August 2012

Welcome to the Month of August- cloudy but no rain with temps into the high 80s.

I did my stretches and went for a short walk.

I spent the rest of the day editing and adding to the book.

Thursday 02- very nice day, but a little muggy with temps into the low 90s.

I did my stretches and went for a nice long walk.

I spent the rest of the day editing and adding to the book. I think I got it almost done, but I want to add to the characters a bit. Carolyn is helping me edit and is a real help catching the little things I miss; and some big ones too.

 Friday 03- mostly cloudy day with rain here and there.

I woke up early around 6am, did my stretches, and went for a morning walk.

Kelly has a doctor’s appointment at 2:30pm, so I picked her up at noon and headed to Twentynine Palms to get our packages at the post office. We stopped off at Bar Lumber to get her propane tank filled. Before we left 29 we got drinks and two chicken sandwiches at the AMPM Market at the ARCO. Then we were on our way to Palm Desert. It rained as we went through Yucca Valley which slowed us down a bit, but we made it to the doctor’s office with 5min to spare. I sat around watching a BBC Earth documentary for over two hours while they adjusted the settings on Kelly’s temporary electric doohickey she now has implanted in her back. We got back on the road and went shopping at WalMart, then on to Rite Aid to get her prescription fill, lunch at Burger King (we had coupons) and shopping for supplies at Stater Bros. Again, I finally got home around 10:30pm.

Saturday 04- clouds here and there with temps into the low 90.

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

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

I called my friend Larry Carlock to wish him a happy birthday and we jawed about old times for over an hour.

I worked on my book all day and into the night.

I went for a night run.

Sunday 05- a few clouds with the temps into the high 90s.

I did my stretches and went for a short morning walk.

I was on FaceBook for a spell and for some reason me and Carolyn decided to start a FaceBook Page called ‘FaceBook Goes to Mars’ so we could watch the landing of Curiosity on Mars with friends. We had a little over one hundred folks join in only a few hours. Seemed like a lot of FaceBook folks came on in around 8:30pm when NASA started their program, some called “7 minutes of terror”, and you could see the technicians milling around their consoles getting ready to begin. I thought it was really exciting to be with like mined folks commenting on FaceBook and watching events unfold at JPL in Pasadena. We were altogether as those 7 minutes of terror came around 10:30PM PDT and were just as jubilant as anyone at JPL when the first pictures came in from Mars! What a ride!

Monday 06- it is hot and muggy today with a few sprinkles of the wet stuff.

I did my stretches, core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and went for a short walk.

I picked up Kelly at 1pm to take her to her doctor’s appointment where they will take out the temporary device. It started to rain a bit once we hit hwy 62 but seemed that we raced away from it. She got out of the doc’s around 3:30 and we then went to the deli for dinner and stayed there until almost 7pm. We went shopping at Staters Bros to get supplies. I got home around 9:30pm.

I went back to work editing and adding to my book. Carolyn sent in an edited chapter 11. Tomorrow I’ll hope to spend most of the day on my book. I want to have it done before the end of August, have a few copies printed for editing, and an EBook up on Amazon later in September. This is my hope…

Tuesday 07- still hot and muggy.

I did my stretches and went for a short walk.

I haven’t started the Honda Scooter in three days. I try to start it every day so it won’t get messed up and not start. Well to make a long story short; it didn’t start. So after a long spell of trying, I got underneath and drained the float bowl. It finally started. Also it started to rain and I couldn’t go drive it to charge the battery.

Carolyn now has all the rest of the chapters.

I spent the rest of the day working on the book.

Wednesday 08- hot! 112 degrees, and really muggy!

I’ll have to say that I stayed at home and inside because of the weather. That is okay, because I spent the time replying to my happy birthday wishes on FaceBook and phone calls from friends.

Judy Jackson called and we had a nice long chat. She made me Baklava, I thought that mighty nice, and sent it by UPS who arrived around 4:30. I ate two pieces it was so good, but gave me a big honey rush, yum!

I wanted until 8pm to ride my little scooter to my mailboxes, about an 18 mile round trip to both boxes, and collected lots of birthday cards. I feel much loved.

Thursday 09- very hot with temps into the teens and muggy.

I did my stretches, yoga, ran one and a half miles, and lifted dumbbells.

I did a little work on the book. I suppose I should get started editing book two, the Sci-Fi one, pretty soon.

I checked my batteries that run my little home. They were a little low and I filled them up with distilled water.

I watched two episodes of “Warehouse 13” and messed around on FaceBook here and there throughout the day.

Friday 10- a little cooler with temps around 112.

I did my stretches, core trainer, and lifted weights.

I started all my vehicles and let them run for a bit. I really need to take the Harley out for a run.

It was just too dang hot to do anything else today.

Being so hot, I decided to hook up the swamp cooler. I had it running but it wasn’t putting out enough cold air. I took the old electric car radiator fan I had installed inside and mounted to a piece of plywood that fit to the front of the cooler. Now it’s like a hurricane inside my bedroom!

