Welcome to the Month of November! - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 60 to 83, NW-SW winds of 4 to 11 MPH with gusts up to 24, humidity around 37 percent, lots of altostratus clouds through out the day. According to the National Weather Service “Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 75. Southwest wind between 5 and 11 mph. Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 51. West wind around 7 mph.”
I’m going to make this a quick post because I’m really tired tonight! Mostly I worked in the shop again sorting and throwing away stuff. I also called a few Friends and Family during the day.
I forgot to write in yesterdays journal that my friend Joel brought my mail just before I went on my nightly run. My order for the Bluetooth mini dongle was among the letters, cools! This was the first time I had to set one up using Microsoft’s Bluetooth Wizard and I screwed it up by selecting “Fax Modem” instead of “Dialup Networking” and I wondered why it was so slow, duh. I quickly found the trouble and fixed it, now its running much faster.
Went for my evening walk and then settle down to do some webwork.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night after I set all the clocks back an hour.
Sunday 02 - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 62 to 79, W winds of 9 to 14 MPH with gusts up to 27, humidity around 40 percent, lots of altostratus clouds throughout the day. According to the National Weather Service “Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 71. Light wind becoming southwest between 11 and 14 mph. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 50. West wind between 9 and 11 mph.”
I messed around with my computers much of the morning. I wanted to see how far away from the Bluetooth modem I could go before the signal died. I was still getting good reception from my camper that sits in the front yard and that seems to be over 30 feet away.
Called a few Friends and Family throughout the day. Leanne called and we had a nice chat. Last week she was off the coast of Mexico in international waters when I tried to call her and the cell reception was lousy.
Went for my evening walk. The wind was gusting pretty well out of the west; there were plenty of clouds but not a drop of rain.
My friend Mac came by for a short visit. He’s been out of town for a spell and hasn’t seen my patio yet so I gave him the grand tour.
I watched “Point Break” (1991) Directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Starring Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey, and Lori Petty. It’s about a bunch of surfers who rob banks to support their lifestyle, and an undercover FBI agent who infiltrates their gang and becomes passionate with the surfing culture. Great movie! Makes me want to go out to do something exciting instead of my mundane day to day life I lead! Hey, I did skydived once but ended on crutches for two weeks or so.
Watched “Monk” on NBC about a rich philanthropist who is murdered by his wife during an earthquake to cover up the crime.
Did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Monday 03 - did my stretches, ran two miles, rode my bike, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 57 to 79, W-SW winds of 4 to 11 MPH with gusts up to 18, humidity around 36 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 68. West wind between 11 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 47. West northwest wind between 13 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.”
Ron Dehart dropped off a pair of his old running shoes for me: I don’t mind hand-me-downs!
I printed up a voting guide for Mac who came over to pick it up. Did some work around the house, gathered my dirty laundry and went over to Stoney’s to use his washer and dryer. We sat around jawing and watching “Cash Cab” where this guy drives around in his cab picking up contestants for a quiz show in the back of his cab. One woman got so excited when she and her friends won that it made me laugh. I thought it was a very original idea having a quiz show in a cab. Stoney liked it too.
Got home to go on my evening walk. The Sun now sets an hour earlier because of the time change and I still haven’t gotten used to it yet. It seems like I run out of day before my day starts.
Joel dropped by with my mail and $75 towards the computer I sold him. He is happy with the computer and that makes me feel mighty fine that I could help him out.
Had a brief chat with Kevin. Then read a few chapters in “Pale Blue Dot”. I also got caught up on my astronomy reading that I’ve been neglecting lately.
Watched “Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles”. Their home is robbed and all the diamonds and IDs are stolen. Summer Glau who plays Cameron, a former Skynet Infiltrator reprogrammed by the future John Connor to protect present day John Connor, she is hot!
Did my stretches, lifted weights, and went for my nightly run. Practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Tuesday 04 - did my stretches, ran two miles, rode my bike, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 58 to 70, W-NW winds of 10 to 16 MPH with gusts up to 30, humidity around 37 percent, skies were mostly clear. According to the National Weather Service “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 62. North northwest wind around 14 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 42. North northwest wind between 8 and 10 mph.”
Seimi came by with some National Geographic magazines that had articles on astronomy he wanted me to read. I printed out the answer from steve98052 to his question: are there more atoms in a glass of water than glasses of water in the oceans? I rounded up all the parts for a small telescope I have and will repair it and give to Seimi.
Wrote my column for the newspaper and sent it in.
UPS delivered the 2Gig replacement from Crucial.com. I installed it in the Dell Mini and it booted right up with no problems at all.
I read another chapter in “Pale Blue Dot” and then went for my evening walk.
Kevin called to tell me about his day. When I got off the phone with him an hour later I turned on the TV to watch the election results. I got so interested in what was going on that I stayed glued to the tube until Obama gave his victory speech in Chicago. Obama gave an elegant speech and all our hopes now reside with him, and I tend to believe him. Lets us hope this is a new beginning for our nation and not just a bunch of political hype.
Did my stretches, lifted weights, and went for a windy and cold nightly run. It was so windy that sand was stinging the back of my exposed legs and I had to put much effort running down the hill against the wind. Practiced my guitar. I was writing to my journal when Andrew called and we jawed for over an hour about the election and other things. Finished my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Wednesday 05 - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 51 to 67, N-NW winds of 6 to 11 MPH, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 68. North northwest wind between 8 and 14 mph. Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 47. Northwest wind around 9 mph.”
I jumped in the Gross Polluter and headed on into town. I needed to stop off at the post office to pick up a package and send out that bad memory chip back to crucial.com. I got all that done and headed over to McDonalds to use their WIFI, Dell Taco doesn’t have free WIFI anymore, to download some critical updates to the Dell Mini. It cost me $2.95 for two hours but it was worth it because it would take days instead of minutes to download them on dialup. I spent the whole two hours there and ate a double quarter pounder with cheese (I felt like treating myself). After I got all the updates, I went over to Bank of America to deposit a couple of checks. I went to get some supplies on over at WalMart and Stater Bros.
