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New York City
19
August 2009, Wednesday
09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19a 19b 20 August 2009
Photographed entirely with a Canon SD960 IS pocket camera.
After the American Museum of Natural History, we returned to Adorama to see the store again. When I was there on 12 August 2009 I didn't really get to see the store as much as I saw the warehouses and business operations.
Remember that Adorama's retail store here in Manhattan is merely the tiny tip of a much larger iceberg, which is its huge warehouse in the shipping hub across the river in New Jersey, from which all our internet, mail and phone orders are filled.
Some of Adorama's Used Department, 6:43 PM.
Adorama has a huge used department.
Most of it is at the warehouse; the store mostly exhibits rare and unusual items, like this huge Pentax Super-Multi-Coated TAKUMAR 800mm f/4, for the Pentax 6x7 camera. This has the same amount of glass as a rare Canon 1,200mm f/5.6, but covers 6x7cm and is a much more useful focal length.
Neither Nikon nor Canon makes anything this fast at 800mm. A 1.4x teleconverter makes this an 1,120mm f/5.6, but you can't put a telecompressor on a 1,200mm f/5.6 lens to make it an 800mm f/4.
Front of Pentax 800mm f/4, Adorama, 6:26 PM.
This thing is about 9 inches (22cm) across.
Lights, Cameras and TVs, Adorama, 6:53 PM.
Swarovski Rack, Adorama, 6:54 PM.
Adorama Film Department, 6:55 PM.
Adorama B&W Printing Paper Department, 6:55 PM.
Adorama Color Paper Department, 6:56 PM.
Small part of the LEICA Display, Adorama, 6:56 PM.
Lighting Display, Adorama, 6:57 PM.
Left Side of Store, Adorama, 6:58 PM.
Battery Wall, Adorama, 6:59 PM.
Ticket, Adorama, 7:01 PM.
Adorama is all about service.
When you walk in, take a number.
When you're up, your number will flash at a counter as seen deeper into the store.
When you get there, unique to Adorama is that now that you're up, your Adorama salesman will help you with everything you need, anywhere in the store. There's no waiting for another salesman in another department; your one guy will get you everything with no waiting.
iPod Aisle, Adorama, 7:02 PM.
Right Side of Store, Adorama, 7:02 PM.
Nikon Cash, Adorama, 7:03 PM.
Adorama pays top dollar for used equipment, and this display with real cash tries to get the point across.
Adorama's retail store may look big in these photos, but remember that Adorama is ten times as big as the retail store I've just shown when you consider that most people have their gear shipped to them from Adorama's far more gigantic warehouse.
After Adorama, we walked back to The New Yorker Hotel after my Tesla research earlier this week.
Remember the plaque above the street where Tesla died I saw on the morning of 13 August 2009?
It turns out that Tesla died after being hit by a taxi, but the reason the plaque is on The New Yorker Hotel is because Tesla lived there for the last ten years of his life!
Holy cow! I stayed not far from his room, and I didn't even realize it last week!
Tesla's Room, The New Yorker Hotel , 10:14 PM.
One of Tesla's last unrealized inventions was a very real death ray. Tesla invented it as a solution to end all wars. The catch is that Tesla wanted to get some government to pay him for the invention, but that he couldn't really reveal all about it until they had agreed to pay him.
The British and the Russians, all on our side in World War II, wouldn't pay his price since he couldn't convince them without actually divulging how it worked.
Tesla had an appointment scheduled at the White House the day after he was hit by the taxi to discuss it, but sadly he died before he could meet to discuss it.
The Niagara Falls powerplant is the world's first hydroelectric plant, and because it used Tesla's AC power system, the power was able to travel power lines all the way to New York City. New York State licence plates celebrate this by showing Niagara falls on the top left, and NYC on the top right.
If NYC was foolish enough to have used Edison's DC system, there would have had to have been a powerplant on every block.
AC power is far more useful than DC power because we can use transformers to change the voltage to allow us to transmit and distribute large amounts of power efficiently at high voltage (250,000 volts when you see twin-conductor power lines), and then lower the voltage for neighborhood distribution (5,000 volts) and then down to 120V to go to our homes.
The reason Tesla's brilliance was needed to make AC power a reality is that motors and generators were all DC before Tesla. Tesla invented the AC motor and invented the AC generator, without which we couldn't make or use AC power.
Tesla also invented radio. Marconi cheated, and based his patents on Tesla's patents. In 1943, the US Supreme court ruled Marconi's patent invalid, since it was based on Tesla's patents. Thus Tesla is the inventor of radio, which is the basis of all cellular, 3G, 4G, WiFi and all other wireless communications, RADAR and control systems.
Wow. Right under my nose! Tesla did most of his work in Manhattan, having done some work on Long Island and Colorado only for short periods in his history. Tesla was born in Europe, and moved to New York at age 28 to work for Edison.
Tesla was a New Yorker for most of his 87 years!
Tesla was a true New Yorker, right down to his last day. Being hit by a taxi is listed as "natural causes" on death certificates in New York City.
Neon Light, Tick Tock Diner, New York City, 10:20 PM.
This night-time snap is hand-held, as is everthing I've shot these past weeks.
Long Island Railroad Seats, 10:39 PM.
We took the LIRR home. It's been another long two days of work!
09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19a 19b 20 August 2009
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