high-low image quality. Low seems to give perfectly fine pics once on the Cellar, and has a small file size.

YMMV

Edit, because there are restrictions, i'm a doofus.

LR, thanks for your help.

This is a view looking down our driveway in December (actually, it looked like this from October through about May, this year).

The snow makes for some good exercise. Shoveling is my wife's job.

I'll post more pictures tomorrow after I recharge my camera battery.

[How do you post the pictures so that you can insert text between them, as others have done?]

You need to host your pictures on another website and link to them with the image button http://cellar.org/images/editor/insertimage.gif when composing your post. I used Flickr to host mine.

When you do it as an attachment like you did, you can only post two, and they go at the bottom. They are hosted by the Cellar then.

What he said. That's how I do it, (Cellar host's) which is why I have to use multiple posts to get more than 2 pics in.

Beautiful snow pics! Great on a stink-o hot day like today...

Yeah. I should have commented on them too. That's a long driveway, and you appear to get snow often. Was the snowblower broken? Was the truck with the plow in the shop? You don't shovel every time it snows, do you?

The driveway is 200 or 300 feet long; the top picture shows the narrower end toward the street. The part nearer the house is twice as wide.

The biggest problem we have, after a few days of snow, is finding a place to put it. Up by the garage there is a hill on one side, the house on the other and the garage in front. Here's a picture I took this morning. All the snow has melted.

Wow - I've only seen snow like that on skiing holidays [envy].
You live in a wooden house! That's well foreign to me!

I can't wait for your commute. Please can I also have pictures of your kitchen, your bathroom, your weekly food shop etc ;)

I saw that before. You wife has quite a job then. She must be able to beat you at arm wrestling by the time Spring rolls around in June.

The cedar siding is nice, but it has drawbacks, primarily because the woodpeckers and the pigmy nuthatches think it's a big dead tree. They drill holes in the walls to make nests, some of them 4 inches in diameter, and pull out the insulation.

The other problem is that we live in an area with occasional large fires (10,000 to 120,000 acres) and this house would burn fast.

I can see by that picture that it's time to stain the front door.

Yes, and she still hasn't split that pile of firewood on the side of the driveway.

It's hard to get good help these days. ;)

My folks had the woodpecker problem. After many years of replacing wood and cursing the little peckers, they stoped staining and painted the house. That did it.

This year I finally bought an air rifle. I shot two of the pygmy nuthatches but they just fell to the ground, got up and flew away. They've since come back and are living inside the walls.

Now that's some mean job you get her to do - no sooner has she cleared it away than it's back again - what's that saying? - a woman's work is never done...?

Have I misssed something, though, whereabouts are you with all that countryside around you?

I caught that bit about the nuthatches. We regularly have blue tits and coal tits nesting - usually in the specially made boxes, but a few years back when we were converting the garage into a studio for my older son, I left a gap in the outer brickwork where the cabling for the external electrics fed to the consumer unit. We noticed around late spring that our cat was showing a lot of interest in this opening (luckily it was about five feet up the wall) - it turned out that a family of tits had made their nest inside the cavity. WE let them stay, but once they had gone I cemented up the opening.

Not so much trouble as you have though. Must remember to make a note of the bird down-side in case Mrs CF ever gets turned on to buying a timber-clad house.

We do get a lot of woodpeckers arond here - usually the green variety - they can be seen in the summer when the ants are hatching from their nests in the soil as they spend a lot of time on the lawn feasting on the eggs and newly hatched ants swarming around below the lawn's surface.

I'm not going to bore you with the full trip home, but there are one or two photos of passing interest I'll add here.

First, for all you soccer fans, how on earth could I go through Cobham without taking a picture of teh entrance to Chelsea FC's training ground. It;s the reason we have Chavs and Wags shopping in the local Waitrose and crusing down Cobham High Street in their 4x4's, Cayennes and Bentleys

.

Dog wants his walk - to be continued in an hour or so....

We are about 30 miles west of Denver Colorado, at an altitude of 7,800 feet. Denver, which is around 5,000 feet, is quite a bit warmer and dryer than we are.

I was going to make some connection between snow shoveling and blue tits, but I decided that would be too rude.

We have two kinds of woodpeckers that we regularly see. The Flickers are the trouble makers, but they've mostly left us alone this year.

