Take pictures? Of what I've done? Huh. Wouldn't that be boring? I'll try some and post later.
Won't be back online until a week from this coming Wednesday, at the earliest. Unless I find a place in Tucson and have the leisure to use it.
Just finished lunch and am on the way to Mescalero.
TTFN
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Jordan Dane
Sunday 1/24 9am
I picked up the latest book by this author, The Wrong Side of Dead: a Sweet Justice novel. Can't remember ever reading her before. She's won all sorts of awards: her first book was Publisher's Weekly Best Book of 2008, and another book was Romantic Times Best Intrigue Novel of 2008. She was a manager in the oil and gas industry.
The blurb sounded interesting: a computer wizard guy in peril and a bounty hunter woman out to save him. And there were two other "strong" women characters.
It starts out fairly well in Chicago with a gruesome murder and the guy finding himself at the scene, not remembering anything, and busted by the cops. One of the strong women is a cop and she calls the bounty hunter, who is in the process of hauling in a bail jumper all by herself (sure, un huh).
Then we switch to New York with the third woman, whose boss/lover runs a secret society of vigilantes who hunt down evildoers that are beyond the law. This woman is also a secret sex addict.
All this by page 54.
Now, I can deal with the sex addict, though it gets really boring as that seems to be all she can think about (and not particularly imaginatively, either).
Vigilantes, however, bother me a great deal. Does no-one see the problem with that sort of secret society? Yes yes, there ought not to be people beyond the law, but the concept of vigilante justice is not a way of upholding the law. Just the opposite, it undermines the law and creates an atmosphere of ignoring and sneering at the law, and promotes the idea that "the end justifies the means."
Very dangerous.
And these kinds of groups are proliferating around the world (Blackwater "security" forces and the people who hire them, for example). It's a "shoot first, ask questions later" type of mentality, and always degenerates into groups like the KKK and the Nazis.
Not something I think should be applauded or lauded.
I picked up the latest book by this author, The Wrong Side of Dead: a Sweet Justice novel. Can't remember ever reading her before. She's won all sorts of awards: her first book was Publisher's Weekly Best Book of 2008, and another book was Romantic Times Best Intrigue Novel of 2008. She was a manager in the oil and gas industry.
The blurb sounded interesting: a computer wizard guy in peril and a bounty hunter woman out to save him. And there were two other "strong" women characters.
It starts out fairly well in Chicago with a gruesome murder and the guy finding himself at the scene, not remembering anything, and busted by the cops. One of the strong women is a cop and she calls the bounty hunter, who is in the process of hauling in a bail jumper all by herself (sure, un huh).
Then we switch to New York with the third woman, whose boss/lover runs a secret society of vigilantes who hunt down evildoers that are beyond the law. This woman is also a secret sex addict.
All this by page 54.
Now, I can deal with the sex addict, though it gets really boring as that seems to be all she can think about (and not particularly imaginatively, either).
Vigilantes, however, bother me a great deal. Does no-one see the problem with that sort of secret society? Yes yes, there ought not to be people beyond the law, but the concept of vigilante justice is not a way of upholding the law. Just the opposite, it undermines the law and creates an atmosphere of ignoring and sneering at the law, and promotes the idea that "the end justifies the means."
Very dangerous.
And these kinds of groups are proliferating around the world (Blackwater "security" forces and the people who hire them, for example). It's a "shoot first, ask questions later" type of mentality, and always degenerates into groups like the KKK and the Nazis.
Not something I think should be applauded or lauded.
Saturday 1/23
Saturday 1/23 Noon
Have remembered the name of the old Vincent Price movie that was on the other night:
Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs
with Fabian! It was an Italian production. In the right mood, it's probably a lot of fun.
Black tank was full so have done a dump. Will do a dump/flush on Wed. am, just before leaving and won't take the sewer hoses with me.
RIP Jean Simmons, actress. Not a "great" actress but certainly nice to watch, especially in "Guy and Dolls" with Marlon Brando, one of my favorite musicals, though I don't have a DVD of it. Come to think of it, I don't have DVDs of a lot of musicals I like.
I've also been enjoying the Wanda Sykes show. Talk about diversity -- one of her sidekicks is a drag queen. And it's nice to get a black perspecctive. Unfortunately, it's only on one night a week, on Fox yet (and she's mentioned how odd that is).
Have remembered the name of the old Vincent Price movie that was on the other night:
Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs
with Fabian! It was an Italian production. In the right mood, it's probably a lot of fun.
Black tank was full so have done a dump. Will do a dump/flush on Wed. am, just before leaving and won't take the sewer hoses with me.
