What bemused you today?

[Hinfrance]

Internet slow and unable to load French sites this morning. Switched to my UK proxy server, internet super quick and French sites loading just fine. Weird only scratches the surface. 

[Hinfrance]

Just moved the keyboard on my desk to dust the latter and found a very very small slot headed screw, about 1.5mm long. It's not out of my glasses, and I can find anything else on the desk that might have had a screw that small in it. That'll distract me all day now. At least for the next few minutes anyway.

[Reinardina]

Not today, but earlier in the week.

On the bus, I was sitting next to an extremely well groomed young woman.
She was yapping on her mobile, all the way, telling about four fires, that had occurred at her home. Or maybe her parents home. I think she even said she started them.

"And every time we poured water on, it went 'whoosh!'' (Possible chip pan fire?)

"A fireman explained, that if you put a candle under something, like a curtain, or something, it can can get so hot, it bursts into flames."

A very dangerous family to live close too, and also a very lucky family. (They probably live next door to the fire station.)

Or maybe she suffers from Münchausen syndrome?

[jinky]

Went to put breakfast things in the dishwasher today. Looked bad - 6 wine glasses and only one coffee mug. Didn`t even have guests last night. My bad as some seem to say nowadays!

[Alfonso_Frisk]

Yep looking bad. on 2 counts.
Would have took you 2 mins to wash them in a bowl and saved you a quid or so in power etc

[jinky]

Yep looking bad. on 2 counts.
Would have took you 2 mins to wash them in a bowl and saved you a quid or so in power etc

I didn`t say I switched it on! Always fill it right up before the switch on. and to quote "Energy Saving Trust estimate that a household that only washes up by hand will pay around £13 a year more on its bills than one where only a dishwasher is used"

[ABERS]

Given my antipathy to cyclists, which has not improved since the Olympics seems to have made the roads of Surrey a Mecca for every wannabee Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky groups every weekend, this caught my eye today

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25366998

What a load of guff and could only have been written by a cyclist.

However that's not the reason for this post. Taking the premise of deciding if someone is employable by the way they cycle about the place, could the same be applied to photographers and their approach to their hobby? What sort of job would suit a photographer that enjoys tramping around the countryside laden down with a backpack containing three or four bodies half a dozen or so lenses and a tripod for example? In what department would you employ a photographer that produces the same type of picture week after week?

Answers on a postcard please?

[Graham]

Given my antipathy to cyclists, which has not improved since the Olympics seems to have made the roads of Surrey a Mecca for every wannabee Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky groups every weekend, this caught my eye today

   Absolutely right Alan. Far better they be in cars getting fat rather than fit and,of course, in a car your only likely to injure someone else through your inattention rather than just yourself! 

[ABERS]

Given my antipathy to cyclists, which has not improved since the Olympics seems to have made the roads of Surrey a Mecca for every wannabee Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky groups every weekend, this caught my eye today

   Absolutely right Alan. Far better they be in cars getting fat rather than fit and,of course, in a car your only likely to injure someone else through your inattention rather than just yourself! 

Not just getting fit but quite often getting flat due to total lack of road etiquette and non-adherance to road discipline.

[Graham]

Given my antipathy to cyclists, which has not improved since the Olympics seems to have made the roads of Surrey a Mecca for every wannabee Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky groups every weekend, this caught my eye today

   Absolutely right Alan. Far better they be in cars getting fat rather than fit and,of course, in a car your only likely to injure someone else through your inattention rather than just yourself! 

Not just getting fit but quite often getting flat due to total lack of road etiquette and non-adherance to road discipline.

Perhaps it's just where you live Alan. I know London cycle commuting is unlike any other, for example I read lots of comments on Londoncentric cycle forums about "Red Light Jumping", I've never actually seen anyone do that around here (seen loads of cars taking chances though).
   I also hear lots of complaints from cyclists about bad driver attitude, I don't see that either, certainly no more than when I'm driving.
   When I'm cycling I have the same attitude and road sense as when I'm driving and vice versa. I wait in the queue, let traffic out at junctions when I have the opportunity and so on.
   I can't but help regarding blanket criticism of cyclists in the same way as blanket criticism of  photographers being "Pedos and Terrorists" ie mild annoyance and disappointment.
   As I say perhaps you just happen to live in something of a hotspot.  but 

[oggalily]

As a Surrey-based cyclist I feel like I should chime in here.  I and all of my cycling friends are careful and conscientious.  Despite this we are regularly barraged with abuse by drivers who speed past well in excess of the speed limit and without giving us enough space (half a car's width according to the Highway Code).  Cyclists who flout the rules are a small minority in my experience.  As for the official statistics, it is most often the driver that is at fault in collisions with cyclists, with factors including inattention, speeding, and alcohol impairment.  More detail is here: http://www.rospa.com/roadsafety/adviceandinformation/cycling/facts-figures.aspx

So I too take exception to the inaccurate stereotype.

I'm sure Alan's comments were tongue-in-cheek, and so as not to end on a sour note, I will have a stab at answering your question.  There are photographers who have good people skills, such as portrait/wedding photographers, who would be good in customer-facing jobs; there are some who are into the gear and have a very technical focus, so I guess they would make good engineers / IT practitioners; and those who appreciate the artistry would do well in other creative endeavours.   As for myself, I like the challenge of working to a brief on the comps, from concept to execution; my wife will attest as I was prancing around with my LED headtorch and a blue gel in the garden last Sunday night emulating moonlight for my comp entry.  Does that make me a problem solver? 

[Andrew]

Given my antipathy to cyclists, which has not improved since the Olympics seems to have made the roads of Surrey a Mecca for every wannabee Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky groups every weekend, this caught my eye today

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25366998

What a load of guff and could only have been written by a cyclist.

However that's not the reason for this post. Taking the premise of deciding if someone is employable by the way they cycle about the place, could the same be applied to photographers and their approach to their hobby? What sort of job would suit a photographer that enjoys tramping around the countryside laden down with a backpack containing three or four bodies half a dozen or so lenses and a tripod for example? In what department would you employ a photographer that produces the same type of picture week after week?

Answers on a postcard please?

Hadn't realised that you had antipathy towards cyclists - you've been ok to me 
I do agree though that the report is based on getting to the column in by the deadline and getting her pay check for said commision.

London is a place like no other in the UK for cyclists, and it does require a slightly different strategy, one that does involve a "survivial of the fittest" mentality. I've tried it 3 times - never again, I can walk it.

As for using photography as a yard stick for employment prospects, I think that would be worse than cycling. At least cycling has clearly defined rules on which to base a decision - photography, so far as I can see, has a set of arbitary rules that can be ignored on the basis that "it is art" - and art is only as good as the viewers opinion.

[ABERS]

I was thinking the bloke with that's keen on lugging all his equipment around might be well employed in the loading bay, and the bloke that takes repetitious pictures might do well in accounts.

Those that break or bend the rules are a cert for PR, and those that stick rigidly to the rules are more suited to Personnel, or HR as I believe it's now called.

[jinky]

Inflation at 2.1% - don`t make me laugh. Seems to me governments have got increasingly devious at cooking the inflation books!

[Reinardina]

Being chatted up by a young (good looking!) chap, my daughter's age!

Saw me taking photos, and used that as a 'lead in,' if that's the right expression.