what's up?

toy drove

1954 chevy bel air

i wasn't feeling up to it, but i went anyway. whittier narrows isn't far from home, so i figured if i got too wobbly, i could just head out. better half had stuff to do around the house, so he didn't go. waited until one to head over, hoping to miss the worst of midday heat. cool enough in the shade.

many times, if i just get out of the house i do perk up. tell myself just go with it, and i'll be ok. and so i was. vague stomach ache, but i ignored it.

brought a toy for the donation pile. looked like they had a good haul. wasn't hungry, so skipped the free meal they were trading for it.

saw a few guys i've gotten to know a little over the last few years. one offered me a fresh cooked hamburger, but wasn't brave enough to attempt a hamburger yet.

one wandered over and asked when i was going to send him pictures from some past show i'd promised to send him. he said the whittier evening cruise, which i argued i'd never been to. i run into him often, so i'll have to look through other whittier shows to see if it will jog my memory. would help a lot if he would just send me an email.

speaking of email...i've responded to several emails lately, and never hear back. guessing they're going to junk mail. i always answer, one way or another, so please do look there.

the turnout was fine, but the location was sort of dusty. nearby fields, especially where i parked were really very dusty, not good on a windy day for cameras. i feel like i have a fine layer of dirt all in my pores.

i took a bunch of pictures. still missed some, due to people being in the way, or too tightly parked or just a bad angle in relation to the sun. that's ok, i've seen many of them before, and hopefully will again.

when i was about done, went out to the street, to shoot this car and the fleetline in front of it. had to wait for a group of kids to move, or actually be told to get out of the way.

couple of guys nearby. one says he's seen my pictures before online, thinks they're great—thanks! other guy was the owner of this bel air. said it was rare because the spare wheel and cover were real original to the car, and that most are recent additions. he's owned this since ninteen ninety seven, i think he said.

he asked the usual questions, including when they might be posted. he asked, so i told him i'd post his tonight. promise kept...what do you think?

good day, sunshine

chevy truck

another early morning shot from the showlows show at st hilarys. i think this is a dukes' truck, at least it was parked near a bunch of their cars. decided i liked this one better than the shot with the sun's rays glaring into the lens this time—the lens flares were going straight down the middle, and not that interesting.

queue the violins...

i've done nothing so far this weekend. yesterday all i did was sleep and deal with stomach issues. i don't know what it is that i get through the work week just feeling meh, only to get to saturday, and feel ick.

i had plans. i had wanted to go to the latin gents/dukes toy drive. it was wonderfully overcast here by the house, and assumed it might have been in cypress as well. the show was from one to seven in the evening, which would have been nice for a change.

instead, i watched the awesome sunset from the couch, and wished i had just gone anyway. oh well. judging from only one photographer's pics posted on instagram, looked like it was a good show, and that they had collected lots of toys.

only left the house once yesterday, for a late lunch. walked uptown. sometimes if i just get out and walk, whatever it is goes away. not this time. was tempted to call my better half to come get me, but i toughed it out, and walked back home, but not very quickly.

not feeling one hundred percent today. but i am hoping to go to the viejitos show over by legg lake—at least that is only fifteen minutes from home vs half an hour+ to cypress, if i start feeling queasy.

hump day

1947 chevy fleetline

happy hump day. weekend is coming, but not soon enough.

another from the dia de los muertos show. a viejitos car, i think; not sure which chapter. i wouldn't mind driving one of these, if only it would fit in the garage.

like the reflection of the car next to it too.

so begins toy drive season. i have mixed feelings. i've grown into a real grinch at xmas time over the last dozen years, bitching and moaning about the overflowing decorations around this house, and how early the stores start each year. one year, when i still lived in my condo, everyone just left me alone, i didn't buy anything, and woke up xmas morning when i felt like it...and i was perfectly happy about it.

