Last Minute Pics

Okay, here are a couple pictures I just took this evening at Clare's. I would have taken more, but I left my memory card at home in the computer, and the camera itself only has a 32 Mb internal memory, so I can't take that many pictures on the high setting like that. At any rate, here are a couple more pictures to round out the day.

Duck(s)!

Apparently I've been on a bird and waterfowl kick lately, and today was no exception. I didn't feel like driving all the way out to Memorial Park, or Watson Mill Bridge, but I still wanted to take some wildlife photography. So I drove just up the road from our house to Brian Park.

Once again I was one of the only visitors to the park, due to the chilly weather conditions, so it was nice to have some peace and quiet while I strolled around and took pictures. So here are the offerings of the day so far. (And yes, there are a lot of "duck butt" shots, but they look so funny paddling across the pond like that, kicking up water behind them!)

Points Of View

Macro photography, and close-up (but non-macro) photography is something that I always enjoy. So here are a few other pictures I took when I was out today. One of them is a macro (the flower, obviously), and the other two are just pictures that I zoomed in close to capture. Take a look.

Another Gray Day Off

I was hoping for some bright, sunny (i.e. - slightly warmer) weather for my day off today so I could do some more photography, but of course it's typical Georgia winter weather - chilly and damp. Still, it's somewhat warmer than the last few times I've ventured out to take pictures. Earlier this morning, I drove over to Clare and Josh's place, wanting to hang out with them a bit since I have some free time, but they weren't home (Josh is at work obviously, and Clare isn't apparently down with Dad and Sandra, according to her recent blog post.) Maybe I'll get to hang out with them a little later...

Anyway, while I was there, I was watching all these birds feeding at and playing around their bird feeder table, and since I had my camera with me, I decided to take some pictures of them. Here are some of the better ones (although none of them are as good as I would like.) One of the things on my "wish list" is a good digital SLR; one that I can use different lenses with, and one that will take high resolution images (unlike the fuzzy (and somewhat painted looking) images I get with my current camera when they're viewed at full size.) Since these cameras are rather expensive, it's unlikely I'll get one any time soon, but that's why it's a "wish list." I think I could do fairly well at photography if I got some formal training, and some better equipment, but in the meantime I make do with what I've got.

So without further ado, here is the first selection of the pictures I took today. I hope you enjoy them. :-)

The Last Week

The final countdown has begun. Today begins the last week of Monica's time in Woodstock. She works all week, and then she will be coming home either Friday night or Saturday some time, and she will be home to stay. It's been a long time coming, but things are slowly coming together once again, and maybe life will return to as close to what passes for "normal" around here. I hope so anyway. At any rate, it will be good to have her home. As much as I've enjoyed spending some time on my own again, it does get lonely around here, especially since I don't have any friends here yet, and I tend to be asleep or at work during the the hours Clare and the kids are around. Hopefully that too will change within in the next few months.

Anyway, that's about it for now. I hope everyone has a good final week of January, and gets the chance to get out and enjoy some of this nice weather we're having off and on. Take care all, and stay safe. Peace.

So Full

In case you haven't heard (and there's still a few hours to take advantage of it), Chick-fil-A is having their "Keep Your Receipt" day today. Everyone who eats at Chick-fil-A today, and keeps the specially colored receipt that they're given, will be able to enjoy the exact same meal again, between tomorrow and February 28th, for free. That's right, I said FREE! If you eat there multiple times, you can get multiple future meals for free. Monica and I went the the Chick-fil-A that's next to the Home Depot she'll be working at soon and had lunch. Then after driving around the area a bit, letting Monica explore, we went to the Chick-fil-A by where I work and ate again. Needless to say, we're pretty stuffed at the moment! (Although we did bring our Chick-fil-A sandwiches home with us this time, and they're in the refrigerator for a snack later.) We paid separately, so now each of us has 2 free meals that we'll be able to enjoy for free sometime before the end of next month. That's awesome, especially given the lack of money these days!

