Sunday, June 28, 2009 -
The weather is a bit calmer this morning but before I could enjoy having the sliding doors open, the wind built to around 7 mph, gusting to 10, so I closed all but one door so Zack and Zoey could come and go without me having to get up and let them in and out. Zack likes to go out and lay on the front porch, soaking up the sunshine, and then comes in and goes to my bed for a short nap. He repeats this several times, so having the door open keeps me from jumping up all the time.
For those that may be new to reading my blog, I have one of the screens on my sliding door that allows you to pass through without having to open and close it. The flap has magnets that allow it to close and stay shut until someone passes through it. It makes it nice for the animals, but I do worry about them bringing in a mouse or gopher, or the chipmunks that seem to find their way through the crack and come visit me.
I have spent the early afternoon doing research, paying bills, and picking up the cabin in preparation for a good cleaning. My friends, Joe and Michele are going to come up for 4th of July weekend and spend it with me. They are bringing all the food for a nice steak BBQ, along with snacks and chip & dip for our usual board game time. We usually play Yahtzee and Monopoly, and some times other games that I keep for when I have company. So, I’ll be doing some cleaning to bring the cabin up to my standard for guests, as well as mowing the front forty and working on the road.
I spent the remainder of the afternoon researching cameras and cleaning the cabin. I managed to pick up the sunroom and kitchen, and then scrub the kitchen clean. It is now 9 O’clock and I have gone too long without food, so dinner is my focus at the moment. After dinner, I shall shower and then relax in front of the television until bedtime.

Monday, June 29, 2009 -
Although my barometer is indicating rain with a falling pressure, it is 76.8 degrees in the sunshine. There are only a few small wispy clouds in the sky and the sun is shining brightly. Last night, or I should say this mornings, low temperature was 31.6 at 5 AM, and the high yesterday was 84.3 at 4:44 PM. The wind reached a maximum of 25 mph at around 3 PM, and didn’t quit blowing all day long. The air is still, as of 10 this morning, but if a storm is moving in it will get windy again.
I am still having trouble finding the correct settings for the inverter to correctly charge the new batteries. The AGM type batteries require different voltage and amperage inputs so they don’t charge too fast and become over heated. Even though I have been lowering those settings, the generator bogs down and the inverter registers that the speed is too low, so kicks it out of the equation. The float level on these batteries should be 26.8 volts, but I can’t charge them beyond 24.6, which means that they are undercharged and only last a couple of days before having to recharge them again.
I have done research and found the charging information for these batteries at the manufactures web site, so I will study them and see if there is something more I can do to achieve the proper settings.
I changed into my grubby work clothes and went out to mow the front 40. It took about an hour and half to mow all of it, which includes stopping to move objects that were in the way, and fill the gas tank twice. Surprising to me that what little energy all of that took, it tired me out. I played with Zack and then quit for the day. A shower helped rejuvenate me, and I played one last time with Zack before feeding him.
I crashed in my recliner with a drink and read the information about the batteries and inverter one more time. It was 10 PM before I fixed and ate my dinner, but it doesn’t get dark until almost 10 PM, so it is hard to keep track of time. I watched a movie on television and went to bed at midnight.

Friday, June 26, 2009 -
It is another clear, sunny, warm morning, with a light breeze. It was too cool to open up yet, but not cool enough that I feel like I need a fire.
I am not sure if it was the stress of dealing with Hughes to ensure my internet connection, or something else, but after having gone to bed earlier than I normal do, I slept until 10:20 this morning. At least I am well rested, but still had to focus to make my coffee and feed my chipmunk and wild bird friends.
I went online to retrieve my emails, as I was expecting an email from my friend Joe, as I had invited him to come spend the weekend at the cabin while Michele is in Washington for a couple of days. This was the first time I had signed on since the upgrade and needed to re-register my modem before I could get online. It took way too much time to re-register and it knocked me off twice before I could finish. At the end of the process, it asked me for a PIN and I used what I use to sign into the Hughes Net, but it wouldn’t accept it, so I had to drive to the Divide and call support to find out that my PIN was just my ending phone number. Now how was I supposed to know that? I finally got all of it done and was able to collect my mail and read some things on the internet, when all of a sudden; my modem went to “NOT REGISTERED.”
I had to go through the entire process of re-registering again, with the exception of having to drive to the Divide and call Hughes. It worked and I was able to get back online and finish going through all 47 emails and respond to the ones that needed it. By the time I finished, it was late afternoon, and although I had planned on mowing the front 40, I decided to wait until tomorrow, or the next day, as I just don’t have the drive to go out and work.
Doing research, without being slowed down by Hughes, and playing with Zack, I managed to get almost all of the things I wanted to do, done. It is now 8 O’clock, I have played and fed Zack, and Zoey, finished and posted yesterday’s update, and now finished this update for sending. I will have a nice shower and then broil a Cornish game hen for dinner, before putting my computer to sleep and relaxing for the remainder of the evening.

