Drained

I've learned something about my camera. After uploading my pictures to my computer yesterday, I left the camera plugged in to the USB on my laptop. Picking up my camera today, the batteries were completely drained. I guess leaving the camera docked and communicating with the computer drains the batteries quicker than you can believe. Unfortunately, this forced me to use my crappy point and shoot, which gives me shots barely any better than my cell phone.

Well, I started taking antibiotics today for my bronchitis, and I was also prescribed an inhaler for the mild asthma that's made considerably worse from the bronchitis. I leaned a nasty truth today. Having piss-poor health insurance is not a good thing. Being considered "temporary" at Chrysler, we're given a bare bones insurance plan that doesn't cover dental, vision, or prescription drugs. The antibiotic and inhaler I got today came to a grand total of $85. Under the insurance from my previous employer, that would have cost me roughly $10. Ugh. I have to remember to not get sick in the future.

Wildlife

The previous resident of our home really had a green thumb. We have a diverse garden of perennials growing in various locations throughout our yard. Some of the flowers, like the one above, are really odd, but really beautiful. We also have lilies, tulips, hostas, and some other things I can't identify. It's really great to have some of these plants, but sometimes our yard can look a bit wild.

Favorite Shots #7 / Sick AGAIN

This is getting out of hand. I've been having tightness and discomfort in my chest when I breathe, so I decided to go to the doctor today. I was given a laundry list of things she thinks may be wrong with me, including bronchitis, asthma, and acid reflux. What a great day, huh? Add to that only getting 4 hours of sleep today, and as you can see, I had a pretty crappy day.

Since I'm feeling poorly, I decided to take the easy route today and post this shot I took a couple summers ago at my brother Justin's baseball game. I thought it was pretty good at the time, but it's interesting to go back and look at some of my old stuff and see how amateur it really is. All those shots I thought were terrific at the time seem pretty average now, and in fact some are pretty bad.

The Drawbacks of Digital

I love my digital camera. It's convenient, it's easy to use, and it makes this blog possible by giving me immediate access to digital copies of the pictures I shoot. There is one aspect of digital, however, that I really don't like. When I was shooting film, there was always a certain excitement to getting prints made. You have these 5 or 6 rolls of film, and you have generally no idea of what you're going to get. You may get a masterpiece, you may get a bunch of garbage, but regardless, when you open that envelope and look at those photos, it's always an exciting moment. With digital, the closest you get to that moment is uploading your shots to your computer and looking at them. It's just not the same. You don't get that tactile sensation of holding the prints in your hand. I really miss that at times. I can't remember the last time I had prints made.

For Sale Sold!

It was announced early this morning plant wide, and all over the news today that DaimlerBenz, the parent company to Chrysler, has sold 80% of the stock to a company called Cerberus Capital Management LP, effectively selling the company. It's been rumored for some time that this was coming, but frankly, being a contract year, I thought most of it was B.S. Guess not! I don't know what this means for me in the long term, but short term, it doesn't change a whole lot. I'll keep you posted on any major news.

Complete coverage of the Chrysler deal, from Detroit Free Press

Green Days

Every year in the spring, I really try to pay attention to the trees. It's always a refreshing thing to watch the new leaves sprout out, but sometimes, with life's rapid pace, I tend to miss it. I wake up one day to discover all the trees completely full of leaves, and I find myself trying to figure out when it happened. I have the same problem in the fall when the leaves are changing. I try to make a point to observe it, but oftentimes I miss out.

Quality Time

I got to spend some time with my brothers, my dad, and my sister Amanda tonight. My brothers are both home on leave, and we decided to go to dinner and see Spiderman 3. Dinner was great, but Dad wasn't feeling well, so he and Mandy went home, and my brothers and I decided to play some poker. It was fun, but I didn't do quite as well this week as I did last week. It was a good time and it was great to spend time with my brothers.

Favorite Shots #6: Infrared

Today was another of those days, so I decided to share this shot. Infrared photography is something I dabbled in while taking photography classes at RVC. Infrared photography is done with a special type of film and with a black filter over the lens. The filter only allows the infrared radiation to get to the film, so you get these very surreal images. Plant life really reflects infrared radiation, so everything you see in the images as white is reflceting a lot. Things like water, tree bark, and the sky that reflect little to no infrared, come out as black. Infrared prints really don't scan too well, so this doesn't really do the print much justice. I also have another awesome shot of Punkin sitting in the grass, but the scan is pretty bad.

Whine

My ISP sucks. Once again, my internet was out last night so I was unable to post. I had this idea of talking about different wines that I enjoy, and how working 3rd shift has severely limited the times I'm able to enjoy a glass of wine, but now that it's 7:30 in the morning the following day, all that has slipped my mind. Meh. Guess I'll have to save that for another day. In the mentime, here's a bottle that I enjoy. One of the few White Zinfandels I actually like, it has a crisp, sweet flavor without being overwhelmingly sweet. The sweetness isn't a sugary sweetness, but instead is fruity, which I really enjoy.

Third Shift Annoyance #7: Day Sleeper

I sleep with a fan on. I always have, and it's likely I always will. As a result, I'm a pretty light sleeper. The slightest odd noise, or even a change in modulation of the white noise the fan produces will wake me up. This creates an unfortunate situation for my day sleeping. In the winter it's not an issue because all the windows are closed. In the summer, however, even with the fan running, having windows open in the bedroom just isn't an option. The last couple days the temps have climbed into the 80's, and believe me, it's been hot in there. I can only imagine what it will be like in the dog days of August when we're nearing the 100° mark.

