And Mr. Smith Leaves Washington, DC

Today is my last day in Arlington, VA Washington, DC.

Movers came yesterday and picked up everything that we packed.

J and I had one great and last dinner with a very dear friend/colleague from her department -- Korean BBQ! We had one last toast together and to our friend.

We vacuumed, washed, scrubbed, and dusted (not necessarily in that order) our apartment.

We threw away tons of goodies and foods from Trader Joe's, the Korean market, etc.

We slept on the floor last night because the movers took our bed.

I hit my head on the side view mirror of the mover's truck leaving a 2-inch cut that bled for some time. Yeah, that was stupid of me.

I have no cable TV, but I still have internet access.

Our 80-year-old next door neighbor was sad to see us go, but insisted that J and I finally get married.

We have a few more things to do, final packing, and some more trash to throw away this morning.

We'll have our last lunch here, maybe at the local diner -- the same one that we went to the first night J arrived for her job at "that school" in Fairfax. It's seems fitting that we begin and end there.

After lunch, we'll hit the road driving for about 2-3 days to our first stop at Wichita, KS to see J's family. Her mom's cooking is to die for! And I'll get to shoot pool with her father who is pretty good opponent. After 2-3 days of resting and recuperating, we'll make our way for 6.5 hours to our final destination at Grinnell, IA.

That's it. =D

Photowalking

On Sunday, I took my new Nikon S51 camera out for a run to see what it can do. I decided on the National Air & Space Museum because ... well ... I haven't been there for about several years now. I tested as many features and settings as possible from macro zoom, panoramic shots, white balance, ISO, battery life, ease of handle, shutter speed, shots in a museum with poor lighting, outside on a cloudy day, evening shots, objects in motion ... in short, EVERYTHING. I even got the chance to use the video camera function. You can check out my photos here.

The verdict? Overall, a really great "point-and-shoot" camera; absolutely no fussing about the controls or settings. Most of the shots were done automatically. At first it was awkward to handle the camera; it's the smallest thing I've ever handled, but after some negotiating it was no problem at all. I was very impressed with the anti-vibration technology which made shooting extremely easy. Check out the video below because I know I was bumped by a kid and it never registered on the camera. The evening shots were impressive though there was a distinct bluish-hue even though it was quite dark. I'm wondering if that's due to the ISO setting or the lens itself or whatever it is that captures the colors of the image. Not a big problem. But the one annoyance is the battery life. I took over 100 shots and believe me I could've went for more considering how this camera made photography so easy. But after relatively average use, my battery conked out a little before 2.5 hours. That's not enough time considering I wanted to do some evening/night shots and I have a 2 gig memory card. 100 photos is a mere dent so I'll definitely need to get an extra battery. Other than that, it's a great camera; very flexible, easy-to-use, and extremely compact which is a relief from my old Sony DSLR and my now ancient Nikon EM SLR from my childhood. I am definitely loving it!

On a side note, as I was shooting the Lunar Lander, I overheard what sounded like a Filipino docent leading a tour group. I turned to confirm my suspicions and there he was. An elderly Pinoy comparing NASA and the European Space Agency. For one, I don't see that many minorities leading a tour group, but what really caught my eyes and ears was that he was hilarious!!! I decided to check out the video mode on my camera and record a part of his talk. I just used the lowest resolution because I was unsure of the capacity and impact of video mode on the battery life. But I wish I could've recorded more because he really did add flair to the tour.