Slice Of Life

Cell Phone Takes A Bath

2009-02-03T06:09:00.005-07:00

Word to the wise..... Cell phones do not do well in the washing machine :-)

I got rid of my land line a few years ago, so all I have now, is my cell phone. I'm not always able to hear it ring if it is on the other side of the house, so I've sort of gotten in the habit of putting it in my sweatpants pocket, if I'm just lounging around the house.

So, last week, it was the day before the first day of the workweek, which, around my house means, wash day. I wanted to get everything in the "colors", so I stripped off my sweatpants and dumped them in the washer. Yes, that means I was standing there in my underwear..... great visual, eh? Get your mind out of the gutter :-)

Anyway, one thing I forgot to do, was remove my cellphone from my sweatpants pocket. Since the cellphone was turned on, in standby mode, you can imagine what it looked like.... and worked like (NOT) after the cycle. Dead.... no functionality at all. Bummer.

I took it all apart, and sprayed it with some canned compressed air that I have for cleaning out my keyboard, and after several hours, I was able to get it to turn on. Not function, just turn on. No contact list, no battery charge, and I could see water streaks across the display. Not Good (sigh).

One of my coworkers said something similar happened to him, and what he did was put the phone on top of his TV for 3 days to dry it out. The heat from the TV cooked out the moisture. Great, I have flat panel HDTV, which doesn't generate that type of heat. However.... My Cox Cable company digital TV box seems to put out enough heat through it's cooling vents to cook an egg. So, I took my miniature Phillips screwdriver, and took apart as much of the phone as I could, and set it on top of the box overnight.

The next day, I had recovered some functionality. I could receive calls, and send them, but the charger wasn't charging the battery, and I still had no contact list. There did seem to be less moisture streaking on the display, so I repeated the "cooking procedure" a second day. This morning, the battery took a charge, but no contact list. So, I used some Isoprophyl alcohol, and cleaned the contacts of the "smart card", and reinstalled it. still didn't work, but now, it is a couple of hours into the workday, and I just tried it again, and the contact list is back :-)

So, word to the wise.... Never give your cellphone a bath...... I mean, unless you have a high temperature TV or Cable Box :-)

Row Row Row Your Boat, Gently Down The Stream.....NOT!

2008-05-19T13:56:00.005-07:00

A few weeks ago, my Adventure Club went up north of Phoenix, to do something I've been wanting to do for awhile..... River Rafting. I know, I know, I've previously written about that time I went (so called) River Rafting in the Grand Canyon, but this was different. The Grand Canyon rafting was with motor powered rafts. While that was fun, REAL river rafting to me means "Paddle Yourself". That's what we did this time.

We hooked up with the Tucson Adventure Club that we sometimes pair up with for these trips, and we drove ~ 2 hours north to an area just above the town of Globe, and started our "Salt River Adventure" just north of the town. We hooked up with a company called "Salt River Rafting" (go figure). They offer overnight and 3 day river rafting on 'The Upper Salt" (Ya like that river rafting lingo, eh?), so this time the club did the overnight. There were 23 of us, 12 from the Tucson club, and 11 of us "Phoenicians".

We carpooled up there with all our stuff, and the rafting company provided wet suits, wet suit booties, life jackets, and even helmets. I was a little "concerned" about needing a helmet, but on the other hand, the thought of bonking my brain on a rock, settled that concern immediately. We all got our paddles, and then hoofed it down to the rafts, where there was ~ 15 minutes of safety and paddling lecture. Basically, keep your hand on top of the paddle, so if the blade hits a rock, you won't get a face full of paddle (good advice in my book), listen for the commands "Right side forward (1,2 or however many stokes), Left side back, All Back etc etc", and most importantly, if you fall out of the boat, point your feet downstream, and float, we'll rescue you (you better).

6 people per rubber boat, plus 1 guide who steers from the back (4 boats total). I'm not sure why, but I always seem to get the front, whether it's rafting or roller coastering, or whatever. No problem, because like they say, "Only the lead sled dog has a clear view" :-) In this case, I was "right side, front". I was pretty confident as we shoved off, because after all, the guide said, the upper section is Class 1's and 2's, the middle is 2's and 3's, and the lower section is 1's and 2's. No problem.... right? I said..... RIGHT?

Yeah, right. About 50 feet from the start, we hit the first rapid. The critical thing they told us for rowers, is for everyone to stroke at the same time. Of course we didn't, and so we got pushed to the right.... right towards a cliff wall. With me being in the front right, guess who is going to be the first "wall kisser". The guide was yelling "Left Back Hard", Right Forward Hard" trying to steer us away, but I could tell we weren't going to have enough space...... so, BONK!! The right front of the boat hit the wall, , then the nose, then the left front, then we were going downstream..... BACKWARDS!!! So, we navigated the first rapid section in reverse, much to the delight and laughs from the other 3 boats in the group (sigh).

Anyway, after a kind reminder from the guide to "paddle together people", we got our timing down really well before we hit the tougher sections of the river. I'm not sure what Class 4's and Class 5's are like, but let me tell you, 2's and 3's were PLENTY of "rapid" enough for me, at least at my relative level of inexperience. By the time we pulled over to the riverbank for lunch, I was ready for a break. The guides actually took care of all the cooking chores, so all we had to do was unzip our wet suits slightly, and lounge around, congratulating ourselves for not drowning that morning. Of course there were several jokes about our boat people "not knowing which way was downstream", but it was all good natured ribbing, so I resisted the temptation to throw them into the river :-)

The rest of the day was spent paddling down through the lower portion of the river, in which 2 of the other boats got stuck on rocks at different times, filled partially with water that need to be bailed out, and nearly turned their boats over, and 2 people from the third boat actually did fall into the river (quickly pulled out). I noticed something funny..... nobody was making jokes about our "backwards boat" when we stopped for dinner..... hummmmmm, I wonder why? At least our boat was relatively dry (hehehehehe).

While the guides cooked dinner, I pitched my tent in a clear sandy area. Man, I love modern tents. When I was a kid in the Boy Scouts, those tents took a long time to put up. now they pop up in a few minutes. I was all set up way before the dinner bell rang. After dinner, we built this huge bonfire from the ton of driftwood on the shoreline, and spent a good part of the evening telling jokes and stories and getting really really....... really drunk. I brought a bunch of beer, and my "Patron Silver" tequila to share, and I drank from other peoples sharing's until I don't even remember going to my tent. Whew!

The next morning, when we woke up (surprisingly, no hangover), the guides cooked us breakfast, and we took our time breaking camp. The only thing I wished, is that we had done the three day, and then after breakfast we would have gone back onto the river for a 2nd day of rafting. Oh well, next time. I hear that the last couple of weeks in March is the best time, because then the water is higher, and the 1's and 2's become 2's and 3's, and the 2's and 3's become 3's and 4's. Hey.... something to look forward to for next year..... RIGHT? :-)

Oh, They Built The Ship Titanic, To Sail The Ocean Blue...

2008-02-22T13:26:00.005-07:00

My Adventure Club went down to the Arizona Science Center a couple of weeks ago. They had an exhibit of the Titanic. I was really looking forward to it, since the last time it was in Phoenix..... I missed out on seeing it. I thought it was a once in lifetime chance, so I'm glad it came back.

It was really interesting, they had artifacts that had been brought up from the ship on the bottom of the Atlantic, plus a step by step history of the building of the ship, which gave an idea of why they claimed it was "unsinkable". It actually should have been. Like most tragedies, it wasn't one specific thing that doomed the Titanic, but a series of unfortunate events that combined all together sunk the ship. They also gave you a "Passport" at the start of the self guided tour, with the name and biography of one of the passengers, which you could look up at the end of the tour to see if "you" survived. My person was a 61 year old man, traveling 3rd class, who's cabin was 5 decks down in the ship. Doesn't look to good for him, eh?

There has always been several things that I wondered about that tragedy. Why couldn't they see that darned iceberg in time? What, wasn't it big enough? Sure it was, if the person in the watchtower had his binoculars, that were misplaced in the rush for the ship to leave the dock.

And, why didn't any other ships in the area bang into, or at least see, and radio back positions of icebergs that night? They did, at least the ones that were spotted in the regular shipping lanes. Turns out, the Titanic had deviated from the normal shipping lanes, because they were taking a "short cut", trying to make the trip in the shortest amount of time, to break the current speed record for the trip.

That's the same reason that the warnings about icebergs in the area were ignored, and why the ship couldn't stop in time. The Captain had ordered "full speed ahead", so even when the night watch finally saw the iceberg, and the order for "Hard to Port, Full Reverse Engines" was given, it was too late to stop, or turn the ship away from the iceberg.

