AOVPhoto

Cow Hunting

2008-08-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

So as I mentioned below, my Grandpa has 15 Black Angus Cows on his property. They usually hang out in the large open field off the back of his house during the day, but every evening near dusk they take off into the tree line. My brother and I were curious where they were going, so we went cow hunting on the ATV with 2, 10 million-candle power lights late at night.

This was quite an adventure. As you get back into his property, the trees get pretty thick, and although the ATV trails are about 8 feet wide, they make super good real estate for all kinds of spiders. (Yes, I do HATE spiders, but, in the spirit of adventure, I went anyway. Plus, we looked really carefully in front of us to make sure we didn't run into any really large ones.) We spent about an hour driving all around the property looking for them but never found them so we decided to call it a night.

We took a night off, and went back out there tonight and after about 45 minutes of looking, we finally found them. They were tucked way in the back corner of the property buried in all the trees - just where I thought they might be.

Cow hunting...

Night Spider

After a successful mission, we headed back to the house, grabbed my camera and had some fun with some night photos. Here's one of the photos...

Tomorrow I think I will get to drive the tractor...yehaw!

Internet at last!

2008-08-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

So My brother and I are here in Oklahoma visiting my Grandpa for about 10 days. He has 50 or so acres outside of Sallisaw near the Arkansas border. He has a small 3-bedroom, house, with a full scale barn (complete with a John-Deer tracker and every attachment imaginable), pump house, and pond. He has 15 Black Angus Beef Cattle, and a horse (though, these are not his, he just rents the land to the guys who own the animals).

We arrived on Monday, and have been busy helping him around the house and clearing brush out in the property ever since. Here are some photos of his property.

This is the view looking off his back porch to the right...

Straight off the back porch...

This is a clearing in the middle of his property. It pretty large, and has
a natural gas well in it right near the tree on the right...

This is the ATV path that runs along the side of the pond...

The pond...

He has a 4-wheel drive ATV that he uses to get around the property quickly, so my brother and I have been using it to drive all over for all the work that we have been doing.

Bad shape...

2008-08-16T21:37:00.000-07:00

So my brother and I went for a ride in Whiting Ranch this afternoon. This was the first ride in the park since it was reopened after a 8 month closure following the So Cal fires of late last yet. It was a little disappointing (sorry to ruin any hopes of the 'good 'ole days...)

Most of the entire first 2 miles of the trail, the flat part leading up to the hill climb, was all sand. And not just a little sand, but deeeep sand. It seemed as if just as you were getting up to speed, one of these 20 foot sand "traps" appeared and all the momentum was lost. It was a bummer...that used to be such a cool part of the trail.

Then came the hill climb...It started out ok, and was, for the most part, the same as always. There were still lots of sand traps but most were avoidable, and there were lots of piles of ash or soot mixed in with the sand. There was no shade, and the sun was hot. It was probably due to the time of day, but, there used to be some nice trees and shrubbery along the trail that provided a little relief from the sun...not so today.

Nick and I decided to climb dreaded hill, and then have some awesome downhill sections. Dreaded was good, and the down hill was also good. Some sand, but not bad.

Single track was good. Not nice and shady like it used to be, but it was ok. This was where I had the most fun...for the first time in my riding career, I flipped the bike, almost end-over-end, and flew over the handle bars. How you might ask. This is how...

So I was moving along at a pretty good speed, and then the trail started to take a turn to the right. I naturally applied a little brake, and prepared for the turn. Once I hit the turn, which was nothing but a small sandy downhill drop, my front tire sank in about 6 inches of sand, and the front handle bars pivoted to the right spinning 270 degrees making them backwards from normal. During the process, because I was already applying a little brake, the sliding of the front end caused me to clamp down harder on the brake (not on purpose) and over I went. Fortunately, I was not going very fast or it could have been very ugly. I landed on my wrist, and scuffed up my knee a little, but that was all.

