May 2010

Welcome to the Month of May! I did my stretches; again it’s dang windy outside!
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 50 and 74 degrees, NW winds 18-22 MPH, humidity around 12 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 79. North northwest wind between 11 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 51. North northwest wind between 18 and 21 mph becoming light. Winds could gust as high as 29 mph.”
Around about noon the wind died down enough for me to start working on the patio roof. I spent a few hours doing that and I would have gotten more of it done but I received several calls and had to stop work to take them. Of them a couple were hang-ups and I’d climb back up the ladder only to hear the phone ring again; this time it was an automatic call from the VA wanting me to confirm a doctor’s appointment for somebody else. I hung up, climbed up the ladder again and they called again. This time I took the phone inside the house to charge and went back outside to finish my work in peace.
I spent the rest of the evening calling friends and family. Then I read a few chapters of “Sheba” (1995) by Jack Higgins. Our heroes are made to work excavating the temple in search of Sheba’s treasure. Then they are put into a dry well to spend the night. They find a way out. They sneak around the bad guy’s camp and come upon Skiros’s tent and hear him say that he will kill them tomorrow and take the women by plane to a boat in Dahrein and set sail for Egypt. Our heroes find the women’s tent and tell them to wait until they get some weapons to make their escape. Unfortunately the plane arrives while they are getting the weapons and have to race to get to the plane before Skiros and the women do. Our heroes jump into a truck, make it to the plane and shoot at it. It explodes. But now all the assassins are after them and Skiros has the women. Our heroes make it back to the temple to attempt a rescue but are held up in a cave. The assassins throw hand grenades at the opening, sealing our heroes inside. As they are trying to find a way out they find a tunnel that leads to Sheba’s treasure! They make it out by an underground river and find that Skiros has already left with the women, dang! Our heroes take some camels from the assassins and head out after them.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Sunday 02- I did my stretches, ran a mile, and lifted weights; still dang windy but I needed to run!
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 51 and 72 degrees, NW winds 16-30 with gusts up to 40 MPH or more, humidity around 13 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 83. Northwest wind 5 to 8 mph becoming east. Monday Night: Clear, with a low around 57. South southeast wind 6 to 10 mph becoming west.”
Ron Dehart came by with some digital pictures on his camera he wanted me to make into thumbnails so he could upload them to EBay. He also brought some chicken and rice that I had later for dinner, yum!
Still very windy but I went for my evening walk anyways and listened to Astro 10: General Astronomy: The Contents of the Universe.
I read aloud from the textbooks: “Astronomy Today" chapter review; “The Cell: a Molecular Approach” Eukaryotic RNA Polymerase and General Transcription Factors.
I finish reading “Sheba” (1995) by Jack Higgins. Our heroes are now crossing the desert on camels. They stop at night and hear voices not too far away. They climb over a sand dune and see one of the assassins dragging Ruth from a tent and the truck that they been driving with the hood up. Ruth’s husband, Cunningham, wants to go get her but Kane holds him back and they devise a plan. Cunningham pretends to fall down the dune begging for water. The assassins go after him but he draws a machine gun and kills them all. Ruth tells them that Marie is with Skiros in another truck headed to an Arab camp. The truck is kaput and a sand storm hits and they lose the camels and have to trek across the hot desert on foot. They almost make it to the camp but they run out of water. They are saved by an American oil driller who helps them out. Kane, Marie’s servant, and the American driller leave the Cunninghams in good hands to go and rescue Marie. They get to the camp and Marie is there and is back in Kane’s arms, but only for a little while because Skiros steals her away again and makes for Dahrein to set sail for Egypt. Our heroes go after him and catch him on the sailboat just as he was leaving. Kane swims to the boat, sneaks aboard, but is caught by Skiros at gunpoint. Skiros takes Kane to his cabin where Marie is let out of a locked compartment. Skiros is about to shoot Kane when Marie’s servant sneaks through the window and kills Skiros by breaking his back. They jump overboard just as the Skiros’s crew gets the ship under way. They swim back to shore. All is well! The End.
I watched “Underworld: Evolution” (2006) about the fight between vampires, werewolfs, and control of vampire clans. I usually don’t watch vampire movies but this one was very good!
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar (I’m writing a new song), wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Monday 03- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 56 and 82 degrees, calm winds, humidity around 8 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 89. West wind at 10 mph becoming south. Tuesday Night: Clear, with a low around 61. West wind between 8 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.”
I went to Yucca Valley to see what I need to have done to get my truck certified for the road. I found that there cannot be any cracks on the lens of any of the lights, so I need to get new lens to replace the ones I glued the cracks back together. They need to go over my breaking system by taking the wheels off, so I’ll probably need to get the breaking system fixed. And I need to get a smog check. I didn’t feel too confident after I left the auto repair place. I went to Stater Bros to get some groceries and went back home.
