what's up?

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

sun up

1950 chevy deluxe

from the first show of the day. we got there a little late; i'd snoozed the alarm a couple of times, having gone to bed late, then the third time i'd accidently set it to a weekday alarm. duh. just happened to wake up about six.

still arrived just about roll in time, so we still found parking and had stuff to shoot. really nice cars and many clubs showed up. tried to make the most out of the sun, which was already coming up. most of the beautiful light was hitting the back parking lot, where there were only regular cars still parked at the time, so that was unfortunate.

out here in the front, the host club's cars—old memories eastside—were still in the shadow of the building. had to go over to the far side to find something with some light hitting it.

this one turned out ok, though the camera sensor really didn't like it. had to blur out some horizontal lines, that i could otherwise not explain.

apologies to the club guy who had spoken to my better half about getting a picture of the club, then sent him my way because he wasn't carrying the right lens. we had to leave after a couple of hours, so maybe another time, when your group is already gathered.

the kid

1939 pontiac

i made it out to both car shows yesterday. skipped the evening trunk n treat—by then i wasn't feeling well. probably had too much sun. or yesterday's carnitas got their revenge. maybe i should just not eat them anymore.

i shot a lot of pictures. so now i am behind about four shows in the last couple of weeks, for anyone looking for their car. again, if i promised to put yours up, send me an email, because i am starting to forget.

this one is from the second show, at the whittier elks lodge. the veteranos were the host club, and i got a hug from one disguised/acting as security at the gate. he even gave me an ice cold water, which i really appreciated.

near the entrance, the originals club had their cars lined up behind their pop up, which kind of sucks, because there's the tent, which i hate, but whatever. my friend armando, who i've run into off and on for what he says is four years now, was there, and seeing the other guy get a hug, wanted one too. introduced me to his youngest daughter, who was spending time with dad at a car show. chatted with him for a while, then went and got started shooting cars.

when the pavement got too hot, i went back and caught some shade and probably talked to him for over a half an hour. he's a new dad. suprised the wife let him go out and play, but i'm sure he'll make it up to her somehow.

at some point, he asked me to take a picture of his car with his daughter. she seemed pretty shy, and didn't know what she should do, and i was all awkward because i don't usually shoot people...wait, that sounded weird...take pictures of people.

this one turned out ok, and caught her looking at me, instead of her dad, who really should have jumped in with his kid for a picture.

carnitas craving

1958 chevy impala

took me two and a half hours to get to whittier today. yay friday. at least it was payday. missing q-vo trunk n treat tonight...just done driving for the day.

better half worked a few hours overtime, and apparently just got home. i just walked uptown to the mexican cafe, which is suprisinly busy just now. so i've just ordered a couple of carnitas plates and drinks--i do hope he shows up. he just sent a text that he's on his way, and he walks fast, maybe he's timed it just right and food will be served when he arrives.

several car shows tomorrow. hoping to get to at least two, and that depends on whether the first one is worth staying for, after the sun comes up. thinking old memories pancake bfast to start. i think i went to this show a couple of years ago. was pretty good then, but hot--and its all asphalt parking lot. i do expect some exceptional cars to show, at least according to the instagram chatter.

the other would be the veteranos, over at the elks club. not far between the two, so that helps. too bad there is only one sunrise a day. i suspect after those, i'll have no energy for trunk n treat shows. i should take my car in for repair estimates too...already got a few tips on places to go.

beautiful impala. deep chocolate paint job. this model year is good from the back end, but this little detail also makes it easy to identify, even for me.

better half just got here, so i'll stop.

it's a hit

1939 chevy master deluxeso i was driving to my house after work today, minding my own business, thinking my usual inane thoughts. my older brother is in town with his wife. they're both parrot heads, er, jimmy buffet fans, and i guess he is in concert in irvine this weekend. haven't seen them yet, they're out somewhere with my mom, so i'm currently hanging out with my dad, treating him to a gourmet taco bell dinner. meh.

as i was saying, i was driving home, when suddenly, another car up and bumped into my car. hot damn. pulled over and got out of the car. started taking pictures of her car, plate, damage, in case she took off. had to wait a couple of minutes for her to get out of the car, as she seemed to be on the phone and looking for paperwork simultaneously.

i suppose i could have gone ballistic, but it was just an accident, neither of us hurt, and she had insurance, so why get my panties in a wad. she admitted it was her fault, or rather that someone in front of her braked or slowed too quickly, and had to swerve...right into my car.

really just looks like some small body damage on the edge of a door and over the wheel. but driving it back over here to my parents house, it feels like it has a little shimmy or something. seems ok to drive otherwise. already have an appointment for an estimate, but not until monday. only going to a few local car shows this weekend, so i guess it will be ok. but way to get an early start on the weekend.

i see this car often at shows. belongs to a popular photographer. from what i've read on his instagram, i think he inherited from his father, and drives it in his honor and memory. maybe they worked on it together, i don't know. check out his photos--@aragonphotography39.

this shot is from last weekend's dia de los muertos show. i think i probably posted a shot from last year, which had a much bigger display, which included a statue of an angel and flowers, versus this one, which simply shows an old photo of a couple, a painting, and a sign. same spot though, he always gets this corner.

beautiful car. still like it better with the doors closed, but that's just me.