Urrrgh, sorry for the delay, folks, I’m not well. Not drastically unwell, just lacking energy and stamina. I’m not sure what’s wrong. I’m very weak and wobbly, in danger of falling – but I haven’t (except for the one on 9 July). I have to stay near benches and things, to touch and hold on to (not onto). I need to keep my phone always within reach in case I need to call for help. One good thing is that I have a falls alarm now, provided by the government. That’s good, because I looked into buying one in the past and they’re about $400 – $500, too rich for me, and I didn’t think I needed it. This one has cost me $zero.

I also have a new “rollator”, also government provided. That’s the four wheeled thing with handlebars and a seat that you push around. I’m afraid I need it all the time now.

The alarm is a very clever device. It’s essentially a phone in a teardrop shaped device that hangs around your neck. It’s pre-programmed with three numbers.

If you fall, it detects the sudden decelleration and announces “Fall detected.” It waits a pre-set time to give you time to cancel the alarm if you wish, or on the other hand, you can press the button in the center to trigger the next steps.

If you let it go on, it calls the first of three numbers that you’ve nominated. It only rings the number for ten seconds so as not to let the call go through to voice mail at the other end.

If the first person doesn’t answer, it goes to the second, same procedure, then the third. If no-one answers, it calls 000 for the ambulance. You can talk to the other end by a built-in microphone.

It’s yet another thing that needs battery charging. This is getting tedious. I’ve got so many cameras that need charging these days that they tend to be neglected.

I’ve triggered the fall alarm twice now, once because I threw it onto the side cabinet without thinking, and the second time because I was fiddling with the buttons and got confused.

My three numbers are first, my brother, but he’s an hour’s drive away. Second is a younger guy (50s I think) with whom I used to work. And third is my next door neighbour. I’d better tell her!

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OK, speaking of my Contax G1 and G2 cameras, they’ve been dormant for several years due to the cost of their CR2 lithium ion batteries. But Amazon were running a special on them (the batteries) recently, so I jumped in and ordered a dozen (both cameras and the flash use two batteries each, six in all). Now, I’ve got the cameras and the flash powered up and if I had any film, I could start shooting. But the cost of film! For a 36 exposure Kodak Gold print film, $15.95. For Fuji Velvia slide film, my preference, $36 approx. And in all cases, that’s before processing and scanning to CD or thumb drive. Shooting film, although it’s regaining popularity, is hugely expensive.

The other point is that the viewfinder of the G2 has developed a fault. It’s all optical, of course, it’s not an electronic viewfinder. The camera has a clever arrangement where a prong on the back of the lens moves a mechanism in the body which shifts something to give you the correct framing for the focal length of the lens that you’re fitting.

But on this G2 body, the frame shifting is not happening, meaning the viewfinder is half-obscured, with a shadow on the RHS, and it doesn’t change when you fit a different focal length lens. I assume the framing mechanism has become stiff, or stuck, due to lack of use. I hope I can fix it myself, because I doubt there would be anyone in Perth with the training and skills to do this any more. Contax went out of business in about 2006. Booger.

I bought these on a trip to Singapore around 2004 when I was feeling quite flush with funds from my job payout. Singapore is a gold mine as far as I’m concerned for second hand cameras. I used to just love looking in the windows and drooling.

Anyway, because digital cameras were in their infancy then, I figured I could always sell these cameras in Perth and probably recoup more than I’d paid for them. Hah! Wishful thinking, in retrospect.

So on that trip I bought the G1 and G2 bodies, along with the 28mm, 35mm and 90mm lenses, and the TLA20 flash. It’s all beautifully designed in titanium. I also found, in Perth, an aluminium case in anodised bronze that I’ve always intended to make into a fitted case. But cutting foam was always my problem. I’ve since bought a hot wire cutter, but not used it yet. Must get onto it.