Pictures... pictures of our pinball face's places from space

[Anthias]

As sibling thread to the faces one, I thought this might be fun. Be sure to remove any identifiers, but show us your place on google earth! I net there are all kinds of places among us.

I'll go first.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

I live just off of a nice little public square. My front doorstep is marked in neon-ish green. I tried (hopefully successfully) to remove all identifying info.

The specific day pictured is a Saturday morning during warmer weather, when the central roads are closed off and a nice (but pricey) farmer's market runs. All the little white boxes are temporary tarp-roofs for the various booths. A little bit later, live bands play on the South lawn until evening. At least, that used to be the case until the pandemic hit. :-/

Btw1,
I went to the public aquarium on Wednesday and noticed a fish there called an "anthias." Relative of yours, perhaps?

Btw2,
Directly in line with this thread idea, here's one of my favorite sets of geo-based games. The flagship game ("World") involves them plunking you down in some part of the world, then you walk around using Streetview in Google Maps until you decide to guess your location. Rather simple but brill concept.

Only thing I don't like is that they added accts and a sign-up in order to play the games, but I guess that was fairly inevitibobble. >bah<

GeoGuessr - Let's explore the world!

GeoGuessr is a geography game which takes you on a journey around the world and challenges your ability to recognize your surroundings.

www.geoguessr.com

 

[StevOz]

Well here's my humble circa 1970 brick and tile, jarrah frame and floor, 3x1, all bought and paid for, should see out to my dying day.

It's close to everything, the train station is within walking distance, so is the fish n chip shop and an IGA. That said, I usually ebike it to the local Coles where the local tavern also is, a nine-minute ride away.

 

[Anthias]

Looks like a nice place to be!
That fish is my cousin. Haven't spoken to him in a while, his heavy drinking kind of got to be too much to deal with.
Definitely will check out that game :)

 

[Anthias]

StevOz, sounds like its well placed! I have 25km trip to shops.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

...I usually ebike it to the local Coles...

I wonder if I can get your opinion some time on ebikes.

I was thinking about converting one of my bikes that way, but got a bit overwhelmed by the various systems & flavors of the kits, plus getting the right set of batteries.

It's getting a little late in the season for such a project, but next spring (~March 2022) could work.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Looks like a nice place to be!

Btw, I forgot to add this note--
I live right where the 'burbs meet a major city, and noise is generally pretty unrelenting around here.

Meaning, noisy lawnmowers running every day of the week on the homeowners' side, plus noisy hogs and trikes speeding past, and then every other week, some kind of civic maintenance noise, like re-roofing the train stop or jackhammers digging up some kind of line or pipe, etc on the 'Square' side.

Oof, and guess who's two-most hypersensitive senses are 'noise' and 'smell'? Yeap. Also-- guess who works much of the week on his song-skills & instrument-playing? Yeap, yeap.

Seems like a good quarter of my energy most days is running around opening and closing windows as the noise around me waxes and wanes. Because I'm addicted to fresh air. Indeed-- I think I'd make a really good inhabitant of one of the "Crazy Climber" buildings! (an 80's classic arcade game)

All that bloviated... that's also why I'm kinda jealous of yours' and Steve's living situations. Like, all that delicious peace and tranquility around you, right?

 

[StevOz]

Yeah it's usually rather quiet here most hours, some morning traffic noise, though the birds usually have me awake by then with their sunrise singing.

Also my house is just up the road from the dead centre of town, very quiet at the cemetery.

 

[StevOz]

@Isaac Sauvage

About the ebike, it's my first one I did do hours of online research and decided to go with a new purpose built ebike rather than kit out the old girl, which was/is due for a new chain and sprockets. So something new for a few dollars more than a kit seemed the expedient solution, plus I wanted to try something different as my new ebike is a folding bike, so I can transport it via car boot or train, if or when needs be.

If I was to go to a kit, I'd most likely opt for a rear wheel gear driven hub motor, looking for a complete kit including battery, controller, display and all the bits. Reasons being they are simpler to install and cheaper than a mid-drive kit, they also work independent of the drive train so actually reduce wear and tear on your chain and sprockets, whilst the mid-drive will increase wear. Also, if you have a throttle, you can get home even with a broken chain or gears.

