July 2010

Welcome to the Month of July! I did my stretches, ran a mile, and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 72 to 103 degrees, SE/W winds at 3 to 14 MPH, humidity around 13 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday...Sunny. Highs around 95 in yucca valley...around 105 in twentynine palms. West wind around 10 mph shifting to the south in the afternoon. Friday Night...Clear. Lows 61 to 67 in yucca valley...around 71 in twentynine palms. West wind 10 to 20 mph.”
I watered some of my plants, did a little yard work, and fed the birds. It was getting hot so I went inside and played with my computers. I found this program called Universal USB Installer that puts a bootable Linux distribution on a flash drive. So I played around with that for a spell and got Ubuntu 10.4 loaded on an 8Gig SD drive and ran it on my HP Mini Note 1000; fun stuff :)
Dana came by asking me about the trailer out back. I told him he could have it for free. Whatever I was going to do with it I guess I decided not to. We sat around and jawed for a while about our experiences in the Army.
I did some webwork until late into the night. I checked and found that the solar panel will be delivered sometime tomorrow by UPS.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Friday 02- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 71 to 100 degrees, SW/NW winds at 8 to 17 MPH, humidity around 7 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 98. Light wind becoming south southwest between 10 and 13 mph. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 68. West southwest wind between 8 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.”
I took down my three shelves in the bedroom to do some rounding of the edges, sanding, and putting on a couple of coats of polyurethane to give them a nice hard glossy surface. The wind was blowing like a hairdryer and I was able to put a second coats on in a matter of minutes!
I spent a couple of hours updating the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter; there was a lot of updating to do!
The UPS driver delivered my 120Watt solar panel, yea! I unboxed it and put a voltmeter to it and all was working just fine. I went online to bid for another. Once I get these all hooked up I’ll have almost 500Watts. I now need a 30Amp charge controller to handle the current and found one on EBay for a reasonable price and bought it. Now I’ll have enough power to run a microwave if I want.
I watched an episode of “Warehouse 13”.
Ginger and her kids came by just before sunset. After appeasing her killer dog with a sausage patty we went over to her house for me to check out what she needs to begin fixing up the outside walls.
I read a few chapters of “A Game for Heroes” 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 03- I did my stretches and ran a mile.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 68 to 100 degrees, SW winds at 8 to 17 MPH, humidity around 12 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Independence Day: Sunny, with a high near 96. Calm wind becoming south between 6 and 9 mph. Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 70. South southwest wind 8 to 15 mph becoming west northwest. Winds could gust as high as 22 mph.”
Roger Toombs came over with his desktop computer needing to use my Wifi to update a large file download for some sort of game he plays; it took three hours! His computer took a lot of energy and I could only run that, my refrigerator, and nothing else. So I read and finished “A Game for Heroes” by Jack Higgins. The book was a page turner!
I called family and friends throughout the day. Miss Kula called to say howdy.
My childhood friend Larry Carlock called to say he is in town to visit his stepdaughter. He also said that he was stopped at the light in front of Home Depot when a car traveling at a high speed hit the rear end of his truck; everyone was okay but both vehicles were totaled. I will visit Larry tomorrow where he’ll be staying at his stepdaughter’s.
Roger came to pick up his computer.
I watched “Star Trek” (2009); another movie I saw with Ron Dehart when it first came out.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Independence Day! I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 68 to 99 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 15 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 98. Calm wind becoming east southeast between 4 and 7 mph. Monday Night: Clear, with a low around 68. Southwest wind between 11 and 14 mph becoming calm. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph.”
I went to see my childhood friend Larry Carlock and his son Lee at his stepdaughter Brianna’s home around noon. We chatted for a spell and I met Brianna’s father Doug (he reads my newspaper column every Saturday). Larry and I went over to my house so I could show him the improvements I’ve made. I got on the computer and we looked at some pictures of those olden days back in the 60s and 70s; lots of fun reminiscing and telling stories of times gone past! Then we went back over to his stepdaughter’s where we yapped some more. I found out that Lee, who is a Marine, is going to Afghanistan this coming August. I told him to be careful and come home safe. I didn’t get back home until 4:30pm.
I’ve been kind of lethargic of late; I think it’s because of the heat or maybe I need to find another direction in my life. I don’t know but something is bothering me. I do intend to get back to my regular routine again soon!
I didn’t bother with the fireworks this year; it’s kind of a drag not having Stoney along. The last few years we went to watch them shoot them off at the Marine Base.
I did 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.

