what's up?

rumor has it

i really should get back to posting more often. just noticed i hadn’t posted since i was sick with covid. can only imagine what my friends are saying, with me not writing, not being a quiet fixture on the edges of the car shows, my camera perched on the tripod.

apart from just enjoying the company of my better half, have been busy doing some home improvements, and slowly turning into a potato (potayto, potahto, tomayto, tomahto). i guess i have some lingering symptoms from being sick, and get tired quickly, and often enjoy getting dizzy, like a listing ship, when i walk. not really conducive to taking pictures, carrying equipment.

we have been going to the mall, trying to get my better half to his ten thousand steps a day, in air-conditioned comfort, since it’s been averaging about ninety degrees outside lately. some days, i get around one lap, before i get parked in the food court, while he continues on for an additional three or four rounds.

also down to the last few weeks, waiting on the arrival of a second grandkid, this time supposed to be a boy. that will put me out in temecula in august…maybe i’ll finally get out to vail headquarters—i believe i saw a flyer for an evening show.

whatever.

if i can get over the dizziness, i am thinking about driving up to some of the friday evening shows, in whittier, garden grove, etc. my company is giving us half-day fridays, so i would have time to get to where i’m going before weekend traffic gets started.

for now, i only have pics that are, at best, several months old. so flipping through them, here’s a chevy in a nice yellow on a relatively gloomy day out at a park in norwalk. pretty sure i had a quick chat with the owner, since he is in the other pictures i took. he was sitting behind me when i took this one.

change of plan

saw this chevy at the latin gents toy drive the other day. I think it belongs to the vintage ladies car club, if i remember correctly. the lady’s husband caught me on the way back to my car, to ask if i’d shot it, so yes, i guess i did.

better half has been doing so many extra hours lately. he’d expected to work all weekend, and had gone out and done his shopping super early in the morning on saturday. found himself five cans of lysol or some type of cleaning thing, which somehow makes him feel like the king of the world. he got his car washed. he called about cars without permits on our block and watched the tickets get put on the windshields.

when he logged on to start work and checked his mail about six a.m., he saw that the sob had been cancelled; stop all work. almost immediately, his body was telling him to sleep. he called me first, at my mother’s, where i’d spent the night.

he was telling me the thing had been cancelled, he was getting paid for half a day anyway, his weekend was free, he planned to relax. i half jokingly asked where should we go? then he was all about it. he started looking for hotel deals while i wrapped up whatever it was i was doing at my mom’s.

he calls back and says there are great deals in san diego, but covid is rampant there. same goes for san fran, and really he only has one night to get out of town. we finally settled on solvang, since i’d gone there the weekend his mother passed, looking for a getaway that wouldn’t be crowded with people like a big city. he hadn’t been there in years.

our favorite hotel was sold out. other hotels were too run down or had bad ratings. he finally found one that was recently renovated.

i got home an hour later, threw a change of clothes in a bag, and we were on our way. for the two and a half hour drive from whittier, we never turned the radio on. we talked the whole way there. anything and everything. we haven’t had a lot of time just us, no work, no distractions. it was nice.

solvang was busier than i’d expected, but you can still avoid the people if you want to. after checking into our hotel, the sun starting to go down, we headed over to tower pizza. we hadn’t had it since the last time we’d been there together, as it was already closed when i passed through town months ago.

we took it back to the room, as we didn’t want to sit outside. i was wearing a long sleeve jacket, but also the shorts i’d been wearing that morning, and the temp was dropping quickly down to the lower forties pretty quickly. the pizza was so good. better than i remembered it.

we thought about going out for a walk around town, but decided it would be too cold.

he fell asleep, i sat in the big bath tub of hot water for an hour and watched tv until i got tired.

in the morning, we took that walk around the town. he wanted to shop for xmas gifts for the little kids in our life. my sister wanted some handmade chocolate stuff, and after waiting for the store to open, to be told it was already sold out, was kind of a bummer. guess i need to go back. that and he has a cuckoo clock that needs repairing from the store where he bought it. if you have to, you have to… ; )

we stopped at in-n-out on whittier boulevard before we got home. spied a group of classic cars at a rite aid parking lot. better half wanted to turn around. no cameras, what’s the point. looked like a meeting anyway.

sitting in my car in the ino parking lot twenty minutes later, enjoying our food and watching the traffic on the boulevard, we see lots of classic cars driving by. those same group of cars too. at least one was from the bomb club. i guess that there is something going on at montebello park, which is not far away. better half says we might as well go look, but i say no, i don’t have my cameras.

i joked about going back after we got home, but as it was almost four in the afternoon, and i was tired from driving, i didn’t. but i saw you guys, so i was happy.

night moves

back in whittier for a day or two.

walked uptown for dinner, saw the mayor at the cigar bar. chatted for a few minutes. had intended to take a picture of an old chevy that was parked there twenty minutes before when i drove past, but he had already left by the time i parked and walked back up the street.

i’ll take one of the mayor’s fifty-six on the way back if it’s still there—it’s on the other side of the street.

it’s getting tiring living out of a suitcase, but responsibility and all… mom is now in possession of one of those “i’ve fallen and can’t get up” devices, so i’m a little less worried being away for the night. but she hears every creak in the house when she’s by herself.

nothing much has changed here in whittier at the house. better half wants to get out for a few hours of freedom, but his mom has changed his plans, as only she can, so maybe tomorrow, maybe tomorrow.

