Saturday Not So Rainy...Yet!

Storm damage!

One of those palm fronds fell down upon the birdbath and knocked one of the gnomes to the ground!  Fortunately, the gnome was not damaged.  The rim of the birdbath, which is thick plastic, was fractured.

I went to the Mission Dam again today to get a geocache for the first day of March, and to check on the water at the dam.  Found the cache OK, and took a bunch of pictures.

Some kind of ducks today.

Water over the dam.

You need an overhead shot mapping the photo locations, don't yah?

I walked across this yesterday, now it is a duck pond.

More of the duck pond.  The water was quite a bit lower yesterday, and I could walk across the rocks that are under water.

There, that provides a context for the other pics.

Looking back across the "duck pond", which the ducks are not in yet.

Looking down at the steel bridge from the trail/bike path above.

The rapids!

Rapids redux!

Yes, a couple of guys are out with their RC cars today!

A duck crossing over to the duck pond.

And he's over!

Not the same duck, but it's the same duck pond.

Under the steel bridge.

Again!

No, it's not the same picture.  It's ALMOST the same picture.

It was rainy and wet and cool when I started out.  By the time I headed back it was warm enough that people were in the shirt sleeves, and I was pretty warm in my Columbia jacket with liner.

And now as I'm finishing up here, several hours later, it looks like the clouds are moving back in for more rain.

Weather Or Not

I went down to the Padre Dam area for a geocache yesterday.  It hadn't rained too much yet.  Here are a couple of pics I took:

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Or rather, the one image that turned out ok.  Sadly, the picture of the ducks was just too blurry.

Hey, remember you can click the image to see the surely fine quality larger image. The larger image file size is listed under the pics. Some of them are kinda big...

Today there was QUITE a bit more rain.  And wind. So I went back to the dam after work to see if the water was any higher.

I scared off the ducks when I approached, sadly.

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There are sometimes more than one image of a scene.  You decide which is right.

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Sometimes the fingers get in the way.

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Doesn't look like much, but there is definitely more water than yesterday. And it noisier, too.

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The area on the left of the part I'm walking on did not have nearly that much water in it yesterday!

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Yessiree Bob, there is a lot more action going on there today!

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Should really be something to see if the water gets higher.

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Showing how the rive flows along the dam for a bit before it heads off to the left, south-ish.

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Bubble bubble.

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The dam from the west-ish side. Yes, that is where I was standing to take the previous pics.

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One of these had the flash.  I think this one did not.

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Most of these were taken with the iPhone, a couple were take with the Fuji Finepix, I think the last two.

The rain really started coming down on the way home.  I am sure glad I wasn't on the freeway today!  At work I noticed every time I walked over to the office I could hear sirens in the distance.  Goodness!

Nearly Not Wednesday

I got my first senior discount today! Three bucks on a thirty dollar purchase!

I'm reading Jim Belushi's book Real Men Don't Apologize.  It's not the worst book I've ever read.(REDACTED) nor, the most un-interesting (op. cit.), and I bet other people (Real Men) might find it humorous, but it doesn't work for me.

It might rain tomorrow in the early AM.

I have been watching Spy, a British sitcom, on Hulu.  I find it very amusing.  Also watched the first episode of Farmed And Dangerous, and have the second queued up.  And there is always the wonderful Jeeves and Wooster, such a treat.

My brain is empty, you may go now.

Hot Stuff

I picked the poblano chile peppers today. But why is that one turning brown, and what is that sticking out of the bottom of it?

Please remember these are enlarged thumbnails. Click the pic to see the original image!

There's a geocache where the challenge is to find a cache in every degree radiating from it. I finally figured out how to use the "checker" for it.  Looks like I only need a hundred and two more caches finds to complete it!

I talked to the doctor's office today, about my labs.  They said to eat healthier and get more exercise, and they'll check me up again in July.

Speaking bicycling, Mr. Steve the M. presented me with a 2014 bicycling calendar which is quite attractive and inspiring. Perhaps I shall ride a bike to work tomorrow.

I placed a new geocache yesterday, in an old spot, and someone found it today, so he gets the dollar I put in there for the FTF (First To Find) reward. The dollar bill itself was a FTF reward I got, so I'm just passing it along. So far he is the only finder.

