https://3speak.tv/watch?v=abh12345/qkqlgqnz
Sunrise Spin

Hello everyone and welcome to the weekend! 😁

Following a couple of grueling weeks of training I can finally relax. There is a final exam to take but it is open book, multiple choice, and progress can be saved so I'm hopeful that with this help I can pass and possible add this application to my CV. I'll not bore you with Veeva Vault but I do think it is one of the best cloud based document management systems around - it's just a bit tricky to get your head around. Mine anyway.

Anyway, enough of that for now and time to introduce my newish staff which has been sent from Home of Poi in New Zealand. or a distribution center in Hong Kong. The Staff actually arrived before Christmas but one of the LEDs packs was faulty. Having emailed Home of Poi regarding the issue, the light then started to work (so I emailed them again) and then didn't switch on the following day. I emailed Home of Poi for a third time and attached videos of the faulty LED pack, and they agreed to ship a new item free of charge.

It may be different elsewhere, but custom charges here in Spain for items posted outside the EU are pretty hefty. Having paid around 30 euros to ship Staff in the original order I had to pay another 20 euros to Spanish customs. The LED pack replacement must weigh 300 grams tops and was another 5 euros 18 cents in charges. I'd had a good look for Staffs shipping from the EU but couldn't find a supplier - the UK and USA seems to be the best place to purchase flashy spinny gear!

The video, which is very rough and ready because I'm half asleep, have cold feet, am not so hot, and many other excuses, was shot at around 7:30 am this morning. I didn't notice until I'd made my way to the sand that it was beach raking day and that there was a tractor travelling up and down the beach 'ploughing' the sand. I should use the tractor as an excuse too - it's a bit noisy as you may find out.

As far as Staff practice and progression I feel that I've plateaued a little. For the first month or so I could feel and see improvement every day and this was hugely encouraging, but the last week or two I'm noticing that my basic (and really quite key) hand rolls and switches between hands are not very smooth. The switch between hands needs to be much more fluent to keep the flow/speed/movement of the Staff controlled, and I think I need to go back to the basics again to really tighten passing the Staff between hands.

My guru though, who should be arriving on Hive soon, does keep reminding me that I've only been handling the Staff for 3 months, and that the fluency will come in time and with practice. Well, I (now) have the time, and a really awesome location in which to play.

Have a good weekend all, I hope you can find the time to relax and enjoy your time.

Cheers

Ash

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=abh12345/ffxhsrka
At the beginning of November 2023 I was handed a Contact Staff, and this last Christmas I bought myself and a friend a Balance Board. During the holidays I had a little time to practice both, and decided (whilst a little merry on Expresso Martini's) it would be fun to have a go at spinning the staff and balancing on the board at the same time. An earlier post contains a couple of GIFs showing (on a 3 second loop) early attempts at this unorthodox arrangement, and since then I have been keen have another try.

So yesterday I took a bag down to the beach and located a spot to set up and start recording. I'm still not convinced the surface was completely level but at least there were no ceiling or light obstacles to avoid!

I spent about an hour trying to put more than a few seconds of wobblily flow together, with this clip turning out best of a bad bunch and not looking so bad/beginner in my humble opinion. Clearly there's lots of scope for improvement but I think that will come quickest if I continue to practice these skills individually.

Towards the end of my play-time, which really is a essential for me as I fucking hate being inside and in front of a screen doing shit I don't care about, a guy who was sat by the water just out of shot got up and walked over. I didn't recognise him the whole time he was there even though we had met briefly once a few months prior. He asked for a go on my Staff, which I allowed because I'd seen a video or two of him and he's pretty good - better than me. Well, now he has my number and I'm hopeful we'll get to meet early one morning or later in the day (after work shite) so we can hopefully help each other improve some. I suspect it will be me who benefits most, and he is going to need my Staff-wizz friend to teach him some new tricks.

My mother, brother, and daughter have all been sent videos of me both 'Staffing' and balancing and the general consensus has been, "why?". Not really words of encouragement, which is fine, but I did feel a little disappointed that they seemingly didn't think so hard before asking the question.

