shopping

random car from the dukes car club’s blessing of the bombs show yesterday at mission san gabriel. found it mentioned on a video on youtube, at the fourteen-fifty-six mark. all of the cars have interesting histories, and it was nice to hear about them on this channel.

lots of spectacular cars out here, though the lot wasn’t as full as it has been in the past. was also not as hot as the last time i was there either, thank goodness.

was the first time my better half was able to join me out there at this mission. he’d visited the mission itself, long ago, with his mother.

i was actually not going out yesterday. i’ve been so tired. i slept in. better half was supposed to work, and i had accepted that i was just going to do laundry all day. hadn’t even charged my camera batteries.

better half’s work evaporated, as he was told they weren’t ready for him. he asked what i was doing for the day, and i had mumbled about going to this show, then we could stop and look at some car dealers to find cars that will fit him, or we could go to pomona the next day and do the same. he said yes to either or both, happy to not have to be working and wanting to get out of the house.

his car is not working, and he is seriously in the midst of researching new cars, though the thought of getting something at pomona is appealing too.

i think he also wanted to play with his camera lenses too. we didn’t leave the house until nine in the morning. normally, i would have been there at seven, as cars would be rolling in.

i’m sensing a pattern here. i just want to sleep in on weekends. it’s a problem not leaving earlier, when it’s only going to be too hot for me to be out later. we’re an hour away now, so it’s just that much worse.

at least my better half was there to make me drink more water, and fetch the suntan lotion from the car when i realized i was starting on a sunburn. [she rubs the lotion on her skin…] thanky d.

also, thanks to the guy that offered me some cold water—i think he was with the south side bombs. i appreciate it, thanks for your concern.

better half was done before me, as usual. i had gone into the shade again, and he was encouraging me to stop as he said my face was red, but then a few more cars drove in. a few more shots, and i packed up.

we went to lunch at lunas restaurant, about a block away. it was very good, would go again, but kinda pricey.

following that, stops at various car dealers in whittier and buena park. most cars he didn’t fit comfortably, they tag teamed him with the salesperson and finance officer. he asked questions. he made them squirm. he didn’t buy. he did like the tesla sales team, who seem to have a different sales model, and answered questions directly, and no bs upcharges that are pure profit.

he’ll still take six months to decide. didn’t make it to pomona today, so maybe next time.

at your service

have you ever thought about the best taco you ever had, while sitting in taco bell, thinking about the best taco you ever had? ya, that happened. but, my fault for wanting something quick.

sometimes i shoot cars that aren't my favorite, because something catches my eye. this day, the paint was it. fresh, shiny, detailed work here.

empty unit

better half realized that i was going to attempt to keep moving boxes, even with my gimp arm, so yesterday he took the time to help me. i know he had a list of other things he needed to do this weekend, while his sister is in town to help with his mom, so i really appreciated his help.

his help basically ended up being moving most everything that was left. which was a good thing, since mostly the rest of the boxes were full of books, and then there was my old desk.

all i did was repack some boxes of monster toys into big plastic bins—i really liked collecting the monsters for a few years. only found one damaged thing...the heat had melted an old rubber alligator's arm onto a model of a skull. ok, i was a weird kid. oh, and i also swept the floor, when we finished up just before storage closing time.

so that's done. just need to spend time repacking cardboard boxed stuff into plastic bins, and there should be enough room for whatever my kid's bringing down here. now if i can only talk her into selling her snakes and tarantulas, everything would be great.

better half went out for a 'boy's night out' the other night. for him, those usually consist of driving to fry's and just wandering the aisles looking at stuff, usually until they tell him they are closing. he's just happy to be out of the house, i guess, and that's his thing, like women go shopping to unwind thing.

this time, he went out to guitar center. he's been looking for a particular guitar, and their website said they had one in stock.

he got there, and of course, it's not there, or otherwise sold. so he started fiddling around with some other guitars.

said he was sitting there playing, when he realized there was someone standing entirely too close behind him. he said that as he turns around, he realizes it's the sales person, and notices that—in his words—she's really beautiful. at the same time, as he's mentally noting this, his wedding ring flies off his finger onto the floor.

as he quickly reaches to pick it up, his response was, "don't read too much into that!"

he said the girl basically just went, "what?" in such a tone that ruined the illusion, heading right into valley girl territory. just a kid, not too quick witted, and didn't get the joke. probably hadn't even noticed it fall.

he's lost a little weight, so his ring falls off sometimes. he found it funny.

lil blue oldsmobile from the blessing of the cars in san gabriel last year. kinda like the old cars with the eye-like headlights hanging off the sides, looking sleepy with those overhanging bits like eyelashes.

out for a walk

walked uptown for breakfast/lunch. the last bunch of times that i'd been home and gone uptown, i'd get dizzy, because, ya, i was sick, and an inner ear thing probably didn't help.

today, i just got overheated, but that's because it's in the seventies weather-wise and i was wearing a hoodie. found it funny, when a sixty-plus year old woman drove past blasting usher's "yeah" song out her windows, so very loud. she just didn't look the type. then i don't look the type to be hanging out at car shows either, right?

noticing that my eyes seem to be more sensitive to the sunlight, and seem a bit blurry. that is a problem for someone who likes to be at car shows for several sunny hours, taking pics. hoping that clears up, and getting some new glasses too. doc says my vision is actually a little better, so the lenses may be the issue.

meanwhile, i guess if i do go out, i'll just go really early, as usual, or go in the evenings. it's been so long, i'll have to try to remember what i was doing with a camera. starting all over again.

still going through recent photos. here's a beauty from a blessing of the cars show out at the san gabriel mission. didn't know what to expect, as i'd never been there. inner courtyard/parking lot filled quickly with lovely cars, so i made quick use of my limited time that day. had to meet up with someone that day, who had bought one of my framed pics from the fair. should have gone back to the show, but had other places to be.

bucket

another one the owner hoped to see.

i had arrived early, parked in the designated lot, on the gift shop side of the mission. did not see any old cars. did not know where they were going to park them. sat in my car, listening to the radio.

then a big truck with a trailer pulls up in front of me, with this car on the trailer. i watched him unload it, and watched where he went with it, down an alley or was it a street?

shortly after, the los angeles bomb club cars drove in the lot, behind my car, and went down the alley as well.

i figured they must be between the buildings, but i didn't want to walk down the alley and around. so i wandered over to the church building, and down a small walkway past the cemetery. came up to what was a locked gate dead end, but a janitor had propped it open with a broom.

through that, around another building, and found the cars.

not a whole lot there early. the owner had parked his ford and was sitting with a guy who had brought in a military jeep.

i'd seen him watching me shoot some fleetlines, just out of the picture here. as i turned around and walked toward the green truck, he came over and inquired. told him i'd post a shot, so there you go...

mission possible

made it out to san gabriel today. never been there, not even as a tourist. i did not visit the gift shop.

blessing of the cars. didn't get to see that—i had places i had to be at a certain time. so i got to work shooting the cars that were there early. two and a half hours, and i got most of them, at least the ones i liked.

chatted with other photographers that i run into all the time. i chatted with owners of the cars. i was just in a good mood, i guess.

owner of this car asked for a card. went over and took a picture of it before i got distracted by all the shiny, shiny chrome. told him i'd post the picture...

tweakedpixels

what's up?