More Funny Signs (I've seen in the past)

Uh, yeah...Funny sign time again. One of my favorite things to photograph, when I get the opportunity to, is funny signs. More often than not, they're involuntary lapses or just have funny connotations that as twisted as my mind is, more often than not lead to involuntary non-sequiturs.

For example; these three.



Who ever thought parking lots disliked being parked on? Well, you would too if you were parked on all day.



I don't think they'd like to know what kind of stuff I play with.



Who knew evil could be so economical?



Well, I'm pretty booked up solid...I think I still may have to...



Is this like the Gun Registry? After hearing some bands and singers play lately, they could be considered deadly aural weapons.



But what if I can't?



I don't have the car. Can I have the appointment instead?



There was one during the winter at the paint store just up on King George…which I should have caught. It read "It's not TOO COLD to PAINT indoors".my response: "Yo, Duuuude, A good reason to get High on Paint Fumes, eh..." Well, that's the funny signs I've seen recently. I'll keep an eye out for more. If you have any suggestions or have seen any funny ones recently let me know.

Confusings Signs R'Us.

One of my favorite things to do when I'm roaming around town is to take photos of interesting signs. Signs which either have spelling mistakes or catchy phrases or are just plain confusing...like this one:



Welcome to the Philadephia Church of Vancouver...conveniently located in SURREY??? Hey...wait a minute!!!

Surrey: The Future Lives Here...uh...maybe not...

It's really enjoyable living in Surrey with all the things that happen here. We live on 96th Avenue which is a thoroughfare from King George Highway all the way to 120th Street. So hence it's busy as hell.

I was enjoying "Hamburger Hill" (a movie) last night on AMC when I heard sirens and screeching brakes. I peer out and there's three RCMP cruisers and an BC Ambulance Services EMT attending "I don't know what" across the street. As far as I know they were there about two hours. Took the opportunity to snap a pic from the basement window.

Did I mention I enjoy living in Surrey? ~rolling eyes~

We went to Morgan Crossing down in South Surrey/White Rock and stopped in at two places on Friday. Store 83 (London Drugs at Morgan Crossing) and the Wal-Mart Super Centre. Evidently, they have everything at a WalMart Super Centre; even a carwash.



This was my first time being in a WalMart Super Centre and the place was just enormous. You could happily get lost in a SuperCentre and spend the whole day there. Evidently they're also turning the WalMart at Guildford into a SuperCentre as well. But that's going to take a while.



We also had the opportunity to stop by the newest London Drugs store and visit. We saw some of my wife's old work-mates from Store 8 at the newest store. What surprises me though is the close proximity to store 73 that 83 is. It's only 3 blocks away.



In the afternoon, though, I went over to Vancouver and picked up plants from Mom's place. Her move is going slow, as she doesn't want to be out of the other place until December.

Off to School

Have to take the kids into school this morning, as I have had other mornings during the weeks that school has been in session. Well, we've moved from the townhouse to a half-duplex that seems to be a lot more comfy in terms of size. It's nice, it's larger and though we've lost a little in size in terms of bedrooms, it's a lot nicer as the kids have a backyard to play in and our bedroom doesn't have as much wasted space. Our living room seems to be huge.

Well, it is 7:38AM which means I'm going to have to chase the two little squirts around...and I'll have more about where I've been later. Plan on taking some pics on the way to school.

Back from taking the kids to school and my shots on the way in were with a Nikon Coolpix L11 so hence the reason why they're snaps.

On 96th there's an empty lot that has stood empty for several years. Until just this past month, where there's been a flurry of activity on it. It's evidently being turned into one of those new cheap construction but sells for 3/4 million big homes that takes up half the lot and they've cut down every damned tree on the lot. Figures.



I'm not too fond of the street 96th Avenue as it is one of the major east-west thoroughfares. They've made it double-lane and it's busy as hell. I tell my kids to walk well away from the curb. As you can see they listen quite well...yeah...right!



At least 132nd Street is a little quieter.



This is the monster house that I keep seeing as I walk down 132nd Street. This epitomizes everything I hate about monster houses. There's absolutely no taste to this home. It's big, it's friggin' ugly, and it's square...there's a small patch of grass that they try to pass off as landscaping...and otherwise they've cemented over the whole damned lot. In real estate terms I would call it a New Delhi Special as opposed to a Hong Kong Special.



