{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000","title":"Random Noodlings from Smalltown Arizona","subtitle":"Is there Life After the Big City","author":{"name":"desertmann2000"},"link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"service.feed","type":"application\/x.atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom","title":"Random Noodlings from Smalltown Arizona"}}],"updated":"2021-03-13T06:55:02Z","entry":[{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:104595","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/104595.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=104595"}}],"title":"How to put this? My internal Conflict.","published":"2021-03-13T06:07:03Z","updated":"2021-03-13T06:55:02Z","content":"WHY!!!<\/b> This is what I have gotten to in my life. The existence of GOD<\/b>. I have no doubts about the existence of GOD<\/b>. I look around at the order of the Universe and I realize the impossibility of this all coming to be , just by happenstance. My discussions with others that tried to convince me that \"It's all about the Big Bang<\/b>\". My reply has always been, \"Just because it all started with the BIG BANG does not mean that GOD did not light the match<\/b>\"!! I was involved in putting together a model simulation of the creation of the Universe many, many years back. It took a long time to write the code for the simulation because, every time we felt we had covered all the variables, more would pop up because someone on the team would come up with \"Well what about\"???<\/b>, So, at one point we decided enough is enough. We started 5 machines running our model. Each machine could run a complete model in about 1.7 hours plus or minus an hour for the inclusion of Chaos Theory which we allowed for in giving the program the ability to, under certain conditions, the ability to ad extra randomization. that is approximately 14,892 complete model simulations in one year. You know how many times we were able to duplicate the Universe we know and live in, in 14892<\/b> simulations?BUPKIS<\/b> not once did we come up with the known Universe in just shy of 15,000<\/b> simulations. So, the machines were allowed to run for another 5 years. Now, just so it is understood. This whole study was taken on by a group of friends that were trying to accomplish one thing. Answer if the BIG BANG<\/b> could have been our creator. We had a pact between ourselves that this was private and none would use the results to further our Academic Standings. Now over the next 5 years, allowing for equipment failure, almost 75,000 simulations were completed. The results were the same. The results were the same. Not once did our model accomplish a complete Universe. Now, the argument would be that our model was flawed. I would say \"Yes, that is true\". It would be flawed towards the positive because we in no way could account for all the variables in such a model so it should be more likely to produce a positive model than not. One of the reasons we had entered into a pact not to formally publish such results is because, the uncertainty actually could be said to fall either way.
So, the question is WHY<\/b>!!! Why am I bringing this up now and what is the issue that has caused me to bring it up. February twenty first was the second anniversary of my Wife's death due to her own hand... Last year at this time, it did not hit me as hard as it did this year. Now, this is creates real complications for me. I have a PHD in Divinity. I am an ordained Minister. I have studied the Bible since I was small. I watched my Wife go through the most intense torture due to her illnesses and I have to askWHY! WHY! WHY!<\/b>!!! I am told that the Bible says that suicide is a MORTAL<\/b> sin.... YEA, SHOW ME WHERE!!!<\/b> Now don't try to bring up the part that says your body is a temple to GOD. That is a statement made about a healthy body, not one that has turned against you. Don't even try to tell me that my Wife did things to her body and that is why she was made to suffer. SHE didn't drink,smoke do drugs, or anything else to defile the temple which was her body!!!! I had repeatedly asked GOD<\/b> to give to me the cup that was hers so I could live the pain and pestilence that was rained down upon her!! Don't even begin to tell me \"We can;t begin to understand GOD's<\/b> plan. Yea, I am sure GOD<\/b> sat there saying \"Now let me see... As a part of my plan, I think I will give this woman Bronchi Actasis and Mainer's Disease and then I will finish it up with, let's see, Hmmmm, Ovarian Cancer... No, I've got it, I will give her Pancreatic Cancer, just to make her suffering complete\"!!!!HORSESHIT<\/b> Now I am told The word of GOD<\/b>, you can neither add to or take away from\"... Well then am I glad that it is \" The gospel according to Luke\" and \"The Gospel according to Mark\" and so on... So, at this point let me ask you, \"What was Jesus's last name??? \"Oh, Please, somebody say Christ\"!!! (Buzzer sounds) WRONG!!!!<\/b>... He was Jesus the Christ, not JESUS Christ!!!
Again, why now? Because I am Mad that the answer to my prayers was NO<\/b>. You can tell me all you want that I can not question GOD's<\/b> wisdom... I am not questioning God's<\/b> wisdom. I am questioning MAN's<\/b>!!! I hate the Garth Brookes song Sometimes I thank GOD for unanswered Prayers because, Prayers aren't unanswered!!! All too often the answer is NO and then MAN steps in for GOD<\/b> and FUCKS everything up. Yes I said FUCKS!!!!! With my Wife's body rebelling against her, she did not have the option to terminate her life with dignity. She had to do it in such a way that, I was protected from prosecution and not be given anyone a chance to stop her!!! The people that are making up these rules are the same ones that proclaimed that Catholic Priests can not be married...That, by the way, Was Pope Urban the second because he did not like children around the Vatican.. When a lot of the married Priest's balked at this, he had them flogged, and their wives and children were sold into slavery!!! So, again, why now? I will post more on this. I have to take a break.

