Drill Weekend

I am finally home from the long drill weekend. Most of the time the only good thing about three day drills is the fact that I get paid more for those drills.

We were traveling about 4 hours away from where I live in order to go to the range. The unit took hummers and convoyed down to Camp Gruber. This isn't my favorite place to go because it is pretty much out in the middle of no where. However I have had a few really good drills there. This month however it was the last place I wanted to be. Sara is close to having her baby and I was really worried that she would go into labor while I was there and I wouldn't make it back in time. Luckily the unit sorted out the issues and I was able to drive myself to Camp Gruber. This is actually the first time in 11 years that I took my own vehicle instead of going in the convoy. I found it quite nice having a ride to the store or where ever I wanted to go. Realistically it wasn't that big of a deal because the only place to go was a Shopette that had next to nothing in it.

I left on Friday morning a couple hours before I really needed to. I wanted time to stop by the store for a few necessities, I always try to give myself some extra time in case of traffic or road construciton and I also wanted the option to stop and take a few photos if I saw something of interest along the way. 

This additional time afforded me the opportunity to take a few photos of what appeared to be a derailed train just outside of Camp Gruber. It appeared that the pieces had been there for quite some time. I found it strange that the train company hasn't bother to pick up the piece's and at least take them to a scrap yard.
 
   
   




 Even though it is technically trash, I found the old rusted pieces to be interesting.

Once I finally stopped with the photos and was heading back to the truck, I noticed my boot felt strange. So I stopped to have a look. I have been requesting new boots for almost two years. A year ago when we went to this same range I complained loudly because the soles where coming off of my boots and I had to wear another pair that are to small. The smaller boots left huge blisters on my feet so Stephen used some gorilla glue to put the soles back on. However that gorilla glue didn't work to well because the soles were starting to come off the next day. I have walked around for almost two years with the soles of my boots showing this gap between the sole and the actual boot. Well Friday the sole of one my boots came completely off all the way up to the toe, there was about an inch of sole actually still attached. I hobbled back to the truck and drove through the gate at Gruber and headed straight to the Shoppette. Now years ago that little shoppette actually sold boots and some clothes.  Unfortunately they no longer sell boots unless you want to order them and wait for delivery. I wouldn't wait for delivery so I opted to buy a package of super glue that had a photo of some one gluing together a portion of their tennis shoe together. Good enough I would give it a try.

As I was looking for boots or glue every time I took a step the sole of my boot (which is rubber) would smack against the tile floor and make this crazy squeaky squeal sound, the sound would echo through the entire store.  Typically the shoppette which does not offer a lot doesn't have a lot of customers, on Friday there were about five people standing around in there talking while I was flapping and squeaking up and down the isles looking for glue.So in an attempt to not flap and squeak I was dragging my foot across the floor like a crazy person.

Now I personally would be laughing really hard if I had seen some one in my position, I wasn't exactly laughing though. It was to funny but I was embarrassed and just wanted to run out of the store. Instead I drug my flapping boot up to the counter and bought myself some super glue. I then drug my boot out the door and stopped right there in the door way to sort this crap out. I mean dang the parking lot is half a block away and I can only drag my foot for so long before some one is gonna ask me if I a out of my mind. So I opened two little tubes of super glue and squirted them onto the detached sole of my boot and then stepped down on it. Just then I realized that I would need to stand there for a few minutes until the glue dried. So I pretended to be sorting out some stuff in my shopping bag for a while  until I felt like the glue was probably set.  Lucky for me the sole of my boot is still on. I am now thinking I should have got a couple extra tubes because the other boot needs to be glued back together as it currently looks like it may come off soon.

Once I was able to walk with out causing a flapping squealing scene I went on over to the barracks where we were going to be staying and started looking for people from my unit.The long weekend had began!

Gruber. The ranges never work properly and most of the time at least half of the people do not qualify. The pop up targets either don't pop up or no matter how many times you hit them they don't fall down.  This weekend was no exception. We fuddled through the range, cleaned our weapons and fell into bed exhausted. Knowing that my time in the guard is limited, promotion points are well pointless for me so once I verified that I didn't need to qualify I took my bolo and opted to not refire. Instead I spent the refire time taking a few photos.


   
  I loved this flag, the flag is flown at the range to indicate that the range is hot and live rounds are being fired. Regardless of it's meaning the flag was pretty amazing on this very windy day.

This morning once the convoy headed back to the unit, those of us who drove ourselves there staid behind and cleared the barracks and turned the keys back over to the full time staff at Gruber. Then it was freedom time to head back home. I did stop on the way home for one last set of photos. I am only posting one photo from these. I am not really sure what this plant does but we have driven by there early in the morning when it is cold and there is a huge amount of steam coming off of the plant. I always wish I had my camera with me.Today it was to late in the day to get the steam but I still stopped and took a few shots.

