June 2010

Welcome to the month of June! I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 64 and 93 degrees, S/Se winds at 6 to 18 MPH, humidity around 14 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 90. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming east. Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 65. West wind between 8 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.”
I had to get all the paperwork together for my appointment at the DMV today at 3:45pm. I was in a mad rush trying to track down everything but finally got it all and headed down there with the hopes of getting it registered for off road. But dang that didn’t happen because the lady there said that I’d have to still get the certification for lights and such, dang! She said that the best I could do was to junk it and retain possession of the vehicle, and then I’d have the time to figure out what I need to do. So I took her advice and had her junk it. Downtrodden, I gave her the license plates and headed back home. I drove Stoney’s truck so I dropped it off there first.
I went for my evening walk listening to Astronomy Cast: Ep. 184: History of Astronomy, Part 2: The Greeks. It’s funny how they didn’t mention that Aristarchus (310-230 BC) was the first to mention the heliocentric model!
I spent the rest of the evening thinking.
I did my stretches, lifted weights, went for a night run, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Wednesday 02- I did my stretches, ran a mile, lifted weights, and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 65 and 91 degrees, calm winds, humidity around 23 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 94. Northwest wind 6 to 10 mph becoming east southeast. Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 68. West southwest wind 18 to 21 mph becoming west northwest 6 to 9 mph. Winds could gust as high as 29 mph.”
I watered all my plants and cut the dying fronds from the two palm trees. It is starting to get warmer, the plants need more water now, and by this Saturday it should be over 100 degrees. The Moon is in retreat so the nights will be dark and just right for getting out the telescope to do a little stargazing!
I read aloud from the textbooks: “Astronomy Today" Asteroids Orbital Properties; “The Cell: a Molecular Approach” RNA Editing.
I went for my evening walk re-listening to Astronomy Cast: Ep. 181: Rotation.
I spent the rest of the evening reading a few chapters of “The President’s Daughter” by Jack Higgins.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Thursday 03- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 68 and 93 degrees, winds from the SW at 9 to16, humidity around 19 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 99. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south. Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 72. West wind between 9 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph.”
I did some paperwork that needed to be done and called to cancel my insurance for the Gross Polluter.
Semi came by with his netbook and I set him up with an email account and a blog. I showed him how to post and edit a blog and get his email. Now all he needs to do is practice!
I went for my evening walk listening to Astronomy Cast: Ep. 185: History of Astronomy, Part 3: The Renaissance.
I read and finished “The President’s Daughter” by Jack Higgins. I thought it was a mighty fine read!
It got windy outside and that put a damper on taking out the telescope so I decided I wanted something different to watch on Hulu.com and found this really neat series called “Kyle XY” and watched the first two episodes. It’s about a sixteen year old boy who awakens in a forest and doesn’t know anything of his past or how to talk, has no bellybutton, and is really smart. Seems like it’s going to be a good show; I guess it was because it made it through three seasons!
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Friday 04- I did my stretches, ran two miles, lifted weights, and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 72 and 98 degrees, winds from the SW at 7 to15, humidity around 18 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 103. North northwest wind at 7 mph becoming east northeast. Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 74. South wind 8 to 10 mph becoming west.”
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter. It took a bunch of time because, along with everything else, I had to update the calendar and upload pics of Stoney’s Memorial.
I went for my evening walk listening to Astronomy Cast: Ep. 186: History of Astronomy, Part 4: The Beginning of Modern Astronomy.
I started reading “Star Trek: Prime Directive” by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens.
I went outside taking out the telescope with me. Venus was on the western horizon and Mars was in Leo close by the star Regulus.
I watched two episodes of “Kyle XY” and both made me laugh; I like this show!
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.

Saturday 05- I had some problems with communications on the internet and decided to just take the whole dang day off, besides it was hot! I spent most of my time reading “Star Trek: Prime Directive” by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, and calling friends and family.


