October 2006

Sunday 01- Welcome to the month of October- did my exercises- one of my L16 batteries has died and had to run the generator till I can jury-rig something with another battery- called my Dad and Stepmother to see how their doing- messed around the house fixing things and cleaning- called Jerry and Barb and yapped for a while- Ron D. called and we talked about going to the Wild West Coyote Fest Friday, October 6th - 4pm-10pm Saturday, October 7th - 10am-10pm in JT next Saturday. He also told me about a Guitar shop in JT where he got his guitar fixed and that the owner will have an open stage where folks can play their stuff, -also they have training for school kids; instruments laying about that the kids can pickup and try out with instructors near by to demonstrate how to use them- couldn’t spend much time on the computer cause of my battery problem- went for my evening walk- watched “Mystery” on PBS- too cloudy out for the telescope so I just watched the night sky with my binoculars.
Monday 02- did my exercises- connected a car battery as a jury-rig to my electrical system until I can get to town to get a replacement for the L16, may try golf cart batteries- went for my evening walk- Kath came by with her laptop to fix and her desktop to tweak- Andrew came by to try a new computer device and then we took out the telescope and turned it on the Moon.
Tuesday 03- did my exercises- drove to Yucca and stopped off at Ace Alternators to picked up two golf cart batteries to replace the bad ones. While I was in town I picked up a few supplies at Wal-Mart, Staters, Health Store in JT (I like the gals there), and filled the truck with gas- installed the new batteries and everything seems fine- worked on Kath’s laptop and installed 128 meg of RAM memory I had laying about. I also installed some security programs and did a cleanup of the harddrive- went for my evening walk- Mac called to jaw for a bit-watched “NOVA”- wrote my column and sent it to newspaper.
Wednesday 04- did my stretches- worked on Kath’s desktop and “tweaked” it, then I spent some time on her laptop trying to figure out why AOL died after it updated it’s self and caused system.ini to malfunction on boot. She plans to dump AOL anyways and I will be glad to uninstall it for her- went for my evening walk- Roger T. called to say hi- went over to John M.’s home o help him with his word processor- watched “Bones” on TV- been too hazy the past few days for the telescope so I played with my computers.
Thursday 05- did my stretches- worked around the hose cleaning it up- went for my evening walk- Kath came by and picked up her laptop- called Stoney and jawed for a few- watched “CSI” on TV- Andrew called and we chatted for a long while- updated the website and uploaded it to the internet.
Friday 06- did my exercises- cleaned up around the house some more- almost done reading that biology book I started earlier in the year- UPS delivered an unexpected package from my Dad and Stepmother: a box of shirts. I will call and thank them on Sunday- went for my evening walk- Stoney called and invited me over for dinner. I brought over a computer to replace the old one he has but I couldn’t get it to function properly once I had it all setup. So I had to reconnect his old one back up, the modem and then the monitor wouldn’t work so I spent more time getting those to work. I spent 3 hours working just to leave it the same way as I found it, but the biscuits and gravy were excellent- watched “Numbers” on TV.
Saturday 07- did my exercises- Dale from Landers called to jaw for a bit- still cleaning around the house throwing out old stuff that I don’t need - Andrew called and needed help hanging a garage door so I went on over to help him- went for my evening walk- watched TV program on PBS: Rosemary and Thyme- Ron and Linda D. called to say howdy and that Ron’s back has been giving him much pain- Mike from Hermosa called to yap for a while- nice day but the nights are starting to really cool down.
Sunday 08- did my stretches- went through some old papers I have saved and trashed those I didn’t need anymore- read another chapter of that biology book I love so well, yeah right, it puts me to sleep in the middle of the day- went for my evening walk- watched “Nature” on PBS- installed Kubuntu 6.06 on my laptop.
Monday 09- did my exercises, and on my bike ride visited my neighbor Ron M. who happened to be outside his home as I rode by- worked in the yard cleaning things up- Andrew came by for a bit and went with me on my evening walk- loaded up Ubuntu my laptop. Now I have 3 operating systems on it.
Tuesday 10- did my exercises- I went up to Indian Cove with Linda Sibio; we hiked around and took some really nice pictures of boulders, while we hunted for a waterfall that Linda said was there. Linda is putting together an exhibit of 20 Polaroid pictures with twelve other artists and one of her pictures is water falling into a pond. We never did find the waterfall but had a great time looking for it. We finally ended up at the 29 Palms Inn and Linda took the picture of the pond there as I poured water from a container into it. Afterwards we stopped off at the Sun Runner for Linda to give her condolences to Steve- went for my evening walk- Joel came by with burgers and donuts, yumm- Andrew called needed help moving a van (he had cookies)- wrote column and sent it into the newspaper.
Wednesday 11- did my stretches- got the first coat of paint on the wall in the utility room done- I forgot to tell you that I have finished that dreaded “Biology The Easy Way” book that wasn’t, and has put me to sleep so often. I have now started on a “Geology” book that seems more interesting to me (I didn’t fall to sleep yet)- went for my evening walk- went to Andrew’s and took some pictures of his house with my camera that he wanted. We couldn’t get them transferred to his laptop so I’ll email them to him later on- called and jawed with Stoney for a while about how “Bingo Tuesdays” went this week; about 15 folks showed up and no big prizes won- finally got a hold of Kath to come and pick up her computer tomorrow- no “Bones” on tonight so messed around with the computers the rest of the night updating stuff, emailing pictures, and catching up on some blogs I read. INTEL “finally” has a blog and I replied to a post there; hope I didn't screw that up.
Thursday 12- did my exercises- washed clothes- did weekend update for the website- did a bunch of reading- went for my evening walk- watched "CSI" on TV- Kath finally came by to collect her computer.
Friday 13- did my exercises- sent out CopperMountainMesa Newsletters- cleaned around the place getting things ready for a rain we might get tonight; very quiet day- went for my evening walk- read a few chapters on the subjects I am studying- watched “Numbers” on TV.
Saturday 14- did my stretches and went for a long run- around noon it started to sprinkle some and then it started a light rain about 2pm- I worked on the computer updating and cleaning out some old files, and read some on my subjects I’m studying- got out my old rain coat and went for my evening walk and ran into a tortoise that was ambling along the back roads that I walk. I said hi to him and kept on walking so I wouldn’t disturb him. I didn’t take my camera today cause of the rain so there was no pics of Mr. Tortoise- Joel brought by some spaghetti that was mighty good- Billy called from Redondo Beach to say hi and she sounds much better than the last time I talked to her- talked to Kath about cats for an hour- watched TV program on PBS: Rosemary and Thyme- Mike from Hermosa called and we chatted for a while and I sent him two of my original songs that I wrote and recorded.
Sunday 15- did my stretches- worked on the computer setting up a PDA and downloading some updates for it- called my friend Kula in Palos Verdes and chatted about her wedding that she is having in November- took my trusty scooter for a spin to visit Chuck. He told me that he is running for the Copper Mountain Mesa board of directors this November and he is also going to cook hot dogs at the General meeting. I then drove on to visit Jerry and Barb. I was greeted at the gate by their yapping dogs and big old Bear gave me a lick and a hug. We jawed for a few and I had to leave before it got dark so I could take my walk. On the way home I got a flat right by Chuck’s house. We tried to put air in but the tube was shot. We lifted the scooter into Chuck’s truck and they took me to my home where I rolled my trusty scooter into the front yard where it will sit till I patch the tube- made me some pancakes- went for my evening walk- Mac called and we talked about chocolate cake- watched “60 Minutes”- will try to catch up on some of my reading tonight- got out my old Dell Latitude XPI Laptop and with DOS went online.
Monday 16- did my exercises- Chuck came by and I gave him a tour of my home- Stoney dropped off some canned goods- drove on over to Ron D’s home for a visit, his back is doing much better, and he gave me some Thai food to take home with me- went for my evening walk- did a bunch of reading- was surfing the web on my Toshiba Laptop when all of a sudden my screen went dead! The backlight was lit but there was no display. I hooked it up to an external LCD monitor and it displayed just fine. It was 3am and I was getting tired, so I will try to repair it in the morning.
Tuesday 17- did my exercises- Kula called from O’Hare Airport in Chicago on her way to see her mother in Iowa where the land is flat and they eat a lot of corn- went online to see if I could find how to fix the problem with my laptop’s display. Found what I was looking for and dismantled my laptop, fixed the problem, put it all back together, and now it works fine (had me scared there for a while)- Ron and Linda dropped over to say hi- went for my evening walk- watched “Nova” on PBS- wrote column and sent it to the news paper- been too dang windy the last few days to get the telescope out, so I just did some reading.
