madgravity | November 20 to 30 2012

Tuesday 20- it was a bright sunny day.

I did my stretches, core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and ran up the hill and back carrying 5lbs in each hand.

I went to Mike Villarreal’s services at the Joshua Tree Memorial Park. The services were first rate with many giving testimonials; Ruth Denison giving a special remembrance of Mike and Stevie when they first came to the desert. Ten afterwards we all went to his Mat’s house for a little get together.

Wednesday 21- another nice day.

I did my stretches and that’s about it; just too burned out from all the standing I did yesterday. I must have stood for almost six hours straight yesterday.

Thursday 22- Thanksgiving!

I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile and a half, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I was invited to three places to go at the last minute, so I went to all of them.

Ruth Denison called at 9am to invite me to Dhamma Dena for Thanksgiving. That was on the way to the two others so I went there first. I talked to Ruth about her computer and how she was doing with it. She said that she had a fall and was recovering and would be getting into using it again; I told her she could call me anytime she has trouble with it. There were all kinds of good vibes there and we did a little chant thanking for the food and friendships before they ate. I took a few pictures and then left to go to my next visit.

Then I went over to Mat and Manda’s and chatted with everyone and ate some potato chips with onion dip; I love onion dip! I was taking to Bill and found out Chief the bull that I used to take care of has recently been put down and butchered. I asked him if they were serving Chief for dinner and he said no. I couldn’t eat my old friend Chief; I’d feel like a cannibal or something. Dinner wouldn’t be for another hour and a half, so I moved on to my next and last visit.

I went to Piper Cort’s house. She had her daughter there who was out of town from Tahoe. Linda Sibio, Robert Fenger, and Piper’s boyfriend Joey were all seated around the table when I showed up. The food smelled so good I finally decided to eat, being I haven’t eaten all day except for the onion dip that I like so much. I brought my guitar and me, Joey, and Robert went into the back room and jammed for a spell; I really like jamming with these two!

Friday 23- great day outside!

I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile and a half, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I took care of a credit card problem that was supposed to give me a $20 discount; I guess you don’t get the discount unless you call to complain. I also transferred all my money in my eTrade account to my bank when I found they started charging me a $10 service fee.

I started doing my Christmas cards; I gotten nine done so far.

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

Linda called to ask if I wanted to help her with the leftovers from Dhamma Dena, I said sure and was over there in less than 10min.

I did my stretches, lifted dumbbells, and went for a night run.

I watched season 5 episode 5 of “Castle”.

Saturday 24- beautiful day!

I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile and a half, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

Potluck! Mary and Chris Koval came to bat with a Cowboy casserole, banana muffins, and dinner rolls. Marie Morrison pitched a goulash that was mighty scrumptious. Ruth Malton hit an ambrosia jello bowl delight that quickly disappeared over center field. Chris Jonas stepped to the plate with his fabulous macaroni salad. Dorothy Jacobsen amazed us with her windup pitch of Jimmy Dean sausage stuffing with homemade cranberry sauce. Dyan Carroll hit a home run with a vegetarian lasagna, barbecue chicken, and corn pudding casserole. I made it to first base with my chicken rice Mexican casserole.

I watched season 5 episode 6 of “Castle”.

Sunday 25- same as yesterday with temps into the high 70s.

My day to rest, but I did my stretches.

I worked all day in my yard cleaning and raking and then burning in a 55 gallon drum all the palm fronds that have been building up since I planted the two palms about ten years ago; the embers burned well into the next day!

Joined a Hangout on Google+ and yapped with some pretty nice folks for a few hours. One guy, Nicolas Charbonnier, I only knew from his video blogs on Tablets and other advanced tech I’ve been watching for years.

Monday 26- another perfect day!

I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile and a half, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I rode my scooter to the mailbox to send out some Christmas cards.

I went for an evening walk with my backpack.

I worked on my Lenovo Netbook s10-2 that I’m giving to my niece Crystal.

I helped Roger work on a washing machine. We figured out it wasn’t a bad solenoid but no pressure in the waterline.

I did my stretches and went for a night run.

I watched season 5 episode 7 of “Fringe”.

Tuesday 27- getting a little cooler into the high 60s.

I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile and a half, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag. Dang sprained my leg :(

I finished up a few things around the house.

I stayed up, with my friends from India helping me stay awake with their intelligent conversation, really late to watch the penumbral lunar eclipse and didn’t get to bed until around 6am. I didn’t see much except for a little darkening. Was it worth it? It sure was! The Moon was crisp and because of less light hitting it, I was able to really see many of its many craters and other formations I wouldn’t be able to see if it was fully brightened.

Wednesday 28- it’s getting a little cooler and breeze, but nothing bad like up in northern California.

I did my stretches, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag. I sprained my leg and will have to just do weights and stretches for a while.

Found out today when I saw some folks at my neighbor Ron’s place and went to investigate, that he had passed away in 2009. Well that explains why he hasn’t been around. We been trying to keep the gates closed I told his Mom, who came to take care of his affairs, but strippers come and break down the gate. I pointed out whom and where they live, but told her she have a hard time proving anything against them; so sad.

Thursday 29- about the same as yesterday but not as breezy.

I did my stretches, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I worked around the house some. I did a few more Christmas cards.

I went for a short evening walk; I’m still trying to stay off my sprained leg.

I read and caught up with my astronomy reading.

I watched season 5 episode 7 of “Castle”.

Friday 30- cold, cloudy and windy.

I went to the post office to mail off some Christmas cards and the laptop to my niece Crystal who needs it for college. I stopped off at WalMart and Staters Bros to get a few supplies and then headed home.

I’m still trying to stay off my sprained leg as much as possible.

Linda Harter called needing some assistance with her MacBook so I went over and updated her laptop to Snow Leopard 10.6…took a very longtime so we watched a video of hiking trails in Joshua Tree National Forest. I hope to do some hiking up there soon.

Good Bye to November- you've been a wild month to live through.