I went for my evening walk and listened to Astro 10: General Astronomy: A Mulitiverse.
Kevin called to chat and we yakked for a long time about his vending business that he owns and runs in Tucson.
I read aloud from the textbooks: “Astronomy Today" started chapter on Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto; “The Cell: a Molecular Approach” General Transcription Factors and Initiation of Transcription by RNA Polymerase II. I read it but I don’t understand it that much!
I talked to Ginger on the phone for a spell as she drove back from Palm Springs. She’s trying to get a job up here and has an interview tomorrow in Twentynine Palms.
I started a new book by Michael Crichton called “Next” (2006). It seems to be about bioengineering, and the thing is that I can understand what he’s writing about because I’ve been reading that Molecular Biology book! Maybe I am getting something out of that textbook!!! This is a resent book so I wont be giving a blow by blow account of it.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar (the new song is coming along quite nicely), wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Tuesday 04- I did my stretches, ran two miles, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 61 and 88 degrees, mostly calm winds, humidity around 12 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 87. West wind between 8 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 59. Breezy, with a west wind between 15 and 22 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.”
I did some yard work and watered the plants. It’s was such a beautiful day that I spent a few hours outside just sitting and enjoying the sights and sounds of the desert in spring.
I went for my evening walk and listened to Astro 10: General Astronomy: Interstellar Travel.
I read aloud from the textbooks: “Astronomy Today" the discovery of Uranus and Neptune; “The Cell: a Molecular Approach” Transcription by RNA Polymerase I and II.
I read a few chapters of “Next” by Michael Crichton.
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.

Wednesday 05- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 59 and 87 degrees, winds out of the NW at 9 to 21 MPH, humidity around 14 percent, mostly clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 84. Northwest wind between 10 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 58. Northwest wind between 5 and 13 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.”
I went to town for my truck appointment to get my lights and breaks certified. I asked the mechanic if he would just check out the front lights before he did anything else because of the damage done there. He came out to where the Polluter was parked and did quick look at it and said that it wasn’t up to speck (one light was a little lower) and that it had to be original parts. Well to get the original parts on it would require a whole lot of body work, more than the truck is worth. The mechanic didn't charge me for the quick look and that was mighty nice of him! It also saved me a lot of money, too! So I will be looking for another truck and register the Polluter as an off road vehicle. Not a good day for the Gross Polluter. When I drove home she seemed to have a little more spunk; kinda like saying to me: I ain’t done yet! I’ll use the Polluter around the dirt roads out here where I live; no she ain’t done yet!
I felt pretty down when I got home and didn’t feel like doing much of anything, so I secluded myself inside the house and just read “Next” by Michael Crichton for the rest of the evening and 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.

Thursday 06- I did my stretches and ran a mile.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 58 and 80 degrees, winds out of the NW at 6 to 15 MPH, humidity around 16 percent, mostly clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: Sunny, with a high near 86. North northwest wind between 6 and 9 mph. Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 59. South southwest wind 5 to 11 mph becoming west northwest.”
I did housecleaning all dang day long! I swept and mopped all the floors. I put stuff away. That’s it! That’s all I did all dang day! I will do some more cleaning tomorrow, but right now I’m tired!!!
I went for my evening walk and listened to the last lecture in the series of Astro 10: General Astronomy: Einstein's Biggest Blunder? Professor Alex Filippenko is a very excellent lecturer and has a way of making difficult concepts understandable.
I read aloud from the textbooks: “Astronomy Today" the Physical Properties of Uranus and Neptune; “The Cell: a Molecular Approach” Regulation of Transcription in Eukaryotes.
I read and finished “Next” by Michael Crichton. What a fantastic book!!!
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Friday 07- I did my stretches, lifted weights, and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 59 and 84 degrees, gentle winds, humidity around 8 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 87. West northwest wind between 6 and 11 mph. Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 56. West wind between 14 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph.”
I went over to my vacationing friend’s house to make sure everything was okay. When I was backing out I hit a pointed rock and it punctured the sidewall of my left rear tire. I spent ten minutes replacing it with the spare.
I did some more house cleaning and I thought I’d be stuck doing that all day when I got a call from Karin asking if she could bring over her laptop for me to fix because it doesn’t run that good. Her laptop took forever to boot up and I had to wait as Norton anti-virus did whatever it does. First thing I did was removed Norton and then installed Avast anti-virus; things were much improved. Got online and Karin said that it was running much faster than it had before. While I was on her laptop I went to the Copper Mountain Mesa website to see how it loads. Oh no, it didn’t render very well. I use Firefox all the time and I was looking at my website on Internet Explorer for the first time in a long time and you have to scroll across horizontally to read anything, dang! You are supposed to check your website on different browsers to see if it renders correctly. Last time I did it was on IE7 and all was well; I didn’t change anything on the website so I figured it was okay, big mistake! So after I went on my evening walk I spent much of the evening trying to figure out what was wrong and rewriting HTML until it rendered correctly; I finished around 9pm. So now folks can go to the website, not get eyestrain, and it won’t look like a piece of crap on Internet Explorer! Those on Firefox won’t notice the difference.
