what's up?

too soon

still haven’t fixed the camera yet. i don’t think my needle-nosed pliers are long enough to shove the spring back into the tabs at the bottom of the battery compartment. out of warranty, so i think i will make a few calls to repair shops. it works fine otherwise, i.e., i haven’t worn it out like my previous cameras.

with valentine’s coming up, my better half thought it was timely, and plunked down some recent overtime money on a new camera body for me. it’s an upgrade from the one i’ve been shooting, and of course the menu is totally different.

he wanted me to get out and test it, in case he needed to return it. he fully expects me to hate it, as i have every other camera he has handed me.

i happened to know of a few things going on this past weekend. could have gone to mooneyes show out in irwindale, but i’m still unsure how i would do at a big show, so decided to go to the fundraiser for betty, who had passed away recently, out in montebello park. it was also the eighteenth birthday for her son. she seemed seemed so young, and was definitely well-loved. kind of a bummer all the way around.

due to the meds the doctor has given me, i slept in until nine. they are supposed to relax my nerves, to help my head and arm heal. mostly, i can’t sleep until the middle of the night, then i am a zombie until late morning, and struggle to be functional on work days. thankfully, i don’t have to drive to an office, and can just roll out of bed to work.

whatever the reason, we didn’t arrive until elevenish, way later than i am used to. we were pleasantly surprised at the number of clubs that had shown up to support the family, and plenty of cars to test the camera out on.

parking lot was full, and we got lucky finding a parking space a block away.

the weather had done a one-eighty from rain and winter chill, to this almost perfect summer day in the eighties. good news for the fundraiser, bad news for me. i can’t tolerate the heat anymore. i’m so falling apart.

we walked to the front of the park, better half making his way over to find a donation box. i saw some people i hadn’t seen in a while, and caught up a little.

decided we would stop with betty’s car (above), and shoot down the block, then cross the street shooting back up that side, with intentions of going through the cars in the parking lot.

i haven’t really shot much since i fell in october. i’m out of practice, this camera is quite set the way i like it. handed to my better half to see if he could dial in the settings in the endless menus. couldn’t find one setting, and i finally just decided to look it up later, and do some shots.

this late in the day/early in the afternoon, there is more traffic zipping by in the background. so i prefer to try and time the shots with the traffic lights. this camera has settings that let me do a short delay to let the camera settle, so i don’t have to use my remote shutter. the first few pictures are slightly shaky, i jiggled the tripod, or just didn’t let it settle out of nervousness.

this one isn’t as sharp as later pics, but i like it anyway. the files are a hell of a lot bigger and take up more hard drive space. i’m going to need a new computer soon. lol. bottomless pit upgrading gear.

anyway, we continued down the street as planned. i do notice my arms are turning pink from the sun. i’m wearing my hat to keep the sun off my scar, but it’s also holding in the heat on my head. my the time we get to the other side, i am already starting to feel a bit wobbly, and my arm is a little achy.

half-way down the other side, my better half is saying my face is getting red. he knows i’m stubborn about having to stop, but by the time we get to the true pride club tent, i tell him i don’t think i can continue. he says it’s about time i admitted it, and gets me across the street to some shade, and goes to find a bottle of water.

we sit a bit, pack up the bags. i have enough stubbornness to walk back to the car. past all the pretty cars i didn’t get to shoot. really sucks.

i don’t think he’ll be “letting me” go to any shows for a while, and not without him. “letting me,” is probably the wrong phrase, as, if i am determined, he can’t stop me, and he’d start packing his camera gear for the drive.

but i admit that i was kinda scared that i was so close to feeling like passing out, more than any other time before i was injured. more than that show in temecula, where it was over a hundred degrees out…that sucked too.

maybe the cold weather will come back. i’ll try again then.

back too soon, i guess. i’ll be dipping into my backup drives for a few more months, but at least i have plenty to keep me busy.

junk on the trunk

here’s a beautiful back side from several years ago. so smooth. so shiny. subtle airbrush and an interesting color combo. really nice.

i haven’t done much all weekend, except drive out to temecula to see my grandkids. no car show as the alternate reason this time. just to visit.

better half was supposed to work all weekend, but coworkers didn’t show up to do their part, so he kicked back saturday, and cleaned house sunday. the stuff he was cleaning the tub with gave me a headache and the incentive to head over the mountain to see my boy and his family.

he worked regular days yesterday and today, while i mostly slept in. didn’t really get anything i planned to do done. thinking i’ll at least look through the last batch of pictures i took last week at mission san gabriel, or the show before that one, or the show before that one. so many pics…

so tired lately. i have a headache now. they’ll be shooting off fireworks nearby in a few hours, so the traffic and parking should get interesting around here, as always. trying to decide if i should bail and head to my mom’s now or after the hullaballoo.

hot in the city

here’s a more recent car, from chicano park day. i know of a similar one, but it is a convertible, (not quite twins, basil. twins). this one is very clean. almost like it just rolled off the lot.

