Tomorrow I may walk into an unfamiliar world.  There has been one very large change at work that came straight out of left field, and has affected many.

Those affected are those that have had an unfamiliar reality forced upon them, the rest of us, well, the unfamiliarity will come from a change in morale.  There may be hard times ahead.  But not all unfamiliarity is bad.  It’s those that embrace it and change with it the soonest that gain the advantage.

I recently contacted an old acquaintance that had allowed me and my old business partner to photograph his Ferrari F430 Spyder back in 2008.  Fast forward to 2010 and I have a new set of photographs of this car.

Prior to working on these I spoke to a friend that gave me some advice.  I took that advice and ran with it, attempting to push my retouching ability to the next level.  I personally like the way they’ve turned out.  I’m yet to hear from the owner of the vehicle though, I hope he’s pleased.

Last night I watched the American Chopper finale.  Apparently the show had been canceled earlier this month, but I only found out by chance last night.

I use to watch American Chopper religiously.  For those that don’t know, it was one of the first TV shows/documentaries that detailed the fabrication of chopper’s…with a side story, the father (owner) and son (co-owner/designer) clashed heads quite frequently.  They did so in much the same way as my father and me, but we were never as dramatic.  It was also good to see first hand at how things were put together.

Every episode detailed the design and fabrication of a new bike, as time went on they started being commissioned to design, fabricate, and build bikes for large commercial companies to use as a promotional device.

There was always drama though.  Fists flying through gyprock walls, doors being kicked down out of frustration, etc.

Anyway, the only reason I stopped watching was because the channel it was on kept showing episode re-runs mid season.  That and the horrible way they treated their fans when they came to Australia made me stop watching.

Anyway, after watching this episode it appears that the father and son had a rather big falling out, and are no longer in business together, or on speaking terms.  I’d obviously missed something big.  I guess it has been nearly 4 years since I last watched it.

I now feel the desire to watch the season’s I’ve missed.  But do I have the funds to buy the boxed sets? …and even if I did, can I justify the cost?  Not really.

While watching the finale, I could see their pain.  Especially the father’s.  He had built the business from nothing with his son by his side.  Starting in a basement and finally ending up in a multi-million dollar architecturally designed facility, they had become multi-millionaire’s, and had the means to buy whatever they wanted.  But it was apparent, after watching that episode, that Senior (the father) felt that he had nothing.

In this episode Paulie Jnr (the son) actually got engaged and had an official dinner with the “entire family”, except for one.  His father.  That’s just sad.

Throughout the episode you could see the pain in Senior’s eyes.  The man had everything and nothing.  It was also physically apparent that he had also lost a significant amount of weight.  The last time I saw him he was a brickhouse with a thick neck, and arms as large as his thighs.  This episode, not so much.

There’s no point in having all the money in the world if you don’t have anyone you love to share it with.  Parents, children, or family…

update:  Just found this youtube video.  It briefly shows the argument between Jnr and Snr that essentially killed the show and the family.  It appears Snr was actually sueing his own son for $1m in damages at Christmas time of all times.  Anyway, watch the vid.  It’s pretty short.  Excuse the young guy talking on it, I don’t know who he is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gbQn1j7WF4

…and a video of Snr, Jnr, and Mikey talking about the family falling apart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyJ16oHxP4g

So my previously injured back is significantly more injured than before.  But from every bad, comes a good.  I am now getting the treatment I should’ve gotten a few years ago when I had a big car accident.  It’s just back then I was still able to quell the pain without any assistance.  I was also young, stubborn, and stupid.  This time, however, as you’ve probably read from my previous post, the pain was ridiculous.

I’m still recovering, but am on the way to being healed.

On Friday afternoon I went to a chiropractor that I last saw when I was 17 years old or so.  After a massage and some minor adjustments, I am now an inch maybe 2 taller than I was prior to going there.  I am also able to sit straight for short periods with minimal pain now.  I still need my meds though.  BUT, he has helped so much that I think he deserves a mention.  His name is John Cice.  I should get him a thankyou card.  He has helped so much.

I’m seeing him again on Monday, and then Thursday.

I still do have some concerns though.  If I sit for any lengthy period of time (30mins or so) I start to get pins and needles in my left foot and hand, and the pain begins to start again.

I also still don’t feel comfortable driving yet.  But hopefully will be able to without worry within the week.

It’s annoying and upsetting that I am this way.  My father had to come and mow my lawns yesterday.  I should be the one mowing his lawns.  I should be the one looking after my parents and my girlfriend.  Not the other way around.

The image above is a photograph that I did not take.  But I adjusted (retouched) it…Well, it’s pretty much nothing like the original anymore, background and reflections have all been manually done by me.  Much like John adjusted me for the better, I’ve attempted to do the same for the image.  It didn’t take too long either.

To see the original image which I obtained from www.jdmstyletuning.com, please click here.

It’s been a while since I’ve updated.  I’ve had quite a bit of work come my way and my normal day-to-day has gotten quite hectic of late.  Also, my failing body hasn’t been of much help with getting things done.

For the past year and a half I’ve been undertaking some weight training.  Which, for the most part, has seen me put on 15kg, and a bit of muscle where there was none before.  However, my regime will need to change.  An old back injury flared up on Saturday after an increase in my weights and a new exercise I was trying, which saw me unable to walk on Saturday afternoon.  I could not even sit on a chair without being in unbearable pain.  Lying down also saw little relief.

Later that afternoon I would finally make a phone call to my mother.  The pain had become savagely unbearable, to the point where tears were streaming down my face.  Normally I can take pain, but this time I had no chance.

Mum came with Dad bearing strong pain killers, muscle relaxants, and some massage gel.  She helped relieve the pain so that I could sleep.  I am extremely thankful that my mum’s a registered nurse.  I do not know what I would do without her.  I feel that I would still be in massive pain right now if it wasn’t for her.  Either that or waiting in a hospital ward waiting for someone to see me.

Today, I booked my doctors appointment and have been put on strong pain killers and muscle relaxants, with 3 days off from work.  To be reassessed after this period.  I have also been told I will need physio/chiro after this.

I am still unable to drive, or sit for any normal period of time.

But it’s ok, the healing process has begun, and soon I will be able to begin some core strengthening exercises with the hopes of healing my back for good…hopefully.

For anyone reading this, if you ever have a car accident that causes some spinal damage, please, please don’t do what I did and believe it would just get better with rest and time.  Make a claim, get physio.  Your life afterwards will be much more enjoyable if you do.