I must admit that I am rather dreading the next couple of weeks, but it is what it is, and I shall weather through it.

Sunday In The Hills

I went up Spring Canyon in Mission Trails Regional Park to get a cache, then I crossed over (staying on approved trails!) the ridge to Oak Canyon for another cache, then back to the vehicle.

I smelled a lot of smoke when I started out, but after a mile or so it went away.  Nothing on the news, of course!

I haven't a clue what this represents, but it is in Spring Canyon.

Resting a spell in Oak Canyon, I am looking south-ish towards the 52 bridge. 

On the way back to the truck I passed a trio of Moutain Rescue Team members using a radio direction finder to look for a downed aircraft. I forgot to ask if they were practicing or if it was the real thing.  Related to the brush fire smoke?  I say again, nothing on the news.

I walked 6.26 miles today, some of that up some very steep hills, I tells yah!  My feet are tired, my back is bowed.

St. Valentine's Day 2014

After not passing out during blood labs this morning I decided to go geocaching because, what the heck else do I got to do, eh?  Clean the house?  Organize the mounds of paper laying about? That stuff is for the proles!

Today I decided to head out to the Los Coches Wallmart area and get all them caches up on the hill, at the least the ones that survived the burn of 2013(August).

I parked right next to a cache location, but a taxi came up and parked nearby, so I left it.

I was passing near cache #2 but saw a couple of guys sharing a smoke and decided to leave that one, too.  One of the fellows called out, "Are you doing that geocaching thing?"  Well, caught, I talked to him for a while, found the cache, and we both signed the log.  May have another convert!

I headed up the dirt road and found a several caches, without much drama.  Took these pictures at one point, showing the Walmart below and El Cajon Mt. (El Cap) in the distance.

Speaking of pictures, when I make the pictures x-tra large, like these, it is the THUMBNAIL that is getting enlarged. That is why the quality is not-so-much.  You gotta click on the image to load the full-size original! 

 This is totally the fault of people live in uncivilized places and only have dial-up internet.

This one seems to be of me smiling, or something like.  I'm putting it on the Face Book!

At the peak I took out my iPhone and found I had four calls and two garbled messages from Mrs. P.  I called her back, we decided the garbled messages were butt-dials.  She invited me for tacos, as she was cooking the hamburger right then, but I told her I was kinda unavailable, being on top of a large hill, to wit:

The View  From The Spot

So there you got El Cajon Mt. (El Cap).  At last I left and went back up the trail to another cache, where I discovered I had left the belt pouch for the iPhone back and the previous cache, which was here. So there.

It was pretty much down hill after this, except for one steep uphill, and a cache that someone decided to put in the bottom of a canyon when they COULD have put it a hundred feet closer to the road and avoided the threat of barbed wire, giant boulders, and bees.  But they didn't.

Eventually I got back to the truck, where I was able to grab that first cache.  Signed the log, then had to outwait multitudes of muggles before I could replace it.  Such is the life.

I walked 4.55 miles today. I found thirteen caches, and had one DNF (Did Not Find). My average per day for this year (2014) is 2.2222, with a total of 100 caches found this year.

I have two more mandatory caching days in February, the 23rd and the 27th.

I sure I didn't get any of the poison oak that was so prevalent at the DNF cache.  That WOULD be adding injury to insult!

Tuesday On The Town

I walked down to the store to check on a geocache someone couldn't find.  The Harbour Patrol vehicles seem to be suffering some maintenance issues.

At the cache I spotted the camo but I didn't pull it out because of all the people walking around.  So I un-suspiciously took a picture of bushes...

Can you see it in there?

I also checked on another one. It was it its place, too.

I watered the yard when I got home, and I am making spaghetti, for the very first time, for dinner. Canned sauce, though!

I was saddened to hear a few minutes ago of the passing of Shirley Temple. I loved her movies, and I even vaguely remember watching, in my youth, the television show she hosted.

I have to go in on Friday for another blood test.  Something about my blood sugar being a bit high.  Oh, come on, it's not THAT high!

