Originally Posted by SharkSkin

Well, I've been a busy boy, lots and lots going on. I have checked in here occasionally since my previous post above but this time I really have been away for a bit.

Photographically, I've been doing lots of stuff. For example, Another Yosemite trip last May:




A trip to Gold country last July(Nevada City/Grass Valley):




Shot some landscapes:


Converted my 8" Dobsonian telescope for astrophotography:


Started shooting some tiny things:


Then some really tiny things(ant, Needle & thread, electric shaver, #11 Xacto blade):





Rebuilt the engine in my Ramcharger, then after getting the smog ***** off my back for good I went from this:


To this(this setup was on the truck when I bought it in the mid-80s):


I shot the historics last year:


And ALMS:





Really though, I haven't been doing a lot of that stuff in the past four months or so. We were looking for the right piece of land to build our log cabin on, and finally decided that gratification would be too delayed for our taste and switched to looking for houses instead. We spent most of our free time last fall house-hunting. The market is wayyy down in our neck of the woods, interest rates are great, and we happened to be in the right place at the right time. We put an offer in on a short sale two days before it was supposed to foreclose -- that was mid-December. Today it closed, we have a new home -- for about 60% of what the buyer paid in 2004. It's too early to schedule a BBQ for my 928 friends, but rest assured there WILL be one.

I had to give up the man-cave for this, but we plan to build one in the next couple of years or so. The house was built in 1993, three years after the '89 Loma Prieta quake and it's built STRONG... 12" slab, 2x6 wall studs and 2x12 rafters & joists. It's about 2,500 sq. ft. on a ridgetop in the middle of 15 acres. There is an adjacent 40-acre parcel that the neighbors have given permission for free access, including trail blazing/maintenance -- the other neighbor(who shot the pic above) has a tractor and I'll eventually be working with him to open up some of the ancient logging roads on the property to connect existing roads/trails to some ~80 miles of remote logging roads in the area. We're kind of sandwiched between Castle Rock State Park and Big Basin Redwoods State park.

It's not the log cabin we dreamed of building, but it will do... Log cabin would have been many years down the road and much more expensive.

For now though, we are breathing a big sigh of relief and strategizing how we will be fully moved by -- what else -- April Fools day!

Here is a shot that my neighbor took from his house and described as a "typical morning on the mountain", mine is on a knoll at the same altitude just out of the frame to the right:


Here is the view from the master bedroom deck:


The view coming up the driveway... carport on the left, house straight back.


Looks toasty...


Future location of man-cave extraordinaire:


One of the roads on the property, this one leads to the well which is a good 250' from the septic:


928 content: My shark in the carport, generator shack is beyond the propane tank. The scenery is a good consolation prize for not having a garage(yet)...


This is from a small clearing a couple hundred feet from the front door... We were relaxing a bit one night after doing some work to prep for an appraisal. I can't wait till I have a tripod and a better camera with me on a night like this!


I'm sure this is going to come in very handy after long days of packing/moving/unpacking all of our crap.


Anyway, thanks for reading this far. I'm about to go under again for at least a month while we get moved, then I'll spend a bit more time around here -- for better or for worse.

Originally Posted by SharkSkin

As best I can.



Hi Rob, good to see you're still around! It's only about 2,000 ft. but it doesn't get much higher than that on the peninsula. I think Saratoga Gap is about 2500 feet.

Originally Posted by blau928

Greetings Mr. Anderson,

Good to hear and see you're still around in 928 land.. (I was also gone for a bit..) Congrats on the house, and great pixx..!

I still have my 928 in addition to a new child that is cousin of the Hackett Gulf car in your pic..

I'm going to trailer my 928 to Bill's SITP in Berkeley on Saturday.. You should come by and say hello.. Eons have passed since we last had a beer.....

Originally Posted by bronto

Ah, for some reason I thought you were in the Sierras.

Originally Posted by SharkSkin

I am planning to try and make it. At the moment, no reason I can't. You're right, it's been too long. I'm really interested to see what you've been cooking, and to catch up(not just on beers).

Originally Posted by SharkSkin

I'm really glad you found the info useful. I mentioned in one of the earlier pages that the point was to give back to the community. Succeeding here and there -- priceless...

So we're similar age then. Stephen is around the same age as well, and grew up in NorCal. Born and raised in the bay area myself, and while there were some tough times along the way I always figured it would be tougher to come back than to stay when prospective employers tried to lure me away.

Originally Posted by SharkSkin

Thanks Stephen. You know what they say, one door closes another opens.

Originally Posted by granprixweiss928

Hi Dave, great to meet you yesterday. Quite the (house) project you have there!

Originally Posted by jinmcvb

Btw tell us what shooting settings and lenses you used!

Originally Posted by S4ordie

Yo Dave! Good to see you back in this part of the internet. We missed you. Great project. I thought I had been making good progress on the 1970's solid block house fixer-upper/wallet-emtpyer. I am humbled by all the work you and your wife have accomplished. If you ever get near the Valley of the Sun, let me know. Got's plenty of room for guests in the Casita.