Welcome to the month of March! - did my stretches and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 50 and 77 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 24 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Monday: A 20 percent chance of rain after 10am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 78. Calm wind becoming west northwest between 6 and 9 mph. Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 50. West northwest wind between 5 and 7 mph.”
I felt ambitious today and went outside to start digging a trench from my water meter to the font of the house. I dug up the hose I have connected to the meter that runs underground to my home. Bob Vandenberg is going to come out here one of these weekends when he isn’t busy and help me install the pipes and hookup the water to my kitchen sink. Gosh, I’ll have running water inside for the first time and won’t have to carry it in jugs!
I went inside the camper to read a few chapters of “Black Wind”. As the Sun was setting my brother Kevin called and we had a productive chat. Afterwards I went inside the house to read until “60 Minutes” came on CBS about Harry Markopolos who repeatedly tried to blow the whistle on the Bernie Madoff investment fraud to Securities and Exchange Commission but was ignored until investors lost $56 Billion! I think Bernie should be in jail instead of living under house arrest in a luxury hotel apartment! They also had the segment about the war on drugs at the Mexican border where drug lords are winning with guns and drug money from the USA.
Read a few chapters more till “Jesse Stone: Thin Ice” (2009) came on CBS Starring Tom Selleck. Very good show! I love these Jesse Stone series and never miss them when they come on!
Did my stretches, practiced my guitar (after fixing a string I broke last night), wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and will call it a night after I start my column for the newspaper and get a little of it organized to write and send in tomorrow.
Monday 02 - did my stretches and ran two miles.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 51 and 74 degrees, WSW winds 3-11 with gusts to 25, humidity around 24 percent, altocumulus clouds. According to the National Weather Service “Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 72. Light wind becoming south southwest between 12 and 15 mph. Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 45. Northwest wind between 11 and 14 mph becoming calm.”
I finished my newspaper column and sent it in. I didn’t do much else during the day but read “Black Wind” in my camper. I guess that the camper is my little get-a-way where I hide and read, not to be disturbed. I lived in a camper for three or so years while I saved up my money while working as a security guard at an apartment complex on the beach in Redondo. I kind of miss that feeling of smallness and freedom of travel that a camper provides.
Went for my evening walk. When got I back I got a call from my sister Audrey and we had a nice chat. It’s a wonderful thing to talk to Family!
Was going to watch “24” on Fox to see if Jack had finally saved the world from evil, but I couldn’t get the station to come in, dang! I’ll have to see about fixing the UHF antenna someday soon. So I read until very late into the night only to be interrupted a few times to help setup an internet connection on a friend’s computer over the phone. We tried this and that only to discover that there wasn’t a modem on the system! I told him to go and buy one and then give me a call.
Did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Tuesday 03 - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 49 and 68 degrees, WSW winds 4-8 with gusts to 15, humidity around 34 percent, mostly clear. According to the National Weather Service “Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 65. Southwest wind 5 to 8 mph increasing to between 18 and 21 mph. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph. Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43. West southwest wind between 6 and 13 mph.”
I decided that I’d better go to town and get the Gross Polluter smogged. It is a very stressful thing for me; two years ago it didn’t pass the first time and I spent somewhere over $300 to get it to pass. I called up Autosmiths to make an appointment, and they had an opening at 3pm. While I’m in the mood to spend money, I wrote out a check for my property tax to mail in.
On the way to town I dropped off some library books and mailed my property tax. Then I went to Auto Zone in Yucca Valley to get some Pass-or-don’t-Pay for the smog test. I asked about shocks and I bought two heavy duty shocks for the front, and two air shocks for the back which are on backorder. I dumped the Pass-or-don’t-Pay into the tank and was off to Juffy Lube in Twentnine Palms to get an oil change and give the Pass-or-don’t-Pay time to clean things up. While I was sitting waiting for the oil change I heard them laughing at my truck, so I popped my head outside and saw that one of the mechanics couldn’t open the driver side door and was stuck inside. I forgot to tell them that they’d have to pull on the rod that goes to the handle that ain’t there.
With the oil change out of the way, I went over to Stater Bros to get some groceries and then drove home to put them away. I had forty-five minutes before my appointment at Autosmiths in Yucca Valley so it was a quick stop.
Got to Autosmiths on time but still had to wait for them to finish smogging the car ahead of mine. I sat in a small reception room worrying if my truck would pass, while “Squirrel” tested on my vehicle. I heard voices of other mechanics in the background saying things like “it failed” or “waste of time”, that only heightened my fears. As twenty minutes passed into thirty, “Squirrel” appeared and I was expecting the worst, but all he said was “your good to go”, I asked “did it pass”? He said “yup”. With a happy heart I left Autosmiths and headed on home, but first I stopped off at Stoney’s to say hi and see if he made any cookies that he’d said he might bake; he did! I ate four of them while I told him of my adventure in town.
Back home again, I fed Fat Cat and called my brother Kevin. We yakked at each other for over an hour. I watched the evening news; Stocks are down again and I might invest a little more. Then I read a few chapters in “Black Wind” until late into the night.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Wednesday 04 - did my stretches, ran a mile, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 43 and 64 degrees, WSW winds 7-12 with gusts to 25, humidity around 38 percent, mostly clear. According to the National Weather Service “Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 63. West northwest wind around 6 mph. Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40. West southwest wind between 5 and 9 mph.”
I got up early today and after my exercises I went out to the front yard to dig the water ditch to my house, deeper. Wrestled with a water hose which I accidentally hit with the shovel; it sprayed water everywhere. That took the better part of the morning. After digging and all that, I went to cleaning the house. Then I worked on my UHF antenna using Gorilla Glue to attach parts that had fallen off during the high winds we been having of late. I got all this done and it was only noon!
With all this done I figured I needed a rest and retired to my little camper to hideout and read. Joel called to ask if I wanted some soup that he’s cooking; he’ll bring it by at 5pm.
