- Signed: Matthew Hartman
- Filed under photography .
Hello there, folks...
It's been a little while since I wrote last. I'll try to remember to write some more this weekend to catch you all up with my life and recent on-goings.
But, in the meantime, I had a twitter cohort forward this tonight and I couldn't help but file it away or put it somewhere I wouldn't lose it.
It's a great example of what you can do with tilt-shift photography and how cool it especially looks in video. It may take a little time, but let it load, switch it to HD-Mode and go full-screen. It's worth it, I promise.
More later!
It's been a little while since I wrote last. I'll try to remember to write some more this weekend to catch you all up with my life and recent on-goings.
But, in the meantime, I had a twitter cohort forward this tonight and I couldn't help but file it away or put it somewhere I wouldn't lose it.
It's a great example of what you can do with tilt-shift photography and how cool it especially looks in video. It may take a little time, but let it load, switch it to HD-Mode and go full-screen. It's worth it, I promise.
The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.
More later!
0 conundrum(s) | Have one of your own?
- Signed: Matthew Hartman
- Filed under Internet , photography , pictures , relationships , storm chasing , work .
Hello folks,
I realize it's been FOREVER since I wrote last in this blog. I think it's a natural progression. When E-mail went big back in the mid to late-90's I was all about Eudora and Postini... Then blogging came around in the early 2000's and I was all about Blogger. Then in the social networking explosion occurred in that 2003-2005 period. I was all over MySpace and Facebook. Blogging became secondary, then.
And since, Twitter has come around. I have two separate accounts, a personal account I use to provide random messages to friends and a second I use to expand on one of my favorite hobbies... Photography.
I grew up loving the outdoors and pretty much everything about it. Meteorology was my calling, because I loved anything and everything about the atmosphere and what came from it. But, I'm learning that even though Meteorology may have been my calling, photography is something I enjoy and love; immensely. It began, I think, when I began storm chasing back in 1996. Yes, 13 years ago!
While some find photography a strict art, initially, all I thought of it back then was a way to share what I saw on a chase with the storm chase community. I posted the photos up on my web-site and allowed others to view them. It was an innocent hobby and one I didn't really take too seriously. At least, as far as the quality of my photos was concerned.
Once I upgraded to digital in January of 2005, my interest expanded greatly and I began to appreciate the art of photography on a grander scale. No longer did I pay money for rolls of film or to get them processed. I could snap off hundreds of pictures a day and not even blink an eye. I snapped twice that, in fact, in the Badlands of South Dakota in late July of 2007. That record still stands, actually - 274 pictures in a single day. It may seem meager to the professionals in the crowd, but for me that's a lot!
Twitter takes me away from Blogger quite a bit. I communicate with most of my friends with it and those friends who aren't signed up, Facebook is a great alternative.
Twitter also provides a great opportunity to network with other photographers. And that is mostly the reason it distracts me from writing in my blog. Networking and receiving insight from these guys has allowed me to really grow into this industry. I'm coming into it self-taught and I realize that's not the ideal way of doing it. But, I've learned a lot about the in's and out's, the do's and don'ts and everything in between.
These photographers provide a lot of inspiration, just looking at their work. It provides great opportunities for me to diversify my photography portfolio. The ideas I get, the compositions I picture in my head, it's almost becoming second nature already. I'm certainly not just taking pictures of clouds anymore. In fact, I'm involved in a 365 Project currently, which is taking my camera and I on a wonderful journey through an entire year of daily photo-taking. It's been a great experience so far and I'm learning so much more about my camera just carrying it with me everyday. I'm learning how to look at the environment around me and what it would look like through a viewfinder and a lens. It's kind of neat, really...
What I'm getting at with all this... is that I really have become quite distracted with it all. It pushes me away from my computer and sitting and writing on the Internet. I almost feel it's a waste of time. It's been 25 minutes now that I've spent typing this entry, itself. I could have taken 50 pictures in this amount of time. Maybe more! ;)
Anyhow, so that's where I've been over the course of the last 2 months. I'm still meat-free, if you're wondering... :) I actually celebrated my 4-month anniversary of vegetarianism yesterday. I've got someone in my life. She hasn't exactly tugged at the strings of my heart yet, but we haven't exactly met in person, either. But, I've made some new friends outside of work and I've been hanging out with them quite a bit lately. We went hiking a couple of weeks ago and they've invited me to a couple of cookouts. If I had been a little more open about this earlier this summer, we could have been at the lake every weekend. Jared and Jason both have families with lake cottages - one is at Devils Lake, the other at Maple Lake, east of Grand Forks near Mentor, MN. They've got about a 4-5 member group that tend to hang out a lot. They're mostly friends of friends. Emily, a girl I dated about a year ago and have started to hang out with again, introduced me into the "circle." ;) So, my life has been going fairly well.
Work has been a little busy and will likely become even more so, with fall starting. We've got contracts winding up for the winter and that will make things even more hectic. Should be interesting, but I'm excited at the same time.
Well, I've got a couple of left over veggie burgers to warm up and some corn on the cob to cook. Dinner-time!
Also, if by chance, you are interested in following me along on this "Project 365" journey, hop on over to my photoblog. It's being updated everyday. In fact, I just posted my photo for today about an hour ago...!
Toodles for now...
I realize it's been FOREVER since I wrote last in this blog. I think it's a natural progression. When E-mail went big back in the mid to late-90's I was all about Eudora and Postini... Then blogging came around in the early 2000's and I was all about Blogger. Then in the social networking explosion occurred in that 2003-2005 period. I was all over MySpace and Facebook. Blogging became secondary, then.
And since, Twitter has come around. I have two separate accounts, a personal account I use to provide random messages to friends and a second I use to expand on one of my favorite hobbies... Photography.
I grew up loving the outdoors and pretty much everything about it. Meteorology was my calling, because I loved anything and everything about the atmosphere and what came from it. But, I'm learning that even though Meteorology may have been my calling, photography is something I enjoy and love; immensely. It began, I think, when I began storm chasing back in 1996. Yes, 13 years ago!
While some find photography a strict art, initially, all I thought of it back then was a way to share what I saw on a chase with the storm chase community. I posted the photos up on my web-site and allowed others to view them. It was an innocent hobby and one I didn't really take too seriously. At least, as far as the quality of my photos was concerned.
Once I upgraded to digital in January of 2005, my interest expanded greatly and I began to appreciate the art of photography on a grander scale. No longer did I pay money for rolls of film or to get them processed. I could snap off hundreds of pictures a day and not even blink an eye. I snapped twice that, in fact, in the Badlands of South Dakota in late July of 2007. That record still stands, actually - 274 pictures in a single day. It may seem meager to the professionals in the crowd, but for me that's a lot!
Twitter takes me away from Blogger quite a bit. I communicate with most of my friends with it and those friends who aren't signed up, Facebook is a great alternative.
Twitter also provides a great opportunity to network with other photographers. And that is mostly the reason it distracts me from writing in my blog. Networking and receiving insight from these guys has allowed me to really grow into this industry. I'm coming into it self-taught and I realize that's not the ideal way of doing it. But, I've learned a lot about the in's and out's, the do's and don'ts and everything in between.
These photographers provide a lot of inspiration, just looking at their work. It provides great opportunities for me to diversify my photography portfolio. The ideas I get, the compositions I picture in my head, it's almost becoming second nature already. I'm certainly not just taking pictures of clouds anymore. In fact, I'm involved in a 365 Project currently, which is taking my camera and I on a wonderful journey through an entire year of daily photo-taking. It's been a great experience so far and I'm learning so much more about my camera just carrying it with me everyday. I'm learning how to look at the environment around me and what it would look like through a viewfinder and a lens. It's kind of neat, really...
What I'm getting at with all this... is that I really have become quite distracted with it all. It pushes me away from my computer and sitting and writing on the Internet. I almost feel it's a waste of time. It's been 25 minutes now that I've spent typing this entry, itself. I could have taken 50 pictures in this amount of time. Maybe more! ;)
Anyhow, so that's where I've been over the course of the last 2 months. I'm still meat-free, if you're wondering... :) I actually celebrated my 4-month anniversary of vegetarianism yesterday. I've got someone in my life. She hasn't exactly tugged at the strings of my heart yet, but we haven't exactly met in person, either. But, I've made some new friends outside of work and I've been hanging out with them quite a bit lately. We went hiking a couple of weeks ago and they've invited me to a couple of cookouts. If I had been a little more open about this earlier this summer, we could have been at the lake every weekend. Jared and Jason both have families with lake cottages - one is at Devils Lake, the other at Maple Lake, east of Grand Forks near Mentor, MN. They've got about a 4-5 member group that tend to hang out a lot. They're mostly friends of friends. Emily, a girl I dated about a year ago and have started to hang out with again, introduced me into the "circle." ;) So, my life has been going fairly well.
