A photo a day for 18 years

http://wakeuptiger.blogspot.com/2008/05/photo-of-day-for-18-years.html

Someone do the math, that’s a hell of a lot of money.

Wow. Heavy story.. but needs to be shared.

A entire family heads out from their wedding togehter in a limo, only to be struck head on by a drunk driver at over 70 miles an hour. The first officer on the scene was a relative of the family. The married couple lost their youngest daughter.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/05/29/o.lifesaving.lesson/index.html

Another Petorak Blog

Seems my sister found out how to use Blogger!
http://petorak.blogspot.com/

Yes, I am a geek about Space as well.

You'd think with computers and photography, that my life would be full of cool things to keep me busy. I have always loved Space and Astronomy, even though I am too tall to ever get up in a ship (damned short people). I was heartbroken when the Challenger blew up, and devastated when Discovery burned up on re-entry. There have been many tradegies, but there have also been some major discoveries and spectacular images captured as we stretch our technological fingers into the cosmos.

I follow anything we (earthlings) send to Mars. The first successful flyby was done by Mariner 4 in 1964-- years before we even set foot on the moon. 21 images, in 1964. Mariner 6 and 7, 5 years later captured over 200 additional images. In 71, we landed something on there but only got 20 seconds of 'lander' data, even though the orbiter portion of the mission had 8 months of good data. When I was 4, we finally landed something on Mars and were able to get a good connection to it. The Viking 1 lander made it all worth while. Viking 2 followed up shortly and was also a resounding success sending back over 16,000 images as well as other experiments.

Then, nothing for a while. The Soviets tried a few in 88, but either missed the planet -- or lost the orbiter. The US failed the Mars observer, which just stopped communicating in 93, three days before it was set to start its approach to the red planet. The Pathfinder mission was only supposed to do a little bit of looking around, but it ended up lasting 5 times longer than the warranty. And then in 2003, we landed a pair of rovers on the planet, and began our first 6 wheelin' adventure from another planet. There's a first right there.

But it's the latest landing that has me really watching. The Phoenix Mars Lander has made it, and it ready to sit on one place and just dig until it too dies or looses communication.


I think in this lifetime, we will be sending someone there -- hopefully a team.

** http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/log/

Dodging a bullet

Usually, we are allowed to leave at 3pm, so I trudged out the door and gave my friend Ian a ride home. No sooner than I got home and sat down, I received an automated call alerting me that something major was going down at my work, Symantec.

From KVAL.COM :
"SPRINGFIELD, Ore. - An envelope containing a suspicious substance and a letter claiming the material was anthrax caused a lock down that left as many as 1,000 employees stranded inside their office for four hours May 20. Officials are now 99 percent sure the substance is sugar."

Yea, lets just say I made it out before all hell had broken loose. The fire department, hazmat teams, police, media, and who knows who else were called into quarantine the building and secure the perimeter. I think the picture that was used in the website post was a picture I took back a few years ago. Glad everyone made it out ok, but damn. What the hell? Going to be an interesting day at work tomorrow, and all over a envelope of sugar.

Where'd he go?

Tired of the high cost of internet hosting? Yea, me too. I was fed up with having another payment to take care of so I am going to try an point my domain to my personal web/ftp server that I can maintain. Yea, this means that there might be a few slowdowns here and there, as well as a few occasions where the site may be off-line... but you can bet I won't be spending my money on them anymore. :D

Anyways, spread the word that I am back.. and will be posting quite a lot more now that I have one less bill :P

Keep up the support, and send me an email : jason.petorak@gmail.com

HIBiDDY HUBLaH!

I am no mechanic..

Roughly three months ago, I took the truck to work happy that it had finally decided to stop running like crap. A few months after the "Oil Can Henrys Incident" where they failed to replace my oil filter correctly resulting in a blown engine had put a very bad taste in my mouth with regards to this truck, all was well and I was happy. The next day, when I went to start the car, it wouldn't startup correctly. I had just put some gas in it the day before ( $10 worth ) so I knew it wasn't the gas. Knowing as little as I do about cars, I asked all the 'mechanics' in the family to take a look at it, and asked what they would think. Even my own father suggested that it was the fuel filter, and that was going to be a pain in the arse to get to due to it being located inside the gas tank itself. Needless to say, money being tight and all, the car sat for over two months.

Last Friday, Melanee started her new job and needed to be picked up. Janet, her mother, was working and did not have the chance to make her car available to us so she was going to have to take the bus. Out of frustration, Melanee asked me to put a gallon in the truck just to see if maybe some bad gas had caused the issue or something. Knowing that I had put the gas in it the night before it wouldn't start, I opted to give it a shot.

