what's up?

so close...

dear gary,

i haven't seen you since last year. i was out in chino this morning, in what turned out to be a wasted trip. i thought of you for some reason.

different cities, different car shows, different people get associated.

though i only know you by acquaintance, and you always saying hello, at least to me, (not so much to my better half whom you had never met, but gave a huge stink eye to last year), and dropping a joke once in a while, you are the one that comes to mind when i pass through riverside or chino.

i haven't been out toward your part of town much this past year. i haven't been out much at all. life gets in the way, and all else falls to the wayside.

i was not far from the main drag where the corn feed run will be soon enough. wondering if you are well, and if you will bring the ford or the chevy out this year. the last couple of times it has been the ford, which is nice, but much too perfect and electric green.

hoping the chevy is up and running. maybe you finally sold it. i much prefer a chevy anytime. here's an impala, that was just down the street from your car. nice, no?

it was threatening to rain that day, same as today—maybe it is always cloudy in chino? and probably reminded me of last year's show.

i briefly thought of taking the fifteen minute drive out to belatedly shoot some pictures at the pomona swapmeet. had my bag and tripod with me, in case there was time after my appointment. when that went south, i looked toward the sky and seeing the airplanes, heading toward lax, flying so low they might as well have landed on the freeway, i took that as a sign of impending rain, and headed home.

only rained for about an hour here in whittier, so i don't know how it went out there, but of course, i now regret not going. well, maybe next month—oh wait, shit—i'll be on an airplane then. fine. june fourth.

looking at my calendar, i see i still have time off from work scheduled, ending the first week of april. so if i travel anywhere, i'd be coming home the day of the corn feed run. what to do, what to do. already going to miss the chicano park show because of another trip.

well, things are spinning every which way around me at work and at home, so until we meet again, take care old man.

kathy

go dodger blue

got my oil changed today. and they found a few other things, of course.

i'll be needing a new car soon enough, but not today. not from a dealer. they gouge me a bit more every time i take it in, now that it is over ten years old. but any time i get out of there for less than a grand is a good day.

pomona is tomorrow, but so is some rain. i keep checking; the phone app keeps changing it's percentages. not much cover out there, though i suppose a plastic bag would do for the camera.

i have to be somewhere early anyway, so probably shouldn't cut it so close, only to have to leave quickly. so i guess i'll just sleep in and wait until the next meet.

spectacular fleetline in dodger blue. really brave of these guys with convertibles to drive them out with the top down. rain came down, tops went up though.

night night

has been a hell of a week at work. too much work, not enough time, slipping deadlines. unwanted overtime. cancelled day off. some people got let go. somebody died.

pretty sure i have to work tomorrow and/or sunday. but first i need to get my oil changed.

meanwhile i'm hanging with my kid's dog, who keeps bringing me stuff to play tug of war, and not letting me type more than a few words at a time. he wants more attention, though i've played with him and walked him all afternoon since i got here. and here he is again.

i'll just post this car up because i like it. not quite full dark, but it is from only a single frame from the camera, since all the exposures of the five i did of it were the same exposure time, so i kicked the pixels a bit to bring it out of the background some.

whipped cream

i'm at my parents' house this evening. my dad is slicing off a huge piece of pineapple upside down cake and dumping it in a bowl. my mom is asking him repeatedly if he wants whipped cream for it, each time increasing the decibel level of the question.

he's wearing big ass cover the ear headphones, listening to the tv playing in the other room, no doubt at a mind numbing volume. he used to fly p-2vs in the navy, so his hearing isn't very good as it is.

i was hoping she'd flip a spoonful of it at him and start a food fight, but he eventually he looked up and saw she was flapping her lips at him, and i was sadly disappointed. he didn't want any anyway. pretty sure he poured some milk on it. so ewww.

is this my future? why retire?

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i've shot this car many times before, but not sure i've posted any. owner always always parks at shows and proceeds to take pictures of every car he sees at the shows. he's always stopping to greet his friends, and even me.

i'd have liked this a lot more without those tricked out trucks in the background.

love the rain...oh that sky...

not going to miss my shot

i think this was the car, that the owner lamented, that no one ever takes a picture, and jumped out of my way when i set my tripod down. (apologies to my high school english teacher for that butchered phrasing.) pretty sure i've shot it before elsewhere, but i can't see the plates on it, so can't be sure.

perfectly fine car, so i don't know why he would think no one shoots it. perhaps, it had to do with being parked next to the pontiac i posted yesterday. sort of like the plain jane out and about with her much hotter friend, who gets all the attention.

is this a forty-seven or forty-eight? anyone? anyone?

looks like it was getting ready to rain again at this point, so got this one image of it, and a few more nearby cars, before the time stamps on my pictures stops for some time, while i went back to the overhang to wait it out.