Work has been a little busy and will likely become even more so, with fall starting. We've got contracts winding up for the winter and that will make things even more hectic. Should be interesting, but I'm excited at the same time.
Well, I've got a couple of left over veggie burgers to warm up and some corn on the cob to cook. Dinner-time!
Also, if by chance, you are interested in following me along on this "Project 365" journey, hop on over to my photoblog. It's being updated everyday. In fact, I just posted my photo for today about an hour ago...!
Toodles for now...
0 conundrum(s) | Have one of your own?
- Signed: Matthew Hartman
- Filed under car , cleaning , photography .
Hey folks,
It's been a little while! I have an extra hour or two to blow off while my car gets checked out.
I had to take it into the dealership this afternoon to see what was up with the "Check Engine" light. It came on a couple of weeks ago, so I need to see what is up with that. While it's in, I'm having them look at why my cruise control is not working and to take care of a couple of other minor things. The auxiliary outlet down on my console quit working on me a few months ago, so I'm having them look at that. That is probably just a blown fuse, but since they have it, I'll have them replace that. I also need a new clip put on the seat-belt. You know, the clip that holds up the clasp... It broke off a couple of years ago and I always forget about it every time I take my car in.
I've had some things I've needed to get done around the apt. and I finally accomplished some of these this afternoon. I organized the cupboards and cleaned up the kitchen - and I have some dishes to do. I'll probably do those later.
And I have papers I need to file away. I have a big stack that's needed filed for a couple of months now! ;)
Oh, and I wanted to find a reason to post this photo. I follow Cedar Point on Twitter and they had posted this a while back.
One of their webcams captured that! Pretty cool, huh...?
Anyhow, I think I'm gonna hop off here and file those papers and maybe even do some post-processing to some photos. I have a ton of pictures I need to get uploaded to my photo gallery. I have photos from storm chases from the past month or so that still need uploaded. I'll let you all know when I get those done. Hopefully, I can get to these today. If not this afternoon, I'll work on them later tonight... When I return from Ottis' grilling party.
He's having some people over at his place to grill. I put together some potatoes, onions and peppers in some tin-foil. Mmmm, sounds good just talking about it!
Later!
It's been a little while! I have an extra hour or two to blow off while my car gets checked out.
I had to take it into the dealership this afternoon to see what was up with the "Check Engine" light. It came on a couple of weeks ago, so I need to see what is up with that. While it's in, I'm having them look at why my cruise control is not working and to take care of a couple of other minor things. The auxiliary outlet down on my console quit working on me a few months ago, so I'm having them look at that. That is probably just a blown fuse, but since they have it, I'll have them replace that. I also need a new clip put on the seat-belt. You know, the clip that holds up the clasp... It broke off a couple of years ago and I always forget about it every time I take my car in.
I've had some things I've needed to get done around the apt. and I finally accomplished some of these this afternoon. I organized the cupboards and cleaned up the kitchen - and I have some dishes to do. I'll probably do those later.
And I have papers I need to file away. I have a big stack that's needed filed for a couple of months now! ;)
Oh, and I wanted to find a reason to post this photo. I follow Cedar Point on Twitter and they had posted this a while back.
One of their webcams captured that! Pretty cool, huh...?
Anyhow, I think I'm gonna hop off here and file those papers and maybe even do some post-processing to some photos. I have a ton of pictures I need to get uploaded to my photo gallery. I have photos from storm chases from the past month or so that still need uploaded. I'll let you all know when I get those done. Hopefully, I can get to these today. If not this afternoon, I'll work on them later tonight... When I return from Ottis' grilling party.
He's having some people over at his place to grill. I put together some potatoes, onions and peppers in some tin-foil. Mmmm, sounds good just talking about it!
Later!
0 conundrum(s) | Have one of your own?
- Signed: Matthew Hartman
- Filed under announcements , photography .
Also, I wanted to pass along some news...
I don't particularly check my Hotmail account too often and when logging into it yesterday for the first time in a few weeks, I found nearly 20 messages from members at Webshots congratulating me on my "POTD." That's short for "photo of the day," for those of you not familiar with abbreviations...
I opened an account at Webshots in early January and decidedly uploaded a handful of my photos to the account. It's amazing that I've had the account open for only a month and a half and at that, only have maybe 10-15 pictures uploaded and I've made it as a featured photographer already. It is somewhat of an honor and I feel humbled that out of the literally thousands of photos hosted at Webshots that they picked mine to feature on their front page for their "Outdoors" photos.
If you're reading this today or you're within a few days, it may still be listed. If you visit the Outdoors home-page, it will listed in the thumbnails to the right (today it is listed as the third photo, but it may move downward over the course of the week).
If you don't get to see it, I've saved a screen capture to the right... Of course, it's the lightning photo.
I apologize if it seems a bit selfish. But, hey, it's not wrong to take a little pride in one's work is it?
If you want to take a look at the photo albums I've created and or bookmark my profile at Webshots, feel free to visit...
I'll try to upload more photos to share in the future...
I don't particularly check my Hotmail account too often and when logging into it yesterday for the first time in a few weeks, I found nearly 20 messages from members at Webshots congratulating me on my "POTD." That's short for "photo of the day," for those of you not familiar with abbreviations...
I opened an account at Webshots in early January and decidedly uploaded a handful of my photos to the account. It's amazing that I've had the account open for only a month and a half and at that, only have maybe 10-15 pictures uploaded and I've made it as a featured photographer already. It is somewhat of an honor and I feel humbled that out of the literally thousands of photos hosted at Webshots that they picked mine to feature on their front page for their "Outdoors" photos.
If you're reading this today or you're within a few days, it may still be listed. If you visit the Outdoors home-page, it will listed in the thumbnails to the right (today it is listed as the third photo, but it may move downward over the course of the week).If you don't get to see it, I've saved a screen capture to the right... Of course, it's the lightning photo.
I apologize if it seems a bit selfish. But, hey, it's not wrong to take a little pride in one's work is it?
If you want to take a look at the photo albums I've created and or bookmark my profile at Webshots, feel free to visit...
I'll try to upload more photos to share in the future...
0 conundrum(s) | Have one of your own?
- Signed: Matthew Hartman
- Filed under announcements , photography , work .
Ah, the sound of money, eh?
Much to the surprise of many at work, we received a bonus this year. And while thinking and thinking of what to do with mine, I had two major issues to concern myself with. First, whether or not I should cash it and go wild or deposit it into the checking account. Then secondly, if I should splurge and spend it on a new toy or do the responsible thing and pay off some debts.
After mulling over this for almost two weeks, I finally made a decision today.
It is a "bonus" right? It is money I normally wouldn't have, right? It is money I didn't expect...
So, I decided to splurge. Probably to no surprise of my family. To put it lightly, I've had a reputation to be somewhat irresponsible with my bank account in the past. Over the past couple of years I've done much better. Living on my own, having a career, and now having many creditors - I've pretty much been forced into it. It's for the better, though. And over the next year, I'm certainly going to have much more of an opportunity to start saving money. It was such a great feeling to hear "this account is closed" over the phone today, when calling First Third Bank to see if my last car payment went through. No more car payments... You have no idea how great of a feeling it is for me to say those four words.
Anyhow, so you're probably asking what I splurged on. To skip over the specifics, I may as well just show you...
This would be the 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC MACRO lens from Sigma. I found a fairly good deal on the lens and really couldn't pass it up.
I had thought long and hard about some things I really could use to spend the bonus check on and came up with either a lens for my Canon 350D or an external hard-drive for my laptop. Both are items I've been wanting and needing for quite some time. After some contemplation, I decided I would probably enjoy the lens far more than the hard-drive. I ordered the lens just about an hour ago and have a lens hood coming from Sigma, itself, as well.
The lens comes very highly recommended and I was sure to check on many, many reviews on the performance and versatility of the lens. One of my favorite photography review sites, FredMiranda.com, indicated great reviews and many described it as performing just as good, if not better, than some of the higher-end Canon lenses. It also sounds like everyone who has purchased it, has made it an all-purpose, walk-around lens. And that's something I desperately need. The kit lens (an 18-55mm) performs alright for my purposes, but I know a better lens would make a world of difference in my outdoor/nature photos. Premium glass results in better IQ (image quality) and deeper color contrast and better builds often result in faster lenses. Sigma has a strong reputation for both. On top of that, I've wanted a lens with wider and longer focal lengths since I bought the camera nearly two years ago. A 17-70mm range would be excellent!
So, again, yes I've spent the bonus check! Although, I'm sure you all would be even happier to know I will still have money left over. No, the check wasn't THAT much! :) I was just lucky enough to find great deals.
Thanks, Al Gore, for inventing the Internet. Hah!
Much to the surprise of many at work, we received a bonus this year. And while thinking and thinking of what to do with mine, I had two major issues to concern myself with. First, whether or not I should cash it and go wild or deposit it into the checking account. Then secondly, if I should splurge and spend it on a new toy or do the responsible thing and pay off some debts.
