November 2010

Welcome to the month of November- did my stretches and yoga, ran two miles, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 53 to 78 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 28 percent, mostly clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 82. North northwest wind around 6 mph. Tuesday Night: Clear, with a low around 54. North wind around 6 mph becoming calm.”
I backed up the data on Mac’s HP desktop and then did a format of the hard drive and install of the OS. Then I downloaded most of the critical updates and Service Pack 3for Win XP. This all took about four hours mostly because the three restore disks had to create a new partition on the hard drive for the restore files and then copy them there before it would install the dang OS. I’ll try to finish it all up tomorrow.
I did my studies: Latin and pre-algebra. Latin=flashcards, Pre-algebra= read from the text.
I read aloud from the textbook “Astronomy Today” about Spectroscopic Parallax: a method to measure the distance of main sequence stars out to 10 thousand parsecs using a star’s spectra to determine luminosity. I want to learn more about Spectroscopic Parallax.
I went for my evening walk with my camera but didn’t find anything interesting to shoot.
I spent most of the rest of the night talking to Kelly. Like I said before; she sure can talk a lot. We had our webcams going and it was kind of cool seeing her and her cats and dogs lying on the bed. The first time I did the webcam was with Andrew a few months ago; this was even better :)
I did my stretches, finally re-stringed the guitar and did my practice, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Tuesday 02- did my stretches, ran a mile, and lifted dumbbells.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 54 to 82 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 28 percent, mostly clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 84. West northwest wind between 5 and 8 mph becoming calm. Wednesday Night: Clear, with a low around 56. East southeast wind around 6 mph becoming calm.”
I went back to work on Mac’s HP desktop and updated a bunch more critical updates and two hardware updates. When I rebooted Internet Explorer would open with an error message and die. Dang never had that happen before. Fortunately I had installed Firefox and I was able to download IE and re-installed it and all was well. I still have a few more updates to do on the OS and load up the new wifi dongle (had to use mine because of his dongle software needed service pack 3 that wasn’t present when I reloaded the OS) then I’m done with it.
Me and Kelly went for a ride on the Harley to Twentynine Palms. She needed to get cat food so it was an excuse to get out and ride. We ended up at Burger King over by Stater Bros. and ate hamburgers there; we weren’t very impressed with the food or the service. We finished eating and sat outside on the benches so Kelly could smoke and I drank my coffee. There was the guy with the American flags and boom box that we saw at Rite Aid a few weeks ago and we sat near him. He gets very animated singing these old 60s and 70s songs and is entertaining to watch. We even sang along with him on a few songs. His name is Alexander and he is a very nice man. If you’re a local to the area you’ve probably seen him. Kelly went to talk to this guy who had two little rat dogs like hers in his truck. I kept looking at the guy thinking he looks mighty familiar. It took me a while but it hit me; it was Raymond who lives two miles away from me and the truck he was driving was the one I sold him; my “Trusty Truck”! I asked him about his brother, who I helped setup his cell phone a couple of years back, Ray said that his brother had passed on over a year ago. I told him I was sad to hear that and was sorry for his loss.
On our way back home we stopped off at Mac’s house so I could introduce Mac to Kelly; Mac lives just down a ways and across the street from her. We jawed for a spell and checked out some sissy bars for the Harley so that Kelly won’t fall off the back. We finally got back to Kelly’s house just as the Sun was setting. She let her dogs out and handed the little rat dog to me who went berserk biting Kelly and pissing on me; I dropped that dang taco dog as fast as I could. After washing up, I brought the two chairs around front and we spent the next four hours or so outside yapping and stargazing. She made some Sumatra Coffee for us and I got quite a buzz off of it; actually I’m still buzzed as I write this. I think Kelly is a bad influence on me :)
I got back home and did my stretches, practice my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Wednesday 03- did my stretches and yoga, ran a mile, and lifted weights.
To make a long story short; after I did some more updates and finished Mac’s desktop computer, I took the Harley over to his house at 4pm so him and me could work on it. He was drinking beer and I was drinking coffee. Believe it or not we got a lot done on the bike. Mac is a great story teller and I listened to tale after tale of his adventures on the road. Then towards the end of the night he asked me to tell him a story. I was trying to think of a good one to tell when he played this CD with the song “They're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!” and I lost all concentration; if you ever listened to the lyrics you’d understand. So I never did get my story together. One funny thing I noticed earlier was that the gas valve was turned and I asked Mac if he did it. He said you should always turn the gas off when the bike sits, and I showed him that he had set it to reserve :) If you remember my story of when I was on the road to Tucson and thought I ran out of gas you’ll understand why it was kind of amusing to me. I got back home around 1am and was going to write my journal and the other stuff that I do when Kelly called at 1:30 and we yakked until 3:30 in the morning. I finally got to sleep around 4am. I have some of the best friends a person could ever want!


