620 kilos

Ben got his fix today.  This will last about a month and a half.  81,88,54,0,C

silver'n'gold

It was a good week for precious metals.  Bad news for that worthless paper money in your pocket.  81,85,62,0,W

48 hours

That's all it took to get the new brake lines delivered - from Keller, Texas.  Forgot I also need new compression washers so I ordered those today from a different vendor - in Miami, Florida.  I don't think those will travel quite as fast.  85.92.61,0,W

fresh cut

Ben was trolling Facebook today and came across this message.  Looks like I'm in store for another feed run soon.  This even makes my mouth water.  80,86,61,0,B

trading...UP

Started working on the go kart today.  Got a buyer so I gotta get her cleaned up.  New brake lines and gas tank coming but she still runs like a charm.  Little extra TLC and I will have the bucks for a new cart for my paramotor.  Gonna be going up and down with wheels since my factory issued landing gear is defective.  86,91,60,0,W 

tail day

All the parts holding my passenger side tail light in place have been repaired and broken so many times with JB Weld that nothing was left but bailing wire to keep it in place so I splurged on a whole new assembly.  While I was at it I decided to clip Chupa's funky black tail feather to add to the archives.  88,94,59,0,W

science and religion

Atheists know no limits when it comes to denying God.  This meme is supposed to plant the notion in the collective mind that astronauts in space see no God when in fact the exact opposite is true when they are able to see His creation from afar.  Satan banks on the notion that this blatantly false seed will work its' way into the masses and they will believe this to be fact based on science.

The origin of the lie that even astronauts see no God even from space began in the 60's.   Yuri Gagarin was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Russian Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on April 12, 1961. Some sources have claimed that Gagarin commented during the flight, "I don't see any God up here." However, no such words appear in the verbatim record of his conversations with Earth-based stations during the spaceflight. In a 2006 interview, Gagarin's friend Colonel Valentin Petrov stated that the cosmonaut never said such words, and that the quote originated from Nikita Khrushchev's speech at the plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU about the state's anti-religion campaign, saying "Gagarin flew into space, but didn't see any god there."

Days of Glory

The 1976 CCDS Cross Country Team (Left to Right): Top Row: Frank Whitney, Clay Clayborne, Ben Hunter, Eddie Green, John Wells, Peter Graham, Bruce Hamilton, David Hill, Ric Browning. Front Row: Assistant Coach Pete Fenninger, Bob McCloud, Woody Garland, Kevin Barnett, Scott Hamilton, Robert Thompson, Paul Trotter, Head Coach Bill Crowell

An old high school friend of mine recently posted a list on Facebook - the all time cross country records from Charlotte Country Day School for the 5,000 meter race.  Somehow my junior year time is still in the top 10 on the list.  Funny thing is I don't remember being particularly fast and certainly not dedicated at all to the sport of long distance running...or sports in general for that matter.  The only thing I really enjoyed about running was stopping.  If it wasn't for the fact that my high school required all students (unless they had a medical excuse) to try out for 2 varsity sports per year, I probably wouldn't have run cross country in the fall and track in the spring.  Not exactly sure how I could have attained a mention in the record books because looking back 40 years ago - I can remember a number of teammates who were faster than me.  I must have had one really good race that season...and I don't even remember it.  72,80,64,0,B    

chicken'n'biscuits

Cooked up a 6.48 lb chicken in the solar oven yesterday.  Took 4.5 hours at 300° to 350° as the sun went in and out of the clouds.  Cooked up a batch of buttermilk biscuits today.  Chupa really doesn't mind my eating chicken...in fact, he and Frank and Manny had some leftovers today.  75,84,62,0,B

processed food

The newest bunny learned about rabbit chow and range cubes today.  82,89,59,0,B

plan B

Drat...turns out the micro switches I ordered require just a little too much pressure to function in my payphone.  I don't know why I didn't realize this two days ago but I suddenly happened to think that the on-board computer must have some switches to count nickles, dimes, and quarters.  Found the spot and wired into the correct leads and cha-chingo...it works!  (Note: it only accepts quarters to function but visitors are welcome to feed as many nickles and dimes in as they want.)  Now if I can just put the new switches in a spot where I will be able to find them next time I need one.  82,92,57,0,B

