what's up?

best intentions

1951 chevy truck

this is a very bright orange truck. brighter than a del taco sign. whack you in the face with a wet squirrel to wake you up bright. i think my head would explode looking at that color every day bright.

fortunately, the overcast dulled it down a bit. my head didn't explode, and my eyes didn't bleed.

clean and shiny, it's a perfectly fine chevy truck. that color tho...

i had intentions this weekend. intended to go to the front street show in norwalk, which is not too far away, and to which i've never been. X.

failing that, intended to go to the latin gents show in cypress. X.

intended to be at the pomona swap meet gates at five this morning. X.

my better half says sometimes you gotta listen to your body, and my body said, umm, no. not today.

yesterday, woke up late, felt yech all day, slightly off, moreso than normal. i was exhausted by about four in the afternoon, and lay down for a quick snooze. quick snooze lasted about four hours.

better half wanted to go to pomona this morning too, but his one caveat was that we wouldn't set the alarm. he's being overly protective, but i let him without fuss this time. if i was up, we'd go. shouldn't be difficult, since we get up so damn early on workdays, right? neither of us woke up until almost eight this morning, so, not going to make it. supposed to be over one-hundred out there today.

so, didn't shoot a thing this weekend. haven't looked at my pictures for most of the week. better half has stuff he has to get done around the house. his niece and family visiting for the weekend, a belated birthday suprise for gramma. gramma's worn out, and still sleeping at ten in the morning; they took their one-year old to disneyland for a few hours, so its quiet now.

i'll get a few pictures spit shined today, ready to post for the week. not going to be fun this week at all. work and other stuff.

road trip coming up that i gotta plan out, going to washington state to visit my daughter, taking a truck full of her crap to her, again. really hoping the rental place doesn't give me a big ass diesel truck instead of the smaller one i've reserved. i got the strangest looks from people when they saw me driving a big moving truck last time i rented one to move stuff from my home to storage unit and to whittier. it's kinda scary, but you just gotta step on the gas, and not think about it.

also our anniversary trip coming up quick...we used have that planned out six months ahead, now its been getting booked a few weeks before for the last couple of years. never seems to be enough time to think about where to go, yet i seem to have plenty of time to waste, mostly sitting on freeways, to and from work thinking random thoughts about what to write about here, only to forget because i couldn't write them down while driving, and siri is a bitch and won't wake up to take note.

busy day

chevy truck

spied this wonderously painted truck driving past mooneyes a couple weeks ago. watched it go through the intersection, and turn into the parking lot of the offices across from all the action at the burger joint. by the time they showed up, it was pretty hopeless to find parking anywhere else.

the lot was bordered by short hedges, but tall enough to conceal a few gems, if you just scanned for where all the spectators were congregating.

look at that pinstriping and airbrushing job. just in awe. or awwww.

crazy busy at work this week. should let up quite a bit next week. thinking of asking for a few days off, to fly out and see my brothers, or north to see my daughter and her new doberman puppy.

stuck in traffic

chevy truck

took me almost two and a half hours to get home yesterday. checking the map now work is done for the day, before jumping in the car, i see both freeways are fucked, so no better for me than yesterday. having a terrible stomach ache for no good reason, so i'm just turning around and staying at my mom's tonight.

shame that some of the clubs are trying to get the wednesday evening shows at the broiler going again, and that i just can't get there, without taking a day off work. traffic sucks.

saw this truck somewhere else, i just know it, but a quick search of this year's pictures didn't show it. found it here, at the bombs magazine show, sort of not jammed between other cars, and it is a different color combo than i usually see, so took a quick shot. the neon felix plate is kinda ruining it though. i should change the color, but i'm not at home with my computer, and that's the way it was, so i'll just wince a little and ignore it.

may day, may day

posting this truck for the owner, who came over and talked with me. seeing the plaque on the truck, i asked if he ever goes to the show at san fernando high school. he said his club hosts it, so yeah, i guess he does.

he drove a long way to be in this show. i think it was worth it. so many great cars. perfect day; only reason we left was that so many people arrived to see the cars, they were just getting in the shots, and we were afraid they'd trip on the tripod legs or knock the camera over.

i guess we could have just walked around and shot hand-held with the macro lens, just hunting down hood ornaments. i took sixty-three gigabytes of pictures, so, i have enough to keep me happy for a while. better half had already packed up his bag, and though he said he was happy to follow me around with the bags, i decided we should just go.

