It's not JUST about what I had for breakfast...

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Minimum Day

Today is Garbage Day.  I threw out the frozen Breaded Shrimp that Camellia love so much, unopened. Some tears were shed.  Another wall of the Little House is in the can, also. No tears over that!

Sunday, April 28, 2013

At The Base Of Mother Miguel

I got up early this morning, but could not come to a decision, and so went back to bed.  Finished Where The Sea Breaks Its Back, by Corey Ford. Ran across it while inventorying, decided to read it after being titillated by the description of Brigette, the eventually-to-be wife of Stiller.  And when I finished the book, I fell asleep.

Awoke later in the morning refreshed, got up and went geocaching south of Sweetwater Reservoir.

The first cache I found had TWO containers within a foot of each other, but each still was under its own rock. I signed both logs.



The second cache had one container but TWO logbooks.  I only signed one log.

The fourth cache was easy to find.  A motorcyclist passed by. I was thinking, "Nice, that would save a lot of walking, would it not?"  It was a very quiet bike, I think it was a BMW.



I headed off to the next cache, which is on the other side of that there lake.  I was sitting quietly when three women on horses passed by.  The horses were a bit spooked by me sitting there, that ladies kept telling the horses "That's a man, not a mountain lion."  I took off my hat so the horses could see my smiling face, but the ladies said "Just keep talking." I told them that the dogs at the dog park earlier had the same reaction to me.  I'm talking to YOU, Sasha!!

I was still sitting there (drying the wet log sheet, and re-bagging it) when the horse ladies waited for a bicycle to pass.



The most physical cache was Mother's Rock Garden, which involved bush whacking and a bit of rock scrambling.  And a close watch for snakes, of which I did not see a one.

I forgot my water bottle at home.  I should probably carry a spare in the vehicle.  I CITOed (CacheInTrashOut)  a half-full water bottle from the side of the trail, but I'm not gonna drink that, sir!  I watered the plants with it.  Drank from the fountain at the dog  park after the first cache find, which is where I met Sasha the dog.

Nest:  Mt Miguel??






Saturday, April 27, 2013

Saturday In The North Country

After a good night's sleep I got up early (5:30 AM) downloaded a bunch of geocaches, printed some maps, ate bran flakes (with banana) and headed TO THE NORTH, that is up the 15 to Scripps Parkway, then wandering around until I finally found Stonebridge Parkway.  I DID remember to take my Thomas Bros.  I DIDN'T remember it was the 2004 edition.  Stuff seems to have change in the last decade...

I found the first cache on my list in a few seconds, but managed to lose the top to the container, and so spent at least a half-hour, a FRUITLESSLY SPENT half-hour, searching, as I said, fruitlessly, and so had to beg forgiveness from the cache owner, from who I have not heard back. 

Did I mention it was foggy?  Here are some foggy pictures for you.



So these are looking to the south or south west, towards Sycamore Canyon.



Except this one, a bit later, is looking towards the west, I think.  Or at least across the canyon towards Via Santa Pradera, which means NOTHING in Google Translate, each word seems to be in a different language. Something about a Holy Prairie, I don't know.



And foggy means dew, and dew means WET!  Fortunately, I was wearing my synthetic hiking pants with my new synthetic hiking shirt. Both, while too large, dry quickly.  Most excellent!

I found all the caches, but two of them gave me a lot of trouble. 

SPOILER ALERT!!!


Check out this one.  This is what we in the sport call a "nano".   I came back to this spot FOUR TIMES to look under this branch, as it was the only logical place it could be, according to the hint.

 

And here the branch is back in place.  A little bit harder to see, ain't it?  Actually, branch is not all the way down, there's a little rock there I had to pull out.




Before the Great Nano Hunt I was a bit farther down the ridge.  It look like someone had weed whacked the, uh, weeds, there were some native plants planted, and there were a whole bunch of these drains.  At least, I GUESS they are drains.  Do they drain somewhere? I don't know.  There wasn't any sprinklers to water the area, and it sure doesn't rain THAT much around these parts.  Maybe it's to collect all that dewey fog.



