Just a couple of photos

We live in the Mohave Desert.  You know that means not a lot of rain; it's not like Seattle for example. But sometimes we get, yeah, a little rain.  On Friday it rained here for an hour or so.  We don't have gutters and downspouts; after all we get 3-4 inches a year.  But Friday was special.  We got 1/3rd of an inch!  This is where a west facing roof and a north facing roof are joined and the water comes tumbling down.

 And, yes, it does get blown onto the window through which I am filming it!  It's only 5 or 6 feet but that was quite a gust.  

And then there was last night.  I take Gus, the dog, outside for a last look around about 21:00 (9 pm to you civilians).  The eastern sky is pretty much overwhelmed by the lights from Vegas over on the other side of the mountains.  The western sky is a LOT darker and we can see some good stuff.  We had stars in the west that night so I had to try and take a photo of Orion's Belt.  I think it came out ok; especially coming from a cell phone camera!

That's all the news from around here.  I can not imagine how people blog every day.  It is just totally beyond me but then again I'm not inflicting my boring life on others so that's good!  Take care and keep washing those hands!

Just warming up....

 My wife came home a week or so ago and told me that the a/c in the car isn't working.  Well, it's had a whole winter to sit around and leak but, no, that's not acceptable.  Then yesterday I went somewhere and, yep, she sure was right.  So I'll be communing with a local mechanic to see what we can do about that.  Of course we are in that time of year when one day the high temp is 71 F (21 C) and then a day or two later it's 92 F (33 C).  You've got to choose the day to have the a/c worked on so they can test it properly.  I'll manage it but I sure wish someone could  fix that thing so it would just work.

Other than whining I don't have much to say today.  My wife and I were both going to Physical Training (PT) and I'm thinking I will be joining her again pretty soon.  Getting isurance approval is always a pain in the ass.  I did get a "Juror Qualification Questionnaire" in the mail.  If you are over 70 years old you can just request an exemption.  I'm going to do that mostly because I imagine I'll be doing PT a couple days a week and you can't be two places at once.

I've only taken a couple of photos worth sharing lately.  This one is via my phone about 02:30 in the morning out the bathroom window.  I really liked the setting moon.

The other one I just took this morning using my Nikon with it's 200 mm lens.  I talk about the balloons that we see flying about.  Well, these two are coming close to landing.  That mountain is about 20 miles north of here.

Can't see much?  I don't blame you!  But here's a hint.  Just above the tree line about an inch from each side.  The balloon on the left is orange; the one on the right is green.  

That's enough BS for today.  Gotta go do something even if it is wrong.

It's a funny old world!

One week I can't imagine what to post here; the next week there is a total diversity of things to share.  I don't know; maybe I just can't see things sometimes.  Anyway, here's what's going on out here in Nevada.  I ordered a chair mat, a plastic thing that will smooth out the bumps under something you want to move.  In our case it is a refrigerator that can't be moved over our tile floor.  It came with instructions.

You've got to assume it wasn't written by a person for whom English was not his first language.  The other side had drawings showing how you roll out the mat and put weights on it to get it totally flat before using.

The next thing I wanted to share was a photo my wife took of the foothills just north of Mt. Charleston.  This was taken on the last day of March at about sunset.

 I've got to tell you those hills and mountains surrounding us are a large part of the reason we've been living here for over 15 years!  

The final thing is a little surprise I got just this morning.  We have a couple bird feeders and have a fair number of birdies that show up to dine.  This morning I found a little gift from one of them.

Yep, it's a egg!  We are thinking it is a pigeon egg but, trust me, we aren't experts!  Here is another photo with a tea spoon next to it to show it's size.

What a deal!  Of course my wife wanted to know if I wanted breakfast as soon as I showed it to her.  No, not this time!  Anyway, that's our excitement around here lately.  I hope you are having as much or more fun.  Thanks for stopping by.  Keep washing those hands!

OK!

I found this quote from Dan Rather this morning regarding Mr. Trump.

“A few people have asked why I vehemently oppose Trump,” Rather wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday. “Let me make this perfectly clear. It’s not about politics. I’ve voted for both parties.”

“It’s about me, as a patriot, rejecting a cheating, lying, racist, treasonous, fascist and vile man who attacks the free press, and wants to lead the country I love,” he continued. “It’s really that simple.”

I couldn't have said it better!  

Jeez! It's been almost a month!

