I am a paul bearer at Victors funeral on Monday.  I have mixed emotions about it. I don’t want to do it, because of personal reasons. I don’t like to be a paul bearer. But I have chose to do it, because out of respect for the family and Victor was a good man. And being a paul bearer is actually an honored position. So, I am honored to do it. But it is the whole death thing that is bothering me.  In recent weeks, I have been having some flashbacks with my own death experience, and going to a funeral right now is not going to help me at all with trying to cope and deal with what I am going through with my near death experience flashbacks. So, as you can see, I have mixed emotions right now.

We all do not realize how valuable and cherished life is, until it is taken away from us.  Then it hits home. And then we mourn then go back to our lives and forget about it again until it happens again. I know I have my core family still alive, and cherish my time with them while I can.  Because I know I could die today, tomm. or even years down the road. Once we are gone, we are gone.  My new quote, is above on top of my website here. Many see death. But there is no death in life. Only new beginnings.  ~ Rickie Traeger   I think of it as a new beginning in our lives. For the dead, moving on to where ever we move on too. For the living, mourning and remembering the lost one. But trying to move on and try to adapt to life without the loved one.

 Its crazy how life works. We start off by our parents having fun and having sex. Then we are conceived and then born. All from a sperm. And then we grow up and try learning things in life such as speech, motor functions. And then we grow up enough to go to school. Meet our new best friends and learn how to play and adapt to the world and others. Then as we grow into our teens, thats what makes us as who we become later on. Do you rebel or be book smart?  At that age, you don’t think of the future. You think of having fun and whatever your friends are doing, your going to do. The teen years is what makes or breaks us. We learn our main life skills at this age.  We then become adults and some will marry and start their own kids and some won’t.  Some don’t have the pleasure of seeing this stuff because of death or jail. Then we grow old and have grandkids and retire. and we pass on. And our kids, grandkids, great grandkids, all do this cycle of life.  I guess its what they call “Circle of Life”  

I am looking forward to the storms this year! I been working on a project, to kinda weatherproof my cameras. i still have a ways to go  (low funds)  but it is still going to be a kick ass year for storms!  I plan on chasing a bit more this year, unless gas prices sky rocket. Then I will do the backyard chase thing, lol.  I kinda wished I lived out in the country, so I could have a hella view from all angles. But I am stuck in the city, and have many obstructions, so backyard storm spotting is difficult, lol.  Storms and aviation, are by far my favorite things to photograph.  And if the forecast models are right, then it will be a more active season in our area than last year. So i am excited. I know models are only models, and mother nature is going to do what she wants and when she wants. But it gives me hope and inspiration for storms. Since we are stuck in winter at the moment, a good blizzard would be nice as well.

 I can’t believe how fast the year 2011 flew by! And I am enjoying how fast the winter is flying by as well. Kinda nice. I know that now that I have said it, it will probably drag by slow now LOL.  I just wish summer would drag by. Thats the best time of the year. Warm temps. and thunderstorms. What else can ya ask for  

I am starting to gain a little weight now. They took me off of my cholesterol pills, and now my weight is coming back. It kinda sucks, Another reason to want summer, so i can get out and exersize. Theres nothing like a beautiful walk or bike ride in the dark, looking at the moon and stars.  One of the best feelings in the world. Enjoying the freedom of being outdoors under the open night sky. Such an awesome feeling.  

As much as I play FSX, I been thinking about starting up my own virtual airline. I currently fly for one, but would rather own one instead.  Any ideas, how to start one?

365 project

I been focusing on my 365 project.  Check it out ~ Click here to view my 365 project   I have been having fun doing it.  Kinda lets my expressions go into my photos and experiment with different camera settings. Going beyond my comfort zones. yes, some may not be perfect or even good, but that is the whole point of my 365 project. To go beyond my comfort zones and experiment a bit and see how good or bad the photos turn out.  My 365 project is not to please anyone, but to show dedication and learn different camera settings and angles and other things I have not did or wanted to try. Some photos on there are generalized, and some are edited.  When I do photography, I rarely edited my photos in the past. I feel as if, if I can’t take the perfect photo from the camera, then I need to practice on my skills. But what I have learned now is, editing is not because your not a good photographer, but making the photo stand out with more meaning.  I was against editing in the past, but I have opened up and went beyond my comfort zones and started to edit some of my photos now. Be sure to check out my 365 project ~ http://rickietraeger.com/projects/365-project/

R.I.P. Victor Larson

A few minutes ago, we got a phone call that everyone never wants to get. My wife’s grandpa had just passed away a few minutes ago. Victor Larson, Rest In Peace. Over the last few weeks my wife and my father in law have been emotional wrecks, because of them worrying about him. They knew his health was going down hill. So it was just a matter of time. But when that call came, I have never seen my wife cry so hard. I tried comforting her, but how can you, when they lose someone close to them?

