Monday, August 04, 2014

August 2014

Friday 01- 107 degrees and overcast.
Cassie woke me up early around 6am and I had something on my mind and couldn’t go back to sleep. So I spent the next three or four hours writing an email to someone I really didn’t want to write explaining the obvious to them. I hope I can get through to them how important this is to me and others that they comply with the Will I am responsible for executing.
I did my stretches and took Cassie for a walk..
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
I finished doing the State income tax for 2011 because of a IRA rollover mistake Chase Bank did and corrected on my Fed tax and owed the the state nothing and will send it in next time I’m at the post office.
I took Cassie for her evening and night walks.


Saturday 02- 99 degrees with rain thunder lightning chaos; dang just like last Saturday!
I did my stretches and mostly stayed inside.
Around midnight it had stopped raining. Cassie and I had enough of being inside and went for a night walk and on our way back it rained pretty good on us.


***** Stuff I Wrote this Week******


Always try harder to better yourself in all things pleasant and helpful to others.
~RD


'tis a pity and sorrowful state of affairs when a trusted confidant rubs your face in the mud while offering platitudes of kindness along with their well worn lies and expects you and everyone else to accept them gracefully...
~RD


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Sunday 03- 90 degrees if that and overcast all day with occasional rain and drizzle.
I did my stretches, lifted weights, yoga, took Cassie for a mile and a half run, core trainer and punched the heavybag for about two minutes.
I am giving away one of my old laptops and am getting it ready for them.
I mostly talked to Family here and there throughout the day.
Took Cassie for her evening walk.


Monday 04- 94 degrees and nice.
I did my stretches and took Cassie for a walk.
Kelly picked me up and we went to Yucca Valley to get supplies. I mailed off that State tax form from 2011 I didn’t owe money on so hopefully that’s out of the way. We went to the Pet Store and then Carl’s Jr. for dinner and then on to Vons, Walmart and Home Depot. Got to her house around 10pm, carried her stuff in and then fixed her swamp cooler. She took me home and unloaded my stuff and I took Cassie for a night walk because she was a good doggie and stayed in the kennel for about 6 hours waiting patiently for me to come home.


Tuesday 05- maybe into the high 90s.
I did my stretches, lifted weights, yoga, took Cassie for a mile and a half run, core trainer, punched the heavybag for about two minutes and swam for 30 minutes.
I worked on the Cougar repairing the front grill that was broken when I hit the embankment on Saturday July 30th coming home from potluck. In some places I had to twist myself into a pretzel and my back is hurting.
I did my stretches, lifted 10lb dumbbells and went for my evening walk with Cassie. I did a little bit on the core trainer when I got back.
Kelly left her salami in one of my shopping bags and I too the scooter and delivered it to her house.
I worked on one of my laptops I am going to give away to a friend. I just have too much clutter in my home and have to get some of it out the door.
I did my stretches, lifted 20lb dumbbells, and went for a night run with Cassie.
I practiced my guitar.



Wednesday 06- still in the high 90s.
I did my stretches, and took Cassie for a walk.
UPS delivered a birthday package for me from my sister Paula and her husband Mark. It contained a doggie toy that I played with for a spell and tired of it and gave it to Cassie who really enjoys it; thank you Paula and Mark!
Doug finally got the wireless hooked up at his home for the laptop I sent him. I spent the better part of two hours on the phone walking through how the browser works.
I worked on boxing up a bunch of sci fi books I’ve already read and movies I’ll probably never watch again that were gathering dust. I am making room and clearing out the clutter and distraction for when I start my studies again.
I took Cassie for her evening and night walks.




Thursday 07- around 100 degrees.
I did my stretches, lifted weights, yoga, took Cassie for a mile and a half run, core trainer and punched the heavybag for about two minutes.
I continued to clear out junk I don’t need and finished getting a laptop ready for a friend.
I went for my evening walk with Cassie and listened to lecture 1 from Astro 10P Fall 2006 UC Berkeley: Introduction to Astronomy given by Professor Joshua Bloom; a little history of astronomy. There are twenty 1hr and 22min lectures in all.




