Where's Hazel? Pet Hazel. Scratch Hazel behind her
ears.
2017 April thru July. Does The Cat in The Corner have
fleas?
One member of this cohort, Donald, has published his first
novel: In Miracle
at Silver Lake Ricky, Robbie, and Steven go to
summer camp. Ricky and Robbie are twin brothers from a close
loving family. Steven, living with his grandfather, is angry
that his parents died in a car accident and doesn't want to
be at camp but his grandfather thinks the experience will
help him deal with the death of his parents.
Singular
they is the use in English of the pronoun they or its
inflected or derivative forms, them, their, theirs, and
themselves (or themself), as an epicene (gender-neutral)
singular pronoun. It typically occurs with an antecedent of
indeterminate gender. (From the Wiki.)
April Aphorism
Your youth was no time to be sensible, but now might
be. —LA Times, 170421.
May Day
I set out to build a Mince Pie and change the oil in
the Clatterpillar 3208. My plan was to get an early
start on the oil change whilst the morning was still cool
and then later, when the day was hotter, work on the pie in
the cool comfort of an air-conditioned galley. Breky got in
the way. The morning mail further delayed the onset of
meaningful productivity. Later, I thought I might do both
jobs concurrently. Set the oil to draining, come in and roll
the pie dough, go out and crawl under the engine again and
change the filters, come in and fill the pie shell and put
on the top crust and start the pie baking, go out and
commence to filling the 3208 with 23 quarts of motor
oil—that should take about as long as the pie needed to
bake, eh? But then “Sensibility” got in the way. All that in
and out, washing my hands of oil to roll the dough, washing
my hands of flour to handle the filters, changing back and
forth between aprons... Building a pie requires thinking in
tablespoons, changing the oil requires thinking in quarts;
in my present state of disarray one slip of the thought
would be disastrous.
Vision Verification
Vision mostly ok. As with the other parts of my self,
these eyes don't have it like they used to. Still 20/20 for
middle and far but for reading and other close up looking
I'm using +2. and +3. glasses. Incipient cataracts around
the edges and nascent macular degeneration are the major
issues. I need to make more use of eye drops and sunglasses
and revisit next year.
Revenge of The Sixth & WNGD
Windy continues at Tonopah like a replay of an old
song. Hot and dusty as well. Arid 111f was the high
temperature Friday. But its a dry heat they tell me as if
that were some sort of consolation. What's the difference
between roasting and scalding? Still burns the fingers and
cooks the goose.
Today I helped celebrate WNGD by eating some of Paul's
cherry tomatoes and sweeping aside the oranges that the wind
was blowing from the trees. Watering flowers, feeding birds,
dumping the holding tank all added to the excitement. High
temperature today only 98f. When a warm spell follows the
first cold of Winter we call that period Indian Summer. What
to call this cool spell? Revenge of the Sixth?
Taco Tuesday - What a rush was yesterday...
I've not done maintenance on this old bus for too long and
so yesterday was partly a time of rediscovering ways and
means, not to mention finding again the problem with the
broken welds on the fuel filter bracket. I don't recall when
that happened but I do remember tying it up with parachute
cord. Had to be several years ago.
More of the stuff and things I've been carrying around all
this time came in handy to effect further fixes. Hugemongus
ty-raps garnered from the CATV company in Conway was one
very handy item. Screws and bolts from my bottomless hell
box. Tools...
Used to be, back in the old daze, that I did this sort of
maintenance on the bus sometimes twice a year when the
mileage warranted but of late I'm not driving all that much.
Only 5,000 miles since June of 2014.
Breaking bread last night with OAE Dave who works
communications in such far away places as Kandahar and
Baghdad was an exciting reune. He works in secret places on
secret projects and carries a pass which shortcuts customs
and immigration at both ends of his journey. No problem
finding parts and tools, his greatest on the job concern is
coming under fire a few times a week.
This mornings best Crossword clew: "one man in a tub", five
letters.
April Flowers Bring May Showers
In both my gauges this morning there was 0.11" from
last night's rain.
Mother's Day
Ave all my Other Mothers, other friends and relatives
included.
Over the years I have particularly counted on my Other
Mothers to be recipients of my Mother's Day Greetings when I
was away from my First Mother. (FMOTOC?) Mothers are very
important even when disguised in wrappers of another gender
or relationship. The FMOTOC has long since gone to the Great
KaffeKlatch with the Cosmic Muffin so I must now rely even
more on my Other Mothers. One never outgrows one's need for
a Mum.
Once upon a long ago after-school when my brothers were out
in the yard smoking, (smoke 'em if you got 'em but if you
touch mine I'll break your fingers!) and imbibing their
contraband beers, a neighbour-lady called our house to
inquire if my mother had seen her son. My mother looked out
the window and allowed as how this neighbour-lady's son
"...as well as several others are out there smoking and
drinking with my kids..."
