Where are we now...?

26 September 2009

Photoshop learning curve

8:09 PM 3 comments

As I am taking more and more photos, I am looking for other ways to make them different. So, I spend a good amount of time in Photoshop trying to learn new effects, coloring and so forth. I do prefer the real pictures and those that are barely altered if at all, but sometimes a different effect can bring out a different aspect of the photo or give you a new perspective of it. Here are some of my favorites as I am learning new things...

Jut another Labor Day weekend...

12:42 AM 2 comments

So, for Labor Day I went out to visit my friend Dan and his wife Courtney. When Dan and I get together there is no normal, I just don't think it is possible. Luckily, Courtney is ok with that. So, we spent the weekend on a boat and blowing up soda cans. Needless to say, it made for quite the entertaining weekend!

We don't play games here. Soda Pop Derby is a serious thing...

...Until you get splattered in the face by so much soda that your eyelids are almost stuck closed. But hey, it makes for a VERY enjoyable time and some cool looking pictures.

Courtney was a great driver, and fearless too. At one point I thought she might tip the boat, but she did a good job of getting people off the tube...

...Here is the proof of her skill. I would have sworn Dan did a belly-flop.

Dan decided he would take me through the middle of a wave, luckily I stayed on...

...Then he decided it was time to bounce me over the top.

These types of weekend are definitely the moments in time that take your breathe away, figuratively and literally. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Beautiful Abandonment

8:27 AM 5 comments

So, I am quite the curious person, and also have this odd obsession with old abandon places. With work this past week I was down in the Peoria, Illinois area and heard about an old abandon mental hospital. As I started researching it I found that it wasn't too far from where I was, and the people I was working with knew about it. I asked about it and said I wanted to go over there, so they told me where it was, but in the process told me about all these other abandon buildings. I had quite the list of places to visit that night. Most of them I could not get into, well, all but one in fact. Exploring places like this gets my adrenaline flowing, and I get so excited. So, here is a log of my adventures that night. The first picture is the asylum, and from there on, it is all this other building (an old grain milling and elevator plant I think) that I actually did get into without any trouble at all (i.e. no locked doors).

This asylum is currently being restored by some organization down in the area. They give guided tours for $25, or you can stay in it over night with free reign to go wherever you want for $100. I think I know where I might be going for Halloween.

From here on down is all the same place that I actually got inside of. I think I will go back when I am more prepared for the excursion (no work clothes and bring a tripod).

Cash 4 Clunkers and a new health care plan...

10:56 PM 1 comment

So, I've never been a political analyst nor a political activist, yet this is something that has been on my mind lately. As many of you may or may not know, with my current job I work indirectly with the car industry. I work for a software company that helps dealerships manage their customers. Anyway, as a result, I am in dealerships all the time. As of late this whole Cash For Clunkers (a.k.a. C.A.R.S or Car Allowance Rebate System) has been the topic of conversation everywhere I have been. In hearing about it, I have made a few observations and a few of my own conclusions. In these observations, I start to wonder as well about the health care plan that is being debated as well. Here are my thoughts, again, they are only thoughts and opinions.

1. Cash for Clunkers was a good idea to boost car sales and try to get the economy going, but a horribly planned and executed idea.
2. While it is easy for people to get their rewards on this, for the dealerships, it is a nightmare.
3. What qualifies and does not qualify a car has changed a number of times without any warning.
4. There are 14 pages of paperwork that have to be filled out, then uploaded onto the internet. If you mess up, you don't find out until they reject you. In the upload process, there is no save, therefore if the site crashes from everyone else trying to upload, you have to start over. And I've heard it crashes a lot.
5. People are just getting info from clunker cars and uploading it without having to actually prove they took that car in and sold a new one.
6. Since beginning of this program, only 2% of all deals have been paid back by the government.
7. Dealerships are running out of inventory and don't have much coming. So, what's going to happen when they are out of cars? Oh wait, that means that don't make any money...

And really, this is only the beginning. So, as I was talking to a dealership about it, they had one thing to say to me... "People think this is bad... if this is any kind of sign, what do you think the health care plan is going to be like." I'd have to agree. Plus, living in Chicago, I hear plenty of stories from people who work in hospitals that already do universal health care. Latest, there is a lady who had a really bad case of TMJ and can't open her mouth. They told her she needs to get a scan to see what they can do to help. When she asked how long until that can be done... at least a month. Hmmm....

Just as a side note... Glenn Beck makes a good point here.

This is scary stuff if you ask me... and this is just about getting new cars and helping the car industry. What will they do with healthcare?

When you're creative mind needs letting out...

8:36 PM 3 comments

So, when you have a job that doesn't really lend itself to the creative side of life, and you have a creative side (or at least I think I do), you start to come up with ways to use it. I've just always have this creative itch and when I can't scratch it all the time with work, there are days when I will just go all out on it. This, my friends, is the product of one such day.

Here's how it happened. So... I was sitting in my apartment one day and decided that I wanted to add some spice to it. As I was looking around many things came to mind as to what I could do. But, I had a few restrictions. First, I didn't want to do anything that would just have to get undone the day I move. Out goes painting the walls. I didn't want to spend a lot of money either, so there went putting up drapes around my windows. So, I looked at my table and said to myself, "This is kinda plain... I wonder what it would look like if... ..." So, after a trip to Wal-Mart, 2 cans of spray paint, some tape, a bunch of my pictures, a vision in the head and however many hours of putting it all together, here you have it!

The question is now.... what's next?

Maine and the Lobsters

10:14 AM 2 comments

This last week work sent me to Portland, Maine. It was my first time ever going to Maine and also my first time ever eating lobster. Not that I haven't ever wanted to, but it is usually pretty expensive. Anyway, it was much much cheaper in Maine, and work was paying for it. So, I figured, why not have the experience in the place most known throughout the entire US for its lobster. The state is gorgeous as well, and there is some cool stuff to see. There are rocky beaches and cliffs into the ocean, lighthouses everywhere, and just all around beauty everywhere I went.

This is the victim of my first lobster meal. Oh, and the New England clam chowder was pretty dang good too!

This is by far and away my favorite picture I took on my trip up there. The sun just happened to line up perfectly with the lighthouse to give the illusion of it being on and shining bright during the day.

I hope to be able to go back one day and explore other areas and see what other places and scenes I can find in what the people on Maine call "Vacationland."

Biking Mackinac Island

10:02 AM No comments

About 2 weekends ago I went home to see my parents and one of my younger bros (Jeff) before he went off to school. We decided that we wanted to go to Mackinac Island for a grueling bike ride. It is this little 8 miles around island in Lake Huron where no cars are allowed. You take a ferry to it and then either walk, bike or ride horses. We didn't want to pay for horses so we biked it. It had been raining all weekend, but the weather was PERFECT when we got there.

These are my parents and brothers as we took a break for some pictures and rock skipping. The water was a bit choppy so the most we could get the rocks to skip was about 4 or 5 skips.