Friday 08- a little over 100 degrees. (my Birthday)
I am doing a reboot today and try to get things back together again before the sickness, passing and dealing with the estate of my biological Father. Thankfully I kept up with my exercises and have done a lot of editing on the 4th book in the series. I now need to rid my system of some awful malware and toxic viruses (metaphorically speaking) and save all the good memories of Family and Friends I’ve met and love. I’ll begin where I left off before this tragedy began and continue with my studies and hopefully setup a schedule and routine I can live with; my writings I need to finish and publish are first on the list. Once I finish book 4 I will get to working on the Book of Poems thingy everyone wants me to do.  I need to setup a reading list of books I want to read too; mostly textbooks of science or anything else that grabs my attention.


I did my stretches, lifted weights, yoga, took Cassie for a mile run, core trainer, punched the heavybag for two minutes and swam for about 30 minutes.
I did my studies; a lesson in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: two small faces.
I listened to lecture 4- old kingdom Egypt, from the course History 4A The Ancient Mediterranean World by Isabelle Pafford. (28 lectures of an hour apiece)
I did my stretches, lifted 10lb dumbbells, core trainer, went for my evening walk with Cassie and I listened to lecture 2; Cosmic Orientation, from Astro 10P Fall 2006 UC Berkeley: Introduction to Astronomy given by Professor Joshua Bloom.
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
I took out the book “365 Starry Nights” by Chet Raymo which I’ve been reading for many years. Each day he writes about the night sky or the history of astronomy. The poor book is falling apart in sections (I bought it in 1984) and I might need to buy a new one. I found that I had stopped reading it on Feb 19, so I read all of it into March; I gots a lot of catching up to do.
I did my stretches, lifted 20lb dumbbells, and went for a night run with Cassie. The Moon was bright washing out all but the brightest stars, but not full yet; that’ll be on the 10th. I didn’t need a flashlight and we found our way up and down the hill without any problems.
I practiced my guitar for a spell.
I believe I answered all the Birthday Wishes I received today on FaceBook from some of the most thoughtful and kind people on this planet; I thank you all!


Saturday 09- around 100 degrees or so.
I did my stretches. I had to wait for a FedEx delivery and had to stick around so Cassie and I didn’t go for a walk.
Sherry came by to chat for a little spell while making her rounds.
FedEx arrives with a birthday gift I bought myself; a Dell laptop. I got it all tuned up and MS Office loaded on it. Speakers are nice and loud.
I went for my evening walk with Cassie and I listened to lecture 3; Radiation and Waves through space, from Astro 10P Fall 2006 UC Berkeley: Introduction to Astronomy given by Professor Joshua Bloom.
Played around with the new laptop some more and then me and Cassie went for our night walk!


***** Stuff I Wrote this Week******


May you find happiness in each new breath, a wonderment in each new moment, and peace and serenity in each new thought...
~RD


There are good people, there are bad people, and then there are them no good bad people.
~RD

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Sunday 10- 102 degrees.
I did my stretches, lifted weights, yoga, too hot for Cassie so I ran a mile and a half run by myself, core trainer, punched the heavybag for about two minutes and swam for about 20 minutes or so.
I talked to Family here and there throughout the day.
Went on my scooter to Kelly’s to try and fix her swamp cooler, but the electronics were too far gone and needs new switches. She may have to pick them up at Home Depot or order them online. I gave her one of my old laptops I was working on because her’s died.
I did my stretches, lifted 10lb dumbbells, core trainer, went for my evening walk with Cassie and I listened to lecture 4; Waves Radiation in Space 1, from Astro 10P Fall 2006 UC Berkeley: Introduction to Astronomy given by Professor Joshua Bloom.
I did my studies; a lesson in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: a kinda dog that sorta looked like Cassie and a face of a bearded man.
I did my stretches, lifted 20lb dumbbells, and went for a night run with Cassie. The SuperMoon was tonight and I took a picture of it. Not a very good pic but at least I remembered to take it.
I read section 1 of chapter one of my old college history book “A Short History of Western Civilization”; this will be the second time of me rereading it.
I updated my journal and posted it.
I practiced my guitar.






Monday 11- rain here and there throughout the day.
I did my stretches and took Cassie for a walk.
Went to the car to drive down and get my mail but battery dang battery was dead so I rode my scooter instead and collected my mail on Lear Ave. I’ll have to figure why the battery went dead tomorrow; just don’t want to deal with it now.
I worked on transferring the edits I did on paper of book 4 into MS Word and if it wasn’t for a few interruptions I’d have more than three chapters done.
I took Cassie for her evening walk and I listened to lecture 5; Waves Radiation in Space 2, from Astro 10P Fall 2006 UC Berkeley: Introduction to Astronomy given by Professor Joshua Bloom.
I took Cassie for her evening and night walks.