Wednesday 18- did my exercises- worked on my solar panels and raised them to an angle of about 35 degrees to the sun- saw some really big jets fly over my house and rushed inside and grabbed my camera and fumbled with it to get a picture of them before the passed by- went for my evening walk- called John M. and jawed for a bit- Andrew call and asked if I would like to come on over cause he is having a barrel fire outside and has cookies. So we spent around 3 hours sitting by the barrel putting wood on it, we had a nice blaze going, and jawed and ate cookies.
Thursday 19- did my stretches- went to town for supplies. Went to Wal-Mart and ran into Ron and Linda D., they were buying me a plant for my front yard (very nice of them). Went to Staters, filled up the truck with gas, and then on to the health food store in JT but the gals I like weren’t there- Ron D. called and needed help installing the DVD he purchased at Wal-Mart and needed some chicken wire (and I have plenty leftover from the stuccoing). We had the DVD player up and running in no time and they gave me a snack to take home with me- went for my evening walk- watched “CSI” on CBS- the rest of the night I just surfed the web.
Friday 20- did my exercises- updated website and sent email Newsletter out- went on the roof and did some more work aligning the solar panels for optimum performance- went for my evening walk- Mac called and jawed for a while- watched “Numbers” on CBS.
Saturday 21- did my stretches and went for a 3-mile jog- Ron D called and invited me over for a visit. While I was there Seimi came by with an Emachine computer for me to look at. It looked in pretty fair condition that he got from a friend in Hemet Ca. but wasn’t working. I took it home with me and started to check it out and found that the problem was intermittent with no video (the worst kind to track down). I tried replacing the RAM; I tried a different power supply. Sometimes it would start but most times not. Will try again tomorrow- Seimi came by with a big concrete bowl for the outside of my home- went for my evening walk- did some reading most of the night.
Sunday 22- did my stretches- called my Dad and had a nice chat- Ron D called and I told him that I was working on Seimi’s computer and what ever I tried wouldn’t work. He invited me over and had some food for me. We jawed for a while- went for my evening walk- went back to work on Seimi’s computer and did a “Hail Mary” on it and cleared the BIOS by moving the pins to reset it. The dang thing rebooted and I was able to get into setup and change a few settings. I got into XP and loaded up Avast anti-virus program and had it do a system scan on reboot; it found Blaster (a worm) and I had it delete it. I removed and deleted all the old users and their files. Also uninstalled AOL and a few other programs. Went into MSCONFIG and removed a bunch of programs at the startup file. Replaced the CD ROM that wasn’t working with another. Installed Sygate (a firewall) and went online. Went into services and disabled MS Messenger cause it kept popping up with adware. It has been working after many reboots and I’ll keep my fingers crossed. Tomorrow I will install XP service pack 2. That is how I spent my evening.
Monday 23- did my stretches and lifted weights- worked on Seimi’s computer: installed XP service pack 2, did a system cleanup, did a defrag, and called Seimi and told him his computer is ready- dug a hole for the cement pond that Seimi gave me and put some rocks around it, then I filled it with water. Looks really nice, even the Cat drank out of it- updated Joel’s “Iron Eyes Cody Environmental Statue” website for him- went for my evening walk- recorded the song I wrote “LWFAW” and put it on the computer. Maybe I’ll send it to Kula and see what she thinks of it- read some more of those books that I have on my list to read as a substitute for watching TV. Maybe I’ll learn something instead of being a creature of the tube!
Tuesday 24- did my exercises- wrote my column and sent it into the High Desert Star newspaper- called Barb and Jerry and told them I wrote about that gravesite they had found and will email them a copy- Seimi called and said he was home and I could bring the computer over. I told him I would after my evening walk- went for my evening walk- took everything I thought I needed over to Seimi’s and hooked it up, but the keyboard didn’t work. I figured that it must me the USB mouse that Seimi provided that I didn’t use when I fixed the computer and is the only thing different. So I drove back to my house and picked up a mouse I had and went back and plugged it in and the keyboard works now. Before I left I showed him the bare basics and he caught on very quickly- watched “Nova” on PBS. It was about magnetic pole reversals and was very interesting.
Wednesday 25- did my exercises- worked around the house fixing miscellaneous little things that needed repairs- started feeling ill so I took my evening walk early and when I got back I went to bed with the cold chills and a throbbing headache- Andrew called sometime later that night and we talked for a while.
Thursday 26- I am feeling much better today. Whatever it was I caught, it hit really bad and laid me down hard; has gone but left me feeling mighty weak- did my stretches- Andrew came by for a visit- Jerry and Barb called me about the column I wrote and said it was very good- worked on the truck some- worked on the website getting it ready for the weekend update- Joel came by with some donuts- Raymond came by for a spell and I gave him an old TV I had that I don’t use anymore- went for my evening walk- Stoney called and we talked about getting him a new computer- after hearing that I was sick Joel came by with some chicken soup which was mighty nice of him- called Andrew and jawed for a bit.
Friday 27- did my stretches and ran a mile- did some work on my computers: the monthly disk cleanup, and defrag- Ron and Linda D. called and I went over there and helped pickup a mattress and move a bed into their yard. They asked me if I had heard the gunfire and helicopters last night, I didn’t, and they told me what they knew. I had also heard more later on from other folks and what I heard on the TV news. I’ll try to piece it together for you: Some time maybe around 10pm Thursday night, Adam Lopez shot out some windows where he resides in Copper Mountain Mesa. Officer Adrian Garcia responded to a domestic disturbance and was fired upon by Adam with a shotgun and Officer Garcia returned fire. Officer Garcia was hit in the hand and the patrol car’s antenna was blasted away. Adam then fled with his girlfriend Tonya Campbell. Wounded and no way to call for help Officer Garcia made his way over to Lee and Marcie Hines home where he received first aid from Marcie and was able to place a call for backup. They brought in a helicopter to help in the search. Adam and Tonya were still on the loose until later on Friday when they gave themselves up to authorities. I saw the pictures of Adam and Tonya on TV and they looked a whole lot different than when I knew them five years ago. Just a dang sorry mess for our little community, because I believe we as a community are better than this- went on my evening walk- watched “Numbers” on CBS.
Saturday 28- did my exercises- messed around the house and did some reading- called Stoney and told him I am bringing my Dell 2350 XP desktop computer over for him to use until he makes up his mind to get a new one or not. Spent the afternoon at his house updating it and setting it up for him to use- went for my evening walk- watched TV program on PBS: Rosemary and Thyme- took out the old telescope and trained it on the setting Moon in its first quarter as its massive body slid pass the southwest horizon of little houses, trees, and power lines. Very impressive!
Sunday 29- did my stretches- called my Dad and yapped for a while- did some reading and then went over to Stoney’s and finished up loading his files and showing him how to use a few things online- called Barb and Jerry and jawed a few- went for my evening walk- Joel dropped by with some cake he’d baked; was good too- read some more finishing up the book “DOS for Dummies” and then messed around with the computers.
Monday 30- did my exercises except for the bike ride- called Lee and Marcie about what happened last Thursday night so I can put it in my column. Lee was having some minor problems with his computer, so I went over to his house and pay them a visit- Andrew came by for a while to use the internet and afterward we went for an evening walk- called and yapped with Mac for a spell- called and howl with Roger T. for a few- Joel came by with a big old “In and Out” hamburger with fries and we worked on his website- did a bunch more reading.
Tuesday 31- did my exercises- Stuart came by with a notice to put into the paper that the Community Center is opening an extension to the Thrift Store in an unused building on the property. It will be open from 12-5pm on Saturdays and also during Center activities for sales and donations- spent the rest of the day reading- went for my evening walk- me and Stoney’s son Jimmy finally talked Stoney in to purchasing a Dimension E520 desktop computer. On his way to bingo he dropped off his credit card and I put in the order for him- watched “Nova” on PBS; about Black Holes in the center of Galaxies- while checking out the night sky with my binoculars I caught Stoney on his way back from bingo and gave him his credit card- wrote column and sent it to the Newspaper. Goodbye to October you’ve been an excellent month!