Still, even when the ship did hit the iceberg, the ship itself was designed to stay afloat, even with 4 of it's lower compartments fully flooded. Unfortunately, the iceberg ripped a hole in 6 compartments. Too bad they weren't going slower so they could stop or turn away, or had their binoculars, so they could see that iceberg sooner, eh?

And even after impact, the ship didn't sink immediately, so why couldn't they get everyone off the ship in the lifeboats? Because there weren't enough lifeboats, that's why. The ship was originally designed to carry 32 lifeboats, which was plenty for everyone, but due to cost cutting, the final built version of the ship only had 20. So, to save a buck, so sorry for the people who needed those extra 12 boats. Tough luck.

The lifeboat shortage is even more tragic, because it turns out, most of the fatalities weren't from drowning. Most of the fatalities were from exposure to the cold water, and hypothermia. Salt lowers the freezing temperature of sea water, and it was estimated the water temp in the Atlantic that night was less than ~25F. At that temperature, hypothermia will occur in less than 5 minutes. The exhibit set up a simulated "iceberg" that you could touch that was cooled to that estimated temperature. I could only hold my hand against it for ~ 30 seconds before my skin started to go numb. Too bad there weren't enough lifeboats, they might have saved everyone.

So, all in all, it was a very interesting exhibit, and I was happy for those that made it, sorry for those that didn't, and I definately learned allot more of the story, then any Leonardo Decaprio movie could have shown me.

By The way, My 61 Year Old Passenger friend.... Survived :-)

Chocolate Stuff

2007-12-19T14:35:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Dog is doing very well. Julie Dog has accepted him, after some initial "What The Heck Is That" attitude. I think she does not feel threatened or intimidated, because Chocolate is a male (different sex), and he's currently smaller then she is.

Chocolate had his first Vet visit. He was a little timid during the visit, probably due to the unfamiliar surroundings. He made friends with the Vet though, when she gave him his first Vet visit - doggie treat. With him, treats do wonders for friend making :-) He weighted 15 lbs, and he got his updated shots, including the rabies. The Vet says he's healthy, and he tolerated the procedures well. I just stepped on the scale with and without him, and 2 weeks after the Vet visit, he is now 18 lbs (+3 lbs) :-)

The biggest effort has been housebreaking. He learned to use the Doggie Door to the back yard, in 1 day, but he initially did not get the idea to go to the toilet outside in the back yard (sigh). Fortunately, after the first day, he had his "accidents" mostly in the kitchen, on the vinyl flooring, instead of the carpet in the rest of the house. So, even though I cleaned up his carpet accidents right away, I'm still eventually going to need to steam clean the living room and hallway carpets. The method I'm using to housebreak him, is the same one that worked with my other dogs, which is, I use a dog transporter crate, that I confine him in at night, and we go outside to the back yard FIRST THING in the morning. I have been leaving him and Julie outside during the day when I'm gone, and on the weekends, I go outside to the back yard every hour, he follows me, and usually does his toilet business then.

I think he's getting the idea, since this week on Thursday, I saw him go outside through the doggie door and do his business outside all by himself, and yesterday (Saturday), I left him and Julie inside, with the doggie door unlocked, when I went Christmas Shopping, and 5 hours later I came home to NO messes :-)

So, he has another Vet visit on December 28, to get his second set of distemper shots. He now accepts me putting on his collar, and he walks on the leash mostly following Julie when we go outside on walks, and Julie and he seem to be buddies, so, all in all, Julie seems to have accepted him, and I think he's progressing faster then either Julie or Max did when they were the same age...

Good Doggie :-)

I Love "Chocolate"

2007-12-19T14:23:00.000-07:00

I decided that my Dog Julie needed some company. So please welcome the newest addition to my Family… He is a 17 week old Springer Spaniel. His coat is mostly white, with a Chocolate Brown Head, and Chocolate Brown patches on his body. So naturally I named him….

Chocolate :-)

Australia Day 11 – Sydney

2007-11-09T11:32:00.000-07:00

Day 10 was a travel day to Sydney. We are staying at the Sheraton And this Hotel is the nicest one of all. All decorations seem to either be in marble, or wood. Very nice.

Today, we took a tour of the city sites of Sydney. We went all around town, seeing such sites as the Royal Botanical gardens, Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair and Kings cross. We also took the “Group Photo” at the harbor, with the Opera House behind us. I need to scan it into digital, before I post it on my Photo Web Site.

The best part of the Tour was the Opera House. You may know it as the Sydney structure that looks like sails? It turns out that when they made the original design for the roof, there was actually no way to construct it. In other words, it looked good on paper, but was physically unable to be built! The started construction on the Opera House, with no way to put the roof on! They eventually solved that problem, by using a design, that sliced up a circular ball into sections, and used that as a model. The interior is unique, because in each of the 3 halls, there are no roof support columns to obstruct views, the outer walls of the structure bear the entire weight of the roof! One other super treat, was that there was going to be a symphony concert that night, and when we got to the concert hall, the musicians were tuning up, so we got to hear a demonstration of the outstanding acoustics of the Opera House! Too bad they wouldn’t let us stay for the rehearsal.

Afterwards, we toured famous Bondi beach, which from the stories told, appears to be Australia’s version of Malibu California. You know, beautiful beaches, beautiful people, and multi-million dollar homes? All 3 seemed to be true. Afterwards, we took a harbor cruise, where they served us a buffet lunch, and we got to see a perspective of Sydney not available any other way. That night, the group went dor dinner and drinks, and afterwards, a smaller group of us went out dancing. The vacation is coming to an end, AND I’M NOT READY TO GO. Hummmmm, I wonder what the Semiconductor Engineering Employment situation is like here? Just kidding…… Almost :-)

Australia Day 9 - Cairns - Kurandu

2007-11-06T03:31:00.000-07:00

Today, we took a trip into the mountains above Cairns, to a village called Kurandu. There is a rain forest preserve up there, and the rumour mill had it that it was a place to go. They have this old narrow gauge railroad that was built up into the mountain, way back when gold was discovered in the area. They have restored the railway, and now they run an old time train up there to the rainforest preserve.

We gathered at the station, and took the train into the mountains. Along the way, they tell you the story of how the entire railway was built by hand way back in the early 1800's using pick axe and shovel. It was pretty amazing, because not only were there multiple bridges spanning deep gullies, but there were also 18 tunnels that were dug out of the granite mountain. Try doing that with a pick axe.

When we got to the town,there was a short walk up to the shopping area, where most of the people hung out, but I decided to take my little tourist information map, and go do "The Conservatory Nature Walk", "The Jungle Nature Walk", and "The River Nature Walk". During the walk, I was sort of glad that I did it by myself, since I was able to be really quiet, and saw animals and birds that I most likely would not have seen with a large noisy group.

One of the nice things, was that to get back down the mountain, they had what they called "The Skyrail" It was an overhead cable car system, sort of like those 4 person pods that you see at the ski resorts? Doing it that way, allowed me to get a birds eye view of the mountain rain forest from above the trees,it was VERY cool.

At the bottom, we visited the Aboriginal cultural center for the tribes in the area, The local people put on a dance demonstration of aboriginal dances that was fabulous. Then there were demonstrations of Aboriginal Medicine, and a lesson on how to throw Aboriginal Spears, and Boomerangs.

I said a lesson, because the spear actually has a separate hooked throwing stick device, that hooks into the back end of the spear, then we throwing the spear, you lay the spear across your last three fingers, and grip the spear between your thumb and index finger, and use an overhand throwing motion much like a baseball, snapping your wrist at the point of release, and following through.

After they showed us how to do it, and they threw a couple of spears at the 3 hay bale targets, with the kangaroo paper targets on it, they said "OK, who wants to go first". ARE YOU KIDDING? I jumped up, along with 3 other guys, and we all lined up on the firing line. I was paying real close attention, so I got the throwing stick and the spear set up the way they showed, and aimed t the closest bale, which was about 20 meters away. All I was thinking was.... "Please Please at least just let the spear fly a little ways in the right direction, and also don't let me lose my grip on the throwing stick, hit somebody with it, and embarrass myself". I tried to think about throwing a baseball, with the only difference being the arm follow through goes across your body, and so I whipped my arm overhand, and snapped my wrist on the release and followed through the way they showed. The spear flew through the air, and HIT THE CLOSEST KANGAROO TARGET DEAD CENTER!!! Wow, I couldn't believe it!! Everyone watching behind me from the tour group cheered and clapped, and the rest of the day, the folks were calling me "Spear Chucker Tom", and suggesting that I should hunt for that night's dinner. Oh, but that's not all....

