Tagged by Damsel

8 Things about Phos in two-part harmony with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one

Once more tagged

The magic eight

Some things best left a mystery

The first love

The first kiss

Private things that bear no witness

The military was his life

An Italian for a wife

Two kids now someone else’s

Two huskies that run the house

Love snakes, hates spiders

Always been an outsider

Sometimes shot

Never killed

Some times fished

For his thrill

Given you ten for the price of eight

Anymore will have to wait.

Housekeeping

Renoberated some of my links, added some, took some off. Broke my heart to remove FairScape in particular. Kirsten came by to visit and hopefully will be back with us soon. Despite two polar expeditions, still no sign of Nanuk.

Just to add a touch of class and show Phos has an appreciation for the performing arts, check out this extraordinary video... Not only can this lady dance, but she does some fine Jewelry work as well...

Demise of the Cannibal

The world has finally gone crazy, please let me off! First Kirsten is off the air and now Timmy is throwing in the towel. Bad enough Nanuk is MIA and FairScape is gone. Crap.

Agree with Timmy or not his posts were always a hoot - he was an accomplished satirist and brought renewed humor to basic bodily functions. When you visited his blog you felt comfortable kicking off your shoes and putting your feet up on the coffee table - it was a nice place just to kick back and have some laughs.

I'll miss those irreverent posts...

Stormy Progress

Thought I would review the steps of a monsoon...

Cumulus clouds start to pop

Clouds get bigger

Clouds gather and pick up lots of energy

The cloud of dust which always precedes the rain

The Rain

The morning after the gully washer...

Caution: Never take pictures while driving a motor vehicle, you may have an accident or worse, the wife will find out and take your camera away.

There He Goes Again...

I believe it is easy to become upset with groups of people based on their beliefs, race, or customs, whether because of how we were "fed" as children, who manned the pulpit, or irrational fear caused by the unknown I have found however, that dealing with people from these groups that though I may not share their ideology I like them as individuals. Aside from the obvious things I believe hate can rob one of unique cultural experience, the color, music, food, and thought process that could serve to enrich one's life.

I admire people that have passion. Perhaps a bit envious as well. I am still in search of something to be passionate about. I am of course passionate about my wife, but my work, not so much. While the technical aspects intrigue me, I don't find any real excitement or satisfaction in working with computers. It has become a job, no one seems to care if I help out or not. I do it because I have to work. The things I would like to do do not generate money (unless one gets some real breaks) so they remain hobbies. I have walked down many roads searching for that one thing that really sparks me and aside from one sweet brown-eyed Italian girl, I have yet to really find it. There are things I enjoy, but nothing that grabs me and shakes me to the very foundations.

My explorations have not been in vain, however. I have learned a lot about many different things. I look back at some of my experiences and at times I am amazed at what I have seen and done. I can never say my life hasn't had some interesting moments.

One thing I enjoy is reading. I can't get enough. As an addiction I suppose it could be worse. Learning in general is fantastic. If I could find a way to do it, I would go to school for the rest of my life. There is so much out there I don't know,and I crave that knowledge. There are a lot of interesting people out there who are doing or have done interesting things - people such as you all. I guess that is the main draw of Blogging; shared experiences. Thanks for that.

If you aren't tired of reading, visit The Cursed Tongue's latest article "The Short Shrift Grift". I have told her she is wasting her time writing for the Blogsphere and should have her own column in a major newspaper. Her latest is an editorial on the Iraq and our government or lack of therein. If you are up for some bad poetry, try "MOPP4"...

The latest book I have read is "The Deathly Hallows". I am afraid I became quite engrossed and stayed up until 0200hrs Sunday morning to finish the book. I am sad to see the series end, I have enjoyed walking the halls of Hogwarts with Harry and his friends, but then all good things must come to an end.

For those of you who do not share the zeal I have for reading and don't want to plow through all the meanderings above, here are some pictures of the weather from yesterday. We never got much beyond the spectacular show, but that was worth the price of admission.

No Clouds Tonight

El Mirage Sucks Donkey Balls

Big doings in the City of El Garbage this week. The mayor, Freddy WalmArtman told the Sherriff to get lost effectively cutting our police force in half, Wal-mart has opened right in my very own backyard (the devil has come to roost) and they are building a school right in the middle of an approach to the base, despite the published noise contours. Encroachment is a big problem out here as evil developers and home builders ignore the base and build closer and closer severely restricting the approach to the airfield. Next BRAC will most likely result in the closing of the base. Johnny Nascar and the greed merchants will celebrate, Nascar because he thinks the noise is gone and the builders because the one obstacle in the path to filling their pockets is gone. Johnny’s hootenanny is going to be cut rather short when they start flying airliners out of the airfield, however. If you think an F-16 is noisy try an airbus. Congrats to Freddy Walmartman and his City manager Cornholio for screwing the proverbial pooch. Can’t wait until the next election!! Meanwhile, if you are planning on opening a meth lab, drop house, or just going on a crime spree El Mirage is ripe for the picking, come on down all you thugs and ne’re do wells!! If you are here illegally, and many of you are, Wal-Mart is hiring!

