The Year in Review

Last year around this time, a fellow blogger posted his 10-favorite images of 2007 and challenged others in Observation Car, a discussion list of railroad art and literature, to do the same. So I did, but have since grown tired of the crabby atmosphere which permeates much of the discussion on that list. But it was a good exercise and I noticed a rather disturing thread in my selection. Seven of the 10 images were made right here in Fullerton, and I thought, "I need to get out more often." I also challenged myself to get more work published.

I'm happy to say that I successfully met those challenges. Here are 10 of my favorites from this year. Well, the first six months of the year. It seems that images 1–9 were all made prior to June 30, 2008! There's a good reason for that…the house! Construction in earnest began June 3, and I pretty much shut down the creative photography efforts for the next five months, shooting only progress images of the house construction, family events and assignments at work. But looking back, I feel pretty good about the images I made from January to the end of June.

Full Eclipse of the Moon, February 20, 2008. It had rained all day, and I had little hope of seeing the moon or its eclipse through the clouds. However, the sky began to clear just as the moon was rising, and I managed to catch the passage of Metrolink 608 approaching the platform in Fullerton right at the beginning of the eclipse's totality.

This image got published alright. As a two page spread in Locomotive 2008! It was used to lead an article on BNSF merchandise trains that run over the San Jacinto Industrial Lead to March Field. Many of those ObsCar guys would write this image off as a "crappy weather" shot, but in my opinion, the early morning low clouds hovering over the University Park area of Riverside, California give this image of the MBARJAC1-23 an edge it wouldn't have otherwise on February 23, 2008

Shot through a chain link fence in crappy weather. Enough to make heads explode on that list. This image hasn't been published, but it did win a Bronze award in the photography contest sponsored by the Center for Railway Photography and Art which was themed "A Sense of Place." I think this image certainly communicates a sense of the place which is the Alondra Blvd. crossing of the BNSF in La Mirada, Calif., on March 1, 2008.

A fan trip on the Sierra Railroad, March 9, 2008, found the California foothills green and the weather more than pleasant. The last photo runby of the day found nearly everyone lined up on a grassy hillside. Looking for something different, I headed for a nearby almond orchard where the backlit blossoms and steam went "electric" for me.

This is another image used in the article published in Locomotive 2008. The MJACBAR1-21 eases around a curve and down the 2.2% grade as it exits Sycamore Canyon in Riverside, Calif., on March 21, 2008.

Union Pacific train MWCDA (West Colton to Dallas Merchandise) rolls along side the Salton Sea on the former Southern Pacific "Sunset Route" on March 28, 2008.

Metrolink trains rest at the San Bernardino station on a Saturday morning, April 12, 2008.

Santa Fe steam locomotive, 3751 pulls a special train along the Pacific Ocean, under the historic Highway 101 overpass in Del Mar, Calif., on June 1, 2008. This turned out to be the very first image I had published in Trains magazine.

Ryan Humphrey and his son Max enjoy the passing of a BNSF freight as it rolls through Fullerton, Calif., on June 27, 2008.

My wife Amy and I relax inside our newly remodeled home on December 19, 2008. I can start thinking about doing photography again!

Grace and Insanity

Finally!

We moved into our house last Saturday, October 18. Most people my age (at least the saner ones) hire professionals to do the packing, lifting, and hauling. Since I have been declared insane by any number of people, I've chosen (or been forced into) a different path. So armed with a rental truck and an army of friends and family (including both sons-in-law) we cleared out the apartment and most of the storage unit and filled the house with boxes and furniture that looks much too shabby for the walls that now surround it. Reinforcements arrived around noon and the early birds headed off to salvage what was left of their weekend.
By sundown, I was whupped! I really am too old for this…

A friend from church brought dinner over to the house that evening. So there we were, gathered around the dinner table that we'd retrieved from storage, holding hands, ready to say grace and it hit me--we were home. An entirely overwhelming sense of gratitude swept over me with the effect that my prayer of thanksgiving sounded like the voice of an alien from my thick throat. But if I were asked to select the 10 best moments in my life, this would be near the top of the list.

