Ah, the seventh day...

Workin 7-7 today. Yesterday I got some good contacts/clientele. Thinkin I should buy some studio equipment...

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Patience

Last night, we experienced frequent lightning and sporatic heavy rain. Like a child watching the chocolate factory for the first time, I was fascinated by the natural light show.

I waited patiently with my camera on tripod, shooting at 30" (seconds) each, hoping to catch an awesome flare.

The best one shown here, beautiful, unstoppable, unpredictable, raw majestic power.

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Called in to Call out

I was asked to shoot school pictures for tomorrow morning, unfortunately, i cannot make it to two places at once- be it ShopRite and a photo job.

Opportunity passed, but not permanently.

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Snippet

As long as I work at ShopRite, I will never move on with my life

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Opportunities Pt.2

A couple days ago, I applied for a job at Picture People, got a call the next day, and have an interview with them this Sunday. The way I see it, it's some official/on-the-books record of my photography skills. One small step for me, one leap for my career.

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Opportunities...

So, I may be transferring to another store come the star of next quarter, with the possible opportunity of attaining a full time position.
Meanwhile, I've been diving back into searching for opportunites in my passion, photography. Leveraging this passion is the newly-created portfolio blog namely, PhotoFolio, at xfphotofolio.blogspot.com, please visit!

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test post one

i'm using Blogger-droid on my Droid X. we'll see if this works...

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Awesomeness-day

Big Day! I got my new Canon 7D with 28-135mm lens for $440 less than everywhere! Got a nice Sigma 530 DG Super flash to go with it, along with a Manfrotto Modo monopod, all in all saving over $580 on brand-NEW equipment!

Along with getting my amazing, and I mean AMAZING camera, I also got the opportunity to work with a wedding photography business, and help shoot next month, and also do a shoot that's TBA! Thank God!

And there were none!

I'm an old man, at heart, and I tend to stick to my routine...and when I get a "flat tire" along the way with only a donut in the trunk, I get unhappy. I walked up to DD and this lady was there ordering everything they had, in about 3 dozen donuts and a baggy with muffins. The manager gives me this restless look like she's been trying to appease this customer for the last fifteen minutes.

I asked for a Chai Tea and when I realized there were no more Old Fashioned donuts, I had to snap a shot and ask her what was wrong with the picture.

No bueno. I bought a bagel twist instead. :/

My First Photo "Gig"

Yup, I did my first photography job on the 12th, and it turned out very well, (my amazing woman said I understated and said it went EXTREMELY well.)

Anyways, I shot 407 pictures, and reviewed/edited them down to 235 of the best to show to the client tomorrow. I also got connected with two businesses, a DJ production and Interior/Event Design business. Lots of branch-able opportunities from this one event.

I borrowed grandpa's Nikon SB-900 Speedlight paired to a D5000 with an 18-105mm VR lens for the party. Great flash, it lasted for all of the shots, though I switched to a second lithium for the camera. I kept my Sony a300 on standby in case.

Woo!

new x faktor logo

"It Sucks, I Hate It"

The [in]famous last words out of my boss's mouth when he has a new phone he doesn't like.

Well, I got an HTC Imagio, and "It sucks, I hate it." totally.

I hate how tacky Windows Mobile is. ugh!

It looks pretty on the outside, but is a disgusting, ugly, labyrinth of windows 95-esque innards!

$300.

Gonna switch it for the enV Touch - $150

My Dinan 5

Well, I finally returned the Dinan performance chip in exchange of the correct one. Today, it came in and I installed it, tested it out. Hit centennial numbers very quickly.

Apparently, it states a potential 43HP extra output along with 22lbs of torque and supposed better gas mileage. The 535 is very responsive and fast indeed, with the right driver behind the wheel it can maneuver very well.

Estimated 251hp total. Next, as far as performance upgrades go, will be a cold air intake.

But first, I must shop around to get my light's wiring/connection fixed, and windshield leaks, and locks, and an oil change.

Sweet car.

The Ultimate Driving Machine.

Road Trip '09

-Well I've been here and there, from NJ to MA, and all around in the Mach 5.

-The wife & I had a great time on our road trip this past August:

+We drove to NYC the first day (16th) and went to the (AMNH) museum and saw the Guggenheim and FlatIron building and were on our way to CT where we had a great time in the calm town of Mystic. We ate at the famous Mystic Pizza, and walked around at the shops in downtown. Then we went to the aquarium which we loved. Among other things were the Hard Rock Cafe at Foxwoods. And finally we came to Cape Cod, MA where we went on an eventful whale-watching trip then we relaxed on the beaches of the Cape.

The only drawback...I had to leave the furious, gas-guzzling Mach 5 at home for this trip, so we took her Toyota Yaris...."Wooton"

DSC06000

On our 1st anniversary, I drove us to Monmouth Beach, my old hometown, and then to Atlantic Highlands where we saw a bridge under construction. And on our trip, I managed to hit 6000 "miles" on my camera and it hasn't even been a year yet. Almost.

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.