Thursday 04- I did my stretches, ran a mile, and lifted dumbbells.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 58 to 85 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 22 percent, hazy skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday...Mostly sunny. Highs 80 to 82 in yucca valley...around 86 in twentynine palms. Light wind becoming southeast up to 10 mph in the afternoon. Friday Night. Mostly clear. Lows 51 to 57. South wind around 10 mph in the evening becoming light.”
I’m going to lend Mac one of my laptops and spent a few hours getting one ready for him so he can pick it up tomorrow.
Kelly came over around 2pm and we rode the Harley to Yucca Valley and did some shopping. First we stopped off at the tobacco place so she could stock up on the stuff. Then over to the feed store on Hwy 62 where she put in an order for critter food to be delivered to her house. Stopped off at WalMart to pick up a few things; Kelly got her steel tipped riding boots and two sweaters for us to wear on our way back home because the day grew later and colder than we thought. We got hungry and ate at the Chinese food joint just down from Staters; about the same as the other one in Twentynine. We mailed off her rent check at the post office and headed on back home in the dark. Then we sat outside stargazing drinking coffee and yapping until 11pm. I just don’t know where the time goes when I’m with that girl!
I did my stretches, practice my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Friday 05- I did my stretches and yoga, ran a mile, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 56 to 83 degrees, calm winds, humidity around 20 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 78. Calm wind becoming south southeast between 7 and 10 mph. Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 51. Southwest wind between 10 and 13 mph becoming light.”
I gathered Mac’s desktop, the laptop I’m lending him, and headed to his house where we spent an hour or so going through a few items of importance about the laptop’s functions.
I got back home and updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
I watered the plants and went for my evening walk.
I watched the new episode of “Fringe” on Hulu.com
I yakked with Kelly for a long, long spell on Skype.
I found this neat website for physics and astronomy videos called “Sixty Symbols” and watched a few of them: Planck’s Constant, Einstein’s Relativity, and Hubble’s constant.
I did my stretches and went for a night run, practice my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Saturday 06- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 56 to 79 degrees, winds out of the SE at 10 to 15 MPH, humidity around 23 percent, mostly cloudy skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 71. Northwest wind between 3 and 6 mph. Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 50. South southwest wind between 6 and 10 mph.”
I mostly called Family and Friends. I did finally get out there to wash down and detail the Harley and she now looks very nice indeed!
I spent a lot of time inside cleaning this and that making sure everything is clean just in the far off remote chance I’d have visitors; nobody came :(
So today is my kickback day and I’m just going to rest up and enjoy.
I did get caught up on most of my emails that I’ve been neglecting. I feel better for it.
I did my stretches, practice my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Sunday 07- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 51 to 72 degrees, winds out of the SE at 10 to 15 MPH, humidity around 29 percent, mostly cloudy skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 66. Breezy, with a west northwest wind between 14 and 22 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 42. West northwest wind between 8 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.”
I was getting a few computer items done when Joan called telling me that she really misses Win98 desktop jungle theme; has bongos playing, birds chirping, and a big scary black cat growling. I went online and did a search for it and there it was (and runs on WIN7 too) here it is if ya want it: Jungle Pack starts right up on Win7 with no problems at all (even Joan was able to do it!). So now Joan says she owes me big time. Joan is really a happy camper now.
I went for my evening walk. Kind of an overcast day so I didn’t shoot any pictures.
Kelly called to say she has her boots on and is ready to hit the road on the Harley and for me to picked her up on my way there to Stater Bros. We first stopped at the dollar store so Kelly could get a few knickknacks for her apartment. Next we went to Staters to get coffee, sugar, and cream. We were going to get chicken but decided against it in favor of Chinese again after arguing for a bit. Plus the chicken didn’t look all that good. We both love the Chinese at that particular shop by the Stater Bros market in Twentynine Palms. Donna was our waitress and did a very wonderful job of serving us.
We finally got back home and I put “Avatar” (2010) on the new 17” laptop and hooked up my best external speakers. With all Kelly’s smoke brakes we finally finished watching it at 2am. We were both really tired; how I managed writing this journal is beyond me.
I did my stretches, practice my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Monday 08- I did my stretches, ran a mile, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 48 to 67 degrees, winds out of the W at 8 to 20 MPH, humidity around 35 percent, cloudy skies here and there.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 62. Northwest wind around 11 mph. Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 40. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm.”
I had a message on the answering machine when I got back from running. It was Mac saying he needed my help getting connected to the internet. I called but his wife said he was away at the park or something. So I did other stuff and called him back a few hours later. After I got him to really listen to what I was telling him we finally got it all hooked up and running just fine.
My mind has been preoccupied trying to figure out “things” and this has left me in a reflection mode kinda way. So I spent most of my day reflecting :)
One of my best friends called to tell me that he will be laid off in a few weeks; that was really upsetting to hear. The good news is he might already have another job lined up!
My dear friend Kula called to tell me that she is doing fine and the new Realtor she and Tom found looks to be internet savvy and will hopefully bring more prospective buyers around.
I spent the rest of the night talking to Kelly on the phone; yakety yak.
I did my stretches, practice my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Tuesday 09- I did my stretches and yoga, ran two miles, and lifted dumbbells.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 40 to 66 degrees, winds out of the NW at 8 MPH, humidity around 22 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 66. West wind between 10 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Wednesday Night: Clear, with a low around 41. Northwest wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.”
I wrote my column for the Hi-Desert Star Newspaper and sent it in; that took a few hours off my day.
I went over to Stoney’s to fix a problem with the water pressure but first I had to figure out what the problem was. Eventually I found that the water flow meter was malfunctioning and reset the dang thing so it’ll let water pass through. Now there is good pressure throughout the house except in the kitchen; I’ll check that one out another day.
I went for my evening walk. I need to find new lectures to listen to on my walks.
Found this interesting news item about a mysterious missile that was fired 35 miles off the coast of California by Los Angeles. I watched the video and yes it was a missile!
I did some webwork until 9pm when I went outside and waited for Chris to drive by on his way home from Bingo. We sat for a spell in his truck yakking. Only 14 folks showed up for bingo. He said the “crowd” from Yucca Valley didn’t show. After he left I went for a night run.
I spent the rest of the night jawing with Kelly on the phone. She pretended to be upset at me because I ate pancakes and eggs tonight without her.
I did my stretches, practice my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Wednesday 10- I did my stretches, ran two miles, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 38 to 65 degrees, winds out of the W at 8 to 22 MPH, humidity around 20 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 66. West wind between 10 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Wednesday Night: Clear, with a low around 41. Northwest wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.”
I can’t say I did much of anything but thinking. And when I get in this kind of thinking mode that’s about all I do. I can tell ya that I’m working on a couple of new songs and trying to figure out the lyrics.
I went for my evening walk thinking.
I did my stretches and went for an evening run, practice my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.
Since I don’t have most to write about here is Kelly’s letter of yesterday about my violating Pancake Sunday:

Department of Pancake Sunday

VIOLATION

Dear Mr. Deloyd,

It's come to the attention of the board members of the Department of Pancake Sunday, via direct communication on Skype that you have violated the natural order, and routine of the good people of the Copper Mountain Mesa community. The board noticed that you missed Time Change Pancake Sunday, a minor violation, yet we never imagined you would do such a selfish act.
You openly and clearly stated that you were violating Pancake Sunday by partaking in this tradition on a TUESDAY. Your actions forced the good people of Copper Mountain Mesa to have to follow suit. As you are clearly aware, that due to its decadent, sweet, rich goodness it is irresistible, your reckless actions cause others to have to deviate from their natural Tuesday routine, to partake in Pancake Sunday which is clearly NOT Sunday. We have yet to understand the full extent of your actions upon our beautiful community.

Due to the severity of your actions, the board called a special meeting to discuss your punishment, normally the repercussions would be banishment, yet due to the fact that you ARE one of the PS founding fathers, and have never before openly violated our sacred tradition. It is therefor decided that you will be held responsible for any and all damages, either or emotional, physically, psychologically and financially, due to your reckless abandonment of the natural order of routines and traditions. Mr. Deloyd not only have you violated this sacred tradition, you also chose to do this right after the time change, which you are aware is a time of great confusion, your timing is clearly an act of emotional terrorism, further adding to the list of violations.