"How can you let them do that"? neighbour-lady exclaimed!
"How do you put up with that behaviour?"
And FMOTOC calmly replied: "At least I know where my kids
are."
That lesson has been one of my guiding principles ever
since. Happy Mother's Day to all my Other Mothers
I have managed to complete the periodic 5,000 mile chassis
maintenance on The Cat Drag'd Inn. Last time was
June of 2014. I guess I'm not travelling as much as I used
to when such Lube-Oil-Filter days often happened twice or
thrice in a year. I'll bare the heat of the desert another
fortnight and then I head for cooler climes in the high
country of the Continental Divide at Pie Town. I still don't
know if I am going to pursue an eclipse expedition to IDaho.
Such a long and expensive adventure to satisfy an esoteric
craving. I was kind of hoping most of the money would come
from sponsors but I fear the days of sponsorship of the
quest of scientific knowledge is going the way of Public
Broadcasting. Intrinsically, the trip is not worth my time
or expense, I can watch the event on television (with
instant replay and no need for the expense of special eye
protection) unconcerned about clouds or crowds. However as a
cultural experience there is little else which brings one to
think about the synchronicity of celestial events. How is it
that we are here and the sun and the moon are just so? Not
to mention all the friends to visit and hot springs to soak
in along the way.
Once upon a long ago I wrote: “Some folks need to stay
at home cos if everyone travelled like me there would be no
one around for me to visit.” Now, perhaps I need to see this
as my turn to stay at home?
Structured Procrastination?
When you do other less important tasks rather than the work
you're supposed to be doing. Just so you are at least doing.
And the answer is:
Since about November 1997 The Cat Drag'd Inn has
travelled 136,674 miles on 16,292.2 gallons of Diesel burned
in three engines. and 705 quarts of motor oil. Average
MPG, 8.3; Engine Hours, 1,598.0 (since mile 83572).
sexytuplets 22 May
Six new 11R22.5 Hankook tyres. Four of the Goodyears
removed were installed fifteen years ago.
May 24 loose your inner towel... ...and your
outer towel will foll-ow!
I am carrying my "Official 42 Towel" about my neck not
unlike a papoose. Or perhaps a fropoose.
To be prepared or stave off the likelihood of initiation of
commitment proceedings I have developed the following
screemplay: "I know tomorrow [25th May] is officially Towel Day and one is
supposed to bring one's towel to work so they can all hang
out and dry together after a morning of keeping up with your
arduous routine. "But I have a dentist appointment tomorrow,
I won't be in to work, so I have special permission to bring
my towel to work today."
Bring your towel to work (or school) tomorrow. I'll bring
mine to the dentist.
25rd May Urgent Care
Left calf contusion swelling hurts. Swelling migrating
towards foot. Urgent Care did X-ray, ultra sound, palpate...
Nothing broken, no internal bleeding. I need to stay off my
feet for a few days (fat chance of that...) and apply ice.
Arnica Cream to help with the tenderness and pain.
In the news: umbraphiles
prep for eclipse
Memorial For A Printer
My HP 6520 printer has been problematic since day one.
Perhaps the reason why somebody donated it to the Food Bank
is cos the touch screen control panel was erratic,
intermittent, and otherwise flaky and unreliable. Mostly not
a problem but for the button that printed a test page. That
button was three layers deep in the touch screem menu:
|Menu|Tools|Test Page| so I made use of the same access thru
the computer's Printer Control Menu:
|Apps|System|Printer|Print Test Page|. More steps but the
mouse was faster.
Then yesterday the situation got drastically worse. K was
intermittent. K is the name of one of the colours. Blue, Yellow, and Red are the others. blacK is
K.
Some lines of text were streaked and faded. Some lines were
entirely missing. I read up on troubleshooting and of course
you have to run a test page. After printing Test Page from
the computer control panel and seeing no K and faced with an
ever rising level of frustration I approached the printer
touch screen. All the buttons worked. Test Page commenced to
print. What is this, I am thinking, is Printer trying to be
nice for a change? Is they afraid of me? Is they crying for
help in this problem? Leading me on? Can they see the one
pound machinists hammer I have in my back pocket?
Test Page was emerging from the exit slot. There were big
bold solid perfect black words across the top of the page.
"Test Page blah blah blah". Two-three-four lines more lines
of black text appeared. Then there were four black frames,
little boxes as it were for the four colours to disport. B
was there, with Y for a neighbour, R, at the far right,
should have been balanced by K on the left. K was a streaked
mess. Looked like they had been dragged through an eraser
back end first.
Up to the next echelon of troubleshooting.
Search-search-search... "HP6520 doesn't print black" found
me beyond Hope so I went to YouTube. Search some more and
found this guy with the news that my "HP 6520 is prone to
this very problem and I have a fix for you."
