November 2009

Welcome to the Month of November! - I did my stretches. Well the change to Standard Time caught me off guard last night like it does every year. I was online writing my journal and checked the time on the computer and it said 1:30am, cool I could surf the web some more I thought and did so until 3:30am. Then I shut down my computer and was getting ready to go to bed when I noticed that my wall clock said 4:30am! Oops! I usually stay up late but not that late.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 52 and 74 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 22 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming east around 6 mph. Monday Night: Clear, with a low around 50. West wind between 5 and 7 mph.”
Naomi and Brian came by for a visit with their two cute daughters, one six and the other is nine. They live and go to church in Yucca Valley and drop by now and then when making their rounds of our area spreading the gospel. They are mighty fine happy family and I don’t mind them coming by and am actually happy to talk to them.
My old friend Biker Mike from Hermosa Beach finally arrived on his Harley after going the wrong way down Winters Road; he made a left when he should have gone right. He hasn’t been here since 2000 when my home was just a shack and was amazed at what I have done with the house. We sat and jawed about computers and got caught up on our lives. I even played a little guitar for him. I took him for a walk in the desert before he had to leave. It was great to have him come over even though it was only for a short spell.
I called and talked to Family and Friends. I chatted with my childhood friend Larry Carlock reminiscing about some of the dumb things we done when we were young. And then went for my evening walk.
I watched “60 Minutes” on CBS about; Yakuza a Japanese mob getting liver transplants at the UCLA Medical Center without having to wait in line like the rest of us poor Americans, the H1N1 flu shot availability and safety, and movie pirating. “National Treasures” came on NBC so I started to watch it when I realized that I have it on DVD, so I watched it on my MacBook instead. Chris Young called in the middle of the movie and we yakked for an hour about solar power. Then I continued watching the rest of the movie.
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Monday 02- I did my stretches and ran two miles.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 52 and 78 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 22 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 86. Calm wind becoming east southeast between 4 and 7 mph. Tuesday Night: Clear, with a low around 52. West wind around 6 mph.”
I was wondering where my Windows 7 operating system was that I ordered from Amazon. Last week I called the post office in Twentynine Palms and they said that it was out for delivery and I told them that the post office doesn’t deliver at my street address. They said they’d keep an eye out for it. I called them again today before I did my exercises and when I came back from my run there was a message on my answering machine saying that the package was there and to come on down to get it. And that is just what I did. I drove the fifteen miles or so to Twentynine and picked it up.
On the way back home I stopped off at Stoney’s mailbox. His prescription from Canada was there and I dropped it off at his house. He invited me over for dinner and I said I’d be over at 4pm.
When I got home I spent the next hour installing Windows 7 on my HP Mini Note. Everything went well until I went to get the updates and that’s where I ran into dialup hell! Dialup was mighty slow today and sometimes it would just stop for no reason at all. After a few hours of this I was just able to complete about half of the updates. I was in the middle of downloading the Google Chrome browser when the connection just died losing what had already downloaded. I really need broadband out here!
I went over to Stoney’s for dinner. He cooked up his beans and rice dish that was mighty good!
I got back home and installed Microsoft Office 2007 and then Service pack 2 for Office. I was still trying to get things ready to take it online tonight to write my journal but the modem kept cutting out. “Castle” came on CBS and I decided to give up on the HP Mini Note for tonight and use the Dell Mini 9 netbook to write to my journal.
I did my stretches and lifted weights. I practiced my guitar and broke another string. Then I got out the Dell Mini 9 and went online. I have XP Pro running on it and I had thought that all the MS updates were done, but I found out differently; there was a 9Meg update that started to download. So now the dialup is really slow and it took me about an hour to get all the different places that I post my journal to load in the browser! This is what I call DIALUP HELL! Anyways if you are reading this then I was successful! Good night!

Tuesday 03- I did my stretches, ran a mile, and lifted weights.

If you read my post of yesterday you might have noticed that I had written the wrong date; it has now been corrected. Thanks Joan for bringing this mistake to my notice.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 54 and 78 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 22 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 85. West wind 6 to 9 mph becoming east northeast.
Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 52. West southwest wind between 6 and 8 mph.”
I went over to Mac’s house to help him bleed the brake lines on his tike. Unfortunately something was wrong with the solenoid and it wouldn’t pump up any pressure to bleed. He gave me half of a banana cream pie for helping out!
