Quite The Tuesday

I talked my son into going geocaching with me in Mission Trail Regional Park. I printed out all the cache information, plus a map. I neglected to share with him just where it was we were going, or all the tips I've learned in the past two weeks. Like, were long pants if you might go off the trail. Blood will be spilled!

I brought my cool camo hat, a bottle of water, and an Albertson's Granola Bar.

I should have put on some sun block.

The goal was to climb Kwaay Paay Peak. It was pointed out to me, as we stared up the rather steep trail, that it looked nearly as tall as Cowles Mountain. The trial is 2.2 miles long, round trip, and it's around nine hundred feet in elevation gain.

You don't have to get very far along the trail before you get a view.

Look over into Santee and the 52 freeway.


Up near the peak you can look right over the side. Way down there is Mission Gorge Road. We could look down on hawks circling, but naturally they disappeared when I pulled my camera out!


Hey, we are the same elevation as that helicopter!


The view is fairly spectacular at the peak. To the west, a rain cloud formed and dropped a few rain drops, then cleared away. Point Loma is WAY over there! This lady was in a geocache. Who is she?


We found a geocache that had been badly muggled.


We picked up the pieces and re-hid it. I'm pointing right at it, you should be able to find it EASILY!


Going down was easier, except for the slipping and the sliding.

We were passed both ways by young women running, old guys running, a guy carrying a child on his shoulders (who was leaving a trail of goldfish) , and several dogs. It was quite amazing.

I'm glad it was a cool day, I wouldn't have made it during a summer scorcher!

We found eight caches. It might have been nine, but I forgot to bring the coordinates for one of them!

At The Lake

I have decided to divide and conquer the Lake Murray geocaches. Yesterday, a rather cool and sometimes drizzly Sunday, I did the ones on the east side of the lake. I looked for seven, and found six. I took a picture of each one I found, but I shan't bore you with all of them. But this one struck me as pretty funny.



The reservoir has risen since the cache was placed. The cache owner pulled it later that day. Good thing I signed the dripping-wet log with my semi-waterproof red Sharpie pen!

The cache that I DNF, the cache owner checked it later Sunday and archived it. When I was looking for it (TWICE), I found something that might have been part of it. I also picked up glass. I was going to put it all in the trash can, but I forgot and left it there. I saw in the cache log that someone came along later and found my little pile and also thought it might have been part of the cache. Cache In Trash Out, gotta get with the program!

For such a cool and sometimes drizzly day there were quite a few people out and about. I walked the route for two reasons. One, I didn't want to get the bike dirty, and two, It is a pain and very conspicuous to stop, lean the bike against something (if there IS anything!) and nose around the bushes. It is bad enough WITHOUT the bike!

I saw a older fellow wearing a beautiful long-sleeve Rivendell wool jersey in a sort of light green. I think he was riding a Serotta, though.

I saw the blond chick walking. I was passed by several walkers. I guess I just walk too slow. I amble! Lord, I was born an amblin' man, apologies to the Allman Brother Band.

I saw a coyote, but couldn't get the camera out quickly enough. I took a picture of a paw print in the mud, but it may be from a doggie. Pic is on the Zooomr page. Pics of all of today's caches are on the Zooomr page, too. Just in case you want to see what a variety of geocaches might look like.

Next week I shall attack the west side of the lake!

---

Today I picked up a new baking element for the oven. It cost $48.00 including tax and license. I could have got it a little bit cheaper on the web, but I wanted it NOW! Here is the old one, it isn't working for some reason.



Next on the appliance repair horizon? The agitator in the warshing machine!

Whoopsie

I can't believe I did this!

I was sitting at a red light, first in line. The left-turning lane signal turned green next to me, and I took off, ON THE RED LIGHT! Scared the bejezus out of the guy turning in front of me, I bet!

I was distracted by a bicyclist who almost ran the ran the red from the left. He coasted almost half-way through the intersection before he was able to turn around and return to the white line to wait.

I feel so stupid!

