Thanks for all your help with the children! They really do love you lots and lots! You’ll be a wonderful mother someday.

Luca, Claire and little chubby Julian!

Fridays may be fetching….but Sundays are downright sexy.

Have you noticed how for some people a hobby means spending a lot of money on fancy gadgets to “eventually produce something spectacular”? I know I have, and always abhorred the practice. But wouldn’t you know it, I found myself falling for this very same trap recently.

I’ve been exploring photography and even purchased a entry level DSLR camera, and so far I’ve had a great time shooting away and gaining experience. I don’t have as versatile a setup as I would like to eventually end up with, but for now I’ve been able to do a few assignments and looking forward to some pro-bono portrait sessions. Thing is there is so much cool photography stuff out there. I was on amazon looking at flashes and polarizers–and before you know it I had a a cart with over $600 of stuff in it. All of which was very useful for photography and would expand my horizons a bit on what I can and can’t do with my current setup. But the price tag made me stop and think–my initial body and first 2 lenses only came out to about $900 and I’ve added a few accessories since then. So I began calculating the amount of time I’ve actually spent shooting with my current setup…and I came to the conclusion that I’ve spent more time researching and shopping for my original setup and for these additional things I wanted to get than I’ve actually spent out shooting pictures. Ouch! So I’ve decided to put any additional purchases on ice until I can get some more experience under my belt with what I’ve currently got. I think I should set a goal, for self control sake, of the number of frames or the amount of time spent in this pursuit I have to get before I can expand my current equipment.

Any of you photo professionals/hobbyists have recommendations on how long I should give the novelty to wear off to decide if this hobby is going to stick and not just be a fascination with gadgetry? If it does turn out to be the latter then I suppose that aside from getting into this field to begin with, the biggest mistake I could make is spending even more money on something I have a fleeting interest in.

While on the trolley the other day there was a conflict beginning in the seats right behind Sam and I. The four seats had a young Mexican/American guy with his girlfriend and two sisters. Across the isle from them was an older buff black guy.

One of the girls had made a comment to the black guy and he was very offended. He challenged them to a fight at the next stop, and they were arguing till the stop came. Some lady had tried to calm them down, but they just started dissing her. When the next stop came she said she would call the police if they would fight and got off the trolley with her cell phone clinging to her ear.

The black guy didn’t seem phased by her and kept challenging the Mexican guy and the girls to get off. After some debating the Mexican family decided to stay on and tried quieting each other down, much to the big black guy’s dismay. He kept taunting them, hoping for either a fight or an apology.

Sam and I got off the trolley soon after that, with them still having a (less heated) argument. I had been trying to ignore the whole thing, all the while praying that know one would get hurt, and that there were no guns. We got off the trolley alive and well, but did we really do the right thing? I know praying is important. I did that part, but what about the part of being a peacemaker?

Everyone else knew “not to get involved” and looked the other way. Except that one lady tried, in the best way she knew how, to be a peacemaker. Jesus said “Blessed are the peacemakers”.

Maybe her way wasn’t the best but it seemed to help a bit. At least she tried, and for that I’m sure she’ll be blessed.

Ruthie needs your $$$ and prayers. If your pockets are empty double the prayer power. GO HERE FOR MORE INFO ABOUT WHERE, WHEN, and WHY.

(If you know Ruthie you’ll get it)

it’s mean.

Aren’t cell phone sales people some of the most immoral customer reps in the retail business? (Disclaimer: Of course they can never compete with used car sales persons for the all time top position.)

From first and second hand experience I’ve seen them straight out lie to make a sale–”Oh you don’t want to buy that phone, it doesn’t work with the plan you’d like to sign up for.” Many fall for their half truths and tricks, cuz hey, they’re supposed to know what they’re talking about–and only they are really supposed to understand those five pages of legalese fine print you sign your name to when you’re signing up for new service. Right? I mean how am I supposed to know that the third clause on the 5th page of the service agreement promises my first born son in betrothal to the phone sales guy’s estranged mother in law. Heh.

My colleagues and I have had to deal with them a bit more lately because we’re changing over our cell service from Sprint to Nextel and adding a few more lines. When dealing with a rep in person there are more gimmicks than you can count a lot of times–the most immediately noticeable of which is high pressure sales. I did my phone order online trying to avoid some of this and got a better deal than I could find in the stores, but still encountered lousy “outsourced to India” customer support which shipped my order a full 4 business days after the order was made instead of the expected within 24 hour time frame, and offered to refund my shipping cost to compensate for the delay and then charged me anyway. Oh well! I still feel I got a killer deal!

Hearing about Darren and Cassie’s experiences going to an actual Sprint store and the inconsistencies between what they were told by the sales people reminded me of my encounter with a very motivated AT&T Wireless/Cingular rep in a SoCal mall years ago when I lived in Ensenada. Continue reading →

By Metanoya

I thought it was sweet…

For those who haven’t seen it already: GO HERE!