Friday, July 17, 2020

Gimp

With retirement I've been looking at money leaks and damn there are a lot of them. None are big, most under $10 USD a month  but when all are put together there is enough to buy several BF of lumber every month. One of the biggest single is the Adobe subscription. I have the full Creative Suite, it is a great set of programs and back in the day a needed set. Today not so much, over the next few months I'll be learning "Gimp", instead of $30 USD a month it is free.

Speaking of gimp, I am one. Yesterday morning I got out of bed a little quickly and lost blood pressure to my brain. While I did not lose consciousness I lost control of my balance and fell on my right ankle. After a visit to the local Urgent Care I know the ankle is not broken but there is a bad strain and holly hell it hurts when I put any weight on it. That's the bad news, the good is my office chair will roll thru all the doors and down the halls. It's not as good as a wheel chair but close. The other good/bad news is MsBubba is still in Oregon. It would be nice to have a helping hand and she would but she is a slave driver. As it is, it is just Sweet Maggie Dog and myself and the only thing I need to do is reach for the doggie treats and feel sorry for myself.

I doubt there will be much wood working for the next few weeks, other than maybe a lot of cutter sharpening once I can stand up. By that time I will likely go back to work for a few months. MsBubba will not return to Tucson until October at the earliest so I might as well get a couple or three paychecks. I kinda want to get a new bandsaw before all the money goes away and a new dust collector would be nice as well. I had planed on retiring at the end of the year before the current unpleasantness came along, I may stick to that schedule. 

Be careful out there, wear you mask and don't stand up too quickly,

ken

19 comments:

  1. Oh I know all too well the fun of dropping BP when getting up too quickly..Beta blockers :-) That was part of my decision when I retired. The new Physical test they introduced to prove each year that you are in somewhat fighting shape, was to assume push up position, when whistle blow, spring up quickly and run until next whistle and drop down as before. Advance to cover they called it. Wow, the dropping down part no problem, the spring up and run while trying very hard to not loose your balance and go in a semblance of a straight line is kinda trickier :-) So I figured, time to retire, getting too old to prove I can still fight :-) Its a young man sport I tell you.

    Bob, who like wise is left alone with the dogs for a few days.

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    1. Bob,

      As posted before, getting old sucks.

      I'm glad MsBubba is in Oregon, this one will take longer to heal than her ability to care. I have to admit, I'm not a ball of laughs right now and would be a complete PITA to live with. The only thing I really need her for is to take Maggie for walks, that will have to wait until I can hobble around the block.

      ken

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  2. Hi Ken

    Sorry to read about your strained ankle. Often what annoys me the most when I am injured is the boredom of having to watch TV instead of being in the shop.

    I hope that Maggie will comfort you.

    Brgds
    Jonas

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    1. Jonas,

      Good to hear from you, how long is your ship in dry dock?

      She does a pretty good job of laying her head on my lap and giving me the "doggie eyes". Of course what she really wants is a treat not so much to comfort me :-).

      ken

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  3. Steve D9:32 AM

    Earlier in the summer I was doing something outside with a spokeshave and pulled out the diamond stones rather than go inside to keep sharpening.

    Those plastic adirondack chairs have a wide flat arm that worked out pretty well for holding the stone in a good position. Very comfortable with good line of sight.

    Would be another story with oil or waterstones but I got my work done without a lot of stair climbing.

    I've downloaded Gimp a number of times over the years. The concepts are the same but the workflow seems a bit different. Of course books and podcasts on how to do photoshop are all over, not so much with Gimp.

    If you are just doing exposure corrections you won't have any trouble adjusting. I have extremely limited exposure to both programs and need cookbook solutions when I need something. I usually used photoshop elements, which was cheap and basic. If you have the skill to use photoshop fluently, adjusting to Gimp may be easier.

    I find that the better I am at complicated software (and the older I get) the less good I am at adjusting to something similar but different.

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    1. Steve,

      I've used Gimp before and it is a good program. The current addition is very good. The work flow is different and at first is a pain but the end is close enough to the same to not matter. What surprised me when I started looking was just the shear volume of leaks and how much money it was each month.

      As a friend once said "Hatch you don't like your money very much", problem is he was correct, now MsBubba being Scottish is another story.

      ken

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  4. Sorry to hear about your injury, Ken. You need to be more careful with MsBubba away. After all, someone needs to keep Sweet Maggie Dog entertained. On the other hand, she probably finds the sight of you rolling an office chair around the house and hopping about on one leg hilarious. Please post video!
    Stan

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    1. Stan,

      As I was laying on the floor that was my first thought other than damn that hurt. It was 0300, just Maggie Dog and I in the building and I'm on the floor, not sure if I can get up, not really sure I can get to a phone, naked as a jaybird, thinking this is a fine mess you got us in now.

      It really is kinda funny rolling around on an office chair with just one leg to push it. Of course Mags is using it to get more treats.

      ken

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  5. Ken, I hope Maggie dog is able to walk herself with you laid up. I hate the "monthly subscription" model that most software companies have gone to. Much preferred the one-time purchase. Another money grab under the guise of allowing you to get the most up-to-date releases. Rrrrr!

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    Replies
    1. Matt,

      She is good about staying home and our back garden is fenced. Just wish I could figure out a way to hook her up to the chair so she could walk me.

      Most of the time I will not do the subscription thing, but photoshop and lightroom being photoshop and lightroom I did it. Today I'm not heavy into using either so I expect Gimp and Darktable will take care of my needs.

      Delete
  6. I'm a GIMP user too. After a while you'll get used to it.
    May you have a fast recovery!
    Be safe and take care

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    1. Antonio,

      Thanks, it can't be fast enough, the last couple of days seem like months :-).

      I'm not a heavy user anymore, make it a right sized jpeg and a unsharp mask is about it. Gimp can do those just fine.

      ken

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  7. I have an iPad and use Procreate. It's not free but for $7, is an amazing value.

    I had a dropping BP episode seven years ago. I woke up needing the bathroom really badly, jumped out of bed and passed out a body length short of the frame and panel door of the bathroom. I fell face first like a tree and my chin caught on the bottom rail, wrenching my head backwards. I woke up in excruciating pain and had neck pain for a couple years but I felt lucky not to be a paraplegic. Stay hydrated kids!

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    1. Paul,

      That is about the level of image manipulation I need anymore. At one time that wasn't so and Photoshop was worth every penny. Not any more.

      Your story sends chills. We were both lucky. Part of what wasn't fully said, 0300 in the morning, only Maggie and I in the house, MsBubba in Oregon and not expected back for months (we are not very "clingy", when she is gone like this we may not talk for several days in a row), with Covid19 there is no reason for anyone to come to the house, and I'm retired at least until August and not expected to be anywhere. It could have been disaster, instead I was very lucky and will just gimp around the house for a week or two. No harm no foul.

      Life can change in the proverbial heartbeat.

      ken

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  8. I love GIMP, very powerful. You need to get used to it but when you do it rocks! If you look for a lightroom free alternative you may try RawTherapy or also DarkTable if you are on linux.

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    1. Lionel,

      Almost any program is overkill with what I'm doing with photos today. Take it with my phone (haven't used the camera in ages), size it to fit emails and the web, unsharp mask then save as a .jpeg. Doesn't take much to do than. I'm on a Mac but they all work with the Apple OS.

      ken

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