what's up?

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.

wasn't there

early morning shot of this burb. owner talked to me later in the morning, and i took a few more shots, but i like the lighting better here. even if the hood is slightly popped open, and it's not in the other pictures. at least it isn't fully up...that's what she said.

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two equally excellent car shows occured this past sunday. but i didn't go to either one this year. not the first ones i've missed this year, but most of the others i was out of state, so...it's just been an upside down year, and other priorities are taking over.

i couldn't decide which of the two shows to go to, so chose neither. probably more importantly, with family in town (better half's, and mine), family should come first sometimes.

the previously mentioned invasion of a dozen or so relatives started friday; most left on sunday. left the two-month old baby behind for a few days to give the mother a break and more time with the two-year old. baby sleeps most of the day, so easy peasy. sister-in-law is gramma, so it's her problem, on top of helping with her own mother. i'm out of practice with dealing with babies, so most i've done is give it a bottle.

the birthday party was a success on saturday, too much food, huge cake. i still managed to sneak out to legg lake for los boulevardos' cruise to the lake show and bbq for a couple of hours beforehand. those pictures coming soon.

went to bed with a stomach ache, too much food, too much sun. slept in sunday. i could have gone to a show, but still felt, meh, so decided to take it easy, and went south to hang with my bro and parents. just stayed in oc for the night.

so here i am looking at my calendar for the next show, looking for flyers...maybe i'll just catch up with pictures i have for this weekend.

visitors

so my younger bro and one of his kids are in town for a couple of weeks. i also hear that the house here in whittier is going to be invaded by about a dozen relatives this weekend to celebrate my mother-in-law's ninetieth birthday. no idea where they will all sleep, much less how the one bathroom situation is going to work out.

i think that happens saturday, leaving me free to decide which car show to go to on sunday. two shows that i like very much running on the same day this year. hate when that happens...coin flipping time. best two out of three... one i really want to go to, the other more convenient, and probably not as hot weather-wise...

here's another car promised. fleetlines car club member, an older couple.

wonder where danny was? maybe he showed up after i left.

shady grove

quick post, gotta get to bed. been a long day, and i didn't even go to work.

owner of this car caught me on my way out of the show. nice green car sitting in the shade of the trees. why the birds didn't hit the show cars, like they got mine, i'll never know.

this was parked next to some reflections car club cars, but i'm not really sure if it is part of the group.

i was getting overheated, and in need of something to eat right about then. but i'll still shoot the cars on the way back to my own car. my better half knows if i say i'll be there in a minute at a show, i'll be ten or more, as i've stopped to take pictures on the way.

god's eye

went to the viejitos' annual car show yesterday. got there just after the club showed up, about six am.

parked under a tree, and a bird promptly crapped on my window. is that a sign?

went over and started shooting the line up. this was the first one i shot.

i actually talked to quite a few people during the four and a half hours i was there. i've promised to post pictures of a few in particular.

i'm hoping this belonged to the viejitos member who was first to greet me, and asked about where he might see it. said it was the cream color one, but i have two in my files, that are very similar, about that same location.

i believe he said his had the doll in front of it, but that was later in the day. i have that one too, but the angle i shot it, and the doll, isn't my favorite. but i thought i could see this god's eye in the window of that one, and it was in this one, so guessing the same car.

iou

i think the owner of this car was sincerely interested in seeing pictures of his car. figured he had seen me taking a shot of it earlier, as most people do, before approaching me.

i really thought i'd shot it. i'd shot the placa. i shot the back of his shirt, later, when he asked me to, sweat and all.

i'd had a handful of people already ask me to see their cars, so i'd gone back around and took cell phone pics of the cars, so i'd remember which ones.

got home, downloaded the memory cards. fifty plus gigabytes. not one of them a picture of the dude's car. not one of any of the clubs' cars. must have been people around it, or polishing it at the time i'd passed by, so skipped them. then got distracted, and never got back around to shoot them.

it is one reason, though i'd shot a car earlier, i usually will go back and shoot them again, just to be sure. apparently, this time, i fucked up. so, sorry, all i have is this not great cell phone pic of it. i owe you a better picture of it next time, and i'll even get you a free print of it.

sucks. such a nice car too.

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.

stuffy nose

better half stayed home today. he's just getting started on a cold and is fighting a fever. i suppose i'll catch it soon, and probably just in time for my big road trip with my mom.

bet my dear better half feels the way this hood ornament looks about now, though a little less stylish.

a little sunshine

1937 chevy

so i've spent a lovely week hanging out at a courthouse, doing my civic duty. don't know how that happened, as they usually look for the most ignorant jurors possible. they didn't even ask me any questions, and i had no other excuses to be unable to serve.

love how all the jurors of a certain ethnic group, with only one exception, pulled the i don't speak english very well or acted like they completely didn't speak english at all. i call bullshit, but i guess if i was the one sitting next to the lawyer at the table, i wouldn't want them on the jury either.

i won't bore you with details, but it was an interesting experience. i got to use my best assortment of bitch faces sitting in the jury box, glaring at both lawyers, and so they could not guess which way i might be leaning for or against the defendant.

freaking freezing in the courtroom and deliberation room. was great if i had climbed the stairs or had a hot flash. otherwise, had to remember to bring a sweater.

back to work and a more normal schedule to whine about, and freeways to sit in a slow roll upon, and think up topics i might posit here.

caught this pistoleros car at the viejitos summer show in anaheim a couple of weeks back. its not finished, and i am making the assumption that they will eventually paint this car. but even if they decide they like the primer look, though i cannot understand it, you can see the beautiful lines of the car. the small details you'll never find on today's cars.

i liked how they dropped it to the ground under this tree, perhaps in anticipation of shade later when the sun got to doing it's thing in the sky, but at this time of morning, there's just that kiss of sun on the back end, through the trees out of the frame.

maybe that isn't something that you get worked up over, and sometimes random shadows on cars bug the hell out of me, but here i like it, and that it is hitting the skirt that doesn't match the rest of it. stupid, but that's how it was, and i liked it at the time.

i want to ride my...

harley davidson

so, i've been busy doing stuff i'm not allowed to talk about, so i won't talk about it. i've been away from my computer and/or too tired to turn the damn thing on all week.

saw this bike at the viejitos show. one of the few i saw that morning before i bailed. only one i shot.

liked the paint and pinstripes. not a girly girl, so i won't call it pink; more of a mauvey marooney color.

now i think i'll work on another picture until it gets late, which is going to happen quickly...time flies when i'm having fun...then gotta get some sleep.