The only "drawbacks" if you can call them that, are that you have to keep track of your receipt(s) until you go back for your free meal, and you have to go to the same Chick-fil-A that you got the receipt at in the first place (hence the trips to the different restaurants, one near each of our places of employment.)

Between meals we spent a little while at the local Barnes & Noble, perusing the books and making mental lists of what we'd like to get in the future when money's a bit more forthcoming (although I did spend the last of the cash I've been holding onto for a month or so on a book that's filled with Web design ideas and trends (I wanted some inspiration.)) Then we headed homeward, and Monica is currently chatting to a co-worker while I'm writing this post.

Anyway, be sure to stop by your local Chick-fil-A tonight if you get the chance, but be prepared for lots of people and a fair amount of standing around (both waiting for your food, and possibly for a table.) It's worth it though...buy a meal today, get it again free the next time you visit. What's not to like? :)

Have a good night all.

Print Pricing Information

Okay, here is the price breakdown on the prints I'll have for sale:

18"x24" on coated bond matte paper - $35
18"x24" on heavyweight gloss photo paper - $45
*This is a small poster size.

24"x36" on coated bond matte paper - $45
24"x36" on heavyweight gloss photo paper - $55
*This is a standard poster size.

These prices are subject to change, and are based on what it costs me to produce the prints plus a slight markup (the point is to actually make some money here after all. *g*)

Now as far as what I have for sale; basically, if I post it on my blog, I can make a print of it. I have numerous other pictures that I DON'T post, and I can take pictures of specific things if you want me to (shoot me an email and ask if you want something in particular), but for the most part I'll post the pictures online that I think would make decent prints.

So that's it. This is somewhat of an experiment, and I'm not sure if it will take off, but I'm willing to give it a shot. If anyone would like to order a print, just send me an email, or a message on here and let me know what picture you want, what size you want it printed at, and what type of paper you want it printed on. And if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc., you can email those to me too. Thanks, and have a great night.

Waiting For Work

Both literally (as in I'm waiting to get READY for work), and hopefully (as in I hope some of the people I've handed my business cards out to actually come through and CALL me to do some work/training for them.)

While I've been waiting to get ready, I've been checking out a new site I found called Blip.fm (I believe that's the name, and the URL incidentally.) It's a music-based social networking site where you become a "DJ" and create playlists based on songs you like, and others that you've found on the site. You can give "props" to other DJs (and receive them yourself), add other people's playlists to your own, etc. It's kind of cool, and I've been having fun slowly creating an interesting and eclectic mix of music that I like, ranging from Rush and Dream Theater to CCR and John Denver (I know, odd right? lol) If you're interested though, check it out!

In the meantime, I'm enjoying the mix of music that the Last.fm widget I added to my site last night has been playing. On THAT site, you pick a single artist, and then the site automatically generates a streaming playlist/station from music by and similar to that artist. I've heard all sorts of good music I would have never know about from that little widget, and it has some cool features like being able to open it in a pop-up window to enjoy the music while you visit other Web sites, having access to artist/song/album information (and the ability to purchase them), and being able to skip a particular song if you're just not that interested in it and what to hear what's up next. If you like music, and want to add some to your Web site for others (or even yourself) to listen to, I would definitely recommend checking that site out. And best of all, like Blip.fm, it's free! :)

Anyway, it's time for me to hop in the shower and get ready for another EXCITING night at the O' Max. Until next time, faithful followers (all 3 or 4 of you), enjoy this lovely, if chilly weather, and check back soon. Peace.

