The forecast for the SoCal region is pretty dire, a lot of rain is expected. For a safe haven I'm at Slab City, at the LOWs compound until there's an all-clear early next week. Chances are the Salton Sea area won't have much activity, the San Bernadinos stopping the weather. But, I can use the time here to get some wire from Solar Mike and hook up my inverter a little better than I have it now. If the storm does hit here, the road out will be...
I managed to get a Burning Man ticket today (a bit of a hassle, and quite pricey) so my tasks here at Q are complete. I'm off to Slab City. A bit of weather is coming in tomorrow, and I want to be parked well before it comes in. I might have to sit it out for a couple of days before doing some birding. My name on the waiting list at Chimacum for a lot has risen up to number 10, a good year before I expected it. So, I'd like to get there sooner...
Why is it that every winter the AZ legislature passes some goofy law that can't work or is destined to be declared unconstitutional? This time we might see a clue on why they so frequently make idiots of themselves: some of the lawmakers said they didn't know what they were voting for. In Arizona, that lets them off the hook. Perfectly normal, completely understandable. I thought the laugher for the year would be Sheriff Joe Arpaio's proposed...
The vendors were busy packing up today, most leases ending at the end of the month. I made a pass around for the remainder tables, but if I didn't want it at deep discount a month ago, why would I want it want it now? Quartzsite junk is junk no matter how much you pay. Got a haircut today, and the barber and I chatted about what a perfect season it's been: no wind, no rain, constant temperatures. Q did well this year. I need good internet...
Things are much quieter here now, and I like it. There are still the basic sellers around, but the transients have pretty much left. The best deal is that traffic is down to nothing. Several weeks ago I spotted a refurbished Xantrax inverter at Discount Solar which looked like it would fit the bill for what I was looking for. I had a small, cheap inverter for running the TV now and then, but the remote on/off circuit failed a year or so ago. Not...
The Liquor Control Board is reviewing applications for grower, producer, and retail licenses in Washington right now. Their rules set limits on the total amount of the grow in the state. Ostensibly, that guess matches the retail consumption so that there wouldn't be any exports from the state. But no one knows what the demand will be, hence what the supply should be, nor the costs and prices involved. So, without any hard data the LCB found it...
The BLM gave me an exit date in Yuma, but I was tired of the train and plane noise anyway. I plan on several days of the more quiet environment here, the Hi Jolly area. I'm looking for a good deal on an inverter and figure this might be a good time to look for used at the solar shops here. The weather has been downright boring. Certainly not unpleasant, just the same thing everyday. A good breeze is forecast for tonight, though I haven't seen it...
I hold a radio amateur's license, ham for short. Yuma has a Ham Festival every year, a gathering of hams at the fairgrounds. Every two or three years I go to see if they have discovered what relevance they have nowadays. The crowd gets smaller and older every time I show up. No, I saw no relevance. Forty years ago they mattered a bit. Funny observation. It's traditional that during a hamfest, which usually occurred in out-of-the-way places, a...
There. Now the banks can provide services to legal cannabis businesses. The justifications for twisting the laws a bit include public safety because of the cash involved, and the fear of money laundering by criminal elements, two things that have been around ever since prohibition. Whatever, life is easier for legit business people now. The real reason was that without banks, taxing authorities had no way to audit the businesses for...
The full moon rising on the east, an acceptable desert sunset to the west, warm temperatures, no wind. Very nice. Had my teeth cleaned in Algodones this morning. Got there early so no waiting, and no problems found. I was pleased they had remodeled their office. Correction, their patient rooms. The medicos in Algodones don't put a lot of money into waiting rooms, frontal appearances, potted plants and the like, focusing on the things that...
I was impressed by Nagin after Katrina, he showed a monstrous amount of calmness and dedication during impossible times. Especially compared to the federal "leadership" then. Oh sure, I knew well the history of corruption and shenanigans completely baked into New Orleans politics, but there are times when flexibility is called for. People dieing in the stadium, over mythical weapons in Iraq, for instance. I gave him a pass given the situation....
My friend Gracie found me the other day after she had been parked just a few rigs away from me. She rounded up some more of her friends from the place and we had a nice happy hour last evening. Unfortunately some pulled out today; Gracie heading into town for hookups before record-setting warm temperatures set in this weekend. It might get into the nineties which is fine by me. Remember, the desert cools off at night a lot no matter how warm the...