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lil josh fundraiser

got my taxes done saturday morning. always gets my stomach up in knots prepping for the yearly appointment. no reason. always have everything ready sorted, the important papers in a large envelope, relatively painless. write the check, carry on.

i haven’t been out to a show since early january, and even then, not that often recently. mostly have sat in the house on weekends, bingeing the sopranos, and wondering when the xmas tree would be coming down. sort of don’t care, since i’m hardly ever at home. just a lot of stuff going on on the homefront and at work, i’m just kind of numb by the time i get to a weekend.

got a granddaughter coming this week for sure, so there’s a bright light for this week. a happier reason for a hospital visit than the last couple of months.

timing of this year’s tax appointment coincided with the start time for a fundraiser for a kid i’d never met. originally planned months ago as a fundraiser to help the boy in his fight against cancer, it became a memorial fundraiser instead.

roll-in wasn’t until well after sunrise, so i didn’t bother to get up early, only to have to leave when cars would show up. so, got up, ate breakfast and headed off to my thing. was not feeling well on the way there, and made a pit stop on the way back.

thought i’d drive by the show, see how i felt, and decide then whether to stay or go. it was pretty busy, and i lucked out and got a parking spot quickly. so i went through the motions, and got my bag out of the trunk, and headed over. paid my donation at the front table.

figured i’d stay until my stomach started to bother me, since it was close enough to home.

the show had a good turn-out, even though it was already several hours into it.

owner of this car said i’d shot his car previously, and was hoping i’d shoot this one that he’d bought for his wife. said he’d found it online, from the state of rhode island, i think it was. most everything was still original to the car, and in excellent condition. someone must have hidden it away in a garage. lucky find.

had several people come over and say hi, whom i hadn’t seen for a while. it is nice that people still remember conversations they’d had with my better half years before, come up and send him greetings. that is why he is my better half, he is memorable and diplomatic and a social butterfly. it comes easy to him, and people like him.

i do miss him going to shows with me, but he has other responsibilities right now. he gets to see all the pictures you never see, so he gets a virtual car show when i do go out.

nice to know there are those of you who keep an eye out for me when i’m out there by myself. thank you. you know who you are.

the air was cool, though i felt warm, and i managed to shoot most of the cars i wanted before i really started to feel faint. there were a few i missed, but i was there long enough to hear most of speech the boy’s parents gave, thanking everyone and recalling stories of their son.

i seem to do some calculated gambling on how far my car is from where i am and how long i can keep shooting and still get back to the car. somehow, if i can make it to the car, i can get myself home and be ok. probably the main reason i don’t go out much. also, what fun is it to have all these pictures and not have them with me to fiddle with at my mom’s house. wouldn’t be able to do much anyway with the big dog there wanting attention all evening.

i’m just feeling in a morbid mood this evening. i think i’ll stop here for now.

fetch

long day of meetings. five and a half miles of walking. nbd. see if i can keep that going when i get home.

back from the mile to the ice machine in the other “wing” of the building. me and my little metal pail…la la. la la la. call me jill.

real creepy long halls, waiting for the kid on his pedal bike.

didn’t sleep well last night, only to wake up to no hot water. could be worse—another lady in the elevator had to switch rooms, as there was water leaking from the light fixtures in her bathroom ceiling.

keep running into people i see every couple of years for these meetings. kind of think we need a secret handshake or to yell nanu nanu.

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here’s a sideview of an increasingly well-known chevy, distinguished by it’s wood paneling. it was on a very busy whittier boulevard, so sort of difficult to shoot it from the other side. that, and i was pretty tired by the time i got to it.

locked out

i think i’ve already walked a mile and a half this morning, these hotels are so huge.

had a non-working toilet when i checked-in, so i’m glad i make a habit of flushing it before i use it when i first arrive. it will soon be an issue, so i call the front desk and wait almost an hour for the engineer.

it’s one of these eco tanks, and taking a peek inside, is a big black plastic receptical and lots of hoses; just no water. was hoping for a room upgrade, as i hadn’t unpacked yet, but he got it “working” in about five minutes. when i say “working,” it’s because it takes at least three flushes to get the paper to go down. going to be asking the owl on how many flushes on the tootsie rolls.

was going to put my own water in the fridge, but it seems to have a combo lock on it…must be an honor bar thing…i see snacks through the little bit it will open.

woke up at seven, couldn’t sleep, so went down to breakfast. got served someone else’s plate, but knew it, and didn’t touch it. belonged to the guy at the next table.

was charging it to my room, but there seemed to be some issue, so i just said i’d use my own card. after that they finally brought my food.

afterwards, i hike back up to my room, which feels like a mile from the elevator, but probably only about a football field, to make a call in privacy to the credit card company to see what’s up. only to find none of the cards to my door will work. means a hike back to the front desk, which already had a line of people to check out that early. concierge was able to help me, without any explanation of the issue.

spent ten minutes on hold before chatting with someone in the credit card’s fraud department. then another five confirming my identity and that i was the one making the charges. this is going to be a pita expense report when i get back. they better accept my justification for a charge at in-n-out for lunch on the way. 😄

meeting at one, housekeeper wanted to come in, but says she will come back later. my stomach is upset. probably the pizza i ate last night from an overly expensive place. wants to claim the food is exactly like the food in italy. well, yes and no on the pizza. it did taste very similar, but was waaaaayyy to salty for no reason. over priced, with fake-friendly service. i give it a six out of ten.

i want to lay down, but i may not want to get up, so i best not try it.