Prints For Sale

Okay, I don't know why I didn't think of this before (probably because I didn't think my pictures were that good, or I never had anything interesting to take pictures of), but I've had various positive comments on my recent photography from a variety of sources, and I've decided to try and sell prints of some of my photographs (natural and retouched in Photoshop) to help raise some extra money. I don't know if anyone will actually want to buy them, but if anyone is interested, they will be available on 2 paper stocks (a lighter weight coated bond paper with a matte finish, and a heavier weight high gloss photo paper), and in 2 different sizes (18"x24" and 24"x36".) If you would like a print in a different size just let me know and I'll see what I can do. All prints will be produced on a wide format Cannon W6400 inkjet printer, and will be printed on demand. Stay tuned for a list of available prints and pricing information. Also, if you have any special requests, just shoot me an email and I'll do my best to make it happen.

More information will be available soon, so be sure to check back with me. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day.

Economic Uncertainty

So Obama has officially taken office now, and perhaps things will change for the better. But at the moment, as has been the case for months (or years, as it's seems in our case) times are hard, and money's tight. We were just notified of the fact that we won't be getting raises at work this year, and that the company has also withdrawn their half of 401K investments, no longer matching (or contributing) to money that the associates earmark for their savings plans. Add that to the fact that my pay rate at the moment is ridiculous, and things are starting to get stressful again, especially given the cold weather and the high cost of gas and electricity, etc. The only thing I have to look forward to is possibly moving back up to a Supervisor position (if only temporarily perhaps), when Stacey goes on maternity leave in the spring. With luck I will at least go back to what I was earning in Acworth when I was a Supervisor at that store. If not, it's time for a new place of employment, because if I'm going to do the same job I WAS doing, I'd better get paid the same salary I WAS earning.

Anyway, on a lighter note, I've been handing out my business cards at work, off and on, and with luck I may have some Web design work coming up in the hopefully not too distant future. Also, I was talking with one of my regular customers today, and I may end up providing him with some one-on-one computer training in Photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc., so that will be a help too. I'll just have to wait and see how everything pans out.

Thirteen days until Monica starts work at the Athens store. Less than 2 weeks before she finally comes home. I know that will make things better for all of us, being under the same roof again, permanently, and getting to enjoy our house in the country together. Now if I could only find a way to deal with the bloody barking dogs that wouldn't leave a trail back to me...

Have a good rest of the week everyone, and check out the music player I added to my blog. It will provide some nice relaxing background music to listen to while you read my posts. Or you can enable the "pop-up" feature on it, and keep the music going while you go about your business online. And if you want to add something similar to your own site, just click on the "Get Your Own" button and set up your own Last.fm account. That's all for now. Take care.

A Trip Down Memorial Lane

Yes, I intentionally misquoted that saying, because it's part of what I did today. I took a trip down memory lane at Memorial Park in Athens (hence the title.) When I went to UGA (YEARS ago) and lived off-campus, I lived in a house right across the road from Memorial Park. Now being a relatively shy individual by nature, and considering that I didn't really know anyone in Athens at that time (other than a friend of two from high school who lived on campus, and whom I hardly ever saw), I spent a lot of my free time at Memorial Park, walking the trails, looking at the animals in the "zoo", and fishing in the pond that's the park's central attraction. I became a regular there, a sort of "recognized feature", and I used to have small groups of kids flock around me and watch me while I fished. It was a nice time, and even though I was alone, I enjoyed myself.

Today was my first visit to the park in 10-15 years probably (at least since sometime when Clare was at UGA.) It was both welcoming and a little sad to see that the park hasn't really changed much in all that time. There's still the run down looking swings and volleyball nets, the picnic tables and the bridge across the pond; and all in all, everything looks about the same as it did years ago when I was a sophomore in college.

Anyway, once the mizzly weather cleared up this afternoon, I decided to brave the cold, and head over to the park. I grabbed my camera and drove the 15 miles or so to Athens, parked my car, and walked along the path toward the zoo. And here are some of the better pictures that I took while I was there. Enjoy!

A Few More Pictures

Okay, as promised, here are a few more pictures from Watson Mill. I didn't post that many because a lot of them look like pictures I took the other day. So here are the few that made it. Enjoy. :)