————-

today has been a repeat of the last few days: up early, hoof it a mile to the meeting rooms, same bfast everyday (scrambled eggs, some variation of potato cubes, and some fruit). again passed on the unappetizing vat of oatmeal, sausages or pale patties of mystery meat, and the starbucks coffee.

to a change it up, i took the plate of food and a drink over to the main meeting room to sit in on an early presentation. i’d managed to walk a city block with my hands full without spilling a drop, only to splash the juice all over the tablecloth when i sat down and bumped the table leg. tried to blot it a little with my cloth napkin, but now i just had two wet cloths in front of me. ate my food and left the room. i assume the staff changed out the cover during the extended break, when they split the space up with divider walls.

—————

i feel like i’m getting strung out on the constant availability of sugary snacks and sodas that are always just outside the door. pretty sure that i haven’t lost any weight in spite of the mileage of walking around this place.

—————

got out of the last morning class a bit before the surge to the free lunch. yesterday included mac n cheese and a drumstick, and today was rice and vomit. i mean it was chef prepared vomit on a lovely serving tray. the little sign said it was chicken and broccoli, but i swear i saw the same come out of my old dog when i was a kid.

i ate the artisan dinner roll. my lunch took about five minutes. managed to leave the room, just as the hoarde was lining up at the buffet tables. i was not in the mood to network. i dashed out a side door, into the hot sun.

i’m really not sure who thought it was a good idea to put astroturf in this particular area, in a desert—it smells vaguely of melting plastic in the heat, while being gently sernaded by a recorded loop of wavery indian reed flute music.

—————

my dinner adventure started with a quail family that ran that across the road in front of my car. i’m really hoping the tiny baby ran fast enough—they are colored similar to the pavement, and i couldn’t see it in my rearview mirror. i did see the bigger parents running back, with the black head feathers bobbing. they run really fast on those little stick legs.

i decided to get mexican food. looked around on google maps, and selected a random place, that was easy to get to, three miles away. was more of a fast food place, though a huge step up from taco bell. i wanted carne asada, but apparently my mouth said carnitas, since that’s what i got. super shredded up, with a bit too much onions and tomatoes atop the pile. i’m not sure if it was too salty or just too spicy. they had a line out the door by the time i left, so it’s very popular at a minimum.

i also didn’t notice there was a small step down into the inside table/dining area, and almost twisted my ankle, or at least almost fell on my ass, but i recovered it nicely, and pulled off a smooth i meant to do that face, i don’t think anyone noticed, or even cared. lol.

by the time i got back to the hotel, it had gotten to a more reasonable upper eighties degrees, so i decided to take a long walk back to my room, around the outer perimeter of the building. it has two long wings, that follow along a river. there is an interesting variety of birds, lizards, tiny prairie dogs, and cacti.

between the wings, they have three swimming pools. if you’ve ever watched bride and prejudice, you’d giggle a bit at the thought. also a couple of small, kiddie pools, i assume. i doubt they have heated jacuzzis.

hardly anyone in the pools. must be casino time.

i noticed some brave souls out there earlier in the day (from the air-conditioned comfort of the lobby window), i can imagine the sunburn. and heatstroke.

kids don’t care. they’ll jump in ice water if you say they can go swimming.

at night, the pools are lit up, turquoise jewels in a sea of darkness. and all of the rooms and lobby-side restaurant can watch you perform your underwater ballet, like you’re in a flick with esther williams.

i’d really like to go swimming, but feel too much like a potato in a swimsuit to go. i bet if my better half were here, he’d ask the front desk if the pool was heated.

one more day. one day more…

i'm tired

i’m thinking that i need a new computer and more hard drive space. hoping to get to more shows in the future, and this camera pops out big files—but not as big as the files on my better half’s new camera. he’s already got himself a new gift for the holidays, and hopes to join me at some car shows.

he came with me to the bomb club show in october, and had a good time. was using his old camera with a lens he hadn’t used in a while.

we both shot this car. i just saw it over his shoulder, on his computer. he’s thinking about posting again on his website, which he’s ignored for far too long. not sure when or if he’ll share his version, but i like mine.

