Friday, December 28, 2018

Building and Organizing My Catalog

Through 35 years in the trucking industry, and especially through the last 20 years of it, I stayed so busy working that I never had time to think about what I would do in retirement. I felt lucky just to be able to take a few days off from work, and that did not happen very often. There were several years that I logged less than a dozen days of recreational downtime in a year. It never entered my mind that I would one day be forced off of the road due to health reasons and that I would one day tell myself that I have no desire to climb back into a truck. But, it happened.

I never figured that I would one day quit trucking. I just never had the idea to retire. But, health issues got in my way, and I found myself applying for a Social Security Disability pension. And now, well, I have been unemployed for the past 9 years, and I have relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada. This puts me in a place where there is always something going on, something that interests me. Retirement, for me, has not been days filled with watching television. I have worked hard to improve my health. I eat better than I have ever eaten in my life. I sleep better than I have ever slept in my life. My only health issues are those that linger from my original problems. I will have those problems the rest of my life. 

Instead of accepting retirement I have purchased some photography equipment and began working on a lifelong fantasy, a freelance photography business. I have made a few sales with my photography, but for now, I am concentrating on building and organizing my new catalog. I say “new catalog” because of a computer glitch that cost me 140,000+ images just over 4 years ago. Bad stuff happens, but I refuse to give up. And, I really believe I am making good headway. I just need to finish some projects and get organized enough to advertise and market my business, Better World Media.

I have also re-started a long-forgotten interest in music. I have now written around 100 songs, and sing and play the guitar. I hope to travel with the money I make with my photography and music. My income from Social Security and a disability pension is enough to meet my needs. Any income I can make from music and photography will be spent to meet my travel expenses, replace equipment as needed, and to help others that are less fortunate than myself.

I hope to soon begin advertising and marketing my work, but for now, it is important that I rebuild the catalog I lost over 4 years ago.
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The Future - an original tune by Keith Birmingham
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Thursday, December 20, 2018

Veterans Memorial Leisure Center, Summerlin, Nevada

Summerlin is a planned community of the Hughes Corporation and occupies much of the west-northwest part of the Las Vegas Valley. Near the downtown area of Summerlin is the Veterans Memorial Leisure (Community) Center which is actually on the grounds of the Summerling branch of the Las Vegas Community Center. On a plateau above this community center are four ballfields with impressive views of the Spring Mountain Range, including Red Rock Canyon and Mount Charleston.


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Veterans Memorial Leisure Center
101 N. Pavilion Center Drive
Summerlin, NV.  891

Sunday, December 2, 2018

Christmas Season in Las Vegas, NV. - 2018

My December photo project this year is to visit and photograph as many places and events as possible to capture their themes, trees, and Christmas spirit. I hope to make a slideshow with some of the photos.

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