bobdeloyd

Friday 18

2009-12-19T10:12:13Z

Friday 18- I did my stretches, ran a mile, lifted weights, and rode my bike. Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 41 and 64 degrees, NW winds at 6 to 10 MPH, humidity around 31 percent, mostly clear skies. According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 66. North northwest wind around 9 mph. Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 41. North northeast wind between 3 and 5 mph.” I got an invite on MySpace from the Sun Runner Magazine to go down to their headquarters in Joshua Tree for their Christmas Open House. They also said that musical performers were welcome. So I thought that this might be the perfect time for me to make my first solo appearance playing and singing some of my original songs. I get really nervous when I have to sing in front of folks and kind of avoid it. But I have to start somewhere and get used to it and see how it goes. Also I wouldn’t know anybody there, which will make it really interesting! So I jumped in the Gross Polluter and headed on down. I arrived at 1:30. There weren’t that many folks at first so I just played guitar without singing. I met photographer Bill Dahl and writer Cynthia Anderson and chatted with them for a spell. They lived in Santa Barbra and moved up to the Mesa here a few years ago. I was talking to Caryn, a nice lady, about how I do my stretches and she showed me a yoga position that I’ll add to my routine. A guitarist called Randy showed up and was listening to me play. I told him that these were all my original songs and he asked me to sing a few. I told him my problem about singing in front of folks and he said “just think of them as heads of cabbages.” I said “how about a herd of cows.” He said that would be fine. So I sang my songs and Randy played and harmonized along. He thought my songs were pretty good, so I played some more of them. Then he played some Christmas songs. Before he did he told me that most of them have only three cords, so I played along. The folks there were also singing to them. We played for many hours as other guitarists showed up and played along. One kid called Brian played some nice lead guitar as I played the rhythm; I thought it sounded good! Mark and Joe arrived; Mark playing guitar; Joe playing the mandolin- both were mighty good and I mostly listened but did play along now and then. I was having so much fun that I forgot about the time and saw that it was nearing 7pm and was about to leave when Joe asked me if he could play my guitar. Hey no problem I said. God that guy can really pick a guitar; but he broke one of my strings! He offered to get me a new one but I said not to worry that I could fix it later. I said goodbye to my new found friends who helped me get past my phobia of singing in front of folks. I did mighty well and am mighty grateful to them! I stopped to get a bean and cheese burrito at Santana’s and headed on over to Stoney’s to see how he was doing. He didn’t want to split the burrito with me because he had already eaten. I got home around 9pm and called Judy Ruggles to tell her all about my big adventure. Then Ron Dehart called and I told him the same story. I am mighty proud of myself to have finally faced my phobia head on and have won! I did my stretches; didn’t practice my guitar because of the broken string and my fingers were sore; updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night. What a fine day it was

Thursday 17

2009-12-18T08:53:54Z

Thursday 17- I did my stretches; just needed a rest today! Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 41 and 61 degrees, NW winds at 6 to 12 MPH, humidity around 29 percent, mostly clear skies. According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: Sunny, with a high near 63. Northwest wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 41. North northwest wind around 9 mph.” I spent the better part of the morning trying to find drivers for the webcam, touchpad, and Bluetooth for the Dell Mini 9 that I installed Windows 7 on. I was only able to get the Win 7 driver for the touchpad and that was for a Dell Mini 12, but it worked! Actually I can do without the Bluetooth and the webcam but they would be nice to have working. I’ll try again some other day. I drove the six miles down to my mailbox to collect my mail. I found an ant crawling on the seat of the truck and stuck her in an envelope. I then stopped over to Marcie’s house to upload the pictures I took of Lee’s Memorial but she wasn’t home. So I stopped by Stevie Villarreal’s to do the same with the pictures I took of her Thanksgiving Bash but she wasn’t home either, dang! Mat was there though and I yakked with him for a spell. I decided to go on over to Stoney’s but first I made a stop at my house to let the ant out of the envelope so she could go home. Now this may sound totally crazy but that’s what I did. Over at Stoney’s I updated his Avast anti-virus and uploaded the pictures of Lee’s memorial so he could have a copy. Then we watched a show about White Sharks jumping out of the water to eat seals on the Discovery Channel. They weigh around one ton and to leap totally out of the water they need to be in deep water to start their run and gain speed. I lived on the moorings on a sailboat in Redondo Beach Marina for over twenty years. I used to row women out to my boat before the movie “Jaws” came out, after that I couldn’t get them on the rowboat and my sex life went down the drain; I don’t like sharks!!! I got home and went for my evening walk and watched “My Name is Earl”. “Fastforward” and “Fringe” were reruns so I just did webwork the rest of the night. I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Wednesday 16

