Pizza Time

I did really bad at groceries last week. It's never good when you wake up and you have absolutely no idea what you're cooking for dinner that night. It's an odd situation, since Steph and I eat at completely different times and we eat completely different food (Steph's a vegetarian). I guess this week I'll have to actually make a list....

I found out last night at work that Chrysler again is taking applications for jobs at our plant. If anyone's interested, the address is www.dcchourlyjobs.com. They're hiring for part time, which is Friday and Mondays (and Saturdays when we work them), and they're also hiring "full time temporary", which is similar to what I am right now. It seems this may just be summer help, but with all the buyouts and retirement packages coming, who knows what can happen.

The Challenges of a Daily Blog

One of the things I've found challenging about this project is consistently finding new and interesting to shoot and write about. When it comes to this kind of thing, I can be a bit of a perfectionist, so it's difficult for me on days like today when nothing particularly interesting happens. While this can be frustrating at times, I think that days like today are especially important. I think that days like today can really help me to expand my vision photographically. It really forces me look at things in very different ways. By trying to figure out how I can make these everyday, objects look different, interesting, and relevant, I'm really exercising my creative muscles. I've also been spending much more time in Photoshop, so getting practice in that is also very good for me. The "One a Day" aspect of this blog is challenging, but hopefully in the long run I know it will be worth it.

Reading Habits

I don't read as much as I used to. I used to read a lot. The last couple of years, I really only read things online, such as blogs, news sites, or message boards. I went through a period where I was reading a large amount of history books, based mostly on World War II, and now the majority of my reading is in the realm of non-fiction. I really don't know why that is, but I think that my changing tastes in literature stem from reaching a certain point in my life where my interests are migrating to more practical things. I've gone back and tried to read again some of the books I really enjoyed as a younger man, and find that, for the most part, some of the books I loved then are really quite bad. I just orderer this book last week, Fast Food Nation, and I also ordered another entitled The Omnivore's Dilemma. Both books focus on the American diet, and both were critically acclaimed. I'm looking forward to reading them, but I'm concerned I'll never want to eat again!

Tea Time

Our local grocery store, Woodmans, had a new display in the coffee isle. You know the displays of all the different whole bean coffees, all different blends that you can choose and grind in the store? Now they have a similar display for tea. I was really captivated by the display for a good 5 minutes. All the different blends were really interesting, visually speaking. Some had dried fruit, some were just leaves, and some had things I couldn't even identify. It was very interesting to me. I decided to try a couple different blends. This one is called Chinese Gunpowder, and holy cow is it strong. I'm typically a coffee guy, but it's nice to try something different.

Cutting the Grass

Well, it's that time of year again. I was able to get outside today and do some yard work. I have to admit, the first time I have to mow I really don't mind doing it. It's not too hot, the air smells sweet, and after being cooped up inside all winter, I welcome any chance to spend some time outside. All too soon, however, it becomes another chore that I put off as long as I can get away with it.

It was such a beautiful day today. I got out of bed relatively early, around 3:30, so I didn't miss as much of the day as I usually do. Right now it's about 82° outside, but it's really windy. I was going to do some burning, but I'm not really keen on burning down my garage. I guess it will have to wait.

Denny's: Grand Slam Service

Well, we can add another "restaurant" to the do-not-go-to list. Steph and I decided it would be a good idea to get breakfast for dinner tonight. The bad idea was going to Denny's. We entered the place, and were immediately assaulted with the odor of stale cigarette smoke. Apparently Denny's didn't get the memo that smoking in restaurants is not cool. We were seated at our table, brought our drinks by the greeter, then told "one of the girls" would be with us shortly. I guess by shortly, he meant never. At one point I was craning my head around, looking for someone actually interested in working, when I caught the eye of a waitress. I guess since I made eye contact she felt obligated to come to our aid, but she made it clear that she wasn't our server. We gave her our order, and she told us she would give it to our server to put it in. This should have set off the warning bells, but I guess I was just delirious with hunger. So we waited... and waited.......and waited. A group of men, who came in 5 minutes after us, were brought their food. We waited. My coffee was empty. We waited. Another man who came in 10 minutes after us was brought his food. At this point, we had waited about 25 minutes. In this entire time, no one even bothered approaching our table! I couldn't stand it anymore. I approached the manager, and began telling her the situation. I was halfway through my sentence when she began repeatedly asking me what table I was at. First of all, I have no freakin idea how their tables are numbered, so how am I supposed to answer that? Second, she could've at least let me finish ranting before she asked that question. I was angry to begin with, but being interrupted by this sloppily dressed McDonalds reject was enough to set me off. I turned to look at Steph, and aparently immediately after I began complaining to the manager, our "server" refilled my coffee and began actually doing his job. I sat down, our food came about 5 minutes later (on the house, yippie-freakin-doo), we ate, then left. Now I understand why the parking lot was virtually empty at 7 pm on a Saturday night. Never again.