Took a fast break from reading to make a cookie run over to Stoney’s. Then it was back to reading until Joel came by with the soup. The soup was some creation of his and tasted mighty fine.
My brother Kevin called. He was waiting for a call from a gal he met online the other day. He didn’t think she’d call and I bet him a nickel that she would. He sent an email later saying he owed me a nickel.
I continued reading late into the night and finished “Black Wind” by Clive Cussler.
Did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Thursday 05 - did my stretches, ran a mile, and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 40 and 62 degrees, WNW winds 6-11 with gusts to 18, humidity around 35 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 59. Northwest wind between 10 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 38. West northwest wind 18 to 21 mph decreasing to between 8 and 11 mph. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph.”
I went out to the camper to get caught up with my astronomy reading. Then I meandered over to Stoney’s for a shower and some cookies. He was online looking for clock parts. The company he used to buy off of is not that dependable anymore and he was looking for another store that he could purchase from.
I started bolting together the UHF when I got back home. I had to splice and tape a few wires, turn a few screws, and lift the whole dang twenty foot pole with the antenna into the air over my head and secure it to the house. With that done and out of the way I went for my evening walk.
My brother Kevin called and we yakked for a spell.
I called Seimi to wish him a happy birthday. He spent his day transporting folks to and from the meditation center and Palm Springs Airport. He mentioned to a passenger that it was his birthday and she pulled a piece of leftover birthday cake from her backpack and gave it to Seimi.
I started reading “Blue Gold” by Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos. It’s not a Dirt Pitt adventure but a novel from the NUMA files. We’ll see how it goes.
Did my stretches and lifted weights. Practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Friday 06 - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 38 and 60 degrees, WNW winds 8-14 with gusts to 26, humidity around 32 percent, mostly clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 61. North northwest wind between 5 and 9 mph. Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 38. West southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.”
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
My friend Bob Vandenberg is coming tomorrow to lay the pipe from the water main to the house and hook up the sink, so I need to get the rest of the trench dug and cleanup the house some. This is about all I did all day until sunset, except when I went over to Stoney’s after he called to say he had baked a couple of pecan pies. He finally got the crust right, and tasted mighty yummy.
I read a few chapters in “Blue Gold” but the book is dragging from page to page.
Watched “Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles” on Fox. Later I watched “Numb3rs” on CBS about: an artificial intelligent computer is suspected of murdering its creator.
Did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Saturday 07 - did my stretches.Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 39 and 61 degrees, NW winds 6, humidity around 27 percent, mostly clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 65. Calm wind becoming south between 12 and 15 mph. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 42. West southwest wind between 5 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.”
My friend Bob Vandenberg arrived to work on bringing water into my house! He is a plumber, I am not! I had everything ready for him to begin; the trench was dug, everything was cleared out of his way, and Fat Cat was put inside where he could lounge on my bed. It took a little less than two hours for Bob to get everything hooked up except for the sink because it had a leak in the faucet. He wanted to go to Home Depot to get a few keys made for his camper that he keeps on my property, so I got a new faucet while we were there. We stopped off for a quick lunch at Jack-in-the-Box, and then drove back to hook up the new faucet. Once that was done, I had running water in my home for the first time! 
I’ve been living here for over ten years, always helping other folks dig trenches for their water, and now it was my turn. I was so excited that I called my Mom and Dad in Tucson to tell them the good news. They said that they would have a toast with glasses full of water; I think that they were only humoring me. Bob went to do some work on his camper and I started filling in the trench with dirt till it was time to go over to Stoney’s for a spaghetti dinner.
We got there at around 4pm and went right to eating and had some pecan pie for dessert. We sat around and jawed for a spell and watched westerns on TV. Stoney gave Bob a tour of his parts garden where he has old Model T parts and a quantity of other old car and mechanical parts lying around outside rusting slowly under the desert’s dry environment.I said goodbye to Bob when he dropped me off back at my house, and thanked him very much for the expert work he performed. Then I called my brother Kevin to tell him about the water being brought into the house and how I won’t need to be filling up jugs anymore. He asked me why I waited so long to do this, and I told him that I lived on a boat for over twenty years and had to row water in jugs out to my sailboat. Then after that I lived in a camper and still used jugs for water. I guess I was so use to this that I never gave it much thought.
I did a little webwork till it got late. Then I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Sunday 08 - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 41 and 64 degrees, SSE winds 8-17, humidity around 31 percent, mostly clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 62. Windy, with a light wind becoming west southwest between 27 and 30 mph. Winds could gust as high as 48 mph. Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 39. Breezy, with a west wind 22 to 25 mph decreasing to between 14 and 17 mph. Winds could gust as high as 38 mph.”
Last night I was reading an article on restoring old yellowed plastic to look new at LifeHacker.com when I read a comment that made my blood run cold: “Mixing equal parts of Ammonia and Bleach achieves better results:)”. Yikes! This is a deadly mixture that releases toxic gasses: chloramines and chlorine gas! I thought I'd better post this on the site: “Bleach + Ammonia= DEATH
The combination of ammonia and bleach produces dangerous chlorine gas. Chlorine gas, also known as mustard gas, was actually used in WWI & WWII! Chlorine gas causes a very painful death!”
I’ve been monitoring the site off and on all day answering comments and trying to stay on top of this because my worst fears is that a naive reader may read the “Mixing equal parts of Ammonia and Bleach achieves better results:)” post, try mixing the two together, and get very sick! This post was about the scariest and most irresponsible that I've ever read online.
I been trying to call Stoney all day but the phone just rang and rang and didn’t go to his answering machine, so around 4pm I drove over to his house to see if he was okay. Thankfully he was in his kitchen playing solitaire on the computer and was blissfully unaware that his phone wasn’t working. I demonstrated it by calling him on my cell phone. It would ring on my cell but his phone remained silent, but he could pick it up and talk to me. We called Verizon and they would send a repair person out on Tuesday to have a look-see.