I started reading a new Jack Higgins book called “A Season in Hell”. I don’t think I’ll write a blow by blow on the books I read anymore. It takes a lot of my time, nobody really commented on them anyways, and it made my journal too large for anyone who just wanted a quick read.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Saturday 08- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 56 and 88 degrees, winds NW at 10 18 MPH, humidity around 11 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 80. Windy, with a west wind 6 to 9 mph increasing to between 28 and 31 mph. Winds could gust as high as 47 mph. Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 49. Windy, with a west wind 27 to 30 mph decreasing to between 16 and 19 mph. Winds could gust as high as 45 mph.”
A woman came to my door. Her name was Wilda from Calgary Alberta Canada. She had bought property near me a few years ago on EBay and was asking about our area. I showed her around my place while yakking about our beautiful desert.
The service installer from MojaveWifi.com arrived around 2:30pm and spent the next couple of hours setting up my broadband connection. He did a fine job of it; climbing up ladders, drilling holes, stringing cables, and setting up my system in the house. MojaveWifi.com is a new company run by my friends and neighbors Mike and Stevie Villarreal who’ve been distinguished members of the Copper Mountain Mesa community for more than 40 years. Their business offers Dial-up, DSL, and Wireless Internet services throughout most of the Basin, covering Morongo Valley, Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, Twenty-nine Palms, Landers, and even Wonder Valley is coming online soon. They want to make their customers exceedingly happy. In fact, it's part of their motto: "We Strive to Exceed Expectations!" Some of the benefits you'll see with Mojavewifi.com include: There are no term-lengths or contracts for service. They won't bind you in for a year or two, and so there won't be any of those awful Early Termination Fees, either. Also, they don't put "caps" on your service like some other ISP's do. (760) 362-1373 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (760) 362-1373 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Be nice to see a local business succeed! (I thought I’d give them a little advertising here for their new business)
Once the service installer had gone I was left to my own devices and promptly went to Hulu.com and watched one episode of “Fringe” and two Episodes of “Firefly”; tomorrow I’ll try Skype.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Sunday 09- I did my stretches. Lots of wind outside!
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 56 and 88 degrees, winds W at 14 to 33with guests up to 50 MPH, humidity around 14 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 75. Breezy, with a west northwest wind between 16 and 22 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 51. Breezy, with a west wind between 15 and 23 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph.”
Dang windy outside! I stayed in the house playing with the Wifi broadband on my computers. I was finally able to update my MacBook which had a 1.7Gig update and would have taken me weeks or months on dialup to download, but on the broadband did it in about two hours. I got Skype going and called about everybody I knew so I could test it. I have all these computers and stuff which runs off of Wifi that’s been sitting around for years collecting dust; it was like that movie “Independence Day” where that captured flying saucer that was in Area 51 started to come alive when the aliens came to Earth. Well that’s what happened to my computers. Oh what fun I’m having. I spent all day testing this and that see what it could do. I am a very happy camper!!!
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Monday 10- I did my stretches. Another windy day and it looks like the next two day will be the same.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 51 and 77 degrees, winds NW at 14 to 24 with guests up to 35 MPH, humidity around 17 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 72. Breezy, with a northwest wind between 20 and 28 mph, with gusts as high as 39 mph. Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 50. Breezy, with a northwest wind 21 to 24 mph decreasing to between 8 and 11 mph. Winds could gust as high as 33 mph.”
Karen and Dana Van Noort came by for a visit and to have me show her how to use her new external hard drive she got for Mother’s Day. While they were here I showed them my new Wifi broadband and connected it to her laptop; they seemed to be impressed.
I went to the Copper Mountain Mesa Board Meeting. I almost missed going because I had fallen asleep but heard Chris Jonas honk when he drove by my house. Treasurer Maryhelen Tuttle reported that there were 51 adults and 7 children showing up to our first Saturday breakfast bringing in $262. The soda machine netted $146.54! Bingo brought in $322.00 for the month. The Thrift Room brought in another $82. We had a discussion about drawing in more folks to volunteer and help out with the breakfast and bingo. We depend on only a few individuals that do all the work and they need help. Bingo will be shut down on June 1 because the volunteers that run it have to be away that day. I called Chris at home to tell him that I will call bingo if he could find anyone to help with the cash register. Also if we don’t get more people to help we may have to abandon the USDA Food Distribution that helps many needy folks in our area; 105 folks last April! It is very important that folks know that our little community center is one of the few centers left that is not run by the county but by volunteers from our community and that if we don’t do something soon there may not be a center left to come to.