Walking down the street towards my kids' school. I prefer this school due to the fact that the kids enjoy going to school there as opposed to going to the school in their assigned cachement area.



What really annoys me is that most of the traffic do not obey the posted speedlimit and persist in screaming through the school zone at a blistering 50-80 km/hr. And yet it is posted, plain as day, for everyone to see...



I guess the last generation raised a generation of idiots.

FalconRose Photography ~ Dedicated in my Father's Memory

Each day without my father has been a journey in itself. I know that there are many choices to make. I know that my time on this earth is finite and I have to make the most of it. For many years I had no idea of what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and gravitated from job to job finding myself dissatisfied. I took music (in college), real estate (as a career) and accounting (as a potential job). I worked as an office person as well as a security guard and I also worked retail. Now, it seems, I have a concrete plan...a crystal clear goal of building this photography business from the ground up.

My dad wasn't too sure of whether or not I was going to be a success at anything that I attempted. Because for many years, I considered myself nothing else but a failure and you remember the old adage: If you feel that you are a failure and repeat it enough, the fallacy becomes reality. I kept asking myself "Why do you even bother when you haven't been able to be a success at anything in your life before." Before I was much too scared to think that I could be any good at being an entrepreneur. But finding the courage to do what I really want; to step outside my physical comfort zone means finding the peace to accept myself for who I really am.

My father was scared though of the fact that I was taking a step that he never had the courage to take himself; which was become an entrepreneur and try to take a business and make it a solid investment and the sole stable income in the family. Certainly he had done it himself with his gardening business but that was a secondary business to his full-time job as a glass cutter, but that wasn't really what he wanted to do. He wanted to learn to play the cello. But unfortunately during my infancy, he lost his thumb and index finger to the first joint in a glass cutting accident. It took him months and months of rehabilitation.

My father was absolutely estatic when I showed him the results of my photography attempts. He’d known that I had finally found my place. At least he was alive to know that I had finally found my place in this world. That’s all any father wants for their children and that’s all I want for my own children is that they find what they truly want to do with their lives. He knew I wasn’t happy in music, he knew that I wasn’t happy in real estate and he knew that I was absolutely not happy in accounting. But to see his face light up when he saw the results of my photography, that was the best feeling in the world.

My mother has always been sceptical of my photography attempts, but she has slowly come around in the wake of my father's death. And she has made one concession, that she is going to get me the DSLR body that I need to get started in wedding photography as well as the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 telephoto that I need for "staying out of the way" of the wedding party while they are doing what they need to be doing during the ceremony. All of this will run her in the neighbourhood of at least $4000.00 CDN. The rest of the lenses I have to earn myself. Consider me ever grateful to her for doing that for me.

My father's passing in December has lit a fire in my belly with regards to getting something going with this photography and turning it into a business. I know I have several strikes against me. 1) I'm starting a business when I haven't had a business course. I'm navigating uncharted territory. 2) I don't have a line of credit. My credit rating stinks worse than blue cheese. 3) I'm competing with people who have the finances to get a professional grade DSLR body or replace any lens any time that they want. But in my corner are: 1) my grit and determination to succeed 2) the skill and knowledge of being self-taught. 3) and the dedication to build this business in the memory of my father's life...in that he never, ever gave up and likewise in his memory, I will show my own children that their own father NEVER, EVER...GAVE UP!

FalconRose Photography is dedicated to my father's memory; his ever present courage and perseverence in the face of adversity and his belief in the fact that if you believe in your own inner strength, any obstacle can be overcome. This one's for YOU...Dad.

I love you, Dad, and I miss you so much.

Wow, cool clouds...

Saw some very interesting clouds today on the way back from dropping the kids off at school. The clouds had formed themselves into a kind of a shelf. Don't know what kind of atmospheric conditions affect the formation of such clouds in that shape...but here's the pics.







Stretched all the way from I would say Delta all the way across what would have been Port Coquitlam a stretch of at least 15-20 miles across at least that's what it seemed like from my view. But to tell you the truth, it was probably a far lot longer than that as my human perspective isn't conducive to accurate estimation of clouds and their size.