cars are moving in the background, and the owner is in the car, so this from the end of the show and drive out.

i’ve had a cold since thanksgiving. probably a bit earlier than that, when i complained to my doctor about my earache. earache, my eye. she said nothing was wrong then. nothing is ever wrong when i bother to go to a doctor’s office.

this thing moved from behind my eyes down to my throat and has pretty much stayed there. i’m coughing up a lung, even after two weeks, though i have no other symptoms. tested negative for covid at least four times now, so just a boring old cold, i guess.

i’m hoping to shake it off before the next vail headquarters car show in a couple of weeks. all the better reason to go out and see my grandkids there in temecula.

as you would expect, if you’ve read this blog for a few years, i’m not in the mood for xmas, and haven’t even looked at buying gifts yet, if at all. i’ve got some time off coming up, so maybe we’ll get out of the house, or help my mom put the decorations away after the holidays.

can’t believe my dad will have been gone four years come xmas eve.

can't stand it

here’s a beaut from a month ago, out at pomona. managed to frame this up by itself, but the other cars are reflected in the paint. wish they’d take the auto club banners down.

recently, i took my mom out to dinner. on the previous visit to this restaurant, it had started raining lightly, then gradually harder, as we looked out the window. she worries that her hair will become a mess, and that someone she knows will see her. that’s never the case, and who cares? she vaguely looks like queen elizabeth, same hairstyle.

we dashed out to the van, her hair survived under her umbrella. all was right in the world.

this last visit, though…yes, it was supposed to rain, but supposedly a bit later in the evening. figured we’d have enough time to eat there and get back to her garage, no threat to her hair helmet.

as we ate, the sky got darker and darker. and then the skies just gushed a tumult of water, down on the cars, the street, the building, the sidewalk…of course the umbrella was in her van. she walks slowly, with a cane.

we waited a bit, hoping it would let up. our food done, and no sign of let up, i offered to run and bring her car from the handicap spot just right there, basically backing it up and lining up with the curb on at the front of the building. there is a small overhang, and i’d hoped that would be enough to get her in the vehicle without getting too soaked.

i don’t care if i get wet. i’d go full shawshank, if it was my car, and no one was waiting for me, really throw my hands back and get soaked.

turns out, it didn’t matter. between the building and the van, the parking lot levels down in the middle, i suppose to drain water out in case of rain.

this deluge had overwhelmed whatever drainage was there, and basically there’s a river to swim to get to the car. so i ran, head down to the van in the handicap spot. i thought i could possibly jump across most of the river, and maybe save my sandals from inevitable water damage, but either i can’t jump anymore, or it was wider than i thought. it was deep enough, my foot went totally beneath the water. and cold too. great.

i blipped the unlock button on her key fob, and opened the door.

only, there was a man in the driver’s seat. and he screamed like a woman. he grabbed the door handle and pulled it shut, the water flying in as i’d surprised him. stupidly, i’d opened the door of a van that had been parked right next to my mom’s.

momentarily shocked, it took another moment to go, duh, and yell sorry to the poor guy, then run around to the front of the correct van, right next door. enough time to get thoroughly soaked.

then had to wait to back up, due to a passing car. by the time i’d backed up to the curb, my mom had hobbled out from under the overhang, which really didn’t keep her dry. at least she didn’t have to wade across the river, but her precious hair was truly well and done…soaked and droopy.

she laughed when we looked at each other, and as i told her how i’d scared the crap out of that other driver, while i drove her home.

not much happening

missing a few shows coming up. think i will be needing a new camera soon. don’t really like the sony e-mount cameras, but my big a-mounts are supposed to be discontinued. really hate the 6300 i have in my bag. mostly the user, but the glass i generally have on it is average.

taking a short vacation from the job. better half’s first get away in five years. thirteenth anniversary for us. bosses hope we come back.

not a lot of signal here in the middle of nowhere, so currently probably just chatting with myself. better half has earphones plugged in and actually posting on his blog again. been so long since we’ve traveled together, combined with he can’t understand what i say half the time, makes for some awkward misunderstandings. whatever. still having fun.

hoping to post some new pics from the road, but for now, here’s an old one from my archives. fleetline from the oc viejitos show last year. fewer cars showed up, which didn’t matter this early anyway. miss the morning light. i should really get my ass outta bed before the sun on weekends and go shooting again.

autobahn

somehow managed to have to drive up to whittier and back two days in a row. had yesterday as a scheduled day off from work that never got cancelled. would have been on my way back from a weekend in san diego, with a camera full of snaps from chicano park day, but noooo. thanks corona virus, and fuck you too.