Oh, and if you're not from the area, there's a bit of a joke in the sign pictured above. Not only are these people completely inept at their JOBS, they're also incapable of correct spelling. The street on which the other restaurant is located is Sandy Hollow.

Too. Much. Furniture.

My house is full of furniture, with no end in sight. A doll store frequented by Steph and her doll collecting Grandma Johnson is going out of business and also had some furniture items for sale. Steph picked up a couple things. Unfortunately, our space here is limited, so things are a bit crowded right now. The two cabinets she bought are nice pieces, we just need to find someplace to put them. It's a nice change to be buying furniture that isn't made from pressed wood and laminate.

Creepy, Right?

Dolls creep me out. Completely. Stephanie's Grandma Johnson has a doll collection that has no rival. An entire room in the upper level of her home is full from ceiling to floor. They've recently decided to convert her garage, which isn't really seeing any use, into a "doll museum" of sorts. Maybe eventually, if I can muster the courage, I'll shoot some pictures to share with you on this blog. This one's Stephs, and right now it's staring at me.

Favorite Shots #4: At the Game

There's a couple reasons I decided to go this route today. First, I woke up really late today after going to the dentist this morning and not getting to bed until around 11. Second, I'm sitting here watching the White Sox, and waiting to see if their pitcher, Mark Buehrle throws a no-hitter. He's currently pitched 8 innings, only walking one guy, and he picked him off first! If you're a baseball fan, I don't have to tell you how rare a no-hitter is. Hopefully I'll be able to update this post tonight with the results.

This photo was taken at Comiskey Park in Chicago. I had bought these seats on eBay, and they're probably some of the best seats I've ever had. We were in the uper deck, but we were right behind home plate in the first row. They really were great seats. I really love the reflection in the glasses showing the field.

Back to the game!

*Edit
HE DID IT!!! The first time in a Sox pitcher has thrown a no-no in 16 years!

Third Shift Annoyance #6: Never Enough Time

Having such an odd sleep schedule really puts a strain on your life. I never really know when I should do things. Should I do them when I get home in the morning or after I get up? I've been on 3rd for about 6 months now, and I still struggle with it at times. It's really rough on the weekends. It's such an unnatural situation to be sleeping during the day when every fiber of your being wants to be up and doing things. I only expect it to get worse when I'm coming home and it's 65° and sunny....

Canceled

I was recently reading a really good story linked from Digg.com about television shows that should never have been canceled. I was a little disappointed that one of my favorite canceled shows, Carnivale, was not on the list. This was a really great show that was on HBO for two seasons, then was summarily canceled because of high production costs and low ratings. It's really unfortunate, as this was one of the most creative and interesting shows I'd seen in a very long time. If you have a Netflix account or some extra cash floating around, I seriously recommend checking it out.

R2-D2 Ate My Letter!

In case you're absolutely Star Wars ignorant, this is a mailbox painted up to look like R2-D2 from the movies. I've seen photos of these mailboxes all over the web in the last couple months, but I had yet to see one of these in person. Steph and I took a trip to the local mall yesterday, and when we got out of the car, this thing was sitting outside the Sears entrance. Of course, I forgot my camera, so I actually made the 25 mile round trip back to the mall to shoot it today. It also gave me a reason to go to Chipotle for dinner.... I guess there are even Star Wars geeks working at the higher levels of the USPS. We're EVERYWHERE!

Hypocrisy

hy·poc·ri·sy [hi-pok-ruh-see]

1.	a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess.

2.	a pretense of having some desirable or publicly approved attitude.

3.	an act or instance of hypocrisy.

Okay, you can call me a hypocrite. After decrying the overabundance of High Fructose Corn Syrup in the average American diet, tonight I went against everything I complain about and bought a case of Vault soda from Woodmans. This is probably the only pop I actually like, and apparently I'm one of the few. They were selling this stuff for 4 for $1.00!! I got 24 bottles of this stuff for 6 bucks! I occasionally buy a bottle at work, and it's a $1.25 there. I couldn't pass it up. Not only did I get the 24 bottles for $6.00, every cap has a code on it. If you enter the code from 8 bottles, you get another bottle FREE! So in reality I got 27 bottles for the price of five. Could you pass that up? Didn't think so.