I started editing book 2, the Sci-Fi book. It’s going to take much longer being it’s over 50,000 words.

Saturday 11- very hot, 113, with clouds.

I did my stretches.

Updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.

Worked on both books.

I watched the Perseid Meteor Shower and chatting with my friends in our group “FaceBook Goes to Mars”. We have dark skies where I live. Usually when people hear Shower they think of lots and lots of meteors, which isn't the case. On a good night during a meteor shower you may see 1 or 2 a minute, but what you really want to see is the Earthgrazers that makes for the WOW you hear at meteor parties

From 10 to 11pm I counted in 45 minutes 11 dim, 8 medium, 4 bright, and 2 very bright meteors. I tried the NASA counter on my phone and it died twice and when I did get it running it would ruin my night vision... I should have tested it before hand.

11:30 to midnight I saw 2 dim, 3 med, and 2 bright...

2 to 3am I counted over 40 and gave up. Most were bright; a few were dim but not many because of the Moon. The Moon really looked special tonight having Jupiter, Venus as close neighbors in the eastern skies. I went to bed shortly after and fell right to sleep.

 Sunday 12- hot, cloudy, thunder and lightning, but no rain.

I was working on the books when I heard thunder and stepped outside to see what was going on. There were lots of storm cells coming my way, but after a spell they either petered out or went off to the north as usual. I went back inside for a spell until I smelled smoke. It was coming from the Joshua Tree National Park where lightning had sparked a fire. I grabbed my camera and took pictures and videos of fire in park. I uploaded them to FaceBook where I’ve been hanging out off and on all day. I got some mighty fine friend there!

I went outside around 10pm to check for meteors, but the sky was overcast.

Monday 13- hot, cloudy, thunder and lightning, but this time it did rain!

I did my stretches, core trainer, yoga, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and ran up the hill and back carrying 5lbs in each hand. I’m back at it now!

The charge controller to my 12 volt system went out. I happened to have a spare charger and hooked it up, but the batteries were so low I had to connect and run off my emergency 12 volt battery system, until the other batteries charge up.

I went for an evening walk with my backpack with only 15 pounds in it this time. I think I better drop it down to ten next walk.

I worked on my book and chatted with some friends on FaceBook. I need a name for my book, the working title “A little Desert Home” sounds too much like “Little Home on the Prairie” to some folks, and now I find myself thinking that.

I went for a night run.

I loaded all chapter of “A little Desert Home” onto a website that prints books. I will format it for printing there.

  

Tuesday 14- temps around 112 degrees, with some cloudiness with smoke from the fires added to the mix.

I did my stretches, just too much smoke.

Paula called and we had a long chat about family matters.

I went for an evening walk with my backpack.

The sky was much clouded with smoke off to the western skies. I could smell the smoke. I took some pictures and video.

I took the night off from working on my two books to watch an episode of “Warehouse 13” and then watched “The Relic” (1996?) until the 10:47 to the end of the movie when my internet connection went down right at the most suspenseful part when the monster was climbing the stairs to eat the girl, bummer! I do believe she gets away :)

Wednesday 15- dang hot, muggy, and too smoky!

I did my stretches. 

I stayed inside out of the smokey haze and heat to worked on my book all day and into the night. I put a notice of FaceBook that I would be in hiding for a few days to get work done.

Thursday 16- very hot and humid and the air was filled with smoke just like yesterday.

I did my stretches, but because of the smoke in the air that’s all I did.

I did three loads of laundry over at Stoney’s and checked my mail on Lear Ave.

Around 9pm I drove the scooter down to get my mail down on Border Ave.

I watched a movie called “XXX” (2002) starring Vin Diesel. I’ve seen it before; it was exciting to watch again. I can’t find any movies I really interest me on Netflix….

Friday 17- temps in the high 90s with clouds.

I had to go to my doctor to get a prescription filled. Kelly said she wanted to tag along and I picked her up at 10:15am.

We spent two hours at the doc’s waiting. We spent one hour at Rite Aid waiting to get Kelly’s prescription filled (they lost the scrip and had to call her doctor), we spent another hour at Star Pharmacy waiting for my prescription to be filled (Doc didn’t fax the scrip). Lots of waiting for these ‘professionals’…

We arrived at the Sizzler for lunch somewhere around 4pm and ate like pigs; we haven’t had breakfast or lunch. We did our shopping at WalMart and then Staters. After I dropped Kelly and her supplies off at her house and was about to drive away, she comes running out  telling me to come back. I got out and walked back and sat down outside while she was inside searching for something. That something was a nice Timex watch that she had bought me for my birthday. She also bought another watch she said was just for show because none of the fancy dials and gauges are real, just for show. I thought that mighty sweet of her!
I drove to my mailbox on Border Ave. to send out some letters I had written that I forgot to mail earlier.

I watched three episodes of Ally McBeal (1997-2001) on Netflix. I’ve never seen it before, not even an episode, so I thought I’d check it out; pretty dang good show. 

Saturday 18- hot and muggy.

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

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

I called family and friends.