On my drive back home I noticed my neighbor Ginger working on her front gate and went over to assist her. She didn’t have the right tools for the job but I carry tools in the Gross Polluter and had the gate bolted up and working in no time.
I was just starting to lay more tiles down when Mat called saying he had made a solar panel and wanted me to drop by and have a look-see. What he did was connect two Uni-Solar flat roofing panels into a metal frame for mounting on a pole. I was mighty impressed!
I got back home and started laying tiles in the bedroom after moving everything around. It’s mighty hard to lay tile when you’re living in the place you’re tiling. I did almost half the bedroom and will move everything over to what I had finished tomorrow when it has dried. Then I tile the rest of it.
I went for my evening walk and then went over to Stoney’s to help him finish off the rice and beans. We watched “Dirty Jobs” on the Science Channel, about; mobile home demolition, working at a manikin factory, and working at a camel ranch which was very amusing! I now know more about camels than I ever wanted to know.
Back home again I watched “My Name is Earl” which always lifts my spirits. Then I had to choose between “NCIS”, “NOVA”, or the new series “V”. I chose “V” on ABC just to see if it was like the “V” that came out in 1984. It seems to run along the same story line but more sophisticated in its execution and special effects.
I did my stretches and went for a night run; fixed the string on my guitar and practiced for a spell; wrote my column for the newspaper and sent it in; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Wednesday 04- I did my stretches and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 56 and 79 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 22 percent, a few cirrus clouds over head .
According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 80. Calm wind becoming south between 8 and 11 mph. Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 52. South southwest wind between 3 and 7 mph.”
I got right to work on the tiles. First I had to move my bed and everything else over to where I had tiled yesterday and then I had to cut and roll up the rug then take it outside. I spent till 2pm laying tile down and everything seems to be coming together quite nicely. My lower back was sore so I took a short nap. Hopefully tomorrow if I don’t get distracted I’ll finish up the bedroom.
I went for my evening walk and watched “My Name is Earl” when I got back. When Earl was over I went to work on my 12” Dobsonian telescope and found that two of the 7.14mm set screws were missing and only one screw was hold the primary mirror on. I noticed last Saturday that the mirror wasn’t aligned right and was sitting off to the side when I show Biker Mike the telescope. Now I know what was messed up with the scope all this time. I do not believe that the set screws were mounted in the scope when I first received it two years ago. I’ll check to see if Home Depot has them or else I’ll have to go online to get them.
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web and called it a night. I am very tired and think I’ll sleep well tonight!

Thursday 05- I did my stretches and ran two miles.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 52 and 78 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 23 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: Sunny, with a high near 75. Northwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm. Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 50. West northwest wind between 5 and 7 mph.”
One of the first things I do after I exercise is eat my oatmeal while reading my email, but not today! My phone completely died. There was no dial tone, no nothing. I called up Verizon on my cell phone and they said they’d send someone out today, wow! I have been experiencing problems with the phone for a few days now like getting knocked offline and having to redial but nothing like this. Where I live in the desert the phone company doesn’t want to invest money in new equipment and has kind of written us off. This isn’t the first time that I had the same problem; it’s called a MOX switch. Usually the MOX goes out very slowly as time goes by. You can be talking to somebody and then “CLICK” you are not and it takes the MOX about a minute to reset. Martin from Verizon showed up a little after 1pm. I told him of previous times that the MOX had gone out and I believed that was the problem. He went to the main box that’s about a mile away and put me on a different MOX switch and returned at 2:45 to say my phone was working now. Because of the phone dropping the line I wasn’t able to get my Windows 7 updated and functioning on the HP Mini Note and have been using the Dell Mini 9 to post my journals. I started updating the Win 7after Martin left and got most of it completed, but I’m still using the Mini 9 to post my journal tonight. Tomorrow I hope to start using Win 7 on my posts.
Carolyn Rich called to ask if I could run by her cabin to see if the repair guy who is staying there working on it was around. She hasn’t been able to get in contact with him for a few days and wanted to know when he’d be finished. I drove the Gross Polluter over and sure enough he and his girlfriend were there; I think I interrupted them doing something. Their names were Jerry and Lana from Palm Desert, very nice folks. I let Jerry use my phone to talk to Carolyn since his phone didn’t work well up here.
I had to clear out everything in the computer room so I can start laying tiles down. That took the better part of the day to do because I had everything from other rooms I tiled stored in there; I’m running out of room! I think now is a good time to go through and pick out the stuff I need and get rid of the rest by putting some of it in storage or just throwing it away. I really need to keep the clutter down in the house and give me room to breathe.