I read a few chapters in “A Season in Hell” by Jack Higgins until it got late.
I did my stretches and lifted weights, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Tuesday 11- I did my stretches; another wild and windy day!
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 49 and 65 degrees, winds NW at 28 to 30 with guests up to 45 MPH, humidity around 19 percent, clear skies with a few clouds on the horizon.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 77. North northwest wind between 7 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 55. West wind between 8 and 11 mph becoming calm.”
I stayed inside because of the high winds and loaded a Linux OS on my Asus EEE 701 netbook but it didn’t have sound and I didn’t like how it ran so I installed the original Linux on it, did all the updates, and it ran perfectly.
I read aloud from the textbooks: “Astronomy Today" the Atmospheric Composition of Uranus and Neptune; “The Cell: a Molecular Approach” Transcription Regulatory Proteins.
Joel Levy came by for a short visit and brought me a steak dinner, yumm!
I read a few more chapters in “A Season in Hell” by Jack Higgins until Roger Toombs came by with his computer to see how my new Wifi Broadband works; he liked it very much.
I watched “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” (1964). I never saw it before and I thought it was time that I did. A very excellent movie!!!!!
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Wednesday 12- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 53 and 77 degrees, winds NW at 13 to 20 MPH, humidity around 25 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. North northeast wind between 3 and 10 mph. Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 57. East southeast wind between 5 and 8 mph becoming calm.”
I went to checkup on a friend’s house and stopped over to Roger Smith’s to see what he was up to. He had a visitor; his name was Berry out here from Oregon celebrating his Mom’s birthday. I stayed to yak with them for a spell. Roger may have a vehicle I may purchase and maybe not. We’re going to look into that. I told him about the new Wifi Broadband that we have out here and he seems very excited about that; dialup is killing him!
I got back home and did some chores and then read aloud from the textbooks: “Astronomy Today" the Weather of Uranus and Neptune; “The Cell: a Molecular Approach” Structures and Function of Transcriptional Activators.
I spent the rest of the night mindlessly surfing the web. Now I can do it 1000 times faster!
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Thursday 13- I did my stretches, ran a mile, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 58 and 78 degrees, calm winds, humidity around 15 percent, clear skies becoming overcast later in the day.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday...Mostly sunny. Highs around 81 in yucca valley to around 86 in twentynine palms. Northwest wind around 10 mph. Friday Night...Mostly clear. Lows 51 to 59 in yucca valley to around 60 in twentynine palms. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph.”
I wrote my column for the newspaper and sent it in.
I went to town to WalMart to get a new tire for the one that hit a sharp rock that ripped the sidewall out a few days ago. While I was waiting for the tire to be replaced I bought cards for Mother’s Day (a little late) and sent them on their way. I also did some shopping at Staters.
I got back home and read aloud from the textbooks: “Astronomy Today" the Magnetosphere of Uranus and Neptune; “The Cell: a Molecular Approach” Eukaryotic Repressors. Now I don’t claim to understand all this Molecular stuff and I almost quit reading it yesterday, but it is helping me to pronounce difficult words. So I’ll keep reading the dang thing aloud. (The astronomy stuff I understand very well)
I watched “Star Trek: Generations (1994)” on Hulu.com. It wasn’t as good as the first time I saw it. The plot wasn’t all that great, but still it’s Star Trek!
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Friday 14- I did my stretches, ran a mile, and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 60 and 85 degrees, calm winds, humidity around 14 percent, clear skies becoming overcast in the evening.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 86. West southwest wind at 9 mph becoming north. Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 60. West southwest wind between 10 and 13 mph becoming calm.”
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa website and sent out the Newsletter.
Then I went outside and did some construction on my patio roof while I watered all the plants. I found that the doves have made two new nests and there are eggs in them!
I read aloud from the textbooks: “Astronomy Today" the Moons of Uranus and Neptune; “The Cell: a Molecular Approach” Relationship of Chromatin Structure to Transcription.
I went for my evening walk and took the camera along; I got some nice pics.
I read and finished “A Season in Hell” by Jack Higgins. It was a very adventurous mystery with lots of twists and turns and a surprising ending.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Saturday 15- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 60 and 92 degrees, calm winds, humidity around 13 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 88. Calm wind becoming southeast between 10 and 13 mph. Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 60. South wind 5 to 14 mph becoming west. Winds could gust as high as 18 mph.”
I called family and friends throughout the day. I also hammered more nails into the patio roof. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll start sealing the roof with Henry’s roofing compound and paint it with Snow Coat. All this should keep my cabin cooler by a few degrees this summer.
I went for my evening walk and listened to two Astronomy Cast lectures: Ep. 176: Mysteries of the Milky Way, Part 1, and Ep. 177: Mysteries of the Milky Way, Part 2.