They then took us over to the boomerang throwing, and taught us how to do that, then they gathered us inside this chain link screened in hut, and one by one, we stepped out in front of the shed to throw. For a right handed, you hold the boomerang like a number 7, angle it at about 1:00, and throw across the wind. Again, snapping your wrist at the moment of release. The wind was coming from the North, so the throw direction was east. The first guy tried, but he held his boomerang at 12:00, so it want straight down into the ground. I was up second, and when I lined up and threw, the boomerang flew in a large circular arc, sailed around to my left, and HIT THE SHED RIGHT BEHIND ME with all the other people in it. One of them said, "Hey Tom, what, were you trying to aim at us"? I said..... ummmmmm, yeah, right, that's EXACTLY where I was aiming
:-)

Anyway, after we got back to Cairns, we went out to dinner along the Esplanade, which is the main waterfront drag. They have these fig trees along the promenade, and these giant fruit bats live in the trees, they have wing spans of ~ 1 meter (~3 feet), and they are kind of cool to watch soaring around in the sky with the sun setting behind them, since they stay high in the trees, and don't want to have anything to do with people. I had Filet Mignon Steak, and "Mash" (mashed potatoes) and I drank way too many "VB" (Victoria Bitters) beers......

Man, I'm having a GREAT TIME :-)

Australia Day 8 – Cairns - Great Barrier Reef

2007-11-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the check out from the Hotel and the flight over to Cairns. There wasn’t much to say really, so I’ll skip that. Our group is staying at the Hilton, which is right on the waterfront. The view from my balcony, is the bay itself. We took a ship out to the Great barrier reef this morning. The ship first stops at a place called Green Island, then we went on to a floating platform that the company has, right on the edge of the Reef. The ship was a large catamaran, so even though it was one of the fastest ships I’ve ever been on, it was also entirely smooth. The ship can hold ~ 350 passengers, and after we dropped off some people 50 minutes into the trip at green Island, there were ~ 200 of us for the remaining 50 minute trip to the reef.

The Reef is Spectacular. I’ve snorkeled in such exotic locations as Martinique, and Cancun, and I use to think that Cancun was the best snorkeling I’ve even done, but this place is FAR superior. We snorkeled around for ~ 2 hours, then we had a buffet lunch spread that was way better then I thought it would be, then there was another hour of snorkeling before we headed back. I have never seen so many different varieties of Coral, displaying varied colors of green blue, purple, orange red, brown, and several more colors I probably forgot. There were also so many fish in the area, that I thought someone must be throwing food into the water. Nope….. These fish seemed to be pretty much oblivious to us. I’m guessing they have seen us “weird” Human type “Fish” previously. The only ones that seemed to pay me any attention were some fish I named Zebra Fish. I’m sure that wasn’t their real name, but they were snow white, with vertical black stripes, and several of them swam up to me when I snorkeled by and they seemed to be curious more then anything. It was GREAT.

That night we dined at a restaurant called "Rattle 'N" Hum", it was great. You chose your meal from the menu, then went up to the counter where you ordered, they gave you a small pager, and when your meal was ready, you went back and picked it up. From what I’ve heard, this was the happening restaurant in cairns, and the food was delicious. One unusual thing, was the men’s toilet. Yeah, in Australia, they don’t call it a “men’s Room” or a “Bathroom”, it’s a toilet. The doors to the toilets said “Chicks” and “Blokes”. Yes, I figured it out. The urinals were the troughs that I’ve seen around here instead of the individual ones more common in the states, but the unusual thing was, that there was what at first appeared to be a Fish Tank in front of the urinal, with glass, water and plants, until I looked closer…… The toilet room was dimly lit, as well as the restaurant, and when I looked closer through the tank I could see……. Our table in the restaurant. One of the women who suggested I should “Check out the “Unusual” Men’s Toilet” waved at me! Of course, me being the NOT shy person that I am, I waved back. I don’t think anyone could really see much anyway due to the dim lighting :-)

Anyway, that woman at our table, and of course the entire table, thought it was hilarious, and hey, I can take a joke as well as anyone else. Apparently most of the table of 10 or so people had previous knowledge about the men’s toilet “unusual design”, except me of course, so the whole table had a great laugh at my expense, until……. That same woman asked me if I liked the view I gave everyone, and I said…… “It didn’t matter, because that window WASN’T LONG ENOUGH ANYWAY”.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

There’s an old saying…… He who laughs last, laughs best. And I didn’t really mind at all having the last laugh, along with the rest of the table :-)

Australia Day 6 - Outback – Ayers Rock (Uluru) Part 2

2007-11-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

Today, we went back to Uluru, to do the 2 hiking trails around the rock. Since it had rained yesterday, and early this morning, the climbing path to the top was closed due to slippery rock. Looking up at the climb, I’m not sure that I would have done it anyway, since the incline appeared to be steep, in excess of 15 deg angle, and there was a chain rail imbedded in the rock to pull yourself up, so it wouldn’t have been an easy climb to begin with.

The day was slightly overcast, with occasional breaks in the clouds to let the sun through, but the rain mostly stayed away today. One very good thing about the overcast clouds, is that it kept the temperatures very cool, and mostly kept the flies away. One thing I did not mention, is that this area around Uluru has a high infestation of insect flies. I even took our tour guide recommendation, and purchased a fly net, that is like a fine screen net hood, that you slip over your hat and head, and it has an elastic at the base that makes it snug around your neck. This at least prevents the flies from your face, and out of your eyes and ears. There were still quite a few flies around, and since our guide said they were limited in number due to the cool temperatures, I would not like to see what the numbers would be like when they are numerous.

After that, we went to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Center, which has lots of information and museum telling the stories of the local Aboriginal people in the area. It also has the normal gift shop to purchase a type of art work the Aboriginals call Dot Painting. They can make elaborate paintings, by using a small brush, and painting just dots very close together to make the pictures. There were even 8 Aboriginals sitting on the floor in various areas of the center actually doing the painting. I couldn’t get any pictures, because taking photos of these Aboriginals is forbidden by the Aboriginal tribe. Something about capturing their souls.

Of course, there is always somebody who can’t follow instructions, and there was a big controversy when a German tourist tried to take their picture. All of the aboriginals started yelling and screaming at her, and although I don’t understand aborigine I can pretty much guess what they were saying wasn’t nice. Their tour guide rushed out of the shop, and they took away her camera, and erased the picture in front of the Aborigines, to show them. They waved their arms indicating that the tourist should leave, and she was made to go back to her bus. I gathered she claimed that she didn’t know, but our guide mentioned the no pictures rule at least 5 times, and there are signs everywhere with a picture of a camera, with a red circle around it, and a red line through that camera, so I’m not sure how she would not have known. I felt a little sorry for her, but hey, my feeling is that this is their country, and if they have some rules, then the guest should follow those rules.

After lunch, we went to visit another set of rock formations called The Olgas (Kata Tjuta). This is a formation of 36 massive rock domes, that to me was more impressive then Uluru. It had rained again, and so there were waterfalls coming off the rocks, and apparently this is so rare to see this, then even our Tour Guide was taking pictures. Then we went over to the bus viewing area, to view the sunset, and we had another Champagne party while we watched the clouds form around the top of Kata Tjuta, while the sunset made beautiful rays through the cloud openings. Afterwards, there was a buffet dinner included.

Tomorrow, we fly off to Cairns, and The Great Barrier Reef.

Australia Day 5 - Outback – Ayers Rock (Uluru)

2007-11-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

Today was a 4.5 hour bus ride from Alice Springs to Ayers Rock, which the local Aboriginal people call Uluru. One of the things that really strikes me about the Outback, is the color of the dirt. It’s Sedona Red. Yes, right, just like the colors of the dirt and rock formations in Sedona Arizona. As a matter of fact, the Outback countryside looks allot like Sedona, except there’s no Saguaro Cactus. Otherwise, it would be almost identical.

One of the things they warned us about, was that the Outback this time of year was “Dry And Hot”. Of course I asked “How Hot”? Do you want to hear something funny? They think that 95F is hot! Hehehehehehe, in Arizona, in the summertime, we call that “A Cool Summer Day”. Anyway, it doesn’t really matter, because since this morning when we headed out for Uluru, it’s been raining. Yup, that’s right, what was supposed to be the hottest part of the trip, instead is rain. Fortunately, it is only raining off and on, and it seems to stop raining every time we stop. Lucky huh?

Anyway, we made our first rest stop ~ 2 hours into the 4.5 hour bus trip, and it was at a Camel Farm. Yup, I said camel, you know, those desert animals with the hump? Guess what? For $5.00, they offered a 5 minute camel ride, and you know me, if there’s a new experience to be had, I’m going to do it. So, now instead of Tom, you can call me Camel Jockey. It was kind of fun, and I got a friend to take lots of pictures, so you’ll probably have the opportunity to have good laugh when I post them at the end of the trip.

Uluru was fantastic, even though we didn’t get to see the planned sunset over the rock. It’s hard to have a sunset, when there’s no sun. However, it stopped raining again, just when we got to the site, so the tour guide and bus driver went ahead and set up our Champagne and snack party that we had scheduled, and we all had a toast to the rock. It was still fun.