I went for my evening walk and tonight I did watch the Nightly News to learn more about the killings at Fort Hood in Texas; such a sad tragedy! Then I watched “My Name is Earl” to take my mind off that. I watched “Fastforward” on ABC, then “Fringe” on Fox, and Jay Leno on NBC. I’ve been watching Way Too Much TV lately.
I did my stretches and lifted weights; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Friday 06- I did my stretches and ran two miles.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 50 and 75 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 39 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 77. Light and variable wind. Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 51. West wind between 3 and 6 mph.”
I have been trying to call Stoney since last night but his line was always busy so I thought that he forgot to go offline on his computer again. I went over to tell him and found that his phone has the same problem that mine had. So I went back home and called Verizon to come on out to fix it. They said that someone would be out today.
Stoney picked me up at 1:30pm for a drive down to Yucca Valley to pay our last respects to Donna Myers who passed away last week. There were a number of folks who showed up from Montebello were her and Cal used to live before coming to retire here. There were two or three ex Fire Chiefs attending from the Montebello fire department where Donna and Cal used to work and lots of family and friends to say their goodbyes.
When I got back home I went for a long evening walk to reflect. As I was walking I came across a large tarantula. I remembered when I first moved here I found one by my house and coached him into a Styrofoam Cup and carried him away where I wouldn’t accidently step on him. This time I picked him up and let him walk on my hands; he’d go from one hand to the other as I move one in front of him. What a wonder! It made me think just how precious all life is and how much life is wasted; where some folks strive to be alive to see another sunset while others throw it away on the trivial; where one person can see the wonders in an ant hill while other’s walk past giving it no thought. I guess the passing of my friend and the recent shootings at Fort Hood were a maniac took the lives of twelve souls, has made me contemplate these opposites of reality. Maybe someday we will respect all life and become the caretakers of our little planet and all its creatures. And maybe we have to respect ourselves before we can.
I read some astronomy and did my stretches before “Numb3rs” came on CBS; about a hacker who hacked into illegal credit card websites. Then I practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Oh, and I finally got Win7 up and running on the HP Mini Note and used it to post this journal. It appears to me to be faster than Win XP and is really nice to work with!

Saturday 07- I did my stretches and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 50 and 74 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 28 percent, mostly clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 75. Calm wind becoming southeast between 4 and 7 mph. Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 49. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm.”
I was just about to start tiling when Judy Ruggles called saying she bought a used car in Twentynine Palms and I told her to come out my way on her way back home for a visit. I have been in touch with her on MySpace for a few months. I wrote in my newspaper column back in June 2007 about the Chuckwalla Fest at Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneer Town where she played her banjo. I’ve been trying to get up enough nerve to go down to the Joshua Tree Saloon on open mic night on Tuesday or on a Sunday and I wanted her to critique my songs which I wrote and my guitar playing to see if I was up to such an endeavor. I gave Judy directions on how to get here but told her that I’d meet her at Lear Ave so she wouldn’t get lost. The roads here are dirt and washboard and I kind of felt sorry that she had to drive her new car down these rickety roads of ours. I gave her the grand tour of my home showing her my solar panels and the work I’ve done with the tile. We yakked for a spell getting to know each other. Then I played a few of my songs for her. It’s very hard for me to play in the presents of people, something I’m just going to have to get used to, and I managed to get through a few songs with only a few mistakes. She said that she honestly liked them and encouraged me to get down to the saloon and play. I just have to make the leap which I hope to do in the next couple of weeks. Judy is an interesting person with lots of wonderful stories; I think we will become good friends.
I went for my evening walk and met Ginger and her son Vincent on the trail where they were taking an evening walk, too. We talked as we walked and ended up at an old abandoned house on top of a nearby hill. She had her killer dog with her that had bit me on the toe a few weeks ago, but the dog came right up to me and let me pet her, so I’m guessing that the killer dog likes me now or is scheming for a way to gain my confidence and then attack me unawares. We had a nice walk!
When I got back home it was already dark and I made a few calls to Family and Friends. Then I worked on the new Win7 operating system trying to figure it out, getting it updated, and making it run the way I want it to run. Then I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Sunday 08- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 49 and 72 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 29 percent, mostly clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 75. Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph. Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 50. South southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.”