Stay
Stay until my tears dry
Stay until I don't know my self
Stay just wait a little

Stay I am my memories' owner
Stay until I send you away
Stay even in my memories

even if it is a little bit of warmth
give it to me,so that I can treasure it
I am already frozen and endlessly cold

if you leave,to me
there is no beauty
I'm already trashed and endlessly dirty

Hey already for a lot of time
you're lingering inside me
now, just think of it as home

even if it is a little bit of warmth
give it to me,so that I can treasure it
I am already frozen and endlessly cold

if you leave,to me
there is no beauty
I'm already trashed and endlessly dirty

Stay inside my dear
Don't you come out my dear

even if it is a little bit of warmth
give it to me,so that I can treasure it
I am already frozen and endlessly cold

if you leave,to me
there is no beauty
I'm already trashed and endlessly dirty
Stay my dear
Stay my dear
Lyrics from the song that has me tied in knots."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:104196","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/104196.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=104196"}}],"title":"Thinking of an old friend.","published":"2020-12-23T01:05:09Z","updated":"2020-12-23T01:05:09Z","content":"As Christmas draws near, I have been thinking about an old friend that I haven't seen or talked to in about a year. His name is Selden Mitchell. He is the kind of person, once you meet him, you can't un-meet him. He is a HAM Radio operator, like myself, and to me he is the consummate HAM Radio operator(not to mention a GREAT Human being). I met him when I worked for Antique Electronics Supply back in the 90's. We immediately hit it off. In the 50's, he was a Union musician in L.A. He played what some folks call a Dog House which is slang for the Upright Bass or as some know it the Contra Bass.. Now in the 50's there was only 2 gigs for a Contra Bass player. You either played for a Symphony or you played the Jazz clubs. He, I believe, was mostly the latter which meant, he was exposed to the whole Beatnik...ie...<\\b> Lenny Bruce, Jack Kerouac<\\b> counter culture and it had a very vivid impression on this man.. I know also he had done gigs with the likes of <\\b>Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley<\\b>, just to mention a few. His outlook on life was one of a very inspired individual. Among some of the things, he was generous to a fault at times. One thing I had to make sure of when I would visit him was to make sure the back seat of my car was empty because, it would always be filled up with various trinkets of electronics equipment and or musical equipment. One of his philosophies of life is \" If you look around you when you are in your 20's and you are not a Liberal, there is something wrong with your heart\"... Now he also said \" When you get to be in your late 30's, there are parts of the Liberal philosophy you have to re-consider and pull back on\".. I do understand what he was telling me and I did just that just by nature of my own understanding. In equipment construction, he was skilled and a stickler for detail. I saw a 3 Kilowatt linear amplifier he constructed that was a desktop amplifier. Normally something like that would require a 6 foot high 19 inch wide rack assembly to accomplish a viable device. He did it because he like to send something we HAM's call Slow Scan TV. He built it for 3 KW output so that the amplifier would not go up in flames sending SSTV at Legal limit because SSTV is a 50 percent duty cycle and if you used your normal station amplifier it6 would literally burn to the ground. The most amazing thing about it was, it was a work of art. Over the years, he gave me so much equipment. A lot of it went from my hands to other HAMs that were not able to afford descent radios so, it went to good purpose.
Mich is also a deeply spiritual man. It is from this that a lot of what I experienced with him have it's origins. He truly lives his beliefs and as an ordained minister myself, I look to his example to help me know how I should act.
Now, the last time I went to see him, he loaded me up with all kinds of stuff. He told me he was disenchanted with the whole HAM Radio scene since it was hard to find anyone to talk technical with.This saddens me because, I too, have started to see the same thing. It is a sad state of affairs for Ham Radio. <\\b>Another side note:<\\b> all Mitch's technical knowledge is self taught. He did not get the breaks I got with my education so, instead he became a Master Stone Mason and I mean a true Stone Mason( not the organization A.F.&A.M.). His work as you can expect was some of the most intricate and beautiful Stone work I have ever seen...
I have just sent him a message with the hopes of re-lighting a fire in him on HAM Radio. My business partner bought out a very exclusive Radio company a number of years ago and he happens to have a radio that needs a lot of TLC to get it back working. I hope Mitch takes me up on the offer to rebuild it because I think it will do his heart good to do so. Anyway, so I am thinking very deeply of my old friend today and I hope to hear from him around the up coming Christmas Holiday and I can arrange to go see him... Thanks for listening(reading) . Merry Christmas to all of you out there and here is hoping for a better year this next Year....
The DesertMann"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:104015","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/104015.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=104015"}}],"title":"The truck is fixed.","published":"2020-12-14T18:14:56Z","updated":"2020-12-14T18:14:56Z","content":"It took a while. I originally started by using a design for a voltage regulator that was online... Big mistake!!! It Didn't regulate very well. I adjusted it to where it was supposed to regulate the voltage from the alternator. It did for about five minutes... Then it ran away and before I could shut the engine down it was putting out over 17 volts and was continuing to climb. Well it fried the alternator and I decided I better design one myself.. Well my regulator is working fine. I have actually had it in the truck over two weeks now and not a problem.I looked online to see what regulators cost and I think I may start producing them. I could not find one for less than $85 and I can produce mine for around $35 retail. While I was researching regulators I found about 3 other models based on my original design that would fill gaps in other markets. One in particular is Harley Davidson. Anybody that has a later Harley knows that the Harley regulator will sometimes do what the first regulator design did I tried. I goes into run away and when it does it destroys the alternator. A rather expensive proposition since the alternator is inside the engine case and is expensive to replace. Anyway I guess I am going to get back into business. retirement is not something I do well...Actually , I had already started to come out of retirement working on designs for some professional recording equipment so, I guess this will just be the bread and butter items that provide R&D money for the rest of my ideas. Lot of other things going on. With the addition to my house I am doing and music CD I expect to release late in 2021.. I am enjoying my retirement!!
