what's up?

woulda

i wanted to go to pomona yesterday.

my morning on saturday had been good, until a little back and forth texting with my daughter turned my day dark. really pissed me off. started innocent enough, but as it seems i never say the right thing to her, her mood switches gears. i can almost hear the click of the attitude shift, and there’s no reeling it back.

so now i’m blocked from her phone and social media.*

i spent an hour aggressively cleaning things that i’d easily managed to ignore for some time. burnt out some of the fury with cleaning, and expletives under my breath that i needed to get out.

better half stayed downstairs, with headphones on, watching some movie on the tv screen.

then, i’d decided i’d like to try going to shoot some cars. test out my arm, and see how dizzy i might get walking around with my camera bag. i haven’t kept up with what shows were happening in a while, but i knew that pomona would be open on sunday. not a small show, and a long walk to the show area.

at least it wouldn’t be hot.

saturday night, i got my batteries charged up. set my alarm for some ridiculous time, like three-thirty a.m., so we’d have plenty of time to be at the gates when they opened at five. no way my better half was going to let me go there by myself.

i really haven’t used my cameras much since october, when i fell. i figured the cameras would be totally dead, and would need the time and date stamps updated, at the very least.

had one hinky battery that was not charging. the knock-off batteries don’t seem to last as long as the genuine sonys do. so chucked that one, and borrowed one from my better half.

put a battery in my newer camera, and it wouldn’t turn on. weird. maybe the camera got too cold in the closet? my older cameras would be a little dodgy when i’d be out shooting in colder weather.

if i put some pressure on the lens, and changed the setting to program mode, it would start up for a second, then, black screen. popped the battery out and tried another.

same. and i don’t use program mode, so would have been terribly upset if it was the only one that had worked.

better half took a look. the spring in the battery compartment had come loose, and so the camera wouldn’t stay on. couldn’t see how to fix it, but thought maybe it could slip back into the slot. didn’t seem to be broken off. didn’t have the tools, and i thought it might still be under warranty anyway.

great. wanted to cry—fuck that, i didn’t—and went upstairs to look for the receipt, and check online to see what i’d need to do to get it repaired. what a stupid and confusing website they have, i must say.

online, the estimate was a ridiculous three-figure amount, just for them to look at it. doesn’t mean final cost, and there were no live humans to chat with, because, weekend, and holiday weekend at that.

so we didn’t go.

thought about using my old camera, but better half thought maybe i should not push my luck for the time being.

so flipping through old pics, from old cameras, on old external drives, and found this studebaker i’d seen at pomona back in 2017.

no idea why it caught my eye, then, or today. it just looked like it was saying “cheese,” for the camera.

*she did send another message later in the evening, sort of apologizing, but still not wanting to talk to me for a while. better than not at all.

sunday

made it out to the swap meet last week. not being in the area anymore makes it harder to rock out of bed even earlier to get to shows anymore. better half solved that problem and put us up in a hotel the night before, just a few blocks away. we followed a couple of classic cars around the backside of the fairgrounds, and then around the side to the public entrance.

i guess he figured i needed to get out and do something fun. well, he also wanted to see if there were parts available for his car, not that he’d know what he’s looking for. he makes fun of me, as for as many times as we’ve been to the swap meet in the past, i’ve never really made it over the parts side of the show…just always in with the cars, shooting pics. it’s what i do.

anyway, we got there a bit after the gates opened. bundled up, as the temp was in the upper thirties, i think. i always ponder whether to wear a jacket, much less a coat, as i overheat, then would have to carry the thing around or take back to the car, which is just a waste of time and perfectly good light.

with the sun still a glimmer on the horizon, i was just warm enough after hiking over to the show area, that i briefly considered taking the coat off. i guess it’s just as well i didn’t. standing there taking longer exposures, i did sort of feel the chill.

as the sun started to rise, this beauty started to glow.

i have a bunch of new pictures, and not a lot of time to play with them. usual story.

why the hell not?

pomona swap meet, last year.

wondering if indians used to live on these grounds. swear to big guy there’s a ghostly face of an indian in that driver’s seat on the full size image. i suppose i should add that here too, but i’ve already shut down my computer. otherwise, there were no other people hanging around this time of a cold morning.

don’t care much for hot rods, but i took a shot of this one for some reason. might as well post one once in a while.

have not done a whole lot today. i’m losing track of time working from home. apparently i thought thursday was wednesday all day. no idea where i lost a day. and have the work computer sitting here makes it too easy to just try and get projects done that are always pushed aside for the immediate rush jobs.