Sunday 06- I did my stretches, ran a mile, lifted weights, and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 74 and 105 degrees, winds from the N-SW at 4 to18, humidity around 14 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 104. Light wind becoming south southwest between 12 and 15 mph. Winds could gust as high as 22 mph. Monday Night: Clear, with a low around 75. West southwest wind 15 to 18 mph decreasing to between 7 and 10 mph. Winds could gust as high as 26 mph.”
I’m not use to the hot weather yet so I mostly stayed inside reading “Star Trek: Prime Directive” by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens.
Ginger called telling me her car ran out of oil when she got back home from work last night. I have a couple of quarts here I said and that if she makes the short trip to my house I’d give them to her. She arrived already dressed to go to work; she looked mighty nice! So I did the decent thing and put the oil in for her so it wouldn’t soil her dress. Ain’t I a nice guy!
I watched an episode of “Kyle XY”; the one he goes to high school for the first time.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Monday 07- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 75 and 107 degrees, winds from the NW/SW at 8 to 20, humidity around 16 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 99. Calm wind becoming southwest between 15 and 18 mph. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 70. Southwest wind 15 to 18 mph decreasing to between 7 and 10 mph. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph.”
It seems that I’m doing one day of exercise and one day off because of the heat. When it is hot like this you don’t really want to overdo it too much and try to listen to your body. The heat slows me down a bit!
I have some computers to repair; trying to figure out an intermittent problem. That kept me busy for a spell!
Then I got down to reading several chapters of “Star Trek: Prime Directive” by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens.
I watched two episodes of “Kyle XY”; one where he wakes from a nightmare and it’s raining, and the other where he’s playing high school basketball.
I went outside to gaze at the starry night. There was a cool breeze blowing and it felt mighty good. It was late enough so that could see the northern cross sitting in the Milky Way and the Teapot rising to the southeast. Good nights are waiting ahead!!!
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Tuesday 08- I did my stretches, ran two miles, rode my bike, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 70 and 97 degrees, winds from the NW at 9 to 16, humidity around 18 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 97. West wind between 7 and 10 mph becoming calm. Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 67. West wind between 10 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.”
The baby doves are nearly ready to take their first flights. Lots of doves have been hanging around my property since Fat Cat gone missing last summer. Sure miss Fat Cat, but the birds are cool!
I went for my evening walk taking pictures of the desert; I’ll post a few later on.
I read a few chapters of “Star Trek: Prime Directive” by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens.
I watched an episode of “Kyle XY”; where he goes to a university to find out his past only to be told that if he keeps looking that he and his new family who took him in will be killed.
Towards the end of the month Comet McNaught will be brightening up to naked eye visibility before sunrise in the northeastern skies. Might be worth a look-see!
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 09- I did my stretches, ran a mile, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 67 and 97 degrees, winds from the NW at 10 to 20, humidity around 16 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 93. West northwest wind between 14 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 63. Breezy, with a west northwest wind between 18 and 23 mph, with gusts as high as 33 mph.”
I read a 1996 interview with Steve Jobs on Wired Magazine which was very revealing. Jobs was right on many things, wrong on only a few, and hates Microsoft. Also it was a good look into the psyche and philosophy of a great man. This interview was taken when he was no longer with Apple and had already started Next Inc. The Next computer was the one that Tim Berners-Lee wrote the first web browser and created the World Wide Web at Cern.
I went for my evening walk taking more pictures of the desert. The one above is of my solar home.
I read and finished “Star Trek: Prime Directive” by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens. One error I found was on page 381where Spock says “Degrees Kelvin” you never say Degrees when you are talking about Kelvin! Oh poor Mr. Spock, what words these writers put in your mouth!
I watched an episode of “Kyle XY”; this episode he is able to read lips.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Thursday 10- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 63 and 89 degrees, winds from the NW at 16 to 24 with gusts up to 40 MPH, humidity around 16 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 84. Northwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 61. Northwest wind around 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph.”
The picture above is of my front porch!
I forgot to add to yesterday’s journal that we had a power outage at 9am and lasted for six and a half hours. My whole house is solar powered and wouldn’t have known about it only that the wireless broadband went down. I had thought it was something to do with my equipment and I spent some time checking everything before I called Mojavewifi.com who told me of the outage.