I stopped off at my neighbor’s, who has the horses just down the street from me, and chatted with Ginger for a spell. She is in the process of fixing up a stable and shelter for the horses that she saved from the glue factory. She now has an Airstream trailer to stay in while she is here.
I watched “60 Minutes” on CBS about Bank failures, and how unreliable eyewitness accounts are. Then I read a few chapters in “Blue Gold” until late.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Monday 09 - did my stretches and ran a mile.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 39 and 61 degrees, SSW winds 9-16, humidity around 39 percent, mostly clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 60. North northwest wind between 5 and 9 mph. Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 40. Calm wind becoming northwest between 4 and 7 mph.”
I drove to Yucca Valley to pick up those air shocks I had on backorder at Auto Zone. I stopped off at the California Visitor’s Center to see if the rumors that they had a WIFI setup, and they did, so I went online and did a few computer updates. You get to use it for one hour after you logon with a password they supply.
I stopped off at WalMart and Stater Bros to get some supplies then drove home, put everything away, and then went over to Stoney’s for dinner. We had the leftover spaghetti from Saturday and pecan pie.
I went for my evening walk, called my brother Kevin, and then read for a spell until “24” came on Fox where Jack saves the President from evil doers.
Continued reading late into the night. Then I did my stretches and practiced my guitar. Wrote my column for the newspaper and sent it in. Wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Tuesday 10 - did my stretches and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 40 and 63 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 31 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 65. West wind 5 to 8 mph becoming south southwest between 15 and 18 mph. Winds could gust as high as 23 mph. Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 41. Southwest wind 5 to 15 mph becoming north northwest. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.”
Verizon Tech RJ called to ask directions to Stoney’s home. He said that Stoney canceled the repair but he found some problems in the main circuit. I gave him the directions and told him if there were any problems to call me; he can’t call Stoney because the ringer doesn’t work.
Seimi came by to ask me about laptops. He wants to buy one for his roommate Rita. I showed him what I had and suggested that he buy a new one. There is one down at WalMart he told me for around $300. I told him that I’d check it out for him next time I’m down there.
I tried to call Stoney but his was still out, so I drove over to tell him what the Tech said when he called me. I had some more spaghetti and pecan pie, too!
I went for my evening walk pulling out that invasive Sahara Mustard plant as I walked. It’s trying to establish itself in our desert and kill off the indigenous vegetation.
When I got back home there was a message from RJ saying that he’d be back tomorrow to do some more work on Stoney’s phone.
I went online to get some webwork done and worked until late. I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Wednesday 11 - did my stretches and ran two miles.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 41 and 68 degrees, slight breeze picking up to a SE wind at 10 MPH in the evening, humidity around 31 percent, hazy. According to the National Weather Service “Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 64. West northwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm. Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 40. Calm wind becoming west northwest between 7 and 10 mph.”
Late last night I was prowling the Dell Outlet when I came across a Dell Mini 9 4GB SSD, Ubuntu, 512Meg RAM, with webcam and Bluetooth for $189! I went ahead and bought it. I want to learn the Linux system better and at this cost it ain’t that bad to buy a dedicated system for it. Plus I might swap drives from my Dell Mini 9 that runs XP Home into this new one so that I’ll have Bluetooth and a webcam. I can’t believe that these netbooks are so inexpensive (almost the cost of an XP Pro operating system) and made so well.
Stoney’s phone is still down and RJ from Verizon called me to say he couldn’t get out this way today and will try tomorrow. So I had to drive over to Stoney’s to let him know that he’ll have to hang around tomorrow for the repair guy. Stoney had baked two pies but he didn’t have pecans so he used peanuts instead; tasted okay we decided.
Spent much of the day reading “Blue Gold” in the camper, and then went for my evening walk.
My friend Kula called and we chatted for a spell. Her and Tom are going to visit family soon. Tom is into college basketball and March Madness is here, so Tom will be totally involved with it. He runs all the statistics and bets on what team has the best. He usually goes to Vegas to drink beer with his buddies and place his bets, but he never wins big.
I read until it got late and then did my stretches and lifted weights, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Thursday 12 - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 40 and 66 degrees, slight breeze picking up to a NNW wind at 6-13 MPH, humidity around 34 percent, humulus cumulus fair weather clouds. According to the National Weather Service “Friday: Sunny, with a high near 69. North northwest wind between 11 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 42. Northwest wind between 8 and 10 mph.”
This is one of those lazy days for me where I just want to kick back and read, that’s what I did besides watering the plants.
Stoney invited me over for dinner. He made up a chicken casserole that had: biscuits, gravy, mashed potatoes, and chicken all mixed together with cheese on top. It all came out of a box but was mighty tasty. We had cantaloupe for dessert.
I went for my evening walk and took a few pictures of the clouds and landscape. Flowers are starting to bloom!
Watched the evening news where they said that Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty, placed in custody, led away in handcuffs, while folks in the courtroom applauded. I hope the only conjugal visits he gets are from other cellmates!
I’m really starting to believe that much of TV programs are a wasteland of addictive crap. Television should be a place where we get informed, learn new things, and not just for entertainment. I think of all the time I’ve spent watching meaningless sitcoms when I was a child; what a waste of one’s intellect! I think of all children over the last fifty years who were indoctrinated into television shows that are barren of any social responsibility and a desolate place for learning. We blame our schools and teachers for the failure of our students, when the real culprit is television. Parents have the chance to break that addiction and save the next generation of children from mediocrity, but they the parents need to set the example themselves. How else can we compete in a global society? Television is a wasteland for individualism and dreams.
I read late into the night and finished “Blue Gold” by Clive Cussler; the book got better the farther I read into it.
Did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Friday 13 - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 42 and 68 degrees, slight breeze picking up to a NNW wind at 7-11 MPH, humidity around 27 percent, humulus cumulus fair weather clouds again. According to the National Weather Service “Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 72. North northwest wind 5 to 8 mph becoming west southwest. Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 46. West southwest wind around 9 mph.”