I got back home just in time to go on my evening walk before it got dark. Then I yakked at Kevin for almost an hour. Read a few more chapters in “Pale Blue Dot” until “Bones” came on Fox. It was about an artist who was found crushed in a automobile in a junk yard that was one of his artistic creations.
Did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Friday 07 - did my stretches, ran two miles, rode my bike, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 49 to 73, light breeze, humidity around 25 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 77. North northwest wind between 5 and 9 mph. Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 51. West wind between 9 and 17 mph.”
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website, sent out the newsletter, and finally put last month’s Potlucks pictures up.
Worked around the house doing little knick knacks here and there. Watered the plants and did some yard work.
Got a call from a nice lady who has been receiving my mail at her PO Box and wanted to know what to do with it. It turns out that it is my old box from seven years ago and I gave her my “new” address to forward my mail and thanked her. I thought that very nice of her to be so concerned.
Went on my evening walk and listened to an astronomy lecture about the life cycle of our Sun. To make a long story short it will go through a few phases after it falls off the main sequence five billion years from now; burn most of its hydrogen fuel as its diameter expands to form a Red Giant. Helium replaces hydrogen in the core. Hydrogen still fuses a layer around the core as it condenses and heats up. At 100 million Kelvin helium starts to burn in the core producing carbon and oxygen. While all this is happening the outer layers are being breathed out forming a planetary nebula. When all the helium is turned into carbon, the core collapses down into a White Dwarf with electrons packed tightly together (what is called electron degeneracy). Basically a White Dwarf is a diamond and does not fuse matter but shines under its stored heat.
Kevin called and we yakked for a spell, then I read a few more chapters in “Pale Blue Dot”.
Did my stretches, lifted weights, and went for my nightly run. Practiced my guitar, and then watched “Numbers” on CBS. It was about a lady magician who disappears for good after doing one of her illusions.
Wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Saturday 08 - did my stretches. Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 52 to 74, slight breese , clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Sunday: Areas of blowing dust. Mostly sunny, with a high near 65. Windy, with a west northwest wind between 26 and 30 mph, with gusts as high as 41 mph. Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 42. West northwest wind 13 to 16 mph decreasing to between 5 and 8 mph. Winds could gust as high as 22 mph.”
Did my chores around the house sweeping up this and that, making it all pretty. I called Family and Friends throughout the day. Some were home and some were not.
I drove the Gross Polluter over to the community center for their annual general election where we elect the members of the board. About twenty folks showed up- the Board outnumbered the audience. I got there at 1pm just in time to catch the food that was laid out for us members, and it was quite a spread of grub. Someone made some peanut butter cookies that were mighty fine. There was a vegetable plate with dip, ham and beef sandwiches, and a fruit platter. After lunch, order was restored and the Board was back in session. There wasn’t anyone willing to run against the board so there was a motion to reelect the Board members, somebody second the motion. Therefore, we had a new Board of directors for our community, which was the old Board members, but that’s okay. They shuffled around the leadership a bit and Steve Tuttle, who is now President, said that we only have enough money in the coffers to run the community for two more years. He is going to see if he can get a grant from the county to try to extend it at further a bit. We all said our goodbyes and I was off for home with a couple of sandwiches I absconded from the leftovers. I got home and went on my evening walk listening to “The Life Cycle of the Sun” again. I’ll have to add to what I’d written about it yesterday, but not now because it is late and I am tired.
Went online to do some webwork that lasted until very late. Then I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night. The winds are just now starting to blow pretty hard!
Sunday 09 - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 47 to 68, NW winds at 23-25 with gusts that will blow yer outhouse down, humidity around 38 percent, dark altostratus clouds but no rain for us. According to the National Weather Service “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 64. Calm wind becoming west between 11 and 14 mph. Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 43. West wind between 5 and 7 mph.”
I called my old boating friend Richard Pearson, Hotise, to talk of old friends and times gone past. There was a friend of ours who lived out on the moorings on a Columbia 22’ sailboat and we couldn’t figure out his last name. Well I thought about it after we hung up and it was Fletcher, Larry Fletcher. After Larry moved off the moorings he found a house on PCH just south of Torrance Blvd in Redondo. This was in the mid 80s and he had a Commodore 64 computer that he used to communicate with others around the world by using Fido Net. He would receive data for a BBS (Bulletin Board System) from a computer in Australia via modem and relay it to another in New Mexico, who would then relay it to some other computer on the net. I thought that was rather intriguing! I think this would be considered the precursor to the Internet we all love and use today.
It was cold and windy outside so I messed around inside sorting through some old memorabilia. I called Stoney and he said that he was in the process of baking peanut butter cookies. I jumped on my Trusty Scooter and was over there to eat them while they were still hot out of the oven! I must have eaten six or seven of them. While I was there we watched a hilarious movie Starring Will Ferrell called “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” about a NASCAR driver who loses his ability to race.
It was too cold and windy for an evening walk so I read a few more chapters in “Pale Blue Dot. Called up my friend Larry Carlock and yakked at him for a spell.
I watched “Monk” on NBC about a passenger on an airplane that Mr. Monk was on, who murdered his wife and replaced her with a double. Then “Secrets of the Dead: Escape from Auschwitz” came on PBS about the escape of two Slovak Jews Rudolph Vrba and Alfred Wetzler from Auschwitz to warn others of what the Nazis were doing to Jews in the camps. They may have saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from a horrible fate that would have been awaiting them at the hands of the SS.