R.I.P. Victor Larson

R.I.P. Victor Larson

Boeing 787 Landing At Rockford Airport

Well today I went out and accomplished one of my dreams today. I got to photograph the Boeing 787 as it landed at the Rockford Airport.  It was a beauty, breaking out of the low ceiling clouds for the landing on runway 25 at the Rockford Airport. It glided across the sky to make a smooth landing onto the runway.
I was pleasantly surprised that there was many people out there to watch it land. The parking lot I usually plane spot from, was packed! I have never seen it so packed, over the many years I have been plane spotting there. I actually had a hard time finding a parking spot. But it was nice to see so many people gathering for one thing, the first landing of the Boeing 787 at the Rockford Airport. It is one of these events that I will remember for a lifetime.  I am honored to have had the chance to watch it land.  To see the aviation world advance another step in technology. 

As a photographer, you try making a story of the subject your photographing. And the onlookers in the foreground, makes this a great photo. It shows the enthusiasm and their dedication to bear with the cold temps and the light rain and wind.  And all the snow on the ground.  They all battled the weather just to see this beauty. 

Just before she lands. Look at those wings flex!

Boeing 787 parked at Rockford Airport

I took this photo and made it into a black and white photo. I wanted to experiment a bit with black and white photography. I should have posted the colored photo, but decided not too. I think a good monochrome photo of the 787 is a good choice, because i am sure there isn’t many out there right now.  The pure beauty of the color of the aircraft, is magnificent! Very colorful.  So I wanted to be different and make a monochrome photo. 

787 KRFD

I did some editing and wanted to give the effect of the Boeing and aviation, moving from the old into the new generation. What do you think of the photo? I wanted to give it an older look, but a modern look as well.  This aircraft is a beauty!  Welcome to the new generation of aviation!

So we got some snow, some decent snow. Around 7 inches or so.  It is nice to see, but really fucking sucks having to shovel it!  I didn’t mind too much, because it was the light fluffy snow. But the shitty part was, when they plowed my road and all the wet and heavy snow they piled up at the end of my fucking driveway!  That sucked!  Nothing like shoveling the driveway all nice and clean, just to have a damn city plow come put a lot of heavy snow at the end of my driveway.

I been working on a 365 Project ~ Check it out! 

I made this video, and the Weather Channel featured it on their show!  

I am sitting here chilling and thought I would blog for a bit. It has been a few days.  Not a lot to blog about right now, so I might just do one those random blogs I seem to like to do, LOL. 

I enjoy the fact that people try to piss me off on purpose.  It is like a game to them. But what many people do not know is I am better at their game than they are. 

I decided to turn off the scanner tonight, and just jam to my hard rock music! I need a break from the scanner.  It is one of my passions, but you can only listen to it for so long before needing a break.  Plus I have some really awesome admins, who help out, so I do not miss much on there. I can say, it is nice to see more fans interacting these days and posting photos and events. Good to see them like the hobby as well. I enjoy that a lot, because it shows me that they are into Rockford Scanner. Good to see the scanner hobby has made a comeback in our area, and Rockford Scanner had a huge part in bringing it back.

I am excited the Boeing 787 is coming into Rockford in a few days!  That is one of the planes I have been wanting to photograph, that I have yet had the chance too.  So it is going to be an awesome day.  From what I heard, the national media will be in town for the event as well.  This will be one of those events you only see here in Rockford, maybe only once! So, do not miss this chance to see it. ~ http://rockfordairportspotter.com/

So, I sit here and think to myself, “what if”  I never thought I would be asking myself this question. I have always went with my heart on things in life.  I always go with my heart on things, so I never do have to ask myself “what if”  in life. But as I sit here, I am asking myself “what if?”  There are a few times in my life I did not go with my heart, and that is what happens when you don’t. You will be second guessing yourself for life.  “What If I “ 

I can’t stop thinking of a certain someone.  I know I shouldn’t be saying that, but I just can’t seem to get her outta my head.

I started my 365 project ~ Click Here

My Experience at KRFD during a snow storm

I had the honor of photographing the airport employees doing their snow removal the other night when the snow came in. We all sit back and we do not think about what really goes into an airport operations, when the weather turns bad. But I got to experience first hand on the hard work and dedication the staff at the Rockford Airport do, when the weather turns bad. They were out in full force keeping the runways, taxi ways, ramps, etc… all clear of ice and snow. So, the incoming flights of the UPS planes could come in and land safely.  To see the these huge machines that had 25 foot plows, or bigger, makes you really appreciate the hard work and dedication these employees have. And to see this equipment up close is just jaw dropping. I never knew such big plows existed. And to see the employees who endure several hours in the cramped cabins of these equipment, you can see it takes a toll on them. But they still are out there working their butts off to keep the airport safe and operational.  I took some photos and video, and I am still going through them, I only been through a handful of them so far.

