Where Am I?

I am down-to-the-change-tin broke

I am surviving on very minute amounts of food

I am barely making it to work this thursday, on less than a quarter tank of gas

I am glad the lightning came to give me a good photo shoot

I am glad I was productive during my day off today

I am not so glad that I have to work all next week thru til next thursday though

But, overall of these, I am exceedingly glad to have a God that loves me to life, and a wonderful woman that cares for me with all of her heart...for these things warm my heart and soul.

The Specialist

My wonderful, and amazing, woman passed along the word from her Dr. Dad strongly suggesting that I see a certain ear, nose, throat specialist soon.  I took the word, and made the appointment (last week) for today at 11:20am.  It was only about 5 minutes away, and when we got there I found myself sitting in a lobby full of people over 50.  Felt right at home.

I was finally called in "early" around 12pm, and proceeded through the short hall on the left then thru the door on the right finally to find myself resting in a full-support chair in the middle of the room.  Sitting there, I thought that it was one of those restraining chairs that I'd eventually find myself strapped into.  It honestly reminded me of the game F.E.A.R.

A young doc comes in and says some muffled words to me as I look at him blankly, wondering when mom will tell him I'm practically deaf.  After he checks my...ear, nose, and throat, he says some words to mom and walks out.

[Side Note] - People find that when they talk to me, I am not looking at their eyes, but their lips in hopes of catching a spit of what they just said.

I look over at mom and ask her if anything good happened, and I was complimented with a, "Yes" and said that they (two docs) were going to come back in and clean my ears out then eventually check my hearing, and prescribe meds and whatnot. "Okay" is all I can really utter.

Next, an older more experienced-looking doctor enters, with him following is the young doc and a nurse.  It's the doc I came to see.  He does the same thing and starts muffling to me as if I don't have a problem and I can actually hear him.  He speaks up and asks me what I can hear, and I tell him I can hear constant ringing and my heartbeat beating like a drum, with pressure...like my ears will explode because of my heartbeat.  They then proceed to analyze my ears, prodding me with long skinny instruments, and start cleaning them.  Painful, yes, but I wonder what it may have felt like had I not decided to pop a Tylenol w/Codene before my appointment?

Funny, because this morning I was feeling good enough to go off the pain meds, but realized I was going to the doc and they may poke around in there so I popped one around 11, and It's a good thing I wasn't called in till noon so that the pain meds could work by then.

That's a US quarter leaning against the bottle

The doc gave us three 1.5mL bottles of CIPRO DEX ear drops to take home.  They're worth $100 per miniscule bottle.  He said I have to take 3 drops in each ear, 3 times daily for 7 days.  Then he prescribed two others, a by-mouth CIPRO pill and a larger pill that requires I avoid sunlight.  The CIPRO pills I take gradually less each day or so, starting with 3 as a first dosage today.  The big pill that tells me to avoid sunlight, is a steroid apparently. Take with lots of water.

So I have another appointment, 50% off as requested by the doc, on my wonderful, and amazing, woman's birthday,at 920am.  Oh well.

Day 14

Poo Poo Kachoo

I started feeling like poo about a week ago, with a congested cough.  After last thursday, it has developed into two ear aches and pneumonia.  The worst sickness I ever felt/had.  Pain in my face, nautiousness from taking pain killers on empty stomach, dizziness and disorientation, headaches, fatigue, constant ringing in ears + pulsation, leaking left ear, bleeding right ear, intermittent coughing with plegm.  I've been to the emergency room twice, seen doc's at least 4 times, switched meds plenty, and had a chest x-ray.

Day 7

There Will Be Sound

Here's the Pioneer Premier (DEH-P510UB) receiver I ordered on eBay, new, just tonight.  So, i'll finally be able to share some tunes this summer.  :), I'll order the headlights later, they still work for now, lol.  I nearly ordered the P410HD package that would have enabled me to hear HD Radio right out of the box, but the auction had ended by then, and I researched this model and came to like it more, especially finding it for a decent price ($172 [free ship]) whereas it runs $203+tax on Crutchfield.com so it's a good buy, with a warranty to boot.