2009-12-17T09:13:47Z

Wednesday 16- I did my stretches, ran a mile, lifted weights, and rode my bike. Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 40 and 61 degrees, calm winds, humidity around 23 percent, mostly clear skies. According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 63. North northwest wind between 9 and 11 mph. Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 41. North northwest wind between 6 and 10 mph.” Seimi came by with some Vista recovery disks sent to him from an Acer Computer Service Tech in India that he wanted me to load onto his netbook. Somehow Seimi got the language wrong when he setup his computer and it speaks Korean now. I loaded the recovery disk that immediately wiped out the OS and wouldn’t accept the next two disks that were part of the process, dang! It was suppose to be a quick install but for some reason the dang disks that were sent to him were corrupt. I kept trying to reload the disks but it just wasn’t going to happen. So now there isn’t an operating system on his laptop, bummer! I told him I was sorry but there was nothing I could do and to send the laptop back to wherever he bought it and tell them it’s malfunctioning and needs repair. For some reason I never trusted Acer products and now I have confirmation of my suspicions! J (name withheld) came by with a big bag of seeds for my bird feeder that she bought today and gave it to me as a gift! That was mighty nice of her! Now those little birds can fatten themselves up for the winter; I never knew that these little critters could chow down that much food. She also said that she was able to download all the updates for her new Dell laptop by herself! I knew she could do it and I gave her a big hug! I went over to Stoney’s to take a nice hot shower and feel human again. Roger Smith came by with a pot of ham and beans that he cooked up in his new crock pot. We ate them all up! We sat around yapping about how alienated we feel in our own country as Congress gives to the rich and takes from the poor; kind of like a reverse Robin Hood if you know what I mean. The sun had already set when I got home but I decided to go for my evening walk anyways. I watched “My Name is Earl”; read a little from the astronomy textbook while I downloaded a 39Meg update of Avast anti-virus; on dialup it took two hours. I kind of nodded off for a bit and while my mind was drifting here and there I came up with the makings for a new song! I got up and grabbed the guitar and started the process of putting it all together. I called Judy Ruggles to tell her about it. I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Tuesday 15

2009-12-16T09:43:02Z

Tuesday 15- I did my stretches and ran two miles.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 40 and 58 degrees, calm winds, humidity around 33 percent, mostly clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 62. Calm wind becoming east northeast around 5 mph. Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 40. West northwest wind between 6 and 9 mph.”
I went to bed around 4am after writing my column, journal, and then reading and commenting on other people’s blogs, and slept till 10:30am. Seems like half the day is already gone when I get up because the Sun sets so early. I will try to go to bed earlier tonight.
J (name withheld) bought a new Dell laptop and brought it over for me to setup for her and walk her through the new system. She doesn’t know that much about computers and has been using older laptops that I have somehow kept running with old parts I have around. Windows 7 will be a little bit of a learning curve for her but I believe that she can do it. I spent a few hours showing her the basics and set it up to go online. She left with the laptop but had to make a trip back because we forgot to put the power supply back in the box with the laptop.
The dang birds ate most of the seed in the feeder and it looks like I might have to get more seed next week. When J came over I showed her the feeder and it was almost full and by the time she left it was almost gone. J told me this is the birds feeding time. I guess my new little friends were mighty hungry.
I went for my evening walk taking the new path again that I went on yesterday. I got back and messed around with my laptop until “My Name is Earl” came on. I love the show but can’t wait till I’ve seen them all so I can start doing other projects I need to get done. I watched “NCIS”, “NCIS Los Angeles” (because I was bored), and then Jay Leno. I usually just tune in to watch his monologue but Christina Applegate was on the show and I think the world of her; watching her grow up as Kelly Bundy on “Married with Children”, becoming a movie star, surviving breast cancer and her charity work. That’s a hell of a lot of TV for me!
I did my stretches and lifted weights; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Monday 14

2009-12-15T10:44:44Z

Monday 14- I did my stretches, ran a mile, lifted weights, and rode my bike- it was very cold!
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 34 and 57 degrees, NNW winds 7 MPH , humidity around 42 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 57. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph. Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40. Calm wind.”
I stayed inside doing computer maintenance on a few of my laptops. I did put up the bird feeder I bought a WalMart last week and the birds went crazy over it! Kind of made me feel good deep inside where there seemed to be a void that needed filled!
I went for a nice evening walk. I didn’t go on my usual route and it was a nice change for me.
Stoney picked me up at 6:30pm and we headed over to the community center for the Board meeting. Board members Mary Helen and Steve Tuttle, Katherine Quinn, Annelies Kuiper, and Rob Reese showed up. We talked about many things: what to do with the firehouse now that the county has left and gave us $3474.33 for what was owed us in back taxes that we paid for them on the property over the years, the budget, repair of a leak in the pool room, and members to be added to the Distinguish Member Plaque. Also we will be having our potluck on the 26th, but no Bingo on the 29th or Breakfast in January at the Center! Signup deadline for the Copperettes Christmas Dinner for needy families in our area is Dec. 22. Call Rob Reese to get a certificate at 362-4546. It was a very nice meeting and our first one on the new second Monday of the month schedule.
Stoney dropped me back off at home and I cooked up some potatoes and eggs for dinner. I read some of the astronomy textbook and then I did my stretches, lifted weights, and went for a night run. I watched “Castle” on ABC, it was a rerun but I watched it anyways. I practiced my guitar; wrote my column for the newspaper and sent it in; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Sunday 13

2009-12-14T10:55:09Z

Sunday 13- I did my stretches and ran two miles.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 37 and 56 degrees, W winds 7-15 MPH , humidity around 37 percent, mostly clear skies with a few altostratus clouds drifting over once in a while.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 54. North northwest wind around 6 mph. Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 34. Light and variable wind. ”
I mostly talked to Family and Friends throughout the day. I got a call from Stevie saying that Bob Seeley was out of the hospital and is now at home which is really good news!
I installed MS office and download all the major updates which took quite a while on dialup. As it was updating I made a trip over to Stoney’s to tell him the good news about Seeley being back home. We called Sherry from there to let her know because yesterday she was upset upon hearing that he was in the hospital. I had a slice of sweet potato pie before I left.
I got back just before the Sun had set so I didn’t go for my evening walk. I watched “60 Minutes” on CBS about; growing body parts, an interview with the President, and something about the TV show “The Office” that I wasn’t really interested in so I turned off the TV.
I did a little webwork, did my stretches, and then went outside to watch the Geminid Meteor Shower until 2am in the morning. I counted two to three meteors a minute with a few Earthgrazers thrown in! It was a mighty spectacular show! The sky was dark and clear making the shower the best I’ve seen all year.
I practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night; I’m very tired!