That's it for now. Hope for a good day for all.
James"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:103863","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/103863.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=103863"}}],"title":"The on-going truck issue.","published":"2020-11-12T22:00:37Z","updated":"2020-11-12T22:00:37Z","category":{"@attributes":{"term":"the truck"}},"content":"I removed the alternator from the truck a little earlier and started disassembling the back of it.
Within minutes I was able to remove the back cover and was testing the diodes. This became a little disconcerting
because I was not finding any bad ones. I had done my due diligence before removing the alternator from the truck.
There are 2 ways to determine what is happening with an alternator. First if the engine is running and you
don't read 13.8 volts across the battery terminals there is a problem with the charging circuit and is most likely
the alternator. Second if you put your volt meter on AC voltage and again test on the battery terminals, with the
engine running there should read no AC voltage. If you do read AC voltage, it is likely you have a blown diode.
Alternators are not a really complicated device. They produce 3 phase AC before the diodes rectify it back to DC.
If one of the phases is not being converted to DC then the voltage will be low and there will be AC voltage at the battery.
This is exactly what I have happening. Now on further inspection, I noticed the manufacture had crimped loops of
wire to the diodes and the field coils and they were semi-spot welded. It is really hard to spot weld copper because
it is not like steel. It is softer and it corrodes differently. I think I am looking at just that problem.
I will know in an hour or so when I get it back in the truck.
A lot of people have said I should just go get a new alternator. Back when I was engineering, I probably
would have because I can get an alternator for around $80. When I was an engineer that was, even though on salary,
about my hourly wage 35 years ago. I am still a full time engineer but, conditions are different.
Engineers are kind of like Marines. There are no former Marines. \" Once a Marine , always a Marine\".. That is the
way I see Engineers. You never stop being an Engineer, you just at some point retire and stop getting paid to be
an Engineer. That is my classification now. I was annoyed having to work on the truck but, I enjoy learning new
things besides, I try not to be an active participant in this \"Throw Away\" society we now find ourselves in.
So, I will report my findings later today.. DM"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:103636","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/103636.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=103636"}}],"title":"I hate working on vehicles","published":"2020-11-12T07:22:44Z","updated":"2020-11-12T07:22:44Z","content":"My pickup has developed a problem in the charging circuit. Likely one of the diodes is bad so it never get up to charging potential plus as the battery discharges, the computer tells the alternator to shut down. I am going to have to remove the alternator and take the back cover off to test the diodes. One is obviously bad and so I don't get all 3 legs of the alternator only 2 so it doesn't produce enough power to keep the battery charged."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:103422","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/103422.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=103422"}}],"title":"As if I wasn't busy enough.. I am now doing volunteer work at the local museum.","published":"2020-11-11T19:40:40Z","updated":"2020-11-11T19:47:11Z","category":{"@attributes":{"term":"the museum."}},"content":" SOME BACKGROUND: <\/b> In the 60's my Wife's Mother belonged to the local Women's Club. It was a rather active organization in Casa Grande, AZ. They were responsible for making CG a much more Metropolitan community( I think in a good way). A lot of charity work and community improvement programs were spearheaded by this organization. One of those was the Casa Grande Historical Society. As a result, the local museum came into being. It is a fascinating place with collections of old farm implements, equestrian equipment, old photographs and static displays of all kinds ranging from typical medical implements and even a working old pumper fire truck... Very cool stuff. This museum will also do research for people trying to track down their roots in the community. All but 2 of the personnel are volunteers(including the Board). It is incredible to see what has been accomplished with virtually all volunteers!! That being said, they lack in areas that I can be of benefit to the organization and already have. Last year when Erin my Wife) and I got together, it was apparent to me that the museum was a very important part of her life. So, I toured the facility with her and noticed they had security cameras(with one major flaw). As I looked at the multi-camera monitor, I noticed that the red R(denoting record mode) had a circle with a line through it over all the cameras. So, even though they had installed the system years before, they were not recording them. So, we talked to the Curator and arranged for me to set up the system correctly. Two weeks ago, this became very important. A burglar broke into the facility and he tripped the silent alarm(unknowingly). When the police arrived, they were able to tie into the system and get footage of the fellow which is now the evidence to convict him. That footage was probable cause for the officers to also search his truck. As it turns out, he had evidence in the form of stolen goods from a crime spree that started weeks before amounting to multiple burglaries in the area. Had I not fixed the system he might have gotten off with a trespassing charge and the other crimes would been left open, unsolved.. It made me feel good that my effort had diverted what would have been a disaster (not monetarily so much as historically) many irreplaceable displays could have been lost forever.
I met with the board last night and pointed out the fact they were very lucky(The thief was a typical Dumb Criminal). If he had killed the main power to the facility, the security cams would have gone off-line(no power backup on the system) and again, there would have been no record. So, my new task is to put in more cameras and hook up the audio to all of them and implement a power backup for the recorder and cameras.
It doesn't stop there. I have volunteered my services in other ways as well. The Curator is a bright man with a lot of good ideas but, he lacks basic skills in build repair and construction. Right now, I am also installing a ceiling on an outside patio that had been done with interior drywall. It was a mess. I am putting in a distressed, repurposed wood ceiling and it should be pretty cool when finished. I also told them I would re-finish the benches and picnic tables on the property. I hate to see good wood painted. I have been doing the same on my own property. When you sand weathered wood and finish it with spar varnish, all kinds of colors come up out to the surface.
I also found out they have openings on the governing board so, I think both my Wife and I are going to apply.

