Welcome to the month of June!- very nice but hot day outside.
I did my stretches.
It is my neighbor Gloria’s birthday and I walked over to give her a cactus and yap a spell with her and Mark. They will be having a big party tonight and I am invited, but I really didn’t feel up to it because of my Dad is still in the hospital in Tucson. The doctors say he is doing real good; kinda makes me wonder. So later, I called my sister Paula; she had seen him today and says he is doing well and is sitting up telling jokes and annoying the staff. This made me feel much better.
It is my neighbor Gloria’s birthday and I walked over to give her a cactus and yap a spell with her and Mark. They will be having a big party tonight and I am invited, but I really didn’t feel up to it because of my Dad is still in the hospital in Tucson. The doctors say he is doing real good; kinda makes me wonder. So later, I called my sister Paula; she had seen him today and says he is doing well and is sitting up telling jokes and annoying the staff. This made me feel much better.
My friend Bonnie called to say she has her phone in her new house in Landers. I will go visit her tomorrow and bring her a gift for all the nice work she has done on my book covers. I am preparing her gift as I write this :)
Wednesday 05- still in the mid 90s with a slight breeze. I did my stretches, lifted weights, yoga, ran up and down the hill with 5lbs dumbbells, core trainer, and punched the heavybag for two minutes. I did my laundry over at Stoney’s and cleaned up the kitchen counter of mice droppings. There is poison left out and I’ll see if there are anymore droppings later in the week. I worked on Kelly’s swamp cooler; I took one from Andrew’s property and swapped it with her’s that was burned out. I fired it up and it started to smoke. I figured it was the engine that decided to die, or it was that the belt was on too tight and the squirrel cage needed lubricant. I will pick those up Friday when I go take Kelly shopping and also check the price of a new motor. I did my stretches, lifted 10lb dumbbells and went for my evening walk with my backpack. I talk to a FaceBook friend for a long spell. I did my stretches, lifted 20lb dumbbells, and went for a night run.
The Battalion Commander gave up a tour for the Cert trailer that is full of supplies for emergencies and is stationed in Yucca Valley. We will be getting our on CERT supplies here at our community center. A bunch of us signed up for CPR training the will take place in two weeks and there is no cost to CERT members. Friday 07- the temps jumped to 109 and it was too hot to exercise, but I did do my stretches. It was also too hot for Kelly to go to town, so I went by myself. I had a doctor’s appointment at 10:15am, but stopped off at Kelly’s to pick up some swamp cooler parts for replacing. The doc took an hour to see. I went to Rite Aid to pick up Kelly’s pills. While I was there I decided to get my Shingles vaccine; the doc wanted over $300 but Rite Aid did it for $220. Feeling woozy after the vaccine I went to WalMart to see if they had the belt to the swamp cooler; they didn’t but they had the motors for around $70 to 100, so I’ll keep them in mind if I need to replace it. Went to Starter Brothers to pick up some fried chicken. Goth the parts I needed from Home Depot and headed home. I got to Kelly’s around 3pm and put the new belt on and oiled up the squirrel cage, plugged it in and the dang ran a little longer but still overheated the motor and the plug at the wall socket. This will need a new motor; I am tired of working on old equipment for others and told Kelly and then Andrew so when I called him on Saturday; it’s just taking too much out of me in this heat. I was overheated myself and stayed until 10pm in Kelly’s A/C room with her and all her critters; it was 102 degrees in the rest of the house. Saturday 08- temps are 112 degrees outside so I stayed inside all day and yakked to folks on the phone. I did do a little watering of the plants. I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
They transferred my Dan from the hospital in Tucson to a continuing care facility today. He is still a little weak and we'll have watch him carefully. ***** Stuff I Wrote this Week****** Fairies are swift and quick, among the mighty trees they hide. A spell they cast of innocents to those dear and pure of heart. Not to walk upon the darken path covered shadows fall, but up the sky they soar, on wings of glossimer strings, to become one with one and all. And now we read and write electronically with bits of electric current that transverse the world traveling at the speed of light. These keystrokes I type are broken down into what is called packets containing the information I have just written and each is sent on a different path, to finally be assembled almost instantaneously on your computer screen for you to read. Each day is a wonder; a new chance to realize how very fortunate and special we really are. Each and every one of us holds a key to a brighter future inside our minds, buried deep within the core of our very existence it lies waiting silently to burst upon the global theater to correct the wrongs and make things right for all humanity. Each day is a wonder; waiting, hoping, anticipating the rise of this Global Consciousness which will sweep like a wildfire throughout our planet and bring an end to the greed that chose to destroy it. Each day is a wonder... I remember sailing my small boat at night through the red tide that sometimes came to Redondo Beach during spring and summer. Streaming bright glowing luminescent rivlets flowed behind the boat as emerald waves broke upon a dark quiet sandy shore. Once a dolphin headed towards midship, a greenish trail like a torpedo speeding to our middle and diving down under our craft to emerge on the other side. This leaving this green dissecting line through our boat in the waters above. Yes it is really dark in the desert. The only light cast is that of the stars shining brightly on the black velvet carpet of space that is the firmament of our existence, overhead
********
Sunday 09- another hot day with temps into the low hundreds.