Dog (Oscar) is exhuasted - he has his 'running-barking' game he plays with a labrador called Buzz. The house is pictured below - it's on the way home


.

So they run the length of the fence shown in the picture above - Oscar on te outside and Buzz on the inside. When they reach the end of the fence, they skid to a halt, bark at each other for a few seconds and then repeat the exercise in the opposite direction. Picture of Oscar in full flight and Buzz through the fence (resting) taken on phone camera tonight:

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Another landmark on the way home. This is the building that was once the offices of the Royal Society for the Blind in Leatherhead and is now converted into apartments. They are rather nice! The building also used to house one of the Society's departments called 'Seeability'. I cycled for them last year - the '100 miles around Dieppe' charity run. This year it's Leatherhead to Le Mans - you can also learn more about it here (I even qualify for my photo on their site!

.

And lastly for a certain young Cellarite lady who seems to have a penchant for such places...

.

In case you can't see, it says 'Leatherhead Sewage Treatment Works'!

So the Chelsea FC entrance is wide open but the sewage plant has a gate. Hmmm, strange these Brits.

That's because terrorists might poison the sewage.

Turns out I got unexpectedly called into work today, so I humbly submit this commute for general perusal.

First, we start in the neighborhood, with the local water tower. We're not on the main city water system, unfortunately. Within just a mile or so we enter the highway. The trip is almost all highway--fast, but not pretty.

A lot of construction in this area. The highway I'm on will be a tollroad when it's finished, but is free until then.

This overpass is insanely high, the picture really doesn't do it justice.

Holy shit, that is high.

I exit one early and take the frontage road because the supposed exit for my turn is incredibly dangerous. No way to merge when there are cars waiting at the light. I'll take it during off hours, but it's lunch time right now, not happening.

Finally we get to some nicer scenery.

Most of the rest of the way there is cut into the hills, with these rock walls on both sides.

And we're there!

Clodfobble, for some reason that last shot reminds me of Office Space.

What a great thread! It's fun to see everyone's different surrounds.

I now know that Lumberjim's commute takes him within 3 blocks of where I work, glatt lives a mere couple of miles north from where I used to live in Arlington (on Four Mile Run Drive, near Columbia Pike), and Happy Monkey works practically next door to where I used to work in G'town (if the Exorcist Stairs are close by to him).

If I can find new batteries for the camera tonight, I'll be able to contribute some pics of my 5-10 min. walking mini-commute.

I don't live or work all that near the Stairs, but I pass them on my commute.

That opening shot of the water tower will stay with me - cyclists have a natural aversion to water towers - they just have to be on top of a very high (and usually either steep or grindingly long) hill! Still, there is always the trip down afterwards!

Any chance of a map? - it's interesting to here BC recount how close some of you are to each other but, for us Brits, it's hard to picture where these places are in relation to each other (let alone work out where the sewage works are!). I know, we are a pain (make that 'we are' an 'I am').

rather ordinary, this route, but i share it anyway

http://cellar.org/2007/commute/02.jpg
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/04.jpg
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/08.jpg
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/10.jpg
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/13.jpg

http://cellar.org/2007/commute/15.jpg
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/20.jpg
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/21.jpg

http://cellar.org/2007/commute/24.jpg
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/25.jpg
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/26.jpg
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/27.jpg
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/28.jpg

Lots of water towers here -no hills. Flat as a pancake.

Am off to the Kids' school in a minute to get them (last day, they are done at 10:30!!!!) have put new batteries in camera.... that's the closest I get to a regular commute.

This is a great thread.

Cyclefrance, that building! It's gorgeous. I'm a freak for old buildings. I would love to see what the apartments are like.

Hey UT, I thought only two pictures fit on a post. How'd you do that?

Uh, hello? He's GOD of the Cellar!

You mean Overlord Undertoad?

Yes. Him!

Shawnee -- I think your posts are stalking my posts.

And I'm stalking both of you!

HLJ - Glatt did answer you chick - here
I can't offer any help myself as I just attach them too.

I better have a long talk with my posts.

Wooohoooooo!

As I mentioned before, I've got a short walk to work, living and working in the same neighborhood and all. But it's a lot of sensory input for 10 minutes. Usually, I'll run into several people I know along the way, but not today for some reason.