The video went on to say that you do this, that, and the
other thing and then you soak a paper towel in a 50/50
solution of alcohol and warm water and pack the paper towel
into the space under the print head. Run the print head to
and fro over the towel. Change towels as necessary until you
pick up no more ink. Dry the printer and reassemble. Print a
test page.
So I did. (Needless to say, at this point, Touch Screen had
reverted to his Hyde personality.)
Test Page was worse. All the black lettering was there as
perfect as can be. The black boxes were there rectangular as
ever. B, Y, and R were in situ, K was not to be seen at all.
Not a trace.
So I did the entire cleaning process again. Same result. K
was nowhere to be seen. Yes, I changed the black ink
cartridge early on and changed back again when it made no
difference. Now I did that again. No K in the black hole on
Test Page.
But the black words on Test Page? ...
I was at this point so frustrated and angry that I hammered
in the face of the printer. Smashed broke dead.
June Day—I've Not Left Yet
Still here. Shopping this morning: new printer
followed by plumbing parts to repair a failed pressure
switch on Paul's well pump. I won't go into the saga of
Plug'n'Play that doesn't or the WTF am I supposed to do with
this stock of ink carts for the old printer. Too hot to
handle tools to work on the plumbing so that will wait until
tomorrow.
National Donut Day—What No Cinnamon?
Time was I ate a lot of donuts. Dunkin was on my route. Then
one fine day Dunkin did away with the fine China mugs they
used at the counter (and they did away with the counter too
for that matter) and replaced them with plastic disposable
cups. I started bringing in my own China mug.
Some times I'd bring in my Thermos(TM) to be filled until
one day at the Dunkin in God's Country Vermont the counter
clerk refused to fill my Thermos(TM). New rules they said.
So I purchased five plastic cups of coffee, poured the
contents into the Thermos(TM) my Self and left the plastic.
I've not been back to Dunkin since.
From time to time I'll succumb to a pang of Donut Withdrawal
but rarely do I find any Cinnamon Donuts. Only slightly more
often can I find any plain deep fried cake donuts like my
mother used to make.
National Lemonade Days
Finally! On the Road Again! Landed in Prescott AridZona
friday after a two day climb up The Yarnell Hill. Much
cooler here than in Tonopah. At least 20f degrees cooler.
Hamfest at Embry Riddle then two nights at Watson Lake in
Prescott. Got in a few miles of bike riding on the nice
trails here but rather windy for any long distance. No help
either that I am seriously out of shape and my wheels are
taking advantage of my condition.
Ides of June?
Moved from Watson Lake (after two nights in their 15$ a
night for no hookups but a shower) campground up the street
a piece to Kevin's corner where I get pretty much the same
accommodations but for the shower. Actually there is better
TV reception here—small consolation.
Shopping along the way. At the Fry's on Willow Creek Road I
saw this sign at the front of the local Fry's... chalk on
blackboard: Reasons I Need Coffee... There
were seven of them. Reasons that is. I spoke with the
Starbucks mixologist. She said that one of the other girls
makes up the sign every week or so. And there I was
not wearing any.
Cold here this morning. Heat on. 42f was my low just before
dawn. Warming quickly.
But I must turn this monologue back to Watson Lake's
Pay-As-You-Camp-Boondocking. Over all, all things
considered, Watson Lake is a nice place for camping in the
city of Prescott. Too many rules and not enough
infrastructure do not balance against the nightly camping
fee, at least as far as I'm opined. There is water available
from one frost-free but one is not allowed to connect a hose
to fill a Residence Vehicle tank. You can fill and carry
five gallons at a time but you may not use a hose. No
Hook-Ups! Almost as if permitting camping was a barely
tolerable afterthought of the rule-makers. Three-night
maximum and then you have to wait thirty days to camp there
again. It is all in the location. Nice lake. Miles and miles
of well maintained walking and bicycling trails. Good trail
maps. Great bouldering. I've been there before and I will go
there again. Just be sure to bring plenty of water and an
empty holding tank.
Another Day, Another Few Miles
Last night at the Safeway Market in Chino. Nice pasta
dinner with KAL at The Cat Drag'd Inn. Thanks to
Paul for the sauce. (And with that out of the way there is
lots more room in my freezer for B&J's Coffee Toffee
Bar Crunch of which the Safeway had lots. Now I am
camped in the same woods as two years ago when I met Jewel and
Warren and Itchykaibo Cat. This time I have the whole
place to my Self except for the occasional car of gawkers
who seem to materialise out of the dust. Hurricane Hazel
says she feels good to be in a familiar back yard. Smoke on
the northeast horizon is from the fire burning along u.s.180
northwest of Flagstaff.
FR71A Tree House
Moved to the east side of Williams Saturday morning. My
usual camp spot was taken so I'm in my third choice slot.