Did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Monday 10 - did my stretches, ran two miles, rode my bike, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 46 to 66, NW to SE winds at 4-8, humidity around 47 percent, altostratus clouds later in the evening just passing by. According to the National Weather Service “Veterans Day: Mostly sunny, with a high near 66. Calm wind becoming east northeast between 4 and 7 mph. Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 52. Northwest wind between 6 and 14 mph.”
I worked on the Gross Polluter fixing a problem that has troubled me for some time now. When I start the engine the battery light comes on and I have to pull the cable off the battery and then reconnect it for it to charge, this shouldn’t happen! The engine keeps running with the battery disconnected, which is good, and when I reconnect the battery the engine bogs down showing that it’s charging the battery, weird. I found out what was wrong the other night when I was leaving Mac’s after dinner. When I went to reconnect the battery I saw a light coming from the alternator where there shouldn’t be a light. It was where the cable connects from the wiring system to the alternator. So today I took it apart to clean and found that the light was caused by a bad connection that was arcing. Now the truck runs fine and the problem solved.
Stoney called to say that he made spaghetti and I should come over to help him eat it. So I did a few other things around the house, went for my evening walk and listened to an astronomy questions and answers lecture, and got caught up on my astronomy reading. Then I went on over to Stoney’s. The spaghetti was great; I had two plates full, and ate a few more of his homemade peanut butter cookies. But the spaghetti western we watched “God’s Gun” (1976) was so bad it was worth watching to see if it got any worse, and it did! It starred Lee Van Cleef, Jack Palance, and Richard Boone, three fine actors who should have left this one alone! It was one of the worst westerns I ever watched that was worth watching.
When I got home I had a message from Joel Levy asking if I copied Iron Eyes Cody’s pictures to CD for his trip to Hollywood tomorrow, I hadn’t, so I did that right away and gave him a call to pick them up.
I watched “Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles” where John goes down to Mexico with his girlfriend and ends up in jail, with the evil Terminator hot on his trail.
Did my stretches, lifted weights, and went for my nightly run.
Read a chapter in “Pale Blue Dot” until late. Did you know that if the Sun was suddenly turned off that the atmosphere of the Earth would freeze and plummet to the surface creating a layer 30 feet thick! Then I practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night
Veterans Day - did my stretches, ran two miles, rode my bike, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 49 to 69, NW to NE winds at 4-10, humidity around 30 percent, light clouds later in the day. According to the National Weather Service “Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 74. Northwest wind between 9 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 54. West northwest wind around 11 mph.”
I wrote my column for the newspaper and sent it to them.
I spent a little time working on Joel’s old computer that won’t boot. It turns out that the Ram had died and I replaced it with a good one I had laying around. It works fine now but it is an old 500Mz Pentium III white box with XP Pro trying to run on 128Megs of RAM: it is very slow!
I decided to get out my electric guitar that I haven’t played in a few years. There was a broken string to be replaced and I did that. I’d start playing and another string would break, and I replaced that too. After the third string broke I gave it up for the day.
I went for my evening walk and then over to Stoney’s to help him and Roger Smith try to finish off that spaghetti from yesterday. Roger updated us on a trial he was a witness in, of a lady in our area who shot an evil old man in self defense who was about to attack her. The story goes something like this: he threatened her and she pulled out a 22 handgun. He said to her “you ain’t going to shoot me with that pea shooter” (these were his last words) and lunged at her and she shot him several times. This evil man was known to the area as a bully and killed dogs by hanging them with barbed wire. At first no charges were filed because it was self defense, but an aggressive prosecutor, wasting our tax money, changed all that and she spent almost a year in prison awaiting trial. Well she was finally acquitted and set free just a few days ago. Good for her!
Got home and watched “Nova: Alien from Earth” on PBS about the discovery of the 18,000 year old remains of a new human species of hobbits who thrived on the Indonesian island of Flores hunting dwarf elephants. Very fascinating!
Did my stretches, lifted weights, and was on my evening run when Chris dropped by to give me the list of winners from tonight’s bingo. We jawed for a while and then I continued my run.
When I got back there was a message on my answering machine from Joel who is in Hollywood for an interview with a Canadian TV production crew doing a special on Iron Eyes Cody. Joel said that he had just pulled over to make the call to me when a car pulled up in front of him. The driver got out and approached a lady standing on the sidewalk and talked to her for a minute, then he went over to his car, opened up the trunk, and a man emerged from inside! The driver, the lady, and the trunk guy proceeded to go into a nearby restaurant. Joel now calls this town Hollyweird!
Practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Wednesday 12 - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 51 to 78, winds NW 4, humidity around 33 percent, light clouds. According to the National Weather Service “Thursday...Sunny. Highs in the lower 80s. North wind 10 to 15 mph. Gusts up to 35 mph in the afternoon. Thursday Night...Clear. Lows in the upper 50s. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph. Gusts up to 25 mph after midnight.”
I had to go to town today to send off a couple of birthday cards. I did a few things around the house first before I went. Then I hopped into the Gross Polluter and headed off to town. I mailed off the cards and hung around Joshua Tree looking for a WIFI hotspot that I could hook into: there were none.
I stopped by the Health Food Store to pick up some yeast for my oatmeal, but they only had a little bit left, not even a pound, and I bought it all. The kind lady said they’d get some in next week.
The Beatnik Café was one place that had WIFI but it is close down over a dispute over a long term lease the sign said on the door. I went to the library but all they had was a row of computers on Ethernet and no WIFI. They did have some 1Gig USB thumb drives they were selling for the low price of $7 and I bought me one. One problem with the library now is that there was no place to sit down to read a book because the computers take up so much space. I didn’t count them but I believe there are ten computers there and they were all occupied by folks tediously pounding away at the keyboards.
I wandered the streets of Joshua Tree just taking in the sights and the people. I stopped in at the Teacakes Bakery. I was going to buy a loaf of their excellent bread but they were all sold out, so I settled for a peanut butter cookie (I like peanut butter cookies) and ate it around back where they have a little outside alcove with tables and chairs.