Fun With Film

I've been playing with some old school cameras that use a variety of film. They are all simple "snapshot" kind of cameras but some of the results have been interesting to say the least. Thought I'd share a couple with you...

Ghost Yukon 1

Ghost Yukon 2

Yertle the Turtle

The Widow Maker

Flags

Big Tease

The clouds are talkin' the talk, but not walkin' the walk. I have to water tonight like it or not.

Grossest fact heard to date: Scott Baio did Erin Moran while starring together (using the term star loosely) in "Joanie loves Chachi". Personally I wouldn't stick anything in Erin Moran I wanted to keep, but Scot seems to be pretty hard up. I saw the clip on one of those "Where are the Big LosersNow" kind of shows.

Gettin' Closer All the Time

We are once again surrounded by thunderstorms, but so far only a little rain. Mrs Phos got up for doggie dawn patrol heard thunder and noticed that the ground was wet. Every little bit helps.

We are under heat advisories for the next couple days and they predicted scattered T-storms every evening. We haven't hit the three consecutive days with a dew point of 55F yet for the official start of monsoon season, but we're getting there. 114 today, but the humidity is pretty high, for here. I am here to tell you fat and jolly don't go together to well with hot and humid!!

This is a good day to drink plenty of water and stay out of dry stream beds. Even if it isn't raining right here, rain in the mountains will cause the streams to come alive in a hurry - faster than most folks can get out of the way. We'll have the usual news report with film of Johnny Nascar perched on the roof of his pick up truck in the middle of a torrent waiting for the rescue helicopter. Fortunately the state finally got smart and has started charging imbeciles that try to cross flooded washes for the rescues. Unfortunately firemen, policemen, and rescue crews have to put their lives on the line to fish these jerks out. Personally I'd let natural selection take its course, but NASCAR brings big bucks to the valley so the state feels obligated to fish the morons out of the river.

There's a Clown in my Pants!!

Sometimes things are not as they appear. For instance the photo of Pantload the clown above. Harmless clown or twisted psychopath bent on world domination and the advancement of clown evil? There is no way to tell, unless you consider the fact Pantload was caught in the act of trying to convince the young boy that the watermelon was a piñata and by smashing it on the road he could get the candy.

Now while Pantload doesn't have any bodies buried in the crawlspace under his house (yet) is he the kind of guy you want around your kids? If the answer is yes he is available for kid's parties and Bar Mitzvahs every day of the week after five when he closes up his lucrative Meth operation. You can reach him at 1-800-meth4kids.

Note: This was merely a parody and the characters mentioned in this tale are purely fictional and not meant to portray actual people living or dead. No Hispanics or melons were harmed in this story.

Random Muttering

China: Just Misunderstood.

There’s been a lot of noise about China and their less than wholesome food additives lately. One of the latest was Chinese companies using ground up cardboard treated with caustic chemicals as a filler in dumplings. Personally, I don’t see what all the fuss is about. The same thing goes on in the US, and if you have ever had the shrimp at Long John Silver’s you know what I am talking about. As far as the Glycol in the toothpaste, nine out of ten Chinese dentists report that people that drink antifreeze rarely complain about tooth problems. Chinese mechanics have also found that using toothpaste in your engine not only keeps the water from freezing in the winter, but the foaming action cleans those hard to reach spots in the engine and the exhaust has a minty tang sure to please even diehard environmentalists. When you are burning coal like there’ s no tomorrow, minty air is important.

Missing things…

If you are up near the Arctic Circle in Eastern Canada, be on the lookout for this bear.

Nanuk

He has been missing for quite some time now. I am hoping he hasn’t become the latest victim of those coal burning Chinese and their global warming.

Visitor insurance

This picture taken with my sampler camera shoud ensure many vistors as no one can resist cute dogs!!

Webster Sells Out

Webster's Dictionary announced the addition of 100 new words. You can tell a lot about a person by the words he or she uses, whether from the new hot list or the old wrinkled list. I am of the later persuasion. You can tell you are old if you use words like "tinfoil, icebox, and steam shovel. You are old if you remember when the Dollar Store was a "Five and Dime" or "Dime Store". I believe that is another sign of inflation where the dime used to buy what a dollar will get you today.

I miss the Dime Stores. They had more class than most of the dollar stores and many, such as Woolworth's had a lunch counter. They survived up into the early mall age where I suspect high rent and low returns forced them out. The last Woolworth's I saw was in Nuremberg Germany almost ten years ago. It is a shame really. The food wasn't bad, they had specials, and it was a nice place to stop for a soda when out at the mall.