My Toshiba laptop’s screen went blank…..

I did my stretches, went for a night run

I watched one episode of “Ally McBeal”

Sunday 19- hot and muggy again.

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

I worked on my book.

I went for a night run.

Monday 20- still hot and muggy.

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

All day I worked on my book getting it ready to print.

I went for an evening walk with my backpack

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

I showed the girls on FaceBook my guardian spider: "Here is my Spider guard who sits by my front door and protects the house from little intruders :)"  

Tuesday 21- yucky but cooler with temps of 103.

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

I finally got everything together on my book along with the front and back covers. These first ten I ordered will be used for editing and given away to friends.  This book is “A Little Desert Home” I'm having printed. I had trouble uploading the cover to that, but I got it done sorta kinda. Anyways it's 10 copies I can handout for editing. It wasn't that expensive.

I went for an evening walk with my backpack

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

Gosh, I felt so good about getting the book printed I even played my guitar tonight.

Wednesday 22- it finally rained really good!!!

I did my stretches, but couldn’t do much more because of the heavy downpour. It came down so hard that it even got into the porch and soaked my exercising equipment. So I just kicked back inside, did a little work around the house, messed with the computers and FaceBook.

In the evening I watched two episodes of “Ally McBeal”, and “The Expendables” (2010) Starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, David Zayas, and a very beautiful Giselle Itié. It was a darn good action movie that kept me interested. About mercenaries sent to an island nation to kill a rouge CIA Agent who has taken over by force the island and its military dictator to produce cocaine.

Thursday 23- it was actually nice out.

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

Harley wouldn’t startup. I had to jump it with an emergency battery I have for purposes as such. I drove to mailboxes. Bad road!!!!

Friday 24- another nice day with the temps around 95.

I did my stretches, yoga, ran one and a half miles, and lifted dumbbells.

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

After running a new tank of gas through and still having the same trouble, I finally had enough with the Honda scooter not starting if left idle for a few days. I called the dealership and told them that it wasn’t right, that there was something seriously wrong with the bike; they will come pick it up on Tuesday to have a look see at it.

Carolyn started reading the second book I wrote and will edit it at her leisure.

Saturday 25- nice day as was yesterday.

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

I went to visit my neighbors Mark and Gloria who are down for the weekend, but they were not there. I left them a solar light.

I cooked up some rice with chili beans went to potluck. Chris Jonas made his famous world renowned macaroni salad. Marie Morrison slipped us a red velvet cake. Tim Atzei scalloped some potatoes. Ruth Malton ambrosia salad was fit for the classical gods. Cal Myers fruit plate was picked over quite a bit until the plate was exposed. Dyan Carroll worked her fingers to the bone preparing enchiladas, lime truffle and crab salad for our enjoyment.  Dorothy Jacobsen made her wonderful corn mac and cheese, and her fig bars were mighty fine. Dave Royer’s Italian roasted chicken with lemon and rosemary seasonings stood up and saluted shouting “howdy y’all come and get it”. Mary Koval and Chris cooked up a storm with spaghetti, garlic toast, and jello. Their carrot fig cake dessert just about flew off the table and unto your plate it was so good. Now to tell the truth we were expecting the Garden Committee to come and everyone made more than usual, much more; last potluck we bout run out of food when their committee held a meeting. This time only one Garden member showed up and he was a vegetarian and could only gnaw at what was left of Cal’s fruit plate. There was a lot of food leftover. Chris and me stuck around till 6pm to see if the Garden Committee showed, but none did…

Sunday 26- nice day temps in the 90s…

I did my stretches

I went for a walk over to Mark and Gloria’s cabin and they were home this time.

I worked on editing three chapters

Monday 27- got hot again 105…

I did my stretches, yoga, ran one and a half miles, and lifted dumbbells.

I updated my online journal.

My books arrived by UPS.

I went for my evening walk with the backpack.

Tuesday 28- still hot!

I did my stretches, core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, but didn’t go for a run because I had to stick around for the Honda guy to call.

Roger Smith came by to yap for a spell; nice to have visitors once in a great while.

The Honda guy called Aston came in a truck and trailer to pick up my little scooter.

I went for a walk with my backpack.

I went right to work on editing and proofing my second book. Carolyn keeps sending me chapters she has read and edited and has been a great help.

Wednesday 29- it was cloudy all day long!

I did my stretches, lifted dumbbells, and ran a mile and a half.

I was working on the book when it started raining very hard. I went outside with my camera to video it and walked right out into it; the rain was really cold and I ran back undercover.

Thursday 30- lots of cloud cover, but very nice outside today!

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

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

I went for a night run.

Friday 31- a little warmer with a few clouds.

I did my stretches, lifted dumbbells, and ran a mile and a half.

Honda called and they are having Aston bring the scooter back to me. It was the bad gas they put into it when I first got it. In fact they say you have to add some stuff that keeps the gas fresh or else it’ll get clogged up again. Also if I’m going to store it for any length of time I’m supposed to drain the float bowl. I’m going to talk to Larry the parts guy down there to see if he has a cutoff valve I can install between the tank and the carb.