THE BIG REASON: <\/b> My Wife's Mother died when Erin was 12 years old so, this is a way I can help keep her legacy alive. If it is important to her, it is important to me!! That's the way it is..."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:103114","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/103114.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=103114"}}],"title":"Will this ever be over!!!","published":"2020-11-04T16:03:39Z","updated":"2020-11-04T16:03:39Z","content":"I don't usually post political but, WHEN WILL THIS BE OVER!!!
OK, That's enough of that.

I have been working on a new song that is going to be choreographed by my wife who performs and teaches Belly Dancing..
It was the started 2 years ago by the fiance of my wife's daughter. I know I haven't mentioned this because it is too hard to believe that my wife and I have had so much tribulation we have struggled through. Her daughter and fiance were murdered by the brother of her ex-husband. HE had been participating in laboratory studies conducted by pharmaceutical test lab on new medications for Alzheimer's sufferers. The last study he participated in was medication for violent patients. The side effects of the drug that is one of the most common is, if you are not violent, it will make you so...
The song is coming along just fine, but, I am running out of resources. I do not have my studio back together yet and with what I have available, I only have 8 tracks to record on. People will say, shoot, The Beatles did Sgt. Pepper on 4 tracks. True, but, besides being the 4 of them, they had probably the best arranger\/producer on the planet and a lot of other players to draw from. I will get it done. besides, this is only a rough run of the song so my wife can get the cardiograph work done. I will move the project over to my partner's studio to do the final arrangement(actually we are going to start over from track 1). With all this going on, I am also adding on to my house and working on a full length album of my own material which should be released in Europe late next year.
All in all, I am busy but, happy. Every day is an adventure and I revel in the joy's of the day. I am loving retirement, wish I could have done it sooner."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:102845","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/102845.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=102845"}}],"title":"Oh to have the time to get organized. Here I go too and fro too and fro!!!","published":"2020-09-25T04:31:56Z","updated":"2020-09-25T04:31:56Z","content":"Sometimes, I find myself rolled up in a ball, frustrated by the current state of my living conditions.. Part of the reason is I can not get enough done to accommodate my new living arrangements. After my Wife died, I was starting to re-arrange my house so I could have my Amateur Radio station, my electronics bench and my recording studio all in the house and I was in process of doing just that. At the same time, there were a number of structures on the property that due to age, were falling apart so, I was going to demolish them. Then came Erin..
Erin and I had met 47 years ago at church camp. I was a counselor and she was a camper. We became very good friends but, that was all. She was 5 years younger than I and it was not appropriate for anything else to happen. I was 21 and truly, I kept it as much like a big brother relationship as I could. Now that friendship had lasted many years until I went away with my job. After that she had developed other interests and had ended up getting married and a couple of years later so did I to my Wife of 41 years til she passed. Erin and I became re-acquainted through FaceBook but had kept the friendship very arms length for many reasons mostly because I would never do anything against my Wife. She was the Love of my Life and that was that. A year prior to my Wife passing Erin, Had had the tragedy of losing her daughter and I had tried to do as much as I could, mostly via the Internet.