Afterwards we visited this restaurant for dinner, where you pick out what meat you want from a display, Beef, Chicken, prawns, Fish, and then you go over to where they have this long line of Grills et up, and you grill it yourself! The dinner included corn on the cob, and baked potato, so I threw the corn and potato on the grill and roasted them too! Along with the grilled onions, and salad bar, it was a great dinner, not to mention the musician who played guitar for dinner entertainment. I must admit, that along with the champagne, and the beer that I drank at dinner and afterwards, this was one of the times I was glad that there was a free shuttle bus transportation back to my room :-)

Tomorrow we go Hiking around Uluru. Weather permitting, of course.

Australia Day 4 - Outback – Alice Springs

2007-11-01T21:42:00.000-07:00

This morning, we departed Melbourne Airport, on our way to central Australia, otherwise known as “The Outback” It was a 2 hour flight, but due to the time changes, I rolled back my watch 1.5 hours, so we landed only 0.5 hour after takeoff. One thing I need to watch, my primary luggage bag weight is now 31 Kilos, and the maximum bag weight is 32 kilos (whew). I think that I’m going to need to dump some of those hotel soaps and shampoo tubes I’ve been “acquiring”
:-)

Alice Springs itself is quite a bit more modern then I expected. With a population of ~25K, they have a large mall, and even a K-Mart! There is quite a large Aboriginal population, and one thing that I couldn’t help noticing, is that hair dyeing appears to be quite popular among the local people. The aboriginal people are quite dark skinned, and it was shocking to me at first to see blonde haired Aboriginals! I thought maybe it was some sort of genetic thing at first, but you know how it’s difficult to achieve natural looking red hair color with dye? It’s a dead give away on the Aboriginal people too :-)

We had a little free time to wander around the town of Alice Springs, and they have all the usual stuff you would expect, like a McDonalds and a KFC Chicken place. One interesting thing, is that they have Burger King here, but it’s called Hungry Jack’s. The restaurant colors and corporate symbols are identical, so I know it’s the same burger place. The story goes, is that before Burger King came to Australia, someone registered that name, hoping to squeeze BK for lots of money when they got here. In the USA, that’s called extortion, and Since BK refused to pay ransom for the name, they simply changed the name, and the person who registered it, ended up with nothing. Good.

Anyway, the tour today, was visits to the Alice Springs Historic Telegraph Station, which use to provide telegraph communications signal boosting from the mainland, that was very interesting, and also to the Royal Flying Doctors Station, which provides doctors and medical treatment to fly to remote areas of the Outback that don’t have Hospitals, as well as the “School Of The Air”, which provides Streamed Satellite Classroom Education instruction for children of people in remote areas. They have live interactive classroom education, where the remote students CAN Log in and have 2 way communication with the Teachers. Pretty Cool, huh? We also visited Anzac Hill, which provided panoramic views of the area.

That night, I attended a show of Aboriginal Dancing, and dinner, which if it were Hawaii, would be similar to a Luau. There was a huge 3 course dinner and during the show, they asked for male volunteers to demonstrate their “ability” at making music on the traditional horn called a didgeridoo. Guess who was one of the people who went up on stage (hehehe). You know me, I’m not shy, and after a short demonstration of how to do it, the 3 of us each took turns. It was hilarious, since we were amateurs, we sort of sounded like sick elephants :-) When they asked the audience to clap for each “performer”, I’m pretty sure I got the biggest applause, and no, it had noting to do with the dozen or so other people present at the show from my tour group. Anyway, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it
:-)

Tomorrow, off to Ayers Rock (Uluru).

Australia Day 3 - Melbourne

2007-10-30T03:53:00.000-07:00

Day 3 in Melbourne was a free day, so since I had seen most of the city on day 2, I signed up for another optional tour of The Great Ocean Road. Near Melbourne, they have something similar to California’s Pacific Coast Highway, which is a roadway cut into the cliffs along the coast, which gives spectacular views of the Ocean, and scenery near the coastline.

We started off down to the town of Torquay, which apparently Australia’s Surfing capital. We had late morning tea time, and then went down to Bells Beach, which is the Surfer hang out, and watched the surfers wipe out in the water.

We traveled along the road for most of the day, stopping at sandy beaches, and shear cliffs, visiting the coastal towns of Anglesea, Lorne, and Wye River. We stopped at Cape Patton Lookout, and it is amazing to see how the power of ocean water can carve into solid rock over decades. We stopped for lunch at the town of Apollo Bay, and since I wasn’t hungry, I wandered around the town, and bumped into friends and we went down to walk around on the beach.

The next stop, was a place they call The Twelve Apostles. It is an area, where the water has carved into the cliffs, and eventually has worn away portions of the cliffs, so that towers of rock are standing alone on the beaches after being worn away, and surrounded by the water.

We also visited a place they call “London Bridge”, and natural bridge created by the pounding surf. The story goes, that part of the bridge fell down, creating an island outcropping, and when it happened a man and women were out on the tip and stranded there. They had to be rescued by helicopter, and the story made all the local newspapers, when it was discovered that the couple were married….. to other people! We had a great tour guide, and he knew quite a bit about the area, and similar stories, so it was great tour. I took a bunch of pictures, which I’ll post on my photo web page once I get back to the US.

Tomorrow, we fly off to the Alice Springs, in the Outback. Stay Tuned!

Australia Day 2 – Melbourne

2007-10-30T03:51:00.000-07:00

So, dinner on the first night was uneventful, since I was so tired after that long flight, that after the welcome cocktail party, I had dinner with a nice couple John and Peggy, in the Hotel’s restaurant. It was an excellent steak, and potato dish. I went to bed shortly after dinner, after I wrote my Flight to Melbourne BLOG.

Monday October 30, there was a free Buffet breakfast in the Hotel restaurant, that was excellent. After breakfast, there was a prearranged tour of Melbourne, where they loaded us up on a bus, and we went around the city touring the sights, and stopping at locations including Saint Paul’s Cathedral, Parliament House, The Shrine Of Remembrance to Australia’s Soldiers who died in wars, as well as The Botanical gardens, and Fitzroy Gardens where we walked around the Conservatory and just hung out in the Park, so to speak.

The great thing, was that they gave us a city map, so I was able to get my bearings for later free time on my own. During the City Tour, they showed us the Financial district, as well as Melbourne’s China Town, and the Shopping District. One thing that they have well developed, is the mass Transit System. They have street level Light Rail, which most people call “Trams”, and they go all over the city, so there’s no need to have a car. Parking would be difficult and expensive anyway.

The tour was ½ day, so I had several hours of free time. It turns out the shopping district was only ~ a 10 minute walk from the Hotel, so I went down there, and had a nice café lunch at tables set up on the sidewalk, and I spent awhile people watching the lunchtime crowd. I purchased a couple of souvenirs, and did the typical picture taking tourist thing. I made my way back to the Hotel to clean up before Monday night’s main even…… The Parade Of The Penguins.

This was an optional side trip I signed up for. It turns out, that the Southern side of Australia is the mating grounds for the worlds smallest Penguins, and this is their mating season. Early in the morning, they leave their boroughs dug in the sand around Phillip Island, and head out to sea to feed. Well just after sundown, they come back to shore in groups, and march up the beach all laden with partially digested fish, which they regurgitate for their young. The Government has set up a Park ranger station, and built viewing platforms on the beach, and so you can sit on the edge of the beach, and watch hundreds of penguins come out of the water and march up the beach to their “homes”.

They showed us a DVD video on the way to the island, so we would have some pre-information. The average “Small Penguin” (that’s actually their official name) is ~ 33cm tall, and weighs 1 Kilo. By the way, do you notice how I’m becoming acclimated to Australian metric measurements? No Inches and Pounds for me while I’m here :-) Anyway, the penguins also march along the boardwalk that I walked down to get to the beach, and while I was standing on the rail, this one penguin stopped, stared into the bushes, then he folded his flippers back and started calling out. How did I know it was a “he” and not a “she”? I’m glad you asked. A minute later, a slightly smaller penguin came out of the bushes and started calling back! Oh, but there’s more….. Just then another slightly smaller penguin came around the corner, and started yelling at the first penguin. I figured it was yelling, because that penguin and the first one suddenly rushed at each other and they started fighting with each other!!!

The first penguin was a little larger, and very shortly chased the second penguin away, then HE, and the SHE who came out of the bushes…… Ummmmm….. Well, there’s no other way to put it….. they mated….. right in front of me. How did I know? Did I mention they showed us Penguin video on the way to the island? Now, I’m no Penguin expert, but it sure looked like it did on the video. Then they sat there for a minute, walked a little way, and did it again! There were a few people standing near me, and I don’t know what it is, but I seem to attract comedians, because one of the people said “Damn, at least he could get a private room or something”, and I couldn’t help myself, and so I said….. “Yeah, or at least he could have given her some fish first” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, everyone burst out laughing, and it was a great moment. I’ll never forget it. They don’t allow picture taking, even without flash, because it stresses out the birds, but I purchased 3 professionally taken pictures they had for sale at the visitors center, which I’ll scan into digital when I get home.