September 2006

Friday 01- did my stretches- I am taking a day off from doing that stucco and just going to kick back. I worked so hard yesterday that I felt like a Salmon after it spawned- Stoney came by to look at the job I did on the stucco and we yapped for a while about some graffiti defaming a Board Member on the sidewalk of the Community Center, Lee used a high pressure spray to remove the paint but ended up etching it into the concrete- worked on website for weekend update and added “FIVE YEARS AGO THIS WEEK” in the hope that some folks could remember how we used to be- called and talked to Mac about this and that and other stuff that we usually talk about when we have nothing to say- took my evening walk- called Roger T. and talked computers- too dang cloudy tonight so I won’t be taken the scope out and will do some computer work.
Saturday 02- did my exercises- worked on the west wall putting up some shelves and getting it ready for stuccoing. Was going to do some finishing work on the east wall but it rained- Jeff R. came by for a jaw and to look at my stucco work- went for my walk and took my camera this time, because on yesterdays walk I came across a rock in a wash with debris of twigs around it that look like a smiley face with hair. I didn’t write about it yesterday cause I had no proof. So here is a picture of it to the left. What do ya think?
Sunday 03- did my stretches- was going to hang up some more chicken wire and thought to myself, nah, I am going to go and visit some of my friends- went over to Frank and Mary’s and they had the in-laws and a bunch of family over for the weekend. Except for the kids outside riding dirt bikes, they were all sitting around in the living room, where it was cool, watching videos of their vacation to Shaver Lake in Northern California and laughing; at first I thought they were watching America’s Funniest Videos. Jerry and Barb showed up there too and that saved me a trip over to their house- dropped in on Mac and family for a visit- went on over to Chuck’s and yapped for a while and we tried to fix the gear shifter lever on Joseph’s quad that had gotten stripped- got home and did a little stucco and chicken wire. I’ll be so dang happy when this project is over- went for my evening walk- Stoney called and invited me over for dinner but I had just started stuccoing and asked for a rain check- later that evening I dropped by John M’s to clear a few malicious programs off his computer- took out the telescope for a few and trained it on the Moon- I forgot to post this yesterday but my friend Dale from Landers called and we traded insults and try to one-up each other; we do this all the time. I said to him that I must have drank two gallons of water today, and he told me that it was so dang hot that he drank four gallons of water and it cleaned all the impurities out of his system, I told him if that were true he wouldn’t be talking to me right now cause he would have dissolved. He came back with; that he had used Odor Eaters once and lost his feet. I know it is sick humor but we have fun- Mike from Hermosa Beach called really late for a chat.
Monday 04- did my exercises- spent the day finishing the chicken wire on the west side of the house. Just a few more things I need to do and then it will be ready for the stucco- Ron D. called and told me that he and Linda went up to Pipes Canyon to look at the damage that the Sawtooth fire of July had caused. Ron said all the burnt ruins and destruction overwhelmed him. They talked to a woman in her eighties who lives there and lost her home and now lives out of her vehicle- Andrew came by and looked at my stucco job- Jeff R. came by on his way to checkout some antiques- went for my evening walk- had the scope out and was looking at the Moon when I realized the surface looks like the stucco I put on my walls.
Tuesday 05- did my stretches and lifted weights- Linda S. called for me to come on by and with my camera and take some pictures of the fabric she had painted to be worn by her friend of many years. They were so large we had to hang them on the clothesline for the shoot- continued to do the stucco of the west wall- called AAA and got my car insurance from them and dropped Geico- Ron D. called and asked if I wanted to go down to the Beatnik Café to watch some movies, I would have went but too dang tired, I changed my mind later after I had a nap and called them, but they had already left- Moon is coming to full and it washes out the sky of stars. So I just sat outside without the scope gazing at the sky and pondered what it’s all about- wrote my column and sent it to the newspaper- Mike from Hermosa Beach called to say howdy- Andrew called to ask for a favor.
Wednesday 06- did my stretches and lifted weights; just too dang muggy today and yesterday to ride my bike and jog- did some more stucco; almost done, just a few more days- did that favor for Andrew- Ron D. called to say hi- had lunch (ham sandwiches and Gator Aid) with an appraiser who has been in the U.S.A for four years now. He came from Romania and likes the freedoms we have. He told me in our country everything that’s over 200 years is ancient history- went for my evening walk- a storm came our way around 7pm first a thick fog and I thought it was really going to pour down buckets, then it made lots of noise with big gusts of wind, and then some lightning and thunder, but we only got a few drops of rain- watched “Bones” on TV- bought some more minutes for my T-Mobile To Go phone.
Thursday 07- really nice day so I did all my exercises- more work on the west wall and more stucco- Joel dropped by with burritos and a dolly (the two wheeled kind for moving heavy stuff) I wanted from Wal-Mart- Ron D. called and said he played guitar at the Beatnik Café last night- ants in the kitchen! They came up through my gray water outlet and were crawling all over my sink. Killed them all and then went for my evening walk- Andrew came by for a chat- I took out my telescope and trained it on the Moon, which is full and at perigee (means closest to the Earth) and is 12% larger and brighter than any full Moon of 2006! A little more searching and I found that this years Harvest Moon will be on October 7 because it falls closest to the Autumnal Equinox that is on September 23.
Friday 08- did my stretches and got right to work on the west wall and finished the first coat of stucco- Joel came by with my mail and some peach turnovers, YUMM- Ron D. came by and we chatted for a while about forgetting things when you get old; preparing his car for the next day’s journey, he had left the dome light on all night and drained the battery so it wouldn’t start. Before leaving, I gave him the program he had asked me to download for him, and then promptly left without his hat- Stoney came by to yap. He said that he was real proud of my stucco job, made me feel really good. Then Andrew came over and we all sat and jawed (we do a lot of jawing around here) about the Community Board meeting tomorrow and the fate of a certain board member and how you have to have integrity before you can ask for folks to vouch for it. After Stoney left we worked on some computer matters, and when that was all done Andrew and I went for an evening walk and I showed him the rock that looks like a smiley face with hair - called Linda D. and told her that Ron’s hat was at my house and yapped for a while- did the weekend update for the website- to windy for the telescope tonight.
Saturday 09- did my exercises, but didn’t ride the bike- went right to work on the second coat of stucco and will finish it tomorrow- called Stoney and jawed for a bit about the Community board meeting- Jeff called and asked about a surveyor who was driving around my location. I had no idea what they were surveying but it was to the north- quiet day and watched two TV programs on PBS: Rosemary and Thyme, and "Edward R. Murrow: This Reporter"
Sunday 10- did my stretches- finished doing the stucco on the outside of the house! I have one wall on the south to do but that is inside and will do that in a few weeks as planned. Now I have to paint the outsides with white paint- Ron D. called and needs me to bring over a battery charger, while there he gave me a present of five gallons of white paint! What a friend! Now I can start painting in the next few days- on my way back from Ron’s I stopped in on my new neighbors who had bought Scott’s place just down the street from me. Ivan and his family are very kind and graceful folks and Jeff R. showed up we sat around eating chicken tacos and jawed with him and his dad who was the Chile pepper champ years ago on the TV program “That’s Incredible” by eating 67 peppers- called my Dad and Aki to just touch base- Jeff R. called and we yapped for a while- watched Mystery “Inspector Lynley” (I like the female detective on it) on PBS- took the telescope out and trained it on Vega while I talked to Mike from Hermosa Beach about computer and email Phishing.
Monday 11- did my exercises- had five gallons of white paint. Had a paintbrush and a roller. Started painting the house. When the day was done I had painted a whole two walls- Ron D. called to tell me how his day went. He spent most of the day trying to get some mechanical work done on his two cars that was probably done by rats- called and talked to Roger T. about computer stuff- took out the scope and viewed Mizar and Alcor.
Tuesday 12- did my stretches- Jeff R. dropped by with some donuts and we chatted- Kula called to say hi while she was on the freeway headed to the City of Commerce- finished my first coat of paint on the walls that I stuccoed- watched the sunset like I been doing everyday for the pass year in remembrance of Kern: Thought for the week: On the twelfth of this month one year ago a good friend and neighbor Kern Watson passed away. That day after receiving the news from his Wife I went outside to watch the sunset. While observing that sunset I made a promise to myself and to my departed friend I would watch every sunset for a whole year, and I have kept that promise. So to those of my friends who had wondered why I left abruptly in the middle of a conversation to go outside; now ya know.
Wednesday 13- got up at the ungodly hour of 7:30 am to be at the court house by 8 to help a friend fight a lien that was put on his home unfairly- after the trial and since I was down that way I stopped in the health food store in JT to get some things I needed- while doing touchup on my paint job on the walls Lee H. stopped by and then John M. to checkout the stucco I did- Dale from Landers called to give me pain, Mac called, Ron D. called, Mike from Hermosa called, and Melonee called. Seems like everyone was calling me today and that's all right with me- missed my evening walk but I did do my stretches today- Watched "Bones" on TV.
