Communities
June 18, 2008
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Having waited until his endorsement is of no use, Gore now tries to attach himself to Obama campaign. Barak will be making sure he does not get too close. …
You will notice some changes in the appearance of my blog, I have been working this last week to learn how to customize the appearance (and other things), I know how to make web pages, I am fairly comfortable with HTML, but the blog code is a different animal, it’s similar in some ways, but the coding language is stricter and uses a lot of cascading style sheets (CSS), don’t worry if you have no idea what I am talking about, it really doesn’t matter. :)
The point is, I am working on improving the look of my blog and you will see some changes coming down the line, I work on a separate blog to tweak, test and learn so that I will not disrupt my main blog, and any mistakes will not appear here (I hope!).
Eeek, one mistake I just made, I lost all of my widgets, the things on the side of the page! I can’t seem to get them back, so I will go in and rebuild all of my widgets… in the words of that most wise of bears, Pooh, “Oh bother…” *sigh*
I hope you enjoy the new look and the upcoming changes I plan on making. Please feel free to leave comments, I appreciate the feedback, both positive and negative, if there is something that doesn’t look right to you or makes the blog harder to read or navigate, please don’t hesitate to let me know. Be sure to let me know which browser you are using, FireFox, Explorer… and anything else that might help, monitor type and size, Windows or Mac, and the version… if you don’t have all of this info, that’s ok, I still would like some feedback if you want to give it. Thanks! :)
It DOES rain in the desert! We finally got a good rain yesterday, between 1.5 and 2 inches, it started about 4ish, and it didn’t stop until nearly dark. A couple of times, it really rained hard, we really, REALLY needed this rain.
Here are a few pix of the rainbow that appeared during the rain. It doesn’t show in the pix, but there was actually a double rainbow. These images are looking east.
This pic is looking south.
These pix are looking west.
…
Sorry, had to lose this message, after reviewing it a bit, my BS meter was pegged.
If you really want to see it, go here
https://www.breitbart.tv/?p=108653&comments=1#comments…
Here are the pix of the fire, this was taken on day 2.
This is just outside the community entrance, my neighbor and I drove out to see what was going on. This pic is facing west, our community is on the north side of the road, the fire had burned on the south side of the road, all the way to the road.
Yup, that’s me, I figured I would check the mail while I was there. :) Both trucks you see belong to the fire fighters, we had local fire fighters and the forest service there. We also had 5 heavy tankers flying in from New Mexico and 3 helicopters all dropping fire retardant on the fire, plus all the spotter planes.
This is looking east, it’s hard to tell, but the dark stuff on the other side of the road is where it burned, the whole mountain in the background is burned.
Looking west again, the fire is still burning here, you can see the smoke.
Still looking west, more smoke.
My neighbor and I drove up inside the community to a high spot, it doesn’t really show up in the picture, but the road from the previous pictures was visible (to our eyes) going left to right. The mountain in the background is on fire in this pic.
You can see the smoke a little easier here.
It’s hard to see in this pic, but this mountain is on fire, there is a line of fire going all the way across the ridge. It was getting dark and the camera could not capture the images very well.
The fire seems to be under control now, I can still smell a little smoke, it’s like we live near a BBQ joint! :) Last I heard, as of yesterday, the fire was 65% contained, I have to assume they have gotten it more contained by now. Some 50,000 acres burned, but there was no loss of life, no injuries, no structures lost, kudos to the brave men and women who fought the fires and kept all of us safe and protected our homes.…
From June 12 through August 16, 2008 bike riders will be going from Paris to Moscow and then on to Peking. All in an effort to raise awareness that peace and facing the looming energy crisis is not just a local but international issue.
In 2006 and 2007 this ride was only from Paris to Moscow, this year it has been expanded to Peking after their success. This ride is also open to any solar electric rides as this is also a way to promote the use of alternative and renewable energies. Another of the unique aspects of this ride is that everyone is expected to pitch in and help one another. That means helping with meals, cleaning up th dishes, putting tents up, giving a helping hand to your fellow riders, etc. This event hope to pull riders from all nationalities and walks of life who all wish to promote peace and the use of renewable energies instead of the standard oil.