Night Light

This is one of those little features that I really dig about this computer. the keyboard lights up! I didn't know about this until I was using it in poor lighting conditions, and it just popped on. I was totally geeking out. I'm sure there's a lot more things I have yet to discover that I'll completely love, but for now, this is making me smile. Oh, and it makes a pretty cool picture too....

The Behemoth

This thing is massive. We have this huge desk in my office that at one time was an appropriate size. Since I now have this small, portable computer, a desk this size is no longer necessary. I really like this desk, but all it has really been was a place for me to accumulate junk. I can be a bit disorganized, sometimes even messy! I think Stephanie will attest to that.... Anyone need a desk?

Winter Weather... In April?!?

Wow, what a crappy, nasty day. We're getting absolutely hammered by a winter storm. Snow, sleet, rain, and a above zero ground temperature all adds up to a horribly slushy mess. The only bright side was the amazing greenness of the grass. We've had some moderate temps, coupled with plenty of moisture, and the lawn had begun to grow again. Now, with the white snow on top of that green grass, this is the result. I thought it looked photo worthy....

Arrival

The Mac is here! I actually prepared this entire post on the Mac. Edited the photo, uploaded it, and typed this entry entirely on the Mac. Fedex stopped by around 9 this morning, and I've spent the majority of my time installing software and transferring files. If you've ever done this, you know how long that can take. I have all my music transferred, but I still have to transfer all my photos over. This really is a nice machine. I'm a little lost in the operating system, but I'm writing this sitting in my living room in a recliner, so that's nice! The next picture I took with something called Photo Booth. The computer has a built in camera, and this app takes a picture and distorts it in all different ways. It's fun to play with.

Stretch!

We had to buy a new bathroom rug, and Punkin immediately claimed it as his own. He slept on it for about 4 hours this morning, and when I went to use the facilities, he started rolling and flopping around. It was so damn cute, I had to take a picture. I know, "another cat shot?!?"

We had a nice dinner last night at Steph's mom and dad's place. It was really nice to get a little social interaction. It's so tough to get out and do anything when you're working six days a week, so you really value the time you're able to do things like that. Our niece and nephew Jules and Joey are awesome. Dad came over for a visit today too, and that's always great to see him.

I get my Mac tomorrow! Woo Hoo!!

Favorite Shots #3

Modern Architecture

This is a shot I took a couple of years ago in Rockford of a new apartment development. the bleakness and complete lack of originality of the design really struck me. It can be really depressing to see these cheap, boring buildings being erected at a breakneck pace. This is typical in this area right now, and shows no signs of stopping.

Making the Switch / Late Again!

I'm late on my post again!! Two days in a row! This is getting out of hand....

Yes, I'm making the switch. On Thursday Morning, I placed an order for a brand spankin new MacBook Pro. I'm officially a Mac guy. I've thought about buying one for a long time, and since I rarely play games on PC anymore, and Macs can now run Windows anyway, I couldn't see any reason not to make the switch. I bought this book tonight to try to ease my transition into the Mac world. I'm also selling my PC if anyone's interested. Here's the specs:

Dell Dimension 8400
Intel Pentium 4 3.2 Ghz dual core processor
1 Gb RAM
280 Gb hard drive space, in two drives
1 @ 160 gb
1 @ 120 gb
Gforce 6800 graphics card w/ 256 mb ram
Dual DVD Drives, top is a Dual Layer DVD burner/CD burner
Belkin Wireless G Network Card
Also Included:
17" Dell Flat Panel Display
Dell System Restore Discs
Dell Mouse & Keyboard

The system will be like it was just from the factory with Windows re-installed and all the original software included. I'm asking $800. If you or anyone you know are interested, contact me via email, or leave a comment with your email so I can contact you. I'm looking to sell it after I get all the data uploaded to my new system, so late next week. Thanks! Wish me luck!

Ack! I Missed my Deadline...

...and here's why. This is geekiness at an all time high. The "guitar" I'm holding is actually the controller for an Xbox 360 game called Guitar Hero II. It is quite possibly one of the coolest (or geekiest) games ever. You have to hold the "fret buttons" and strike the "strum bar"in time to the music based on visual cues. Sometimes you forget that you're playing a game and it actually feels like you're playing the music. Pretty cool, pretty fun. With songs from artists like Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, Jane's Addiction, The Rolling Stones, and The Allman Brothers Band, you can't go wrong. Oh, and the headphones are a courtesy to Stephanie, since I'm playing at all hours of the night.

4 Days Off!

This is how it begins. Laundry night! I've got the next 4 days off, and frankly, I'm a bit torn. I love having days off, it's great not going to work, but when you spend the entire night alone, it can get a bit boring. You can't go anywhere, there's nothing on television, and everyone's asleep. I guess I shouldn't complain since this is the first Saturday I've had off in a month.

