So yesterday I left my house to head to work.  I love driving in the rain, as I love the rain in general.  Well it was raining and I went to make a left turn from one street to another and as I accelerated into the turn, as normal, I began to spin out.  Slightly bald tires and slick roads can cause this effect.  I became calm and collect as I tend to do in fun situations like that and just went with it.  I spun out good too, not like a little slide... no I did a full 360 and then some.  Lucky for my I know how to control my jeep, although you should never try to do a 360 in any jeep or truck because they tend to be a bit top heavy (if you're in a car with a low profile go for it).  So I realized quickly how the car was spinning and instead of fighting it I just took the Jeep into the spin and enjoyed the ride.  I spun her wheels to the right to move into the spin and then as I came around I slid the car into neutral, eased into the brakes and spun her wheels back to the left slowing the spin, and then back into drive and accelerated a bit more bring the car around and straightening it out.  I then eased into the brakes and brought the car to a nice slow stop.  Once the Jeep was fully stopped I moved it to a side street to check the tires and make sure everything was in order.  Another nice gentlemen who saw the whole thing pulled up next to me in his white truck.

Nice Guy - "You OK?"

Meself - "Yeah, I'm fine.  Just started sliding on that turn.  Checking the tires now."

Nice Guy - "Well you need to be careful, there are a lot of accidents already."

Meself - "Yeah, first rains.  I thought I was being careful, but yeah.  I just took the jeep into the slide to keep it from going into any houses.  Thanks for stopping though."

Nice Guy - "No problem, be careful."

Meself - "Will do, always am."

I wish I could hear his version of the story, as I'm sure it was fun watching me and the Super Jeep spinning down the street, keeping it in the same lane.  I'll admit that spinning out tends to be fun for me, though I never do it on purpose.  If you want to hear about my last spin out, the really good one, click over to the stories section and read the "405 story."  It's good stuff I promise you.

You know what I love?  Watching two bus drivers pass each other and wave.  Bus drivers will always wave at each other when ever they pass by each other.  It doesn't matter if they work together, or two different companies.  They will always wave at each other.  It never fails.  Even though I would like to believe that every bus driver knows each other and attends secret meetings I know that isn't reality.  It's not like they hand you your bus drivers license and say, "OK, you passed, here is your license... but if we find out you don't wave at other bus drivers... oh, man.... just don't do that.  We'll have to take your bus driving license away."  It's like watching two dogs sniff each other.  It's more of sport now for me.  I get way too excited when I see two buses starting to get into 'passing must wave' distance.  So much fun.  Check it out... I'm not making this stuff up.

Other than that... just moving and getting into the new place.  I got about 80% of everything into the new house.  I spent my fist night there last night, and I'll be honest with you.  I'm kind of sad it's not haunted.  I was really hoping the house would tell me to (in a deep scary voice) "Get Out..."  Then I could fight the house.  More than I have already.  I almost broke the place a couple times now... and we did something silly that killed the power in part of the house.  We'll work on that tonight.  Being a home owner is just so much fun. Really, it is.  No Sarcasim in that last part at all.

On the photography side of things... I am getting backed up big time.  It's no fun to be honest.  I still have wedding photos to work on, engagement photos, and shooting more engagement photos tonight.  So much to do... so little time.  But I'm going to set up my computer tonight, and start getting things ready to go.  Hopefully I'll be able to start editing photos this weekend, and just work non stop to get the photos out to the clients, and get all caught up.  I'm just the type of person that likes to shoot the photos, and then get them back as soon as possible, and it's really wierd to know they are just sitting there and nothing is being done with them.  I can't stand it, and it's really bugging me.  So I'll get to work on that soon.

That's all for now.  Back to work, house, and more spending money.  That's the worste part... paying for everything and watching your bank account go down the drain.  Just no fun.  Have a great day.

I didn't know how I wanted to title this, so I went with a Simpsons refrence because it's kind of how I feel.  I'm happy to say that my endless nights of manual labor is coming to a close.  No more madness house work day in and day out.  Just madness house work here and there.  I'm not saying I'm done, not by a long shot.  Starting Sunday, I actually get to spend a couple days moving everything fromt he Condo to the new House.  Sean is going to give me a hand though, and hopefully it doesn't rain so I can do everything cleanly.  I think I'm just going to try and do it all Sunday as to beat the potential rain fall.  Again... we'll see what happens.  A lot to do... a lot to do...

Wow, look at that new logo!  It's kind of big and in your face huh?  I didn't think it was going to take up so much space, but you know what?  I'm going to roll with it for now.  I think it may grow on me.  But hey, I guess you can't be on the site and forget where you are right?  I'm ordering buisness cards here soon and so I decided to update the logo while I was at it.  This was closer to my original idea I had a year ago when I updated the site.  I'm going to change the background color with the seasons too... it's going to be neat.

