The Story of How I Burned My Arm + A WARNING!

WARNING: Cleaning with vinegar could be dangerous. I learned this the hard way. 

This is the story of how I burned my arm cleaning with vinegar.

Not long ago I decided to clean my microwave. The usual way I do this is to take my 2 cup glass measuring cup and put some water in it, nuk it for a little while, and let the steam loosen the gunk. Then I wipe it clean, done. I had heard that adding vinegar to the water would help get rid of any odors so I thought, why not, I'll give it a try. Bad idea.

Like usual, I put some water in my measuring cup, then I  added in a little vinegar and started microwaving it. (I think I set it to 2 minutes maybe). After the timer went off I opened the door and took the water out. Just as I got out it popped (like exploded is more like it) and splashed the scalding water/vinegar all over my arm (and even on my face). It was lucky that Ariana wasn't right there because I screamed and threw the measuring cup down.

It started burning so I ran it under some water. I started turning a bright red and you could see where the splash landed. It wasn't pretty. I had planned to go out with some girlfriends that night for a dinner and a movie for a rare girls night out. But since I burned my arm less than 2 hours before I was suppose to meet them, I had to cancel and stay in. I put aloe gel on it and wrapped it up. Took some pain relievers and had a glass of wine and the pain subsided.

I have never heard of vinegar and water causing a weird reaction like this when microwaved. In fact I had read here, here, here, here, and here  (to name a few) that it was a good cleaning method. None of them had a caution warning. I don't know if this has happened to anybody else or not, but it happened to me so I'm sharing this story.

Please be careful. Please share this information with others.

The photo above was taken 4 hours after it happened.  Luckily for me my arm has healed pretty well. My skin was red for a while and then a month later it finally peeled and healed completely and you can barely see where it was now.

Broken Macro Lens = Tears

This is the story of how my lens got broken.

A little while back this happened. It was a sad sad day in my house. This is my 105mm micro lens.

It was a chilly day at the end of January and I decided this was a good day to go outside in the backyard and try to get some macro photography of the little snowflakes falling on the grass. I got my camera ready, checked the battery, changed to my macro lens, and set it up on the tripod so that I could get low in the grass and keep it steady. I have to stop right here and say that usually I just hold it in my hand and try to keep it steady. But, for some reason I was shaky that morning, so I went with the tripod in hopes of getting clearer images. I set it all up by the back door and went around the corner to get my jacket and rain boots on. 

All of a sudden, I heard a huge crash from the kitchen. I freaked out and ran in there. My camera was on the floor. Since I wasn't actually present when it fell, this part of the story is just from my assessment of the situation. The macro lens is pretty heavy and had caused the camera to lean forward a little bit, just enough to cause the tripod to tip over from the adjustment. And my camera went down, lens first.

I was so upset. 

I ran in there mumbling "no, no, no" under my breath and hoping nothing was broken.

But it was broken. 

It had fallen onto our hard tile floor and now was sporting horrid cracks in the front glass.

The good news is that we have insurance on my lens. The problem was, I couldn't send it to a Nikon company in the USA, I had to get it done in Germany. There is no Nikon repair service near me so I had to mail my baby off. Let me say this whole process of fixing it has taken way too long. I'm still waiting on the repairs to be completed and I'm starting to get frustrated with the slow communication with the service center. I can't get the insurance to cover it without some paperwork from them and they haven't gotten it to me yet.

But, hopefully I'll have it back in my hands soon. Preferable before I fly over to the states for a few weeks. I leave in less than 2 weeks.

The Story of how I became Obsessed with a Falcon

Between our village and the village next to ours, there lives a bird. A big bird. A big brownish bird who I get a glimpse of every now and then driving back and forth to and from our house. I see him perched in the trees by the cow fields or sometimes circling above it. I always think to myself, "Wow, I want to take your picture." I started calling him "the hawk" and I'm pretty sure my husband didn't believe me. I would always see him when I was alone. He was sneaky.

I started taking my camera in the car with me all the time in case I saw him. Then one day I did! I was driving along and suddenly around the bend there he was sitting on a fence post across the road from me. Literally 15 feet away. He flew away before I could stop and get his photo, but I knew it would be my goal. I would snap a shot of him, whatever he was before the summer was over. I became obsessed with finding him.

Finally, it happened. It was about midday and Ariana and I were coming home for lunch, when there he was. He was sitting in the field on a long stretch of road and nobody was coming either way. I quickly pulled over and whipped my camera into action. As soon as he saw what I was planning, he took to the air, but I was able to get a pretty awesome shot of him in all his glory.

I've looked him up and decided I think he's a Peregrine Falcon. And he is beautiful!

My new goal for the summer is to get more/better shots of him! And also to get some pretty photographs of the deer I sometimes see, but I'm pretty sure that's going to be MUCH harder.