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another shot from front street. i usually don’t fiddle with effects like this, but for this car, this shot, it was all about that front grille. ran into the owner this past sunday, who had seen it up on instagram. she liked it, which is always nice to hear.

kid is back

pretty sure i saw this one last week at in-n-out, before my trip. figured i just post this one from last year’s uptown whittier show, since i just saw a flyer for this summer’s show in a store window recently.

so highly polished, like they poured liquid shellac all over it.

———-

so i drove over one-thousand, one-hundred miles over the last two days. i’m feeling that i should have split it over three. today i get to unload the rental truck, but that somehow sounds easier than loading it was, though my arms are pretty tired from just holding the steering wheel on the truck.

of course, the worst part of the drive was going through los angeles. traffic could have been worse, since it was easter sunday, later in the evening, but it was moving, even if it was slow. thank goodness the dodger game had already started, so we weren’t stuck in that traffic.

knew we were back in california, just by the sudden decline in the road quality. washington and oregon seem to actually spend money on their highways. maybe because the weather up there makes it critically important, but california roads are just shit all the way down. sure there are stretches of road that are smoother, and maybe those counties cough up the money for it. but the majority of the way, especially in the right hand travel lanes, are bumpy, potholed, tire eating grinders.

i am surprised that none of the kid’s tarantulas or spiders died from the stress of all that bouncing. she had the snakes in pillowcases, and when she had to leave the dog in the car, would put them in the truck, so the dog wouldn’t stomp or chomp on them. they creep me out, even in the bags, and i only imagined them getting out and slithering around my feet while i drove, so i always made sure i gave them back before we got going again. i can only wonder what we looked like handing bags back and forth between truck and car.

had to hold up the line at the cali inspection stop, to open the back of the truck and have the inspector peek in. no fruit, or drugs, or guns, or whatever they look for, but at least he was nice enough about it.

i also had to drive through a weigh station at one point. never had to do that before, and that guy was a little snippy because i didn’t know i needed to drive three miles an hour while they weighed in motion. got yelled at by the invisible office worker via an intercom.

otherwise, i think every other weigh station in the state was closed for the day, so what was the point? i could have loaded up a shit ton of bricks, drove a lot, ruined the roads, and they’d never know. or what is the point of those stops anyway? guess i’ll have to ask the one trucker i know.

i do remember seeing someone northbound in norwalk, with a broke down white thirty-nine master deluxe. tow truck was there, and with all the road construction on that part of the freeway, i know that was a pretty tight place to have to take care of that type of thing. but really, my first thought was whether i’ve taken a picture of it before...

a smattering

just gonna throw some random pics up here from the other day. basically straight from the camera, one-offs, hand-held. perhaps i should post more of these random shots i take, to get a better feel of a show, usually from staging or roll-in, early before the people get there.

what i usually observe is controlled chaos. at santa anita, it seemed a bit more tightly set, so the horses' safety. don't want to spook them with loud music, sirens or engines.

up through the tunnel, came the gladiators, er, i mean the cars. hoping to win the three-hundred dollar top prize, but most just there for the fun of it.

yesterday

busy day yesterday.

had rained a bit the day and night before. i knew it was completely possible our family member was getting released from the hospital, and that i was going to have to be there with my car, to be the taxi driver.

not knowing the when, i decided to go to the local car show first, check my phone frequently, then i would head out to santa anita, if there was still time.

i was at the los angeles bombs' second anniversary show before eight in the morning. figured, cinco de mayo weekend, and a sunday, i could sleep in a little and still get there to get a parking space.

and i did. my usual parking spot, right up front. and then the club members were there setting up their trophy table and tent.

so i just shot pics of the two or three cars that were there for a good ten minutes, until more cars arrived. the skies were mostly cloudy off and on, and always a chance of rain, but it didn't stop people from showing up.

other photographers arrived, and i met a couple of fellow instagrammers. very nice and talented guys. one had stopped at santa anita first, and realized that the bomb club show had been cancelled because of the rain. thanks. saved me a trip out of the way.

the lot was about half full by the time i took a break, then heard that i needed to get over to the hospital to make my pick up.