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.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 -
It is a bright sunny morning and the air is still. After taking care of my morning routine, I stepped into the sun room, set my coffee down and prepare to put out the treats for my chipmunk friends. I glance at the outside temperature, having already concluded that I don’t need a fire, and am surprised that with the weather station now in the sun, it is reading 74 degrees. I am delighted and hope to get some outside work done today.
I slept well enough; only waking when I would accidentally hit my wrapped wound, which only happened a couple of times during the night. The gauze wrap has loosened and is now in the crook of my arm, leaving the wound unprotected. I need to remember to tape one end to my arm so that won’t happen. I analyze the open wound and from experience, I know that it is too late to re-stitch it, so the course of action is to keep it clean and covered until it scabs over.
The doctor and I discussed, in some detail, what I could do to deal with a wound like this if I can’t get care. Because it is a fairly large opening, super glue shouldn’t be used as it might trap harmful bacteria inside and cause it to get infected. Using a butterfly Band-Aid and keeping it clean and covered was her preference. I said, “What? I can’t just use some thread and sew it up.” She looked at me as if I was . . . well, you know. I told her of other bad cuts I’ve had and just butterfly and nursed back to health, and she agreed that it would be the best thing to do. The only reason stitches are preferred is to keep the wound closed and not cause a large scar. At this point in my life, I don’t think one more scar on my arm is any big deal, so I’ll just nurse it along.
It doesn’t hurt at all, but I flinch every time I forget about it and quickly reach for something. I can feel the skin being pulled and separating a little more. The Band-Aid I used for the butterfly has a material base and stretches more than I like, but it is the best I have. It dawned on me that the doctor erred in her approach to making the incision the way she did. She cut across the grain of my arm, instead of with the grain. Think about it, if she had made the almond shape cut so that the ends were up and down my arm, instead of side to side, less stress would have been applied to the area, thereby allowing it to heal without stress. I am almost positive that it wouldn’t have pulled open if the incision had been a180 degrees from the way it is. It just makes sense to me, but then who am I, it is just my body she was cutting on.
I started to do some work outside, but was reminded of the injury every time I needed to reach or pick something up, so I stopped and spent most of the afternoon doing research on the computer and writing. I haven’t even cleaned the cabin or put things from the motor home away yet, but there is always tomorrow and I am pretty sure it will all be there when I get around to it. I managed to play with Zack, using the same throwing techniques I used when I had my elbow problems. I use a twist of my body and wrist action to send the disc flying almost as far as doing it the regular way. It doesn’t make me extend my arm and stretch the injured area.
Well, it is 5 O’clock and Hughes hasn’t slowed me down yet, so maybe the email that I was able to finally send yesterday got through to them and they’ve done something about it. I am going to play with Zack again and then feed him, hoping he will be content with three play periods today and let me rest in peace. I will then shower, fix my dinner, and relax in my easy chair for the remainder of my awake hours.

The pictures are of 1) the wildflowers on the Divide that caused me to pull my wound open, 2) My American Gulch as I was driving home yesterday 3 ) Evening Grosbeaks at feeder.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 -
Although it is a bit breezy this morning, the sky is completely clear for the first time in a week or more, the sun is brightly warming the ground, Zack went out to lay on the front porch to try and soak up that warmth.
NWS is predicting partly cloudy and then more thunderstorms moving in by Thursday and continuing through Friday morning. I was hoping for a couple of days of sun so the yard would be dry enough to mow. It is getting long in the tooth and needs a good cutting. Maybe the wind and sun together will dry it out enough that I can cut it tomorrow.
With all the dead trees in the forest now, we can use the rain and moisture to help keep the fire danger down. When it heats up later this summer, I expect we will see some large forest fires over the entire area of bark beetle kill.
As soon as I finish my coffee and have a light breakfast, and then Zack and I will head into town to my doctor appointments, and run a few errands.
By 6 PM, we arrived home and unloaded the items from town. The trip to town went according to plans, as I collected my mail, made my chiropractor appointment, went to Safeway for some grocery items, stopped at Murrdoch’s for more bird seed and couple of additional salt licks, and then stopped at my doctor’s office for a blood draw and to have the stitches removed.
We headed for home, but made one last stop to pull a prank on my friend Michele. She had been boasting about how her strawberry plants already had tons of little berries and she couldn’t wait for them to mature. I bought some strawberries at Safeway and planned to put them in her plant bed to make it appear they had magically grown to maturity over night.
Her daughter, Heather, was home, so I conspirer with her to do the deed. She told me that Michele wouldn’t be home until tomorrow night, so she’d put them in the refrigerator and position them tomorrow night before her mom got home. She said she had thought of doing the same thing with the tomato plants, and I told her she should.
We left and headed to Marysville. There is no more road control, at least until they need to chip and seal the pavement the second week in July. I decided to take the long way up to the Divide, as I was pretty sure the wild flowers would be impressive, and I was right. I reached into the backseat to retrieve my camera, and my incision opened up like a defective Ziploc sandwich bag. It didn’t hurt, and still doesn’t, but it feels weird and poured plasma, or what ever that non-blood fluid is, down my arm.
I drove home, cut a butterfly bandage, applied it to the opening, and wrapped it tightly with gauze. I still had to unload the car and then Zack expected my to throw him the disc, injury or not. I made the best of it and managed to throw the disc several times without pulling on my incision. When he was satisfied enough to stop, I fed him and he went to take a nap.
I have been watching the deer at the salt licks and keeping Zack from going outside to investigate them. Zoey is now outside watching the deer. They are cautious and keep their distance, but return to the lick to enjoy the salt and minerals.
It is now after 8 O’clock and I need to shower, keeping my incision dry, and then have some dinner before relaxing in front of the television.

