Category: blather

Lockdown in the time of Coronavirus

On By stefrobrtsIn barclay, blather, family, mighty, mouse, navi, pets, photography, TheRancho, Uncategorized, xboxLeave a comment

I guess we’ve been hearing about the virus in China for a month or so, but it has suddenly hit us hard. With the knowledge that this bad new flu is circulating, but without testing capability, and an already overtaxed medical system, we are now in semi-lockdown. The play we have been rehearsing for over a month (Much Ado About Nothing) is on hold until later in the summer, I’m working from home, and people are wiping out the grocery stores (glad I went to Costco with friends and stocked up a couple weeks ago). Crazy times.

I had just settled on a plan to expand my photography into family portrait work, and decided that this summer I would train and do any odd jobs I could get, and hone my craft. I bought a new (used) lens just for this pursuit.

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This is a Sony f/4 70–200mm. It takes really sharp pictures with nicely blurred backgrounds. I’m really happy with the few test shots I’ve done.

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Combined with my full-frame a7ii, this is certainly a rig capable of producing high-quality images.

I also plan to dedicate any ‘hustle money’ I can make to my meandering Mustang project. But who knows when things will get back to normal, when I can start hustling, if I will even care about the Mustang when this is all over. Maybe priorities will change? Right now the poor Mustang is buried in the garage under shipping materials leftover from Christmas. The toy shipping season has stretched out significantly. Things are still selling now in March!

But I don’t mind working at home. I’m hanging out with my hubby and dogs and cats:

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surrounded by all my craft projects I’ve been putting off. Like my ‘learn to paint’ project. I’ve got my paints, I’ve got my easel, all I need is time.

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I can FINALLY follow along with BOB!

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It’s actually kind of nice, but I’m only a few days in. We will see how it feels by the end of the month! I hope to sneak off for some fishing when the weather warms up next week. We will see how it all goes. I’m just hoping people handle this sanely, take care of each other, remember to be kind and considerate, and we will all ride out this strange time, stay healthy, and be back to normal sometime this summer.

Until then I’ll try not to spend too much time riding the range in Red Dead Redemption.

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A new home for my journal

On By stefrobrtsIn blather, photography, UncategorizedLeave a comment

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Since 2007 I have had a blog on Google Blogger platform. This is my personal journal, a place to record our adventures and share my photography. Blogger has certainly been adequate, but it has always had it’s quirks, like issues handling media, and I do not like having my blog tied to a mega-corp that might change it’s policies, own my photos, delete my blog, etc. So it is time for a change, so welcome to my new blog on WordPress. I’m sure it will take a little getting used to, but I am hoping it’s ease of use will also encourage me to post more often. I have noticed lately that a lot of my effort has been put into sharing on Facebook instead of here, and that’s a shame, because this is the place I will probably still have access to years from now. Right now I’d like to wean myself away from FB as much as possible.

Also, I’d like to point out importing the old Blogger blog with all 11 years of posts and pictures was a snap thanks to the Blogger export feature, and the WordPress import feature. It was so easy I should have done it sooner!

 

Comic books at the drug store

On By stefrobrtsIn blatherLeave a comment

No picture today, just a memory that I haven’t thought about in years. I guess memories are just the pictures in our head, so it counts the same to me.

When I was a little kid in the 70s my Grandpa owned an auto repair shop on the corner of 115th and Sandy Blvd, in Portland Oregon. My Mom and Dad worked there as well. After school sometimes my Mom would pick me up from the grade school, about three blocks up the street (I was never allowed to walk), and bring me back to the shop. Hanging around the shop was kind of dull, what with nothing but Chilton’s manuals to read, so I would be happy if I could beg a few coins off Mom, Dad, Grandpa, or one of the friendly customers or mechanics, and run over to the drugstore across the street.

The drugstore was a pharmacy with a real soda fountain right up front as you came in. They could pull you a real float, make up an ice cream cone, or just get a pop. They had a long formica counter and the little round stools you could spin around on, and a mirror on the wall behind. I remember the guy behind the fountain telling us jokes 🙂

Next to the door, against the big front window, was a low rack of magazines. All family-friendly titles as I recall. If they had the other kind, they didn’t put them out front. Lots of comic books there. I remember looking through the Archies, Casper, Richie Rich, and Little LuLu. I would sit there going through them while right on the other side of the window the cars rushed by on Sandy Blvd.

It was a real treat to buy a comic and a piece of candy (bit-o-honeys were my favorite for years), and then go back and spend the afternoon in the corner of the shop, watching the comings and goings, reading a comic, and maybe sneaking a hot cocoa or a cup-a-soup (the kind where you’d empty the little envelope into the cup and fill it with hot water – I think it was just salt and artificial flavorings).

Ah, the little corner drugstore. An almost forgotten little bit of my history.

Oh wait, I do have a picture:
This is Grandpa, Chuck Waddell, doing a canned food drive with the Elks, probably back in the 60s. A bit before my time. He was a fine man, worked hard, took care of his family, volunteered to help out in his community. He taught me to take care of what I had, and help people who didn’t have as much. He’s been gone since I was in college, and I still miss him a lot.