Friday 19

Friday 19- I did my stretches.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 48 and 74 degrees, NW winds at 6 to 13MPH, humidity around 15 percent, hazy skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 73. Calm wind becoming east around 6 mph. Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 45. East wind around 5 mph becoming calm.”
Due to conflicting statements from the insurance company about the salvage of the Gross Polluter, I just found out a few days ago that I was supposed to present my license plates and registration to the DMV ten days after the settlement. Well it’s been a lot more than ten days, so I went down to the DMV today and found out that it is closed on Fridays, dang! I tried dropping them off at the CHP office but they didn’t want them, oh well I’ll try again at the DMV next week.
I stopped off at a used car lot to see what they had to offer. They had one car that I was interested in but it was sold as-is and I’d have to get it smogged. I called and left a message for Dana and see what he has to say about the car.
I was driving Stoney’s car which has bags of his clothes that Denny wants donated. So I stopped off at the Hospice in Joshua Tree, unloaded the bags, and got a Charitable Contribution Disclosure Form so Denny or whoever can declare it on their taxes. I then traveled to WalMart and then to Staters Bros to get some needed supplies.
The car needed gas so I put $25 into the tank and then went to the library across the street where I found a used book I might enjoy reading.
I dropped the car back off at Stoney’s when Dana returned my call and would meet me back at my house after a spell. I got home and had just put my groceries away when Dana drove up. First thing he told me about the car that I was interested in was it was a good model, but that it was up to the seller to get the car smogged. He took a look at the headlights on the Gross Polluter and told me what I needed to do and said he’d help. He also smoothed my anxiety about the DMV and me being late on turning in my plates. He told me to go down to the DMV with what I got and get a thirty day permit so I’ll have time to get the Gross Polluter fixed and just forget about that other car.
I went for my evening walk. Then I practiced my guitar and then downloaded some lectures: MCB 110 General Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Astro C10 / LS C70U Introduction to General Astronomy. I listened to DNA Structure, and Variation in DNA Structure and Recognition.
I read “Alien” and finished it well into the night.
I did my stretches, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.

Saturday 20

Saturday 20- I did my stretches and ran two miles.
Today’s Weather was: Temps of around 45 and 72 degrees, light breeze, humidity around 14 percent, hazy skies.
According to the National Weather Service: “Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 74. West wind at 8 mph becoming east. Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 49. South wind around 8 mph becoming west northwest.”
I called Family and Friends to yak at them for a spell.
I did some yard work cutting the dead fronds from the two palm trees. The palms are doing very well. I can believe that when I got them about six years ago I could hold them in the palm of my hands they were so small. Now they tower over me! My cacti have little buds all over them which will be blooming sometime next month. They have beautiful red flowers that attract many buzzy flying critters.
While I was doing the yard work I was also downloading some new astronomy lectures that I later put on my iPod. I went on my evening walk listening to the first one in the series by Professor Alex Filippenko called: A Grand Tour of the Cosmos. Only the last 17 minutes contained any lecture; the first part was spent discussing class policy.
Ron Dehart called and we yapped for over an hour mostly on the scientific method- if you can believe that.
I watched “Cloverfield” (2008). It’s about a monster that attacks New York City. This is the third time I seen it; it really is that good. The first time was at the theater with Ron. The way they filmed it, as if someone was filming a home movie with a small video cam, made it jerky and Ron got motion sickness. But watching it on a small screen is a lot better and Ron agrees. The film is one of the better Sci-Fi flicks I’ve seen. The special effects are fantastic and I always wonder how they did it to make it seem so real. On the DVD there is a link I could click on to find out, but that would spoil the illusion for me; some things are better left alone.
I did my stretches and went for a night run, practiced my guitar, wrote to my journal, posted it to the web, and called it a night.