First, I would like to thank Lloyd, the Heritage Hotel manager, who has accepted to let me do this photo shoot with Isabella at the hotel.

My theme: Travel and Solitude

Location of Chapter 1: Old KTM railway station in Kuala Lumpur and the Heritage Hotel

I arrived Saturday morning at 9:00 AM at the hotel; set my lighting up, turned around not less than 3 times to decide where I will take the pictures. I got a bad surprise when I get there ... I wanted to shoot Isabella on the balcony, with at her back the KTM building; unfortunately, they haven't removed all the Malaysian flags yet from the Merdeka celebrations. I have nothing against the flag, but it did not really fit into the themes for my pictures. Nevermind, I will have to choose the right angle.

So, I brougth my studio lighting, stands, 2 senses and my new flash; this was a bit risky. I received it on Thursday. No much time to try it.

We started the session around 10 am and finished before 1 pm.

So, to my colleagues who saw me entering or leaving the hotel with a young and beautiful woman...  sorry, no need to run into my wife's office; she is aware and agreeable ;-)

I had two challenges during this session:

1- The pictures in the staircases, with just the flash, in term of lighting. Some shadows appeared where I was not able to bring my backlight.

2- It the train station by itself. This new flash METZ Mecablitz 58 AF-1 digital E-TTL II is very nice, but killed my battery in 1 hour. No choice, I will have to buy the Power-Pack 76. I finished the session with a few blur pictures taken at 1/8 s. Powerful flash needs powerful battery. By the way, it's very easy to use.

Hey, let's not forget the most important person of this photo shoot ... Isabella. Very good model, she knows what to do even before you ask her. I wanted a model who was able to give me sad expressions... she was perfect. Just do not ask her to smile! Sad ... She looks naturally sad and beautiful at the same time.

Still a lot to process, but these are my twelve favorite pics...

Let me know what you think about the pictures,

Cheers.

Pictures are small but the Nikko IceBucks have announced their new jerseys for this season. 

Also, the Bucks are collaborating with Tobu railways (which connects Tokyo to Nikko), and will wear special Tobu railway uniforms against Seibu (which is sponsored by the Seibu railways). And special wrap Tobu trains will run between Tobu-dobutsu-koen and Nakameguro, starting in late September.

Preseason finally got under way for the Bucks (latest out of the 7 AL teams) with a 1-3 loss (final goal an emptynetter) today to Seibu who went on an 11 day 6 game training trip to Bayern in Germany late last month.

Railway Recruitment Board (RRB), Ajmer
2010, Nehru Marg, Ambedkar Marg, Ambedkar Circle, Ajmer -305028 (Rajasthan)
Employment Notice No.: 03/2008
Last date : 6th October 2008 (for candidates from far flung areas : 22 October 2008)

RRB Ajmer Invites Applications in the prescribed format from the citizen of India for recruitment to the vacancy at Ajmer Railway Recruitment Board at North Western Railway and West Central Railway. Application should be addressed to The Assistant Secretary, Railway Recruitment Board, 2010, Nehru Marg, Ambedkar Marg, Ambedkar Circle, Ajmer - 305028 (Rajasthan) can be sent via Ordinary Post [ Ordinary Govt Post Not Courier ]. The application envelope should clearly have written - ‘Category No.’, ‘Name of the post’, & ‘Community’. Candidate should submit only one application for one category & post.

Examination Fee : Fees for unreserved and OBC candidate is Rupees. 40/ INR- for posts carrying scales upto Rs. 3050-4590 and Rs. 60/- for posts carrying higher pay scales. Candidates belonging to SC/ST and Ex-servicemen are fully exempted from payment of examination fees. IPOs & DDs Drawn on :- "The Assistant Secretary, Railway Recruitment Board, Ajmer" & IPO's-payable at "GPO, Ajmer" DDs- payable at " Ajmer".