After mulling over this for almost two weeks, I finally made a decision today.
It is a "bonus" right? It is money I normally wouldn't have, right? It is money I didn't expect...
So, I decided to splurge. Probably to no surprise of my family. To put it lightly, I've had a reputation to be somewhat irresponsible with my bank account in the past. Over the past couple of years I've done much better. Living on my own, having a career, and now having many creditors - I've pretty much been forced into it. It's for the better, though. And over the next year, I'm certainly going to have much more of an opportunity to start saving money. It was such a great feeling to hear "this account is closed" over the phone today, when calling First Third Bank to see if my last car payment went through. No more car payments... You have no idea how great of a feeling it is for me to say those four words.
Anyhow, so you're probably asking what I splurged on. To skip over the specifics, I may as well just show you...
This would be the 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC MACRO lens from Sigma. I found a fairly good deal on the lens and really couldn't pass it up.I had thought long and hard about some things I really could use to spend the bonus check on and came up with either a lens for my Canon 350D or an external hard-drive for my laptop. Both are items I've been wanting and needing for quite some time. After some contemplation, I decided I would probably enjoy the lens far more than the hard-drive. I ordered the lens just about an hour ago and have a lens hood coming from Sigma, itself, as well.
The lens comes very highly recommended and I was sure to check on many, many reviews on the performance and versatility of the lens. One of my favorite photography review sites, FredMiranda.com, indicated great reviews and many described it as performing just as good, if not better, than some of the higher-end Canon lenses. It also sounds like everyone who has purchased it, has made it an all-purpose, walk-around lens. And that's something I desperately need. The kit lens (an 18-55mm) performs alright for my purposes, but I know a better lens would make a world of difference in my outdoor/nature photos. Premium glass results in better IQ (image quality) and deeper color contrast and better builds often result in faster lenses. Sigma has a strong reputation for both. On top of that, I've wanted a lens with wider and longer focal lengths since I bought the camera nearly two years ago. A 17-70mm range would be excellent!
So, again, yes I've spent the bonus check! Although, I'm sure you all would be even happier to know I will still have money left over. No, the check wasn't THAT much! :) I was just lucky enough to find great deals.
Thanks, Al Gore, for inventing the Internet. Hah!
1 conundrum(s) | Have one of your own?
- Signed: Matthew Hartman
- Filed under car , family , friends , photography , relationships , weather .
I'm up at 5:30am again... I was extremely tired after getting home from work yesterday afternoon, so I ended up taking a nap. After the nap, what else did I do? Well, went to bed, of course. What else? So, I suppose my getting up early this morning is justified, to some extent - much the opposite from yesterday.
I've been pulling the day shift at work (8:00am - 4:00pm) which is good in a couple of ways. I've had some things I've wanted to get done around here, plus I have errands I need to complete. I missed my appointment for my car last Thursday, so I still need to get it in for maintenance. Yes, I'm still having issues with the cruise control.
I've also been checking around for prices on enlargements for the lightning photos I shot during the evening of the 7th. I'd really like to get an enlargement or two to hang on my walls here. I have some interest at work to get some enlargements made to hang up there, as well. If you can believe it, we're a private weather forecasting company, yet we have not one weather picture hanging up in that office - anywhere! So, maybe I can start a trend here - and start getting some photos up on those walls. We have plenty of people in that office, especially among us forecasters, that chase and take photos. So, I'm sure we could all contribute.
Anyhow, it's been a little cool around these parts and especially rainy this morning. This upper-level cut-off low is still spinning around the Great Lakes and extending this shield of rain/showers over the eastern part of the state. It should taper off this afternoon, but it will likely keep things a little dreary through a good part of the day. It will, at least, be a good day to be inside at work. I'd rather have it that way, than have a beautiful 80° day and have to work.
I'm looking forward to this next week. A friend of mine will have her week-long vacation and I'm hoping we'll be able to get together and hang out. I managed to meet this woman a couple of months ago and have been e-mailing her back and forth for a while now. She's a little paranoid when it comes to sharing phone numbers and everything, which I can respect and can understand... But, it has been over 2 months now! Hopefully, we'll be able to find a time and finally meet each other.
I haven't talked to Amanda in a while... I should call her to see how she's been and what she's been up to. You know, I'll be honest here -- I understand that some women think that it's the "right" thing for the man to make the first move in a relationship... and to be the one responsible for "calling back..." In very nearly every relationship I've ever been in, that's been mostly true. But for you women (if there are any that actually read this) I'll let you in on one little secret. Us guys like it, too, when you call us! We like to feel wanted too, from time to time. I can recall a relationship while I was a Sr. in high school where this woman, in particular, would call me (out of the blue) and ask me if I wanted to come over, go on a walk, or simply to go out for ice cream... Don't get me wrong, I would call her plenty - but I'll just say, I enjoyed that. It's sad that it doesn't happen anymore - and especially sad that it hasn't in over 4 years.
Anyhow... Any more of this and I'll be forced on anti-depressants for the rest of my life. What I need is to be around my real friends... and I wish I could be. I'm getting very anxious for my trip home in August. I miss Brian and Amy. I miss Justin. And I miss my family. I can't wait to see Brian and Amy's little girl. They sent me a picture the other day of little Zoey... She's getting big and she's staying healthy! Check out this little cutie:
More later...
I've been pulling the day shift at work (8:00am - 4:00pm) which is good in a couple of ways. I've had some things I've wanted to get done around here, plus I have errands I need to complete. I missed my appointment for my car last Thursday, so I still need to get it in for maintenance. Yes, I'm still having issues with the cruise control.
I've also been checking around for prices on enlargements for the lightning photos I shot during the evening of the 7th. I'd really like to get an enlargement or two to hang on my walls here. I have some interest at work to get some enlargements made to hang up there, as well. If you can believe it, we're a private weather forecasting company, yet we have not one weather picture hanging up in that office - anywhere! So, maybe I can start a trend here - and start getting some photos up on those walls. We have plenty of people in that office, especially among us forecasters, that chase and take photos. So, I'm sure we could all contribute.
Anyhow, it's been a little cool around these parts and especially rainy this morning. This upper-level cut-off low is still spinning around the Great Lakes and extending this shield of rain/showers over the eastern part of the state. It should taper off this afternoon, but it will likely keep things a little dreary through a good part of the day. It will, at least, be a good day to be inside at work. I'd rather have it that way, than have a beautiful 80° day and have to work.
I'm looking forward to this next week. A friend of mine will have her week-long vacation and I'm hoping we'll be able to get together and hang out. I managed to meet this woman a couple of months ago and have been e-mailing her back and forth for a while now. She's a little paranoid when it comes to sharing phone numbers and everything, which I can respect and can understand... But, it has been over 2 months now! Hopefully, we'll be able to find a time and finally meet each other.
I haven't talked to Amanda in a while... I should call her to see how she's been and what she's been up to. You know, I'll be honest here -- I understand that some women think that it's the "right" thing for the man to make the first move in a relationship... and to be the one responsible for "calling back..." In very nearly every relationship I've ever been in, that's been mostly true. But for you women (if there are any that actually read this) I'll let you in on one little secret. Us guys like it, too, when you call us! We like to feel wanted too, from time to time. I can recall a relationship while I was a Sr. in high school where this woman, in particular, would call me (out of the blue) and ask me if I wanted to come over, go on a walk, or simply to go out for ice cream... Don't get me wrong, I would call her plenty - but I'll just say, I enjoyed that. It's sad that it doesn't happen anymore - and especially sad that it hasn't in over 4 years.
Anyhow... Any more of this and I'll be forced on anti-depressants for the rest of my life. What I need is to be around my real friends... and I wish I could be. I'm getting very anxious for my trip home in August. I miss Brian and Amy. I miss Justin. And I miss my family. I can't wait to see Brian and Amy's little girl. They sent me a picture the other day of little Zoey... She's getting big and she's staying healthy! Check out this little cutie:
0 conundrum(s) | Have one of your own?
- Signed: Matthew Hartman
- Filed under photography , pictures , sports , television .
I didn't catch the game, but as I was reading about the Giants/Phillies baseball game this last evening, I sure wish I had. I found this in a portion of the article:
Anyhow, not much new around these parts. We had a weak squall line blow over the area this past evening, so I was able to get out and get some pictures of that, as well as some outstanding lightning. I think I've achieved a new "best." That lightning shot from my back yard in Bluffton, IN was the best I had taken up until this past evening. This Digital Rebel XT is still amazing me how well it takes photos. And these lightning shots, well, they're very impressive! If you're curious to see them, I've uploaded photos from the squall line and the lightning photos in the gallery. Be aware, though, the squall line photos are in the "2006 Season" category, while the lightning shots are, of course, located in the "Lightning Photography" category.
Oh, and that Burger King commercial... I saw it for the first time Saturday night and I still can't get over how hilarious it is. "Eat like a man... man!" Oh my, how funny...
