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A black and white photo of a fallen, decaying tree trunk in a forest. The textured bark and exposed wood are prominently visible, surrounded by leaf litter and foliage. Trees can be seen in the blurred background.

Laurelhurst Park, Portland, Oregon. 9th November, 2024.

📷 Hasselblad 500C/M
🎞️ Cinestill Double-X (ISO 200)

Black and white diptych of a park scene. The left side features a large, gnarled tree trunk with branches extending outward, surrounded by other trees and fallen leaves on the ground. The right side shows a tree with dense foliage, fallen leaves revealing a pattern of concentric curves.

Laurelhurst Park, Portland, Oregon. 9th November, 2024.

📷 Hasselblad 500C/M
🎞️ Cinestill Double-X (ISO 200)

A black and white image showing the corner of an old building with large windows. The building’s surface is weathered with visible textures and shadows. On the left, leafless tree branches extend into the sky, creating a stark contrast with the structure.

Black and white image of Ankeny Square featuring an elaborate archway with three arches. The scene is framed by bare trees, casting intricate shadows. A skateboarder is silhouetted, partially visible near the arch.

A black and white image of a city street with leafless trees and a building in the background. A person is walking on the sidewalk. Street signs and lampposts are also visible.

Trees and nearby structures were catching my eye on a little afternoon walk in downtown. Portland, Oregon. 25th January, 2025.

A colorful RV with vibrant graffiti-style artwork is parked on a street. Behind it, a building with red walls features large windows and graffiti art, including the word “LORDS” and other abstract designs. A smaller car is parked nearby. The scene is lit by the warm glow of the morning sun.

A street corner with a blue building featuring a yellow door and several windows. A vintage pickup truck is parked nearby. Visible signs advertise ice cream. Power lines cross the sky, and a pedestrian crosswalk with traffic lights is in the foreground. The scene is lit by the warm glow of the morning sun.

A bagel sandwich with egg, sausage, cheese, tomato, and other fillings is placed on a table in a lined basket. Beside it is a blue plastic cup and a napkin holder. A small potted plant is in the background. The sandwich is lit by the warm glow of the morning sun.

Morning walk on Foster Road to get a bagel sandwich. Portland, Oregon. 18th January, 2025.

A cat in a harness sits on a porch railing, looking up at a hummingbird near a red feeder. The porch has a hanging bell and decorative elements, with a background of a yard, trees, and a neighboring house.

Friends.

A black and white landscape photo of tall trees silhouetted against a cloudy sky. Below the trees is a view of a town with rooftops and more trees stretching into the distance. The sky is mostly cloudy with some brighter patches and dramatic cloud formations.

Mt. Tabor Park. Portland, Oregon. 12th January, 2025.

A new version of Mimi Uploader is out with even more support for Photo Collections 🎉

A new version of Mimi Uploader is out with even more support for Photo Collections 🎉

The previous release had the ability to see your list of collections. This new one adds the following features:

I’m finding this way of managing my collections to be great. Hope you like it too!

You can get Mimi Uploader for free from the App Store.

As discussed in a previous post, the Photo Collections feature is only available to Supporter. You can become a Supporter using the sliding scale in the app.

I enjoy podcasts but I got the feeling I was listening to a lot of tech. In 2024, I reduced the time to about 50%. In 2023 they were close to 65%.

The image shows a 2024 summary of top nine podcasts listened to in Overcast, with a total of 288 hours spent, 156 of which were in tech podcasts.

Maybe I can get it down to 40% this year.

I’m listening to several at 1.5x speed now. I was very averse to that a few years ago.

🛠️ Basement Storage Shelves

🛠️ Basement Storage Shelves

Over the last week or so I designed and built freestanding storage shelves in our basement. Inspired by this video, and other similar ones, I decided that I would give it a go.

The basement had become a mess of stuff, about 70% of which was worth keeping. So we started by re-organizing what we wanted to keep and the rest we discarded/donated/gave-away.

On the 23rd I drew up the plan, and we went and bought the first set of materials from a neighborhood building material store, which has amazing people. Then came the holiday, so I didn’t start to build until the 26th.

A photo of a basement wall with outlines for a shelving unit sketched on it. A black storage bin with a yellow lid sits on the concrete floor.

The first set took a while to make as I was new to it and wanted to make sure I got the measurements right as we had already got the plywood cut at the store. On the 27th I put the first shelf together.

Wooden storage shelves in a basement, holding yellow-lidded plastic containers, rolled-up fabric, boxes, and folded items. To the left, there are suitcases and folded tables. The background features a concrete wall and a window.

The design allows for expanding on either side, so right away I built an extension. This time it went really fast, even with a drive to the store to get more materials.

This second set had only two shelves that were half as deep so we didn’t block the window, and also Jenni could place her paddle board bag vertically to easily pick up or drop off. I noticed that the there was a sag on this shelf, so later I added a strip of wood for additional support.

Wooden shelves in a basement with various storage items. Black and yellow plastic bins line the left shelf. A rolled-up fabric item sits on top. A large blue and black backpack, clear plastic bins with tools and supplies, and smaller blue bins are also visible.

On the 28th I built yet another extension. This time I didn’t have enough plywood for three levels, so for the time being it only has two, but hey, those box fans fit nicely in there.

Wooden storage shelves in a basement with various items organized on them. Black and yellow storage bins, a wrapped blanket, a large backpack, stacked boxes, a covered item, clear plastic bins with contents, a power tool box, and two box fans.

Yesterday I completed another extension and that should be good for our current needs. From one end to another these shelves are 15 feet (~ 4.5m)

Wooden shelving units in a garage storing various items, including black storage bins with yellow lids, a rolled-up item, a large backpack, plastic boxes, a box, etc.

I will observe how it performs, and have ideas to add more structural support if needed.

I’m really happy with how these turned out, and with our efforts, the entire space looks and feels so much better already.

P.S. As I was building this I also organized my basement shop that I hadn’t used in a long time, including installing these wall-mounted shelves to hold lumber.

P.P.S The end posts are also 2x4s, but they look like 4x4s in the photo, likely due to distortion from the use of an ultra-wide lens.

Happy New Year! 🥳