I was thinking I should have brought the bike, 'cause it wasn't that hilly and I could have saved a lot of time.  Saw this guy coming down the road, great minds think alike, right?



He wasn't moving too fast, and he looked a little jerky in his pedaling style.



Oh.  Never mind.



The fog was gone by now, I made it to the vehicle just in time!  In the pic below, that is Cowles Mountain way out there past the ridge on the right.
 

I went back to that first cache to see if I could find the lid.  Nope.

Headed back to Scripps Poway Parkway to stop at Sycamore Canyon Park.  Didn't see the turnoff.  That is because there IS no turn off from Scripps Poway Parkway, I found later.

I also found out that the old Atlas missle test stands are just to the south of Stonebridge Parkway about three thousand feet.

Stopped in Lakeside to take a quick look for a cache.  Found I didn't have the coordinates on me. Huh.  Stopped at Target to look at the GoPro camera.   None on display.  No, I did not to the clerk.  I DID find that Target has the same answering machine I drove all the way to Kearney Mesa to buy, for only $14.99.  Oh, well!

On a totally different note, did you see that NASA launched some cell phones into orbit last week?  Also here.  I've been monitoring 437.425 mhz but I haven't heard anything but static.

I guess we are finished here!


Thursday, April 25, 2013

So Much For Dinner...

Burnt Pizza?  The pizza slipped while I was putting it into the oven.  This is AFTER I cleaned it up a bit.



Looks like a lot of other burnt stuff needs to be cleaned out, too.

And the slipped pizza went into the trash.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Une Très Jolie Et Nouvelle Porte De Garage

The little house. It's time for it to go.



Half the roof fits in the trash can.  I calculate it will take six weeks to get rid of it completely.



The garage door guy came out to replace our door today.  I took a day off work, 'cause I got a lot junk in the garage to move out of the way.  Here's an inside corner of the old garage door.
 


And the outside of the old garage door.



Lowering the old door on to the truck rack.



It's down!



And rotated around.



The guys place the first door segments.



I asked them if they were gonna put more pieces in.  Tom said they ran out of metal segments, so they were gonna cut off part of the old door and use it!  Ha ha!



And, it's finished!



Rolls real nice, and should be a lot more water tight than the old door.




Let Sleeping Cats Lie

In the news:



But was it asleep?


I felt real proud of myself after taking this little quiz. That is, until I read other people's comments on how easy it was.



Garage door pictures coming later today!

Monday, April 22, 2013

Monday's Trip

A helicopter was flying white stuff to Cowles Mountain. What could it be?



I drove out to Kearny Mesa Staples to purchase the one of the last three answering machines they had in San Diego. I save a small chunk of coin by telling the clerk that their web site price was less. I am so proud of me! On the way home I went geocaching down an odd little trail.



Lots of pretty flowers on the trail, which didn't show up to well in the photograph.  Trail is well-worn by football fans sneaking down to see what is going on at the Chargers practice fields, which are nearby.


At this point the camera batteries died, so no pictures of the fabulous view of Murphy Canyon (Named for 1860s settler John Murphy).

I can think of nothing else to add, so fare thee well!

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Saturday Morning


Drove out to Santee to the Mesa Road trailhead so I wouldn't have to walk QUITE as far to find a certain puzzle geocache.  So far, so good.  Up the trail I went, made the find, and headed back.  I got the bright idea to follow a little trail off the main trail.  There wasn't a SIGN saying NOT TO, so I did. I figured there might be a connection between THIS hill and ANOTHER hill where there was a cache I was looking for, several times in fact.  Well, I headed along this little path, and I'm certainly not the first.  Found this nicely constructed fire pit/ring/circle/whatever.  Undisturbed  gray ash, in use since the last rain?  Hmmmm. 