After I got up, reset my front end, and fought my way through a couple dozen more sand traps, I hit the road.

Oh, and to top it all off...my bike was not liking life today. Couldn't shift when I needed to, but was able to shift when I didn't need to, and my clips did not want to me clip in...it was a battle, but I do admit that it was fun.

It wasn't the Whiting Ranch that I once knew though...

Ride

2008-08-09T18:05:00.000-07:00

So my MCAT exam is coming up in 5 days, and the battle to keep studying and keep focused on reading and testing is really starting to wear me out. Today, I wanted to do anything but study, but I forced myself to keep at it. (In fact, I'm still reviewing notes as I write this...with only 3 more study days, there is no time to spare)

So, to clear my head a little, and get my mind of the exam, as well as get the epinephrine pumping...I went for a ride this afternoon. It was quick...probably because it was so hot, and also probably because I was so tired from studying, that all the frustration went right into my pedals...

Here are the stats:

10.5 miles
37 minutes
16.8 mph average
70 cadence average

It was short, fast, and intense. Climbed a few good sized hills down in Ladera, and didn't pop a tire! Sweet!

Have you seen this video?

2008-08-03T17:08:00.000-07:00

This video is incredible! Such a good story!

Cycle Ride

2008-08-03T16:58:00.000-07:00

So about 2 weeks ago, I purchased a new road bike. I have always wanted one, but they are usually so very expensive that I could just never justify the cost. But, with graduation gifts, and birthday gifts, and a couple of sweet coupons (and a great sale) I decided to go for it. Turns out, that it was a great purchase, especially now as I have been studying. It so nice just to get out and ride and clear my mind in the middle of studying, plus, I dont need to ride with a buddy like I do when I ride off trial.

Anyway, I finally got my road computer installed on it, as I now can keep track of my rides. Todays numbers...

Miles - 20.0
Moving Time - 1:15
Total Time: 1:25
Ave Speed: 16.65 mph
Top Speed: 36.03 mph

I rode down Antonio to just about Ortega Highway, then back up to Oso, and on to Tesoro HS, then home. It was a great ride...

Turning in the Safety Badge...

2008-07-25T10:24:00.000-07:00

So for most of the 3 readers that read my blog, you already know this, but for the rest of you out there, its time for a little update.

Two weeks ago I had to turn in my Safety Officer Badge...yep, thats right, I quit. Why you might be asking? Well, again, as most may already know, I have decided after much wrestling with the Lord, that I should pursue a career as a Medical Doctor, and as such, there were certain things that I needed to do in order to get there. The first, and most important thing that I need to do to reach this goal, is I need to get into Med school. Duh right? Well, as part of that process, I need to take the MCAT Exam (Medical College Admissions Test), so I decided to sign up for a MCAT Prep class at the Kaplan Test Center in Irvine. The class is very good, but it required much more of my time than I had initially anticipated, so, I asked work for 6 weeks Leave of Absence so that I could focus 100% of my efforts on preparing for this test. Unfortunately, my request could not be honored, so, I decided that I needed to quit in order to get the much needed study time that I wanted. So, I had to hang up the Safety Sash, turn in all my unused tickets, and hand over by badge. It was a sad day to leave, but was ultimately the right decision.

So for the past 2 weeks I have been studying relentlessly. 7 Days a week, for several hours on end. The MCAT Exam is three weeks from today (Yikes!), and I feel that I still have SO much to learn and recall from my days as an undergrad student in physics, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and biology.

Oh, and don't worry...a safety ticket was issued during my reign (though it was really issued by my co-safety officer after we discussed the matter). It was issued to...are you ready for this...one of the 7 senior lab managers! Yep, no one was above the law when I was in charge...ah, the memories...

Ok...back to studying!

Ladera Ranch Wedding

2008-06-13T22:46:00.001-07:00

I photographed a fantastic wedding this past Sunday afternoon in Ladera Ranch for my good friend Sara. It was the most beautiful Southern California day possible. The sun was out, it wasnt too hot, there was a very slight breeze...it was perfect.

