Pestilence!

WOW.. I was able to spell it correctly the first time. I find that that is what I believe the inane, idiotic, incapable of connected thought, people who cant figure their gas pedal from their break pedal. Damn people. Can you not 1. Drive the damn speed limit. 2. Accelerate from a stop light quicker than 10 seconds after it changes. 3. Get the (*^$ out of the way if you cannot drive in a straight line. I need a vacation from these insufferable fools! No really.. I need a vacation from my commute. Tele-work!!!

I seriously thought about putting a frown on this.... but that just made me sad. I wish I had gotten to which wich today. It would have been a nice spot in the middle of a day. No. not a terrible day... but once you have gotten so upset its hard to recover the remainder. I did get stuff done.. I have lots to do... Hopefully I can get some brain cells working and not feel so stupid myself. I have hopes. Really.

I did do some searching for windows edit worthy shots. I found a bunch but since I want to get to editing a 360 degree video that I have just now gotten finished I and going to quickly post what I did.. see if you like it. I am still on the fence.

Farside.

EdgeOfBurque.

NaraMotel.

CloseTheDamnDoor.

RainyDay.

My facebook banner for the day. Hard to find a location for the Fiesta number.

 I even added night lights.

Another Noir logo I really like. Modified.

 Okay.. sorry but there is a video I want to edit.

See ya tomorrow.. hopefully with less idiots around.

Post processing the day

Ugh! What a day. The good part was having out ITO back in the office. The eight hours to reprogram him from his brain washing at headquarters was daunting... hahahaha... Just kidding.. He came back with some internal views that chimed in just fine. I can relate as long as the infrastructure is there before we go counting pennies with a wrecking ball.. or as I want.. I want the programs we are using to be accurate in their database as I do not want to be updating and editing for the remainder of my lifetime. I have hopes and from what the Headquarters folk are saying I can get on that wagon..

It was a very busy day working on budgets and numbers and classifications and items and costs and best type and waivers and authorizations and more moneys... I consider it part of the job and worth the time to do it as best as possible... It does take a massive amount of time and I only have so much time in a day even working late so I miss things and I have to go back and fix that..which is going to take more time.... Sigh... but all good.

Coming home to headaches and a little frustration the only place to get away from it was to edit pictures from this last Sunday. While I am doing that in the background is running the 360 video camera processing software. It takes the same time to process it that it took to record and then another hour to record the view I want from there. So two hours for every hour of video captured. 35 minutes to the second part before I can start to run it through the movie creation process. Blah! I want to have a 360 fisheye view as well at the split pano view videos in the end. Its going to take a bit of time.

So since I was doing edits I found that there were two balloons I didn't get many shots of.. this was due to spending so much time with specific balloons.. Sorry guys.. its just me and one camera.. I will add a few here and to facebook if I have the time. here are the third tier of shots from Sunday.


The four on the floor.

 The two to the left took off faster than I could move.

Crew colors.

 A fun bunch with a cute parrot.

Percolating burner.

 A nice showing of crew to help out.

Cameron basket weave,

 Tether to secure the balloon system to the nearest vehicle.. never a trailer, radio to talk to the crew and vice versa.

Ride balloons Hooooooooo!

 They are nowhere near close to that crane. Nice hip shot and it makes the picture.

My facebook banner for the day... one of two Albuquerque Pylons on I-40.

 I edited it for the days until Fiesta.. look closely.

Logo... instructions.. reminder

This is me for a micro second in the morning......I usually start crashing again about two hours into work.. but that's what the coffee is for.

Gone to add some of these shots to facebook and look for tomorrows ideas.

A Beautiful Day

Yes it was! There we no clouds in the sky so that made the light very stark but I can work with that. The balloons were there and they were colorful enough to make it all worth it. Add to that the people who seem to group around them and then the Pilots who are in their own way very colorful. Yeah. Nice!

I had a bunch of stuff I was going to show you today on the blog but I have had to fling that to the side and bring in what happened this morning at Unser and Westside in Rio Rancho new Mexico.

