Category Archives: work

moving on from picasa…

20 Monday Aug 2018

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Moving on from Picasa… but where to?? Actually, this change came about in early 2016, which basically meant that there would be no more updates or support for Picasa, but it didn’t affect the existing versions. In fact, Peter downloaded the last version for his new laptop last month and it’s been working fine. That is, until Saturday.

I uploaded some photos from the day out, planning to do some editing and hopefully get a couple of review updates posted (my massive backlog is ALMOST cleared!!), but while the photos were uploaded properly into the file, they didn’t show up on Picasa. I thought it might just be a glitch and so I just shut things down, thinking that things would probably be back to normal after a reboot. But nope.

It occurred to me to reinstall Picasa, but then I thought I might screw up my present Picasa “library” which is showing everything I uploaded before Saturday. I also checked with Peter and his Picasa also wasn’t showing new photos he uploaded, so the possibility of losing everything seemed likely. Damn.

The thing I have always liked about Picasa was its simple editing options, and also that it was easy to scroll through the library that showed all my photo files. It also had a text option, so I could add my watermark, a collage maker, plus I could export the edited photos to other files at smaller sizes, keeping the originals in the original files. Google Photos, the recommended substitute for Picasa has only basic cropping and filter features, so it’s useless for me.

What to do?? I mean, photo editing is a HUGE part of my job, and I’m really stuck if I don’t have some means of doing this. I tried downloading the Windows Live editor, but that one doesn’t appear to be working either. I also tried GIMP and have just spent the last two hours totally frustrated with it, which is the same experience I had with it a few years ago. I’m sure it does wonderful stuff if you know how to do them, but it is not a user-friendly platform at all, and is very “clunky” in terms of finding the uploaded files and then exporting them.

I honestly don’t know what to do next. Any ideas?

a day off…

02 Monday Jul 2018

Posted by in sevilla, work

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Really there is no such thing as a DAY OFF for me. Often people say to me… you need to DISCONNECT, you need to take some ME TIME, you need to RELAX. And while I appreciate – and can even understand – their concern, actually, I’m good. In fact, I’ve never been better. Because the very naïve comment I made back in my early twenties, when asked what I wanted to do with my life – “I’m not really sure WHAT it is, but I just want it to be what I would do anyhow when I get up in the morning” – has actually come to be true. This is my job. And it is also my life.

So on this particular day off – which for me means I don’t have any food tours booked – I went out about midday, after answering emails and finishing up some details for my accountant, and thought it would be nice to have some manzanilla at La Azotea… you know, so I could do #manzanillamonday on Instagram… and so we did that.

Then it was home again, to try out a new “smashed potato” recipe I’d found online, which turned out to be amazing. And my friend Peter @SVQConcierge came over to have lunch and also hang out and Netflix with me and the cats.

After that? Peter went home but I still had a bit more stuff I wanted to do. Some photo editing, a few more emails to answer. And then it was time for bed. So yeah, I guess there never is anything for me as a TOTAL DAY OFF. But I don’t even think I’d want one. My work, my life… it’s all the same thing.

tasting sherry

14 Tuesday Nov 2017

Posted by in sevilla, sherry, spain, tapas bars, wine, work

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I’m happy to report that my Sherry Tastings have become quite a success. Different from my Sherry & Tapas Tour in that, although there are snacky food pairings during the tasting (to me sherry is always better appreciated with food, especially by “novices”), it is a more concise introduction to sherry, lasting about 1.5 hours. At the moment I’m working with a few different venues, looking for the best “fit”, though it may turn out that I end up with more than one option. It’s all good!  🙂

iPhone number 5?

11 Saturday Nov 2017

Posted by in gadgets, geekiness, work

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It’s here! The iPhone X is now in the shops and I’m finding it very hard not to, ahem, upgrade. I’ve had four different iPhones now, so this would be my fifth. My present 6S is actually working just fine, but I’m keen to have a larger screen and – especially – the new camera. But the price is a bit crazy and so I’m finding it hard to justify this one. Anyone else (other than my friend Victor) have one yet?

family-run bars

27 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by in sevilla, tapas, tapas bars, work

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brothers and previous owners Antonio & Lupe

With over 3,000 tapas bars in Sevilla, and more than 300 listed and rated on my Sevilla Tapas website, you can imagine that keeping up with new openings and revisiting bars to update their reviews is a very time consuming (and expensive!) endeavour. Sometimes even years can pass between visits, as was the case when I stopped in at Bar Bistec the other day and I noticed that the last time I’d been there was in 2012.

At first I noticed that the place had been spruced up a bit, and that they had much younger staff than before. I recalled meeting the two brothers who owned the place on my previous visit but didn’t see them around, so I got talking to one of the young barmen and showed him my website on my phone, and as he was scrolling through the photos he said – “that’s my dad and my uncle!”.

Turns out that since my last visit there had been a “changing of the guard” and now the two sons of the two brothers are now running the show. So I got the boys to pose in the same place their fathers had posed five years previously, as you can see. They got such a kick out of it, and so did I. All part of loving my job. 

cousins and co-owners José Antonio & Lupe