Thursday 14- did my exercises- windy today and got a few drops of rain around 11am- Ron D. called and said he found out what was wrong with his truck. I dropped by his house and brought him to my home so he may have a look see at my stucco job. I guess I’m getting pretty desperate when I got to pick up folks and bring them by to show them my stucco- did some more touchup on the paint- Andrew came by with a disk from Joseph that had his homework on it and needed it printed- John M. dropped off a gallon of paint for the trimming of my house; he said as payment for getting his computer running again- went for my evening walk- called and jawed with Stoney about when he was over in the Philippines in WWII and how he almost missed the boat home. He went that morning to open the Motor Pool he was in charge of and a Warrant Officer drove up and asked, “Stoney what the hell are ya doing here? You’re supposed to be going home on a boat that leaves at 10am.” So Stoney raced over to the barracks, threw all his stuff that would fit in a duffle bag, and on the way pass the main gate he yell to them that they can find this Jeep down at the harbor some wheres. He was one of the last soldiers on that ship, which would take them pass Japan, up to the Aleutian Islands, over to San Francisco, where he was processed out of the Army, and then on a bus home to LA- Joel came by to say hi and gave me a cup of ice cream- still to windy so I’ll just catch up on my reading (I got that Biology book to read) instead of taking the scope out tonight- called my friend Billie Sanders over the internet and yapped with her for a long while.
Friday 15- did my exercises- worked on the website and got it ready for the weekend update- Stoney came by for a visit- talked to Dale while doing more touchup on the walls- went for my evening walk- called and jawed with Jerry and Barb for a while. Jerry was telling me about an old 29 Palms diner he used to frequent, but I forget the name. It fell in ill repute after the owner’s son took over and had babies behind the counter where diapers would be changed! Jerry really wants to get started exploring the desert this fall when the weather gets cooler so he has been doing a few small test outings to build up his stamina- another windy night so I’ll not be taking the telescope out.
Saturday 16- did my exercises- messed around the house doing some tidying up after a lot of neglect from 3 weeks of stuccoing- Linda D. called to say she is bringing back the battery charger Ron barrowed and to take a look at my stucco job. She brought the dog so I had to hide the cat- Roger T. called and said to come on over and pick up an old septic tank that he has sitting in his yard. I took him an old monitor that he wants. Roger has done a mighty great job with his property getting it setup just like he wants it- went for my evening walk- watched TV program on PBS: Rosemary and Thyme- the wind has stopped, yea! So I took out the scope and went for the southern sky around the Tea Pot in Sagittarius. Spent less then an hour observing cause it got mighty cold, around 65 degrees, and I ain’t used to that yet.
Sunday 17- did my stretches- did 3 loads of laundry- went for 2 miles on my evening walk - watched Mystery “Inspector Lynley” on PBS- nice quiet day.
Monday 18- did stretches an lifted weights- dug a hole for an out building and other productive stuff around the house- Stoney came by with some groceries and told me a story on how he used to play a practical joke on his friends with a cigar box with an old Ford ignition coil in it. He’d wrap it up like a present and then he would offer it to folks and they’d grab it and git shocked. Well, Stoney had this friend who wouldn’t wakeup for no one. You could shake, and holler at him, but he would only wake up when it was time to go to work. Stoney brought his box over and told the guy’s wife that he’ll get him up and placed the box between the guy’s knees and zapped him a good one. From then on the guy would wake right up when he heard Stoney’s voice. I am glad I didn’t know Stoney back then- went for my evening walk- did some reading in that biology book- took out the scope and trained it on the star Fomalhaut in the constellation Piscis Austrinus, and then swung it around to view M31 the Andromeda galaxy that is 2.5 million light years away and that means that it left 2.5 million years ago, around the Lower Paleolithic era, for the light to hit my lens on my telescope!
Tuesday 19- did my exercises- went to Bar Lumber and picked up 2 bags of stucco and more chicken wire to finish that one last wall in the utility shed and then went to Stater Bros. for supplies- talked to neighbor Biker Ron who was down for a visit- Mike from Hermosa called, still having problems with his Mac- dropped by Joel’s place for a visit- watered my friend’s trees- called and talked to Linda D. about photography and cameras- Roger T. called and we yapped for a while- wrote column for the newspaper and sent it in- too dang windy tonight for the scope so it’s back to that biology book.
Wednesday 20- did my exercises- started moving stuff out of the utility room so I can start putting chicken wire and stucco on it. Tore apart an old couch that was an eyesore and put it in the trash- Linda D. came by to pick up a CD I burned for her- visited Stoney- went for my evening walk- watched “Bones” on TV.
Thursday 21- did my stretches- continued working on the utility room- Dale called to say hi- Mike from Hermosa called to say he thinks he has finally tracked down the problem he had with the Mac- went for my evening walk and started taking my camera along- Stoney called and needs help getting connected to an ISP, I will help him tomorrow- watched CSI on TV- Linda D. called, has friend named Katherine with a computer problem, told her to bring it over and Kath shows up later and it needs a new modem and a few system renovations.
Friday 22- did my stretches- worked on the website and did the weekend update-did some work on the utility room- worked on Kath’s computer and got the modem to work but not on AOL. Also: installed Sygate firewall, installed CCleaner and cleaned the registry, installed Spybot and removed adware, and did a disk cleanup, then defragged the hard drive- went over to Stoney’s and set him up with an ISP- Mike called and while we were talking I lost the connection and no dial tone, that was at 6:20 and it is still out when I went to bed- went for my evening walk- watched “Numbers” on TV.
Saturday 23- still no dial tone on the phone, thank goodness I did my website updates yesterday- did my stretches- Andrew came by and we fooled around with computers and cleaned out a trailer to use for our computers. He went with me on my evening walk-called Mike from Hermosa and Billie on my cell to let them know that my dialup phone isn't working- watched TV program on PBS: Rosemary and Thyme.
Sunday 24- reading my email late last night I got some bad news from Mary Lou's niece Vanessa's husband that Mary Lou had passed on a little after 6pm Friday, I called some of her friends today to report the sad news- did my stretches- still no dial tone so I called Verizon and they’ll repair it sometime this week- on my cell phone I called: my friend Kula and sung Happy Birthday to her, and then Marcie to wish her a Happy Birthday- went to work on the utility- Andrew came by for a visit- watered my friend's trees- dropped by John M's house and brought him some food I had leftover- went for my evening walk- watched “Nature” and then “Mystery” on PBS.
Monday 25- did my stretches- worked on the utility room all day and finished the chicken wire and tomorrow I hope to start stuccoing the wall- Ron d. was over for a visit and wanted to hear the song I’ve been writing- went for my evening walk- Kath brought me the new modem for her computer, also Win XP upgrade. I installed the modem and XP and a new anti-virus program because the one she had was corrupt. I called her on my cell phone to come and pick it up- saw the crescent Moon tonight- still no dial tone and no phone here.
Tuesday 26- did my exercises- still no phone- started stuccoing- Andrew came by for a while- went for my evening walk- watched “Nova” on PBS- wrote column and sent it to the newspaper- lots of coyotes out tonight, can hear them yapping, playing, and sounds like they’re have a fun time. Kind of makes me want to go out and join them.
Wednesday 27- did my stretches- finished the first coat of stucco on the utility room- RJ from Verizon came to fix the phone problem. Seems that the circuit switch at the main hub that I was connected to had blown out and I was the only one affected. RJ seems like a really skilled professional. He told me that when he drives our dirt roads he slows down especially near homes to keep the dust down- Joel came by to jaw a bit- went for my evening walk- worked on an old Tasco telescope that was sitting in my neighbors backyard for a number of years; I’ve found part of an old newspaper from 1968 wedged in it. The mirror isn’t to bad, just a few minor blemishes, but the main tube needs a lot of work and repainted. It is missing the diagonal mirror and the finder scope- watched my favorite program “Bones” and then messed around with the computer- Kath called to say that her computer is down again and will bring it over tomorrow evening.
Thursday 28- did my exercises- worked on the website getting it prepared for the weekend update- Dale from Landers came by for a visit- Andrew came by for a while and then we went to his house and moved some stuff from his garage to a storeroom on his property- went for my evening walk- Joel came by with dinner- watched "CSI"- expecting a call from Kath and got tired of waiting and called her. She is too tired from driving and won’t be bringing her computer over tonight but after Saturday she said- did more work on the website.
Friday 29- did my stretches- found a pair of new work gloves in my mail box, don’t know who could have left them there for me, but Thanks, I’ll put them to good use- started the second coat of stucco on the utility room- Stoney called and invited me over for lunch- Scott and Dion came by and barrowed a shovel to dig out a electric pole- Andrew came by for a visit- watched “Numbers” on TV- took care of a few things online- hazy out to night so I didn’t take out the telescope- Mike called.
Saturday 30- did my stretches- went right to work on that second coat of stucco and finished it all around 1pm. Now I just have to wait a few days for it to dry and then paint it- worked on one of the 3 IBM PCs and loaded up Win98 after doing an fdisk and format on the hard drive. Had to reset to BIOS before it would even load a floppy; it wanted to load from a network server (which I don’t have setup)- went for my evening walk- saw Frank and Mary on their way back from the center and chatted a bit- Stoney drove by with some chili beans and gave me a pint of them- watched TV program on PBS: Rosemary and Thyme- goodbye September!