Got back home and went on my evening walk. It was such a nice day with the temps into the mid 70s and a light breeze. Went online to do a little webwork and then watched “Bones” on Fox about a man who was blown out of a confiscated crack lab trailer during a police training exercise.
I then read a chapter in “Pale Blue Dot” until late. Did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Thursday 13 - did my stretches, ran two miles, rode my bike, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 54 to 81, winds NW 4 to 10 MPH, humidity around 30 percent, light clouds. According to the National Weather Service “Friday: Sunny, with a high near 79. Breezy, with a north northwest wind between 14 and 22 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Friday Night: Clear, with a low around 54. North wind between 8 and 11 mph.”
My friend Kula called from Hawaii where she is on a “business” trip with her girlfriend and working hard at having fun.
I worked on Joel’s computer saving all his files to CD and doing a little clean up of the system. He called, while I was doing this, to say he is back from Hollywood and the interview with the Canadian Production company went very well. He’ll pick up his computer tomorrow.
Did a little work in the yard and watered the plants. Then I went on my evening walk with no lectures to listen to- I’ll download one tonight.
Called my brother Kevin to yak at him for a spell, and then I read a chapter in “Pale Blue Dot”. Afterwards I started reading a Sci-Fi book called “Black on Black” (1999) by K.D. Wentworth, about an alien who was kidnapped off his home world and returns 30 years later to find out why.
My old friend Bob Vandenberg called to say he and his wife are going to visit me here at my home this Saturday, cool! Now I’ll have to clean the place up, bummer!
Did my stretches, lifted weights, and went for my nightly run. Practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Friday 14 - did my stretches, ran a mile, rode my bike, and lifted weights. Saw a tarantula while I was on my run. I haven’t seen one of these in years; this one was brown and about the size of a kindergartner’s hand.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 56 to 80, winds NNW 6 to 18 MPH, humidity around 26 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 76. North northwest wind between 8 and 13 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 50. Northwest wind around 7 mph.”
I did the weekend update for the Copper Mountain Mesa Website putting up a bunch of pictures and sent out the newsletter.
I then spent most of the day cleaning the house getting it ready for tomorrow’s visit of my friend Bob Vandenberg and his wife Linda. If Bob came by himself I wouldn’t need to do all this dang cleaning.
Went for my evening walk. When I got back I called my Mom and Dad, I usually call them on Saturday but I will be busy with company.
Joel came by to pick up his computer and brought a pizza! We sat around eating and Joel told me all about his trip to Hollywood.
Read two chapters in “Pale Blue Dot” and the Sci-Fi book. I did my stretches before “Numbers” came on CBS. It was about a park ranger who was found dead on his surfboard.
Practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Saturday 15 - did my stretches.Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 57 to 76, light breeze out of the NW at 4-8 MPH, humidity around 24 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 76. Calm wind becoming north northeast around 6 mph. Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 50. Northwest wind between 3 and 6 mph.”
Bob and Linda Vandenberg showed up around 1pm and I drove out to Border Ave, to meet them. It has been almost 20 years since we seen one another and I was really thrilled that they would come all this way from Temecula for the reunion. 
They had brought their wedding album from 1978 where I was the “Best Man” and I scanned then into my computer. We looked so young in them days and that 70s show has nothing on us. I gave them the grand tour of my property and my solar home. We sat around in my patio reminiscing on old times and bring ourselves up to date with the present. 
Bob and I hung around back in the late 60s and early 70s and we got into all kinds of mischief. We all have amended our ways and don’t indulge in any kind of mind expanding things now except books. Well it was the 70s! After we got all yapped out I suggested that we go down to the Sizzler restaurant in Yucca Valley for dinner before they had to leave for home.
So they followed me in the Gross Polluter with their car down to the “Big City”. I was buying and we all decided to have the salad bar. We got mighty stuffed out on the variety of grub that the salad bar offered. Before they left we picked up a copy of the Hi Desert Star that has my column in it for a keepsake. Then it was all hugs and then they were gone from my life again, for a little while I hope! It was worth all the cleaning of my house for their visit!When I got back home to find Fat Cat at the front gate waiting to be fed. To wind down from all the excitement of the day, I went online to read my emails and mindlessly surf the web until late into the night. Then I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Sunday 16 - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 55 to 80, light breeze out of the NNW at 4-6 MPH, humidity around 22 percent, clear but hazy skies. According to the National Weather Service “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 77. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph. Monday Night: Clear, with a low around 48. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm.”
Basically I didn’t do a darn thing today but kick back to yak at Family and Friends on the cell phone.
I went for my evening walk and listened to astronomy lecture on Nebulas. A Nebula is interstellar dust consisting of hydrogen, helium, and other trace elements. Nebulas are formed by dying stars that blow out their atmospheres; from Red Giants or Supernovas. New stars are born in Nebulas. There are two kinds of nebula: reflecting and emission. A Reflecting Nebula reflects light from a nearby bright star, and its color is blue. An Emission Nebula is usually the process of new stars being born within and the light from these stars or protostars excites electrons in atoms of the Nebula to higher energies to emit photons. Emission Nebulas are red in color.
My friend Kula called to ask about the Leonid Meteor Shower that peaks on the 17th and 18th of this month. I told her that the Moon would probably washout any meteors and the smoke from the fires would be another obstacle. I’m not going to bother with this one but I might go out to take a peak just in case!
Bob Vandenberg called needing help formatting and restoring his computer, and I walked him through the process: he had a bad virus on his system.
I read some “Pale Blue Dot” until “Monk” was suppose to come on NBC, but instead they put on “The Office” that I find very boring, and then “Saturday Night Live” that I don’t care to watch anymore. I did watch the news about all the fires in Sothern California, some that I wasn’t aware of, and then I went back to my reading cursing NBC!
