Alpha Omega...

A strange post today, folks. Saturday was actually kind of nice, but Sunday was a raging horror. I wish to take the opportunity to warn you that Sunday is most certainly not safe for work OR for your breakfast. If you aren't comfortable with death and all that goes with that, I'd advise just reading Saturday's portion of this entry!

SATURDAY, 3 MAY

Spent this past weekend in Dallas shooting a wedding as a favour for a friend of mine. I was originally supposed to be a guest and maybe take a couple of pictures, but it turned quickly into my being the official photographer for the whole event.

So, for the price of dinner, couple tanks of gas and a few Dr. Peppers, I shot a wedding. Heh.

Funny how the old training kicks in. Almost instinctual, one might say. I totally forgot to actually enjoy myself at the event but it's hard as hell to switch off the Job.

What was nice about this event was that I think I had more fun shooting this wedding than I had in forever. I suppose a lot of that was due to the fact that I was pretty much free to take pictures of whatever I wanted and how I wanted.

Usually, you see, there is a List.

Lists come down from the bride and the bride's mother and they are frequently very rigid and specific as to the who, what, where and when in regards to the photography. There is rarely any wiggle room on the List and any deviation from the List results in Unpleasantness.

You have a set time to take said pictures in or there will be Unpleasantness.

If you FAIL on a particular still picture, there will be Unpleasantness.

If you so much as make a mouse fart when Captain Hadley's walking the cell block there will be Unpleasantness.

Wait... A Shawshank Redemption reference?!? Ah, I digress...

I believe that the Unpleasantness is a lot of the reason why I avoid doing still pictures at weddings. Video is a lot easier because I can edit the video any way I want, fix any oopsies in Post Production and tell a story without having to have every minute detail in perfection.

Stills? Not so much.

I tend to like to fart around with techniques, angles, lighting, etc. when I'm shooting stills, which is not always conducive to such a fast paced environment such as weddings. I also prefer to shoot inanimate objects or nature over humans to begin with.

So, it was a refreshing fun adventure. I took a metric assload of pictures and had a refreshingly Pleasant time to boot! Little did I know that was going to change overnight.

The overnight adventure was a little more spooky. A lot more spooky actually. Herein lies...

SUNDAY, 4th May

I stayed with a friend of mine at their apartment in East Dallas. I had detected a hint of a certain aroma when I first walked into the building (the place is a converted house with inside-opening apartments), but I wasn't quite yet sure as to what the fuck that was. Reminded me of food that had been left in the fridge for too long. The hallway had a smell, but my friend's place didn't inside their apartment, so I didn't think anything further about it.

At OMGWTFBBQIT'SEARLYINTHEMORNINGTIME, I am awakened to the sound of sirens. Loud, wailing klaxons that announced the arrival of the Dallas Police and Fire departments.

Now, East Dallas isn't necessarily the safest part of town, so sirens are not uncommon here. These were screaming to a halt right in front of the building, however, so that woke us all up. My friend, another friend of theirs and I went to go see what the commotion was about.

As it turned out, my friend's direct upstairs neighbor, a lady in her mid 60's, had died.

On Thursday.

Yes, you read this correctly. It was now early Sunday morning when this was discovered.

The old lady lived by herself, no real friends to speak of who'd come to visit. It seems that her sister kept trying to call her since Thursday and finally got worried about her and drove down from Oklahoma to come check on her. The neighbor had been experiencing heart trouble due to her obesity and a heart attack was considered the likely cause of death.

So, after arriving in quick fashion, the cops and firemen did their thing. The firemen broke down the door. The cops verified that, yes, she had shuffled off this mortal coil, most likely late Thursday/Early Friday, and filled out some paperwork. They then gave the sister the name of a local funeral home and the Dallas County Medical Examiner to help make arrangements.

The sister didn't have but $50 to her name and the deceased didn't have any money beyond her monthly SSN checks, so the sister decided to have the Coroner take the body for a pauper's funeral. It was the best she could probably arrange at this point.

As it turned out, the Dallas Medical Examiner, except in extreme emergencies like a murder, horrific accident or other situations that could result in criminal investigations, doesn't do courtesy remain pickups on Sunday. Yes, that is exactly what the cops and firemen said. The ME would send someone to fetch the body on Monday. Sometime.

The police opened a window, stuck a fan in it and left the apartment saying that they should have the landlord fix the door ASAP.

To interject for a moment with prayer, dear lords, please let me not expire in East Dallas.

If this had been Highland Park or University Park (Dallas' rich part of town), this wouldn't have happened. The complete lack of respect for those of lesser means is appalling. The basic health concerns alone to the other tenants was enough to fill one with contempt. "Sorry, y'all, but that three-day-dead person is going to have to "keep" for another day until someone comes to get her.

Plus, they left the door busted wide open, further exposing the rest of the building to the delightful aroma and potential danger. Keep in mind that this isn't the best part of Dallas to begin with, so leaving your door wide open also bears the risk of having your place broken into.

The landlord lives in Houston and couldn't be bothered, so we decided to be helpful and fix the door frame for her. Bought some basic wood and supplies and got to work on fixing the door frame a bit. I am not a carpenter by any means, but we were able to jury rig a crude frame to at least hold a door and close it.

My pals pooled together their resources and ponied up some cash for gas and hotel money for the sister. After that, we retired back to my friend's apartment to attempt a nap before I had to return back to Austin.

Had a hard time sleeping last night, so, I'm crafted a few kindly worded missives to send to the City and County of Dallas to let them know what I thought about the situation. Overall, I am appalled at how someone of lesser means can be treated like that. Whatever happened to basic human respect and courtesy?