I rode the scooter over to Linda and Blake’s for a short visit. It seems like we have some French folks who moved into the neighborhood. They left a business card on Blake’s fence, but we have no idea where the address of their house is.

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

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

I went for a night run.

Sorry if my journal posts have been short these last few week, months… I’ve been really been working hard editing, proofing, and writing new stories.

Goodbye to August; one busy and happy month!

July 2012

Welcome to the Month of July- highs to 101, and lows down to 70 degrees.
I did my stretches.
I took a broom and then mopped all the floors in my little home with Pine-Sol.
I checked and filled my batteries that run all the electric in the house.
My friend Kula called asking for help with her laptop that’s been acting up. We tried the easy stuff first: checked for lent in fan, reseating the RAM, clean disk, disk defrag, and lastly a check disk which ran for hours. I told her to let it run and call me in the morning if the laptop still wasn’t working properly. It sounds to me like either- corrupt files on the disk- a failing hard drive- or a bad power supply. Hopefully it runs okay tomorrow; if not I’ll walk her through a fresh install to see if it’s just corrupt files, or the hard drive.


July 02- highs around 100, with lows down to 72 degrees.
I did my stretches, lifted dumbbells, rode my bike, core trainer, yoga, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and ran up the hill and back carrying 5lbs in each hand.
What we tried yesterday to fix Kula’s laptop didn’t work, so I spent over an hour on the phone walking Kula through the steps to restore her laptop back to factory settings.
I did a lesson in Beginning Latin book and another in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: a mountain with a waterfall.
I went to the post office in Twentynine Palms to pick up two packages.
I went for my evening walk with two bricks in my backpack.
I watched lecture 34 on the Berkeley biology course about: Integration: Sex and reproduction.
I did my stretches and went for a night run.
I began reading chapter 4 of “The Universe in a Nutshell” by Stephen Hawking.
I read a section on in “The Practical Entomologist” About: Grasshoppers, Katydids and Crickets- Order of Orthoptera. You can time the chirping of crickets to get the temperature by counting the number of chirps in 14seconds and add 40 to count.
I read a chapter of Edgar Rice Burroughs “The Gods of Mars”.


July 03- temps into the 90s.
I did my stretches- my hip is hurting again and will lay off riding the bike up the hill because I believe that is what’s weakening the muscle there. I seem to have no problem running and walking, but I’ll lay off those too for a spell, too.
I took Kelly to post office to get her packages, Rite Aid to get prescriptions filled, and then to Staters Bros shopping for our 4th of July barbecue. We had dinner at Burger King,
I watched a movie on Netflix called “K-19: The Widowmaker” (2002). About the Soviet Union’s first nuclear sub launched in 1961and all the trouble it got into with bad construction, a rush to get it into action off the coast of the USA, the mentality of the political officers and bureaucracy of the times.
I stayed up late (until 3:30AM) to watch announcements from Cern about the finding of the Higgs Boson.
It started raining around 2AM. I could smell the creosote bushes; they have such a wonderful fragrance when they get wet. It did cross my mind that it might rain earlier in the day: the front door was hard to open and shut, there was a haze in the western sky all day, but I paid it little thought.


Independents Day! - it was overcast and breezy most of the day with temps never reaching 90 degrees.
I did my stretches, lifted dumbbells, core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag. I’m still staying off my legs as much as I can.
I did a lesson in Beginning Latin book and another in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: Palm trees.
At around 5PM I dropped by Stoney’s to visit with his Daughter Judy and her daughter Jody, but they were not there. So I went on over to my friend Kelly’s to have a barbecue with her. I played around with getting my old barbecue going, which hasn’t been used since 98, while Kelly cooked up the corn and potatoes and anything else we needed for our meal. I put the two ribeye steaks on and the wonderful smell of them sizzling on the charcoal grill filled the air. Kelly brought out the plates along with chives and sour cream for the potatoes. I fished the steaks out from the grill and we proceeded to scarf away at the fest in front of us. The steaks were a little bit overdone, but seeing it was ribeye and tender and I haven’t barbecued in boocoo years, Kelly gracefully let it slide. After dinner we took two of her dogs, Stitch and Lilly, for a walk.
Last year we were told by the local radio station Z1077 there wouldn’t be any fireworks at the base, but Kelly could see them from her front yard and called me but it was too late to go. I don’t listen to Z1077 anymore; they spoiled my 4th last year and play weird songs anyways.
This year we just drove down to the Marine base to watch the fireworks. We passed folks along the way who had already had their cars parked off to the side of the road at the end of Pole Line in front of the parade grounds at the base where they been firing them off for years. We found a nice spot down a side road where Stoney and I used to watch them- little did Kelly and I know that they had moved the fireworks a few miles away from where it was originally at the parade ground. We could still see them from where we setup camp and just turned our chairs around to watch. It wasn’t as spectacular, but we saw them. After sitting and relaxing for a long spell, we drove back to Kelly’s where we sat out front and had pineapple upside down cake and tea. She was looking at the bugs on her wall that were attracted by the outside light and said she found a Dragonfly. I looked at it and its wings were held against its body and told her it was a Damselfly, as Dragonflies rest with their wings spread to their sides. So I guess reading that Entomologist book is paying off. What a wonderful evening!


