Photo post for What’s Up?. I took this photo on a recent photo shoot in Bastion Square, downtown Victoria, BC, Canada.
I was using my Yashica FX103 with Fuji Realia 100, and my 28 mm lens. I loved how the tall building looked almost stumpy. The sky and cloud cover worked out well too.
In case you hadn’t noticed a difference, on the weekend I update the theme a little. I hand tweaked the xtemplate code to produce something I liked a little better. Then I changed the CSS, and modified a few site settings. In all it was a good clean geekery session on the weekend.
I also update my galleries to the latest version (Gallery v1.4.2).
Yesterday was a great ride. Myself, Sean, Shane, Darryll, Abby and Yoshi were out for a slippery, slimy, wet day at the dump.
It was awesome. I had a great ride. I felt strong most of the day. My training must be doing some good since climbing wasn’t as painful and difficult as it usually is 😉
I also cleaned a couple logs ride I hadn’t done before.
Our route had us bypassing Skull on the way up due to trail maintenance. Instead we took Pooh bear corner which has a long steep loose section that usually gives me trouble. I made that one with no dabs!
Next up we went down Inventive. I had tried the log on Inventive several times before, but today I made it on my second attempt. I quit then and there 🙂 I didn’t want to jinx myself. I watched Shaners, Seaners and Darryll ride it though.
Past C-section, we rode up to the Switchbacks. Here I usually make the decision to do the push up beside the switchbacks. Yesterday I actually rode up!
I was slow and dabbed lots, but I got to the top. In fact I was glad I did. My motivation to ride is returning more and more. I used to love climbing hills, and lately I only seem to do it out of necessity. Perhaps that is changing.
It was spooky misty out yesterday, but that just added to my enjoyment of the ride.
At the top of the switchbacks we rested a bit before tackling the latest log ride at the dump. It is a beaut though. Long, with kinks, but only a few inches off the ground. In retrospect it might be easier if it was higher off the ground. With no consequences it is extremely easy to just bail off the side when my balance gets a little off. If it were higher, I think that would help me concentrate and ride a straighter line. Anyway, here are the guys on the log.
We then headed up to Twister and rode that trail with aplomb. Tight, twisty, rooty, puddly, fun. I hadn’t been on that trail in forever it seemed like. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Up to Snakes and Ladders for our main descent. The four of us (and the dogs too), blasted that quite quickly. We ended the ride by zipping down a trail next to Y2J (I don’t think I know that trails name). Back on the fire road we found Skull was still closed, so I showed the guys another trail just a little further down the road.
This trail has a nice 8 foot drop that I had seen Mike ride many times. I knew Shane would like it. The rest of the group watched while Shane did the drop. Then we watched as Shane did the drop again, and crashed this time 🙂
For me it was a great ride. It was a confirmation that my work on the road bike is starting to pay off. The ride was good, and so was the comraderie!
Oh, and I got my laces muddy too! 😀
Today I took Yoshi out to the Elk Lake fields. What a soup! The fields were all drenched, and there were many mud pits and bogs. Pretty crazy.
When we first got there Yoshi played with a black Lab named Isaac. Very cute lab. Isaac’s owner had a Chuck It, so he threw for Yoshi and Isaac for about 15 minutes or more while he and I talked.
After the retrieving Yoshi and I walked/waded our way down to the rowing club, then made our way back to the truck following the lake shore. In all we were out for close to 2 hours. He sure slept soundly this afternoon.
last nit greg took me to the park. it was a really nice warm night and there was a bewtiful sunset. greg wanted to take pictures, but when i saw his camura i had the urge to do my biznez. greg sed he missed the lite. i was sad abowt that, but i felt better afterwordz.
i ran with lots of dawgs and had lotz of fun. it was a reely warm nite too. there wuz lots of other dawgz there. i didn’t lik the greyhound though. he was meen and chasd me.
there wuz lots of yung pups too. leo was 12 weeks and had bigger pawz than me!
after the walk i decided to go for a quik dip in the oceun. greg wuzn’t happy when i did this, but it felt guud. the walk home was a little chilly, but i got a reely good rub down before dinnur.
wut a great day.
Saturday I had my 100 Ways to Sell Your Photography course. It certainly wasn’t what I was expecting/hoping for. My goals did not mesh with what the instructor was teaching. I want to just go out and shoot lots of nice, interesting pictures then sell them. Most of the class was about selling your photography skills, not your pictures. Many of the ideas presented were to show photographers how to set up photo shoots, something I am not really interested in. I much prefer to wander around looking through the lens and capturing what I see.
I guess I am more interested in the artsy side of photography. Oh well, $75, and 7 hours gone. I did get a couple ideas, but nothing that I plan to implement right away.
Some people know what to do in emergency situations, and others do not. Today I was sitting at a light. I was in the right lane of a two lane road, that also had a left turn lane. Soon after the light went green, I heard an ambulance coming. I saw that it was coming up from behind so I turned on my right blinker, and pulled over as far as I could. Most of the other morons around me just froze, neither moving out of the way, nor signalling that they would move.
The clearest lane was the left turn lane, but the person who was waiting to turn left was in the intersection waiting for the ambulance. The ambulance went down the left turn lane since there was no traffic there, but was trapped. The left turner wouldn’t move, and neither would the traffic in the left lane. One guy in the left lane saw what was happening, so he threw his truck into reverse to make room for the ambulance. The ambulance squeaked through the small space, and made a right turn. And still the left turn dude sat there in the middle of the intersection with their left turn signal blinking the whole time. Revoked! Idiots.
I read in the newspaper that ambulance drivers really fear other drivers. Many just freeze, and never get out of the way. Ambulance drivers would love it if people quickly, but safely got out of their way, AND signalled exactly what they were going to do. Be safe people, the ambulance drivers might need to help you some day.
Yesterday was the Photo Clubs outing to Bastion Square. It was a little crisp out, but when working in the sun it was quite pleasant. The sky was slightly overcast, which added to some pictures. Unfortunately most of Bastion Square didn’t get the good light until later in the afternoon after we had left.
This morning I left my truck at Wille Dodge for its next servicing. A few minutes ago I got a call from “some dude” (I forget his name) at Victoria Nissan. I said: “Sorry, what was your name?”, and after he repeated it I asked “where do you work?”.
“Some dude” (sounding sceptical) says: “you aren’t the Greg Fox I was just talking to a few minutes ago?” 😕
Nope, sorry, wrong one. I told him that the funny part was that my truck was in for servicing today, and that I was expecting a call, just not from a Nissan dealer 😀