 

There was one thing this weekend that got my mind to wondering what the heck! So before I end I think I must just go ahead and address this.  Friday during our evening formation when they informed us of the next days order of events the 1st SGT informed us that every one needs to be very careful about what they say on their face book or MySpace or any other similar site.This warning was issued because apparently some soldier went on his/her facebook and blasted their unit and named names of officers and aired their opinion. Now before I voice my opinion let me state clearly that my unit recently got a new Commander and I don't know at all, the only thing I have heard about him is that he is extremely family orientated that is it. I also barely know my 1st SGT, I have had to go to him with an issue and a question and both times he handled the situation or answered my question with no problems. I honestly have no reason to blast either of them and any reference I  make in this blog about my Commander or 1st SGT is being made in a hypothetical term not a specific real situation. 

With that said, I have to think that as soldiers, most of the people that I know in the military has at one time or another been deployed, spent time doing state side missions or supporting their country in one way or another. It is our job, what we sign up for and what is expected of soldiers. Most of them do this with out hesitation. However if soldiers in general are defending our country and the rights that are afforded to Americans then how in the hell is anyone going to take away one of America's basic rights from the very people who are maintaining those rights for all of us. Do we not all have freedom of speech? Are we not all allowed to speak our minds on our own time? I mean isn't it called Myspace because it is my space and place that I can do with as I pretty much please? If I feel that my commander is a dumb ass isn't it my right to express that opinion on my personal web page, or any where else I feel free?  As long as I am not posting anything that is illegal then don't I have the right to post all day long and express my opinion? I personally haven't ever blasted my unit on any of my pages, but if ever my commander or 1st SGT or any other person in my unit gives me cause to call them a dumb ass or a selfish ass hole, well expect to see it in flaming letters on here and on every other page I have. And if the military wants to argue with me about it I suppose I would be the person to challenge the opposition and request to see written law that proves  I don't have a legal right to express my opinion. Just my random thoughts on the subject. 

Frustrated and Exhausted

This may be some sort of blog rekindeling for me .A long time ago on another blog site i was a devoted blogger and had something to say every day. In some ways when that site went down I didn't want to blog any more, eventually I gave in and found this site but I havent been as devoted to it. A lot of this has to do with the fact that before Stephen and I got married we could write blogs and keep each other up to date on every thing, now we are able to just fill each other in at the end fo the day.

Any how, I am in a grouchy mood today for a few reasons. I finally got a week off of school and it has blown by so fast and I managed to recogmize a mile long list of things that need doing but that was it, I didn't manage to get any of it done. I have been so exhausted from working all day and staying up all night with home work that a lot of times I don't even notice how much laundry has piled up or that the cubards are empty or the lawn is knee high. This week I wanted to get every thing caught up but I was so exhausted I ended up just crashing every afternoon and not getting any thing done really. Its frustrating and honestly how much more of the daily life stuff can I push off on Stephen before he gets so over whelmed that he can't cope. Not much more I am sure.

I am also frustrated because every since 2003 the National Guard has been telling me that they are going to medically discharge me from the military due to injuries that occurred on deployment. However the military is great about taking forever, they have started the process a few times and then staff would change and the issue would be dropped. I haven't pushed the issue about any of it because if I can just bide my time until I get my 20 I will be happy to quietly take my retirement letter and move on with my life. In the last year some one in the unit decided that this needs to be sorted and finalized, so every couple of months I get a letter telling me I am being issued orders to go to the Med Review Board, so I go but I never get paid for it, orders means getting paid, nor does the unit bother to exchange those days for drill days. Instead I am taking these days off from my job with out pay and wasting my time. There is always another form or another appointment. The forms never seem to be done on time. The unit seems to take a month or two to fill out a form and only bothers to do it if I email or call them every week.

It's now drill weekend again and we are going to convoy across the state to go to the range. My daughter happens to be pregnant, very pregnant. She is due October 21,but she is diabetic which typically leads to early delivery. The doctor said a week and a half ago that she didn't think that Sara would go to her due date and would  maybe go two more weeks. I am freaking out that she will go into labor with me 4 hours away.
Sara also has this heart condition that causes her heart to beat to fast. I have  heard so many horror stories about women's hearts stopping when they are in labor so needless to say I am in a panic about it. I want to be right there the whole time, not that I think I am a doctor and can fix her but I want to at least be there to yell for a doctor if something goes wrong. 

So any way I text my NCOIC and explain that I am freaked out about going on a convoy that far away and not being able to get back if I need to. She told me that I could drive my personal vehicle to the range that way if I need to leave I can. Today I was thinking do I drive straight to the range or do I need to show up at the unit for formation. The thing is the unit is not even in the general direction of the range. My NCOIC says she isnt sure so I should call the unit. I can't call from work so I got on my phone and sent an email and ask my question. The guy comes back saying that I haven't received approval to drive myself to the range. I replied back saying that I had contacted my NCOIC about it and she had informed me that it was all sorted. He actually emailed me back being rude about 1SGT not approving it. So I text my NCIOC and ask who she approved it with and told her the unit was saying that I can drive to the range. She never answered me!

The whole thing annoys me because appartenly my NCOIC gave me permission to drive there and never bothered to get it approved from the approving authority, and never bothered to  inform me that it had not really been approved. Then the clerk had to be rude about it, If  I do what I am suppose to and go through the chain of command there is no need to be rude to me because my NCOIC didn't follow through with her part of it. Its not like I was askign to not go at all which is really what I would rather. I mean what mother wants to be 4 hours away from thier pregnant 16 year old unhealthy daughter when she could go into labor at any minute. Not this mother for sure!

