But first, I'd like to thank all you folks who called, sent e-mail or sent a card to offer their condolences on the passing of my father.  I am most grateful for your kind gestures.  They were a real boost after many months of stress.

In a lighter vein, I think I'm about to be sick.  With a cold.  I've got hot sinuses, itchy eyes and that "off" feeling.  I also did something stupid and stupidity is a sure sign of succumbing to a virus.  I was in the garage a few minutes ago looking for my white cotton gloves to transfer some of my extry-large medium format negatives into archival sleeves.  Not wanting to touch these gems with nearly human hands, I searched for and found said gloves.  Rather than gently hand-washing them to remove any dust they might carry, I figured it would be faster and dryer to spray them with a high pressure air can.  I picked up a can off the darkroom tray area and almost sprayed my nice white gloves with Whiskey-Delta-Four-Zero.  But I caught myself before spraying, and smiled the smile of disaster averted.  I put the WD-40 down and reached for the aircan on the second shelf and sprayed the gloves.  But of course it was another can of WD-40.  So I guess now Daddy gets new gloves.  And perhaps a tiny icepack to soothe his tiny fevered brow.

I've been very busy lately with photography work, some of it pro bono for Amy's school and some of it a project in another town that will take at least six months.  That one involves a community with a brand spankin' new preliminary injunction which prohibits "known gang members" from wearing certain types of clothing, makes it legal to arrest or detain them if they are identified by a "reliable informant" as a person with a specific gang.  If a person's "close association" with this gang is "confirmed" they may be arrested or detained.  A few other qualifications are listed in the injunction.

Sounds iffy to me.  And pretty dang stretchable in interpretation.  I've heard that much of the planning of this police action was done on the sneak, but that information did not come from a "reliable informant" so I can't confirm its truthfulness.

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition.

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