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Friday, October 07, 2005

"All words are pegs to hang ideas on."
--Henry Ward Beecher


My prayers go out to those affected by hurricane Katrina, and other calamities...

Been a loooong time since I posted... my apologies (as if!!!)... but I have been keeping up my writing in the NoteTab Lite 4.95 proggy file that contains my BLOG template and notes.
So, here we go:

Weather: The evening of July 20th had a wonderful full Moon out illuminating a dapple-clouded night sky.... it had been about 100° Fahrenheit, again, during the day. Thursday was overcast and cooler with a noted increase in humidity... Friday about 90°. Back to/near 100°'s Saturday through Wednesday (baby's-breath breezes Tuesday).

The ozone had also been rather high... registering in the moderately high area of the scale. The ozone creeps up the hills from Sacramento like so much ooze (oozone???) as the heat intensifies, making it best to stay indoors in the afternoons for us sensitive air-breathing types.

Overcast sky to start Thursday the 28th... still heated up to/near 100°. Odd... A brief sprinkle on Sunday the 31st... still very warm during the day.

August 9th... it's been in the 90°'s (Fahrenheit) to near 100°'s for quite a while... light breezes bringing acorns to fall. Some plums and many blackberries ripe to pick. The fig tree's fruit now visible... green.

The next few days the sweltering weather subsided... only 'eltering' (upper 80°'s to low 90°'s Fahrenheit (low 30°'s Centipede... er, Centigrade)).

Surprise overcast in the afternoon Monday the 14th... the clouds coming west from the Sierra's... with a bit of drizzle in the early evening hours.

Back to sunny and warm then hot through the end of August. Still warm to hot in early September... but the nights have been cooling noticeably these past few weeks... actually cold Monday morning September 5th.

September 9th through the 18th... moderate weather with light breeze... the Summer's heat retired for a bit... warming trend into the upper 80°'s possible the 19th, my daughter Chrissy's birthday (28)... with full moon for view.

A surprise thunder shower Tuesday the 27th of September that I missed while visiting in Modesto. Cooler and breezier days to start the month of October.

It has been an
emotional rollercoaster
of a time.

All about Peg:


Happy (belated) Birthday wishes for July 29, 2005 (I actually started this note gathering before her birthday, but blithely kept accruing).

Emu pix emailed to me from my sister Peggy
... from Peg !!!



August 30th... Figaro, my cat does not return home. She's pictured with me in the little animated .gif I put at the top of my BLOG. The instant I saw her as a fussing kitten, after finding her abandoned under our home, I fell in love with her. I adopted her myself and bottle fed her as her Momma was unknown and not around.

Figaro's temperament was quite unique. Try to give her affection and more often than not she would try (and usually succeeded) to scratch and bite... but be so loving when she initiated her need for affection. She would sleep on top of the covers of my bed between my legs (I sleep on my back with the sleep apnia mask on and rarely move). After we bathed she would rub our legs with her little body and bite and scratch more and more fervently as if intoxicated by the odor of our freshened skin.

I've put out flyers and contacted the animal shelter in Placerville and a local veterinary but have little hope of getting my kitty back. She's never stayed out overnight that I can recall in the 4+ years I was blessed with her... she had always returned to the comfort of my bed to sleep. I recalled a dream on awakening the 19th of September of Figaro returning dirty and dishevelled, but none the worse for wear... but no... Taffy-doodles and I patiently wait.

September 11... I found a dead black cat on our back lawn. We thought it was Gail's cat Missy. We should have known better... Missy would leave for days and days and not return until Gail would lament that she was gone for good. Gail wouldn't come out to see which kitty it was for identification, so to speak, so I buried the kitty, we both thinking that that was that... then Missy showed up the next day. Gail believes that the kitty we buried may have been a recent stray that was trying to integrate itself into the fold.

September 19... While rinsing out my Sunday's socks, I, bent over the sink, heard and felt the result of a very distinct pop in my back... pain ensuing.

Mom came 'down' to California in time for sister Debi's birthday. Two parties for Debi so we told her she racked up an extra year. My daughter Chrissy and the grandkids wanted to see their grandmother/great-grandmother so Gail and I also went for the day, and I stayed a few extra days to visit with Mom and my sisters.