I did my stretches.
I drove my scooter over to visit Bonnie and Larry. They invited me over for a BBQ and how could I turn that down. Larry had been working outside and Bonnie had been painting a trailer paver for a friend who is helping her out; it shows the space number and has a nymph with wings. Now she was in the kitchen getting all the fixin’ done for the BBQ. Ducky came to visit me on my chest and pick at my beard as me and Larry yammered on about this and that and ate watermelon. We had Jack Daniels burgers with cheese and a slice of pineapple.
Monday 10- a little cooler but lots of smoke in the air from some fire far away.
I did my stretches, lifted weights, yoga, ran a mile and a half with 1.5lbs around each wrists, core trainer, and punched the heavybag for three minutes.
at around 2pm I noticed smoke and looked outside and the sky had darkened from a fire in the San Gorgonio Wilderness in the San Bernardino Mountains near Banning Ca. I decided to stay inside the rest of the day and not do my exercises; my eyes got irritated by the smoke.
While waiting for the gamma-delphinids meteor shower (which was a no show), I watched two movies, “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and The Cradle of Life”; I thought both were very good.
Tuesday 11- over 100 and the air is still filled with smoke but not as much as yesterday.
I did my stretches, lifted weights, and punched the heavybag for two minutes.
Linda H. called to say she was home from Iowa and for me to come on over. We sat around yammering about computers and desert tortoises that she tracks for the National Parks system. I let Linda try riding my scooter and she did very well; she is thinking of buying one for short hops around locally. Seimi came to collect his hat he left when picking Linda up from the airport; all three of us went for a nice walk around the desert.
Wednesday 12- smoky from the fires and hot.
I did my stretches. I didn’t do my exercises because of all the smoke in the air.
I went to Palm Desert with Kelly in her car to pick up her prescription. On the way we stopped at the pet store to get dog and cat food. When we tried to start her car to leave it wouldn’t start. I lifted the hood and found that one of the battery cables had come undone; makes me question her mechanic’s skill she has working on the car. We finally got her prescription and stopped to get gas; again it wouldn’t start when we went to leave. The cable was on the battery and everything I could see was okay, but still it wouldn’t start. Remembering we had parking brake and gas cap warning lights come on when there wasn’t a problem, I disconnected the battery and left it that way for ten minutes hoping that it had something to do with an electrical sensor. I hooked it back up and she started and drove just fine the rest of the night. Later when we went to WalMart, I had Kelly buy new battery connectors to have her mechanic replace. We ate Chinese, grocery shopped, and drove back home.
Thursday 13- still a whole lot of smoke and hot outside.
I did my stretches.
I spent the first half of the day getting ready for my trip to Tucson to see how my birth father Joe is doing after being in the hospital for two weeks and has now be released to a continual care facility. At around 5pm I had the Cougar fueled, loaded up with supplies, washed down and ready to roll. I hugged my home before I left to go to my three hour CERT training course.
The CERT class was on Unit 4: Disaster Medical Operations. This included treatment of burns; fractures, dislocations, sprains and strains; hypothermia and heat related injuries... and more. We went through setting up a triage and locations to put the different categories of injured and also a morgue. The Chief carried in a practice dummy and showed us all how to perform a head to toe exam and what to look for. It ran a little over 9pm and I had to help carry a body (practice dummy) out to the CERT van.