Mr. Deloyd, these are SEROUS charges, your actions have effected and touched the lives of those of us in the good community of Copper Mountain Mesa, including myself, my Tuesday attire is now ruined because of syrup, my kitchen is in a state of disarray, dirty pots, and soiled new utensils, which were intended for use on Pancake Sunday ONLY, my poor animals are psychologically mixed up. If that was NOT enough you lead astray one of our newest most innocent member of our tradition during her acclimation stage. I personally saw this, yet due to the severity of charges already against you, and our history of being friends I kept this information to myself, but, I have decided to make a requirement that I feel is acceptable and very fair considering the severity of your actions. First, upon EVERY Pancake Sunday, emphasis on the day Sunday, you will invite the new innocent member you tainted, over and uphold the tradition to the letter, as to ensure the honor, tradition community cohesion and all the other wonderful things that is Pancake Sunday.

All of us at the Department of Pancake Sunday, along with the community of Copper Mountain Mesa hope to put this incident behind us and get back to our normal routine, we hope that this was a isolated event one which will never occurs again.

James Butterworth
(Mrs. Butterworth's great grandson)

Thursday 11- I did my stretches and yoga, ran a mile, and lifted weights.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 41 to 66 degrees, winds out of the NNW at 13 to 28 MPH, humidity around 27 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: Sunny, with a high near 64. North northwest wind around 9 mph. Friday Night: Clear, with a low around 41. West northwest wind between 6 and 8 mph.”
I went over to Stoney’s to do my laundry and fix the kitchen sink. After going under the sink to check it out and deciding it wasn’t the connections there, I then took the whole dang faucet apart, pounded it with a hammer, stuck a wire into it, and got it to finally work. Now it’s putting out lots of water.
I went for my evening walk; a short one because of the cold wind.
I started reading a new book called “Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery” (2006) by James R. Benn. Looks to be a good read! I’ve read a few chapters already and the words flow very nicely along until you realize a few hours have gone by.
I think I’m coming down with a cold or something, dang! Just starting to feel it and been coughing a little bit.
I did my stretches, practice my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Friday 12- I am sick. I’m sicker than a four letter word! My body aches all over, my lungs are congested, and I’m running a fever.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 41 to 64 degrees, winds out of the NNW at 6 to 12 MPH, humidity around 24 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 67. North northwest wind between 8 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 44. Northwest wind around 10 mph.”
I might be sick but I have stuff to do. I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
I went over to Stoney’s to take some measurements of the bathtub and kitchen table for Denny.
I watered my plants but that wasn’t hard at all. After that I just stayed in the house updating drivers on the HP MiniNote.
Joel Levy came by with donuts! I can tell you that a donut can really cheer a guy up when he’s sick.
Thank God I got a good book to read because I read a bunch of chapters of “Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery” by James R. Benn.
Kelly called and we chatted for a little bit. She’s not feeling very well either with a bad headache.
I hope I’m feeling better tomorrow so I can go to the Copper Mountain Mesa General Membership Meeting. This is where we elect members to the board who will reign over our little realm. If I’m still sick I ain’t going.
I didn’t do my stretches, I didn’t practice my guitar, but I did write to my journal and post it to the web, and then called it a night.

Saturday 13- I still sick but feeling a bit better.
I went to the Copper Mountain Mesa General Membership Meeting. We elect members to the board who will reign over our little realm. First we had the board meeting: 50 folks showed up for our first Saturday Breakfast ( no power outage this time); Bingo dinners brought in $88; Bingo 12 to 20 showing up during the month; Thrift Room $60;USDA 92 bags of food distributed. Mary Helen told us that the cutoff date for the Christmas basket will be Dec 18. It was sad to hear that Colleen Schweitzer had passed on. There will be a memorial for her at the community center next weekend. I will find out the time and date later but I believe Carol said it was next Saturday from 1 to 5pm. Colleen was one hell of a woman!
After the board meeting there was a barbecue luncheon with hamburgers, hot dogs and all the fixings. Then the General Membership Meeting was called to order by President Katherine Quinn. There was a vote taken and the old board members were re-elected along with new board member Daniel Gray. The board appointed Tim Atzei who will join the board as secretary and voting member.
I got home to spend the rest of the day/night in bed reading “Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery” by James R. Benn. The book was so good that I couldn’t put it down and finished it that night.