i had even put up a small, live tree carcass and threw decorations on it, from when my kids were little, from a time long ago and far away, and no one ever even saw it except me, not even my better half. i do like the scent of the trees, and it reminds me of growing up back east; missing the forests.

i go to the toy drives to shoot the cars as usual, but i'm not going to bring a gift; i only grudgingly and with much difficulty shop for my own family...i hate shopping...but i will donate cash. i have to trust that the clubs do use it for a good cause and not just a round of beer for everybody.

how'd that happen?

crown imperial

if you think i'm gonna talk politics here, that'd be a yah, nah.

i was just thinking of one of my better half's tales from car shows. my better half usually will tell a story reinacting the situation or imitating people if they're memorable. this was several years ago, when people did not know us from any other person visiting a show.

one of his favorites involves him chatting with a car owner about random things, photography, the weather, whatever, and me, once the guy realizes he's my better half. as my better half tells it, in his best reinactment of a homie...he has it down pretty good, as his cousin used to try and act like a gang banger...he assumes the posture, uses the hand gestures, and says in a grizzly, hoarse voice, "oh, really? how'd that happen?" he swears he's not making it up, or any of the other stories he tells me.

i can look at the guy's comment in many different ways, each one funnier than the other.

anyway, it somehow relates to how the celebrities are reacting today. so stupid, as if i care. they wouldn't care what i think, why should i give a rat's ass about their opinion?

life gives you lemons...make lemonade. it's short, get on with it.

random hood ornament, from a random show we found on our travels...

flat

1959 chevy impala

had a hard time getting up and out of the house today. just feeling out of it. finally decided to get dressed around noon, and head down the street to the show at the high school, a fundraiser for the football team. it was poorly advertised, as school shows go. only noticed a couple of flyers taped to business windows uptown, in alcoves, not the best locations to be seen.

i hadn't been to a show at the high school for several years; that one had been for the baseball team, and had way more cars, and of the types i cared about, so i had high expectations for this show.

this show had a disappointing majority of muscle cars vs the bombs i look for, but since this was a football fundraiser, that would be the crowd i'd expect to find. seemed to have been a tent with someone signing autographs in the midst of the new model mustangs, but i have no idea who it may have been.

did enjoy watching some dude in a mustang not paying attention, while wanting all the attention, driving into the parking lot, and somehow managing to drive over a parking block with a bang. took a whole group of guys to help direct him off the thing without doing damage to his side panel.

there were a few cars from each of a few clubs we were familiar with, and my better half and i were greeted with "about time you showed up" from more than a few people. they're more used to seeing us at sunrise i guess.

spent about an hour and a half at the show, before i overheated and we'd shot most of the stuff we liked.

this little detail is from ronnie's fifty-nine impala. its late—i'll have to add a picture of the car some other time.

after the show, i had to go deal with a flat tire on my car. like, one thing has led to another since my car got hit last month. i don't know why. got it to the tire store, and they found a nail in it and patched it up, so i guess that will be good for a while.

then we went out to see about getting the alarm on the car working right again, but they were getting ready to close and aren't open tomorrow. so that may take another week before i get it fixed.

stopped by my parents' house the other day. they recently got a new used car to replace their old one that had been totaled in minor accident. had just gotten it registered, since the dmv had been downed by a hacker in their system, and they finally felt able to drive it.

apparently my dad was backing up in a parking lot, had looked once for anyone behind him, and started to back up. either he didn't see the other car coming up behind him, or they didn't notice him backing up, and now the new car is back in the same shop that totalled the other car.

my mom said he just wasn't used to the height of the brake pedal in the new car. i think it is more his reflexes are getting slower and he can't lift his leg so high or quickly. still can't talk him out of giving up driving; it's one of the last things he has that gets him out of the house. anyone that has ideas on how to convince an old person its time to give up driving, please let me know.

spritzed

1937 chevrolet

beauty from the veteranos show at the elks lodge.