Monday 05- I did my stretches, ran two miles, rode my bike, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 69 to 99 degrees, SE/SW winds at 6 to 13 MPH, humidity around 16 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 100. Calm wind becoming south between 11 and 14 mph. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Tuesday Night: Clear, with a low around 68. West southwest wind between 8 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.”
I was checking my email when I nodded off and was awoken by a call from Judy (Stoney’s daughter). I told her I’d be over in an hour to help move this heavy hospital bed from one room to another. It took Judy, Jodie (Judy’s daughter), and me to move the dang thing. Then we sat around and yakked for a spell. Judy and Jodie are down for the week cleaning and fixing this and that and I told them if they need anything just give me a call and I’d be right over.
I got home and read aloud from the textbook: “Astronomy Today" about asteroids. I decided to give up reading “The Cell: a Molecular Approach” for the time being until I learn a little more on biology.
I watched final episode for season one of “Warehouse 13”.
I did my stretches and went for a night run, sat outside for a spell to do a little stargazing, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Tuesday 06- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 68 to 101 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 16 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 99. Light wind becoming south southeast between 10 and 13 mph. Winds could gust as high as 18 mph. Wednesday Night: Clear, with a low around 70. South wind 5 to 15 mph becoming west northwest. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph.”
When I left Stoney’s yesterday I noticed that the garage door was missing its handle. I was tired from moving the bed so I said to myself I’d fix it tomorrow. Well I went back over today to put the handle back on and found that the door was stuck really hard like someone backed into it. After much pulling and this and that, the door wouldn’t budge, I got creative and made a hook out of a piece of metal I found and wedged it inside behind the door, hooked a chain to it and my truck, and then pulled it very slowly until the garage door finally popped open. Only then was I able to put the handle back on! I was plum tuckered out after all that; it was 100 degrees outside!
I started reading a book by John Gilstrap called “No Mercy”; it looks to be a page turner!
While I was reading I reinstalled Windows 7 on the HP Mini Note 1000. It was running really slow and I almost put Windows XP back on. But I’ll give Win 7 another chance. The reinstall took most of the day; backing up files, installing the OS, getting all the Windows updates, and putting everything back together. It runs better now!
Joel came by to drop off some dinner he made; a chili dog, fish paddies, and some sort of macaroni salad, it was mighty good.
I read aloud from the textbook: “Astronomy Today" more about asteroids; Lagrangian points.
I watched an episode of “Firefly” called Out of Gas.
I did my stretches, went for a night run and lifted weights. I practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Wednesday 07- I did my stretches, ran a mile, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 70 to 100 degrees, winds out of the NW/SE at 5 to 15 MPH, humidity around 13 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday...Mostly sunny. Highs around 95 in yucca valley...around 105 in twentynine palms. Northwest wind less than 10 mph shifting to the southeast in the afternoon. Thursday Night...Clear. Lows 65 to 73 in yucca valley...around 75 in twentynine palms. South wind 10 to 15 mph shifting to the west after midnight.”
I just got done with my mile run when the UPS truck showed up with my second 120Watt solar panel; I’m glad I didn’t go for a two mile run or I’d have missed him. I tested the panel and it checked out okay.
I wrote my column for the Hi-Desert Star and sent it in.
I did a few more tweaks on the HP Mini Note and loaded some of my files back on.
I went over to Stoney’s for dinner. Judy and Jodie cooked up some spaghetti, garlic bread, and made a salad. Roger Smith joined in on the meal. It was a mighty fine meal and company!
I went for my evening walk to work off some of the spaghetti that I wolfed down.
I read aloud from the textbook: “Astronomy Today" more about Comets.
I did some webwork I needed to get done.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Thursday 08- I did my stretches and ran a mile.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 72 to 102 degrees, SE winds at 8 to 12 MPH, humidity around 13 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 103. Calm wind becoming southeast between 8 and 11 mph. Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 73. South wind 5 to 11 mph becoming west northwest.”
Borrowing my friend’s truck I went to my mailbox to see if I got the pickup slip for the solar controller I ordered; it was there. Since I had to go to the post office to get it I decided to go to Home Depot to get parts so I can construct a mount for the two solar panels. I seem to always have an image of what I build in my mind and never put it down on paper; I just get out there and build it and most times this works…
Ruben the salvage guy came by to say hi; he’s the one who bought all my old batteries last week.
I went for my evening walk; mighty hot outside so I waited till almost sunset.
I read aloud from the textbook: “Astronomy Today" about Comets.
I watched a new episode for season two of “Warehouse 13”.
