u/96dpi

First I just want to say that we are very lucky and privileged compared to many other families, and this is not a pity post or me trying to gain sympathy. There were many gaps in my preparedness and I wanted to share so everyone could hopefully learn from it.

We had a storm that knocked a large tree branch off a large tree, which then fell onto some power lines, which cracked a utility pole in half, which took out power for hundreds of nearby homes, and it also took out part of our fence. We knew about that tree branch and we talked about how "that thing is going to fall one day and take out those power lines", and we talked about how good of an idea it would be to remove it proactively. Well, here we are. Mistake #1 (probably) could have prevented a huge amount suffering for a lot of people. I feel terrible about this and honestly I am nervous to post this incase one of my neighbors is reading.

Mistake #2 was not having a backup for cell/data service. Cell towers were either knocked out or totally overwhelmed for the first 2 days of the outage. I couldn't contact my wife (who was at work) immediately after the storm at all. Zero service for the first 24 hours, very spotty service for the next 2-3 days.

Mistake #3 was not having a generator in time. I'm currently typing this on my laptop that's being powered by a generator that I purchased in the middle of this power outage from a Home Depot that (thankfully) got an emergency shipment of generators. A generator was always something on my list, but I never pulled the trigger on it, and now I was forced to settle for whatever brand was available that I could physically move in and out of my small hatchback.

I did have one good experience from my preparedness. I was able to fashion a tent for my generator out of some tarp and rope that I kept for emergencies. It's been raining basically every day since the storm, so keeping the generator dry while running it is a must. It's not very strong though, another decent storm will blow it right over like a sail. Oh, I also had plenty of cold beer, so that was nice.

I see it in the comments on ATK recipes, I see it on Reddit, and I've seen it on Facebook. I've seen it so much that I'm starting to think maybe there is an actual reason for using it. What's the deal?

Asking for my spouse, in case you're confused about my post history.

Just prioritizing low pedestrian traffic and ease of navigation within the station and this looks like a good option. What kind of neighborhood can I expect in this area? Looks like a business district so probably quiet at night?

I'll be traveling to Tokyo and I want to buy a vintage film camera, since I will be in what is basically the Mecca for vintage film cameras. I have been shooting digital on & off for over 20 years, I am very comfortable with the "theory" side of things, and I understand how to shoot in manual mode. None of this is a brag, I'm just explaining that I understand the relationship of film speed, aperture, and shutter speed.

I know basically nothing about film cameras, and even less about vintage film cameras. I haven't used one since the early 90s. In the limited research I have done, I am leaning towards the Olympus OM-1 camera with a 50mm 1.4 lens. I understand that the viewfinder on this camera is extremely minimal, and only has a very basic light meter. I think I'm okay with that. And I understand that the aperture and shutter speed adjustments are rings near the lens. I am a little worried about this. Is this difference easy to adapt to, or would it be a mistake trying to learn this while shooting film for the first time?

Any other camera recommendations would be great as well! My budget is roughly $300 USD for body + lens.

Edit: *know - typo in title