November 2012

Welcome to the month of November! –beautiful outside today!

I did my stretches, yoga, lifted dumbbells, ran a mile and a half with 1.5lbs on each wrist, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

Last night at midnight I started writing National Novel Writing Month and completed 4424 words by midnight tonight. I then went on to write a thousand more before I called it quits at 2am.

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

I went for a night run.

Friday 02- a little cooler and a little breezier

I did my stretches, ran a mile and a half, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.

I am up to 8781 words so far on the second day of the National Novel Writing Month.

I went for my evening walk with my backpack. Lots of dragonflies and grasshoppers out on the trail lately.

I went for a night run.

Saturday 03- a very nice day! Better than yesterday.

I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile and a half with 1.5lbs on each wrist, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I am up to 12614 words so far on day three of the National Novel Writing Month. I finally finished book 2 of Rainbow at the end of Tomorrow, and have begun writing book 3 The Dolphin Queen.

I went to visit my neighbors Mark and Gloria for a very short spell.

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

I did my stretches and went for a night run.

Basically all I’ve been doing these past few days is write; and that alright with me.

Sunday 04- a wonderful day just like yesterday!

I did my stretches and went for a nice walk.

I took the Harley out for a spin and collected my mail down on Border Ave.

I went for my evening walk.

I called some friends and family.

I mostly wrote at a leisurely pace all day. I am up to 15389 words so far on day four of the National Novel Writing Month. I’m writing book 3 The Dolphin Queen.

Monday 05- very nice day with temps of 86 degrees.

 I did my stretches, yoga, lifted dumbbells, ran a mile and a half with 1.5lbs on each wrist, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I am up to 19751 words so far on day five of the National Novel Writing Month.

Linda H. came by my home for a little visit. It is nice to have visitors for a change.

I went for my evening walk.

I just kept on writing into the night.

I did my stretches and went for a night run.

Tuesday 06- such a nice day again!

I did my stretches.

I went to WalMart and Stater Bros to do some shopping for supplies.

I am up to 22764 words so far on day six of the National Novel Writing Month.

I went for my evening walk.

I did my stretches and went for a night run.

Wednesday 07- clear and sunny skies and a bit warmer outside.

I did my stretches, yoga, lifted dumbbells, ran a mile and a half with 1.5lbs on each wrist, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I am up to 25286 words so far on day seven of the National Novel Writing Month. YAY!!! I’AM OVER HALFWAY!

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

I went for a night run.

I just been writing all day long.

Thursday 08- dang windy all day long!

I did my stretches, ran a mile and a half with 1.5lbs on each wrist, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I went to collect my mail down on Border Ave on my scooter.

Linda called needing help moving a dresser to her truck- I drove the scooter there to help out.

I am up to 27302 words so far on day eight of the National Novel Writing Month.

Friday 09- windy and cold all day long.

I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile and a half, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I am up to 29758 words so far on day nine of the National Novel Writing Month.

I went for my evening walk.

I did my stretches went for a night run.

Saturday 10- windy and cold again!

I did my stretches, dumbbells, core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and ran up the hill and back carrying 5lbs in each hand.

Sherry came by with some treats for me.

I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the newsletter.

Chris Jonas came by with some of his excellent macaroni salad from the general meeting that I forgotten to go to.

I went for my evening walk; very windy outside.

I am up to I am up to 33885 words so far on day ten of the National Novel Writing Month.

I did my stretches and went for a night run.

Sunday 11- not as windy or cold as yesterday.

I did my stretches and went for a walk; Sunday is my easy day!

I am up to I am up to 38040 words so far on day eleven of the National Novel Writing Month.

Linda H. called me to come over to check for a gas leak. We had lunch after we checked around for any leaks. I couldn’t find any and she will call the gas company to come out to check.

Then all I did was write…

Monday 12- not too bad but cold at night.

I did my stretches, lifted dumbbells, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag. I had to wait around the house for UPS to come with my ne TV.

I went across the street to visit Mark and Gloria who were down for Veteran’s day.

UPS shows up around 1pm with my New Toshiba TV and I spent a few hours here and there messing with it. I need to get my antenna back up because all I’m getting is Chinese and Korean stations.

I went for my evening walk.

I am up to I am up to 42474 words so far on day twelve of the National Novel Writing Month.

I did my stretches and went for my night run. A car came rushing down the street at a high rate of speed and I stood off to the side. It made a turn down a street before it passed me. This was a little after midnight when I halfway done with my run. About 15 minutes later when I was back in my house there was the sound of a large vehicle coming down the street. I looked to see what it was and it turned out to be several emergency vehicles going down the road where the car went down earlier. I know who it is and I sure hope they are okay.

  

 Tuesday 13- very nice sunny but cool day.