It was mighty windy today so I messed around with Ubuntu OS on my Dell Mini 9. I found that it could record songs! I recorded a bunch of my original songs and was going to share them on the internet, but unfortunately I recorded them in a file system called OGG where I should have done it on something else (I think). I really like Ubuntu; it loads fast and everything works on the Dell netbook, unlike Windows 7. Now I just have to get used to all the funny names of these extensions (like OGG). I finally think Ubuntu is ready for primetime!
I watched finished season one of “Kyle XY” and started on season two.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Friday 11- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 61 and 83 degrees, winds from the NW at 11 to 26 with gusts up to 45 MPH, humidity around 17 percent, clear skies but cloudy in the evening.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. North wind 17 to 20 mph decreasing to between 7 and 10 mph. Winds could gust as high as 26 mph. Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 61. Calm wind becoming northwest between 8 and 11 mph.”
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
I headed down to Joshua Tree to say goodbye to Stan and Jan who are retiring from their haircutting business Stan and Jan’s Hairstyling. Stan has been cutting my hair (or what’s left of it) for around five years or so. They started their business in Joshua Tree in 1997 at what used to be called Isadora’s, a beauty salon, and moved across the street to their present little shop in November 2000. Folks came in throughout the day saying their goodbyes, bringing and eating food from a potluck table setup inside. Stan says he’s been cutting hair since 1963 and my hair was one of the last he’d cut. I will miss our conversations of world politics while getting my hair trimmed. Goodbye Stan and Jan! Have a wonderful retirement!
I stopped off at Roger Smith’s to take some pictures of his garden that he is going to write about and post on Copper Mountain Mesa Website.
I watched a couple of episodes of “Kyle XY”; dang I love that show!
I tried to record a few more songs but find that I get nervous and screw it up; I have a hard time singing. But I did manage to get a new song I’m working on recorded. Now I have to figure out a way to get it on the web so others can hear it. When I do I’ll have it as a separate post.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Here is the link to the song I wrote called "Why"
Like I said it's a new song that I've been working on for a week and don't have all the verses made up yet so I repeat the ones I have: Plus I don't sing very well and totally screwed up the beginning of the song :) I’ll update the whole song later when I have more of it done and hopefully get the singing down better.

Saturday 12- I did my stretches, ran two miles, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 61 and 83 degrees, winds from the NW at 16 to 20 MPH, humidity around 19 percent, mostly clear skies. A beautiful day!
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 89. North northwest wind between 9 and 13 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 65. Northwest wind around 7 mph.”
The picture is of a Road Runner taken while he was on my roof.
I found out when I went online this morning that an online friend of mine, Kris Grims, had passed away from lung cancer; I was shocked and very saddened to hear this news. We have been friends for a few years now. She wanted to come back someday to Joshua Tree to live and had found my online journal on MySpace. I will dedicate the new song I’m writing to her. Goodbye my friend!
I went over to Stoney’s to take a shower (I smelled like a race horse after my run). Roger Smith was there with his friend Hank from the outskirts of LA. They were headed to town to do something or other.
The winds picked up so I decided to call friends and family, and then do some webwork until late into the night.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Sunday 13- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 65 and 88 degrees, winds from the NW at 8 to 13 MPH, humidity around 18 percent, mostly clear skies. Another beautiful day!
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 96. North wind between 3 and 8 mph. Monday Night: Clear, with a low around 68. Calm wind becoming west between 6 and 9 mph.”
Late last night I downloaded a program to edit my “Why” song to take out the pause in the beginning of the song; that dang thing worked and I uploaded the new version. The program couldn’t do nothing for my terrible singing though!
I spent most of the day building a door for my bathroom. I had all the wood but I had to rummage for hardware. I found two hinges on the old outhouse and used them. I hung the door with old screws that I sorted out from a box I throw nails, screws and such into. The door looks dang good once I got down with it.