The wedding itself was beautiful. It was supper casual and yet still retained the formal atmosphere of your traditional wedding. I have posted some pictures below...more to come later.

Enjoy!

The Groom

The Bride

The Groomsmen

The Boys...

The Details

The Ceremony

The Moment

The Excitement

Mr & Mrs.

The Family

The Party

Married

The License

The First Dance

Love

I have also created a mac gallery that can be found here, but be warned, the newest beta version of Firefox doesn't support it yet...

Bike Adventure

2008-05-21T22:19:00.001-07:00

So Nate and I went for a bike ride tonight. It was the second ride that we got in in the past 3 days!

We just did the usual ride, the arroyo trail across the street from our place, down into the canyon, and out over by the baseball fields off of Antonio. In total it was 5.87 miles, and took a total of 36 minutes of solid riding time (just about 45 minutes or so in total time including a few trail fixes along the way).

We got a little bit of a late start so it was a little dark when we were riding through "jungle" part of the trail, which made it a little bit scary considering there could be large cats and other animals down there...but, we braved the danger all in the name of a good ride.

Here are some photos taken with my crackberry...

The grass, which is all dead now, was so tall that it reached above our heads, and was just lovely as it scratched us all up as we rode through...

The setting sun...

It was a good ride...

(wow...two posts in a row!)

Your busted!

2008-05-01T22:59:00.000-07:00

So at work the other day a friend of mine, who was once the lab safety officer, approched me and asked if I was interest in filling her shoes as the new safety officer. (She had stepped down from that role because of a shift change) My immediate thought was "No way! I'm so busy at work that I can't even find time to use the restroom. How the heck am I going to now also, in addition to all the other tasks I have, find time to enforce the rules of safety?"

Well a few days passed, and I was called into my supervisor's office. I was sat down and explained that the previous safety office had to "resign" (as if elected or something), and my name was brought up in conversation as a potentially good candidate to replace her. The meeting started off as any meeting of this nature might. A simple description of the job and its duties was relayed to me. I was told what was involved with being an "officer of the safe work environment" and other things that would be expected if I were to decide to do it. I thought I could see the end of the meeting before it even came..."Think about it and let us know".

But then, out of nowhere, the greatest sales switch of all time was pulled, and the next thing I knew, I was back at the bench and the announcement was made that I was the new safety officer for the lab! Wait a minute...I didn't even get a chance to say yes or no...I wasn't even given a choice! I remember leaving the supervisors office dumbfounded and speechless upon hearing the words, "So anyway, thanks for volunteering, I will let the EHS manager know you are the new safety officer."

Sweet mary! Me, the safety officer! Oh and the best part of being the new safety officer...I get to hand out tickets!! Heck yes! Now I just need a badge (or sash, because lets face it, I'm just the laboratory version of a junior high Hall Monitor), a helmet, some sweet aviator glasses, and a book to keep the tickets in! Look out lab workers...Brian is on the case now...!!!

My first duty as "Safety Officer"...we had a fire drill the other day, and it was my job to grab the clipboard of workers, usher everyone out the the pond, and call role. Yep, people actually said "present"...it was awesome!

All-in-all...it shoudn't be too bad...I plan to be the best safety officer in the history of laboratories world wide! But you better wear your gloves, coat and face shield, or the tickets are comin' out!

Are these for real?

2008-04-19T22:59:00.000-07:00

Oh come on! These can't be real!

Ok, picture entering your local starbucks and seeing a group of computer users working in one of these...

These are not quite as bad, but still ridiculous...

Anyone want one for Christmas? What color? Be sure to let me know...

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Nick

2008-03-07T23:05:00.000-08:00

On Saturday March 1st, my good friend Nate and I had the opportunity to attend the wedding of David and Vicky. It was a beautiful ceremony in Irvine, followed by a wonderful reception at Prego! Restaurant.