But, now I have a little more sympathy for the idiots who have done this to me, 'cause now I are one, too!

Cat Pics

It must be Caterday!

The tail-less cat is being toyed with by a sock on a foot on the end of a hairy leg in this series of photos.



The shaved white spot on the cats leg is where the vet put the I.V. for his (her?) operation.



The cats favorite toy is that sock. In my foot!



I have to be careful not to get scratched or bitten.



Is that a yawn, or preporation to attack!



Those clean teeth are part of what make her (him?) the world's most expensive stray cat.

A Walk About Town

I went for a stroll about the village the other day, over to the library to pick up some reading supplies for the LONG WEEK of FORCED VACATION, not all of it PAID.

This big ol' tree is long gone, (but lives on in Google maps).



And so is this bit of landscaping (from Google Street View).



Now it is a rocky sort of thing, with a odd little path through it.



I liked that ol' tree. I miss it.

I thought this water meter cover looked interesting. It looks more rounded than others I've noticed.



Over by the new La Mesa Police Department building there has been a lot of road re-alignment to accommodate the new building and the traffic it will have. As usual, bike lane suffer.

Looking east on University towards the intersection with Baltimore, we see a new bike lane. Of course, the bicycle rider has to cross the left turn lane to turn left. And of course there is no bike lane after you turn right, in spite of VERY heavy traffic. I can't remember if there is a bike lane after turning left. If there is, it does not continue very far.



Now, after turning left (on the sidewalk, I'm walking, you know!), we can look back to the south and see what they have done to Baltimore Drive. Now there are two lanes turning right, instead of one, onto University Ave.

Some of the drivers are confused, and turn left to get into the go-straight lane.



He makes it, and the next one goes for it!



Taking a closer look at the intersection these confused driver are heading into, we notice that the go-straight lane head directly into the left turn lane. Nice! I've noticed that most cars head over to the far right to turn onto Spring St., anyway. Pity the poor bicyclist trying to navigate this intersection during rush hour!



And that lane way up there, to the right of the car waiting at the trolley tracks? It merges just after the intersection. So it does nothing!

Back to Baltimore Dr., looking south. One of several signs to remind confused drivers that the lanes have been changed.



You will notice there is no bike lane.

Still.

They COULD have made that middle lane a bike lane and done a "Turning Cars Yield To Bicycles" sign at the merge/demerges. Safer for bicyclists, less confusing for the poor cars. Everyone wins.

Well, enough about that. If I don't go to the planning meetings, what right do I have to complain, eh?

Check out this nifty car I saw along the way. It's a Plymouth Sport Suburban station wagon. It looks like a 1957 to me, but don't quote me on that!



I love those taillights!





Nine passengers, eight cylinders, let's go to the Alvarado Drive-In!

Another Monday

I've been feeling a bit "off" for several days, so I have not been riding the bike, or even going out much. Today, I had to get out of the house, so I ran some errands in the vehicle. I drove over to get some smokes for the bitter half. I saw all these vehicles below, some of which I have mentioned before. Now you got pics!

The car I thought was a Mercedes, is actually a Toyota. Big pipes!



Looks like the Duke Boy's car, but is it really a Dodge Charger? Reminds me of a Plymouth Road Runner.



I don't know what this is, but it has attitude!



After securing the smokes I went to the library to drop off some books. They were closed, so I left.

I went looking for some geocaches in Mission Trails Park. I found three. I was caught in the act of signing the log by a couple in an SUV who turned out to also be geocachers. Although they have about eight thousand more than I do...

After not finding a couple more caches I went to another library, checked out a pile of books, and went home.

At The Beach

Saturday, after the funeral, we went down to the beach to visit my brother-in-law and his daughter, and her family. And friends, too!

We enjoyed the fabulous view, we ate some fajita-type meat on tortillas, and I had a glass of beer from Stone Brewery, which pretty much zonked me out.