Saturday 12

2009-12-13T09:56:35Z

Saturday 12- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 43 and 56 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 49 percent, cloudy skies; there was a rain here and there.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: A 30 percent chance of rain, mainly before 10am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 56. West northwest wind between 17 and 21 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 37. West southwest wind around 7 mph.”
Stoney called to say that the repair guy came out this morning and fixed his phone! I guess that all my complaining to the phone company yesterday did some good after all!!!
I cooked up some sweet potatoes from my secret recipe and headed down to the memorial being held at the Community Center in honor of Lee Hines who passed away a week ago Friday. My God there must have been over a hundred folks showing up to pay their respects to Lee. His Family from all over the nation showed and so did many of his friends from our area and beyond. We were told that Bob Seeley couldn’t come because he had been taken to the hospital yesterday and we all wished him well. There was a Pastor who knew Lee for many years who led everyone in prayer. The Pastor’s son sang a song and then asked if anyone wanted to speak. Marcie’s son Paul got up and said how Lee guided him and changed his life, Seimi got up and gave a heartfelt speech but couldn’t finish it, Rose talked about getting Lee to go to bingo and how he would say “Rose can you see me now?” every time before bingo started and Rose ended her talk to us with “Lee can you see us now?”, Lee’s daughter told us about growing up with her father; many of us were moved to tears. Then the Pastor’s son led us in the song “Amazing Grace” that sounded pretty good with us all singing. The Pastor said a few more words, led us in another prayer, and then said it was time to eat.There was tons of food and all of it was mighty good; Lee would have loved it! I’m usually the last in line because I’m the one taking pictures but Sherry who was in the head of the line waved me over, gave me a plate and said I could get my food now and take the pictures later. So I got my plate filled, took it back to the table, and started taking pictures again. Lee’s son-in-law got to the memorial later after the food was being served because he had gotten lost. He got up in front with the mike and told us how many years ago Lee rode his motorbike like a rebel- being influenced by James Dean, how Lee helped him with his sign business, and always helping other folks out; tears started flowing again. We all sat around talking for a long spell and it was nearing five o’clock and folks were starting to leave. Lee’s family remained at the center after everyone else left. What a fantastic bunch of folks we have in our little community!
I got back home and watched “Lord of War” (2005) starring Nicolas Cage, about an illegal arms dealer who sells guns to third world countries and is good at it. This movie cries out at you to do something to stop this senseless killing, but just what I can do about it I do not know, yet. This movie makes you think and it is a must see!

I did my stretches and lifted weights; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night

Friday 11

2009-12-12T09:44:26Z

Friday 11- I did my stretches, ran a mile, lifted weights, and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 36 and 54 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 47 percent, clear skies. Where is that rain that was supposed to come in this evening?
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: A 30 percent chance of rain, mainly before 10am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 56. South southwest wind between 6 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Saturday Night: A 40 percent chance of rain, mainly before 4am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 45. South southwest wind between 16 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.”
I did the update to the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter. There was a problem about the time of the memorial tomorrow. Mary Helen told me it started at 1pm, Marcie told me it was at 2pm, so I split the difference and made it 1:30pm; I hope that works.
Stoney called to tell me that he is still having that ringing problem with his phone that we requested the phone company to fix last November. I went over to his house and called them up asking why it wasn’t fixed. The rep said “there will be a repair person out on the 16th of this month to fix it.” I told her that “he is a ninety year old man who needs his phone working and that they have failed to fix it on two different occasions.” She said “the last repair person couldn’t find the place and couldn’t contact Stoney to get directions or leave a message.” I told her “of course he couldn’t because his dang phone doesn’t work.” She said “you don’t have to yell at me!” I told her “I’m not yelling I am just upset that the phone company doesn’t give a damn about us folks out here. We have nothing but problems and your company doesn’t want to invest in any new equipment and just switches a faulty phone over to another failing switch.” We ended the call on that note and I called a number on a card that one of the repair guys left and left a message telling him of the problem and if he can make sure that whoever comes out on the 16th knows where Stoney lives. After all this I finally talked Stoney into getting a cell phone; we’ve been trying to convince him to do this for several years now. Now if I can convince him into getting an AAA towing card so he doesn’t have to change a tire when it gets flat or can get a tow if his car engine dies I’d feel mighty good.
Stoney had just baked four sweet potato pies! Two of them will go to the memorial tomorrow and two are for us to eat. I had a big slice of one and it was dang good!
I went for my evening walk and then watched “My Name is Earl”. When that was over I read a chapter in the astronomy textbook as I installed Windows 7 on my Dell Mini 9 netbook which took several hours to complete.
“Numb3rs” was a rerun so I didn’t watch it and instead did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal; posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Thursday 10

