BlahBlahBlog

BlahBlahBlog

My personal soapbox, bully pulpit, and journal

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Facebook | Your Photos - 2006 Heritage Softail

Check out this website I found at facebook.com

Pics of my new 2006 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail

Posted via web from AgentZ Posterous

California Motorcyclist Safety Program

A couple of weeks back I took delivery on what had been a lifelong dream; a 2006 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail. It is a beautiful machine, a real head turner, literally. Lots of chrome, ape hanger bars, Vance Hines pipes, back leather saddle bags and a Harley Air Ride seat for the little lady.

The problem is I haven’t ridden since I got married. It was an agreement we reached that I had other priorities and the bike (used to commute) was an unnecessary risk. Well, the priorities are grown up and on their own for the most part. Hence, a new bike in my life.

28 years is a long time to go between rides. The first time I mounted her and went for a ride I thought, “Oh yeah, this is what its all about!”. I felt all the time between rides slipping away, it was all coming back. Unfortunately, it was all coming back, bad habits and all.

My nephew had told me about the CMSP. He had gone through it. And, as a bonus, the DMV waives the skills test for your license. I thought it was a real deal.

Well it turns out, while that is a plus, its secondary to what else I took away from the class.

The company whose program I went with is a local organization called Ride Rite.

We met at a cafe in Norco for the classroom portion of the class. There were videos, classroom discussion and a written test. Don’t pass the test, don’t move onto the riding portion of the class. I passed.

The second half of the day and the next day were hands on bikes at a local church parking lot in Corona.

It worked like this:
Explain what the exercise was.
Explain the exercise objective
Shown us a diagram of the exercise
An instructor executes the exercise as an example
Questions
Mount up - Practice, Practice, Practice

Theory put into action. Things I thought I knew, I didn’t. Stuff I took for granted, put into a new light. Learned things I never knew.

Now I’m an expert! Hah! I do realize how little I did know and I definitely know which skills (all of them except starting the bike) I need to practice.

I ride (and drive) now with a new awareness. I can see retaking this class (or the next level) down the road.

The instructors for this class, Vaughn and Kristy, were simply outstanding with the patience of saints.

Anybody that decides to ride should seriously consider taking one of these classes.

Until next time,
AgentZ out…

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Latest excursions…

The last three weeks have been pretty busy.

 

I had an opportunity to travel to San Antonio, Texas. Had never been there and it gave me a chance to check out the San Antonio Riverwalk.

riverwalk 1
The Famous Mission Trail
Espada - Church 2And The Alamo
The Alamo
More pics from the trip can be seen in my San Antonio Collection

Over the weekend we went out to Malibu Creek State park and trekked around for the better part of the day. The old MASH site is located there
Mash Sign as is lovely Century Lake. Century Lake 3
More images from that trip can be seen in Malibu Creek set on Flickr.

After a quick trip to Phoenix Thanksgiving week I was off the following week to Salt Lake City, Seattle and Portland. While in Salt lake City I had a chance to head out to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. Got some lovely shots there plus this magnificent moonrise over the Wasatch mountains while at the airport waiting on my flight to Seattle.
Moonrise over Wasatch Mtns

More images in the SLC set on Flickr.

In Seattle I got an fantastic tour of the Boeing assembly facility in Everett (no pics allowed) and then had a great meal with my buddy Max from Switzerland at the McMennamin’s in Troutdale where we both enjoyed their excellent beers (the Kris Kringle Ale is delightful).

Until next time,
AgentZ

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Thanksgiving Dinner

Shared Thanksgiving dinner with my Mother, Sally’s brother, his wife and daughter, and a friend of mine, Max, all the way from Teufen, Switzerland. Dinner was topped off by a both a Banana Cream and Pumpkin pie Josh made from scratch. Unfortunately the pies did not survive long enough to have their pictures taken… Washed it down with a nice Cardinal Zin by Bonney Doon.

Organic Brined Turkey from Trader Joes

Green Bean Casserole, Spiral Cut ham with brown sugar and pineapple glaze

My fave, the green bean casserole

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Malibu Creek State Park

Had a blast yesterday trekking around MCSP yesterday with my son Josh and my friend Max from Switzerland. We spend about 6 hours exploring as much as we could.