During my trash walk around the block this morning I spied a
none too uncommon ugly orange flower today. Columba livia
Claytonia. Startled to see these large bright orange
blossoms against the sward of a waterhole near the Tree
House on Forest Road 71A. Fortunately I didn't get near
enough to get a closeup photo else I would have felt obliged
to pick them all.
Summer Solstice and then Sum
From Williams to Winslow for a bit of Standin' On The
Corner time. Aside from shopping at Camp Wally my
main activities included picture taking and postcard
shopping at The Take It Easy store, and finding that
the main radiator of The Cat Drag'd Inn has a leak.
A really slow weep but enough that occasionally I am obliged
to top up the coolant, and at 17$ a gallon that is a serious
problem.
On The Corner in Winslow a statue of the late Glenn
Frey has been added to the plaza. Coming in September: The
19th Annual Standin’ on The Corner Festival.
Now sitting atop a nice hill in Clay Springs with Dale and
Dee waiting for the JBWeld patch on the radiator to
set-dry-cure before I reload the coolant and see if the fix
holds. Maybe. Fixed, yes. Repaired, no. Perhaps this fix
will last the Summer. Until I can recover from the expense
of six new tyres and save up for a new radiator.
In Show Low, a
town named for the ending of a particular poker game,
I found a donut shop with Cinnamon Donuts! You know about a
herd of cows, a school of fish, a crowd of people... What
about crows?
A couple of days with Trish atop her hill in Concho to fix a
few things and watch the sunsets. Then down the hill again
and onwards to Springerville and Pie Town. The Red Hill Rest
Area looked nice and clean for a change; no cleanup
necessary there.
Last Leg To Nita's
A hundred and some miles more with stops for fuel and
shopping. I cut off a Schwan's Truck at the fuel stop and
asked the driver for a box of those mint ice cream chocolate
covered bars. What's the item number? I don't know. I don't
know if we have any I don't knows. Then he got out his
catalogue and we paged through and perused the pictures:
That one! I pointed, and he scanned the Item Number into his
handy-puter which told him which freezer door they might be
behind. And there they were! YUM!
Just missed Gin&Tonic time. Stella and Muenster were
quick to point out that it was about time, now what was I
going to do about their struggling with the ants over
possession of their kibble feeder. I quickly got The Cat
Drag'd Inn and connected; now to face the first of
several problems demanding my attention: The ice maker
doesn't make ice (Does this have anything to do with the
tray being full of frozen corn on the cob?), the hot tub is
off, the whirly-gig is broken, and Field Day starts
tomorrow. Jerry warned me that I might find the back yard
rather cold by morning; might be in the low 50's. I can live
with that.
ARRL Field Day
Severe power line QRM at the NU7DE Field Day site this
year. S9 from 80 thru 10 meters. Ten over s9 on 20m. Most of
my time was spent troubleshooting the RTTY modem.
My choice of radio for this Field Day was a verry excellent
boombox (Thanks Bill!). Convenient handle on the outside,
nice sharp loop antenna on the inside. I could triangulate
on the noise. I will call the SEC tomorrow and let them know
that pole # 08636 has a serious arc in XFMR 10/12242 in my
back yard.
From the NU7DE report for Field Day 2017...W1VBG and K1oiQ
took turns at the NU7DE mic on 80, 40, 20 meters. Hurricane
Hazel, the NU7DE me0w, never let the crisis interrupt her
drinking; she spent the entire time cozied up to her water
fountain.
Independence Day?
Tempered by my shame, OK. There was a 4th of July parade in
Quemado today. The only walkers even trying to keep in step
was a group of veterans, about a dozen, carrying stretched
horizontally between two ranks and two files, a flag,
American Flag of course--of almost as much area as those
often seen waving above mauls and McDonalds--but there was
no band to help them along. Just the bleating and honking of
a fleet of fire trucks and other emergency services
vehicles. I rather think that if the town could not afford a
High School band they could at least have hired Sousa to
conduct the bleating and honking in some sort of march
tempo.
One Month to Eclipse
I was awakened at oh-dark-thirty again by the ISS
signal. By the time I was awake and aware the pass had ended
but after morning rituals were complete I turned on the
HamShack computer and engaged tracking and image decoder
applications.
Just in time. About 05h45, in the twilight before sunrise,
the signal came up and commenced to paint an image. I
chanced to look at the tracker and saw that the bird was
approaching Pie Town! Ran outside and there she was,
overhead just as the image completed.
Gardyloo, Hugs, Love, ajo (and Hazel who is tirelessly
ministering to the indigenous alar natives. Except at the
moment she is seriously involved in a sleep apnea study..)
|
2017 July [for the Summer Solstice] —
Greetings Virtual Travellers: 
I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to
myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the
seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a
smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the
great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me. 