I went for my evening walk taking more pictures.
I watched two episodes of “Kyle XY” and one episode of “Warehouse 13”.
I went outside for an hour or so to do a little stargazing.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar and recorded a few songs, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Monday 14- I did my stretches, ran a mile, rode my bike, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 68 and 95 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 13 percent, mostly clear skies. Another beautiful day!
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 97. Calm wind becoming southwest between 14 and 17 mph. Winds could gust as high as 24 mph. Tuesday Night: Clear, with a low around 66. Breezy, with a west southwest wind 20 to 23 mph decreasing to between 10 and 13 mph. Winds could gust as high as 32 mph.”
I went on over to my friend’s house that I’m taking care of while he’s on vacation. Unfortunately a couple of weeks ago his electric went out and all the food in the freezer and refrigerator spoiled; the smell was atrocious; like a morgue on a hot day in Somali. We had Edison come out to fix the problem and I waited for the food to freeze up again before I went there today to take out the food, photograph it all for a refund from Edison, place it all in plastic bags, and throw it away. It still smelled and flies buzzed around me as I worked, yuck! I hope I never have to do anything like that again; had to wash my hands with Clorox to get the odor off.
I kicked back to watch a few episodes of “Kyle XY”; I really like this show!
I did my stretches, went for a night run and I did a little stargazing, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Tuesday 15- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 66 and 95 degrees, winds out of the NW/SE at 6 to 18 with gusts up to 38 MPH, humidity around 12 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 91. Calm wind becoming southwest between 13 and 16 mph. Winds could gust as high as 22 mph. Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 63. West northwest wind between 13 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.”
I guess I needed some down time today. I wrote my column for the Hi Desert Star and sent it in. I spent the day messing around with computers and thinking, mostly thinking. I’m in a thinking mood!
I watch a few episodes of “Kyle XY”.
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 16- I did my stretches, ran two miles, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 63 and 91 degrees, winds out of the NW/SW at 8 to 21 MPH, humidity around 10 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 94. North northwest wind 5 to 9 mph becoming east. Thursday Night: Clear, with a low around 63. South wind 6 to 15 mph becoming west northwest. Winds could gust as high as 22 mph.”
I’m in a thinking mood again! Sometimes I just need to step back and contemplate life and where I’m going in it.
I did manage to water all the plants outside and watch a few episodes of “Kyle XY”.
I did my stretches and lifted weights, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Thursday 17- I did my stretches and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 63 and 93 degrees, winds out of the NW/SW at 6 to 14 MPH, humidity around 8 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: Sunny, with a high near 95. Light wind becoming south southwest between 12 and 15 mph. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph. Friday Night: Clear, with a low around 64. West southwest wind 18 to 21 mph decreasing to between 9 and 12 mph. Winds could gust as high as 29 mph."
I mopped all the floors in the house and cleaned it up all spic and span! Then I installed new shelves in my bedroom. I still have to fill in and plaster some holes in the wall, sand the wood and paint them but at least I got everything screwed in and leveled.
I went for my evening walk taking pictures. I caught one of a small owl that was too far away for me to recognize what it was until I got back and enlarged the photo; pretty darn cool. I’ll post it here someday when I get the time to edit the picture down and make it presentable.
I watch a few episodes of “Kyle XY”.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Friday 18- I did my stretches, ran two miles, rode my bike, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 64 and 94 degrees, winds out of the NW/SE at 7 to 12 MPH, humidity around 12 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 92. Northwest wind 5 to 15 mph becoming south. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph. Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 62. West wind 17 to 20 mph decreasing to between 8 and 11 mph. Winds could gust as high as 26 mph.”
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter. I cleaned up the kitchen countertop and stove. I went for my evening walk.
I watch and completed season three of “Kyle XY” and found out that it was canceled and the last episode left many unanswered questions; I hate when the networks do that! Anyways I feel that it was one of the better shows that I have watched. The actors and story were a tightly put together and well played. It is sad that I will never know what happens to Kyle and Amanda; will they get back together? How about Josh and his girlfriend Andy who had to move away to Cleveland? At least I only had three weeks invested in the show on Hulu.com, where, if I had watched it as it was broadcasted would have been three years!