 

If you go definitely chck out Century Lake and if you’re a fan of M.A.S.H. to old set but steer clear of the Mott adobes, not worth the time hiking to them.

 

Its going to be a busy couple of weeks traveling for work so it may take some time until I can post my shots. But, hopefully, I may have more when I return from my travels…

 

AgentZ

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Pray for Obama

Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8

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Salton Sea - Revisited

Josh and I had the opportunity to revisit the Salton Sea area this past Saturday.

My Shotz

 

Josh Shotz

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Huntington Libraries Chinese Gardens

Had the opportunity to scope out the “new” Chinese Gardens at the HUntington yesterday afternoon.  Here’s some shots from that excursion.

AgentZ

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An Anecdotal Story About Why our “Hope” for Change is Crushed

Laws of Physics

 From a senior level Chrysler person: Monday morning I
 attended a breakfast meeting where the speaker/guest was
 David E. Cole, Chairman of the Center for Automotive
 Research (CAR), an Engineer with 40+ years automotive
 experience, full Professor at the Univ. of Michigan.

 You have all likely heard CAR quoted, or referred to in
 the auto industry news lately. Mr. Cole told many stories of
 the difficulty of working with the folks that the Obama
 administration has sent to save the auto industry.

 There have been many meetings where this very experienced
 automotive expert has had to listen to a newcomer to the
 industry; someone with zero manufacturing experience, zero
 auto industry experience, zero business experience, zero
 finance experience, zero engineering experience, and
 apparently zero brains tell them how to run their business.

 Mr. Cole’s favorite story is as follows: There was a team
 of Obama people speaking to Mr. Cole. They were explaining
 to Mr. Cole that the auto companies needed to make a car
 that was electric and liquid natural gas (LNG) with enough
 combined fuel to go 500 miles, so we wouldn’t “need” so many
 gas stations (A whole other topic). They were quoting BTU’s
 of LNG and battery life they had looked up on some web site.

 Mr. Cole explained that to do this you would need a trunk
 FULL of batteries, and a LNG tank as big as a car to make
 that happen. And that there were problems related to the
 laws of physics that prevented them from…

 The Obama person interrupted and said (and I am quoting
 here),

 “These laws of physics? Whose rules are those? We need to
 change that (while others wrote down the name of the law so
 they could look it up). We have the Congress, and the
 administration. We can repeal that law, amend it, or use an
 executive order to get rid of that problem. That’s why we
 are here, to fix these sort of issues.”

 My friends … we are screwed.

Posted via email from AgentZ Posterous

Is Arnold really growing ‘nads?

So, is Arnold really growing ‘nads? Here is his rejection letter for bill AB1176. He has become increasingly frustrated by the legislatures failing to take on the serious issues confronting the state. Note the first letter in each line of the two paragraphs that constitute the body of the letter. Coincidence? I think not. I left the URL to the Cal Gov site where this release appeared.

You decide!

 

Posted via web from AgentZ Posterous

Facebook | My Photos - MISCELLANEOUS

Added this to my online Photo Gallery in Gallery #4 @ Digital Images by JPL
http://www.agentz.com/digitalimagesbyjpl/Gallery1.shtml

Prints now available as well as Standoffs and Gallery Wraps

Posted via web from AgentZ Posterous

Facebook | My Photos - MISCELLANEOUS

Added this to my online Photo Gallery in Gallery #4 @ Digital Images by JPL
http://www.agentz.com/digitalimagesbyjpl/Gallery1.shtml

Prints now available as well as Standoffs and Gallery Wraps

Posted via web from AgentZ Posterous

Great Article on “10 Way to Improve your Photogrphy without Buying New Gear”!

An article by Scott Bourne that’s well worth the 5 minute read.

Regards,
Jean-Pierre “PETE” LeClair
President, AgentZ
www.AgentZ.com

Posted via email from AgentZ Posterous

Facebook | My Photos - Where theres smoke…

Did something I’ve been wanted to try for a while today. Set up a black background, lit a stick of incense (patchouli I think although it has no bearing on the images) and set up an old Vivitar 283 off to the side triggered by my on camera 580EXII. Only processing was done with NIK Define 2.0 (noise reduction) and several were processed with Nik Silvver Effects Pro. Color in #6 is from a gel filter on the flash.