First stop, iced coffee! This is right in front of my favorite espresso bar, Double Shots, a few feet from my front door.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...o/HPIM0138.jpg

Walking down Market Street. Tonight, it will be a completely different crowd.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...o/HPIM0139.jpg

My favorite water tower.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...o/HPIM0140.jpg

A few well-maintained historic buildings. The top of Ben Franklin's post office is on the far right, I think, with the Bourse behind it.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...o/HPIM0144.jpg

The street I work on. The building on the far left was priced at $9M last year, but it didn't quite make it. Gee...
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...o/HPIM0145.jpg

Cute little (haunted :eek:) cobblestone street off my street, leading to Old City coffee for afternoon food coma emergencies.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...o/HPIM0146.jpg

Church St.??

SG -- your post might be gender-confused.

Yep, that's the last shot.

Cyclefrance, here's a map of my neighborhood (Old City, outlined in purple), the eastern-most side of Philadelphia. I work near 3rd and Market, and LJ cruises by on the BF Bridge to the north of me. My first photo is on Chestnut St., and the rest are on Market, 3rd, and Church.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ao/OldCity.jpg

Working from the top down:

HLJ - oops, done it before and I'll probably do it again. Chick in the UK isn't female-specific (in the same way Guys isn't male-specific here) I must try to remember when I post here!

Bluecuracao - do you live and work city centre? It looks like a lovely cosmopolitan walk - wonderfully tree-lined!

Clod - there is so much SKY in your part of the world. And it looks so hot. It's far greener than I would expect given the above, and really quite attractive. I have a friend with family in Houston, Texas, but her photos are in houses and shopping malls. And I love Joe R Lansdale's books. But I'm pleased to see real life in a different part of a vast state :)

UT - one thing people tell me when I admit I live to travel coast to coast in the US is that I'd be on highways all the time and after a while they won't even have the tourist benefit of looking foreign. Much as I really appreciate your posting I get a flavour of what they mean. It's the same in the UK - if you are travelling between cities I mean, not between towns like CF or urban travel like me - all you get is ROAD. But hey - I've devoured your garden mentally...

Cyclefrance - cheers for the pic babba. You realise I'm not a coprophiliac, right? I just love the idea that the OS puts such mundane details in. I cheered (to myself) when you photographed it though... (ellipsis specially for you)

SG, yes...in a way. Old City is considered part of Center City; but actual Center City (to the west) has much taller buildings and is less sunlit.

It's just that... well, y'see, the Cellar was, for a short time, colocated at DCANet's Philly location... on Church St...

"All road": the commutes generally are; I have a slightly longer, much more scenic "back road" which I'll sometimes take if 422 is really hosed. It involves going over Valley Forge Mountain, past some of the most expensive houses in the area including a beautiful horse farm. The tree coverage is so dense it interrupts my satellite radio reception. Stupid question: would you like me to take pictures of that commute?

Edit: you can choose to take these kinds of "long ways" if you travel coast to coast. My own thinking is that I want to fly to Denver (sorry midwesterners, your places are nice but boring to drive through) and then rent a decent vehicle and drive over the Rocky Mountains, through the badlands of Utah, down to the Grand Canyon and on to Vegas... on mostly the smaller roads, generally skipping the Interstate Highways.

UT -- I once found a website that mapped dirt road routes across the country. I've been considering getting on my TransAlp and taking a dirt-road trip.

Oh yes!

All I meant is that although many Brits commute, the word here just means "my trip to work". And in the vast majority of cases that doesn't mean along motorways/ urban freeways. Don't get me wrong - there must be thousands of people here who have journeys like yours, it's just yours was the first of the US ones that had enclosed roads. And I still liked seeing it! It's just I now understand that days on end of a similar view might pall.

The term 'Generica' describes what you see driving the freeways across the US. Every exit looks like every other exit. McDonald's, ABC restaurants (Applebee's/Bennigan's/Chili's), Home Depot, Wal-Mart, two gas stations, variations on a theme, a strip mall, a concrete wall.

If you're going to travel around the US and want to see something, stay off of the interstates.

I feel fortunate that I don't have to see these things on a regular basis. I think I'd go completely nuts if I did.

You better have a shitload of time.