So when my Wife died, Erin sent me a message if there was anything she could do, let her know. I told her I would get in touch after the situation settled. Which I did. We started messaging each other and she told me she collected knives because her daughter had so she was continuing on with that. I told her I have one you can add to your collection if, you want to come over and get it. It's a Damascus steel blade made for me by a friend of mine who is a World class knife maker. She was with a couple that were her friends and the guy happen to forge metal. When I said Damascus, he got excited so, I sent a picture. Then he got real excited. So, Erin said I will be over in 30 minutes.
Well, Erin got here and we started talking and it was like no time had passed. IO gave her the knife and we started catching each other up on our individual lives. before I knew it I looked out the window and it was getting light. I told her I should walk her to her car and call it a night(or day)... We didn't talk any that second day but, on the third day I told her I would like to come visit that evening. We did it again!! All we did was talk, it was so easy and we just enjoyed having someone that we could relate to, to talk to. Well it didn't take long and we were together a lot more than apart. Eventually it was decided she would sell her house and move in with me leaving the legalities until we were sure it would not effect us financially. Here was the problem. She had a 2500 sq ft home and mine is about 1300 sq ft. She teaches belly dancing so, she need a dance studio. She is also a costume designer and does custom costumes for a lot of the dances and she sells online and also sells vintage women's wear. So, I started planning an addition to my house since I have a quarter acre of land it would be easy to add and I am doing to work. We bought equipment and materials including 2 shipping containers which are the foundation of the addition. In the mean time her house sold and we had to start cramming things anywhere we could and even started renting 2 storage lockers for the overflow. A lot of other issues started popping up and we are still in the early stages of the addition. It will happen but, in the mean time when I need to do an electronics project, I have to go on an Easter egg hunt to find the things I need to build it. We did finally find out it would not harm either of us financially so in January we got married. I love her as I did my first Wife and I can't imagine Life now without her. We both just get frustrated with the situation but, I know I will get the addition done but, in the mean time, I still do engineering projects and they take substantially longer because of our space issues. We both have learned patience in spades but it still is frustrating to both of us. We will make it!!! I have no doubt... Just wish I could make things happen faster..."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:102617","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/102617.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=102617"}}],"title":"Just a step away.","published":"2020-09-21T03:48:22Z","updated":"2020-09-21T03:48:22Z","category":{"@attributes":{"term":"break from the wheel.."}},"content":"I am building a tester for vacuum tubes at the moment. Vacuum tubes were the predecessor to transistors and integrated circuits. The tester I am building is a bit specialized because it is for high power transmitting tubes. I know. Why are you doing that? Well, it's like this. I have been an Amateur Radio operator since I was 11 years old and it is a large part of my makeup even today. When I preped for college, I had 2 directions I was heading PHD in Nuclear Physics or PHD in Theology. Now that gave people a lot of pause because most people think those 2 subjects are mutually exclusive... No, not really. They actually have 1 thing in common at their foundation. With physics nobody has ever seen the inside of an atom(even more so nobody has ever seen a quark) because we do not have the capability. An Electron microscope uses a stream of electrons to create an image of what it is being used to observe so, since the electron makes up the \"shell\" of the atom that makes it impossible to have any resolution on the internals of the atom. Secondly Nobody has seen the face of God while in this mortal coil so again. Both subjects stem from 1 thing to start with. If you will, Faith!!! Now many have also told me that the Universe came into existence due to something called the Big Bang... Ok, that is very likely but, it doesn't mean that God didn't strike the match!! Anyway, I chose a third option for my life path heading to college. I did not want to be in school for possibly 8 years past my Bachelors so I chose to become an Electrical Engineer and also a musician. Both of which I have kept close to me all these years. Even retired I am building this tester because I have collected a goodly number of transmitting tubes and If I can match them electrically into at least pairs. I can get more than triple the money for them and I want that money to complete my new music studio. So, I need to remember how to post pictures here. I will post my machine just for fun.
Just another day in the life.."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:102393","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/102393.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=102393"}}],"title":"Now Ladies and Gentlemen, The Reverend Howie D","published":"2020-09-18T02:02:55Z","updated":"2020-09-18T02:02:55Z","category":{"@attributes":{"term":"the wheel"}},"content":"Seven or eight years ago, I was doing a lot of sales on E-bay. I left working in retail and was taking a breather. I had a lot of electronics \"Stuff\" ion storage units on the property and figured I would take advantage of my down time to clear out more of the \"Stuff\" that had been squirreled away years ago. It would give me breathing room and I could even pigeon hole some of the money to find other \"Stuff\"...
Now, as you can expect, my \"Stuff\" was much better then the usual \"Stuff\" you would normally run into. I had for years built vacuum tube HiFi amplifiers and ancillary equipment that enhanced these amplifiers. I also repaired and built guitar amps and designed some for my clients. I had some interesting clients., Steve Howe, Billy Gibbon, Bruce Brown(from Charlie Daniels) just to name3 a few. Anyway, a very good source for components to do this building was old vacuum tube organs. Usually id you found a vacuum tube organ in a thrift store, it would have a price tag of 5 to 10 dollars whether it worked or not. Anyway I had a load of chassis out of these organs, various brands Hammond, Baldwin, Lowery and so on. These chassis sold like hotcakes on E-bay and the reason was a group of items on these chassis were expensive if you purchased new and normally a chassis would go for between $30 and $150 depending what it was out of.. So, I had this Hammond chassis listed and at the end of auction , I think I got $45 for it. Not bad.. Then the guy that won it sends me a message. \"Hello, rather than ship it, could I come by and pick it up so I can save the cost of shipping\"? Well of course. \"I ask \"Where are you\"? reply: \"I live at 11 Mile Corner\".. Me: \"Oh, the yellow house with the antenna on top\". Him: \"Why, yes, how did you know\"? Anyway , I explained to him I had been driving through that area and noticed the antenna for a number of years and got the feeling, I should get to know somebody from there. he told me I will stop by in a couple of hours and my name id Reverend Howie D...
I gotta tell, I have no social prejudices but, I can fall into stereo typing. Coolidge has more churches than towns 5 or 6 times it's size have. Almost one on every corner. A lot of the Charismatic with a continual parade of revivals in the area. So, I am expecting a 6 foot 6 Black man that looks like he was a linebacker for the Raiders or something similar. When he gets here, he is about as opposite to that as he could be. He is an aging White guy with long hair and he has a baby in tow in a carseat!!!! WoW!! Was I off... We talked and I asked why did you buy the chassis? We spent the next 3 hours discussing the ins and outs of vacuum tube amplification our respective careers and ultimately I got an invite to stop over and see him..