i did get up for an important conference call, and intended to go back to sleep. unfortunately, the dog woke up, did his thing and ate, but didn’t go back up as usual to sleep a few more hours.

so i took him out to a local bark park, where it was just him and one other dog in a big enclosed space. was quite nice and cool out at seven a.m. tired him out, so he was settling in on the couch expecting me to work, when i decided to go to costco to gas up my mom’s car. expected it to be a wait at the pump, and as long as i was there, to get inside.

so wrong. on a monday morning after eight, there was no lines at the pumps. rolled right up and got some relatively cheap gas. doubt it will ever get down below a dollar a gallon, not like the eighties.

expected a line to get in and shop, and would have not bothered in that case. temp was to hit ninety by noon. but there was no one—no old people special time waiting, no waiting at all. the place was empty compared to the last time i went, which was probably november.

cool cool cool.

called the better half to ask if they needed anything, since he doesn’t get out much, and complains some foods are hard to get in los angeles right now. he was set for tp, but did want kleenex for his mom. all that stuff has been relocated to the very back, and it seemed to be the travel destination. workers must get tired of the same damn questions of, “when do you expect to get more…,” as there where no flushable paper goods to be had.

i picked up most of the other items on his list, and a few things for my mom. walked straight up to the register to check out, so essentially the best shopping day there in what is usually a hell hole.

drove back to mom’s, where the dog had been moping about my disappearance. he will suffer most when things go back to something resembling normal.

transferred stuff to my car. chilled some refrigerated stuff for a bit and took a break.

headed to whittier with his shopping.

i had noticed as far back as january, that there were more muscle cars revving down the streets. weekend warriors had satisfied mid-life crises, and were now racing to see who had the biggest penises…they are all dicks, btw. and they say women can’t drive; i’d say right now, these idiots take the cake. too often almost taking off my fenders, cutting so close on lane changes.

now, with freeways empty, rich dudes are bringing out their ferraris, lambos, mazzerattis, etcetera, and driving like they are on an autobahn. same dickheads, nicer cars. douchebags.

anyway, better half seems exhausted as usual, working full-time on both work and caring for his mom on his own. got him some lunch from in-n-out, as the local places seem to just be totally closed.

————

had my computer on, to do some scanning for my kid, so worked on a picture. missing the classics. if i do see any around here, they are fifty-five / -six bel aires, pimped out to hot rods <yawn>, though the neighbor did have a visitor in a fifty-eight ford fairlane a couple days ago.

yummy fleetline from the veteranos’ cruise night in west covina, january i think. should have gone to more shows, but who would have known we were all going into lockdown?

break in radio silence

been some time since i bothered to boot my computer. just haven’t much to say. you’d think with the world going to hell, i’d be bursting to chat. chatty kathy, that’s not me. i’m happily sequestered at my mom’s house. happy hermit introvert.

my condo is almost totally renovated, and i’m almost tempted to go hide out there, except there’s no wifi, and i do have to work.

been spending time sorting through some of my dad’s stuff. rearranging the computer set up for my mom, dismantling his computer room. i guess there’s some stuff i could sell online, if there are people looking for older computer parts.

i have been stymied by one of his external hard drives, with a password on it. one that isn’t on a basic list he left behind. i’m imagining a porn collection. it’s encrypted, and i can’t reformat it for other use, even if i wanted to. i’ll continue to snoop around, but the secret code may have been tossed a couple of years ago already.

so this past weekend, i dug out one of my older backup drives i had hidden here, and booted my system. this one had pics from when i started doing this thing of mine, back in 2009/2010. turns out, my carefully tended and keyworded lightroom catalogs are so out of date, as to be unreadable by the current version. so, fuck.

ended up creating a new catalog, and importing the pictures again. those are fine. just not tagged anymore. gdi. oh well.

randomly selected this one from 2010. bob’s big boy broiler in downey on a random wednesday. anyone remember those days, when the lot would be full to the back lot? back when i’d go out there every wednesday for months, and my better half probably got so sick of it, but he’d go anyway.

old camera, old lens. my rusty eye taking the shots. i dunno. it was a learning curve. used to shoot them all low on the ground, pushed up close. wishing i’d shot a few more showing more of the side, but i was still learning about the camera and lens then.

the sky in the evening would sometimes turn out more red than blue or black, only hinted at in the bits of sky here.

wonder if this show finally just died out, along with the older guys that used to be there. no one there now, of course.

low battery

here’s a fleetline from the azalea festival in south gate. so sparsely attended this past year, was relatively easy to set up a good shot from any angle.