August 2006

Tuesday 01- great day! Got up and jogged and rode my bike and did the weights, went for a walk later in the evening- dropped by Ron M’s place while biking and had a nice visit, he is having workers level his front yard- Scott called and is down at his place waiting for the inspector and fixing a few loose ends; it passed and Scott is one happy dude- did some potting of plants and worked around the yard- still trying to finish that Biology book I’ve been reading off and on now for the last 6 months, it has some of the worst words to pronounce I have ever run into and that includes Greek- Jeff R. called and he told me about a fungus that is invading the ocean called fireweed- Terry W. having troubles with a PC card modem on a laptop and we exchanged emails trying to solve the problem until late into the night- wrote column and sent it to newspaper.
Wednesday 02- did my exercises- went over to Andrew’s and worked on computer stuff most of the day- Jeff R. came by and I showed him the video that I took of the hail that came down last Wednesday- been doing my evening walks lately- Seimi called and he told me that he heard that they’re paving first 2 miles of Winters Road from Border, I hope to hell the money ain’t coming out of “our” road funds!
Thursday 03- cleaned up some around the house- Andrew came by and we went to town. While at Wal-Mart I picked up an USB 802.11g network adapter and I’ll try to setup a home network. Dropped by Copper Mountain College to check out what classes they had to offer, I’ll have to give this some real thought if I want to go back to college or not- called Stoney and he told me that the county is paying for the 2 miles of paving Winters Road, I feel better about it now. We can all thank Mike Mildren for applying for the funding a few years ago just before he retired from the county.
Friday 04- did my exercises- watered my friend’s plants- Joel came by and picked up my flat spare tire and will take it to Wal-Mart when he goes to work tonight and get it fixed- went down to have a look see if the county really is going to start paving Winters Road. Saw some heavy equipment there and pulled off to the side to take some pics. Got my dang truck stuck in the sand and had to dig out before I could take any photos- went for my evening walk- Joel dropped by before work and brought me dinner. Now that was nice.
Saturday 05- did my exercises- my hair was getting too long so I cut it myself and it looks terrible- got an email from my very good friend Kula that her Tabbie had passed on. Miss Tabbie was a good and loving fur folk and I feel so sad for Kula’s loss- worked on an electric 3-wheel bicycle that Ron D. gave me. It is in bad shape and needs a new battery and lots of oil and cleaning- got mad at my Toshiba laptop and reformatted the drive and reinstalled XP, the update hung on installing the “Windows Genuine Advantage” and now IE won’t work no matter what I tried. I only use IE for critical updates from MS anyways, so I will do a new install tomorrow (I just don’t like to have a system that is messed up) and just use Firefox browser.
Sunday 06- Joel brought my spare tire over this morning- did my morning stretches- reloaded the Toshiba laptop with XP and everything went well with the updates this time around- got bored hanging around the house and jumped in the truck and went to Scott’s but he wasn’t there- stopped over at Jeff R’s home and helped him repair a stove door- went over to Stuart’s to tell him that I have and email from Wessel for him, he wasn’t home but found him at Chuck’s- dropped over at Scott’s again and he was home this time and jawed for a while- worked in my rock garden while waiting for the sunset- talked to Stoney and he said that the 2 miles the county is paving is costing $194000.00- Andy Joe Lane finally picked up the letter I was holding for him- Terry W. email to tell me that the driver that I sent her for the pc card modem worked.
Monday 07- did my morning stretches- drove to town, while at Wal-Mart I talked to Ora about her husband Bill who has taken ill, and return the USB 802.11g network adapter which wasn’t compatible with my system and picked up another at “Mojave Techs” in 29, got gas and propane- watered my friend’s plants- moseyed on over and took some pics of the recycled asphalt road from Border Avenue “as far as the eye can see and then about 100 feet or so down Winters Road” says semi-retired Sunny Bishop. Sunny is one of the road crew and does this kind of work when he’s not renovating an old Plymouth of which he readily produced the pictures- went for my evening walk- called and jawed with Stoney who told me a story of when he drove a road roller. They don’t have brakes; you just put them in reverse to stop. Well the engine died going down hill towards a cliff and Stoney was franticly trying to get it started again before he and the machine met their demise. At the very last moment he got it started and was able to come to a safe stop- later that evening I talked over the phone with Jeff R. about triangles and the folks down in Joshua Tree while Jeff ate a whole large pizza.
Tuesday 08- my birthday- did my exercises- Scott called from Lancaster and told me the buffalo got loose and spent all night looking for them but hasn’t found them yet. I hope that everything turns out ok for the critters and for my friend Scott- went and visited John M. and gave him some of my birthday cake (really brownies) and sat and jawed for a while- worked on getting my tools organized- called Dan A. who has his birthday to day also- did my evening- the air seems to have the smell of smoke, my eyes are watering from some fire far away and my allergy appears to be kicking in because of it.
Wednesday 09- Scott calls and says that he found the buffalo 15 miles away and had to walk them back to his ranch. He had only a few problems along the way especially with Sally who wanted to go the other direction. I so glad that Scott found them cause I was preparing to go there today and help out- did my exercises- fixed some electrical stuff around the house- called Ruth T. and wished her a happy birthday and she said it was on Aug. 2nd, I’ll have to change the website’s calendar- called Sayoko and wished her a happy birthday- finished my song LWFAW and I am happy with the wording and will start recording soon- went for my evening walk.
Thursday 10- did my morning stretches- while laying down on my side to fix a hole in the trailer that the squirrels use to get in and gobble up the food that I’ve stored there, I was bitten or stung by something on my right knee. It really hurt too! Since I don’t know what did this and it still seems to hurt hours later, I will check it out in the morning to see if I need any medical attention- watered my friend’s plants and picked up some building supplies- went for my evening walk- was talking to Jeff R. on the phone about the terrorists who were arrested in London today and the absents of airliners in the sky when we saw one then another coming across the sky. All of a sudden the second one’s lights went out! Maybe it was a military jet, cause I’d seen them do that on occasion.
Friday 11- the place I had been bitten seems to have gotten better and didn’t have to go into intensive care, so I did my exercises- call from Sue of the Hi Desert Star that they didn’t get my column, I told them that I sent it last Tuesday but I’ll resend it now- built some more shelves in the bedroom, and lay down a little piece of carpet under my desk in the front room- went for my evening walk- Mike called from Hermosa Beach to wish me a happy birthday, which was last Tuesday but he gets free weekend minutes on his cell phone.
Saturday 12- did my exercises- got an email from Sue of the Hi Desert Star that my first column I sent on Tuesday had ended up in her junk mail; I emailed her saying that “maybe I should write better stories”- called my Dad and Stepmother Aki (checking in)- called Kula and tried to cheer her up- cleaned the trailer outback and deciding what I should use it for- called and talked to Stoney for an hour about this and that and other stuff- rode my scooter over for a visit with Frank and Mary. Chuck showed up with some BBQ ribs and they were mighty good! Jerry and Barbara showed up with some pictures of a mysterious site they found in the surrounding mountains and we sat around and jawed about the community, Stuart was there and I reminded him about Wessel’s email I have for him, I really had a good time there- went for my evening walk.
Sunday 13- very early Sunday morning around 2 am just before I went to bed I sat outside to watched the Perseid meteor shower and seen a few nice meteors come streaking across the night sky- did my morning stretches- watered my friend’s garden- visited John M. and traded some stuff-went for my evening walk- called and jawed with Jeff R. about serendipity.
Monday 14- did my exercises- started work on the eastside of the house for stucco by clearing debris away from the wall and nailing up chicken wire- Our little Community, because of the lack of street signs and addresses, can be a big place when you’re looking for a certain house. I was over at Frank and Mary’s last Saturday and a few of us folks were all sitting around jawing. Jerry and Barbara were also there, who are very interesting individuals and I asked them where they lived so I could mosey on over for a visit sometime. Jerry gave me an approximant location like: over yonder, pass a two-story house, and up by the mountain with a big dog name Bear out front. So around 5pm I got in my truck and started out in search of Jerry and Barbara’s house. After going down a couple of dead-end roads and traversing a few sandy washes where I almost got stuck, I think I found the house but no one was there, not even a big dog named Bear. So I dropped by Chuck’s to describe the house I found to him to see if it was the one. It was the right house and Jerry and Barbara would be here in half an hour for Chuck’s son Joseph’s birthday party and I was invited. Everyone started to arrive; Kerry and her daughter, Stoney, Stuart W., and of course Jerry and Barbara. BBQ sausage, cake and ice cream filled our plates. Joseph received many a gift, some which rolled around on the ground and hit ya in the ankle. I had a great time there! I’ll go searching these magnificent wandering roads of ours in my truck more often.
Tuesday 15- Andrew called and we Jawed for over an hour about business- did my exercises- placed a call to Jerry and Barbara and Jawed with him for well over an hour about mining and politics and about everything else. I will go for a visit tomorrow- got back to working on the stucco- went for my evening walk- sent column to the newspaper- worked on MadGravity website.
Wednesday 16-did my exercises- went on over to Jerry and Barbara’s home and we jawed for a while about mining in the local area. I took some pics of their prospecting equipment and then Jerry took me over to this mysterious site that I wrote about last Saturday and I took some pics of it too. This is giving me an idea for a new web page for the CopperMountainMesa.com website titled “Mining Copper Mountain” and do a little piece about the history of the mines in the area- dropped by Chuck’s on the way back and had some German Chocolate Cake, my favorite, and showed Joseph how to do a book report- watered my friend’s garden- went for my evening walk- Roger T. called to say hi- Brenda called about her computer ain’t working and I told her it wasn’t worth me tinkering with it again; it’s just too dang old- Andrew called and we collaborated on a web page we’re doing.