So, this will set the theme for the 535.  I'll add Pioneer Premier speakers, subs and an amp later.  I have certain standards to keep with this car, and things high-end don't stick out in the 5 like they would on a Civic.  I want to keep it Pioneer Premier audio.  I want rich sound and punchy, responsive bass, that's not overbearing or rattling...so maybe some Dynamat in the trunk.  Saw a nice Premier dual sub box with 12's in it with a total of 2,000 watts RMS (6,000W peak). Buff..definitely gonna need some proofing in the trunk.

IN OTHER NEWS:

-I'm struggling with a spontaneous cough that my brother gave me.

-Insurance payment this month: 370 dollars.

-BMW 535 aftermarket headlights: 160-215 dollars (my "willing-to-spend" limits)

-Did a buck twenty-five the other day with ease.

-Have to change driving habits in attempt to get most out of gas...Use automatic more often..

-looking for driver-side outer black trim to replace old as well as passenger-side : less than $40

-plan (sometime this year) to paint it white, and remove some dents: hundreds of $$

-Shipping back the wrong chip and requesting chip #179 - gotta pay shipping to CA

-after installing correct chip, will buy "DINAN" chrome letters for trunk - about 30 dollars

-replacing wheel center caps soon about - 30 dollars

-gotta get a sweet key fob: 8-27 dollars

Ahh Breakdown!

The said Beemer won't start, but it's in the shop now.  I have a nice Dinan performance chip waiting for it's return.  Interested to see how she runs after I install the chip.  It claims to add a possible 43hp & 22lbs of torque, but I'm expecting around 20-30hp increase.

Just the first upgrade.  Then maybe I'll get some trim, and a bottle of BlackAgain, fix 'er up.

Beemer

So I bought a white 1990 BMW 535i on Thursday and I got say this car is sweet and definitely has potential for upgrades and a different paint job.

Already bought a Dinan chip which should add close to 43HP amd 22lbs of torque. Upcoming will be halo headlights and LED tails, new trim, a Kenwood reciever, Pioneer or Infinity speakers, and a kickin' subwoofer box with two subs.

As for new paint, I want I give it either. Jet black with silver stripes or a Volkswagen orange. Or maybe a sweet lime green. Oo.

Possibilities

Form 4868

FORM 4868

I got home from work at 830 last nite, realizing that I had not yet done my taxes and was rushing to find my W-2's...which were no where to be found.  Called my cousin, and he walked me around on the net lookin for a way out/thru this.  Found Form 4868, which is an extension form for procrastinators and forgetfuls like me.  Filed it around 1030...

...and then I watched Five Minutes of Heaven with Liam Neeson.  You all saw Taken, and were taken back, but this is bland and quiet.

Oh Rainy Day, Where is Thy Joy?

circles, a 2-dimensional perfect form.

:/

12HR-O.T.

Saturday (before Easter), I worked my first 12-hour shift in the meat department.  It was decently buff, but I survived and rocked out.  Woo.

Man & Machine: In His Element

My grandpa with his new Nikon D90, still one step ahead of me, in his element.  We were having a grand 'ol time with the large family of mine and got some excellent photos.  I love these photos of my grandpa, my still very active and smart grandpa.  From the silver hair to the wrinkles and the grin of satisfaction, he shows so much definition in these photos.  A very wise human being indeed.

The Nikon D90 is a nice camera, but I'll stick with my Sony Alpha, for more than just the financial reason.

Rather Die in Boredom than Live in It

A snippet of one of my recent AIM convos:

Ryan: imma die of boredom

Chris: yea...you'll live. that's the worst part about it.

Oh man...

