Van delivered

Ned Bulken

Member
Messages
5,529
Location
Lakeport NY and/or the nearest hotel
Well, at 8:05 this AM my Prius headed on down the road, and at around 6pm minutes before a thunderstorm this pulled into my driveway:
vanfront.jpg


vanhome1.jpg


Oh what a difference that this will make in my daily routine.

pesky thing has an alarm which I've yet to figure out, other than it works... DAMHIKT.

It also has a really cool office in the back:
vandesk1.jpg

room for two to work at the desk, though 99.9% of the time I'll be in there solo. Love the new monitor, and both 'rear' chairs swivel to face the desk and also turn to the front for travel. Since I"m the driver, I won't get to ride back there, but they are very comfortable and even I've got more than enough legroom at the desk.

Full size keyboard at the front station, which paradoxically uses the rear dock for the laptop.

speaking of which, here's the view from the tail of the van.

desk3.jpg


vandesk2.jpg
 
Are you sure you did not take a job with Homeland Security :D

Looks very "Secret Agent Man" to me :rolleyes:

What............. no Nuker..........? How do you make Popcorn :huh: :dunno:

:wave:
 
Are you sure you did not take a job with Homeland Security :D

Looks very "Secret Agent Man" to me :rolleyes:

What............. no Nuker..........? How do you make Popcorn :huh: :dunno:

:wave:

can you get the Orange men playing at home in there?

Thought about it. The antennae are sensors for the boom, so that I don't raise the camera boom up into a power line.

Allen,
doubt it, that's a monitor, and while I have mobile broadband, I generally don't do a whole lot of bandwitch intensive stuff while I'm at work. Much as I would really LIke to do just that.
 
Ned,

Are you sure you're not secretly a G-man?! :D

Nice set-up, though it looks like you need a PhD in computer science just to open the door!!:D:thumb:

Wes
 
Yeah, that'll be a nice step up workspace-wise from the Prius. Congrats, Ned. Now all you need is a remote control helicopter with a camera mounted on it, to get the shots the boom can't frame. Then you'd never even need to get out of the van. :p
 
So, If I understand it well, your job is wandering around with that FBI ( sort of) van looking for pieces of land or buildings likely to be sold, and take measurements with a theodolite and so forth so you can give the owner some sort of appraisal?:dunno:

If I had seen one of those appearing in front of my house I would be scared!
 
Ned,

Are you sure you're not secretly a G-man?! :D

Nice set-up, though it looks like you need a PhD in computer science just to open the door!!:D:thumb:

Wes
LOL nope, not a G-man. After all the G-men are much stealthier, they take pains to ensure their vans and so forth blend in a lot better than that.


Yeah, that'll be a nice step up workspace-wise from the Prius. Congrats, Ned. Now all you need is a remote control helicopter with a camera mounted on it, to get the shots the boom can't frame. Then you'd never even need to get out of the van. :p
Sounds like a plan, but the boom can extend 25' how much would I need to cover that I couldn't get with that?

Seriously, I like taking the walks that I do every day, as I can often spot lease/sales signs which aren't obvious when driving past a building.

So, If I understand it well, your job is wandering around with that FBI ( sort of) van looking for pieces of land or buildings likely to be sold, and take measurements with a theodolite and so forth so you can give the owner some sort of appraisal?:dunno:

If I had seen one of those appearing in front of my house I would be scared!

Yeah, I expect I'll get a lot more stares than the Prius did, and that is saying something. I try and stay out of people's way as much as I can. I tend to park on a side street and walk the street I'm photographing, then go back to the vehicle (almost said Car) and enter data.

Is that a big AC on the roof? Looked like something with a couple fans on it.

Exactly, it has the auxiliary air and those are the fans for it. I'm not certain, but I'm guessing they had to relocate it from the tail of the van because of the boom.
 
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thoughts on the new office

Walking out to the van this morning:
Holy smokes that thing is Huge compared to the Prius. :eek:


midway through day 1 with the new van...
Hey, my back doesn't hurt as much.
:thumb:
Lumbar support is nice... (the bucket at the desk has it, and it sure is helping today). Drat, forgot my tylenol. :(

I thought I got looks in the Prius. Same street I've parked on before, now I'm getting looks like I'm on stakeout or something... and oh, by the way, I'm feeling very safe... the street I'm on is split by a greenbelt, and on the other half of the street, there was just some sort of incident, I had three cop cars, an EMS unit and Ambulance just show up and deal with something. I was busy at my desk :)D !) but I had a great view out the side windows as things unfolded.

Am I ever glad I'm not paying to fuel this bad boy... even temporarily. filled it up from 1/4 tank and it was nearly $120! :eek:
 
... I had three cop cars, an EMS unit and Ambulance just show up and deal with something. I was busy at my desk :)D !) but I had a great view out the side windows as things unfolded.

Tinted windows. :thumb:

Am I ever glad I'm not paying to fuel this bad boy... even temporarily. filled it up from 1/4 tank and it was nearly $120! :eek:
]

Is it gas or diesel? I think they are diesel up here, but maybe that was just an option. If it was diesel, at least the mileage would be pretty decent (for a huge heavy truck, that is...)


So, about that camera boom... did they make you sign a waiver to not be peeping in apartment building bedrooms... :eek:
 
Wow, Ned. That's cool... I'd love to have a workspace like that for my office!

"Now all you need is a remote control helicopter with a camera mounted on it, to get the shots the boom can't frame."

This never works out as well as one hopes! Case in point: this campus is in a "no fly zone". It almost takes an act of congress to get a plane up to take pictures, and we always need aerial (not satellite) photos of campus. So a few years ago, one of our digital media guys got the idea to put a camera on a radio controlled plane. All went well until he actually tried to fly it... turns out he was a much better cameraman than he was a pilot... ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
Tinted windows. :thumb:

]

Is it gas or diesel? I think they are diesel up here, but maybe that was just an option. If it was diesel, at least the mileage would be pretty decent (for a huge heavy truck, that is...)
oil burner, 25+ mpg, so not bad for a 3/4 ton van.

So, about that camera boom... did they make you sign a waiver to not be peeping in apartment building bedrooms... :eek:
I'm still awaiting training on it, (lots of warning flashers, uplight on the boom, electrical power sensor on the roof, etc...)
however one of my co-workers was in a seedy neighborhood one day when lots of unmarked cars started slooowly pulling up. it seems he was parked near a suspected illegal substances lab, but they had to be sure before they hit it. They were removing civilians from the area, and knocked on his van to ask him to move. He opened the side door and they saw the boom. They asked if he could peek over that tall fence right there for them, and got really excited when he panned down and showed them that the bad guys were really there and in action.

Wow, Ned. That's cool... I'd love to have a workspace like that for my office!

"Now all you need is a remote control helicopter with a camera mounted on it, to get the shots the boom can't frame."

This never works out as well as one hopes! Case in point: this campus is in a "no fly zone". It almost takes an act of congress to get a plane up to take pictures, and we always need aerial (not satellite) photos of campus. So a few years ago, one of our digital media guys got the idea to put a camera on a radio controlled plane. All went well until he actually tried to fly it... turns out he was a much better cameraman than he was a pilot... ;)

Thanks,

Bill

RC planes; there are only two kinds of pilots. Those who've had a crash, and those who Are going to have a crash.
 
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