Thursday 17- did my morning stretches- called Scott to let him know the SCE was at his house today- Andrew called and we had a short chat- dropped off old Toshiba laptop over at Chuck's for his son Joseph to use- Stuart came by to read the email from Wessel I had for him- Jerry called and told me that it is alright to reveal what that mysterious place is that I’ve mentioned in previous posts. So here is a picture of it- I continued working on putting up chicken wire for the stucco- did my evening walk- updated Copper Mountain Mesa website- decided that it has been too dang long since I took out the old telescope. There were a few wisps of scattered clouds obscuring the southern portion of the sky around the “Tea Pot” but I was still able to view the area around Antares and just make out globular cluster M4. Saw a few nice meteors and a very small satellite on its lonesome journey across the sky. The bats were out, it was so quiet that you could hear them clicking in search for food, I saw one dive down and land on a tub I fill with water for the critters and heard it lapping a drink. I turned the scope on the northern part of the Milky Way and browsed the sky there for an hour- Mike L. called and we yapped about computers for a while.
Friday 18- did my exercises- hand washed my clothes and hung them out to dry- spent the day getting the east wall ready to stucco. Had to cut holes for a drain and water pipe. After I got that done I had a few hours left and decided to start putting on the stucco and got about a forth of that wall done. Now I’ll have to wait till tomorrow, let it dry and see what kind of job I did- called Stoney just to say howdy- got out the telescope and trained it on the area around the Tea Pot and was looking at globular clusters when Joel called and asked if I wanted anything from the store, I told him bread, and continued my star gazing. Joel arrived with my bread plus a hamburger and donuts! I like donuts- did some web collaboration with Andrew
Saturday 19- did my morning stretches- called and jawed with Mac for a while- completed more of the east wall and will do the last forth tomorrow- Scott came by and introduced me to Ivan who bought Scott’s place, seems like a nice guy. Scott came by later with Dion and they had a laugh when they saw me putting on the stucco- watered by friend’s garden- John M. called and needs a new power supply for his computer, I told him I’d look and see if I have one tomorrow- I am dog tired tonight from all that stuccoing I’ve been doing the last two days.
Sunday 20- did my morning stretches- John M. came by with his computer and a gallon of paint in trade for fixing it- finished the first coat of stucco on the east wall. After seeing how much resources it took I will have to go down to Bar Lumber tomorrow and get some more stucco, chicken wire, and staples- went for my evening walk- I am dang dog tired tonight.
Monday 21- did my exercises- got in my truck and headed over to Bar Lumber in 29 and picked up four 80 pound bags of stucco, 100 feet of 4-foot chicken wire, and staples- was just starting to put the chicken wire on when Andrew came by and I decided to call it a day since the temp outside was 110 degrees and I was getting real tired. We went over to his house where I picked up that power supply replacement for John M.’s computer and messed around with some web programming- went for my evening walk- Joseph called about a question he had on the floppy drive on the old laptop I am letting him use, and then we talked about cars- replaced power supply on John’s computer, fired it up all is well- cloudy night but took out the telescope and aimed it at Ursa Major and checked out Mizar and Alcor which are at the bend in the handle of the Big Dipper.
Tuesday 22- did light exercises because of the heat and humidity- John M. came by and picked up his computer- watered my friend’s garden- picked up some sand over at Scott’s- went for my evening walk- John M. calls to say the power supply is over heating and shuts down after 45 minutes. I bring him over another power supply and install it. The problem was that the fan had stopped working- ran into Jeff R. on way back and he said that he was in 29 earlier and that it rained and flooded HWY 62 over a foot- Andrew came by for a bit- wrote column for newspaper and sent it in.
Wednesday 23- did light exercises; again it’s a hot with a lot of moisture in the air- put up some more chicken wire on the north side wall and started the second coat of stucco on the east- called and jawed with Jerry for a while about all kinds of things that I can’t remember what it was I called him up for; maybe it was just to say howdy- Scott called to tell me about a problem he is having- watch my favorite TV program “Bones”, it was a rerun and I make it a habit not to watch something I already seen before, but then again it is my favorite- cloudy tonight but sat outside with my telescope anyways.
Thursday 24- Jerry called and we talked about that mysterious place. The police had called Jerry asking him some personal questions like the year he was born, I told Jerry “what do they want that for you ain’t the one buried up there”. Anyways we’ll see if the police are really interested enough to come check it out some day- did my morning stretches- went to town to git supplies, Wal-Mart, and Stater Brothers. I try to git my shopping done before the first of the month herd do theirs. I drove down Winters Road on my way to town and the county had shut down one lane and was out there spraying some oil or other on the whole two miles of paved road- got home and continued putting second coat of stucco on the east wall. I’ll tell ya that the second coat really stiffens it up and makes it rock solid- Joel L. arrived with pizza at 6pm and I showed him my stucco handiwork- went for my evening walk- worked on CopperMountainMesa.com website getting it ready for the weekend update- took the telescope out for an hour looking at the southern skies.
Friday 25-did my exercises- Linda D. called to say her and Ron are home- updated website- continued stuccoing and hanging chicken wire on the rest of the house. While hammering up the chicken wire I nailed my thumb pretty good; saw stars and then felt the pain, ouch! Ran into the house and put ice on it- picked up some more sand for the stucco at Scott's- went for my evening walk- Roger T. rang to say his new LCD monitor arrived from Dell- called and yapped at Stoney- after the sunset just above the horizon I saw the Waxing Crescent Moon- took out the telescope and focused on the northern skies tonight. Pleiades is starting to peek up in the east now.
Saturday 26- did my exercises- finished chicken wiring the north side of the house, and then I finished stuccoing the east side. While I was working Dale from Landers called so I plugged in my headphones to my portable phone and was able to work and talk to him at the same time. It actually made the work go by faster and we talked for 86 minutes- Stoney dropped me off some of his homemade chili beans on his way to potluck. I’ll mix them in with the rice I’ve made and it should last for about 3 days- went for my evening walk- Roger T. called looking for some old computer memory- watched the Moon set through the telescope and saw it slide behind the silhouette of trees on a mountain. Pretty awesome- my poor old tired body is really hurting today and I think I’ll take Sunday off and go visit some folks around here.
Sunday 27-- did my stretches- Roger T. came by to look at my stucco job and picked up an outdoor telephone ringer I had no use for; he’s getting hard of hearing and needs it for when he goes outside- went over to Mac’s and helped him backup his files and place them on his new computer and picked up the one I lent him- went and visited Chuck and jawed with him, while his son Joseph practiced casting a fishing pole with a beer can hooked to it. One cast had the beer can land on the table where Chuck and me were sitting and we weren’t none happy about that. I guess that’s what kids do for fun out here in the desert- got home with my computer and Ron D. came over with some Thai food he had left over from breakfast at the monastery- Scott called and we yapped for a while- went for my evening walk- watched the Moon set over the mountains again through the telescope and then I trained it on Jupiter and saw four of its moons.
Monday 28- did my exercises- Stoney called to say that a car went off the road, and flipped over sometime yesterday, just west of me about a mile. I remembered seeing a police car drive by last night around 9pm. I grabbed my camera and headed over and took some pictures. Looks like the car traveled for about 100 feet when it left the road. I also heard that someone was taken to the hospital- continued to do my chicken wire and stuccoing when Jerry called and said a Rookie from the Sheriff’s Dept. came by his place to look at that grave in the hills, so Jerry took him to the site in his four-wheeler. The Rookie dug down 2 feet or so and took some pictures- John M. came by to see my stucco, he is thinking of doing it too, and brought over a TV amplifier so I can have better reception. Last time he came over was last Monday when I was over heated; he had told his wife that I looked flushed. He asked me how I was today, and I told him fine, and I was looking all around for my glove that I use when I stucco, he started to help search when I found it on my hand! He asked if I was sure I was alright; we had a good laugh- went for my evening walk- ate the rest of the Thai food mixed with rice I had made a few days ago- watch the Moon and then Jupiter with my telescope. The Moon is setting more to the SW every night. I like the crescent Moon because it reminds me of the Death Star in Star Wars. I put the telescope away and called it a night.
Tuesday 29- did my stretches- Mac called to say hi- Linda S. called to tell me that she would be completing a fabric she has been painting for a friend on Monday, and if I’d come over and photograph it then- still doing chicken wire and stuccoing, got the first coat done on the north side- went for my evening walk and noticed that there was smoke coming from a fire somewhere west in the mountains- Roger T. called and told me that there was a bad head on collision between two cars and another one crashed trying to avoid it. Roger said that HWY 62 was closed down and traffic was stopped while they medevaced the folks out by helicopter- wrote my column and sent it to the newspaper- too cloudy for the telescope and I’m just dang dog tired from all that stucco work, may have to take a day off from it and take care of other stuff I’ve been neglecting.
Wednesday 30- did my stretches and weights- cleaned up in the house and then cleared the west wall in preparation for the chicken wire and stucco. Did no stuccoing today- Andrew called and asked if I could send some files to him tonight- visited Stuart and chatted a few- dropped by John M.’s place with a bag of trash for his dumpster and saw his new haircut; he did it himself like I did but ended up with no hair, but the gals at his work say he looks younger, to me he looks like Mr. Clean- picked up some more sand from Scott’s- went for my evening walk- Watched TV “Bones”- sent Andrew his files- took out the telescope and tried to find the North American Nebula which is just east of Deneb in the constellation Cygnus. Like I said I tried; spent an hour looking and because Cygnus is at the Zenith I kinked my neck looking. I used my telescope, my binoculars and still couldn’t make it out. I found out later that it is best viewed with special filters, which don’t help none when you’re doing astronomy on a budget.
Thursday 31- did my exercises- Joel called to say hi- Mac came over for a visit and we jawed while I worked on the chicken wire and drilled a new hole in the wall for the propane. Finished putting the second coat of stucco on the north wall- went for my evening walk- took out the telescope for just a short time. There was some lightning coming from some clouds to the north and the bats were out looking for a late night snack. I am so dang dog tired from finishing that north wall I am going to take tomorrow off and just rest and enjoy the first day of a new month.