1. Section Engineer : 25 posts, Pay Scale : Rs. 6500-10500, Age : 20-35
2. Jr. Engineer-II : 65 posts, Pay Scale : Rs. 5000-8000, Age : 18-33 years
3. Goods Guard : 54 posts, Pay Scale : Rs.4500-7000, Age : 18-33 years
4. Technician-III (Diesel) : 20 posts, Pay Scale : Rs.3050-4590-9000, Age : 18-30 years
5. ASM : 131 posts, Pay Scale : Rs.4500-7000, Age : 18-33 years
6. Traffic Apprentice : 07 posts, Pay Scale : Rs.5500-9000, Age : 20-33 years
7. Catering Inspector/Manager : 01 post, Pay Scale : Rs. 5000-8000, Age : 18-31 years
8. Ticket Collector : 30 posts, Pay Scale : Rs. 3050-4590, Age : 18-30 years
9. Assistant Loco Pilot : 324 posts, Pay Scale : Rs.3050-4590, Age : 18-30 years
10. Sr. P. Way Supervisor : 28 posts, Pay Scale : Rs.5000-8000, Age : 18-33 years

Complete advertisement and Application Can be Downloaded From HERE

i think i was the last few photographers that went down this old tracks, not long after i visited them, they were removed and sold for their iron value.

There aren't many tall buildings in Brno, and you can hardly call them skyscrapers. This building will probably be the tallest office building in Brno. And I can tell already that I am going to like it.

Good news: people of Brno are coffee nation. There are MANY, MANY stylish coffee places to go in Brno. There used to be one in 1930's called The Savoy that could host 1,000 people at the same time. It was closed down and practically destroyed over the years of communism, when the rooms were used as a cloth and fabric wholesale place [to explain it easily].

The Savoy will reopen this Saturday and the interior is said to be 1930's-esque. Possibly with some hints of functionalism. Photos to be posted if I get in.

An announcement of yet another study into transit for the South of the Fraser has been greeted with an unusually stongly worded response from an Asper newspaper. The study will look at lots of things, apparently, and include the use of the old interurban line but it is not going to report before the election.

You would be right in thinking that this is not sitting well with advocates for Rail of the Valley. Becuase commissioning a study is the easiest way to put off a decision. It gives the impression of activity when in fact nothing changes. Except in this case it looks like the Minister of Transport is acting with indecent haste to get his favourite highway project moving even though he does not yet have the necessary approvals in place or a P3 partner, come to that. Because Kevin Falcon would much prefer to see much more highway oriented development than a change in direction.

There actually is no reason at all for not proceeding now with a demonstration project. This would not be difficult to do - or much more expensive than the consultants. The difficulty for the government of course is that they could not control the outcome. Becuase even if their favoured consultants do surprise them by admitting that there is a case for rail for the valley. it is easy to bury reports - after all, that has been done more than once on this issue. On the other hand if people show that they will actually use a trial project it is much harder to kill the idea.

This government is no longer popular. Unfortunately, the crunch issue seems to be the carbon tax.  And the big pay rise for senior civil servants. Although Campbell's personal rating is low, so is that of Carol James. And when reporting a province wide poll, no attention is paid to local issues. I think it is probably fair to assume that most people south of the Fraser still think that twinning the Port Mann is a good idea - in just the same way that so many Americans are convinced against all the evidence that drilling in hitherto protected areas will help reduce gas prices. But in both cases, the response ought to be - why are we so unwilling to improve the choice that people have? Yes we are currently car dependent - in both the US and South of the Fraser. So of course we are concerned about traffic congestion and gas prices. Those both have immediate impact on individuals and how they think. But people are also well aware that they have been consistently lied to. That there never was any real doubt about global warming - just a campaign of misinformation funded by the oil companies. They will also recall that building the Alex Fraser Bridge did not cure congestion for very long.

At the polls South of the Fraser next year some other issues will surface - that may not reflect widely outside the region but will certainly affect some formerly safe Liberal seats. Delta will not soon forget the TFN treaty, the power lines and the SFPR. North Surrey will also still be smarting, and places like Bolivar Heights will be a warning to those who live along Highway 1. But also the people who have been asking for improved transit for years will still be wondering why, once again, the City of Vancouver's West Side seems to get favoured treatment (the UBC tube train) and the lack of basic transit service in Surrey, Langley and elsewhere is once again put on the back burner - even with threats of service cuts if Translink does not get to dip into their pockets again.

There is going to be a rally in Chilliwack on September 13. I hope to see some of you there. And prior to that a letter to the editor campaign - see www.railforthevalley.com, and click on "Rail For The Valley Campaign" to find instructions and newspaper email addresses.