2009-12-11T08:26:01Z

Thursday 10- I did my stretches and ran a mile.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 30 and 50 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 34 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: A 30 percent chance of rain, mainly before 10am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 51. Calm wind becoming south southeast around 5 mph. Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40. South wind between 3 and 6 mph.”
I decided to go to town today and send out my Christmas cards, also to do a little shopping. I was just about to leave the house when Stoney call needing a postage stamp. I told him I had one and would stop by and even mail it for him. That’s when I couldn’t find my sunglasses; I had them on just before Stoney’s call. I looked everywhere but couldn’t find them.
I checked my mailbox on the way and the Windows 7 I ordered for My Dell Mini 9 from eBay was there. Cool! Now I’ll have something to do on what looks like a rainy weekend coming up. I went to WalMart to get some seed for the birds that hang out by my cement pond. I’ve been feeding them bread crumbs and thought seeds would be better for them. I also bought a weight scale and a food chopper thingy. I stopped off at Stater Bros to get some food supplies, and then over to Home Depot to see how much an electric tankless water heaterwould cost: about $130-900. I think the $130 will work just fine! Now I have to see if my generator will handle 1500 Watts.
I went right over to Stoney’s to share some fried chicken I bought at Staters. Stoney wanted to see the weight scale I got from WalMart so I opened the box, set the scale on the floor, looked down to see my weight, and saw my sunglasses I couldn’t find earlier dangling from my shirt collar! I went throughout the day with them just hanging there, duh!
I got back home in time to watch “My Name is Earl”. I was going to watch “Fastforward” but it was a rerun so I turned off the TV until “Fringe” came on. Some years ago someone had taken parts of the Mad Scientist’s brain that had to do with opening a portal. And now they wanted to connect them back up.
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Wednesday 09

2009-12-10T09:13:03Z

Wednesday 09- I did my stretches, ran a mile, lifted weights, and rode my bike. It was sunny but cold outside.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 28 and 48 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 34 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday: A 30 percent chance of rain after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49. Light and variable wind. Thursday Night: A 30 percent chance of rain, mainly before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 34. Light south southeast wind.”
I spent most of the morning writing Christmas cards, licking them shut, and sticking stamps onto them. I got my once a year practice of signing my autograph! I got them all done later in the night.
I went over to my friend who’s on vacation to check up on his house while he is away and all was well. Then I stopped over to Stoney’s to take a nice hot shower that warmed me to the core. It felt mighty fine! We watched “Cash Cab” which I like.
I was home for a while when my neighbor Ginger drove up to collect the “Star Trek” movie that she lent me. We sat in her car for a spell; me helping her plan her stable for her horses and how to go about doing her roof when she get the right materials.
I watched “My Name is Earl” then fired up the woodstove to heat a very cold house up and finished doing the Christmas cards.
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Tuesday 08

2009-12-09T09:07:04Z

Tuesday 08- I did my stretches and ran two miles.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 24 and 45 degrees, NW-W winds of 4 to 9 MPH, humidity around 29 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 50. North northwest wind between 6 and 8 mph. Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 33. Northwest wind around 6 mph.”
My neighbor Ginger called to say she has the new “Star Trek” movie from the library and asked if I wanted to borrow it! I jumped in the Gross Polluter and drove right over to pick it up. She said that I looked the type who would like it and I explained to her that I’m a Trekker but not a Trekkie as I don’t wear any costumes or speak Klingon; I just love Star Trek and have watched it since it first came out.
I went over to Stoney’s to see what he was up to and enjoy the warmth of his living room; it’s been mighty cold outside. We yakked about folks that we knew from the past that lived in our little community. Roger Smith also dropped by and added to the conversation.
I got a call from Marcie’s grandson Chris saying he couldn’t get online and if I’d come on over to help him. I found the problem; he was trying to hookup the Ethernet cable when we only have dialup out here! I then sat and chatted with Marcie about Lee’s abrupt passing away. I can only hope that I made her feel better.
I got home in time to go for my evening walk and then watched “My Name is Earl” which looks to be about done and starting to rerun the reruns, so when I’ve seen them all I just quit watching and get into something else like my reading and studies.
I watched the new “Star Trek” movie. Ron Dehart and I seen it at the movies when it first came out but it was worth watching again!
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Pearl Harbor Day

2009-12-08T09:39:54Z

Pearl Harbor Day- I did my stretches, lifted weights, rode my bike and then it started to rain! The rain was coming down quite steadily all day until about 6pm when the wind started to blow real hard all night!
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 34 and 53 degrees, NW-W winds of 25 to 44 with gusts over 50 MPH, humidity around 60 percent, low stratus clouds blanketing the sky with lots of rain.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 45. West wind between 14 and 17 mph becoming light. Winds could gust as high as 24 mph. Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 32. West wind between 3 and 8 mph.”
I stayed inside because of the rain and started to get everything ready to do my Christmas cards. I lost my address book because of my house is in such a mess after putting in the new tile and had to do a search for the dang thing. I finally found a backup I did on the computer and put it altogether but then I discovered that Windows 7 doesn’t have a mail or address program! Who would of thunk! So I put it on another netbook that is running XP and all is good. I downloaded the Mozilla Thunderbird mail program for the Win 7 netbook. I tested Thunderbird out and it wanted to download all 967Megs of emails I have archived on my Gmail account; that will never do, so I set it to work offline until I can figure out a way to just download my inbox. All I was able to do on the cards so far was get the return address on the envelopes.
Because of the wind and rain I didn’t go for my evening walk. I watched “My Name is Earl” but towards the end the channel went out because of the high winds, damn!
I wrote my column for the newspaper and sent out the newsletter early because I wanted to let Lee Hines friends know that there will be a memorial potluck this Saturday at 1pm over at the community center.
I watched “Castle” on ABC but the dang reception kept cutting out but I was able to get the drift of what was going on.
Dang, I’m sitting here writing this at 1am and the house feels like it’s going to blow away! I hear lots of strange banging noises as the wind rips across my home.
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Sunday 06