Sunday 14- I’m feeling much better; I think it’s just the common cold (I hope).
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 43 to 69 degrees, winds out of the NNW at 7 to 13 MPH, humidity around 26 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 70. North northwest wind between 10 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 47. West northwest wind around 8 mph.”
I didn’t wake up till 1pm because I was up after 4am finishing the book “Billy Boyle” by James R. Benn; dang great book!!!!! I just stayed inside the house in bed trying to shake this cold; might as well try to enjoy it by not doing anything but rest.
Joel Levy came by later in the evening with jar of instant coffee, one half of a meatball sandwich, and some honey; he said the honey would help my throat.
I yapped at Kelly for a spell until her internet connection failed; we were talking about Wind Scorpions and other strange desert critters.
I wrote both this and Saturday’s journal and posted it early to the web.
Now I’ll find something else to read to keep my mind occupied.

Monday 15- I’m still sick.
I’m mostly reading and staying in bed in and out of sleep. I haven’t felt like doing much on the internet.
Chris (he's sick too) came by with my bag of groceries from the USDA food distribution. He said there were 102 folks showing up there.
I read and finished “Hostile Intent” by Michael Walsh. I guess it was an okay read. There were some exciting parts, but also some situations that I found hard to believe. He may have gone a little too much into the backgrounds of his characters and their motives. The flow of words didn’t carry well here and there and I had to go back to clarify. I also caught a few spelling errors that got by the editors but no big deal. All in all it kept me entertained!!
Talked to a few folks: Kelly, Mac, Ron Dehart, Joel Levy, and someone else but I forget who.

Tuesday 16- I’m still sick. I’m sick of being sick!
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 47 to 74 degrees, calm, humidity around 27 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 72. North northwest wind between 7 and 9 mph. Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 42. South southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.”
It was warm today so I opened up all the windows of the house and let it air out for the day. I even sprayed disinfectant on everything to get rid of them germs. I washed my hair, shaved and basically cleaned up. Kinda felt better afterwards :)
Started reading another book called “The Secret Warriors: A Men at War Novel” by WEB Griffin. So far it seems to be a decent read.
I guess when I’m sick all I want to do is read. It’s kinda nice to be away from the web, exercising, and other responsibilities for a little spell :)
I spent time yakking with Kelly. She’s having problems getting a FedEx package delivered to her house.
I found this old (expired in 2003) package of Theraflu. I put hot water in a cup and mixed it in. I fell asleep at 9pm after drinking it and awoke at around 1am feeling better. If I go to the store tomorrow I’m going to get me more, but current, bunches of that stuff!!!

Wednesday 17- I’m still feeling ill.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 42 to 72 degrees, NW winds 6 to 9 MPH, humidity around 24 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 73. Calm wind becoming south southeast around 6 mph. Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 44. South southwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm.”
I wrote my column for the Hi-Desert Star Newspaper and sent it in. Thought of the week: something lost never goes missing.
I read more of “The Secret Warriors: A Men at War Novel” by WEB Griffin. I’m waiting for some action to begin.
I went to Rite Aid with Kelly so she could pick up her prescriptions and I got my packets of Theraflu. We stopped off at Stater Bros. to get some supplies and fried chicken. Then we went to Circle K for coffee and ate the chicken in the car.
I got back home and went to bed.

Thursday 18- I’m a bit better. It seems that it going away and then wham it is back. As I write this journal I feel that tomorrow I’ll be over the worst of it and that Saturday I’ll be able to go to the functions that I was invited to.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 44 to 73 degrees, calm winds, humidity around 34 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 70. Southwest wind between 6 and 13 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46. Southwest wind between 11 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.”
I kept going to sleep off and on all night and finally fell into a deep sleep around 3am or so and woke up at 7am, dang. I made breakfast and had a cup of coffee and around 9am I fell back to sleep until 1pm. I decided that the medicine I bought last night wasn’t working and went to town to get some other flu and cold stuff. While I was at WalMart I remembered that Kelly doesn’t have a heater in the house to keep her warm so I decided to buy an electric heating blanket for her. That way it’ll keep her electric bill down because space heaters require a lot of watts and the electric blankets don’t; she’s on a fixed income.
Kelly called on Skype and we yakked (mostly her) for well over an hour. It kinda cracks me up that she’s in bed with all her dogs and cats climbing in and out of the blankets keeping her warm while we yak the night away. She was mighty happy to hear about the blanket, too.
I’m going to wrap up this post, take some cold medicine, read a few chapters of “The Secret Warriors: A Men at War Novel” by WEB Griffin. Then try to go to bed. Tomorrow I want to begin my stretches again.

