Jim Felder Blog

Mac users want to wear this shirt. Macintosh users would rather use Macs than PCs. So purchase this shirt for yourself or a friend or family member.

“The Box Said Windows XP or Better…So I Got A Mac.”

I received an email from Peter in Australia. He took a photo of himself wearing one of my T-Shirts at Macworld 2008. The shirt says “Mac The Planet”. That feels pretty good. Very cool.

Here’s a link to buy your own: Click Here

Here’s another link to some various products with Mac The Planet printed on them: Click Here

By Deke McClelland. Watch this video.

Here’s a link to Deke’s Blog: http://www.deke.com/content/101-photoshop-tips-5-minutes

I just received my Father’s Day gift. A 160GB AppleTV. WOW. I will show some photos and/or video later. Now we have to spend our stimulus money on a new HD TV.

Here is my latest design on my shop. Click the photo to see more items with this quote printed on them.

“The box said Windows XP or better . . . so I got a Mac!”

Click Photo or this link to see more products.

Here are a few of the other photos: Click Here

I had the opportunity to shoot a fitness model for a local Magazine “Elements Fitness & Nutrition Magazine”. It was great shooting a “real” model. I have shot several portraits with my strobes but this was really cool because they are going to use one for their cover and for other uses as well.

Here is their web site: www.elementsfan.com/

Could be something on the side for me … anxious to see what God has in store for us.

Enjoy!

I have been listening to TwipPhoto Podcast since it started. I have enjoyed every show. They also have done some videos as well.

The guys that are on the podcast are from other podcasts that I already listened to. Here are the hosts:
Alex Lindsay - Co Host
Scott Bourne - Co Host
Steve Simon - Contributor
Ron Brinkmann - Contributor
Fred Johnson - Contributor
TWIP Producer Aaron Mahler

You should give it a listen if you are a beginner photographer or even an advanced photographer. They talk about things for both groups. Also go to their web site because they have more info, tips and tricks, etc. You will always learn something, even if it doesn’t pertain to photography. They also have a photostream on Flickr Click Here.

Click Photo to view a few photos I took of a Senior on May 4th, 2008. It was too early in the day I think. The sun was too high. They liked this shot and ordered wallets for his invitations.

I enjoyed it but my D50 and Sigma 70-200 was acting up. I took it to Baker Photo and they tightened up my lens mount on my D50. It’s better. I haven’t shot with it again since then. I have used my D50 since then but didn’t use that lens.

I acquired a Blue and White PowerMac G3 Tower. I knew I would not use it because it was old and slow. I decided to make a lamp/light out of it. After dinner I took it to the garage, gutted it. I went to Ace Hardware and picked up a clamp lamp and a 100 watt florescent bulb. Went home and placed the lamp in the G3 and took these photos.

G3 Tower Light inside: www.flickr.com/photos/lifewithjim/2389067950/

I left work at 5. I was on my way to Hobby Lobby to pick up a custom framed photo that I had dropped off over the weekend. After that I was to go help a friend pick up a Trampoline (2 boxes) at Sam’s Club with my truck. First of all I went to the wrong Hobby Lobby (Reno & MacArthur). I went to the frame department and handed them the paper. They came back and said, “Sorry this is from the NW Highway Store.” Well, obviously I felt STUPID! The Hobby Lobby I was supposed to go to is at NW Highway and Rockwell. A fair distance away. The only good thing is that Sam’s club is near Hobby Lobby where I should have gone. I went to Hobby Lobby. At the check out I used the wrong credit card and cancelled and used a different one. I just mentioned that because it just adds to the stupid stuff that happened.

I went to Sam’s. Showed them what I was picking up. I saw the boxes. I noticed the boxes were too big for my Ford Explorer SportTrac’s bed with the Bed Cover on. So I had to drive all the way back home to take it off and come back. I get home and my son complains that he can’t log into his Xbox Live account. I attempted to recover his account by entering the password and started the process and left. I get to Sam’s and they loaded the Trampoline in the truck. No problems.

I find out that out friend is not ready for me to drop off the boxes. They are going to dinner at Chili’s. We had already planned to do this the day before yet they’re going to dinner. They also were supposed to go with us to pick up the Trampoline and pay for it. They asked if we would pay for it and they would pay us back. I don’t like doing that but I did it anyway. My wife asked if I would use my credit card and they would pay me back. I get to the check out and Sam’s doesn’t take Visa Credit Cards, just Visa Check Cards. I had to cancel that and call my wife and ask if we had enough to use the Check Card. She had to transfer money from our savings to cover the cost. I went back and made the purchase. Done. Headed home.

I get home and sit down to read my daily emails. I have an email from Microsoft telling me thank you for purchasing 5,000 Microsoft Points from Xbox Live ($62.50). This was from my son’s Xbox Live account. I confronted my son. He says he didn’t purchase them. I call Xbox Live support. Explained the situation. It’s very difficult understand their support staff because they’re all foreign. They transfer me to billing. I explain to them the same thing. “Oh you need to speak with Xbox Live Support”. I told them I just talked to them and they transferred me to billing. I was transferred back to Xbox Live. I was on the phone for a very long time with these people trying to explain and resolve the issue. The issue is that someone has used our Xbox Live account to purchase these “points” and purchased and downloaded 3 games online via their Xbox 360 with the points. They told me to change the password on the Windows Live account, change family settings on the account to block downloadable content and call the bank to stop online purchases.

While on the phone with Xbox Live Support, my cordless phone died. This happens because our sons do not EVER put the phones back on the base. They are always all over the house and they usually have 2 to 3 head sets in their room. So the phone died and I attempted to find another phone. Luckily they were still on the phone. That just never happens. I was outraged when the phone died. My wife got home and I tried to explain this and she got frustrated and I got frustrated so she tried calling the bank. We talked about it some more. She had a tough day so she said, “I’m going to bed and I’m going to act like I’m dead”. Off to bed she goes.

Immediately after hanging up with Microsoft I received a call from our neighbor telling me to tell my boys to stop climbing his fence to get their soccer ball. My boys are teenagers so they’re not small kids anymore. He wasn’t happy so I told him I would take care of it. Of course my son denies having jumped the fence more than 2 times. My neighbor said it happens all the time. It is getting loose and will have to be replaced before long. He’s an older man and is a bit on the grumpy side.

At this point the Trampoline is still in my truck waiting on the friends to get home. It’s around 9:45 and I call him to see what is up. He’s just leaving Chili’s. He gets to their house and I go over and we unload the boxes and we’re done. I get home, walk in the door and see the Birthday Card that I was supposed to give to their daughter. I hop back in the truck and drive it over. Lucky they’re just 2 blocks away.

At this point I’m in no mood to just hop in bed. I’m too wound up.

I sat down at the computer and did my usual checking of emails, web stats, photo stats, twitter, etc.

My Frito Chilly pie was still sitting at my desk from when I was on the phone with Microsoft. I didn’t eat dinner. I had a few bites.

Off to bed I go.

When I thought about writing this, I realized it could have been a much worse day. I’ve had worse. I should be thankful I’m even able to walk, breath, eat, sleep and have all the great things and people in my life.
It was still a lame and stressful day.

Hug someone today.