Ah...Spring...

We are finally starting to see signs of spring. Of course the one poor lone daffodil that was growing in the curbside planter got chopped in half. Poor thing. Whoever did that was an unfeeling jerk. So unfortunately I don't have a daffodil picture to show. I kept meaning to get a picture of it, but never got around to it.

Just took a small stroll around my complex's parking lot and saw several spring-related photo opportunities with my L11. That's my little point and shoot camera that I use when I don't feel like lugging the D50 out. At least then I'm able to get f/2.8-5.2 aperture with the camera.

We got little flowers...They're pretty. (I have no clue what these are because I'm not a botanist).



And then I took a picture of the buds on the trees right outside my front door.



From there, I walked over to the green leaves sprouting on this tree.



Then...I saw the blossoms sprouting on this tree. Absolutely gorgeous.



Finally I just had to take a picture of 4 of the 5 heathers that line the curb box of one of the neighbours.



After that, I decided that I would take my D50 out and photograph some of those blossoms on that tree.

Oooh, nice innards of computer...AH-CHOO *sniff* excuse me.

I don't know why, but hayfever has been hammering me for the past week. It's like every ragweed, birch, grass and mugwort pollen particle has been attracted to my sinuses. Been clogged up, and feeling out of sorts for days on end now.

Well, in between fits of sneezing yesterday, I managed, with the help of my cousin in Reno, to open up the Gateway desktop PC and managed to get some sort of preliminary diagnosis.



1) The computer does not have any power to it unless the start button is held down continuously.
2) The hard-drive will not start booting regardless of how long the start-button is held down.
3) When the start button is held down; all the fans: case fan, CPU fan, and the power supply fan all operate. When the start button is released, they all stop.
4) There is a green light on the motherboard that is on when the power button is pressed and held down. When it is released, it turns off. The power supply light is lit when the power cord to the back of the case is plugged in.

And of course, NOW it doesn't do anythng at all when the power button is pushed. Sometimes the power light comes on, sometimes the power light stays off. Anyways, yanked out the power switch, ground and hot wires leading to the LEDs and am going to replace all of them at NCIX at some point next week. Evidently, my wife's work doesn't have replacement wires/switches. If that doesn't work, then there could be a short in the power supply cord. Which pretty much means...replace the whole friggin' power supply.



And then now I've gone "STUPID". I'm now having ideas of building my own PC from the ground up. I want to have it be a Core i7 980X which is reputed to have a hyperthreaded-six-core processing unit. The reason behind this is that I'm looking at hyper-processing (on a usual shoot day, I run in excess of over 600 images or more). I've been also looking at going Photoshop CS4 when I get my computer and CS4 was optimized to run with a quad-core system. The reason I've been thinking about building my own machine is because I can't seem to get the stuff that I want with the boxed-package i7 machines available at the stores. I want to be able to pick my own parts and build my machine from the ground up. That way I get a chance to learn how to replace a SATA hard-drive, add more RAM, etc etc.

The faster I process, the sooner I can get on to my next shoot. I hate macro-processing a batch of 600+ photos and sitting there for an hour and a half while CS sits there and churns on a single processor. I'm not a gamer. I used to game, but no longer and I find that I don't miss the games either. But I find that I can use the speed for video/photo editing and it would be a godsend to have that.

Well, I'm going to look into how to build a PC and if I feel like I can manage it, I'll try. If not, I'll get buy with an expandable box system and throw in some upgrades.

Decisions...decisions...Broker...Trading Licence...

I got the letter back from the Real Estate Council that I can "challenge" my real estate course. And frankly, I can either challenge my broker's course or I can challenge my real estate trading (salesperson's) course. But do I really need the "status" of being an associate broker? I'm not going in there with the attitude that I want to "be somebody" in the real estate business. I'm going in there with the plan of selling my mother's house, flipping a few ends and then getting the hell back out the business to pursue my photography.