Did my stretches, practiced my guitar and came up with another verse to the song I’m writing, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Monday 17 - did my stretches, ran two miles, rode my bike, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 54 to 78, light breeze, humidity around 22 percent, clear but hazy skies. According to the National Weather Service “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 81. Calm wind becoming east southeast around 5 mph. Tuesday Night: Clear, with a low around 47. South southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.”
My credit card company’s fraud department called asking me if I made online purchases of a couple of items last week, and I told them I didn’t. They had called me last Friday telling me about the fraudulent purchases. At that time they canceled the account and had me cut up my credit card. I guess this was a follow up call and they are sending me a form to fill out and sign. The new card should arrive in about five days or so. I hate thieves!
I decided to extend the patio a little more in the front of the house. So I was outside digging holes, cutting wood and pounding nails for the better part of the day. I had to quit before the Sun went down and I still have much to do, but the hardest part is done.
Went for my evening walk re-listening to an astronomy lecture on the life of the Sun. Then I read a chapter in “Pale Blue Dot”.
I had a quick chat with my brother Kevin. He was trying to fix our Sister’s daughter’s laptop and asked my opinion on what may be wrong.
And then Bob Vandenberg called needing help on his computer. I needed to talk with him anyways about a girl in one of the wedding pictures that I posted on the web. I had a number of folks send me emails about her and if I ever went out with her; I didn’t and it’s been haunting me ever since. When Bob and Linda came for their visit and I first saw the picture of her I wondered the same thing, why didn’t I ask her out? She never married he told me and lives in Washington. Well hell it’s been thirty years and the worst that can happen is she can turn me down, so I asked him to have Linda get in touch with her for me.
Watched “Terminator: The Sara Conner Chronicles” on Fox. Dang good show! Saw an advertisement for the new Star Trek movie that will be out in May! I can’t wait!!!
Did my stretches, lifted weights, and went for my nightly run. When I got back I stayed out looking for any meteors from the Leonid Shower until Moon rise but didn’t see a one. Practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Tuesday 18 - did my stretches, ran a mile. I had to cut my exercises short because Mac needed a ride to pick up his truck that was in for repairs in Twentynine Palms. So I drove over first thing after I did my run and ate my breakfast.Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 52 to 77, light breeze, humidity around 23 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 79. Light north wind. Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 48. Calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph.”
When I got back from Twentynine Palms I went right to work on my patio and finished it all up but the painting, which I’ll hopefully do tomorrow.
I completed my exercises: rode my bike and lifted weights. Took a shower and went on my evening walk listening to an astronomy lecture on the “Lives of Other Stars”. I’ll have to re-listen to this tomorrow and write about it then.
Read a chapter in “Pale Blue Dot” and then a little Sci-Fi until “NCIS” on CBS came on. It was about a sting to find the mole in NCIS.
Did my stretches, lifted weights, and went for my nightly run. I practiced my guitar. Wrote my column for the newspaper, that I usually write in the mornings, and sent it in. Wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Wednesday 19 - did my stretches. Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 50 to 79, calm winds, humidity around 23 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 77. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph. Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 49. West southwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm.”
Got right to work on painting the new addition to the patio. Dale from Landers called and I talked while I painted. I gave it some thick coats of white paint and then screwed on the lattice panel after I let it dry for a spell. That should block a lot of wind and dust from reaching my house from the dirt road that runs past.
I read some Sci-Fi after I had a nice chat with Jimmy. He just went through a long process of becoming a expert rifle trainer and will be forming a class for the 4H club after the first of the year. He already has around fourteen youths signed up for his class and needs .22 rifles for the kids to practice with, I told him he could borrow mine that been gathering dust in the corner of my bedroom. He may come out after Thanksgiving to visit his dad, Stoney, if he can get his family schedule in sync.
I went for my evening walk re-listening to the lecture on “Lives of Other Stars”. Smaller stars with 0.26 solar masses, our Sun is one solar mass, use convection unlike larger star’s Radiative Transport , and mixes the hydrogen in their atmospheres like a lava lamp which causes these small stars to burn all their hydrogen efficiently into helium and are not hot enough to burn helium (what is called helium flash). Their life span can be over 100 billion years and bypasses the red giant stage and goes right to being a white dwarf with a helium core. Stars one and a half time larger than on solar mass also use convection and smoothly transitions to burn heavier elements. Stars with over five solar masses, depending on Mass Loss, go supernova turning into Neutron Stars or Black Holes. Depending on how large a star determines what elements the star eventually burns, the degenerate gas pressure which holds the core from collapsing, and what element ignites a supernova. Population three stars were the first stars to ever form, with over 250 solar masses, and used proton/proton chain reactions to fuse hydrogen into helium to form the first heavier elements. These stars had a life of a few million years and enriched the early universe with these first heavy elements so that smaller stars could form.
Did some webwork online until “Bones” came on FOX. It was about a body of a woman found in a large microwave over aboard a jetliner headed to China.
Did my stretches, practiced my guitar and broke a string when I was into a heavy jam, dang I hate when that happens! Wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Thursday 20 - did my stretches, ran two miles, rode my bike, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 50 to 80, dead calm winds, humidity around 23 percent, high cirrus clouds with lots of moisture. According to the National Weather Service “Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 74. Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph. Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 47. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm.”
Mac called asking me if I wanted a couple of hot water solar panels, all I need do is help him unload his trailer. I drove over to his place, hooked up his trailer to his truck, drove it to my house, unloaded the panels, then drove back and unloaded the rest of the trailer in his yard. This all took about two hours and when we got done there was only a few hours of daylight left. It seems that my day runs out before I get started!
