Saturday, August 29, 2020

July 2020

 




July 2020


Wednesday 01- 99/69F with a nice breeze. I woke up early, did my stretches, had breakfast, and then went right to work Snow Coating the rest of the roof. I used up a whole 5 gallons. I have another 5 gallons left I might use to put a second coat over the whole roof or until it runs out. I was kinda beat after finishing the roof and took a 2-hour nap. I didn’t do much for the rest of the day.


Thursday 02- 102/69F clear. I did my stretches and walked Cassie. 

I went to Twentynine Palms with my guest to go to the post office and get supplies at Stater Bros supermarket. 

Staters Bros was full of people and I felt my anxiety start to kick in, so I grabbed everything I needed and checked out while my guest spent another 45 minutes inside. I waited for her outside where I met a man called Elton. He was collecting donations for disabled Veterans fund. We had a nice long chat. He was in the Marines and I was in the Army and we found out we were both stationed at Fort Leonard Wood located in the Missouri Ozarks, but decades apart. We had a lot in common to talk about and it was a great way to pass the time while waiting for my guest to complete her shopping.

We got back home, I helped my guest with setting up water to her swamp cooler. It was too late to test it out.

LOL!!!! I just bought CF19 for $45 and the caddy was $35! Had to laugh when I read your comment.  Mine has an IMEI and MEID numbers for cell which I hope to get working. There's a crack on the lid which I'll bend back into place and use some hot glue on the insides. I got lucky when I charged the completely dead battery. It held a charge for several hours when I ran Puppy Linux on it. Now I wait for the caddy and an SDD 128 to load an OS on it. :)


Friday 03- 104/73F clear with a late afternoon breeze. I did my stretches.

My guest’s swamp cooler wasn’t getting water. Spent a few hours troubleshooting it and finally had to disassemble the dang thing to find the float wasn’t working. I adjusted it, put it all back together, and it’s working fine now.

I did my studies

Cassie and I jogged a mile in the evening. Just too dang hot on her paws in the daytime. I took her out for a midnight jog up the hill and back too.


Saturday 04- 105/74F clear. I did my stretches, core trainer, and weight bench.

I kicked back. My guest cooked up hamburgers for dinner. We watched the fireworks from my property. 


Sunday 05- 107/73F clear. I did my stretches.

Batteries refrigerator 

I am gathering up some old French language books I had bought in the past, maybe over 30 years ago, and I’m going to delve into learning the French language.


Monday 06- 111/80F clear. I did my stretches, and weight bench, too hot for anything else. 

Funny this should happen now. I received a notice from Rosetta Stone that I can upgrade my course “Spanish” I bought ten years or so ago to the online course for free! I changed my course to French and put in my activation code from the old Spanish box and they accepted it! Now I have the French course to follow.


Tuesday 07- 107/70F kinda hazy. I did my stretches, core trainer, weight bench, and jogged over a mile. I had to leave Cassie behind because it was too hot for her feet.

I went into my small pool for about the third time since I had it filled... felt mighty refreshing after all that exercise.

I did my studies throughout the day.

I lifted 10lbs dumbbells and took Cassie for a nice evening walk.

I took out my small reflector telescope for the first time this season and spied on Jupiter and Saturn in the southeastern sky. Then I pointed the scope south to the red supergiant Antares 554 light-years away in Scorpus. Nearby was M4 a globular cluster a whopping 7,175 light-years distance. I saw a few satellites and meteors scoot across the sky during my stay outside in the summer night’s bounty of majestic stars and planets.

I did my stretches, exercised with the 15lbs dumbbells, and took Cassie for a midnight jog up the hill and back.


Wednesday 08- 105/70F hazy. I did my stretches, core trainer, weight bench, and jogged over a mile.

I did my studies throughout the day.

I lifted 10lbs dumbbells and did some yoga that I haven’t done for a while because of my sprained ankle.

Kjtel came by with Bodie for a chat and a nice long evening walk.

I started my French language online Rosetta Stone course. 

I did my stretches, exercised with the 15lbs dumbbells, and took Cassie for a midnight jog up the hill and back.