Yeah, being an "associate broker" sounds so cool, but you know what? It doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot of beans in the business if you're not in there to make money. And I'm not a "Real Estate Tycoon"...a shark in the business. I feel like a minnow in a shark tank every time I step into those waters. It's not a comfortable feeling. The only reason I felt comfortable in the business was because I had two "great whites" (both were Medallion Club members) hanging around as friends and as protectors (if I felt overwhelmed, they were always hanging around to give me a hand). Thanks, Calvin, Thanks Bruce.

Photography's my life...it's what I was meant to do. And the sooner I get my mother's house sold and get my photography business going, the happier I'll be.

Second Thoughts...with regards to Real Estate

I have been having second thoughts regarding going back into real estate. There have been slanderous words said about me from my maternal uncle's side of the family and I'm not too happy about that. I don't like the fact that my uncles are shoving my mother around under the guise of "we just want to help you..." and because my mother is distraught over Dad's death, that she's buying it hook, line and sinker. I have my own reasons for disliking my maternal uncles. I want nothing more to do with them. As far as I am concerned, the Mimoto side of the family is DEAD to me. And if the two of those uncles piss me off even more, I will ennokiru ~disown~ that entire family line out of the Chikamori family rolls in Japan from my maternal grandmother on down. And that I can do as the titular head of the Chikamori family upon my father's death. Now the uncles think that my mother nor myself deserve to inherit anything from the estate of my maternal grandfather despite the fact that I was the firstborn grandson of my maternal grandfather and that I was the only one that he knew. They would raise a stink if I was the "realtor" who sold the Mimoto "family" home and try to cut me out of my commission.

When Dad died, I came to the realization that this will happen to me soon enough. When he passed away, I realized that my remaining life was measured in a few decades, not in a half-century. That I may end up taking the same final walk that he did. I hope that there is something there after death. I want to believe that there isn’t the “finality” of death; that there is something there…beyond the grave. I want to believe that our spirits go to a spirit world where all our family is waiting there for us to cross over. I want to believe that I’ll see Dad again, where-ever he is. And I want him to be there with open arms saying “Anata no jinsei jozu ni torikoshita.” I want him to be able to say “Well done, my son, I’m proud of you.” ~ something he was never able to do in life. I want to believe that we’ll be there together again as a family. I keep hearing that “Tanomu yo…Tanomu yo…~I ask you to do this for me...~” in my head. And I’m taking it to mean that he knew that I finally found what I wanted to do in life and he wanted me to RUN with it. He knew that I’d finally found what I wanted to do in my life. And the last time I showed him the picture of that dolphin leaping he was so damned proud of me for nailing that shot with perfect exposure. I showed him the shot of the heron at that playground and he was beaming with pride. He’d known that I had finally found my place. At least he was alive to know that I had finally found my place in this world. That’s all any father wants for their children and that’s all I want for my own children is that they find what they truly want to do with their lives. He knew I wasn’t happy in music, he knew that I wasn’t happy in real estate and he knew that I was absolutely not happy in accounting. But to see his face light up when he saw the results of my photography, that was the best feeling in the world.

The photography business that I’m trying to develop is not for me; it’s ultimately for the kids in the end. It’s supposed to be a concrete example that no matter how hard their Dad was hit or knocked to the ground, he didn’t quit. He got up, brushed himself off and kept striving for that goal no matter how many times he failed. And that was what my Dad taught me. He always said. “Fight o motan katara dame! ~You have to have that fight inside yourself~" You have to always keep fighting; fighting to win! If I don’t fight, if I don’t strive to win, then I’m good as dead. I might as well end it, because then I’m no use to my own family. Grandpa gave that example to me with his restarting his gardening business after the war, Dad gave that example to me after no matter what the obstacles, he kept working harder than ever. And I want to hold that example to my own children; that their Dad never gave up; no matter what anyone thought of him. I want to die of a heart-attack with a camera in my hand, doing what I was meant to do. That’s the way I want to go.

I have 35 years left if that; and I can’t waste another moment. No matter how long it takes, my end goal will be to leave my existence with a legacy for my children; their father’s photographic career, this business if they want to take it over. I want to live up to my father’s final request of me: "Tanomu yo... ".

Joy of joys...Service Interruption!

