Winding Down and Winding Up

Well, it's been a pretty quiet year. Not a ton of photography going on, but I did get out and shoot infinitely more than years past. Here is a link to my top 10 for 2011. I'm sure there are some more cool pics in my folder, but these are the top ten EDITED pics. I'll do more when I retire. Gotta have something to do while sitting in that Airstream after dark!

Plastic. Where?

Why can I not buy a box of knives? My eating habits somehow use up more spoons and knives than forks. I can get spoons. But not knives! So I end up with no knives, a few spoons and tons of forks. Have you ever tried to spread mayonnaise with a fork?

Before the iPhone:

Bet you haven't seen one of these in a while. Maybe you've never seen one of these. In the spirit of trashing 365 things, and the end of the year coming up, I decided to dig this out of the closet and liquidate it.

As I flipped through all the cards, deciding which ones to trash(all), I had quite a trip down memory lane. This unit covered 20+ years of owning a print shop.

I'll bet my iPhone won't last this long(although I'm still operating a 3), but fits better in my pocket.

Days Are Getting Longer

Thank GOD we are past the Winter Solstice. I hate getting home from work when it is pitch black. It irks me to no end to think I spend the entire daylight session sitting in my office. But, alas, that is the way it must be for now...

Thirty Years Ago Today...

... I was tragically sucked into the Imprinted Sportswear Industry. Yeah, without my knowing it, I suddenly became self employed. And even though I had no knowledge of the industry, no business savvy, no capitlal and no motivation, somehow I weathered the storm and have cranked out over 60,000 projects. So far.

That was 1981, back before the Right To Know Law, and the working conditions were crap: lead based ink, bad ventilation, solvents that made the Fire Marshal cry.

Visualize running a business without: Computers, cell phones, internet, on line banking, debit cards, accounting programs, email, printers, digital cameras. FedEx only delivered documents, and UPS didn't even operate in Texas!

On the plus side, I never had to chew out my employees for gabbing on their cell phones or texting all day. And I lost zero productivity to surfing. Actually, today I don't have that problem either, because I have no employees. I work for someone now and I'm in a 'position of influence' rather than owner or manager. Much nicer.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like... Uhhhhhh...

Hmmmmmmmm...These pics were shot at almost noon on a Saturday, 22 days before Christmas. Maybe a lot of people on the 'naughty' list this year? Or maybe it's because we just finished a $6 Billion week of on line shopping.
Scary.

101 Reasons To Leave This Town:

Reason #56: 843 Top doctors? Out of how many?!? Is this supposed to help us narrow down the choices? I suppose if you take out all the plastic surgeons the list would become quite small.

I know where they all practice. All you have to do is drive around town for a while and you will pass dozens of ever growing widespread multi billion dollar campuses of hospital after hospital.

Conclusion: This town is sick!

It's That Time Of the Year Again...

You might be thinking you have seen this pic on my blog before. But indeed I did shoot this pic last night while doing some chores over at Big Bro's place. You can compare it to this pic. And I can shoot one next year and it will be identical.

FIRST-N-LAST

One of our out of town vendors was talking about In-N-Out Hamburgers yesterday. In fact, I think that was the main reason he flew into town. I was just a byproduct. So, I had to do some errands with my brother tonight and decided to swing by and check this place out for myself.

I would give it a 9... if I were 17. But I'm not, so I'm going to give it a 2. Hamburgers were about like McDonalds. Fries were about like... cardboard. I don't know how anyone can screw up a potato, but they succeeded. Dr Pepper was ok, therefore the 2 rating instead of 1. The staff was very nice and cheerful. And young. Like 17ish. Which would be great if their food didn't taste like... McDonalds.

Well, I wish them luck, but my bet is they won't be around in 2 years. Reminds me of the Carl's Jr. campaign from a few years ago that miserably failed. They claimed 'Not a strong enough presence in the area'. What ever happened to 'good food and good service at a good price'?

No, I Didn't Get to Go Kayaking This Weekend.

This is a pic of my buds David and Trevor from the last time I was in my boat, which was August 13. That is White Rock Creek just below 635 right in the heart of North Dallas.

No, the rain gods once again carefully negotiated around all the proper watersheds we frequent.