Frontier Mel

This Frontier aircraft came in from Denver not to long before  I arrived at the airport. It was full of passengers. As you can see it is a beautiful aircraft. The Frontier uses many different animals for their tails. This one was “MEL” they were cleaning up the aircraft when I took this photo.  This aircraft was due to go out in a few hours down to Cancun! How i would of loved to been on that flight!  But I couldn’t LOL.  What I liked even more about the aircraft, the tail number has my favorite numbers “952″ for the tail number. So, not only was this a beautiful aircraft, it had my favorite numbers on it as well.

Frontier Mel Aircraft

Inside Frontier N952FR

I had the honor to briefly go up inside the Frontier aircraft while they were cleaning it.  I can honestly say this aircraft was very clean, considering a bunch of passengers just unloaded off of it not to long before I took this photo.  I only stood in the walkway in the front of the aircraft, because my feet was wet from the snow and i was not about to track the water/snow inside the aircraft. This employee did an awesome job at cleaning this beautiful aircraft.

Ryan Air KRFD

I was lucky enough to see two RYAN AIR aircraft on the ramp while I was there. Here is one of them. The other one was behind this one. As you can see in the photo, the snow is coming down pretty good.  RYAN AIR does a lot of charter flights. Many do not realize, they help our troops out a lot as well. I highly respect this airline. Their HQ is located here in Rockford. They do a lot of International flights. If I recall, one of these came from FT Benning earlier this day. Many kudos to this airline!

KRFD Refuel truck

During this snowstorm, this refuel truck (and many others) were out in full force refueling, so they could go to the aircraft on the ramp and fuel them up.  These poor guys had to endure this nasty cold and snowy weather. I was surprised to see all the hard work and dedication all of the employees were doing, during this snow storm.  I can’t really say surprised, what I mean it was nice to see their hard work and dedication to their jobs, while dealing with very poor weather conditions.  Keep up the awesome work guys!

KRFD Tower and Snow Plow

This was probably one of my favorite photos I took that night. As you can see the snowplows are out in full force.  You can see the snowplow, the tower and the American flag and the beacon light. All in the one photo. You can see in the photo, how much snow was coming down. The ceiling was very low this night. I forgot the altitude. But the people in the tower guide the aircraft into land safely. This photo is like an all in one photo. You have the tower guiding the aircraft in to land. You have the snow plow clearing the snow and ice from the runways/taxi ways and side paths. And the American Flag blowing in the wind. To show how dedicated Americans are to their jobs. And the beacon to shine light on the poor weather conditions.  Truly one of my favorite photos I took that night.

I have more photos, but I have yet to go through them all and sort em out yet. So more photos will be posted later on.

I can honestly say, it was a very pleasant experience being able to observe the employees working hard. I never knew how much goes into keeping an airport safe and operational during a snowstorm.  And just think, this happens every time it snows!  I give many kudos to the staff at the Rockford Airport for keeping the airport safe and operational during poor weather.

So, next time it is snowing, please keep in mind the employees working hard out at the airport, and all the airports.  Trying to keep the airport safe and operational. All the long hours they put into their jobs. While some of you might be laid over due to the weather, just look outside and see that the airport is truly trying to keep their operations going.   Take a minute and thank the airport staff when you see them. Thank them for all their hard work and dedications to their jobs.

Below is a video I took of a UPS plane taxiing down the taxi way after landing. 

I am sitting here and thought I would write a misc. blog. So, if your easily offended or hate swearing, this is not the blog you need to be reading. These misc. blogs are some true and deep down feelings. And my opinions on things, that really are deep and I express my feelings. Many like reading these, many don’t. You get to see the inner parts of me, the good and the bad, from the gentle to the complete asshole in me. So you been warned.

I am fucking fed up with my bank. They charge me $10 a month for a service fee. What the kind of service do they do besides steal my fucking money? Just because i don’t use the account five times in a month, they take $10 each month for a service fee. Fuck them. I am changing banks. Don’t get me wrong, the tellers are really nice there, but no fucking way am i going to let them take money for stupid bullshit reasons. Insane. Well, guess what my service, is going to a different bank.  I see why they are closing many branches down, cuz a lot of their customers left because of their stupid fucking “fees”  I mean come on, seriously, what service are you doing to my account, when all it does is sit there? Thats called thievery. Blue collar thievery!  I sick and tired of them taking my money, it’s not like I have a lot of money in the first place, so everytime they take their “fee” it fucking hurts me financially.  Oh well, time to move the fuck on and bring my business elsewhere, to a bank that won’t screw me over. 

