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a weekend | pt 2

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5

arrived in san diego around five, and only needed to cross a set of tracks to catch the red train to my hotel. i still had a fare card for them from a year ago, so just needed to add days to it.

the train was due to arrive within minutes, so i hurried through the add days menu. paid for a one-day fare, then thought, duh, here for two more days, and added a two-day fare. that gave me a dollar off vs what i paid for a one-day fare. wonder if there was a three-day fare, now that it was too late to fix.

whatever. figured i had a total of three days on the card, so the fare-checking police could scan away and pass me by.

this time around, i stayed out in the gaslamp district, since they had lower rates then where we usually stay. nicer neighborhood too. since my better half couldn’t go, i’d offered up a free weekend with me to my daughter and her dog...city is very pet friendly...she had to work, then hit a funeral the next day, so no. mom wouldn’t go and leave my dad behind, since he’s feeling poorly healthwise, and he just might burn down the house if left on his own. sister is on a group vacation in peru, apparently. son and his wife had relatives visiting. even mentioned it to my bro on the east coast, but he wasn’t flying this way until next month.

i’d reserved a basic room, with an option to upgrade if the executive type rooms were available. with the padres on the road, of course the upgrade was available. pretty sure that room had about the same or more square footage than my condo. at least it felt that way. king-size bed, sunken tub, separate sitting area with couch, chair, big screen tv, bigger than a mini fridge, dresser, marble shower with marble bench, high ceilings, and overlooking the main drag of the gaslamp. pretty damn nice, but sucked since it was only me in it.

being that i’d only had about three hours sleep the night before, i set out across the street for dinner, then back to the room for a shower, and a hot bath. checked the cameras, charged batteries, and pretty quickly passed out in that king-size bed.

to be continued...getting ready for work...

better late, than...

end of the year has been a minor hurricane in my life and time, and i feel like it's just the eye of the storm right now. there will be the other side to get through soon enough. so i'm gonna just sit here and breathe for a bit.

took a little thinking out of the box to get this post up. i guess while i've been away from home, better half discovered someone had been trying to hack into the home network, so he did some finagling of the router and stuff. so when i was here the other day, i worked on this picture, and when i was ready to post it, found i couldn't get on the internet.

better half has pretty much stretched himself a bit thin, between work and home, as well as trying to fight off a cold, so he was exhausted, not thinking clearly, and already gone to bed. couldn't wake him to fix this piddly little problem; it could wait.

also not getting the best vibes here, so packed some clothes and headed back down to my mom's for a few days. had stuff of my own to deal with there. took my dad in for followup appointments; his heart and pacemaker are working fine, see you in a year, thank you very much.

back home again today. better half in a mood, probably catching the cold he wanted to avoid. i'll probably leave again, and let him be a bear in a cave. my niece is in town for the holidays, in from japan, so i should probably go say hey to her anyway.

oh, so i did a workaround to get my picture posted today, as my computer is still not connecting, and it has to do with his router, and, well, i'm not going to wake him up again.

but, ya, been too busy, away, sick, and/or unable to post lately. waiting for the other shoe to drop in the new year.

meanwhile, this chevy is from the oc viejitos show last july, at the anaheim marketplace. haven't posted much from the show, from a lot of shows, actually. shame, cuz i have so many lovely pictures.

anyway, i wanted to post a shot that isn't already out there, and this one caught my eye, as i flipped through the past six months' of shots.

early morning sun is hard to beat, bouncing off a beautiful car.

mind the gap

i walked around the lot several times last week. deciding which cars to shoot, looking for opportunites to get the shot i wanted, looking at how the light was hitting the car. mostly looking for gaps in the herds of pedestrians plowing through the aisles.

tried shooting this car from the other side a bit earlier, trying to get the sunset behind it. not too many people passing by on that side at the time.

but then the owner walked into the shot and proceeded to open the door and stand there talking on his cell phone.

i have several frames showing his back side. i had just let the camera keep doing it's exposures, figuring he would move along, and i could just dump those shots he was in. i mean, the sun was moving, and sunset, the light really changes quickly.

but it was an extended convo, so i gave up and moved to an impala convertible on the this side of the car, just out of the frame to the left.