"As Bonds walked out to left field before the bottom of the first, fans in the front row of the bleachers unfurled a huge sign that read: "Ruth did it on hot dogs and beer. Aaron did it with class. How did YOU do it?" In addition, one 'i' and the question mark were dotted with asterisks."Isn't that just the funniest thing you've ever heard? I would have loved to have seen that! Hahah!
Anyhow, not much new around these parts. We had a weak squall line blow over the area this past evening, so I was able to get out and get some pictures of that, as well as some outstanding lightning. I think I've achieved a new "best." That lightning shot from my back yard in Bluffton, IN was the best I had taken up until this past evening. This Digital Rebel XT is still amazing me how well it takes photos. And these lightning shots, well, they're very impressive! If you're curious to see them, I've uploaded photos from the squall line and the lightning photos in the gallery. Be aware, though, the squall line photos are in the "2006 Season" category, while the lightning shots are, of course, located in the "Lightning Photography" category.
Oh, and that Burger King commercial... I saw it for the first time Saturday night and I still can't get over how hilarious it is. "Eat like a man... man!" Oh my, how funny...
0 conundrum(s) | Have one of your own?
- Signed: Matthew Hartman
- Filed under Chicago Cubs , dating , fantasy sports , movies , photography , weather , work .
Well, I told myself and my readers that I'd try to refrain from posting too much weather-related content in here, rather than in the WeatherBlog but I just had to share here, as well, how wonderful the weather has been up here over the past week. Mild temperatures have been contributing to the snow-melt and the flooding up here over the past few weeks, but on the other hand, it's also been great to experience, personally. I'm loving this mild weather. Over the past couple of days, I've actually been able to open up the windows in my apartment and allow some fresh air into this place.
Since I'm back on mid-shifts (midnight to 8:00am) this week, I'll unfortunately be sleeping through much of the day, but I should be able to still experience the afternoons and early-evenings. Today, I managed to get my ass out of bed around 3:00pm and after a shower, I grabbed the basketball and made my way to Prime Steel Park to shoot some hoops. It felt good to be outside for once. And it was even warm enough to wear shorts today! We did hit 69° F this afternoon! Very near 70 degrees! Isn't that just sweet?
We'll have to see what's in store for the overnight... we have some weak thunderstorms out there developing over north-central portions of the state, ahead of an upper-level disturbance... and as it drifts eastward, we could see some of that action. Probably nothing spectacular, but we could see some flashes of lightning or hear some thunder later on tonight. I'm taking the camera and tripod to work just in case anything appears photogenic enough.
Not much new has been going on, otherwise. I went out with Amanda Sunday night for dinner and a movie. We decided to see Ice Age 2: The Meltdown... I'd recommend anyone to go see this movie, if they haven't yet. It's a really great movie and is just as good (and funny) as the first one. I just can't get enough of "Scrat," the little squirrely dude with the acorn! He's just too cute and funny! I hear that Wal-Mart has a little stuffed "Scrat" that you can buy that makes all the funny little noises and everything. I'm gonna have to drop by there sometime this week to see if they have any left. That'd be great...
I've been trying to catch the Cubbies on TV, as well, this past week. Yep, the baseball season has officially started. And thus far, the Cubs have been playing pretty well. Their starting pitching hasn't been the greatest, but well, I don't think many teams are having great luck with their starting pitching quite yet, either. The bullpen has been doing awesome though, and their power has really shown up this spring. Derrek Lee already has 3 homers and Michael Barrett also has a couple. Both of Barrett's dingers came on consecutive days, the first tying the game on Saturday against the Cardinals (Lee hit his third of the season (a solo shot) to win that game), and the second, a grand salami on Sunday to take the lead over St. Louis. It's been an exciting season already and hopefully, they can carry over this great play through the rest of the season. I'd love to see them make the playoffs this year, and of course, would really love to see them make the World Series! If we can get Mark Prior and Kerry Wood back and they could just stay healthy the rest of the year... you never know. Anything is possible - as long as we keep that damn Bartman kid out of Wrigley Field!! heheh
Anywho - I'll try to keep this thing more updated... I realize I haven't been doing a very good job of that over the past few weeks.
More later!
Since I'm back on mid-shifts (midnight to 8:00am) this week, I'll unfortunately be sleeping through much of the day, but I should be able to still experience the afternoons and early-evenings. Today, I managed to get my ass out of bed around 3:00pm and after a shower, I grabbed the basketball and made my way to Prime Steel Park to shoot some hoops. It felt good to be outside for once. And it was even warm enough to wear shorts today! We did hit 69° F this afternoon! Very near 70 degrees! Isn't that just sweet?
We'll have to see what's in store for the overnight... we have some weak thunderstorms out there developing over north-central portions of the state, ahead of an upper-level disturbance... and as it drifts eastward, we could see some of that action. Probably nothing spectacular, but we could see some flashes of lightning or hear some thunder later on tonight. I'm taking the camera and tripod to work just in case anything appears photogenic enough.
Not much new has been going on, otherwise. I went out with Amanda Sunday night for dinner and a movie. We decided to see Ice Age 2: The Meltdown... I'd recommend anyone to go see this movie, if they haven't yet. It's a really great movie and is just as good (and funny) as the first one. I just can't get enough of "Scrat," the little squirrely dude with the acorn! He's just too cute and funny! I hear that Wal-Mart has a little stuffed "Scrat" that you can buy that makes all the funny little noises and everything. I'm gonna have to drop by there sometime this week to see if they have any left. That'd be great...
I've been trying to catch the Cubbies on TV, as well, this past week. Yep, the baseball season has officially started. And thus far, the Cubs have been playing pretty well. Their starting pitching hasn't been the greatest, but well, I don't think many teams are having great luck with their starting pitching quite yet, either. The bullpen has been doing awesome though, and their power has really shown up this spring. Derrek Lee already has 3 homers and Michael Barrett also has a couple. Both of Barrett's dingers came on consecutive days, the first tying the game on Saturday against the Cardinals (Lee hit his third of the season (a solo shot) to win that game), and the second, a grand salami on Sunday to take the lead over St. Louis. It's been an exciting season already and hopefully, they can carry over this great play through the rest of the season. I'd love to see them make the playoffs this year, and of course, would really love to see them make the World Series! If we can get Mark Prior and Kerry Wood back and they could just stay healthy the rest of the year... you never know. Anything is possible - as long as we keep that damn Bartman kid out of Wrigley Field!! heheh
Anywho - I'll try to keep this thing more updated... I realize I haven't been doing a very good job of that over the past few weeks.
More later!
2 conundrum(s) | Have one of your own?
- Signed: Matthew Hartman
- Filed under conference , photography , travel , weather , work .
I learned yesterday at work that over the course of the 3-4 day snow event over the central and northern plains this past weekend, that we received over 300,000 calls on our 511 system. At one point, supposedly during the morning hours of Monday, we were receiving calls at the rate of one every 3 seconds for our customers in Kansas and Nebraska. I don't have the exact numbers, but if I remember correctly, it was close to 345,000 total calls, give or take 2-5,000. Damned if I've ever heard of so many phone calls! That's just crazy...
I completed my 10:00am to 6:00pm shifts yesterday, have today off, then work a couple of mid-shifts (12:00am - 8:00am) tonight and Friday night, then pretty much have the weekend off. I don't have any major plans for the weekend, so hopefully I'll be able to get out and do something. I feel guilty for spending money, but I need to get out of this apartment. Last weekend, I was just feeling miserable (battling some sort of cold, I suppose) and was just too lazy to get out and do anything. I felt I accomplished some things - I got all my laundry done, cleaned up the apartment, and filed away some bills and some papers (something that's needed to be done for a couple of months).
I also received my federal tax refund check in the mail Monday. So, I've now received both my state and federal refunds. I guess I can say, that I'm fairly proud of myself for that. This is the first year I've completely done my taxes on my own. I went out and bought TurboTax, but for some reason it wouldn't let me complete my state forms... So, I took it back to Best Buy and decided to fill out the forms manually. Call me old fashioned, but it's cheaper (you don't have to pay for some stupid program or pay extra for e-filing). I'm sure Chris (my brother-in-law) would be proud to hear that! heheh... Anyhow, both of the refund checks are going to my credit card to pay off the purchase of my Digital Rebel XT. The federal check should take a good chunk of the balance off the credit card. I hate using my credit card because the interest rate is so frippin' high, but well, if you knew how bad I wanted this camera, you'd understand why I finally decided to use it. ;)
I've decided to attend the Northern Plains Convective Workshop down in Aberdeen in a few weeks (April 17-19). Initially, although I knew about it, I wasn't planning on going - mostly because of financial issues and, of course, getting the time off of work to go. I realized, however, Monday that Mr. Russ Schumacher is giving a presenatation on Extreme Rain Events... Russ and I were colleagues at Valparaiso University, so it'll be kind of neat to see him again. Hopefully, I'll be able to run into him and see what he's been up to after all these years. I'm going to eMail Erik Zarnitz, as well, to see if he's going to be there. He's living somewhere in South Dakota (I can't remember where...) so I'm wondering if he's considering it. It should be a fun experience and hopefully an informative and educational one, as well. I haven't attending any conferences in a couple of years, so even though I'll probably be spending $50-80 on the trip and for hotel accomodations (it's a 2-day event) I think it'll be worth it. I should know by tomorrow if I'll be able to get the time off work, but if I do, I'll be heading down with Justin Turcotte, a co-worker of mine. Which will work out even better... That way, we can split the costs of traveling and accomodations. I'm getting anxious for that, it should be fun!