payphone project

Spent an hour hunting for my soldering iron and finally found it.  Wired in a 20 second re-recordable sound module - audio out to the speaker in the receiver - nine volt battery power supply to the hang up switch - wire leads off the circuit board (that was tricky) for playback.  All I need now is the micro switch to activate it when a coin drops.  Cha-ching!  78,88,61,0,B

pushing the limits

It occurred to me that my non functional payphone is always an attention grabber when I get new visitors.  It also occurred to me that it has a coin slot that never gets any coins.  Rigging it now so something will happen when visitors deposit a quarter.  To complete the project I need a micro lever switch.  I am sure I have some somewhere but I just couldn't find them.  Just ordered 10 of them at 5:57PM on Amazon Prime and they will be here Wednesday afternoon - for $8.74 including 2 day shipping.  68,75,66,0,B

make no mistake

Listen carefully to his relentless pandering, endless lies, and constant claims of being treated unfairly...Donald trump is guided by Satan.  When once asked if he had a favorite Bible verse he said no.  And now - what does he finally come up with...?

Matthew 5 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.

41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 

ecosystem

Finally cleaned out the chest fridge.  It has been a year and have half since the last time I scrubbed it down.  Only found 2 life forms living near the bottom.  81,90,63,0,B

"Moore's law"

Hard to believe that 32 gigabytes of storage for my tablet computer fits on the tip of my finger...and that 256 GB is the current max amount available on a micro SD card (for under $100).  85,96,58,0,B

the disgruntled bunny

Finally got around to putting some hardware cloth over the lower openings on the greenhouse doors...mainly to keep the roosters out.  Discovered one of the bunnies wanted to get in there too.  She clawed away at it for a few minutes then just sat there looking defeated.  82,90,57,0,B

going back

The original inspiration for my hut and the rebar trusses in the greenhouse.  70,83,48,0,B

Quick trip

Sunny and breezy all day at TFL.  Did a quick feed supply run north and Alpine was socked in and drizzly... 69,79,58,0,W

first paying customer

My friend Jim came out today to check out his new land he just bought SW of TFL.  75,85,63,0,B

The root of all evil...

Deception and lack of trust are the root of all evil in the world...

Genesis 3   1Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.  And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

it's all in the details...

...like a clear lens for a parking meter and a fake temperature knob for the solar oven.
74,89,60,0,B

First Rain

68,85,66, .32",W

New Parking Regulations...

...are now in effect.  Two hour time limit unless I really like you.  77,86,60,0,B

pole 3

Ready for the parking meters soon...although there might be a delay since my friend Bob Vandervliet dropped off some Virginia Peach Moonshine this afternoon.  76,85,60,0,B

pole 2

Set the second pole for the first meter...ended up using some leftover pipe from Ben's fence corners since the meters are pretty heavy.  Silver spray paint is on the shopping list.  81,91,50,0,B

light project

Dug one hole, mixed one small batch of concrete, set one pole, and I'm plum tuckered out.  79,89,47,0,C

Full?

Luke 6:25Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.

welding workshop

Bullshirtz Rick came down today to help me with some chores then I introduced him to the wonders of the wire feed welder...he just bought his first auto-darkening welding helmet.  64,70,47,0,B

meter mania

As usual...when I come across something new that sparks my interest I get a little obsessive about it.  I have always been enamored with clock mechanisms and timers - especially the coin operated variety.  I guess that might be why I have always liked going to the laundromat.  What first sparked the idea of parking meters is when I saw that my friend Keith Chapman had put a bunch of poles in the ground out near his mini storage building on 118.  Eventually he is going to fence off the property there that goes all the way to the corner.  I thought it would be funny to get a parking meter off Ebay and pop one on top of one of his posts and put it up on his Facebook page.  Turns out there are a lot of parking meters for sale on Ebay as well as a huge assortment of replacement parts.  I ended up getting a second meter housing along with an assortment of timers.  













So I went to the corner yesterday to do my planned photo and it just so happened that Keith was there.  He got a kick out of the idea although I wasn't able to surprise him with it on social media.  He was getting ready for the weekly garage sale at Green Desert Living and wouldn't you know he had 7 galvanized pipes for sale that are a perfect fit for the parking meters.  I only need two but I bought the lot for what the two I needed would have cost me from McCoys.  It's gonna take awhile to make back my investment one quarter at a time from visitors...but after that it is all gravy.  57,71,55,0,B