January 22, 2004
Weekends, Con't.
Ok, so I got my camera back and had some pictures of when I had my car apart. Well, kind of, anyway. I was just replacing the brakes, but it was my justification for buying new tools. These pictures were taken when I finished servicing the front brake pads and started on the rears. Plus a shot of the new tools doesn't hurt either.
January 18, 2004
Weekends
Not anything to stress over, I think I need to work on how I take pictures and how I process them. My initial pictures in this blog always seemed dark, or really dingy, or simply fuzzy at best. It's toughest to take pictures at night, and even worst, in dim settings, but I avoid taking pictures with the flash, because the pictures always turn out over exposed. I am playing with the settings on my camera more, and am discovering settings I am more happy with. There are things in my pictures I am still not happy with, which then I try to use photoshop to fix. The true goal is to get to the point where I don't need photoshop to fix my blunders. There does not seem to be an end to this new hobby.
Speaking of hobbies, I am broke, or at least feel like I am broke. The brakes on my car started to squeal all the way back in December, which meant they needed to be replaced, which also meant they are very expensive. Not to let the situation get me down, I decided to fix them on my own. I don't know if I actually saved money, since I also bought a new impact wrench for the event. Whoever invented the impact wrench was a god-send. I did eventually fix the brakes after I got over how cool the wrench was. To note, I have since not crashed, nor do I plan or intend to.
The idea is to one day build my next car. I haven't gotten too far, but the idea really intrigues me.
Misc....
ok, so I'm without camera today, but I figured I should update at least. It is no question work has been getting more and more busy. New year, new projects, and my one year anniversary, which my boss has graciously decided to celebrate with my yearly review, this coming week. Sigh. I think I got a lot done this year, but I think when it comes to crunch time, the questions become did I get what I needed to do done.
There were definitely projects where I lagged and I can definitely see where those projects can come into impact. Those are the things I fret about. However, straight off the bat, my manager was impressed how I handled several projects and customer relationships. So, going into this year, I can see myself going in on an even keel. It just needs to be a little better.
January 04, 2004
Jan. 3rd Snowboarding Trip
The above pictures are from my second snowboarding trip of the season. It was another "day" trip, meaning we went to and came back from Lake Tahoe in a single day. It's definitely not a trip for the weak, since Lake Tahoe is about a 4 hour drive away, and depending on "chain control" in bad weather conditions, could be even more. It also means waking up at ridiculous hours and hoping you come up on 24-hour gas stations and deli's.
We went to Heavenly ski resort, again, which is probably one of the more distant resorts. Several of us had purchased season passes to Heavenly which offered 5 free resort passes to resorts in Colorado. It's hard to guage the value of such passes, since Heavenly does not seem to be the most friendly resort to snowboarders. There were a lot of flat trails, in which I ended up unbuckling and hiking. There were other trails that just seemed very short. I may be biased, but I like really long, really broad runs, with decent terrain. I may also be spoiled from skiing in Whistler.
However, not to waste a day, I am starting to get a little bolder in my style of boarding. I tried to jump a table top. I almost made it. I was able to walk away. Maybe I will get some action pictures, later, if I can figure out how to operate the camera through my big gloves and someone comes up with a cheaper-than-$200 waterproof case for my camera.
Happy New Year!
It's the start of a brand new year, and luckily for me it already feels better than years in the past. A friend of mine once said I was too cynical, and I really think she was right. It was likely just a bad time in my life, but i realized then, I needed to make new changes, and really start doing the things I like, again. The fresh start this year really seems to make me optimistic about the upcoming year.
One of the coolest things I got in the last year was my digital camera. Though, I'm still trying to learn how to use it, it's a wonderful little gadget to carry on trips or when just hanging around. The above pictures were from a little New Year's Get-together, which quietly turned into cards 'til 4AM.