I did my stretches, yoga, lifted dumbbells, ran a mile and a half with 1.5lbs on each wrist, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I got my antenna all hooked up. Took me a few hours to do because I seem to always have to hunt around for the right tools; I’m getting English channels now!

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

I am up to I am up to 44510 words so far on day thirteen of the National Novel Writing Month. I finished writing the book The Dolphin Queen!!! YAY for me!!!

I did my stretches and went for a night run.

Wednesday 14- a nice and pleasant day outside with many dragonflies and grasshoppers about.

I did my stretches, yoga, lifted dumbbells, ran a mile and a half with 1.5lbs on each wrist, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I got a call from my friend Mat that his Dad Mike had passed away on Monday night. I went over to talk and give my condolences to Mike’s wife. Mike was a good friend and neighbor and will be missed by the community.

 I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

I am up to I am up to 46538 words so far on day Fourteen of the National Novel Writing Month.

I did my stretches and went for a night run.

Thursday 15- a warmer but overcast day.

I did my stretches, yoga, lifted dumbbells, ran a mile and a half, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I went to WalMart to get an answering machine to replace the nonfunctional one I have here that people complain about when they try to leave me a message. I picked up some supplies at Stater Bros that I forgot last time. I also got my two five gallon propane tanks and the Cougar’s tank filled.

I got back home around sundown and too later to go for my evening walk, but I walked around WalMart enough for that.

I did my stretches and went for a night run.

I am up to I am up to 48583 words so far on day Fifteen of the National Novel Writing Month. I only have 1417 words left to write and then I am done. I think I’ll take a rest after it’s all over.

Friday 16- cloudy most of the day with the wind picking up a bit.

I did my stretches, yoga, lifted dumbbells, ran a mile and a half with 1.5lbs on each wrist, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.

Linda H dropped by to ask if I wanted to go to Twentynine Palms; I said sure. We went to the Ranger Station there where we both filled out forms to volunteer. I asked to help with astronomy, and she asked for planting plaints or something like that. The Ranger was funny and told Linda there was an opening for an artist to paint ears on snakes.

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

I finished my goal of 50,000 words for the National Novel Writing Month. Yay for me!!!!

I did my stretches and went for a night run.

Saturday 17- very windy in the morning and was worried that my neighbor would cancel the meteor party tonight. The wind died down later in the day and the night turned out to be very nice and clear.

I did my stretches, yoga, lifted dumbbells, ran a mile and a half with 1.5lbs on each wrist, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I called family and friends.

I went to my neighbor Mark Delgado’s meteor party. They found a large tarantula spider. It had crawled under a tent. I asked for a cup and nudged the spider into it to carry it off where it would be safe. I let it crawl out and onto my hand and up my sleeve of my jacket and back into the cup; the kids were fascinated that I let the spider do that. The meteor party turned out to be mostly a party, but I did get a chance to get some folks interested in the night sky. The kids were very interested especially when I let them mess around with my small telescope. We saw many bright earthgrazers come zipping across the sky. I had a whole lot of fun and made many new friends there…

  

Sunday 18- a little on the cool side but no wind.

I did my stretches and that’s it for Sundays!

I went over to Mark and Gloria’s to say goodbye and tell them what fun I had at their Meteor Party.

I worked on an article requested by Mike’s family about Mike; hopefully it will appear in next week’s newspaper.

I watched 3 episodes of “Elementary” to catch up on the series.

Monday 19- a very nice day outside with temps into the 70!

I did my stretches, yoga, lifted dumbbells, ran a mile and a half with 1.5lbs on each wrist, (3X- core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag).

I worked in my yard for a spell with my new rake.

I did Microsoft Security updates on all my computers.

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

I worked more on Mike’s article to get it just right and then sent it to Annelies.

I did my stretches, lifted dumbbells and went for a night run.

Tuesday 20- it was a bright sunny day.

I did my stretches, core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and ran up the hill and back carrying 5lbs in each hand.

I went to Mike Villarreal’s services at the Joshua Tree Memorial Park. The services were first rate with many giving testimonials; Ruth Denison giving a special remembrance of Mike and Stevie when they first came to the desert. Ten afterwards we all went to his Mat’s house for a little get together.

Wednesday 21- another nice day.

I did my stretches and that’s about it; just too burned out from all the standing I did yesterday. I must have stood for almost six hours straight yesterday.

Thursday 22- Thanksgiving!

I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile and a half, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I was invited to three places to go at the last minute, so I went to all of them.

Ruth Denison called at 9am to invite me to Dhamma Dena for Thanksgiving. That was on the way to the two others so I went there first. I talked to Ruth about her computer and how she was doing with it. She said that she had a fall and was recovering and would be getting into using it again; I told her she could call me anytime she has trouble with it. There were all kinds of good vibes there and we did a little chant thanking for the food and friendships before they ate. I took a few pictures and then left to go to my next visit.

