Of course, I had to take this little fella with me, and it didn’t take long for him to become rather warm as he’s made of cast iron! It was so peaceful out there today with far fewer people. I would rather have all the extra people there though than that damn evil virus. Be safe, friends!
I took a drive out of the city for a little while today to the usual places I like to visit, please excuse the redundancies. Today there was much less traffic out there than the last trip out about one month ago which is great. There is usually a little less traffic in summer due to the heat, but it’s even less now which I suspect that damn virus is responsible for.
Without a zoom lens, it’s very difficult for me to capture good photos of those sweet little Golden Mantled Ground Squirrels. Only one attempt to photograph one was slightly useable. This amateur photographer can’t justify $2600 bucks for that 70/200mm zoom lens for the Nikon Zed 6 lens. Unless someone wants to help with the cost, haha!!
This is round one of about sixty photos taken today. While outside in the sunshine, I grabbed a couple photos of the truck with the new wheels for insurance purposes as suggested by my local insurance dude. It was very hot out there, even at 3200+ feet above sea level!
About three days ago I added some Moon Juice fertilizer to the new Sago Palm’s roots. I keep an eye on them daily, the larger tree on the right side still has the awful discoloration of the fronds which as you may know, does not mean the tree is dying.
It’s heat-stressed by the block wall, and shocked from the transplanting according to the nursery. Neither tree looks any different as yet, I will check to see how often the fertilizer can be applied. I watered everything early this morning before the forecast 108 degrees sets in!
Here are two images of the same photo looking up the skylight shaft in the dining room. I am sure that when the home was built in 1996, you could actually see the blue desert sky up there. Decades of scorching Mojave Desert sunshine have made the skylight capable of allowing some light in but no blue sky. Bogus. It doesn’t leak, so let it be! Three different applications were used to create these weird photos. See what happens when I get really bored?!! 😂
Just two clicks from my travels yesterday. I love palm trees…
A bit ago, I went through the Wendy’s Drive-Through for that occasional spicy chicken sandwich. Seeing this nonsense, I grabbed the Nikon for the photo. What the hell is this? A bit creepy, aye? And the damn chili wasn’t even ready at 11:20 AM!
Hey Wendy, stop serving breakfast until ten thirty, dumbbells!
I’m going to send an email to Wendy if that’s even possible. It’s my experience that some big companies simply don’t give a rat’s bum about what their customers have to say about the food or other things. Call me cranky…
Perhaps it’s because of the inordinate number of moron drivers I encountered this morning. Example – Mr. Picklenose (a non-word I made up long ago), pulled right out of a parking lot and into my path as I was leaving Wendy without my chili! Call me cranky!
I used to drive big rigs years ago and I’ll tell ya right now, this driver should surrender his CDL.
Is it Beer O’Clock yet?
The Ransvaal, or Money Man was exploring my property early this morning, he was also watching Wilson walk around the backyard. I think they will become good friends in time. 😂
My local insurance man told me I should take some photos of the new wheels on my truck. I had called the other day to find out if the payoff had any effect on the monthly insurance payment. Nope, but take those photos! So I had some photo applications fun with these early this morning. The truck looks so much better and still drives as it did before!
I have dug deep into the archive this morning to pull these photos out since there are no new photos to process today. Yesterday, I added some Moon Juice fertiliser to the new Sago Palms. Giving them their daily morning watering, I didn’t notice any difference in the appearance of the trees. Apparently, it’s going to take a few days to see any difference but at least now I know they aren’t dying. No plans for today, just hanging around at home. Right where I want to be!
Here are some photos taken on the way home from the nursery earlier this morning. Now children, never, ever take photos while driving, and at around sixty-five miles per hour! This is a job for experienced drivers and photographers only.
I have become increasingly concerned about the larger Sago Palm that was planted several days ago as it’s color has changed sharply. This morning, I took a couple iPhone photos of them both and headed back to the nursery where I purchased them.
The very nice lady that greeted me in the office is also a worker among the many plants and trees there (there must be thousands) around the property. I showed her the photos, and to my relief, she said the trees are doing fine.
The reason they fronds are changing color is heat stress from the walls on two sides of it, and shock from being pulled from the fifteen-gallon bucket it lived in for a long time. I have watered the trees as prescribed so I haven’t apparently killed them. Yet!
I am going to mix up some Moon Juice as they call it to fertilise them a bit at the woman’s suggestion. The name of the company is Moon Valley, hence the fun name of the fertiliser. Let’s see how this goes! Nobody wants dead palm trees in the backyard…
I always pronounce Cement as Ceement, I suppose this is because of my Michigan upbringing. Or not. Anyway, these are more reworks, re-colored a bit. Today, I plan to drive north to the nursery where I purchased the Sago Palms armed with photos of them both. The larger palm isn’t looking too god regardless of my watering it as suggested by the nursery.
Gladly, there is a warranty period on the trees which is very nice. If the tree croaks, they will replace it at zero cost to me. I love free stuff! As I’ve said before in this space, John has not a green thumb but I’m not so sure this is my doing. Honestly, it’s a great excuse to get out of the house for a bit and get some fresh desert air!
If you are a regular visitor to my humble blog, then you are familiar with Wilson, the world-famous Desert Tortoise. It seems only natural the these two should get together, but money man as I call him has the better deal.
Wilson, the poor little dude must endure the summer heat and whatever else the desert weather throws at him. He’s some kind of plastic, money man is cast iron and will become as hot as a firecracker in my backyard!
Photo one is a bit fuzzy as I couldn’t kneel or lay down on the faux grass to focus the Nikon, it’s really freaking hot!! Whoda thunk it could get so hot! It’s only 104 right now…
Welcome to the valley where you’ll be stopping very frequently for the insanely long traffic lights. You become used to them, but they still frustrate me daily. And today was one of those days that I see far more moron drivers.