I played around on the computer for a spell and then I started reading a new book Jack Higgins called “Midnight Runner”.
I did my stretches lifted weights, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Sunday 16- I did my stretches, ran two miles, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 60 and 93 degrees, winds SE 4 to 16 MPH, humidity around 11 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday...Partly sunny. Highs 71 to 73 in yucca valley to around 82 in twentynine palms. Light wind becoming south 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon. Monday Night...Mostly cloudy. Cooler. Lows 46 to 50 in yucca valley to around 55 in twentynine palms. West wind 10 to 15 mph with gusts to around 30 mph.”
I worked on the patio roof sealing it with Henry’s roof patch. Boy it was hot up there! Good thing I’m doing it now instead of the summer when it really gets hot.
I went back inside the house and did my Wikipedia thing where I go from one subject to another; I could spend all day doing this!
Dropped on over to Stoney’s to check out the place and everything looked okay. I took a shower while I was there and feel clean again.
I called Sherry up and told her about Stoney’s memorial on the 29th and she said she has to work but will drop by on her break.
I read this neat story in the news about a 16 year old Australian girl, Jessica Watson, who sailed around the world! She just got back a few days ago after spending seven months out at sea. This makes her the youngest person to sail around the world unassisted! Wow!
I read aloud from the textbooks: “Astronomy Today" the Rings of Uranus and Neptune; “The Cell: a Molecular Approach” Regulation of Transcription by Noncoding RNAs.
I went for my evening walk and listened to Astronomy Cast lecture: Ep. 178: Mysteries of the Universe, Part 1.
I read a few chapters of “Midnight Runner” by Jack Higgins.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Monday 17- I did my stretches, ran two miles, rode my bike, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 55 and 78 degrees, winds WS at 6 to 18 MPH, humidity around 24 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 76. West northwest wind between 15 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 56. West northwest wind between 10 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph.”
I went back up onto the roof to paint some Snow-Coat on the patio to keep it cool. The first pic is the bare plywood with Henry’s roof sealant I put on yesterday, and the next pic is when I finished with the first coat of Snow-Coat. While I was painting Ron Dehart call and we yapped for forty-five minutes. Then I went back up and continued painting. Everything went well and I was down off the roof in about an hour or so.
Joan call having a little problem on her computer and I told her to just bring it on by and I’d take care of it; which I did.
I’ve been spending some time looking at sailboats for sale online and dreaming. Maybe I should buy one- they are pretty inexpensive right now- and just use it for the summer. I just don’t know what I want to do yet.
I read aloud from the textbooks: “Astronomy Today" the Discovery of Pluto; “The Cell: a Molecular Approach” RNA Processing and Turnover.
I went for my evening walk and listened to Astronomy Cast lecture: Ep. 178: Mysteries of the Universe, Part 2.
I watched two episodes of “Fringe” on Hulu.com.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Tuesday 18- I did my stretches. Pretty windy outside!
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 56 and 78 degrees, winds NW 16 to 28 MPH, humidity around 27 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 89. North northwest wind between 6 and 11 mph. Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 62. West northwest wind between 9 and 13 mph.”
Since it was windy outside I decided to write my column for the newspaper and send it in. I really didn’t do much of anything else during the day. Joan called with another computer problem but it escapes me right now of what it was.
Around 5pm Ginger called asking for my help with her new UHF antenna that she got from Radio Shack (she told me they are going out of business and are selling stuff at half price). I drove on over and I couldn’t get the dang thing working. We tried it on another TV set she had and worked just fine after tweaking it a bunch. She gave me a dish of ice cream with chocolate syrup on top. I sat on the couch eating it while she showed me pictures of her family. We went outside to see Princess her horse and I fed her a carrot; she looks well! I got home well after sun down.
I watched an episode of “Fringe” on Hulu.com.
I read a few chapters of “Midnight Runner” by Jack Higgins.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Wednesday 19- I did my stretches, ran a mile, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 62 and 90 degrees, winds NW 10 to 16 MPH, humidity around 19 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 93. West northwest wind between 7 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 64. West wind around 11 mph.”
Leah from the Census Bureau came by to double check on the form filled out a week ago by the visit to my home of another Census person. She read to me all the questions and they all agreed except for one: I told the first Census person at the time that I refuse to answer what race I was because I believe that it’s none of the government’s business. Well he checked the box for my race anyways after I specifically told him not to. I told this to her and I told her I was upset and that I wanted to call a supervisor. I called the Census Bureau in Yucaipa and told them about the situation. I also stated that to be a color blind society that our government should set the example and not ask that question of anyone anymore. He told me that it was for other government bureaus. I asked him what they would need race for. I believe that it is sufficient that they know that there are poor or rich people in a neighborhood and not what race they are, and act accordingly. I am a firm believer in that if you are an American you have all the rights that other Americans have and that you are not a Mexican American, European American, African American, or any other; you are an American, period! You can be proud of your heritage but when it comes right down to it you are an American and that’s all the government needs to know. Well the Census supervisor called me a couple of more times trying to sort things out and will notify me in a few days of what was done to correct this problem. He also said that the first Census interviewer should have left that question about race blank.
