what's up?

random thoughts

last full day here in the cold north. maybe another time, i will go even farther, up into canada.

i've spent the day wandering around art museums, taking all the time i wanted to read about the artwork, or sit on my ass and watch the videos in the little display areas that loop about various pieces or art. was a decent mix of classic, native and local art. not anything too modern, which i find terrifyingly stupid, or maybe it's me, and i don't have my head far enough up my ass to appreciate or pretend to understand. maybe i just missed that class in college. i do enjoy the artist statements to try and explain why that crap is of importance, or justify it's existence, or price.

still trying to finish off this cold, especially before i get on an airplane tomorrow.

during my tedious hours on the road, i had plenty of time to ponder:

captain crunch is like broken glass when you have a sore throat
not one fast food place between home and here had fountain drinks that weren't flat, even those that used to be reliable. at least most had clean 'facilities'
while most of said dining establishments couldn't serve up meals that were quite right or edible, at least the employees were polite and friendly. just couldn't cook or do a sandwich for crap
i satisfied my daily wish to just keep driving, instead of going to work. maybe i should be a trucker, but then i'd grow to hate that
i do miss big trees and forests, rain and snow of my childhood, and glad i got to see it all again this trip
some people really shouldn't be given driver licenses and/or should study physics when deciding to swerve in front of eighteen wheelers.
oregon has xmas radio commercials selling guns. thirty bucks off on glocks for him or cute conceal carry purses for her. not to mention the adult edibles and smokables commercials. plenty for those last minute stocking stuffers.

i suppose there were other things, but i was driving and couldn't jot them down. mind like sieve sometimes.

it's the medicine

i've decided that i feel like shit because of the meds i've been taking for the past week. three more days to go. because if it's not that, then there's something else, that i will not want to deal with, things being so beyond my control just now.

my dad says his one doctor is recommending that he opt for open heart surgery vs the up the leg bit that he'd settled on. i know he has more appointments scheduled to discuss it with several docs this week, so we shall see what happens.

we had been talking our tenth anniversary/vacation just a couple of weeks ago, but that is totally on the shelf now. life happens. as my better half says, it's the tenth year all year, so we can go some other time.

still hoping to squeeze in some car shows when i can, when i feel better, when it's not so hot out. i still have time to get over to legg lake, if i just feel a bit more myself. i'll think about it. batteries charging, just in case.

saw this car out at the bomb club show at santa anita. here it is, sitting out in the parking lot, waiting for them to open the tunnel to the infield. interesting paint job. color coordinated hood ornament. nice car, overall.

fair day

was my turn to run all over hell and back today.

decided to run down to the oc fair really quick, to see my pictures on the wall. had to go down to my office just to turn on my computer so i can do an unexpected/unplanned work from home day tomorrow, and the fair was on the way.

got there just before they opened the parking lot, so got a good, close parking spot near the entrance. then, since i already had my ticket, got to head straight to the entry gate, where i ended up being first in line, which meant i got to stand under the tent cover, out of the sun until official open time at eleven. you don't know how much i needed that.

they let us in at eleven on the dot. i stopped for a drink before heading to the visual arts building, where i had to sit outside until i finished it, since i wasn't going to trash an eight dollar drink.

found my pictures in the usual place, the far corner of the building. two cars, one ferris wheel...ferris wheel got an honorable mention, wouldn't you know. hope my better half can go see them sometime.

spent an hour looking at all the other art in the building and enjoying the air conditioning. so chill. the weather outside was actually pretty good, being relatively close to the ocean, a breeze blowing constantly, and some cloud cover as i headed back to my car.

another ten miles down the freeway, five minutes in the office, and the return trip to whittier, with three stops at various stores, with a brief shopping list at each. hot in whittier, and managed to miss whatever they were doing uptown and streets were open again.