Did a few minor chores around the house that I’ve been procrastinating on and needed to get done. Then I went on my evening walk and re-listened to “Live of Other Stars” Podcast. I was especially interested in Mass Loss of stars and one class of star, the Wolf-Rayet, have over 20 solar masses, are very hot, and their stellar winds exceed of 1000 MPS which eject a lot of matter giving it a high rate of Mass Loss. If you remember that large stars, with over five solar masses, Mass Loss plays an important role in determining if the star will become a Neutron star, a Black Hole, or even (some believe) a white dwarf. So there is more to this transition to a Neutron star, a Black Hole, or a white dwarf than I was led to believe. And it isn’t set in stone depending on just how massive a star is.
I read a little bit of “Pale Blue Dot”, restrung my guitar and played a few songs. Then I did my stretches, lifted weights, and went for my nightly run early so I finish just in time for “CSI” on CBS. It had the Miniature Killer back on and I wanted to see what that was all about.
Practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Friday 21 - did my stretches, ran two miles, rode my bike, and lifted weights. George dropped by for a short chat in the middle of my exercises on his way to Wonder Valley where he lives. He might have a rear hatch for my camper shell so we measured it and I jotted down the dimensions on an old envelope for him.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 51 to 75, dead calm winds, humidity around 26 percent, high cirrus clouds with lots of moisture. According to the National Weather Service “Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 73. Calm wind becoming southeast between 4 and 7 mph. Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 46. Southwest wind between 5 and 8 mph becoming calm.”
I worked on the weekend update for the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
I need more places to store my books and other stuff so I started installing more shelf space in the living room. There was screwing, sawing, and sanding going on till the Sun drew low on the western horizon. I only have the painting left to do tomorrow.
I went for my evening walk and gave my lectures a day off. When I got back I read a chapter in “Pale Blue Dot” and only have a few chapters left to read. I read a few chapters in the Sci-Fi book and got caught up with my astronomy reading too.
I did my stretches and then watched “Numbers” on CBS. About a train that was carrying hazardous materials derailed and then a passenger train plowed into it. The hazardous material was leaking and there were passengers still trapped inside the wreck waiting to be saved. I thought it was the worst Numbers I have seen only because it was the FBI instead of the fire department that saved the trapped folks. I would believe that the fire department would be better trained and equipped to do the rescue.
I practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Saturday 22 - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 50 to 71, winds are calm, humidity around 24 percent, high cirrus clouds with lots of moisture. According to the National Weather Service “Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 75. Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph. Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 46. Southwest wind between 3 and 6 mph.”
I was doing the painting of my shelves when Joel called needing some help putting a trailer hitch onto his truck. He came and picked me up and we drove to his house. I got the hitch hooked up with no problems. He was just moving the trailer out to the front of his yard near the street so folks driving by would notice the for sale sign on it. Cool, no problem, I thought. Then he drives right onto the soft dirt, I told him not to go any farther or he’d get the truck stuck, but he did it anyways and the truck was stuck. It kind of pissed me off because I’d be the one digging it out, and I did, all the while tell him what a dumb thing he did. I kind of felt bad about that afterwards, but not too much.
While I was painting the shelves I decided to paint some of the patio that I haven’t gotten to yet. You know the saying: a little here and a little there gets the job done. I got whole lots of “little heres and a little theres” to do!
While the paint was drying on the shelves I called a few Friends and Family and chatted with them for a spell. Then I took the dry shelves inside and screwed them into the brackets that hold them onto the wall. They look really nice and will wait until tomorrow when they are fully dry to load them full of books and other knickknacks.
Went for my evening walk and called my folks when I got back. Then I went online to do some webwork until late into the evening.
Did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Sunday 23 - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 49 to 65, winds are calm, humidity around 27 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Monday...Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower to mid 70s. Northeast wind around 10 mph shifting to the southeast in the afternoon. Monday Night...Mostly cloudy. Lows in the upper 40s. Light wind.”
I did a few more of them knickknacks around the house, always busy doing something. I did some yard work too, watering plants, digging, and picking up trash. There is a possibility of rain this week starting around Tuesday sometime so I spent time getting ready for it. I hope the leaks I patched after the last rains don’t leak again!
Called some Family and Friends and chatted with them for a spell. I kept Kevin on the phone for an hour when he started talking computers.
Went for my evening walk and then read a chapter in “Pale Blue Dot” and a bunch of chapters in the Sci-Fi book.
Joel brought me over a steak dinner that he cooked up and it was dang good! Then “Monk” came on NBC! I thought that NBC would screw it up again and put another show on, but they didn’t. It was about an actor who was stabbed on stage in front of a live audience by Sharona’s actress sister.
Did my stretches and was practicing guitar when Mike from Hermosa Beach called to jaw for a bit. Then I wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Monday 24 - did my stretches. I banged my ankle a few days ago and now there is a rainbow of colors there, plus my shoulder is hurting again. So I decided to take a vacation from any running and lifting weights until next week. It looks like we’ll be having bad weather for this week anyways and also the Thanksgiving Holiday too, so it’s as good a time as any to take a break to let my poor old tired tatter weary worthless useless body recuperate.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 48 to 68, winds are calm, humidity around 30 percent, altostratus clouds lingering most of the day. According to the National Weather Service “Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67. West wind 5 to 14 mph becoming south southeast. Tuesday Night: A 50 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 49. South wind around 6 mph becoming north northwest.”
I needed to pick up some stuff for Thanksgiving and headed over to Stater Brothers in Twentynine Palms. I checked out the new store nearby called The Dollar Tree. I was looking at an item but it had no price, in fact nothing I looked at had a price label. So I asked a worker there what the price was. She looked at me like I was mentally challenged and told me that everything in the store was a dollar. Well now I felt like an idiot! They actually have some decent stuff and I ended up buying a bunch of needed knickknacks. Then I went down the street to Rite Aid and finally found the long sought-after shoe horn I’ve been looking for, and I tried many stores and not a shoe horn in the lot. Most of the young store workers, when I ask for a shoe horn, think I mean some kind of musical instrument. Imagine playing a shoe!