What the hell happened to rock music? I listened to the top 100 recently, and there was hardly any rock songs on there! I mean come on, seriously???  I like all types of music, but rock is by far my favorite. And it is sad to see rock music, the genre in general disappearing or overlooked. What happened to bands like disturbed, korn, metallica, etc… At least five finger death punch is still around.  My Darkest Days, Black Sunshine, Linkin Park, etc… But they don’t get the recognition they should deserve. Their talent and music is overlooked by different genres, because of popularity.  I am a true die hard rock fan, and will always will be till the day I die. I played rocked music, I listen to rock music, I live for rock music.

I was happy to see my tv show PAN AM come on this week. Its been a few weeks since it was last on.  I do not understand the point of having a tv series, and having it on ever few weeks. Because by the time it comes back on, I totally forgot what happened last episode, so it really kills the mood of wanting to watch the upcoming show, because I forgot what happened last show, so it is hard to keep track of whats going on in the upcoming one.  Kinda pointless, if you ask me. The only reason why i watch the show, is because i am a huge aviation fan and support aviation. Plus the actors and actresses are pretty good. The story plots are somewhat good, but could be better.  But I will continue to watch it, even though it comes on every few weeks.  

So what do you think of the year 2012? Are we all going to die? LMFAO.  My opinion, I think tthe Mayans decided to stop writing a calender, since it was thousands of years away. I mean come on, seriously, if you were writing a calender, would you write it for thousands of years away? No way in hell would I write one even a hundred years away. So, once again, i think people over react to stupid shit and are brainwashed by physiological disturbed individuals that like to get attention. Or by businesses that are money hungry and want to take our money on playing off of peoples fears. In todays world, people feed off of fear. People feed off of emotions. People want to believe everything they hear. Wake the fuck up people, we are not going to die. And say perhaps we do all die one day, it sure in the hell ain’t going to be predicted by a civilization many years ago.  Grow the fuck up, use your fucking heads and think straight. No wonder why the world is the way it is today, you believe everything you hear.  So, long story short, we are not going to all die in 2012.

I am who I am. I like to keep things real. No point of hiding behind a bush, no point of lying. All you do is create more problems in this world when you do.  I am me, I will always be me. I will never change for anyone. I am real and straight to the point. I just tell it like it is.  Take it or leave it. If you want me to lie to you and tell you things you want to hear, that is not me. I tell it like it is. Love me or hate me, theres no in between.  I have many friends and many enemies. But when it comes down to it, the only enemies I truely have are the ones who like to be lied to and can’t handle the truth. Which in my mind, I have no time for you anyways.  I am not going to bend down and kiss your white ass, just to make you feel better. If you think that, I may pretend to bend down, but as soon as you show me that ass, a broomstick will be shoved so fucking far up it, you will realize what reality is. You are no better than me. I am no better than you. If you stab me, or if I stab you, we both bleed the same color. 

When one looks at those photos above, many see death.

But there is no death in life.

Only new beginnings.

Well its official, the first snow advisory of the season is in effect for our area for tomm.  I am sure most of it will not stick to the ground, due to the 30-35 mph winds that are predicted. But it sure will be nice to see snow.  Hell, its already January 11th, and this will be the first real snowfall of the season! been a nice winter so far. Actually hella nice! I hate seeing the warm weather go away, but i know it can’t last forever. But just think, in 3 weeks, its ground hogs day! And not long after that, the first official day of spring! So, really this winter has went by pretty fast so far, thank god!

Today we hit a record warm temp!

Winter Weather Advisory in effect from 6 am Thursday to 4 am
CST Friday… 

The National Weather Service in Chicago has issued a Winter
Weather Advisory for snow and blowing snow… which is in effect
from 6 am Thursday to 4 am CST Friday. The Winter Storm Watch is
no longer in effect.

* Timing… snow will overspread the area late tonight into early
Thursday morning and continue through much of Thursday night.

* Accumulations… snowfall totals between 4 and 6 inches are
possible.

* Hazards… in addition to the falling snow… winds will 
increase to 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph Thursday 
afternoon into Thursday night. The strong winds will cause 
considerable blowing and drifting snow. Wind chills are also 
forecast to drop to near or even slightly below zero. 

* Impacts… accumulating snow could begin early enough to result
in hazardous travel conditions for the morning commute
Thursday… with travel becoming more treacherous by Thursday
afternoon into Thursday night.

Precautionary/preparedness actions… 

A Winter Weather Advisory for snow and blowing snow means that
visibilities will be limited due to a combination of falling and
blowing snow. Use caution when traveling… especially in open
areas.