But I might bite you...

Well done, I have said it before, I really like Fairies in the Park, in fact I like all the Central Park ones. I'd not seen Durham Cathedral Triforium before, great shot, as is Danubian Sunrise. I've recently had my tenth acceptance; I put another six in earlier today so hopefully will have a few more in soon. I've not done much voting recently., I must put an hour or two aside to do so soon.

Rivers

Time past

The switch you mention could be set to vertical speed (V/S) as decimals of 1000 feet per minute (ie -08 would give 800 fpm rate of descent, -10 would give 1000 fpm.), or flight path angle (FPA), in degrees and 100ths of degrees (ie -3.75 is 3.75 degrees angle of descent.)
The accident at Strasbourg was due to the crew setting and commanding a rate of descent of 3300fpm by setting -33 as a rate of descent (V/S) rather than -3.30 as a flight path angle (FPA). The switch position(FPA or V/S) is annunciated on the control (Jeff erroneously said it is not). The crew had plenty of other cues as to their rate of descent (vertical speed indicator, pitch attitude, low thrust setting) but were high on the approach due to bad vectoring by air traffic control and lost situational awareness, resulting in the crash. Both pilots had very little experience on the then-new Airbus, having previously flown older (anologue) aircraft.

The FPA V/S switch on Boeings indicates in feet per minute (ie 1000 is plus 1000 feet per minute) or FPA in degrees (ie 3.00 is plus 3 degrees)

I have recently bought a Sigma 18-250 which, so far, I am more than happy with. The Sigma 18-200 got some poor reviews, but the 18-250 is a vast improvement. It is a bit bulkier and heavier than the Pentax/Tamron versions, but more solidly built. It also has HSM, which I think is a serious advantage on this type of lens.

I also am finding that the stabilisation in the lens works better at longer focal lengths than the camera's SR (shake reduction) function: one advantage of the stabilisation (OIS)in the lens is that you get a more stationary image in the viewfinder at long focal lengths, as the image is stabilsed in the lens and not at the sensor. If you do get a Sigma, just remember to turn the camera's SR off if you are using OIS, as they don't work well together, as I have found with a few very blurred shots!

Glass facade

I guess ideally it should have been taken from a few steps to the right, so all the paintings were visible, the blue tinge was not as intrusive, and the artist was on a third.....

I love the first one. You should do a time-lapse series of it over many years!

Modern Mosque