So instead, I stayed home and cleaned the toilet, fixed a couple of doors, hung the Christmas lights, emptied the lint trap...and looked at old kayaking pictures so I can remember what moving water looks like.

Bacon Lovers, Rejoice!

These new vending machines, which oddly enough seem to be installed mainly in public restrooms, now offer not only the traditional Bacon-in-hand delivery method, but now have the IN-YOUR-FACE BACON EXPLOSION!

Bon Appetit!

New England? Arkansas? Banff? Aspen?

Nope. Vanderpool, TX.

This is another place I've been wanting to go for about 15 years. However, this time, things worked out much better.

The wife and I did a little Hill Country trip over the weekend. Ended it here at Lost Maples State Park. Sunday was warm, sunny and PACKED BEYOND OVERFLOWING (caps lock on). So we went back Monday morning when it was cold, wet and cloudy. Perfect! Had the whole place to ourselves.

My 15 Sec... well, 4.5 Seconds of Fame

I don't usually reblog stuff, but I did shoot the time lapse sequence in this video, so i guess we're ok. Yes, that is my left ear at 0:37.

A Vicious Circle

If at all possible, you will want to avoid this road... unless you drive for NASCAR.

Just 'cuz

Actually I just wanted to separate these two sign pics^v, so I threw this moth pic up here.

How far can you drive into Texas?

Half way.
After that, you are driving out.

I drove down to my Uncle's ranch this weekend to watch them drill an oil well. Actually I watched more Texas Ranger's Baseball than oil well drilling. St. Louis did the drilling. 15 to 7.

But we got em' back the next 2 games. WooHoo!

Anyway, his ranch is not too far past this sign, which is 5 miles from the disputed canter of Texas. I mean, where do you measure from?

Update: While my Uncle struck oil, the Texas Rangers struck out in game seven after coming within one pitch TWICE from winning the series in game six. Oh well, there's always next year.

Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and...

...triple bipass surgery.

Saw these in a truck stop the other day. Look at that. Three (3) bins full of processed animal parts to choose from. And cheap too! You can't even buy one serving of steamed broccoli for $2.22!

Remember this the next time a big rig comes screaming up behind you on the interstate. This is what these guys have been eating for the last ten years.

Steve Jobs 1955 -2011

I wish I could have thanked the man who has brought so many innovations to market that have directly enhanced my career.

Back Stabber

Ran across this pic of my buddy Trevor today and decided it has been long enough since I have posted a kayaking pic. So here you go. He is doing a backstab at Salida Playpark in Colorado.

I can now call Trevor my 'buddy' instead of 'my Kayaking buddy's son who often goes with us' because Trevor is now over 18 and in college... but most importantly because he can now start contributing gas money.

Just kidding. Been paddling with Trevor since he was 13. Solid dude, and a dang good paddler too.

The answer, my friend, might not be blowin' in the wind...

The thought of digging coal out of the Earth for the next 750 years just seems a little destructive to me. So, a few years ago I decided to change power companies to supply my electricity. Being an old ex sailor, I am very aware of the constant unlimited supply of wind around me. The company I chose uses 100% renewable sources (wind, sun). So, other than the really bright, surging lights on gusty days, it seemed like a perfect choice.

As I approached this particular wind farm, I was at first very intrigued. But as I drove further and further into it, and after about an HOUR of non stop spinning mechanical giant pinwheels, I became a little alarmed. I know there are probably hundreds of arguments for and against coal fired vs. wind/sun, but Holy Endless Eyesore, Batman, these go on FOREVER!

I Waited Seventeen Years For THIS?

In 1993 a friend of mine made the trek to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. He came back with all these great stories about the highest point in Texas and how challenging the hike was and all that jazz. Since then I have been anticipating visiting this far flung place myself. So I was very excited when my wife agreed for us to swing by here on our way back from New Mexico.

Now, keep in mind, Texas has been in it's worst drought in history for the last three years. So I had mixed emotions when we finally pulled into the park and were presented with a ceiling so low we couldn't even see the foothills of the mountain. A long way to drive to snap a picture of the entrance sign. Somewhere up in those clouds is this. At least they didn't charge us.

England? Thailand? Egypt? Las Vegas?

Nope.

Odessa.