All was warm and fuzzy, a wonderful visit, until Tuesday the 27th when my sister Debi and Mom and I were leaving the Modesto downtown area. After viewing my sister Peg's artwork at a gallery and picking up my return bus tickets, with Debi driving, an elderly driver (whom my sister believes was on her cell phone) ran a red light striking the driver side passenger tire... turning the car we were in 360°... almost overturning us and breaking the car's rear axle.

I'm sore in addition to my previous back pain, Debi's sorer, Mom's in a neck brace and a shoulder brace; the other driver was shaken but otherwise appeared unharmed, her car needing a bit re-Furbush-ing. Emergency personnel and the police and the tow truck and a taxi all doing their thing got us back to Debi's home within the hour after the accident.

I was able to walk a mile with only a little pain the 1st and 3rd of October... my soreness more inhibiting sleep than walking? Thank Heavenly Father we were all wearing seat and shoulder belts.

James Doohan, 'Scotty' on Star Trek, beamed up for the last time July the 20th.

Bob Denver, best known worldwide as Gilligan, has finally escaped the island named after him.

IBM helps Firefox with accessibility... and more from Google News: IBM +Firefox.


A little more tweaking of my BLOG template... the red colored font for my sidebar headings looked especially out of place... changed.

I tried a service on my BLOG, briefly, to see who links to this BLOG, from "who links to me" dot com. Unfortunately they contain links which I try to minimize (if not eliminate) due to possible ad/spyware generation. Though mostly innocuous just mentioning what they are might set Google 'Ads' to bring them up. Basically I wanted to see if anything untoward was linked to me... but nearly nil were... only a few inoffensive mentions. I found that by using one's url as a link in a message board may generate a linked reference from there to one's site... interesting...

Spent some time reading and studying other BLOGs. Wonderful medium for many talented artists and writers to create in. Unfortunately there are SPAM BLOGs (SPLOGs???) that are just ad ladened space. I don't mind a few ads here and there, I even have a small number, but an entire BLOG's content?... yuck!

Some BLOGs I've enjoyed:


The 122nd temple was dedicated recently by LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley in Newport Beach, California. The 121st LDS Temple was dedicated in Nigeria. Our Sacramento Temple has walls!!!... and is beginning to look like the artist's rendition shown on the webpage. (note: the Temple can not be viewed by webcam at night, PDT / PST)

Flickr... an online photo thingee I've seen a number of BLOGs using. I opened an account to check it out later.

Mom told me that my cousin, Jerry Harlan Harper, passed away (March 1, 1930 - April 8, 2005). I never got to know him but I dearly loved his mother, my Great-Aunt Ada Loussac, and his step-father Zack Loussac. Aunt Ada lived practically around the block from where I lived as a young boy in Seattle in the '50's to early 60's, my family and I on N.W. 107th Street. Jerry had gone on to his career by that time, I believe, and I do not recall seeing him at my Great-Aunt's home.

Judging by Jerry's accolades that I've viewed on the web, he was quite the accomplished actor. One bit of tid: he guest starred in a M*A*S*H television show episode (episode #14, Love Story", Jan. 7, 1973) I remember best for Radar's "Ahhhh, Bach!" quote... I'll have to watch for reruns to 'catch' Jerry playing a sergeant. More on Jerry... and still more on Jerry... and a Google search Jerry Harper" +Cyrano

Wild blackberries have come and gone. The French plums from my little tree didn't disappoint mid-August... golden heavenly sweet. The prune plums in mid-September were sparse... perhaps the deer eating what few there were. Another plum variety (more reddish in colour and an elongated oval in shape) ripening the first week of October was a pleasant delight, evidently the deer not caring for them. What few apples we had were disappointing... I await the figs to ripen.

Planted a tree :) ... a baby cedar tree that I had uprooted as a fingerling and potted... that subsequently outgrew the pot. The summer heat has wilted the poor thing... I pray it will survive.

From the eLink newsletter (#77):


Defragged the eMonster a couple of times... took hardly any time at all. Ran a Thorough System Scan and found no problems with the hard disk. My Spybot (anti-spyware) proggy has been buggy for some reason causing crashes when I try to update and otherwise... even after uninstalling and downloading a fresh .exe. There must be a conflict with Spybot and the other progs I'm running... I just can't seem to isolate the problem. I've uninstalled Spybot for now.