More tailgaters, more reckless drivers and drivers who are driving so fast and using lanes that are not lanes, that they are a serious danger to the public. It’s unfortunate that there isn’t a cop on every corner, waiting to snag these idiots.
Actually, one did get snagged by a Metro officer who was rolling next to me, yet I didn’t see him. He turned on his gumballs and blasted the siren, but not for me. It was the guy in the left lane next to me, guess what? You are…
Busted, LOL! thank you, Las Vegas Metro Police. The other day, two officers pulled up next to me at a traffic light, we were stopped. The officer looked over my way, I gave him a thumbs-up, he responded with a smile.
It really cranks me off when I see and hear people saying things like **** the police and worse. I am not an Anarchist, are those who say this crap anarchists? Or just your average assholes…
I am heading home after buying a new CPAP mask
It’s here! A few days ago, I purchased this fun little guy from Roadtirement’s Etsy store. I think he’s the cutest little guy! I’ve done a quick search on his history, it’s rather interesting!
Some of you remember the new chrome wheels that were put on my truck several days ago. I was asked to bring the wheels back in fifty to one hundred miles for the retorquing of the lug nuts. Done! I’m glad that the wheels are perfectly balanced, the original wheels have always had a very slight vibration regardless of the weights.
Anyway, just a couple boring photos are all I captured on this little jaunt. The HVAC guy was here early today to inspect my AC system.
He found that the freon level was just a bit overfilled so he drained off the excess and cleaned the outside unit up as well as hosing down the condenser coils which are a mess. The fins are all pushed in and flattened which never helps with the cooling capacity.
To replace the outside unit would require a crane since the unit would be too large to fit through the gate, and approximately $3400 dollars, cash on the barrelhead. Yikes, I’ll run the old fart machine until it finally surrenders to the Mojave Desert heat
.
This photo makes me think about the millions of years these mountains silently stood here, always watching. If only they could speak to us…
This is overprocessing on steroids haha!
Old and new photos here. The Wash photo was taken about two or three years ago in a wash that ran behind my apartment complex. It was a very nice place to ride my bike, there isn’t anything like this near my house. Note how beautifully groomed the wash is! It gets plenty of use by the public, and runs for a very long way too. There is also a Disc Golf course too.
The ceiling fan is new, the other four are all alike which looks so much better than three white five-blade fans, and two bronze five-blade fans. They also each have their own remote controls which is really nice. Money well spent on a nice home upgrade!
I am not sure, but I think the white crust is Calcium of some kind that is dried all over the stainless steel. The same crap that creates the “bathtub ring” at Hoover Dam as the canyon walls are extremely steep near the dam, and the water level is very low.
This is why I never drink the tap water here! The water is fine for showering and washing clothes, but never drink the Colorado River water. The water smells like chlorine added by the city anyway, just as it did when I lived in Dunedin, Florida during the 1990s.
I have tried the filtres that screw onto the kitchen tap, they never seem to last and don’t taste as good as the costly bottled water, hence I buy the expensive bottled water. In my defense, the bottled water is far more portable, and my bottom two drawers in the refrigerator are always stocked with super cold, delicious water always ready to go!
Black and white on top, grayscale below.
Here are some oldie pics from around Las Vegas, I think the old Nikon D3300 was used here. Lots of tourists are lined up for a photo op in front of that sign which I find a bit funny. The photo of the base of the Stratosphere Tower was taken at Las Vegas Boulevard and Charleston Boulevard. The goofy flooring sign is somewhere along Sahara Avenue I think? It’s a big city!
What the heck do you want!? So cute!
It wasn’t worth the effort last night to try for better photos… It sounded like a damn war zone in the backyard too. I’m glad that’s over with for another year, although there will be a few explosions today and tonight. I sent an email to my HOA folks about my same neighbors three doors down once again lighting fireworks in our neighborhood, it’s illegal. Morons!
I had a short ride around the area a while ago and grabbed these photos. Along the way, I passed a few parks where lots of people were gathered for cookouts and boy did it smell good! At least a few people were masked and keeping a distance away from others, that’s good to see. The little man-made lakes are pretty to look at and are stocked with fish, I don’t know which fish though. There were about a half dozen people fishing on one end of a lake.
Today’s forecast is for total sunshine and one hundred four scorching degrees. Regardless, it’s another beautiful day in Las Vegas Valley. I hope each of my American friends are having a beautiful day, stay safe and be well!
Late yesterday, I finally received the can of tuner shower for use on the dusty old tuning knobs of this thirty-nine-year-old shortwave radio receiver.
After letting the can cool down from its time in transit, I went to work splitting the case to expose the backside of the front panel which houses the areas I need to spray.
After several sprays, the noise from the switches did calm down almost one hundred percent but there is still a bit of noise. Sometime today, I will do a bit more spraying then find a piece of wire to attach to the antenna jack on the back of the unit.
I hope to hear something this time! If not, then the radio will become an oversize paperweight. Bummer!
These photos are from earlier today on a ride under our usually blue sky. Not always blue, but mostly blue. If you are going to feel blue, I say this is the best way to be blue!
I took a quick jaunt around the area to get the heck out of the house for a while today. Had a nice chat with my dad while parked in this little park. I feel a bit childless like this playground regarding the damned virus. I so want to see my children and the rest of my family but it’s not possible. The fence around the playground is like the virus, a fence that keeps families apart.
A sad sight
Mainly through the lens of a Nikon
by Lize Bard
Landschaftsfotografie in Norwegen
Life in Copenhagen, Denmark, after moving during Covid-19.
We are all just babes in the woods.
a photo journal