I think my next move will be posthumous (just strap me to the appliance dolly and try not to scratch that corner in the hallway).

But wait, there's more. Sunday, October 19 was Amy's birthday. Her 50th. Wouldn't you think that by spending a quarter mil on her present that I'd done enough? Perhaps, but you forget…I'm insane. So two weeks ago when we were able to pin down the moving date, I started planning a surprise birthday party for her…at the house! A few hastily composed invitations passed out at church and a few emails to her co-workers did the trick. I made people fully aware of the situation, summed up with the statement, "It'll be chaos, but it'll be fun."

It was chaos. It was fun.

How often does something come off almost exactly the way it was envisioned? This sure did, thanks to a lot of help from Amy's sister Luanne, my Mom and lot of friends and family who brought refreshments and gifts. In all, about 70 people came! To be honest, I didn't expect half that many, but I was too busy to count the RSVPs. My top ten list of moments was now as crowded as the house.

We found out several things at that point.

1. The house can handle a party.

2. As good it looked up to that point, the house looked even better full of people.

3. I sometimes forget to take pictures at important events.

I suspect that many women would have been appalled at the prospect of having so many people over to the house with packing boxes all over the place and nothing but dirt in the yard.

But that's one of the things I love about Amy.

She is as insane as I am!

Amy's sister Leslie, Amy, my Mom, Amy's sister Luanne.

Amy and her Mom

Blowing out the candles

Success!

Insanity squared

John, Emily (are those my glasses?), Amy and I catch a breath after the party.

Thanks to Jacqueline Shirley who once worked at Hughes Aircraft with Amy and now works with me at Santa Ana College for the photographs.

The Kitchen

Despite all appearances, Amy and I are both frugal folks. Yet given the opportunity to have, or create something nice for a reasonable price, we'll go for it. 

While designing the kitchen for the remodeling project, we decided to make sure that the kitchen was a nice place to work and hang out, and so were a bit more extravagant here than normal. No, we didn't get carried away buying appliances, in fact the 7 year old oven was reused from our old kitchen, and thus dictated that all of our other kitchen appliances would be white. Our 10 year old refrigerator still doing its job in our temporary apartment will also lend its touch of familiarity to our new cooking space.

We went top drawer with the cabinets and countertops (Kraftmaid and Silestone respectively) and made a last minute change by replacing the vent hood over the cooktop with a microwave/vent hood for only an additional $100. We saved some valuable countertop real estate in the process.

Today, the appliances and plumbing fixtures should be installed and we'll cook our first meal there tonight or tomorrow, before we've moved in. 

After that, I'm sure Amy and I will be arguing over who gets to do the cooking!

The Old Kitchen

The New Kitchen

Details, Details, Details

We will be moving back into our house this coming Saturday! Seems like there are a million details left to handle, but some of them can wait until a lazy Saturday morning when we wake up in our new bedrooms, make coffee and breakfast, read the paper and pull out the to-do list. I actually look forward to working on the place at such a pace.

Meanwhile, the things that I was responsible to do are largely finished. That I survived the process of laying 1,000 sq. ft. of narrow plank laminate flooring is a testament to good knee pads, ibuprofen, … and family and friends who have been praying for us and our project! Most professional floor installers my age are retired, and in terms of my career as a floor layer, I am too, but I wouldn't trade the experience and satisfaction of having done it myself (with help of course) for anything.

I'm looking forward to hanging artwork on the walls, beginning the landscaping work, hosting back yard barbecues and living room Bible studies, and having the grandkids over to spend the night.

Finishing the Job

Living Room, looking into the den/office

Our long ordeal/adventure is nearly done. There is still plenty of finishing work to complete. I seriously underestimated the amount of time necessary to lay down 1200 square feet of laminate flooring. I had planned to do the entire job in 3 days last weekend, but instead got a small hallway and the master bedroom (about 20% of the total) done. I've arranged for a 4 day weekend coming up and using our experience and hard-earned skills, hope to finish that job by the end of next Monday.