Well, as we "Hartman's" tend to say... I'm running out of gab... LOL!
Have a great day, folks!
I completed my 10:00am to 6:00pm shifts yesterday, have today off, then work a couple of mid-shifts (12:00am - 8:00am) tonight and Friday night, then pretty much have the weekend off. I don't have any major plans for the weekend, so hopefully I'll be able to get out and do something. I feel guilty for spending money, but I need to get out of this apartment. Last weekend, I was just feeling miserable (battling some sort of cold, I suppose) and was just too lazy to get out and do anything. I felt I accomplished some things - I got all my laundry done, cleaned up the apartment, and filed away some bills and some papers (something that's needed to be done for a couple of months).
I also received my federal tax refund check in the mail Monday. So, I've now received both my state and federal refunds. I guess I can say, that I'm fairly proud of myself for that. This is the first year I've completely done my taxes on my own. I went out and bought TurboTax, but for some reason it wouldn't let me complete my state forms... So, I took it back to Best Buy and decided to fill out the forms manually. Call me old fashioned, but it's cheaper (you don't have to pay for some stupid program or pay extra for e-filing). I'm sure Chris (my brother-in-law) would be proud to hear that! heheh... Anyhow, both of the refund checks are going to my credit card to pay off the purchase of my Digital Rebel XT. The federal check should take a good chunk of the balance off the credit card. I hate using my credit card because the interest rate is so frippin' high, but well, if you knew how bad I wanted this camera, you'd understand why I finally decided to use it. ;)
I've decided to attend the Northern Plains Convective Workshop down in Aberdeen in a few weeks (April 17-19). Initially, although I knew about it, I wasn't planning on going - mostly because of financial issues and, of course, getting the time off of work to go. I realized, however, Monday that Mr. Russ Schumacher is giving a presenatation on Extreme Rain Events... Russ and I were colleagues at Valparaiso University, so it'll be kind of neat to see him again. Hopefully, I'll be able to run into him and see what he's been up to after all these years. I'm going to eMail Erik Zarnitz, as well, to see if he's going to be there. He's living somewhere in South Dakota (I can't remember where...) so I'm wondering if he's considering it. It should be a fun experience and hopefully an informative and educational one, as well. I haven't attending any conferences in a couple of years, so even though I'll probably be spending $50-80 on the trip and for hotel accomodations (it's a 2-day event) I think it'll be worth it. I should know by tomorrow if I'll be able to get the time off work, but if I do, I'll be heading down with Justin Turcotte, a co-worker of mine. Which will work out even better... That way, we can split the costs of traveling and accomodations. I'm getting anxious for that, it should be fun!
Well, as we "Hartman's" tend to say... I'm running out of gab... LOL!
Have a great day, folks!
0 conundrum(s) | Have one of your own?
- Signed: Matthew Hartman
- Filed under activities , fantasy sports , photography , pictures , sports , weather .
Whats up, everyone? Not much has been going on up here. It's been pretty nice up here over the past week. Temperatures have been up some (into the 30's) so we're finally starting to melt away some of the snow-cover we've had since early February. Of course, it looks like we have another system approaching for tomorrow that may drop another 3-6" of snow. The Grand Forks NWSFO has a snow advisory up through tomorrow evening... So, I'm not exactly looking forward to that.
Yesterday we even had a whole day of sunshine. It felt so nice outside, I finally went and got my car washed. It's probably the first time it's been washed since last fall. Washing your car in the dead of winter up here is pointless. That sand crap they put down on the roads up here makes your car dirty again, by the next day. I'm always afraid too, that if I wash the thing when it's cold out that the doors will freeze shut. Supposedly it shouldn't happen, but I'm always paranoid about it happening. Today, it felt even warmer, but I haven't checked to see what our high was.
I ended up going to Fargo with a friend of mine to go to the Fargo Air Museum. Even though they insanely overcharged for entry, it was still pretty cool. They had a lot of military aircraft there and a lot of memorabilia from WW-II and WW-III. It was pretty interesting to look at it all. The place wasn't very big at all... it was practically a small airplane hangar with several planes inside. Plus, they had a crap-load of motorcycles in there - which I didn't understand. This was the "Air" Museum, right? ;)
Anyhow, it was nice to get out and do something a little different. Lately, all I've been doing is going out to eat or going to see movies when I go out. Next time, maybe I'll check out some of the other historic places around here. I enjoy things like that...
I also went to Wal-Mart yesterday to process 6 rolls of film I've had sitting around since last fall. I had pictures from when I moved into my apartment on one of the rolls! So, I have several new pictures in the Photo Gallery for your viewing pleasure... I don't have too many, but most of them have been posted in the photo-scapes albums. I added a few photos in my chasing albums, as well... It's kind of cool in one aspect, because thinking about it, this will probably be the last film I'll ever pay to have processed. Or that I will ever own! Since I have the XT now, it'll be likely that I won't use my film cameras much anymore. We'll see...
I'm also still in the middle of our fantasy baseball draft. So far, I think I'm doing pretty well. If your curious, here's my team, thus far:
Well, folks, I'm gonna go flip on ESPN and see how the Hoosiers did tonight in the Big Ten Tournament. I totally forgot to tape the game tonight. I've tried to avoid checking the scores online tonight - cause I'd rather see them on TV and on ESPN or ESPNews, where I can also get some highlights. I saw that Illinois was upset by Michigan State, though. That's just crazy! I'm getting anxious for March Madness to start! Which reminds me, I need to sign up for the WPTA (the NBC-affiliate in Ft. Wayne) March Madness brackets. My dad fills those out every year just for fun and, hey, why not have some friendly competition between my dad and I? ;) The overall winner actually wins a TV or something like that... I doubt I'd win the thing, but if I did - there would be some problems. I think you have to be an Indiana resident to receive the prize and as far as I know, no relatives can accept the prize for you, either. I dunno, if I did happen to win the thing, maybe I can talk them into having my dad accept it somehow. Heheh... Anyway, I seriously doubt that would happen anyway.
Well, I guess this sums up my last few days here. Hope you all are doing well.
Take care!
Yesterday we even had a whole day of sunshine. It felt so nice outside, I finally went and got my car washed. It's probably the first time it's been washed since last fall. Washing your car in the dead of winter up here is pointless. That sand crap they put down on the roads up here makes your car dirty again, by the next day. I'm always afraid too, that if I wash the thing when it's cold out that the doors will freeze shut. Supposedly it shouldn't happen, but I'm always paranoid about it happening. Today, it felt even warmer, but I haven't checked to see what our high was.
I ended up going to Fargo with a friend of mine to go to the Fargo Air Museum. Even though they insanely overcharged for entry, it was still pretty cool. They had a lot of military aircraft there and a lot of memorabilia from WW-II and WW-III. It was pretty interesting to look at it all. The place wasn't very big at all... it was practically a small airplane hangar with several planes inside. Plus, they had a crap-load of motorcycles in there - which I didn't understand. This was the "Air" Museum, right? ;)
Anyhow, it was nice to get out and do something a little different. Lately, all I've been doing is going out to eat or going to see movies when I go out. Next time, maybe I'll check out some of the other historic places around here. I enjoy things like that...
I also went to Wal-Mart yesterday to process 6 rolls of film I've had sitting around since last fall. I had pictures from when I moved into my apartment on one of the rolls! So, I have several new pictures in the Photo Gallery for your viewing pleasure... I don't have too many, but most of them have been posted in the photo-scapes albums. I added a few photos in my chasing albums, as well... It's kind of cool in one aspect, because thinking about it, this will probably be the last film I'll ever pay to have processed. Or that I will ever own! Since I have the XT now, it'll be likely that I won't use my film cameras much anymore. We'll see...
I'm also still in the middle of our fantasy baseball draft. So far, I think I'm doing pretty well. If your curious, here's my team, thus far:
Position Players:We'll see how this season goes... but I'm hoping for a better result than last year. I finished near the bottom of my league. I can't remember exactly where, but it may have indeed been second to last. In other news, I'm still leading in the Fantasy Hockey League I'm in. Luck, is really the only way I'm leading that league. I'm serious when I say I don't know shit about hockey. I really don't...