The stated goals of the organization are :
They go in depth for each goal on the site, you can click here to take a look. This event is just an example of how the energy crisis that is looming, if not actually here, is being felt not just here in the USA but as the world as a whole. That being said the solutions we are more concerned with are those that touch us close4r to home. That is likely the case with most people, and luckily for us using alternative energy is not something only for certain demographics or locations.
What should be realized by those of us going to alternative and renewable energy, especially used on a personal scale, is that a hundred years ago that was the norm. Even in many countries around the world it still is the norm for the average person. Yes, we love our technology but technology does not mean we have to be plugged into the grid to enjoy it. Those living off the grid who love technology still can play with the same toys, though they are more responsible in making sure that phantom power is not being drained when not in use.
Looking around you right now what is plugged in but not on, what is on but not being actively used, what can be turned of because their is a free source for the same resource (lights on during the day)? These are questions you should ask yourself everytime you enter a room or walk through your home/office. You will be amazed at what you find. Habits are hard …
Well, this has been an interesting day and a not so fun night… we had (are still having) a big fire near our community. Earlier today, or technically yesterday now, I began to smell something burning, I went outside but didn’t see anything. About an hour later, I smelled it even stronger, we went outside to see what was going on, this time we could see smoke, a big column of smoke rolling over the mountains to the south south west. We have been having smallish grass fires, burning a few acres to a couple of hundred acres, the local fire departments have been able to put them out in pretty short order. This time, it was/is a BIG fire, I understand that some 20,000 acres have been burned, and it appears that the fire is still going, as of 2:24 this morning. Most of the people who live out here chose to follow the volunteer evacuation, packed themselves up and left. We talked to a couple of our friends, one set decided to leave, the other set decided to send his wife and kids out but he stayed, he says he knows the area and knows how to get out if it gets too hairy. Anyhoo, we watched the smoke roll over the mountains all day, it got bad enough to make my eyes sting on more than one occasion today. The smoke column went up high enough to begin to block the sun, it made the evening turn orange/red. We decided to stay and ride it out, at least until we could see it would get too dangerous to stay, ie seeing fire coming over the mountain.
I called a few of the other people we know out here, couldn’t get an answer from most of them, I did get a hold of the lady who owns the local store, she said she was leaving because she had her grandkids here for a visit, she got a hotel room in town (safe from the fire) and gave us an open invitation to stay with them if we decided to leave. She said she thought everything would be OK, but just didn’t want to take the chance with the kiddos. I don’t blame her.
All day we watched the smoke billowing over the mountains, earlier in the day, Bob and one of our friends went out to the main road outside the community and watched the fire, they couldn’t see the flames, just where the smoke was coming from. He was one of the people who left this evening, with his family. The wind has been up all day, and the wind was blowing the smoke and presumably the fire right towards us. I was told by the store owner that the fire wasn’t in our community yet, it would have to travel a bit further and jump the …
Found our first scorpion inside the house, it was bigger than the ones I have been finding outside. I am glad we found that one, I’m not happy it was inside the house, we have been working on tightening up the house, putting up screens and such. But in spite of all the bugs, I am still happy to be living here.
It’s been H O T! Fortunately the humidity is typically low, right now it’s 95 degrees F and 16% humidity, the wind is blowing so it’s all good. I’ve been heating our dinners outside using the sun, I still don’t have a proper solar oven, so I have been using a black roasting pan, it gets plenty hot. Yesterday heated a turkey and dressing meal (pre-made), these are supposed to be heated in a microwave, I had been heating these in boiling water (anyone remember boil-in-bag meals?). I took them and set them inside the black roasting pan and set it out in the sun, it gets toasty hot in about an hour. I wanted more dressing/stuffing, so I got some Stove Top, divided it between 2 plastic containers with lids, I added enough water, put the lids on them, shook them up and put them in the roasting pan too. Everything was hot and good.
