Been away for a bit

[robpendragon]

Sorry I have not been around much lately,
it's been a bad couple of days.
Last Friday I woke up with my left eye swollen, thought I had Pink eye. Turns out I had a deer tick under my lower eye lid.
Monday I lost my job, not sure if I will be going back. The business has been really slow, 3 people laid off including the son of the boss. I will probably be filing for unemployment this week.
As of last Tuesday it's been a month since my landscaper has shown up to cut my lawn, I had to pay another landscaper a hundred bucks to do a "double cut" on the grass which was up past my knees in height. I convinced the landlord to buy me a mower so I could do it myself (there goes my Sundays)
Wednesday... I wake up with some pain in my upper back, by the time 1:00 rolls around I am near paralyzed in pain, could not lift my arms, could not stand, sit & laying down was excruciating.
Thursday back is better but feels like a huge knot between my shoulder blades. I was well enough to walk to answer the door for the oil man to hand me a bill for filling up the tank...$700.00
Friday... enough is enough, I made it a point to cheer myself up so I grabbed the dog, I headed out to the dog park & after that went to another park so Pharaoh & I could walk in a stream & chase water bugs (he chases them , not me)
We got home, I opened the finest bottle of wine I had, sat in the backyard with Pharaoh & we napped for about an hour & a half under a tree.
Today, I'm making batches of Banana Daiquiris, setting up an area upstairs for some macro photography & take some shots for the rest of the day.

This Monday I'll worry about finding a job, as for now **sip**gulp**mmmm, bananany!

[mljrbg]

Rob, I am so sorry you had such a horrible week. :( Losing your job is awful but then to have all of the other things going on at the same time is so difficult. I hope your weekend is wonderful and that Monday will be the start of a lot of new sunshine in your life.

Glad you are feeling better.

Mary Lou

[robpendragon]

Thanks Mary Lou, in other "good" news I have a new website for my photography. Check it out when you can:D
(http://www.lopshire.net/)

[Joe M]

Rob your images look great. Incredible collection and the website looks fantastic.

Regardless of what anyone says, alcohol can make things better, for awhile anyway.

[mljrbg]

I'm so impressed!! Your website is great and your work is fabulous. Did you design the website? Thanks for adding the link so we all can see it.

Mary Lou

[jazzfisher]

Rob,
So sorry to heard of the bad things happening to you, the stress of the other stuff probably brought on the pain!

I checked out your website, it's very very nice...of course your images are superb. I'm having fits with my website software-maybe I should just switch to smugmug if you can make a site that nice from it.

Enjoy as many beverages as possible this weekend!:eek:

[Elemobe]

Rob, Hi

I have been away for months and just read your post, really sorry to hear about your week - remember, sometimes bad news is good news in disguise - who knows where your fortunes now lie. Your new job may turn out to be just great.

Had a look at your website - WOW, I always admired your photos, but boy, have you improved!!

Looking forward to seeing more and hearing how next week goes.

Good luck and wishing you all the best

Linda

[billz]

Hey Rob -

Your new site looks great ... you have some superb images on display.

Hang in there on the job thing ... your skills are very good and you'll find something soon I'm sure. Hope your eye is better ... a deer tick under the eyelid sounds unpleasant for all involved.

Bill

[ljameso1]

That does sound like a horrible week. I hope things look up soon. Did your Dr talk to you about testing for Lyme's disease? Best to nip in the bud-you have enough problems.

[jjvera00]

Sorry to hear about your week. Hope things pick up for you soon.

I took a look at your site. You do some great work!

[Jancy]

Sorry to hear about your week from hell-but the bottle of wine sounds great!!
Cheers!!

[JulieM]

Rob,

I'm so sorry you are having a rough go of it and do hope everything will turn around for you soon!

I enjoyed looking at your new site - great work there...

