Tomorrow The Fog Will Clear

Tomorrow we who are employed at the Post-Standard in Syracuse, N.Y. will learn our fate. For a month we have been working in a cloud of uncertainty as to whether we will have a job or not come January 1, 2013. Supposedly all employees have been going through an evaluation. Tomorrow some will be offered a position in a "new" company and others will be laid off. This is a result of the company betting it's future on a stronger digital, internet presence. The daily paper will be printed only three days a week.

I snapped this scenic photo yesterday on my drive home from doing some errands. It was taken with a Nikon D300, 17-55mm f2.8 lens. I do hope all is well in your world.

Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago?

The price of gas here in Chaumont New York remains above $4.00 a gallon. Today it was $4.04 a gal.  The photo of the gas price was snapped at the neighborhood market a couple of blocks from my home. It was taken on September 11 (of this year). On the morning of September 10th I bought gas there at $3.96 a gallon. I drove off to work. That evening when I pulled back into town the price was $4.04 / gal. An 8 cent increase. The next morning (Sept.11) it was as you see in the photo: $4.09  which amounted to a 13 cent increase in 24 hours. I was outraged at that. THEN:P The next day it rose to $4.11!!  What the HELL is going on?  Search the internet and you can find President Obama actually saying he would like to see the price of gas at $5.00 or more a gallon. He feels that would spur research for alternative energy. He welcomes this  price. As a result I maintain NONE of us are better off than we were four years ago. Prices of all goods have gone up accordingly.

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Gas Price in 2008

I dug out a reciept for gas that I purchased December 30, 2008. The election was over and Obama had not taken office.
How can you be better off if a tank of gas cost you $35.00 four years ago as opposed to $70.00 now? An a aquaintance of mine said he and his wife were doing just fine. That may be, but he cannot be better off. He simply has the resources to absorb it. He metioned his son was a contractor and spends a huge ammount on fuel for his trucks and machines, but he didn't care because he just charges his customers more to off set it. DUH! That's what everyone is doing and it's driving up the prices of all goods and services but most folks pay checks are NOT increasing. Fine or not fine, you and we as a country are not better off.

On a personal note I also had my job hours cut to 20 a week in January of 2009. Four years later I still work only 20 hours a week and this is my 26th year with that company. I have had to bust my ass to make up the difference and with God's blessing and my ambition I have been able to hang on. I too can say I am doing fine, but I am far worse off than I was four years ago. And, guess what? Next week the company I work for is going to layoff a lot of people. Numbers I am hearing is about 100 people are going out the door. Isn't that lovely?  I will not be voting for Obama.

Birds of Autumn

September is fast drawing to a close here in Northern N.Y. A sight I am most fond of is the gathering into flocks multitudes of black birds. Huge numbers of them forage the farm fields along the roadways. Then fly off suddenly in great moving shapes.

I assume they are preparing to fly South for the W\inter, however, I have not fresearched it.

I have always wanted to spend some time photographing them, but so far have not gotten around to it. This photo was a quick snap made with a Nikon D300 and 17-55mm lens. I was driving and simply held the camera up to the wind shield (without looking through the view finder) as I passed by and through the flock, holding the shutter release down.

Street People

I am an all around red blooded American male. I am walking down the stret with camera in hand (as usual) and I see the photo presented here today. What do you expect me to do when I encounter such a sight? I snap it.

Dark Days Are Looming

Once again things are becoming uncertain at the Post-Standard. In January they are going to publish only three days a week. I soon may learn that I will no longer be working there after 26 years. It sucks.

People Pictures

As many of you know, I like to snap photos of people. I was at a party recently that was honoring volunteers for the Thousand Islands Art Center in Clayton, NY. These photos were snapped while I was there. I hope you find them interesting.





Photos were taken with a Nikon D300, 17-55mm f2.8 Nikon lens.