I decided to drive down to Stan and Jan’s in Joshua Tree to get my yearly haircut. We jawed about the economy while I sat in the barber chair watching myself in the mirror as Stan cut away at my gray. Jan said they used to cut hair in Desert Hot Springs before coming up here. We talked about our favorite TV shows and all agreed that we loved Abby on NCIS.
Went over to Sam’s Market to get some mustard and cheese for my baloney sandwiches and a dozen eggs. It all came to $6.35 which wasn’t that bad.
Then avoiding HWY62 I took the dirt road down to the library. I checked out a few books: Treasure of Khan” by Clive Cussler, “The Fabric of the Cosmos” by Brian Greene, “The Nature Company Guides: Rocks and Fossils”, and “Drawing You Can Do It” by Greg Albert. These should keep me busy for a while!
Got back home and started reading “Treasure of Khan” in my camper; I guess that’s my reading room now. Then I went for my evening walk.
Called my brother Kevin and yakked for a spell.
I watched “Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles” on Fox, read a little more, then watched “Numb3rs” on CBS. I’ve really cut down on my TV shows that I watch for entertainment, these two shows plus “24” and NCIS are what I like. Unfortunately there aren’t much educational shows on regular broadcast TV anymore, so I read. I stand by what I said last night about television being a wasteland. I do not believe watching TV for something to do and having it on all the time is healthy. Narrowing it down to a few select shows that you enjoy watching is okay. I avoid sitcoms and daytime TV. I grew up on sitcoms when I was a child and have seen about every twist in a plot and every gag there is. I’m trying to kick this addiction to television and I think I’m doing a good job of it. When I went to college I didn’t watch any TV at all and got good grades. Okay, enough of my TV ranting!
I did my stretches and practiced my guitar. Updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter. Wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Saturday 14 - did my stretches, ran two miles, lifted weights, and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 44 and 71 degrees, SW-NW wind at 4-11 MPH, humidity around 26 percent, hazy skies. According to the National Weather Service “Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 69. West wind at 7 mph becoming east. Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 45. West wind between 7 and 11 mph.”
I’m going to make this post short because I am just plain tuckered out tonight:
Called Family and Friends- Read a bunch of chapters in “Treasure of Khan” by Clive Cussler- Went for my evening walk- Did some webwork and a little more reading- Did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Sunday 15 - did my stretches.Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 45 and 71 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 33 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 74. West wind 5 to 7 mph becoming east southeast. Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 49. South wind 7 to 9 mph becoming west northwest.”
I decided to get out of the house and go for a hike over at 49 Palms. It’s about ten miles from my house on Canyon Road off of HWY62. I don’t like going on hikes by myself but there isn’t anyone around here I know that goes hiking. I realized that I can make friends along the way, just like my trip to Europe when I went alone but made many friends while traveling there. 
The three mile hike into 49 Palms really seems like six; there are plenty of switchbacks going up and down hills. The flowers are just starting to bloom and I believe that in another few weeks 49 Palms will be covered heavily with them. I met a lot of folks from different states. 
Karin and Larry form Massachusetts and vacationing in Palm Springs. They make the trip every year to our gorgeous desert. Caleb Murphy was taking his parents from Colorado for the hike before he and his wife are deployed to Afghanistan. Caleb is an artillery specialist in the Marine Corps. I wished them well!
There was young Mike and Jenna Masters from Philadelphia traveling with all their belongings in a big U-Haul Van to Pasadena where they’ll be going to college.
I met Mike and Carol Lovy at the end of the trail where the springs and palm trees are nestled between high canyons with large rock outcropping. They just moved to Pam Springs from Seattle and are really excited to be living in the desert. She spotted a desert tortoise making its way eating through the flora. 
Chastity and John Murphy were hiking with their two young kids. They were the only locals I met on the trail. They plan on making hiking a habit on their family outings. 
Well I’m not as athletic as I thought and I was mighty tired once I got back down the trail to my awaiting truck. My knee hurt a bit from an old skydiving accident, but with a little rest I’ll be going back in a few weeks to see the flowers.I went to Stater Bros to get something to eat I was so hungry from the hike: Fried chicken for me and Fat Cat! But before I got home I had to pick up a hole-digger for my neighbor Ginger who is building a shelter for her horses. I stayed to yak with her for a spell while her puppy ate horse droppings that I thought was mighty gross.
I read a little and watched “60 Minutes” on CBS where they had an interview with the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank that was very candid and interesting. Then I read some more of “Treasure of Khan” until late. Then I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, and posted it to the web. Then started writing my column for the newspaper and called it a night.Monday 16 - Stoney came by and honked waking me up; he had groceries from the USDA food distribution for me. He invited me over for dinner tonight. I then did my stretches, lifted weights, and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 49 and 72 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 28 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 77. West northwest wind between 5 and 8 mph becoming calm. Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 51. South wind at 7 mph becoming west northwest.”
After I did my exercises I was pretty sore with all that hiking yesterday, so I mostly kicked back. I did run a telephone cord out to my camper so I could go online. This took a little time to do because the first cord I used had a bad plug at one end and I had to scrounge up another. With that done I went online in the coziness of my little camper.
Raymond came by for me to sign over the pink slip for my “Faithful Truck” that I sold him a few months ago. He spent a lot of time, effort, and money to replace the transmission and a few other knickknacks, and he got new tires for it, too. Looks good! I showed him a desktop computer I’m working on to see if he’d be interested in buying it. He said he would buy it when I got it done.
I went over to Stoney’s for dinner. He made up some ham with mashed potatoes and gravy. Roger Smith couldn’t come because he was down with a cold, so we fixed him up a plate and I walked it over to him. When I got back to Stoney’s my legs were hurting and I told him that I just went on my evening walk. The hurt was a good hurt, the kind of hurt that tells you that you got a good workout. I ain’t complaining.
