August 2011

Welcome to the Month of August- I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile, core trainer, and lifted weights.
I went for an evening walk listening to Astro 7b lecture.

Tuesday 02- I did my stretches, lifted dumbbells, and rode my bike.
I went to Yucca to pick up my eyeglasses and stopped in at WalMart and then Staters to do a little shopping.
I ended up at the Harley shop and purchased a sissy bar, a bracket to hold it on the bike, back turn signals, a windshield that clips unto the handle bars; it should all be delivered to the shop on Thursday. Weren’t cheap; I told the parts guy to tell me how much it was and I'd tell him if she's worth it. But now my good friend Kelly won’t be sliding off the back end of the bike when I give it gas.
I got caught in the rain on my way back but I mostly outran the storm before it hit my house. I did get a little wet.

Wednesday 03- I did my stretches, yoga, lifted weights, core trainer, and ran a mile.
Dropped by Linda Sibio’s house to take over a Neighborhood Watch Manual I printed up earlier in the day. I stayed for a spell yapping with Linda and Blake about their art projects they are involved with. Mighty fine stuff!

Thursday 04- I did my stretches, yoga, lifted dumbbells, and ran a mile.
The water in my batteries was getting a little low so I filled them all up with distilled water.
The parts guy at the Harley shop said that most of the parts are on back-order, dang.
I went for an evening walk listening to an Astro 7B lecture.

Friday 05- I did my stretches, lifted weights, core trainer, ran a mile, and punched the bag some.
Updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.

Saturday 06- I did my stretches and ran two miles; I actually got up earlier than I normally do and it was still cool outside.
I got the Harley out and went for a short cruise around and picked up my mail. When I got home I gave the bike a good washing. She looks mighty pretty now.


Sunday 07- I did my stretches. Taking a rest today :)


Monday 08- My Birthday- 60 years old!
Since it’s my birthday I decided to run a mile for every decade, so I jogged six miles (I’m a slow jogger)! Also I rode my bike and did all my regular exercises: various stretches, yoga (cobra, child, cat-cow, frog?, and another I don’t know the name of), dumbbells, weights, punching bag, 10 full sit-ups, 10 pushups, core trainer (I can only do 5 pull-ups right now), 20 leg extensions, 20 leg curls.
I usually jog everyday and mix up my regular exercises from day to day. I try to take Sundays off. It all takes about an hour and a half to complete. Today it took me over three hours!

(picture of Linda Sibio above)

I went over to Linda’s to water her yard before going over to the community center to participate in our new Neighborhood Watch’s first meeting. It was masterminded by Linda Sibio, a local artist, and she put everything together and gave a great presentation to about twenty local folk. We elected her president, Nancy as secretary, Steve Tuttle as block captain, and I as treasurer. The meeting went very well with Linda having everyone introduce themselves and say a little about who they are; it was fun. Linda adjourned the meeting after we decided to leave open the date for the next meeting depending on when a police representative would be available to attend.

(picture of Joey and Piper below)

Then a bunch of us caravanned over to Piper’s house in the town of Joshua Tree for my birthday party. We got there around 7:30pm and it finally broke up about midnight. The party was the best I’ve ever had for my birthday. There were lots of folks showing up, most I didn't know, some brought gifts! Joey brought his guitar and we both played a little on it. Terry brought his and played for a spell. I know Piper put a lot of effort into it and I really appreciate that! I love all the new friends I've made and I thank Piper for inviting her friends into my life :)
I will remember this for as long as I live, especially the candles that re-light after blowing them out. Piper swears she didn’t know she bought the wrong ones. So here we are with 60 candles ah flame and everyone giving me birthday wishes before I could blow them out. Finally with the last wish done the candles were burnt over half way down and I tried to blow them out. Blake and Joey started helping me blow. We had to start pulling the candles off by hand putting them in a glass of water. The cake tasted like wax after that but Piper had cherry pie and ice cream on hand. Then I opened my gifts, I was a little embarrassed because I’m not used to this much attention, but I stuck it through and survived :)


Tuesday 09- I did my stretches and ran a mile- boy I’m really dragging from all the stuff I did yesterday on the 8th!
Mostly all I did today was do a little reading of a few short stories I picked up for free on my Kindle Reader.