i've been dealing with issues over the weekend, related to the repair work done on my car, due to being hit by another car. the car looks great--can't even tell it was dented at all. check engine light stayed on all weekend, the alarm would randomly go off, and cause the door to repeatedly try to lock while i was driving.

so i have reset the alarm multiple times, and it still acts possessed, so i've had to turn it off until i can get to the place that installed it years ago, to see if they can figure it out. kinda doubting the repair place can figure it out.

then this morning, halfway to the office, a three digit maintenance code pops up as well. really coincidental, right? so i took it to the dealership near the office, to check it out. why do they charge sixty-five bucks to plug a code reader in to tell them what the trouble is? that part should just be free, since they ream you with labor costs, right?

so they tell me, check engine light is for the o2 sensor going bad, and the maintenance code is oil change, tire rotation, some other expensive thing that isn't critical right now, and oh, the starter is going bad. coincidence? karma? probably had a fortune cookie that generically predicted this would happen.

catch the shuttle back to the office, and spend the next six hours bouncing between projects. boss is out of the office, and several coworkers are travelling, so it was quiet, and i got a lot done, and still more assigned to me.

about three in the afternoon, i get the call that my car is ready, and the driver is on his way to pick me up. i'm the only passenger this afternoon, so i got to sit up front for the short drive back.

anyway, after throwing down a dozen benjamens, my car is running good, but will still need that non-critical part replacement next time. i think i'll skip xmas this year. well, i pretty much skip xmas every year lately.

after getting the car, i drove out to check on my kid's dog. after the weekend being sick, finally got him to start eating, and acting a little like himself in short bursts of energy.

drove him out to my mom's house for a visit, and because he likes hanging his head out the window, the wind whipping his ears around. kid and his wifey were to stop and pick him up from there, on their way home.

while we were waiting, i took him to the park around the corner, where dog owners in the hood go to let their beasts run freely on the field.at least until some local buttwad narked to animal control about them being off leash. i think once that group figures out which homeowner reported them, they might find some "little suprises" on their doorstep.

anyway, the kid's dog is either pretty shy around other dogs, or he wants to be chased, depends on the dog or the number of dogs around. this time, i think there was about six, three larger than him, three small yappy dogs. a couple of dogs come over to check him out.

he's still not one hundred percent, and he's busy taking care of business. then i'm busy picking up what i can of his business. i see from the corner of my eye, that one of the small dogs is quite near to me, and sniffing where my dog has just been.

what i didn't notice until i started toward the trash can with the evidence, was that the little shit had pissed on my pant leg, and i didn't notice the warm wetness until the material rubbed across my ankle. ewwww. warm trickle into my shoe. blue jeans take the longest time to dry. why me?

and the best part was that several of the other owners had watched silently as the dog did it. claimed they weren't sure that it was doing what it was doing until it was too late anyway. once i realized, they all started to laugh and joked that i had been chosen, or that i was his now.

too late, and i was done for the day, so i laughed along. pants are washable, and so am i. just got all cold and gross after a bit, until i could get home. so that basically summed up my day.

good fella

1939 chevy master deluxe

was thinking about going to friscos, then it started to rain. rain or shine is great for cars, but not for camera lenses. the bodies are supposedly water resistant, but not the lenses. i can't afford new lenses, so probably will skip it. my loss.

saw this in the corner at showlow's st hilary show. if not a fleetline, master deluxes are my next favorite.half in, half out of the shade is sort of challenging.

wishing that other car wasn't behind it. took a picture of that one too. that owner was a dodgers fan, and took time to put a sunshade emblazoned with the logo across it in the front window, so that i'd take a picture of it. i did, but i don't think i'll post it. not the best shot, and i wasn't that impressed by the sunshade.

took my kid's dog for a walk on friday after work. hadn't stopped in to visit for a while, and the kid wouldn't be home from work for another hour or two. i took him to a nearby park and let him off his leash at some point, so he could run around a bit. he ran in circles for a few minutes, then must have found something, because i saw him eating it before i could catch up and stop him.