Headed on along, now the trail is going down into a ravine, and the trail is fading out.  And at the bottom, it's gone.  So I'm bushwhacking my way up the hill, hoping to the  road/trail that I know is up there.  And yet, I keep going up. Up up up the hill, I'm at the top, no road.  Whoops, I see houses below.  I'm on the wrong hill!  The road (that's old Mesa Road, by the way) goes over THAT hill.  So I gotta bushwhack my way down to the houses, which I'm sure both the park rangers and the home owners would be thrilled to see.

Well, I get past the houses and find the cache area.  And find the cache, THIS time!  Fabulous.  So now I head down the old Mesa Road trail.  Well, eventually I find it, it is kind of overgrown.  And eventually I make it back to the vehicle, and home again.

So I get home, I'm on the computer here logging the caches, FTPing the pics, and starting the blog entry, when I feel something crawling around and THIS THING falls out of my hair and on to the desk.  It's wiggling around!  What the heck is it?  Looks like a little twig piece, but it's MOVING!! It squished nice and mushy, I'll tell you what!




Really, people, I REALLY want to know what this thing is!!

P.S.  I took the Last Bag of Pepsi Cans to the recycling today. Got  $11.45, which I shall use for gas.

P.P.S.  Love my new red Sears Vacuum Cleaner!'

P.P.P.S  Totally forgot about the guy!  As I was strolling down Mesa Road/Trail, high above the valley, I could hear some guy yelling various rambling obscenities, religious opinions, and his views on various foods.  I couldn't spot where it was coming from, maybe he was hiding in the bushes.  Strange!

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

The "G" "Spot"

I apologize for the scurrilous nature of the post title.

Many people know about the "S" that used to be on the side Cowles Mountain, but how many of those many know about the "G"?  On the approximately east side of the mountain students from Grossmont High School would trek up and paint the "G" with white wash.  This extremely rare screenshot from a film-transfer video of the construction of Pershing Jr. High School in the early 1960s shows the remarkable letter quite clearly.




Bibliography

Grossmont High History

San Diego State Aztecs--Aztec Sports and Conference Discussions--S mountain tradition


Thursday, April 11, 2013

Another Week Nearly Past

I feel a bit fragmented, bear with me.

At the post office yesterday I saw this conduit.  Needs fixin'.




I see there are three wires. The red and the black are for a "switch leg" to a photocell, I'm thinking. The green is ground, but I thought one used the conduit as ground.  Must be new rule. I hope!  And in this case, it is certainly justified!!

It was brought to my attention that this eagle was placed here several weeks ago.  Didn't even notice it!



I have been trying various techniques over the years to erase edge writing.  Correction fluid, sanding blocks, an electric eraser, and Sharpies have all been tried.  Today I brought in my motor tool with a little sanding drum bit.  Works pretty perfect!




Just finished reading When Bad Things Happen To Good People and Twice Upon A Marigold.  One book explains that God does not micromanage, the other is about an evil queen who regains her memory after getting washed away down a river in the first book (of the series, not Why Bad Things!), this being the sequel, and heads back to her old kingdom to torment everyone.  It's "part comedy, part tragedy, part two".

Sunday, April 07, 2013

Lewd Acts

Spent most of the day dithering about, then I washed the clothes.  But first I finished a book, The Water Wars, by Cameron Stracher.  After the clothes were in the dryer I went geocaching in  Santee. And after that I went to the grocery store.

Here is the back of one of the Santee Drive-In Theatre (Their spelling--well, la-di-da!) screens, if you are interested.  From the north side of the mighty San Diego River.




                                                                                                                                                               

Yesterday we went to a geocache on Harbor Island, but I forgot to bring the, or rather, I printed the wrong, coordinates.  So we went to In-N-Out and then to Inspiration Point at Presidio Park.

