April 2011

Welcome to the Month of April- I did my stretches, ran a mile, and rode my bike. I was doing some yard work and was looking for some tools when I noticed that the dove eggs had hatched and two baby doves were there in the nest; of course I had to take a picture :) Kelly and me went to the 29 Palms Drive-in to see “Battle for LA” and “Red Riding Hood”. Both were excellent movies! I love going to the drive-in there. The folks who run it keep the restrooms clean, the prices on popcorn and drinks are fair, and they help jump cars whose batteries have died when it's time to leave; there were quite a few when me and Kelly left. It was warm enough for us to sit on the hood of the car and eat, drink and watch the movies. Yes the weather is going to be getting warmer now that spring is here and the flowers are already starting to bloom!

Saturday 02- I did my stretches and yoga, ran a mile, lifted weights, did the core trainer, punched the bag some, and rode my bike. For the past couple of runs I’ve been carrying five pound dumbbells in each hand. I can tell ya that I can really feel it in my shoulders.
On my evening walk I was really trucking on down the path swinging my arms freely with the winds howling and blowing through my hair; felt great! Roger Smith drove up behind me on my walk and we sat and jawed for a spell. He had just been to town to get a battery for Stoney’s truck and was on his way to connect it all up.

Sunday 03- I did my stretches and ran a mile. On my run I met Brad, Bob, and Dale when they saw me on the road and stopped to see if I needed help. They are weekenders out here from Huntington Beach, except Dale who lives up here. We chatted for a spell. Dale said his place is the one with the high tower and I said I’d come on by sometime. I ate breakfast, called a few family and friends, and the rode my Harley over to pay Brad a visit. I got there just in time to see them packing up and getting ready for the drive home.
After my evening walk I called up John Demers to see if he wanted to do the roof for Judy and Denny. He picked me up and went to Stoney’s and climbed up on the roof to measure it out. He gave me a ballpark bid that I later called and told Denny about. The bid was reasonable and John will talk to Judy about it when she comes for a visit later next week.

Monday 04- Around 11am Johnny called for me to help him replace a leaky power steering hose on Stoney’s truck.
I went over to Kelly’s at 1:20pm and went to Yucca Valley. I needed to transfer my IRA from one bank to another and setup a checking account so I can start drawing out money from my IRA. Kelly sat patiently in the bank while I was taking care of business. After I got done with the bank we went to Cowboy Corral to pick up bags of food for her critters.
We had dinner at the Chinese takeout place by Staters and then went to WalMart. Seems to us that WalMart’s prices are on the rise and they are not keeping much stock on the shelves; even some of their employees are kind of frustrated with the place, all this change since the last time we went there last month.
We then went to Starbucks, the first time I’ve ever been in one, had two coffees, sat and yapped while enjoying the relaxing ambiance of the place. I was thinking next time I could bring my laptop with me to go online, but then again maybe not because I spend too much time online anyways and to just sit and chat with Kelly over a cup of coffee might be enough for me.
We finished the evening grocery shopping at Vons. Now there are some things I like about Vons and others I like about Staters. Vons has better baked breads, a better quality of fruits and vegetables, and their fried chicken I found is yummier than Staters. But I like Staters Brand for the usual food stuff I get that Vons doesn’t have.

Tuesday 05- I did my stretches and yoga, ran a mile, did the core trainer, punched the bag some, and rode my bike.
I drove the Harley down to Big 5 and bought me a pair of proper running shoes.

Wednesday 06- I did my stretches, ran a mile, lifted weights, did the core trainer, and punched the bag some. When I got back from my run it started to rain. All day long it rained, drizzled, and sprinkled; a very wonderful change!
I dropped by for a visit with Roger Smith. He has a garden with cactus and other desert plants growing in his yard. We went to his main garden that is blocked off from the wind by an enclosure and picked some carrots. I tried to eat one but my teeth ain’t that good at chewing them kind of things anymore, so I just took a bunch of them home with me where I’ll put them in a blender. Roger also gave me some cactus cutting that I’ll plant later on.
I watched the newest episode of “Castle” on Hulu.com. Then I did some reading and got caught up on my astronomy book, read some electronics: Ohm’s Law, and read a few chapters of “Spinward Fringe Broadcast 4: Frontline” by Randolph Lalonde.
I did my stretches, went for a night run, lifted dumbbells, practiced my guitar, and posted to my journal.