Early on we sat at the counter and ordered a chocolate or lime phosphate. They were pretty good. You don't see those any longer. No more Fizzies or Bonomo Turkish taffy either. I owe Bonomo a lot as they were responsible for many quarters under my pillow. Nothing like Turkish Taffy for extracting that loose baby tooth!

Most the candy and treats I ate as a kid are gone. The companies were probably using the same stuff China is in trouble for now to flavor their product. There has been a resurgence of some of the older candies, some never went a way. One of my favorites, Necco wafers, have been around since the late 1800s and show no signs of disappearing any time soon. Whatever the case you won't be buying them at your local Winky's 5 & 10.

Dust in the Wind

Time moves on and things change. The landscape around Tiny House is slowly turning from agriculture to homes. Cities are growing as aging Northerners seek warmer climes. As much as I complain about the influx of people I have to admit I am part of the problem. One has to wonder where the breaking point is and the pressure becomes too much on the land. Resources, particularly water are finite in these parts. Unfortunately, money trumps common sense when it comes to land development. Some rivers are already showing the strain. Drawing ground water up stream combined with the ongoing drought is a deadly combination.

Above is a picture of a machine shed that will soon vanish, as did the water tower near our house. The tower was part of an old cotton gin, now replaced by the wonders of Wal-Mart. A poor trade at best. It is sad to see, but building mean progress and that seems to be all that counts. Mrs. Phos assures me it is like that everywhere on god’s green earth so no point in moving.

Anyway, the weather is starting to tease – more clouds in the morning, but not enough to do us any good, yet. I hope that we’ll see some rain by the end of the week…

I included another cloud picture because I know /t. likes those. It is the sunrise this morning - I forget clouds probably aren’t a big deal to some of you, but we don’t really see them that often so it is exciting for me…

Soon Monsoon Come

We are in the envelope for monsoons and the weather is starting to look a bit more monsoonal. It has been hot, but that heat has brought moisture up from the South in a monsoonal flow. Hopefully we will get some rain over the next few days. If nothing else the forecast shows the temps dropping from 117F today to 109F by Sunday. Arizona is way behind in moisture, a trend I fear may be here to stay, but hopefully we'll get some rain out of the Monsoons this season.

Hope you all have a great (and cooler) weekend!!

Our Local Bird Patrolling His Turf...

I'm It

I have been tagged by Little Lamb to come up with eight facts about myself that not everyone knows. I had to think a bit on this to come up with anything anyone could possibly care about in the first place. Here are my eight facts:

1. I am superstitious. I keep a picture of the Kitchen God in my kitchen, I toss salt over my left shoulder when I cook, and I get upset when someone opens an umbrella in doors.

2. I fear small pointed objects. Mrs Phos likes to threaten me with sewing needles when I irritate her.

3. I have lost any faith in any supreme being.

4. I would fight to the death for my country, but I have lost faith in its leadership.

5. I have a bit of a cruel streak that can seep into my sense of humor at times.

6. I like to write bad poetry.

7. Hemmingway bores the hell out of me and I don’t find Mark Twain all that humorous.

8. I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up

Hotter'n the 4th of July

Great Fourth - had my daughter and her family come by, so we had the pack o' dingoes back in action. They helped me prep the Kabobs for grilling - I couldn't cook without my kitchen monkeys!! It was a nice visit and fairly quiet, up until the local park started their fireworks. Fortunately the big brave dogs protected us from the fireworks by barking at them.







Yukon had the best idea for spending the fourth, kipped out in front of his fan. Way to beat the heat Yukon!!

Happy Fourth of July!!!

Hotter Than a Firecracker!

We had a heat advisory for today, right now it is 108, it had gotten up to 112. The heat is here to stay through the week with a possibility of 120 by Friday. Still not as hot as some spots in the Gulf, but hot none-the-less.

Speaking of hot, Fourth o' July is coming up and I saw the obligatory safety message about fireworks and grilling. The note about fireworks had one statement that made me laugh - "never modify the fireworks". Yeah, right. The first thing we did as kids was to dissect them and try to make a bigger bang with various combinations. Oddly enough it was probably my first contact with other civilizations. If you unrolled a Black Cat flash cracker there was a piece of Chinese newspaper inside. The one successful mod we had was taping flash crackers to bottle rockets and intertwining the two fuses. The flash cracker made an excellent warhead.

The second note on grilling was also kind of funny. "Never put starter fluid on a fire that has been already started ". That is the best time!! You can see some glowing coals, but most of the charcoal hasn't caught yet. Spray on some more fluid, stand back (safety tip), and toss a match on to the coals. You will be rewarded with a way cool fire ball leaping from your grill. Which brings me to one important safety tip - never grill under an overhang or a tree.

Here's a couple pictures to make up for the duck pictures. The Moon was taken with my digital camera, the ones of the dogs are with my Holga and some special filters...

Ducks

Seems as though there is a fascination with ducks. Personally I like mine grilled, but here are some that are still kicking.