Congratulations to you both!

Here are some photos from the happy event...

The Groom...

The Bride...

Photo of the ceremony...

I now pronounce you...

...Mr. and Mrs. Nick...

First Dance...

Congratulations again!

Funny Bible Video

2008-01-09T10:33:00.001-08:00

This is a spoof on the "Baby Got Back" song. It's quite funny.

Kings Hockey Game

2007-12-11T10:02:00.000-08:00

My brother and I got two tickets to the Kings Hockey game last night at the Staples Center. The tickets belong to a friend of my Dad's who has season tickets and was unable to attend last nights game...score some for us!

The seats are amazing! Five rows back from the glass, right next to the Kings player tunnel that takes them to the locker room. We could "Hi-Five" the players as they went in and out! Hockey is a whole different sport when your that close to the players and the action! The action is supper intense and when they would check each other into the glass...look out! If you weren't paying attention, it would scare the heck out of you! Its a loud "bang" and the whole wall suddenly moves towards you as their face smooches up against the glass. There were also several fights...most of them at the other end of the arena, so we could see them to well...

It was awesome.

Oh, but heads up if you ever sit somewhere where there is open glass, as was the case for these seats...with a minute or so left in the 3rd period, a puck came flying off the ice and smacked a guy on his head, then bounced off him and nailed the guy behind him (who also wasn't paying attention), knocking his glasses off and cutting his forehead. Both of them had to be taken out of the area for medical attention, and the first guy the puck hit might need stitches because he was defiantly bleeding. It was intense.

Here are some photos I took with the CrackBerry...I forgot my little camera...bummer.

Here are all the extra sticks for the players...my brother asked if he could have one, but he was too late and the "stick manager" had already given out 2, and couldn't give out anymore...

Look out and to the left...

An FSN West Game report after the first period...

The players coming out of the tunnel...

Note the open glass straight through...Heads up!

It was an awesome game. They also had this number you could text messages into from your phone and they would display on the jumbo-tron at then end of each period, so my brother and I tried to text in "GO DUCKS!" (you know, since all the Kings fans HATE the ducks)...but we couldn't get the message to send...oh well...it probably would have started a riot anyway.

Kings won 4 to 2 over Vancouver.

Boat Races!

2007-12-11T09:23:00.000-08:00

So my family and I went to Disneyland on Sunday to see all the Christmas decorations, and just to enjoy the holidays. The park was a little crowded, but for being the Christmas season, it was not bad at all.

We did the usual rides, Indian Jones and The Temple of Doom, The Haunted Mansion/Nightmare Before Christmas, Buzz Lightyear.

It was a cold day...maybe in the mid 50's all day, but my brother and I had the bright idea to ride Splash Mountain. In fact, there was no wait for the ride at all...and this is the ride that usually has a 45 minute wait all year long. Perhaps the cold weather scared everyone away...but not us! Well, we got in line and walked all the way to the loading docks where they asked for two riders. That was us, so they pulled us out of line and told us to go the lane number 1...yep...the front of the boat! Well my brother didn't want to sit in the very front, but neither did I, so I assured him that the people in the back will get the wettest, but I don't think he bought that...so we sat down and away we went. Did I mention how cold it was that day?

Anyway, long story short, we got soaked. I thought the ride was "Splash Mountain", not "Soak Mountain"...

Ah, and now to the title of the post...Boat Races...