This is a scaled down model of Stonehenge on The University of Texas, Permian Basin campus. We stopped by here to shoot some Americana on our last vacation. But mainly to get out of the stupid truck after seven hours on Interstate 20.

This is apparently some rich kid's graduate school thesis project. Pretty cool, except it was darn near impossible to shoot it without a sign, building, light plole, SUV, or McDonalds in the background.

Well, Sun Of A Gun

There is this highway in New Mexico that meanders through the mountains and ends up in Sunspot, a small community that studies... the Sun. They have quite an impressive campus full of exotic telescopes on top of the mountain, overlooking White Sands National Monument.

6563 is the wavelength for visible sunlight. It is also the white balance I used to tweak this image. Beautiful drive if you ever find yourself in the Cloudcroft, NM area. But bring your rain gear, because there is more clouds than sun.

Huh?

I can't imagine this kind of signage is conducive to attracting a large congregation.

WARNING WILL ROBINSON!

Since when did using an extension cord become so dangerous that we have to endure four (4) stupid labels? Is plugging in the Christmas Tree really this risky? Is there something different with electricity from 20 years ago? Have any of you ever read one of these labels?

In Front of Every Silver Lining...

... there is a grey cloud! (I learned that at Old Man Curmudgeon School).

Shot this while tooling down the road at 77 mph driving through the Texas Panhandle. My buddies driving behind me thought I was falling asleep. But I was just bracketing.

Three Year Anniversary

Today marks my three year anniversary at work. It also marks my three year anniversary driving through this intersection. As you can see, this intersection is under construction, just as it was three years ago on my first trip to work. Looks like it will be some time before they finish too.

Update: Wow! While I was gone on vacation, these guys shut down this entire intersection over two weekends and finished it! They must have read my blog. Gosh, wish I had posted this two years ago.

High Octane Hummer

It's So Dry In Texas...

... the water towers are wilting.

Ran across this on the loneliest stretch of interstate I have EVER been on: I40 near Groom. That is one desolate town!

Exceptional Drought?

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE!

North Texas BBQ

One time I Googled 'Best BBQ in Texas'. I got enough information to feed on for the next ten years!

My wife wanted to do a road trip, so I picked this place out of the several hundred 'best bbq joints in Texas' I have recently read about. Tioga is a sleepy little town right in the middle of North Texas Horse Country. I don't know where all the money comes from to run those ranches, but there are hundreds of them. Maybe they sell horse meat to... Never mind, let's not go there.

Clark's is right in the middle of town and has the first two important ingredients of a good bbq joint: a stack of wood outside, and the smell of smoke. Adding to that is the hodge podge of odd buildings, multiple window units and exterior a/c ductwork, exposed plumbing, non OSHA approved electrical wiring and a totally unorganized kitchen. Oh, and you can't eat Texas Q without full blowtorch twang country music. This place has got to be good!

After splitting a brisket and ribs combination plate, we were not disappointed. I even ate my share with no bbq sauce on it! That is a sure sign of good Q!

Sunset Test

UnFORTUNEately...

...my Memorial Day weekend started out with a bad omen: no fortune in my fortune cookie! Of course, this can only mean one thing- the same results will come to pass as my other fortunes- nothing. Fortunately I'm a very fortunate guy and usually don't require supplemental fortunation such as these things promise.

Faster Than Lightning...

... or in this case, a lot slower than lightning as this was a twenty second exposure.

This was shot from my front yard just seconds before the next bolt sent all the hair on my neck standing up. Sign from God to go inside and edit.

INSTALLING RAPTURE.
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Test Post

So while we are on the subject of flowers, I thought I'd post one more. I'm trying to get the width right on these new big pics.

Look at all the stuff going on in the center of this flower.

Since this is a PHOTO BLOG...

... I figure I better make the photos HUGE.

This is one of those things that grow in our yard in spite of the fact that we didn't plant it, we never water it, we don't know what it is, and it gets stomped half a dozen times a month.

I Really Like Using Things Up...

... way beyond their intended life. And then I like replacing them with things that should last even longer.

These are the boards that were on the side of my house. My neighbor and I figured they had been up there about 38 years. They had about 14 layers of paint- on ONE SIDE. The ones I replaced now have paint on both sides. And if you don't paint the ends, the above will eventually happen. So these boards should last, oh, say, 39 years.