2009-12-07T10:01:11Z

Sunday 06- I did my stretches and ran two miles; it was a cold breezy run!
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 32 and 53 degrees, NW-W winds of 9 to 22 MPH, humidity around 41 percent, partly cloudy skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Rain. High near 49. South southwest wind 8 to 11 mph increasing to between 18 and 21 mph. Winds could gust as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Monday Night: Rain. Low around 38. Breezy, with a south wind 26 to 29 mph becoming west 16 to 19 mph. Winds could gust as high as 43 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.”
I didn’t sleep all that great on Friday night so it finally caught up with me last night when I went to bed at 2:30am and awoke at noon! Well that’s okay because I guess my body needed the sleep. I did a few things around the house and called a few friends.
I went over to Stoney’s where he and Roger were sitting in the warmth of the house yakking away. I joined in on the yakking for a spell until Stoney’s son Jimmy called. Roger and I decided to go on over to his house where he showed me an old Compaq Presario desktop computer running XP he was given from a friend. It doesn’t have a modem for dialup but he has one to stick in that doesn’t have any software drivers. I told him I’d go online and see if I could find them. I went back over to Stoney’s and yap with him for a while.
I got home just in time to watch “60 Minutes” that was about: a private school in Harland that is trying to send all its young students to college; and a NBA referee that betted on games that he was participating in until the mob came in wanting some of the action. I then did some webwork for a while.
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Saturday 05

2009-12-06T09:10:22Z

Saturday 05- I did my stretches, ran a mile, lifted weights, and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 29 and 51 degrees, W-SE winds of 7 to 18 MPH, humidity around 29 percent, partly cloudy skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 53. South southwest wind between 6 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40. Southwest wind between 18 and 21 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.”
I called Stoney up and he told me that Sherry had dropped by to tell him that our friend and neighbor Lee Hines had passed away on Friday evening at 5:45PM. The hospital didn’t disconnect the life support; Lee just went on his own with his Family close by. It’s such a sad day for our little community. I got cleaned up and made my way over for a visit to Lee’s wife Marcie and paid my respects. She was understandably very distraught over Lee’s passing. I told her if there was anything she needed that the community was there to help her. We sat and reminisced for a spell. There will be a memorial potluck held at 1pm next Saturday the 12th to celebrate Lee’s life. I promised to get the word out.
I drove over to Stoney’s and we talked about Lee and how we will miss him and his crazy jokes he’d come up with. Stoney will be going to the memorial along with other folks I later called.
I got back home and went on my evening walk. I called and talked to family and friends during the day. It was cold and windy outside and I decided to watch “The Day After Tomorrow” like I do once a year on cold and windy nights. It helped take my mind off the events of the last few days.
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Friday 04

2009-12-05T09:38:07Z

Friday 04- I did my stretches. Last night I went outside at 2am to see just how cold it was and it was mighty cold indeed: 29 degrees!
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 23 and 51 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 25 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 59. Calm wind becoming southwest between 14 and 17 mph. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 35. Southwest wind 15 to 18 mph decreasing to between 7 and 10 mph. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph.”
My neighbor Ginger called saying she’s coming over with her horse Princess to bring back the books and DVDs I lent her son Dakota. I did my exercises really fast, got dressed and went down the street to meet her. I brought a carrot for the horse and I showed Ginger my new tile floor; I’m mighty proud of that floor!
I decided that I better get things ready for the cold weather and possible rain or snow storms that may be coming next week so I watered the plants with some Miracle Grow, moved some plants into the shelter of my patio and cut a whole bunch of wood for my woodstove; I filled a whole wheelbarrow.
When I was done cutting wood I went back inside to find a message on my answering machine: My friend who lives down the street is in the hospital in Palm Springs. He had a massive brain hemorrhage and is on life support. They are waiting for all his family members to arrive before they disconnect the life support, dang! His wife left the message and was understandably traumatized and after I listened to the message my hand holding the phone was shaking. She wanted me to notify his friends here about the situation, and I did. I had to stop over to Stoney’s to tell him because his phone was busy. I called other folks, too. I will write more on this and his name later, but all those who need to know, now know.
I went on my evening walk thinking on the whole situation; who else I should to call, what I need to write about him in my column, his grieving family, and about how fragile and precious life is.
To take my mind off of this I made pancakes and eggs for dinner and watched “My Name is Earl”. Seimi called to say he went down to the hospital and filled me in on what had taken place; we talked for quite a long time. I called Judy Ruggles; she is a great help in making me forget the present. Then I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
I watched “Numb3rs” on CBS about a bank heist that had some of JB Cooper lost money in the bags of cash recovered.
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal; posted it to the web, and called it a night.
I only hope that a miracle somehow saves my dear Friend!

