CSS Gallery – Showcase – Inspiration

Are you doing what you dream? In other words, are you doing the type of work you always imagined you would do? Are you living where you thought you would be? Stuff like that. I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about where I am in life and whether or not I am doing what I really want to be doing. For the most part I guess I can say that I am. I love the line of work I am in so much that even when I am swamped with a high page count  (workload) it’s doing something that I enjoy. Am I living where I thought I would be? Pretty much have to say yes to this one as well. For a few years I considered moving to Arizona. I was looking for a change and when one of my best friends moved out there it would have been great timing. After much debate in my head I stayed in OC because I didn’t want to be away from my family and Southern California is the place to be in my field. A year ago I probably wouldn’t have been as optimistic with my living situation. Until the purchase of my new place I was not happy living in apartment land. Moving from apartment to apartment over the past 10 years wears on you. I never got used to people throwing trash outside their door, putting cigarette butts out on their doorstep, leaving trash all over the place and generally people just not giving a shit about where they live. I had been over it for quite some time and fortunately I will never have to return to it.

Let’s get back to my work. My job is a dream job in many ways. I get paid to shoot pictures of cars, trucks, events and products and write about them in a national magazine. The job also sends me all over the country, going to media events; test driving new vehicles, testing products and building some cool rides. Pretty cool eh? Well, I wont bore you with the downsides of the job unless you really want to know? Let’s just say its not all fun and games and there is much to be done every month to make a magazine happen with a very small staff.

So, let me ask some of you another question, which is the real reason I started all this today. If you could do anything aside from what you are doing, what would you do? You may already have your dream job but there has to be something else out there you would do if you could, so what is it? I would love to get some actual comments on this post!

I would be a Location Scout. You know all those amazing places they film movies. Well, someone gets paid to go out and discover all those locations. How cool would that job be? I am sure it has its ample share of job stress but traveling around the world spending time in some of the world’s most amazing locations sounds like a good time if you ask me. One week you are rafting down the Colorado River and the next you are making your way through the underground cities in Paris. Cool!

So, what would you do?

Hello people I want to introduce you to a new friend of mine (okay not really new), Ed. Ed is my new daily driver and is a young 1987 Toyota Camry. Sean and I gave Ed his name because ED is part of the license plate number so it fit. Ed is my grandmothers car but since she isn’t using it much these days she loaned him to me to save on gas. My other vehicle is a 2007 Toyota Tundra we built up for the SEMA Show as seen below.

With gas prices soaring to an almost ridiculous $4.00 per gallon can you imagine how much I spend per month driving around this beast? Average $400 per month, average. With the new house payments I am looking to save a few bucks wherever I can. You know what the best thing about driving Ed around is though aside from the savings? Seeing how different people look at me driving down the road. The truck commands a lot of respect on the road. It’s big, loud, flashy and obviously pricey. Ed on the other hand has his best days behind him and if I sold him probably couldn’t get more than maybe $500. Ed and the Tundra are about as opposite as you can get and so is the respect I get on the road. In the past week driving Ed I have been cut off 5 times, got a few funny looks from kids and had countless stuck up snobby “socal’ers” give that obvious “I’m better than you” look. It makes me laugh and reminds me of the parts of socal I despise.

Anyway, Ed drives like a champ and is saving me mucho dinero at the pump right now. Try not to cut me off, thanks.

Well, been in the new place for about 3 weeks now and really loving it. It’s nice to have my own space and have a place I can say is mine. No more shitty apartment living I had grown so very tired of. I will post some pics of how it is coming along soon.

One of the biggest things the new place has given me is clarity. Buying my first home was a major step for me in my path of life and it’s really shed some light on what is and is not important in my life. That includes the people in my life. Most of my good friends have gone out of their way to be there for me, say congrats on the new pad, and show they care. For this I thank all of you, you know who you are. Then there are all those other people that talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. I guess I have realized there are certain people in my life where I am the one always making all the effort. I am sure that bugs just about everyone having to always play that role and feeling like they are wasting their time. I think it’s time for Jordan to adjust the way he interacts with these people. The sad thing is I feel like if I stop trying I would never see them again. I guess I should realize that may not be a bad thing? (this all ofcourse excludes my family who I love very much and is always there for me)

So, on another note, today is my friend Tare’s birthday, happy birthday bud!

Why can’t fake plants be cheaper? Seriously.