The moms and the kids wanted to play in the water, so we followed them down the stairs to the beach. I was wearing dress shoes and long pants. I felt like my immigrant grandfather! Like a goose I stood the whole time, until I felt dizzy and had to lie (lay?) down for a bit. But, after that bit I felt better and we climbed back up the stairs to the house.

It was fun watching all the people who come to the beach.



But sometimes people get in front of the camera. I was shooting through the screen door, I should have expected someone might want to come in!

We stayed till after sunset. Lots of people come to watch the sun go down. And the surfers are still out there!



You can find the original uncropped image, and several more unposted ones, on my zooomr page. Just click the image to go there. Wander about to your heart's content!

I had to drive home from where I parked my vehicle, in Mira Mesa, in the dark. On the freeway! You KNOW how I hate to drive, especially in the dark. But, it was ok.

Ripped

A patron turned in Twilight, by S. Meyer, today. They said a page was torn. I told them to please find it for me. And here it is!



So how does a page get ripped like that, in the middle of the page? I've never seen anything like that before.

I splashed a bit of Demco Norbond on the tear, laid sheets of Gaylord waxed paper (the best!) on either side, and stuck it in the Gaylord book press for the weekend. Your mileage may vary on those links, over time.

Of Olde Computer Software & Bugs & Parrots

The Hobbit computer game! Just in time for the movie!



I loved the Apple ][, and I loved the Beagle Bros. software. Useful software with a sense of humor.



We may return to the yesteryear of Apple, but for now, on to other things!

I found an "Interim Logbook For Coneucopia II" in the bottom of my bicycle pannier. I guess I when I found that geocache I was going to replace the logbook. But I never found it.

I had a dream the other night. One of the few I remember. I dreamed about...GIANT GREEN PARROTS! About three feet tall. Yikes!

Lastly, I have been exploring the words Etymology (8,790,000 hits on Google), Entomology (7,070,000 hits), and Entymology (21,300 hits).

According to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, entomology "is a branch of zoology that deals with insects."

And also according to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, etymology is "1 : the history of a linguistic form (as a word) shown by tracing its development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to another, by analyzing it into its component parts, by identifying its cognates in other languages, or by tracing it and its cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral language. 2 : a branch of linguistics concerned with etymologies."

All well and good, if a bit wordy.

What of that last word, Entymology? Only 21,300 (only!) hits on Google. The Urban Dictionary, that bastion of academia (Even I have a definition there!), says in the listing for Etymology that "a word often misused and mispronounced 'entymology' which is the study of insects!"
No, I don't think so. I don't think it is a word, just a mispeling gone loco. If you can prove it is a real word, send me a reputable source, and I'll eat my words. Virtually.

Uh...

I got a postcard from my medical, one of those Notices that they are obligated by law to send out to all their customers.

It says, in part:

To review a copy of our Notice please go to the following Internet hyperlink www.blahblahblah.com/docs/privacy.pdf or alternatively you may send a written request to...

I tried clicking on the paper, it did not take me anywhere. I would call that a URL, not a hyperlink.

Saturday Morning

Fairly overcast this morning. I got a late start, around seven or so.

I decided to head over to the Lemon Grove area to check out some roads, and a Geocache that my caching partner does not want to look for AGAIN. I found it, THIS time. And I took a picture, as there was a question about what a cache might look like.



Dracula teeth and a Shamu killer whale pencil thingie. TNLN, but I signed the log.

It wasn't a LONG ride, but it was a bit hilly in short steep granny-gear parts. And when you stop to pick up a quarter, and then start to pedal again, and the pawls in the freehub skip, so does your heart, just a bit!

I was looking at an Howard Rozelle aerial image of Lemon Grove on John Fry's site. I was trying to figure where the Lips would be on that old picture. I noticed a street heading up the hill. It seems to be Costa Bella St. (A) on the Google Maps. It is gone now, there is a Honda dealership there.



The freeway bisects it now, but the continuation seems to be named Costa Bella Drive (B). And then it continues up the hill as Costa Bella Way (C). But the interesting thing is over at D there is a street sign naming it Costa Bella Drive!