On a session of pitch, hit, and grunt with my 8-year old grandson, David... my 4-year old grand-daughter, Ashley joining us for a bit...

Sob! She throws like a girl!!! Both David and Ashley are playing soccer now... Gail sometimes driving them to practice... making her a soccer-GrandMom.

Call For Help is back on G4 (the old ZDTV/TechTV) at 8:00 a.m., PDT!!! Leo Laporte is back hosting from Canada. I can thank Leo (and his associates from the past) for most of the computer savvy that I have. To me it was a dark day when Paul Allen sold TechTv to be run by apparent gamer enthusiasts... not that I'm against gamers, per se; but the information disseminated to get PC slow pokies like me up to speed in an entertaining way was invaluable and enabling.


I've discovered Babylon in cyberspace. I know how to avoid the obvious nasties on the web but have found more in the guise of tech and other seemingly innocuous web forums. My sincere apology if one in the past had browsed over to the G4 Forums and was offended by the many trolls pervading that section of cyberspace... especially the Off Topic forum. On to brighter vistas... and a revisiting of old friends at the tech forum I've newly registered on and now have linked to on the sidebar.


Our Prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, has challenged the membership of the church to begin reading (or in many cases re-reading) "The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ" each day. I had already started my second read through when the challenge was issued, so I guess I had a head start and finished October the 2nd.

Our Monday get-together-group that had been reading from 'The New Testament' in "The Bible" (we finished Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John... and had started on The Acts) has switched to reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning.

Our Wednesday cottage meeting has us in the middle of the "True to the Faith" gospel reference book as we work our way through alphabetically.

I had also been attending a Sunday school class on teaching the gospel... that has elicited a stark awareness of my inadequacies. Much to learn... and a need to work out the thisses and thats of a psyche that needs further tuning. I'm still trepeditious, evidently a word I made up from the root trepidation, when it comes to being and participating in groups, let alone teach to one. Trust in Christ... let The Spirit do the teaching...


A more complete links page for Accessibility found while browsing the net. I offered my modest page for perusal to the web author... perhaps some of the links I came up with will get a better audience. I'll continue my modest page tweaking here and there and continue to master my web skills. I still have high hopes of my pages becoming "Bobby" approved in the future. Single web pages may be tested at WebXACT and multiple pages/sites may purchase a program from Watchfire.

And then... the rebuttal to "Bobby".

National Cristina Foundation (NCF) "provides computer technology and solutions to give people with disabilities, students at risk and economically disadvantaged persons the opportunity, through training, to lead more independent and productive lives."... found while browsing Kim Komando's website.


IBM has released freeware to help workers cope with disabilities that are age-related so that older workers may continue to stay productive in the workplace.


Only one thing to say about baseball... GooooooooooooooooooooYANKEES!!! Tied 1 game each in a best of 5 games with the Los Angeles? Angels in their first playoff round.


Bleeaaeack! I definitely need to clean this keyboard!!!


The van... twice yet again incidences of the gear shift linkage going out... 3-hours waiting for a tow truck one time, where on the arrival the tow truck driver re-connected the linkage himself in only a few minutes and we were on our way... yay! I had tried to wriggle under to see where and what needs be finagled to no avail.

This last time, John, a member of our church, was able to convey to me where and what was/is going on, after he reseated the offending beastie. He also managed to disconnect the automatic shoulder harness that had been binding and making a racket when the door was opened. He was amused at the butter knife my wife had jammed in the mechanism so it would 'shut up' when we closed the door. Brakes fixed by my Father-in-law early October the 3rd; a water leak possibly fixed with liquid sealant prior.

Front drivers side window shattered late afternoon October the 3rd somehow. The only thing we can figure is the lawn-tractor-mower that my Father-in-law was using in the vicinity may have kicked up a rock???. No one saw the event actually happen, and yes, still only PL/PD insurance... sigh! This in addition to the earlier damage to the passenger side door a few months ago (still not repaired) continues to give Gail considerable grief. Evenings and mornings there's quite a chill while driving!!! with a blustery brisk breeze bracing the bod as the season races towards winter.


