what's up?

another extra

shame to leave this behind, sitting in the queue.

in hell

made it to vegas, where it was at least one-hundred and four at some point today.

started by picking up a rental car, then a stop at the shop to see what the hell was wrong with my car, and to express my extreme displeasure about missing a baseball game and having to uber all weekend, and managed to do so without sounding like a karen. told him i was already supposed to be on my way to vegas, but would only be able to wait a couple of hours max, or they have to keep it until saturday. he opted for the week, since preliminary eval was giving them a code of some sort. basically, they fucked up a valve job in some way. they offered to give me a loaner car, but i already had one. was running perfectly fine before, so they better make it right.

first meeting tomorrow afternoon. i’d rather not go, but i will. gonna sleep in tho. definitely don’t need a buffet breakfast, i’m getting so big on these steroids as it is. definitely need to find another solution.

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dunno what the deal with the kustom oldies club is, but saw something dino’s bomb club put up, calling them out for having some pervert amongst them. no specific chapter, just a general no association shout out. sort of like this roadblock at this foursquare church/crossing show…no salvation here.

read a post from harbor area guys saying not them, and that someone was no longer with the other chapter or something. i hope dinos will announce when they have cleaned house and done penance, or i just won’t post any more of their pics.

like that other club, with the guy that grabbed my ass. they can keep fucking off until he goes away. he hangs out with other clubs so i have to be polite when i run into him. asshole. wow i’m still pissed even a year later. nuff said and time for bed.

as i’m typing i can see the volcano going off at the mirage, so this somehow seems appropriate with all the fiery explosions.

what a lame display, btw.

xman

made it to san diego on my own. took a train. it’s really difficult dragging two bags up and down the stairs on a moving train. my weak ass arms did ok on the way there, and getting them into the overhead bin.

today coming back, after yesterday’s carrying a tripod and camera for five hours, i just couldn’t do it. the conductor helped me get my bags on-board. i sat on the lower level, reserved for disabled peeps. figured i’d move if they made me. they left me alone, and no one sat next to me either.

arrived on friday afternoon, rode the little red city train to my hotel, and got settled. got an upgrade to a better room, but being on my own, i didn’t get the bigger room i had last year. was so missing the big bath tub, but then, i worried that i would have had a hard time getting out of it.

the sun was still up after i had some dinner, so i took the red train down to barrio logan, to see if anything was going on. pretty much the last few years, nothing happens, as the cops are there making sure nothing happens. as it was, there was only one old chevy truck there, and only because there was a family having a picnic.

i wandered around the park, took a few shots of the murals, and headed back to the train. usually, i’d get some carnitas over at the northgate market, but i’d already eaten, so oh well.

i got up before the sun on saturday. typically, i’d be at the park before the sun, but this year i was a little unsure. i don’t know why. last year i took the train. had to switch to another train to the park. lots of homeless people on whatever poison of their choice mill about that early. better half insisted i take an uber this time. so i waited until just after sunrise this year.

cars were already rolling in by the time i turned the corner to the park. early this year. overall, it was organized a little different than past years as far as roll-in. so many beautiful cars.

i decided to start up on the far street, by the majestics club house. found this car up there. the owner chatted a bit. he’d hung a banner advertising his podcast on the club fence, but wondered if it would be better on another bit of fence. he asked my opinion. i thought the club might not want it on their fence. he thought maybe it would be in more pictures on the other bit. i took my couple of shots of his car, and saw he was already chatting up the owner of the car now in front of his banner.

no idea if his podcast is any good, but since he took the time to chat, shout out to him and go check out xmanradio.com.

uneasy

my dad was hoping to go home today. but, nooo. xray shows one of the wires from the pacemaker came loose and they won't fix it until tomorrow.

so i had to book another night in the hotel. means hauling the suitcase back over there. we've been leaving the car at the hospital since he has a pretty good spot and it's a lot cheaper per night. i checked, it's ok with the hospital.

seems i've picked up a cold being here, so today i'm wearing a lovely yellow facemask while visiting.

holiday weeked in a hospital seems quiet in the midst of all the activity. most food places closed, waiting rooms are empty. really weird.