I then watched “Flight of the Intruder” (1991). I really think I’m over this Hulu thingy for a while and need to get back to my studies. It was just nice to play around with broadband for a spell to see what it could do and it took my mind off of things that were troubling me; dialup really sucked and I’m glad it’s gone!!!!
I did my stretches, lifted weights, and went for a night run. I practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Saturday 19- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 62 and 93 degrees, winds out of the NW/SW at 8 to 16 MPH, humidity around 11 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 95. Light wind becoming southwest between 15 and 18 mph. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 62. West wind 17 to 20 mph decreasing to between 7 and 10 mph. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph.”
I watered my thirsty plants and then went inside and removed the 32Gig SSD hard drive from my HP Mini Note and replaced it with the old 8Gig that used to be in it. The sound has had a crackling noise and I wanted to see if it was Win 7 on the 32Gig. There was no crackling noise on the 8Gig so it is a software/driver problem with Win 7. While I had the 8Gig in there I loaded up Ubuntu 10.3 to see how it’d run. Everything worked except the wireless and HP Mini doesn’t have an RJ45 receptor, so I’m out of luck until I can download the driver on another system. This is a very difficult transfer between the 8Gig and the 32Gig and not as easy as the Dell Mini 9 where you just pop out one and replace it with another. On the HP you have to remove the keyboard among other things. I took back out the 8Gig with Ubuntu and replace the 32Gig with Win 7 on it. This kept me busy all day!
I called a few Family and Friends throughout the day.
A neighbor’s wife called needing me to tow her car that was just up the road from me. She said to come on over and pick up her husband who would help. He was drinking beer when I arrived. We got to her car; we hooked it up with chain to my truck. I was ready to start towing when her husband jumped into the passenger side of my truck and said he’d ride with me! I asked him who was going to steer his wife’s car and apply the brakes when needed. Oh Sh*T he said, jumped out and got behind the wheel of the other car. I thought that was kind of funny :)
I did my stretches. I practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Sunday 20- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 62 and 93 degrees, winds out of the NW/SW at 8 to 15 MPH, humidity around 10 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 93. Calm wind becoming south between 7 and 10 mph. Monday Night: Clear, with a low around 63. West southwest wind 14 to 17 mph decreasing to between 5 and 8 mph. Winds could gust as high as 24 mph.”
Ron Dehart came over to pay me a visit. We sat around jawing about this and that and other things of great importance. I showed him all the work I’ve been doing on the house especially the patio roof. It was nice to have someone come over to yap!
I called Family and Friends throughout the day.
I spent some time looking online for an E-reader. I looked at several including the Kindle, Sony, and many others. I think Barns and Nobel’s Nook is one of the best I’ve seen so far. I believe that the market for e-readers is going to get very hot in the coming months with new devices with more functions. My idea of an e-reader would be to use it online to get my email and surf webpages, read books of course, use E-ink, have an open architecture, be able to read different formats, listen to music, have 3G and Wifi, be able to use a SD drive, and it seems that the Nook comes very close to this if not all. I’m still going to wait to see what comes out in the following months; this is very exciting!
I watched a movie called “Farewell to the King” (1989) about an American soldier in WWII who escapes the Japanese Army on Borneo only to become lost in the jungle, captured by a tribe of headhunters, and becomes their king. Very interesting movie!!!!
I did my stretches. I practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Monday 21- I did my stretches, ran two miles, rode my bike, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 63 and 91 degrees, winds out of the NW/SE at 3 to 15 MPH, humidity around 12 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 94. North northwest wind between 5 and 8 mph. Tuesday Night: Clear, with a low around 66. North northwest wind between 3 and 10 mph.”
I went over to Stoney’s to take a shower and do a load of laundry. I took an old college art book along with me called “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” (1979) by Betty Edwards. It was a supplemental book for my art class that I never read; I’m reading it now!