July 05- clouds here and there but mostly sunny with temps in the mid 90s and tonight around 72 degrees.
I stayed up last night until almost 4AM, and slept in until 12:20PM.
I did my stretches, lifted dumbbells, and went for a short walk.
I just kinda kicked back today surfing the web.
I watched “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” (2011) So much action you can’t get bored.


July 06- temps got into the low 100s with 72 degrees tonight.
I did my stretches, lifted dumbbells, core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and went for a short walk.
I did a lesson in Beginning Latin book and another in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: A house and a face.
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
I watched lecture 35 on the Berkeley biology course about: Integration: Nerve cells and excitability.
I got a call from Stoney’s daughter Judy to come over to help them setup the digital converter for the TV. I guess our area is finally changing over to all digital this week and getting rid of UHF. I got it all set up for them and stayed for a spell and jawed about old times and watched some show called “Undercover Boss” where the CEO of a company secretly becomes a worker. It was actually pretty good.
I’m still reading chapter 4 of “The Universe in a Nutshell” by Stephen Hawking. It’s mostly about black holes and the curvature of spacetime.
I read a section on in “The Practical Entomologist” about: The true bugs order Hemiptera.
I read two chapters of Edgar Rice Burroughs “The Gods of Mars”.
I finished chapter 1 of “Molecular & Cell Biology for Dummies” about: Exploring the world of the cell, very basic to me now :)

Saturday 07- temps climbed to 110 with clear skies and a low tonight of 75 degrees.
I did my stretches and took a walk over to my neighbor Mark, who was on the roof with a friend hammering on the shingles. They took a break and we jawed for a short spell. Before I left Mark gave me this large donut from the Donut Man store, which I devoured once I gotten home.
I did a lesson in Beginning Latin book and another in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something; a funny alien.
I watched lecture 36 on the Berkeley biology course about: Integration: Muscle cells and motility.
I finished reading chapter 4 of “The Universe in a Nutshell” by Stephen Hawking. This chapter was able to clarify an idea I had about Hawking Radiation and virtual particles. I thought that as the virtual particles split up and one went into the event horizon and the other went into normal space we would still be able to know the spin of the one in the black hole by knowing the spin of the one in normal space through Entanglement. Thus we could get information from inside a black hole. I came up with this a few years ago after reading a book on the entanglement. Well I was on the right track, but Hawking says we need to “predict the spin and wave function of the one outgoing particle, which we could do if we could observe the particle that has fallen in”, but we can’t do that because it is inside the black hole. It was pretty cool coming up with this idea and getting this far on my own, even if it didn’t work out at the end.
I watched lecture 37 on the Berkeley biology course about: Integration: Nervous system.
I just got an AstroAlert from Sky & Telescope that there is a Nova in Sagittarius! They said it was “roughly between the "lid" and "spout" of the Teapot stars, at right ascension 18h 20.5m, declination -27° 44'… Of course I went outside to check it out with my new binoculars and I believe I saw it in the dust lanes, but I won’t know for sure until I see some photographs.
I watched lecture 38 on the Berkeley biology course about: Integration: Special senses. This was the last lecture on new material and there are two review lectures left to watch.

Sunday 08- temps over 110, no breeze…
I did my stretches and went for a short walk around my property.
I did a lesson in Beginning Latin book and another in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: a damselfly.
I watched lectures 39 and 40 on the Berkeley biology course about: Review 1 and 2. I am all do with this biology class and hope that my pea brain absorbed a bit of it.
I started reading chapter 5 of “The Universe in a Nutshell” by Stephen Hawking.
I read a chapter of Edgar Rice Burroughs “The Gods of Mars”.

Monday 09- 110 degrees.
I did my stretches, lifted dumbbells, rode my bike, core trainer, yoga, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and ran up the hill and back carrying 5lbs in each hand.
I watered all the plants outside.
I did a lesson in Beginning Latin book and another in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something:
I continued reading chapter 5 of “The Universe in a Nutshell” by Stephen Hawking.
I rode the scooter down to collect my mail.
I read a chapter of Edgar Rice Burroughs “The Gods of Mars”.

Tuesday 10- very hot! It was 95 degrees at 7AM in the dang morning!
I did my stretches and that is all.
I picked Kelly up at her house at 1PM and we went to town to do some shopping in the cool innards of Home Depot and WalMart. We also got gas, visited the post office, and made a short stop at Stater Bros that turned into a longer than expected. I got home at 10:30PM after dinning on chicken hindquarters and potato wedges at Kelly’s.

Wednesday 11- hot and muggy with temps of 112…
I did my stretches and nothing else. On theses kinda days you don’t do anything too strenuous; actually I didn’t do anything except mess with FaceBook and a few other websites.
Frank called to have me check his water meter to see if he has a leak. Around sundown I rode the scooter to collect my mail on Lear Ave and also checked Frank’s meter- it was leaking.

