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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.

can't stand it

here’s a beaut from a month ago, out at pomona. managed to frame this up by itself, but the other cars are reflected in the paint. wish they’d take the auto club banners down.

recently, i took my mom out to dinner. on the previous visit to this restaurant, it had started raining lightly, then gradually harder, as we looked out the window. she worries that her hair will become a mess, and that someone she knows will see her. that’s never the case, and who cares? she vaguely looks like queen elizabeth, same hairstyle.

we dashed out to the van, her hair survived under her umbrella. all was right in the world.

this last visit, though…yes, it was supposed to rain, but supposedly a bit later in the evening. figured we’d have enough time to eat there and get back to her garage, no threat to her hair helmet.

as we ate, the sky got darker and darker. and then the skies just gushed a tumult of water, down on the cars, the street, the building, the sidewalk…of course the umbrella was in her van. she walks slowly, with a cane.

we waited a bit, hoping it would let up. our food done, and no sign of let up, i offered to run and bring her car from the handicap spot just right there, basically backing it up and lining up with the curb on at the front of the building. there is a small overhang, and i’d hoped that would be enough to get her in the vehicle without getting too soaked.

i don’t care if i get wet. i’d go full shawshank, if it was my car, and no one was waiting for me, really throw my hands back and get soaked.

turns out, it didn’t matter. between the building and the van, the parking lot levels down in the middle, i suppose to drain water out in case of rain.

this deluge had overwhelmed whatever drainage was there, and basically there’s a river to swim to get to the car. so i ran, head down to the van in the handicap spot. i thought i could possibly jump across most of the river, and maybe save my sandals from inevitable water damage, but either i can’t jump anymore, or it was wider than i thought. it was deep enough, my foot went totally beneath the water. and cold too. great.

i blipped the unlock button on her key fob, and opened the door.

only, there was a man in the driver’s seat. and he screamed like a woman. he grabbed the door handle and pulled it shut, the water flying in as i’d surprised him. stupidly, i’d opened the door of a van that had been parked right next to my mom’s.

momentarily shocked, it took another moment to go, duh, and yell sorry to the poor guy, then run around to the front of the correct van, right next door. enough time to get thoroughly soaked.

then had to wait to back up, due to a passing car. by the time i’d backed up to the curb, my mom had hobbled out from under the overhang, which really didn’t keep her dry. at least she didn’t have to wade across the river, but her precious hair was truly well and done…soaked and droopy.

she laughed when we looked at each other, and as i told her how i’d scared the crap out of that other driver, while i drove her home.

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?

inconvenience

so there’s this virus going around…

torn between staying here in whittier or in oc with my mother. better half is giving me the stink eye, since i am out and about in the world, and he’s at home 24/7, and in “protect his mother” mode. will probably start packing my shit, and go stay at my mom’s for the duration. he disagrees with my laissez-faire attitude on the whole situation. he’s exhausted, and i don’t want to say anything else stupid here. dark clouds are moving in, and it will be raining again soon.

would be a good time to hide in my condo, but it’s currently being renovated and is in no condition for anything to live in it.

my office hasn’t shut down yet, and as of now, i wouldn’t be able to connect into the network and keep working from home.

was supposed to go on a cruise with my mom and brother, but that finally got cancelled—mom didn’t want to go anyway. they may reschedule to later in the year, since the cruise line doesn’t want to refund the money. see if they are still in business next month.

my current problem is that i took a week off for that cruise; was looking forward to time off from work, but by then, we will all probably be quarantined and not going anywhere anyway. i guess i’ll just cancel the time off and work if i can.

seeing more car shows being postponed or cancelled, so i’ve postponed making my annual reservations for chicano park day and others. so take my listing of car shows with a grain of salt, as i’m not out and about at shows, and not totally sure if some of them are cancelling or hoping for the best. i’m adding notes or deleting as i see info online. maybe i should just take the page down for now. i dunno.

here’s an old pic. pomona swap meet, from a couple of years ago. i guess no new shows, means i can dive into all the files from past shows i never have time to revisit. and i have a quite a bit to choose from over the last ten years.

two years ago, this was just primer. no idea if they’ve painted it or not. still a pretty cool car as is.

just makes me kick myself for not getting out of bed a couple of weeks ago and heading to pomona…

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.