I jumped in the Cougar and drove all the way to Tucson without stopping and arrived there at 3:45am. I didn’t get to sleep till around 5am.
Friday 14- clear skies and 102 degrees in Tucson.
I got up a little bit before 11am when I heard my brother Kevin coming in the door of the family home. We sat at the kitchen table yakking for a spell before we drove to my sister Audrey’s house across the street (my brother is sometimes lazy). We chatted with her for a spell talking about Dad’s condition. Then me and Kevin drove to the continual care facility so I can have a look-see for myself. He looked frail lying in bed. He just completed his physical training for the day and was about to have a nap. We spoke for a very short time and we left to get lunch. We visited my sister Paula and she said that he has his ups and downs especially after PT and that I should see him a couple of times before I come to any conclusions. Kevin and I went back to see Dad at 6pm and he was sitting up talking to my Audrey and was very active and cracking jokes; which is a very good sign and a lot better than when I saw him earlier. This made me feel a whole lot better than I felt on the first visit.
Saturday 15- the high temps went down when it rained for the first time this year in Tucson.
My sister Sheila came by to the family house to see me and ended up going to the continuing care facility with me and Kevin. We timed it so our arrival would coincide with him having his lunch. He was alert and talkative after the nurse woke him up for his meds. His lunch soon arrived and we all had a nice chat. He is looking better!
We dropped Sheila back at the family home and Kevin decided he wanted to eat at Arby’s. I wasn’t impressed with the beef sandwich one bit; it kinda lingers around for hours. I inquired about the ingredients and if it had sodium nitrate. The counter person didn’t know, she left to ask the manager who didn’t know, so nobody knows.
We went to my niece Tifany’s apartment to see her and her two kids who were overly rambunctious but cute. I didn’t know that Tifany played violin and she played it mighty well for me and her father Kevin.
Kevin dropped me off at the family home and I walked over to have a short chat with Audrey and John before they left on a five mile bike ride. So I was left to my lonesome in a home full of memories that I wasn’t part of. Looking at pictures of family I’ve never met or younger versions of the family I do know. Pictures going back before the 20th century I could only imagine who or where they were, but all related to me. I felt a kinda happy emptiness, a sad nostalgia, a kind of belonging and being apart; I felt calm.
***** Stuff I Wrote this Week******
Don't tell anyone, it's our secret meeting place; a watering hole you might say. To dance together upon fields of lush green grass and hide among tall reeds. There we gather to swap our tales of future goals and of dreams yet to be revealed.
A love, so tender yet so wild, danced their song upon sacred grounds. Together they sang amidst the dark of uncertainty which sprang from poisoned wells. Young lovers will always find a way to dance and sing their song. A song so bright it brings us cheer to those who can love no more. And the name of that song shall carry forth from sugar cherry lips so sweet, a melody so fine, heavenly and pure, it caresses the Moon, and resonates the Earth, to outshine the gloom of a day yet to be, making way for morning's first light.
Oh that is so true, one little thing to get done, one little thing left to do. It never ends, it never shall until all our days are through.
Microsoft really made a big error thinking a touch screen was the way to go and that Windows 8 would be popular among users on desktops and laptops without touch screens... unfortunately for Microsoft not every user has a touch screen or wants fingerprints on their computer’s screen, besides on an ultralight laptop you could tip it over poking at the screen.
Win8 gets in the way of me getting things done... some folks like it, but I don't and the majority of users don't either; it shows in the lack of sales and angry comments people leave after being stuck with it. I want to get on my laptop and get my work done without going through some Metro Start screen social App doohickey thingy. They will hopefully fix this error on Win 8.1, rumored to be out in August, and give us the choice to bypass this monstrosity of a baboon's butt and let us users get some work done without the hinderance.
Sorry, I get carried away harping on Win 8...
Maybe a story:
A thermonuclear device was detonated off the coast of Florida last night at 1am turning night into day. This photo was taken seconds after the blast. Updates will follow.
What a wonder it all is, what a wonderful life we live...
A question was asked wondering what a camera from Vietnam he was give saw... I replied:
Your words made me stop to think what the camera seen. Then I closed my eyes to a place far away, where laughter turned to tears, the green of plants turned a bitter black with woes of children running wild...
******
