10 Hours of Shooting

Today I played video games for over 10 hours. I think that's enough to last me a while. I started at noon, going over to Cory's house for "nerd olympics," as Stephanie calls them. It's more commonly known as a LAN party. We usually play older games, since not everyone has a newer computer that can run all the latest and greatest. Today we played Team Fortress Classic, which is one of my favorite multiplayer games. It was a lot of fun! We didn't have a great turn out, but we always had 5 or 6 people, and that's a pretty good number.

I got home around 7:30, Steph went to bed at t 10, then I played Xbox for a little while before completely burning out. I usually play the Xbox every day, but after today's marathon session, I may have to take tomorrow off. Yeah, right.

Campfire Without the Camping

Well, I didn't make it out to McQueen today. I've been running all week, so I decided just to stay home and relax today. I've got all next week off too, so I plan on taking a trip out there then. With all the trimming I did a while back top prep for the new sidewalk, I had a pretty significant pile of stuff to burn. I did a little of that tonight, then just ended up throwing some logs on and staring into the fire for about an hour or so. I think it's really therapeutic to just relax and turn your brain off for a while. A good campfire's great for that.

I still haven't heard anything about the contract or my future employment at Chrysler, and I probably won't until sometime next week. The local leaders are going to Detroit on Monday to get all the details, then I'm assuming there will be a meeting some time next week for us to be filled in. I have to be honest, I'm not feeling too good about my chances. Maybe that's just my slightly cynical nature speaking, but I just have a bad feeling. I just have to keep reminding myself that if I don't get hired in at Chrysler, it's certainly not the end of the world.

Favortie Shots #18: Bridge at McQueen

As I said in a previous post, there's an amazing forest preserve about 10 miles from us called McQueen Forest Preserve that I really love. We've gone camping there a few times, and it's really great just to go for a walk through the woods or along the river. This shot was taken there a few years back, and this was actually taken with black & white film around the time I was taking photography classes. B&W prints don't often scan very well, and this one is no exception. I'm showing this today because I plan on taking a trip out there tomorrow afternoon. With all the stress surrounding my uncertain contract status at Chrysler, I really need to go and clear my mind.

Fall's Opening

I know that technically the first day of fall was sometime last month, but today really felt like that first day. I went out today into a windy, cold autumn day, and I was loving every minute of it. This is by far my favorite time of year. I can comfortably wear jeans and a warm flannel, but it's not so cold that I don't want to be outside. Today was the first day I experienced that "fall smell." You know what I'm talking about, the smell of dry leaves, cold air, and dark earth. It's my favorite smell. I welcome the fall with open arms.

Tag-Along

I've vowed to myself that over the next two weeks, this bag, and the camera that is usually in it, will be with me everywhere I go. Most of the time I don't carry it. I know that I'm potentially missing some big shots, but it's just so big and bulky that I'm loath to drag it around. Eventually I'll invest in something much more portable, but never mind that. We were talking about these two weeks. I will have it with me on my time off, and I will make a point to go out and actively look for things to shoot. With the exception of Sunday, it really hasn't happened yet.

Today I had the joy of spending nearly 2 hours in line, waiting to apply for unemployment benefits. What a joy! Now with all the talk of potential strikes, I'm concerned that it may have been for nothing. I'm not convinced that if we strike, and it's looking like we may, I'll still be eligible for benefits. The woman who helped me said that it was still possible, but that the decision would be made "at the state level." Guess I'll just have to wait and see. I should know by tomorrow if we're striking or not.

First of Fourteen

Today was officially the first day of the shutdown. Somehow, without entirely meaning it, I've gone from a third shift sleep schedule to a first shift schedule in a matter of 2 days. I had originally intended on staying up every night until 2 or 3, then getting up around 9 or 10, but instead I went to bed at 11 and got up this morning at 7am. I'm a little screwed up at the moment. If I'm to be getting up at this time every day, it's certainly going to make for some long ones. Today I ran errands, getting groceries and picking up a few things at Target. Tomorrow I have to do something I've never done my entire life, file for unemployment.

As I'm sure most of you are aware, Chrysler, in its infinite wisdom, shut our plant down for two weeks. All the full time employees will collect 95% of their normal pay, but since I'm not yet full time, I'm S.O.L. I can still collect standard unemployment, but I have a waiting week that needs to be fulfilled before I can collect. There may be a bit of a hitch in that, but I'll save that for tomorrow.

Exercising the Eye

I went for a drive today. Before I started 3rd shift, this was something I did fairly often. I'd grab my camera, jump in my truck, and just drive. I'd just let my instinct guide me, look at everything, and when my eye would see something, I'd shoot it. I haven't done this in ages, but since today was such a beautiful day, I really couldn't resist. I also stopped at one of these little rural cemeteries I used to be so fascinated with to shoot the photos below. It such a quiet, solitary place, I always find myself whispering my thoughts aloud instead of speaking them. It feels like a crime to violate the stillness of the place.

It's so tragic to me somehow that these people once lived, but now they're all but forgotten. Some of these headstones are completely illegible, some have been knocked over by callous vandals, but some are in shockingly good condition, considering their age. There are a lot of places like this in my area, and it's one of things I really love about rural communities.