Bedroom with floor installed

We're still awaiting the installation of the kitchen countertops. Meanwhile the bathroom vanities will be installed tomorrow (Friday, 10/3) along with door hardware, etc. Exterior concrete work, installation of heating/air conditioning, stair handrails are also on the contractor's list.

Dawn, October 2, 2008

The hoped-for move in date is the weekend beginning Friday, 10/17…Amy's birthday is Sunday 10/19 and she says we'll wake up in the house that morning, if we have to use sleeping bags!

Almost Home

A lot has happened since I last posted, this has been a very busy month. When we first drew up the contract for the house remodel project, we intentionally left a few things out in the event that some cost overruns might put the total project over our budget. So we left out the kitchen cabinets, interior painting and flooring. We figured if the money was still there when it came time to do these things, we'd hire someone, otherwise, we'd do it ourselves.

Having to pay four months of extra apartment rent at the beginning of the project due to the zoning delay along with losing $10,ooo to a crooked contractor last year before we fired him, it's been apparent for some time that the final month of the project would involve a lot of labor on my part. As it turns out, the project has gone very smoothly otherwise and those two items totaling $17,000 were virtually the only two unexpected expenses that we faced. In terms of actual construction, we've had only two change orders adding up to less than $2,000.

Tuesday, September 16, was the day interior painting was to begin, so I arranged for vacation time from my job for the remainder of the week. The job would involve spray painting 6,000 square feet of freshly textured drywall and 2,000 sq. ft. of ceilings in one day (spray painting ceilings is not a fun job). However the drywall texturing was delayed until Tuesday, meaning that painting couldn't start until Wednesday.

Does this bunny suit make me look fat?

Kitchen cabinets were scheduled for installation on Thursday and Friday, so that area had to be painted on Wednesday as well. As the week progressed, we managed to keep everything on schedule and by the end of Friday, 80% of the interior painting was finished and the kitchen cabinets were in and looking good. This involved a lot of help! Amy held up her end painting and answering questions, my brother-in-law Tom laid ceramic tile floors in both bathrooms, rented a second spray unit and jumped into the painting panic. He, along with another fellow parishioner – Dirk McCuen – installed a whole kitchen full of Kraftmaid cabinets. My Dad, 81, painted his brains out and helped keep the place straightened out while boxes, ladders, brushes and paint buckets were flying about. Another friend from church, Carol Henke, lent her professional expertise helping Amy pick a gorgeous palette of colors, made excellent recommendations on paint brands and grades and with her husband Bill pitched in with the actual painting and brought us a meal. Amy's sisters Leslie and Luanne helped paint the upstairs on Saturday. Luanne also brought lunch over from Brea's Best Burgers and Pepe's on Thursday and Friday. David Curlee not only provided some much needed painting help, but loaned us some ladders and critical lighting equipment as well. Our pastor, Darrell McGowan took time out of a very busy week to pick up a brush and roller for the cause. 

All told, it was perhaps the closest thing to an Amish barnraising that you'll see in Orange County, outside of a Habitat for Humanity project. 

Late yesterday, I took on the task of installing a ceramic floor in the entry way. It was the first time that I had attempted such a thing on my own, and will perhaps be my last. Amy stood steadfastly by as I mixed thinset adhesive, cussed, groaned and finally completed the job at 9:00 p.m. with the help of the Curlee lighting system. To say that I was thoroughly "whupped" when I got back to the apartment would be an understatement. I ate some leftovers out of the fridge, took three ibuprofen along with a prescription pain reliever left over from a tooth extraction a couple months ago and was in bed by 10:00.

Why I'm wide awake at 4:00 a.m. the next morning, sleepless, and writing this, I can't explain.

After church today, Tom and I intend to grout the downstairs tile, and I may paint the door frames as well. I'll meet an installer at the house on Monday so he measure and template the countertops in the kitchen.

Otherwise, the pros take over again on Monday. The finish electrical will be installed Monday and Tuesday, the stucco color coat goes on Tuesday, interior doors, floor molding and door casings go in on Wednesday and Thursday before I start installing the floors on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

I may be ready for one more of those pills next Sunday night, but if we continue to stay on this schedule, we'll be moved back into the house three weeks from now.

