what's up?

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.

bag lady

ya ya. i rarely post anymore. i live out of a suitcase, shuttling between the house of my mother and the home of my mother-in-law. my computer stays put. so if you’re looking for your car from a show, i apologize. it may take a while, but i do mark the few i have promised and do them first.

the owner of this car is sitting behind it, at an angle i’m purposely hiding him. he said hello, so i’ll post his car today.

my own car, meanwhile, is on mile 249,998, and is asking to be serviced. so my question is to have it serviced this weekend and miss big shows, or say fuck it, it can wait until i get back from vegas, and hit up a show on saturday.

i should look up anything going on in vegas, aside from the cars and coffee on my way back.

on my way home...

i left my mom’s late on saturday. had a few errands to run and a dog to walk.

i happened to have my camera bag with me, as i’d been asked to retake a group photo at work, and i like my lens better than the one for the company camera. one person was late, so they will reschedule some other time next week.

well there were several later-in-the-day car shows running on saturday, so i figured i’d just make a quick stop at one of them. this one on front street at the nights of columbus was a fundraiser for someone i’d never met, but i always donate anyway. may not be much, but hope it helps in some way.

just a street of about twenty or thirty cars, was just about the right number of cars for the limited time i had to shoot.

this car pulled up while i was shooting another car a few spots down.

when i was done at that end of the road, i walked back, and set up my shot. popped off a few frames, and then my camera decided to be a dick…camera error message. did as it said to do, and shut it off, and when it continued to show the message in spite of being turned off, popped the battery out to kill it.

after a few resets and continuing error messages, i resorted to another camera that i usually don’t use, except as a backup camera. the lens is an 18-105, and the zoominess on the thing forced me to stand further out in the street to get the shot.

did i mention the road was not shut down to traffic? nice of people to just drive around me, though i did get a few glares as they did so.

anyway, this is the same error that started on my other camera, that eventually rendered it useless and/or untrustworthy. it could also be that it doesn’t like the brand of memory card i was using. all i know is i can’t trust it as the main camera for a bigger show. will have to figure it out before i head to chicano park next month for sure.

so this shot is with the back up camera. did not like the color it captured, but the black and white version has an interesting moodiness that didn’t bother me so much.

and then...

the hood ornament off of one of my favorite cars...a fifty-six pontiac wagon from the old times car club. sort of futuristic, and vaguely reminds me of the logo my dad had for his business back in the day.

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only took a day before the effects of twelve hours in a petri dish, known as an airplane, became apparent. yep, as typical, i caught a cold of sorts. and the bitch of it is that i have no more sick time, and am in negative numbers on that now.

so i’ve gone to work, mostly keeping to myself, tired af, and trying to avoid talking so i don’t go into a coughing fit. my usual colds, don’t give me a fever, so i mostly sound deathly, but otherwise feel ok. i think now that it’s friday, i relaxed a bit, and i’m really feeling it heading into the weekend. i just want to sleep!

had already been evacuated from the house in whittier...suggested, not forced...for better half’s mother’s health.

seems she caught something anyway, and i was called back to help take her to a doctor. stayed for a night and am again staying away, so maybe my better half doesn’t catch it too.

kid is out of town with her dog and the new boy toy, so i’m hiding out in my own house. not much of my stuff here, and not a whole lot of furniture either. never started up cable for her, so really there’s nothing between me and the bed and that sleep time i’ve dreamt of all week, except this here ipad and me flicking my fingers across the screen.

hoping i feel much better tomorrow. still haven’t seen my dad since i got back from vacation. i want to get back to doing a car show once a week at least. and i still haven’t been home long enough to sift through vacation pics, that invariably will never get seen. well, better half wants to see...his vicarious means of going on a vacation by imagining what i saw via photos, video clips and tv documentaries to fill in details that i won’t tell him. no doubt when he asks about the trip, i’ll just say it was “ok.”

it’s getting hot in here

fuck, it’s hot outside.

i’m uptown waiting on dinner. usually i’d just walk here, but it’s after five, and still ninety outside. if i could take my shirt off, and go topless, like the two fat guys across the street, i just might consider it.

this restaurant has no air conditioning. so i've bogarted their coldest standalone blower by sitting at a table next to it. no one else in here yet, so why not?

hell week is winding down at work, and my body is feeling the last of the stress. i am tired.

here's a picture from last year's front street show. it's coming up soon. if it's this weekend, i probably can't make it, since i have to meet up with my kid about moving the rest of his stuff out of my place.

nice car, wasn't really sure what it was, until i posed the question on the internet. someone said a lincoln, so i'm going with it.