lazy day

there was a big car show today. i was even awake at five in the morning, but i went back to bed. i should have gone, just to get out of my head, to take in some fresh air and get some exercise, but i just didn't want to go to this one. too many hot rods the last few years, not enough low riders.

tomorrow i will. a car show later in the day, and no rain expected. anniversary show at frisco's. for sure there will be cars i like there.

walked uptown for lunch. joked to my better half to be verwy verwy quiet...i'm hunting fweetlines... lo and behold, i did pass at least three of them driving by and on the way back to the house.

right now, there's a funeral / viewing down the street, practically a car show in that parking lot. didn't know the guy, and it would be sort of disrespectful to go back and set up my tripod and start shooting, right? didn't even whip out my phone for a snap as i walked by.

really explained why i kept seeing cars driving past the house and uptown earlier.

they are welcome to find parking down here, by the house, instead of trying to jam all of their cars into the lot. i'll keep an eye on the cars while they're gone. really i will.

so now, i go outside once in a while, to see what i can see from the corner. figure i can shoot them as they slow down at the stop sign, after the viewing is over. unless they go the other way, and hit up the cigar bar or something.

the sun has gone undercover now, so it's quickly become too chill to stand out there for very long without my jacket. and i'm starting to feel like a tool, standing there with a big lens and snapping a few shots, every once in a while.

my kid and his wife are going to stop by. spending the day at griffith park and that hood. will probably go uptown again for dinner, if they're hungry.

another from last week. was a lovely car. i'd be worried about the rain, but then figured they'd just put the roof back up and rub off the water spots when they get home, safe in the garage.

sky looks sort of dramatic here, but really any pictures featuring clouds in so cal could be called that. usually such a rare occurrence.

la chillona

so i'm sitting here while a bunch of wolf whistling dudes check my tires. one of them had a nail in it a few months ago, and it seems to be leaking out again. waiting room smells--not of teen spirit--more like teen racing dreams. these display tires are all 'hairy' with the little rubber peach fuzz on them.

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here's another car from this past weekend. got pretty overcast at some points, even lightly sprinkled off and on, but that didn't stop the party going on here for the most part. did wash out the colors quite a bit, but i like the atmosphere of it.

dead president's day

had things i absolutely had to do today. different circumstances would have had me at la puente park, shooting cars, of course, but things were 'beyond my control,' so i wasn't.

this weekend was sort of messed up, and it's almost over. holiday weekend blew by. thinking i might have to reschedule a vacation, which kinda sucks, or see if my bro wants to go somewhere, which could be fun.

made it to one show, but this shot is from last month's pomona swap meet. just liked the mood of it for some reason. it spoke to me, and said post me, so i did.

i got nuthin really to talk about, and it's back to work tomorrow, so i should probably end it here.

a scare

went to the harbor knights hit-a-thon car show rather late today. i vacillated all morning, and the clouds outside seemed about ready to burst for a good while. finally flipped a coin, thus deciding it.

of course most halfway there, it starts to sprinkle. i momentarily pull into the in-n-out lot, ready to throw in the towel and have lunch. but then i decided, i'd just head over and see if anything/anyone was still there.

sprinkles let up the closer to the beach i got.

got to the high school, saw banners at the entrances, but could not see a show from the street. almost thought it was over, but then this impala drives up. i had gotten out of my car, about the same time, heard an announcer somewhere mumble something, then the music started.

so he figured out the gate was unlocked, and drove in, and i followed. show was hidden behind the buildings, on the basketball courts. super secret. glad i got out of my car.

this was a beautiful car...

being that it's now after midnight, i'll have to continue later.

let's just say, after the show, had a family emergency, and that's all i'm going to say about that.

how romantic

beat my better half home from work. today is valentine's day, so he got stuck in traffic, and ended up just going to costco, since he was near one.

switched my hours at work, and so far, it takes me just over an hour now to get home. i guess that's better than over two, and there's no way i want to start at five in the morning, so it is good enough.

i was just going to walk uptown for a slice of pizza for dinner, since my better half decided to just have something at home, but then he didn't want me to go out in the dark alone. ended up that he needed to go to home depot, so i drove, with the intention of going to pollo loco.

upon arriving at that fine dining establishment, we were assaulted by some overpowering, lovely aroma from the "rest" room hallway. figuring how the sense of smell plays into the sense of taste, we decided to find sustenance elsewhere. wasn't quite as awful as the taco bell a couple of weeks ago, but the reek was just starting to permeate the dining area.

my head was swimming, so i just ended up at del taco in the home depot parking lot. meh. not quite ruths chris, but filled the empty space gnawing at my insides.

saw this car drive into the lot. better half says the driver was waving maniacally at me/us, but i didn't notice the driver, just the car, noting the club. i've seen it before.

gotta be just a blem tire, but that suspicious bulge makes me nervous as it did the first time i noticed it a year or two ago.

maybe i'll spy another suspicious bulge later...