Thursday 09- 107/74F clear. I got up early before the heat of the day to do my stretches and took Cassie for a mile jog.

I worked on the house roof removing old panels and their supports. Tomorrow I’ll go up and put roofing tar on the holes.

I did my studies, but not the French lessons yet.

Took a nice evening walk with Cassie.

I did my stretches and took a midnight jog up the hill and back with Cassie.


Friday 10- 108/79F 

I got up early enough before the heat set in to do my stretches, core trainer, weight bench, and took Cassie for a mile jog.

I did my studies throughout the day; including my French lessons.

In the afternoon I did my yoga and exercised with the 10lbs dumbbells.

FedX came with some colored pencils my lovely Sis Lynn sent me... Thank you for your gift! Now instead of not having enough colors, I have too many to choose from.

I took Cassie for an evening walk.

We went for a midnight jog up the hill and back.


Saturday 11- 109/86F with scattered clouds and lots of humidity.

Today was a complete loss for me. I had a hard time sleeping Friday night because of the humidity and heat. I woke up after sleeping only an hour and took Cassie up to the top of the hill Saturday morning at 5:30am to see the comet but unfortunately, that was obscured by clouds :'(

I finally fell asleep and slept until 1pm and spent the rest of Saturday lying around. Really not what I wanted or had planned to do. I took a shower and then jumped in the pool.


Sunday 12- 114/83F a few clouds. I woke up late but did my stretches and jogged a mile anyways: It was 107F when I started.

I did my studies and French lessons too.

Kjtel came by for an evening chat and a short walk with the dogs.

Cassie and I went for a midnight jog up the hill and back.


Monday 13- 111/77F with strong winds out of the southwest. I worked out on the weight bench, and core trainer.

I took Cassie for an evening mile jog. She’s been cooped up in the house all day and thought we both needed to get out.

I did all my studies and even a French lesson.

I took Cassie for a midnight jog up the hill and back.


Tuesday 14- 106/73F with a nice breeze. I did my stretches and went for over a mile jog. I had to leave Cassie at home because the ground was too hot; she stared at me while I left.

Linda Harter dropped off some trash and we chatted for a long spell.

I did all my studies throughout the day; French is very frustrating.

I did yoga, exercised with the 10lbs dumbbells, and then took Cassie for an evening walk.

I did my stretches, exercised with the 15lbs weights and jogged up the hill and back with Cassie. 


Wednesday 15- 105/74F. I did my stretches.

I drove to Twentynine Palms to pick up some packages. I stopped at Desert Supply and purchased 7 feet of hose and a hole drill so I can hook up the pool filter system.

I installed a new SSD hard drive and Win 10 on a Panisonic Toughbook CF-30.

I took Cassie for a walk.

Finally sighted the comet in the northwest at 9 PM. That’s a hell of a lot better than getting up at 5 AM!

I did a few of my studies and a little French.

I took Cassie for a night jog up the hill and back.


Thursday 16- 105/74F clear. I did my stretches, core trainer, weight bench, and jogged a mile with Cassie.

I did all my studies throughout the day.

I am definitely not an astrophotographer but here are some images of the comet NEOWISE, Jupiter, and Saturn I took tonight with my little telescope and my iPhone's camera. I will remember to clean my lens next time.


Friday 17- 107/76F clear with a nice breeze. I did my stretches and exercised on the weight bench. Too hot to run and I’d have to leave Cassie behind sulking in the shadows, so I’ll take her for a jog later.

I installed a new SSD hard drive and Win 10 on a Panasonic Toughbook CF-19.

I did all my studies, even the French lessons. 

I took out the larger 8” Dobsonian to look at the comet NEOWISE; trial and error.

I took Cassie for a midnight jog up the hill and back. 


Saturday 18- 110/77F a bit hazy. I did my stretches.

FedEx delivered the 4 100 Watt solar panels I ordered.

I watched a few videos explaining how the kidneys function. I am at that part in my anatomy studies now. 