Tuesday 12- cloudy with rain and drizzle throughout the day; very humid.
I did my stretches and took Cassie for a walk.
I took the car battery inside and connected to my emergency solar panel to charge throughout the day and part of the next to see if it will hold a charge.
I again worked on transferring the edits from paper of book 4 into MS Word I have thirteen chapters done.
I took Cassie for her evening and night walks.

Wednesday 13-  95 degrees.
I did my stretches, lifted weights, yoga, took Cassie for a mile run, core trainer, punched the heavybag for two minutes and swam for about 30 minutes.
I finished worked on transferring the all the edits I did on paper of book 4 into MS Word and then published it along with Bonnie’s cover art to Amazon
I took Cassie for her evening and night walks.



Thursday 14- 102 degrees with a few clouds.
I did my stretches and took Cassie for a walk.
I checked the battery and it held a charge. I checked the wires in the car and couldn’t find anything wrong. I decided to remove the trunk light just incase it was left on by mistake, but that was one of the first thing I checked when I found it had died. I put the battery back in, the engine started and the voltage was good so I drove it down to my other mailbox on Border Ave.
I took Cassie for her evening walk and saw a big snake! 
Took Cassie for her night walk.


Friday 15- 105 degrees.
I did my stretches and took Cassie for a walk. Been kinda burned out spending all that time finishing the book and publishing it.
I had some checks I had to mail out that I didn’t want to leave in the box on Border  and drove down to the post office and mailed the checks there; car ran great.
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
I took Cassie for her evening and night walks.


Saturday 16- around 106 degrees.
I did my stretches and took Cassie for a walk.
Sherry dropped by to jaw a little spell while making her rounds.
It was Movie Night at the Community Center! It was held outside so I took Cassie along and arrived at 7pm. The move was called “Monolith Monsters” (1957) I remember seeing it on TV when I was 8 or 9 years old. All there had a lot of fun especially when the actors talked about desert folk! My favorite line was from the newspaper reported who said nothing ever happens in the desert worth writing about (I wrote a small column for a desert newspaper for 11 years).


***** Stuff I Wrote this Week******


poem for my Friend Agatha Vivi on her Birthday:


Lofty meadows of flowing wildflowers near quick mountain streams, that’s where you’ll find a beautiful young maiden sitting on a mushroom to ponder her dreams. Why is the sky blue and birds sing such sweet tunes, while flowers blossom all shades and hues, colors magnificent of green yellow and red, as the mighty sun twirls high above and over our heads. Why do the redwoods strive to tower and reach for the sky. Why are there moonbeams that dance whom other’s don’t see. The why we are here is to witness nature’s bliss, because we are nature’s eyes to live to love and to enjoy what exists. The beautiful young maiden awakes safely upon her soft bed, the mushroom now gone, yet another day to live... but her dream lingers on.
~RD


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Sunday 17- 110 degrees.
I did my stretches, lifted weights, yoga, took Cassie for ran a mile run, core trainer, punched the heavybag for about two minutes and swam for about 20 minutes or so.
As always on Sundays I talked to Family here and there throughout the day.
I started the Harley and again another large snake came hurrying out scaring the you know what out of me. It had a green tinge, but no rattle... it turned out not to be venomous. I’ll try to charge the Harley tomorrow.
I did my stretches, lifted 10lb dumbbells, core trainer, went for my evening walk with Cassie and I listened to lecture 6;  Observing the Universe I, from Astro 10P Fall 2006 UC Berkeley: Introduction to Astronomy given by Professor Joshua Bloom.
I did my studies; a lesson in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: a flower, and even colored it in with yellow and green.
I did my stretches, lifted 20lb dumbbells, and went for a night run with Cassie.
I read the month of  March in “365 Starry Nights” trying to catch up to August.
I updated my journal and posted it.
I practiced my guitar.