I went online and found that the Amazon Kindle 2 had just gone on sale for $189. My two choices were the Kindle or the Nook. The Nook went on sale too for $199, yikes! I wanted the Nook but found after a little research that you could only surf the web using Wifi and not the 3G (cell) connection. The Kindle 2 does it through 3G. I wanted to get my email anywhere I might be and from what I read the Kindle 2 can do this (very slowly) with JavaScript enabled in the browser. So I went with the Kindle 2 and I expect it to be delivered this Wednesday.
I went for my evening walk taking more pictures.
I started reading another Jack Higgins book called “A Game for Heroes” (1970).
I did my stretches. I practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Tuesday 22- I did my stretches, ran a mile, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 66 and 95 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 11 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 99. Northwest wind 5 to 8 mph becoming east. Wednesday Night: Clear, with a low around 68. South southwest wind 5 to 15 mph becoming west northwest. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph.”
I mostly kicked back today doing a few chores around the house, messed with computer, and read a few chapters of “A Game for Heroes” by Jack Higgins.
I wrote my column for the Hi Desert Star Newspaper and sent it in.
I did my stretches. I practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Wednesday 23- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 68 and 101 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 9 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 98. Light wind becoming south southwest between 11 and 14 mph. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 68. West wind 14 to 17 mph decreasing to between 5 and 8 mph. Winds could gust as high as 24 mph.”
I had to wait around the house for UPS to deliver my Kindle 2 E-reader. It finally arrived around 2pm and I started reading the manual. I wanted to see if I could go online with it to get my email. After fiddling around trying to get my password entered correctly with the small keyboard, I logged into my Gmail account and read and sent emails. It is slow; about as slow as dialup, but useable in a pinch. I then went to my CopperMountainMesa.com Website and it loaded correctly and the pictures on the site were viewable. On both the email and website the navigation was somewhat awkward but I believe that’s because I’m not used to the keyboard; in time I’ll have that down. I went to the Kindle site at Amazon to find free books. The Kindle was already setup with my Amazon account and I didn’t have to do anything. I found that it was difficult to find the section for free books and I ended up going online with my computer to get the titles I wanted, and then enter them into the Kindle books search on the Amazon Kindle site. I downloaded three free Star Wars ebooks in minutes and without any hassles. Tomorrow I’ll start reading an ebook. All in all I found that the Kindle 2 is all that I expected; and getting my email and the web, even being slow as it is, was a big plus!
I canceled my cell phone account with Sprint and will use Skype for now on to make long distance calls to landline phones and cell phones. At $30 a year for Skype vs. $32 a month for Sprint I’ll save big bucks. I still have a pay as you go cell phone from T-Mobile for emergencies.
Joel Levy came by and dropped off a delicious dinner of chili-mac and a meatloaf sandwich, Yumm!
I walked down to Ginger’s to see Dakota her son who is staying there for a few days. We walked back to my house where we sat and yapped for a spell. Ginger had called and left a message, I called her back using Skype on the Dell Mini 9 running Ubuntu. She came over with the rest of her family and we hung around outside for a few hours. It was kind of nice having her kids and dogs running around my place!
I watched "Star Trek: First Contact" (1996) on Hulu.com. It's one of my favorite Star Trek movies!
I did my stretches. I practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Thursday 24- I did my stretches, ran a mile, rode my bike, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 68 and 100 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 8 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: Sunny, with a high near 97. Northwest wind 7 to 15 mph becoming south southwest. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph. Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 68. Breezy, with a west southwest wind 19 to 22 mph decreasing to between 8 and 11 mph. Winds could gust as high as 31 mph.”
Ginger’s daughter Lala and friend Julie came by to use my Wifi internet connection. I cleaned off the table outside and setup two netbooks for them to use. After a while we went down to their house where Ginger and her boyfriend Steven were working on the cabin. I took some pictures of the two girls feeding Princess.
