3/08/2007

Catch of the Day

We went fishing on Sunday March 4th at Vista Del Camino park There's a lot of Bass in the "lake" there, Some Catfish, and Misc. Sunfish. I have caught several Bass there in the past ranging from 1 to 3 pounds. Mike caught one weighing 4 pounds. This time I was fishing for Bass and Catfish. I was using raw shrimp for bait (for the Catfish). I didn't catch any Bass or Catfish but I did catch a turtle on a treble hook baited with shrimp. While Chris and I tried to get the hook out of it's mouth without hurting it, some little girl about 3 or 4 came over all excited about the Turtle. She kept saying she wanted it. I wasn't paying much attention at the time, so when we got the hook out we threw the turtle back in the water (not that I would have given it to her anyways). Well... this little girl had a fit that lasted almost an hour, because she didn't get the turtle. I believe this was probably the first time in her little (spoiled brat) life she hadn't got her way.


3/06/2007

The Follies of Fire chasing

From time to time my brothers and I go fire chasing. For those not in the know that means you listen to you scanner and if you hear about a fire nearby you go to it and take pictures or just watch. On occasion we actually get to a fire before the Fire department does, usually we don't. So for anyone else out there thinking of doing the same, here is a list of "The Folly of Fire Chasing".



1. - Nothing interesting happens in your immediate vicinity.
2. - When an interesting call comes in it will be on the opposite side of town.
3. - If an interesting call comes in and it "IS" nearby you will not be able to go to it due to: traffic, job, or the scanner is not on.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Q1vFJgiysYg/RhBY0Dgp2eI/AAAAAAAAAMU/NE8nw8NH3cs/s800/shedfire.jpg4. - Any attempts to reach the site of a call will result in failure due to: unintelligible address given by the fire department, address not found in your map software, overly efficient fire fighters get there before you and extinguish the blaze, traffic congestion blocks your progress, or the police get there first, and will allow anyone else access except you (because you have a camera).
5. - On the rare occasion that you reach the scene it will turn out to "NOT" be worth seeing, you will forget to un-pause your camcorder, or you don't have your camera .
6. - If you have your map, GPS, someone to help navigate, all your camera equipment, it's the weekend, and traffic is sparse there will be no calls of interest whatsoever.
7 - You are more likely to stumble upon a fire than hear the call and be able to get to it.
8 - If you do manage to get to the scene of a working fire and take lots of pictures, many of your pictures will not turn out well for whatever reasons.

3/04/2007

Desert Photography

Hello and welcome to Men Hardly Working. This blog is for my brothers and I as a record of the times we spend not working. My name is Robert, and My Brothers are Chris and Mike. Chris is on the left Mike is above me in the Picture to the left. This weekend we went out in the desert to take some pictures and hunt rabbits. The desert north of Florence, AZ is quite beautiful at this time of the year. The area we went to is just east of the Florence Military Reservation, where the National Guard goes to practice firing their 155mm Howitzers. Although the area won't green up for another couple of weeks we will return then for more pictures. We set out at 5:30am for the 60+ mile trip so we would arrive before sunrise to catch the best light. I brought my Minolta Maxxum 7D, Mike brought his Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, and Chris brought his Fuji Finepix A500. Here are some of the pictures I took:

Here are some of Mike's:

Here are some of Chris's:

After taking a couple hundred pictures we went hunting for rabbits. This involves walking through the desert making lots of noise so as to flush any unsuspecting rabbit from the underbrush. We may walk anywhere from 1 to 10 miles at a stretch. This time only Mike was successful, here is the Lucky hunter and unlucky rabbit:

On our drive home we ran into the 2nd Battalion - 180th Field Artillery of the National Guard. We were hoping to get some pictures of them firing their howitzers. We attempted to get permission but lack of hearing protection, no helmets, and time prevented this. We did get a few pics of them setting up.

For more on the FMR Click Here. Here is a map of the FMR:


The Red area is off limits, but for most of the northeastern end there is nothing other than signs to stop you.