ATL, ORF & CHA with my Optio WP

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“Have I shown you my new camera? Man, it’s great!”

I doubt there’s anybody I know who hasn’t heard me say that in the past three months as I gush about my new Pentax Optio WP digital camera: 5 megapixels (upgraded to 6mp just three weeks after I bought it), waterproof, almost too small and listed in Time Magazine’s “Greatest Inventions of 2005.”

It’s almost everything I could want in a point & shoot camera: small, lightweight, easy to use, waterproof, discreet. Most people mistake it for a cell phone, the first time they see it! My only complaint is that it doesn’t have a manual exposure mode…oh well. Still, it's got tracking focus, flash controls, an ISO range of 50-400 and the option of strictly optical zoom.

And it’s just so well designed! The detachable wrist lanyard that’s just the right length, the depressed circle on the front that stabilizes the camera in your hands, the rubber “skin” that adds a little extra protection, and of course the case…Oh gosh, what a camera case! Normally I avoid the “official” camera cases: I just don’ see why I should pay to advertise for somebody else. But, the official Pentax case for the Optio WP is marvelous: discreet black nylon with just enough rigidity, a thin belt loop on the back, a magnetic closure on the front flap, and two tiny pockets inside the case, just big enough for a spare battery & memory card!

So I’ve been entertaining myself in airports with my new camera. It’s such fun to shoot with, composing little stories with it. So I’m gonna let my pictures speak for themselves…

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Photos

TRN
The Rail Network

Bigger, Better Toilet Seats
OK, so is the problem the size of your toilet seat, or the size of your arse? As if we needed anymore proof that America is the land of plenty...

Bomb-Resistant Trash Can
Atlanta, Alexandria...these things are popping up everywhere...The British solved the problem of trashcan bombs by getting rid of the trashcans on the Tube...Living just a few miles from three international shipping terminals I'd feel a heck of a lot safer with radiation detectors on the docks...

ORF, 0520
The Navy warrant officer was wearing his dress blues, and headed down to the tarmac with the ground crew, where he supervised the loading of a white cardboard box that was so heavy that it took four guys to lift it onto the luggage conveyor belt, and another two guys to help shove it up the belt into the aircraft belly. I can only guess what sort of shipment would require an officer to accompany it...
How many casualties does that make? Too often now I encounter young amputees in our airports...