Diagnosis Negative

Well, I'm happy to report that Steph and I have both tested negative for Tuberculosis. You may be asking why were we tested in the first place. Well, unfortunately, two of my younger brothers, Justin and Jon both have recently tested positive. Not only that, but both of their younger brothers also tested positive. We thought it would be a good idea to get tested, just to ease our minds. The circled area is where they tested me. All I got was that little red dot. Here's what a positive test looks like:

Refill

They finally started filling that gaping hole in. The work started about 6:30 this morning, and went throughout the day. I'm happy they're almost done with this, but the noise kept me up pretty much all day. I guess I can't complain too much. They took some of the gravel and put it in our driveway, which desperately needed it.

Opening Day

The baseball season has finally arrived. Unfortunately, the White Sox started the season not with a bang, but with a whimper. They got HAMMERED in the opener 12 to 5. Not only did they lose, I wasn't even able to watch the game! The first three games are day games, so I won't even be able to watch any of the opening series against Cleveland. Oh well, there's still 161 games to go before the playoffs!

March: In Review

It seems that spring is right around the corner, and I'm totally ready. Work has been steady, I'm still working 6 days a week, and I'm still there. The longer I work there, the closer I am to full time! The internet went out again, so I was forced to spend some time outside. The township dug a massive hole next door, which quickly formed into the county's biggest lake. It's been a good month, but I'm ready for some balmy April days!

We Play!

Tonight, being the last day of the month, is usually reserved for my "Month in Review" series. However, I had something cool to shoot, so I'll put that off for tomorrow.

Our good friends Cory and Harmony paid us a visit today. We had a good grilled chicken dinner (Steph had a soysage), talked for a while, then played Wii for the rest of the night. What a blast! It's great to get four people together and play bowling and tennis. Everyone had a great time.

Harmony, laughed in every shot except this one

Me (Jason)

Cory, Nice form!

Steph, Bowling Ninja

DHC

This is a product from Steph's new favorite online retailer, DHC. They're a beauty product company that gets their products from Japan. This is their hand soap, and it comes out as a foam. I just thought the bottle was interesting.

Pizza! Pizza!

This thing is awesome. The Pizzazz Pizza Oven is one of those few random, odd appliances you may buy that you'll actually use more than once. We got this for Christmas a couple years ago, and we've used it ever since. Usually, when you buy something like this, you use it a couple times, and then it collects dust for the next 10 years or so. Not in this case. I highly recommend it.

Well, I got some bad news and some good news at work last night. Next week, about 35 more people are transferring to our plant from Syracuse, NY. This pretty much means that 35 people in my situation, so called "Enhanced Temporaries", will be shown the door. Fortunately, none of these people coming to the plant are going to my department. That's the good news. At the same time, I was told that I have been "bumped" from my current job. It really doesn't mean much, since I'll still be on third shift and doing pretty much the same thing, but now they have the ability to plug me in where ever I'm needed. That's the bad news. Well, after reading that, it doesn't seem so bad after all. Never mind, there's no bad news....

We Have Flowers!

Huzzah! The first of our flowers for the spring! Too bad we're taking them out this year. We've decided to take out all the perennials this year and put in some bushes. Much lower maintenance, much more concealing of the ugly foundation. I will miss seeing this every spring, but I think we'll probably transplant some of them. Anyone want some Lilies?

Outage! Again! / Favorite Shots #2

So here's the deal. Our wonderful ISP, Mediacom, decided to take about 16 hours to fix our internet outage. It seems like every time we lose service, it takes an inexcusably long time to get it up and running again. Anyway, I was so irritated about not reading my email, checking my RSS feeds, etc., that I forgot to shoot a picture. Meh. So here's the second in my "Favorite Shots" series. This one's entitled "Local Growth". It was part of a series I took for my photography class where I was trying to illustrate the over-development of our area, and from this, the destruction of the "family farm". My teacher, who's lived in the area his whole life, was actually getting visibly angry/irritated looking at my shots. I guess the message got across! I got an A. :)

By the Shores of Lake M.C.

This is what happens when you dig a massive hole in the ground then leave it for the next two weeks. The open pit next to our house is obviously still there, with no fill to be seen. It's beginning to look like a small pond over there. As I sit writing this, I can hear frogs out there singing in the night. I really feel like I'm near some kind of lake or something. It should be great if they don't fill it before mosquito season.

Third Shift Annoyance #5: Sleeping the Day Away

Wow. What a beautiful day. A balmy 74°, I was only able to enjoy a few hours of it. By the time I get up, around 5 pm, the sun is already starting to go down. I did, however, enjoy the time I spent outside.