When I got back home I just laid back and read for a while until Kula called. She was on her way back home to Palos Verde Estates from a meeting in Indio. We talked for over an hour and I missed the first half of “24”, but I rather be yakking with her. When we were done I watched the end of “24” where Jack gets into more trouble trying to save the world.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Tuesday 17- did my stretches and went for a short walk; still recuperating from the hike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 50 to 78, slight breeze, humidity around 26 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 82. North northwest wind between 5 and 8 mph. Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 51. Southeast wind around 6 mph becoming west northwest.”
Another lazy day for me! I messed around outside filling up water bowls for the critters and pulling Sahara Mustard plants.
I moseyed over to my neighbor Ginger’s property, where her and her kids are constructing a shelter for her three horses. I stood around jawing for a spell when Ginger noticed that someone was at my house. It was the FedEx delivering my new Dell Mini 9. I just pulled up to the house as he was getting back in his truck. He told me that he left it on my door step, cool! So for the next few hours I played with it. The new Mini 9 is a refurbished unit with a camera, Bluetooth, and runs Ubuntu Linux. So what I did was switched out the 4GB SSD and the 512MB RAM of this new Mini with my other Mini 9 that is an 8GB SSD and 1GB RAM running Win XP with no camera and Bluetooth. Now I have Win XP on the new Mini with a camera and Bluetooth, and the Linux running on the older Mini. To my surprise everything worked fine. Crucial has a 32GB SSD for $79 and I think I may buy one when I get some money.
I went for a short evening walk, called and yakked with Kevin, then kicked back to read for a while.
I watched “NCIS” on CBS about a prize fighter who was shot multiple times and was an old friend and mentor of the director, who personally took over the case from Gibbs. Then I went back to reading until late. Did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Wednesday 18 - did my stretches and ran a mile.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 52 and 79 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 28 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming south southeast between 8 and 11 mph. Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 53. South southwest wind at 10 mph becoming northwest.”
I water my plants while I installed Win XP on the new Dell Mini 9. I would have left Ubuntu on it but I couldn’t get the dialup modem working, so I installed an old copy of XP, service packs 2-3, and all the drivers. I got working and online without any problems. It took a hell of a longtime; a few hours!
I went for my evening walk and then got home in time to watch the nightly news to see what incompetence and hardships our government and Wall Street are bestowing on us poor taxpayers today. What a crock of crap! It seems that we all have to lose our jobs, homes, and retirements to keep these greedy companies afloat. They say it’s to stop a total collapse of our financial system, but at what expense? Ours I guess! And to pay big bonuses to the very ones who brought this mess about. Kind of makes me upset (to put it mildly).
I read a few chapters of “Treasure of Khan” until late in the evening. Then I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Thursday 19 - did my stretches, ran a mile, lifted weights, and rode my bike. It is a beautiful day outside! Spring officially starts tomorrow as more flowers begin to bloom and the bees get busy collecting their pollen.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 53 and 81 degrees, medium breeze, humidity around 24 percent, hazy skies. According to the National Weather Service “Friday: Sunny, with a high near 79. North northwest wind between 3 and 9 mph. Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 51. West wind between 6 and 11 mph.”
I messed around with the new Dell Mini 9 installing MS Office 9, Sygate Firewall, Avast Anti-Virus, and a few other programs that I frequently use. All this fits on a 4GB SSD drive with about 1.3GB left over.
Lee Hines dropped by to pay for his dialup and we yakked about the community center; there were 91 folks who came to the USDA Food Distribution instead of the usual 70 or so. We expect more folks to show as more workers get laid off and times get hard.
I went over to Stoney’s so I could take a shower and be presentable when I go to the dentist tomorrow to have a tooth pulled that has been giving me problems lately. We sat around and jawed for a spell while “Cash Cab” was on TV in the background; we tried to answer the questions and got a few right.
I went for my evening walk.
It looks like IE8 is out of beta now. I have IE7 which I think is crap. I am going to download IE8, run it, and hope it removes IE7 in the process. I heard a few good reviews of IE8 and a few bad ones when it was still in beta; we’ll see how it goes. It’s a 16Meg download and will take about an hour on dialup.
I read most of the night and then did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
First Day of Spring! - Stoney called to wake me up for my dentist appointment. I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 51 and 79 degrees, moderate wind, humidity around 26 percent, hazy skies; high cirrus clouds . According to the National Weather Service “Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 75. Windy, with a west wind 5 to 8 mph becoming southwest between 27 and 30 mph. Winds could gust as high as 43 mph. Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 52. Breezy, with a west southwest wind 20 to 23 mph decreasing to between 10 and 13 mph. Winds could gust as high as 32 mph.”
I arrived at the dentist a little early and was rushed into a small room where I waited for fifteen minutes. The dentist shot Novocain into the gums surrounding my bad tooth, and then yanked the dang thing out of my mouth. It still hurt even with the Novocain and the whole left side of my face went numb. They charged me $145and I thought that a little too much but kept that to myself. I may look around for another dentist.
On the way back home I took a detour to an auto parts store to pick up bolts that I need to put the front shocks on the truck. I think I’ll start that project tomorrow.
The dentist told me to lay low for the next couple of days to give some time for the tooth hole to heal, that means no exercising, so I messed around the house and played with the computers.
Stoney called to tell me he just got an old kitchen clock he had ordered online- he been wanting one for many years and I told him to just buy it. I went over to check it out. He already had it running when I walked into the room. I believe the clock is from the 1900-1920's and the woodwork is still in good condition.
I read and finished “Treasure of Khan” by Clive Cussler, only stopping to watch “Terminator; The Sarah Conner Chronicles”. In this episode it appears that John Conner has found his true self that will eventually save the humanity for the evil robots in the future.