And now for the Interesting Vehicles!

This beauty just about jumped out at me as I biked by. It's big, it's a Buick, and it looks just like the car in a picture labeled "1950 Buick Riviera" I ran across.



What's sticking out of the bottom there?

I always had a yen for one of these Volkswagon Transporter pickup trucks. George had one, with a Porsche engine. Zoom!



I used to have an early 60s Chevy truck. Here are two mid-60s Chevrolet trucks, both are C-20 models.



And another antenna farm pic. I may have posted this one before. I guess we could title this, "Antennas With Power Lines". This is really only interesting because I talked with this guy once. Must have been on two meters for WAMO, as I don't see him in my log book.



You can see it was still a bit overcast.

The trip odometer seems to be at 102.57 miles for the two weeks.

And it is clear and very warm now!

Moved Saturday

I moved this over from the bicycle blog, as it seemed more appropriate here, even though I was wearing Lycra bike shorts and a Headsweat when I took the picture.

And this is how the inside of your dryer vent looks to a rat, if you don't have a flapper or lovers to keep him out!

Wipes

Do they even MAKE lens-cleaning tissue any more?

I found these on a shelf at work.



No, I do not know who Melissa is.

This eBay link won't last forever, but this guy is selling a slide prep kit with some of these tissues.

I deduced from my research that the tissues were manufactured by the Graf-Apsco. Co. of Chicago, Illinois. I don't see any links for the company, perhaps they have gone away.

Saturday Ramble

I headed out this afternoon in the three o'clock sun to pick up a couple of Geocaches. I entered the coordinates for one of them at home, learning how to enter the data. There was a bit of blue language in the process.

I found that one just fine.

I walked down Spring Street through downtown, seeing interesting sights.

Saw this old piece of sidewalk.



Saw a new piece of sidewalk that was made to match the old sidewalk around it.

The next cache was at Collier Park. There was a fellow in handcuffs over there with the police. Talk about muggles!



I had a drink of water at the drinking fountain near the old and historic spring house.

Then I entered the Geocache data and found I was three hundred feet away. Walked three hundred feet and found it. The clue was one letter, and it helped.

At Henry's Farmers Market I observed a fellow (in an SUV, naturally) who would rather make a u-turn across Spring St. than go the extra ten feet to through the back driveway to the market.



I would have gone around the block. I'm just that kind of person.

I thought this manhole cover was interesting. I found two little mentions of a Barth Foundry in San Diego on the web. And one of THEM was a dead link.



Thunderheads in the east! No wonder it is a bit muggy! And warm!



Happy Labour Day!

Bell Teleteacher

I snagged this device of the discard cart, took some pictures, plugged it in, got nothing, and sent it on its way.

It is a Bell Telephone System Teletrainer.

The Teletrainer, in addition to practice telephones, is now an integral part of the program and is available in many Bell System communities. This amplifier and control unit produces dial tone, ringing and busy signals, and makes connections between the two telephones which accompany it. Thus, it helps create realistic classroom situations for developing conversational skills. Not only do teachers consider it valuable in teaching correct telephone usage, but the Teletrainer has also proved to be extremely useful in teaching children with speech and hearing handicaps.

from Bell Telephone Magazine, Spring 1964, as archived on the Internet Archive.  Link to archived article.

A slightly better view of the knob labels. I should have pried off that Bell System device for safe-keeping.



The carrying case is quite a nifty piece of luggage, as befits its manufacturer. A closeup of the tag. I'm not EXACTLY sure what a "Telezonia" is, but YOU, especially if you watch It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, need to check out this link!



This label inside the case shows how to hook it up. It did not come telephones. All I got was a big buzzing noise when I turned it on. At least it didn't blow up!



And here we have the back side of the device. Sort of covered up the manufacturer's name. Now we will never know!



And one last picture of the whole thing, before we say goodbye!



Goodbye!

Now hang up!