July Experimental Photo Shoot - Chicago IL

On Saturday the 18th of July I was invited to go on an experimental photo shoot with David Price of Black Olive Studio. This month's shoot was held in Chicago IL. I didn't want to drive because I didn't know where to park and even if I did find some place to park the fee would be more than I wanted to pay. I discovered a train that went from South Bend IN (about 45 miles from Three Rivers) that would take me right down town to about the place there David and some other friends were going to be shooting.

After barely making my train I made it to Chicago at about 11:00 am. After calling David and finding out their location I managed to meet up with them in short order.

Here are a few shots I took while I was there.

I think this is the first picture I have taken with lens glare.

(I don't know what the technical term is)

I started playing around with just the basic color alterations on my camera.

I think this one turned out well.

My favorite type of photography is spur of the moment.

Anna Price (David's sister)

This is another example of changing the basic settings.

A little more saturation and contrast.

It started to sprinkle, that's why there are a few drops on the lens

A neat picture of the train

Random people waiting for the train.

Slower shutter speed to capture the moving train.

I had a good time hanging out and shooting pictures. Although I took over 400 and only got about 50 that turned out decent, it was still worth it.

Thought's about the Weather

It probably has something to do with "Climate Change."

I am upset that I was deceived (not really, I'm not that stupid) that our globe is getting warmer. It's disappointing because I was looking forward to warmer weather year round. Last month I had to turn on my heater. What's up with that?

My trip to visit my family in IA - Summer 09

This past week and a half I was forced to take a few days of vacation because of a plant shutdown so I decided to take a few more days and make a trip back to visit my family. One of the goals of going back home was also to help my family put a roof on some of the house that desperately needed it. We only did one side because of funding, but the other side seemed to be in a lot better shape. It was steeper and the weather had not done as much damage to it. It should be good for a few more years.

I took the new ride back and had a wonderful (non-eventful) ride. I started back on Thursday June 25. After riding a few hours I stopped in Des Moines and visited a friend, and then continued the rest of the way home.

Before the roof project was underway there was some nice relaxing time with the family. I took a walk down our long lane and took a few pictures of the scenery.

This is me with the new ride at my grandmother's house

Mom letting the chickens out for the afternoon

Me standing next to the not so knee high corn by the forth. It's actually well over my head, but the angle of the camera doesn't depict that very well

A boring picture (part) of our long lane

A scenic picture of a hay field and grain bin

An engineers attempt at art

Joseph watering the cows

This was taken Monday morning when mom put me to work cleaning up the place. Before this picture was taken there was a very large pile of brush and other junk that covered most of where there is no grass. you couldn't see the pile on the left nor the burn barrel. Pile on the right was added to the inside edge of the old pile with other stuff we found to clean up.

The roof project.

The roof Tuesday afternoon... what a mess

What we were tearing off. Two layers of asphalt followed by a layer of cedar and another layer of asphalt. Thanks to Mylidiah for doing the work behind setting this picture up.

Mylidiah working on the roof

Jack helping out

Part of the crew

Joseph

Some of the boards below the valley were rotten and had to be removed

Myndarah cleaning up old shingles

Jack and Joseph working on the new sheeting

Self explanatory

Jordon (nuf said)

Me rebuilding the overhang

Finishing it up. Doesn't it look nice?

Camping "out." There was a chance of rain. Fair weather campers I guess.

Myliasah loading the wagon with the junk.

Thursday we had some help from some friends from church. Pictured above is David Dykstra

Thanks to David and Michael for their help.

Me posing for the camera. Jack in the background with the funny look makes this picture interesting.

I guess the cat caught a mouse and then didn't eat it. Not sure why. We thought it might make a cute picture. My sister "rescued" it. Probably just to be found by another cat at another time.

Look at those muscles ladies (or lack there of)

The final stage begins

Mylicent helping get the tar paper nailed down

Judah helping David with the roof

David

Me getting thing first few rows on

Dad helping out

Looking good folks

The twins

Um, I don't know

Loving brother and sister

Later in the day

Me attempting to weave a valley

y

More shingles please

Judah working on his house

We got most of the roof done before the rain came early Friday morning. I think my family is going to finish it when it dries out.

My trip home was uneventful, which is good. I stopped in the Davenport area to visit a friend from school and finally got home to Three Rivers about 0500 Sunday.