Took half a pain pill to relieve the dull throbbing in my head for the tooth extraction, did some light stretches, practiced my guitar which sounded pretty good due to the effects of the pain pill, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Saturday 21 - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 52 and 73 degrees, winds NW-SW 6 to 12 MPH, humidity around 31 percent, hazy skies; high cirrus clouds . According to the National Weather Service “Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Areas of blowing dust after 11am. Partly cloudy, with a high near 59. Windy, with a west southwest wind 23 to 26 mph increasing to between 36 and 39 mph. Winds could gust as high as 60 mph. Sunday Night: Areas of blowing dust before 11pm. Mostly clear, with a low around 39. Windy, with a west northwest wind 35 to 38 mph decreasing to between 22 and 25 mph. Winds could gust as high as 55 mph.”
I got to work putting the front shocks on the Gross Polluter. The first one was the hardest because I never did this before. I got the heavy duty shocks for our dirt roads out here and I wanted to give them a test; wow what a difference! I drove the six miles down to my mailbox and it drove really nice over some dips that before would make the whole truck bounce almost out of control. I made a quick stop over to Stoney’s to show off my handy work. Now if the weather is nice tomorrow I’ll be putting on the rear air-shocks and then get the camper ready to mount on the bed of the truck. If all works out, I may plan a short vacation soon!
My dentist told me to take it easy on the exercises, so I won’t be doing anything strenuous, even my evening walk. I’ll start my exercises again on Monday. Hopefully the weather will become warmer at night and I can start my nightly runs again, too.
Looking through my mail I came across a small pamphlet that fell out of my Verizon telephone bill. I don’t usually read these but the title caught my eye: “Area Code Overlay Approved for 760 Area Code”! What this boils down to was that there are going to be two area codes in the same area: 760 and 442. This means that on May 02 I will have to dial a 1+the area code, instead of the seven digit phone number, to call my neighbor a mile away. I wonder why the “Powers that be” just didn’t split up area code 760 into two separate codes instead of this stupid area code overlay. They sure didn’t ask for my input on this.
I called Family and Friends to yak at them for a spell.
There wasn’t anything on TV that I thought worth watching so I started reading a new book called “The Fabric of the Cosmos” by Brain Green. I read the preface and the first chapter and it looks like it’s going to be a god read!
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Sunday 22 - did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 39 and 52 degrees, winds W 16 to 34 MPH with gusts up to 55, humidity around 31 percent, hazy skies; high cirrus clouds . According to the National Weather Service “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 65. Breezy, with a north northwest wind between 15 and 22 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 42. Northwest wind between 11 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.”
It was really windy, gusts of wind reaching 55 miles an hour or more! Outside is not the place to be today. So I stayed inside all day reading and doing computer work.
I learned something interesting in my readings: “Till 2007 the equinox fell on March 21 or 20; now only on March 20; in 2044 it begins falling sometimes on March 19.
I watched “60 Minutes” on CBS. They had an interview with the President who was very optimistic on the recovery and how they are going to attempt to fix all its problems. I wish him all the luck in the world with his efforts to do such.
Then I went back to my reading and webwork until late. I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Monday 23- did my stretches and lifted weights; too dang windy outside!
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 44 to 62, SW winds at 11 to 18 MPH with gusts around 45, humidity around 23 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 70. North northwest wind between 8 and 14 mph. Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 46. Breezy, with a northwest wind 7 to 10 mph increasing to between 19 and 22 mph. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph.”
I called up my neighbor Joel who said that the electric power in our area was out from 4pm till 2am yesterday. I called Lee Hines to confirm it. I wouldn’t have known because I’m all on solar and batteries and my power never goes out.
It’s still too dang windy to do much of anything outside. I messed around the house doing some cleaning and a little reading. My Dell Mini’s internal Bluetooth wouldn’t work with my Bluetooth modem so I decided to do a fresh install of Win XP and the drivers to get rid of some of the crud I’ve been experimenting with and to see if that would repair the Bluetooth problem. After a few hours of doing the install, I finally got the Bluetooth to recognize the modem and was able to go online, but every time I use it to go online I have to reconfigure the modem all over again; I’ll eventually figure it out.
I watched “24” on Fox where Jack tries to save the world again from the evil doers by pilfering a truck from them that is carrying a deadly virus that the evil doers want to release on American cities. But the evil doers get the truck back and Jack is contaminated with the virus.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Tuesday 24- I got a whole eight hours sleep last night and I feel good! I usually get four to five hours, so I guess I needed it. I did my stretches, ran a mile, rode my bike, and lifted weights. There’s still a stiff breeze but not as bad as the last few days.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 46 to 68, NNW winds at 4 to 12 MPH, humidity around 21 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 73. North northwest wind around 10 mph. Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 50. West northwest wind between 7 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph.”
I was hoping to do the rear air shocks on the Gross Polluter but the wind was blowing just too much for that, so all I did outside today was fill up the water bowl and cement pond for the critters.
I did about what I did yesterday; I messed around the house doing some cleaning and a little reading. I also installed MS Office 2007 on the new Dell Mini 9. I still have to mess with the Bluetooth Modem to get it working, but I’m getting better at it. Maybe I should just reinstall the drivers or something, but I’ll keep messing with it a little while longer.
I dropped by Stoney’s for a quick visit and to get out of the house for a bit. He was in his clock trailer where he was working on an anniversary clock that runs for four-hundred hours between windings. There is a small bird’s nest on the front window of the trailer with four or five tiny eggs. You can watch the nest from the inside of the trailer! The mother bird was coming and going all the time I was there. I wish I had brought my camera!
I went for my evening walk and then I read a chapter of “The Fabric of the Cosmos”. I’ve found that the author’s use of the Simpsons in the examples was quite amusing, but some of the explanations are long and drawn out making them a little confusing for me.
