Thursday, June 25, 2009 -
Checking the high temperature for yesterday was a surprise, it registered 84.4 degrees, but of course with the breeze it didn’t feel anywhere near that warm. The low temperature of 28 degrees was for Tuesday morning, as I hadn’t cleared the weather station.
Today looks like another beautiful day in paradise, but the barometer is indicating a drop in the pressure, which indicates the possibility of a storm, and NWS is predicting one for today, so we shall see.
Hughes Net has done it again as they slowed me down early yesterday evening, saying I had gone over my limit. I will be making a quick trip into town today, so I’ll call them and see what excuses they offer me.
Zack and I made our trip to town, and the Jeep’s remote outside temperature probe was registering 90 degrees outside. It was confirmed by two bank temperature readings, so it was hot enough to turn on the air conditioner, especial for Zack, as he was now panting heavily. We ran our errands, filled the Jeep and four gas cans with gasoline and then headed back home. The Blue Angels were practicing overhead for this weekends air show, and they were even using their smoke trails, which was impressive against the dark thunderclouds to the south.
We got up to the Divide and I drove by to see if a range rider was on site, so I could introduce myself, but the camp was empty. I haven’t seen any cattle yet, but all the gates have been closed and Guy told me he had seen several trucks moving cattle up the mountain. I guess they are dropping off the herd that usually grazes the area near the ski mountain, which never make it to my area.
Before heading down the gulch from the Divide, I found a good strong cell phone signal and called Hughes. After jumping through all of their hoops, I discovered that the upgrade wasn’t made, but no one seemed to know why. I had to talk to tech services to have the FAP restriction removed and then talk to billing, as they can’t communicate with each other, to have the upgrade made. They requested that I not go online for a couple of hours, which would give tech services a chance to remove the restriction and then they could do whatever is necessary to make the upgrade. When it all works well, the world is in balance, when it doesn’t, things can spin out of control. I then headed for the cabin.
I need to remember to recheck my information and see which ranges are going to be left empty this summer, just so I’ll know. I believe American Gulch isn’t rested until next summer, so I expect cows in my area by August. I purchased the treated lumber to make my cattle guard, and stopped to measure the one at the border of the BLM and National Forest Service. I will make two up and install them in the road, one at both sides of the property lines, to keep the cattle from following the road onto my property. Cattle, like water and electricity, will take the path of least resistant to their destination, so they use the road.
If I have enough time, I will make and put up Jackleg fence to protect the property and keep the cattle out. If time is tight, I could always temporarily string some of the barbed wire to prevent them from getting to the cabin, but I’d prefer not to create double work of putting it up and then removing it later.
Zack and I played and then I fed him and Zoey, showered, cleaned my incision, which is a little infected, so I used hydrogen peroxide to clean it, and then re-bandaged it. Dinner was a nice thick steak with a green salad, some Texas toast, and a few prawns. Some relaxation and television for the evening and I went to bed at 11 O’clock.