Monday 18- cloudy with some rain and drizzle; very humid indeed.
I did my stretches, yoga and took Cassie for a mile and a half run.
I went to start the Harley and stood on a chair this time just in case of any snakes come hopping out at me. No snakes this time so I let the Harley run for a long spell.
I listened to lecture 1 of Geography 130 while I cleaned up some garbage.
I listened to lecture 6- New kingdom Egypt state and society from 1500 to 1000 BC, from the course History 4A The Ancient Mediterranean World by Isabelle Pafford.
I did my stretches and went for my evening walk with Cassie and  listened to lecture 7;  Observing the Universe II, from Astro 10P Fall 2006 UC Berkeley: Introduction to Astronomy given by Professor Joshua Bloom.
I read the month of  April in “365 Starry Nights” trying to catch up to August.
I did my studies; a lesson in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: a weird face with glasses.
Read from my old history book “A Short History of Western Civilization” chapter one sections 2; The River Valley Environment, and 3; Mesopotamia: Political, Economic, and Social Life.
I practiced my guitar.
I started on the Poems and Such book last night and realized I have over 42 thousand words. This is not counting my ten years of “Thought of the Week” from my newspaper column I still have to add. This may take longer than I thought....





Tuesday 19- windy with some scattered clouds. Temps maybe 97.
I did my stretches, lifted weights, yoga, took Cassie for ran a mile run, core trainer, punched the heavybag for about two minutes and swam for about 20 minutes or so.
I did some more work on the poem book. Not sure how I’m going to set it up yet, maybe in sections like: One liners- Love Poems- Thought of the Week- Some Witty Sayings... I’m just not sure yet.  
I did my stretches and went for my evening walk with Cassie and  listened to lecture 8;  Observing the Universe III, from Astro 10P Fall 2006 UC Berkeley.
I did my studies; a lesson in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: A Sunset.
I did my stretches, lifted 20lb dumbbells, and went for a night run with Cassie.
Read from my old history book “A Short History of Western Civilization” chapter one sections 4; Mesopotamia: Cultural Life.
I practiced my guitar.



Wednesday 20-  96 degrees, rain, lightning and thunder here and there clearing by 4pm.
I did my stretches and Cassie and me went for a walk.
I finished reading the month of May in “365 Starry Nights”.



Thursday 21- 95 degrees with flash flood alerts for our area.
I did my stretches, lifted weights, yoga, took Cassie for walk, core trainer and punched the heavybag for about two minutes.
I watched a bunch of Youtube science videos I subscribe to that had built up over time by my neglect.
I got an alert on my cell phone that went off and scared the you know what out of me until I read it and realized was only a flash flood warning.... It sounded like a nuclear attack warning from the 50s... I didn't even know my cell phone was set up for those alerts.



Friday 22- 97 degrees.
I did my stretches and took Cassie for a walk.
Went to town with Kelly to do some shopping; left at 3pm and got back home at 10pm. We went to the Pet Store, Vons, checked out the new Tractor Store, ate chinese, Home Depot, WalMart, and then back to Home Depot for something Kelly had forgot to buy.
I took Cassie for a night walk when I got home.




Saturday 23- around 100 degrees.
I did my stretches.
Sherry came by to say hi. I was walking her back to see my pool when she yelled “YIKES!” I jumped and she pointed to a very large yellowish  scorpion that I watched crawl back between some boards. “That’s the desert,” was all I said.
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
I heard Cassie barking at something in the backyard and went to investigate. It was a mojave iguana swimming in Cassie's pool not able to get out. I collected the poor iguana and held it for a few minutes to calm it down and make sure it was okay. When Cassie was on the other side of the yard I walked the iguana over to some thick chaparral and let it go. Sorry no pictures; it was more important for me to release it quickly.
I took Cassie for an evening walk.



***** Stuff I Wrote this Week******



The truth sometimes lies hidden behind a veil of ignorance and society's embrace of mediocrity.
~RD



Azure seas caress beaches of golden sands, water glistens silver sparkles the sunlit wake, their tiny sailboat leaves as it makes its way, on a wondrous journey vast and far, casting their course on yonder star. Two young lovers caught and bound tight, a bond so powerful with promises of much delight, drawn to each other like the Earth draws the Moon, the wind whips through the halyards and rigging to sing them a tune, a song of trust and of love and of loyalty and faith, as their tiny sailboat sails away.
~RD



In fertile minds the seeds are planted from which great stories grow; that sounds pretty natural and wonderful to me...
~RD