Handcuffs All Around

I returned home last night from seeing the Angels lose to the Yankees 7-1 (what a waste of 6 dozen baseballs that was) to find a letter from Countrywide Home Loans on my desk with a mild expletive scrawled across the top by Amy. It said that our data, along with that of two million other customers, had been stolen by one of the company's senior analysts. The stolen information includes our Social Security numbers, credit history, etc. The letter stated that the company was offering two years of free credit monitoring services. (Insert expletive here)!

Reading the LA Times this morning, the article about this incident stated that Rene Rebollo of Pasadena, Calif., has been fired, arrested (in that order?), pleaded not guilty and is free on bail pending trial Oct. 7. I hope that was worth it Rene.

Countrywide is one of the prime culprits in the whole subprime lending mess that has rattled our economy. I would have never intentionally done business with them, but when we refinanced our house for the remodeling project, the ink was barely dry on the papers we'd signed when we were informed that Countrywide had bought our loan.

Ironically, directly below the Countrywide story is an article concerning the intense security of KFC's efforts to protect the secret blend of 11 herbs and spices in Kentucky Fried Chicken. The yellowing sheet of paper handwritten by the Colonel himself" was placed in a lockbox that was handcuffed to security expert Bo Dietl, who climbed aboard an armored car that was whisked away with an escort from off-duty police officers."

Apparently, our financial secrets don't rate the same security measures as a fried chicken recipe.


By the way, the house is moving along great these days. We passed drywall and exterior lath inspections yesterday, they'll finish the roof and start the scratch coat stucco today, and I'll be installing ceramic tile floors in both bathrooms over the weekend.

New Photo Album

Less than five weeks until moving day!

Meanwhile…

Obviously, the house project is the foremost thing on my mind these days. However, I have tried to put a "spacer" post in between each one about the house. With about six weeks to go before we move in to the "new" house, it will be difficult to maintain that rhythm, because finishing the project is going to the only thing on my mind in the foreseeable future.

But there are other things going on to be sure. Saturday, Amy and I were returning from a Santa Ana College art gallery opening, exiting the SR91 freeway at State College Blvd. She said "look at all those balls!" "Huh?" I said. "There's a whole bunch of Union 76 balls on top of that building, haven't you ever seen them?" Honestly, in the hundreds of times I've taken that off ramp, I've never looked 90º to the right, I've been more concerned about the cars stopped at the end of the ramp.

Donco & Sons, Inc.

So we drove over to have a look. Sure enough, in the extreme southeast corner of Fullerton, is Donco & Sons, Inc., a signage and lighting company that was apparently the keeper of the Union Oil Company's classic orange ball signs which were all removed a few years ago, when Conoco/Phillips/Union Oil were all merged into a single entity that is now about to get out of the retail gasoline business itself. I kinda wish old man Donco had sent one of his sons up on the roof to rotate some of the signs into a more photogenic pattern, but it's still pretty cool.

Then this morning, I'm driving to work, listening to the aftermath of Sarah Palin's VP acceptance speech, my blood beginning to boil, hearing a bunch of right wing pundits try to tell me that running a state for a year-and-a-half that has one fourth the population of Orange County, constitutes the necessary experience to take over the helm of our entire country, if indeed John McCain who'd be the oldest man ever elected to a first term in office would do what comes naturally to many men that age. And I'm sorry to bring this up, but when did teenage pregnancy become fashionable amongst the Christian right wing? I know we're supposed to leave Mrs. Palin's family out of this, but perhaps she should keep her family out of the limelight for a while. Perhaps she could use her shtick to audition for the reunion episode of the Northern Exposure TV show.

But I digress. Let's try that again.