Great first day in Australia, Eh Mate?

Australia – Day 1 Liftoff

2007-10-28T11:49:00.000-07:00

As many of you may know, I’m on my 2 month paid sabbatical from work, and that one of the things I’ve been fond of is spending my vacations traveling. This sabbatical trip, is to someplace I’ve always wanted to go. Australia. I’m going to be visiting4 cities in 14 days, Melbourne, Alice Springs, Cairns, and finishing up in Sydney. This first report, is the trip from Phoenix Az, USA to Los Angeles, then on to Melbourne. Total Flight Time; PHX to LAX: 52 Minutes, LAX to MEL: 15.5 Hours.

The Super shuttle showed up on time, at 4:00pm for the 6:10pm flight to LAX, unfortunately, the flight was delayed until 6:50pm. Good thing I got here early. I spent my wait in the Chili’s Restaurant bar, and a quesadilla and 2 Corona’s later, I wasn’t bothered by the wait at all.

Guess who was on my PHX to LAX flight? MIKE TYSON! Yup, the boxer, and get this….. He was flying COACH! I guess the old boxing game doesn’t pay like it use to (hehehehe). I didn’t notice it was him when I boarded, but the guy in the window seat whispered it to me, so naturally, I “faked” having to go to the bathroom in the first class section, and sure enough, on the way back, that face, and that tattoo around the left eye was unmistakable.

The wait for the 747 flight from LAX to MEL was a bit longer (3.5 hours), but with the additional International customs inspections, I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t rushed. Plus, it turns out, that the LAX International Terminal has free wireless internet access, so it wasn’t so bad a wait.

The flight was pretty full, and although the aircraft had individual screens for each seat, with lots of movies, and television shows that you can call up, there’s NO WAY a 15.5 Hours flight is going to be comfortable. Plus, I don’t sleep well on airplanes. Even taking a couple of non-prescription melatonin tablets (sleep inducers) didn’t help at all. By the way, melatonin is the chemical your brain secretes to induce sleep.

Because of crossing the International dateline, and the 16 hour time difference between PHX and MEL, we landed at 9:15am on Sunday, MEL time, even though I took off the previous Friday at 6:50pm PHX time. The Sofitel Hotel is really nice, even though we were a bit early to get our rooms, so we went and had a late morning snack at a local authentic Australian restaurant….. McDonalds. Hey, there wasn’t much choice, since for some reason, many of the cafes in MEL are closed on Sunday Morning. Don’t know why, since in PHX everything is open during that time.

Anyway, like I figured, the Sofitel Hotel is 4 star, on the level of the Hilton, so it’s pretty much what I expected. I just finished my first shower in ~36 hours, and I’m sitting here in a genuine “Sofitel Hotel” thick cotton robe (classy, huh?) it is 4:50pm, and we have our Welcome To The Tour, and meet the Tour Director, and the other tourists Cocktail Party at 6:00pm, so I better get dressed. Dinner afterwards is on our own, and I’ve already met several of the other tour participants, so, I would say “so far, so good”. I’ll write more after we tour Melbourne tomorrow. So, for now, all I can say is.....

G-Day Mate :-)

Win Some..... Lose Some

2007-07-24T17:42:00.000-07:00

Fruit Farmer Tom suffered a setback recently. Even if you've been following my SOL blogging stories, concerning my efforts to grow fruit trees in the back yard, you still might not know, that this year's "Estimated Harvest", total was, the Nectarine Bush sprouted 3, the Apple Tree Sprouted 8, and the Orange Tree...... Zip. (Sigh).

Unfortunately, I wasn't counting on those large Black Birds that hang out around here during migration (see BLOG: http://tomh7259.blogspot.com/2006/02/what-is-this-hitchcock-movie.html ). setting up nests in the neighbours tree. Turns out, that my estimated Nectarine Harvest (Mid July) almost exactly coincided with the fledgling of Black Bird Chicks. I thought the first fruit ruined was maybe from bugs, but when the second and third were destroyed, I noticed "Beak Damage". Those cone shaped punctures couldn't be anything else.

So, my First Crop was destroyed. Well....... Not exactly. See, the birds destroyed the "top" of the fruit. There wasn't anything wrong with the bottom of the fruit. WHAT? did you think I coached that fruit tree for 4 months, just to toss that fruit without even a taste? Hey, those fruits were only a couple of weeks to harvest, and would have made a GREAT Birthday (July 2) present for myself. So, I couldn't resist. I cut away the top half of the fruits, and ate the bottoms. MAN, I'm not just saying it because I grew it, but that fruit was so sweet, it was almost TOO sweet. Another couple of weeks growth would have been perfect.

Annnnyyyyway, The good news is, my Fuji Apple Tree DOES NOT need a different apple tree nearby to pollinate it. Turns out, Fuji Trees are self-fruiting. The 8 apples weren't touched by the birds, and now the largest ones are larger than golf balls, and bordering on baseballs. I estimate the harvest will be mid-September. I'm really starting to believe that I'll get to prove to those naysayers that yes, it really IS POSSIBLE, to grow apples in Arizona! Ya see what a person can do, when they don't listen to the Doubting Thomas' :-)

So, since I wasn't expecting the Nectarine to sprout, The "Apple Tree Idea" is "bearing fruit" (OK, enough with the plant jokes) and that Navel Orange Tree is entering it's 4th year, so it BETTER give me oranges this year..... Or ELSE. Yes, I would have to say, that all in all, Tom's Fruit Growing Empire is off to a solid start. Hey, don't laugh, Dole, and Del Monte had to start somewhere :-)

When You're Hot, You're Hot. When You're Not, You're Not.

2007-06-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

I had an interesting experience this past Monday, one that I have not had the "pleasure" (cough) to experience in almost 3 decades. I got to take a cold shower.

No, it wasn't because I saw some hot babe somewhere, get you mind out of the gutter, besides, there's only room for my mind down there (hehe). What happened was, I wasn't intending on taking a cold shower, it just worked out that way. There I was, just taking my normal morning shower, prior to trudging... I mean, going off to work, and so I turned on the faucet, and gave it the customary 1 minute for the hot water to travel from the water heater in the garage to the back of the house, then I stepped in.

YEOW!! Cold shower (burrrr), no hot water, at all. Actually, it was more like a "cool" shower, since there's no such thing as getting cold water from a faucet in Arizona in the summertime. Thing is, it was definitely not Hot. I still need to shower though, so there was no choice. Ahhhhh nothing like a cold shower, I haven't had to take one of those, since my USMC Boot Camp days, when my Drill Instructors use to amuse themselves by turning off the hot water in the middle of the platoon shower time. Funny guys huh? At the time, I remember thinking of other names to call them, but I think I'll keep those to myself.

Anyway, afterwards, I went out to the Garage, and discovered a puddle at the base of the electric water heater, and when I opened the panel, I discovered water had leaked out of the tank, into the space where the heaters were, and I smelled burnt electrical. I've smelled that smell quite a few times in my electronics career, and it's never good news. same thing this time.

I was going to leave it for the weekend, but the slowly expanding water puddle didn't make that idea appealing, so I called the plumber, and they sent somebody over. I wasn't expecting a 3 day weekend, however, sitting around waiting for him to arrive wasn't exactly how I planned to spend my Monday. When he got there, it was pretty much what I figured, can't be fixed, need to be replaced. I guess I could have gone the cheap way, and gone to the warehouse store, bought one, got it delivered, do the brazing to swap it out, haul the old one to the dump, be without hot water for several days.... blah blah blah blah blah....

Or, since he had a replacement water heater on the truck (what a coincidence, eh?), I could just have him do it, and be done with it. Guess what I did? If you said, go the cheap way..... buuuuzzzzzz, wrong answer. The old financially impoverished Tom might have gone that route, but the current... "I don't even want to clean my house, so I pay somebody to do it" Tom went with the "do it now and be done with it", route.

Yeah yeah, I know, throw my money away, but you know what? SO WHAT. I didn't bust my ass all these years to become financially independent, so that I would run around counting every little red cent. I did it, so that I wouldn't have to waste my time doing things I don't want to do, when I can pay someone else to do it for me. I'm sure that many others would have gone the "do it yourself" route, and save some money..... Good for them. That's why I'm glad I live in America, where everyone can do what they want, as long as it doesn't hurt someone else.

Besides, in the end, I didn't have to get my hands dirty, and that new water heater really pumps out the hot water. I took and extra long shower on Tuesday morning, and in my opinion, that was worth every penny :-)

Gasoline May Go To $4.00 A Gallon..... YAY!