Saturday, June 27, 2009 -
The weather this morning is a lot like yesterdays, except . . . by 11 AM, the wind built to 20 mph with higher gusts and kept on blowing.
Using the UPS tracking web site, I discovered an order I had placed had been delivered, so I’ll run to town and pick it up. The Air Show is also in town, so I’ll get a chance to watch the Blue Angels do their routine.
After my morning coffee and some brunch, Zack and I played and then drove into town to pick up my order and watch the air show. It is being held at the airport, which is at the exit I take to pick up my mail. I also need to pick up some more water filters for my system. I noticed that the water smelled dusty and that is usually because the filters can’t filter out all the slit. I always filter my drinking, coffee, and ice cube water through my Brita water filter, so I have clear clean water, but brushing my teeth and showering, the water has just gone through the ultra violet filter, killing 99.99% all bacteria, after having passed through the silt and carbon filters.
It is a beautiful, clear, warm day in town and as I approached my exit, I could see some activity over the airport and noticed the large amount of traffic. I had checked online to see what the schedule of events were, and the Blue Angels were scheduled to perform at 2 and 4 PM, and it was now 1:30, so I had time to pick up my mail, the filters, and still get to the airport to watch the show.
I was going to pay the $5.00 parking fee, which supports the event, with entrance to the show being free, but there were no signs pointing to the location. There is the old air terminal, where the college has an aeronautics program and the reserves have some aircraft, and then there is the public terminal for commercial aircraft, and at the far end is the UPS cargo and Forest Service aircraft. After I crossed the freeway, I noticed a large number of cars parked on the grass near the airport authority facility, so followed the crowd and pulled in.
It turns out that it was just people that found a good place to watch the show from and nothing to do with the organized show at all. When I found out where the actual show was, and saw the stop and go traffic, I decided to stay where I was and watch the show. As far as I know, there wasn’t much in the way of aircraft on the ground, so the big event was watching the Blue Angels, which I could do from almost anywhere in the area.
By 2 O’clock, nothing was happening, so I walked over and struck up a conversation with a man that was driving a bright orange 1967 Road Runner. As we visited, a F-115 and WW II spitfire started doing air maneuvers overhead. We watched and visited but the Blue Angels never got airborne. Not being in a location where we could hear an announcement, it is hard to say why the show didn’t take place at the scheduled time. I ran another quick errand before heading home and when I came out of the store, I noticed the Blue Angles performing. I drove back to the same spot and watched, taking a few pictures before my camera malfunctioned for the last time.
The routine of the Blue Angels seemed to be the same as when I watched them several years ago, so I was a little disappointed, but it was a good show. When they landed, all of the people tried to leave at once, and no one wanted to let cars into the line going out to the road. I had to force my way in and then because I wanted to turn left, while all the others were turning right, I drove on the shoulder and got out on the road. I was basically across the road from the U.S. Forestry Service office and I wanted to see if the new law enforcement person was on station yet. The last I knew was that it was a young woman that they were sending through the academy and she wouldn’t be out in the field until mid to late summer of this year.
As chance would have it, there was only one person in the office and it was the new officer. Her name is Jennifer Thomas and she is in her mid twenties. After introducing myself and explaining my reason for stopping by, we visited briefly and then I left. She is still doing her training and it will be late July or some time in August before she’ll be out and about in the forest.
Because I am planning on rerouting my road, I wanted to make sure I had befriended the only person that might give me problems, and now I know that they don’t have anyone to patrol the entire Helena National Forest, so don’t need to worry about being stopped in progress.
Zack and I drove home, unloaded the car, played, and then I fed him and opened my package. I had purchased a crossbow and it needed to be put together. I spent the evening doing that and then showered and had some dinner before watching a little television. I got tired long before my normal bedtime and retired at 10:15.