1 gallon, turned over 5 times and then 'vroooomed' right into one of the more embarrassing mechinical moments in my life. This sits right next to the time I failed to load film in the camera before a full day of shooting pictures of my wifes family. I wondered why the film counter exceeded 41 pictures.. I thougth they only made 36 exposure rolls?

Anyways, needless to say, one car back on the road and the other just awaiting it's tabs, we are almost fully functional once again. I am still laughing at it myself. I wish I knew more about cars and less about computers and cameras. I guess somethings still catalog me as a geek.

Jeep Squirt

So, the other day I was sitting at a stoplight in the Eugene rain. I looked into the rear view mirror, and noticed that the back window was soaked, and could use a little rinse. I switched on the rear windshield wiper, and then rocked the switch into the fluid position as to add a little windshield wiper fluid to the wiper to make it so I could see through it. Little did I know that the tube that connects the fluid reservoir to the washer arm had separated, and so when I engaged the fluid mode, a stream of fluid shot straight out the back on to the vehicle behind me.

This normally would not have been an issue.

However, I noticed a familiar red and blue light begin to flash behind me. The drain of fluid had squarely nailed the motorcycle cop behind me right in the windshield of his bike. He pulled me over, and I feared the worst. As he approached the window, I had already pulled my license, proof of insurance, and registration out. I rolled the window down, ready to apologize profusely, when I heard an uncontrollable laughter coming from his mouth.

His response was “Sir, you are not getting a ticket, I have a Jeep, and I HAVE to know how you did that... I want to set mine up so I can do it!"

I guess not all the cops around here are jerks. :D

Seattle, and stuff

I don't know if I have even enjoyed a train ride as much as did today. Boarded at 5:30am, and found a single seat next to the window. I had stayed up a l ittle tooo late the night before, so I was feeling ready for a nap as soon as I sat down. I have never been able to sleep on a train, but this time I dozed off for a few hours. I think I fell asleeep somewhere around albany, and woke up in Portland. The stops that we had were so few and quick, than the train arrived 17 minutes early. That's another first. We left Portland, and within a few minutes, I was crashed again. I don't think I woke up until Tacoma, or near there. Dozing here and there, I finally arrived in Seattle, and was picked up by my sister, Krissy, and her boyfriend, Dave. My first time meeting Dave, he seems like a very nice guy. He makes my sister smile. And to me that is more than enough. I had a few minutes to stop and see some old friends from High School, there were only four of us, but it was still nice to see some old faces. Those three ladies haven't aged much in 16 years. I, on the other hand, got VERY grey. :D

I made my way up to my dads place, where the moving had already begun. Within a few hours, we had 90% of his stuff packed up and in the uhaul, so we all hopped in cars and headed down to Pe Ell, Washington where my dad moved to. Along the way, I stopped to see an old friend who I hadn't seen in a very long time. I only stayed for 45 minutes or so, but when my sister called me and told me where she was at, I neaded out quickly to catch up. As I neared the exit I needed to take, a semi truck blocked my view of both signs, I didn't know the exit number, and the next thing I know I am 17 miles farther down the road than I need to be. Needless to say, all the non-heavy stuff was in the house by the time I got there, leaving all the heavy stuff for dave and I to finish up. After apologizing profusly, I slammed out the rest of the stuff, and we headed back out. My dad and I slept at a naarby motel, and Dave and my sisters headed back up to Puyallyup. Kandi left me her car, so I can go sleep up there tonight, which is probably where I'll post this from. :D

This Weekend

I will be leaving early Saturday morning on a train from Eugene to Seattle to help my dad move. He is moving from West Seattle, down to Pie El, Washington. I'll be sure and post lost of pics once I get home, but probably won't see alot until I do get back. Be sure to drop me a line ( you should know my cell phone number if you're a close friend) if you're in the area and would like to see me!

Time flies when you're having fun.

On a cold October morning 12 years ago, I awoke from my sleep and opened my eyes, eager to see my little hottie snuggled up beside me. But alas, it is bad luck for a groom to see his bride before the wedding, so I had not seen her since the night before. There wasn't much longer to wait, as the wedding was planned for a few hours away, so that we would have the rest of the day to enjoy the company of our friends and family before heading home for the first time as husband and wife. The service went well, I remember Melanee's grandfather was there and let me use his suit (the only one that would fit me), as well as many members of both sides of the family. My sisters, and friends, played the church bells while Melanee walked down the isle. She is still as beautiful and young looking as that day. A tear formed in my eye while I was reading my vows, knowing that this would be the woman was willing to spend the rest of her life with me.