i have quite a few decent shots from yesterday, that i hope to have time to post, but who knows what tomorrow will bring.

i rather like this buick eight. caught it during a brief moment of the sun shining through, with colors not muted down by the overcast.

made it to the hospital on time. it did pour on us a while on the way home. as unexpected as that was, the wheelchair on the back of my better half's vehicle got a bit soaked. he's currently trying to clean it up, and hoping the electronics and motor didn't get fizzled.

early and late

had a choice of two shows i wanted to go to today. just needed to pick which to do first. pretty much knew which would have more cars, so decided to start with the other one, just to be ornery.

past years' at this show in south gate had been quite busy, with an abundance of cars waiting to get in before the sun was up. so based on that thought, i was there by five-thirty.

aside from the people working the show, there was exactly one impala, which turned out to belong to one of the workers. so i sat in my car and waited. i watched the lone guy waiting to check in cars that were late registers, observed the trash collectors.

it was almost an hour before the next show car drove in, then another fifteen minutes before the first club showed up. by then the sun was up enough, the "golden hour" was about done.

got out and started shooting anyway. more arrived, so that was good, though still not the consistent numbers as before.

when they opened the gates of the golf course, i headed over and took some video of cars driving past. i suppose i'll post some clips when i have more time.

once there was a lull in the drive-ins, i tried to talk my way in, expecting to pay and get in as usual. but noooo, the lady at the gate said i had to buy a ticket at the ticket entrance. problem with that plan was that the entrance didn't open until ten and it was only about eight.

i should have taken that as a point to head over to lincoln park there and then. but i was tired, and hopeful that one of the other workers would take pity on me and help me out. a couple said to talk to jackie. i was about to head over to watch the girls' softball game for a while when one of the groundskeepers offered to chat with the lady at the gate. by the time i figured out who jackie was, i was being helped out at nine-thirty by that guy, who got me in the ticket gate only a little early. good enough.

just a photographer, feeding her habit, i mean hobby, doesn't always work at the gate. if i'd said i was with a magazine, i wouldn't have been on the list, so why bother fibbing?

so, with the light changing already, i got to work. there wasn't much really, that i hadn't already shot in the parking lot. there was plenty of room, as they hadn't even filled half the field, but the weather was perfect, with lots of shade, so i made the best of the situation.

couldn't decide which picture to post, so closed my eyes, and picked this one. it's a buick, but i can't quite figure which year from the fifties it is specifically.

only stayed inside until a little past noon. decided to skip the other show, as i needed lunch and kinda felt icky. my guts hurt. i suppose i should see a doctor about that.

senator's car

saw this buick at pomona. wanted to take a picture from the other side, but a pop up tent was opposite, along with a group of dudes, and a couple of empty wheelchairs. a guy came over and started telling me all about this car.

said back in the day, senators used this model. it has two spare tires, one on each side, instead of the standard one. i forget how many six figures he claimed it was worth. and to boot, it wasn't even his car—he was sitting under the pop up.

i waited a bit, and eventually the dudes moved on or out of the way. pretty sure i've seen this one before. whatever; today is another day.

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sitting here looking out the window; grand nationals show going on this weekend, and i expect there may be a few cars cruising uptown. time for dinner. might just go for a little walk.

with a buzz

drove straight to the broiler after work, took just under two hours in traffic. but it was so worth it. halloween show, mostly for the kids–candy, costumes, and contests. loud music, and colored lights; the neighbors must really love it.

lots of bombs and lowriders bouncing into the lot. been a long time since i've seen the back lot so full.

getting late, but my batteries are charging and i've backed up tonight's pictures. going to st. hillary's show tomorrow morning, hopefully early, but i'm pretty tired. hoping for some overcast for a few hours.

here's a quick shot from this evening. back end of papa jimmy's old chevy. didn't notice the bee until i looked at the picture. i like it anyway.

killing time

i had gone to ruby's this evening, expecting to take some pictures of a certain betatted aquaintance's car. well, he had said he hoped to see me there. i arrived a bit earlier than i'd told him, but had waited until a bit later than i said i'd be there at the latest.

well, to kill time, i did what i'd do anyway, and went up and down the three or so aisles of cars, shooting as i went. i suppose many people are still away on the theoretical holiday weekend, so a lot of the regulars were not there. i consoled myself with some cars like this buick. well, you know, when you gotta, you gotta. (da vida baby)

after making the full circuit, i hid in the shade for a bit, while my better half went off with my (our) macro lens to shoot hood ornaments. he always vows to keep the lens for himself when he reluctantly hands it back. i guess it takes really awesome pictures when slapped up front of his big ass camera.

when he returned, i went through the aisles one more time, looking for said betatted man and his car, but no luck. if was going to be there, it was going to be after i left. maybe he'll be at the broiler on wednesday...