I eventually got the number for the approving authority and text and got permission to drive but by the time that I got this approval I was so frustrated. I hope the long drive in the morning gives me time to cool off because going to drills with an attitude probably isnt a good idea. A few years ago I was just not ready to get out of the military or give up that part of my life, recently I am just ready for them to finalize the papers and send me on my way. I never thought I would want to be out of the military, it used to be such an important part of how I definded myself. I really think I feel ready to get out because of stupid stuff like this stuff today. I guess I want the guard to be more like active duty, where your unit is  your family and you always have each other's back. Imagine if I had not text or emailed to ask a question, come tommorow morning I would have been AWOL from drills!

Car Dealerships! oh and a couple pics I took recently

Yesterday I had this appointment at the VA in Bonham. We recently bought this car from an individual and for what we paid it is an ok car, however after driving a mini van for many years I am just not feeling comfy in this car. I need a family vehicle. So as we where going to Bonham any way I decided that we would stop by Bonham Chrysler and see what pre-owned cars they had we actually found one that we loved! It was a

2004 Chrysler Pacifica SUV

   

This is actually the very vehicle we looked at and even test drove for the day. The sales guy said take it to your appointment and when you get back we will have the financing worked out. I said to him specifically that I was not willing to pay any money down, I simply wanted to use the car as a trade in for the down payment and then make payments. Now this is something that I have done in the past and on vehicles that to be honest where not worth trading in but if the car lot wants to take them then great. 

We returned with the above vehicle and was informed that financing was all sorted we just needed to speak to the finance guy. The sales guy says first let me run over the numbers with you. We are asking $13 and change for the vehicle, but have brought that down to $10 and change, we will give you $3  for the car and bring that down to  $9. Now a warning bell went right off for me because I know the car isn't worth $3 and I also know that if you take 10 which is what they brought the price down to and subtract 3 that leaves 7 not 9 however I just listened and waited for the finance guy. 

Ok in the past when I have traded in a crap car and not made a down payment what the finance people have done is gave us say $1500 trade in for a car that is really worth about $500, they tell the finance company that they gave us $500 and then we put up the other $1000. I have done this several times over the years. However this finance guy wanted to say that our car was worth $500 and they would say they where giving us $3000 but we would have to come up with cash for the $2500 difference. This is well to be blunt ass backwards from any other deal I have every heard of, what would be the point of telling the finance company that they gave us $3000 trade in if we actually put up the $2500. The whole point in doing this scheming on the trade in and down payment is so that the finance company thinks you put cash down when really you only traded in your car.  To be honest I was texting with Misty and only half way listening to the guy, but I sat up straight and took notice when he said that we would be putting up the $2500. I ask him to explain again so I could be sure of what I had heard. 

Needless to say we opted not to because I had already said I wasn't giving them the car and cash. So we leave the lot and head home. On the way we drove past a couple other car lots, smaller less BS car lots. There happens to be the same vehicle sitting at one of the lots only it is the prettiest blue. So we stop just to ask. This lot don't really do trade ins, they want a down payment. So we ask about the Pacifica. Theirs happens to be a 2006 model, less miles and they are only asking $9 something for it. Stephen and I just looked at each other with this "good job we just avoided getting screwed" look. Now we are going over the finances and attempting to come up with a down payment and keeping the car to give to Sara and Luke. However the fact that this car is almost $4000 less than the one at BC really got us a little irritated. 

We didn't look on the net before we stopped, it was a last minute "hey lets just see" kind of deal. Today we went and looked at BC website and I will be darned, they have that vehicle that we test drove  listed at $9,999 so why the HELL did they try to tell us $13! I mean isn't that false advertising or something?  

It is really my own fault because a couple years ago we had a few dollars saved and wanted to go to this same car lot's cash only lot and pick up something fairly cheap to get Stephen started out. This was when he first moved here and didn't have a car or a job at the moment. So needless to say car payments where not an option with no job.  They had all these $2000 cars on their site but when we got there they refused to show us anything less than $5000 and when I ask specifically about cars on their site that said $1999 they came up with excuses about how those cars where on lots in other towns. I ask could they call those lots and verify that the cars where there so that we could go see them, they refused to do so. Now I explained to the guy that Stephen had only been here a couple of weeks and that he didn't have a job yet and that until Uncle Sam gave him a work permit he wouldn't have a job so I needed a cash deal, he still wouldn't let me see the cheap cars. I should have known better than to ever go back there. I can assure you that I won't be doing it again. 

I  just can't understand a business being ran that way, I mean haven't they ever heard that you are suppose to listen to the customer and find out what their needs are, what their abilities are and go from there? This place is all about screwing you over and pushing you into something that you can't afford or something that you said you are not willing to do! I really hate pushy lying sales people!

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Now on another note here are a couple pics that I took when I went with Stephen to look for a hawk. 

 

 

Banks and Customer service,do they even go together any more!?

 

Recently I have been so fed up with Banks in general, today it got to the point I had to get rude with some one.