Oh, and one more thing. Do me a favor. Save these shots to your desktop, then open them with your photo viewer. They look soooo much prettier that way. See yesterday's post for an explanation.

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.

Questions

When you think of someone "having a baby", it's such an abstract concept.

"Hey, so-and-so are having a baby."
"Oh, Really? That's great!"

I'm sure you've had this conversation with someone many times before, but when that so-and-so is you, it takes on a whole new meaning. Suddenly, that abstract concept becomes all too real, and you understand what that really means. It means that in the body of the one you love more than anyone, a child is growing. A baby that is a little of you and a little of her, but at the same time it someone entirely different. Every time I see these ultrasounds, I think of the life we've created. Who is this person going to be? Will it look like me or Steph? Will we like the same things? Will she have Steph's eyes or will he have mine?

Will I be a good father?

Sometimes these questions can completely overwhelm me, and I may spend 5 minutes just staring into space. I know we have months and months before these questions will be answered. I know that in those months more will pop up, demanding answers. I really can't wait to find out.

MORE Furniture....

Yes, we've bought some more furniture. We have way too much already, but these items could not be passed up. With the baby coming in 7 or 8 short months, we'll be slowly turning my office into a nursery. With that comes the need for furniture that we just don't have. We took steps in that direction tonight by picking up these two pieces from Steph's boss, Linda. Her daughter took this dresser and rocking chair and completely refurnished them. I have to admit, she did a fantastic job. This stuff is really beautful, and very affordable. It's a good start to the baby's room. Here's some more shots:

Ultrasound #2!

We had the second ultrasound today, and this time I actually got to see it! It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Not only could we make out the head, legs, and arms, but the baby was actually moving the enitre time we were looking. It was really funny how it was kicking its little legs and moving its stumpy arms, Steph and I were laughing the whole time. We got to see and hear the heartbeat, and that was pretty great. The baby is about 2.5 cm (around an inch) long, and they say Steph is is now at 9 1/2 weeks. We go in for another ultrasound at 20 weeks, and by then the baby should be pretty well developed so it should be pretty exciting.

GM's New Contract and Why It Matters to Me

Today was a big one. As I'm sure most of you are aware, the UAW has been on strike against General Motors for 2 days, but all that ended at 3 am this morning when a new tentative agreement was reached between the two. I won't go into detail, but as most news outlets are reporting, this is a landmark contract with landmark concessions by the Union. Traditionally, the Union will negotiate with one of the companies in the "Big Three", then will use that negotiated contract as the pattern for the other two companies. The reason I'm explaining this is so you can understand the significance of the following paragraph from MSNBC.com:

"The person also said GM would hire temporary auto workers at full company wages and benefits. The company has approximately 6,000 temporary workers, the person said. Temporary workers who have been at the company for less than 90 days would be hired at a lower wage, the person said."

This is huge. If Chrysler, as expected, agrees to a contract along the same lines as GM's deal, this means all the people who fall under the "Enhanced Temporary Employee" brand should be hired in after the contract is ratified. This means me! After a year and a half of uncertainty and fear of losing my job, it seems that all the risk may actually pay off. This is what I've hoped for since that day in June '06 I left my job of 11 1/2 years to pursue something that wasn't guaranteed, and in fact was a huge gamble. It should be interesting in the upcoming weeks to see the direction Chrysler heads in their negotiation.

Leftovers

So now I have this pretty substantial pile of tree clippings in my yard. I really need to burn them, but with the unseasonably warm and wet weather we've been having the last few days, these things are just as green as the day I cut them off. I really doesn't help either when I'm getting out of bed around 6pm every night. That doesn't really give you a lot of time for things like this.

When I sent the return letter to the mayor of this little town, I included the following paragraph:

"I have one final thing to ask while I’m writing this. In 2005, our well dried up. We were forced to have a new one dug, and due to financial constraints, we decided to try to refinance our home to include the cost of the well. During the application process, we discovered that our property was incorrectly zoned as commercial. This is obviously a mistake, as this has been a residence for many years. We would like to have the property zoned correctly, but we have absolutely no idea where to begin. We’re concerned that if it isn’t changed, it will be virtually impossible for us to ever refinance or sell the house. Any help or direction you could give us would be greatly appreciated."

It's been over a week since I mailed this letter to the mayor, and to this point I've received no response. I know a week isn't that long, but I guess the point I'm trying to make is that I really don't expect one. This town's leadership is so unprofessional and unresponsive to its constituents, it will be a miracle if they get re-elected. Actually, now that I think of it, the last election was just a mass popularity contest, so I'm sure these people will be re-elected. Meh. I can't wait to move.

No!

I think it's quite possible we have the dumbest cat alive. Don't get me wrong, when he's not randomly running away from you, he's really a sweetheart. I discovered last night that he has an inexplicably irrational fear of the word "no". I don't know why, and we really can't figure it out, but it's proven to be true. I can be petting him, with him purring and meowing nonstop, and all I have to do is say "no" and he'll go tearing off away from me as quickly as he can. It's completely baffling and completely hilarious.