Ca_ V. Martinez (Cle)
1B_ D. Lee (ChC)
2B_ M. Ellis (Oak)
3B_ M. Ensberg (Hou)
SS_ J. Rollins (Phi)
OF_ B. Abreu (Phi)
OF_ J. Pierre (ChC)
OF_ J. Francoeur (Atl)
UT_
Be_
Be_
Be_
Be_
Pitchers:
SP_ C. Carpenter (StL)
SP_ B. Colon (LAA)
RP_ T. Hoffman (SD)
RP_ S. Shields (LAA)
P_ B. Webb (Ari - SP)
P_ J. Garland (CWS - SP)
P_ B. Howry (ChC - RP)
P_
P_
P_
Well, folks, I'm gonna go flip on ESPN and see how the Hoosiers did tonight in the Big Ten Tournament. I totally forgot to tape the game tonight. I've tried to avoid checking the scores online tonight - cause I'd rather see them on TV and on ESPN or ESPNews, where I can also get some highlights. I saw that Illinois was upset by Michigan State, though. That's just crazy! I'm getting anxious for March Madness to start! Which reminds me, I need to sign up for the WPTA (the NBC-affiliate in Ft. Wayne) March Madness brackets. My dad fills those out every year just for fun and, hey, why not have some friendly competition between my dad and I? ;) The overall winner actually wins a TV or something like that... I doubt I'd win the thing, but if I did - there would be some problems. I think you have to be an Indiana resident to receive the prize and as far as I know, no relatives can accept the prize for you, either. I dunno, if I did happen to win the thing, maybe I can talk them into having my dad accept it somehow. Heheh... Anyway, I seriously doubt that would happen anyway.
Well, I guess this sums up my last few days here. Hope you all are doing well.
Take care!
0 conundrum(s) | Have one of your own?
- Signed: Matthew Hartman
- Filed under Internet , photography , pictures , support .
Hey folks,
I think I've got the PhotoBlog all setup and ready... I found a template that I really like and after some minor modifications, I think I have it where I want it. There are a few small things I still have yet to do, like writing the "About" section for the blog. That's a simple thing and shouldn't take long, I just don't feel like doing it right now. It's linked to in the Menu to the left.
I haven't even touched the Gallery yet today, but I'm hoping when I get home from work tomorrow morning, to get on here and maybe work with it some. And hell, I don't know, I may just work on it some before I head into work. I still have a few hours... *grin
Anyhow, hope everyone's doing well...
I think I've got the PhotoBlog all setup and ready... I found a template that I really like and after some minor modifications, I think I have it where I want it. There are a few small things I still have yet to do, like writing the "About" section for the blog. That's a simple thing and shouldn't take long, I just don't feel like doing it right now. It's linked to in the Menu to the left.
I haven't even touched the Gallery yet today, but I'm hoping when I get home from work tomorrow morning, to get on here and maybe work with it some. And hell, I don't know, I may just work on it some before I head into work. I still have a few hours... *grin
Anyhow, hope everyone's doing well...
0 conundrum(s) | Have one of your own?
- Signed: Matthew Hartman
- Filed under Internet , photography , pictures , support .
I'm in such a better mood... This afternoon, my host finally figured out what was going on with my Photo Gallery and PhotoBlog issues. Apparently, their PHP Upgrade last week was causing issues on the server. So!
The gallery is now operational... It's located somewhere else, now, however.
If you're looking for it, it's located at: http://photos.mhartman-wx.com
The PhotoBlog is also operational at: http://blog.mhartman-wx.com
Keep checking back... I'll be slowly, but surely, re-building the gallery.
Have a great evening!
The gallery is now operational... It's located somewhere else, now, however.
If you're looking for it, it's located at: http://photos.mhartman-wx.com
The PhotoBlog is also operational at: http://blog.mhartman-wx.com
Keep checking back... I'll be slowly, but surely, re-building the gallery.
Have a great evening!
0 conundrum(s) | Have one of your own?
- Signed: Matthew Hartman
- Filed under dating , photography , relationships , weather .
Hey folks,
I haven't written in here in a while, so I figured I'd drop a note. Things have been pretty busy at work the last few days. We had a fairly potent system push through the upper-midwest this week, resulting in all different precipitation types and some heavy snows, as well. Especially over Iowa and Wisconsin, where some reports have up to a foot of snow.
I've been working day shifts most of the week and since I'm a night-owl, I've been going to bed late and getting up early for work. This hasn't done much good to my health lately, as I haven't been feeling very energetic or motivated lately. And the weather hasn't helped.
We're finally experiencing winter up here in the Northern Plains... I guess we should have expected this - coming off the warmest January on record here in Grand Forks and many other locations across the country. An arctic front finally dropped through the region Tuesday, simply dropping our temperatures like a rock. We dipped to as low at -19 Wednesday morning and hit -21 this morning (Thursday morning). Tonight, we'll likely see temperatures even colder with clear skies and deep snow-pack. We'll probably see temperatures between 20 and 30 degrees below zero. In fact, as of right now (2:13am), it's -22 at the NWS office here in town. Wind Chill Warnings are in effect until 6pm this evening, for possible values of -40 to -60 degrees. That's just down-right hellish...
My car had an extremely hard time starting tonight when leaving for work. It struggled... I had to hold the key for several seconds before it turned over, but at least, it did... And even after letting it warm up for nearly 40 minutes, the heat still wasn't as warm as it typically is by that point.
God, I hate the cold! Someone please explain to me why I moved up here, again... It reached well into the 50's and 60's back home in Indiana on Thursday. And they saw a bit of severe weather, as well. Oh, what I wouldn't give for just one 50-60 degree day up here - or a good thunderstorm! ;)
Other goings on... Not much else has been happening up this way. Amanda and I are still seeing each other off and on. While I'm still having personal issues of how far I want to take this relationship, I think I can say that I'm beginning to like her. I finally met her two daughters, Noel and Anna... and they seem like they're good kids. Amanda and I went out for Valentines Day to Fargo, to check out a restaurant we found over the weekend. It was more formal than I expected... they wanted reservations - something I didn't think about until the last second - and when ordering wine for the both of us, they brought out the whole bottle and a bucket of ice. That's something new for me... I hadn't ever been to a restaurant where they did that. But we had a good time and ate some good food. I spent a little more money than I really wanted to, but seeing to it that I haven't had a reason to celebrate Valentines Day in years - I felt it was justified and deserved, to me and her...
And while I haven't been taking as many pictures with the new camera, I still have some new ones to post in the Gallery. It's been too cold to go out and take pictures lately, so that's the main reason why...
Anyhow, this entry is getting a bit long, so I'm gonna hop off here for now.
Hope everything is going well for everyone!
I haven't written in here in a while, so I figured I'd drop a note. Things have been pretty busy at work the last few days. We had a fairly potent system push through the upper-midwest this week, resulting in all different precipitation types and some heavy snows, as well. Especially over Iowa and Wisconsin, where some reports have up to a foot of snow.
I've been working day shifts most of the week and since I'm a night-owl, I've been going to bed late and getting up early for work. This hasn't done much good to my health lately, as I haven't been feeling very energetic or motivated lately. And the weather hasn't helped.
We're finally experiencing winter up here in the Northern Plains... I guess we should have expected this - coming off the warmest January on record here in Grand Forks and many other locations across the country. An arctic front finally dropped through the region Tuesday, simply dropping our temperatures like a rock. We dipped to as low at -19 Wednesday morning and hit -21 this morning (Thursday morning). Tonight, we'll likely see temperatures even colder with clear skies and deep snow-pack. We'll probably see temperatures between 20 and 30 degrees below zero. In fact, as of right now (2:13am), it's -22 at the NWS office here in town. Wind Chill Warnings are in effect until 6pm this evening, for possible values of -40 to -60 degrees. That's just down-right hellish...
My car had an extremely hard time starting tonight when leaving for work. It struggled... I had to hold the key for several seconds before it turned over, but at least, it did... And even after letting it warm up for nearly 40 minutes, the heat still wasn't as warm as it typically is by that point.
God, I hate the cold! Someone please explain to me why I moved up here, again... It reached well into the 50's and 60's back home in Indiana on Thursday. And they saw a bit of severe weather, as well. Oh, what I wouldn't give for just one 50-60 degree day up here - or a good thunderstorm! ;)
Other goings on... Not much else has been happening up this way. Amanda and I are still seeing each other off and on. While I'm still having personal issues of how far I want to take this relationship, I think I can say that I'm beginning to like her. I finally met her two daughters, Noel and Anna... and they seem like they're good kids. Amanda and I went out for Valentines Day to Fargo, to check out a restaurant we found over the weekend. It was more formal than I expected... they wanted reservations - something I didn't think about until the last second - and when ordering wine for the both of us, they brought out the whole bottle and a bucket of ice. That's something new for me... I hadn't ever been to a restaurant where they did that. But we had a good time and ate some good food. I spent a little more money than I really wanted to, but seeing to it that I haven't had a reason to celebrate Valentines Day in years - I felt it was justified and deserved, to me and her...