I had to make up for not laying down tiles yesterday and that’s mostly what I did today. I have only one full tile left to lie down and then it’s cutting time for the trim; I hope to start cutting tomorrow. I was surprised that my back wasn’t hurting this time after working with the tiles. Maybe my body is getting used to the abuse. I hope that after I finish this tiling project that I never have to lay any tile again!
I went for my evening walk before going over to Stoney’s where we finished off the beans and rice he made last week. We watched a show on lightning and hurricanes.
I’ve had my HP Mini Note online running updates for the last couple of days and they were finally done when I got home. So now Win7 is all updated and running fine.
I watched “60 Minutes” about computer espionage and how our nation’s power grid could be taken down by hackers. I skipped the next segment that was about some famous tennis star that used crack; I really didn’t find that news worthy. I then watched “Nature” that was about this snake called the Black Mamba whose bite is deadly to humans. It lives in a landlocked country of Swaziland where housewife Thea Litschka-Koen and her husband Clifton go out and rescue the Mambas. Thea started out helping her son with a school project about snakes and then learn to capture them. They now get calls from villagers to come and get these deadly snakes out of their homes and sugar fields. Watching them catch these venomous snakes is pretty frightening. They go into a bedroom looking for the snake, pin it down with these long poles with pinchers, then grab the back of its head and put it in a bag.
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Monday 09- I did my stretches and ran two miles.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 50 and 74 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 27 percent, hazy skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 77. Calm wind becoming southeast between 5 and 8 mph. Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 52. West southwest wind between 5 and 8 mph.”
Well I went to start cutting the tile for my floor but the tile cutter was too small for my tiles, dang! I went hunting for my glass cutter thinking that I could cut them with that. I hunted and hunted but it wasn’t to be found. I was sure it was in the same drawer where I had my tile saw. I called up Stoney and he had one and I went over to pick it up. He also microwaved a meals on wheels dinner for me; kind of bland but okay. I got back home and tried to cut with the glass cutter but it didn’t even leave a scratch. I wasted three whole hours looking for that glass cutter and going over to Stoney’s, double dang. What I did do was look at the tile cutter and decided if I removed one of its stops that I could fit the whole tile inside, cut one side, and then turn it around to do the other side. Okay, that worked and I started cutting tile and laying it down till way after sunset when I ran out of thin set (the glue that holds the tiles down).
I was beat and just wanted to chill out so I watched TV all night. First it was two episodes of “My Name is Earl”, two episodes of “Law and Order Criminal Intent”, and then “Castle” on ABC. I’ve been watching to dang much TV lately!
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Tuesday 10- I did my stretches, lifted weights, and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 52 and 75 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 25 percent, clear skies but clouds moving in during night fall.
According to the National Weather Service: “Veterans Day: Partly sunny, with a high near 78. North northwest wind between 5 and 9 mph. Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 54. West southwest wind around 9 mph.”
I got a call from my friend Kula how is at O’Hare Airport in Chicago on her way to Idaho to see her mother. Kula always calls me from airports while she is waiting for a plane to take her to some exotic destination. Kula told me that she and Tom are thinking of purchasing a beach house in Redondo Beach! I said I’d help them move. The house would be overlooking the beach and ocean, cool!!!
I spent the day cutting tiles and gluing them down. Cut and glue, cut and glue for four hours and I’m still not done! I think I’m going to run out of tiles soon and have to go down to Home Depot to get a few more of them, but I’m going to hold out till I cut and lay down every bit and piece of tile I have.
Roger Smith cooked up some beans and ham hocks in a crock pot and invited me over to Stoney’s to help eat them. I didn’t know that Roger was such a fine cook! We sat around the table after we had our fill of beans and jawed about all the deceitful corrupt politicians that fill our government’s two houses.
I got back just in time to receive P’s failing computer she brought over. I already worked on it last month but it died again. This time I’ll just do a clean install of the operating system that I was trying to avoid last time. The dang computer is nine years old and I hope that the hard drive isn’t failing. I have a 30Gig drive I could put in but I don’t think that the BIOS is setup for that large of a drive. Also it is a white box computer and I really don’t think that I could find a BIOS update for it.
I watched “My Name is Earl”; I really like this show! Then I watched “NCIS” on CBS about a North Korean woman who was trained to be an assassin when she was just a child.
I did my stretches and went for a night run; 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.

Veterans Day - I did my stretches and ran two miles.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 54 and 75 degrees, winds out of the SSW at 6 to 11 MPH, humidity around 27 percent, altostratus clouds.