Something like 8 balloons showed up just at that location.... Two moved to another spot, one almost flew back. Fun. It was a target rich environment and I was running around trying to get every possible good shot I could. This started with tripodding to get the crest but it was too roiled to get a clear shot.. then there was the crew of ZK in the dusty glow. So many great shots and people and round and round and under and over...

I took about 961 or so shots. Many of those were duplicates as I was trying for a specific frame or a thing against something else that made something else look great. I will in the end post them all to my photo web site at... http://invisibleblack.zenfolio.com/ but not today.. too much to do still.

I posted 35 to facebook... and those were what I thought were the best. I will repost my real favorites and explain why then show you what else aught my eye while I was out.. and no.. its never just balloons.. Its also about people.. and what they are saying with their faces and actions... But then there is the desert... and its items....

I will comment on each as I post...

FantasyWave!

 Balloon Manufacturer is Fantasy Balloons out of Canada... I caught this wave as it was being squeezed and the crown drawn. Just turned out so nicely.

StraightUp.

 Right overhead shot. Hard as hell to get exact if the balloon is moving. I have to run/stumble to get it. Solid floor Fantasy with a different gore pattern. It is beautiful to look into with the deep blue being highlighted by the yellow equator band.

LittleFlowers.

 On the side of the dirt road this little purple flowers were trying to bloom.. Okay they were blooming but they will regret it as we will have one more snow or cold spell before spring launches completely.

CoverMe!

 Envelopes are made of strengthened fabric. They tear easily... Not real easily but a street sign will do it a treat! So when the envelope is being brought down close to one we cover it and also station someone over it just in case. We do that will cactus and other poky things.

Toggles!

 Balloon Works triangle balloon. The large rope goes from one corner to another then attaches to the toggle with three lines that go upward as six to attach the basket to the envelope. Love the closeups of equipment.

BlueWaters.

 But it was so pretty against the stark and burned tan/brown of the desert and brush. Always keeping an eye out for a neat thing.

TitledandNumbered

 Balloon Works balloons have this neat burner. What you are looking at are the propane lines coming up to the main burner ( black rubber covered handle ) which is squosed against that wooden handle to get a pretty flame. The red toggle is a whisper I believe.. a quieter and softer flame and the last line  (red on the end of the line ) is probably the pilot light. Springs attach it to the basket frame.

Good Grief!

 Which is this balloons name. Which that burner and toggle belong to. Balloon works envelopes have these nice chevron gores. Their designs are very exotic. She is at the time of this shot ground tracking to land.

Backlight.

 A friend of the family flying some passengers in his Lindstrand. Boldly going.... I liked it so stark and deep.

ZK Sandia.

Riding the ridgeline. Hard and multiple shots to get it just so. Also the sun was right on the other side which made it harder to keep the colors of the balloon from going dark and blowing out the sky.

I have one more .. hang on...

Carabiner. ( remember the toggle )

 Fantasy balloons, Cameron, Lindstrand balloons attach with carabiners. You can choose either metal cables or kevlar rope cables. I chose Kevlar rope cables as they do not conduct electricity. You dont usually have a choice. The leather booties are cool and stopps possible rubbing of the metal. ( see that red rope.. look below ).

RedLineKnottings.

inside the Fantasy envelope that red line goes up to a loop and pulley then down and attaches to the inside of the opposite side of the inner envelope as you see in the picture. The extra knotting is in case it needs to be adjusted or let out. Neat little snake.

Whew... I have edited many more shots and really I will post them.. but there are lots to go and I have to video camera files to look over and edit too....

My facebook banner and logo for the day are old balloon posters. I just edited them for my use. This day I hid the day number is plain sight. Now that I mentioned it you will probably be able to pick it out right away.

The hardest part was finding a font that fit it.

Things I wont do with in a balloon.

Have a fun fun evening.