Posted via web from AgentZ Posterous

New Print Arrived

I ordered a 16×24 standoff print over the weekend of dusk at the Salton Sea. The standoff print is mounted on 1.5″ gatorboard and the edge is wrapped in black. I was torn between this and a gallery wrap. Maybe the next one will be the gallery wrap. Here it is on the wall in the living room.

 

IMG_5186

Posted via web from AgentZ Posterous

Angels vs Rangers

AgentZ undercover last night at Angels Stadium watching the Angels trounce the Texas rangers and becoming the 2009 AL West Division Champions.

Posted via web from AgentZ Posterous

NSM (National Socialist Movement) Rally in Riverside CA



IMG_4998, originally uploaded by AgentZ92505.

My son and I went to the NSM rally today to photograph the event as it unfolded. They were countered by numerous organizations that ran the gamut from M.E.C.H.A. and the Brown Berets to supporters of Israel, anarchists, and gay activists.

More images here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agentz92505/sets/72157622336155659/show/

and here (Josh’s):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joshpl/sets/72157622459824228/show/

Regards,
Jean-Pierre “PETE” LeClair
President, AgentZ
www.AgentZ.com

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Mat 6:34 (NIV)

2nd Breath II



2nd Breath II, originally uploaded by AgentZ92505.

Detail of the sculpture called “Second Breath” from the Skokie Sculpture park in Skokie Illinois.

View the slide show at:
Here

My Review of Bracketron Nav-Mat Portable GPS Dash Mount

Abt Electronics

Bracketron Nav-Mat Portable GPS Dash Mount - UFM100BL/ Weighted Anti-Skid Base/ Conforms To Your Dash/ Holds Up To Several Pounds/ Easily View Your GPS While Drivaing/ Uses The Stock GPS Windshield Mount


Sticky Issue

AgentZ Riverside, CA 7/23/2009

 

3 5

Pros: Easy To Use

Cons: Poor Interface With GPS

Best Uses: Auto, Boating

Describe Yourself: Power User

California recently enacted a law that severely limits where you can windshield mount a GPS unit. I thought this was the perfect answer to keep it in the middle of the dash where I like it.

I cannot keep the suction cup stuck to the base of this unit ( I bought 2 and both are the same way with 2 different units). This is the only negative. It is heavy and stable but if I can’t keep the GPS mounted to it it loses functionality.

()

Born Again American - Check out this Video & Song

Opus X

A very dear friend of mine sent me a very nice gift today!

A genuine Fuente Opus X cigar.

Now I just have to decide when and where to enjoy it…

 

AgentZ

Posted via email from AgentZ Posterous

New Images are Up

I’m keeping busy with lots of projects. Going out shooting (pictures) when I can and learning Photoshop.
 
I’ve added new images to my Photo Prints website in Gallery 3. Added are:
  • Abandoned Bus
  • Albuquerque Window
  • Fuscia
  • Pomona Towing
  • Autumn Frost
 
See them at:
 
AgentZ

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Easter Cheesecake

As I mentioned in a previous Posterous blog my son Josh was down for the weekend. After our trip to Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Preserve we stopped at Sur La Table at Dos Lagos so I could buy him a Springform pan. For Easter dinner he made a New York style cheesecake and we collaborated on the topping. Its made with unsweetened dark cherries and instead of water we used Late Harvest Syrah (2007) from Wild Coyote Vineyards in Paso Robles. It can only be described as “decadent“!

Now I’m going to go eat it before it melts under the lights… AgentZ

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The Garden - One Month Later

It has been exactly one month (to the day) that we got our garden in. Since then I’ve bought steel posts and heavuy gauge wire to start building a support structure for the plants. Everything so far is going well. The plants are all healthy and I’ve added a few more peppers to the mix, 2 more bells and a poblano (for making mole).

As you can see the tomatoes are quite heathy and have really taken off.

The peppers are also doing quite well. They are starting to blossom.

The cucumbers are growing like weeds and I’ve alrerady started training them up the trellis. And the tomatoes are all flowering. We have excellent bee activity this year so I’m hoping for some fruit to set soon on all the plants.

 

AgentZ

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What a great weekend

So, things started looking up on Thursday when we got confirmation that Josh was coming home for the weekend. One of the things that means for is me is, help in the kitchen for Easter dinner.

