Very productive day

Got up early-ish to meet up with Bob Litchfield to meet him at Saint George's College. Some friends of Wing and I are getting married in September and would like us to take photographs of the wedding. We all went there to scope out the area, and pick where the best place would be for taking good and great photos of the wedding party. Was a day well spent, and we went away with lots of info.

Afterward, I called 'D' and asked him about the wedding party, if we could get permission from the priest to photograph the wedding inside the church, and photograph the wedding party on the grounds afterward, so we don't have to take them hither and yon, as their day will be stressful enough! Also asked important info, like what color dress the bride will be wearing, what the colors the bridal party will be sporting too. Got it all. :) And, there is going to be a rehearsal, so we can give the photography a 'dry run'. 'M' was almost in tears when she heard what we were doing to make sure their day will be THEIR day.

And they wonder why Support Staff get a bad rap?

I use Corel PaintShopPro along with other stuff, because I have yet to find ONE program that does it all for me. So, I have been having problem with it opening RAW files from my Mini Canon and my Big Gun Canon (pun intended) aka the G1X and the 5DMkIII

I told them at the outset what cameras, and they kept having me tweak this, reset that, uninstall this, reinstall that, so after weeks of jumping through all these hoops, they say "Oh! Our bad! Your cameras aren't supported yet."

That's what you get because they scan to find a term, copy and paste from their FAQ (even though I had told them I read it, and had already done everything listed) instead of READING THE $#@*&@%$ SUPPORT REQUEST!

The great escape..

While we were out grocery shopping, Ziggy snuck out (I've said over and over to be careful closing the side door since replacing the rollers/track wheels. It can bounce back open if closed too hard. Even 1cm is enough for Loki to shove it the rest of the way open).

Luckily, she snuck over to Un-son, Robin house, slinked into their lounge room, and hid in a corner. Jean called us, we came right home, grabbed the pet carrier, a piece of bubble wrap to tempt or pacify her, and coaxed her out. He scooped her up, put her in pet carrier, funnily enough, she didn't fight like she usually does when put in one).

Now here she is, all curled up on the sofa, with a sheet of bubble wrap next to her on her comfy blankie, none the worse for wear.

Gee, can they do anything other than Copy/Paste from their scripts?

Adobe once again sending an email, chanting their policy that wasn't made available prior to their stealing (yes, I call it stealing as I was told told that my credit card would NOT be charged, and it was, now they refuse to return the money with the same speed they stole it) My response:

Your policy of stealing my money, then not returning it for 10 to 15 days is wrong. You wrongfully charged my credit card, or your rep lied that it wasn't going to be charged, then refuse to return my money in the manner you stole it. Immediately.

I have now convinced 14 other people to not bother upgrading their versions of CS5. I know I'm nothing to you, but I am something to others. Word of mouth goes a long way, and you should wonder who those 14 people are advising to not buy your 'upgrade' (which should have just been an update for CS5 as it fixed some of the bugs in that version).

And then they bemoan how their software is pirated? They steal money from customers, then don't return it, and they complain about pirating? Really?

After a month...

I got my 5 month (now 6 month) old 70-200 lens returned. I think if I hadn't called asking what was the status on the repair of my lens, only to be told it was only JUST being looked at after a month, I would still be waiting.

From the work order, all the parts they replaced on the inside of the lens, it might have been cheaper and sure as hell quicker to have just replaced the lens!

I'm glad it's fixed, but irked because I was told by Canon it would be a 2 week turn around on the repair. Not 5 weeks. I wonder if I should be asking them to extend my warranty the amount of time they were holding my lens hostage?

Mother's Day for me

This was the first year that both Alan and Wing remembered.

I got some lovely orchids from Alan. According to knowledgeable florist I showed this photo, this is a variety of Thai Orchid.



Alan and Wing fixed breakfast, and then Wing and I went for a walk around Fremantle for a photowalk. Was a nice relaxing day for me.

Kind of wish Adobe would reply in the same manner they force customers to use

Make note of my first entry at the bottom, where I was told that my money HAD been refunded. Which is why this run around 'policy' bull$hit has me riled.

Adobe Rep attempts to pass the buck.. FAIL!

Once again, I get a phone call from Adobe about their charging me twice, and again quoting their 'policy' as their reason.

Hold on right there, bucko. You made a mistake. You told me my credit card would NOT be charged for the erroneous pre-order which is the only reason I went ahead and got the 'right' version. Then I found out you charged my credit card for both purchases at the same time? Now I have a charge on my credit card that was YOUR error, costing ME interest, and you're citing policy?

No, I don't want to 'speak to your manager', as I am quite certain he or she will just recite your policy from a script. I know you don't give a darn (yes, I said darn) about customer service, but let me tell you I don't give a rats ass about your policy. YOU made the mistake, YOU wrongly charged my credit card, you WILL refund it immediately, just as your took it. I will except no other option.

Then I hung up on him.

Dear Adobe... F**k you!

Ok, brief summation: due to a misunderstanding and piss poor site design, I purchased the wrong version of PS CS6. I was told not to worry that the charge for the wrong version wouldn't be debited to my credit card, and just get the 'right' one. I called them when I found out that yes, I had been charged, sent them a screen cap of the credit cards statement (gotta love internet banking) as proof they did tap me twice.

Imagine my surprise when I saw that not only did they still charge me for the wrong one along with the correct one, but I was informed that it would take 10 to 15 days for them to refund my money.

Whohuhwha...?? They charged me immediately, but have to take that long to refund it? F**K NO!