I checked USPS online and found they delivered some computer parts I need for the Panasonic CF-28 I’m repairing and drove to my mailbox on Lear to get before the mail thief took them. 

I started repairing the CF-28 with the new hard drive but couldn’t get the BIOS to recognize the USB CD. So, I had to load everything by floppy disk. I happened to have a set of Windows 95 and loaded all 20 of them but unfortunately, it came up with an error code and failed to load. SO, I ended up loading first DOS 6.5 and then Windows 3.1 successfully. I kicked back playing solitaire for a short spell and then decided to order a CD drive. I found one on Ebay for $12.

I stayed outside after I took Cassie for a walk, grabbed a chair and my binoculars and sat for a long spell as the night progressed into darkness and the comet NEOWISE became more brilliant.


Sunday 19- 112/78F a hazy kind of sweltering heat with winds to cook you to the marrow. I did my stretches, core trainer and worked out on the weight bench; no jogging today.

I went to work on the pool pump I am trying to install. I could only spend 20 minutes outside and then cool off inside; kinda made me feel like one of those workers at the Chernobyl reactor when it went critical. The wind increased to the point of blinding me with lots of dust and sand as I put on the pvc pipe glue. This caused me to fumble the glue spilling a good portion of it on me. I found that using petroleum jelly was the best way to remove the dried glue from my hands. Anyways, I decided to quit after I found a small leak and tried to fix it. Hopefully tomorrow when I go to work on the pump I don’t find an empty pool.

I did all my studies throughout the day and into the evening.

NEOWISE


Monday 20- 109/77F with a stiff breeze. I did my stretches; after working in the heat I thought I’d rest today.

I took my time cleaning and rearranging my house. 

I took Cassie for an evening walk.

I did a few video how-tos.

I took Cassie out for a midnight jog up the hill and back.


Tuesday 21- 110/75F with a nice breeze. I did my stretches.

Jeff dropped off a box from the USDA Food Distribution for me.

I worked on the pool pump and got it all setup and working. I topped off the pool with the gardenhose, and then jumped in to cool off. The pump seems to work fine.

I did most of my studies, even the French, throughout the day; had to help my guest who had a medical problem and didn’t get to all of them.

Cassie and I went for an evening mile jog after I exercised on the weight bench and core trainer.

I was outside looking at the brightening comet when I saw 20 or more satellites, I lost count, coming out of the northwest following one another in the same orbit spaced out about 15-30 seconds apart. The only thing I could believe this could have been was a Spacex’s Starlink deployment. Other than Starlink, I do not know what the satellites came from in such a formation.


Wednesday 22- 108/79F nice. I did my morning stretches; because of the heat I’m doing my exercises in the evening.

I did all my studies, even the French.


Thursday 23- 103/70F hazy. I did my stretches and worked out on the weight bench.

I did my studies

I took Cassie for an evening mile jog and then a midnight jog up the hill and back.


Friday 24- 102/72F hazy. I did my stretches and worked out on the weight bench.

I made a trip down to the pharmacy to pick up my guest’s meds. As I was opening up the gate to leave 

On my way I came upon a tow truck 

Jeff came by

I took Cassie for a jog up the hill and back. At the top of that hill is the neighborhood dogs’ message pole and I always linger around as Cassie sniffs and pees on those spots left by male dogs.


Saturday 25- 105/73F another summer lazy day. I did my stretches.

I wrote some poems.

Went to watch a movie at Kjtel’s house with some friends.


Sunday 26- 107/77F a few clouds. I did my stretches and worked out on the weight bench.

I gave my brother a call and we talked for over an hour about crazy things.

I took Cassie for an evening walk.


Monday 27- 106/74F I did my stretches, core trainer and worked out on the weight bench.

I did all my studies throughout the day, even the French lesson.

I took Cassie for an evening mile jog.

I cleaned and sorted cans in my pantry. The other day I grabbed a power bar and found ants were crawling around the bar. I tossed the bar after eating a forth of it once I discovered those creepy crawlers on my hands. I sprayed the whole pantry down with bug spray.  

At midnight we went for a fast run up the hill and back.


