Between October and December I have had blood work done four or five times, two biopsies as well as a CT scan of my torso and a whole body PET scan of the skin and lymph nodes. All tests came back normal, normal organ function and nothing to indicate that there was lymphoma in my lymph system. They even tested my blood for a stomach bacteria and lyme disease.
Yesterday I got a call from my oncoligist's nurse at the Humphrey Cancer Center. The latest biopsy taken on December 3rd finally came back and the oncologist determined that I do not have skin lymphoma. He wrote in his notes that my case could be pre-skin lymphoma and he wants to see me on the 27th and treat it with antibiotics. It seems to me after this experience that anytime they're not sure what you have they use the word "pre" if they think you might be prone to developing the condition someday in the future. The last time I saw the oncologist a couple weeks ago he was talking localized radiation or a mild localized form of chemo. Obviously I'm happy with yesterday's news and am looking forward to the 2008 racing season with renewed zeal and thankfulness. When you go through something like this and experience the roller coaster of ups and downs between tests it gives one a unique perspective and appreciation on maintaining good health. No, I'm not going to become a nuts and berries health nut but I might only have one hotdog instead of two next season.
Best of all, the tests showed that liver function is normal. I got some Miller Lite for the weekend, rented some movies and sat in the recliner celebrating.
Last week I got that work done on the Ranger and it's running pretty good now. It's a 1993 that had 104,000 miles when I bought it and is now at a little over 133,800 miles. It's not much to look at, the paint is faded and the tool box is a bit rusty, but since I've had it I've put some money into keeping it roadworthy. Over the past couple years I got a new exhaust system, new serpentine belt and a new heavy duty battery. The timing belt is in good shape and must have been replaced by the previous owner. Last week I had a ball joint replaced as well as trailing arms on the front end, the brakes done and replaced the thermostat. Let's see, they also repaired the parking brake so I don't have to carry a wood block to put behind the wheel anymore LOL. The put in a new set of plugs so it's running better and seems to have more power. I didn't realize how bad the plugs were, they were original plugs and when they showed me the old ones they were as bad as I can ever remember seeing. It's a miracle the truck was running so good and I'm sure I would have ended up having problems during the next year if we didn't replace them.
(My son Les pops open a cold one before the 2003 Richert Memorial. That's the Weenie Wagon on the left and the Ranger on the right so I'm guessing that I've had the Ranger for five years.)
During the winter I only drive my truck to the park & ride for my vanpool which amounts to about ten miles a week. Occasionally I'll drive the 50 miles round trip to work if I've got an errand or appointment but 90% of my mileage is put on during the racing season. I lost track of how long I've been driving the truck but it's got to be four or five years now. At the rate I'm putting miles on it the thing could conceivably last a couple more seasons. I'd like to get something a little more road worthy so I'd be more comfortable on the 150 to 200 mile trips but I'm not complaining. If I wanted to go to Knoxville or somewhere like that I'd take our Olds and the wife could run her errands in my truck. So anyways, I should be able to go another racing season without making vehicle payments.
I can't remember a fall and winter when I've sold as many photos as I have this season. My photo sales supplement my racing travels and if you factored in my mileage and expenses it's still a break even deal and not officially a business. I'm sure a lot of these sales are for photos that are going to be given to sponsors and such so it's probably going to slow down after the holidays. Nevertheless, I anticipate my photo sales to increase so I'm looking at some more equipment purchases in order to improve the quality.
I have been doing some research and have made some changes based on my findings but won't be able to test them under racing conditions until April. There is a lens that I've got my eye on that will be better suited to my needs than the one I'm using. Up until now I have been using a Tamron 28-105mm f2.8 which was a popular lens among our local photographers at the 1/4 and 3/8 mile tracks in our area. That lens works great for getting those three wide night shots of the bigger cars like Late Models and Supers. I bought the lens new for around $800 on the advice of some of the Late Model photographers but found that it's not good for Sprints running the high side up by the wall. The Sprint guys seem to prefer the 70 or 80-200mm f2.8 lenses where you can zoom in when they're up on the cushion but the problem with those lenses is that you're too close to victory lane. A new 50-150mm f2.8 lens was released this fall and it's getting great reviews for sharpness, image quality and a quick focus motor so I'm probably going to buy that one. It just came out and they're out of stock at some places which is usually a good sign because it indicates they're in demand but the downside is that the price is going to stay around $650. If I want one I'll have to pay the going rate.
The only other thing that I would consider purchasing someday is a Norman flash unit which comes in at around $1600 new. I'm going to keep an eye on the new digital camera bodies that are addressing the noise issues as that could someday render the portable studio flash obsolete for racing applications. My opinion is that a high end studio flash would be overkill for me because I consider night photos to be newspaper shots. I'm getting as many of my night shots in the papers and magazines using a $300 hotshoe as the guys with the more expensive flash units. Most of the photos I get in magazines or sell were taken in available light without a flash. I find that photo sales are part talent and technique and part getting the word out about your work. I think the gotomn website photo gallery and my work in the magazines accomplishes that objective.
One thing that I'm not doing much of that people like is the two sided photo cards. I know how to do the layering and artwork as you can see in the samples but haven't bothered to find a printer who will make up the cards at a competitive price. If I got into the card business I'd probably end up with too many irons in the fire during the season. Doing the artwork and running to the printer during would be time consuming and be more like a job than a hobby. The railroad sometimes offers early retirement packages and I've only got nine years to go so maybe I'll get an offer I can't refuse. These buyouts bridge union employees to retirement and I'm in situation where that might very well happen. If that happens I'll be able to concentrate on my photography and website full time.
In the meantime I am able to do one sided designs on standard 4x6 photo stock. A few racing teams have had me do designs for them. If I was doing design work on a daily basis I could refine my skills but I think what I'm doing on a limited basis looks good. Most people buy CD's with flames to use on their cards, I designed my own flames as vector files as well as the cartoon on my main page.
Well, that's going to wrap up my latest update. You can email your comments or feedback to me at mndirt@hotmail.com
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