Thursday 03

2009-12-04T09:27:29Z

Thursday 03- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 33 and 56 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 25 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: Sunny, with a high near 54. North northwest wind around 6 mph. Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 33. Light and variable wind.”
I spent the day mostly cleaning up the joint putting stuff away, mopping the floor, sorting through stuff that I want to keep or throw away. I’m doing this now because everything is outside and the house is mostly empty now that the new tile floor is in and I don’t want the clutter that I had in there before.
Stoney called to ask me if I’d come on over and wait for delivery of his oxygen, which he needs for breathing, while he goes to his doctor in Yucca Valley. The oxygen guy arrived just as Stoney was leaving so I stayed until he had all the tanks filled.
I got back home and went for my evening walk. It looks to be getting cold tonight, there’s a freeze warning in our area, so I had a chance to test out the woodstove to see if my install of it wouldn’t burn down the house; it worked just fine! Read my astronomy textbook about Kepler’s three laws of planetary orbits. I then watched “My Name is Earl”, “Fastforward”, and then “Fringe”. I watched a little news and boy it looks that Tiger Woods is in some big trouble with his wife. Well at least it’s not another member of congress cheating on their spouse!
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Wednesday 02

2009-12-03T08:53:10Z

Wednesday 02- I did my stretches and ran two miles.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 38 and 59 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 28 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 62. North northwest wind between 7 and 13 mph. Thursday Night: Clear, with a low around 33. North northwest wind around 6 mph.”
I spent the morning connecting up the woodstove. Now that it sits on the floor instead of the cinder blocks I had to cut a section of stove pipe to make it all fit. Then I did a little cleaning around the house that I’ve been putting off because of the work I did moving stuff around to lay the tile.
I went over to Stoney’s for a quick lunch and helped him with the online meds again. We couldn’t find one of the prescriptions online that had the same ingredients as the one that he got from Walgreens. I told him to call his daughter who is the head nurse at some hospital up north and ask her if it would be safe to use one that didn’t exactly match; she called later and said it was okay.
I got back home to go on my evening walk. The weather was quite pleasant all day and I had a nice walk.
I watched “My Name is Earl” and then did webwork the rest of the night. I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Welcome to the Month of December!

2009-12-02T07:51:30Z

Welcome to the Month of December! - I did my stretches, ran a mile, lifted weights, and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 41 and 64 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 26 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 65. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Wednesday Night: Clear, with a low around 38. South southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.”
Ron Dehart and I went to the theater in Yucca Valley to see “2012”! Before the movie we stopped off at the music shop in Yucca Valley so I could pick up my Herco Gold nylon picks I had ordered a week ago, got gas for the Gross Polluter, and picked up our mail. “2012” had great visual effects of the ground swallowing building, cars, people, and about everything else, cool! You really have to suspend logic and reality to enjoy it and that’s what I did. I could go into all the errors I’ve found with the science but I’ll leave that for others to do. I didn’t cringe like I did when I watched “Armageddon”; probably the worst movie when it comes to getting the science right. I enjoyed “2012” and it kept me entertained and that’s what counts sometimes.
The Sun had already begun to set when we left the theater and I drove Ron home and then stopped over to Stoney’s. He had cooked up some beans with the bone from the Thanksgiving ham and we sat down to eat a couple of bowls of it. I helped him again with his online prescription drugs.
I watched “My Name is Earl” and “NCIS” which was a rerun. I decided to get an early start on the rest of the night so I wouldn’t stay up till 3am: I did my stretches and went for a night run; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Monday 30

2009-12-01T09:42:29Z

Monday 30 - I did my stretches and ran two miles.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 39 and 62 degrees, N- NW winds at 4 to 10 MPH, humidity around 25 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 67. Northwest wind between 3 and 7 mph. Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 41. West northwest wind around 8 mph.”
Ron Dehart dropped by with some bean stew he had made and collect his mail I picked up while he was away. I got to show him my new tile floor and he was quite impressed! He was still getting over the flu and didn’t stay too long; I thoroughly washed my hands when he left. The bean stew was great, I ate it for dinner.
I started to work on Patty’s “New” computer that she got from her sister, who got it from a friend, who got it from who knows where. Unfortunately it started to smoke as soon as I plugged it in, yikes! I called to inform her that the computer is toast and it was beyond anything I wanted to get involved in. There is a reason why folks “Give” computers away and this is one of them.
I went over to Stoney’s to help him with his online prescriptions and updated the anti-virus protection on his computer. I also took a nice hot shower while I was there.
I got home just in time for my evening walk before sunset. I watched “My Name is Earl”; I guess I like the Karma thing that the show is based on.
I read a few chapters of “Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Path” (such a long and complicated title, I’ll just use “Letters from Richard Feynman” for now on). Then read some of “Astronomy Today” textbook that I’ve been neglecting lately. A rerun of “Castle” came on CBS but I watched it anyways.
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote my column for the newspaper and sent it in; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Goodbye to the month of November!