I sat outside for a spell to do a little stargazing. Saw a really dim satellite cross the whole length of the Southern Cross, pretty cool!
I read a few more chapters of “No Mercy” by John Gilstrap.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Friday 09- I did my stretches, ran two miles, rode my bike, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 78 to 111 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 24 percent, some clouds.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 105. Northwest wind at 10 mph becoming east southeast. Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. Southwest wind 13 to 16 mph becoming west 5 to 8 mph. Winds could gust as high as 23 mph.”
It’s Friday and I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
Then I got to work on the battery room. I had to connect four six volt batteries together: two batteries each in a series and then connect the two series in parallel. I connected these up along with the solar panels to the new 30Amp controller. Now all I need to do is make a mount for the new 120Watt panels, connect them up to the present panels, and I should get around 500Watts! It was really hot and humid in the battery room and I must have sweated out a couple of gallons; dang hot all day. Later in the night around 11pm when I went for a night run it was 91 degrees.
I read aloud from the textbook: “Astronomy Today" more on Comets.
I went for my evening walk around sunset.
I read a few more chapters of “No Mercy” by John Gilstrap.
I watched “Men who stare at Goats” (2009). What a wonderful film! Takes me back to the counter culture of 60s and 70s before business folk found they could turn a profit from it and take it to the Dark Side. Sad! Such hope for our country back then! The film is now one of my favorites. It even had the song I really like by the group Boston called “More Than a Feeling”!
I did my stretches, lifted weights, and went for a night. I practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Saturday 10- I did my stretches; too tired to do anything else.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 84 to 110 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 14 percent, a few clouds.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 99. North northwest wind between 3 and 10 mph. Sunday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 77. West wind between 11 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.”
Last night I promised Ginger that I would setup one of my telescopes for her 12 year old child Lala. I spent little over an hour finding everything, dusting it off, cleaning the lenses, and putting it all back together. She said she’d be over after work around 7:30pm.
I called family and friends throughout the day.
Sherry came by to chat for a spell and it was getting kind of hot standing outside yapping, but besides the heat we had a nice chat.
I went over to Stoney’s where Jimmy and his family are staying till Sunday afternoon. It was good to see them all; their like family to me. I stayed there for a few hours and got myself back home so I could just kick back and relax; I think I over did it yesterday.
Ginger called around 9pm telling me that she isn’t coming over because she had to work extra hours. I told her that it was okay because I had already locked the main gate and was already in bed.
I went online and got all my email done and the inbox is empty for once.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Sunday 11- I did my stretches, ran a mile, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 82 to 97 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 28 percent, clouds all day with light rain here and there.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 103. Calm wind becoming south southwest between 7 and 10 mph. Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 78. West wind 17 to 20 mph decreasing to between 9 and 12 mph. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph.”
Well I fell asleep at my computer last night and awoke at 7am. I couldn’t get back to sleep so I decided to start my day early.
I went over to Stoney’s to say goodbye to Jimmy and his family only to be put to work helping them clean up the yard. Sherry was there helping them, too. It was hot and muggy all day which zaps the energy right out of ya! I got out of there around noon and took a nap when I got home; dog dang tired again.
When I got up to watered the plants Jimmy and his family were driving by and stopped to say goodbye on their way home.
I called some Family and Friends.
What I did for the rest of the day until late at night was read a bunch more chapters of “No Mercy” by John Gilstrap.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Monday 12- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 82 to 104 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 14 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 103. Light wind becoming southwest between 11 and 14 mph. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 76. West wind between 9 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.”
I got a call from someone who wants to buy one of my domain names I created. I’ll have to give it some thought though because I was once going to use it for a business I had in mind to start with my friend Andrew. I want the name to be put to good use by good people.
Most of the day, I worked building a frame to hold my two new solar panels. I have enough done where I can lay it flat on the roof for now and start collecting energy. Later on I’ll raise it up to a 35 degree angle after I test it out.
Ginger came by with Lala, Vincent, Julie, and the dogs to pick up the telescope. They hung around while I showed them how to use the scope. We looked at Mars, Saturn, and Venus. I actually had a lot of fun showing them the wonders of the night sky!
I read and finished “No Mercy” by John Gilstrap. It was one incredible read!
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Tuesday 13- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 80 to 102 degrees, NW winds at 4 to 17 MPH, humidity around 24 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 103. Light wind becoming southwest between 11 and 14 mph. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 76. West wind between 9 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.”
I didn’t get to sleep last night until 4am because I was so involved in that book I was reading I just forgot what time it was; I awoke at 8am.