According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 70. Northwest wind between 3 and 8 mph. Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 48. West wind between 11 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.”
I did more of the tile today; a whole four hours worth! Now my back is starting to ache. While I was doing the tile I was also working on P’s computer and managed to load Win2000 onto it, but before I did I reseated the RAM and all the PCI slots to see if that might be the problem of it hanging; it wasn’t. I tried to do repair from the CD but the system still hung up afterwards. So I’m just stuck doing a fresh install of the OS. That’s all I’m going to do on her computer today because the clouds are out and I am on solar. I have now finished tiling the kitchen; the bedroom I finished yesterday. I still need to grout everything when I’m done tiling.
I went for my evening walk and then watched “My Name is Earl”. I think it’s really funny because I used to know trailer park folk like the ones portrayed in the show. Anyways I was burned out from all the work and just surfed the web until it got late. Then I did my stretches; practiced my guitar and broke a string again; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Thursday12- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 48 and 71 degrees, winds out of the SW at 7 to 18 MPH, humidity around 34 percent, altostratus clouds.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 63. West northwest wind between 9 and 13 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 45. West northwest wind between 7 and 9 mph.”
I jumped in the Gross Polluter for a drive down to Yucca Valley. My first stop was at Home Depot to get two more boxes of tiles and some bolts for my telescope mirror mount. Fortunately they had the size of bolts I needed and I can get the scope back in working order for the first time. I drove into Arco by WalMart to get gas but every time a space opened up someone would beat me to it; this happened four or five times! So I drove down the street to another Arco and I didn’t have that problem. It was on my way to Brown’s Music where I bought some strings to replace the one I keep breaking. Margarita, the lady there, was very helpful in helping me order some Herco nylon picks that I use; I break them too but not so often. Then I went to Stater Bros to stock up on supplies, and on my way back home I picked up my mail. I accomplished everything I set out to do in town; usually I’m in a hurry to get back home and forget something.
At Stater Bros I was trying to find jelly or jam that didn’t have any high fructose corn syrup, but every one of them had it as an ingredient, so I bought honey instead. My sister who is a dietician says that HFCS is poison. I’ll take her word on that!
No working on tiling today; I think I’m a little burned out (mentally and physically) with that right now. So I messed around with the telescope mirror to see if the bolts worked. I need to cut some springs from a coil I have that go on the bolts to the inside of the mount but I’ll tackle that maybe tomorrow if I get the time.
I felt a little tired so I closed my eyes for a short nap that was not so short as that I woke up just as the Sun Set; so no evening walk today. Instead I called a few friends and then strung the string on my guitar and played for a spell.
I watched “My Name is Earl”, “Huell Howser” on PBS, “Fastforward” on ABC, and then wrapped the night up with “Fringe”.
I did my stretches and went for a night run; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Friday13- I did my stretches, ran a mile, lifted weights, and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 45 and 65 degrees, winds out of the NW at 10 to 19 MPH, humidity around 37 percent, altostratus clouds.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 64. Northwest wind between 7 and 10 mph. Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 39. Northwest wind between 10 and 13 mph.”
I went to work on P’s computer and it started to hang again after I installed the drivers for the ATI video card. So this appears to be the problem and I need to find a work around for it if I want to get this ten year old computer working again. I called her to let her know that she should start looking for another newer computer because this one is on its last legs. My problem with it now is trying to uninstall the ATI drivers since it even hangs the system when I put it in safe mode. If I get the time I’ll just reinstall Win2000 and start over again. I like a challenge but I don’t like to waste my time on something this old.
I had some time to cut a few more floor tiles before the Sun set; I’m getting pretty good at it now! Then I went for my evening walk and took a few pictures of the Sun’s rays shining through the clouds that didn’t come out too good, but I did get a picture of my solar panels on my house that did look good!
I watched “My Name is Earl” and then worked on the Copper Mountain Mesa Website adding a picture to my column and finally updating the calendar. I loaded it all up to the internet and sent out the newsletter.
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Saturday14- I did my stretches and ran a mile.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 39 and 64 degrees, winds out of the NW at 7 to 12 MPH, humidity around 34 percent, clear skies. It’s getting cold outside at night!
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 58. North northwest wind between 10 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 39. North northwest wind between 3 and 8 mph.”
