Out With The Old
Different website/domain, same ramblings!
For some reason, I decided to buy another domain name and build a new website that’s not my surname. Sadly someone else has Ripples.com and the old ripplesphotography was too much of a mouthful. A little lateral thinking and here we are!
I’ve not checked the word out in any way, so for all I know I’m swearing in some obscure tongue, but Google doesn’t bring anything back, so I think I’m safe.
If you want to access the old site, all the blog pages are on there, I’ve only brought those from 2026 with me. All the photography pages have been transferred though, and now I get chance to add travel pages and aircraft pages, with dedicated sections for each.
It was October 2022 when I started the old site, I was still 50-something and gainfully employed. There’s definitely been a bit of a flood under the bridge since then, let alone a bit of water. Far too many trips to crematoriums for a start, which definitely added weight to the no longer being employed bit. That and a big dose of, “bo**ocks to it, I’ve had enough”!
I’ve also taken the opportunity to use a different WordPress theme, which has a lot more bells and whistles than the old one, most of which I’ve got to get my head round before I enable them, and even more if I want to “Go Pro”, for a reasonable fee TBH. No subscription either; I’ll think about it.
Meanwhile, what’s been happening?
Remember the “Frustrations” post from a few weeks back? The old Nikon FG has gone to the great camera graveyard in the sky, aka the council recycling site. The longer it stayed around, the more I’d be tempted to try fixing it, so it got dumped.
The gadget bag that was too small? The saga continues, but from my point of view, I’ve had an exceptional bit of customer service, along with some shall we say more questionable service from Dutch customs / Royal Mail.
The new/replacement Wandrd Rogue Sling 9Lt had to be ordered from Amazon, simply because Wandrd’s online store didn’t have “Sedona Orange” in stock and “Yuma Tan” simply isn’t my colour and neither is “Rhone Burgundy”, unless it’s in a glass 🙂
The too small 6Lt version was duly sent back, in the original packaging etc, and according to Wandrd’s returns policy, and tracked via Royal Mail. It then promptly sat in Dutch customs for over a week. I kept looking at the tracking information and eventually it said:
Considering my contact details are on the shipping/customs label, nobody could be bothered to contact me, so I’m a tad miffed! I hope it reappears at some point soon.
I relayed this sorry tale to Wandrd”s support line and they kindly refunded me anyway! Then said I’d to find somewhere/someone local to donate the 6Lt bag to. My local Oxfam is liable to benefit once it finally materialises.
As for the turbo issue….that’s going to cost me £2500 or so! It wasn’t an “immediate failure”, so the warranty company wouldn’t pay out. Guess what, neither will I any more for their B useless warranty! I’ve been stung with something like this before and was in two minds to bother. Needless to say, I won’t be repeating it a third time.
On a happier note, both the Fujica Flash Date and what is the 4th Yashica FX-D I’ve renovated are workers.
The Yashica has come up quite nicely, the metering is spot on and it looks the part with its new blue coat and the matching FX Winder. But I’m sticking with my orange one, so eBay if you fancy dabbling in 35mm film again.
The Fujica I was more surprised with than the Yashica. There’s less information on it to start with, and it doesn’t exactly give you much feedback in use. But the metering seems to be OK, there’s no light fogging where I’ve replaced the light seals and the results are what I’d expect for a, gulp, 50 year old compact camera.
It will probably stick around for a while, I might even attempt a peek inside and see why the flash and the date stamp bit doesn’t want to play.
Nothing has arrived back from the printers yet, so I’m still waiting to see what Volume 2 looks like sporting the new look cover. Another two weeks at least I’d expect.