I forgot to mention that yesterday Seimi came by to introduce me to Nancy who works at the health food store in Joshua Tree and lives about a mile from my place; she reads my column in the newspaper and my journal!
I spent the rest of the day working and installing the two solar panels on the roof. I had everything ready to go but I had to assemble it on the roof because it’d be too heavy for me to lift by myself. I was bolting the frame together when I sat on my sunglasses, dang! So I just kept the Sun to my back and continued working. It was very hot and the wind came up and blew off my hat. I decided to climb down and get my sock cap and dowse it with water to wear. As I got back on the ground everything was green and hard to see, yikes! What happened was I got snow blind from my roof that is all white; painted with Snow Coat to reflect the Sun and keep the house cooler. So I waited for my vision to restore to somewhat normal, mickey-moused my sunglasses, put on my watered up sock cap on, and went back up on the roof working in fifth teen minute shifts. I’m going to stay inside tomorrow out of the Sun and give my eyes and sunburned body a rest! Anyways I finally got the two solar panels hooked up to the four 64Watt panels; that was around 4:30pm. I had left my refrigerator running (I usually turn it off at 3pm) to see what power drain I would experience. There wasn’t any drain, in fact they were charging up! I let the refrigerator run till after 5pm and still had the batteries charging; I’m a happy man!
Burned out, and after I put all the tools away, I took a much needed hose shower and that felt mighty good.
I sold my domain name for a reasonable price. I could have put it on auction and might have gotten more, but this guy I sold it to; came up with the name himself, found that it was already taken, emailed and called me to see if I wanted to sell it. He is a programmer and starting a small software company with friends. I thought that I’d rather sell it to someone who went through the trouble he did to get it than to auction it off; plus he was very enthusiastic about the name! It might sound weird but I’m more into helping someone than making more money.
I spent the evening resting and kicking back. I tried to start a new book but my vision is still messed up a little. I did go outside at 11pm to stargaze a bit.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Wednesday 14- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 82 to 111 degrees, SW winds at 6 to 12 MPH, humidity around 23 percent, clear skies with clouds on the horizon..
According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11am. Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 105. North northwest wind at 8 mph becoming east. Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 81. Southwest wind between 10 and 13 mph becoming light.”
I wrote my column for the Hi-Desert Star and sent it in.
Like I said yesterday, “I’m staying in the house until my vision improves from working on the roof in the Sun”. And that’s what I did. A few friends called and we chatted for a spell. I worked on the computer a bit, but I mostly laid in thought on my bed; I like doing that sometimes.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Thursday 15- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 83 to 110 degrees, SW winds at 8 to 10 MPH, humidity around 29 percent, cloudy skies (mostly cumulonimbus) with some rain and lightning!
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11am. Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 107. Light wind becoming south southwest between 10 and 13 mph. Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 81. West wind between 7 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.”
Dang hot outside and the humidity has come in with the clouds. I decided to stay inside and work on some of my other projects I have. While I was doing those I updated the drivers on my Lenovo Ideapad; the BIOS and the sound driver had newer versions.
It started to rain around 4pm and the temp dropped 10 degrees. I went outside for a spell to watch the lightning and tried to photograph them; I’m not fast enough!
I watched a movie called “The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans” starring Nicolas Cage, one of my favorite actors. It was, like most of his films, about the dark and hidden side of humanity.
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.

Friday 16- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 81 to 111 degrees, SE winds at 7 to 16 MPH, humidity around 21 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 107. West northwest wind between 7 and 10 mph becoming calm. Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 81. West wind between 11 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.”
I was biding my time waiting for FedEx to arrive with my check for the domain name I sold. I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter. Around 1:30pm I went outside to see how hot it was, 110 Degrees, only to find a FedEx envelope on my doorstep! And I haven’t a clue how long it had been there. I got everything together, picked up my friend’s truck, and drove on down to Yucca Valley to cash it. I thought the bank would be swarming with folks cashing their checks on a Friday, but there were few there. I asked the lady Nancy, the lady who was helping me opened up a savings account, why there are few people. She said it was too hot. That most folks come in during the morning and then a half hour before closing time; made sense to me. I took out two damp checks from my shirt pocket and had to tell Nancy I was sorry but it’s so dang hot outside. She is the second Nancy I’ve met this week.
I went to WalMart and then to Stater Bros to get some supplies and then headed back home. I bought a 700Watt microwave for $30 to try out on my new solar panels, and some fried chicken; I got hungry!