RIP Jean Simmons, actress. Not a "great" actress but certainly nice to watch, especially in "Guy and Dolls" with Marlon Brando, one of my favorite musicals, though I don't have a DVD of it. Come to think of it, I don't have DVDs of a lot of musicals I like.
I've also been enjoying the Wanda Sykes show. Talk about diversity -- one of her sidekicks is a drag queen. And it's nice to get a black perspecctive. Unfortunately, it's only on one night a week, on Fox yet (and she's mentioned how odd that is).
Friday 1/22
Friday 1/22 1pm
Lots of wind last night, though it didn't keep me awake much, just occasionally jolted me awake with a gust that rocked the rig. Been raining all day so far, but not a downpour. I just went out to feed the cats and put the bowl under my rig so it would stay dry -- the black male came out when he heard me, came trotting over to let me pet him as payment for food, and discovered the food bowl (whereupon I was ignored).
Called the carnival to see whether they'd made up their mind. They said not yet; will probably be another week or two.
A campground in Prescott AZ is considering me, part-time, with site and wage, possible long-term. We'll see.
Got a replacement bulb for the one that fell out of the fluorescent fixture, but it doesn't light up either. I think these fixtures are shoddy and poorly designed -- I got what I paid for, I guess. Will have to think about buying better ones.
Sorry to say that Kage Baker has a brain tumor, recently operated on. All the best to him. Try his SF books sometimes; they're good.
RIP Robert Parker, age 77.
A really good writer of mysteries, for the first six books. Creator of interesting characters, like Hawk, though he became a caricature in later books. An academic first (a professor of literature at one of the Ivy League), Parker hit big with the Spenser books and then began to believe the depiction of masculinity in his books, as evidenced by the author picture on some of his books (big mean-looking guy with big mean-looking dog on a choke chain). He wrote a few books not in the Spenser set and they were dreadful.
It's now 7pm, the start of primetime TV here, and there's nothing on but the Haiti concert. I think it's a good idea, you understand, but I've already given the Red Cross some money earmarked for Haiti and now I have nothing to watch. I don't understand why it has to be on all the channels. Foo.
11.30pm The weather report seems to say that tomorrow is going to be nasty but clear on Sun Mon Tue, and get nasty again on Wednesday, just in time for my foray to Tucson. Great. Just what I need, slogging into the teeth of a big storm, rain, wind, etc. Good thing I'm taking two days to do it -- I may need both of them.
I've taken to staying up late to watch the Craig Ferguson show -- he's way better than David and Jay and Conan and Jimmy and whoever. Ferguson is a naturalized American originally from Scotland (Glasgow). He has a nice line in sardonic humor. He's much more of a performer than any of the others and he has interesting guests. He just said: "The Mythbusters guys are heroes to me so it's a big deal they're here tonight. It's like Derek Jeter meeting Babe Ruth or Mel Gibson meeting Hitler." I think that's really funny (especially since I loathe Mel Gibson).
Interviewing one of the younger mythbusters guys, who loves robots, who started out at ILM and built R2-D2 and C3PO. Ferguson says "is C3PO gay? The guy says, "no, he's English." Ferguson takes a beat, looks at the audience, and says, "I think all our questions are answered." Funny funny.
Can't say I think much of the band on the show tonight: Hot Rats. Lots of sound and fury signifying nothing (thanks, Faulkner).
Lots of wind last night, though it didn't keep me awake much, just occasionally jolted me awake with a gust that rocked the rig. Been raining all day so far, but not a downpour. I just went out to feed the cats and put the bowl under my rig so it would stay dry -- the black male came out when he heard me, came trotting over to let me pet him as payment for food, and discovered the food bowl (whereupon I was ignored).
Called the carnival to see whether they'd made up their mind. They said not yet; will probably be another week or two.
A campground in Prescott AZ is considering me, part-time, with site and wage, possible long-term. We'll see.
Got a replacement bulb for the one that fell out of the fluorescent fixture, but it doesn't light up either. I think these fixtures are shoddy and poorly designed -- I got what I paid for, I guess. Will have to think about buying better ones.
Sorry to say that Kage Baker has a brain tumor, recently operated on. All the best to him. Try his SF books sometimes; they're good.
RIP Robert Parker, age 77.
A really good writer of mysteries, for the first six books. Creator of interesting characters, like Hawk, though he became a caricature in later books. An academic first (a professor of literature at one of the Ivy League), Parker hit big with the Spenser books and then began to believe the depiction of masculinity in his books, as evidenced by the author picture on some of his books (big mean-looking guy with big mean-looking dog on a choke chain). He wrote a few books not in the Spenser set and they were dreadful.
It's now 7pm, the start of primetime TV here, and there's nothing on but the Haiti concert. I think it's a good idea, you understand, but I've already given the Red Cross some money earmarked for Haiti and now I have nothing to watch. I don't understand why it has to be on all the channels. Foo.