As long as I never have to ever do this again in my life, this will be a successful project.

Happy Mother's Day!

Well, i couldn't book an eleven piece polka band for my mum this year, so I had to resort to roses. This was shot with my new lens extension tube. Fun little toy.

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny dropped by our house last night. He was driving a '71 Ford Econoline Goodtimes Van.

Pipe Bomb in the Attic...

... would have been an easier way to get the old rotten wood off the side of my house. But silly me, I went for the conventional claw hammer and wrecking bar technique. Instead of coming off in twenty pieces, it came off in about four hundred and seventy six.

All is better now. New siding is up, and the city is off my back for the time being.

BP and The Tarballs... East

My wife wanted to take a vacation and go to a Gulf Coast community and pump some capital back into their system. We decided to accomplish this by going to the Florida Panhandle and eating seafood for a week.

I wanted to do it right and get a condo right on the beach. Here's what we ended up with the first night.

Well, this isn't actually in Florida. I failed to completely plan our two day trek to the final destination. We found ourselves in the throws of the first night of Mardi Gras. Of course there were no rooms available in a seventy five mile radius of New Orleans, so we just kept heading along the coast until we ran across this place.

All was not lost. Very quiet, and the next morning we had beignets at a very cool cafe before we hit the road.

Who the... What the...

I just had to make a post so all my worldwide fans would know I haven't gone to that great big dark room in the sky. This was taken in the local rose garden maintained by citizens of the fine city in which I dwell. Not too bad for shooting a still life in a 40 mph wind, eh?

More 'Black Thumb Club'

Here is another living organism that has sprung up in the yard in spite of our efforts to convert our property to a barren moon-like landscape.

Cable Proliferation

I just don't remember buying any of these cables. But there is this huge box of these things in my closet. I think they are having cable orgies at night and reproducing out of control. Luckily (or unluckily according to my wife) I find a useful one in the pile every once in a while. Therefore i don't throw them out.

Maybe I'll throw out the phone lines since I haven't had a land line in about 5 years. Prolly won't be hooking up a modem any time soon, eh?

Happy V-Day!

I hope you only had to work half as hard as I did to get this box of dark chocolate for my Sweetie. She is worth ten times the effort.

Winter Blizzard

Cars splattered all over the landscape the last few days. We've had three sessions of freezing precipitation this winter. Of course, that probably doesn't have much to do with the number of wrecks on the road. That happens in broad daylight, dry pavement, straight line driving around here. Yes, in a city of 5.3 million where everyone owns 1.3 vehicles, the elements don't make much difference in the outcome.

Who thinks up this crap?

I think up stuff like this all the time. But what amazes me is someone actually thought this up and then acted on it.

Colorado? Montana? Tennessee? Arkansas?

Nope.

Dallas.

Had a great SCHEDULED surf sesh with some really good friends today. Some Pics here.

Winter Doldrums

Not much going on here. Just patiently waiting for springtime to come along. Life is good.

Really Bad Gas...

...purchasing experience yesterday. Possibly the worst I've ever had.

1. Second station because the first one had no pay-at-the-pump

2. Gas was pushing $3/gallon

3. 31 degrees and windy

4. Bad neighborhood with lots of panhandlers and thumping cars

5. Late for a surf session with my best friends

6. Had to pee

7. FORCED TO WATCH TV WHILE PUMPING MY GAS

That just sent me over the top.

Oh yeah, and

8. Print-out screwed up so I had to go inside anyway.

Kind of defeats the whole pay-at-the-pump thing now doesn't it.

Storage Is Cheap

Happy 2011 everyone! Yeah, it's that time of year again: time for empty promises and lying to yourself about what you are not going to accomplish this year.

As you might have read in one of my earlier entries, I don't make resolutions. But I do try to get rid of as much junk as I can throughout the year. This year I'm doing a slight twist. I am going to put everything in storage. Electronic storage, that is. This drive cost about $99. I figure that is about one and a half months rent at your basic storage facility. And, I will have this stuff to look at for decades to come.

By the way, in 1988 I financed a 40M (MEG. Yes, that is megabytes) hard drive for $500. So if you yunksters think I spent too much for this drive, go back to playing World of Warfare.