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damn stunning paint job on this impala at the imperials show. usual internal whining about needing to drag a ladder with me sometime. i do love the back ends on these cars, sleek curves up to the arcs of the fins.

evil mistress

saw this great bike the other day at the imperials show. might have belonged to one of the vendors, but so what. it was named the evil mistress.

lots of great details, with skulls and bones hidden here and there. airbrushed women in dia de los muertos face paint and fancy ostrich skin seat. a gun and an oversize bullet there too. i'll have to add a few detail shots when i have time. totally forgot, and i'm sitting at my desk typing before i'm on the clock at six. enjoying the air conditioning, ya know?

stumbled down the hall in the dark this morning, just before four, to take a shower. it was warm last night, so i was just wearing my underwear. figured my mother-in-law was asleep, so she wouldn't notice as i walked past her door, and i know my better half wouldn't have minded, had he been awake...he'd have been up... anyway covered my boobs with my hands, just on the off chance she woke up.

in the bathroom, shut the door, turn on the light, start the shower. have seat on the porcelain throne, cuz, ya know, my eyes are floatin'. on the floor in front of me, is a foot bath and a scale, both leaning up against the wall. my tired eyes see a momentary movement, something dark. not getting the total heebie jeebies, i figured it was just another cockroach, courtesy of our neighbors, but a mighty big one.

in a split second the damn thing ran toward me, along the baseboard, and literally ran over my foot, and behind the toilet. i made a stifled squeal, because, ick, and also i didn't want to wake everyone up.

but then the thing, ran out, and across to the towel cabinet, and back along the tub.

it wasn't a cockroach. it was a fricking big brown mouse. not a rat, didn't have the creepy tail. but still.

so i'm sitting there with my feet up, watching this thing do a few circuits around the room, before disappearing under the sink cabinet. finally put my feet down, wiped (yes, let's not forget to do that) and flushed, then out, closed the door. standing in my panties, topless, tapping my better half on the butt. he rolls over and says hi.

told him there's a mouse in the bathroom, be the man.

while he's waking up, i went back, peeked in the door. didn't see it, so jumped into the shower--i gotta go to work, and i've only so much time to get ready.

better half shows up with a broom and a dust pan. i guess his intent was to crush and carry. he poked all the corners, then looked where i'd last seen it.

there's a one-inch gap, with a void to under the cabinet, hidden behind the shower curtain. ya, that's where it went. no idea if it was still under there, or if it leads to a space between us and the neighbors', but that would explain one way for the roaches to get in.

anyway, that's my morning so far...

sparkly

really liked the paint job on this one. and since the owner came over and said hi, thought i'd post it.

talked to some guys that drove down from fresno. they said this heat was nothing to them. one of them chatted about my cameras, which sony models i'd used or liked and why. he said he's seeing more people interested in getting them. he knew the difference between full frame and cropped sensor, so not a novice.

forgot to ask him which car was his, or i'd post it if i shot it. maybe he'll read this and let me know.

vandolero

first of all, let me apologize to the person(s) on the freeway at four in the morning, who do not think eighty miles an hour is fast enough. it's not like there aren't other lanes you could be in, yet feel the need to crawl up my tail pipe.

oh how i wish a cop on you after you give up and take off at a hundred miles an hour. even a flipped car, but then i take that back--it would mess up my drive to work more than you already have, asshole.

quick post, as i do have to get to the office. this is memo's baby. it was his anniversary show, so had to get a shot of the car. where it was parked, couldn't really squeeze in for another angle, with cars and people congregating in this prime apex of the lot.

pretty sure i've seen it elsewhere, just didn't know it's history. if i tagged it right in my digital garage, i'm sure i could find other shots of it.

gotta get movin'...weekend isn't gonna get any closer if i don't. ttfn.

thinking

thinking of which show to go to tomorrow.

...probably both.

thinking of what to do for vacation.

...home, north, south, east?

thinking of how to get through the next two weeks until vacation.

...no fuckin' idea. just will.

just finished sorting and stacking pics i shot on friday evening at a couple of shows i haven't been to in a long time. had my cameras with me, so i stopped on the way home. now it's late, and i should get to bed if i'm actually going to get up and go to a show in the morning. and it's so tempting to just keep the blinds closed and hide from the world for one more day.

guess i should have gone to manny loco's today...i've seen some excellent pictures on insta, but i didn't so i won't dwell on it.

i suppose i'm just burned out from work, and need to recharge. just gotta make it two more weeks...

not sure if this is a mercury. can someone tell me? here i'll show you the sideview, with the suicide door. does it help?

nomadic life

i've been so busy at work, that all i want to do when i get home is zone out in front of an episode of game of thrones. the saving grace for the last couple of days has been that the evening drive has only been just over an hour, instead of the new norm of two plus. no reason why the difference; traffic just goes with the flow.

mentioned the drive time to my boss the other day, joking that something was going to have to give. either i was going to live at my parents' house or move back in to my house with my kid and his wife there, on weekdays, and see my better half on weekends, or... well, needless to say, he's willing to explore other options, mostly shifting my hours however i think would work best.

thinking about shifting from seven to four down to six to three. i'm down here by six anyway, so might as well, right? doesn't mean that i don't want my house back, but i'm in no hurry--pretty sure my better half likes having me around, but i do feel somewhat like a nomad, bouncing from place to place, collecting mail, walking a dog, avoiding long drives in rainstorms.