Friday 19- I’m still feeling ill.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 46 to 73 degrees, SW winds at 11 to 26 MPH, humidity around 24 percent, cloudy skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: A 20 percent chance of rain after 10am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 62. Breezy, with a west southwest wind 7 to 10 mph increasing to between 20 and 23 mph. Winds could gust as high as 32 mph. Saturday Night: A slight chance of rain before 10pm, then a slight chance of rain after 4am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40. South southwest wind between 11 and 21 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.”
I had to call and cancel a dinner party I was invited to this Saturday. I’m really sad I can’t go but they understood and that made me feel better.
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
I spent the better part of the day working on a laptop setting it up with a printer and scanner.
It’s supposed to rain tomorrow so I got the house ready just in case.
Kelly came by and spent the evening keeping me company. She created the perfect barbecue chicken that was as good as KFC or better! We had it for dinner along with baked potatoes and stuffing.
I wish my posts could be more interesting but I just don’t feel up to writing right now. I want to be out riding my Harley!

Saturday 20- I did my stretches! I’m feeling a little bit better.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 40 to 62 degrees, SW winds at 11 to 26 with gusts up to 45 MPH, humidity around 44 percent, cloudy skies with some sprinkles.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 57. Southwest wind between 17 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 36. Southwest wind around 8 mph.”
I woke up at 1pm still not feeling that well. Colleen’s Memorial started at 1pm and I was late. So I quickly threw on my clothes and headed on down to the Community Center to take some pictures. There was a whole bunch of cars in the parking lot as I drove up; must have been some eighty people there to say their goodbyes to Colleen. I stayed there for about an hour taking pictures. Colleen would have been happy that all these wonderful folks showed up. I wish I could have stayed longer and visited for a spell but had to leave early because I wasn’t feeling well.
On the way back home I decided to stop off at Mike and Stevie’s dinner party to take a few pictures; they had invited me for dinner today but I called and canceled yesterday because of sickness. I only stayed for half an hour. There were two turkeys being cut up but I still left; I ate oatmeal when I finally got home.
I read more of “The Secret Warriors: A Men at War Novel” by WEB Griffin and that put me to sleep for a few hours.
I awoke feeling pretty good, well better than I have been feeling for the past week!
I watched two new episodes of “Fringe”.
I yakked with Kelly for a spell.
I did my stretches; practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and then called it a night.

Sunday 21- I did my stretches. Hopefully in a day or two I can go for a run.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 40 to 62 degrees, SW winds at 8 to 16 with gusts up to 30 MPH, humidity around 46 percent, a few clouds here and there.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 57. Southwest wind between 17 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 36. Southwest wind around 8 mph.”
I called family and friends throughout the day to let them know I’m still around.
Denny, Judy, and Dustin are staying over at Stoney’s for a spell so I drove over for a short visit. They beat the rain up north on the coast and made it here last night. Dustin has gotten big in the last few years. He must be six foot and he’s only fifteen!
Kelly came by around 8pm for Pancake Sunday! She said she wanted three pancakes and three eggs and that’s what I made for her. I only had two of each. She got mighty full and had to lay down for a spell. While she was resting her fat butt I rolled about twenty cigarettes for her. She can’t afford to buy them by the carton and ran out of tubes with filters. I hand roll them with used filters, yuck! I still have the technique down pretty dang well and had them rolled in no time. I don’t smoke but I’m not a Smoke Nazi. I don’t let nobody smoke in my house though. She left around 11:30 but not before we went outside to check out the full Moon and Orion rising out of the east.
I did my stretches; I practice my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and then called it a night.

