Headache Ball and Block_2

I had a couple of comments about this shot being too dark so I'm posting this lighter version. I agree, definitely looks better.

Picture and a Poem

I work for a PVF master distributor in Houston at one of the companies eight branches. We are a small company overall, the Houston branch is one of the two largest with about twenty employees. Last Friday we had two great guys retire that had just over twenty years a piece with the company. It was quite an experience and, when you think about the odds, one that's not likely to be repeated. To commemorate the occasion I gleaned the following poem.

FAREWELL TO GEORGE AND JAMES

Here's to two men twenty years on the job
Working hard for Rene, Ron, and Rob.
They come in early, work hard, and stay late
Till beer-thirty calls and they have to vacate.

George works the inventory receiving freight at the dock
He counts it, corrects it, and puts it in stock.
And if he has time then two times a day
He feeds his pigeons and goes back on his way.

James guides the warehouse like a captain steers a ship
While he manages with a smile and a crack of the whip.
He's the go-to guy if your order needs a fix
And he'll always help you from his bag of tricks.

When both of them leave and 40 years hit the door
We'll miss there experience , but we'll miss much more.
Experience over time will return I told
But men like George and James are rarer than Gold.

Headache Ball and Block

Keeping with yesterday's industrial theme, I shot this headache ball and block on a mobile crane that was doing some work in Baytown a while back. I don't know why but I like the subject as a still life study.

Men at Work

Some number of months ago the Dairy Queen at the corner of Texas Avenue and Alexander Drive in Baytown was accidentally burned down while a new roof was being installed. I'm not sure how long the building had been there but I've lived in Baytown all my life and I remember it there at least as long as I've been driving. After sitting for a while reconstruction is now underway. It's always good to see businesses rebound after a setback like this, it makes you feel like it's springtime in the winter!

Triple Posterior Cervical Discectomy

Well here's the BEFORE and AFTER. Besides the obvious difference in quality between the MRI [top] and the X-RAY [bottom] there are other obvious differences. Chiefest among them is the addition of brand new shiny titanium plate and screws. Also visible, but less obvious, is the substitution of cadaver bones for the three included disc. In the X-RAY you can see that the fusion of old bone and new [so to speak] bone is underway. As of yesterday I am officially out of my cervical collar and back behind the wheel! It's all good....

Mow Power

Since my doctor says I'm not supposed to drive a car, I didn't think it would be a good idea to drive a mower either. Fortunately my lovely and talented wife is a quick study and took to the dead-man steering on my commercial mower like a politician to other peoples money! Did she like it? I may never get to mow again.

Sadie and The Orange Daisy

OK, if you follow this blog you've seen the orange Daisy and the orange dog Sadie before. But you haven't seen them both in the same shot utilizing the strobist method of lighting. This was really just an exercise for me to utilize some equipment I purchased months ago but hadn't gotten around to using. In this shot I used a Paul C. Buff transmitter on my Oly E-3 to trigger my Oly FL50R off -camera flash. I used a small knock-off soft box on the flash which my wife held high and photo right. Room for improvement here for sure but at least I broke some gear out of it's box!