To start off my dislike for banks First United Bank has been my bank for years now, I had a joint account with my first husband and when we divorced I took the brunt of some pretty messy check issues in order to get my paycheck (which was being held at the bank until one of us took full responsibility for the account). In the end I spent about three years chasing beer checks across Bryan county because I had no idea he had written the checks. Once it was all said and done I was pretty over the idea of a check book. Divorce can be messy in a lot of ways but the bank accounts I think was the worst of it.  By the time I had it all sorted and all the checks paid up I was pretty protective of my bank account. I check it daily and make sure that things are as they should be.

To make me even more anti-banks my  X knew our account number by heart, and he had a friend at the bank. During those first couple of years when he didn't pay any child support at all if I ever ask him to help buy anything for the girls he would quote me my bank balance and assure me I had the money to pay for their stuff.  He even once showed me a print out of my bank statement. Turns out his friend at the bank was telling him what ever he wanted to know about my account.

After Stephen and I were married over a year someone at the local branch offered to password protect my account so that not even a bank employee could access my account with out the password. They offered this because Stephen had refused to be added to my account because of my X constantly knowing what my balance was. Now I receive an email any time that some one tries to access my account with out the password. That first week I had over 20 emails, the emails have drastically reduced in the last couple of   years but I still get one every now and then. It amazes me that five years after the fact he still attempts to check my bank statements.

A few months ago Stephen discovered Photoshelter, a website that will host photography sells and do most of the hard parts for you for a small fee. Well it was working great until First United started blocking the payments to Photoshelter. We couldn't figure out the problem because the money was in the account but the payments where being declined. It turns out that a lot of banks are blocking all credit card transactions from several states, a few countries and specific merchants because of a large amount of fraud coming from those states.

We have been on the phone repeatedly with FU trying to get them to process these payments. I was getting irritated with the whole issue but I do understand why they are doing it. I however feel that if a customer calls and says look I authorize this payment to this company then the bank should allow the payment. FU insist that they can not lift the block for any reason.

It all came to a head the other day when Stephen spoke to his two sons and they ask him to add minutes to the pre-paid phone that he gave them. The transaction was declined, even after Stephen spent an hour on the phone to the UK trying to sort it all out the phone company couldn't get the transaction to process. Turns out transactions from the UK have been blocked as well! This was the last draw with FU for Stephen. 

Stephen has gotten so fed up that he has opened a new account with Vision bank and as soon as the ATM card comes in the mail he will be moving his pay check to there. Vision bank seems sure that if we call and authorize a payment through a blocked agent that they can lift the block for one transaction at a time. This means us calling once a month but that is better than having out account frozen because the bank is to lazy to spend the time to authorize the payments.

Now I am reluctent to end a long time account with FU because it is simply comfortable to stay where I am at. However Stephen's name is on that account and mine is on his new account at Vision bank. On Thursday my X decied to make a partial payment on his very delinquent child support. I haven't complained much about his lateness or partial payments because I realize how difficult it is to go from Active Duty Army pay to a crappy job at Dish Network that pays about a third of what the army pays. Any way I was in Durant and near Vision bank so I figured I would deposit the payment into Vision and keep part of it to take the kids for tacos. I pulled into the drive through. and put the money order, a deposit slip and my ID into the little tube and send it on.  I noticed that there is no other cars in the drive through at all, and about three employees mingling around inside the drive through window. As soon as my tube hits their desk all of the employees disappear. About 15 min later I start getting frustrated and text Stephen  "IDK about this bank, I am the only one in the drive through, three missing employees and 15 minutes they didn't even say hello when they got my tube" . Another 5 minutes and some guy strolls up to the window, drops the tube into the machine to send it back to me and walks away before the tube ever get st to me.  Now at least FU tellers say hello to you when they get your tube and tell you thanks and have a nice day when they send the tube back.  I mean come on a little politeness  isn't a lot to ask for.So even though Vision bank gives you 3.6% interest on your checking account and they seem to think our payments will be put through I am really not happy about the lack of customer service skills that their tellers seem to offer.

So to top off my bank frustrations we received a check in the mail a few days ago from a customer wanting to purchase a disk. This morning we had to got to Denison to pick up some photos that we had in this gallery. So Stephen says oh we need to cash this check too. Now typically we don't deposit customer checks into our account. The reason behind this is if the customer writes us a check and it don't clear the bank, if I have put that check into my account I am then responsible for giving my bank back that money. So I take customer checks to their bank to cash them. This customer wrote a check from American Bank of Texas. We pull up to the drive through window, put the check that was made out to Stephen Olner Photography and Stephen's  military dependent ID into the tube and send it on. The teller leaves and returns to inform us that because the check is made out to a business and we don't have an account with them then they can give us a Cashier's Check but not cash! What the Heck!  I was not happy and said look it is not like the check is written to Wal-Mart, it is written to a buisness that is his name and you have a government issed ID proving he is that person. She refused to cash the check so I ask for a manager. The teller leaves and returns to say that I can come inside and see a manager but the manager refuses to come to the drive through window! What!!!! So I drive around and go inside. I was heated by then because the gallery closes at noon and we where going to not make it in time to pick up our photos.