Then this morning, I'm driving to work, turn the radio down and pass under a freight train slowing for a stop at Fullerton Jct. It's 6:15 am. I know that Metrolink train 701 (Riverside to Los Angeles) is due at 6:18 and that train 700 (Los Angeles to Riverside) is due at 6:19. Might be worth parking the car and taking the camera over to the platform. One of the aspects of digital photography that I've come to appreciate is its ability to work well in the low levels of pre-dawn and evening twilight. Things like street lights, locomotive number boards and signals stand out, and for the first time in my experience it's possible to capture the real feeling of those moments.

BNSF 7510 West and Metrolink train 701 pushing away from the station.

Metrolink 700 pulls into Fullerton.

Metrolink 700 crossing from Main 3 to Main 1 at Fullerton Jct.

Meanwhile, back at the house, they start doing the roof today, and the drywall starts tomorrow. I've updated the the Construction Slideshow with a new finale. There will be a lot happening real soon, and I'll try to keep you posted.

More Progress

The project hit a bit of a snag recently, when the city's engineering department raised an issue with the prefabricated roof trusses that had been used. As I understand it, the trusses were manufactured to the version of the California State Uniform Building Code which took effect on January 1, 2008, while the city expected them to be built to the previously used code which was in effect when the project was designed and approved. This resulted in a three week delay while the project's engineer of record, the truss manufacturer's engineers and the city's engineers went back and forth just to be sure that the place wouldn't come down on our heads during the next great earthquake. The guy who was installing the air conditioning ductwork in the attic when a 5.4 maginitude quake struck on July 29, could have settled the matter by telling them what he told me, "It was quite a ride, but this place moved as a solid unit, no creaking, rattling…nothing!" That's good enough for me. The entire matter is close to resolution though. The project's engineer has certified that the truss calculations are good, and submitted a letter which has been forwarded to the city's engineering department. Perhaps simply sending an envelope full of $100 bills would have been more efficient!

With that issue out of the way now, insulation, roofing, drywalling and stuccoing can commence. The kitchen cabinets are on hand, volunteers have been lined up to help with the painting, the floor material has been purchased and things are ready to move at a brisk pace shortly.

The Latest Slideshow

Extreme Makeover -- Sane Edition!

With the upstairs portion of the house in place, Amy and I can really envision how it's going to look. Needless to say, we are stoked!

Considering how badly this project started, things are now progressing at an amazing pace these days. As I write this, Mario and his framing crew are nearly finished with that phase of the construction. A framing inspection has been requested for this coming Monday or Tuesday. The rough electrical is well along, and the plumbers will be out to get started this Monday too.

Talking with our contractor this morning, I got news that the project won't be done in early November like I had expected. He's aiming for a final inspection at the end of August! That's going to mean some hustle and heavy lifting on my part, since the kitchen cabinet work and interior painting were left out of the contract and are my responsibility.

The TV show referenced in the title of this post features insane people building insane projects at an insane pace! If we'd the good fortune to experience a tragedy so profound as to qualify for one of those TV home makeovers, they have made it twice this big in the course of one week's time. No thanks.

So "Move That Bus!"

New Slide Show and New Photo Album

Progress in Plywood

Now that the project is moving along nicely, I look forward to making the right turn from Raymond Ave. onto Grove Place and driving directly toward the house. It's beginning to look dramatically different on a daily basis.

The framers have been busy this week and have finished the basic ground floor framing and have now started on the second floor. Two walls of the boy's bedroom went up today.

It seemed like a good time to update the slide show and close the "Demolition" phase. I've also put up a photo album of the project.

Can't wait for tomorrow's trip down Grove.

Assess This!

Finally, exactly four months past the original date to start demolition/construction, our builder was finally able to pick up the building permits last Tuesday and things have been moving along smartly ever since. In order to support a second floor, about ten large openings have been made in the concrete slab at key points to make pads to support the additional structure. Our contractor, RVM Construction, plans to be pouring concrete this coming Wednesday. After that, the roof will come off, the walls will be stripped to the studs, or replaced entirely in rebuilding process.