shot that car, with the sun hitting the hood and the plastic seat covers (wtf?), then turned around, and took shots of the fleetline from this side. pretty sure the owner was still standing in the open driver's side door on the phone, but from down low, i can ignore him entirely.

still some blurriness, because people are still walking nearby, and it picks them up in the reflections, but i don't care. at sunset, with long exposures, it becomes more about capturing the feel of the moment, not perfection.

after eight

1936 packard eight

went uptown for dinner. traffic was slightly lighter today, even in spite of passing a rear-ender with ambulance on scene on the freeway—there was no backup of lookyloos for a change, everyone just kept on moving on. people must already be staying home and/or traveling for the holiday.

spent the evening with my better half, talking about his day, my day, this, that, and nothing.

back home, it's almost nine, and i haven't started playing with pictures yet, and not sure i want to stay up to work on one. i am waiting on some laundry, so maybe...

i've shot this packard most everytime i see it. i think this one is my favorite so far. probably just that sun flare that's doing it for me this time.

hump day

1947 chevy fleetline

happy hump day. weekend is coming, but not soon enough.

another from the dia de los muertos show. a viejitos car, i think; not sure which chapter. i wouldn't mind driving one of these, if only it would fit in the garage.

like the reflection of the car next to it too.

so begins toy drive season. i have mixed feelings. i've grown into a real grinch at xmas time over the last dozen years, bitching and moaning about the overflowing decorations around this house, and how early the stores start each year. one year, when i still lived in my condo, everyone just left me alone, i didn't buy anything, and woke up xmas morning when i felt like it...and i was perfectly happy about it.

i had even put up a small, live tree carcass and threw decorations on it, from when my kids were little, from a time long ago and far away, and no one ever even saw it except me, not even my better half. i do like the scent of the trees, and it reminds me of growing up back east; missing the forests.

i go to the toy drives to shoot the cars as usual, but i'm not going to bring a gift; i only grudgingly and with much difficulty shop for my own family...i hate shopping...but i will donate cash. i have to trust that the clubs do use it for a good cause and not just a round of beer for everybody.

48 fleetmaster

1948 chevrolet fleetmaster

beautiful chevy early in the morning. the whole reason for getting out there early.

so i am writing from a random hotel in yreka, ca, on the second night of my road trip to seattle. driving a twelve foot rental truck full of junk, back up to my daughter, to get it out of her dad's garage and storage unit.

i have my mom along for the ride. somehow, she's traveled the world while my dad was in the navy, but has never been north of san fran. so will be visiting the space needle and pike market, and try to avoid all the meth heads that stand on the corners near the tourist spots.

last year, when i was there with my better half, they were actually sizing me up to steal something, not noticing my six-five, big man glaring at them. he's not with us this trip, so will probably park closer and not walk so far with her.

first night only got as far as los banos, due to a later start than expected. had just finished loading the truck, turned the ignition and noticed the check engine light on. waited an hour to connect with rental assistance, only to be told it would be ok to drive. better safe than sorry, but seriously? the light stayed on as far as corning. truck driving fine, so whatever.

saw a beautiful old chevy drive past on the main street of los banos as i was waiting to turn to gas up the truck. didn't have a camera ready quick enough.

i've passed a number of old cars on trailers driving on the freeway. saw an old rusty fleetline heading southbound, to a new home.

anyway, driving a truck is tedious, but i'm having fun. have made it up and over a couple of mountains so far. really loving getting to greener elevations, and away from the browner hills of central cali.

going to spend a few days there, then flip a coin to decide which route we take back. i've never driven down the northern coast, so maybe that way. drive out to the pointy tip of the state and head south.

would drive to vancouver if there was time, but probably not.

time to get some sleep. tired of sitting and my hands are sore from gripping the steering wheel.

poltergeist

1949 chevrolet deluxe

the cruise was pretty free form. the invite/announcement said all types and models were welcome.

makes me imagine tangina, the short, old woman psychic in poltergeist, calling to the spirits, "Cross over children. All are welcome. All welcome. Go into the Light. There is peace and serenity in the Light." at the entrance booth, letting any and all cars into the park.

there was a newer model mustang parked next to this lovely car. i cropped it out. at least i had a little room to do so.