UPDATE Friday 29 August

Nathan Pachal and Joe Zaccaria talk to the Langley Advance

About this time, i decided to take a trip to southern Spain for a change of scenery for a week or two. … Read more at http://SnapAndScribble.com »

Les amateurs de trains ne sont pas très nombreux, mais il existe de vrais mordus. On peut d'ailleurs acheter des convois qui fonctionnent sur le réseau. Les constructeurs du sim Central Station en sont. Et çà fonctionne pas mal. Bien sûr, en dehors du réseau principal bâti par Linden, il en existe plusieurs autres (voir sur Olive par exemple). Mais Central Station est une réalisation entièrement dédiée au rail et aux locos. Et l'on peut piloter, avec un peu d'entraînement, les engins de BerthusDebacle B ou Bertha Tenk.

]]> http://safetyatworkblog.wordpress.com/?p=390 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:48:37 +0000 Kevin Jones http://safetyatworkblog.wordpress.com/?p=390 One of the most ignored OHS obligations in Australian workplace is to provide safety information in a language other than English. Most workplaces in a multicultural society struggle greatly with this obligation and, more often than not, rely on employees to pass on OHS information to their colleagues in the employee’s language.

This translation is an integral part of a safety management system and needs to be well-considered when developing and operating a system. OHS professionals need to be assured that the correct OHS information is getting to where it is needed and understood at that point.

A recent discrimination case that illustrated these issues occurred in the New South Wales Administrative Decisions Tribunal (Tanevski vs Fluor Australia P/L [2008] 7 August 2008). The tribunal found that Fluor had indirectly discriminated against Mr Tanevski (a Fluor employee since 2003 and with 314 years as a supervisor in rail maintenance) by placing a literacy requirement on him that he was unable to meet and that the tribunal found to be unreasonable.

A safety report had highlighted the “management of low English literacy standards of personnel” as a high priority for improvement. Mr Tanevski had been demoted from his role as a supervisor over concerns about his literacy level in relation to complying with the requirements under its OHS management system. The tribunal found that the company’s concerns were legitimate but unreasonable as

“there was a feasible, low cost alternative which did not involve any increased risk to safety...[to].provide him with training on the new HSE system, instruct him on how to complete the necessary forms and assist him with the duties, such as writing statements and reports, which he was unable to perform”.

In other words, the company needed to support the operation of the safety management system by helping the people who need to use it.

There is also another point to make from an OHS management perspective. Should not the new HSE system have accommodated the known literacy needs of existing employees? Information in the decision says that Mr Tanevski was a five-year employee with the company and there were no concerns with his work performance, indeed testimonials spoke otherwise.

The New South Wales OHS Act 2000 states

“An employer must ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of all the employees of the employer.
That duty extends (without limitation) to the following:...
(d) providing such information, instruction, training and supervision as may be necessary to ensure the employees’ health and safety at work,...”

The Victorian OHS Act is more specific:

“An employer must, so far as is reasonably practicable—...........
(c) provide information to employees of the employer (in such other languages as appropriate) concerning health and safety at the workplace.......”

The rail safety legislation may have obligations specifically to that industry. Both OHS regulators, WorkCover NSW and WorkSafe Victoria, have guidance notes on how to provide OHS information in languages other than English. WorkSafe Victoria also lists the language needs of employees as a necessary element in any OHS training needs analysis.

The Tanevski case may also have been dealt with by WorkCover NSW but that the issue came up through legal action on discrimination in a non-OHS tribunal, illustrates that OHS professionals cannot rely only on information provided by the OHS regulators.

I just got the mail stating all this information from Indian Railways Tourism Department and thought of sharing with you. With this what you think The Indian Railways is improving a lot after Mr. Lallu Prasad had taken the lead. I can say No One Can stop India Now. The day is not too far when we will be a developed nation.

In an announcement posted on its Web site on Saturday and reported in state-run media on Sunday, the Ministry of Railways said that two of the new lines would run from the capital, Lhasa, to other areas in Tibet. The other four lines would be built in neighboring provinces on the Tibetan plateau.

The ministry added that the new lines are to go into operation before 2020, and give the Tibetan plateau region closer interaction with the economy and culture of China.

In 2006, the final link of a line from the Chinese capital Beijing to Lhasa was opened, completing a multibillion-dollar project that Beijing boasts is the world's highest railway. Much of the last third of 1 140-km link was specially engineered to protect delicate frozen earth.

Since the completion of the railway, tourism has increased, as Beijing has encouraged majority Han Chinese to travel and move to the region.

In two years, the railway has moved 5.56 million passengers and 4.05 million tons of cargo, lowering local prices of goods, said the ministry.

