Deployment

Got some bad news tonight, and got some good news tonight. My brother Jon, one of my three brothers, was been told he will be deployed in September. All three of my brothers have been or are currently enlisted in the armed forces. My brother David was in the Army and spent over a year in Iraq, and my brothers Justin and Jon are both currently enlisted in the Air Force. The good news is that Jon will be deployed in a small country on the eastern side of the Saudi peninsula called Qatar. According to Jon, this is a good thing, as these people have friendly sentiments toward the American troops stationed there. Regardless, another brother is entering a hostile foreign country, with another potentially going there as well. I really hope that any of my family reading this has already heard, but if not, I'm sure Jon will be calling you soon. Everyone please remember our brothers and sisters, daughters and sons who are risking their lives daily fighting this senseless war.

Childhood Toys

We were helping Steph's mom and dad move some cabinets into her Grandma's garage tonight. I was looking around, trying to find something interesting to shoot, when I saw this horse off to one side. I immediately remembered having one of these as a kid. I can't really remember much beyond that, only that my siblings and I used to beat the heck out of it. It was a plastic horse mounted to a steel frame by springs, and you would sit on it and bounce. Yeah, that's about it. Tech wasn't quite then what it is today. This one is far more styalized and expressive in the face than mine was, but it still was a lot of fun.

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!!