11.30pm The weather report seems to say that tomorrow is going to be nasty but clear on Sun Mon Tue, and get nasty again on Wednesday, just in time for my foray to Tucson. Great. Just what I need, slogging into the teeth of a big storm, rain, wind, etc. Good thing I'm taking two days to do it -- I may need both of them.
I've taken to staying up late to watch the Craig Ferguson show -- he's way better than David and Jay and Conan and Jimmy and whoever. Ferguson is a naturalized American originally from Scotland (Glasgow). He has a nice line in sardonic humor. He's much more of a performer than any of the others and he has interesting guests. He just said: "The Mythbusters guys are heroes to me so it's a big deal they're here tonight. It's like Derek Jeter meeting Babe Ruth or Mel Gibson meeting Hitler." I think that's really funny (especially since I loathe Mel Gibson).
Interviewing one of the younger mythbusters guys, who loves robots, who started out at ILM and built R2-D2 and C3PO. Ferguson says "is C3PO gay? The guy says, "no, he's English." Ferguson takes a beat, looks at the audience, and says, "I think all our questions are answered." Funny funny.
Can't say I think much of the band on the show tonight: Hot Rats. Lots of sound and fury signifying nothing (thanks, Faulkner).
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Today
Spitting rain today, just enough to muddy the windshield, even though the overhang protects it quite a lot.
Did the Penney's thing and got shirts. Did the Hastings thing and got magazines. Did the Walmart thing and got the other pantry unit. Doing the cafe thing with wifi and lunch. It know, it's all so predictable and boring.
Also got my hairs cut. Based on a picture, she cut in the basic shape and I'll go back in a month or so and get it refined. It's a sort of a pixie cut or layered -- I don't know.
Am thinking seriously of going to the petroglyphs site on Sunday. I have to make a run to Mescalero, and the petroglyphs is about 10 miles north of Tularosa, so it wouldn't be an onerous drive. It all depends on the weather.
If I do go, I hope I'll get some nice photos.
Did the Penney's thing and got shirts. Did the Hastings thing and got magazines. Did the Walmart thing and got the other pantry unit. Doing the cafe thing with wifi and lunch. It know, it's all so predictable and boring.
Also got my hairs cut. Based on a picture, she cut in the basic shape and I'll go back in a month or so and get it refined. It's a sort of a pixie cut or layered -- I don't know.
Am thinking seriously of going to the petroglyphs site on Sunday. I have to make a run to Mescalero, and the petroglyphs is about 10 miles north of Tularosa, so it wouldn't be an onerous drive. It all depends on the weather.
If I do go, I hope I'll get some nice photos.
Wednesday 1/21
So I'm heading for Tucson on Thursday Jan 28, return on the Sunday the 31st. I was prepared to stay longer even if I had to quit this job, but he and Deb are planning to leave on Monday or Tuesday anyhow. It's going to be a killer drive (335 mi each way) -- the max I can do in one day and still be coherent.
I'll get back late Sunday and have to work Mon-Tue; then I'll get to collapse for five days.
Have spent the day refining my new pantry. Set up bungee cords to hook on the back, run over the top, down the front, and hook to the milk crate it's sitting on. This makes it a unit not so easy to topple. And I'm going to get some new grip liner to put under the milk crate down on the shower pan, as well as between the crate and bottom unit. This will make the whole thing less likely to shift around. Pantry-wise, it's working out well and everything fits. And it's ever so much easier to get in and out of the bathroom.
Will go to town tomorrow and pick up my new shirts at JCPenney -- I think I mentioned that I'd seen one on a bank teller and liked them a lot (got one red and one blue).
The only thing I have left to sort out is the big unit on the back rack. And then what will I do? I'll have to think up a new project, won't I?
There's a class on Line Dancing at 1pm tomorrow at the Sr Ctr -- may check it out.
I'll get back late Sunday and have to work Mon-Tue; then I'll get to collapse for five days.
Have spent the day refining my new pantry. Set up bungee cords to hook on the back, run over the top, down the front, and hook to the milk crate it's sitting on. This makes it a unit not so easy to topple. And I'm going to get some new grip liner to put under the milk crate down on the shower pan, as well as between the crate and bottom unit. This will make the whole thing less likely to shift around. Pantry-wise, it's working out well and everything fits. And it's ever so much easier to get in and out of the bathroom.
Will go to town tomorrow and pick up my new shirts at JCPenney -- I think I mentioned that I'd seen one on a bank teller and liked them a lot (got one red and one blue).
The only thing I have left to sort out is the big unit on the back rack. And then what will I do? I'll have to think up a new project, won't I?