Apart from the obvious physical health benefits of activating loads of muscles and moving around after sitting on your arse for 7-10 hours a day in front of a screen, there's a nice boost to my (previously flakey) mental health going on here too.

When I get those thoughts such as, "I'm not fucking sitting behind a desk all day until I'm 68 or whatever the retirement age is then", escaping that desk and leaving work thoughts behind for an hour or two gives me a little kick I need give some more of my time up the next day. That is until 2025 of course where Crypto will moon and we'll all be handing in resignation letters, maybe.

Have a good one,

Ash

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=abh12345/igicdjwt
Yesterdays conditions for Paddleboarding looked good enough for me to venture out for a lap around la Isla de sa Porrassa.

This is the first Paddleboarding video I've uploaded to 3speak and Hive and until I get a new machine I think it will be the last. The laptop I've used to produce almost all my content here (I was using a Phone to start but bought this machine especially) is 6.5 years old and really doesn't like editing video. I just about managed to cut this 2 minute clip from a 11 minute file and save with slightly reduced quality - the process took about half an hour :( If I am to produce a video with multiple edits, effects, and perhaps some music, I will need to upgrade.

Any ideas on kit around 500 euros/600 dollars?

The island named sa Porrassa is approximately 400 meters long and just under a kilometer from the shore here in Magaluf. Which means it is about a kilometer from my appeasement too.

Apparently it was used for 'salt collection' up until 1960, and is visited by many tourists who swim there. This information is from the Wiki page linked above, which I think should be updated to include that visitors mainly visit the island by Paddleboarding and those ridiculous Pedalos. I've also seen two people make it to the island sharing a pink inflatable, who were picked up by the coastguard on the way back as it was going dark and, from my balcony, they seemed not to be making much progress.

I have 3 boards now (so yes, you can visit) which all have their pro's and cons, and yesterday it was the turn of the 11 foot Wave. This is my widest board (should be most difficult to fall off), and it also has a GoPro attachment on the front.

Yesterday I took both the manual and electric pump down to the shore but in the end left the electric pump running until the board reached 15 PSI. I'd normally put some manual effort in as the electric pump is really loud and I feel like a bit of a twat bringing noise to a busy beach. At present though that isn't a problem, and I also felt pretty confident that my bag of stuff would still be on the beach when I returned.

A quick look to both sides of the beach.....

And as usual for this time of year, there is no-one around. Thinking about it now, this was probably not ideal for a solo paddler heading out to sea wearing clothes with the sea temperature around 14.6°C / 58.3°F.

Conditions though were pretty good - little wind and very little swell. It took me a minute or two to build up confidence (I really did not want to fall in and so was not dicking around at all) but I felt stable and made my way around sa Porrassa in about 35/40 minutes.

I must say that Paddleboarding is not quite as much fun as when it's warmer and you are travelling with friends. So I'll see you soon? 😄

Cheers

Ash

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=abh12345/tgrodidt
Hello!

This workout is dedicated to all the 40+ year olds still moving and sweating.

This video has been in my youboob playlist fo a few years now and is pretty close to the painfully perfect HIIT workout.

It's been at least six months though since I've had a go, mainly due to their being many more pleasant ways to keep active in the summer months, and so I wasn't really sure what to expect. Would I manage to complete the workout? How many swear words?

Well I finished, but it's been a couple of hours and so I'm not sure of the swear count. I'm shattered!

Do you have any favourite fitness videos that you turn to for motivation?

Cheers

Ash

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=abh12345/cpkwfgib
Hello Hive!

Is what I should have said at the start of the video! Instead, it was "What's going on Hive" with the "what's" being said before the camera had gotten it's shit together and started recording.

Anyway, who needs words when you have a big stick and an empty beach?

The new year has started indifferently for me. On the plus side, I'm easily a month into not smoking tobacco and I've not had any booze since the 1st January (afternoon and not just into the early hours of the new year, oops). The tobacco was easy enough, but I've failed after years without on a couple of occasions and so I could find myself rolling a nice reefer at any point. Not today though.