Hmmm, let’s see, what else has been happening… we ate dinner at our friends house the other night, I’ll call him JB and her PB, they are a very nice couple. She made homemade spaghetti, she is a very good cook! They have lots of kids, started late in life, I can’t imagine raising young kids now, our (respective) kids are grown and living their own lives (even having their own kids). Anyhoo, their kids are great, and quite unusual out here, there just aren’t many kids living out here. Oh well… JB is helping us with some material, he has quite a spread with lots of stuff, some might call it a mini junk yard, but it’s all good stuff, and he seems to know what he has and where it all is. We saw him today on our way to the mailbox, we saw him outside and stopped by to say HI, he is really a very nice guy.
Oh well, enough rambling for now… don’t seem to have much to say. I’ll try harder next time… :)
lornkanaga said…Other than the occasional scorpion, life seems to be pretty good. Bless your neighbor with his “junkyard” as he sounds like someone who truly knows how to recycle (g).
TheMajor’sLady
lornkanaga said…Oops. Forgot to ask something about your make-shift solar setup. Have you considered cutting three sides off of a box (leaving a bottom and two sides), then covering that with aluminum foil to increase the reflective heat generated for your pot?
British Gas stockpiled by big energy companies in summer so it canb sold back at twice the price in winter…
Need something to do in Los Angeles, CA this weekend then we have a deal for you. In our mailbox we found a nice little surprise (unfortunately it’s a few days old) about the third annual Dwell on Design Event. This event is a combination of a conference and exhibition that will run June 5-8, 2008. The conference is scheduled for June 5-6 while the exhibit will follow on June 7-8. This event will be the largest design show in the West.
“With 41,500 subscribers in the Los Angeles area and 10,100 newsstand readers, we knew it was the time to bring a high quality, content-based conference to Los Angeles,” said Michela O’Connor Abrams, Dwell’s Publisher and President.
There will be conference sessions led by industry innovators along with hands-on exhibits for attendees to explore both products and lifestyle demonstrations. A unique part of the exhibition will be a “pop-up” community that is made up of prefab exhibitors that hope to be seen, touched and most of all to inspire. They have partnered with the LA Mayors Office, LA Forum, ASID, ASLA, AIA, LA MOCA, GOOD Magazine and too many others to name in hopes of ensuring a great success. The event is to be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Put on by Dwell Magazine and their editors it hope to provide an in-depth look at modern design, architecture and space. This is to be enhanced by perspectives of design professionals, legislators, international guest and activists. Some of the guest include award winning architect from Environa Studio (Australia), Tone Wheeler; Jenna Didler of Materials and Applications, a research center dedicated to pushing new and underused ideas for art, landscape and architecture into view; Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti will also be offering a keynote address. To keep everyone entertained they will also be offering nightly events downtown at various venues. Attendees are hoped to be 12-15,000 for the exhibition. It will feature over 200 exhibitors, who will be hoping to garner those attendees attention.
“Dwell’s brand has received accolades for the past three years in San Francisco in print, online, with homes, and live with Dwell on Design” said O’Connor Abrams. “We are excited to bring the brand to life in Los Angeles, an undisputed capital of modern design”
You can register for the event by clicking here and for a free ticket to the exhibition use the code : BDODEC; for $50 off the cost of the conference use the code : GRP22SP.
Our readers have also been offered a free month of the digital version of the magazine Dwell. So even if you can’t make the convention you can see what the magazine is all about without killing trees or losing any green.
Since we’re on the East Coast there is no way we …
Hey Wretha, I like the new look – it’s cleaner and easier to read. Nice job. (This is not to say I didn’t like the last look, now.) :oP
Karen
June 15, 2008 8:48 AM
Lookin’ good Wretha (and loads a lot faster too!)
June 15, 2008 10:05 AM
Wretha, I LOVE THE NEW LOOK. Keep up the GREAT work. Oh yea, still looking for a can for the water filter. I’ll keep ya posted on the progress, slow though it may be.
Chris
June 15, 2008 11:32 AM
Thanks Karen and Mayberry, I’m glad to hear that it loads up faster for you, that’s probably because I lost all of my widgets :(
That’s OK, I’ll be able to put them back in the following days.
Wretha
June 15, 2008 11:40 AM
Hi Scavenger, glad you like it, I have had quite a good time learning the ins and outs of editing and customizing this blog, now I just have to reinstall my widgets. :)
Let me know when