The mid-drives do produce more torque and are more efficient, so are much better uphill, though unless you live in a really hilly area or intend to go mountain biking, that difference is not going to matter much. Also, being in the good ol' US of A you can legally go up to a 750 watt motor which is plenty to steam up most hills at your 20mph limit or 28mph perhaps depending on your state laws.

If I was to buy new, I would most likely opt for the Lectric XP 2.0 over there, seems like a solid bang for buck deal, plenty of reviews on YouTube about that one.

So in finishing here is mine, a Himo Z20 folding ebike, here to be legal our nanny state only allows 250 watts and pedal assist only with a 15.5mph (25kph) cut off limit, you can go faster, though you will only be doing that downhill. So far after 11 months and 2000kms it's all been good with nothing more than a squirt of that chain lube, yes the chain lube is called squirt and really is the best, use it, your chain will last 3 times as long. Also had to adjust the brakes and cables, so nothing major. Basically I can cruise in the 24kph-25kph zone all the time unless I hit a serious hill, then it can slow to 10kph, and I need to pedal, lesser hills or crazy headwinds may slow me to 20kph.

 

[Anthias]

Peace and quiet is nice but I could do without the lawn mowing lol.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

@StevOz,
Ooer, that bike looks lovely.

Looks-wise it reminds me of the folding bike I got my dad during his last years, which was aces, except for being kinda heavy. I guess that was the about the best US$700 could do at the time, though. Do you actually fold up your bike and carry it around with you, or moreso tend to lock it up? (probably a much bigger issue for me than you, my living in a fairly dense urban area)

Anyway, I really appreciate the little guide you wrote me. Everything makes sense (I think), and you've also reminded me that I'll need to double-check my state's laws before pulling the... trigger.

Btw, I thought about getting a dedicated ebike (still might change my mind), but was thinking that a kit might be better, since that way I would theoretically have more ability to mix 'n match components, and also transfer them to a different bike. Oh, and also because I could install the stuff on a junker-looking bike that would get less eyes on it.

 

[StevOz]

@StevOz,
Ooer, that bike looks lovely.

Looks-wise it reminds me of the folding bike I got my dad during his last years, which was aces, except for being kinda heavy. I guess that was the about the best US$700 could do at the time, though. Do you actually fold up your bike and carry it around with you, or moreso tend to lock it up? (probably a much bigger issue for me than you, my living in a fairly dense urban area)

Anyway, I really appreciate the little guide you wrote me. Everything makes sense (I think), and you've also reminded me that I'll need to double-check my state's laws before pulling the... trigger.

Btw, I thought about getting a dedicated ebike (still might change my mind), but was thinking that a kit might be better, since that way I would theoretically have more ability to mix 'n match components, and also transfer them to a different bike. Oh, and also because I could install the stuff on a junker-looking bike that would get less eyes on it.

Never fold it except for demonstration purposes. It does weigh 22.5kgs (50lbs) so you don't want to be lugging it far, it's more for portability via car or train.

So here she is locked up outside the local tavern, not an easy steal.

 

[StevOz]

Actually, here's a pic of my home a couple of years ago when I could not find anywhere else to live...

Camping out at the work shed...

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Actually, here's a pic of my home a couple of years ago when I could not find anywhere else to live...

Camping out at the work shed...

I've always loved 'roughing it' for some reason.

Wish I didn't have this damn disease, because I'd have loved to have spent more time on the road, camping, and sometimes resorting to solutions like this.

I had this ex from college... I caught up with her again in the Facebook era, and she told me that a few years after we'd broken up, she'd gone to England for various reasons and wound up being homeless. So she found some kind of wilderness situation and made herself a kind of tent-house by bending a bunch of tall branches in to these U-shapes I think it was, then using smaller branches as cross-insulation/support. IIRC she lived in that situation maybe two years or so in English weather, begging and doing odd jobs.

You could have bowled me over with a feather at that point, as she'd been a fairly typical suburban gal when I first met her. Score one for the gals and suburbanites, I guess.

 

[Anthias]

I keep this place by the skin of my teeth. We have a big tent we scored several years ago when it was looking bad on the insistance of my (then soon to be) wife, so that if we lost the house we could pitch the tent by the river. She's never gone camping a day in her life, and she was willing to accept that fate to stick by me. I count myself pretty damned lucky. We both want to leave this backwater latrine, but there's nowhere else on earth you can own a big house on a big block for $130 a week mortgage. And real jobs don't pay escape wages - what's with that?