JULY 2006

Saturday 01- visited Frank and Mary for a while Stuart and his girlfriend were also there- dropped by Chuck’s place and jawed for a while and he told me that he cooked breakfast over at the community center and he was really tired but he promised Stoney he would cook when he asked him to- went on over to the buffalo folks to have a chat wit Dion who was working there finishing up the new house with Tom and Manuel.
Sunday 02- to dang hot to do anything outside so I played with that old laptop of mine, updated the BIOS to see if the new version would let me boot to CD, but that didn’t work either. Old systems like my Toshiba laptop won’t boot to CD cause there is no BIOS setting for it. Found a program smart boot manager floppy that will let me boot to CD and that bypasses the MBR then I loaded up Puppy Linux 2.0.
Monday 03- started updating my Blog and cleaning up some things- Joel called to let me know that the electric power was down for 2 hours; I am on solar and don’t know when the power goes out- called Kula and talked- it rained and thundered today.
Tuesday 04- Roger T. came by with hamburgers, hotdogs and apple pie, oh my!
Wednesday 05- hot and muggy all day- visited Andrew.
Thursday 06- Andrew came by for a while and messed with computers.
Friday 07- Scott called for my help unloading cabinets from his trailer that go into the kitchen and bathroom, and then we loaded a bunch of stuff that goes to his other property- bout that time Lee’s Daughter got a flat on Winters just down from where we were and we helped her out moving her truck off the road, she had no spare, and gave her a ride to Lee’s and he came back later and fixed it.
Saturday 08- had to dig up my plants in the front by the road and replant them inside the fence before the critters finish them off- Ron D. and I went to Yucca Valley to their “Summer of Music Festival” and saw the band “Answer”. I saw them last year and as always they were great! I took some great pictures and brought a camera for Ron to use too.
Sunday 09- cleaned the kitchen; its a bi-yearly thing I do- rained and thundered and I saw smoke from a fire in the park down by Yucca, the TV news said they have it done by Tuesday.
Monday 10- called my longtime friend Mike L. who lives in Hermosa Beach, to wish him a happy birthday- went to town to git supplies.
Tuesday 11- The Sawtooth Fire that was started by lightning last Friday afternoon and the National Park Service gave an “Estimated Containment Date July 11, 2006”. Has this Tuesday flared up into a major disaster burning houses around Pioneertown and has provoked mandatory evacuations of Pioneertown, Rimrock and Bowden Flats, Piper Canyon and other communities in the fires path. Last I heard it has consumed around 6000 acres and I can see the flames from my home this Tuesday night and you can see that the setting Sun is “Blood Red”.
Wednesday 12- As of Wednesday morning 30 homes have been destroyed and the fire has now covered over 26,000 acres and Flamingo Heights has been added to the mandatory evacuations list- the smoke from the fire had been going north-east of us but tonight the wind has changed and now we are in a fog of smoke- Stoney called to say he’s back from vacation. Told me about Rufus Stokes passing a week ago; I will write something appropriate for the paper.
Thursday 13- because of the smoke, I stayed inside all day and cleaned the house some more. It is a good thing that I had exercised yesterday- the fire has grown to over 40,000-acre and Governor Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency in San Bernardino County where 42 homes and 55 other structures were destroyed.
Friday 14- not too smoky this morning, so I went for my jog and exercised. I spent the rest of the day indoors cause the smoke came back and it got to 110 degrees. Worked on the website and did some cleaning of the computer room- The Sawtooth and Millard fires have merged! Using 2,600 firefighters and many support personnel, with a cost so far at 7.1 million, the fire is 20 percent contained at 62,000 acres destroying 56 homes. The largest fire to hit San Bernardino County was in October 2003 at 91,281 acres and the largest in the state was the Cedar fire in October 2003 in San Diego County at 273,246 acres obtained from the California Department of Forestry Statistics & Events.
Saturday 15- not a whole lot of anything going on except the heat coming in around 113 degrees, and the smoke came back for most of the day. I just stayed inside messing around with my computers and organizing my files- tried several types of Linux on my old Toshiba laptop to find one to replace Win98 and found problems with all: Suse 10.0 couldn’t find the CD but it had to read from it to be able to tell me that, Damn Small Linux wouldn’t find the modem, and Puppy Linux found the modem but I couldn’t find a way to load it onto the harddrive.
Sunday 16- still dang hot! They say that the Sawtooth fire is 35% contained- I called my parents to say hi and see how they were doing- Dale from Landers called and we talked about the fire- Mike from Hermosa called and we jawed for a while- at around 10pm the winds picked up and clouds started to appeared bringing thunder and I could see the lightning strikes in the mountains west of where I am, I hope it doesn’t bring more fires or create mud slides cause I think everyone, including the Firefighters, have had enough.
Monday 17- got a call from Jeff R. wanting to take him to town to get a flat tire fixed. I told him I’d be there in an hour after I exercised- another hot and humid day, so I just messed around with that old laptop trying to find a Win98 replacement, but I have the Win98 running so nice functional I may just keep it as is and move on to other important things-
Linda S. called and we talked about the responsibility folks should take on their own than to wait for the Government to respond to global warming. I believe that we all can cut at least 30 to 40 percent on the amount of resources we consume. We could cut down on the our driving by planning our trips to town:

1. Make shopping lists of what we may need for the next week or month so we can limit the trips to town. Go with a friend and share the gas.


2. Plan your route so the stores are all on the same side of the street, as you drive, no crossing the street back and forth.


3. Use less water. Only have plants that are native to the environment you live; no lawns in the desert duh, and wash your dishes by hand, that saves electric and water.


4. Get rid of them old incandescent lights (they should be outlawed) and replace them with compact fluorescent lamps or LED lights.


5. Get an LCD TV that is much more energy efficient than the old picture tube type.


6. A laptop replacement for that desktop computer.


7. Dry your clothes with a Thermonuclear Device (Clothes line)!


8. Have a few of your vacations closer to home.


9. On cold nights use an electric blanket instead of heating the whole dang house.


10. On them hot and dry days use a swamp cooler instead of AC.

Remember that once you burn oil in your car or your home, that’s it! It cannot be recycled! It goes into the air, into your lungs, and is just a nasty pollutant. And once it is gone it cannot be made into a plastic that’s in about everything we use, and plastic is recyclable. So don’t blame the government or email your congressperson looking for answers and waiting for solutions, cause the solution to the answer is you.
Tuesday 18- so dang hot and sticky that it feels like the meat is being steamed right off my bones- called Dan A. to see how he was doing- Mike from Hermosa called- wrote column and sent it to the newspaper.
Wednesday 19- it’s hot but I did my jog anyways- lightning strikes real close to home and my phone was out for several hours. I was also told that the electric power was out for around an hour by Stoney when I went over to his house to check on him- loaded OpenSuse Linux onto my newer laptop but it couldn’t find the wifi, so I got mad and took it off and tried to load Kubuntu back on but I or it messed up on the partitions and it deleted my MBR , but the Windows XP partition was still there so I created a MBR with GAG (GRAPHICAL BOOT MANAGER) and was able to boot up to XP with no problems.
Thursday 20- went outside around 1:30 pm and to checkout the lightning and I thought I saw a small amount of smoke coming from the mountain right by a repeater tower to the southwest. I called a few friends and told them about it when I thought to myself, “git yer camera and take some pictures dummy”! It was on the TV news that night and they must have put it out cause there was no smoke the next morning- Andrew dropped by for a spell and then we went to his house to work on some equipment.
Friday 21- not a whole lot happen today, mighty hot and sticky- called Stoney and he told me that the power went out for about an hour- on my old laptop I tried to load Xubuntu Linux that is suppose to run on older laptops but it ran out of ram and I will have to rethink about it- reloaded Suse Linux 10.1 on my newer laptop to give it one more chance- spent a few hours tonight working on this blog making it more readable.
Saturday 22- Joel dropped me off some cinnamon rolls in my mailbox this morning- Dale called and we talked about how dang hot and sticky the weather has been (we ain’t complaining)- Scott called and said he be over tomorrow- that OpenSuse 10.1 I loaded yesterday still couldn’t’ find the wifi or the modem so I loaded up the old retail version of Suse 10.0 that had all the drivers and it found both! Roger T. called at 6:30 pm to tell me to look at the smoke coming from the south. It was just a little east of where the fire from Thursday and later at night you could see the red from the flames- I stubbed my little toe on the door I haven’t hung that’s leaning against the wall in my small hallway and in the way. I guess it’s trying to tell me something.
Sunday 23- another hot day- washed clothes the old fashioned way: in a bucket with a plunger- Scott and Dion down from Lancaster working on Scott’s property and I thought I’d be neighborly and drop on over and offer to help out. Did some arc welding tacking up some loose and broken poles that the buffalos had messed up.
Monday 24- my little toe is still hurting from Saturday so I can’t do any jogging but I can lift some weights- still very hot today and did very little- had a nice chat with Terry W. by way of email.
Tuesday 25- still hot and my little toe still hurts, so I only did light exercises- John M. came by and brought over something mysterious for me to look at that he found in a shed on his property that was left by an old tenant- wrote column and sent it into the paper.
Wednesday 26- can’t jog but I can ride my bike! Rained and hailed pretty dang good, and the temp dropped from 110 to 80 degrees in less than 20 minutes, hail was coming down so hard that it chipped paint off my house!
Thursday 27- finally hung the bedroom door, the one that I dang near broke my little toe on- Joel came by with some pizza.
Friday 28- a little cooler today- Ron D. came over and brought me some leftovers and we sat around and jawed for a while.
Saturday 29- even cooler today! Dale from Landers called and we had a nice chat- messed around with a really old Dell laptop running Win95 and got Opera 8.51 running on it after updating it to run 32-bit software, it runs, but its like watching paint dry when ya load a website - Billie called and she sounds like she is doing much better than the last time I talked to her.
Sunday 30- my lazy day! Just messed around the house and worked on computers.
Monday 31- jogged for the first time in over a week since I stubbed my little toe and it felt good to run again! I even rode the bike afterwards and lifted weights. I am a happy man- Jim S. called to say hi and asked me about some computer related stuff- I went to town for supplies. I took my spare to get it fixed, it has a slow leak, but the dang tire shop in 29 was closed- picked up a USB harddrive enclosure Mojave Techs in 29 to store my backups- Ken, a reader of my column, called to ask me about what to use to keep the rats from eating his car’s wires: spray on some peppermint- well it is the end of the month and it ended on a really nice and cool day!