today, i power washed bits of the carpeting that the dog beast barfed on a week ago, when he ate some bad food.

one more week of work, then i have a week off. no where to go. previously scheduled vacation i never bothered to cancel the work time off. i’m tired. why not?

tut tut

looks like rain.

two hour drive home and out for a quick dinner so my better half can go shopping.

bro flew home today. hope he made his connection. hope he can figure out uber since no one in his fam wants to drive to the airport at midnight. if i could, i would have gone with, just to be sure he’s ok.

kid called wanting to do dinner , i.e., have me buy, but not down there tonight, so she’ll hit up gramma.

snagged a bottle of vino someone brought back to work from a meeting. i don’t drink, but my daughter-in-law does. she said she’ll take it.

pretty paint combo on this thirty-nine out at pomona a couple of months ago. so late in the morning, and a relatively empty parking lot, still surprises me.

skipped it

ya, ya, i was lazy this morning. didn’t rain as i had hoped, but was misty and sprinkly off and on today. still looks like more is coming tonight.

so i stayed huddled under the covers instead of cruising through the miles of cars at pomona.

here’s a shot from last month to compensate. penance. whatever.

i suspect there were just as few cars there this month as last, because of the cold and the possible rain. have only seen a couple of pics from other photographers so far today.

maybe next month…

trippy

looking forward to pomona next month. wondering if it will rain. wondering if i’ll have time to go. my life is very much a day-to-day mystery of where i’ll be and what i’ll be doing anymore.

got this backend shot of a fifty-eight last month. nice car, but i just like this piece of it right now.

————

well, here i sit all down-hearted...in san francisco, but my heart isn’t here...he’s in whittier.

can’t say it’s all been downhill, but the trip sort of started that way. mom dropped me off at the airport after work yesterday. all good, short security line, plenty of time to sit on my ass and figure out what i was going to do in the evening. the one hour flight was supposed to take off at five, so i was going to hold off eating until i got to the city, and planned to go get a crab from the dudes with the big boilers outside at fisherman’s wharf.

plane boarded right on time. pushed back from the gate just a bit late, and started rolling toward the airfield. then the plane stopped. figured we were just in line for take off. nope. mechanical problems, heading back to a gate, but we had to wait to get an open gate now.

cap’n crunch in the cockpit says they hope it is just a matter of rebooting the computer, but has to wait for the mechanics to board and clear it. yup that’s what it was, but then we had to wait for offical paperwork and clearance before we could get going.

the guy sitting next to me was having coniption fits as he was going to miss his connection to sacramento. was up at the front door trying to change his flight plans for a good twenty minutes. he should have taken his crap with him and just left, but it was all the way at the back of the plane with me.

really hating the flights i’ve had to book through the travel agency at work. they are always double or triple the price of any flight you could book on your own, and pretty much every trip has had issues. bumpy rides aren’t their fault, but ya, there’s usually that too. we are required to use the agency, so whatever.

so, an hour and a half later, we were cleared for takeoff, and with sacramento man still onboard. he whined to the lady in the window seat, who had a connection to redding, but she thought she would still be able to make it. sacramento guy said the gate agent had booked him on a flight for seven am, but he was expecting them to put him up in a hotel. sure dude, maybe.

the flight was absolutely full, as were the overhead compartments, so i had been forced to check my bag at the door. at least they didn’t lose it. but i did have to go wait for it at baggage claim.

i’d intended to just ride the bart into the city, but now it was close to eight at night, and didn’t think it would be safe that late, especially when i’d get to my stop. never used uber at an airport and didn’t want to deal with that. work was paying for the ride, so i took a taxi.

named my hotel, and the friendly north african driver said of course he knew where it was, and started the fare and headed onto the freeway. he was listening to a podcast in his native language, which he’d occasionally translate the topic. sounded like one of those radio call-in for advice shows. women complaining about their men not helping more around the house, and the strict division of what was perceived as womens’ vs mens’ work. also learned a bit of his family history, with seemingly forced marriages and uncles offering up sibling’s daughters for marriage at age thirteen. wtf.

i’m looking out the window, and wondering about the route the guy is taking to the hotel. off the freeway, he’s taking us up the very steep hilly parts of san francisco; the hills where you are glad you are not driving a stick shift and get a red light. the hills almost as steep as a roller coaster at magic mountain.