I got home around 4:30 and hooked up the microwave and tried it out. I put some shredded cheese on a tortilla and set the timer to one minute. Boy do those things suck the juice out of my batteries. Well it was later in the day and if I tried it earlier I think I’d have better results. Anyways the batteries recovered in half an hour back to full charge. Tomorrow I’ll test it again when it is earlier in the day when the Sun is at its peak.
Stuart and Debbie called from Oklahoma to say howdy. We yapped for 100 minutes (it says that on my phone). They live on an Indian Reservation there and Debbie was telling me all about her tribe and how it was like a big family. They seem to be happy living there!
I watched the second episode of season 2 of “Warehouse 13”.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Saturday 17- I did my stretches and ran two miles. Boy was I tired after that; it was a little over a hundred when I started my run. I have this watch cap that I saturate with water before I begin my run and it is dry before I get back, but it helps keep my head cool!
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 81 to 113 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 26 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 107. West northwest wind at 10 mph becoming southeast. Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 81. West wind between 14 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.”
I promised a friend that I’d go over to his house and open up the windows and turn on the swamp cooler. He is on vacation and is headed back this Monday. This is the very house where the electric went out for a few days and all the food spoiled and I had to clean out all the bad rotten food and take pictures of all the smelly meat and such so he could get reimburse from Edison. I promised myself I’d never do that again.
On the way over there I saw this guy walking in the desert in the 113 degrees weather and offered him a ride. It was Chris Jonas’ son-in-law Darrell and he was walking the three or four miles to Chris’ house. I took him all the way there and chatted with Chris for a spell. Then I went over to Stoney’s to check on things and to microwave the fried chicken leftovers that I had bought yesterday.
I called friends and family throughout the day. I finally got a hold of Andrew who is working on his girlfriend’s new home. It was good to talk to my old friend. We got caught up with the stuff we been doing since our last chat.
I settled down for the evening doing webwork until late at night.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Sunday 18- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 81 to 111 degrees, winds out of the SE/SW at 6 to 16 MPH, humidity around 28 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 105. Calm wind becoming south between 11 and 14 mph. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 80. West southwest wind 15 to 18 mph decreasing to between 6 and 9 mph. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph.”
I got a joke email from Judy Ruggles comparing pictures of pretty women doing Yoga positions to passed out drunks lying on the road and park benches. It got me interested in Yoga! I did a search of Yoga and found some videos on how to do these. One was the pigeon position that looked too hard for me to do but I found some others that I did try out and will incorporate them into my stretches.
I read a little bit of some old Greek books: Homer’s “Iliad” about the Greek/Trojan war and Plato’s “Apology” where Plato writes about the trial of Socrates. “Apology” I can read fine but the “Iliad” is more like a poem and I find it hard reading. A lot of my online friends have read them; I’ve never had and thought it time I did.
While I was reading I updated software on two computers.
I went for my evening walk with my camera. I didn’t find anything worth taking; the sky was kind of dusty. I could have taken a pic of the young owl that hangs around near where I walk but I didn’t want to disturb him and have him fly away. I want him to get used to me when I go on my walks, then I can take some close up pics.
I watched “Alice in Wonderland” (2010) a very nice film! Alice is all growed up now!!!
I did my stretches and lifted weights, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Monday 19- I did my stretches, ran a mile, rode my bike, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 85 to 112 degrees, winds out of the SW/SE at 7 to 13 MPH, humidity around 13 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 102. Light wind becoming south between 11 and 14 mph. Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 79. West southwest wind 14 to 17 mph decreasing to between 6 and 9 mph. Winds could gust as high as 24 mph.”
I got a visit from another Census Bureau worker asking me who lives in such and such house; her name was Michael. She looked liked she was overheated and said she felt a little dizzy. I turned on the outside fan as she asked me questions. It’s a hot day I said stating the obvious, and that she should get into a cooler location and drink plenty of water. Michael said she was through for the day and headed home after our visit.
Around 2pm I nodded off for an hour or so. I was reading this new book called “The Malacca Conspiracy” (2010) by Don Brown at the time. No I didn’t pass out because the book was boring, it actually looks pretty good but I guess I was just tired.
I went for my evening walk and took some pictures. The young owl wasn’t there today.
I continued to read “The Malacca Conspiracy” until late into the night.
I went outside at 11pm to check the temp; it was 95 degrees!
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Tuesday 20- I did my stretches and ran a mile.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 80 to 109 degrees, winds out of the SE/SW at 7 to 15 MPH, humidity around 23 percent, hazy skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 103. Calm wind becoming south between 13 and 16 mph. Winds could gust as high as 26 mph. Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 78. Southwest wind between 8 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph."