Today, 12 years and a day later, I feel the same closeness to this lovely lady as the day I said yes to her marriage proposal.


As I was driving to work today, I took some pictures of the leaves and their autumn colors. It got me thinking about how each leaf gathers as much light as it can before the fall arrives, helping the tree with energy to get through the long leafless winter. I can see how we, as a family, offer each other energy to get through the long winter. Without my family to keep me going, I'd probably shrivel up and wither away. A tree is only as strong as its trunk. I can safely assume that some day, my trunk will give way, and I'll need all the little saplings around me to get me through the rest of my life. I am sure that someday, this redwood will need to go to that great big lumber mill in the sky, but not any sooner than necessary.

Jason's Dream Car

This is my kind of car. Wonder where you can lease one....

White and nerdy

Oh, this is so me....

Redneck Rocket Launcher

While drinking beer, and smoking cigarettes; this guy builds a rocket launcher, then loads it with eight thousand five hundred bottle rockets. Then he fires them all at one time. This is a killer video. Check out the firestorm!

School is back in session

Tomorrow the boys go back to school, and not a moment too soon. Brendan will be starting middle school ( for the love of all that's holy -- I feel old ), and Tristan will be entering his final year at Spring Creek Elementary. They both are excited to be going back to school, as chores and watching TV all summer got old really fast. The did find a friend to play with towards the end of the summer, and he has spent some time over playing with them.

We've all had fun this summer, and we even had a chance to take a small vacation to Spokane, WA, last month. Melanee is looking forward to the time she can have in the mornings to do what she wants, and I am looking forward to having the ability to take a day off here and there and spend some quality alone time with her. Janet, Mel's mother, is moving to Reno to work, so we'll essentially have the house to ourselves while the kids are at school.

Anyways, other than that, things this summer when pretty well, and the fall is looking to be just as much fun with the kids in school and all the 'school events'... I am so looking forward to meeting their teachers.

I did some changing of the photo gallery, you can see the new look as I build the albums here.

Wow. Didn't realize it had been so long

Well, things have been good this summer for the most part. We got a new vehicle, special thanks to my dad, and we went on a short family vacation to Spokane, Washington. Check out the pics in the photo gallery. In training right now, so I'll be breif. More later, I promise.

Word.

Yes, I wen't skiing.

On this, the day before my 34th birthday, I awoke at 6:30am to partake in one of those sports that I had never had the guts to try. I figured, how hard could it be?

So my buddy Matt picked me up at 7:30 and we headed up to Hoodoo, in Sisters, Oregon. As soon as we got there, we found out that the classes that were being setup were full, but I could get a lesson at 1:00pm when the next lesson started. Matt, who used to work at Willamette Pass, took me up the top of the bunny hill, and next thing you know I was sliding down the mountain in what has been referred to as a controlled skid. I did very well today doing my 'snow plowing' or pizza stance, as well as turning on the bunny slope. I fell a few times, and was forced to get out of my skis to get up, much to my dismay, but other than that not much. I did a few runs up a down the bunny slope, and felt pretty confident going into my private lesson ( yes, I splurged and paid for a personal lesson ). After a few runs down the bunny slope, my instructor said he thought I was ready for a green hill (easy).

I made it off the ski lift just fine, snow plowed to a stop, and felt pretty good as got ready to go. The hill in front of me in the picture above is the same one I went down. Not to steep, I loved it. Then came the hill. The hill was followed by a series of repetative and sometimes painful trips over six and a half feet down to meet with what was once soft powder. Not any more. For some reason, I could not master the turn when you reach the end of a switchback. I lost it almost every time. We left the day with some fun, and a few pictures, and lots of stories. I am sure I will feel all of my stories tomorrow. I hope they go light with the spankings ( birthday, remember-- perverts..), as my arse is in pain.

Our Florida Vacation

Oh the fun we had. Took MANY pictures, and attended a wedding. But to cap the whole week, we spent two days at Universal Orlando, and Island Park Adventure. The crowning moment, when all 4 of us went on the Hulk roller coaster together. That is one that will never leave my mind.

Check out Photos for the pics.

Albums....

So, the albums have been giving me hastle for the past month or so, but I finally fixed the page to work properly. You should start seeing a lot more of the pics taken in the past few months as I get through them. Thanks for your patience. :D

East Coast Petorak!

It seems that I have spread my userbase to a class on the East Coast. I was showing Matt, a fellow web designer and owner of www.planetranch.com, the guestbook of my site when I realized that there were a few more entries that there were previously. I replied to the kids' posts, and emailed the teacher letting her know how nice it was to have heard from them.