On Saturday, Josh and I went to the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve in Murrieta, Ca. We hiked and hiked and hiked through stands of California Live Oak, native grasses and wildflowers (or as Josh sees them, WEEDS) out to the “historic” adobes, to the vernal pools and along the overlook trail. Allegedly the “oldest” adobes in California. They are well maintained.  Some sots from our trip:

IMG_9730-flkrfrom my set IMG_9752From Josh

Our sets are are available from the image link.

 

Sunday, we had a great dinner. I made ham with an orange spice glaze (juice & zest courtesy of the tree in the yard) and Josh made a killer New York Style cheesecake for desert. He’ll be making more, I made certain of that by buying him a springform pan at Sur La Table on the way back from our Santa Rosa trip (to make up for his feeling his life was threatened by the imaginary wild animals in the preserve (they were there, just that we didn’t encounter them)).

Yesterday I hooked up with my cousin Bob and we went out to the Claremont HIlls Park (in Claremont CA, a public land trust) and then over to a few abandoned vehicles along Thompson Creek just outside the park. Here’s a shot from those hikes. Image should link to the Flickr set.

bus1

AgentZ

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Happy Easter to all my BlahBlahBlogging Friends

Here, I have been able to combine a traditional Easter flower, the lily, with traditional Easter candy, chocolate.

This chocolate lily was shot in the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Preserve in Murrieta yesterday while on a photo walk with my son Josh.

Hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Easter.

 

AgentZ

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What a deal!

Went to Micheals yesterday looking for some frames for some prints I just had made from our recent Death Valley adventure. While they had most of their frames at 40% - 50% off (select lines) I found a real bargain in the area with framed “art”. I was able to pick up a 16×20 frame with an 11×14 mat, glass & backing for $12.

Mounted and hung the prints in the living room (there’s a lot of wall space there).

The frame on the left is the $12 frame.

 

Prints are available at Photography by JPL

AgentZ

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Nice way to end the week

Did some light yard work the last two days. Deadheaded the flowers, sprayed for aphids, trimmed the grape vines a little (grape clusters are already forming) and weeded & watered the vegetable garden.
 
The veggies are doing great. The tomatoes love the recent warm weather and are growing like weeds. At this rate I’ll probably have to stake them in another week or two. The cucumbers recovered from their transplant shock and are growing rapidly. Tendrils are already attaching to the arbor. And the peppers are taking off too. Some look like they are starting to set flowers, have to pick them off to let the plants get a little more established before I start letting set fruit.
 
This afternoon I started a big pot of homemade chili. Whilst it was simmering Sally whipped up a few pitchers of margaritas. I fired up the fire pit and a Romeo (cigar).
 
Watched the fire burn down as the shadows stretched across the hills on the far side of the valley.
 
What a nice way to end the week.
 
AgentZ

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What an awesome week!

After the WESTEC show Tuesday I headed up the coast and spent the next 2 days with my boys.
 
Wednesday morning before heading north up the coast from Paso we watched a video of Jason’s first SLEET class (Student Law Enforcement Education and Training) that he is presenting at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. It was cool to watch him in action. Too bad the baterry died so we couldn’t see more of the students hands on part.
 
We headed up to Point Lobos State Reserve (just south of Carmel) and spent the day hiking and taking pictures. Here are a few too tease.
 
Us on Lace Lichen Trail:
 
The entrance to Cypress Cove:
 
The rest of the Point Lobos set is here:
 
Thursday we got up and did a leisurely cruise around the back roads of Paso Robles east side and then headed off to the west side to explore. After a couple of short loops and turn arounds on back country roads we hit pay dirt on sant Rosa Creek Road.  It ended up taking up right into Cambria where we loaded up on munchies forthe boys and then headed over to Moonstone Beach to take some pictures.
 
Heres a few to tease:
 
Start of Santa Rosa Creek Road:
 
Cambria and Mooonstone Beach:
 
 
The rest of the set is here:
 
 
 
 
AgentZ

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Another Great Day

Spent most of yesterday cruising around the WESTEC show at the L.A. Convention Center networking and meeting up with old friends. Still haven’t decided if I’m going to stay in this industry.

 

Late afternoon I headed up the coast to Paso Robles. Today I’m going to head further up the coast with my boys and grand-daughter to Pont Lobos State Reserve to explore and take pictures.  Will post to Flickr account Later.

 

AgentZ

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