I drove down to Home Depot to get some more wood and fittings for my patio.
I read aloud from the textbooks: “Astronomy Today"; Physical Properties of Pluto “The Cell: a Molecular Approach” Processing of Ribosomal and Transfer RNAs.
I went on my evening walk listening to the Astronomy Cast lecture: Ep. 180: Albedo.
I spent the rest of the evening mindlessly surfing the web.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Thursday 20- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 64 and 92 degrees, winds NW 8 to 21 MPH, humidity around 16 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: Sunny, with a high near 88. West northwest wind 8 to 11 mph increasing to between 18 and 21 mph. Winds could gust as high as 31 mph. Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 59. Breezy, with a west northwest wind between 21 and 24 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph.”
It was another windy day so spent the day cleaning, working on computers, and installed a bathroom medicine cabinet.
In the evening I went over to Ron Dehart’s to sit and chat with him for a spell. He is going to get hooked up to broadband tomorrow!
I got back home and finished working on this Toshiba Portege M200 Tablet. I need to get a new keyboard for it and maybe more RAM, otherwise it’s good to go!
I watched “Starship Troopers” (1997). I remember seeing it when it first came out at the theaters but it doesn’t seem all that long ago to me.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Friday 21- I did my stretches, ran a mile, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 59 and 91 degrees, winds NW 13 to 26 MPH, humidity around 9 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday...Mostly sunny. Windy. Highs 71 to 73 in yucca valley to around 79 in twentynine palms. West wind 20 to 30 mph. Gusts up to 40 mph in the morning. Saturday Night...Mostly clear. Windy. Lows 45 to 47 in yucca valley to around 52 in Twentynine Palms. West wind 20 to 30 mph.”
I drove to Twentynine Palms to fill up the Gross Polluter with gas, fill two 5 gallon propane tanks at Bar Lumber, and pick up some supplies at Stater Bros. I have to get as much done before the temporary permit on the truck runs out on the 31 of this month and I won’t have any transportation except Stoney’s SUV; which I feel uncomfortable driving. It’s not that I dislike the car- it’s because me and him went to so many places together in it. Oh well life must go on.
I read aloud from the textbooks: “Astronomy Today" The Origin of Pluto; “The Cell: a Molecular Approach” Processing of mRNA in Eukaryotes.
I went on my evening walk listening to the Astronomy Cast lecture: Ep. 181: Rotation- Figuring out the difference between centripetal and centrifugal force. I’ll have to listen to that one again!
I did some more tweaks on the Toshiba Portege M200 tablet and installed MS Works 9 and all its updates.
Ron Dehart called to tell me that he loves his new broadband. We talked about a bunch of other stuff for well over an hour- mostly history of World War two.
I read a few chapters of “Midnight Runner” by Jack Higgins.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Saturday 22- I did my stretches. It’s really gusting this morning!
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 51 and 76 degrees, winds NW 21 to 27 MPH, humidity around 13 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 62. Breezy, with a west wind between 13 and 22 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 45. Breezy, with a northwest wind between 15 and 22 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.”
I did as much yard work as I could with all the wind blowing. I did manage to water the plants. I called up friends and family throughout the day. I also worked on my computers doing updates to the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sending out the Newsletter.
Way too windy to go on my evening walk.
I did some webwork for the rest of the evening- lots to do!
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Sunday 23- I did my stretches. I was going to go for a two mile run today but it was cold and rainy outside; weird weather!
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 38 and 55 degrees, winds NW 17 to 30 MPH, humidity around 27 percent, cloudy with rain here and there.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 73. Northwest wind 5 to 11 mph becoming south southwest. Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 51. West wind between 8 and 10 mph.”
Dang cold outside! I don’t remember it being this cold this late into spring. I called a few friends and yakked at them for a spell. Then I downloaded and tried to install Free BSD on one of my old laptops; unfortunately after finally figuring out how to install the dang OS the laptop didn’t have enough disk space and I had to abandon that project. But it kept me from being bored.
I didn’t go for an evening walk because of the wind but I did roam around my property checking on the two dove’s nests to see how they’re doing. Each of them has two eggs and they should all be hatching pretty soon.
I read a few chapters of “Midnight Runner” by Jack Higgins.
I watched episode1 of “Firefly” on the computer.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Monday 24- I did my stretches, ran two miles, and lifted weights. Finally a nice day to do such!