Alternate

Compression day. Lots of little things in a very short amount of time that took a lot of time. Much much... little little... and it all makes a bunch of sense. Perhaps only to me. Yes. I have to listen to myself. I have to wait for myself to send myself some files I wanted to add to the post tonight. Hang on.

Lots of little things.... Had a hard time getting out of bed... I was awake.. just didn't fell the need until the dog decided she wanted to be fed... hack bark hack hack... Coffee and the news... boring and full of officials taking more money from the people and giving them poop and people calling it great advances in entitlements. Really.. You are only entitled to what the constitution says. Everything else is up to you... so quit sitting on your butt with your hand out. No...if you are having a problem finding a job and or are on hard times then I don't mind at all you getting enough to survive on... Buying televisions I cant afford and new cars... or buying drugs.. yeah.. no.. go away. Love that damn soapbox... it really slips right out there at times.

So....... much to do... in there had to get clothes for the daughter who got a job.. over a month to do so but she kept plugging away and was very successful. Very good on her. She wanted to spend little and get much so we headed down to a discount place. We paid since she didn't get on the unemployment rolls and get any money. I took some pictures of something interesting.... If they ever get to my account from the other account I will put them below... let me check...

Okay.. the file failed.. had to jump it.

They put the clothes in color spectrum.. or close to it.. funny.

Well, except the jeans but they were cool too.

The second stop was to get a new battery for the Honda. Seems the battery just decided to die ... and real fast. I spent the morning removing everything to get to the battery.. dropping some of the stuff down where It was next to impossible to retrieve. Yes I did get it all back.. no spare parts left over. Got the battery.. damn things are getting expensive now. By the time I made it home It was already hot out so I installed it quickly ( hah ) and found the positive connector to be warped and not able to grip. Worked with that for half hour to get it to close and tighten.. All now back together and parked in the garage in the cool. What a day. That brought me up to 330pm.

I worked on my new pin design more and got it done but I just don't feel happy with it. I don't know why. Even minimizing the design around the balloon isn't making me very happy. Sigh. I will continue to work on it...

I was going to do some edits on the window theme last night and this evening but I got bored real quick with it and went off on a poster extreme visuals on signs I saw around town the other day.

Below....

Can you shoot arrows on the gun range?

Interesting combination here.

All that's fit to put on a lighted sign.

Multiple options here.

Good to go crazy there....

Tomorrow is another balloon morning. I wonder if it will be a good weather morning or just a bag it day... I should go look.... BRB>.. 2mph to the West. Well well well...

Interesting things I found on the web...

Who thinks this is hot looking... Umm. no...

http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/-granny-hair-becomes-latest-internet-trend-makes-some-look-like-storm-from-x-men

Now this is something I will ahve to bring up at the office.. very good tech for our people in the field.

http://the-gadgeteer.com/2015/03/24/cant-get-a-cellular-signal-where-you-are-connect-to-a-satellite-instead/

I do want to travel.. my biggest stopper is how much its going to cost. I just want to keep a tight budget and get what I need done done... which means massive amounts of pictures... If I went by myself I could even sleep in my vehicle at least every other night.... Yes.. really!. That way I could locate myself where the sun coming up will be perfect for what I want to shoot and also what I want to shoot when the sun sets... Lots of planning this. Plus I have lots of friends and family I want to visit too. I could possibly do the ... shoot the sunrise somewhere.. then get a snack and shoot somewhere else... visit with friends and family beg a shower then go off shooting till night... crash in the car and do it over the next day... I could even do star trails too... I have to think about this more.

http://lifehacker.com/how-and-why-i-stopped-waiting-for-others-and-started-1693510913

Hmmm.......

My facebook banner for the day.... A story behind it...

 This was one guy of five promoting a group of acting and a play... This guys face is just my fav face.. so emotive... I changed his sign...  I think he could make a good actor.. he could just stand there with that face and make me buy it.

We had fun with friends last night and talked about lots of things which included spiders... and this is my fav spider shot.. Poor spiders are so shy they wear raindrop hats... Yes.. he is awesome looking!