2007-06-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

Did you hear the news? Many experts expect gasoline to average $4.00 per gallon by this summer. Isn't that GREAT? What? You don't like high gas prices? Are you thinking that nobody should like high gas prices? Maybe Tom is crazy to want higher gas prices? Yeah, I'm crazy all right.... Crazy like a fox.

Ya see, way way back when, oh around the year 2000, right after George W. Bush got elected the first time, I was watching this news program on TV. I don't remember which program, or the the exact title, of the story, but it was something like "Oil And The Administration". I don't want to go into heavy detail about the whole thing, but I remember the central theme was, The Bush Administration is up to it's eyeballs in oil.

They said.... "George Bush is a former Oil Man, Dick Cheney is a former Oil Man, The Energy Secretary is a former Oil Man, Condoleza Rich sits on the Board of Directors of Chevron Oil Company" JEEEZ...... So I said to myself, "Gee, I wonder what industry is going to do well under this Administration? Hummmm..... Let me think...... Ummmmmm The Oil Industry, Maybe?

I remember when the commercial came on, I jumped up, and literally RAN over the computer, dumped most of my current holdings in that semiconductor company I owned, and invested thousands.... and thousands..... and thousands..... and thousands (Did I Mention thousands) of dollars in the biggest Oil Company on the planet..... Exxon Mobil Oil Company.

So, just as an FYI, in the year 2000 when I originally bought it, Exxon Mobil (XOM) was selling for about $40.00 per share. Wanna know what it is today? Go Look: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=XOM&t=my $84.00 when I just looked. Pretty sweet huh? More than doubling my money in 7 years. I'd say +100% return on investment is a pretty good showing, since that's a little over +14% per year. Remind me, what are Bank Savings Accounts paying on interest these days? 1% per year? Less?

Of course at the time, I didn't count on ole George W. starting 2 wars in the Middle East. That was just lucky. What? Does that sound callous? Maybe so, but don't blame me, I voted for the other guy..... twice. You people put him in there, and sent him back there again, not me, so if you wanna blame somebody, blame yourself . I'm simply taking advantage of the situation someone else created. And I'm not sorry about raking in all that cash, not one bit. Besides, I served my country as a member of the United States Marine Corps for 6 years. How about you?

Anyway, since ole George W. and Congress for that matter, seems content to continue things as they are, I expect that I will continue to feather my nest egg for at least the rest of this Administration, and let me tell you something else. If ole George W. does what I'm expecting, or John McCain wins, and goes ahead with his "Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran" plan, if you think paying $4.00 per gallon is bad, just wait until you're paying around $10.00 per gallon.

Of course, if that happens, I just might end up becoming a Millionaire. Poor me :-)

Fruit Farmer Tom

2007-05-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

I'm A Fruit Farmer.... I'm a Fruit Farmer.... Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah.

So, if you've been following my past attempts to grow fruit trees in my back yard, you will know that I seem to have had little success with my Orange Tree, nectarine tree (bush?) and my apple tree. Right, I said apple. I know, I know, everyone says that you can't grow apples in Arizona. Well, I don't follow the crowd, I lead it :-)

Besides, I already proved them wrong. Right now, I have my first "sprouts" growing in Tom's Future Fruit Farming Corporation. My Apple Tree sprouted a bunch of flowers a few months ago, and now I have ~ 1/2 dozen little green apples. OK, they'll probably not develop into real apples, because everyone tells me that you need 2 apple trees to cross pollinate, and they have to be different species.... blah blah blah, boring explanation. Bottom line is, that the "Apple Experts" say my green apples won't develop. I say, so what. The tree still looks cool in the back yard.

The real deal, is the Nectarines. For those that don't know this fruit, it looks like, and tastes like a peach, only with a smooth skin. The fruit is also a little crisper then a peach, and I actually prefer them to peaches. I wasn't supposed to get any blooms or fruit from this plant, being it's only year # 2 since I planted it, and as any good fruit farmer will tell you, you don't get any fruit until year # 3. That's if you follow the crowd wisdom, I mean. I Don't, of course.

Even though my nectarine bush is only ~ 4 feet tall, this year it bloomed like a madman, and I actually now have developing fruit, about the size of golf balls. YAY. OK, it's really only 3 fruits, but hey, even Dole and Chiquita had to start somewhere, right? Hummmm, that just made me think of something..... Bananas..... That's a tropical fruit that grows well in hot weather, doesn't it? I wonder.........

Tom's Arizona Banana Company Inc..... It has kind of a nice ring to it, don't you think? :-)

Snakes In The Grass

2007-04-10T18:08:00.001-07:00

Some friends and I went overnight camping again, over the Easter Weekend at Bartlett Lake. I like going up there, because it is only about 1 hour drive from my house, but the area is so different from around here, that it feels like a different world. Plus, you don’t need to make any sort of reservations. Just pay your $6.00 per day for a “Tonto National Forrest Parking Pass”, and set up your camp in any of the open cove areas around the lake.

I also got a chance to try out my new tent. It’s a 4 person Coleman, and I practiced putting it up in the back yard before I went up there, so I got it up in about 10 minutes. Boy, technology sure has progressed since my Boy Scout days, where it took 4 of us more then ½ hour to put up a tent.

It was a good turn out, about 12 people showed up, so we had a major spread out campsite. We of course use the “Propane Method” of cooking, so we were able to do steaks, instead of the standard Hamburger & Hot Dog thing. Ahhhhhh, nothing like camping out in luxury. A couple of people brought their boats, so we got the opportunity to cruise around the lake, and I even went swimming this time. MAN that lake water is COLD (burrrr).

I also got a chance to see something that I’ve heard and read about since I moved to Arizona 12 years ago, but never seen in real life. Saturday morning, I was up a little early, and the sun had come up a little while before I woke up, so after throwing more wood in the fire pit, dousing it with charcoal lighter, and getting the fire started….. What, did you think I did the kindling and paper fire starting? Silly person, that’s what they make charcoal lighter for :-)

Anyway, after I started the fire, I took the little stroll up the hill to the bathroom to clean up. The path from the campsite went through this area where the shrubs were pretty well overgrown, and on the way back, out of the corner of my eye to the right, I saw movement on the ground and heard what sounded like…. A baby rattle.

SHOOT! Talk about scaring the piss out of someone. I’m no Olympic Athlete, but I jumped sideways so fast, that I might have won the Gold Medal for sideways jumping, if there was such a thing. When I looked over, what was staring at me, while slithering around at the base of the bush was…. A Rattlesnake.

Oh baby, I don’t mean just any old rattlesnake, oh no. I recognized this one immediately, because I just happened to read the Snake Information Board at the Ranger Station while I was waiting for him to get off the phone to purchase my parking pass. This little baby I was facing, with it’s distinctive diamond pattern on it’s back, and the stripes on it’s head, and tail, made it was easy to identify as….. A Western Diamondback Rattlesnake… http://www.desertusa.com/mag01/jan/papr/rsnake.html

There it was, about 15 feet from me, and Boy this thing must have been pissed off at being disturbed too, because it slithered sideways, which I didn’t know they could do, while it’s head faced directly at me, while it shook it’s rattle at me. It must have been pretty young though, because although it was hard to tell with it curled, it was probably “only” about 2-3 feet long, and when it’s rattle stopped shaking every few seconds, I counted maybe 5-7 segments.

Well, I got the “Rattle Message” BIG TIME. Talk about freezing, I made like Mr. Statue Man, for maybe 30 seconds, before it decided to slither away into the bushes. WHEW! Talk about your adrenaline rush, eh? The only thing I regret, is that I didn’t have a camera, so I could have pictures. Oh well…. I know what I saw, and although it’s not something I care to repeat anytime soon, it’s something I’ll never forget. Just call me, Snake Man :-)

Here Kitty Kitty Kitty

2007-03-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

I’ve been parking in a different parking lot at work lately, and recently, I noticed something unusual in the landscaped area between the parking lots. There were these shaded box type structures, surrounded by water bowls, and what looked like containers of…. Kitty Litter.

Closer examination of some of the structures revealed live animal traps. You know, those kind designed to trap animals without hurting them? Also, several of the bowls that I thought were for water contained…. Cat Food.

It was kind of puzzling, until I heard about “The Program”. It turns out, that the companies campus here, with it’s multitude of shade, available water, and small rodent and bird population, has developed into a sort of oasis in the desert. But the oasis, is not just an oasis for lizards, rodents, and birds, but it also seems to have attracted a growing stray cat population. To be honest, I have noticed several of them running around the campus.

Further investigation revealed that while I saw a few of them, there apparently is quite a few that I wasn’t seeing. So much so, that it had become a problem. So, in order to combat the issue, the “pet lovers” society on campus, with the support of the company, had set out these food/water and traps around the campus, and when they trap a cat, they spay/neuter them, and release them back out onto the campus.