[kim2900]

Rob - I've heard it said that bad luck comes in three's. I believe you should be good for quite a while now on that "bad luck" thing! But one thing I do admire is your sense of humor and great attitude (that and your ability to make a good Banana Daiquiri!) :p Those things are important to have in getting through tough times! So when one door closes, another one opens - you just gotta keep the faith!

Now enough with my waxing poetic...... I'm off to find the blender! :D

[Ellen]

I'm sure Kim is right about that bad stuff coming in threes, so clear sailing from now on.
Your smugmug site is truly a knockout, well done!

[Sepiana]

Hi Rob,

I've just visited your website. Your work is superb. I sincerely wish you better times ahead. Hang in there.

[Inspeqtor]

Rob,

So sorry to hear of all the problems that have come your way. I am sure too that something better is just around the corner for you. Hang in there!

Your website is excellent! You are a real master at taking pictures.... no let me correct myself. You are a real master at taking photographs!

[Diana]

Whoa, Rob, you've had one bad week. Sure hope things start looking up for you. There's no place to go but up, right? You know the saying, when one door closes.... I'm sure great things will be coming your way soon. I love your new photo site and photos.

Diana

[GaryK]

Rob

Bummer of a week.:(

I'm sure once you awake from your banana induced sleep, you will have a fresh perspective.
Time to do more menu shots for the free meals.:)

Good luck on whatever comes your way. I know you will do a great job.

[kevq]

Rob,
hoping that things get better for you.
I looked at your new web site, it's great, my favourite is the Marine.
Kev.

[mrod]

I'll echo the others--that is one bad week, for sure. I hope all fronts improve.

The site is very nice! And of course, your photography is amazing.

Hang in there,
Mike

[vawitt]

(said in the rising tone of Mary Tyler Moore as Laura Petrie..."

"Oh, Rooobbbbbbb!!!!!"

Sorry you had such a h*llacious week! Nothing like a pleasant weekend, a little potassium (hic) and disappearing back pain to change your perspective. Here's a cheer for a brighter Monday!!

~Val in rainy IL

[robpendragon]

Wow....thanks everyone for the kind words & support, I really appreciate it.
I love the way the SmugMug site turned out. Just used PSE5 to design the banner & the rest was just choosing a background. I love any application with black backgrounds, it really adds a boost to any photography. I think thats why I love working with LR so much.
Thanks again guys:D

[nkeevers]

Just getting to this thread. Gee Ron, what an awful few days! Sorry about losing your job...times are sucking right now. A deer tick under your eyelid...that almost beats mine a ways back...and you don't what to know where mine was!! Glad to hear your back is better though. And you are doing exactly what I do when I'm down and out...drink!! Give me a nice bottle of wine and I'm happy for a while...til I face the music! Enjoy and things will look up soon I'm sure!

P.S. Great website btw!

[christellf]

Wow what a week for you to go through. Just look to Pharoah to cheer you up. Your photos are awesome. It might be a self-employed business to think about. Remember those dressed up dog photos that were made famous? He would pose his large dog dressed up & I think maybe use his arms in the photos. Pharoah would be a perfect subject to dress up & sell his photos.
I was trying to quickly search the one I remember but not sure who it was. I found a few sites to look at but not sure it was this person or not.
Christell
http://www.wegmanworld.com/gallery/index.html
http://www.picsearch.com/info.cgi?q=William%20Wegman&id=C4IEFwQ4ZSPh03tSom4B-E5lx4EqT5wyjq6ZTELHx7w&start=93&opt=%26cols%3D6%26thumbs%3D18
http://www.picsearch.com/info.cgi?q=William%20Wegman&id=hAQqTRZr5iWdkn7TiedsIl5XDjG0sgE_kjEEBDv9Gb8&start=129&opt=%26cols%3D6%26thumbs%3D18

[lsweeney]

Rob,I hope this week is looking better than last week.

The medicinal qualities of bananas and rum are too often underappreciated; glad you were able to enjoy them!