We let Punkin go outside. We do it every summer. It does wonders for his attitude. He's usually the kind of cat that tries to wrestle with the other cats, even though they don't want to, he knocks stuff off of tables, tips over the garbage can, and generally makes a nuisance of himself. In the summer, that all goes away. If we let him outside for an hour or so every day, he's a completely different cat. I highly recommend it to anyone who has a cat like Punkin.

Groceries... again

Our Saturday night ritual is still intact. In addition to our groceries, we pick up some stuff for Stephanie's Grandma Johnson, who lives here in town near us. Additionally, this week we decided to get groceries for two weeks, so this massive pile of bags are what we were left with.

One more thing, in yesterday's RR Star, there was an article about charges filed by the Local Union regarding the hiring of "tmeporary workers". Yes, that's me. Basically, they filed charges with the NLRB against Chrysler Corp. because our "contract" directly violates the collective bargaining agreement that they ratified with DCX. This case is now going to arbitration. As far as I can tell, this is a really good thing. It means that I may actually learn my fate at Chrysler much sooner than I anticipated. I always thought I'd hear something closer to September, when the international contract negotiations begin, but now we may hear something much sooner. Keep your fingers crossed!

Night Shots

Since my sleep schedule's a little off kilter, and my sunlight time is limited, I decided to take my camera out tonight and play in the dark. Night time photography is tricky, and digital camera usually don't do so well in the dark, but these shots turned out pretty good. I really like the above shot the most, but I was pleased with this one as well:

Mii and Me

I got my Wii back! The Nintendo Wii has this really cool feature called the Mii Channel. It allows you to create virtual representations of yourself, to be used in various games like Wii Sports and Wii Play. Here's mine! I also have great ones for Stephanie, Jon, Justin, and Dad. Dad's is DEAD ON.

Oh, and for the record, even Miis will blink when their picture is taken.

Remnants

Hi, my name is Jason, and I used to play Magic: The Gathering. I've been an addict for 10 years. I've been "sober" for about a year. Now it's confirmed, I'm a huge geek. I know that many of you have had your theories about it, but now it's absolutely confirmed.

Yes, I used to play Magic. I gave it up about a year ago. It just lost its appeal. It used to be so much fun, but when they started releasing a new set of cards every three or four months, the cost just became too much. I used to play in tournaments, and actually won a few of them. When I decided to quit, I sold all the rares and some of the uncommons on eBay. I actually made a good amount of money on the sales. Now, I have thousands of commons and uncommons in boxes in my office, still looking for a home. Still interested Cory?

Favortie Shots #1

On days like today, when the weather isn't agreeable and I'm quickly running out of things in my house to shoot, this blog can be a bit frustrating. I've decided to dip into my collection of shots I've taken over the last few years, and start a new series called "Favorite Shots". I promise I won't do this often, since this is supposed to be a "Photo a Day" blog, but sometimes, when you have these average days, finding something interesting and relevant can be very difficult.

The first in this series was taken at my former employer, Belvedere USA Corporation. I left Belvedere for Chrysler about 9 months ago, and I spent nearly 12 years there. This shot is of our welder, Hassel Byrd. Hassel is a great guy. And old salty Virginian, he always has a smart-ass comment on pretty much every topic. I had a good time working with him. This shot was taken originally for my photography class, with Kodak TMAX 100 black and white film, and I printed it myself. I have the original hanging in my office. This is one of my favorite shots.

Covered in Cats

Poor Stephanie. She can't sit down without her two cats, Bear and Chloe, climbing all over her. Bear's the one on the top of the couch, Chloe is on her lap. This is pretty much a nightly ritual.

Well, I heard some promising news at work last night. The Union Steward told us that right now, the buyouts Chrysler is offering are making the rounds through the company. He said that eventually, they will come to our plat. This is great news for me, since if they're buying people out, they surely won't be laying anyone off. Hopefully this is one step closer to full time employment.

Before & After

I decided to play around a little with Photoshop today, and show some of you that aren't familiar with the software an example of how a photograph can change from the original shot. The photo above is what I started out with. It's a pretty lousy shot. The color balance is off, it's underexposed, and pretty boring. Just so you know, this was intentional! I'm not a horrible photographer! After about 1/2 hour in Photoshop, this is the result:
As you can see, the end result is far different from the original. This is just one example of the many, many things you can do in Photoshop. I only spent 1/2 hour on this, and took a pretty boring picture, cleaned it up, and made it a bit more interesting. Obviously, I could've spent far more time on this, and made it really great, but for the sake of time, I didn't. You could literally spend hours on one photograph, but the end result would be stunning.