Then I went over to Mat and Manda’s and chatted with everyone and ate some potato chips with onion dip; I love onion dip! I was taking to Bill and found out Chief the bull that I used to take care of has recently been put down and butchered. I asked him if they were serving Chief for dinner and he said no. I couldn’t eat my old friend Chief; I’d feel like a cannibal or something. Dinner wouldn’t be for another hour and a half, so I moved on to my next and last visit.

I went to Piper Cort’s house. She had her daughter there who was out of town from Tahoe. Linda Sibio, Robert Fenger, and Piper’s boyfriend Joey were all seated around the table when I showed up. The food smelled so good I finally decided to eat, being I haven’t eaten all day except for the onion dip that I like so much. I brought my guitar and me, Joey, and Robert went into the back room and jammed for a spell; I really like jamming with these two!

Friday 23- great day outside!

I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile and a half, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I took care of a credit card problem that was supposed to give me a $20 discount; I guess you don’t get the discount unless you call to complain. I also transferred all my money in my eTrade account to my bank when I found they started charging me a $10 service fee.

I started doing my Christmas cards; I gotten nine done so far.

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

Linda called to ask if I wanted to help her with the leftovers from Dhamma Dena, I said sure and was over there in less than 10min.

I did my stretches, lifted dumbbells, and went for a night run.

I watched season 5 episode 5 of “Castle”.

  

Saturday 24- beautiful day!

I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile and a half, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

Potluck! Mary and Chris Koval came to bat with a Cowboy casserole, banana muffins, and dinner rolls. Marie Morrison pitched a goulash that was mighty scrumptious. Ruth Malton hit an ambrosia jello bowl delight that quickly disappeared over center field. Chris Jonas stepped to the plate with his fabulous macaroni salad. Dorothy Jacobsen amazed us with her windup pitch of Jimmy Dean sausage stuffing with homemade cranberry sauce. Dyan Carroll hit a home run with a vegetarian lasagna, barbecue chicken, and corn pudding casserole. I made it to first base with my chicken rice Mexican casserole.

I watched season 5 episode 6 of “Castle”.

 Sunday 25- same as yesterday with temps into the high 70s.

My day to rest, but I did my stretches.

I worked all day in my yard cleaning and raking and then burning in a 55 gallon drum all the palm fronds that have been building up since I planted the two palms about ten years ago; the embers burned well into the next day!

Joined a Hangout on Google+ and yapped with some pretty nice folks for a few hours. One guy, Nicolas Charbonnier, I only knew from his video blogs on Tablets and other advanced tech I’ve been watching for years.

Monday 26- another perfect day!

I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile and a half, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I rode my scooter to the mailbox to send out some Christmas cards.

I went for an evening walk with my backpack.

I worked on my Lenovo Netbook s10-2 that I’m giving to my niece Crystal.

I helped Roger work on a washing machine. We figured out it wasn’t a bad solenoid but no pressure in the waterline.

I did my stretches and went for a night run.

I watched season 5 episode 7 of “Fringe”.

Tuesday 27- getting a little cooler into the high 60s.

I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile and a half, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag. Dang sprained my leg :(

I finished up a few things around the house.

I stayed up, with my friends from India helping me stay awake with their intelligent conversation, really late to watch the penumbral lunar eclipse and didn’t get to bed until around 6am. I didn’t see much except for a little darkening. Was it worth it? It sure was! The Moon was crisp and because of less light hitting it, I was able to really see many of its many craters and other formations I wouldn’t be able to see if it was fully brightened.

Wednesday 28- it’s getting a little cooler and breeze, but nothing bad like up in northern California.

I did my stretches, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag. I sprained my leg and will have to just do weights and stretches for a while.

Found out today when I saw some folks at my neighbor Ron’s place and went to investigate, that he had passed away in 2009. Well that explains why he hasn’t been around. We been trying to keep the gates closed I told his Mom, who came to take care of his affairs, but strippers come and break down the gate. I pointed out whom and where they live, but told her she have a hard time proving anything against them; so sad.

  

Thursday 29- about the same as yesterday but not as breezy.

I did my stretches, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I worked around the house some. I did a few more Christmas cards.

I went for a short evening walk; I’m still trying to stay off my sprained leg.

I read and caught up with my astronomy reading.

I watched season 5 episode 7 of “Castle”.

Friday 30- cold, cloudy and windy.

I went to the post office to mail off some Christmas cards and the laptop to my niece Crystal who needs it for college. I stopped off at WalMart and Staters Bros to get a few supplies and then headed home.

I’m still trying to stay off my sprained leg as much as possible.

Linda Harter called needing some assistance with her MacBook so I went over and updated her laptop to Snow Leopard 10.6…took a very longtime so we watched a video of hiking trails in Joshua Tree National Forest. I hope to do some hiking up there soon.

Good Bye to November- you've been a wild month to live through.