June 2006

Thursday 01- helped buffalo folk load Chief onto trailer, he was easy cause I got him to follow me into trailer by using carrots and slammed the door behind him- Joel came by with supper “chicken-cacciatore” and it was good!
Friday 02- helped buffalo folk load Sally into trailer, she was harder than Chief and I had to rope her horns and then we wrench her into trailer- Ron D. came by for a jaw and we got a call from the buffalo folk that Dion got rounded up and put in jail by the sheriff while following trailer back to Lancaster in car he needs us to go and pickup on HWY 247, so we went and picked it up- later that day Dion is sprung from jail and I pick him up and drove him back here- John M. dropped by to give me a door buzzer he thinks I need.
Saturday 03- buffalo folk call and ask me to come and help get Buffy into trailer cause they are having a hard time doing it. I spent the next 3 hours trying to help them get her in by she is just dang stubborn and we were afraid that she may hurt herself or have a heart attack in the hot sun, besides, Scott was pressed for time; he had to go to San Diego for a week and had to return the trailer to its owners that day, so I told them that I’d take care of Buffy for the next week till they got it together- Brenda dropped off her Gateway Profile2 all in one computer for repairs. FD and CD don’t work, boots up to Windows Me but the display is degraded and only fills a quarter of the screen.
Sunday 04- fed buffalo- 12 Noon John M. and I go to Morongo Valley in my truck to pickup a refrigerator he needs. We spent most of the day helping the lady who is giving the refrigerator to John with her burglar alarm. Her name is Annette, she used to be a famous model in the 40s’, and lives in a very big house that is built on a mountain that has had its top cut off for it. The driveway to the house is in between two mountains very narrow with a 200 foot drop off on either side (reminded me of Frankenstein’s castle, only desert style)- finished Brenda’s computer, got the display working right and recovered the USB functions buy reinstalling Windows Me and was able to plug in my external CD drive and copy files and drivers over from the recovery disks, but the FD and CD won’t work. I tried many things to get them to work, BIOS settings, different drives, and even tried Window settings in the system device IDE, but I didn’t think that was the problem. Since this is an “All In One” computer it is setup different than a regular desktop. I had spent over 4 hours on it to get it running the best I could without tearing it down and spending more time on a machine which is way out of date and maybe causing it to not function at all. So I ran it over to where she lives and told her she should get a new one before this one stops functioning altogether- Mike from Hermosa Beach calls.
Monday 05- fed the buffalo.
Tuesday 06- got up early and painted some Snow Coat on the roof- fed buffalo- wrote my column and sent it to the newspaper.
Wednesday 07- helped John M. get the refrigerator into his house- went to Andrew’s and we worked on a very old computer that had an IDE primary harddrive failure. We replaced the CPU and messed around with the BIOS till we got it working. We really need to stop working on these old computers, this one was a 233mhz processor with wires hanging all over its insides and dust clogging up the power supply fans- Fed buffalo.
Thursday 08- went to town to get some carrots for the buffalo and some supplies for me. Got propane at Bar Lumber and innertube for my small motorcycle. While I was putting groceries into my truck Channel 2 came up and asked if they could interview me on what I thought about the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death, I told them that it was good news for our troops and that I hoped that his death would bring them home soon- fed buffalo with Andrew and got some pictures of him feeding her-
Friday 09- fed buffalo- saw fire in the mountains due west of here and it was up around Big Bear- worked on website for the weekend update.
Saturday 10- fed the buffalo- went to meeting at the community center for the Community Watch Program. Seemed to me a little fishy that the Board of Directors said we could only ask, “permitted questions” of the Sheriff’s Officers or they would stop the meeting. Now what was that about? – Mac’s computer has gone caput and I told him to bring it by and I’ll have a look see. Looks like a bad power supply, I checked all the connections, made sure all the boards and ram were seated, and told him to take it to his friend that is lending it to him to have it replaced. I will get one of mine ready for Mac to use until he gets it back.
Sunday 11- Ron D. came by with some vittles and a video for me. I took him over to feed the buffalo and took some pictures- reloaded XP on one of my computers for Mac to use as a loaner and took it over to him- Seime came by for a visit and we sat and ate fruit and crackers- Mike from Hermosa Beach calls.
Monday 12- fed buffalo- John M. comes by with some nick knacks- Jeff shows up with onions and I share some lime chicken and rice with him.
Tuesday 13- fed buffalo- cleaned up around the house- wrote column for the newspaper and sent it in.
Wednesday 14- fed buffalo- took tire off small motorcycle for repair- Scott called and he is in Yucca Valley with trailer and will be here to pickup buffalo in 20 minutes. Scott, Jason, and me spent the next 3 hours getting Buffy into that dang trailer and we weren’t going till we did. With a little heckling from me I got Scott to get out there and lasso Buffy by the horns and then we wrenched her into the trailer and Scott immediately drove off with her to Lancaster- called my friend Mike from Hermosa Beach- started writing this blog for posting.
Thursday 15- got tire patched on small motorcycle and filled it up with air and took it for a ride- Joel came by with dinner, a concoction that he made-up which was very good- Jeff called around 9pm needing a ride from the hospital, but my rear lights don’t work for night driving and told him to catch a taxi and drop him off at the bottom of Coyote Valley Road where the pavement ends and I’d pick him up there.
Friday 16- messed around the house fixing a few small things that otherwise wouldn’t hold my attention as I have so many bigger things to do- finished my “PC Trouble Shooting” that I’ve been taking online.
Saturday 17- worked most of the day finding the best way of converting a PDF to HTML and finally succeeded in finding a program that did it pretty well at the least expense. This is for a job I may bid on for a LA newspaper website, editor is named David.
Sunday 18- jawed with Scott and Dion for a few hours talking about our reckless youth, well their reckless youth; I’ll just let them believe I am guiltless- sent samples of the html document that was converted to David.
Monday 19- Raymond S. came by and asked me about that old VW bus that I have sitting in the front yard and ended up trading the tire changer, that I got from John M. a few weeks ago, for a camper shell Raymond had at his home that fit on my truck perfectly- Stoney came by with some food- John M. called to ask if we can take my truck tomorrow and pickup some furniture, I told him ok- John M. called again needing a jump for his car so he can take his grandson back home in Adelanto. I came with my jumper cables and we found that his battery wouldn’t hold a charge, I told him I had a spare at home he could use till he got it replaced and sent them on their way.     
Wednesday 21- Joel came by with lunch; double cheeseburger and onion rings- fixed flat on my bicycle.
Thursday 22- George Chadwick called to say thanks for the story I wrote about Joan’s passing and we talked for a while. I will write another story on her with the info I just got from George.
Friday 23- just plain hot but I exercised anyway- worked a little around the house and read.
Saturday 24- Mike called from Hermosa Beach- Dale called from Landers- went down and talked to Scott and Dion while they put in the bathroom tile- Brenda called and asked if I’d work on her sister’s computer, I told her to bring it down tomorrow.
Sunday 25- Debbie brought over her old Packard Bell 333mhz, 256meg of ram, system is running Win XP. CD and floppy drive didn’t work and has a virus. Replaced CD with one she brought over and got it to work. Tried system restore but it didn’t have enough space on harddrive.
Monday 26- continued to work on Debbie’s computer. Tried to do what I could to keep her XP but it is like putting a jet engine in a Model-T Ford. She didn’t mind if I installed Win98SE so I did and did the updates and downloaded driver for her modem. Replaced the floppy drive and messed with the BIOS and got it working. Installed anti-virus, anti-spyware and a firewall and called her to pickup.
Tuesday 27- John m. and I took the truck to Annette’s home in Yucca and picked up couch and washer- wrote column and sent it to newspaper.
Wednesday 28- had dinner over at Mac’s home with his family and neighbor Chuck. Mac cooked us up something special called rippers.  Played some kind of game with Dennis where you hit a piece of flat plastic around on a table with air coming up through little holes, he won the first one buy 2 points, I won the second by 5- it rained some up here and we had some thunder so when I heard a load noise I thought it was that, but it turned out to be a car that was speeding and hit the brim of the road and flipped over a few times and came to rest on its top. I talked to the officer who was at the scene and he told me that the driver had left before he arrived. I heard latter that the driver’s first name was Keith. I took some pictures and put one on the website.
Thursday 29- played around with old laptop and took off Win2000, which was making it run too slow, and installed Win98- Joel called and said he has a bad problem with his computer, I told him to bring it by.
Friday 30- worked on Joel’s computer and had to uninstall McAfee VirusScan that comes bundled with AOL. The program would start when the machine booted and run the CPU at 100 percent so nothing else could run- visited Scott for a while- Mike from Hermosa Beach called- Microsoft is discontinuing support for Win98-ME so I downloaded all the critical updates from their site and saved them to disk for future installs.