So we decided that we wanted to go on "It's A Small World" since it was all decked out for the holidays, so we waited in line for maybe 25 minutes or so which I thought was supper fast for that ride. Well we got on, my bother and I again sitting in the front, and proceeded to enter the ride, got through maybe the first room of the ride when I noticed the boat was moving extremely slow...in fact...too slow. Pretty soon we were stopped dead in the water. Well we proceeded to drift along for a few moments as the electronic puppets continued to sing that oh so wonderful song! We were even going slow enough to fish out a FujiFilm digital camera from the water. Now, I'm not quite sure how you drop your camera on a ride that has a top speed of a half mile an hour...it's not like the owner of the camera got started from a large drop, or some crazy fast action...but perhaps they were frightened by the small electronic creatures singing...Well, the camera was a little rusted so it was obvious that it had been in there for a while, so I just gave it to the ride attendant when we got off...I told him we found it floating. (He didn't seem surprised that a heavy camera could float, but hey)

So by this point we are not moving anymore, and the ride operator had come over the loud speaker and told us to stay seated, the ride needed to be rebooted. (I have never heard of a water ride needing to be rebooted, have you?) So my bother and I decided we would rock the boat...you know...see if we could send anyone launching...it didn't work. So instead we grabbed on to the sides of the water track and pulled our boat forward, ramming the boat in front of us. Then we tried to push all of us forward...there were maybe 6 boats in front of us, but we weren't able to move us all out. So we backed our boat up, and rammed the boats in front of us again...not luck. (By "ramming" I mean we bumped into the boats at a whopping speed of 100 feet and hour...so no harm done) we had probably been sitting in the same spot for maybe 10 minutes or so and people were going anxious to get out. The music had stopped, but all the puppets were still singing and dancing like nothing had happened. Then the races broke out! Now the boat behind us was in a mad rush to back all the way out of the ride back to the future...er...the beginning, so we joined in, as did the boat in front of us. Man, that boat behind his pealed rubber and split! They were gone faster than we knew! So now it was a race to catch up with them...

Well we passed backwards in time through all the same 2 and a half rooms we had just gone forward in, meanwhile all the puppets kept on singing and dancing...

Half way through the race, and almost free, the ride was finished rebooting and we gradually started moving forward again. Here is where our plan back fired...we had backed up all the way to the beginning, and now had to ride the whole thing again! 30 minutes is way too long to spend on that ride...

He is a shot of the ride taken with my BlackBerry...

This is a stock photo...

Here is the Castle at night when it "snows" (Sorry...bad photos...its what to expect with a camera phone...)

All in all, it was a fun day at D-Land! (Wow...that was along post!)

Silverado Canyon Fire

2007-10-24T18:01:00.000-07:00

So I get a few photos from my house, and from various other spots here in the RSM / Mission Viejo area of the fire that is burning in Silverado Canyon.

Here are some photos of the fire from my front yard. It looks close, but in reality, it is probably about a mile or more from my house as the crow flies. (Yea, I realize a mile is not all that far...but with no wind, the fire is not moving near as fast.)

From the front yard...

From the back yard...

From Los Flores which runs along the top of O'Neil Park...

From Mission Viejo looking towards the Portola Hills area...

Finally, a photo from today...no...the sky in not overcast...its smoky...

Updates to my Site and Some Wedding Photos

2007-10-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

First off, I have finally updated my Website to reflect some of the newest images that I have taken over the past few months. Most of the new images can be seen in the Wedding, and Engagement galleries. Check 'em out! In addition, I updated the home splash page to reflect links that take you to my site, my blog, and the marching band photo page. (The 2007 Marching band show is next weekend...more on that soon)

Secondly...

As I mentioned in my last post, my two friends Nate and Sarah got married on the 6th of October. I was Nate's best man in the wedding, so I was unable to take all the photos that I usually take when I cover a wedding. Never-the-less, I did manage to tag along with Mandy, who was the official photographer of the day, and snap a few photos of my two friends after the ceremony

I admit, it took me much longer to process the images than I had planned on, but with time, I was able to finally get them done. Here are some of my favorites...

Engagement Photos...

2007-10-05T10:05:00.001-07:00

So two of my really good friends, Nate and Sarah, are getting married tomorrow!! Its supper exciting and i have no doubt that the wedding will be amazing. Although I am Nates best man, I do still plan on having my camera there so that i can take photos as much as possible of the reception and details...but it might be a little hard to get those nice ceremony shots seeing how I will be in the wedding.