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 38 and 52 degrees, winds NW-SW 3 to 13 MPH, humidity around 15 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 80. North northwest wind between 3 and 8 mph. Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 56. West southwest wind 14 to 17 mph decreasing to between 6 and 9 mph. Winds could gust as high as 23 mph.”
Seimi came by to ask me about wireless broadband. He wanted to know if Skype would run on it. I said it would and demonstrated it to him by calling Ron Dehart.
I went to Yucca Valley and stopped off at WalMart to pick up supplies. On the way back I got some more lumber at Home Depot.
I read aloud from the textbooks: “Astronomy Today" Chapter 13 Review; “The Cell: a Molecular Approach” Splicing Mechanisms.
I went on my evening walk listening to the Astronomy Cast lecture: Ep. 182: Astrometry.
I read and finished “Midnight Runner” by Jack Higgins: good book!
I watched episode of “Fringe: Over There Part 2” on the computer.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Tuesday 25- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 56 and 77 degrees, winds NW-SW 3 to 9 MPH, humidity around 21 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. West northwest wind 6 to 9 mph becoming south southwest between 15 and 18 mph. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph. Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 56. Breezy, with a west southwest wind 22 to 25 mph decreasing to between 11 and 14 mph. Winds could gust as high as 38 mph.”
What a beautiful day! I spent a little time outside just smelling the flowers and listening to the critters buzzing around in the air. There were lots of weird looking crawling bugs, too!
I wrote my column for the newspaper and sent it in. I think it’s one of my better ones.
I played around with my Dell Mini 9 taking the 32Gig SSD drive out and replacing it with a 4Gig one that has Ubuntu installed on it. I haven’t done any updates on it for 309 days it said, so I started the process of updating: 300Meg on the first round of updates and 418Meg on the second! It appears to be replacing the whole dang OS!
I read aloud from the textbooks: “Astronomy Today" Began Chapter 14 Solar System Debris; “The Cell: a Molecular Approach” Alternative Splicing.
I went on my evening walk listening to the Astronomy Cast lecture: Ep. 183: History of Astronomy, Part 1: The Ancient Astronomers.
I started reading “The President’s Daughter” by Jack Higgins; I bought a bunch of Higgins’ books at the library for fifty cents each!
I did my stretches and lifted weights, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Wednesday 26- I did my stretches, ran a mile, and lifted weights..
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 54 and 81 degrees, winds NW-SW 8 to 19 with gusts up to 40 MPH, humidity around 16 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 79. West wind 5 to 8 mph becoming south southwest between 18 and 21 mph. Winds could gust as high as 29 mph.
Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 52. Breezy, with a west southwest wind between 14 and 24 mph, with gusts as high as 33 mph.”
It was just another beautiful day but a little breezy. The wind pick up around 3pm and I didn’t go for my evening walk.
I downloaded the newest addition of Ubuntu but it wouldn’t fit on the 4Gig SSD drive of my Dell Mini 9 and gave me errors, dang!
I drove to town again to Stater Bros. to pick up some more supplies that I’ll need when I can’t drive the Gross Polluter because my temp registration expires at the end of May.
I did webwork the rest of the day until it got late. I’m really tired because someone called and woke me up at the ungodly hour of 7am and I couldn’t get back to sleep. So I’m going to bed early tonight.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Thursday 27- I did my stretches, dang windy this morning.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 52 and 81 degrees, winds W/SW 8 to 23 with gusts up to 39 MPH, humidity around 23 percent, clear skies in the morning but overcast later in the day.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: Sunny, with a high near 78. West northwest wind between 11 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 53. West northwest wind between 11 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph.”
Well the wind was really blowing this morning but that’s alright because I have stuff to do around the house.
I took the 4Gig SSD drive out of my Dell Mini 9 and put in a 32Gig SSD drive that had Windows 7 I wasn’t using and installed Ubuntu 10.04 on it. After messing around installing drivers for the wireless and got that going I was up and running. Actually it seems like a nice OS so far now that it has enough disk space. I installed Adobe Flash and was able to watch Youtube.com and Hulu.com on it.
Ginger dropped by with a book for me called “Star Trek: Prime Directive” (1990) by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens. I’ll read that when I get done with the Jack Higgins book I’m currently reading.
I watched a couple of episodes of “Warehouse 13” to see what it was about. It wasn’t too bad. It’s about two Secret Service agents that look for lost artifacts that have special powers and store them in a government warehouse hidden in South Dakota for safe keeping.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Friday 28- I did my stretches, ran a mile, and lifted weights. Still dang windy but I ran anyways.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 52 and 76 degrees, winds W/NW 9 to 14 with gusts up to 25 MPH, humidity around 20 percent, mostly clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 85. North northwest wind between 13 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 58. North wind around 9 mph.”