Thursday 12- cloudy all day with temps into the high 90s. It rained last night for two short periods at 11PM and 3AM.
I did my stretches, core trainer, yoga, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and ran a mile.
I did a lesson in Beginning Latin book and another in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: motorcycle with two people on it.
It had cooled down enough to do a little bit of work around the yard.
I read five chapters of Edgar Rice Burroughs “The Gods of Mars”.
Kelly called to tell me it started raining with lightning and thunder.

Friday 13- I woke up 5am sooo sick to my stomach that I was afraid I might just pass on over to the Promised Land before I could cleanup any unflattering computer files (just kidding). I lay in pain for many hours with the cold sweats and this muggy weather making my condition worse. Finally it settled down some around 1PM. Still I was dizzy and weak when I stand up... bad food? You think I ate too many cupcakes? I went online and checked some websites out giving my symptoms, and they all came back with Gallbladder attack. I ate too dang much greasy foods and my body came a knocking letting me know I was doing it wrong. I need to get some beet juice! They said it helps...
I stayed in bed most of the day finishing “The Gods of War” and started reading “The Warlord of Mars” by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I enjoy reading them and believe that if the books were just released today they’d be a big hit.
It rained during the day here and there. I went outside around 10PM with my flashlight to check things out. The air was very clean and fresh, and the big creosote in my front yard looked mighty tall as my light beam fell upon the upper branches; this made me feel quite happy to be alive after today’s malady.

Saturday 14- a very nice day with the temps in the low 90s.
I’m feeling much better today and did my stretches, core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and ran up the hill and back carrying 5lbs in each hand.
I did a lesson in Beginning Latin book and another in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: an old Spanish Galleon.
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
I went for my evening walk with one brick in my backpack.
I got a new book in the mail on Thursday called “Organic Chemistry 1” by David R. Klein. I bought this book because all of the molecular biology books and lectures show these Bond-Line drawings that I know nothing about… now I know a little after going through the first chapter; you don’t have to draw the carbon or the hydrogen atom. A carbon atom can have only four bonds; these are connected to either other carbon atom, hydrogen or another type of atom. You see these zigzagging lines and can figure out how many carbon and hydrogen are there. I’m having a little trouble understanding double and triple bonds; the book, I found out, is a supplement to classroom textbooks on the subject- so I’m at a disadvantage here trying to fill in the gaps.
I read several chapters of Edgar Rice Burroughs “The Warlord of Mars”.
I went for a night run.

Sunday 15- nice day with temps in the high 80s.

I’ve decided that I'm turning off the computer and the phone. I just need to get caught up with stuff and not communicating with certain people right now...social networking like FaceBook and others, also emails and people calling have taken too much of my time. I will check from time to time if there are any important messages that I need to reply to or call.

I have a myriad of projects I need to complete and out of the way. I have two books I wrote and which need to be edited- I have two other books started that need to be finished.

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

I did four lessons in Beginning Latin book and another in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: a house.

I called and talked to family and friends. Dang Mac kept me on the phone jawing for 90minutes.

I went for my evening walk carrying a five pound weight which will be easier on the backpack then bricks. I might look into setting up my hiking and camping backpack which is much larger, and get used to carrying that.

Throughout the day I read a bunch of chapters of Edgar Rice Burroughs “The Warlord of Mars”.

I went for a night run.

Monday 16- another nice and cool day!

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

I did a lesson in Beginning Latin book and another in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something:

I read part of chapter 6 of “The Universe in a Nutshell” by Stephen Hawking. About: Time travel- how it is/isn’t possible.

I read 2 chapters of Edgar Rice Burroughs “The Warlord of Mars”.

I went for my evening walk with the backpack with a five pound weight. I noticed throughout this year there hasn’t been many flowers- even the Sahara Mustard plant didn’t sprout- and there hasn’t been any of the big black ants either. Well yesterday and today I’ve noticed them starting to dig holes here and there; where at this time of year there would be large mounds. Also on my walks I photographed Gulls that are fungi on the creosote bush deposited by insects that lay their eggs there. If you look closely at the photo you can see the ribbed larvae poking their heads out. 

I got caught up with my astronomy reading.

I studied chapter 2 “Molecular and Cell Biology for Dummies”.

I read a section on in “The Practical Entomologist”. About: Aphids, Cicadas, and Hoppers- order of homoptera.

Tuesday 17- another fine and glorious day.

I did my stretches, yoga, lifted dumbbells and went for a mile and a half run.

I did a lesson in Beginning Latin book and another in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something:

I studied “Molecular and Cell Biology for Dummies”

I finished chapter 6 of “The Universe in a Nutshell” by Stephen Hawking.

At 1PM I picked Kelly up and we drove to the post office, got gas, Rite Aid, Stater Bros. and lunch at Burger King; their fish sandwich was mighty good! Kelly got her new glasses today in the mail, so we sat outside her house looking at things far away and jawing about this and that. I got home around 6PM.

