Monday, August 15, 2005

Rain + Dirt = MUD!

Ok, so about 2:00 o'clock this morning, I was awakened by a thunderous clap of thunder. (I suppose that's why it was thunderous... But I digress....) A few moments later, a small sprinklin' of rain was coming down. It was mildly refreshing.

It remained mildly refreshing for about two minutes. It remained mildly refreshing until it started pouring.

We lept up from our beds scrambling around the "camp site" that I call home putting the electronic stuff away, getting my sleeping bag out of the downpour, putting the dogs in the truck, things like that.

After we rescued all we thought needed rescuing, we huddled together in the tiny spot of space still left in the trailer I'm using for storage.

It poured for about 45 minutes or so making a nice mud patch that used to be a dirt patch. Lightening struck the high voltage power lines at least once. Or I think it did.

After the storm passed, we watched the lightening strikes in the valley. It was as pretty as I had hoped it would be.

In fact, the whole thunder storm experience would have been nice and purty if I'd had a house already...

Ah! Homesteading!!!

Friday, August 12, 2005

The Internet, The Library, and Dirt!!!!

HEY!

I found the Internet! It's over here in this library here in town! And all I have to do is sit down and log on! Yippee!!!!

(I know, I sound like I'm easily entertained. And I am.)

Got all moved out of the old house. Living on the patch of dirt where the new house will be going. Not a lot to do up there. I really, really mean it, too.

You know that "Slower pace" that a lot of people seem to want? Well, gosh darn it, I found it! For excitement yesterday, I did the following:

  • Watched a clock for about an hour and half
  • Watched the temperature drop 10 degrees in about an hour
  • Watched vultures fly on and off the high voltage power lines. All day.
  • Got really excited when we got water out of the well
  • Got even more excited when we got water pressure out of the pressure tank.
  • Watched meteors
  • Looked at the dirt
  • Got a sunburn through my shirt
  • Took a nap
  • Took a shower with newly pressurized COLD!! water.
  • Walked down the drive way and saw the, I guess, heat lightening over the Sierras
  • Well, you get the idea....

But, aside from being outside all the damn time, it's purty ok. It'll be more OK once the house gets up there. And then a flurry of activity starts....

Gotta git the skirting (cinder blocks) on. Gotta get some more gravel for the driveway. Gotta get PG & E to get things right.

But, it IS a fantastic thing I've done with buyin' the land.

Monday, August 08, 2005

This is it!

Well, two days to go and I'll be living without electricity, without indoor plumbing, without phone; hell, without a lot of things we currently take for granted. But, it should all go well.

Got most of the water and well stuff hooked up. Septic's all in and covered up. House won't be delivered for another week from today. So, we're gonna be roughin' it.

Got most of my crap moved out of the current house and into the itty bitty trailer. Movin' the pond tomorrow. (Whatta mess that's gonna be!)

All in all, it's been a fairly easy move...

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

The Space Shuttle....

It's time for a new reusable space craft!

When will NASA realize that the current fleet of shuttles (what, two of them?) are more than 20 years old and that it's time to scrap them and come up with something better? Do the remaining shuttles need to explode before anything gets really done on a new craft? To keep sending up people in nearly antique vehicles is insanity.

Ground the friggin' shuttles and come up with something better! Stop "repairing" them!

I'm basically against wasting money on the space program. Yeah, it's neat and facinating and I'm interested in it and all. We're finding out some neat things. But what real difference have those neat things really made? Haven't we really only learned the same thing we learned by climbing Mt. Everest--that it's cold up there? However, as I said, it is interesting and I'm curious about things, too. But can't that money be better spent on other things?

Regardless, if NASA is going to continue with the space program a better reusable space craft should be found and built; and, frankly, it shouldn't be built by the lowest bidder, either. That's kinda how we got in the mess we're in today...