The Annual General Membership Meeting is being held at 2pm today and I needed to get cleaned up a little so I went over to Stoney’s to take a nice hot shower that made me feel human again. Then I headed on over to the Community Center where the meeting was being held. It was a pleasant meeting and everyone participated. During the meeting we elected the board members who are basically the old board members whose terms were to expire today: Mary Helen Tuttle, Bob Seeley, Lee Hines, and Ron Reese. They are doing such a great job that we all thought we’d give them another go at it. The “New” Board then elected its officers: Katherine Quinn is the new President, Steve Tuttle is VP, and Rob Reese is 2nd VP.
Then we discussed the upcoming Thanksgiving Day Potluck at the Community Center which is for members only and their guests. New members are welcome but they have to purchase their membership at the door. All members who want to attend should bring a dish that can feed at least eight folks.
There was a rush to adjourn the meeting when someone put in a motion to adjourn but I said hold on a minute and give us time to reflect on anything we might want to add; I wanted to get the times of the meetings changed to a weeknight instead of having them on Saturdays to make it more convenient for folks, but Mary Helen beat me to it and raised the question. We discussed this for a bit and came up with the second Monday of the month at 7pm starting this December. The motion was put forth and seconded and all voted aye except for two folks. So now the meeting will be on the second Monday of the month at 7pm, cool! I truly think that this will make the meetings more accessible to more folks and it will free up a weekend for the board members. Then we adjourned the meeting and stood around and jawed for a spell; it was a very productive meeting. I took several pictures of the new Board and the one I’m posting is the last I took when I told them to go ahead and act silly for this one.
Stoney and I went to his house afterwards to sit around and discussed the happenings of today while we watched “How It’s Made” on the Discovery Channel. I went home just before dark and went for my evening walk. I called Friends and Family to yak at them for a time. Then I went online to do a little webwork.
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Sunday15- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 39 and 60 degrees, winds out of the NW at 4 to 12 MPH, humidity around 29 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 63. Light north northwest wind. Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 38. Light and variable wind.”
I called and talked to Friends and Family for a long spell this afternoon and then I spent the rest of the day cutting floor tiles. It looks like I’m going to be a little short of tiles; I thought there were ten in a box but there are only eight. You think that after opening all these boxes of tiles I would have known how many there actually were inside! So now I’ll have to go down to home depot to pick some more of them up. I think one more box should do the trick and I’ll have a few left over
I went for my evening walk and was about to eat dinner when Ginger call to say she needed my help getting her generator started. The new generator that she bought has an electric start but it quit working so she barrowed another one that has a pull starter that takes a lot of muscle to get it started. She is going to replace her generator but until she does I’ll come on by to her house at around sunset and give it a pull to get it started for her. When she dropped me back off I showed her how bright my LED lights are inside my home; she’s thinking of going solar too.
I watched “60 Minutes” on CBS about: a bomb hunting unit in Afghanistan, dinosaur hunter Jack Horner, the wetlands in southern Iraq and its recovery after Saddam Hussein destroyed it by rerouting the rivers that fed it to get rid of rebels hiding there after the Gulf War in 1991.
Then I watched a DVD I had of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” (2008). I’ve seen it before but it was worth another watch!
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Monday16- I did my stretches and ran two miles.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 38 and 62 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 23 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 69. Light and variable wind. Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 42. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.”
I decided to jump in the Gross Polluter and head on to town to get another box of tiles. Then I went to the post office and picked up a book I ordered from Amazon.com called “Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Path” by Michelle Feynman that she wrote about her father Richard Feynman. Then over to the Health Food Store to get two pounds of yeast that I use in my oatmeal for breakfast. My last stop was to the library to look through their books they are selling and found “Golden Buddha” by Clive Cussler and paid 75 cents for it; such a deal!
I went over to Stoney’s to pick up my groceries from the USDA food distribution that he gets for me every month. We sat and yapped at him for a spell. He has to go to the hospital this Friday for a test and his daughter is coming down from up north to make sure things go alright.
I got home just before sunset to go on my evening walk. I read “Golden Buddha” until “My Name is Earl” came on and then continued to read a few chapters more when I stopped to watch “Castle” on ABC.
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night. Tomorrow I’ll be outside in the cold watching the Leonid Meteor Shower! It should be a good one and dark with the Moon being new.

Tuesday 17- Last night at 1am I braved the cold to watch the Leonid Meteor Shower. Mars was rising in the east and it was a beautiful night. Saw a few meteors and stayed outside for a little while until the cold crept into my bones. Then I went to the warm comforts of my bed and went to sleep.
I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 42 and 62 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 21 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 67. West northwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm. Wednesday Night: Clear, with a low around 42. West northwest wind between 6 and 8 mph.”