Huh? Yeah, I know, I was a little confused at that too. At first I thought, why not just trap them, and turn them over to the Humane Society, somebody will adopt them, problem solved, right?

Nope.

See, there’s a problem. While some of these cats may have originally been domesticated, after living out in the wild for awhile, or even some of them being born wild, they are known as “ferrel cats”, which makes them VERY hard, or impossible to tame, or domesticate. In other words, Not Adoptable. So, in case you are not aware of what happens to animals turned over to the Humane Society (ASPCA to some of you) that are not adoptable, well, let’s just say that their prospects of a long life, are not good.

So, the alternative that the company came up with, was to spay/neuter them, making the cats sterile, and in that way, use the inability to reproduce as a way to arrest the growing population, and eventually (hopefully) reverse the growth and bring it under control. Now, some may think, releasing a cat back out onto the campus is still a cruel thing to do, but to be honest, the cats that I’ve seen running around don’t seem to be in ill health, starving or in distress. I’ve noticed there does not seem to be any lack of shelter, food or water available for them.

Certainly the Large Grey Cat that seems to have taken a liking to staring me down from his (her?) “post” by the food/water bowls and shelter, which is near my parking space, would be regarded as a fine feline specimen in any cat lovers book, I have a feeling that the “campus cats” aren’t “suffering” too much, and since the alternative, which by the way would have been easier and cheaper for the company, would almost certainly result in euthanasia, I think that the company actually made a more “Humane” choice, to deal with the problem, then they could have, or most companies would have.

Here Kitty Kitty Kitty :-)

Hey Buddy, Can You Spare An Orange?

2007-02-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

When is an orange not an orange? When it’s a popsicle. Believe it or not, around here a few weeks ago, we had frost. Yup, at least I think that’s what they call it when dew freezes on the ground and every horizontal surface….. frost….. right? The reason I seem so confused, is because as you may well know if you’re a long time reader, I happen to live in a US location known as The Sonoran Desert. Around here, there’s a joke about the weather… While most places have 4 seasons of weather, we have 2...... Hot….. and REALLY Hot :-)

A few years ago, I planted a Navel Orange Tree in the back yard. You see, Citrus happens to grow really well around here, as long as you remember to water the Citrus Tree of course. Well, this was the 3rd year after the planting, so I was hoping to get some fruit this year. No such luck. Although, if I did get any fruit, it would have been ruined during the several days of below freezing temps we had this year.

I should have know there was trouble the day I went out to drive to work, and I noticed “Fog” on the windshield of my truck that I drive to work. The truck stays out on the driveway, so sometimes it gathers fog. So, I did what I normally do, turn on the wipers, and spray the windshield cleaner. So I throw the wiper switch and….. nothing. No wiper movement at all. The windshield spritzer worked, so I got out to see if I could move the wipers, and they were frozen to the windshield. WHEW, talk about your Jack Frost, eh?

So, anyway, my friend “BP” and his wife “BP” (WOW, same initials) had planted their Orange tree a year earlier then mine, and I was pretty jealous to see theirs sprouting all those little oranges this year. Of course, now what they have is Orange Popsicles instead. Not that I’m taking any perverted joy in that or anything….. MWWWAAAAA HAAAAA HAAAAA HAAAAA HAAAAA….

Whew..... Ummmmm, sorry, I lost it for a second. Actually, I better be nice, although the oranges they “use to have” are no longer edible as oranges, I heard that the Florida Orange growers are not throwing away their frozen oranges, but instead, they are turning them into…… Orange Juice. Did I mention that I happen to have a Black And Decker motorized orange juice maker? I wonder what BP & BP are doing with their popsicles...... Umm I mean their Oranges :-)

Happy Anniversary.... To Me

2007-01-03T16:16:00.000-07:00

Guess What? Today is my Anniversary. No, not that one, I mean my Employment Anniversary. Specifically, I have now been with my same company for 14 years! WHEW, incredible huh? You would think so, if you knew, that the previous former record for me staying with one company was 6 years….. And that was when I was a US Marine, so that time, I didn’t have much choice.

What makes this a special thing, is a policy that my company has for every employee that has worked for the company for 7 years, or 14, or 21 etc etc etc. Every 7 years, every employee is entitled to a sabbatical, which is 2 Months off….. with pay. Yup, Yup, that’s right, no working, and you get paid anyway, and your job is guaranteed to be there when you get back.

Sweet huh? Even better, if you have enough vacation time stored up, you can extend it to 3 months off. Why would they do this? Some people around here say that after driving you crazy for 7 years, they need to give you that time off, so that you won’t quit. Maybe so, maybe not, but I have to say that, as you can see, it has kept me around for more than twice as long as any other job.

In any case, I now have a 1 year to take the sabbatical, but that could be extended to 2 years with approval from my Manager. I haven’t decided yet whether to extend it, but at this point, I don’t see any reason to delay. I just haven’t decided exactly what date this year to start it, but I know what I’m planning to do….. International Travel.

See, when I was growing up, my family really didn’t have much money, so I never went out of the country, until after I got out of the Military. Shoot, the first time I ever even flew on an airplane was the one that I took down to Paris Island when I went to Boot Camp, and there’s NO WAY anybody would call those 3 Months of Living Hell a vacation. Since then though, I’ve made up for it in a big way.

My 7th year Sabbatical, I spent 11 days touring Italy, then 11 Days touring Germany. It was right after the Berlin wall fell down, so Not only was it a great experience to see all the art and culture of Italy, but I also got a chance to do a direct comparison between Democratic and Communist lifestyles. So not only did I improve myself culturally, I also got a chance to improve myself intellectually. OK, I admit it…. I also partied my ass off the whole trip.

Since a “Double Trip” was so successful last time, I’m thinking of going that way again. No, not back to Italy and Germany, but I have tentatively identified 2 locations that I’m strongly considering. First…. Australia. I’ve always wanted to go “Down Under”, and I’ve been looking around the Web to identify Australian Resorts. That’s right, I said resorts. I’m not planning on sleeping in any tents in the bush, so to speak, I’m more of a “4 star” type of vacationer these days.

The second, was an idea that I got from someone else…… Alaska. The plan, is to fly up to Southern Alaska, and take a cruise north. Then when I get to Northern Alaska, and I know all the cool places from the cruise trip, rent a car, and drive back down to southern Alaska, to the cruises origin point. In that way, I can stop and stay wherever I want to, and avoid the places I didn’t much care for on the way North. Does that sound cool or what?

Yes, Yes, I know it’s going to be expensive. Did you catch that part about me knowing about this time off for the last 7 years? A person could probably stash away quite a bit of cash during that 7 years…. If they were smart, I mean. Besides, I have this philosophy when I travel…… I don’t pay much attention to what things cost, because I don’t want to come back home “wishing” I had done something that I didn’t do, because it was too “expensive” When I go baby, I go ALL OUT.

So, It looks like sometime later this year, I’ll have to practice up on my “GDAY MATE”, and also figure out what kind of bait it takes to catch a really big Alaskan Salmon. In case you couldn’t tell, I’m REALLY looking forward to it :-)

Who Done It?

2006-09-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

I double dated for dinner with a friend of mine last weekend, and I was kind of surprised where we went. It wasn’t the food that surprised me, it was…. The Atmosphere. See, if you’ve known me for awhile, you know that I just can’t do anything the normal way. That’s MUCH too boring, so we didn’t go to just any restaurant, we went to “Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre” It’s a restaurant, where during dinner, the “Servers” put on an interactive play during the meal. The table seating was 8 to a table, so we also met 2 other pleasant couples for dinner companions. It all reminded me of that game “Clue”. You know, Colonel Mustard, in the kitchen, with the candlestick?

In this Dinner Theatre, the play was set in the 1920’s, and involved a group of people, who were cast members in a movie production of “Love’s Summer Dream”. The cast of characters were your normal nefarious group of self important, jealous, conceited actors, singers and dancers and a director, who all barely could contain their apparent dislike of each other. In other words, a perfect setting for a Murder Mystery. The play also had audience participation, where they selected audience members to play small parts for a few minutes (fun!). Some audience members were even dressed up in 1920’s outfits, you know, like people used to do for Rocky Horror Picture Show? (Cool).

After the initial introduction of the characters, there was a short break in the play, while the Actors/Servers came around and served the salad, and while they served, they remained in character told little stories about “their character” and how they had come to be in the “movie production”, why they were the real star of the movie, and how much they despised all the other characters. Seemed to me like they were all setting themselves up with potential motives for “murder”.

So, around about the third act, during “rehearsals” for the film, The leading lady, Superstar past her prime “Louise Loveless”, discovers her makeup smudged, and retrieving her makeup bag from her personal assistant “Jewel Precious”, applies her lipstick, starts choking, and Falls Over Dead! Shocking! It appears the movie’s leading lady has been….. POISENED! Who could have done such a thing?