 

[StevOz]

I actually liked camping out in the shed at work, nice and quiet, in the middle of the golf course. I was forced out when some club golf members found out after I prevented a break in overnight. You would think they would be thankful to have free overnight security, but no...rather pissed off about that. Dumb imagined liability argument, never mind I had worked in that shed for over 18 years without incident, ended up having to rent a room at the backpackers for $210! a week, terrible place to live.

Happy to own my own place now, finding and living in rental accommodation was a nightmare for a lowly paid worker in a rich coastal holiday town.

In keeping with the thread, a shot of my lounge room.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

I keep this place by the skin of my teeth. We have a big tent we scored several years ago when it was looking bad on the insistance of my (then soon to be) wife, so that if we lost the house we could pitch the tent by the river. She's never gone camping a day in her life, and she was willing to accept that fate to stick by me. I count myself pretty damned lucky. We both want to leave this backwater latrine, but there's nowhere else on earth you can own a big house on a big block for $130 a week mortgage. And real jobs don't pay escape wages - what's with that?

Wow, I just looked at the map and you're pretty far inland, aren't you? I think all the other Aussie's I've met are from the coast.

Looks like the right place to do some online work, eh?

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Just for fun, here's a picture of the "armatron" I built from milkcrates, heavy rocks, stretch-cables and wood scrap. I had it in storage for a long time until just recently, when my projector developed problems. Now it sits lower, next to my living room couch, and a wireless mouse and keyboard round out the deal.

After I get my projector working again (knock on wood), I'll prolly keep using this little rig when I'm alone, since the special Epson bulbs ain't cheap, and because the knock-off versions are all over the place in terms of quality.

Btw, @Anthias, I linked over to this thread from the main 'pinball faces' thread since they're pretty well related. Thanks again for starting this one up.

 

[Anthias]

Hey, looks like that thing works pretty well. And yeah, way too far inland. I miss the ocean like crazy. Should never have moved out here.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Hey, looks like that thing works pretty well. And yeah, way too far inland. I miss the ocean like crazy. Should never have moved out here.

Is there a story behind the move?

 

[Anthias]

Is there a story behind the move?

I moved for a teaching job. I'm not a teacher any more...

 

[GeorgeH]

Here is my place. The box shaped thing in the back is a patio cover.

Nic's monitor stand reminds me of the one I use for my iPod. It is nice for reading ebooks in bed. It is really good quality. The brand is Levo. It probably doesn't have enough weight in the base for a monitor though it is heavier than it looks.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Nic's monitor stand reminds me of the one I use for my iPod. It is nice for reading ebooks in bed. It is really good quality. The brand is Levo. It probably doesn't have enough weight in the base for a monitor though it is heavier than it looks.

Foof, that's sweet. Indeed, I need to figure something like that out for my wireless keyboard.

Right now it's completely awkward where to lay the keyboard when not in use. And then, when it -is- in use, the keyboard's laying flat on my torso, and I can't really see it. So as a non-touch typist, I'm constantly mistyping things and getting irritated.

Some kind of standing affair like yours that rolled and swiveled would be really nice. It's a little too articulated for me to try to build by hand, so something out of the box would be nice. Just need to do some searches online and see if there's anything that's good and priced nicely...

 

[StevOz]

Nice armatron, Nic, nessesity, the mother nature of invention.

Looks nice and tidy there @GeorgeH which reminds me, I really need to get the mower out soon.

Now for a shot of a cool water feature I came across a few weeks ago. You can give it a good push, and it spins for ages, well over an hour or so.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Wow, you have one of those water balls in your area, Steve? I've been seeing footage of them for years, but still haven't met one in person. Some of them in the courtyard of various institutions are apparently MASSIVE, yet they apparently spin with the lightest touch.

Not sure I'd be able to tear myself away, so maybe it's for the best I haven't found one yet!

Funnily enough, just today I took a walk to the nearby antique store row, and discovered a newish blacksmith / glass-blowing shop. Evidently they're more of a place that offers classes than a place in which you can commission work (not 100% on that, tho).

If there's a drawback to the classes, it's that most of the glass-stuff in particular (they make you choose an object to create from a list) looks pretty kitschy and lame to me. Still, I'm sure it's a pretty great experience, and maybe it would be worth the money to make my own planetary globe, or... pumpkin?