Joy of joys of joys. Microsoft screwed up our internet connection. That is one of the reasons why I severely hate Windows Vista. Right now I'm reading a yellow triangle with a "!" in the middle as a result of this stupid problem. Heather is going to have to fix this problem with Shaw and see if there's a way of getting that stupid computer to recognize the Shaw connection or otherwise it's going to be a friggin' boring ass day today. Maybe I'll just take photographs today or something, maybe clean the washroom and the kitchen. Maybe I'll just veg. I don't know but if I'm not connected to the internet, then I can't do jack-squat with regards to updating blogs or what-not. Not that it's a big deal, but it would be nice when I get the "idea" to be able to update quickly.

What is really frustrating me is the lack of a proper photo-editing computer. Our desktop computer is completely down and I'm not able to update the way I want to. I want to get that fixed before June so that I can start really photographing again. Freelance photography is the way to go in terms of this photography business and I can't do anything while the computer is completely down. I need to talk to Paris, my wife's cousin, regarding opening the computer up and figuring where the noise is coming from inside the case. Then I take it in to LD to see what they can do about it. It's like a "car turning over" sound which only happens when I hold the start button down. If I take the finger off the start button, then it stops. Like I said, what a pain in the @$$.

Anyways, that's currently what's going on with the computers in this home right now.

Update: Evidently we're back up online again. Evidently it was a Shaw Service Problem and techs were working on it. When we called in to find out what was going on, there was a service message. Yippee...yay.

Clouds, Clouds, More Clouds...etc...

Nasty Bunch of Clouds


Looks like we got us another system movin' in...

Real Estate...AGAIN????

Me during my first stint in Real Estate in 1993-1998...

Gosh, golly gee, do I go back into real estate or not? I'm just kind of wondering. Been doing the math and the figuring, wondering if that will be worthwhile. My mother opened the door on the opportunity...

My pluses are that I have a lot more confidence going into the game. I'm not a young kid anymore like I was back in 1993-98 doing this gig. I have life-experience and I'm not about to get pushed around like I did back in the days when I was working in real estate in my 20s. I'm now 40 this year and have more stability. I have a wife and 3 kids with a 4th on the way. Back then, I was single. It won't be the ego-trip that it was back when I was in my 20s. It's a job...and it's something I'm capable of doing. I'm also not going back in to get my Agent 9.15 like I had done my last go-round with the real estate business.

I will NOT work with an unqualified buyer. I have 4 kids...and two adult mouths to feed. I don't need to run around trying to take a tire-kicker to several appointments and not having them like any of them. I don't need that aggravation. I will sit down with them for an in-house appointment (at the office) so that I can get all the information that I need to do my job properly. They should be able to find their houses within 3 or 4 homes if I have prequalified them properly. Any more and they'll just get confused. They also have to be financially pre-qualified or I will not be working with them. I've made that mistake all too many times.

The only negatives I can see are the cost and the fact that I'm not a great one for cold-calling. And with the telemarketing legislation that has come into play in the last few years in British Columbia, telemarketing (cold-calling) has gone completely out the window. Realtors have had to turn around and completely revamp their marketing strategy.

I will probably challenge the course and get in a few sales during the two year term of my licence. Because what I want to do is take that one listing and turn it into several sales that will benefit my pocketbook. My main goal is to make enough money so that I can make a go at my photography business. Because as I said to my mother, photography was what I was meant to do...and if I have to go through the flames of hell to do it, I will.

First things first though, I'll take my challenge course materials and study them thoroughly. I'll take advantage of the lectures (I'll make sure that my wife doesn't take any shifts on the days that I need to go up to UBC to take those lecture courses). I expect that if I get the course materials in May, I'll be ready to write in September and hopefully things will snowball for the better from there.

MORE CLEANUP!!!! ~insert agonized scream~

Voila, wonders of wonders, we have a clean BOOKshelf.


There is nothing left on the floor.


The kitchen is relatively clean, as far as I could make it, on short notice.


The view from the living room into the dining room. There's still stuff on the dining room table but I'm still trying to figure out where that goes. But on the whole the place is presentable.

Our Hakamairi

We went to the gravesite yesterday afternoon and were able to view my father's headstone. Prior to dropping by my father's headstone. Heather and I went past my maternal grandmother and grandfather's headstones.

