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COVID Sucks (Stay Fully Vaccinated )

Glad I’m fully vaccinated as my post-Germany COVID symptoms/disease could be lots worse. Took several days to test positive. The infection started with an on/off fever, sore throat, cold-like symptoms, & general malaise. My finger tips tingled for a few hours (immune system must have gone after my nerve myelin)! Two weeks later, my head is congested (ears not at right pressure) and I’ve a minor cough. Get vaccinated & protect yourself. Don’t travel during peak respiratory virus season. Avoid poorly ventilated (we’ve learned… nothing) trains. Still, Germany was pretty great! Photos will be randomly posted.

A positive COVID test results. The lolly-pop BinaxNOW style test.
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#SilentSunday #Deutschland #Berlin A person bundled in winter clothing and a small dog patiently looking up to that person on a snow-covered path in a park with trees, a bench, and a trash can covered in grafiti. It is snowing.

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A Hooded Crow harasses a generally unflappable Kestrel at Berlin Tempelhof. #Fujifilm #Birds 🪶#Deutschland #Berlin In shallow snow, a hooded crow chases after a small brown kestrel. Dead brown weedy plants frame the background. The image is watermarked, Copyright Ryan Mikulovsky

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After two weeks in Germany, Fujifilm’s new XApp was ace for geotags and JPEG transfers to my iPhone. Tips: set custom saved settings' power management to never turn off; wait to transfer at end of the day; geotag backup: use Pedometer++ for GPX, and HoudahGeo to geotag using GPX #Fujifilm

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#SilentSunday #Tempelhof #Berlin #AvGeek A snowy landscape with runway direction signs reading “27” with an arrow pointing left and “09” with an arrow pointing right, indicating runway headings at an airport. The background features a flat horizon with the sun trying to shine through an overcast sky and distant buildings. There’s a crow sitting on a bench in the foreground.

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I’ve been waiting for this compact flight simulator controller for over a year. I’m pretty excited about it. Made in the USA, which for electronics, isn’t easy! #AvGeek #FlightSim #YawManArrow Orders for the Yawman Arrow begin Jan. 8 – Yawman

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Love getting out of the bus at the departure stand. Returning today to SFO from Germany. #Travel #Deutschland #B77W #Fujifilm #AvGeek ✈️

United 777-300 engine on a damp tarmac 777 wheel undercarriage with a man next to them for scale.Front nose gear of the 777 with the aircraft ID of 2143. A bus is driving off on the background.

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Guten Morgen! Yesterday, after arriving at Frankfurt, Germany, we had lunch with jet-lag friendly alkoholfrei Bier. Today, in an hour, we’re catching a train to Berlin. #TravelPhotography Alcohol free beer in a Paulaner hellis glass. At the top corner within a glass window reflection an aircraft can be seen flying over. There’s a Christmas tree in the reflection too!

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My 3-year old 777-300 ride tonight to Frankfurt. SFO gate G9 has decent views of that gate’s aircraft. Lucky me! (Not sarcasm; most gates here are awful for avgeeks) #Avgeek #B77W #Fujifilm United 777-300 parked at SFO gate G9 just as it’s towed in. It’s a cloudy day and the tarmac is wet and shiny.

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On PetaPixel:

“Science Explains The Rainbows That Appear in Hummingbirds' Wings”

https://petapixel.com/2023/12/01/science-explains-the-rainbows-that-appear-in-hummingbirds-wings/

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#SilentSunday It is night in the city where there’s a five story building where the front is only lit up. Small li windows reveal shops are along the dark street. There are a few red unlit Chinese New Year lanterns strung across the street.

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Yellow-Rumped Warbler was on the backyard cultivated Native California Grapes just long enough for this fortunate shot. #Birds #YellowRumpedWarbler #Fujifilm 🪶A Yellow-Rumped Warbler in a grape vine that’s losing its red to brown leaves. The pointy beaked warbler has a yellow neck and chest. It’s gray and white elsewhere. The bird is staring at something off-frame to the left.

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Here’s the turkey that appeared out of a hollow at Point Reyes National Seashore (years ago) and tried to steal our lunch. #Birds 🪶A turkey, showing its side, staring menacingly at the camera. The bird is about waist high and is standing next to a well-worn log. Its beak is bright and sharp.

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Orange-crowned Warblers are back, feasting on dried out grapes. We’ve also observed Yellow-Rumped Warblers in the grapes. #Birds #OrangeCrownedWarbler 🪶 #Fujifilm A yellow bird straddles a thin grape vine among red and yellow grape leaves.

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Snow Geese are back in Northern California. It’s nice living in a fly-way. #SnowGeese #Birds #Fujifilm 🪶Snow Geese fly above in a haphazard V formation. They’re all white with black wing tips. The sky is blue with wispy clouds.

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Walnut trees in Northern California right now. 20 foot or so spaced rows of walnut trees with their bright yellow fall foliage.

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We had a distinguished visitor in our backyard today, hunting at our feeder. This is a Cooper’s Hawk or a Sharp-shinned Hawk. Absolutely stunning. A hawk perched in an elderberry bush. It has rust red bars on its white chest and a dark brown back. Both its yellowish eyes are looking forward toward something off to the photographer’s side.

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Good morning. The time changed so I’m now technically up an hour early but I got the usual hours of sleep. So here’s a likely Savanna Sparrow from the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge A small bird perched in dense brown reeds.

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I’m still amazed how the beta blocker Propranolol means I no longer have a physical tachycardic fight/flight response to normal situations like hobbies, people, and work. Game changer. Makes managing anxiety much easier.

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The Orange-crowned Warbler(s) is/are back! They found our cultivated native California grapes a few years ago and have been back annually. I like to think it’s the same one bird that returns. #OrangeCrownedWarbler #Birds An Orange-crowned Warbler, perched in a grapevine, feasts on a bunch of drying out grapes. The bird is slightly obscured by a grape leaf. The warbler is a brownish yellow with white around its eyes.