lost my nerve

here’s another shot of el abuelo’s plymouth from a couple of summers ago. i just liked the picture and the location.

hotter than hell, and on my way to a heat stroke about this time.

i rather prefer his pontiac, but it wasn’t at vail hq that day. maybe he’ll bring it to chicano park day this year. really hoping to go, but i don’t know. not as healthy or up to going out anymore. better half is suggesting that we try another show before then; in between rainstorms on weekends…we’ll see.

been busy. lots going on.

better half has been talking about retiring for a few months.

made a decision a couple of thursdays ago, and told the bosses the next day he was done, and that was it. something about he couldn’t sell his company stock if he was employed, so he took care of that part of the equation.

he still gets up way too early, then spends each morning before the sun comes up, sitting in the jacuzzi, watching the stars, surprisingly not missing the job at all. lol.

now the pressure for me to retire, but i hadn’t thought about it, and i’m not old enough or ready, i guess.

he’s been keeping himself busy with a long list of things he hasn’t been able to do because work always took up so much of his time.

i think the same day he was busy deciding to retire, i went to the dentist. i mentioned a tooth that was bothering me, and the next monday, i was getting a root canal.

never had one before, and had always heard horror stories. for me, it seemed like a more intense cavity filling. took about an hour, a lot of steps, too many shots in the cheek nerves and gums, but otherwise was pretty easy. i guess i complained early enough, it wasn’t infected or whatever makes it worse.

they had a neat little machine that featured an attachment that fit over the drilled out top of the tooth and basically did a little pressure car wash in the empty root space. cleaning and disinfectant.

so i lost my nerve, and i’m ok with it.

now if i can just convince myself to go to a car show and remember how to take a decent picture.

into the frying pan

better half and i spent last week in san diego.

busted our asses at work, for the weeks leading up to time off, lots of overtime and stress. it’s almost like we shouldn’t bother taking any time off, as we’ve already made up the week and then some by the time we go. same when we come back. we’re both getting burned out, and were so ready for time away.

should change our titles to design jugglers.

anyway, our mini vacation really started about six in the morning on a saturday, with chicano park day. first in-person show in a couple of years. heard they might limit the number of cars to something ridiculous like one-hundred and fifty. by the time we left around eleven, there was at least twice that, a hot sun, and thousands of people.

didn’t even get to shoot the cars up by the majestics’ house…just too many people. walking in front of the camera, almost knocking over our tripods, bumping into the lens…and it got so hot out. day before, and the days after…all ten degrees cooler. figures.

the illegales car club includes the car above. i’ve been acquanted with the owner for several years now, and i found him later in the day, over in the grass field surrounded by cars, and chatting with some people, as usual. i butted in to say hello.

known as el abuelo, he had two of his cars there that morning. i think he said he arrived at four a.m., and always seems to get spots by the freeway on-ramp.

here’s another shot of it from a different angle. the sun was coming up, and there is some lens flare, that sort of bugs me here.

feeling generous, so here are some other random pictures i shot until i find some time to work up some other cars to share, starting with the few people that did chat with me, or my better half.

the street was full, the lawn around the playground was full; the grass near the basketball courts, had very few cars, which was odd. i know there were plenty of cars driving round trying to get in, but either didn’t have registration or just showed up too late. just weird. all the space available is usually just crammed with cars and bikes.

also, for chuckleberries, i found us in the crowd of the headline pic in this article, better half talking with someone about his lens collection, in front of the chevy truck, in the sea of people.

sedan, i am

this is bob's pontiac. i'd seen it parked off the street in this side lot for the last couple of years that i'd been to this show. finally had the time and inclination to go over and have a look. initially, there was another car parked on this side, and i was just shooting the hood ornament. he came over and apologized that it wasn't a better ornament—said there was more to it, but someone had snapped the other pieces off at some point in the past.

then, the car next to him took off, so i had space to shoot the car. happily, he moved the dust mop thing off the hood.

the car is showing its age, but that's fine with me. imperfections just make it that much more interesting, so don't apologize when you're car is less than perfect.

tweakedpixels

what's up?

lost my nerve

into the frying pan

sedan, i am