I got back home to read a chapter of “Star Trek: Lost Tribe of the Sith #1; Precipice” on the Kindle and fell asleep for an hour or so; I must have been tired. I woke up hearing a noise outside and went to check. It was Ginger’s dog’s Fredrick and another one I can’t remember her name, who ran away about four days ago. I quickly shut the gate cutting off their escape. The female jumped over the fence and split but I called to Fredrick tempting him with a sausage patty. I got close enough to feed him a few pieces but I wasn’t quick enough to grab his collar; he jumped over the fence and was on his way after the female. I called Ginger, and she and the girls drove around and finally found them and brought the dogs back home.
I went for my evening walk.
I watched an episode of “Warehouse 13”.
I read a few chapters of “A Game for Heroes” by Jack Higgins.
I did my stretches. I practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Here’s a song I wrote back in the early 70s called “Don’t Tell Me” that I recorded recently. Only about five folks have ever heard it played, I thought it was time to share. The song is all electric with a lot of distortion (the way I like it when I play my Fender Strat). There are words but I didn’t have a mic when I recorded it. It’s a protest song and the playing is intense. Hopefully someday I can find someone willing to let me play on a big Marshall Amp
Best played loud!

Friday 25- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 68 and 98 degrees, winds out of the NW/W at 8 17 MPH, humidity around 11 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday...Mostly sunny. Highs around 89 in yucca valley...around 99 in twentynine palms. West wind around 10 mph. Saturday Night...Clear. Lows 63 to 69 in yucca valley...around 73 in twentynine palms. Southwest wind less than 10 mph shifting to the west after midnight.”
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
I uploaded my song “Don’t Tell Me” and posted it to my blogs. It’s something I made up during the early seventies on an electric guitar and recently recorded. It won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but I don’t care, I just thought I’d share it.
I watered my poor sun parched plants while I cleaned and tried to get my trusty scooter fired up after a year of non-use. The darn thing wouldn’t start, dang! I’ll try again tomorrow.
I went to my neighbor’s to feed their dogs while they’re away for a few days. I took them for a long walk and they were mighty happy about that.
I watched two episodes of “Warehouse 13”.
I did my stretches. I practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Saturday 26- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 73 and 97 degrees, winds out of the NW at 6 to 14 MPH, humidity around 17 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 73. East southeast wind 8 to 11 mph becoming west southwest. Monday: Sunny, with a high near 102. West wind 6 to 10 mph becoming southeast.”
First thing I did when I got up, even before breakfast, was go to give my neighbor’s dogs a walk. They been cooped up in the house all night since I last gave them a walk and they had to go pee pretty bad. I then fed the goats and mule.
I called up a few family and friends throughout the day.
Just before I headed down to potluck I took the dogs for another walk and watered my friend’s plants.
Got to potluck at 4pm where there were about ten folks that showed up. I always say, when attendance is small, it’s not the quantity but quality of the folks who come and share. Chris Jonas made his famous macaroni salad, Marie Morrison brought a fantastic blueberry cobbler and buttered bread slices, Ruth came with mixed nuts, Tim Atzei cooked up some spaghetti, and I brought turkey stuffing. Tim had some bad news; his sister Susan Bonani had passed away last September. Susan used to come to our potlucks a year or two ago before moving out of the area. We will miss her and it is very sad news in deed.
I got back home for only an hour and then it was time to walk the dogs and feed the goats and the mule. With that done I went back how to do some webwork until late into the night.
I did my stretches. I practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Sunday 27- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 73 and 103 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 19 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 103. Calm wind becoming southeast between 11 and 14 mph. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Monday Night: Clear, with a low around 72. Southwest wind between 8 and 13 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.”
Sherry called and left a message that she had a lemon cake to deliver for me from the Bonners but my gate was locked so she left it over in Stoney’s refrigerator. I called her back to say thanks and we chatted for a spell.
I went over to Stoney’s to get the cake but it was so large I just had a big slice and left it there for later on; I love lemon cake!
I watered the plants while I worked on my trusty scooter and finally got it to start. I don’t think I’ll trust my trusty scooter until I can do some more work to it. It’s dang hot outside!