And while I haven't been taking as many pictures with the new camera, I still have some new ones to post in the Gallery. It's been too cold to go out and take pictures lately, so that's the main reason why...
Anyhow, this entry is getting a bit long, so I'm gonna hop off here for now.
Hope everything is going well for everyone!
0 conundrum(s) | Have one of your own?
- Signed: Matthew Hartman
- Filed under photography , pictures , snow , weather .
Well folks,
My patience and anxiety has paid off... The Digital Rebel XT and SanDisk 1GB Ultra-II FlashCard came today through the mail! I had a heck of a time getting them.
After work, I came home, grabbed the tickets/notifcations from my door for both the UPS and FedEx and went to find the UPS Customer Service office here in town. I had a general idea where it was, but before, I could never find it. Mark, from work, described to me where it was, and apparently before I wasn't taking Washington Street far enough north to where it was located. It's all the way on the north end of town. So, anyhow, I drove all the way out there to find that the office was only open from 5:00pm to 6:00pm. What kind of hours are those?
So, then, I drove all the way out to the airport, where the FedEx building is. Upon arrival there, I was told I would have to go to the Ground Shipment office on 44th Street. So, I had to drive all the way back to the north-side of town to the Ground office only to find out the driver of the truck wasn't there - and that he wouldn't return until tomorrow morning. I wanted my camera now! :( So, I made up a story and told them I'd be busy and wouldn't be home to accept the package and that I'd need to pick it up, so the guy I was talking to actually called the truck driver back. They worked things out and let me meet the guy back at his house to accept the package that way. It was really cool they let me do that... The thing was, his house was all the way on the south-end of town. So, here I go again, treking all over town. All the while, our rain had switched over to freezing rain, then to all snow... So the roads were just plain getting nasty. My wheels were spinning out of control and well, my car just doesn't handle very well on snow and ice, to begin with. I was getting so frustrated - and just wanted to get back to my apartment.
BUT, I still had my memory card to pick up at the UPS. So, I had to drive all the way back to the north-end of town and by this time it was close to 5:30pm. Remember, I got off of work today at 3:00pm. I had been on the road, driving all over town and back and forth to the airport, for two and a half hours! Ugh... So, anyway, I get to the UPS and they tell me that the package was still in the truck... and that the truck was still on deliveries! The guy told me to come back between 7:30 and 8:30pm and that the trucks would be back by then. Apparently, they're technically closed after 6:00, but people can still drop by and pick up packages until 8:30pm.
So, I went home... read up on some of the instructions and played around with the camera a little bit. Everything is working the way it's supposed to. I was soo happy! :) I then left to go back to the UPS and was able to finally get the card. I came home, threw it in the camera, and went for a short walk down the street to try snapping a few pictures outdoors.
The settings are pretty much the same as my older Canon Rebel SLR, but they're configured a little differently on the XT. So, I'll have to get used to them. And considering that, plus the fact that I haven't shot anything on camera in so long, a lot of my pictures were pretty shaky.
A few of the pictures did turn out rather well, though... and I've posted these to my gallery. If you're curious to look through them, you can link to them directly here... If you're unable to get to the photos there, just go to the gallery and click on "Miscellaneous Galleries." The first photo album listed is the one consisting of the few select photos I posted.
So, hot damn... I finally have the digital camera I've been wanting for months. No longer will I have to pay for film or developing! Now, I'm just anxious for some storms to take pictures of...
More photos will follow, I'm sure!
Later folks...
My patience and anxiety has paid off... The Digital Rebel XT and SanDisk 1GB Ultra-II FlashCard came today through the mail! I had a heck of a time getting them.
After work, I came home, grabbed the tickets/notifcations from my door for both the UPS and FedEx and went to find the UPS Customer Service office here in town. I had a general idea where it was, but before, I could never find it. Mark, from work, described to me where it was, and apparently before I wasn't taking Washington Street far enough north to where it was located. It's all the way on the north end of town. So, anyhow, I drove all the way out there to find that the office was only open from 5:00pm to 6:00pm. What kind of hours are those?
So, then, I drove all the way out to the airport, where the FedEx building is. Upon arrival there, I was told I would have to go to the Ground Shipment office on 44th Street. So, I had to drive all the way back to the north-side of town to the Ground office only to find out the driver of the truck wasn't there - and that he wouldn't return until tomorrow morning. I wanted my camera now! :( So, I made up a story and told them I'd be busy and wouldn't be home to accept the package and that I'd need to pick it up, so the guy I was talking to actually called the truck driver back. They worked things out and let me meet the guy back at his house to accept the package that way. It was really cool they let me do that... The thing was, his house was all the way on the south-end of town. So, here I go again, treking all over town. All the while, our rain had switched over to freezing rain, then to all snow... So the roads were just plain getting nasty. My wheels were spinning out of control and well, my car just doesn't handle very well on snow and ice, to begin with. I was getting so frustrated - and just wanted to get back to my apartment.
BUT, I still had my memory card to pick up at the UPS. So, I had to drive all the way back to the north-end of town and by this time it was close to 5:30pm. Remember, I got off of work today at 3:00pm. I had been on the road, driving all over town and back and forth to the airport, for two and a half hours! Ugh... So, anyway, I get to the UPS and they tell me that the package was still in the truck... and that the truck was still on deliveries! The guy told me to come back between 7:30 and 8:30pm and that the trucks would be back by then. Apparently, they're technically closed after 6:00, but people can still drop by and pick up packages until 8:30pm.
So, I went home... read up on some of the instructions and played around with the camera a little bit. Everything is working the way it's supposed to. I was soo happy! :) I then left to go back to the UPS and was able to finally get the card. I came home, threw it in the camera, and went for a short walk down the street to try snapping a few pictures outdoors.
The settings are pretty much the same as my older Canon Rebel SLR, but they're configured a little differently on the XT. So, I'll have to get used to them. And considering that, plus the fact that I haven't shot anything on camera in so long, a lot of my pictures were pretty shaky.
A few of the pictures did turn out rather well, though... and I've posted these to my gallery. If you're curious to look through them, you can link to them directly here... If you're unable to get to the photos there, just go to the gallery and click on "Miscellaneous Galleries." The first photo album listed is the one consisting of the few select photos I posted.
So, hot damn... I finally have the digital camera I've been wanting for months. No longer will I have to pay for film or developing! Now, I'm just anxious for some storms to take pictures of...
More photos will follow, I'm sure!
Later folks...
0 conundrum(s) | Have one of your own?
- Signed: Matthew Hartman
- Filed under car , photography , rant .
I'm not sure exactly what the opposite of "weekend delight" would be, but this past weekend would be it... The first half of the weekend, wasn't all that bad, but Sunday was another story. Saturday night, Amanda and I went out again... We went to dinner at Appleby's then came back to my place to watch a movie. She decided on "Gone in 60 Seconds" so we watched it, hung out, and talked quite a bit. I got brave and decided to show her some pictures of my friends and family. ;) And I got to see a picture of Anna and Noel, her two daughters. They're cute kids...
Sunday was your typical "sunday..." I pretty much laid around all day, watching TV, watched a couple movies, and made some phone calls to the family. I, seemingly, dozed off and on all day, too.
Monday morning, upon entering my garage, and subsquently, my car, I quickly found out that someone had apparently entered my car and went through my stuff. I found stolen, the hand-held mic for my mobile amateur radio and my cell phone battery charger. After looking around briefly, and yelling several thousand curse words, I had to drive on to work. I was so upset... and pissed... but couldn't really let it sink in, with my having to work that morning. What pissed me off the most was that I even had my garage locked and something like this happened! That's a part of having a garage, right? Better security for your automobile and it's contents? I had the god-damn thing locked! How could something like this happen??
Well, to explain things... Within the garage units at this apt. complex I live in, all that separates each individual unit is a piece of sheet metal and it doesn't reach all the way to the roof. You can easily enter any unlocked garage unit and climb up and over into a unit next-door. It was clearly evident that this is what had happened, in my case. I had pretty distinct proof. I had footprints on top of my car! I knew that's how they got in and got back out. I also found that the sunroof/moonroof on my car had been slightly damaged, because of the fact. It had sunken down, so it wasn't level with the roof of my car. It wasn't really bad, but it still made me concerned... I took the car to a body shop here in town Monday after work and they found that the set-screws on both sides weren't completely tightened. The dude at the body shop was able to move the window into place and tighten the screws up. So, that was an easy fix and he didn't charge me anything. So, that was the one positive thing to come out of my Monday.
I also filed a police report and reported what had happened to the office here at the complex. Maintenance guys looked at my garage unit yesterday morning and made some measurements to put up some boards on both sides of my unit to prevent someone from climbing up and over. When I returned from work today, they had it done. It looks good and I'm actually impressed how well they covered everything. If I think about it, I'll take some pictures of what it looks like later, or maybe tomorrow afternoon. If I do, I'll post it so everyone can clearly see that you can not enter my garage anymore... At least, without some good effort!