A New Day Off

I thought it'd be different to take a picture in a different place with a Coke can in focus and location blurred in bacground.  Or maybe a "where's Waldo?"-type photo with the Coke can somewhere in the scene. hmm..anyway, took the above picture at grandma's. We dropped in on her today and had lunch there.

Smile! We went and saw the horsies also.

I don't know the significance of this picture, but...

Sony HVLF42AM Flash Unit

I had bought this flash at full price at BestBuy only because I needed it for a jazz competition I had to shoot on short notice, and since BestBuy was the only place open after I got off work, at 6.  $300 plus $20 tax, it was such a drain of money just because it's a Sony-branded accessory "designed specifically for use with the Alpha".  

I returned it today, will be getting a nice check in the mail in a few days, and since I did like the addition of a flash...I'll be investing in a nice Sigma EF-530 Super DG Flash which I like more and it's half the price of the Sony. Sigma's site says it retails for around $410, lol, probably when it first came out, but I saw on eBay new for about 160.  (My 17-70 Sigma lens "retailed" for over $600, but i got it for a mere $300)

Back in the Day

i went back to highschool last nite.

[Photo Without Caption]

Closure

Well, today, April 2nd, 2009, believe it or not, I got this plastic card that says I can [legally] drive a motor vehicle.

Allow me to make my statement concerning this matter:

"YOU'RE WELCOME."

Next, I'd like to say that X-Men Origins: Wolverine was really good, even though the 3D renderings were not yet textured.  Solid movie, Hugh Jackman is the man, and a beast as clearly depicted in the film. Awesome.

that's all.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Uh-oh, looks like someone leaked the "WORKPRINT" to this highly anticipated movie which comes to theaters May 1st.  I half want to see the workprint, merely because of the kid in me that wants it first before the other kids on the block get it.  Half don't wanna because I don't wanna ruin the movie for me, as I have heard that it doesn't have everything in it, and it's 14 minutes shorter, but still totaling 101min.

Maybe I'll have my boss watch it first.

More on that later.

Character

I've been known to say patience builds character, and today I built some.  Between lousy pictures like the one above, and lousy service at the below diner, I've had enough for a day.

Good lighting and color, but I couldn't get the focus right, and the cold was piercing through my button-down shirt, so I didn't have enough "character" to get this one right.  The colder weather made up my mind to not care for shooting that nite.  Lousy of me, since I used to jump on just about any photographic opportunity that came my way.  Gotta build up some more character.

The Usual, Please.

We're young. So, whenever I feel like it, we go out to Applebee's or wherever and get some dinna or cheap appetizers.  But, the thing that always stays the same no matter where we go, is the drink.  Coca-Cola with lime, please. Mm. Nothin' better than real Coke with fresh lime...which we really only had once, since I went across the street to get the lime that time.

We've been getting our Coke-lime drink at Applebee's for some time now, and just a couple nites ago, we get this waiter who tells me all they have is Pepsi.  Since when??  "Since, uh, as long as I've been working here..."  What?  So you mean to tell me that we've been asking for Coke and they've been cheating us all this time?  Wow, don't I feel stupid. 

So apparently there's really no difference between Coke and Pepsi, in fact...they were once joined (in a way) Pepsi-Cola!  With that red and blue logo; funny how Coke is red and Pepsi is blue though, but I think Pepsi knows that it stole the awesome soda idea from Coke, so it gave it some props with the "-Cola" thing and putting red in it's logo. Ta-da!

Coke owns.  Coke with lime is other-worldly.

Man-hat-tan

After photography class today, I went to Manhattan Bagel and 'illed for a bit with a Jalepeno cheddar bagel pasted with hot cream cheese.  Now that I think about cheddar and cream cheese, I'm so glad cream cheese isn't really cheese like cheddar is. Cuz that'd be kinda wierd, to have some spray cheese on your bagel. yuck.

Anyway, this picture has decent color qualities if you need such ones. ;)