June: In Review

Six months. Six months I've been doing this, and it's now become part of my daily routine, much like that first cup of coffee or brushing my teeth. It really doesn't seem like six months have already passed, but considering how much I work, the days can seem to flow one into another. June was another really busy month. We finally made some vacation plans, I shot a beautiful wedding, and spent some time editing those hundreds of photos. I finally sold my computer, finished my yard work, and spent way too much time at the doctor's office. July should be a great month, and I should have some awesome pictures to share from scenic Morro Bay!

Here's my favorites from the month:

Goodbye PC!

Whew! I finally sold my PC. When I announced my intentions of making the switch to Mac, I thought a good way to offset the cost would be to sell my old, but still pretty good, Dell desktop. I think at the time I had an overinflated value of the used machine, but in the long run I got a pretty good amount of money for a PC that is a couple of years old. I was approached at work last night by someone I know pretty well, and we worked out a price that was good for both of us.

Tonight I'll be stopping in at a newly opening business in Belvidere to do a "stress test" of sorts. A former co-worker from Belvedere USA Corp is opening a gamer-targeted store called Virtual Insanity that will feature networked PCs, console systems, and internet access. I've been to places like this before, and I have to honestly say that the experience wasn't all that great. Hopefully they'll do a much better job.

Sticker Shock

This morning after work, I made my return trip to see Dr. Flynn about the issues I've been having lately. Based on the moderate success I've been having with the Albuterol inhaler, he decided to prescribe an inhaler that had a more long lasting effect. Albuterol is more of an "emergency" inhaler, that is really only used when one is having serious breathing problems. He wanted me to try something that was more of a daily medication, while still having the Albuterol when I'm feeling bad. When I went to pick this inhaler up, my complete lack of prescription drug insurance really hit me hard. I was stunned when the pharmacist told me the total of $133.00. What can you do? I had to pay for it. Hopefully this expensive little bottle of powder will do the trick.

Favorite Shots #10 / Vacation Planning

This shot was taken a few years back in Morro Bay, California. There is a giant rock formation in the middle of the bay that is really amazing. You can see odd formations like this all over it's surface. Morro Bay is where my sister Kathie lives, and it's also where Steph and I are going in about 3 weeks.

Chrysler scheduled a week shut down in July, and Steph took that week off as well. We decided that it would be a good time to take a trip out to California and visit Kathie, Josh, and my nephew Noah. Kathie and Noah will be here in Illinois for a couple weeks in July, but Josh won't. We'd love to see him too, and it will be great to go away for a while. We'll be staying ath La Serena Inn in Morro Bay. It has really good rates, even better reviews, and lots of amenities.

I have some other news regarding Chrysler. I just found out last night that all the people in my situation, the so called "Enhanced Temporary Employees", will be moved from the Paint and Body Shop areas to Assembly. This sucks. All the full time people in Assembly really want our jobs because Assembly rarely works a full 8 hours a day. The unfortunate reality of an assembly line is if one piece breaks, everyone downstream is in trouble. Basically, if Body or Paint has any problems throughout the night, Assembly gets sent home early. I guess it's not a big deal, as long as I'm still on 3rd shift, but I realy have no idea right now how this will all shake down.

Seas of Green

I really enjoy this time of year. For those of you who are not from Illinois, the area I live in is pretty flat and is populated by corn and soybean fields. This time of year, the corn is getting to about head height, and when you look over the landscape, all you can see is green. It's something that those of us who live here really take for granted. We see it every day, so the beauty of it can be lost on us. This photo really doesn't do it justice. It's also really cool to drive down the backroads late summer, when the corn is over the top of your car. It's like driving down green corridors, and it feels like you're in the middle of nowhere.

Defective

About 5 months ago, I invested in some really good earbuds for use with my iPod. I work in a really loud environment, and I wanted something that sounded good and blocked out a lot of background noise. After pretty extensive research, I decided to buy a pair from a company named Etymotic. The headphones sound fantastic, and they block out more decibels than the earplugs provided to us. Unfortunately, about 2 weeks ago, the right ear piece started buzzing. It has gradually gotten worse over the last week, and today it was completely unusable. Lucky for me they have a one year warranty, but it is still a pain to have to send them back. It's really frustrating to spend $70 on something and have it only last about 5 months! The customer service rep I talked to was very polite, and everything I've read suggests their customer service track record is pretty good. I just hope they get them turned around quickly. I'm really spoiled now, and I'm not looking forward to using bad headphones!

Wildberries

When we first moved into our home, the yard was full of many different plants and flowers. One of these various plants was a raspberry bush that the previous owner put in a very poor location. It wasn't getting any sun, it wasn't producing many berries, and those it did produce were quickly gobbled up by the local wildlife before they could ripen properly. I decided to mow it under. To my surprise, the next year it regrew in another location. Well, that year we had the same results. I've mowed that bush down every year for the last 5 years, but this year it migrated to an area filled with other plants that I don't mow. This year, the thing is absolutely covered with berries. I picked quite a few today, and they're delicious. I guess I won't mow it down anymore!