Ooh, I'd better write a new journal to get that last one off my front page. I really must move on from my bottom problems and get on with my life. Speaking of which, I developed another abscess at the end of January but it was a small one and thankfully seemed to have responded to the antibiotics I was given. It flared up just as my surgeon was coming back from holidays and it had settled down the day before I went to see him. He didn't paint a good picture however; he doesn't know why I'm having these problems and there's probably nothing I can do to stop anything developing in the future
For now it seems to be behaving itself though...
Christmas was kinda boring and seemed to finish very quickly. We got to see Scott and his girlfriend Shannon (who he's been living with for a while now). It was only a few days though. Andrew and Alissa visited most days with the kids. Boy, they're a handful.
I also visited Scott in Canberra with Mum and Dad for his birthday. It was just after my abscess was diagnosed and I didn't know if I'd end up in hospital soon, so I was very reluctant to go. My first abscess happened when we visited him last year for a late birthday get-together. I don't want this to become a tradition - getting an abscess that is. I'm fine with visiting Scott, although I sometimes feel like we've done everything there that's worth to do.
I've shot a good amount of film recently. While in Canberra we went up Black Mountain Tower and I got twelve photos around the viewing gallery with the Flektogon 50 mm lens on my Pentacon Six. If they turn out well, I'll be able to stitch them together into a 360° panorama. But I fear the film advance mechanism might have slipped while winding on one of the shots. I need a more reliable MF camera.
This past weekend was the
Bathurst 12 Hour race up at Mount Panorama. Andrew had gotten me a three day ticket for the event, so I got to go and photograph some great cars. Like my experience with FoSC last year, I just don't have the lens(es) or camera(s) for photographing the cars in action - no long lens, no autofocus, no motor winder. So I mainly shoot the cars in the pits and the "paddock" behind the pits.
Friday and Saturday had a bunch of support events - Class A, C, and N, Formula Vee, and Holden HQ's doing practices, qualifying, and a few races. The pit garages were reserved for the 12 Hour teams, so these guys were setup in the paddock area under collapsible shelters. I got some photos of them there, but not as much I should have. Andrew dragged me up to the top of the mount on Saturday, so I didn't shoot much up there. Oh, and it was hot. Up to 35°C (95°F) in the middle of the day. Saturday at least had some wind.
The 12 Hour race started at 6:15 in the morning. I made a special effort to get up just after 4 to get ready, so that Andrew could pick me up at 5 and get up to the track before it started. I took my Pentacon Six and shot some Delta 3200 in the dark and the growing pre-dawn light. I got some nice photos of the pits, both from across the track and from behind.
I've processed one roll of FP4+ and the two rolls of Delta 3200. I still have another roll of FP4+ in my Electro 35 and a roll of Superia in my XR-20 to finish. Then I have four rolls of 120/220 (three C-41, one E-6) and three rolls of 135 slide film to send off to Sydney for processing. So I figure I have ~240 or more photos coming my way after it's all processed and scanned.