Thursday 07- I did my stretches and yoga, ran a mile, did the core trainer, punched the bag some, and rode the bike.
There was a high wind that lasted all day and it felt like my house was being pushed to Arizona. The internet went down around 1:30pm so I mostly stayed inside and read “Spinward Fringe Broadcast 4: Frontline” by Randolph Lalonde.
Later on in the evening the internet connection came back up and I talked to Kelly over Skype. She said that it was so windy that she was afraid to let her little rat dog outside because its little ears would flap too much and beat it to death. I said she ought to throw the dog up in the air to see how far he flies.

Friday 08- I did my stretches and ran a mile. The temp outside was 47 degrees and still dang windy! I didn’t want to stay out there any longer than I had to. I was just getting use to the warm weather and now it seems like winter came back!
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter. I also updated my friend Joel’s Iron Eyes Cody Website with a Press Release that Joel wrote. All this webwork took the better part of the day which was alright with me because of the weather.
I messed around doing this and that with my computers and also downloaded a bunch of lectures from UC Berkeley of the Astro 7B class taught by Professor Joshua Bloom. Now I'll have some interesting lectures to listen to on my long evening walks!

Saturday 09- I did my stretches and yoga, ran a mile, lifted weights, did the core trainer, punched the bag some, and rode my bike.
I've been watching this Eagle's Nest Webcam for a few days now and have shared the link with others; we all find this very fascinating especially my friend Joan! Linda, grade school teacher I know, is going to have her students watching it. Right now there are three tiny baby chicks!

Sunday 10- I did my stretches. I worked around the yard doing some gardening and planted all those cacti that I got from Roger Smith the other day. I called friends and family.

Monday 11- I did my stretches and ran two miles.
I went for my evening walk listening to lecture 1 of Astronomy 7B.
Something of interest I’ve found: On March 21, 1962 a bear becomes the first creature to be ejected from a vehicle at supersonic speeds. I would not want to be the one who went to retrieve the bear afterwards!


Tuesday 12- I took Kelly to her doctor’s appointment in the lower desert.
While Kelly was being seen by the doctor I jawed with a married couple who were down from Fresno, or there abouts, but used to live down here in Indio three years ago. They say they like the doctor but I think it’s the free hamburgers. The husband worked in law enforcement. He told me that in 2001he was a prison guard where Sirhan Sirhan was being incarcerated. And just days before the 911 attacks Sirhan kept telling everyone something big was going to happen on that day and wanted a TV to watch. The husband also said the guards had to separate the Muslim population from the general population for fear the Muslims might be harmed after they cheered upon hearing of the attacks on New York City. There were a lot of ex Marine inmates in the prison who didn’t take this cheering too kindly, he said. I don’t know if this story is true or fiction made up to pass the time in a doctor’s waiting room, but I found this all interesting and I believe that I may have heard of this or something like this: Sirhan’s knowing, at the time after the 911 attacks. After Kelly stuffed my backpack with hamburgers from the doctor’s office we went to Starbucks in Yucca Valley.

Wednesday 13- I did my stretches and yoga, ran a mile, lifted weights, did the core trainer, punched the bag some, and rode my bike.
After I found out last night that silver had reached $40 an ounce I went to Yucca Valley to sell all the silver I had bought in the 90s at $4.00 an ounce! I told the broker that I was using the 100 ounce bar I had for a doorstop. I deposited the money at my bank and then went to Vons and bought some fried chicken and then went to Starbucks for coffee and ate it there. I got in a conversation with this lady, her name is Monica. She’s into recycling stuff and renewable energy. Monica said she started in the environmental movement after she saw the commercial of the crying Indian back in the 70s. I told her that was Iron eyes Cody and that my friend Joel runs a website in his memory; I didn’t tell her that I maintain the site.

Thursday 14- I did my stretches, ran a mile, did the core trainer, and punched the bag some.
I stopped by to say howdy to Judy and Jodie who are staying at Stoney’s for a spell.
I took Kelly out to dinner at Denny’s and then movies at the 29-drive-in to see “Paul” and “Limitless”; both movies were great!

Friday 15- I did my stretches and yoga, ran a mile, lifted weights, did the core trainer, punched the bag some, and rode my bike. Updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
I met Sandy at Black Rock Canyon Ranger Station at 7pm for a lecture on Dark Energy and Matter by Gillian Wilson Associate Professor (Cosmology) Department of Physics & Astronomy University of California, Riverside. I made a fool of myself by answering most of the questions right.