Tuesday 28- 109/74F. Worked out on the weight bench, did my stretches and the core trainer.

Went to the post office in Twentynine, stopped to get gas and propane, and then on to Stater Bros. to pick up some supplies like food and such.

When I filled up the car I didn’t wipe my hands after handling the pump and I had to use the restroom and washed my hands afterwards. I arrived at the post office and realized this and squirted some hand sanitizer on the palm of my hand and reached down inside my pants and rubbed it on my private parts... it really burns. I guess that’s how paranoid I am getting, and probably everybody else, about the pandemic. 

I did yoga, stretches, worked out with the 10lb dumbbells, and took Cassie for an evening mile jog; nice breeze blowing at sunset.

I did my stretches, worked out with the 15lb dumbbells, and ran up the hill and back.


Wednesday 29- 110/78F I did my stretches, core trainer and worked out on the weight bench.

I started working on my Harley taking the carburetor off and dismantling it. I went online to see about purchasing a rebuild kit for it but found a new one for my bike on eBay costing $56 with good reviews, so I bought it. If it works, Great, if it don’t, I can use parts off it to rebuild the one I already have

I did all my studies throughout the day, even the French lesson.

I took Cassie for an evening mile jog, yoga, stretches, and worked out with the 10lb dumbbells.

At midnight we went for a fast run up the hill and back.


Thursday 30- 112/82F I did my stretches, core trainer and worked out on the weight bench.

Kelly's little dog Ruffie had a heart attack while jumping up on her bed. I rushed over to her trailer and brought the poor doggie to my place and tried to revive him without any luck. We buried him with a few of his toys next to Lillie, another one of Kelly’s dogs, and Barney, where he will rest for eternity. I am truly going to miss that little guy. 


Friday 31- 113/81F very hot and there is smoke in the evening air. I did my stretches. Because of the heat I thought I’d better cool it with the heavy exercising I’ve been doing lately except for yesterday when I was dealing with the passing of Ruffie.


************************** Poems for July 2020 ***************


We make our own roads... some are two-legged highways leading off to faraway places while others are jammed freeways going in circles...

~RD


To sail the seas to distant lands, casting our gaze upon faraway stars... to daydream of future adventures beyond the golden glow of our brilliant Sun, to become one with the universe and knowing for the first time we are not alone.

~RD


An old wedding dress spread neatly on a bed of cotton stuffing and wrought iron steel

Photo albums lie open to pictures of family and friends 

A note was found the ink has since long dried 

Whose words were thoughtfully chosen with love, respect, and pride

While her fragrance still lingers on that sweet-scented page

Of things that were wished for and gladly received

Of love that was given and always returned

Of a life that was promised and happily lived

Of dreams that were dreamt on lazy warm summer days

Undiminished are the whispers transpired between lovers in the night

The long sleep has come, the lovely old woman slowly closes her eyes and passes away

~RD


I am always looking back and looking forward to the future.

~RD


If you try to learn everything you will learn much about nothing. 

~RD


My mind grows dull, laden with the burdens of criticism and undue utter contempt for my virtues by these merchants of a faithless society of which I have no control. Closing my eyes now, I am distracted by images of hate and despair planted there by uncaring communicators of false hopes and lies, if not in photos from the death and dying ghettos of my mind, then by words written down on rigid parchment with the blackest of inks siphoning off all luminosity in what was or pretended to be my soul. In a futile gesture to my nemesis for reason; my unyielding mind neither denies nor accepts a truce. My only recourse is to live out my days in this twisted tormented wasteland of my being and hope for redemption.

~RD


Personally, the only systemic diseases I have caught from my Forefathers are Freedom, Individuality, and the Right to Speak My Mind.

~RD


Music is poetry with an added dimension.

~RD


Instead of letting the media, Marxist, fascist, and politicians drive a wedge between the races, we should begin with ourselves spreading the truth and love we feel for one another. It’s the only way we can beat back these interlopers of hate. 

~RD


Don’t try to be something you ain’t, instead, go for something you are and stop sailing against the wind near a rocky shore.

~RD


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