Wednesday 10- I did my stretches, yoga, lifted dumbbells, core trainer, punched the bag some, and ran a mile.
I rode the Harley into 29 Palms; got gas, stopped by Desert Cycles and got me a helmet to replace the one Mac lent me. Then I went to Stater Bros to get some supplies. I almost didn’t have enough room on the bike to carry everything because I had an extra helmet to stash somewhere.
After I got back and everything put away and my shorts back on I got a call from Linda at the Harley Dealership in Yucca saying some parts I ordered finally came in; one part was the windshield! I drove the bike to Yucca and went to the parts desk and told them that I’ll take the windshield now but I don’t need the other parts yet until the rest of them come in. I took the windshield out to the bike and with a little effort and a hex tool that was provided put the windshield on the bike.
I stopped off at Home Depot to pick up a lock for the bike to replace the one Mac lent me. Unfortunately they only had Master Locks. I bought one anyways, I can always use it somewhere around my property, and will look elsewhere’s for one more appropriate.
The drive home was much nicer with the wind not blowing in my face at 80MPH.

Thursday 11- I did my stretches, lifted weights, core trainer, and ran a mile.

Friday 12- I did my stretches.
Because of a dentist appointment today 11am I went to bed early, about midnight, only to wake up at 4am. Dang! I just laid there for a spell before I decided to getup. Because of this I was tired, dragging my body around all day long.
I got to the dentist early, 10am, and filled out all the dang forms. Expecting him to pull some teeth I had a lot of anxiety, which is probably why I couldn’t go back to sleep last night. He didn’t pull any! He told me that the process takes about a month. Dang I wanted and was ready to get it over with that day! I went back home after stopping off at WalMart and Staters.
Ruth Denison over at the Dhamma Dena Desert Vipassana Center called telling me she has computer problems. For her I make house calls; she’s 89 years old. She had forgotten much of what I taught her about files and cut and paste. She recently, in May, had a fall and broke her shoulder. I didn’t know about this and almost kiddingly poked her in the arm but stopped when I noticed the sling; she went on to tell me all about it :) One thing she learned of importance from her fall was about breathing. A certain kind of healing breathing that you take a breath but not really take a breath but you breathe all the same at a level of consciousness where you are aware but not- I guess like the state between awake and sleep. But I do believe it is directed towards the pain at a transcending sort of way.

Saturday 13- I did my stretches, yoga, dumbbells, core trainer, ran a mile, and punched the bag some.
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
I went to WalMart to check on padlocks for my Harley. I need to give Mac his back. I picked up my mail on the way back.
Called Family and Friends throughout the day when I had the chance.
I was yapping at Kelly on Skype when she developed a chocolate craving, so at 7:30pm I picked her up n the Harley and we rode down to Staters where she went on a chocolate shopping spree. We eventually ended up sitting at a table at Jack in the Box yakking and drinking Cokes. I didn’t get home till after 11pm.

Sunday 14- I did my stretches.
In the evening I went over to Linda’s to water the yard. Blake was there painting the porch and we yakked for a spell until I had watered everything real good.

Monday 15- I did my stretches, yoga, core trainer, ran a mile, lifted weights, and punched the bag some.
I played with computers today switching out the SSD and RAM memory from one Dell Min9 that was running Win7 to another that was running Ubuntu. The switch went without a hitch and now I have Win7 on the Dell with the built in camera and Bluetooth and Ubuntu on the other.

Tuesday 16- I did my stretches and rode my bike.
Linda Sibio came by to pick me up to take pictures of a dog over at Stella’s. The poor dog was abandoned and Linda and Stella are trying to find a good home for him. I took a bunch of shots and Linda settled on two of them that I emailed to her later on in the evening.

Wednesday 17- I did my stretches, yoga, lifted dumbbells, core trainer, and ran a mile.
Mac called to ask if I could fine the receipt for the battery I bought for his wee little car and if I’d go down to WalMart with him to get it replaced because it is dead. I said sure, found the receipt, and waited for him for over an hour and a half to show up. Instead of driving his truck but Mac came and brought his whole family in the wee little car. We spent most of the day getting there and back and I waiting for them to get done shopping; I wasn’t a happy camper! But he is my friend :)

Thursday 18- I did my stretches, lifted weights, and ran a mile.
I loaded up Win-XP on the other Dell Mini 9…
John Massey my neighbor came by to say hi. He just arrived back from Oregon where he was living for the past few years. He says he’s back to stay this time. He even bought a new truck!