Saturday 16- I did my stretches, ran a mile, lifted dumbbells, did the core trainer, and punched the bag some.
Spring cleaning! I swept and mopped the bedroom and bathroom floors.
I called family and friends.
I went on my evening walk listening to Astro 7b lecture 1 and 2.

Sunday 17- Roy came by and I strummed the guitar while he played the harmonica. Afterwards I followed him to his rental that he is putting on an addition to the south side of the house.
I finally washed the Harley and she looks mighty nice.

Monday 18- I did my stretches and yoga, ran a mile, lifted weights, did the core trainer, punched the bag some, and rode my bike.
I went on my evening walk listening to Astro 7b lecture 2 and 3.

Tuesday 19- I did my stretches and ran two miles.
I was talking to Mac on the phone when I noticed that the wind had died down, so I went to WalMart in Yucca Valley on the Harley.
Stopped by to see how John is doing on repairing Stoney’s roof.
Dropped Kelly off her packages I picked up at the mailbox.

Wednesday 20- I did my stretches, core trainer, punched at the bag, and ran a mile.
I cleaned the kitchen but still have the floors to be swept and mopped.
Throughout the week I’ve been reading chapters of “Spinward Fringe Broadcast 4: Frontline” by Randolph Lalonde.

Thursday 21- I did my stretches, yoga, and rode my bike.
I’m being distracted from what I am supposed to be doing by a number of things. And unfortunately the thing I’m supposed to be doing I don’t have a darn clue of what it might be.
Joel dropped off my mail and we sat in his car and jawed for a long spell. He told me a story that he stayed in Howard Hughes’ suite at the Sands hotel in Las Vegas just after Hughes passing away.
It’s been windy almost every day this week and it stops me from doing a few repairs on the shop roof and other things around the outside of the house. But I have been able to do some watering and gardening :)

Friday 22- I did my stretches, ran a mile, did the core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the bag some.
I stopped by Kelly’s.
I went on my evening walk listening to Astro 7b lecture 3.
I read some chapters of “Spinward Fringe Broadcast 4: Frontline” by Randolph Lalonde; I also read a few chapters everyday for the rest of the week.

Saturday 23- I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile, core trainer, punched the bag, lifted dumbbells, and rode my bike.
Ginger dropped by with her son Vincent. We had a wonderful visit! I took Ginger for a ride on the Harley :)
I did stretches and went for a night run.

Sunday 24- I did my stretches and ran a mile.

Monday 25- I did my stretches.
Joan came by with her laptop for me to look-see what’s wrong.

Tuesday 26- I did my stretches, yoga, and ran two miles.
Took Kelly to 29 to run errands, shopping, and we ate at Denny’s.

Wednesday 27- I did my stretches, core trainer, and rode my bike.
Worked on roof….

Thursday 28- I did my stretches, yoga, core trainer, lifted weights, and ran a mile.
My iPod arrived today!
Kelly came by to borrow some gas. She is on her way to Yucca to get her hair done; she was all excited about it.
I worked on the roof and managed to get one OSB panel nailed down before the winds came back up.

Friday 29- I did my stretches.
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
It was too dang windy to work on the roof so I watered the plants.
I went on my evening walk and finished listening to Astro 7b lecture 3.

Saturday 30- I did my stretches. Since there was no wind I thought I’d forgo any exercises and complete putting the remaining OSB panels on the roof. So I climbed up and down the ladder carrying tools, 8x4 foot panels, hammer and nails to my workplace on the roof. It took a few hours now it’s done and I’ll move on to my next project.
I ordered two 125watt solar panels and they should arrive next week sometime. This should bring my wattage into the AC inverter at 1006watts total.
I cooked up some rice and turkey stuffing and headed down to potluck at 4pm. We had almost 30 hungry folks showing up and they brought a bunch of yummy food along with them to share! I did my thing with the camera chronicling the lives in pictures of our wonderful bunch of humanity out here in the high desert.

Here’s a poem I wrote:
Nighttime in Hermosa where the air is brisk and sweet. Nighttime in Hermosa where in our youth our crowd would meet. Many a day I wish, many a night I’d dreamt, that we’d all come together on those sands of Hermosa Beach.

Goodbye to April- you’ve been a kinder month then the previous month!