Getting Back to some Basics

So I have been uber-busy of late, the type of busy that I haven't been in some long time. There are a lot - a lot - of you out here in Hiveland that I want/need to catch up with, and I hope y'all have some patience with me. Between work (upwards of 50-60 hours/week recently), home improvements (and I just gave myself another project today - yay), children, and occasionally sleep, there has been little time for much of anything else.

This is not a complaint; just a statement. Ebbs and flows, and it'll come around when I have spare time again.

This past weekend, however, I made the conscious decision to have some fun, so in addition to getting to have a few beer with some friends, on Sunday I planned a short jaunt outside of the house with my youngest boy. Our first stop was an antique market; I'm in the market for a new clock and was hoping they'd have something I liked. They didn't. What they did have, however, made up for it.

Yes, not one, but two - two! - Lego Satellite Service boxes. $8.00 each! These are retired sets that currently sell for about $20 on eBay and $30 on Amazon. So of course I snatched them up. I am not looking to resell these, oh no. I am looking to play with these.

After the antique store the boy and I went for a short hike. I had a particular destination in mind - Lums Pond House. This is an old, dilapidated house in Lums Pond Park. It wasn't very difficult to find, which is nice, because my son is not much of a hiker.

I found a fire hydrant on the way. My son was unamused that I hijacked the hike to go take a picture of it.

The house was not that much farther away. And yes, indeed, it is in a rather disastrous state. Ouch.

This little outing was intended to help me kick back and relax some, so I made a point of breaking out my camera. These next two pictures were taken with my dSLR and a 28mm fixed lens. What story do these pictures portray? That this house has passed it's prime. Oy.

Now these were taken with the same camera and a 50mm lens. Same story. This house should be falling over. Look at this foundation! I was half tempted to push it to see if it'd topple, but I didn't want a stray brick to hit my son.

I'm actually a little surprised that the State found it necessary to put up a No Entry sign. Not even the vulture was going into this building. He also wasn't leaving that chimney. There must have been a meal for it in there.

This particular building is owned by the State. The State is offering it up to whoever has a plan and the resources to fix it up. The State is even allowing this person to live in this house rent-free for life. For life! Now how's that for a retirement plan?

These next three photos were taken with one of my crappy cameras; in particular, a 2 megapixel SQ908 MEGA-Cam. I will admit, I did do some touchup of these photos afterward to give them a more faded, analogue, film look, and I'm rather proud of them. This camera is awesome for "aged" photos.

The best thing about this house? There's a fire hydrant right beside it!

Later in the day, after dinner, I finally circled around to finish the day how it started: with legos!

I actually already have a copy of this set, but that didn't bother me at all. I'm happy to add to the fleet. There's even a small group of ground-dwelling vehicles to go along with it.

The minifigs came out to celebrate the new arrivals, too.

It was a good day, and a good weekend. I'm glad I had the opportunity to put other items to the side for the day. Now back to another busy week!

---

(c) All images and photographs, unless otherwise specified, are created and owned by me.
(c) Victor Wiebe

---

About Me

Amateur photographer. Wannabe author. Game designer. Nerd. 
General all around problem-solver and creative type.

My Favourite Tags

#spaceforce3	#altphoto	#crappycameraphotos
#digitalpinhole	#pinhole	#firehydrant