I called some family and friends.
I finished the ebook “Star Trek: Lost Tribe of the Sith #1; Precipice” on the Kindle.
I read a chapter of “A Game for Heroes” by Jack Higgins.
I watched a movie called “Daybreakers” (2009) about a world of vampires running out of blood; it was okay for a vampire movie.
I did my stretches. I practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Monday 28- I did my stretches and ran two miles; it was 101 degrees when I started my run at 11:30am.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 72 and over 110 degrees I think; at least that's what my outside thermometer read, nice breeze, humidity around 12 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 101. Calm wind becoming south between 15 and 18 mph. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Tuesday Night: Clear, with a low around 73. South wind 8 to 16 mph becoming west. Winds could gust as high as 23 mph.”
I had to spend the day filling out some paperwork and stuff like that so I can mail them out tomorrow.
I called Kevin up testing out Google Voice; it worked pretty dang well!
Jimmy called to yak for a spell.
I called the Bonners to say thank you for the lemon cake they bought me. I told Bill that I checked the outside temperature and it read over 110 degrees and thought it was broken. Bill said that it wasn’t broken and it was the same at his house.
I watched “2012” (2009) about the end of the world as we know it. The Earth interior is being heated by neutrinos from outburst of the Sun because of an alignment of the Sun and planets with the galactic center of our galaxy; so the movie says : ) I saw this in the theater with Ron Dehart when it was first released. Great movie if you suspend science for two hours.
I did my stretches. I practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Tuesday 29- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 73 to 104 degrees, W/SE winds at 6 to 13 MPH, humidity around 12 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 103. Light wind becoming south between 13 and 16 mph. Winds could gust as high as 23 mph. Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 73. South southwest wind 14 to 17 mph becoming west southwest 6 to 9 mph. Winds could gust as high as 24 mph.”
I borrowed my friend’s truck and headed to town to get some supplies that I’m running low on. I did all my shopping and got home only to find that I forgot to mail the letters I had worked on yesterday, dang! Well they’re nothing pressing and I’ll find a way to mail them in the next couple of days.
I went outside to clean the dust off of one of my fans; there was this red truck with its motor idling parked out front. The guy yelled asking me if I had any old batteries I wanted to sell. I got a whole bunch of them, I said. After helping him get all the batteries and a few other items into his truck he gave me $120. Not bad for just stepping outside to clean a fan!
I watched “Avatar” (2009) another movie I saw in the theater with Ron Dehart when it was first released. Such a Great movie!!!!!
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 30- I did my stretches, ran two miles, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 73 to 105 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 10 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 102. Light wind becoming south between 12 and 15 mph. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph. Thursday Night: Clear, with a low around 72. South southwest wind 7 to 17 mph becoming west northwest. Winds could gust as high as 24 mph.”
I was pretty tired after my workout. I went online to take care of some business; I bought a 125Watt solar panel on EBay. Around about 1pm I fell asleep and dozed for an hour.
I went over to Stoney’s to check on things and run his truck a bit. I ate some of that lemon cake sitting in the refrigerator over there!
I got caught up on my astronomy reading in “365 Starry Nights”, and then read a few chapters of “A game for Heroes” by Jack Higgins.
It was time for me to head down to Joshua Tree Lake for a small concert put on by my friend’s Mat Villarreal and Amanda for Mat’s daughter Lauren’s thirteenth birthday surprise. The singer was Marian Call from Alaska who is touring all fifty states. Marian and her guitarist Scott played for several hours to a small crowd of local folks. Marian has such a lovely voice; able to hit about any key that would turn my face blue. “Music like no other- Clever folk funk for hungry minds” is what she has on her website. I think she is a cross between Alanis Morissette and Joni Mitchell along with a little jazz and comedy thrown in. She is a real crowd pleaser! Lauren, who is a big fan of Marian, got to get up on stage and sang a song with her, and she did very well under the circumstances. I had a great time there; it was kind of magical!
I did my stretches. I practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Goodbye to June; you’ve been a very good month!