I got two 130Watt solar panels this time from eBay again at a decent price. When these are installed I’ll have over 700Watts powering my home’s AC.
I actually did some housework cleaning this and that putting stuff where they belong; still looks a mess.
I wrote my column for the Hi-Desert Star and sent it in.
I read a little more of Plato’s “Apology” and found that I only read the preface and haven’t even started the book part yet! I read some astronomy, too.
I took another nap today. As I was dozing off my mind was flashing all kinds of thoughts. I heard Dinah Shore singing a song, weird! Another thing that flashed through my mind was that gravity and space/time is the same thing; I’ll have to think about that one.
I went for my evening walk with my camera. I got a few pictures but will have to go through them to see if any are worth posting.
I read “The Malacca Conspiracy” by Don Brown (he actually asked me how I liked his book, cool!) until late into the night; another page turner!
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 21- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 79 to 107 degrees, winds out of the SE/SW at 7 to 18 MPH, humidity around 20 percent, hazy skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 102. Northwest wind at 10 mph becoming southeast. Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 75. West southwest wind between 6 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph."
The electric power to Joshua Tree was down from 6:50am to 1:45pm and I couldn’t get online at all; the wifi station where I get my signal was out because of the outage.
I had to wait around for FedEx who is delivering my “Getting Started with Latin” by William Linney, and also a Kodak Play Sport video camera that can submerge underwater ten feet (like I need that in the desert!). I read a little of Plato’s “Apology” while waiting for the delivery.
FedEx came around 1:30pm and didn’t knock, just left it on my doorstep. I happen to hear thump and went out to investigate and there it was. The FedEx guy was nowhere in sight.
I spent the next few hours charging the camera and reading the instructions. I even did the first four lessons in the Latin book.
Once the camera was charged I went and took a five minute video; a tour of the outside of my home. The five minute video turned out to be 330Megs or so. I used the Kodak software to format it down to 37Megs and tried to upload it to YouTube and it was almost finished when it ended with an unknown error, dang! I will try again when I get more time. The camera performed excellently! I was surprised at how fast it switched from dark to bright areas, and the clarity of the video was awesome.
Because of the outage I needed to get some webwork done and spent the next hour or so doing that.
I read more of “The Malacca Conspiracy” by Don Brown until late.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.



Thursday 22- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 78 to 106 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 15 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 101. North northwest wind at 11 mph becoming southeast. Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 76. West southwest wind between 8 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.”
I didn’t feel good all day and I had to wait for UPS to deliver two more solar panels. So I just stayed inside doing this and that.
On FaceBook I replied to a post about a bar I used to go to called the Flying Jib in Redondo Beach back in the very early 70s. One poster recognized my picture, told me, I looked at his and it looked familiar, but we couldn’t figure out where we knew each other from. We did hangout at some of the places we talked about but still couldn’t make the connection. We were both into boats and went to the same bars. Them were my drinking days and I’m lucky to remember anything!
I finally got the video I took yesterday loaded. It is a tour of the outside of my house. This would be my first YouTube video I’ve posted and I hope it comes out okay; I’m such an amateur :-)
UPS finally arrived at 5:30pm!!!!!
Seimi came by asking me if I wanted some old solar panels, and I said sure! We went over to his friend’s house who had moved to Mexico to live. The two panels were in bad shape but I took them all the same.
I watched “Warehouse 13” after I took a shower when I got back home.
I read more of “The Malacca Conspiracy” by Don Brown until late again.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Friday 23- I did my stretches, ran two miles, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 81 to 105 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 27 percent, mostly clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 105. North wind between 3 and 6 mph. Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 78. West wind between 9 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.”
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
I did some webwork and replied to a few emails.
I took a nap; I must be getting old! Nah, it’s the heat!!!
I checked out the two old solar panels that Seimi and I picked up yesterday. The glass on both is shattered like a car’s windshield does when hit by a rock. I put a volt meter to them and didn’t think I’d get much, but they both went to 17Volts! I was quite surprised. I’ll have to think about how to reinforce them so they don’t sag in the middle. If all works out alright I’ll connect them up to my system.
I was going to go on my evening walk when Ron Dehart called. He had just come back from Texas and wanted to yap; we did for over an hour.