Several readers have noted the lack of updates to The Movie: Demolition after its original posting. Frankly, for the past few months there was nothing to add. In the meantime, I've reconsidered the method of presentation, and decided to replace it with The Slide Show: Demolition a Flash slide show with much better resolution. This will be easier to update as well. As the project proceeds, I'll post slide shows on the framing, stuccoing, window washing, etc.

The other day, I received a joke email about property taxes. The most noteworthy aspect for me was the remarkable resemblance of the fourth image (as seen by your appraiser) to the current condition of our house.

Start of Construction, Take 2

We finally had our hearing with the Fullerton Planning Commission on May 14. After a brief discussion including an objection raised by a "neighbor" around the corner, eight houses away, who didn't want to see a 2nd story structure from his house (he won't unless he uses a ladder), the commission voted 5-0 to approve our request for a zoning variance. After a 10-day (city business days) window to allow formal appeals of the decision to be filed, we should finally be able to pick up the building permits on June 3 -- exactly 4 months after the original date for the start of work.

Due to a lack of venue during our homeless period, the family gathered in a park near our house last Sunday to celebrate my birthday. For those of you who may not have been paying real close attention, the age counter in my profile updated automatically on May 19. It was unusually hot for mid-May in these parts that weekend, but we still managed to have a good time. My parents, wife, kids and grandkids were all there along with Melissa's homemade key lime pie. It was a simple, pleasant time and I took photos.

Hoping Against Hope

This "demotivational poster" from one of my favorite web sites pretty much describes the frame of mind that I'm trying to fend off for the moment.

Last Wednesday evening, Amy and I (along with my Father who came along to lend moral support) showed up to the City of Fullerton's Planning Commission meeting ready to clear the final hurdle to get our remodel project off the ground. The Planning Department's staff report recommended in favor of granting our request, so things were looking good. 

Okay, we showed up…too bad the commissioners didn't. Well, 3 of the 7 did, but four were needed for the necessary quorum to have a public meeting. So our item is continued to the next regularly-scheduled meeting on May 14, when the Amerige Court project, a 9-story monstrosity to be built immediately behind the site of my former studio in downtown Fullerton, will also be before the commission. That is sure to bring an angry mob of citizens to the council chambers to witness our little mini-drama.

In the words of Lloyd Bridges in the film Airplane, "I picked a bad week to stop sniffing glue!"

Progress of Sorts

After a series of setbacks, we got our first sign of things headed in the right direction today. There were notices posted in the front and postcards in our (and our neighbors') mailboxes giving official notice of the hearing of our case before the Planning Commission.

I can't imagine that anyone would show up and actually object to our improving our house, not to mention the neighborhood.

"A request for a Variance to construct a 723 sq ft habitable addition (1st floor 195 sq. ft.; 2nd floor 533 sq. ft.) including two (2) new bedrooms on a triangularly shaped lot approximately 3,175 sq. ft. in area. The project proposes to provide approximately 746 sq. ft. of open space (a 25% reduction of the required 1,000 sq. ft.) and have a floor area ratio of .54 (an 8% increase of the maximum floor area ratio of .50) on property located at 700 N Hall, at the eastern side of the intersection of Grove Place and Hall Avenue, abutting the Fullerton Creek Channel."

What's Not Happening

"So what's been happening with the house project," people ask. In short, NOTHING! Only a couple of days before the building permits were supposed to be ready, the City of Fullerton's Planning Department raised an issue that should have been raised during the first plan check last November.

It seems that the house design was over the size limit imposed by the small size of the property by 124 square feet. We were told that we could handle this with a Minor Site Plan adjustment, so we turned in our application for such and settled in for a one-month wait until the Planning Department staff meeting on March 20. When we showed up for the meeting, the staff seemed unaware of status of our project and consequently we were not on the agenda. We later learned that they had decided that a full zoning variance would be required and that the city's Planning Commission would next meet on April 23!

So here we sit.

Catching Up

Working on the blog has taken a back seat recently to a number of things, mainly the home remodeling project which has gotten stalled by the City of Fullerton's bureaucracy, AKA the city's planning department. But more about that later…maybe.

On February 20, we were treated to a full eclipse of the moon. The moon is one of my favorite photographic subjects and this event allows moon photography at its most spectacular.

