Hello Friends and Family,

Link to this year's index by clicking here.


Air Conditioning

In last week's issue, I shared my favorite photo of a kid on a boogie board flying upside down above the surf. One friend thought I should share the before and after versions so you could see the improvement. So here it is.


Before


After


This has been a week of recovery. Last week's class in Santa Fe, plus the traveling wore me out (more the class than the traveling). So I have been trying to take it easy this week in preparation for my class next week, also in Santa Fe. As you will probably recall, next week we will visit the "taking pictures" part of photography. In preparation, they asked us to assemble some pictures we have taken for an in-class review. So I gathered about 100 Hawai`i pictures — they didn't tell us how many to include — with shots from Maui, Oahu and Lanai. The shot of Diamond Head at the left is one of the 100. I've only done a quick adjustment of exposure and saturation but you get the idea.


Ever since 1986, by this time of year I would usually have my Hawai`i reservations in place for my annual trip. However, this year my Hawaii vacation will look a little different. In fact, this photo shows my 2006 Hawai`i vacation. Yes, this is the year for a new central air conditioning system. My townhouse is now 11 years old and the A/C had begun to show warning signs that it was going to need hospice care.

So I did some research, bit the bullet and contracted for a new unit. It was installed on Tuesday and, of course, during the installation process we had no A/C. Yes, it got warm in the house since the local high temperature was 106 degrees or so. But once the new unit was connected and turned on, it worked like a champ.

This one has some interesting features. I can leave the fan running to keep moving air around the house, to reduce or eliminate hotspots. It runs at a lower speed and is more efficient than our old one. Also, it has a two-stage compressor so that when it turns on, it runs at a lower capacity which uses less electricity. After a programmed time, if the lower setting has not cooled to the desired temperature, it runs at full capacity (and still more efficiently than our old one). My observation is that now that we are suffering through 110+ degrees, we will probably use the full capacity mode most often. However, once we get to fall, the lower capacity mode will usually be sufficient.

All I can say is "Aloha".

Well, time to prepare for the trip to Santa Fe. It should be great fun.

Life is good.

Aloha,
B. David

P. S., All photos and text © B. David Cathell Photography, Inc. — www.bdavidcathell.com