So, even though I was very upset at my discovery Monday morning, things have worked out thus far. I'm "fairly" confident it won't happen anymore. I'm locking my car now when I park in the garage and with those boards up, I think I'll be okay. I'll just need to buy a new hand-held mic for the radio (they run almost $90, but I've found a few places selling them for around $65-70) and a charger for my phone. Those are only about $25-30, so I'm not too worried about that.
I also got brave last night and went ahead and ordered the camera I've long wanted... I put the Canon Digital Rebel XT on the credit card last night. I've got money from Christmas that will go for paying off the credit. Whatever I get back from my taxes this year will go towards the rest of the it. I found out the rebate for the camera expired on the 15th, so I won't be able to get the $75 off, but I will be able to send a mail-in rebate for the SanDisk Ultra II memory card I purchased through Amazon. With the rebate, I'll receive $20 back. So, not bad... The card sells at most places at $100-110 and with the rebate through Amazon, I'll be getting it for around $75.00! So, yeah, not a bad deal. The rebate for that expires on the 30th, so I felt that I'd go ahead and get it ordered now. After that, I finally decided to just go for it... I took the plunge... and just ordered the camera as well.
It should be on its way next week, and I'm hoping to have it sometime during the first or second week of February. I could have had it much earlier than that, but having it shipped slower, I was able to get free shipping on both the camera and the memory card. If it's going to save me money, I can wait!
Anyhow, I've got dinner waiting on me!
Take care... and I hope everyone is doing well...
Sunday was your typical "sunday..." I pretty much laid around all day, watching TV, watched a couple movies, and made some phone calls to the family. I, seemingly, dozed off and on all day, too.
Monday morning, upon entering my garage, and subsquently, my car, I quickly found out that someone had apparently entered my car and went through my stuff. I found stolen, the hand-held mic for my mobile amateur radio and my cell phone battery charger. After looking around briefly, and yelling several thousand curse words, I had to drive on to work. I was so upset... and pissed... but couldn't really let it sink in, with my having to work that morning. What pissed me off the most was that I even had my garage locked and something like this happened! That's a part of having a garage, right? Better security for your automobile and it's contents? I had the god-damn thing locked! How could something like this happen??
Well, to explain things... Within the garage units at this apt. complex I live in, all that separates each individual unit is a piece of sheet metal and it doesn't reach all the way to the roof. You can easily enter any unlocked garage unit and climb up and over into a unit next-door. It was clearly evident that this is what had happened, in my case. I had pretty distinct proof. I had footprints on top of my car! I knew that's how they got in and got back out. I also found that the sunroof/moonroof on my car had been slightly damaged, because of the fact. It had sunken down, so it wasn't level with the roof of my car. It wasn't really bad, but it still made me concerned... I took the car to a body shop here in town Monday after work and they found that the set-screws on both sides weren't completely tightened. The dude at the body shop was able to move the window into place and tighten the screws up. So, that was an easy fix and he didn't charge me anything. So, that was the one positive thing to come out of my Monday.
I also filed a police report and reported what had happened to the office here at the complex. Maintenance guys looked at my garage unit yesterday morning and made some measurements to put up some boards on both sides of my unit to prevent someone from climbing up and over. When I returned from work today, they had it done. It looks good and I'm actually impressed how well they covered everything. If I think about it, I'll take some pictures of what it looks like later, or maybe tomorrow afternoon. If I do, I'll post it so everyone can clearly see that you can not enter my garage anymore... At least, without some good effort!
So, even though I was very upset at my discovery Monday morning, things have worked out thus far. I'm "fairly" confident it won't happen anymore. I'm locking my car now when I park in the garage and with those boards up, I think I'll be okay. I'll just need to buy a new hand-held mic for the radio (they run almost $90, but I've found a few places selling them for around $65-70) and a charger for my phone. Those are only about $25-30, so I'm not too worried about that.
I also got brave last night and went ahead and ordered the camera I've long wanted... I put the Canon Digital Rebel XT on the credit card last night. I've got money from Christmas that will go for paying off the credit. Whatever I get back from my taxes this year will go towards the rest of the it. I found out the rebate for the camera expired on the 15th, so I won't be able to get the $75 off, but I will be able to send a mail-in rebate for the SanDisk Ultra II memory card I purchased through Amazon. With the rebate, I'll receive $20 back. So, not bad... The card sells at most places at $100-110 and with the rebate through Amazon, I'll be getting it for around $75.00! So, yeah, not a bad deal. The rebate for that expires on the 30th, so I felt that I'd go ahead and get it ordered now. After that, I finally decided to just go for it... I took the plunge... and just ordered the camera as well.
It should be on its way next week, and I'm hoping to have it sometime during the first or second week of February. I could have had it much earlier than that, but having it shipped slower, I was able to get free shipping on both the camera and the memory card. If it's going to save me money, I can wait!
Anyhow, I've got dinner waiting on me!
Take care... and I hope everyone is doing well...
0 conundrum(s) | Have one of your own?
- Signed: Matthew Hartman
- Filed under fantasy sports , photography , sports .
Hi folks,
Yeah, I realize it's late, but well, I have the day off tomorrow and besides sitting here watching a movie, I don't have much better to do. Just got done checking the standings in the Fantasy Baseball league I'm in with the guys at work. I pulled it out today, finally! I reached the top of the standings mostly behind my pitching. Carlos Zambrano, Ben Sheets, and Josh Beckett all are in double figures in strikeouts for me, so currently I'm atop the league in that category by a fairly large margin. We'll see how it pans out the next couple days, since none of my pitchers start. Hopefully, some of my relief pitchers will make some appearances. I'm not sure how my Fantasy NASCAR team did, since CBS Sportsline hasn't updated yet. But, I did have three of my five drivers finish in the top 10. Rusty Wallace, Sterling Marlin and my man, Joe Nemechek all did rather well today. Greg Biffle and Ken Schrader didn't fare as well, finishing under 20th position.
So, other than that... Not much new around here. I ordered a window mount for my camera the other day, so I'm anxious to get that in the mail. It should help tremendously for lightning photography and will provide a safety net for when it's raining or CG is a bit too close for comfort. Here's what it's gonna look like:
It's coming all the way from Florida, so I'm expecting it to take at least 5 days to get here. It takes 3 days for anything to get here from Indiana. This makes the most I've purchased in the off-season in quite a while. I'm getting equipped for my upcoming trip to the plains; which is sneaking up on me. Its only about a month and a half away, now!
Anyhow, it's even later now and I think I'm gonna hit the sack. Take care and talk to you soon.
Cheers! -- Matthew
Yeah, I realize it's late, but well, I have the day off tomorrow and besides sitting here watching a movie, I don't have much better to do. Just got done checking the standings in the Fantasy Baseball league I'm in with the guys at work. I pulled it out today, finally! I reached the top of the standings mostly behind my pitching. Carlos Zambrano, Ben Sheets, and Josh Beckett all are in double figures in strikeouts for me, so currently I'm atop the league in that category by a fairly large margin. We'll see how it pans out the next couple days, since none of my pitchers start. Hopefully, some of my relief pitchers will make some appearances. I'm not sure how my Fantasy NASCAR team did, since CBS Sportsline hasn't updated yet. But, I did have three of my five drivers finish in the top 10. Rusty Wallace, Sterling Marlin and my man, Joe Nemechek all did rather well today. Greg Biffle and Ken Schrader didn't fare as well, finishing under 20th position.
So, other than that... Not much new around here. I ordered a window mount for my camera the other day, so I'm anxious to get that in the mail. It should help tremendously for lightning photography and will provide a safety net for when it's raining or CG is a bit too close for comfort. Here's what it's gonna look like:
It's coming all the way from Florida, so I'm expecting it to take at least 5 days to get here. It takes 3 days for anything to get here from Indiana. This makes the most I've purchased in the off-season in quite a while. I'm getting equipped for my upcoming trip to the plains; which is sneaking up on me. Its only about a month and a half away, now!
Anyhow, it's even later now and I think I'm gonna hit the sack. Take care and talk to you soon.
Cheers! -- Matthew
0 conundrum(s) | Have one of your own?
- Signed: Matthew Hartman
- Filed under photography , pictures , weather , work .
Okay, got the Indiana forecast pushed out moments ago... and once again have some spare time. Okay, so I wanted to try to post a photo to see how it looks in the blog... This is "officially" the first storm I've captured on film here in the Northern Plains. This was captured on August 28th along the SD/MN border looking eastward from I-29. The photo was taken as my mother and I were on our way up here to Grand Forks in late August to look at apartments... Beautiful plains thunderheads - ah, I'm so anxious to see more of these.
0 conundrum(s) | Have one of your own?