I spent all day until sunset finishing the cutting and laying down of the tiles. I wanted to get it done so I can grout the floors and be done with this so I can move on to other stuff I have to do. My whole body aches!!!
I went for my evening walk and then over to Ginger’s to start up her generator. She fed me some hotdogs and I played with her dogs for a spell.
I watched “My Name is Earl” then “California Gold” where we were shown how to make soap; I always wondered about that. “NCIS” came on CBS about thieves who broke into a server farm and brought down the electrical system to Washington DC.
Then I read “Golden Buddha” until it got late. I did my stretches and went for a very cold night run, burr; wrote my column for the newspaper and sent it in; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal. Posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Wednesday 18- I did my stretches, lifted weights, and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 42 and 65 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 29 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 67. North northwest wind between 6 and 11 mph. Thursday Night: Clear, with a low around 41. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.”
I started putting the grout on the kitchen floor today. I only wanted to do a little bit at first to see how it will come out. I had to clean the floor very good and after mixing up the grout I just laid it on thick at first and trowel it into the groves at a forty degree angle. I will have to wait for three days before I can apply the sealant and then move my freezer in which is taking up much space in the living room. Everything looks great!
I went over to Stoney’s to do my laundry and did a little preventive maintenance on it. Then I got on home just in time for my evening walk. Ginger called to have me come down to start her generator. She has a replacement for the electric starter one that failed. I helped her get it off her truck, and now she won’t need me coming down to rope pull the generator anymore.
I watched “My Name is Earl” and then read a few chapters of “Golden Buddha” and 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 19- I did my stretches and ran a mile.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 44 and 65 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 23 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: Sunny, with a high near 72. West wind 6 to 11 mph becoming southeast. Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 45. West southwest wind between 7 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.”
Well today I did more grouting of the floors. I did part of the living room and bedroom. I only do part of each because I have to move things around to make room; it’s best to do this in an empty house! Let me tell you that this is a lot of work and if I wasn’t exercising and doing stretches all these years I wouldn’t be able to do this. My body still hurts when the day is done.
I went for a nice evening walk and then settled down to read “Golden Buddha” and got a few chapters done when the phone rang, it was Ginger saying that she forgot to buy oil to put in her new generator and would like me to come over and give the other generator a yank to get it started. I got there in ten minutes and she offered me a smore. “What is a smore?” I asked. “You never heard of smore before?” “Nope” I said. “Smores are graham crackers with chocolate and marshmallows in the middle, you never had them when you went camping?” “Nope, but it sounds good.” Her daughter cooked me up one over the flames in their fireplace and it was mighty good; I ate two of them!
Back home again I watched “My Name is Earl”. It looks like the series is getting to an end; these are reruns and I watch two a night and I think it will wrap up soon and I can go on to other things of great importance. I read a little bit more until “Fastforward” came on ABC, and then watched “Fringe” on Fox.
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar, I’ve been practicing longer now; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Friday 20- I did my stretches and ran a mile.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 45 and 65 degrees, winds SE-SW at 8 to 16 MPH, humidity around 27 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 62. North northwest wind between 8 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 43. West northwest wind around 9 mph.”
I was hoping to finish the grouting of the house today and worked on it straight through without a break from 11am to 4pm. I got the bathroom and living room done, but I was just about to finish the computer room when I ran out of grout; I only had a few feet to go, dang! Now I’ll have to go down to Home Depot and get some more. My body is burned out and I think I’ll take a few days to rest up.
I went for my evening walk to work out some of the pain in my muscles.
Denny called to tell me that Stoney is out of surgery and is doing fine. He had two stents put in arteries to his heart that were blocked. He will stay at the hospital overnight for observation. He’s been a grouch lately and I hope this changes his attitude to a more cheerful disposition. I just glad everything went alright!
I read “Golden Buddha” until “Numb3rs” came on CBS. Then I did my stretches; 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 21- I did my stretches. I went to bed around 1am (early for me) last night and slept till 11am; I must have been really tired from all that grouting of the floors yesterday.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 43 and 63 degrees, winds slight breeze, humidity around 23 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 68. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 42. West wind between 3 and 6 mph.”
I drove down to Home Depot to get the grout that I ran out of yesterday when I had a few more tiles to get done; I only needed a cup full! I even bought me a sponge mop so I won’t have to stoop down to clean the tiles. When I got back home I went over the tiles with the mop and it was really easy to clean that way, duh! Before, I would get down on my hands and knees and use a sponge. The floor looks really nice and I am glad that I did it, but if I’d known how much work it was going to take beforehand I’d have just painted the dang thing and been done with it!