Mat came by to borrow one of my Dell Mini 9s and we sat for a spell outside. It was a beautiful night with clouds obscuring the bright Moon here and there. We talked about astronomy; I told him my thoughts of space/time being one and the same as gravity. He brought up the question of gravitons and I said that if I’m right there aren’t any such things as gravitons. I also said that I could be completely totally wrong on the whole idea! He laughed. I like our little conversations; there aren’t that many I can talk to about such stuff.
I read more of “The Malacca Conspiracy” by Don Brown until late again.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Saturday 24- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 81 to 109 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 29 percent, mostly clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 106. Northwest wind at 9 mph becoming south southeast. Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 79. Southwest wind between 7 and 14 mph.”
I wasn’t feeling quite well today but I did have a good night’s sleep; almost 8 hours! Normally I get around five to six hours of sleep. It was hot and muggy outside and decided to just kick back inside.
I called family and friends throughout the day to yak at them; I wonder if they are tired of me yet?
I did some online searches for electric bikes seeing if there was any that fit my requirements of going over 50 miles on a charge at a reasonable cost; so far the search continues.
I spent the rest of the evening reading “The Malacca Conspiracy” by Don Brown and finished the book around 10pm. It was an excellent read with a teary but happy ending.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Sunday 25- I did my stretches, ran a mile, rode my bike, and lifted weights. I’m feeling better today!
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 82 to 110 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 27 percent, mostly clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 102. Calm wind becoming south southeast between 13 and 16 mph. Winds could gust as high as 23 mph. Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 76. Southwest wind between 7 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.”
It was hot again outside today and I kept mostly inside doing little things around the house.
I got caught up on my reading of “365 Starry Nights”; I was three weeks behind. Then I read aloud from the textbook “Astronomy Today" about meteoroids.
Remember when I wrote a few days ago that I thought that gravity and space-time were the same. Well I did a little research on gravity and space-time and found this: “Einstein proposed that space-time is curved by matter, and that free-falling objects are moving along locally straight paths in curved space-time. Einstein explained gravity as "warps in the geometry of space-time"” So I guess that I read it somewhere and I finally Grok that part of General Relativity.
I watched “Cosmos” by Carl Sagan (1980). This is my favorite science documentary. I remember watching it over at my friend Bob Lee’s house when it first came out. I was living on my sailboat at the time and didn’t have a TV. I would go over to his house every Sunday to watch the show on KCET PBS.
I went for my evening walk and took the video camera along. I got a movie of a horny toad! Maybe I’ll post it later on.
I watched an episode of “Star Trek” the original called “Where No Man Has Gone Before” (1965); it was the second pilot episode.
I then watched a movie called “Home of the Brave” (2006) about three returning Vets from the Iraqi War and the hardships they go through trying to adjust. Excellent Film!!!!
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Monday 26- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 81 to 108 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 20 percent, mostly clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 97. Light wind becoming southeast between 12 and 15 mph. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph. Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. South wind at 10 mph becoming west.”
Ron Dehart picked me up to take me to the optometrist in Yucca Valley. I needed new glasses because mine are held together with glue, solder, and whatever. I haven't had an exam in over 7 years and having trouble seeing out of the glasses I have they are so scuffed up. The doctor, retired from the Navy, was a nice guy and very efficient in the way he conducted the exam. Everything was going well until he put these little drops in my eyes that dilated them. Well after all that the Doctor said that the insides of my eyeballs were just fine and wrote me out a new prescription.
When Ron dropped me off back home I had to go inside because the bright Sun hurt my eyes; even reading hurt! I lay in my dark bedroom unable to do much for a few hours; my eyes were still dilated eight hours after and I was starting to get concerned but finally it went away around 11pm.
Later on in the evening I watched episodes 2 and 3 of “Cosmos” by Carl Sagan (1980).
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Tuesday 27- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 80 to 105 degrees, winds out of the SE at 7 to 10 MPH, humidity around 24 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 97. Calm wind becoming south between 8 and 11 mph. Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 73. South southwest wind between 7 and 13 mph.”
Ron Dehart and I decided to go to town to have some lunch and see a movie. We went over to that Chinese place by Stater Bros and WalMart in Yucca Valley. They got some dang fine grub there and don’t skimp on the portions either. Then we went to the theater to watch “Inception” (2010) which had me confused at the beginning but later on I got a handle on it. I recognized Joseph Gordon-Levitt from 3rd Rock from the Sun”; boy he has grown up! It was a very thought provoking film and I may have to see it again!!!!
We stopped off at WalMart to get a few supplies and headed on back home.
I got home around 5:30pm to water my plaints and take care of a few things around the house.
