Aug. 11th, 2002

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I'm on my way to Duncan to visit my mom. I've already spent over an hour waiting in a line for the ferry that stretched well back onto the highway (I took a picture which I will post later). Thankfully I have a good book to read and my laptop to play with
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I just took 84 pictures of the ferry ride (not counting the two I took of other people with their camera because "obviously I'm a photographer"). Since I have the laptop with me I didn't have to worry about filling up the camera. I just filled it up, downloaded the first 48 photos, then took a bunch more. Then I got to look at them right away and I'd say about 70 of them are decent, and about half a douzen are actually good. There are a few I took with an intent to Photoshop later.
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Again, in the line up for the ferry. I had a nice visit with mom, we have interesting conversations. We talked about the probability of live on Mars and Europa, the decline of the American empire, WWII, British naval superiority, chemtrails, cropcircles and other esoteric things. We also talked about the practical and the now and in those areas she is full of good advice and left me with a lot to think about.

I had a major scare just as the ferry was docking on the way here. I decided to snap a couple more pictures and as I was doing so the camera shut down, apparently for a dead battery. I thought that was a little odd because the batteries had a full charge on them and even though I had been snapping a lot of pictures I wasn't using the LCD much, not the flash. I chalked it up to ageing rechargables and returned to the car. Then I noticed the camera was rather warm. Again, I thought it a bit add since I hadn't worked it that hard. Then it started to smoke! My precious camera was spewing smoke. The heat was coming from the battery comartment so I dumped the batteries out. One of them was hot enough that I burned my finger. I was freaked that the camera was dead and also freaked by this obviously short-circuted battery sitting beside me. The casing was melting off and visibly expanding. The ferry was unloading and I didn't want to dump a little mini-bomb underneath someone else's car, nor did I want the thing to explode right there next to me. My lane started to unload and I drove off and at the earliest possible opportunity pulled over and pitched the thing out of the car.

That problem solved I began to worry about the damage to my camera. That puppy was hot and I was afraid the heat could have done some permanent damage to the camera, and the way things are now there is no way I could replace the thing. As soon as I got into town I pulled into A&B sound and picked up some batteries to put in the camera. I was very relieved to find that it worked just fine.

My mom has moved back into the same townhouse complex we lived in when I was 13/14 and it was deeply weird being there again. The house I lived in from birth to about one and half (of which I have a couple of vague memories) is just around the corner, the house I lived from ages three through ten (which I think of as "the house I grew up in") is also just around the corner. It was strange being in that neighbourhood again. I hasn't changed much. Sometimes, you can go home.
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Pheh. I didn't quite make it onto the 7:00 ferry so I got stuck waiting for the 9:00 sailing. I had a little nap in the car. I've tried to take a few more pictures but it is night now and the vibration of the ferry makes long exposures impossible. I've got a couple that I *might* be able to rescue in Photoshop, but I kind of doubt it.

I'm debating whether or not to go to Sin City once I get home. It would be close to midnight before I got there and I would have to drive into town so I wouldn't have time to drink and subsequently sober up again. Oh, well. Another month passes me by, I hope Jim takes some good pictures.
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Evil
[livejournal.com profile] evilyn13: Will you come to my mother's wedding?
[livejournal.com profile] seymour_glass: OK, but it will cost you.
[livejournal.com profile] evilyn13: How much?
[livejournal.com profile] seymour_glass: One million dollars!
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© 2002 Michael R. Barrick
For those that don't know the Upper Levels highway, this is several *miles* from the ferry terminal...

© 2002 Michael R. Barrick
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