what's up?

a weekend | pt 2

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5

arrived in san diego around five, and only needed to cross a set of tracks to catch the red train to my hotel. i still had a fare card for them from a year ago, so just needed to add days to it.

the train was due to arrive within minutes, so i hurried through the add days menu. paid for a one-day fare, then thought, duh, here for two more days, and added a two-day fare. that gave me a dollar off vs what i paid for a one-day fare. wonder if there was a three-day fare, now that it was too late to fix.

whatever. figured i had a total of three days on the card, so the fare-checking police could scan away and pass me by.

this time around, i stayed out in the gaslamp district, since they had lower rates then where we usually stay. nicer neighborhood too. since my better half couldn’t go, i’d offered up a free weekend with me to my daughter and her dog...city is very pet friendly...she had to work, then hit a funeral the next day, so no. mom wouldn’t go and leave my dad behind, since he’s feeling poorly healthwise, and he just might burn down the house if left on his own. sister is on a group vacation in peru, apparently. son and his wife had relatives visiting. even mentioned it to my bro on the east coast, but he wasn’t flying this way until next month.

i’d reserved a basic room, with an option to upgrade if the executive type rooms were available. with the padres on the road, of course the upgrade was available. pretty sure that room had about the same or more square footage than my condo. at least it felt that way. king-size bed, sunken tub, separate sitting area with couch, chair, big screen tv, bigger than a mini fridge, dresser, marble shower with marble bench, high ceilings, and overlooking the main drag of the gaslamp. pretty damn nice, but sucked since it was only me in it.

being that i’d only had about three hours sleep the night before, i set out across the street for dinner, then back to the room for a shower, and a hot bath. checked the cameras, charged batteries, and pretty quickly passed out in that king-size bed.

to be continued...getting ready for work...

make a choice

asked my boss about going to a conference, if there was any budget for training. yes, he said to pick one and get him an estimate for travel, etc.

so, i need to decide on new orleans, orlando, boston or los angeles. here's the thing: the useful one is in new orleans, and i really have no interest in going there, so i'll wait until next year and hope they move it somewhere else. the other one i want to go to ends on the same day as the uptown whittier car show. sort of rather go to that.

i could skip the last day, and fly home the night before. i'll have to think about it.

this car was the last one i shot at the chino show. owner said i'd need to see it in the sun to really appreciate the paint job. the roof has some faint airbrushing going on.

i can see it. true, it would be more vibrant in the sun, but it may also be more glare-filled, because of the glitterizing in the paint.

still, pretty cool car. lots of engraved chrome.

club guys were friendly too.

cornfeed run

early light makes getting out of bed in the dark worth the trip. out to chino, for the cornfeed run. heard they had maxed out at eight hundred cars, and were turning them away. saw quite a few random, beautiful cars parked on the residential streets because of that.

better than last year, when it was overcast and started to sprinkle.

when the sun gets going, you really just have to get in front of a car and start shooting, or it's gone. this will do.

i think i was there for about four and a half hours, before i started to overheat, and felt the need to chug a bottle of water and get something to eat.

really only went around to all the route of cars and parking lots once this time. the light changed, and it wasn't fun anymore.

pretty sure i'm going to need to get a new ball head for my tripod pretty soon. i've pretty much worn it out, and it's a bit on the loose side. so, one camera repair, one new ball head—time to dip into the rainy day money, i guess.

looking forward

a shot from last year's whittier car show. been seeing the flyers posted uptown for june second...on my calendar...on my street. i think the owner of this car stopped polishing it long enough for me to get a picture.

always up and out early, before the crowds. later in the day, it just gets packed, and typically really hot, so i'm done by ten. head home, download pics, then head back, with the macro lens, looking for hood ornaments and detail shots—at least no need to bring the tripod.

planning out my weekend, assuming all the elderly peeps in the family stay healthy and out of the emergency room. my dad has been there several times in the last month; patch him up, send him home, not really solving the problem. really frustrating.

mom just sits there, quietly supportive, not really challenging the doctors with questions. i usually don't pipe up, but it's getting kind of ridiculous, so i'm asking for second opinions, other options, tests.

my dad has his own theories, and it's interesting to hear him telling the doctor about anatomy and how things work, the cause of his issue, and how they could fix it quick. doctors really have a lot of patience for their patients...don't know how he kept a straight face.

but anyway, hoping to get out to the chino cornfeed run on saturday, and if i have any energy left, up early on sunday to pomona swap meet. we'll see.

waiting

sitting in hospital er, waiting on my dad. i think he will be ok soon. probably going home soon.

had just driven an hour home to whittier, and got the call they were going in. so, packed a bag and turned around drove an hour back. oh well.