My grandson David's 9th birthday the 3rd of October!!! Celebrated the 2nd with the usual large raucous party outdoors with cousins plethora bounding hither and thither. The piñata a gorged monster-truck ripe for batting. The weather was slightly overcast and breezy giving those wearing shorts the goosebumps, the sun peeking out from beneath the numerous clouds just before sunset. Good time had by all.


Gail and the in-laws drove the way to Lake Havasu, Arizona, for the first wedding of a nephew of Gail's which will be held at a chapel in Las Vegas. Gail will spend Thursday evening in Lake Havasu at Gail's sister's place, drive to "Sin City" for the wedding on Friday, and back? to Lake Havasu before returning home.

There was quite a snafu over getting their rent-a-car. Suffice it to say Enterprise Rent-A-Car of Placerville couldn't and wouldn't deliver, and Hertz Rent-A-Car delivered with flying colours... though we had to go to the Sacramento International airport to get what was required for a vehicle on very-very short notice. Enterprise blew it with a two week lead, AND a preliminary visit the day before.

I needed to drive our van back home after dropping Gail et al off at the rental center and had a panic attack while driving the freeway just the short distance before I could reach a backroad home. No problems on the backroads after that through Sacramento, Orangeville, Citrus Heights, Roseville, Folsom, Newcastle, Auburn, Cool, Greenwood, to Garden Valley. Perhaps the drive would have been more enjoyable had I gotten any sleep the night before? Nah!!! The ever-present breeze from the broken window kept me quite alert to the wonderful countryside which includes the canyon formed by the north fork of the American River.

My brother Robin sent me an email about a hypothetical interview called "The Interview with God". I'm not sure of any religious affiliation that he prescribes to other than he has Christian sensibilities. The presentation is sweet in its simplicity.

A verse from "The Book of Mormon" that I'm fond of reminds us why we exist in this mortal existence at all: "For behold, this is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for man to perform their labors."... Alma 34:32.

Chapter 34 in 'The Book of Alma' (one of many 'books' that comprises "The Book of Mormon") is a powerful testimony of Christ by a man named Amulek about 74 years before the birth of Christ.

I pray... that all will come to know God and our Savior; and be baptized by the proper authority of the priesthood of His restored Church... which will allow one to be able to "receive the Gift of The Holy Ghost"... whose 'still small voice' will enrich the quality of one's life unto eternity... in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Shake me!!!... USGS Earthquake Hazards Program... recent earthquake activity around the world.

* disclaimer: I enjoy learning about geology and have an interest in earthquakes and do not show them in order to, in any way, reflect biblical references. Wrock on!!!

BIG Earthquakes... from the Earthquake Notification E-mail service:

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake in the Nicobar Islands, India region has occurred at: 7.93N 92.15E Depth 10km Sun Jul 24 15:42:05 2005 UTC

Location with respect to nearby cities:

  • 135 km (85 miles) W of Misha, Nicobar Islands, India

  • 420 km (260 miles) S of Port Blair, Andaman Islands, India

  • 1110 km (690 miles) SW of Bangkok, Thailand

  • 2775 km (1720 miles) SE of New Delhi, Delhi, India


A magnitude 7.2 earthquake near the east coast of Honshu, Japan has occurred at:
38.27N 141.99E Depth 53km Tue Aug 16 02:46:30 2005 UTC

Location with respect to nearby cities:

  • 95 km (60 miles) E of Sendai, Honshu, Japan (pop 971,000)

  • 145 km (90 miles) ENE of Fukushima, Honshu, Japan (pop 285,000)

  • 165 km (100 miles) NE of Iwaki, Honshu, Japan

  • 350 km (220 miles) NE of Tokyo, Japan


A magnitude 7.7 (revised from an earlier report of 7.3) earthquake in the New Ireland region, P.N.G. has occurred at: 4.57S 153.40E Depth 96km Fri Sep 9 07:26:44 2005 UTC

Location with respect to nearby cities:

  • 40 km (25 miles) ESE of Taron, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea (pop N/A)

  • 140 km (85 miles) ESE of Rabaul, New Britain, Papua New Guinea (pop 17,000)