We walked from our home in Surrey, through Holland Park to the King George Skytrain station. It wasn't raining so it was worth walking.





We saw daffodils at Holland Park. That's a sure sign of spring. What was a real coincidence was that my mother brought daffodils from her house in Vancouver the week prior to place at both my grandmother and grandfather's grave as well as my father's. So maybe viewing these daffodils were a premonition of what to expect at my grandparent's and father's gravesite.

When we got to the Skytrain, we managed to hop on one practically immediately and we made our way to New Westminster Station...



After reaching New West Station, We got off the Skytrain and walked over to the bus-stop for the #123 Brentwood Mall bus. The ride maybe took about 20 minutes at the most and we got off at Royal Oak. Walked through the gate of Forest Lawn Cemetery



My grandparents' graves were on Summit.




My Maternal Grandfather's Grave

My Maternal Grandmother's Grave

We stopped there, said a prayer for my maternal grandparents. I asked my grandmother and grandfather to look after my father and then we left to go visit my father's graveside, which was down at the bottom of a hill. We would have liked to have gotten a plot in Summit alongside my maternal grandparents, however it was impossible as Summit was sold out years and years ago. If I win the Lotto Max, maybe I might be able to get a family vault, exhume every family member and place them in a communal vault. But as our finances stand at the momet...I doubt it.

And there it was...at the foot of a hill...beside another Japanese-Canadian's gravesite (the Tokai's), the first Chikamori family member to be interred at Forest Lawn.


My father's grave

My mother intends to be buried there as well, so I intend to honor her wishes (the gravesite is already purchased, the cost will be to reopen the vault and place her in when the time comes; hopefully, that will not be soon). We have too much repairing of our relationship to do before then.

I noticed sand all over the headstone...so I took my hand and brushed off what I could, I hope to bring a broom and do the rest next time, I visit. His plot reads "Always Loved, Always Remembered". My mother asked me to choose the saying.



And yes, Dad, I love you...and I always will. I miss you deeply but I know you were with me and Heather in spirit yesterday.

Birding on my way to Wal-Mart.

As of recently, I've been busy trying to locate a certain bird. It's the Red-Winged Blackbird, Latin name: Agelaius phoeniceus. I first distinctly saw one when I was walking over to Wal-Mart on 88th Avenue just a week and a half ago. My wife bought me the "Compact Guide to British Columbia Birds" and I've been using that as a guide to locating and identifying certain birds that I have seen around the area.



Now the Red-Winged Blackbird holds a certain fascination for me as I've been trying unsuccessfully to get a picture of it with my D50. Of course when I saw it in full plumage during my walk over to Wal-Mart, I had no D50 with me and it happily did it's little "honk-a-ree" call at me. So I say to myself 'Well, I'm going to go get my D50 the next day and come back down and take a picture...if I can locate it again..." Well...sure enough...I get my camera the next day and the bird is nowhere to be seen.

Of course...then today I go wandering down to Wal-Mart to get some Pepsi and sure enough, it's hanging on the high-tension power lines happily going "reet-reet-reet-honk-a-REEEEEEE" Damned bird seemed to be laughing at me. So I took out my L11 and snapped a pic at 3X digital magnification. Well...unfortunately I couldn't get the wing markings but at least I managed to snap an albeit crappy pic of it. I do intend on going down there and nailing that bird with the D50 and 70-300mm f/4-5.6 by the end of this year. No bird is going to laugh at me and get away without it's picture getting snapped.



I also saw some American Robins (turdus migratorius) (why aren't they called "Canadian Robins" since they live in Canada?) and some pine siskins (carduelis pinis) sitting in a tree. I've actually seen more female American Robins than the brighter colored male. I can recall only seeing a male ONCE recently. I used to see them a lot in my youth.



Another bird that I haven't seen recently or very often but saw quite often during my youth is the Stellar's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri). I think one of these days, I have to go walking back up to Thornhill and see if I can locate some to photograph.

But the particular bird on my hitlist right now is that damned Red Winged Blackbird.

