Stuff<\/h3>\n
Jim and I drove into town yesterday. At Lowe’s I picked up three more 5-gallon gas cans and four 50-foot extension cords. I was finally able to get spring water at Publix. Then we filled all seven of our gas cans and topped off my Sequoia. We were preparing for the long hall, perhaps a week or two more without electricity. As we got close to home I joked, “Wouldn’t it be a pisser if the utility trucks had arrived and were repairing the downed utility poles and lines?” (There were actually two poles on the ground, not one as we had previously thought.) When we turned onto Orange Avenue we saw many utility trucks in the vicinity of the drainage ditch that runs past my backyard. <\/p>\n
After a short visit we learned that the crew was from Mississippi and that we would have our power restored within a few hours. And that is just what happened. Clemens Vanderwerf and his wife arrived at 1pm for a “Power’s Back On” pool party and barbecue. We enjoyed Sockeye Salmon with barbecued Brussels sprouts and goat cheese and fresh blueberries for dessert. <\/p>\n
After lunch Clemens fired up his chain saw and — in a matter of moments — polished off some of the six-to nine-inch thick branches that were impeding our backyard clean-up progress. We estimated that if Jim and I had done what he did with a two man saw it would have taken us about ten hours … After piling up the logs — anybody need some free firewood? — we removed and packed up Clemens’ air conditioner and got it into his car. After a short swim, Clemens took off and headed back to West Palm. They had learned while they were visiting their daughter in Tampa that their power had been restored.<\/p>\n
It is good to have wonderful friends.<\/p>\n
I drove around the corner to thank the Mississipi crew. I offered them two hundred dollar bills to pay for a nice dinner for the guys. They politely refused saying that they were not permitted to take any tips. <\/p>\n
The Bad News and Computer Help Needed<\/h3>\n
When I asked about the phone lines one of the guys on the crew said that they had needed to cut the phone lines to restore power as the phone lines had been all tangled up with the power lines. So I called our phone company, Frontier — they had taken over from Verizon about a year and a half ago, to let them know that we had no phone service for a week and that we currently have no phone service. After eventually speaking to a supervisor I was told that business account or not, they could not have a repairperson here until September 25. Two things are pretty clear:<\/p>\n
- \n
- 1-It is likely that we will not have any phone or internet (we have DSL through the phone lines) until at least September 25.<\/li>\n
- \n2-If you have choice of phone service providers, avoid Frontier at all costs. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Computer Help Needed<\/strong><\/h2>\n
I had never realized until Jim informed me this morning that our two Windows desk top office computers are not wi-fi enabled … I had hoped that we could get both of the office computers online via my Verizon Mobile Hotspot on my cell phone. If anyone knows a workaround, please leave a comment asap. with love, artie<\/p>\n
The Streak<\/h3>\n
Today marks fifty-five days in a row with a new blog post — Irma be damned! This one took about ninety minutes to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing. <\/p>\n
Everybody’s Doing It…<\/h3>\n
Everybody’s buying and selling used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page. Sales recently have been through the roof. Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They recently folded. And eBay fees are now in the 13% range. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail<\/a><\/center> with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here<\/a> or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar at the top of each blog post. <\/p>\n
Latest Used Gear Kudos<\/h3>\n
via e-mail from Robert Blanke<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Hey Artie. Thank you again–the 5D s sale makes four cameras sold at fair prices and commissions, with the first three going in one day! Cheers <\/em> Robert <\/p>\n
Used Gear Sale from the past month<\/h3>\n
Robert Blanke sold his Canon EOS 5Ds body in like-new condition for $2249.00 in early September.
\nRon Paulk sold his Canon EF 600mm f\/4L IS II USM lens in like-new condition for $9,899 with lots of great extras in early September.
\nLisa Tri sold her Canon 70-200mm f\/2.8L IS USM Zoom lens (the original IS version) in near-mint condition for the BAA record low price of $898 in early September.
\nIPT veteran Joe Messina sold his Canon EF 200-400mm f\/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender in excellent plus condition for the BAA record-low price of $7,900 in early September.
\nIvan Kuraev sold his Canon 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens in near-mint condition for $1699 and his Canon EOS 5D Mark IV in excellent near-mint condition for $2499 in early September.
\nIPT veteran Mike Ross sold his Canon EOS 7D Mark II with the Canon BG-E16 Battery Grip all in mint condition for $1,099 on the first day it was listed in early September.
\nRay Stranagan sold his Canon EF 300mm f\/2.8L IS II USM Lens in excellent condition for $3999 in early September, just three days after it was listed.
\nIPT veteran Richard Bohnet also sold his Canon EOS 5D MK III (with an L-bracket) in near-mint condition for $1449 and his Canon EOS 7D in excellent condition for $279 in late August.
\nIPT veteran Richard Bohnet sold his Canon EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens (the “old” 1-4) in excellent condition for an even $500 in mid-August.
\nMultiple IPT veteran Carlotta Grenier sold her Canon EOS-1DX camera body in excellent condition for $2358 and a never used Sigma 150-600mm f\/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens for Canon EF in better than like-new condition for the BAA record low price of $998.
\nEric Karl sold his Canon EOS 5D Mark III body in very good plus condition with extras for $1,300 in mid-August. <\/p>\n