Watched “Nova: Extreme Ice” about the global warming and its effects on the world’s glaciers; fantastic show! Then watched “NCIS” on CBS, where a mother finds a handgun in her young son’s room that later is found to be involved in a killing.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Wednesday 25- did my stretches and ran a mile.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 49 to 78, WNW winds at 4 to 11 MPH, humidity around 23 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 75. Breezy, with a northwest wind 15 to 18 mph increasing to between 26 and 29 mph. Winds could gust as high as 41 mph. Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 47. North northwest wind between 10 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph.”
I ate my breakfast while I read my email, then I went over to Stoney’s to use his floor jack to rise up the Gross Polluter to mount the air shocks on the back. Since I didn’t know what I was doing it took about three hours to install. It all worked just fine when I put air into it the truck lifted right up! Now all I need to do is put the camper on. I was so grimy from crawling under the truck, the under belly of a truck isn’t the cleanest place, that I took a shower there and got all cleaned up; I felt like a new man!
I read a chapter of “The Fabric of the Cosmos”, went for my evening walk, and read some more. Nothing was worth watching on TV, so I did a little webwork until late. Then I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Thursday 26- did my stretches, too dang windy outside for a run.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 47 to 72, NW winds at 9 to 31 MPH becoming calm in the evening, humidity around 23 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Friday: Sunny, with a high near 68. North northwest wind between 13 and 16 mph. Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 42. Northwest wind between 5 and 9 mph.”
I went into the camper to eat my breakfast and read my email; I guess being in the camper is a way to get away and out of the house. The wind was blowing and reminded me of when I lived on a sailboat out on the moorings. The boat would rock back and forth, sounds of halyards banging on masts of boats, large waves breaking over the breakwater, and my rowboat bumping against the side, made a symphony of the harbor where I had a front row seat! I miss those days!
Got a message on my answering machine from Dale saying that his roof blew off his house! I called back but he wasn’t home. I found out later tonight when he called that he went to his mom’s house in Apple Valley to stay until the winds died down. I told him if he needs any help with the roof to let me know.
Ruth Denison called desperately needing help finding a document on her laptop (she is in her eighties), so I drove on over and found the document for her and installed a program that would read it to her; she was thrilled. Ruth Denison is the founder and resident teacher of Dhamma Dena Desert Vipassana Center just down the road a spell.
Since I was in the neighborhood I stopped in at Lee Hines to install a “NEW” video camera on his computer that one of his kids gave him. He asked me if I could do this for him last month and this was the first chance I had. I hooked up the camera, but once I started installing the software I noticed that the instructions called for Win 95 and Win 98 operating systems! Since I was so far along on the install I loaded it up anyways. It ran but the video was very jerky and poor in quality. We had a good laugh and both of us decided that it needn’t be on the system and I uninstalled it. But it wasn’t all a loss; I upgraded his anti-virus and installed Spybot. I also installed the new Opera browser that has an accelerator for slow connections like the dialup we have.
I got back home just in time for Mac to drop by to say hi. He has been away for a few weeks to visit his son in Arizona. Then I read “The Fabric of the Cosmos” until the book put me to sleep.
Around 8pm Ruth Denison called saying that she accidentally deleted her document while using the speech program I installed. I went right over to find that she did in fact delete it. I didn’t show her one important step in the process which I took for granted that she’d know. So, I spent the next two hours walking her through the steps, and then reading the printout of that document while she typed it back into the computer. I didn’t mind helping her do this because: 1. it was my mistake for leaving out that important step, and 2. she is such a fantastic and interesting person! We both had fun!
Back home I did my stretches and went for a nightly run! I had no excuses not to run; the wind had died, and it wasn’t cold. I think the cold had been affecting my knees so I’ve been shying away from running at night. It was wonderful, the sky was clear and the stars were bright in the sky! Practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night
Friday 27- did my stretches, ran a mile, lifted weights, and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 42 to 69, NW winds at 6 to 8 MPH, humidity around 20 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 77. North northwest wind between 3 and 6 mph. Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 48. West wind between 3 and 9 mph.”
What a beautiful day! I spent some time outside watering the plants and just messing around. But before I did that I needed to update the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and send out the Newsletter.
My neighbor Ron the Graphics Guy came by for a chat. He wanted to know about my solar system that I have installed to power my home; I gave him the nickel tour.
Then I went over to Stoney’s for dinner; he made a rice and bean dish that was mighty good. I did my laundry while I was there. I went into Stoney’s clock trailer to snap some pics of the bird’s nest that is in the front window. I waited patiently until the mother bird came to sit on the eggs. I would have posted the pics here but my dialup connection is slow today:(
Too late to go for my walk, I watched the evening news. Then I watched “Terminator: the Sarah Conner Chronicles” on Fox.
Called Kevin and yakked at him for almost an hour. He went on two dates today with women he met online- I think I should try this! He said the dates went fine.
I did my stretches, went for a nightly run, and lifted weights; I think this made up for my missing the evening walk today. Practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Saturday 28- did my stretches and ran two miles. Boy am I tired! Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 48 to 76, moderate winds, humidity around 22 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Sunday: Areas of blowing dust after 11am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 78. Windy, with a west northwest wind 7 to 10 mph increasing to between 28 and 31 mph. Winds could gust as high as 43 mph. Sunday Night: Areas of blowing dust before 11pm. Mostly clear, with a low around 49. Breezy, with a west northwest wind between 18 and 26 mph, with gusts as high as 37 mph.”
I just fooled around in the house and outside doing little things that needed to be done. I started reading “The Nature Company Guide’s: Rocks and Fossils” and found it very interesting, so I read a few chapters in that in my camper.