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just waiting to get this behind us and go home. like the backend of this impala...leave all the doctors in the rearview.

cat's spots

1961 chevy impala

this impala is a little over the top, on the paint job.

airbrushing, pinstriping, etching, and to top it off, cheetah or leopard spots on the little side panel space. i'm thinking cheetah...it's a faster animal. though leopards are pretty bad ass too.

no doubt about the quality of the paint job, it's very good. it just overwhelms and detracts from the car, which seemed to be in good condition.

completely my opinion, which means diddly-squat. it's a beautiful car, if i just go with it.

was kinda sad it was backed up so close to the plants behind it, and close to the car next to it and pop up on the other side. just got in the way, and couldn't get a clean shot from the back angle.

1961 chevy impala

reflecting

last day of vacation. i walked around uptown. thought i'd try to find a red dress. my better half has been commenting on all the red dresses in the shop windows. trying to remind him, i am no longer the same size as the mannequins, but he doesn't care; he likes my curves.

i looked in every clothes store in town. i did not like any of the dresses i saw. probably just me. i hate clothes shopping, and i haven't had to shop for girl clothes in a long time. good old casual dress code at work, only really need to wear a sort of business casual shirt, i.e., polo, and then jeans are now ok, so no reason to shop anymore.

back home, playing with my pictures again. thought about going to a car show, followed by a few hours at disneyland. there's an elvis impersonator performing tonight and tomorrow...young, bad ass elvis, not chunky butt elvis. but meh, i was tired. maybe tomorrow night.

my mom's bday is on sunday. there's also a car show at legg lake on sunday. i can pull off both.

then back to work on monday. not looking forward to the work that waited for me, and more new jobs. already getting a headache, so i'll push that thought out of my head until then.

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one more tonight. i like the back end of cadillacs. this one is like an xmas present—the colors, the pattern, the glitter and shine.

got to the show early early, and managed to wade through all the waiting cars, and found this one stuck in the frozen river of cars.

tangerine

i don't like oranges, tangerines, cuties, citrus, you name it. i'll drink orange juice, but just can't chomp down on that pithy, grindage of the fruit. especially the big oranges, with the white scum coating the good part.

but i like the orange on this impala. around back of the k1 sports, at the old memories harbor area show last june. little newer model than my fav, 1959, but this is quite nice anyway.

behinds

back from vacation. went to dc. was fun, weather was perfect. even ended with a lightly rainy day. better half lost his iphone six plus, then after a dramatic story, got it back. what are the chances of that? should have bought a lottery ticket.

day after we get back, hey, dia de los muertos show up the street. the past few years, about a dozen cars have been there. this year, wow, maybe fifty, maybe a hundred are down there. i basically was there most of the day. still tired from the trip, but had fun. then had to drive down to my mom's. just been going non-stop since...so first time back with my pics.

and i'm off again...so here's a quick shot for some dude who asked about my photography. like i said, love the back ends of the old caddies. all about the fins.

time is fleeting

i went out this morning with about four hours to hit car shows before i needed to be home. i had for sure three on my list to hit up, possibly five.

started out in tustin at enderle. haven't been there in a long time because i don't drive north past it much any more on sunday mornings. didn't get there until a little after ten. same old same old: after the prizes are awarded, people bug out. must have just missed it, and most people were gone or in the process of leaving. i got a couple of shots before leaving.

from there, headed over to original mike's. also haven't been there for a while. cadillac kings were there in force, and all of their buddies it seemed. two aisles of caddies. should have made me happy, but i just wasn't looking for cadillacs today.

i liked the paint job on this one. the sky was wonderfully cloudy, perfect for pictures. can kind of see them reflected here too.

i didn't stay long at this one. kind of not what i was looking for either.

figured everyone was at the floral park home and garden show. i kinda didn't want to deal with the crowd, so drove over to where the viejitos usually have their show last sundays of the month. nope. no show. what gives? well, maybe next month.

there was a ford show over by knott's berry farm, which was only a few minutes from where i parked momentarily to decide what to do. at that point, i just didn't want to zig back down to another show in westminster or zag up to lakewood, so i headed home. had that pesky work stuff to do anyway, which was probably what was back of mind gnawing away at my fun anyway.

i did get this one, which is really what i was in the mood for, so at least i satisfied one craving:

i liked the tree

i liked the tree. but this darn car happened to be parked under it and messed up the picture.

just kidding. the car is ok too.