I explained to the manager a little banking 101, the purpose in having a checking account is so that a person can write a check to a business or individual and then the business or individual can present the check to the bank and get their money. The manager insisted that because we don't have an account there, the check is written to a business and we have no proof that we are the business owners then they can't give us cash. I explained to her in less than nice tone that first of all the check is written to Stephen Olner Photography and the Stephen's ID, which was issued to him by Uncle Sam clearly indicates that he is STEPHEN OLNER! How much more cut and dry can it be, come on now its not like the check was made out to some buisness that didn't include Stephen's name.

This manager says to me that until I work in the banking industry I dont understand what all people will do to commit fraud. Hello she don't know what my background is. I see fraud all the time at my job, I also have delt with people giving me checks for a long time and not always are they valid checks. This would be why I don't cash customer checks through my account! 

The woman starts listing all this proof that we can provide, she wants some form that proves we work under an alias name...what the hell this isnt an alias its the darn name his partents gave  him when he was born!!!
 I informed her that if I wanted her to have my personal information then I would open an account with their bank but as I don't choose to have an account with their bank a government ID is more than enough to prove who Stephen is. This woman actually had the nerve to say "so why don't you just take the check to your bank".  As I told her, my bank is not in Denison but I am and I don't cash customer checks through my bank I cash them through the bank it is written from.

I turned to Stephen and said  we are not taking any more checks written on American Bank of Texas, not that  I can understand why anyone would want an account with a bank that offers no customer service what so ever. The woman's eyes about popped out of her head, she opened her mouth to say something but seemed to be lacking for anything to say and finally came up with "that is a matter of opinion" ...whooo hooooo as if that bothers me at all. I really dont think I will be accepting checks from their bank ever again.

All the while Stephen is standing there arms crossed watching as if he wants to burst out laughing at this woman who is close to seeing me get really mad. Stephen invites her to look up Stephen Olner Photography on the net. She finally accepts this web site that by the way don't even have his photo on it, as proof that Stephen Olner Photography is a real company.

Now when we got home this manager had sent Stephen an email to say how sorry she was that it was such an inconvienance but really isnt that a bit late as I had to waiste all that time and be late getting to where I needed to be.

I really just wonder if banks in general give a crap about customer service at all. I mean really people depend on their banks to take in money, make payments, feed their families and put gas in their cars, all through what ever bank their hard earned money goes into. If we as customers attempt to make a payment to a business or individual we shouldnt have to worry about if the bank will honor a valid request when the money is in the bank. Banks may be essential in this day with direct depsites and all but I am ready to close them down and go back to the days where we all deal in cash!

Well Darn

Well the last photos that I posted, some of them have became a real controversial issue for us. I have been going on photo shoots with Stephen for several years, as long as we have been married. However not long after the shoot for the photos in my last blog, we went on a couple more shoots and then all the sudden Stephen gets a phone call informing him that I am not allowed on photos shoots any longer. No explanation other that at the photo shoot where I took the last photos there was a woman there who felt as if Stephen is distracted by me. Now if that was the case why hasn't he been distracted by me in the past? The person making the call has now stated in emails that he never hired me on to take photos and does not want to deal with me in any way. He refuses to give a direct answer as to why or what the issue really is. I believe I know what the issue is but when ask directly he refuses to answer the question.

He has launched a very personal attack against me, so much so that Stephen informed him that he simply can't work for him any more, as well if he  has specifically excluded me and my work maybe they shouldn't use the photos of mine from that shoot. We had informed them that some of the photos where mine however we wanted him to choose the photos he liked not photos by the person he likes so we had said once he chose the photos we would then inform him who took what photos. However in light of the situation we gave him a list of the photos that I took and ask that they do not use them. This caused a huge issue, I believe that he thought Stephen took those particular photos, imagine his shock when he realized he had chosen some of my photos for his article!  However he should have been smart enough to not bash me until after he published the photos, instead he did it before he published them and that allowed me the right to retract usage rights.  Needless to say we will miss the work not only because of the money but because we enjoy the people and the events.

This whole thing was a shock to me, not because some woman didn't like me but more because no one is willing to say exactly what the issue is. I personally never liked the man who is bashing me, I would have washed my hands of him a long time ago if it was not for Stephen. My personal dislike for him came when he discussed specific business details about another photographer with Stephen. My view is if he is bashing her to you what is he saying about you to other people. This really seemed unprofessional to me and I didn't want to be involved with anyone who would do this.

When ask specific questions about his attack on me the man's response was "Love is one thing, good business is another. You might think about separating them" so basically he don't think that we should be working together. I personally don't want to be in business on my own, I don't think Stephen does either.We like any budding business have things that we would like to improve on, overall though we have a routine, we know who does what best, we know how to fill the gap for each other. I can't imagine ever taking another photo if it meant excluding Stephen from the the whole process! 


So with all that said, we are pushing ahead, moving forward and finding new outlets for our  artwork.

Just a few photos

So I have been photo crazy lately with school and tagging along with Stephen. I have taken quite a few lately. The bee stuff is from a current class, the cowboy stuff is from me tagging along with Stephen.  Even though I took the cowboy images while tagging along on Stephen's shoot, I used them for one of my assignments in class. I can't really edit any of these photos until after I post them to my classes. I can't wait because the cowboy images have little spots on them where the sun was reflecting on the grass, I really want to edit those spots because I just love these silhouette photos. 

updated~just a little fun stuff

So yesterday I posted this new logo for Stephen just because I thought it was funny. But I realized I was missing something so here is a new updated logo for him, it has all the elements, the photography, his bees, a redtail hawk and the two dogs that he has some how brought into the house.