The motorcycle rode well. The transmission seems to be showing it's age a little, but I was told they were kind of "clunky" anyway and they were built like trucks. It's probably just me being paranoid like I usually am about things like this. Who knows, it might last another quarter million miles. While I was home I changed the transmission oil and that seemed to help a little.

Well, that's all I have for now.

Keep the shiny side up and the dirty side down. Keep it between the ditches.

Over and out.

The New Addition

As many of you know (or at least those of you who know me well), I have upgraded to a new motorcycle. I liked the K100LT very much, however it had a slight defect. The faring was too close to my knees and made it uncomfortable to ride long distances. This was a common problem for most riders of this model.

After my Georgia trip I decided to start shopping around for a different bike. After looking around for a while I decided that I wanted something RxxxxRT, peferably the newer the better. What I really wanted was a 2005 R1200RT or newer with cruise, but that seemed a little out of my price range. I eventually found an 97 R1100RT at the dealership that I got the K100LT from. I had a good experience with them and after dealing with them on the price and trading in my K100 I ended up trading the K bike with a little extra cash for the R-RT.

Below are a few pictures of the new ride...

BEAUTIFUL!!!

A little more sporty than my last one

It even came with saddle bags and a trunk

Some people have criticized me for posting pictures of it on facebook saying, "you know when a guy really likes his motorcycle when he post pictures of it on facebook."

I do have to admit that I really enjoy this pleasure that God had blessed me with.

New vs. Old....

The new one is more comfortable

Seems to get better gas milage

Runs better at highway speeds

Same peek horsepower, but has slightly more torque at 1000 less RPM (which is always good)

Came with better water resistant saddle bags and trunk

It has a newer design on the drivetrain

Unfortunately it has over 139000 miles on it vs. the 65000 my other one had on it when I traded it in. It runs well and BMWs are know for high milage.

The body is in much better shape

The new one is a two cylinder rather than a four. Inline four cylinders are inherently unbalances and the old one had some bad resonance spots that were kind of annoying

Overall I have enjoy riding it and don't regret the change.

Edit to last post

It seems I took the wrong starting milage in my calculation of total trip miles. The starting odometer reading was 63277 and the final reading was 65615. This gives a total travel distance of 2338. Actually a little further than I thought.

The Trip Home from GA

I know I have been home for over a week and a half, but I got caught up with getting back to "normal." Although it seems like trips like these are becoming the norm for me these days.

Here are a few pictures from the last day. Nothing to exciting, except I went back through the Tail of the Dragon. It started raining half way through and most of the way I was following a "slow" car. Not to mention there were some county mounties out there. Not that I would speed or anything. :D

View Larger Map

The Last Day's Rout

Some nice scenery along the way

The Tree of Shame

(Fortunately none of that's mine)

I think I would be hanging on

A quick stop to check out the sights

I had to include the picture of the Aprilia!!!

That guy has taste.

I arrived home safe and sound at about 0500 Sunday. I think next time I won't ride that tired.

Total miles for the day (24 hour period) = 760. The reading in that picture says 65615. Total miles for the trip were 1874. For some reason I thought it was more then that.

Day 5

The main event!! Justus’ wedding is upon us. Other than that the day was pretty non eventful. I was able to get rested up by sleeping in. Breakfast was at the hotel and than I worked on the computer a little till lunch and then went with the some of my relatives to McDonald’s for some good ol’ American food.

I am still having some issue with my ABS system on my

motorcycle. Right before my trip I left the key on and totally killed the

battery (except the clock didn’t reset). A friend and I put it on a battery charger and got the bike running again, but ever since the ABS light flashes. I have tried a couple of things to get it to reset because as far as I know the system should still be working, but everything I tried doesn’t work. This afternoon I called the dealer in Atlanta thinking I might drive it over and see if they can figure out what’s wrong, but the gentleman that I talked to seemed to think there wasn’t much as far as quick fixes for it. He told me how to reset the system (which was very similar to what I had been doing) but that didn’t seem to work either. I guess I will have to drive around with is flashing all the time. It actually doesn’t change anything about the breaks except the ABS doesn’t work. Which under normal operation shouldn’t be needed anyway.

At 1700 we headed out to the wedding. I followed uncle Bill

because I thought it would be easier than trying to find my own way. After taking a few U turns (one being in the middle of the road) we made it in time for the wedding.

Here are a few picture from the wedding

Not many miles today. Just to and from the wedding and reception and a trip to Wal-mart for a few supplies

Today was only 78 Miles.