fetal

1951 chevy truck

found this truck tucked up under one of the supports leading to the bridge to coronado, at least i think it is. had just finished taking a picture of a fifty-nine impala, turned, and decided to take this one too. just liked where it was, and the surrounding mural and lines of the overpass.

posting only because when i was done, the owner thanked me and that was all. maybe he already knew who i was, maybe not. and i've forgotten what club it was with, so i can't even give a shout out to them either.

hopefully someone will mention the picture is up here to him...they always seem to find them online eventually.

so many more pictures from that day, i am having a difficult time deciding which to post. better half shakes his head, saying something to the effect of it being a tough position to be in.

might as well begin with the few for those people that spoke to me, as usual. then fret that another show is coming right up, and there will be a whole bunch more to sift through. oh well.

overcast here, typing at lunch, in the corner of a little café, quietly trying to become invisible. i hope it rains. i'm just in a mood for it... i want to splash barefoot in puddles like i used to, squish mud between my toes; i want to hide under the covers, and listen to it pattering on the roof.

square peg

sorry, another shot from the swap meet. it's coming up again. thinking about going, assuming the current mid-february heatwave breaks, and becomes a more sensible mid-sixties cool.

wondering why most of the truck seems to be lovingly finshed out and polished, and the roof was left raw? some sort of mind fuck--"psyche!" it's a very nice vehicle otherwise.

today was one of those days that reminds me that i'm a square peg in a round hole. one that reminds me of the twisted sister video, with the guy screaming, "what do you want to do with your life?!!???!!!," just without the flying saliva.

well, of course. i want to rock.

it's annual review time at work. and every year, you are required to go through the same steps: self assessment, goal setting, boss and/or peer review, score yourself, management scoring, etc. you play the game, and at the end, you hope you get a small raise, and they recognize and still find you valuable.

the process is great for number crunchers and sales guys. they can easily set goals and gather numbers to inflate how productive they were for the year. they are good with words and people, and know how to play the game...show me the money.

as a designer, i find it painful to try to rate, quantify, and somehow measure what i do into their format for determining compensation increases. i'm more of a support system, a reactionary function, to all the bees in the hive that make the colony function. and i'm a bumbling introverted drone, happy to just sit at my computer and get the work done.

i don't go out, into the fray, and just out of the blue, decide i'll just whip myself up a little piece of collateral, and see if it's useful. i'm busy. i don't have time to think of goals. i have time to think of burn out, and that's always just on the edge of my mind.

so, i have a new / old boss. i used to work directly for him, several years ago; then he moved up the ladder, and it was more indirectly. now i think his ladder went sideways or folded, or something, and i'm working for him again.

he's used to dealing with management types. he thinks things out profusely. he uses lots of words.

we met to discuss what my goals for the year should be. i never know what to say to that question every year. it's not like i set out each year, planning to do x, y and z, and maybe w. i barely think about planning day to day, much less what i want to do when i grow up. you know, justify why you're here.

i don't think it went well. i don't bullshit well, and speak my mind when asked directly. i'm perfectly happy with what i do, why do you want me to change it? i felt like i was in the principal's office, and didn't adequately express what it is i thought i should be planning to do, nor was i able to suggest ways to be even more productive than i am.

i do go out and keep my skills up to date. i work fast, under pressure. i get shit done, and i do it well. i've done it for a long time, so i would hope so.

he wants something written, more to the point than the previous boss. cross the t, dot the i. not quite a literary essay, but it feels like it should be.

times like these, i miss a former boss, at a former company—the one who micro managed, to the point of writing everyone's review and goals, and basically filling out the form for you. just sign here, and here's your check.

anyway, i gotta come up with three or four things i can scribble on the form, and maybe, maybe not, attain them next year. he says whether i meet expectations or not, does not count toward the overall rating. ya, right. i believe that.

i could only come up with somehow incorporating getting behind a camera, and becoming a portrait photographer to the executives and sales people, or helping someone else do it, since i end up with the files anyway, and cleaning them up. but i'm not good with people...i shoot cars. and that would be in addition to a full workload.

he wants me to get out of my comfort zone. i already do that, just not in the office. thank you very much. pretty sure he's going to want me to do some sort of presentation, or knowledge sharing. can i just take this ice pick and stick it right...here...it really would be easier for me.

i want to rock. just not in front of an audience.

all work...

coe truck

i've been working too many hours this week. the extra hours should be ending about tomorrow.