Also, they were searching for pictures of their teacher, who is also a Petorak. I knew there was a large group of Petorak's on the east coast, but know I have actually emailed one of them.

Greetings!

Be sure to check out and sign the guestbook!

The Loss of an old friend.

Back when I worked for KITS Cameras, I had the pleasure of working with some people that really impacted my life. While working at the University Village location, there was a guy that I enjoyed working with and we played off each other making jokes all the time.

Patrick "Nekkid" Myrick, was one of the coolest cats I have ever met. He and I shared lots of laughs, and some good times during my employment there. I ran across his photo in an old album the other day, and I decided to see what he was up to by searching his name on the net.

Immediately, I knew this was not going to turn out the way I had wanted it. On the first page of my search, I found the military page with the bad news. On a routine training mission in Iwo Jima, his navy jet crashed last killing him and the other 3 men on board. He was 31. I believe I heard or read about this particular crash, but never read close enough to see the name. My heart goes out to his wife and daughter.

Patrick was a good man, someone who I will always call my friend, who died doing what he loved, RIP Nekkid.

Patrick Myrick

Time Flies....

I lost track of time, and now a few months later, still no post.

I am still here. Just busy at work.

I did buy a new trailer, and just finished installing the hooks today. I'll post some pics soon. Like this week. :P I promise!

Getting in the Groove

I am getting back into the groove of photography. I have been shooting quite a bit more than I used to, now that I have a professional lense. I am putting together a small portfolio of images, that can be found here.

What have I done...

Well, tonight I attended the boys' school's PTO meeting at the request of this years PTO president. She did not tell me, however, that it was election night for next year’s cabinet and also failed to mention that men rarely attended the meetings. I knew the moment that I signed in and looked at the 'door prizes' that this was usually a women’s meeting place. A silver box wrapped with pink ribbon, and a Victoria Secret bag.

Not only was I unanimously elected President of next years PTO board, but I also won the Victoria Secret bag door prize. You'll have to ask me what was in the bag, that way I'll know if you read this. :P

Sometime I'll post the 'job duties' of this position, but I think I am going to reflect on what I have signed up for....

Kids first response... " YESSSSSSSS! "

It's WONDERDOG!

Click this link to view more pictures !

Jog-A-Thon

For those of you that pledged, the Jog a thon was today.



I showed up just as Tristan's class was out running, and waited until they were done. Tristan completed a total of 15 laps. He had it easy though. When Brendan came out later that day, it was raining, and he got tired early. Most of the kids did.. only the super sprinters got over 20. I was very proud of both of them for their effort. They had fun, and so did I. :P

Check out the pics.

I ended up not taking as many as I'd like to have, the school office got me thinking about some of the kids who shouldn't have thier pics taken.. but I got over it for Brendan's run. :D

Saturday Photo

• Laundry
• Get out of the house

Those were the only two things on the adgendy today. We accomplished them both, as well as a few extras....

Note: Tristan taking photo, Inka in the back (looking for a place to swim to in case of trouble), and Brendan pulled the seat adjuster right as I gunned it. His seatbelt can be seen locked over the top of him laying down as we learched forward.

They both loved it, and of course made me do it a few times. Inca got to chase some geese, the boys tried to put all the rocks on the shore into the water, and I just shot some of the awsome scenery. I know, there's a wastewater treatment plant upstream, but the place looks really green. What nutrients must be in this water? :P

Fun was had by all. Now I just need to find a car wash. Oh wait, the 10 day forcast is for Rain, Showers, and a clean car!

I know people visit here...

I check the logs, and watch where people are coming from. I know people come here from time to time, but no one ever comments on my album nor these blogs? I promise not to beat you… but someone please tell me that I am not the only one reading my website!

Farley - By Anna.

Many of my friends are either photographers or computer nuts. A few of the photographers, are the cream of the crop. Anna Wight, www.annawightphotography.com, specializes in horse and animal photography, and is extremely good at what she does. She has some very cute dogs, one of which is pictured here. This is Farley, and he looks a little tired.

It wasn't raining....

Brendan, at our friends football game. It wasn't raining, but he was keeping the coulds from hitting him in the head.

And so it begins....

Pretty cool. I am impressed with every new thing I figure out on the internet. It’s fun to learn, and develop new things – guess it’s my way of getting my schooling somehow. :D

I’ll be posting on here as often as possible. Comment on anything, just keep it clean.. this IS a family website. Be sure to check out the new site design, and add your name to the mailing list if you want to hear from me from time to time.