Thanks to the railway, the government is able to exploit the region's natural resources while threatening its Buddhist culture and traditional way of life, say foreign activists.

Defending its policies in Tibet, China said that the quality of life improved there, thanks to improvements in infrastructure and health care, along with campaigns to settle nomadic herders in permanent communities.

Although China says Tibet has been its territory for centuries, Tibetan activists say the region was independent before 1951, when the Communist Army occupied it.

Government of India (Ministry of Railways)
Railway Recruitment Board (RRB), Bangalore
18, Millers Road, Bangalore - 560046

Employment Notice No.02/2008

Applications in the prescribed format are invited from eligible Indian Nationals for filling up the following posts :

For South Western Railway (SWR) - Various Posts Recruitment From RRB

1. Section Engineer : 15 posts, Pay Scale : Rs. 6500-10500, Age : 20-35
2. Junior Engineer II : 48 posts, Pay Scale : Rs. 5000-8000, Age : 18-33
3. Enquiry cum reservation Clerk : 07 posts, Pay Scale : Rs. 4500-7000, Age : 18-33
4. Sr. Clerk : 06 posts, Pay Scale : Rs. 4500-7000, Age : 18-33
5. Senior Publicity Inspector : 03 post, Pay Scale : Rs. 5000-8000, Age : 18-33
6. Traffic Apprentice : 04 posts, Pay Scale : Rs. 5500-9000, Age : 20-33
7. Technician-III : 227 posts, Pay Scale : Rs. 3050-4590, Age : 18-30
8. Telecommunication Maintainer Gr.III : 02 posts, Pay Scale : Rs. 3050-4590, Age : 18-30
9. Chemical & Metallurgical Assistant Gr.I : 07 posts, Pay Scale : Rs. 5500-9000, Age : 20-35

To Apply: Visit http://www.rrbbnc.gov.in/ for further information and Application form. Applications complete in all respects alongwith the required enclosures should be sent by ordinary post to The Member Secretary, Railway Recruitment Board, 18 Millers Road, Bangalore-560046. Fee payable is Rs. 60 (Rs.40/- for the posts having pay scales less than or equal 3050-4590) (no fee for SC/ST/Ex-Serviceman candidates) in the form of Indian Postal Order only and IPOs should be in the name on "The Member Secretary, Railway Recruitment Board, Bangalore" payable at "Bangalore.

You Can Download the Advertisement Here
Last date : 15/09/08 (for candidates from far flung areas : 30/09/08)

I am arrived by passenger train Ahmedpur station and my belly is too much swelling with jackfruit. I am therefore went to privy. just I doing the nuisance the guard making whistle blow for train to go off and I am running with "lotah" in one hand and "dhoti" in next when I am fall over and expose all my shocking to man and female women on platform. I am got leaved at Ahmedpur station. This too much bad, if passenger go to make dung that dam guard not wait train for five minutes for him.I am therefore pray your honor to make big fine on that guard for public sake. Otherwise I making big report to papers.

I made a trip yesterday from Thrissur to Ernakulam in the Barauni Express.It's the same familiar route I've been traversing the last six years. This journey however,had the distinction of being my first ordeal in a superfast express after the slashing of ticket fares by one rupee.

A 'MR'.xyz is always inferior to a 'DR'.xyz or a 'Prof'.xyz by social norms and the latter's services are always more valued.A prefix can make all the difference.
So why should'nt a 'SUPERFAST' express be a high-ticket in comparison to an ordinary express train? It's got the prefix !!!
The journey proved to be dearer by Rs.10.And I contended that this was value addition.The extra value being the saved time.

Now, there are no maladies in the story thus far.
The anomaly began when I realised the SUPERFAST locomotive was making a halt at every station not sparing even the insignificant, hardly discernable platforms at which most passenger trains would hesitate to brake. And where the latter would spend no more than 5 mins the SUPERFAST had no conscience bites in halting a quarter of an hour.My co-passengers were unperplexed; they say its the order of the day with SUPERFAST trains after the tarriff slash.

The Railway Minister is busy decorating himself in the robes of a management guru.Misleading us into believing he has put the Railway house in order.

The railways are the neurons of the nations anatomy.And intoxicated nerves are more a liability than an asset.This cheap manoeuvre tarnishes the railways image to one more sinister than a train stalker's.This is state sponsered robbery.
Given such tactics a profit of Rs.25,000 crore seems to me, more shameful than a loss of any magnitude.