passed grace catherdral, and as i’m wondering about that, he pulls up to a curb in front of the huntington hotel, and says here you are. i see the bell hop inside starting to open the door...i say this isn’t my hotel...i’m down by the water and the name, even in my mumble speech doesn’t sound anything like huntington. he just says oops, and makes a u-turn. of course the meter is still running. did he do it on purpose, or was he so distracted by his podcast? guess i’ll complain when i get home and argue the charge.

when i finally get to my actual hotel, he sits in the car a moment longer, so the meter clicks to the next amount before he stops it. bastardo. added an extra ten bucks.

no bell hops at the door for some reason, but i can handle one bag easily. it’s now about nine pm; i’d had my better half call ahead to let them know i’d been delayed. check-in was quick, and i got a room on the top floor as requested, just had to walk a hella long way around the hallways to got to the room at the opposite end from the elevator.

small room, but it was expected, since i was alone. through my stuff down, and headed back out. i was starving. didn’t think the crab guys would still be cooking this late on a thursday in the off-season. ended up at in-n-out, which had a line, but still had some seating available. burger was sort of not completely cooked, but i ate it anyway. fries were fine.

by the time i was back in my room, and ready to sleep, it was ten-thirty. meeting at nine-thirty in the morning, i’d planned to get up early for a shower and time to find breakfast on the way.

alarm goes off, reluctantly get ready. it’s cold, even with the heater on, it doesn’t really manage to cut the chill. probably didn’t set it high enough. thinking about where to eat while i dry my hair, i remembered i also needed to get on a teleconference at eight. no breakfast for me. well, i did grab a donut at krispy creme, but that doesn’t count.

————-

getting late now, and i’m super tired. will write more tomorrow.

month gone

been a month since dad passed. empty space in the house. he’s there, on the shelf, but it just not quite the same.

swear he ‘visited’ the other night while i was at the house. a warm, heavy weight on the bed, across my legs. i guess it could have been a dog, but i prefer to think it was him. said, “i love you dad,” and whatever/whoever it was went away. door was closed, btw, no one walked in, no dog in the house that day. i’ve seen a ghost before, so i’ll just go with it being my dad.

former coworker’s dad was in the hospital during the same time mine was; her dad passed last week. sorry to welcome her to the club.

we have since set my mom up with one of those systems for when you’ve “fallen and can’t get up” situations. came with various ways to communicate with the alert people: a one button necklace; a wrist watch looking thing; a pager thing; a big round button for the wall or desktop; and a ‘hub’ with the two-way speaker system.

my sister tested it briefly the day it arrived. she tested the pieces some more the other day.

i guess the point of the necklace and/or watch is not only to give you a button to push, should you be unable to reach the hub, they also detect the motion of a fall, in case you hit the floor and are unconscious.

so my sister was testing them by dropping them on the floor. that gets followed up by the alarm people calling the hub, expecting something happening, asking if there is an emergency, disappointed to be told they were only testing the things out.

well, later that evening, i was in whittier, my sister wherever it is she lives. we both separately get automated phone calls stating, “they’d received multiple medical alarms and the authorities have been dispatched…” wtf.

at the same time, my mom is getting the same automated message coming out of the hub, and receiving a call on the house phone, same message. they all give a number to call for more info, but it is already too late to stop the emergency dispatch.

mom hadn’t done anything. was just sitting and reading. so, realizing what was about to happen, she headed to the front door. slowly, mind you, she has trouble getting out of a chair.

she opened the front door just as four big muscley fireboys were running up the sidewalk. first guy waves off the others as she says she’s fine, false alarm. she’s so embarrassed, and explains. they say it happens, and they weren’t busy anyway.

she closes the door. she’s furious. hates the system. gets on the phone with my sister and yells that she wants it returned. apparently, my mom is cursing…which she doesn’t do…so you know she really is mad. she is approaching my level of cussing. i’m texting my sister at the same time, asking wtf, so i’m getting the play by play.

mom calls me a bit later to share the experience, but without the cussing. i would have enjoyed that bit. i wonder if the light on the various bits had flashed red before the message came in. she hadn’t noticed. sister-in-law, who ordered the system, was supposed to call the company to see what happened. i haven’t heard where the breakdown was, if it was the robot noticing the earlier testing calls, or that the human on duty had walked away from the phone bank and the terminator had taken over.

she’s calmed down now. my older brother has talked her into keeping the thing. one caveat though, she won’t wear the necklace or watch. they’re just strategically placed around the house. negates the point of them. better than nothing.