it looked like what was left was evidence of a picnic in the grass, with a baby's animal crackers and chicken bones strewn about the area. had to pull him away, as he was trying to snarf another bone.

saturday morning, about five a.m., i get a nasty "what did you feed the dog?" text from my kid. i guess the dog had not been feeling well the night before, had been locked in the kitchen just in case, and had woke up barfing and crapping everywhere. pictures were included. thanks for that visual.

he says the dog always drops a bigger load after i've stopped by, i usually feed him extra biscuits, or share my dinner with him. i'm a bad gramma in his eyes.

i had to apologize and tell him i hadn't fed him anything extra, and could only think whatever he managed to eat had already gone bad, and he had food poisoning.

i guess he continues to be sick, but supposedly slowing down. i've offered to take him to the vet and/or pay for it. he says he'd given the dog some pepto-bismol.

hoping to hear they've taken him in and given him an iv or something.

engraved hog

harley davidson deluxe

i watched the owner move this bike forward, out of the shade. thought he was going to take off. no, he moved it for another photographer. then he left it there. had to shoot it, sun hit the engraved chrome just so.

finally got my car back from the shop. glad their insurance covered it; was quite expensive for just a couple of crunches in a fender.

i guess while taking the door apart, they had to unplug the battery, so now there are things that don't quite work right. the radio didn't come on...had to punch in a code. the alarm seems a bit whack, so i need to look up how to reset that. and the check engine light is on, so i am assuming the sensor needs to reset. the shop is closed on weekends, so i can't call and ask them, but the timing makes sense, and it seems to be running fine.

they gave me a hundai sonata as a rental car to drive all week. who's the genius that designed the car with the emergency brake positioned down by your left ankle? not only is it uncomfortable to rest your foot down there, or stretch, i kept thinking if there was an accident, i'd get hobbled or amputated instantly. really stupid. other than that, the car wasn't that bad.

didn't like that all the doors unlock when you turn it off. made me paranoid at the gas station that someone could jump in and snag my purse. i read the news too much.

end rental car review...

almost as old as me

1966 cadillac

another busy week. the older i get, the more they just blend together.

supposed to rain for the next couple of days, so will probably stay at my mom's. people drive like idiots on a wet freeway, don't they? i'd rather avoid it, if i can.

another from early in the day from the dia de los muertos show. donut shop end of the street always ends up being where we get started, since we walk in that way.

not my favorite year for a cadillac, but i liked the early light hitting the black expanse of the hood.

my mom used to drive a used caddy, but it was more like a seventy-three, with an eight-track player.

thunderous bday wishes

is it a coincidence that the moment i started singing happy birthday into my phone, to make a recording to my daughter, lightning flashed, thunder roared above the house, and it started pissing rain from the skies? granted, it was just around six in the morning, and i was the only one up in the flickering light of the kitchen table, is it a sign? i texted my better half that "they moved the headstones, but left the bodies," it was the feeling of that scene from poltergeist.

and, the song didn't record as singing, just a lightly typo'd text message, where it said her name was danny. sent the message; she was awake, day off from work, so at least she got my last words before whatever the thunderous rains portend.

my sister-in-law and my bro, freshly coming down from the parrothead party at the jimmy buffet concert, texted from the airport, heading home, "happy giving birth day," as she does every year. she hadn't belived me when i said it was going to rain in sunny southern cali, but at least not until after the concert.

i'd hate to be taking off into that deluge. i've watched planes get hit on the runway in vegas, with no damage, but the thought is kind of disorienting. safe trip to them...

lunch is almost done, so i'll just put this one up. put it on instagram yesterday, so its just an afterthought here, isn't it?

beautiful car. was hard to get a shot without people in it. figured i'd just do a different view of it, to mix it up from the usual angles.

1940 buick woodie convertible