No, I don't know how I managed to not update this for a month.  I mean things take more time when you are getting old but this is just silly.  Of course, there isn't much going on around here.  My wife and I are both going to PT to try and gain some more mobility.  And, no, it isn't doing much for either of us.  We do manage to go out to have lunch most days.  I mean cooking at home is SO DIFFICULT!

The weather is mostly warming up but every now and then California shares some of their rain and snow with us.  Nice of them, huh?  Last Saturday we actually got .69 inches so considering we usually get about 4 inches a year; that's a lot!  In February we had 2.6 inches so this summer is probably going to be pretty dry.

We were out to lunch a week or so ago and this young lady was sitting at the next table with a couple of older women; I assumed relatives.  But she was really involved in whatever was on her headphones.

Another time we were out I saw this.  You've got to assume the owner of this car is a cat lover.

One last photo:  we had a weather station mounted on a 2x4 post out in the back yard.  A couple of the bolts gave up and it fell back hitting the ground and breaking.  We have a new one on order but I wanted to go out and see what was wrong with that 2x4 so I took a photo.  Just as I did so a gust of wind came along and shoved the hood of my coat over my eyes.  Here's looking at you.

Well, that's all the news from the back of beyond Nevada.  Thanks for stopping by.  Take care and keep washing those hands.

Just going along for the ride....

Things are just being pretty much the same as my last post; except the good news is that my wife seems quite a bit better.  Her heart rate is back to normal and her blood pressure is also normal.  She has a bunch of pills to take every day and who knows how long that will last but it's miles better than being in a hospital bed with IVs all over your arms!  And we get to visit our favorite restaurants which I'm told is a lot better than the hospital food.

My leg is still bothering me and I walk like I'm about 90.  Both of the medical people I've talked with say I'm having sciatica pain.  It is a nerve that starts in your lower spine and continues down the leg all the way to the foot.  In my case the pain stops at the knee so I guess I'm half lucky.  Both my regular doctor and the specialist took x-rays and while I have some deterioration of my spine it's nothing unusual for an old fart like me.  At any rate the first level of treatment is Physical Therapy.  I was interviewed by one of the PT doctors and my first PT appointment is next Wednesday.  Until then I've got a couple medications that are supposed to loosen things up and tyenol for the pain.  None of them are working as far as I can tell!

The storms that have been hitting California have brought some more snow to our local mountains but nothing down here.  That's ok.  Our aquifer gets it's water from those mountains and we sure need it.  Death Valley has been actually getting rain and it has formed up into a giant puddle called Lake Manly.  It is draining away now and boats are no longer allowed but I'll bet it was fun for a couple of days!  We are getting a fair amount of gusty wind which knocks the bird feeders around but we can't make it too easy for them.  Every now and then a large crow or raven decides coasting in the wind over our house is fun and sets off the RING camera.  At least they aren't trying to land on the darned thing!

No new photos to share today.  Maybe next time.  Thanks for stopping by.  Keep washing those hands and keep your sneezes to yourself!

29 February - who can resist posting?

 It's been quite a month.  I'm ok if we don't have another like it for a LONG time!  My back/hip pain is still with me.  The doctor prescribed some medication but it's not working.  The next thing was PT and I'm scheduled to meet with them today.  We'll see how that works!  

The other nasty news is that my wife has been slowing down a lot.  Eventually her doctor suggested going to the ER!  Well, hell!  So we go over there and they immediately put her on some drips and in a couple of hours had her airlifted over to Las Vegas!  Talk about a fun afternoon.  Here's the machine showing her 128 heartbeat while she was lying in the bed.

She's been in the hospital in Vegas for a week now.  They said she had excess fluid in her lungs and worked to drain that.  That took two or three days; then they finally got her to a place where they could address her real problem:  atrial fibrillation or AFib.  It is when your heartbeat is either racing or flashing back and forth between normal and superfast.  She has had a procedure for that and we are hoping she can come home today.  Our daughter came out to see her and is going to bring her home if she gets released.  

All that makes for a fun month.  However, I've been driving into Vegas every day to see her.  It's a lovely drive, going in through the pass over the mountains and coming down is just great going either way.  I'm kind of a close-to-the-speed-limit guy so I mostly stay in the right lane and let the speeders have the left.  There are plenty of speeders for sure.  And plenty of way-too-loud motorcycles.  I did even once get passed by a state patrol cruiser - not blue lights just wanting to get home I guess.  

Here's a photo of a slightly overcast sky.

See, it's not always sunny in Nevada!  No rain of course.  But then we also get views like this.

 Gotta go.  Can't see wifie come home to the mess I've made of the house!  Take care.  Thanks for stopping by and keep washing those hands!