Monday 22- I did my stretches, ran a mile, and lifted weights. It feels mighty nice to get out and exercise again. I want to thank those of you that sent me such nice “get well” messages!
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 36 to 57 degrees, SW winds at 6 to 12 with gusts up to 20 MPH, humidity around 40 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 54. West southwest wind between 6 and 14 mph. Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 31. West wind between 15 and 21 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.”
Kelly is down sick in bed with the flu despite the darn flu shots she got last month. She is quite happy that I got her the electric blanket to keep her warm during her illness.
Kelly called needing some coffee so I dropped her some off on my way over to Stoney’s. I spent the rest of the day with Denny, Judy, and their grandson Dustin. We sat around jawing and watching TV. I haven’t watched TV for some time now and was reminded by the commercials why I don’t miss it. Denny cooked up a whole bunch of chicken fried steaks along with mashed potatoes and gravy, YUM!
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Tuesday 23- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 33 to 58 degrees, SW winds at 6 to 14 with gusts up to 29 MPH, humidity around 40 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 50. Northwest wind between 9 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 29. Northwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.”
I wrote my column for the Hi-Desert Star Newspaper and sent it in. I had a hard time coming up with anything but I finally managed to put something together.
I read a chapter of “The Secret Warriors: A Men at War Novel” by WEB Griffin.
Kelly is still sick and called asking me to pick her up a few things from the store. I put on my long johns, got all wrapped up, and jumped on the Harley on my way to Twentynine Palms. Dang cold on the bike! I got all the stuff plus three cans of chicken soup (I heard it was good for a cold) and headed on back and dropped everything off at her house while all her little critters barked and meowed at me.
Then I stopped off at Stoney’s to show off my Harley to Denny. Roger Smith came driving up in his old dilapidated VW Bug; if you follow him you may pick up some antique parts that have rattled off. It’s the first time he’s seen the Harley but he said that he heard it go by sometime ago.
I got home and coughed my dang fool head off. I think I’ll just stay inside the next few days and take it easy!
Ginger called to say howdy and let me know that everything is okay except that she has caught a cold; dang everyone’s getting this cold! She is going out tonight to get an electric heater because the one she has isn’t working very well.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Wednesday 24- I did my stretches, ran a mile, and lifted dumbbells.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 34 to 51 degrees, SW winds at 7 to 10 MPH, humidity around 50 percent, some clouds.
According to the National Weather Service: “Thanksgiving Day...Sunny. Highs 46 to 51. North wind 10 to 15 mph. Thursday Night...Clear. Lows around 33 in yucca valley...around 27 in twentynine palms. Northwest wind less than 10 mph.”
I mostly stayed inside and kicked back. I didn’t feel like going anywhere or seeing anyone. I’m kind of in a reflective mood today; like awakening from a long dream that seemed to be so real but only turned out to be just a delusional fantasy.
I read several chapters of “The Secret Warriors: A Men at War Novel” by WEB Griffin.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Thanksgiving Day- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 27 to 49 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 11 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Friday: Sunny, with a high near 54. Light and variable wind. Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 29. South southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.”
The cement pond in my front yard has frozen!
I skipped breakfast because I knew that I’d be eating bunches of food today! I got to the community center 1pm for our Annual Member Recognition Thanksgiving Pot Luck Party. There must have been around fifty hungry folks showing up. This is the fourth Thanksgiving the center has held it. As usual Mary Helen and Steve Tuttle, Ray and Ila Foyil were busy at work with other helpers preparing the feast. Steve and Ray cooked the turkeys the night before. There were all kinds of cakes, pies, and candied yams, and other yummy foods that folks brought. Everyone had full plates of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing; and a lot of folks went back for seconds and thirds! I could only stay for an hour or so because I had to make some calls to Family.
At 3:30 I then headed on over to Stoney’s where Denny, Judy, Dustin, Jimmy, Clarice, Johnny, and Mary all came up from out of town to celebrate Thanksgiving together; I was also invited. I thought they’d have ham, but instead this year they decided on turkey with all the trimmings! I got pretty much stuffed with bird. Dustin, 15 years old and a football player, can really put the food away! It was really great to see everyone and to tell tales of Stoney Stonebraker.
I got home and fell asleep for a spell and then read a few chapters of “The Secret Warriors: A Men at War Novel” by WEB Griffin.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Friday 26- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 29 to 54, light breeze, humidity around 14 percent, clear skies.
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
I got over to Stoney’s where Jimmy and the bunch where setting up targets to shoot our 22 rifles and handguns at. We spent all day shooting this and that, mostly rocks and stuff we set on these steel beams. Jimmy is a shooting instructor for the 4H Club in the Los Angeles area and was showing Dustin and Dustin’s cousin Stephanie the correct and proper procedure of handling and firing a weapon. We shot over 500 rounds of 22s and a few dozen 9mm until the Sun set into the western sky. We all had a “blast” :)
I got home and Kelly called; we yakked for over three hours and that’s why I didn’t post this until Saturday.