I watched episode 4 of “Cosmos” by Carl Sagan (1980), and then another episode of Star Trek called “The Tholian Web”; one of my favorites.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Wednesday 28- I did my stretches, ran a mile, rode my bike, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 79 to 103 degrees, winds out of the SE at 6 to 12 MPH, humidity around 30 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday...Partly cloudy in the morning then becoming mostly sunny. Highs around 93 in yucca valley...around 102 in twentynine palms. Light wind becoming southeast around 10 mph in the afternoon. Thursday Night...Mostly clear. Lows 69 to 75 in yucca valley... Around 77 in twentynine palms. Southwest wind 10 to 15 mph shifting to the west after midnight.”
Ron Dehart called asking if I was going to the store and if I was if I could mail an important letter from the post office for him. I told him that I wasn’t going that way but if I could use his truck I would gladly mail it for him. When I arrived at Ron’s he had a list of stuff to buy for him at Staters Bros too. I went to the post office and got that taken care of then I went to Staters where it took me an hour trying to find the stuff he had on the list he handed me. Dang, when I shop it takes me 15 minutes because I know what I want and go directly to them. But his list had me go to the deli, the meat department, and to the vegetable section; places I seldom visit. I was lucky to remember what I needed to get for myself. I got back to his house after 4pm and we had dinner of the chicken we both purchased.
I spent a little time showing him how to work Google Voice and also Hulu; he’s a little slow on the computer but he makes up for it with what he cooks. Me, if it isn’t in a can I get lost.
I got back home around 6pm and did a little watering of the plants I missed yesterday and also filled up the critter’s water bowls and the cement pond.
I did a bunch of webwork that kept me busy for a spell. About the time I was ready to quit Andrew called and we spent over an hour getting caught up on the events in our lives.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Thursday 29- I did my stretches and ran a mile.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 84 to 104 degrees, slight breeze, humidity around 27 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 100. Northwest wind at 8 mph becoming east southeast. Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 76. Southwest wind between 6 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph.”
After checking my email and reading the “headlines” to find out what’s going on in this fine world of ours, I setup my video camera in the living room and recorded a song I wrote. Unfortunately I didn’t have the microphone turned up and I also recorded it with half my head missing. Then I tried editing the video on my MacBook with iMovie. The user interface wasn’t very intuitive, unlike Movie Maker on XP, and I finally gave up for the day.
I watered some of my plants and went for my evening walk with my camera. I only took one pic.
I watched a fantastic movie called “The Road” (2009) about a man and his son who are on a journey to the ocean through a post apocalyptic world where food is scarce and there are cannibals. Excellent film!!!!!
I did my stretches, went for a night run, and lifted weights. I practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Friday 30- I did my stretches and rode my bike.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 82 to 103 degrees, SE winds at 7 to 15 MPH, humidity around 28 percent, hazy skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 99. Northwest wind at 8 mph becoming south southeast. Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 76. West southwest wind 13 to 16 mph decreasing to between 5 and 8 mph. Winds could gust as high as 23 mph.”
Joel Levy left some muffins in my mailbox out front (I don’t get my mail there) and they were mighty good!
I spent the better part of the afternoon updating the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter. I put my video of the tour of the outside of my house on the website, too.
I read some astronomy from the book “365 Starry Nights” and I am all caught up for the month.
I went for my evening walk with my camera again but didn’t find anything worth shooting.
Ginger came by for a spell with her new Toshiba laptop she bought at WalMart; not bad for what she paid for it! We sat around looking at her family pictures on the laptop; I had fun and enjoy her company.
I watched a movie called “Clash of the Titans” (2010). All I can say is that it had its moments but very few of them.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Saturday 31- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 81 to 103 degrees, SSE winds at 8 to 17 MPH, humidity around 29 percent, hazy skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 97. Calm wind becoming south between 4 and 7 mph. Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. West southwest wind between 5 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.”
I called family and friends and chatted with them for a spell. Then it was time to get ready for Potluck at the community center. I actually cooked up a bunch of chicken and rice to take down there. I’m not much of a cook as readers of my journal know but I did a dang good job of it; well nobody complained or got sick. We only had a few folks showing up and we all had a good time! Chris made his famous macaroni salad. Marie brought a nice tasting cake. Ruth brought a fruit salad she says she made on her own. Tim cooked his special spaghetti. But there was enough for everyone!
I watched a movie called “Sherlock Holmes” (2009). Robert Downey Jr. played the part of Holmes and played it better than any others I’ve seen; very awesome movie!!!!!
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Goodbye to July; you've been a very hot month!