———

here’s a lovely fleetline to contemplate while i wait. better than pondering my navel.

week off

i got back from my road trip two days early. caught up on some sleep today.

i should go for a walk, but i've only been out of the house to drive somewhere to pick up lunch. so tired of the food places uptown, but i don't know what else i'd have. kinda craving a salad right now. one out by house, not here in whittier. maybe when i go visit my parents...

i noticed some bananas getting over-ripe in the kitchen, so i guess i'll make some bread. way to spend some free days, right?

truck from the veteranos' kick back at in-n-out...was just a week ago now? two? haven't seen one of these models in a while.

don't hold back

beauty of a truck here in whittier, from a few weeks ago. had to do the waiting game for several shots; for another photographer, for a videographer, for the background traffic, for other random people. it's a car show, so it comes with the territory. i'm not in a hurry, so i wait. or come back later.

trolls. i have trolls. not for me, specifically, more as a conduit. they're frustrated, and rattling cages, and can't get through to the person they want, so hello me.

don't want to shut down commenting, but thinking about it, at least for a little while, until they forget about me. i don't got time for dat, and it's not about me anyway. sounds like i need some sort of salve.

stylish

sitting in my car here, way too early, but i did beat the rain getting to work this morning. it’s just now started falling on the roof, at a pretty steady pace. i still need to get gas over at costco soon—no lines at five-thirty in the morning.

relatives coming this weekend; i’ll probably avoid them...don’t want to trade cooties with the little kid.

but the best news is two days to go, until a two-week vacay for me. nothing fun, but it does involve a flight, a rental truck, and lots of scenic driving. and not working. so yay. wish my better half could go, but he’s busy taking care of his mom. someday his sister will come back to help, but for the near future, it’s just him/us. wonder if medicare would provide someone to help? dunno.

——-

second time, at least this car is up here. this time at workman high show. one of the few older chevys there. first car i shot that day, being the first one there in the corner. one of the veteranos club members, they reminded me about their car show coming up this weekend, in covina. hopefully, the rain stops by then.

tired

missing a couple of good shows this morning. just too tired to move. my arm still hurts. maybe this afternoon, i’ll check out a couple of evening shows. better half has been out at the markets, and i’ve been watching his mom while he’s out anyway.

——-

nice car from a few weeks back at salinas tires. limited space, but nice selection to shoot.

shaking my head

i remember this day. last summer's bomb club car show at santa anita. middle of the racetrack, on the grass. hot, sunny day. still looking forward to the next one on june twenty-third.

all the lovely cars, in a new location, at least for me...i'd never been to a show there. actually, hadn't been to santa anita in years, so that was fun.

maybe i'll take pictures of the horse races this time too.

recent events have just got me feeling down. if i was a psych major, there'd be a thesis in it. people are just so horrible sometimes, and selfish and stubborn. there are some that will politely engage in a discussion, agree to disagree, but the rest think if they just yell louder, insult you, belittle you, threaten you, they win. water off a duck's back. let's remember richard for a moment. ok, he's not worth the time; see how it works?

and i'm kind of enjoying that it is raining just a little bit, so i can sleep in and not have to find a reason to not get out of the house. i'm sure there was something grammatically wrong with that sentence, and i don't care...double negatives or something.

been busy, and i'll be travelling soon. i'm getting really good at driving big ass moving vans. hoping i don't get a diesel one again...don't like the steering wheel being so horizontal. hoping the weather is good, and the roads aren't icy.

had to do a bunch of headshots at work yesterday. they scheduled seven people; one showed up, forgetting that she was supposed to wear a suit, and was dressed for st. patty's day. one less person, great. then someone else heard there was a shoot, and wanted one, but she couldn't do it until the afternoon. so i still ended up with seven people.

interesting how insecure people are in front of a camera. i am just as uncomfortable behind one, when they are in front of me. i babble, and try to lighten their mood, to get a decent smile from them, get them to relax. i'm trying, and i hate it every time, but the pictures aren't bad. now if i'd just relax enough to be able to tell them how i want them to pose, to get rid of that double-chin, or thin them out a bit, like i've learned in classes, i wouldn't have to do so much in post-processing, maybe.

i did do a little bit of stand like this, smile like that...sort of a mirror. i don't smile much, so my smile just has to be ever more stiff than theirs. at least they laugh, and i get the shot.

after shooting someone six+ foot tall, followed by a person about five foot in heels, when i went to adjust the height on the tripod, a leg twisted off. not good. couldn't get back together and stay. the person is just waiting. i tried some hand-held shots, but i shake too much. probably should have dialed up the shutter speed or something.

i wasn't liking the quality, so i tried the leg one more time, and propped it up against a chair. that held together long enough, and got something usable finally.

i had a twenty-minute break before the next person, so up to my office, asked a co-worker if they could fix it, while i ran out to my car to get my personal tripod from the trunk. knowing that i didn't have the plate to attach the camera to it with me, i was going to have to pull the ball head off and just mount the camera directly.

fortunately, my co-worker figured it out, at least for the time being, and i got through the rest of the day with it. pretty sure, though, i didn't adjust the leg height for the duration.

need to reschedule the one person sometime in the future, so i better be sure to check it on monday, and carry my own as a backup on those days.