I went for my evening walk carrying a five pound weight in my backpack.

I read a few chapter of Edgar Rice Burroughs “The Warlord of Mars”.

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

I did a little stargazing- M13 in Hercules, and a few other globular clusters around the teapot.

I practiced my guitar.

Wednesday 18- a lovely day.

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

I did three lessons in Beginning Latin book and another three in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: monsters.

I’m still studying chapter 1 of “Molecular and Cell Biology for Dummies”

I started reading the last chapter of “The Universe in a Nutshell” by Stephen Hawking.

I heard that beets are good for your gallbladder, so yesterday I bought some. I got out my juicer that has been in storage for nine years which the packrats got to and I had to use bleach to clean and wash it all up. Then I cut up all the beets and other vegetables and was happily feeding them down the hole that shreds them when I noticed red juice flowing around the juicer. It turns out that the plastic container in the front, that I thought collected the juice, only collected the pulverize remains of what I fed in. After some investigating, I found a sprout in the back where the juice comes out and goes into a cup that I was supposed to put there, oh well. So I sopped up the red liquid on the kitchen counter and continued. Little did I know that the spilled fluid was sucked up into the motor by a cooling fan on the bottom; another mess. I finally got everything cleaned up, even the walls, and sat down and drank the whole glass of beet juice down in two gulps. Was it worth it? I don’t know, but it tasted really good!

I got my old hiking backpack together and went for my evening walk. This backpack I bought at REI in 1996 just before coming up here. It has straps and compartments all over- it was made for long hikes.

I finished reading Edgar Rice Burroughs “The Warlord of Mars”. What a wonderful book, what a wonderful love story!

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

I took out the big binoculars for a spell and drank in the night’s sky.

Thursday 19- it’s getting a little hotter but still nice.

I did my stretches, ran one and a half miles, and lifted dumbbells.

I did a lesson in Beginning Latin book and another in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: 2 faces…

My friend Janet at The-Gadgeteer.com is sending me a JamUp Plug to hook my guitar up to my iPad so I can record my songs. I thought that was mighty nice of her and her husband Butch who plays a mean lead on his guitar.

I went for an evening walk with my backpack.

I finished reading “The Universe in a Nutshell” by Stephen Hawking.

Kelly finally received word that her operation is set for the end of the month.

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

It is 90 degrees and muggy outside, so I thought I’d better take the scooter down to my mailbox on Border Ave and collect my mail. It was a nice refreshing ride!

Friday 20- getting hot and muggy.

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

While I was doing my exercises I saw an owl taking a dip in the cement pond. I came upon the owl unexpectedly and we were both surprised but he stayed there as I backed away. I ran into the house to grab my camera and was back in a flash, but he had already flown over behind the palm tree. I didn’t want to disturb it anymore than I had to, so I took some pictures from a distance; the pics didn’t come out so good…

I did a lesson in Beginning Latin book and another in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: more faces…

I studied “Molecular and Cell Biology for Dummies”, about: mitochondria.

I went for an evening walk with my backpack.

My friend Judy found out that I am studying Latin and is sending me a book called "Latin Quips at your Fingertips", I think that is really sweet of her! 

I started reading a new book by Edgar Rice Burroughs called “Thuvia, Maid of Mars”.

I went for a night run, sit-ups, and lifted dumbbells.

I sat outside for an hour or so looking at M31, and then the garnet star and the Cepheid variable star in the constellation Cepheus. 

Saturday 21- temps over 110…

I did my stretches, ran one and a half miles, and lifted dumbbells.

I did a lesson in Beginning Latin book and another in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: more faces…

I studied “Molecular and Cell Biology for Dummies”

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

I read a chapter of Edgar Rice Burroughs “The Warlord of Mars”.

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

I spent the rest of the night looking at navigation apps for my Android tablets.

Sunday 22- temps around 110 or so…

I did my stretches and went for a short walk.

I did a bunch of lessons in “1100 words you need to know workbook”; I’m 9 weeks behind from where I should be. It’s almost too hot to concentrate on anything…

Dana, my neighbor across the way and over about a half a mile, dropped by to say hi and also to ask what all the flashing lights were last night around 9PM somewhere in the proximity by my house.. I told him I didn’t know and they weren’t flashing at 10:30 when I went for my night run; another dang mystery. He saw the construction I did on the carport so I gave him a tour. I was showing him my Cougar when he noticed that the back tire was flat. Well the darn path didn’t hold and I spent the next hour putting the spare tire on and checking for the leak. He asked to see the Harley too, so I fired it up for him; he hasn’t been over in quite a while.

I called folks on the phone to yap at them and they yammered back.

I spent as little time today and yesterday as I could on FaceBook and my email inbox. I need to focus on getting my stuff done, but I still need to communicate with the outside world. Monday I’ll stay off FaceBook till the weekend. I’m still leaving my ringer off, so if folks call they can leave a message if they want me to call back.

I went for a short walk this evening, and also went for a short walk around 10PM… It’s my easy day!