AN AMAZING VISIT<\/b>
So a couple of days later, I went to Rev. Howie's house. We sat and talked for hours and hours. I finally told him I would have to leave and I would be tied up on a project for a couple of weeks but, I would come back out soon... Month after month went by( like 9 of them) and I kept telling myself, I had to get back out and see Howie... Finally 2 days before New Year, I was compelled. I had to go out there and it had to be today... When I got there he welcomed me with open arms and I apologized for not coming back sooner. He passed it off said, I knew you would be back but, I figured you had a lot on your plate.. That was yes very true... At one point I went out to my car to bring in some things to show and give him. \"stuff\" that only someone like me would appreciate. A matched pair of Mullard EL34 power tubes some European pre-amp tubes. I told him I know you are still out playing and I am not using them and don't really expect to. He was flabbergasted. (But wait there's more..) Then for no apparent reason, I reached in my pocket and pulled out a $100 bill and told him I am being told you need this. I had just received a substantial bonus and I really was directed to give him that money. He was shocked to silence. I then said \"We should think about going into business together\".. Not only did he agree, he handed me a set of keys to his house and said feel free to come out here anytime.As it turns out he was having a hard time and he needed exactly $100 to keep his power on... Wow, I went home warm and fuzzy. He and I could converse on a level that I had only found with one other person my whole life(meaning on a scientific and or philosophic level) and I had not seen the other fellow in 30 years.
After that I was at Howie's house a lot. Now, it's funny for 2 partners in business, we haven't made a lot of money but, right now, we are working on projects that will bring in a bunch. It only took 7 years. And there is a lot more to the story of Rev. Howie and Rev. James but, that will unfold as I continue to examine the spokes of the wheel... Howard is my second best friend only second to my new Wife!! And there is a story behind the Kim Carnes song. I will relate it at another time.."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:102024","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/102024.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=102024"}}],"title":"The longest journey, starts with that first step.","published":"2020-09-17T22:33:46Z","updated":"2020-09-17T22:33:46Z","category":{"@attributes":{"term":"the wheel"}},"content":"Roll up roll up for the Mystery Tour
Roll up roll up for the Mystery Tour
Roll up
That's an invitation
Roll up for the Mystery Tour
Roll up
To make a reservation
Roll up for the Mystery Tour
The Magical Mystery Tour
Is waiting to take you away.....................<\/b>

Before you is a path. This path is long and makes many turns, goes up hills
and recedes into minor valleys. There will be forks in the path but, rest assured
they all will lead back to the main path..

I hope you will be entertained and possibly it will give you pause to ponder.
All comments are accepted and you can be brutally honest... I look forward to
your assessments as they might just be in a light that I did not think to consider.

This path will not be linear but, it will always point back to the current point of entry.
I look forward to seeing you on my sojourn..
Best Regards,
The DesertMann<\/b>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:101746","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/101746.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=101746"}}],"title":"Not starting out well.","published":"2020-09-17T22:06:11Z","updated":"2020-09-17T22:06:11Z","content":"I did a silly thing. After I reviewed a new entry, somehow, I deleted it. So, I will re-do it later.