Emma is on the left,  Lilly on the right, the camera is what he currently uses "Nikon D2X", the bees are photos that I took of his bee hives, the photos in the film strip are actuall his photos and the hawk is Zoie the first night we had her....... I dont know if it could be any more Stephan than this lol!

Hot Summer Days

So I didn't get the trampoline photos the way I want them, I may try that again later in the week when Luke (Sara's boyfriend) has the day off. However I did manage to take a few photos of the kids playing in the water, well the kids and Stephen lol.

Is he out of his F'ng Mind!!

SO Someone emailed us the following statements made by our current president! I have a lot to say but will post it at the bottom after his statement!!

THIS MOST UNBELIEVABLE PRESIDENT?

HERE IS HIS RESPONSE WHEN HE BACKED OFF FROM HIS DECISION TO REQUIRE THE MILITARY PAY FOR THEIR WAR INJURIES.


Bad press, including major mockery of the plan by comedian Jon Stewart, led to President Obama abandoning his proposal to require veterans carry private health insurance to cover the estimated $540 million annual cost to the federal government of treatment for injuries to military personnel received during their tours on active duty. The President admitted that he was puzzled by the magnitude of the opposition to his proposal.




"Look, it's an all volunteer force," Obama complained. "Nobody made these guys go to war. They had to have known and accepted the risks. Now they whine about bearing the costs of their choice? It doesn't compute.." "I thought these were people who were proud to sacrifice for their country, "Obama continued "I wasn't asking for blood, just money. With the country facing the worst financial crisis in its history, I'd have thought that the patriotic thing to do would be to try to help reduce the nation's deficit.. I guess I underestimated the selfishness of some of my fellow Americans."


Please pass this on to every one including every vet and their families whom you know. How in the world did a person with this mindset become our leader?

 REMEMBER THIS STATEMENT.... "Nobody made these guys go to war. They had to have known and accepted the risks. Now they whine about bearing the costs of their choice?"

Now I usually refrain from cursing in my blogs because it can be offensive to some people. However I really have to know if we have a president that is simply out of his F'ng Mind!!  First let me say I am in the military and absolutely volunteered to enlist, I a woman there is no way I would be drafted into the military. However I volunteered and even went on deployment with out complaint because I was assured that if I suffered injuries or life changing illness the government would be there to help me recover and return to my life. How dare this pissy ass man who hasn't bothered to enlist in any military services or go on a deployment to defend our country try to say that we should all now take out private insurance to cover our medical bills. I don't know one person who would volunteer to enlist if they knew from day one they would be bankrupt attempting to pay for the injuries they encure during deployment! 

Now don't take me wrong, I don't think a person has a right to enlist, take part in the education benefits and then complain about deployment. You enlist, then when you get the call you go no questions ask! That is how it is, it's what you sign up for, but you do it knowing that if you serve your country then your country will take care of you afterward.  This has to be the most offensive thing this man has said so far! 
I could rant about this forever but I will leave it for now! 

Trial and Error

I took these photos yesterday, however something went crazy with the cord that attaches to the camera and allows me to snap the picture with out touching the camera. For some reason it was snapping photos with out me pushing the button. So I took it off and took these photos, but during my attempts to figure out what was going on I totally messed up the settings and ended up with super soft photos, so I am really not happy with the results. Tommorow the plan is to try again and see if I can fix the problem. However there were a couple photos that I thought "if I can do this only sharper I will be soooo pleased" so here are the trial and error shots and maybe tommorow I can do some better ones!

Home from Drills

So I had drills this weekend. I was sitting there filling out a form for some one and one of the admin people walk by and spot me, he poked his head in and said "so you know your reporting on Monday for three weeks of orders right?"  Ummm nooooooppppeee Had no clue! With school starting back, the unit being an hour away and me never sleeping I can't add two hours of driving to my day not and go to school so thank God they cancled the orders and life goes on as normal.

All weekend I regretted not taking my camera, the clouds where amazing all the way there and all the way back. I will take it from now on!  for today though I set this link up so that I can post photos for classes.  http://latrell.photoshelter.com/

Picture of the day

I always say I want to post a picture a day, but for some reason I never get around to it.. That's life my life with photography,  kids, work, military and school.. I just need to set aside time to do it every day.. now where do I put the sticky note to remind myself to do it? .. Maybe one day I will have enough free time to post lots of photos every day!


The above Photo is the top portion of a lifting foot bridge in Salford Quays England. We took a lot of photos in England and every time I go into LR to attempt to sort them I run into that lack of time issue again, but I do keep stumbling onto photos in the "England" file that I just love. This is one of those. I am less than happy that we where walking across this bridge and I stopped, even made Stephen stop and said to him "this would make an awesome shot" and some how he took better shots of this view of the bridge than I did, but there are a lot of reason's for that, one he has been doing this a whole lot longer than me and two he is taller than me. One may think this is just and excuse but honestly your view point is different from every spot around you and six inches higher or lower makes a difference. Now my problem is to sort out how to make up the difference!