Noisy

This is Punk's favorite time of year. He finally gets to go outside after a long winter being shut up indoors. Unfortunately for us, he lets us know continuously that he should be outside. He sits by that door nearly every night howling to be let out. Then, if we don't get the hint, he'll often run into the living room and attempt to dig a massive hole in the middle of the carpet. Either that, or he'll begin chasing the other cats all over the house. Basically he tries to cause as much trouble as he can so we'll want to put him out. We love him, but he's a pain in the ass sometimes.

Unfinished Business

I have a problem. I have about 40 to 50 games for my various game systems, and of these games, I've finished about 15 of them. I know I'm not alone, if any of you are gamers like I am, I'm sure this is a common problem. I've moved the bulk of my games to a small shelf next to our entertainment center, and hopefully seeing all these titles sitting unfinished will motivate me to go back to some of them.

Warmer Days

With the warmer days here, I finally able to knock the dust off my favorite shoes and wear them again. I have about 4 different pairs of Chucks, and if you've ever worn them before, you'll know that wearing them in the winter is all but asking for frostbitten toes. No matter how thick you socks are, or how many pairs you're wearing, these thing will not keep your feet warm. It's too bad really, because next to flip-flops, these are the closest you can be to not wearing shoes. They're so comfortable and light weight that it feels like you're wearing nothing on your feet.

I found this awesome picture on Wikipedia, and thought I'd put it on here as well. This is just a sampling of the may different varieties of Chuck Taylors out there.

Poker Night Made Me Late!

It's all Cory's fault. He made me go play poker tonight, so I missed my deadline once again. It was worth it though, I left his house $80 ahead....

We played a tournament style Texas Hold 'Em game with 14 people attending. It was a good group of people, with everyone there just to have a good time. We started at around 7, and finished roughly at midnight with myself holding all the chips. I really have to rein in my competitive nature for most of the night and try to remember that most of these people are just trying to have a good time. It's difficult, but I manage. Overall I had a great time playing poker with good people, and that's all that really matters.

Poor Timing

We were driving by the local mall tonight when we passed this shabby looking carnival in the parking lot. There was virtually no one there. I think three things really conspired to kill this carnival. A fairly cool night and a gentle rain is enough for anyone to pass this up. Add to this the opening of Spiderman 3, and the local teen population is a no-show. I'm pretty bummed I'm not going to have the time to go see it this weekend, but I'll surely go see it at some point in the theater. I saw the first Spiderman movie about 6 times on the big screen, it'd be criminal to not go see this one there.

Lilacs

I love Lilacs. When I was young we had a couple of lilac bushes next to our driveway. I used to love how they smell. We planted this lilac bush the first year we bought the house. When we planted it, it was about knee high. Now, nearly 5 years later, it's well over my head. Nearly every other year, we get a ton of blooms all over the bush. This year, however, we have only this one solitary group of flowers. I think because of the late frost, most of the blooms were killed. It's too bad really, there's nothing quite like the smell of lilacs filling our living room on a spring afternoon.

Oh, and I'm feeling much better today!

Favorite Shots#5: Feeling Ill

This is a little project I did for a local photography contest a couple years ago. It's something I really enjoy doing with Photoshop. You take a color image, desaturate it, then add bits of color to give an ordinarily simple shot a little something extra. The end result is usually pretty good.

Now, as for the title of todays post, it has little to do with the photo. I went to bed as I normally do about 10:30 this morning. I awoke around 3:00, which is about 3 hours earlier than I usually do, with some pretty bad abdominal pain. I thought I had to use the restroom, but when I got there, I started feeling really ill. I broke out in a cold sweat, was feeling quite nauseous, and I thought for sure I was going to get sick. Well, I didn't. I went back to bed eventually and got some more sleep. I woke up at my normal time, and I'm still feeling quite bad. I'm staying home tonight, since my job is pretty physically demanding, and I'm still feeling ill and tired. This weekend is looking like it's going to be a good one, so I hope I'm better by then!

Patterns

There's so many patterns in our lives that sometimes we fail to notice them. In the literal sense, patterns, such as in today's pictures, are so commonplace that we tend to overlook them without a moment's notice. We also have patterns in our behaviors that can really make your life fly by. We get up, we go to work, we come home, we go to bed. Rinse and repeat. I think it's so important to sometimes "buck the trend" and try to break free of the patterns we all live in. Sometimes it can be difficult because it's comfortable and easy just to go with the flow. Man, I need a vacation....

Here's a couple more:

April: In Review

April is over, and spring is here. Yard work has begun, Baseball is in full swing, and I finally made the switch. It's been a good four months. I really appreciate all the kind words and the continued interest everyone has in the blog. 8 more months to go! Here's my favorites from the month:

Geeky Happiness

I'm a gamer. Most of you who know me, know that to be true. I've always been a big fan of Nintendo. I love their games, their hardware, and their overall take on the market. One of my favorite franchises from Nintendo is the Legend of Zelda series, so when I saw this case for their DS Lite, I couldn't pass it up. The embroidered symbol on the front is the Royal Crest of Hyrule from the Zelda games. SO COOL! If I ever decided to get a geeky gamer tattoo, that would probably be it.