Please Standby. We will return to our regularly scheduled program shortly!!<\/b>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:101503","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/101503.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=101503"}}],"title":"How to be content in a discontent world.","published":"2020-09-15T03:52:27Z","updated":"2020-09-15T03:52:27Z","content":"Funny you look around you and you see a lot of people stressing over today's state of affairs. I adopted a philosophy many years ago that is best described by a line from Buckaroo Banzai.
\"Remember, wherever you go... There you are\". <\/b> I was telling my Business Partner(funny for a guy retired to have) today. Back when I was younger and working as an Engineer for a Major World company plus doing a full time deal as a musician(and I mean full time 50 weeks a year, 5 nights a week), I had the dream asset portfolio. Had a house, motor home, new car every 2 years a 90 foot tower in the backyard for my HAM radio station. I always carried $500 to $1000 tucked in my wallet so if I was out and about town and ran across a great deal on something I could at least get the item held if I needed more cash. I could go into my bank and get a $10-50,000 loan on my signature alone. Had credit cards and a retirement portfolio that guaranteed I would not have to worry about retirement. \" Life is Good\"! So you think. At one point along the way, I realized \" If this is the good life, I think maybe I want to opt out\".. I had all that \"STUFF\" and a lot of stature in my job( the real one) and the band was even beginning to gain recognition... To give you the time period, Jimmy Carter was President.. Now the last straw came in the form of what I was assigned to do for my day job. At that time the company was starting to move their manufacturing facilities off-shore. Now I got the dubious honor of training the Test Engineers and Production Supervisors in the fine art of producing our product. We produced semiconductors(you know transistors and IC's and such). SO, after a year of doing the job, I had put 95 people I knew personally out of work. Not transferred to other departments but, straight out of the company. It was actually hard to look at myself in the mirror. I went to my Wife and explained what was going on and she said \" Well, it's obvious, go in today and tender your resignation\".. WoW!!! Really?? I told her I would probably get Blackballed out of the industry. She said\" SO\" and then, \" but, you won't, will you\"? I told her if she is behind me, I am 10 foot tall and bullet proof. I also knew I could get a job, probably not like the one I had but, We would make it. So, I did!!!! We started a new chapter in our lives together and we downsized!!! A LOT!!! So, things are things they come and go... SHORT CAVEAT: <\/b> I ran into the fellow that took my place some 5 years later and he said\" I went to Malaysia and finished the job, everything was running smooth and no problems. So, I get back home and guess what the company did\"? \"Laid me off\"!!<\/b> Not surprising... Now my Wife's health had started taking a bit of a plunge at this time and I scheduled myself so I was more available. I did get a job at a small development engineering company and I retired from playing music in clubs. I took care of my Wife best I could and I did eventually start a business which did well but, I was starting to get back in the rut. We moved to a small town and I ultimately went back to work for other people because I had a business partner that basically destroyed the business and fled with all the assets. Again I narrowed things down to bare minimum because I really didn't need that much and my priority became trying to get my Wife healthy. Unfortunately Fate did not allow that. She had a progression of things over the next 30 years. She had developed Migraines from a bad car wreck and at some point she had contracted Valley Fever that was never diagnosed. The Migraines started to settle and as they did the Valley Fever turned into Broncaiactisis which is a degenerative lung disease that causes the lining of the lungs to become brittle, it is ultimately fatal but, it takes years...As the migraines settled she started developing Minear's Disease( Really bad bouts of vertigo and Tinitus so loud it is maddening). It is so strange, just as we would get some control of her situation, something else much worse would come along. We had discussed a lot of things over the years and one thing we both agreed on was we did not want Heroic Measures used to keep us alive, if it came to that. Now I had continued to scale back my work and when I turned 62 I took Social Security because our lifestyle was such that we could pay all our regular bills with my SS and I could always do pick-up work if necessary. The last 2 years of her life were awful for her and I was along for the ride but, I did not begrudge her anything and I made my life about her more than I had. I did not really work except sporadically taking care of the security cameras and radios for the local school district on their buses. Now I am not looking for sympathy over this. This is the commitment I made to her the day we got married and in the last 6 months, she attempted to do anything she could to get me to leave and go recapture my life. Well, that was silly!! My Life was her Life. I told her our contract is \"Till Death Do Us Part\", nothing more would suffice... And to that end, She had received information from one of her doctors and had conveniently, misdirected me at the time when I had to renew the consent form from her allowing me to be a part of the discussions of her care. I knew things were bad because she was on Oxicodon and Hydrocodone at the same time and she was getting no relief. In the last month of her Life she got news that led her to know that there was no chance so, she spent that month clearing out her closet when I was not around and giving me back the tools I had given her for her home projects. If you haven't guessed she did everything to prepare to take her own Life without me becoming aware of it. The last 3 days of her Life she saw me act uncharacteristic to my normal behavior. I had scheduled to do some work for the schools and in the morning I would call off. This frustrated her and we had decided we were going to attempt to get her to a better medical facility( Me with the Hope of Hope for a miracle).. Finally she got angry with me on the final morning telling me she needed time to herself or she would not go!!! That was Final!! I knew she had one vanity and that was she had to be clean to see the doctor so, I thought her anger was because I was getting in her way of that. She finally said go to you business partners house for a couple of hours and then come back and we would go. You can guess the rest. After I left, she took her own life with a rifle I had taught her how to use for home defense.... A lot of things changed for me that day. ( to be continued)"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:101193","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/101193.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=101193"}}],"title":"WoW!!! Now I remember why I deplore Social Media!!!","published":"2020-05-29T00:14:29Z","updated":"2020-05-29T00:14:29Z","content":"Well, I am done with Fb except to get messages from old friends and Amateur Radio buddies. I was starting to see that the collective IQ of FaceBook is approximately that of a Walnut and that is insulting the Walnut!!! There are aspects I do like about Fb but it is mostly the HAM stuff. I have been a Radio Amateur for 55 years. I have Accomplished a lot in that hobby and I like to give back. I had a lot of Hams help me when I was 11 years old and got my first license. Many of them helped me with the lore of being a HAM. If you can imagine a bunch of middle aged men helping a hyperacticve kid learn the Morse Code, learn electronics theory including complex equations. This was a time long before computers were commonplace in the home let alone cellphones and live action computer games and all the rest we call every day items.