night shot from one of the few toy drives i got out to in december. beautiful car, difficult lighting. had to shoot it a lot, as cars and people kept messing things up on the long exposure. this will just have to do.

one day at a time

dad’s been gone over a week now. been sorta living in the house with my mom. better half stays with his mom.

still need to come to whittier once in a while, and today is one of those days. computer time, picture time. sister is hanging with my mom, and her daughter is visiting from japan…my dad had been looking forward to seeing her yearly visit. oh well.

thinking i’ve missed quite a few car shows this path month. better half had given me a new tripod and ball head before everything happened, and i only had it out this once at the kustom oldies/loyal alliance toy drive at dolphin park.

need to use it a few more times, before i declare i totally hate it, because it’s different than what i’m used to. the tripod is tight, but loose enough to lay flat on the ground. the ball head requires more fiddling than the pistol grip i have used for years. works but pisses me off. they don’t make the one i was using anymore, not too many of that model bouncing around on ebay.

better half says i’m not good with change. i disagree, i’ve been quite flexible for the last couple of decades. i just don’t see the need to change equipment, as long as it works.

here’s a nice chevy. red is such a hard color to shoot in the bright sun. i just couldn’t get out earlier, in the early early light.

thinking about pomona next week. it might rain, so i don’t know. bag the camera, carry an umbrella, get a different shot. it could work.

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.

one of those weeks

ever feel like you've just gotten through a week, and get shook up and dumped out onto the weekend? but you made it?

ya, that's the one.

getting spread a bit thin, pulled here and there. getting worn, but no where as tired as my better half.

dad was in the hospital again, to start the week off. busy at work. kid had a perfectly timed meltdown when i had the least inclination to deal that hot ball of fun.

my other kid has plans to go to europe, with the wifey, his dad, and her mom. sounds like his dad is going to drop out. he's asking if i want to take a free trip. i dunno. a vacation would be nice, but can i be gone that long? i just don't know. offered up my brother, but they kinda aren't into taking him.

so i'll keep thinking about it, until his dad makes a decision.

at least i've got a wall back up in the kitchen. just no cabinets. or sink.

labor day weekend. maybe i can sneak off to a show or two, get my ya yas out.

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talked to the owner of this car for a bit. nice convo. he was heading south to la vuelta in san diego the next day. sounded like fun, i'd have gone if i was able.

liked the airbrushing of the gas can, which he was particularly proud of, as it had just been done.

leafy

back in whittier after a week. haven't decided if i'll go to a show tomorrow or not. my arm would probably be ok. i don't think it will rain either, and probably there will still be some kick ass clouds.

i think the first time i used a camera to shoot classic cars seven or eight years ago, it was a cloudy, march day. those are still some of my favorite pictures.

pomona swap meet is tomorrow. hmm. hmm. maybe.

all those leaves on the ground, i should have checked inside the car, to see if it was full of leaves too.

lunch break

sitting outside, seventy degree temps, on my brother's bday. guess i better call him. he's east coast, so i guess he's already three hours older than he would be here.

time really feels like it is racing by lately, and there's just not enough of it. one of these days i should actually get around to writing a will. would be nicer to leave someone an old chevy, rather than here's a well-used honda, right? better start looking for my fleetline now--think they'd trade me for a well-used honda? lol.

anyway, sun came up pretty quick last sunday. couldn't get to a lot of cars fast enough, or they just weren't in a good spot.

liked this one ok, but that damn pop-up sort of ruins it. guy was selling matchbox cars.

deferred

i guess my impromptu roadtrip will be put off until the end of the month, or even to next month. looking forward to it even less them, as the weather will only get worse through oregon and washington. i wonder how much it is to just ship a car north. or my ex could just fly up and find something local, but he doesn't have time or trust the cars up there for some reason.

at least my boss is cool with whatever i need to do, whenever i need to do it. so many things intersecting, i don't know how i'll get through, except to just do it.

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pretty bel air out on the street at the old memories' pancake bfast a couple of months ago. almost kinda want one, just this color. but then i remember i'd rather have a fleetline.

when it rains...

labor day weekend. welcome to hell. this weather. this house. no air conditioning. fuck.

stayed at my condo on friday, to enjoy the new air conditioning i had installed recently, and also to avoid friday, holiday weekend traffic. it sprinkled and there was lightning, but no thunder. the sky must be constipated.

then i went home to whittier.

welcome to the sleep deprivation test lab and now an additional wing, ye olde sweat lodge. i am tired, but do not feel spiritually cleansed. only words in my head are, "fuck this shit." not ommmmmmmmmm or namaste.

sometimes an old house is just an old house. i suffered through it yesterday, truly. wanted to be here to support my better half, run errands as needed, while he cares for his mother. pretty much have decided to pack my bags, and head south. just online paying some bills, now writing this bit up quickly. too hot to do anything i would normally do on a holiday weekend.

top that off with my eyes still being all swole and not in a good way. totally look like i have allergies, but i don't. then add food poisoning, let's just say i'm just not going to any shows this weekend.

oh, and an even better kicker to cap off the summer: my dad needs heart surgery. open heart or up through the leg...his choice. now i really get to be simpatico with my better half. i should take that vacation now, while there's still time to go...

ya, no stress here. i should just keep sweating it out...out with the bad air, in with the good...