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
I drove the Gross Polluter for the last time on the paved roads to fill her up with gas and also to fill a couple of five gallon containers with the same stuff. Stopped by Barr Lumber to get wood shelving which was priced better than Home Depot! I checked on my friend’s home on my way back.
Got back home and gave the plants a good hosing down. One of the dove’s eggs has hatched and I took a picture of the baby, cool!
I watched another episode of “Warehouse 13” and another one of “Firefly” called Train Job.
I found that Gary Coleman had died in Utah and I thought that was mighty sad! I did a search to see what Dana Plato about had to say Gary’s death and found she had overdosed and died in 1999, yikes, so young and I’m so sad again!
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Saturday 29- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 58 and 81 degrees, winds NW 7 to 14, humidity around 12 percent, clear all day long.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 89. North northwest wind between 5 and 10 mph. Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 62. East southeast wind at 10 mph becoming west northwest.”
Brain and Naomi came by with their two daughters to chat for a spell.
Jimmy called saying that he and his Family arrived at Stoney’s, so I beat feet over there to say howdy. Jimmy, Clarice, and Angela were out back at their rental property cleaning up after the last renter who left the house in quite a mess. I started to help when Pat Smith called to say that Lee Pearcey got lost on his way to Stoney’s Memorial and needs someone to drive to Twentynine Palms and show him the way to Stoney’s. So I drove there in the Gross Polluter and guided him the rest of the way.
We all got to the Community Center around 3:30pm for Stoney’s Memorial and folks started drifting in. We didn’t start until Pat Smith and his family arrived at 4:30 because they got detained on the way by the beauty of the Joshua Tree National Forest. Everyone was eager to start eating but I told them they’d have to wait until Jimmy (Stoney’s son) and I said a little something in remembrance of Stoney and his life. Jimmy read from a letter that his sister Judy wrote because she couldn’t be here for the memorial. He emotionally added to it with his own thoughts and thanked everyone for coming. It was my turn to talk and I got up and told some of Stoney’s stories he told me of his life beginning in his childhood working on kid’s bikes for five cents, his Army career in the Philippians in charge of the motor pool, owning his own auto repair shop near Hollywood, him and Jimmy working together on a water hauling business, moving out to the desert, Stoney’s involvement in our community, and to when Roger Smith, Sherry Rotruck, and I found him peacefully sitting on his favorite chair with his beloved westerns playing on the television and finding he had passed on. There were over forty friends and family who showed up to pay their respects and partake in the celebration of Stoney’s life. Lots of fine foods were on the table and everyone got their fill. I thank everyone for coming and the fantastic food they had brought!
Afterwards the family and I headed over to the Stoney’s to yak and tell stories. I didn’t leave until way after 9pm. It was a fine day, closure to a chapter in my life since I finally got to say what I was unable to say at Stoney’s funeral because of a very talkative preacher.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Sunday 30- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 60 and 91 degrees, calm, humidity around 7 percent, clear all day long.
According to the National Weather Service: “Memorial Day: Sunny, with a high near 93. North northwest wind at 9 mph becoming east southeast. Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 62. West southwest wind between 18 and 21 mph becoming calm. Winds could gust as high as 29 mph.”
I promised Ron Dehart that I’d drop on over to figure out the problem he is having with his computer. I got him up and running in no time and was off to my next stop.
Over at Stoney’s I found the Stonebrakers working over at the rental again. Angela was ripping out a built in corner desk with a hammer; wood was flying all over the place and I thought that it wasn’t safe for me to be around. They invited me over for dinner at 4pm and I said I’d be there.
I went over to Frank and Mary’s for a visit and we sat around yakking while their Son’s kids drove motorbikes around the dirt course set up in their yard. Frank was barbecuing and had me eat a bratwurst that was mighty greasy but mighty good too!
I made my way back to Stoney’s for dinner at 4pm and we watched an Angels baseball game; Angels won!!! Dinner was served at 5pm when Sherry arrived. We had sloppyjoes, a salad, and watermelon! After yakking for a spell we took Jimmy’s new 9MM handgun outside and shot off a bunch of rounds at targets we setup. We didn’t do very well because the Sun was setting and in our eyes; that’s our excuse and we’re sticking to it! We went back inside when it got too dark to shoot and yakked some more.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Memorial Day- I did my stretches, ran two miles, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 62 and 93 degrees, S/Se winds at 7 to 23 MPH with gusts up to 35, humidity around 11 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 88. Northwest wind 8 to 11 mph becoming southwest. Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 62. Breezy, with a west wind 20 to 23 mph becoming west northwest 6 to 9 mph. Winds could gust as high as 32 mph.”
I mostly mellowed out today messing around with my computers. I’m just trying to rest up some after a hectic weekend. The winds started gusting later on in the day so I didn’t go for my evening walk and went back to the computers.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Goodbye yo the month of May!!!