Hey you!
Yes you who are reading this.
This is not computer generated cyber manifestation of an entity as some would have you believe.
There is another real to life human being with real feelings on the otherside writing this to you.
Please be kind and respectful to all your cyber friends and acquaintances because they are real people just like you are on the other side of their computer display.
~RD

***********



Sunday 24- 95 degrees with clouds.
I did my stretches. I didn’t take Cassie for a walk because she will get enough exercise when we go visit Bonnie and Larry at their house.
Called Family and Friends.
We drove on over to Bonnie and Larry’s for lunch. They have a German Shepherd puppy called Beans that’s about 6 months old and played with Cassie all the time we were there.
Read from my old history book “A Short History of Western Civilization” chapter one sections 5 and 6; Egypt: cultural, political, social and economic.

Monday 25- 96 degrees with clouds.
I did my stretches, lifted weights, yoga, took Cassie for ran a mile run, core trainer, punched the heavybag for about two minutes.
I worked on my poem book most of the day.
I took Cassie for our evening and night walks.


Tuesday 26- 97 degrees with a stiff breeze.
I did my stretches, lifted weights, yoga, took Cassie for ran a mile run, core trainer, punched the heavybag for about two minutes and swam for about 20 minutes or so.
I did my stretches, lifted 10lb dumbbells and went for my evening walk with Cassie and listened to lecture 9;  Earth-Sun-Moon System I & II, from Astro 10P Fall 2006 UC Berkeley.
I did my studies; a lesson in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: A woman’s face.
Read from my old history book “A Short History of Western Civilization” chapter two: The Diffusion of Near Eastern Civilization 1750-800 BC- section 1; Invasion and Diffusion.
I practiced my guitar.


Wednesday 27-  114 degrees.
I did my stretches and took Cassie for a walk.
I was going to go to town with Cassie and visit Sherry, but my rear left tire was flat. So I worked on that taking the tire off looking for a nail; I found two of them. I would have patched them but it got too dang hot and I had to get myself out of the heat and cool off.
I worked on poem book the rest of the day.
I took Cassie for a night walk when it was cool.



Thursday 28- 105 degrees clear skies.
I did my stretches and took Cassie for walk.
I had to fix the flat so I could go to Home Depot to get parts for stove I thought I already had. Went to WalMart to get pool cleaning float thingy.
I got home and shared a whole roasted chicken with Cassie.
We went for a night walk.


Friday 29- 109 degrees.
I did my stretches. Ground too hot for Cassie’s walk.
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website , added some new code sent to me by Teresa to link to CMMCA Blog. I had to tweak it some so it’d open on a new tab and worked it around to find a proper place for it on the website. I sent out the Newsletter.
I took Cassie for an evening walk.
For four hours I went through 15 years of potlucks in search for pics of Chris Jonas so I can show them at his memorial tomorrow.


Saturday 30- around 111 degrees.
Sherry came by and me her and Roger are chipping in to buy pizza for the memorial today.
I did my stretches, lifted weights, yoga, core trainer, took Cassie for a short walk, and punched the heavybag for three minutes.
I cooked up my chili and rice casserole for the memorial.
There must have been close to a hundred folks there for Chris Jonas Memorial Potluck. I took many pictures and ate too much food. Goodbye Chris my Friend!
On my way home I stopped off at Kelly’s and dropped off some of the leftovers.
Too dang tired to do anything right now. I think I’ll just watch a movie.







Sunday 31- 112 degrees.
I did my stretches and took Cassie for a walk.
I called Family and Friends throughout the day.
I went for a 20 minutes swim.
I heard Cassie barking and it was our iguana friend again. She seemed comfortable with me holding her so I took a few pics before I let her go. I had left the hose in Cassie's pool so it would give critters something to grab onto and climb out. I think this one likes the water. I wasn't holding her tight at all; she could have left anytime.
Cassie and me went for an evening and night walk.



***** Stuff I Wrote this Week******

Dreams they be of silken clouds or wooded hollows where nymphs such as thee may be found. Sad be I in darkest realms of mind for thy heart was giveth to another earthly soul not mine. So far apart, least I say from far away, love had come in hopes to stay. I rest my brow in fists of rage and tears, linger no more shall I in ignorant bliss for thy sorrows of madness I resist.
~RD

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