Third Shift Annoyance #2: Running Errands in the Evening

I really didn't think everything would fit in that little car! Stephanie drives a Scion Xa, and she loves it. It's a nice car, efficient, cheap, reliable, but I feel a little guilty driving it considering I work at Chrysler. Oh well.

We had quite a night. While leaving Target, we witnessed a police officer shooting a fleeing suspect. We were leaving the store and saw four cruisers sitting outside. We figured it may just be a shoplifter, so we just went to the car. As I was getting into the hatch, I saw two officers walk towards another car, their hands on their guns. I was a little shocked, but thought nothing of it. The next thing I know, the car is speeding down the lane with the cop hanging from the door! I hear three gunshots (maybe 2?) and I crouched down behind the car. I couldn't really see what was happening, but the car came to a stop after hitting another. That's pretty much it. Here's a link to the story in the Rockford Register Star. I guess the guy was killed. Pretty messed up stuff. We didn't stick around, although we probably should have. We were pretty anxious to just get the hell outta there. I wasn't sure at the time if they were shooting at each other or not, so I was pretty freaked out. Everything's okay for us, but it was pretty crazy experience.

Slow Night

Wow. What a night. Of 8 hours, we probably had about 1 1/2 hours down time. That is not good. Well, it's kinda good in the short term, but in the long run, not so much. This is a shot of a couple guys I work with arguing after Todd (on the right) tried to make an illegal move against Geno. It was pretty heated. I think Geno actually threatened Todd with physical violence at one point. Pretty brave, considering Todd is twice his size....

A little after this I played Backgammon with Todd, then with Geno. Overall, a pretty long night, but not too hard. Todd introduced me to a variant called Acey-Deucey, then I played a regular game with Geno. Guess who won? That's right.

Yes, this is a cell phone shot, since technically cameras aren't allowed in the plant. The blue suits these guys are wearing (and I wear as well) are anti-static paint suits. They protect your clothes, and also protect the cars from getting dirty. Very Devo.

Worth the Money

This is one of the few things that when you spend money on it, you don't mind seeing it get utterly destroyed. In case you can't figure it out, this is a scratching post we bought for the cats a couple years ago. It doesn't save the furniture completely, but I can assure you that our couch doesn't look like this. These things may be expensive, but as you can see, they're totally worth the money.

Did I have a tough time finding something to shoot today? You betcha.

Third Shift Annoyance #1: Shaving at Odd Times

There's a couple reasons I took this self-portrait. First, when reading through the inspiration for this project, it said that you should occasionally take these type of shots so after it's all over, you can see how you've changed throughout the year. I think that's really important. Second, I've decided to start a few different "series" of shots, the first being "Third Shift Annoyances". I thought of this while waiting this morning for Office Max to open so I could buy a new router. Of course, it wasn't in stock....

After looking at this shot again, I saw the lurking internet celebrity Punkin somehow managed to get himself in another post.

A Cup of Happiness

God, I love coffee. I am a total coffee fiend. I usually drink Starbucks, but we've also recently bought Stewarts Coffee out of Chicago. It's pretty good, and cheaper, but not nearly as good as Starbucks. If you actually go buy the coffee in the store, they will grind the beans for you to take home. Believe me, it makes a difference when it's freshly ground.

As for the picture, you have no idea how difficult it is to photograph something from the top without casting a huge, nasty shadow! I ended up changing the ISO to 800 so I could actually hold the camera instead of using the tripod. I then had to stand on a ladder, frame the shot, then carefully move my head away from the camera to get a shadow-free shot.

Winter's Chill

There's something quietly beautiful about trees covered in snow. I can't quite figure out why I'm so drawn to them. Maybe it's a simple thing like the contrast between the bright, white snow and the wet, dark branches. Maybe it's more subtle, like how dead and barren everything looks, but inside, you know that life is thriving. Maybe it's the completely random, abstract look a group of branches can convey. Nevertheless, it was a captivating sight. I couldn't stop my eye from wandering all the way home. Just thought I'd share.

More Freakin' Snow!

Well, we got about 3 or 4 more inches today. Gotta love those Illinois winters. Of course, this doesn't hold a candle to the 14" we got in December. That was bad.

Something else really amazing happened today. My favorite football team, the Chicago Bears are going to the Super Bowl for the first time in 21 years! I'm really happy and excited. However, even if they win, it will still not be as big a deal to me as when the White Sox won the World Series. I'm a really big Sox fan, and when they won, it actually brought a few tears to my eyes. It was really amazing.