Friday 19- I did my stretches and ran a mile.
I went to the dentist. Not much fun today :(
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.

Saturday 20- I did my stretches, yoga, core trainer, ran a mile, and lifted dumbbells.
Brian and Naomi dropped by for a visit. It was mighty hot outside and they didn’t stay very long. They had a whole bunch of little girls plus their own in the back of their SUV. It seems that the kids had a sleepover and were all excited to be riding around the desert. Kid LOL!

Sunday 21- I did my stretches. My day off from exercising!
I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately everyday….

Monday 22- I did my stretches and ran a mile.
The temps got to 110 degrees and it was mighty hot outside.
A Red Racer Snake ate the baby doves I was posting on YouTube for the past couple of days. After the last video I took of the remaining baby the snake came back later and ate him too- I'm feelin mighty sad :(
Here are the videos:






Tuesday 23- I did my stretches, yoga, core trainer, punched the bag some, lifted dumbbells, and rode the bike.

Wednesday 24- I got up really late did my stretches and ran a mile in 106 degree temperature! I’ve ran in hotter weather but not in a long while. I did okay and feel fine.
I’ll probably just kick back the rest of the day to read so I’m going to post this to my journal; they’ve been getting kind of long recently.

Thursday 25- I did my stretches, yoga, core trainer, lifted weights, ran a mile, and punched the bag some.
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.

Friday 26- I did my stretches and ran a mile.
It’s been really hot these last few days with temps sometimes over 110 degrees.
I went to 29 Palms with Kelly where we did some shopping for our supplies.

Video of Saturday's Storm that Blew My Hat Off!


Saturday 27- I did my stretches, core trainer, lifted dumbbells, and ran a mile.
Before I went to Potluck a storm passed by and I videoed it as it blew off my hat; I feel like such a dork sometimes :P
Potluck was today and I made my turkey stuffing. Over 15 hungry folks showed up! Dyane Carrol stirred up Sloppy Joes and a strawberry pretzel dessert that was mighty fine. Dorothy Jacobsen brought a marvelous potato casserole. Cal Myers had his fruit platter eaten all up by us. Chris Jonas made his famously fantastic macaroni salad. Marie Morrison cooked her delicious barbequed beans in a special secret sauce that was handed down from many generations of Morrisons. Rose Manish simmered some corn to perfection. Ruth Maltron sliced up some pudding bunt cake. Mary and Chris Koval brought fruit juice, blue jello, and spaghetti for us to enjoy.
I took leftover to Kelly’s so she could enjoy it too.
Watched Nova online “Hunting the Hidden Dimension” about Mandelbrot Fractals. I’ve seen it before but it was worth the re-watch.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/hunting-hidden-dimension.html

Sunday 28- I did my stretches. It is my day off from exercising.
I watched lecture 1 of MIT Introduction to Biology.

Monday 29- I did my stretches, yoga, and ran a mile.
I watched lecture 2 of MIT Introduction to Biology: Biochemistry 1.
At 6pm I went to a Neighborhood Watch officers meeting at John’s house. Only a few of us officers showed up but it was enough to get some business done. I had earlier printed up a telephone list of members that Linda emailed to me and we passed them out to everyone.
Kath called to say her new Toshiba laptop was malfunctioning. I had her bring it over. I spent about two hours getting some of the crap off and tweaking it till I fixed it; seems she had a computer expert messing around with it.

Tuesday 30- I did my stretches, lifted weights, punched the bag for a spell, and rode my bike.
I watched lectures 3 and 4 of MIT Introduction to Biology: Biochemistry 2&3. I am really disappointed in the video because whoever was filming didn’t show the slides but focused on the teacher pointing at the slides with a laser pointer which was useless to me in understanding what the teacher was trying to convey. I’m bummed at this because I would think this to be very crucial, especially in the beginning, to demonstrate the complex structures of the amino acids and other chemical processes for our understanding.
Because her tire has a flat I drove Kelly down to her mailbox so she could pick up “some important stuff there” she said. When we got back to her house I filled the flat with air to find the leak; a screw was the cause. I will fix the tire tomorrow.

Wednesday 31- I did my stretches and ran two miles.
Kelly never did get in touch with me to fix her tire so I imagine it is still flat.
I watched lecture 5 of MIT Introduction to Biology: Biochemistry 4.
Good Bye to August you’ve been a mighty happy month!!!