Even though I was aggrivated that I found this shot and Stephen produced it better than me, I am still quite happy with this photo. The thing is...it's a pretty cool shot in color, black and white and even in this antiquic look.

Really wish I had of had more time and a light tripod in England! I say light because my father-n-law gave us a tripod while we where there ( we didn't have enough packing space to take one with us) but it was very heavy.  I have however used it since coming home.

Possibly in the next couple days i will have time to pick out a few more "England"  shots to post...

Today's Photos

As I have completely redesigned my page I thought it was time to post a photo or two.

Bar Room Politics

So yesterday Stephen gets a call from this guy who seems to think he spoke to Stephen the day before about some bees that he and his friends had found in a tree. Stephen assured him that he had not received a call but he would be glad to come have a look. Turns out they are in a community that is so close you don't realize you are leaving Colbert before your actually in this community, really close in other words. The guy says call when you head over and we will meet you and show you where they are.

Last evening after work we called and said we are on our way, the guy says oh just stop out in front of this bar and we will come show you. So ok I am thinking that the tree is behind the bar, but no the guy was in the bar having  a few, and had already had a few. 

Partly because it was raining and partly because we really didn't want to cut open a tree full of bees with a half drunk guy standing there who maybe wouldn't be able to run away if the bees where really aggressive, we made plans to come back this morning around 10 am. Safe time right 10 am wont be to much drinking going on. 

We call the guy back this morning and say we are on our way, he says meet him at the bar........... So we did, this time there where three guys. They went with us to where the tree was, as we are standing around watching Stephen cut the bees out of the tree I found myself listening to these three guys discuss every day life really. Even though I am not much for being at the bar all the time, I find the bar room politics to be funny at times. Here are a few of the discussions they got into: 

First the tree was at the back of the property, but at the front there was another tree that had these tiny white flowers in it. We had to go have a look because the three amigos where insistent that some bee activities where definitely taking place in this tree. They where very right, as you approach the tree you can hear thousands of bees buzzing around. No the discussion takes a funny twist when two of the guys want to debate rather or not the sound was coming from a hive of bees inside the tree attempting to cool down their hive or was it coming from the literally thousands of bees buzzing around in the tree on those tiny white flowers.  

One guy insist that you can only hear bees when they are cooling the hive, another argues that there may very well be a hive inside the tree, however the noise you hear is from the bees buzzing around the flowers. It as comical to see these guys in their 60's having this discussion each repeating the same information over and over, and each time one would state his argument they would look to me for confirmation. I kept saying I can hear a bee any time it buzzes by me, but when they are cooling their hive it is just louder and more noticeable, in other words your both right you can hear the bees buzzing in the tree and in their hive. I guess because I wasn't taking either ones side, they where compelled to re-hash the topic a few times. You really had to witness this discussion in order to find it as humorous as I did, because your missing out on the facial expressions and body language!

Then there was this discussion on rather or not the queen bee can fly. One guy insisted that yes she does fly, another insisted that no if the queen leaves the hive the other bees carry her. Again they rehashed their points and opinions a few times and looked to me for confirmation.  I kept telling them that a queen can fly, she just don't very often, she flies to mate and flies to swarm off but other than that she stays in the hive tending to the brood or making more brood. They would say ohh and aaahhh and then rehash their points. 

They where funny and kept moving from one topic to another and back to the first all the while repeating their points and insisting that the other was just drunk and didn't know what he was talking about. 

The third guy that came had apparently worked on a farm at some point where they had a hive or two. He felt kind of smarter than the other two because he had a little experience with bees. So he spent a lot of his time assisting Stephen. Apparently yesterday after we had looked a the bees the boys got to discussing the issue at the bar, the guy who was assisting Stephen had said he knew a little about bees and wouldn't be scared to come rob some of the honey. It seems he left the bar, went to the tree and stuck his hand in to get out some comb with honey to take back to the bar. Only a few short minutes later he returns to the bar with a small piece of older comb that didn't actually have any honey in it any more. However according to the guys he had 50 bee stings! lol I doubt that he actually had 50 but he apparently got stung getting some empty comb from the tree. 

Today at one point he was keeping the smoker going for Stephen and of course he didn't have a bee suit and felt brave and wanted to be involved.  Me and the guys look up to see him standing there with the smoker, watching the bees buzz to him, as each bee approached he would puff a little smoke at it. You have to picture this grown man with a smoker doing a little dance trying to hit each bee with a puff of smoke. It was to funny for words!  One of the guys says to him "man I got up at 5am this morning and started drinking, what time did you start? Cause I am thinking it was before I started" 

First of all who wakes up at 5am to start his drinking for the day? Second of all maybe it is true that smoker guy was a bit tipsier than 5am guy! This cracked me up again. 

When Stephen pulled out the first comb and put it into a rack, there was some left over, of course the guys wanted to try the honey. At some point of one of the guys gave their dog some of the honey. From that point on the dog's owner kept telling them to stop cause the dog had eaten enough but the dog wasn't having it. When they wouldn't give her some comb and honey she started licking it off of the tree! 

