Starry Night

Tonight is one of those nights that you can see a billion stars in the sky. I really wanted to try to capture that in this photo, but an image can really not do it justice. Digital photography does have its limitations when it comes to nighttime photography, but I thought this turned out pretty good.

Oh, and one more thing. I'm now linking the image in every post to a full resolution version, so when you click on it it will open in a new window.

Mass Outages

The past month or so, we’ve been experiencing major problems with our internet connection. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but there isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t have at least one outage. This is unacceptable. We’re paying over $40 a month for this service, and I expect to get my money’s worth. I’ve called customer service about four times, and each time they give me some other line of B.S. It’s always well over a week before they can get a service tech out here, and oftentimes, when I call, there is an outage in most of the town. Why do they need to send a tech here if it’s a mass outage? The first time we scheduled an appointment, the guy showed up well after I had gone to bed, and after that day, we really didn’t have problems for about a week, so I thought it had been fixed. Not even close. We’ve scheduled another appointment, but of course the tech wont be able to get here until next Friday. The worst part of all this is that there are no alternatives to Mediacom in our area. I could always go back to Directv for the television, but there are virtually no other companies present out here for internet. There is a company called T6 Wireless which is a provider out here, but the prices are through the roof, and when my cable connection is actually working, my download speeds are well over 5 Mb/s. I guess we’ll have to tough it out and hope they’ll eventually get it fixed....

Eating Habits

It always seems like I'm eating the same things. It makes trips to the grocery store much simpler, but in the long run, dinner can get pretty boring. It's tough to enforce variety when I'm cooking just for myself. I really like the things I eat, and I don't feel like I eat poorly, but it can get pretty repetitive. Fortunately, with warmer weather comes more cooking out, so that changes things a bit. I've had this problem for most of my adult life, and I'm sure that many of you have the same problem. It's just far to easy with life's fast pace to get stuck in a rut.

On a completely (odd) side note, I had a dream that I bought an iPhone today. I've been so inundated lately with iPhone coverage and commercials, that I'm starting to buy into the hype. I'd really love to get one, but the $600 price tag is way too high, and I have a year left on my current contract with US Cellular. I'm hoping eventually that they will offer this amazing piece of tech to all the carriers, not just AT&T, and it will drive the price down. It's just too expensive right now.

New Baby! / 4th of July / Chasing Strays

Man, what a lot to talk about today. I had about three different things I wanted to talk about today. Being the 4th of July isn't really a big thing for me, but my sister Jennee gave birth yesterday to her second child, a daughter, Madelynn Clorice. We went to the hospital this afternoon to see her, and of course I forgot my camera. Needless to say, she's adorable! Babies are so cute when they're newborns. Everyone I've talked to says looks like Jennee when she was born, but all babies look alike to me... :)

When I took a walk around the yard tonight, looking for something to shoot, I saw this cat sleeping on our picnic table. Now I've seen this guy before, but never so close up. I'd really love to get close enough to pet him, even though I know that's an idiotic thing to do, but it will have none of that. This is about as close as I could get to him before he ran away. I'm convinced that this cat is related somehow to our cat Cotton.

Failed Experiments, Successful Results

This was an odd night for me, photographically speaking. I had the brilliant idea that I was going to photograph a field full of lightning bugs for my nephew, completely blocking out of my mind the inadequacies of digital when shooting in the dark. I was going to do this because in California, where Noah is from, they don't have fire flies! I never knew this until my sister moved out there. I guess I just assumed they were everywhere. Obviously, this idea didn't work. Had I been shooting film, it may have looked like I had intended. When I got my camera home, the photos I opened were not what I had intended, but for some reason, I could see something in them that was usable. They were very noisy, poorly lit, and none of the bugs were visible, but a little spooky and surreal. I just needed to tweak it. So I opened up Photoshop, played around for about 1/2 hour, and this is what I got. I'm really happy with the results! It really reminds me of some infrared shots I took a couple years ago. Very grainy, very surreal, yet also very mundane. It's something you see every day, only lit in a different light. You can view the full sized shot HERE. Believe me, that little shot above doesn't do it justice.

Grillin'

One of may favorite things in the summer is cooking most of my meat on the grill. It's very nice to put on a steak, a couple brats, or a chicken breast, then sit outside and enjoy the great weather. Being a vegetarian, Steph appreciates it as well, since the house won't smell like a steakhouse when I'm done. The grill I have now has really seen better days, but I'm holding out on buying a new one until everything at work settles down, and we figure out if we're going to be moving within the next couple years.