There's a class on Line Dancing at 1pm tomorrow at the Sr Ctr -- may check it out.
Tuesday 1/19
Tuesday 1/19 7am
Very disjointed sleep last night, up at 5.30am. Front moving through, clouds, maybe rain, snowing up north of Albuquerque, achy knees.
Got a smaller shelving unit (four drawers $8 each) and couldn't wait, so I took out all the foodstuffs, dismantled the big shelving unit (bang bang bang) and got it undone enough to drag outside. Moved the full laundry bag out. Put in the new shelving, sitting up on a plastic milk crate so as to access the bottom drawer. Turned it this way and that to test access.
Finally put it in with drawer fronts facing front wall, which means the drawers only open halfway, but also means that during travel they won't fall out and dump food everywhere. The only things I access every day are my coffee canisters. The drawers are translucent so I can tell what's in each drawer -- handy. Things like the juice bottles and the baby wipe packages fit around the unit down in the shower pan. I could also turn the unit sideways so the drawers open all the way and put bungee cords on when traveling. Hmmm. A work in progress.
The only things that don't fit are the tall canisters with potato chips in them (I think one canister on its side will fit in a drawer). So I'm going to get one more drawer and do away with one chip canister. Maybe I'll get a differently shaped canister so it'll be easier to get in and out of the drawer. Also, I now don't have a place for the laundry bag -- must think about that.
I'm also going to put some tape along the sides to keep the drawers from coming loose from each other -- they just sit down on each other along a little groove; the big unit had legs that slotted into the frame, like a mortise and tenon joint.
One reason for getting drawers instead of a one-piece cabinet is the shower pan lip -- cabinets have doors and the lip would prevent opening them. It's about 4 inches deep. Now, I could put a platform on top of the lip, with a support in the back corner, and put a cabinet on the platform. However, that's considerably more hassle and would require all sorts of construction and ways to attach the cabinet to the wall, etc etc. The drawer units are much easier and more flexible.
Am waiting to hear from brother about the actual dates of the Tucson Gem show. He's borrowing the RV from Deb's brother and we're all going to boondock on some land that Tinnee owns. I'm determined to go, even if I have to quit this job to do it.
No answers yet from any of the applications I've sent out (JR is doing the same thing and says he's getting no response either). I'll just keep on. Or when I get to Tucson, I'll look in the paper and see whether there are any part-time jobs. Or I'll go talk to Bookman's and see what they have on offer. I'll call the carnival this week, too.
Very disjointed sleep last night, up at 5.30am. Front moving through, clouds, maybe rain, snowing up north of Albuquerque, achy knees.
Got a smaller shelving unit (four drawers $8 each) and couldn't wait, so I took out all the foodstuffs, dismantled the big shelving unit (bang bang bang) and got it undone enough to drag outside. Moved the full laundry bag out. Put in the new shelving, sitting up on a plastic milk crate so as to access the bottom drawer. Turned it this way and that to test access.
Finally put it in with drawer fronts facing front wall, which means the drawers only open halfway, but also means that during travel they won't fall out and dump food everywhere. The only things I access every day are my coffee canisters. The drawers are translucent so I can tell what's in each drawer -- handy. Things like the juice bottles and the baby wipe packages fit around the unit down in the shower pan. I could also turn the unit sideways so the drawers open all the way and put bungee cords on when traveling. Hmmm. A work in progress.
The only things that don't fit are the tall canisters with potato chips in them (I think one canister on its side will fit in a drawer). So I'm going to get one more drawer and do away with one chip canister. Maybe I'll get a differently shaped canister so it'll be easier to get in and out of the drawer. Also, I now don't have a place for the laundry bag -- must think about that.
I'm also going to put some tape along the sides to keep the drawers from coming loose from each other -- they just sit down on each other along a little groove; the big unit had legs that slotted into the frame, like a mortise and tenon joint.
One reason for getting drawers instead of a one-piece cabinet is the shower pan lip -- cabinets have doors and the lip would prevent opening them. It's about 4 inches deep. Now, I could put a platform on top of the lip, with a support in the back corner, and put a cabinet on the platform. However, that's considerably more hassle and would require all sorts of construction and ways to attach the cabinet to the wall, etc etc. The drawer units are much easier and more flexible.
Am waiting to hear from brother about the actual dates of the Tucson Gem show. He's borrowing the RV from Deb's brother and we're all going to boondock on some land that Tinnee owns. I'm determined to go, even if I have to quit this job to do it.
No answers yet from any of the applications I've sent out (JR is doing the same thing and says he's getting no response either). I'll just keep on. Or when I get to Tucson, I'll look in the paper and see whether there are any part-time jobs. Or I'll go talk to Bookman's and see what they have on offer. I'll call the carnival this week, too.
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