Sunday Morning Geocaching

I woke up at 5:30 AM, without even using the alarum clock!  I hurried through breakfast (bran flakes) and drove down to the bay. In the dark!  I got there before nearly anyone else.  Only a few walkers and the garbage men were out.

I found the two caches I couldn't get last week, because of all the people walking around, and the venders stationed RIGHT THERE!  One of those caches had secret coordinates to another cache, and of course I forgot to write them down.  So I shall have to go back. Some day.

Next I went over to Spanish Landing for a couple of caches. One cache was in honor of the Cancer Survivors Park.

This bird appears to only have one leg.

NOTE ON FILE SIZES:  I went crazy, most of these images are pretty big.

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Here, you see the poor birdy better.

Then I drove over to the U.S.S. Recruit and parked there.  I walked up the street and got a couple of more caches.

Got back to the truck and decided, what the hey, let's go to Pt. Loma!  There are a BUNCH of caches there!

I parked in a couple of spots and walked to the nearby caches.  This is one place I parked.  Lots of antennas!  I LIKE antennas!

The cemetery is being renovated in spots.  It was interesting to see how the headstones are placed.

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They sure do a good job of lining them up!

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I walked about 2.5 miles to 8 caches.  I stopped by Pete's resting spot, which has a beautiful view, but sadly is also overlooking the Pt. Loma Sewage Plant. So it does not smell so good here.

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Pete was a great guy.  I am only beginning to know how much my mother must miss him.

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I went up the fenceline a bit so you could see the Coronado Islands (in Mexico) a little better.

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This last picture I took over on the east side of the cemetery.  I was laying down and looking up. I just think it is very "artistic".

I found 20 caches today, with only 1 DNF (Did Not Find).  I guess I must have walked three or four miles, all told.  My cache finding average for this year, so far (of course!) is 2.15 caches per day.  In 2010 my average for the entire year was 1.926 caches found per day.

Friday Mish-Mash

FIRSTLY, a picture of the Operating Postion quite a few years ago. The equipment consists of:

Hammarlund HQ-170 ham band receiver
Viking Ranger II AM/CW transmitter
Radio Shack DX-440 shortwave receiver.
Regency scanner
Olson SWR meter
Heathkit antenna switch
MFJ antenna random-wire antenna tuner

Between the Hammarlund and the Viking are some radio crystals. I do not remember why they are there. Maybe left over from the Globe Scout, which may even be sitting left of the Hammarlund, or maybe for a frequency marker I had. Surely I did not take this picture with the Nikon!

SECONDLY, I just discovered a few minutes ago that Jane Krakowski was in National Lampoon's Vacation!

THIRDLY, I found out that the reason I don't get voice messages is that hadn't turned that feature on.

FOURTHLY, I tripped across the information (newspaper articles) on the web, newly-indexed (I guess), that affirms the story that a fellow I knew in the service told me about how he ended up there. Woah!

And FIFTHLY, every sunflower seedling I planted outside has been et, by snails, I assume, except two. What a world.

February Fifth

For future reference, today, February 5th, is my Reddit Cake Day.

I'm not seeing any cake here, people!

And my karma is darn low, too...

Damp Feet

I needed a cache for today, I was up early, and there was a new one sort of on the way to work.  A perfect storm...

I headed to the spot, figured out how to access the area, and headed into the brush.  I wasn't having much luck at first, but I persisted.  I saw something odd in the dawnserly light, and used my LED headlamp to light it up.  It was the cache!  Signed the log and made my way back to the truck.  This time I used a path that didn't require me to get my shoes muddy.

A I wasn't even late for work!

My catsup spill joke-thingie is looking very sad and un-ketchup-like.  Here is one final photo before I toss it in the trash.

It's just as well, I can't even think of anyone to play it on.

After a meeting at the IMC in the afternoon I went caching in Ruffin Canyon.  The iPhone took me DIRECTLY TO a cache I had looked for, unsuccessfully, before.  I HAD looked here before, but THIS time I perceived its true form.

I headed down the canyon, here is the view looking south towards Mission Valley.

Hitting the north end of the canyon, a ham radio antenna looms above.

I got six caches today, so it was a good day of geocaching.  The iPhone, while not always as right-on that first Ruffin Canyon cache, did a good job for me.  And it took most of today's pictures, too!