Monday 23- hot but with a little breeze.

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

I went to WalMart to get a new tire for the Cougar.

I did flashcards in Beginning Latin and another two lessons in “1100 words you need to know workbook”.

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

I started studying chapter 3; “Viruses”, in “Molecular and Cell Biology for Dummies”.

I got caught up with my astronomy book.

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

I read a chapter of Edgar Rice Burroughs “The Warlord of Mars”.

I stayed up chatting with Kelly until after 4AM…

Tuesday 24- not too hot.

I did my stretches, yoga, ran one and a half miles, and lifted dumbbells.

I put the new tire on the Cougar.

I two lessons in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: a dog and some faces.

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

I played around on FaceBook for a long spell which is a no no.

I watched Season 4: Ep. 1 “Warehouse 13 - A New Hope”

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

I actually did a little editing on my first book.

Wednesday 25- A cool 104 degrees.

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

UPS delivered “Latin Quips” that Judy sent me so I started reading that and four lessons in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: a girl with a hand puppet who is a hand puppet herself.

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

I studied more of chapter 3 “Molecular and Cell Biology for Dummies”

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

Thursday 26- around 105 with a breeze.

I did my stretches, yoga, ran one and a half miles, and lifted dumbbells.

I did three lessons in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: a dog.

I went for my evening walk with the backpack.

I’ve made the decision to spend most of my time editing my two books and get them on Amazon as soon as I can. I also have two other books I need to complete. I have a couple of kind friends who want to help proofread, and anyone who contributes proofing will have their name on the acknowledgement page. Not that it will be an overnight success; I’m not that starry-eyed. I just want to get them done, out of the way, and move on to other things of interest.

I worked around in the yard and watered the plants real good.

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

Friday 27- got up to 110 today.

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

I did two lessons in “1100 words you need to know workbook”.

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

I went for my evening walk and put 20 pounds of weights in the bag which felt like a small but heavy child clinging to my back. I even had trouble getting it on. I figured that I was carrying about 25 pounds or so altogether. Half way through my walk my head felt like it was going to pop and the weight of the straps was cutting into my shoulders. Something was wrong. I got back I looked at the temp and it was 110 degrees, but I’m used to that. What it turned out to be was the pack weighed 40 pounds! That’s way too much for me to carry right now starting off, if ever. When I do go hiking I only want to carry less than 25 pounds. This aluminum frame pack from the 1990s weighs too dang much by itself, so I’m going to purchase a new lighter 2 pound bag ultra light backpack.

I did a little editing on my book and I completed chapter 4.

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

I took some aspirin and called it a night.

Saturday 28- temps a bit over 110 degrees.

I did my stretches, yoga, ran one and a half miles, and lifted dumbbells.

I think I might have pulled a muscle or something on yesterdays walk. So just to be on the safe side I will stop exercising for a few days. Besides there are a few other things needing to be done around here that doesn’t require lifting.

I mostly worked editing my book. I got chapter five about done.

Kelly and I were going to go shopping and get her pills for her operation early next week, but she had some problems and we ended up not going. Yesterday I had emailed my friends telling them I wouldn’t be coming to potluck because I’d be helping a friend, but now it’s too late to go anyways.

I’ll probably spend the rest of the day/night editing or reading Edgar Rice Burroughs…

Sunday 29- temps around 105 or so…

I went for a short walk.

I took Kelly to pick up her prescription at Rite Aid and we ate lunch at Burger King. I noticed that my brakes were going low towards the floorboard, so I picked up a bottle of brake fluid; which I found was the wrong kind once I got home. So I had to make another trip into Twentynine and went to AutoZone this time, got the DOT4 brake fluid, filled up the brake reservoir, and drove home with fine working brakes.

I’ve been getting some edited chapters of my book from Carolyn, who has been kind enough to go through and read them. I take what she sends back and make the changes. So far she has done four chapters. I am up past chapter 11 and want to keep ahead of Carolyn so she gets only what I have already edited. While I was editing I’d take a break on FaceBook to see what everyone was up to.

Monday 30- temps into the upper 90s, with light cloud cover building to thick later in the evening.

I did stretches and went for a short walk.

Simi came by, he was searching for some electrical connections I happened to have. Then we sat for a spell yammering about hiking the mountains in the Sierras. 

I went for my evening walk, but a short one.

Tuesday 31- cloudy with rain storms.

I picked Kelly up at noon and drove her down to Palm Springs to get her operation done on her back. We got there at 1:30 for a 2pm appointment and waited till around 4:30 when they finally took her in. While we were waiting, she left the waiting room to watch the rain. When she didn’t come back for a short spell I went outside to investigate. I found her down stairs standing in the heavy rain that was pouring down outside. We ate dinner at this fantastic Deli. The waitress was great and so was the corned beef sandwich with all the fixin’ we ordered. Then for dessert we had this very rich piece of chocolate cake that was layered with cheese cake and chocolate mousse. I got home at around 10:30pm.

Goodbye to July, you been a wonderful month :)