Sunday 29

2009-11-30T08:41:56Z

Sunday 29 - I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 38 and 59 degrees, winds NW at 7 to 22 MPH, humidity around 37 percent, low stratus clouds with a little rain.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 64. North northwest wind around 10 mph. Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 39. West northwest wind between 6 and 8 mph.”
I went outside and noticed that it had rained sometime early this morning. It’s the first rain we have had in a very long time!
Dakota came over with his two dogs and the female horse Princess and we tied her up inside my front yard while Dakota used me cell phone to call his mom Ginger to see if she is on her way back from Utah. She just reached Barstow when he called. I played with the dogs and feed them some summer sausage that I had stored for a few years, but it was still good; at least the dogs thought it was.
I tried calling Stoney but all I’d get was static so I moseyed over to his house to check it out. His phone had a dial tone but wouldn’t ring, meaning he could call out but couldn’t receive calls. I eliminated his household wiring as the problem by plugging a phone directly into the telephone company’s box, and when it did the same thing there we called them to come out Monday to fix it.
I went for my evening walk. When I came back Roy Ross called to tell me he’s coming down Winters Road on his way to his cabin. I asked him to stop by my house. I met Roy on MySpace but never met him in person. He plays the harmonica and is involved in the music scene around the high desert and knows Judy Ruggles. Roy lives up north on the coast and comes down to his cabin every now and then. I gave him the grand tour of my home showing off my new tile floor. Then we went over to his house and he did the same for me. It’s nice to meet folks that I communicate with online!
I watched “60 Minutes” on CBS about: Congo Gold and the five million innocent citizens killed in wars over the minerals there; and Deep Sea Explorer Robert Ballard who discovered the Titanic and other ships and artifacts in his half century of exploration. I then watched“Flyboys” (2006) on KTLA. It was actually a pretty dang good movie! It was about American WWI pilots that flew against Germany for the French before the USA got involved in the fighting.
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Saturday 28

2009-11-29T11:26:41Z

Saturday 28 - I did my stretches and ran two miles.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 40 and 56 degrees, winds NW at 10 to 18 MPH, humidity around 48 percent, low stratus clouds but no rain.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers before 10am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 59. North northwest wind between 11 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 38. North northwest wind around 10 mph.”
Brien and Naomi came by with their two sweet daughters for a short visit to spread the word of the lord. They are a nice family and I like their visits.
I dropped by Ginger’s to ask Dakota if he’d wanted to go to the potluck and to let him use my cell phone to call his Mom who is stuck in Utah by a snow storm there.
I called some Family and Friends while I was getting ready to go to Mike and Stevie Villarreal’s After Thanksgiving Bash and the community’s Potluck afterwards. I cooked up some sweet potatoes for the potluck and I bringing some homemade cranberries to the Bash. Looks like I’ll be doing a lot of eating today!
I arrived at the Villarreal’s a little bit after 1pm and started taking pictures. Mike and Stevie’s home is nicely decorated like a western movie set with old oil lanterns, antique furniture, stuffed dolls, and horse gear. I saw my neighbor’s Joyce Ware and Ron Monasterio, I chatted with them for a spell. Joyce is doing well and just a feisty as ever. I noticed that a red light was blinking on my camera saying it was out of memory and had to make a fast trip back home to get the flash card I had forgotten to put back in. Many of the folks from last year showed up: Jack from the Rock House brought his grandson, Lennart and his wife Barbara, Mike and Stevie’s son Mat and his wife Amanda were there along with daughter Lauren, and Biff a nice old lady who once helped man our fire department No. 44 a long time ago when it was still in operation. We all sat down to eat smoked turkey that Dick the butcher sent over earlier because he couldn’t come to this year’s Bash. Mat stood up to give a heartfelt thanks to us all for coming and how we have changed his life for the better over the last few years. The food was mighty good and there was plenty of it! After dinner, twelve year old Lauren sang a lovely song while I videotaped it; Lauren did a mighty fine job of it. A couple of ladies cried when she was done! Lauren is going to be in a national singing contest later next year and we all wish her success! She has a YouTube site called katspcittin if you want to hear Lauren sing.
Then I had to leave, pick up Dakota and head over to the community Potluck where I ate some more food! There were only about eight folks who showed up, but I told them it wasn’t the quantity but the quality of the folks who came. We all had a fun time!
I dropped Dakota off and went over to Stoney’s to drop off some bottled water for his air breathing thing and watched a little country and western singing on the TV. Stoney watches this show every Saturday night. I not big on C&W but I didn’t mind.
I finally got back home and there was a message on my phone from Frank who had gone back home somewhere in LA and had left his keys at his house here. I called and he asked me to go tell his son, who is staying here, to bring his keys down to him when he leaves. So I went on over on a dark and windy night to relay the message. I was knocking but no one answered but I heard voices inside. Frank’s son’s children were staring at me from the window thinking that I was some crazed desert hermit coming to abduct them or something. I finally convinced them only after I called Frank on my cell phone and handed the phone through the door. It turns out their father was up the street working at another house and had left them alone. With that done and out of the way I went on home.
I called Judy Ruggles and yapped with her for a bit, and then watched “Criminal Minds” on CBS. I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Friday 27

2009-11-28T08:43:32Z

Friday 27 - I did my stretches, ran a mile, lifted weights, and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 44 and 66 degrees, winds W-SE at 6 to 15 MPH, humidity around 23 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 53. West wind between 10 and 13 mph becoming light. Winds could gust as high as 18 mph. Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 42. West northwest wind between 6 and 10 mph.”
I did a few chores around the house I’ve neglected because of the work on the tile floors. I had to clean off the corrosion on the battery terminals and top off water in the batteries that feed the electric to the house. Then I moseyed on over to check on my neighbor Dakota. He was complaining that he was bored with nothing to do. I noticed that the two horses looked restless and I told him they look like they need a walk. So we walked the horses around for a spell. I then drove Dakota up to my house to find any movies and books that he might enjoy. I gave him the grand tour of my place and played a few of my songs on my guitar for him; I have to get used to playing and singing in front of people. He found a two books and a Movie to take home with him.
I went over to Stoney’s after my evening walk to have Thanksgiving leftovers with him and his Family. It was cold cut ham, barbecued beans, mashed potatoes, and vegetables.
I got back just in time to watch “My Name is Earl”. Then I did a little webwork updating the Copper Mountain Website and sent out the newsletter. I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Thanksgivings Day!

