Changing Colors

I was completely ready to make the switch. Browsers, that is. For many people, there really is no difference which web browser they use. We use Firefox, most people use Internet Explorer. Either is fine for everyday use, but as a photographer, neither of these is really any damn good. The lack a key feature that is quite important: Proper color management. Color management takes the embedded color information in every photograph and uses that information to display the photo in the browser. Firefox and IE are really poor at doing this. The photos tend to look washed out, and it's very disappointing for me to see a beautifully colorful photo in Photoshop turn into a dull, washed out mess on a browser. My other option for a browser is the Apple browser, Safari. Safari has great color management. The photos look every bit as colorful in Safari as they do on the desktop. I was in the process of switching over to Safari, when I realized the one web page I'm on every day, the one you're looking at now, doesn't' support it. Yet. Rest assured that I will be making a change as soon as they do.

Switching Sleep

Something I often do when facing long time off is to switch my sleep schedule. It's usually quick, drastic, and kicks my ass for about three days. I'll stay up for about 24 hours straight, then try to sleep during the night when I normally would. I'm doing this again this time, but since I'm off for two weeks instead of one, I have the luxury of taking my time instead of trying to do it in one day. I'll gradually go to bed earlier and earlier, and eventually my sleep will resemble more of a "2nd shift" schedule instead of day sleeping. It's going to be nice to sleep when it's actually dark outside. No more super hero mask for a while at least....

Two Weeks to Shoot

One thing I'm really looking forward to in the next two weeks is taking a couple days with my camera and just shooting a ton of pictures. It's been so long since I've done that, I feel like I've gotten away from it way too much. There's a really beautiful forest preserve about 10 miles away from here that I'm dying to return to, and one thing I really got into a couple years back was visiting old, abandoned cemeteries in the area. We have so many old railroad towns around here, that some of these forgotten rural cemeteries can be really interesting places. It will be good to get to know my camera again.

One thing I really hate about working in a massive facility with thousands of people is the speed at which rumors fly through the plant. Couple that with doom-and-gloom negativity from a lot of unhappy people, and you can hear some really nasty stuff. It seems every week we're about to lose our jobs, third shift is going to be shut down, or 400 transfers are coming in from some far away state to bump us out onto the street. All of it is nonsense, of course, but trying to reason with these people can be completely maddening. This two week shut down has really fired a lot of these people up, and frankly, I'm looking forward to getting away so I don't have to listen to it for a while. One more night!

Shutdown

Does this look familiar? It should, as I've used this shot before in another post. No, I didn't take a picture today. I feel like what I'm writing about today takes precedence over what I'm shooting. I have some news about work, and frankly, I couldn't think of anything to shoot that would be relevant to today's post.

Rumors have been running rampant lately at work, but two have seemed quite persistent. One is that our Saturdays for this month will be canceled, and the other is that they're planing a two week shutdown for the month of October. Today I found out that not one, but both rumors are 100% true. Our Saturday for this weekend is canceled, and beginning Monday, I will be off for two weeks. They're also saying that our Saturdays will be cut off for the rest of the year. They've attributed this to an "inventory adjustment", which is management speak for "We busted your ass for 18 months and now we have too many cars." What's actually happened is a little more complicated. They have been working us a lot in anticipation of demand that really isn't there yet. The Caliber has sold well, the Patriot isn't selling as many as they'd hoped, and the Compass is just not selling. On top of that, they've been overproducing, as our contract is set to be renewed, and they have to prepare for the possibility of a strike. Add all this together, and you have a surplus of cars that must be accounted for. I also believe that Chrysler, facing the possibility of having to hire the 600 "ETEs", finds it more opportune to have the layoff now instead of later, since we are not now eligible to collect the "SUB pay" that would give us 95% of our pay for those two weeks. What it really all boils down to is piss-poor planning, and now the hourly workers are paying the price.

To wrap up, we're shut down for two weeks. I'll be able to collect unemployment, but we stand to lose quite a bit of money for these weeks. The "no more Saturdays" thing is just fine by me. I've been working 3 out of 4 Saturdays for 16 months, and frankly, I'm tired of it.

Poured

They began to pour our new sidewalk, and I must say it looks great. You really don't realize how bad something look until you can compare it to something new and clean. I really wish I had shots of the old, tattered walk so I could give you comparison shots. It was cracked, crumbling, and frankly a bit dangerous to walk on. Big sections were loose and would move when you stepped on them, and chunks were missing in places. We don't often use the front door, but it still should increase the value of the house somewhat to have this brand new sidewalk. Unfortunately, yesterday and today they were working on it around the time I usually go to bed. The sidewalk is about 3 feet away from the front of our house, and the bedroom is in that front part on the upper level. Needless to say, I got to bed late the last few days. Luckily, they're done with our section, so tomorrow should be much quieter.

September: In Review

This was surely the most memorable month of my life. We actually found out Steph was pregnant last month, and I did make some allusions to it, but this month was really the one where it hit home. It seemed so unreal and impossible last month, but seeing that ultrasound and hearing the baby's heartbeat changed everything. This month was also marked by:

• The release of my favorite beer
• Bowling with the family
• I unveiled some major news

Here's my favorite shots for the month:

Favorite Shots#17: Greatest. Sign. Ever.

After the seriousness of yesterday's post, I feel it's necessary to lighten things up a bit. I snapped this a couple years ago on my way to a friend's house, and it's probably one of the funniest signs I've ever seen. Charging someone per hair is not only slightly ridiculous, but it can be pretty depressing for that person when he realizes exactly how much hair he's lost. This was one of those moments I was really grateful I had my camera with me.