Alcohol I can do without very easily, as long as I stay in my apartment and invite nobody around. That's how you do dry January isn't it? There's beer, wine, and spirits in the house, but I tend not to drink alone these days and so there it will sit, for at least another 15 days.

So that's good. Also good is the exercise I've been doing. Jogging, balancing, spinning, yoga, HIIT, planks, and more I reckon. Trying to do something, even if it's only 15 mins, every day. Apparently, those that exercise and drink and smoke will likely last longer than lazy git who doesn't smoke or drink. I am firmly on the hammer it and try to work it off team!

On the downside, relationships! I'm so crap with them, be it friendships or otherwise. This new year I contacted old friends and have managed a catch-up with some, but for the most part I struggle with distance and sorta get on with my own thing - which is also known as messing up relationships with those close by! Disaster!

Moving on, the other thing that's not ideal for a stress-free new year is my current workload. It'll be 5 years in November since I started there, just prior to covid, and it's already been 3 years since they allowed me to move to Mallorca and work fully remote. I shouldn’t really be complaining eh, with a sea view 'office' and an empty beach for a back garden? I will though: p Two weeks of intensive training and trying to fit other main duties around this, absolute shite. It means I'm not finished until it's gone dark and cooler, and then there less time for Staff practice - but not today!

It is me, showing you my current Staff ability and skills. I drop it a lot, hit my head and glasses, and look pretty unbalanced at times. It was very kind of people to compliment me on a 3 second GIF or two in recent posts, but I think you need to see where I'm really at - outside of an edited loop!

I'd like to post much more of these videos as I do record a couple of minutes each day. You're all gonna get bored quick though so I'll try to keep to a minimum - once a week or when I've learned something new maybe? Right, I'm waffling now (now!?), so I'll wish you all a lovely day and night.

Cheers

Ash

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=abh12345/jroignpj
Whilst I wait for my drone licence to arrive (ahem), I've found somewhere I can fly the drone away from buildings and the coppers, nice!

I've clambered up Puig de na Penyal a few times in the past month or two, mainly for some exercise, but the views are rather nice also. I think the phone photos turned out pretty well the other day, but I've been wanting to take some footage of the hill from the sky also.

On the rocky side of the hill there are a couple of small caves which you can see on a couple of the clips. I'm a little scared of taking the drone out of sight for a closer look but perhaps this will happen in around 40 videos time, when I've potentially covered the cost of buying the thing. Odds are though, I'll either get caught or crash the toy before then - hopefully I'll be recording at the time and it'll make for some decent farewell footage.

At some point I'd like to test the 'return to home' feature which uses GPS and the take off coordinates to automatically fly home and land in the same place as takeoff. I've tried this once and had to cancel the landing because I wasn't sure it would land on my hoodie, which had been carefully placed over a patch of stoney path.

The propellers have less than a 2cm gap to the ground if the drone is flat on the floor. Any dodge landing is probably going to damage them and although I have a spare set, I'd rather not have to replace them just yet - even if it the GPS's fault and not mine. I'll need to bring out the iPhone to record this experiment, and I wouldn't be surprised if the battery runs out from full charge during the operation.

Anway, enjoy the views, and the slightly inappropriate music :D

Cheers

Ash

(Music: Chase n Status - Take Me Away)

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=abh12345/mrjsryer
Earlier this week I woke up early and decided to take the drone down to the beach at Cala Millor, for what could turn out to be its last flight for a while.

The sun is rising at around 8:05am here at present, but I made the short trip to the water a little earlier than that to get set up. There were a handful of people walking along the promenade but it was a still and quite morning.

I'd been flying the drone, wondering if I could make a video of sungazing look interesting, for ten minutes or so when a guy asked me (I think) what I was filming. He answered his own question (I think) before I responded, basically repeating some of what he'd said - 'El sol, si'.

He then disappeared out of the corner of my eye for a few minutes while I focused on not crashing into an Palm trees and then returned to ask me the name of the drone. I understood the question this time but responded with the English pronouciation of 'DJI Mini 2', before changing the 'two', to 'dos' - Yeah, I think he probably understood the 'two'.