When you see a sign like the one at the bottom, you just gotta wonder. Although we wonder at the reason for the top sign, too.



While we were eating a tragedy some proportions occurred.  I hope the local fauna enjoys the Animal-Style Fries!.


 
After that we went to Petco (The store, not the ballpark) and we each bought some bird seed.

Oh, then, the fumiest thing!  I was sitting at the computer with the front door open.   I heard some woman's yelling about some something.  I do not respond to people yelling in the street, so I payed no attention. But, I finally turned and looked out the door.  There was a car stopped in the street and the driver was yelling to me, "Is this your dog out here?"  I went out to see what the heck she was talking about.  There was a chihuahua out there, a tiny little thing IN A BALLET SUIT!  Yes, I said ballet suit.  I had forgotten the word tutu.  The dog was headed south.  I headed south and yelled out to the neighbors, "You missing a dog?"  "What's it look like?" sez them.  I reply, "IT'S WEARING A BALLET SUIT!!!"  So they come running out to get their little doggy that had somehow escaped from the house.

And of course I didn't get a picture of the doggy in the tutu.

Saturday, April 06, 2013

radio radio

Yesterday evening I researched how to take out the radio.  I watched two videos related to the procedure.  No. 1 said to stick a tool(s) in the release holes on the side of the radio.  No. 2 said to remove two screws on the bezel under the radio, then remove the bezel.

I got me some hex wrenches to stick in No. 1's holes.  Nothing budged.  I fetched a selection of sockets (1/4" drive)  and a rachet (1/2" drive), and two adapters so I could go for No.2.  Where is my 3/8" ratchet?  Unscrewed the screws, GENTLY pulled the bezel loos and forward.  Lots of wires holding it, but I reached around behind the radio, felt for the big orange (coaxial) wire, and plugged it in.  Because, you know, IT WASN"T PLUGGED IN!!! 

Replace the bezel and screws.  Amazingly, nothing went wrong!

Tested the radio.  NOW it works properly.

Friday, April 05, 2013

Friday Recap

I biked to F.H. and picked up the truck.  The air conditioning now works.  The radio, uh, is kinda iffy in picking up stations.  Like the antenna isn't plugged in. Alas, he wept.

Since I had the bike I drove out to Lakeside and went geocaching in a big loop, passing through the Lakeside River Park and back along Riverside Drive, Lakeside Avenue, and Channel Road. All three of which are, oddly enough, the same road to the ignorant visitor.

Going down the park path I had to negotiate joggers, dog walkers, studious student bird watchers, and a very friendly lady on a golf cart.  I noticed a pile of dog poop with an umbrella stuck in it, the kind of umbrella one might find in ones' Mai Tai, if one had ever had the pleasure.  I pointed out said umbrella to a passing dog walker.  "Dogs" walker might be more apt, since she had two, both of which I had petted on her journey eastward. Now on the return trip, to my comment she said, "That is what they do here."

Sadly, I once again forgot to put the memory card in the camera to record this and other poignant moments.

Later, over on Riverside/Lakeside//Channel Drive/Avenue/Road I was parking the bike in preparation for a stealthy search for a cache when a man (We geocachers call them 'muggles'.) approached yelling something about "Look out for the goatheads!!"   Took me a sec to figure out what he was so excited about. 

After the last cache I rode back to the truck, and loaded the bike in.  My goathead friend caught up with me there and we had an interesting discussion on the distribution of goathead thorns in Lakeside and the resulting bicycle flat tires therein.

Got home, opened a can of fruit cocktail. You know those "Best by" dates on the cans? Two years past is WAY past best.  Into the trash with THAT!  And now a goodly number of the canned goods in the cupboard are sporting are large date, courtesy of my Sharpie Industrial Permanent Ink pen.


Thursday

Walked to the tax preparer, but got there an hour early so walked on to find a puzzle geocache I had solved early in the day.  Saw this car parked in the dealership's lot:



From the rear.  Oh, and it had a California plate.  Oh, and California is one of them states that requires a front license plate. Hope that works out for you, pal.