Off to think of trips.. cars.. night skies and probably nachos.

Windows View

A smooth and slick Friday. Of note, I did cross reference my documents and it sure looks nice to see all the Grey where things have been removed.. What is even nicer is that I can see where more things are going to disappear ( or show Grey ) when they are removed from my inventory listing. I will be so happy when it is tight and right.

Last night I got to thinking on wide shots and how it would be nice if they could be diffused.. Okay. it was a test... Not the best pictures for it but hay.. Its a test. Pretty much none of these show what I want to.. I will try again tonight ( when I get home because for once we are going out to visit with some friends ) with better pictures that lend to the idea... Some distance.... yeah.. distance...

I just like my basket weave so I played with this one..

KFC neon.. Could not pass up this one.

This was a fail I think... Too much edge... black and white.... meh.

I like this even though it wont fit anything.

You get the idea.... I will try again...

My facebook banner for the day was from few years back when I got stunned to have my own table at Fiesta registration.... LOL.. yeah.. I got to sit there.. and funnily.. as nice as balloonists and balloon Pilots are they would come by.. see the sign and tell me that it was nice to have a reserved table... and I would tell them to sit and chat.. and we would chat and chat.... One of the things I love about Fiesta registration and really all of Fiesta if I think about it. You can sit and talk and find out about people and their lives and why they are there and all sorts of fun things.. its wonderful that everyone is like family. 

Logo for today was this neat sticker for Fiesta.. Its their Logo I modified just for fun. Added my colors to the bottom..

Last night on facebook at person posted saying that they wanted a free ride during Fiesta.. that's about it.. followed by a statement that they lived in ( add place here ) and he they always got a free ride. The first thing I thought about when I read it was who the heck thinks they can just show up at Fiesta, the largest balloon fest in the world, the most photographed event in the world, where rides with 12 to 16 people go for upwards of 400 dollars.... The nerve! LOL

I really thought TROLL at first... Here is someone looking to incite trouble... so I watched and waited to see where it would go. Some good people took umbrage at the affront of it. As fiesta is a big deal.. not unlike Christmas is we save up any space in the basket for crew who were out busting their tail helping us fly all the year round... Its payback for those hardworking crew members... Here is a free ride by yourself or another crew member in the biggest zone of excitement in the year.... in with all those other 500 or 600 balloons. In truth I have had people show up from out of nowhere and ask for a ride... I never am rude... I will just tell them that we would love to fly them if they wanted to crew but if they wanted a ride right now their best bet is with a ride balloon operator and since I know the ride operators and I like them I want to send them business.

Okay.. off track a bit there... Crew have given their spots up for family members... Its always fun to fly new people and I love to fly friends of crew who have never been up. The smiles are to die for.

Now.. back to the supposed troll.... Turns out someone knew the person.. and we found out that they were 13 years old and at that age.. tact is unknown.. so after that information trickled out the mood changed.... There were some who were ready to give them a ride right away and those that thought it should be earned.. which it should if you ask me... It all turned out great and the kid will surely get his day in the air and will be completely happy and everyone who was on that thread will probably visit with the kid and say hi..... because we are a family and even when we are caught by surprise we do bounce back quickly.

Its such a strange world out there fully of some un nice people... We now have a nice kid who is going to get bowled over with the fun of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

Let me add this in... there are 9 days in Fiesta.. 10 if you count Albuquerque aloft. I am a fair weather flyer.. Meaning I will not fly if the winds are up or going in the wrong direction. If I have older passengers I will not take them up because I do not want them hurt. I will at times take a complete newbe up on a moments notice if there is a hole in my passenger list and they are working or helping. I leave holes just in case... and I always say.. if you are on the field and crewing and I turn around... I might just throw you in the basket as ballast.. no.. I mean as a passenger.. yeah!

PS.... My crew are the best.. they will go with me when its going to be a bit rough out and don't mind a drag or two or and abrupt stop or even hours of waiting in the middle of the pueblo if necessary. You guys rock!