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i've seen a car like this one before, but hell if i can remember what kind it is now. what is it? pretty sure the last one i saw had all identifiers removed too, so looking it up wouldn't help.

on a typical car, all the airbrushed patterns and pinstriping might be too much, but this car has fairly simple lines, so it just works. >> was told the paint was done by starlite rod & kustom (thanks usautos98)

watched it drive in and park here in the corner. the main parking area was full and busy with foot traffic. here in what felt like a back alley of the industrial park, it found an interesting place among an interesting backdrop.

i got to it first, before any of the other photographers. they got good pictures too, look them up on instagram.

kermit

1962 chevy impala

i guess i'll put this up for the end of the year.

they always seem to park this car under the solar panels behind the bleachers at san fernando. i suppose for the shade later in the day, as it's usually freakin hot later in the afternoon.

i don't remember it being that hot this year, but then, i get hot flashes, so i overheat in the winter, so it probably was for me.

anyway, caught it early, before they popped the trunk and the hood. while a little bit of sun was still creeping low, under the solar panels.

they don't seem like the friendliest guys, but they're busy setting up, so they probably just want me outta the way.

sitting in my window, watching the clouds grow darker, going to rain again soon. got up this morning and walked uptown, saw rogue one. it was ok, as far as the search for more money goes, and it did tie in at the end to the original star wars.

had yesterday off from work, and have been effing around with updating my website. doesn't seem to be importing this here current version, progress bar isn't moving. i do have more than a couple of pages here, so it might just be taking it's sweet time.

i really do not want to manually copy and paste every single entry. and the programming interface is all different, so pretty sure it isn't going to come over simply anyway.

guess i'll work on my latest batch of stuff to send in to the copyright office.

also, there seem to be several different new year's day car shows this year. majestics, the one we usually go to, have moved out to wilmington this time. together car club is at the dam this year. there's another out by dodger stadium, and i'm pretty sure i saw flyers for one in anaheim or buena park and somewhere else. such a dilemma. don't know where to go, or if i'll go out at all.

haven't seen the photographers or car owners of the stuff i like, posting which one they'll be heading out to, so i'm at a loss. someone recommend one to me, please, so i can talk myself into getting out of a nice warm bed before the sun comes up.

elite green

chevy impala

this is a nice green car. couldn't get a good angle on it, since the front end was hopped up, and i'm not that tall, but this will do. lots of pinstriping and airbrush work. wondering if these are the type of wheels that they have to pull each spoke out and polish them individually. pain in the ass, i would think.

almost xmas. almost forgot that we had today off at work. all right, i really did not realize until last monday, when someone said something about the day off. which really screwed up my project deadlines, since i had factored in working today. oh well.

i guess tomorrow i'm getting baked, err, getting my bake on...a variety of edible xmas gifts. certain family members don't want things, but they do expect to receive their preferred baked treats. vinegar taffy for my dad...i'll do that last, as i'll burn my hands pulling that shit as it cools. but he likes it, so i'll make it for him. he says he doesn't inhale it all in one day like he used to, and his crowns on his teeth don't come out anymore, since he super glued them in.

my younger brother just decided he'd fly his family in on xmas day, so i'll have to make him a danish pastry. have made it for him every year since high school, except for last year, since he moved to the east coast right before xmas. i'm saying he's coming back just for that, but he won't admit it.

gave my kid the choice between some sticky, sweet, brandy-covered mexican bread or a loaf of carrot bread; he went with carrot. went to the market earlier, with a list, and yep, forgot to get the carrots. i'll go tomorrow.

and i think i'll make my mom some zuchinni bread, with cinnamon and nutmeg flavor.

apart from all that, i gotta make a batch of cinnamon rolls too. that takes all day, so i'll start those first. will be a busy day, and i'm going to make a big mess in the kitchen.