dreary, deary

saw this last summer, at front street. overcast, and darkish, sort of like today. red cars are a pita. the color usually sucks out all the details. maybe the camera sensor doesn't like red. gotta push the color around to give me what i want. clean car.

been busy, as usual. no one reads this anyway, and things i have to say wouldn't be all that interesting to anyone. or would they? nephew is in a magazine today. i can say i know him...sort of like when my better half's nephew danced around and said, "i know her," when i won my first ribbon at the county fair for one of my pictures.

the other day, i was contemplating that i don't own any work clothes anymore. i mean, more specifically, dresses and suits, you know, business attire / girl clothes. company went casual several years ago, and as i outgrew stuff, i didn't replace it. i really hate shopping.

noticing now that i need to buy new casual stuff anyway, it's wearing out. jeans are wearing through. the quality of clothing now is crap; those clothes aren't that old.

now, wondering what i would wear if say, i needed to go on an interview, and/or found a new job, or hey, i'm surrounded by older people in the family...what if...i need a darker outfit?

then my thoughts go to the undergarments.

wore a thong the other day. not sure why i even bothered, as it really didn't cover anything up, make a pair of old pants look better, or protect the parts from irritation.

hey, where's the cotton crotch? how can it 'breathe'? ...does it need mouth to, ya know...resuscitation?

sure my better half loves when i wear them, or nothing, but under the clothes at work, he's not around to see.

and no one wants to see ye olde grannie panties...leave those to my mom.

who is the evil person that thinks they should construct jeans that only go so high up on the hips, so you have to keep yanking them up, or get used to the sensation of them constantly slipping down, and showing the world your ass crack. wait...dudes get away with that look all the time, but at least their boxers cover their butts most of the time.

long brain dump about nothing, sorry. that's what's bouncing around my brain. having to face up to admitting i have to go to the mall. where, i won't find anything that fits, or i like, or is just hideous. i need to learn to sew.

i can't even

beautiful oldies chevy from the front street car show in norwalk last summer. i wouldn't mind having one of these in my garage.

so, i've made it to washington state, on my mission to test drive and deliver a new used car to my kid.

weather has been perfect the whole way, and here just in time, as it is supposed to start raining tomorrow.

she'd been texting me all morning, asking how far i was. so when i finally got to her hood, i drove directly to her place. a bit before check-in anyway.

never had been to this apartment, and got to see the spot where i'd been sending ubers for the last month or so.

anyway, parked the car, and her boyfriend walked the dog out to get me. turned out my kid had been up so early, and had been waiting to have lunch with me, though i told her not to, that she was in bed taking a nap. didn't even get up, though she did wake up when i peeked in the room.

uh, hello. i just drove eleven hundred miles to bring her a car, and she can't be bothered to get up and/or go check out the car. ugh. not out of character really, but still pretty rude.

pet the dog, got clawed by the cat, ignored the tarantulas and snakes. decided to go check in at the hotel and go back later.

she did apologize. said she'd drank two beers on an empty stomach, and about the time i arrived wasn't feeling good. well duh.

anyway, back a couple hous later, out to dinner with them and a couple of friends. (i drove). then out to point defiance zoo in the dark. it was decked out with xmas lights and music; a few animals were out in the cold. most were in for the night, but the small aquarium was open.

pretty cool, pretty cold--being right on the edge of puget sound.

back in the hotel, late and tired. not sure what i'll do for a couple of days. kid will be working, so i'm on my own.

rag-ged

back at work, and had to do a photoshoot today of some exec types. so out of practice, and had to think for a minute on how i set up lights before. had to use a different room, but that worked out ok too.

they were nervous, i was nervous, but i got a few decent shots of each person anyway.

my face still hurts but doesn't look any worse than i normally do. coping with it, mostly trying not to think about it.

have my cameras with me; maybe i'll stop by bob's big boy after work. might be too early for anyone to be there though, so maybe not.

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saw this chevy at the front street show. i sort of like catching the cars before the show, when they're still being polished and buffed. something about the imperfections probably. this car was pretty much ready, but then they forgot to pack up the rag.

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...

waiting on that change

waiting. right now, for lunch.

things changing at work. tis the season for reorganization. sidesteps, but mostly day to day things will continue unchanged.

life at home has been and continues to be hectic as well as erratic.

my dad out of the hospital, but they really haven't fixed him. so more to worry about there.

right about now, i'm thinking about vacation. wondering if better half will take a ten year anniversary trip with me, or if i will go solo or with my bro. happy to just get in the car and drive, but probably will fly somewhere, anywhere really.

another car from the front street show. don't see too many of this model around, and it's beautiful.

i was told the city did not allow them to use the streets for the show this year, and just kept them only in this parking lot. does explain why there weren't so many cars there. but on the plus side, i found close parking easy.