Then Stephen got to a point where there was a huge limb and we didn't know how much farther up the comb was, so they went to the other side of the limb and cut into the tree to find that there was no comb, so the theory was that the comb stopped some where under this huge limb. 

The guy who showed us the hive yesterday announces that if Stephen will cut a line on the back side of the limb he will go get the back hoe and use it to pull the limb off. Not a bad idea..The owner of the tree and land says oh don't go after the back hoe, just get the tractor. He then gets confused and thinks that his buddy has has Stephen to cut the limb down the middle instead of at where the limb connects to the tree. It appeared that his confusion then got Stephen confused he had this look like "what the heck do they want?". 

So as back hoe guy goes off to get the tractor and a chain that weighs more than he does, I attempt to explain where the cut needs to be made. After some hand demonstrations every one seems to be on the same page and the cut gets made. Then it was a debate over where to put the chain! lol 

Finally the limb comes off and we realize that the honey and comb stopped at the bottom of where the limb connects to the tree. Job done all the honey is out and placed into the hive and the bees are slowly making their way to the hive. 

The boys invite us back to the bar for a drink. So we went, I had water and Stephen had a beer. As we sit out in the back of the bar and discuss the bees, Stephen ask how exactly did they get his number because his name and number seem to be getting around and we don't exactly know how, some one told us it was in the phone book but we never listed it. 

The guys went in and retrieved a note book and a piece of paper. The tree and bar owner says he called some extension office and ask about who could save the bees, they gave him some phone numbers. As he explains it the first number he called was some woman who made out that she has a bee farm, however he didn't like her much because she told him to exterminate the bees asap! He can't remember her name and he scratched it out on the paper because he didn't like talking to her once she said to kill the bees!  Then they called some other number and told this man about the tree and the bees. The man apparently assured them that he wanted the bees and would come for them.  Some how the next day when they went to open the bar up there was a note on the door with Stephen's name and number and a note that he would come get the bees. Now  we have no clue who put the note, and the men thought it was the guy they called the night before. We have no clue but it's interesting that people know his name and number and hand it out when bees come up as a topic. 

Now the funniest part of the whole morning came as we sat there discussing the mysterious note. We heard a car wreck, one of the guys thought that maybe a car had hit one of the stray dogs that often roam around this community. He was saying as much when an instant after we hear the bang sirens go off. Another of the guys comments that its interesting how quickly the police sirens went off, it truly was ...bang then siren in only a second. . The man's comment was actually this :

" Interesting that around here if some one hits a dog  the cops are right there with sirens going, now if it had been a gun shot there wouldn't be any sirens"

Again these old drunk guys had me rolling most of the morning!!

OMG How can Kten News be sooooo irrisponsible!!!

Stephen has been overwhelmed with calls the last couple of weeks. It is bee swarming season and our number seems to have been passed around. Not complaining though because every hive we can capture is a hive saved.  

Stephen has been asking people how they got his number, every one says they got it from the phone book under exterminators, ummm we haven't listed a phone number at all so I am lost as to where this came from.  Very strange. We only have cell phones so we don't even have a phone book, so   I decided to search the net to see if I could get his name and number off the net. I didn't have any luck but I did stumble across a Kten news story about bees and now I may never listen to their news again!! Below is a quote from the news article, I also included the link at the top for the actual news article!

Although some people prefer to leave their wild bee swarms alone, since many of the swarms move on in 3 to 4 days, the safest course in urban areas is to hire a professional exterminator to remove the swarm or exterminate it, before it can discover a way into your home.

Homeowners can also handle the job themselves with an inexpensive sprayer and soapy water.  Liquid dishwashing detergent mixed with water can be sprayed through a sprayer to kill exposed bees.  Soapy water is less likely to agitate bees than other methods.  A mixture of 1 cup of liquid soap in a gallon of water will immediately disable bees that are wetted with the solution.  Wetted bees die quickly.  Continue to spray the swarm as the outer layer of bees falls to the ground.  All bees must be thoroughly covered with soapy water to ensure that the swarm is eliminated.  Catch dying bees in a garbage bag or trash can as the bees are sprayed with soapy solution.

Regular honey bees and Africanized honey bees ("killer bees") are so closely related that it is impossible to tell them apart except with genetic analysis or under a microscope.  Both types of bees are sensitive to nest disturbance, however, Africanized bees respond more quickly, send more bees from the colony to drive the intruder away, and pursue intruders farther than regular honey bees do.

The venom of Africanized bees is chemically identical to regular honey bees, but they are a greater threat because they are more likely to sting in greater numbers.

For more information on bees, please visit http://honeybee.tamu.edu.

All I could think the whole time I was reading this garbage was why couldn't this empty headed reporter actually inform people about the beekeeping associations and agricultural departments in the viewing area. This information would provide viewers with contact information to organizations that can assist people in finding a beekeeper to safely remove a swarm of bees rather than exterminating them! In case people aren't aware honey bees are rapidly disappearing. With out honey bees we won't have produce. How could any reporter encourage people to kill such a vital link to our food source! Wow how irresponsible of the reporter and even more so the news station for not better monitoring the information they are putting out! 

 Oklahoma Beekeepers Association at (405) 433-2362, evenings, or the Texas Beekeepers Association at (512) 388-3630.