Screws In My Coffee

Flying into Ontario Airport Flying into Ontario Airport and looking down at the fires burning in the night made my heart ach for the LA Woman. Looking out the window of the jet as we approached the airport I watched the flames dancing in the hills as they fed huge clouds of billowing smoke. This view of a fire was more horrific for me than the distant view of the fire that I had in Bend Oregon earlier in the summer. The fire that I view near Sisters, Oregon appeared as an act of nature and had large white smoke clouds that rose to the air like thunder clouds. This fire in LA looked like a demon devouring the city. The fire licking the bottom of the black smoke could have been a volcano. When I got off the plane the smoke and soot were so bad that I could hardly open my eyes when I got outside the terminal. The police directing traffic had on dust masks. The shock of going from the clean fresh air of Texas to the extremely smoky air of the San Gabriel Valley was 10 times w...

The Richter Well Drilling company is on site today starting to drill the well on the Lone Worm Ranch. After spending several days pondering where to tell them to drill the well they are finally here drilling the well about 20 feet from the existing hand dug well. I am amazed at how the soil differs at this location from the soil 200 feet away at the septic pit test holes. The soil here is dark brown and has humus and the soil at the septic test holes is sandy and full of rocks and clay. My dad said that his father had problems growing crops in the field in front of the new house. As I look at the difference in the soil from the well site I can see why.

My interest is night photography was rekindled by a woman that I met on the Sift to Bikes Mystery Night Rides in Portland Oregon. Ayleen uses a film camera and takes pictures of the group when the mystery ride reaches its destination. I first started taking pictures at night with my long gone AE-1 when I had a paper route for the LA Times in the 1980s. I used ISO 64 slide film and took pictures during short breaks in the early morning.

The house is on the ranch now and I can give a sigh of relief. I was worried that the house would not make it down the narrow Wormley Lane, but it did. I stood in the middle of the lane as I watched the truck towing the house move very slowly towards me towing one half of the 16 foot wide by 48 foot long home. The home is a Palm Harbor model PHT348A1 - Pecos and is 1488 square feet with 3 bedrooms and two baths.

I am on my third Canon camera and this one is my first digital. My new camera is a Canon EOS 10D and it is just what I wanted. Canon makes one camera above the 10D and it is the 1D so this is their low-end professional camera

Well today was the first day that I got sweaty just sitting in my car. Tonight at 10 PM it was 72 degrees, 92% humidity and there was a slight fog in the air from the evaporating rain that had just fallen. The woman announcing the local NBC news commented that it was so humid that all the women in the newsroom including her just had to let their hair go limp.

When I am walking on the ranch or riding my bike down the country roads I am getting a strong urge to paint again on real canvas. I have never dared to think like this in over 30 years, but the artist buried inside has never died.

Today was a day that I spent inside my hotel room pouring over job descriptions and trying to learn all I could about wells. I had little incentive to leave because the mechanics had my car for repairs and there were plenty of phone calls that I could make from the room. I would go bonkers without my laptop and a bike to get me away from it for a while.

Well finally I have made progress on one of my goals. I have been working on learning PHP and have created my first eCommerce web store. If you want to check it out it is located here . I am going to add artwork to this store and I hope to generate some income from it. One thing for sure is that I'm learning how to create dynamic web pages using PHP and a MySQL database.

I have not listened to Neil Young for a while. I'm learning how to create dynamic web pages using PHP and I'm playing my MP3 collection. After listening to the country radio station KASE then hearing Neil I now know why Lynard Skinard says that the South does not need him anyway. Neil seems to struggle through trying to sound country. It is almost like he is reading the music instead of feeling it. Don't get me wrong, I really like Neil Young and he has a unique style of music. I just have a new pair of ears when listening to him after hearing real country for a few weeks. Moving away from the west coast to central Texas changes your perspective on more than just music.

So like country music is sort of thought provoking in addition to being entertaining. The lyrics go from tear jerking songs about growing up and marrying your childhood sweet heart to drinking in a bar because your wife has thrown you out of the house for adultery. I have been listening to KASE 101 a radio station in Austin which plays alternative country. Now I must say that country roads and country music o hand in hand.

I really like the blues. I am watching an excellent series on PBS about the blues. A different director does each of the seven installments.