I just received a phone call from one of your reps. Let me say I am not happy with your 'policy' of refunding money. You were quick enough to take it from my bank account, but making me wait 10 to 15 days for the refund is not acceptable. If I purchased $300 worth of goods from K-Mart and it was the wrong item, I could go back down there and get refunded immediately, regardless if I paid cash or used a credit card.

Now, I know Adobe doesn't care a flying fart about customers, but we do have power. It's our money. This 'update' to CS6 should have been a free fix/update to CS5, not an over priced upgrade.

Now, I don't care what rules you have to bend, break or mutilate to refund my money in the same manner your took it, immediately, but I want it done. If not, charging interest comes to mind, as this 10 to 15 day policy you cite wasn't made clear anywhere that normal people could have read. This case is far from resolved. If you close it, I will open another, or call.

People/businesses really should not f**k with me.

My take on Photoshop CS6E

Over all, it's pretty much the same with work area, bridge, and most of the tools and menus.

That being said, there are a few good new things, some things are now screwed up, some things not working anymore.

The blur tool finally works. The patch, spot healing and red eye tool has been joined by the Content Aware Move tool. It works ok, not fantastic (you can still get artifacts of where the moved object originally was that will have to be painted or cloned out), but it does work. The best part is that PS fills in the area the object was. It works great if the area isn't filled with other things (example, I move a leaf floating in water, it filled in the area nicely).

Adobe Camera Raw doesn't work with certain cameras yet. Now that could be because The RAW format doesn't have a standard, but when both of my Canon cameras (5dMkIII and G1X) aren't recognized in CS6. CS5 has a working non expiring Beta that does. You will get a nag screen that it's a beta, but it does work. So, don't uninstall your CS5. I'm fairly certain that the updated ACR will be out soon, and that sooner or later, there will be no futher updates for CS5 Camera raw. To me, this is just a way to force people into upgrading whether they want to or not.

Many of the tools still work or not work with the 32bit/64bit (some that don't work in the 64 bit do still work in the 32bit versions, so install them both). BUT certain well used, well loved 3rd party tools are not going to be updated to work with CS6 64Bit. This I find distressing, as will many who use certain plugins in their photo developing finding out they don't work, nor will they work (contacted developer of one 3rd party addon, and they said they won't be updating certain suites of their software to work with CS6 64bit, but you can finagle it to work with the 32bit version). Also, you don't have to overwrite your existing CS5/4/3 installation or uninstall it, as CS6 will install in its own directory, leaving you the option of using CS(Earlier version) for certain image processing.

One of my bugbears is this: they removed the BRIDGE button from the menu bar. Their reasoning is as follows; to make room. It's a 10x10 pixel icon, it didn't take up that much room! It was putting a hiccup in my workflow, having to either use keyboard, or navigate through the menus to find it. Upon asking about it, I was told "Just use mini bridge.". Uhh no. It takes up about 1/4 of your work space. Use a 2nd monitor was the other suggestion. Are they going to buy it and the adapter for everyone? The good news is I do know the keyboard commands to launch it (Crtl+Alt+O), and I also use yLaunch, so I can launch both with one mouse click.

Performance: It does load up faster than it's predecessor. The tool icons have been updated a bit, but are still recognizable as the tried and true. Now, I've only been using it for a few days, but other than having to jump to the 32bit or back into CS5 for certain tools, it's been smooth sailing. Do I think this 'update' was all it was cracked up to be? No, to me it was "Oh gee, let's finally fix some things that have been crappy since CS2, and call it CS6." with some one or two extra bells and whistles. It's good, but it should have been a free update for CS5 rather than a hefty priced "upgrade".

Monday, Monday.. the start of my 'weekend'

I finally get to slow down and not having anything scheduled to do. But that doesn't mean I do nothing. Domestic chores wait for no one, and don't do themselves. Saw sunshine, and felt a warm wind, so stripped the bed to wash sheets and blankets and get them out on the line. No sooner was the washing machine finished, it was cloudy and drizzly. And of course as soon as everything is almost dry in the dryer, the sun comes back out. Such is life!

Making minestrone for dinner. With the smell of herbs, onions, and other ingredients, house smells like an good Italian restaurant. :D Luckily, I have Alan as my taste tester. After a few times of sipping broth, I need a 'fresh palette'

12 yrs to the day.

Wing was known as "Roo" (short for Kangaroo Land aka Australia) We met on an internet chat group about SciFi writers and shows. After 4 yrs of correspondence, phone calls, video calls, and a 3 week meeting, then seriously thinking it through, to make sure it wasn't just a whim, we both decided to fly me and mine over to RooLand. I arrived on the 4th of May, 2000.

I guess you could say "May the Fourth Be with Roo!"

Happy Anniversary, dear! ;)

On the way to the endodontist

Wing forgot my appointment was at 8:30 this morning. I reminded him that I do have my bike, and the reason I have it is to get to nearby places. He went on and on about how far away it was. It took me a whopping 13 minutes to get to Dr T's office. I actually ended up getting there early. Tooth worked on, root canal taken care of. In 2 weeks, head off to the dentist for a permanent filling and then a crown.

Stopped by the shops on the way home to pick up a few things. Headed home, and was almost there when the bike threw the chain. I remembered from my teen years how to re-mount the chain on the sprockets. fixed it, and finished riding home.

The ride to the endo's office was longest trip so far. And the good news is my right knee is doing pretty well. A bit sore, but not too bad.

Now waiting to see how my jaw feels. There's a camera club meeting tonight, and I really don't want to sit through one if my jaw/tooth are giving me grief.