Got back home and put everything away and then called Stoney. I had picked up his mail when I was on my way back and left it on his chair in the living room because he wasn’t home at the time. He said he figured it was I who left it. Stoney’s daughter Judy, her husband Denny, and their grandson Dustin are over for the holiday. Judy and Dustin are at Disneyland right now leaving Stoney and Denny to fend for themselves until they get back sometime Tuesday.
I went for a short evening walk and when I got back I made sure everything was put away for the rains we might get tomorrow and the next few days.
I read my books until “Terminator: The Sara Conner Chronicles” came on Fox, about: a lead to the three dots that has Sara obsessing over turns into a scam. Then I read some more till late into the night.
Did my stretches, wrote my column for the newspaper and sent it in, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Tuesday 25 - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 49 to 64, winds are calm, humidity around 39 percent, altostratus clouds throughout the day. According to the National Weather Service “Wednesday: Rain likely, with thunderstorms also possible after 10am. Cloudy, with a high near 63. Calm wind becoming south southwest between 4 and 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Wednesday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 10pm, then a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 48. West wind between 6 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.”
I went for a visit to Frank and Mary’s and talked about the passing of Barbara Turnbough last Thursday, such a sad thing to have happened. It hasn’t been a year since her husband Jerry had passed, and she had been depressed ever since. I’m going to search my files for any pictures of her and Jerry to present them to their son. I’ll even write something nice in my column if the family gives me the okay. We sat around jawing and eating hotdogs for a while. I left to check out my friend’s home nearby; while he is away on vacation- everything was in its place.
Stopped off at Stoney’s to see him and Denny. They were in the living room watching “Bat Masterson” on the Western Channel, so I didn’t hang around long. Judy and Dustin were on their way back from Disneyland, what fun that must have been. I’ll hear all about it from Dustin when I come over for dinner on Thursday.
When I got home I double checked everything outside to make sure I didn’t miss anything that could have been left out in the rain that suppose to be coming later tonight. Then I read my Sci-Fi book till it was time for my evening walk. Called and yakked at Kevin when I got back.
Joel came by with my mail and an apple pie for me! I’ll try not to eat it all tonight.
Read a few chapters in “Pale Blue Dot” until “NCIS” came on CBS. About: Agent Lee who was caught spying and now helping NCIS to catch the master spy who has held her sister threatening to kill her if she didn’t turn over top secret info from the Defense Department. After NCIS I continued reading until I finally finished “Pale Blue Dot” which is a heavy book (five pounds). Most of the book was classic Sagan covering much of what he had written before in his other books. One thing of interest to me was that he mentioned a Gravitational Lens that is 550 AU out from the Sun (One Astronomical Unit= the distance from Earth to the Sun). I’ve never heard that one before and will check it out. With the Gravitational Lens and the right instruments we should be able to possibly see planets of other star systems and see further into the past closer to the Big Bang.
Did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Wednesday 26 - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 51 to 65, winds out of the SE at 4 to 12 MPH, humidity around 69 percent, low stratus clouds bringing rain throughout the day. According to the National Weather Service “Thanksgiving Day: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 64. Northwest wind between 6 and 10 mph. Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 45. Northwest wind between 8 and 10 mph.”
Went outside to have a look-see if there was any leaks from last night’s rain that started falling from our skies around 2am this morning. There were a few leaks but nothing major. I had to fire up the generator to charge my batteries and run the refrigerator because the clouds were so thick and blocking out any light from the Sun. Then I did the usual stuff like checking my email while I ate my oatmeal.
Patty called; her computer monitor died and wondered if I had a spare to lend her till she finds another. I did have an old 15” that I use for testing and hopped in the Gross Polluter to take it to her. She smokes in the house and after I installed the monitor and left I could smell the burned tobacco on my clothes which lingered throughout the day. I hung them outside when I got home. I sometimes don’t like making house calls!
I stopped by Lee and Marcie’s on the way back from Patty’s and yakked at them for a spell. They had these Christmas ornaments, little solders with bells strung together with wire that played Christmas songs! Very cute!
I got home and went on my evening walk. Then I did webwork on the computer till “Bones” came on Fox. About: parts of a skeleton found in a tree.
Called Andrew to tell him about the passing of Barbara, but he already knew about it. We jawed for over an hour!
Did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night. As I write this the rains started falling very heavily around 11pm and are still falling right now at 12:30AM
Thanksgiving Day - did my stretches. My ankle that I banged up is feeling much better and going back to its original color, also my shoulder is better too! I guess I really needed this break from exercising, but next week its back to my exercises for sure.Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 52 to 65, winds out of the NW at 8 MPH, humidity around 47 percent, mostly clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 70. Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 46.”
Late last night and early into the morning we had a few downpours, especially around 3am when it came down really hard. I went outside after I woke up to check on any damages and leaks. It looks like I need to go back on the roof of the shop to patch some more holes. The storm left the streets with crevasses where the water rushed down the hill in front of my house and gathered into ponds at the bottom.
I have two obligations today: One is to go to the community center to take some pictures and eat turkey, the other is to go to Stoney’s afterwards and join him and his family and eat ham. So I decided not to eat any breakfast this morning and to eat as little as I can at the two dinners; fat chance of that but I will try.
I called Friends and Family to wish them all a happy Thanksgiving. The ones that were home we had a nice chat, and the others who were not home I left messages of good cheer.
As 1pm was rolling around I got ready to go to the center with an apple pie and some cans of peas and corn to contribute to the feast. I arrived a little later and started taking pictures. There must have been over twenty folks there. I counted three turkeys that Steve and Ray had gotten started cooking when they arrived at the center at 6:45am. Maryhelen was in exceptionally good cheer as she coordinated the goings on in the kitchen. Bob Seeley led the group in silent prayer to give thanks for what we are thankful for, and then it was everyone for themselves as we lined up to fill our plates with turkey, mash potatoes with gravy, stuffing, and all the usual Thanksgiving fare. The food was very good and everyone praise the gravy; I ate a little more then I should have eaten because it was all mighty fine!