What he didn't catch was the 'DJI'. 'J' in Spanish is a bit like breathing out with a bit of fhlem in your throat, and 'I' sounds like the English 'E'. We got there in the end, and I did wonder at the time if he was a keen drone person, or just being nosey.

Anyway, I flew the drone whilst the sun rose, and then called it home when the battery got low. Just as I'd packed it away and turned to start walking towards my bike, a Policeman arrived on his motorbike. He took his helmet off and replaced it with a cap as I walked right past him, but didn't give me a glance.

Whilst unlocking my bike I watched him walk up to the promenade wall and check left and right, and before I'd set off he was already back at his bike, swapping the cap for the helment again. Had I been reported? I have a feeling I was.

Later that day I checked online again for drone regulations, and this time found out that things have changed since the turn of the year. Initially I thought that my drone, weighting less than 250g, was pretty much deemed a toy and I just needed to avoid the places where all drone activity is banned to the public.

It turns out though that I now need to be registered, take a test, and pay 10 euros or so each year to fly anywhere. The cost is bareable, but what is a pain is the forms and guidelines on how to complete the forms. I mean, I'm already up to my neck in forms written in Spanish, and right now I can't face any more. I did have a quick look at an online form which asked for my nationality, it then proceeded to dynamically alter the form and ask me for an number which British drone pilots have, and fix entry my country of residence to the UK. Yeah, stuff that, for now.

What I think will end up happening is that I'll take my toy to places where people aren't present, not spend too long there, get some shots, and sneak away into the sunshine - That's until I have the energy to face becoming legit.

Anyway, enjoy the sunrise :)

Cheers,

Asher

(Music: Breathe - Telepopmusik)

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=abh12345/csnlmcqr
A couple of weeks ago I found the Iglesia Nueva or 'New Church' in Son Servera and really enjoyed spending time there. And since getting my hands on a drone, this place has been high on the list for another visit.

Although both the drone app and another I have suggest this is an acceptable/legal place to fly, I'm not convinced and initially felt like I was intruding a little. This was the first time I'd flown the drone over homes, and although it's weight (249g) allows this (without any record of it being owned by me), it's still a strange feeling.

Anyway, that feeling soon subsided when I started flying and filming the church, from angles you just aren't going to catch with a camera in your hand. I do feel that I didn't do the place justice and there is not much footage of the outside walls - this would mean losing line of sight which the drone, something I'm not willing to do just yet!

All in all, I would say this is my favourite video so far. I really enjoyed the resident bird population including themselves in the footage, although they perhaps would have prefered not to be sharing airspace.

Cheers!

Asher

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=abh12345/uujvgdpx
Another episode of see if Asher can avoid crashing his new toy - this time we are located at the beach in Cala Millor.

Getting a little braver with flying the drone now, at least it feels that way when flying over water. I think am under the illusion that if over land, there is a chance I could recover a crash landing, but I don't think there is that much hope from a few hundred feet. A submerged drone though is definitely a goner, and I'm not done playing just yet!

The beach at Cala Millor is man-made, and man has not put much effort into presenting it so far this year. The dark patches are huge mounds of seaweed that has washed up over the numerous months since it was last cleared to make way for the tourists (there are none), and taken to nearby farms. Apparently seaweed makes good fertilizer, and it's not doing much in a heap on the imported sand. I think it's usually taken away in March, and even though there will be few visitors, there will still be wine/olives/other fruits and veg to be grown on this rather rocky landscape.

I found a new button on the drone yesterday and can now move the camera - handy. I'm trying to avoid sudden movements but did leave a bit of that in this video. It is probably time to YouTube some tips on shooting, and to learn more about some of the autopilot options. I've not yet pressed the 'return to home' button, and should see just how close the drone gets to home to see if at some point I could go stand on the pier, or maybe on Rafa Nadal's boat :)

Also, it seems there are a couple of drone communities, and I've recently joined this one: https://peakd.com/c/hive-150994/created

Have a good weekend all!

Asher

(Music: Konstantinos Vita - To kyma)

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=abh12345/tpjlrodn
Well the first video doesn't work for me so I'm going to try again without rewards and see what happens.