OK, well pray that the moving goes well and that I'm able to get everything over smoothly.

I am whole again.  Complete.  Content.  No longer naked.  Happy.  I got my camera back.  Oh, it's been a long couple of days as I've been without my camera for the last two weeks.  But it's back in my camera bag, and sitting right next to me as I type this.  It's a good feeling to know that Canon took good care of my friend and sent her back safe and sound.  And working again to boot.  So yes, I'm able to take photos again.  But even though I'm able to take photos, I can't do anything about editing them... because there is house work that has to be done.  I'm so excited... really... really... excited.  OK, I'm over it already, but again... not. built. for. hard labor.  It's not me, it's not who I am.  I admit that now, I claim defeat.  The House Wins.  House One, Donald Zero.  I get it, but it has to be done.  So I'll be at the house working hard all day trying to get everything cleaned up and ready to start some painting this weekend.  Let's all hope things go according to plan.

If you were trying to view the site yesterday... I'm sorry.  It was down and out.  Trouble with the hosting server or something.  But it's back up now and all is well again... though it is acting a tad slower than normal.  Hopefully this is resolved soon.  Enjoy life and hug someone today.

I don't know if you've seen me lately... but I'm not built for physical labor.  Tell me you want to hike 20 miles in 3 days with 50 pounds on your back and I'm game.  Want to go hiking and bouldering for a day and I'm there.  Ask me to work on a house for 10 days strait doing manual labor... It's going to kick my butt.  I'm sore, tired, and just plain over it already.  But it's my place that I'm working on and have to have it ready in a week to start moving in.  So I'll be back at the house tonight doing more physical labor that I'm just not built for... *sigh*... but it's OK. 

Beyond that fall is starting to creep on to the coastline.  It's been chilly these past couple days and that means it's time for me to go buy my old man sweater for the season.  Well, it's more of a Cosby sweeter, but still... time to go hunt and buy a comfortably ugly sweeter to wear on those chilly days.  I also realized yesterday that I'm really missing working on photos.  I have some wedding photos and engagement photos to get to work on, and I just can't wait to share them with everyone.  I think that as soon as I move into the house I'm going to put some projects on hold and just work on some photos.  My body is built for that.

Well papers are signed, escrow is closed, and all is well.  I got the keys to our first home on Monday morning, and started work pretty quickly.  We didn't waste any time in tearing down some walls, cutting in some windows, and ripping down some paneling.  It's a pretty fun process so far, but after working on the house endlessly the past two nights I'm ready for a break.  But I can't break, and can't slow down and have to keep on working.  I have about three weeks to get the house torn apart, rebuilt up, and painted to move in.  I can't wait to be all moved in, I really think these next few months of fixing up the house little by little is going to be a blast.  So we're excited and looking forward to the future.

On the camera side of things, I sent it off to repair.  I bought the camera September 20th, 2008, and it died on me September 19th, 2009.  One day before the warranty expired.  Though Canon does good work and has wonderful customer service, so I hope they will get the camera in soon and fix it for me so I can keep taking photos.  But if they don't... then I'll buy another camera.  Either way... I'm going to start taking photos again here soon.  I also have a bunch of photos to work on, however starting on those photos is some time away as all my time will go to fixing up the house.  So if there is a lack of updates... sorry.

More important than this article... did you read yesterday's?  Or the one before that?  Have you looked at all the new photos?  OK... I'm happy you've done all that.  Well first off I'm going to say that there is no news on the house.  Hopefully Monday.  Second... the reason for this post.  My camera broke.  It doesn't take photos anymore and bites me when I try to force it to.  My last camera broke while I was shooting a wedding, just as the bride and groom walked down the isle at the end of the ceremony.  This time my camera brakes during a wedding just as the bride and groom walk down the isle.  Funny how things happen sometimes.  Now yes, I could be very upset about this, especially since the camera is only 1 year and 1 month old and the warranty was only good for one year.  Yes, I could cry and be very sad.  But I'm going to look at this as a good thing.  It broke as I did a wedding, so I have the money in the bank to buy a new one.  I got a lot of great use out of that camera, and now I can upgrade from my 40D to a 50D.  God is truly giving me some ups during my downs, and I thank him for that.  So life goes on, and we shall see what happens when I take my camera in.  Who knows... maybe... just maybe they'll look at the date of purchase and say, 'that's not right.  Here is a replacement.'  I don't know the chances of that... but who knows right.

Oh, and the wedding went very smooth thanks to my backup camera.  I owe my buddy Jason HUGE for letting me borrow his camera, it saved my butt.  It was such a blast to get to spend the day with such a loving couple, Demi and Rich were an absolute pleasure to work with.  So I'll start working on these photos soon and post them in the near future.  Until my next post take care and God Bless.