Anyway, its going to be so awesome...cant wait!

Now, onto the topic of this post. I took the engagement photos for Nate and Sarah about a week or so ago now, and i have been meaning to post them...since the wedding is tomorrow, I figured that today was as good a time as any. Here are a few of my favorites.

I need to update my website too to reflect the latest round of photos that I have taken...maybe I do that this weekend...Check the blog for update announcements to my website. Oh, and check back in a few days for some photos from their wedding!

Bike Ride

2007-09-27T16:51:00.000-07:00

I havnt been mountain biking in a few weeks now...ok...actually...almost 2 months, but iI stopped by the bike store yesterday on my way home from skool, and picked up a Fox racing jersey and the works, so i decided to go for a nice ride.

Where: Rode down to the bank to pay the credit card bill...then on to the Tijeras Creek Trail where it hits the toll road off Antonio Parkway. Up the hill, rode around along the ridge for a bit, then down the horse trail into Coto. From there down to the Coto general store, and back out along the side streets and out at the Dove Canyon Exit. Then on the the Bell View Trail, and back into Robinson ranch.

How Far: 12.35 miles

How Long: 58 minutes moving...1 hour 15 minutes total

Average Speed: 9.6 miles per hour

It was a great ride! I wanted to go down to the baseball fields in Los Flores, but it was too hot and I was pushing too hard...so in lu of passing out along a trail of which i never saw another rider, i decided to make it a shorter ride than i would have liked. But, still, it was a great ride!

Awesome Comercial...

2007-09-19T15:20:00.001-07:00

Gigantic Spider Web

2007-09-13T18:16:00.000-07:00

So if you hate spiders as much as I do, then this will either completely creep you out or it will totally fascinate you. Even though I hate spiders, I am a fan of watching them...from a large distance that is. Anyway, this giant spider was found in a North Texas State Park about a month ago. Apparently entomologists are not sure why the web is so large, or why hundreds of spiders are living in the same area. Thats right...hundreds or even thousands.

Here is a photo.

And a video about it...sorry for the copyright stamped across the video...

The web consumes seven large trees, dozens of bushes, and the ground is is 200 yards in length. Park rangers say it used to be white, but has trapped so many mosquitoes that it has since turned a brown color.

Here is the link to the news article. As much as I hate spiders, I think it would be cool to check out.

Sweet Nike Commercials

2007-09-11T15:07:00.001-07:00

Check out these two sweet Nike commercials. Not only are they well filmed, and fun to watch, but they feature the San Diego Chargers. Check 'em out below:

Here is one with MVP LaDainian Tomlinson

And one with Outside LB Shawne Merriman

Wow...2 posts in two days...

Challenging Video

2007-09-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

So, if you read Josh Griffins blog, then you have probably already seen this video, but if not, then you should definitely watch it here. Its a video made by Granger Community Church and their youth ministry and I think it has a powerful statement.

The real question is...does it make your heart hurt enough to do something?

Album pre-design

2007-09-07T12:22:00.000-07:00

Wow, two posts in one day...yep...i know that you are all super impressed!

I put together a flash slideshow from the wedding that I photographed last Sunday and have posted it to my website. The show is what the wedding album desing looks like in digital format. The show is about 4 minutes long and has music, so sit back, pump up the volume and enjoy. Please let me know what y'all think too!

Here is the link

football season has started!!

2007-09-07T10:26:00.000-07:00

Thats right, the official NFL season has started. Chargers play the Bears this Sunday at Qualcomm Stadium at 1:15. It should be a great game, plus, SD's first string is in this time. The Chargers had a decent preseason and played very well in both their defense and offense, so their season looks promising.

Check out these highlights from the Louisville vs. Middle Tennessee...WOW...that would have been a supper exciting first half to watch. Check out the video...click here