Lots to do at home; major cleanup in progress

A lot of things to do today. It’s been busy for me the past few days trying to get the house cleaned up so that the place looks presentable. I prefer everything to be where I put things and I want to not have to worry so much about endless rounds of cleanup so that I can do other things that could potentially earn money like my photography.

I’ve been put on Diclofenac Sodium (Voltaren) which I take when I really need it: (in terms of my back being really sore) and it was for the most painful three days in February that I’ve ever had. It felt like my head was being twisted off my neck and I haven’t been in that much pain for a long time since I had my root canal and that hurt.

Currently I’ve been doing dishes. And that’s been a chore having to get the kids to do what they’re supposed to do in terms of making sure their own dishes are done by THEMSELVES! Unfortunately when certain persons who shall remain nameless don’t do it, it doesn’t bode well for the rule.

I do need to get out and get some photography done. My D50 is missing me and I it. It’s been a while since I’ve had the inclination to get out but since Spring is on it’s way, I’m getting a nasty case of cabin fever and am starting to feel like Travelocity’s Travelling Gnome. Leedaleedle lee-da di…A Leedle-leedle lee-da-dum…I need to get out of here…A leedle-leedle-dee dum-da-ah…

I’ve been spending more time with the L11 than the D50. Partly because it’s easier to carry than the D50 and it’s bright with a f/2.8 at the 36mm range going up to an f/5.2 at the far end. For me to get a basic 17-55mm f/2.8 would cost me in the neighbourhood of about $1600.00. And that isn’t worth it for a DX (CMOS format sensor 1.5X crop) lens. I would rather spend 300.00-400.00 more and get the 14-24mm f/2.8 lens if I’m going to go that far with buying a lens that’s bright.

I’ve done my taxes and I do get some money back this year. I have to get the forms in by April, but I do intend to get them in sooner than that because I want to get my money back sooner than that.

On February 28, 2010, we wandered over to Holland Park and I took a shot of this tree lit up…evidently Surrey wasn’t too keen on taking this down so quickly after Christmas.



Hopefully, I’ll be able to get out a lot more this summer and be able to take some more pictures.

Interesting Weather and the Olympic Celebration Site

We saw some nasty looking low-lying clouds on February 9, 2010. This was when the boys and I were going over to The Real Canadian Superstore for some groceries. On the first shot, I'm sure that there were some water droplets that got on the lens. But it certainly is a freaky effect. On the second shot, it looks like you see the base of some strato-cumulus clouds (but they really don't seem all that defined).





The other pictures are from yesterday when I had to walk up to get some painkillers. My back seemed to give out about 4 days ago and I was in excruciating pain for two out of the four days. So my doctor put me on Diclofenac Sodium 75 mg.(30 tablets) 2 a day. I've suffered back pain since that fall over 4 years ago. I've had to take ibuprofen and acetominophen off and on for the past four years to try to help the back pain, but it's worsened over the past few months. Walked up to London Drugs and back and by the time I got back I needed that painkiller. But you just grit your teeth and keep going. There's too many other things to enjoy in life to let a little back pain get in your way.



Isn't this wonderful. Surrey spends I don't know how many millions to replace bus shelters that they removed. Wonder how long this one is going to stay pristine until it gets defaced by some moron with more time on his/her hands than brain power.

These following pictures are from the Surrey - Holland Park, Olympic Celebration Site, which being a grump and a half, I feel that it's a wonderful waste of tax-dollars for a party for the "haves" not the "have-nots". I'm sure that they could have had a better use for the $6B that they spent on this Olympic Winter Games shindig. Pyeongchang or Salzburg would have been better choices. But like they say, call me a grump.



Here's the entrance of the whole shindig with regards to the Surrey Olympic Celebration Site...looks real inviting.



Boy, wonder how much they spent on this window hanging...









If you look carefully behind the sign, you can actually make out a security guard. I guess it's to keep out those "poverty protesters" who might jeopardize the good mood of the Games celebration.



This is evidently where the RCMP musical ride happens. Must cost a lot to park a tent like that around there for a couple of weeks.



One of the RCMP Musical Ride tractor-trailers that they use to cart those poor horses around in.



Central City through the trees looking at the big Olympic window hanging. Isn't it nice and tranquil? Not bloody likely until 4 weeks from now.