I guess he's just a rebel.  And he'll never be any good.

Found out that I misinterpreted the IRS rules and have to file an amended tax return for a couple years ago. I am so happy.

Cleaned out the bathroom cabinet.



Compare with:



Made a moue face.



Here is the Last Applesauce.  Those in the know will know what I'm talking about.



Fell asleep during Archer last night, and so slept on the couch.  It's now tomorrow morning, I gotta go get the truck.

Wednesday, April 03, 2013

Walkabout

Drove the truck back to the repair shop.  Explained it in detail, this time, with hands-on demonstration. The man said, "This is weird. I have the same air conditioner in my truck, I've never seen this before."

Walked back home again, seeing many interesting sights (which I neglected to take pictures of), and this shiny electrical stuff:



A -- Tie wraps?  Really? Is that to Code??
B -- Is that even a tie wraps?  Looks like a bread bag twist tie. Or a wad of gum!
C -- A one-inch piece of conduit? How about a nipple?
D -- Why did you leave the lock rings on both of the connectors on the LR?
E -- That's gotta be com flex, I'm sure it's not to Code for electrical outside work.

Stopped by a tax service and made an appointment, some will be glad to hear.

I was asked, twice, I think, why did I walk from Fletcher Hills? 

Why, indeed...

Walking is much less irking than biking, or even driving.  Only three people P.O.ed me today (so far). One guy on a bicycle, and two pedestrians (one a runner).  And I must say, quite a number drivers of cars were exceedingly considerate to me.  I give them a tip of the Tilley!

Stopped by the grocery and carried a couple of bags of supplies home. We have chips!

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Yet Another Day

I spent the whole day waiting for the truck to get fixed, they charged me two hundred bucks, told me it wasn't what I thought it was.  Turns out, I discover as I'm driving home, it's also not fixed, and doing EXACTLY what it was doing before. Great!

I biked up there to pick it up, my right knee start hurting about half-way there, like it was being stabbed a little.  Fabulous!

I've seen all the episodes of Archer and The Americans that are available on Freezone. Outstanding!
Better check Hulu...one episode of The Americans I haven't see, better watch THAT! Things might be looking up.

Walked back from Fletcher Hills this morning.  Took two hours.  Found one elusive geocache along the way, so that good.

Also cried a little while walking, so that was sad.

Monday, April 01, 2013

Just Out

Went geocaching this noon and after, out to Santee/Lakeside. To escape the blues, don't yah know.

Found seven of eight caches.  A bit of walking took me over the San Diego River, and back again, then up a nameless hill, three times, but only part way each time.

Crossing the mighty San Diego River! A crossing made tricky by bifocals and slippery rocks!


EDIT:  After publishing I realized there was some objectionable I-won't-dignify-it-with-the-word-graffiti markings on a couple of the rocks, which I have edited out.


The cache in the rocks. A very nicely done hide!



A view of the nameless hill from the wrong side of the river. Gotta cross back over!



This one, up on the hill side, was missing its lid, so I brought a cammoed container, put the cache stuff in it, and inverted the old topless container on, uh, top.



View of the ball fields from on high.  I saw on a topo map that this used to be a sewage disposal plant.



Had to go DOWN then back UP to get to this one, which was completely covered by large green plants and VERY hard to find.  Can YOU see it?



This one was not hard to spot, once I got TO the spot.  I forgot to enter the coordinates into the GPSr, or even to print them out, but I managed to figure it out from the aerial view map.  I rock!




Going back UP that darn nameless hill again, I spy a bunny.



This cache had three layers of camo.  Its container color, the dead grass over it...



...and a rock!  A bit tricky to recognize, but there really wasn't any place else near!



That was about it for Today's Adventures In Geocaching!

Search This Blog

About Me

Blog Archive

Followers