The eclipse was scheduled to begin at 5:45 pm local time and achive totality at 7:01. The area had been under cloud cover the entire day and I thought there would be only a slim chance of observing the event. Around 6:10, I was ready to give up and head for home. As I was driving along Walnut Ave. in Fullerton, I saw the illuminated outline of some clouds in the rear view mirror. I stopped the car, got my gear out and soon the moon rose out of the cloud bank to the east. The rest of the sky was clearing.

For nearly an hour, I watched the shadowed portion of the moon increase as it rose in the sky. Metrolink commuter trains came and went as I composed and re-composed to accomodate the changing relationship of signal bridge and moon.

At 7:01, Metrolink 688 rolled by on it's way to a 7:04 stop. The red ghost of the moon stood out in the sky with the near 1 second exposure .

And in case you're wondering, I didn't use Photoshop to enlarge or reposition the moon.

The Lumber Starts to Fly

The last few weeks have been consumed by the task of dividing our worldly possessions into two parts: Those that will fit into our apartment and those that we can live without for six months. Of course, once they were sorted out, they had to be moved to the apartment or storage unit and I'm thankful for the relatives and friends that helped us accomplish that. Now that were done with that a reasonable facsimile of a normal life beckons.

Super Bowl Sunday was spent cleaning out one more closet in the house and finding room for those items in the storage space. After the last items were loaded into the back of my car, I spent some time alone in the place that has been home since 1993. The floors were dirty. Once when Amy was trying to put a shine in the kitchen floor she complained that she felt like she was polishing a turd. The formerly white carpets which seemed like a good idea 15 years ago were now multiple shades of brown and gray. I wasn't kind to the place in my bachelor days and by the time Amy came into my life things were already out of hand. Finally, after some difficult financial times we are in a position to fix it and start over. 

I've been taking a picture of the place every day I stop by after work. I'm assembling them into a Quick Time Movie that will show the progress to anyone interested. I'll add an image to it every time something changes. After it gets too long, I'll start another.

Meanwhile, I'll shut up about this and get back to photography and other pursuits.

Moving

We'll be moving over the next few weeks. This past weekend, Amy and I found a suitable apartment to live in during the home remodeling which could begin on February 4, provided the permit process goes smoothly. Our temporary digs will be located five blocks west of downtown Fullerton, meaning that we'll be able to walk to church, the train depot and the library.

It also means that the Unauthorized Observer will have tunnel vision for a few weeks, while we get ourselves situated.

Let's get this show on the road!

It's the day before Christmas Eve. It's the day that I start getting revved up for the holiday. The day that I realize I'm running out of time to get an early start on my shopping. 

It is also the cusp of a year that should be trying. Amy and I are well into the process of starting a whole house remodel. Essentially we will be jacking up the doorknob of our little place and attaching a new house to it. Sometime, six months following the start of construction, we'll have a new place to live. That project will certainly provide some of the material for this exercise. So far the plans are finished and survived the city's plan check with the need for some minor changes. We've selected a contractor, and once we've hammered out the agreement and found temporary living quarters, we'll put the hammer down (so to speak).

While I don't intend to turn this into a family photo album, I thought I'd throw in this image from last Sunday's trip to the "Photos with Santa" shop that my friend Ben Stuart is running this season. 

First up were the grandkids, Jamie and Finn. Finn was no problem, he just snuggled up on Santa's lap and some good pictures were captured immediately. Next, Jamie was asked to join his brother. He was asked again. And again. And again after that. By this point Mom (my daughter Melissa) had put on her frownie face and started speaking in a voice that began raising dark memories from my nearly forgotten past. In their formative years, both Melissa and Jennie learned early on that if they could crack Dad up, they were pretty much off the hook. It's a tradition that seems to have been passed along to the next generation. This is the last shot that I got off before I collapsed in laughter. Mom, who deserves such a son, thought it was pretty funny too. Jamie, having made his point, climbed up on Santa's lap and Ben fired off some good shots. But I like this one better.