Was it “C.D. Weasel”, the flamboyant Producer/Director, who’s last 2 pictures failed, and desperately needed publicity for this picture, good, or bad? Or maybe it was “Fanny Fanciful” the Brooklyn accented Co-Star, who dreamed of being the Leading Lady? Or maybe, it might have been “Clara Simpson” The Child Star, who at 16 was past her prime, and looking for a starring “opportunity”. Why, it could have even been the personal assistant, “Jewel Precious”, who it turns out was treated very badly by Louise Loveless, so maybe the motive was nothing more than simple revenge. Or it even could have been one of the leading men “Edward Manly” the Macho Lead Actor, “Rudee Ballentine” the wannabe Shakespeare actor trapped in a “B-Movie” both of whom had their affections spurned by Louise, or even “Harold Joy”, the films comic role player,, who secretly was in Love with former child actor Clara. Hummmmm, seems like just about everybody involved had a reason to kill Louise.

We got to open the second part of our “Detective Packet”, and inside was another clue, plus a $50.00 play money, which we used to “bribe” the actors as they served us the main course. Naturally each one of them blamed someone else, so by the time we finished discussing it amongst our table, the only sure thing we knew was…. We didn’t know who did it.

So, the one thing missing, was the investigator, so into the play comes “Louella Snoop” the investigative columnist, who proceeds to unravel the clues, first seeming to point at one person as the murderer, only to reveal that no…. it couldn’t have been that person because because because…. Sigh, or maybe, the murderer was just trying to make it LOOK like it couldn’t be them. Who could the murderer be…….? There was a short break, while the main course dishes are cleared, and desert is brought out, while we take the opportunity to fill out our “Guess the murderer” cards. Questions on the card: Who did it, why did they do it, and were there any accomplices? The correct answer gets a small prize, a Mystery Mansion Coffee Mug. Did I mention I collect cool coffee mugs?

The final act, the entire cast gathers again on stage, and they each proceed to pick apart Louella Snoops assumptions one by one, until finally, to all the cast members, and of course the audience as well, it becomes obviously apparent that there is only one person that it could possibly be the killer. The identity of the murderer is……….

What? Did you think I was going to tell you?

Sorry, you’ll just have to go see it yourself. Or else ask me REAL Nicely, and Maybe….. Maybe I’ll tell ya. Overall, it was a very entertaining evening. BY the way, I guessed wrong :-)

http://mysterymansion.com/ 480-994-1520

Hi-Ho, The Merry-O, A Camping We Will Go

2006-08-08T10:58:00.000-07:00

Boy, I love having 3 day weekends. I had last Friday off, and coincidentally, my best friend Bob called me up last week, and invited me to go along on a camping and fishing trip. I was looking forward to it, since I haven’t been camping in ages, and we were planning on going to a place that neither of us had been.

The area is called “Big Lake”. It’s a state park, up in the White Mountains in North Eastern Arizona. If you know Arizona Geography, it’s about 20 miles from Sunrise Ski Resort, at an elevation of 9000 ft. It’s beautiful up there, since it's back in the forest, and we were going to be hanging out with the pine trees. It’s really nothing like the Phoenix area.

Technically, I’m not sure that some people would refer to it as “camping”, since he has this mobile home trailer that we towed up there. It has all the amenities, like a refrigerator, stove, bathroom, shower, and real beds. Hey, don’t laugh, I haven’t pitched a tent, and slept on the ground in decades, and while I have no problem doing that….. why should I? The last time I did that stuff was when I was a member of troop 680 of the new York Chapter of The Boy Scouts. Trust me, I’m way past that.

It took us awhile to get up there. It’s about 5 ½ hours drive. I probably could have made it in less time in the Jag, but driving a GMC 4x4, and towing a trailer up the mountainside, you can’t exactly travel at the speed of light. The trip was worth it though. The lake is way up there, and way back in the forest. I felt like I was Robin Hood, hanging out in Sherwood Forest or something like that. Plus, the campsites are spread out, and not on top of each other, like some of those KOA campsites, so there is relative campsite privacy. You can sort of see other people's campsite through the trees, but you can’t hear their conversations, unless they are yelling.

The main activity for the weekend, was Trout Fishing. On Friday and Saturday, we tried our luck from the shore of the lake. We didn’t have too much success, unless you can call catching a couple of crawdads a success. In my opinion, catching mini-lobsters doesn’t count, when you’re going for trout. The lady at the General Store / Boat Rental Facility said that the lake was too warm to fish from the bank, and so the better idea was to rent a boat, and go out into the lake. Sure….. what a coincidence, their recommendation was to give them money for a boat…. What a scam, right? I thought so too, until Jerry, another friend of ours who was up there, reported that he and his father caught 9 fish on Saturday, using a boat.

Shoot. We had zero luck on Friday and Saturday. We even went over to another camp ground to do some stream type fishing, and we only caught 1 small fish, that wasn’t even worth keeping. Here it was Saturday late afternoon, and we had no fish to show for 2 days effort. So, we decided to get up early on Sunday, and go get a boat for the morning, before we had to leave to come home at around noon. What would you guess was the result? Did you say…. strike out? WRONG!!

We got out there at 6am, right when the boat rental place opened, and we cruised out onto the lake into the same general area that Jerry told us about. We weren’t there too long before Bob caught the first one. A beauty, about 12-14 inches long, using Trout “Power Bait”. About 15 min later, I caught my first one, which was about the same size as Bob’s. In the next hour or so, Bob caught 2 more, and I had nary a nibble. I would have been ok with just catching at least 1 fish, but fortunately, fate had a different plan. About 15 minutes later, I caught the smallest one of the day, a fish ~ 8 inches. Score, Bob = 3, Tom 2…. Ummmmm really 1.5 cause the second was so small :-)

We had a bit of drought for awhile after that, so I decided to change from the power bait to worms. Sometimes changing the bait works, or maybe it was just the location of the cast. I cast out the line a couple of times, and nothing. I was slowly reeling it in for a third cast, when I got a strike. Another 12-14 incher. Bob reeled in his power bait and switched it to worms, and we each caught 1 more of about the same size 12-14 inces. Man these fish were huge, larger then any trout I had previously seen, and good fighters too. By the time we hauled in the last fish, it was pretty close to the time we needed to go back and break camp, so since we each had a pretty good catch of 4 each (ok, mine was 3.5 fish), and we still had to clean the fish, we called it a day. The one good thing, was near the general store, they had a fish cleaning station, which made that messy task much easier, so we were done in a jiffy, with plenty of time to get back and break camp by the noon deadline.

All in all, I have to say that I had a great time. I got out of town for 3 days, went up north to the mountains, and communed with nature in an area that is very different from phoenix, camped out around the fire, and even caught a few fish. I don’t want to sound like a beer commercial or anything, but it truly….. Just doesn’t get any better than that. Thanks for the invite Bob :-)

Tuuuuuubing..... On A Sunday Afternoon

2006-07-10T14:42:00.000-07:00

How was your weekend? I had a great one. Not only did I sing a new Hootie And The Blowfish song at karaoke, my Adventure Cub went tubing on the Salt River on Sunday. Have you ever done this? If not, it's really cool. You drive up to Saguaro Lake, and there is this inner tube rental place, and they bus you up to a place in the river, the group tied all our tubes together, and you basically spend ~ 4 hours floating down the river in these giant inner tubes.

They pile you into these school buses, with all the tubes, and take you up the river, and there are 2 locations for pick up at ~ 2 hours float and 4 hours float. We did 4. Someone advised me to bring an old sheet to drape over the tube, and that was wise, because I think a black inner tube might get awfully hot in the Arizona sun after 4 hours (Ya Think?). I also brought a little $4.00 kiddy raft in toys r us, to float my cooler (smart huh?)

I couldn't help noticing that not only are "super soaker water gun" wars apparently the norm on the river and among the "tubers", but it is also apparently a tradition to participate in an activity I named...... "Marshmallow Bombardment". Several of the people in our group had bags of those large marshmallows, and we spent quite some fun time, lobbing them at other rafters we floated by. I thought it was some sort of thing only our group did, until about half way down the river, some other "innocent looking" group of rafters shot us with their own Marshmallow Bombardment when we floated by.

Plus, the only cooler restriction, is no glass bottles, so we had quite the fun time with Mr Budweiser, and those little pint plastic bottles of margaritas that we brought along with us. Good thing though that I brought along my SPF30 Sunscreen. Funny thing, when I was talking to another friend of mine, and describing the good time I had, she said "You know, that tubing stuff is just an excuse to do nothing but float down the river, drinking beer".

Yeah, So What? I wonder...... What was her point :-)