Before I went to Stoney’s I stopped off to feed Fat Cat some turkey, and then paid a visit to Frank and Mary’s. They had their whole family over and they had already eaten dinner, which was fine with me. They offered me pie but I declined. Mary’s Mom, Dad, and Sister were there and I got a picture of all of them together. Then I was off to Stoney’s.
Denny and Judy had cooked up a fabulous meal of ham, scalloped potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Dustin is thirteen now and has grown a foot since I last seen him a year ago; he made the marshmallow fruit salad. Johnny and his wife were also there. Well I think the pecan pie that I had after the meal did me in! I was mighty stuffed when I left. Got home and fed Fat Cat some ham and he ate all that I had, which was a nice big slice that should hold him over till morning. I spent the rest of the night watching the new “Indiana Jones” movie that I got from Roger today at the center. Great movie!
Did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night. I’m still feeling stuffed!
Friday 28 - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 49 to 65, winds out of the NNW at 4 to 12 MPH, humidity around 35 percent, mostly clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 67. North northwest wind between 11 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 47. Northwest wind around 11 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph..”
Didn’t do a dang thing today but mess around with computers! I think I’m recuperating from all that good food I ate yesterday, so I just lazed around the house like a slug.
Went for my evening walk and noticed that there were some folks working on an old abandoned shack down the road from me, so I went to investigate. A lady called Ginger had bought the property had her kids outside digging a trench for the waterline. Her oldest son Chris and his wife lives in JT and when she decided to move from Utah she looked around up here and bought this place. She has several houses that she will be bringing up and she plans on living here. She seems to me to be a nice woman.
Updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the newsletter.
Finished the Sci-Fi book “Black on Black” and then watched “Numb3rs” on CBS, a rerun that I’ve seen before. About a young call girl that was found murdered in a bathtub at an actor’s home.
Did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Saturday 29 - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 50 to 65, winds out of the NNW at 5 to 10 MPH, humidity around 29 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 71. North northwest wind between 11 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 48. North northwest wind between 7 and 9 mph.”
I called Mom and Dad early before I went off to Mike and Stevie’s to attend their dinner party that they have every year for neighbors and friends.
I arrived a little late but dinner was to start later in the day. I went around taking pictures of the guest, some I’ve seen from last year; there were over twenty-five folks who showed up. Mike and Stevie’s home looks like something out of Knox Berry Farm with a lot of rustic decorations out of the old west: wagon wheels, old lanterns, and stuff like that. My good friend and neighbor Joyce Ware showed up and I gave her a big hug. A gal named Cherry who works with Stevie down at the Hi Desert Medical Center showed up on a horse that she rode from Landers that took two hours to traverse. The ride back at night will be pretty cold one but she seemed to be prepared with extra warm clothing. There were lots of kids running around and they seemed more interested in Cherry’s horse than anything else.
I met Dick the butcher who carved the turkeys and found out that he has the buffalos that I used to babysit. He told me that Scott traded them in and that Chief, Buffy, and Sally were doing fine. I’ll have to go out to Dick’s ranch for a visit to my old friends.
Samuel showed up later than I and he showed me an album that he had put together of his family that he hadn’t seem in many years. I am glad to say I played a part in getting him and his father reunited. We started eating around 3:30pm and I was one of the first in line because I had to go to the community center for Potluck. Here I am eating to meals again just like on Thanksgiving, but this time I just sampled small portions of everything, and it was mighty fine grub too! I said my goodbyes and was off to Potluck.
We had a better turnout at Potluck than I expected, nineteen desert folks showed up! There was plenty of good grub to go around and again I just sampled everything. There was: Dana and Karen brought their son, Dyan and her mother Dorothy brought scalloped potatoes, Lee and Marcie Hines had something there but was all gone by the time I got in line after taking pictures, Chris Jonas brought his fantastic macaroni Salad, Bob Seeley contributed a vegetable plate. There was more there but I didn’t find out who brought what, I’ll ask Marcie later if I write this for the column.
When I arrived back home and my belly was mighty full but not as much as it was on Thanksgiving. I think I’ll just lay off on food for a while! I spent most of the rest of the night just mindlessly surfing the web and mellowing out from today’s activities.
Did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Sunday 30 - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 52 to 70, winds out of the NNW at 3 to 8 MPH, humidity around 27 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 73. West northwest wind between 5 and 8 mph becoming calm. Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 51. Southwest wind between 6 and 8 mph.”
It was kind of another slow day just calling a few Friends and Family. I messed around with my computers installing a TV interface on the Asus 701 EEE laptop so that I can watch television on it. The Asus 701 actually has better speakers than any laptop I’ve ever heard. The 7” screen is small but crisp and just right for individual viewing. If it had a decent keyboard I wouldn’t had needed to buy the Dell Mini 9, which I’ve been using to type all my journal entries lately. I do like the small form factor of the Mini. You can toss them into your backpack and be off to town, and they aren’t too small to make them unusable for typing out long documents. A big plus is the Flash drive that loads programs fast like MS Word 2007 that takes forever to load on regular IDE drives.
I burned to CD all the pictures that I took over at Mike and Stevie’s party and drove my Trusty Scooter to their home to deliver them. They were mighty happy and gave me some pecan cookies, yum!
Went for my evening walk, started reading a new Sci-Fi book called “Stars on Stars” a continuation of the book I’ve just finished. Then I watched “60 Minutes” on CBS on my laptop, and then “Monk” on NBC where an accountant for a girly magazine is found dead and Monk is called to figure out if it was murder.
Then I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night. Goodbye to November, you been a very fascinating month!