better half bets that i would have enjoyed the beefy firefighters as much as i did that one time they showed up at in-n-out for an older woman with chest pains. hot. except for that one guy. he’d be the one i’d get stuck with to give me resuscitation, undoubtedly.

sun came up quickly at pomona. at that point, you just have to start shooting whichever car you are near, to catch that sun hitting just so. i walked quickly among a handful of cars. liked this shot the best.

burreto

another photographer’s truck. old guy, he’s everywhere. don’t know him well, but he always says hello. knows everyone.

had to wait for his fanboys and him to go off somewhere else, so i could take a few shots. they’re ok; at least he parked off away from other cars.

hey rey. happy new year.

observations

a few things on my mind from the places i’ve visited on this trip, no particular order, and applies to pretty much each place:

airbnb owners do not provide enough toilet paper
especially when there seems to be no kleenex anywhere available
i hate the smell and feel of wicker furniture
mosquitos will find and dine on you while you sleep
i think i managed every mode of transportation except space travel all in one day, at least twice
cities here are like cities at home, just with older stuff and smaller streets and cars
most people are friendly, even if we don’t speak the same language
why the clothes washing machine, but not dryers?
detergent makes clothes stink...or maybe the lack of fragerance and softeners uncovered how they should smell
and everything enviro friendly...to an obsession
people are healthier/skinnier because of all the walking. some of the diet is just as bad.
i do not like wine, and never have. and have reconfirmed it. smells like easter eggs coloring.
they like coke zero. i do not. coke “normal” seems to be mostly available
food is good in general, and i have tried some meals i would otherwise never have. doesn’t mean i’d ever have or cook them at home
lots of cheese and pasta. sauces are different.
the light is different
dogs seem to allowed everywhere, except maybe church. restaurants, clothing stores, etc., ok. but no evident pet shops...where do they come from? and also, not really seeing them as being neutered.
beggars all seem to have the same outfit and age. basket out, bandana on head, face to floor, butt in air as they kneel, scraggly skirts. kinda scary when they follow you right up to a building entrance if they think money is getting away.
airbnb homes are neat alternatives to hotels. most have been old buildings, with modern european remodeling and conveniences inside.
i’m a big fan of air-conditioning
bidets are an interesting concept
a lot of things just seem to be done more logically
guacamole withdrwals...avocados suck here
traveling with a family group is a joy and a hassle, at times
churches everywhere, and they do love ringing their bells. a lot. sometimes late at night.
my back hurts
americans are just slobs and terrible at pulling together outfits, comparatively
parking is almost impossible to find, and mopeds and vespas are popular, though they typically have really torn up seats
hard to find a car without a ding or scratch
no tipping, as it is already built in to the bill, but also an extra charge if you sit versus to go
eat where the locals eat for the best food. don’t be obsessed by yelp or trip advisor for recommendations
my feet hurt, i’m exhausted, but i’ve lost some of my jiggle. just need a few more weeks of vacay, i guess
didn’t win the mega millions, so i guess i will have to come home anyway...

time to find dinner, or i’d go on and on…

old buick from the last pomona swapmeet i went to. gotta get back one of these months.

paris

here in france for a few days, for the first part of this vacation. never been here, and finding it charming in an historic city way. not too difficult finding our way around, mostly because my kid and his wifey have been here before, and he is refering to maps on his phone to find routes to wherever. i did not take french in school, but seem to understand a lot of words, and can pick my way through the menu well enough.

lots of walking, and discovering neither of my broken in shoes ar very good to my feet for these miles long marches across the city and back. one pair is attacking my big toe, as it slides forward a bit, and the other pair jammed my little toe into the next, as well as having got some sand in it from crossing a park.

but ignoring that, have seen a lot in two days, and contemplating whether i want to watch sunset from the observation deck of some tall skyscraper. i may just skip that tonight. seems more tough to get four people to agree on what to eat and when to eat it. our time zones are scrambled, but i am ok, but the others snack often then do not seem interested in a meal.

taking lots of pictures, most will probably never be seen, but there are a few up in my instagram, for my mom and daughter to see.

not seeing any classic cars here so far, unless we’re talking citroen and puegot. three wheel motorcycles (two in front) and vespas abound.

so, i’ll put up this good old chevy to tide me over for a while. from pomona a while back. since i’m gonna miss it tomorrow. and dia de los muertos in uptown. and huffarama at san manuel. le sigh...

also, i have someone whose father was an original member of 13 gents car club, who recently passed away, looking for other original members that would talk with them. if you have any contacts, i would be happy to pass along info to them.