  • 870 km (540 miles) NE of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

  • 2535 km (1570 miles) N of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia


A magnitude 7.5 earthquake in northern Peru has occurred at: 5.66S 76.37W Depth 85km Mon Sep 26 01:55:34 2005 UTC

Location with respect to nearby cities:

  • 75 km (50 miles) NE of Moyobamba, Peru (pop 31,000)

  • 175 km (110 miles) ENE of Chachapoyas, Peru

  • 645 km (400 miles) SSE of Quito, Ecuador

  • 715 km (445 miles) N of Lima, Peru


A magnitude 6.5 earthquake in the New Britain region, Papua New Guinea has occurred at: 5.51S 151.83E Depth 35km Thu Sep 29 15:50:25 2005 UTC

Location with respect to nearby cities:

  • 150 km (90 miles) SSW of Rabaul, New Britain, Papua New Guinea (pop 17,000)

  • 175 km (110 miles) SW of Taron, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea

  • 670 km (415 miles) NE of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

  • 2430 km (1510 miles) N of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


My entries... poetry.com: " Poetry in Motion "
...& Haiku daily contests:




All Hallows Fest


The hot breasty lovers

with soft silky masks

laugh...

Awash in tears

and broken smiles


:Bobby Nichols
9-26-2005
~~~~~~~

AtAraxis


Be not thus deceived

Lest you disparage your worth

Rouse not the tiger


:Bobby Nichols
7-23-2005

~~~~~~~
The Sanctuary of Tears



There is

sanctuary

in tears...

though a

cold comfort

silent in

its solace

be found


:Bobby Nichols
10-4-2005



Tilting at Windmills



Truth is a

prisoner

oppressed in a

wilderness's garden

Tormented perforce

in paranoiac

association


:Bobby Nichols
7-23-2005
~~~~~~~


" Tilting at Giants "... I nearly entitled the entry " Plbbbt " after the once famous epitaph in the late '60's-early '70's television show "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in": "... and that's the truth... plbbbt" made by the character Edith Ann (played by Lily Tomlin)... with the 'plbbbt' being made with a slight pursing of the lips, and the tongue extended touching the upper lip, and blowing softly with puffed cheeks... allowing the lower lip to vibrate...

(cont.)... On a more somber note in search of a title I then decided to Google the first line of my poem-like entry "truth is a prisoner" (including the quotation marks) and received (3) hits:

  • A few poems by Khurram S. Sheikh.

  • About the band "Lemon Aid". (some of the lyrics are a bit gr@ph!c) so I will not link to them (plbbbt!)

  • A chapter/scene, Part 22 of 27, from "Mercury Falling"... either a gr@ph!c novel or play so I will not...
... which got me Know-where...

(cont.)... A Google search of "paranoiac association" led me to Salvadore Dali and his philosophy and art of the paranoiac... kind'a left field for me (yeah right!), but I was re-introduced to his art of the surrealistic bent, or melt, (see "The Persistence of Memory")... which got me Know-where...

(cont.)... There's got to be a title somewhere he congitated to himself... so I tried Googling: "dALI +TRUTH +GARDEN +tormented +prisoner +wilderness" (without the quotation marks, and YES I left the caps lock on for a bit)... 168 hits... which led me down the wilderness path into the garden of Cervantes' Don Quixote AND using a mini-memory warp to the imagery of the before-mentioned poetry by Khurram S. Sheikh, Dali's paranoiac associations, and of course, the Don Quixote reference we (me, er, I) get/got "Tilting at Windmills" ... piece of cake!!! though I'm not exactly 100% in love with the title.



" All Hallows Fest "... a bit of fluff that I, my Mom, and my sister Debi came up with in quick collaboration while I showed them the Poetry in Motion daily contest.



" AtAraxis " a Haiku: ... a photo of a white tiger in repose the subject of the photo for inspiration. Ataraxis defined.


" The Sanctuary of Tears "... Not that all tears may elicit the emotions set forth in my poem like offering... much more shall be written... but the 20 'tile' limit constrains one in this format.



Khudaa haafiz !!!


C'ya.  
// posted by bobbynichols @ 12:57 AM
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