2009-11-27T10:04:52Z

Thanksgiving - I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 41 and 68 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 20 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: Sunny, with a high near 70. West northwest wind at 11 mph becoming east southeast. Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 44. West southwest wind between 13 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.”
I called, emailed, and posted Thanksgiving messages to Friends, online Friends, and Family. My online Friends and I have never met but I love them and care about them; this may seem strange to some folks but that’s alright! There’s Ami-Ven, Marah Marie, Steve98052, Kris, and many others that I feel comfortable corresponding with online. With all that done I got ready for the Third Annual Thanksgiving Potluck at the community center.
I drove the Gross Polluter to pick up Ginger’s son Dakota and headed over to the center. Steve Tuttle and Ray Foyil were in the kitchen cooking four turkeys; they started the day at the ungodly hour of 4am about the time I go to sleep! Mary Helen Tuttle was directing everyone and giving orders. There must have been fifty hungry folks showing up, many I didn’t know because they were guests of members. I was so overwhelmed meeting folks and taking pictures that I didn’t get the names of the folks and dishes that they had brought; sorry. There was a whole lot of food! I didn’t eat any breakfast and was so hungry when I finally got done taking pictures of the food line that when it became my turn I filled my plate to the max with turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, candied yams, and other items. Phyllis Lyte from Yucca Valley tapped me on the back as I was wolfing down my food and said, “You don’t know me but I read your column in the newspaper” and went on to explain that she came down to be with our community after reading about our potlucks and was so impressed with our community spirit that she wanted to spend her Thanksgiving with us! She even signed up to become a member of our association, wow! She then went in front of everyone and told them the same thing she told me and everyone clapped, double wow! She honored me and our little community and I was quite taken with that along with everyone else. I had just enough room for a slice of pecan pie and then it was time for me and a very full Dakota to leave. I think this was the best ever Thanksgiving ever!
When I got home I went for a long evening walk to work off some of the damage I’d done at the potluck. Then I called Ron Dehart and Stoney to watch the Shuttle and the International Space Station flyby at 5:12pm. They came high out of the NW with the Shuttle trailing the Station, two bright objects shooting across the skies manned by very brave men and women. It was just magnificent!
I then watched “Night at the Museum”. I thought that Robin Williams made a fantastic Teddy Roosevelt. Then watched “Paul McCartney: Good Evening New York City” which brought tears to my eyes. It brought back memories of when I was young watching the Beatles at Shea Stadium on TV back in the 60s with the sound turned down low so the adults wouldn’t know!
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal; posted it to the web, and called it a night. What an extraordinary day!

Wednesday 25

2009-11-26T08:54:11Z

Wednesday 25- I did my stretches and ran two miles.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 44 and 66 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 21 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Thanksgiving Day: Sunny, with a high near 68. North northwest wind at 6 mph becoming east northeast. Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 41. West wind between 3 and 5 mph.”
I moved some of my stuff back into the house; a couch, the compost toilet, and a few odds and ends. The compost toilet was the hardest because of its size and I was just barely able to squeeze it through the bathroom door. After I got the toilet in place I put the door back on the bedroom that I had to take off to get the toilet in. The couch has a futon and folds down into a bed. I used it for sleeping on a few years ago and decided to get it out of storage and put it in the living room. Everything is finally coming together nicely!
I went for my evening walk. Ginger my neighbor asked me to check up on her son who is watching her property while she’s away visiting her sister in Utah. I drove the “Gross Polluter” over and he is doing fine and I invited him to our community’s Thanksgiving potluck tomorrow. I watched: “My Name is Earl”, “Criminal Minds”, and “The Jay Leno Show”. This is the first time I watched Criminal Minds and found it a little too intense for my liking.
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
I have three pies sitting in the house I was really tempted but haven’t touched them! Hopefully they’ll stay that way until I can get them to the potluck tomorrow.
To all my online Friends: Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!!!

Tuesday 24

2009-11-25T08:51:45Z

Tuesday 24- I did my stretches and ran a mile.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 40 and 62 degrees, winds NNW at 4 to 10, humidity around 25 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 66. North northwest wind between 7 and 9 mph. Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 44. Northwest wind around 9 mph.”
I worked on and finally finished all the tiling of my floors today. Yea for me! It looks so good and I’m mighty proud of the work I did! Now all I have to do is hook up the compost toilet and woodstove and then I can move on to other stuff.
I went to Stoney’s climbing onto his roof to fix his UHF antenna; he’s receiving satellite but not local broadcasts. There didn’t appear to be anything wrong with it, so the problem is with the satellite system. I’ll look into that another day.
On my way to Stater Bros to get some pumpkin pies for the community’s Thanksgiving Potluck I stopped off to checkout my friend’s home while he is away on vacation. At Stater Bros I picked up two pumpkin pies and one apple; I hope that’s enough. I also picked up a few supplies like eggs and bread.
I got back and went for my evening walk. I finished “Golden Buddha” by Clive Cussler; nice read but I have read better books written by him.
Called Ron Dehart who just gotten back from Texas while visiting his wife Linda. He had to cut his visit short after catching the flu there. It may have been the N1H1 flu and his doctor told him not to have contact with folks until Friday. We are planning to go see the Movie “2012” sometime next week!
It is TV night tonight: “My Name is Earl”, “NCIS”, and then “NCIS Los Angeles” which I’d normally not watch but Abby was in the show; I guess I really do like Goth girls!
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.