i've missed playing with my pictures. slept in late both days this weekend. didn't bother with the grand nationals...big show, too many people; i just have never gone to that one. i am enjoying seeing everyone else's pictures.

xmas tree came down today. better half's mom finally said it was time. what a pita...so many lights they put on the branches...i helped until i got a headache...hadn't had lunch yet.

waiting to go to the super cruise next week. on my little bro's birthday. too bad he moved to the other side of the states. guess i could make a cake and we could face time it to him, show him how much we're enjoying his bday cake. that might be too mean.

guess i'll spend the rest of today watching the clouds and sifting through pictures to post. rained very hard earlier, but looks like the clouds have blown away. planes are still flying pretty low, on their way to lax...must be pretty windy up there.

cameo

it is supposed to rain all week, so in anticipation, i'll be staying at my mom's or over with the newleyweds. both, with no access to my pictures, so i'll just work through some that i have saved up for rainy days here.

we were parked a few cars back from this truck, at five-thirty in the morning. was so dark, and the light so yellow, that i couldn't tell if it was silver/grey or green. i took a picture of it under the street light, while my better half chatted up the owner. i told him i'd have to get a shot of it later, after the sun came up.

if i got the story right, they only made 2,400 of these trucks, and this guy owns four. said the engineer who designed them, also helped engineer the development of the corvette. the significance of that, was the back end of the truck is made of fiberglass, just like a corvette, which i guess makes it lighter. just isn't pretty if you get in an accident and snap the stuff.

i think he also said his son had helped finish this one recently, as well as the rare four-door fifty-nine impala, parked in front of it. it was maybe the first time he'd brought this one out to a show.

as usual, i try to hunt down cars that pass by, and i finally found the truck and impala, out in the far dirt lot of the show. turned out to be this very nice green, which matched the green and white colored impala the son drove.

i had this shot ready to post, but i actually think i like a different shot of it, i'll have to add when i get back to my computer.

compensating

playing with old pictures. thought this one was funny. this truck was way too big and high up.

that's not the owner, just some goober looking under it's skirts. love that doofus "golly gee" expression he has.

i saw this truck and it's owner around the corner from here later in the day, after i'd already put my camera away. truck was parked, and the owner was getting into the car. he was waaaaay shorter than the average guy, and looked like he should have had a ladder to getup into this beast. kind of like a toddler trying to get into daddy's truck.

says it was for sale; this pic was from 2014, so i suppose someone else is now doing the compensating.

better half had to work today. says pasadena is no place to be on new year's eve, unless you have to be there. security everywhere. he got pulled into a checkpoint and cops ran a drug dog through his vehicle before they let him go. just being vigilant, what you'd hope for the cops to be doing.

i, had the day off. didn't realize it was a company holiday until tuesday, when a coworker was asking what i'd be doing for the four day weekend. what what. car shows, dude, car shows.

took a four mile walk today, out to lunch on washington blvd, and a random route back. saw a thunderbird, and an old cadillac.

on the way back, at hadley and whittier blvd, waiting for a walk light, watched some of the goodfellas club drive on by, the swirly script placas in the back windows...too quick to whip out my phone for a picture. i've seen them before. wondered where they were going...cruising up whittier blvd, or heading to a party. wherever, be safe.

to the dam tomorrow, possibly also to southgate...party on garth.

fellas

been a busy weekend and have't had much time to even turn my ipad on. solo road trip up the coast and back with my son's wedding in the middle.

i have a beautiful new daughter-in-law, and a wonderful family--her parents, sisters and brother--can't get better than that. to make it perfect, my daughter and her boyfriend were able to be there...a rare treat to have both of my kids in the same place.

also lucked out and had perfect weather, between storms.

also, a long story short, i did not take any of my own pics of the wedding. last minute rushing around plus teetering on high high heels after marching to hell and back the day before, made me a bit wobbly, and i decided to be safe and leave the gear in the room. there was a photographer and videographer there anyway.

and when i tried to take a shot with my phone, it seized up and died on me. i guess i was meant to just enjoy the day.

san luis obispo for a night, then a few in san fran. currently in monterey, then on the road again tomorrow. i'll be home wednesday, i think. missing my better half. at least work is keeping him busy with a crap ton of overtime.

saw these guys' cars before out in riverside, and here, again, at huffarama. actually spoke with one of the guys from fellas car club...can't remember just now if he owned that purple truck, or another that i've shot from a previous show.

he was quite nice, and i think, really, the only person that did say anything to me at that show. i was probably wearing a scary face as usual. sorry...