———-

sitting in an eatery uptown. apparently they had a pride parade or something earlier here in whittier. or it could just be halloween is coming, but i did see a guy dressed as a nun wearing a fully oversized headdress, a la sally field’s flying nun, only like albatross size.

a group of large local college gurls are in here dressed half assed pridey, with rainbow hair and a ribbon, but otherwise, just jeans and tshirts. they’re using valley girlesque speech to talk about some guy they all seem to know in common, and how if they ask if he wants to “smash” and he says no, he’ll still be their friend. i’m thinking, they’re here for the pride thing not because they are gay, but more just so they can dress up and say they were there. sounded like shallow dipshits anyway, the type that can get a guy to “smash” them after a few too many drinks and last call. stupid bitches.

i’m in a mood. alarm went off at five-fifteen, as directed. every intention of going to a nearby car show pancake breakfast fundraiser. then went back to bed instead. maybe i’ll try an evening show later.

stayed up too late chatting with my better half, who i haven’t seen for most of a week because i’ve been sick. unless you count the five minutes i came back to whittier to get clothes. he met me at the back door wearing black rubber gloves and a face mask—no, he wasn’t suggesting what could be a good time for some people—he handed me the same, then ran off to the front room.

his mother’s door was closed and i was allowed to go back to our room to pack some clothes. he could have packed a bag and left it outside but was afraid he’d pick the wrong things, so ok. he called me patient zero. surprised he didn’t ask me to say, “i am oz. the great and powerful..” or some heavy metal songs…”bow to me splendidly…” i think he expected me to float off the ground and my head to do a three-sixty, nashing my teeth.

threw some stuff together and left quickly. no doubt he lysol-bombed the room, hallway and laundry room after i left. the usual steps to keep his mother from catching a cold which would put her in the hospital. whatever.

i’m also an idiot for trying to wean off of some medicine i’d been taking for over a year, only to realize i’d been taking the incorrect dosages about the time i’m down to what should have been the last days of the stuff. no wonder i was sooooo tired, and apparently, probably caught the cold as an added bonus because of it.

so, i’m put back on about half of what i was originally taking, and slowly going to taper off all over again. nasty shit, supposedly really bad to take for long periods of time, and i was feeling a lot of the negative side effects. hoping what i was originally taking the stuff for has gone away, because i don’t have a lot of options otherwise. alternative med made me swell up and just want to die, which is generally not a desired result.

hmmm, what else is going on since i last shared? lots of things, many i shouldn’t mention, cuz it’s not about me. i’m an observer—could i just share my observations? maybe some other time.

as usual, too much work, looming deadlines, not enough hired help. out of the office for two days didn’t help either.

daughter and her dog beast living at my mom’s now. another broken boyfriend, who was “the one” out the door. she has no where else to go with that big dog. i was in the process of kicking her out of my condo, when the hoa changed the rules so her beast isn’t allowed anyway. come to think of it, they probably changed them because of that dog.

sister should be coming back from a vacation in russia this weekend. always to strange, far off places. i always wonder if she’ll make it back alive, if not in some foreign prison, accused of being a spy or transporting exotic monkeys in unmentionable places. interesting stories galore, but, i’d have no interest in going so far for a good time.

i suppose i should head back to the house. probably have to go to the office tomorrow, so need to spend “quality” time with my guy. the way i’m feeling, it will probably be more like a long nap instead.

topsy turvy

this past week or so has just been a roller coaster, and all i can do is just hold on. i know you will either be relieved or terribly disappointed that i won’t spill details here—it’s still a pretty sensitive situation, and i suppose i overshare enough when it has to do with me.

apart from that time bomb, my better half has loaded windows ten on my computer, but i lost all my favorite settings in my programs, so maybe my pictures will all be shit for a while. last few i fiddled with today just seem really dark, though my better half disagrees. he says he can hook up my old drive and for settings i saved, there should be files i can just copy over; just haven’t been here enough to get it done. so excuse my pics while i just wing it for a while.

i did get out to the black widows car club barbecue or picnic or whatever last week. waited long enough other cars did eventually show up. stayed longer than expected, only because there was a breeze and shade under trees. otherwise, just the ugly light of midday, and the sun relentlessly shining on my roasting arms. forgot the sunblock again. hate that greasy stuff.

owner of this lovely said there was still another layer of paint and/or a good buff to do on this new paint job. really nice, and different, no? little bit of pinstripes, little airbrush, some flames, and a lot of glitter—stood out anyways.