I called some Family and Friends before it was time for potluck at our community center at 4pm. I cooked up some stuffing and added raisins because I had no canned chicken to add; I hope it tastes ok. I got to the center on time, just as folks started to arrive. About seventeen folks showed up and everyone brought something, so there was plenty of grub to go around. Dyane made a white cake that she kind of flubbed up on the ingredients, but it was one of the most unusual cakes that I’ve ever gobbled on. Donna mixed up a pea salad and baked a German chocolate cake that was mighty good. Marcie brought a macaroni and meat dish. Chris had his famous macaroni salad for all of us to enjoy. Susan made a green bean salad. Bob Seeley arrived late with a big bowl of jello. And last but not least, Dorothy cooked up this fabulous Mexican lasagna with jalapenos mixed in to give it some zing! We all had a great time and laughed while we were sitting outside at the end of potluck, 
when Dyane and Donna were staring at the trees that run along the center. I asked what they were looking at and Donna said that they were waiting for the sap to fall. I suppose you gals sit around and watch the grass grow and paint to dry! I said. Donna came back with “only after I’ve had a couple of drinks”. My Dialup internet is going faster than it did last night so I’ll put two of the pictures I took yesterday over at Stoney’s clock trailer. They are in the front window and we can watch them from inside. There is a screen between them and the window so the pics are kind of grainy.
When I got back from potluck I was mighty stuffed and decided I’d better go for my evening walk and work off all the food I ate. I did a little more reading and then went on the internet to do a little webwork until late into the evening. Then I did my stretches and lifted weights, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.Sunday 29- did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 49 to 75, winds from the W-SW at 11 to 23 MPH, humidity around 25 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 67. North northwest wind between 16 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 40. West northwest wind between 7 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.”
My friend Mike from Hermosa Beach called to say he was coming up to Joshua Tree for a visit after he rides with his Harley group on a rally to Palm Springs. We decided to meet at Santana’s Mexican restaurant for lunch at 2pm. Around 1:30pm I got in the Gross Polluter to head on down to JT but the battery was dead. So I took the battery out of the camper and used jumper cables to start the truck, and then place that battery in the back just in case the battery in the truck wouldn’t charge up on the way there. I stopped off to fill up my tank with gas and had to jump the battery again to get it started. I then parked in front of Santana’s to await Mike, who called a half hour later telling me that he was given the wrong directions, went the wrong way, and wouldn’t arrive for over an hour. I told him to just go on home because the winds would be picking up later in the day making unsafe for him to ride; he agreed. I had to jump the truck again to get home.
It was too windy for an evening walk so I messed around with my computers for a while. I had called Stoney earlier in the day, left a message, and tried calling him several times since. I decided to drive over on my Trusty Scooter to see if he was okay, but the Trusty Scooter wouldn’t start no matter how long I tried to kicked start it. Just by chance I tried the truck and it started right up! I drove over and left it running while I ran inside. Stoney had been in his clock trailer working for the last six hours and his phone didn’t ring out there. I told him about my day, and he said that he has a battery that’s out of his tractor I could use if I put it on charge in his garage overnight. I did that and drove back home.
I watched “60 Minutes” on CBS about a computer worm that has infected millions of computers throughout the world. This worm just sits on these computers waiting for instructions; supposedly it will be transmitted on April 1st, to do some sinister deed.
Then I watched “War Games” 1983, about a young hacker who is trying to break into a computer game company, but instead breaks into a government site that programs war games for the military. He plays Thermonuclear War with the computer program he hacked into, but this computer is tied into the defense grid and simulates a real war in the underground defense installation in Colorado. This is the movies twenty-fifth anniversary. I worked in computer rooms much like the one in the beginning of the film for many years back in the 70s and early 80s and felt right at home with the big IBM 3350 disk drives (I don’t think they stored more than 20GB) and the row of tape drives in the room. I didn’t see any computer though, but it could have been an IBM 370 in those days.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Monday 30 - did my stretches, ran a mile, lifted weights, and rode my bike. On my run I saw smoke coming out from the mountains to the south in Joshua Tree National Park but I didn’t hear anything about it on the news later on in the day.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 40 and 52 degrees, winds N-NW 9 to 12 MPH, humidity around 20 percent, hazy skies; high cirrus clouds . According to the National Weather Service “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 74. Northwest wind between 3 and 10 mph. Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 47. West northwest wind between 8 and 11 mph.”
Stoney called to say he’s going to WalMart and if I needed anything. Well I need a new battery for the Gross Polluter, so I asked if I could go along and he said he’d pick me up in fifteen minutes. When he arrived I put my old battery in the back and we drove off to town. We made a fast stop at the bank so he could cash a check and then on to WalMart where I got my new battery for $72 and Stoney got what he needed.
When I got back I did some computer work that needed to be done and started writing my column for the newspaper.
I went for my evening walk with the wind picking up so I had to cut it short. Then I got caught up on my astronomy readings.
Kevin called after the nightly news to chat for a spell. Then I watched “24” on Fox where it was confirmed that Jack has been exposed to a deadly virus and the FBI is closing in on the evil doer’s stockade where they took the canisters of the virus that they took from Jack after Jack had stolen it from them.
I went back to work on my column, finished it, and sent it to the newspaper. Did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night
Tuesday 31 - I called my friend Joan when I woke up, just to say hi. I did my stretches and ran two miles.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 47 and 74 degrees, winds NW-SW 3 to 14 MPH, humidity around 19 percent, clear skies. According to the National Weather Service “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 78. Northwest wind 9 to 12 mph increasing to between 17 and 20 mph. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph. Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 49. West northwest wind between 8 and 11 mph becoming calm.”
After doing some webwork I thought I’d better start doing my taxes before it becomes too late! So that’s what I did for the rest of the day, only breaking for my evening walk which gave me time to think on a few tax problems. I got brain-burn from all these tax instructions and forms I have to read and fill out.
Gave up on the taxes for the day and watched the evening news, and then “Nova: Last Extinction” about how scientists are exploring the possibilities that a comet or meteorite hit Earth 12,900 years ago in North America causing the extinction of many large mammals. I stuck around to watch “Frontline: Sick Around America” about the health care system and the mess our country is in because of it.
As the river of time flows by, sometimes we need to dip our oars in the water and navigate to shore.
Did my stretches and lifted weights, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Good bye to the month of March! See ya next year.
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