I was invited over to Stoney’s to eat dinner with his daughter Judy and her family Denny and Dustin. Denny cooked up something called a heartburn casserole that consisted of corn tortillas, hamburger, corn, onions, cheese, and other ingredients that was mighty filling and tasty. Stoney is looking okay after his operation and says that he is now getting circulation in his feet and the pain in his chest has gone away. He said the operation was all done through an artery in his leg, was awake the whole time while the stents were being put into place, and didn’t feel a thing. Dustin, Stoney’s fourteen year old great grandson has really grown since I last saw him a year ago this Thanksgiving and is playing football at his high school. It was great seeing them all again!
I got back home to do a little webwork and then read a few chapters in “Golden Buddha”; did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Sunday 22- I did my stretches and ran two miles.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 41 and 64 degrees, winds NW at 4 to 12, humidity around 27 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 66. North northwest wind around 7 mph. Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 43. Northwest wind around 7 mph.”
I called a few Friends and Family during the day.
I put sealant on the tiles in the kitchen and it stunk up the whole house. I had all the windows open but the smell lingered throughout the day and into the night. I’m going to hate it when it comes time to put the sealant on the tiles in my bedroom. I mopped the floors over and over trying to get the rest of the leftover grout and it looks like I’ll be doing it a few more times before I get it all.
I worked on my 12” Dobsonian Telescope. I had to cut grooves into the new bolts so that I can turn them with a screwdriver and then cut a metal spring that goes on the bolts that holds the primary mirror onto the mount. With that done I remounted the whole assembly back onto the telescope tube and tried to align it as best as I could. It was daytime and I’ll have to wait until night fall to find out if the repairs worked by testing it out on a bright star to see if there is any aberrations. At least the view finder is lining up correctly where it didn’t before when I first purchased the scope.
P came over with her sister D to pick up her computer. D said that she has another computer that P can have but it needs to be fixed. I told her to bring it over and I’d have a look-see.
I watched “60 Minutes” about: Health Care for the terminally ill; a Newsweek reporter’s story of being held in an Iranian prison; James Cameron’s new film Avatar; and Andy Rooney talking about Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims.
Then I went outside to test the telescope. Ah, so much better! The stars are dots instead of looking like comets! A vast improvement over what it was. I still need to tweak the primary mirror into better alignment and clean the mirror, too. But I’m happy that it’s working much better! A cold wind started to blow and I collected everything together and went back inside; my body isn’t acclimated to the cold yet this year.
I read a few chapters in “Golden Buddha” until late, then I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Monday 23- I did my stretches, lifted weights, and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 43 and 65 degrees, winds NNW at 4 to 8, humidity around 25 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 63. North northwest wind around 9 mph. Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 40. Northwest wind around 9 mph.”
Ginger called me up at 8:30am to tell me of a house fire. I went outside and saw the smoke coming from the northwest down Lucile Road around Saturn Street over by where the Marine Base property starts. She said that it was a house that was being renovated by weekenders. By the time the fire department arrived there was only a concrete slab left. No one was hurt!
My friend Joel called to say he had to go to the hospital because of a pain in his chest; I hope he’ll be okay!
I spent the day putting sealant on the grout in part of the living room, but got the bedroom and the bathroom completed! I started moving my stuff into those rooms. Tomorrow I’ll finish the living room. I still have work to do in the computer room but that can wait for a spell.
Judy Ruggles called and we yapped for almost an hour about music and other stuff. She’s trying to help me get my nerve up to go down and play my guitar at the Joshua Tree Saloon. I might just record some of the songs I have written and give the recordings to her friend who wants original songs to play on her internet radio show; lots to think about.
I went over to Stoney’s for dinner. His son-in-law Denny is barbecuing pork steaks, yum! Marcie Hines was there visiting Stoney and left shortly after I arrived. Judy and Dustin went to see that new Vampire movie and said it was great; I’m not into vampire movies. We ate as soon as they arrived home. Denny also cooked up some potato gratin that was really something special!
I got home just in time to watch “My Name is Earl”, and then read a few more chapters of “Golden Buddha” before “Castle” came on ABC. I did my stretches; practiced my guitar; wrote my column for the newspaper and sent it in; wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Goodbye to the month of November!