Wow, that was quick! I wrote yesterday about the Shoten lens adapter that I ordered from China only five days ago (I think), and it arrived today, just now. Amazing. This is fast delivery.

And the packaging! It was like a Russian Doll, about which more in a minute. I used to have one of these, which I thought was called a Matrioshka doll, you know, those egg-like dolls that consist of five or six dolls in wooden shells of decreasing size.

This lens adapter arrived in an Australia Post yellow and white soft plastic bag – layer 1.

Inside that was a black padded bag with a sticky flap. Layer 2

Inside that was a box wrapped in bubble wrap and bound with sticky tape. Layer 3

Inside that was the cardboard box marked with the Shoten logo. Layer 4

Inside that was a hard square plastic box with a small latch. Layer 5

Inside that was a thick brown cotton draw string bag containing the converter. Layer 6

Inside that was another plastic bag covering the converter. Layer 7

Finally! But trouble so far: the camera shutter won’t fire and the autofocus only works once in a while. Plus the Micro 4/3 adapter I mentioned is on the 90mm Sonnar and I can’t get it off. Grrrr.

There’s a fairly detailed instruction sheet (both sides of an A4 sheet) so I’d better re-read that thoroughly before I jump up and down. I seem to remember they specified a range of Sony cameras tha the adapter will fit and work with. I wonder if I’m expecting it to work with an unsupported model. I’d better sort this out quickly while I still have the chance.

The body that I planned to buy eventually, if this works out, is the A6600, but that costs A$2,250 body only. I won’t buy it on spec.

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I got a strange delivery in the letterbox yesterday – a flyer asking me to condemn the Chinese Communist Party, the CCP. When you open it, there’s a well printed double sided A4 sheet about Falun Gong and how great it is. The main sheet is an A3 folded into a booklet and is well designed and printed on semi-gloss paper. A pro job.

Why me? Has someone noticed that I’m getting a lot of parcels from China?

To be honest, I am in great agreement – the Chinese Communist Party is a pile of shit, a military dictatorship which is going to lead us into war one day. They are committing acts of genocide and torture in XinJiang on the Uighurs. They trample over human rights.

They broke their agreement on Hong Kong. They are jailing demonstrators without justification. They suppress free speech. They copy and steal Western designs. They cannot be trusted. They lie, cheat, steal. They are annexing territory and when challenged and ruled wrong by the International Court, they tell the world to go to hell. China is going to be the death of us. I condemn them in the strongest terms.

All this means I haven’t disposed of these flyers. I’ll read them closely.

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I’ve just been shopping and for once I used the self-serve checkout. I hate these things but i wanted to get through quickly.

I soon found reason for my dislike – three or four items were markdowns, short dated items, but the yellow bar code stickers were poorly printed and wouldn’t scan. They were all the same, obviously from a bad printer. I put them aside, waiting for an assistant, but when I’d scanned everything else, there was no sign of any help, so I paid and took the bad label items with me. If they don’t do their job, I’m not going to chase them. Not the right attitude, I know, but …

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I’m not feeling very well. I’m so weak that I can hardly hold myself up. My back muscles hurt like hell. I’m groaning with every movement. I’ve booked a doctor appointment but the earliest I can get in is Friday afternoon. I’m going to lie down now.