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back in la casa de big pixel pusher. good to be here. thought i had another week, but i only have four days, then i'm off on a road trip. so i've spent the morning making some plans. just gonna wing it on the way back, not on an airplane, in a car. no specific destinations, just going to drive, and stop when i find something interesting.

taking my mom for the ride. not sure that she can do a hell of a lot, but she's never been to washington state, so it could be fun. she isn't helping to decide on where to go on the way back, so i'll probably just flip a coin and go.

inglorious basterds

better half got called into work this evening. sucks. watching the families walk by, headed uptown for the little kid trick-or-treating at the stores. just saw a toddler dressed up like winnie the poo. that was, dare i say, cute.

so, i have netflix running while i play with my photos. watching inglorious basterds, which is hard to do, since they speak a lot of the movie in german, and it's hard to read subtitles and work on a picture at the same time. didn't see it in the theatre, but someone said it was good. i'm not so sure, so far. did like the guy using the baseball bat on the german guy.

not doing halloween this year. neighbors next door are big aholes, and scared away all the kids last year, so we were stuck with a crap ton of candy. the other neighbor kid really enjoyed it though.

said ahole neighbors seem to be setting up for a similar evening this year, so no kids will dare come up to the door.

i didn't have time to find a costume or pull my old box of outfits out of storage, so there it is.

here is a car, that i see once in a while. i've posted it before, and it seems to be quite popular, if you count views. forgot to shoot it at san pedro this year, though the owner stopped to talk to me. found it here at the viejitos show in march.

feed bag

my better half and i got a rare three-day weekend, where his sister is in town and able to watch their mom. we hastily made last minute plans, since we didn't have much pre-weekend notice. we tossed a few ideas around, found some places we wanted didn't have rooms available, so we went local thursday night, and then friday to where we are now, hanging out in long beach.

mostly we have done absolutely nothing, but enjoy the air conditioning and sleep, with an occasional foray into the world for food. sometimes that's all we need. we work too many hours, so just to be able hide away is a good break.
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better half is whining that he'd looked at this car, from the viejitos show, and had even taken some pictures of it, but that they didn't look anywhere as good as this. maybe it's his point of view--he's a foot taller--he needs to adjust the angle of that dangle, and really look at a car from all points. i whine because i'm not tall enough to get good shots of cars with lots of airbrushing on the roof. maybe i'm just trying to see a good shot and take it.

he says i'm obsessed, but maybe he's enabling the obsession...otherwise we wouldn't be staying in long beach, just to be closer to the car show by the sea, happening tomorrow in san pedro, now would we?

then there's this guy

went to the imperials show last sunday. wow. huge show. right up there with the legends' san pedro show. two baseball fields, plus in between, and a parking lot full of cars. a good amount of the stuff i like, so i was in chevy heaven.

hot day though, so took several more shade breaks than i normally would, which also cut back on how many cars i got to. big thanks to my friends, the latin gents and old times clubs for sharing their shade and the coldest damn bottles of water i've had since i went to canada, and brushed my teeth with water from a glacier.

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this guy, i see at a lot of car shows. drives a really nice '39 master deluxe. always calls me juera. i suppose that's better than gallina--my ex would tease me and say, "catalina, la gallina, puso un huevo in la cocina." he thought it was funny and our kids liked the rhyme.

saw him early at this show. took a few shots of his car before it got crowded in by other cars; but that's for another time, another post.

later in the day, i'm way over on the other side of the other field, and who comes strolling by? yup. says his friend has brought his car, i really should go check it out. won't see another like it, and it's back over next to his car. of course.

so last thing i do, while i still have enough energy to get there, and then get back to my car, is walk back over there.

he was there, with some friends. the car was pretty nice, with real wood panels, not just painted to look like wood. and a convertible, to boot. broke my own rule of not shooting cars with their hoods up, but since i'd walked all the way over, might as well.

and then he wants to pose for a picture with it...and it's not even his car. i guess he really liked it.

oh, and you can see the car without him in front of it, here.