Wilderness in the Weeds

Our cat Punkin loves to go outside. He's constantly at the back door, staring longingly at the doorknob as if willing it to open. He lurks inside when we're coming home, trying desperately to escape at the slightest motion of the opening door. Finally, when all else fails and he's truly desperate, he howls. He doesn't squeak, he doesn't meow, he howls.

I try to imagine sometimes what it must be like for him to go from a domestic house cat to a stalking, prowling hunter. He's always slinking stealthily this forest of tall weeds near the railroad tracks, looking for the slightest sign of an afternoon snack. A few times we've opened the back door only to find his latest catch, waiting for us like a macabre offering. He always comes home in the end, however. He knows full well where his meal ticket is.

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!

Tie-Dyed

Well, I decided to stay home tonight instead of playing poker. I thought tonight I'd rather spend some time with Stephanie, since that time is few and far between. Steph had a creative outburst today, stemming from her purchase of a new sewing machine. She spent a couple hours doing some tie-dying, and the last few hours making a skirt from fabrics she bought Friday.

Regarding Tuesday's post, I found a printer that will print my blog in a hardcover, bookstore quality book for around $60. I thought that was a damn good deal considering everything else I've seen was around $40 for a 20 page book. This is for roughly 200 pages, which will be more than enough. I've also reserved the web address on blogger for "Photo a Day: 2008 Edition". I don't know if I will continue with this through next year, but I just wanted to make sure I had it. If I can keep this going indefinitely, it would be great to have books printed every year, sort of like a high school yearbook of my life. Who knows!

Another Poker Night

Tomorrow night I will again go to Gary's house for a little poker. This time it looks like we'll be playing just a small cash game, since the turnout probably won't be that great. It's hard to get a lot of people on a Saturday night when the weather is so nice. I actually prefer a cash game to tournament style when it comes to Texas Hold 'Em. While the potential winnings in a tournament game are typically much higher, a cash game allows you to play a little looser and take more risks. I've certainly won far more money in tournaments, but it always seems like I have more fun at the cash games.

Back to the Doctor

Well, it's been about a month since I last visited the doctor, and I haven't seen any improvement. I still have discomfort in my chest, difficulty breathing, and some coughing. Of all the potential things that the nurse practitioner said it could be, the most likely seems to be asthma. The inhaler really helps, but only for about an hour, then all the symptoms return. She told me that there are medications that will last throughout the day, so that will probably be what I get from all this. Unfortunately, my crap health insurance doesn't cover office visits or prescription meds. The last visit, with the prescriptions, cose me nearly $170. Hooray for illness!

Strays

Our small town is filled with stray cats. With all the farmhouses on the outskirts, the population is on a steady upswing. We also have a neighbor that we feel may actually be an animal hoarder. I'm sure that's probably way off base, but the guy always seems to be surrounded by cats. Every year another of his animals has a litter, and the whole process starts over again. This year there was three kittens, and I'm quite certain they're related to our cat Cotton. Cotton was a stray that we rescued, and I've seen cats around town that look very much like him. We'd love to take care of all of them, but it's just not possible.

Empty Albums

I know I've talked about this before, but one of my pet-peeves about digital photography is that I rarely, if ever, have prints made. I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts at work last night, when the host, Leo Laporte, was talking about things we grew up with that are no longer around. The one thing he talked about that really resonated with me was the photo album. With photo hosting sites like flickr, it is far easier to show and view our photos than ever before. These sites are great and convenient, but there's no replacing the sensation of holding a print (or a book of them) in your hands. I started thinking about that in relation to this blog. What's going to happen after the year is up? It's very likely that I will continue to do something very similar to this, but what happens in 20 years after the fact? 30 years? Will Blogger be around then, still preserving my year of photographs and writing? It's not likely. I've been seriously considering, after the year is up, having the entire blog, photos included, printed in book form so I have something physical I can pick up and look at 30 years from now. I just think it's important that I preserve this year of my life in something more permanent and secure than a couple websites. Can anyone recommend a service that does things like this?

Favorite Shots #9: More Wedding Stuff

Since I've shot about 550 pictures in the last three days, and frankly, I'm really sick of my camera right now, I thought I'd put up one of my favorite wedding shots. The above shot was one of those "happy accidents". For some reason, the camera metered off the window behind the couple instead of the couple themselves, and the result was this beautiful silhouette. This is one of those things that you're really happy to get, but it can frustrate me to know that it was a total accident. Fortunately, when these things happen, you learn that not only is it possible to get these shots, you learn how they can be done.

Hi Rich!