Saturday 27- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 29 to 59 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 16 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 52. Breezy, with a west northwest wind between 22 and 28 mph, with gusts as high as 39 mph. Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 32. Northwest wind between 14 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.”
At 12:30pm I dropped over to Stoney’s and said goodbye to everyone. It was really nice to see Stoney’s Family come out and stay awhile during Thanksgiving just like when Stoney was still around.
I arrived at Mike and Stevie Villarreal’s Thanksgiving dinner party at around 2:30. There was somewhere close to fifty folks or more attending. It’s a good thing that the Villarreals have a large home that can accommodate seating for that many people. I was also sent on a mission by Kelly to get her some turkey since she had missed Thanksgiving because of sickness. I asked Stevie if I could take a plate for Kelly and she said that would be just fine. I talked to many people and took many pictures of the party. After I ate, Mat’s daughter Lauren asked if I could bring my guitar inside from the truck and play a few songs. There was this other guitar player who had brought his electric guitar and amp and accompanied me while I played. I guess we sounded okay; at least they clapped when we were done.
I left the dinner party a little after 6pm and went over to Kelly’s with her turkey dinner; she was mighty happy for that. We yakked for almost three hours; dang I just don’t know where the time goes when we’re together. She has all these darn cats that crawl around on ya and I’ve been plucking cat hairs off of me since I left. Pulled a few out of my mouth, too!
I wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Sunday 28- I did my stretches; too dang cold and windy to go for my run.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 32 to 53 degrees, winds out of the WNW at 22 to 28 with gusts to 45 MPH, humidity around 16 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Monday: Sunny, with a high near 48. North northwest wind between 16 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 29. Northwest wind between 7 and 11 mph.”
I cleaned my house today and talked to friends, family, and Kelly throughout the day.
I read and finally finished the book “The Secret Warriors: A Men at War Novel” by WEB Griffin; it turned out to be a decent read!!!!
I did my stretches, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Monday 29- I did my stretches and yoga, ran a mile, and lifted weights; still too dang cold and windy to go for my run but I did it anyways!
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 27 to 48 degrees, winds out of the NW at 16 to 22 with gusts to 34 MPH, humidity around 11 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 51. North northwest wind between 3 and 7 mph. Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 31. West northwest wind between 3 and 7 mph.”
I cleaned out the wood stove of ash and chopped a wheelbarrow full of wood.
Kelly told me that there is going to be a Lunar Eclipse on Dec. 20- I looked up the times for our area (Pacific Standard Time) and they are: Partial Eclipse begins at 10:33pm- Total Eclipse begins at 11:41pm- Total Eclipse ends at 12:53am- Partial Eclipse ends at 2:01am. If the weather is fair and sky is clear I will be sure to be out there braving the cold to watch this event. Last time when the Lunar Eclipse went total the wind died and coyotes’ began to howl, spooky!
I found that the collection of pennies that I’ve been collecting since I was a kid are worth a little over three dollars; made me feel like a real loser! I’ll have to think about what this all means.
I did my stretches, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Tuesday 30- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 22 to 50 degrees, calm winds, humidity around 20 percent, clear skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 60. Light north northwest wind. Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 37. Calm wind becoming west northwest around 5 mph.”
I slept for over ten and a half hours! It was mighty cold and my bed was mighty warm so I stayed in bed and had a lot of strange and wonderful dreams.
I needed to go to the store and I called Kelly to see if she wanted something; chicken she said. So I rode the Harley to Staters in Twentynine bought my supplies, got gas at Arco, and headed to Kelly’s. She has a bunch of dogs and cats so we decided to eat our chicken inside her car. She is almost over her flu now and is feeling much better. I didn’t get back home till almost 10pm.
I did my stretches, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, started writing my column for the Hi-Desert Star Newspaper, and called it a night.
Goodbye to the month of November; you been a happy but cold month, and I was sick for almost two weeks going through ya.