IT IS AMAZING THE IMPACT ONE TEACHER CAN HAVE!<\/b>
IT was a music teacher that got me started on this road. I had moved into a now school district and I had started playing trumpet in the former district. Well I had advanced myself with a lot of practice and was getting bored with all my old books so, I asked my music teacher if I could order the next book in the series and start on it while the other kids kept plugging along. He said yes, and the next week(we only had instrumental music once a week, he traveled between all the schools in the district) he stopped me after class and told me my book was in and if I wanted to I could come to his office after school and pick it up.
So, the school day seems to take forever but, finally it's over. I immediately head over to Mr. Scales(interesting name for a music teacher) office. I get there and he hasn't returned yet but, some of the other teachers in the same building said it was ok for me to wait in his office.

THE EPHINY<\/b>
I walk in his office and there is all this radio equipment. What I found out later, he was the emergency radio communicator for our school district so, he kept his station here in his office. I was awe struck!!!! I just sat in a chair and stared at all the knobs and meters and dials. Oh, and he had a teletype machine there too. I knew what they were I had seen them in Science Fiction movies on Saturday's. When he arrived, I am not certain. I was so involved that I had tunnel vision. He finally broke through and asked. \"do you know what this stuff is for\"? So, he took the next hour describing what a Radio Amateur was and what the equipment was for he even demonstrated the teletype machine for me getting I think it was a news feed but, I don't remember where it originated. He then let me tune around one of the shortwave broadcast bands and I got BBC London England!!!!! So, I asked can I become a HAM?? I thought maybe it was like a driver's license I would need to wait til I was a certain age. He said no you just have to pass 2 tests. A written test and a Morse Code test( The Morse Code requirement has since been removed, more the pity). Now Eddie B. Scales was an amazing man. He picks up an old copy of the American Radio Relay League handbook and says take this home. There is a copy of the Morse Code in the book and more of an explanation of what HAMs are and can do. I went home and immediately sat and opened the handbook and started looking through it. I started on that long road to getting my license.

MY FIRST RADIO<\/b>
I had told my parents my experience and they were encouraging, especially my Father who was a degree'd Electronics Engineer. He had wanted to become a HAM but, he just couldn't get the hang of the Morse Code. So, Mr. Scales stops by the house to meet my parents and he brings a gift. An old Zenith table top Short Wave radio and a Code-a-Matic. The shortwave is self explanatory. THe Code-a-Matic is a machine that takes a paper tape and when you play the tape it sends Morse Code for you to copy.

End of part 1 (to be continued)"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:101031","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/101031.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=101031"}}],"title":"Reflecting today on past years due to reading someone else's journal","published":"2019-09-16T20:33:36Z","updated":"2019-09-16T20:33:36Z","content":"Funny, I never really thought about it too much. I have, over my Life so far, been blessed with many things that I just took for granted... I was blessed with a teacher in my life that I didn't even recognize the importance of her influence until she took her leave. I am talking about Dottie my Wife of 41 years. I know I keep stating on February 21st of this year she took her own Life, realizing finally there was no hope let alone of a recovery but, just, a relief to her constant pain. It was horrifying to me sometimes, to be awakened out of a deep sleep to hear her keening endlessly with me being helpless to even really offer comfort that amounted to much. There were so many things stacked against her not the least of which was the medical community. They, as far as I was being told, were finding nothing. Let me break away from this for a moment. Over the years we had discussed such things as neither one of us wanted \"Heroic Measures\" used if we were so desperately in bad shape all that was left was long shots. I thought it would always be me(and almost was 7 years ago) that would cash in on this agreement. I was, if you will, the risky one. I rode motorcycles(no helmet most of the time), flew airplanes(sometimes in weather not acceptable for the type of craft I was flying), I climbed large towers(one which was my own) to work on amateur radio antennas. I had however one mantra in my Life, Fearless not Reckless... Hell, I learned to fly because I had a fear of heights or closer to the mark fear of falling. It cured me on everything except tall buildings. She was more the home body. All she wanted to do was stay home, take care of the kids and the cats. To the point in the mid 90's I was working for an aircraft company that had a plane on contract in France. THe French technicians were having a problem interfacing a particular radio that was necessary to the contract into the plane. It was to the point my Boss came to me and said I had to go to France to save this contract.... Sure, no problem, give me a day to design an interface out of the Radio Shack catalog and I will go purchasing everything at the Tandy stores in France. So, I went home and said to Dottie \"Would you like to go to France, in particular the South of France\"? \"All I will have to do is pay your airfare and everything else will be covered\"!!! She said\" No, you go ahead I really don't need to go see France besides, who would watch the cats\"? \"I'll see you when you get back\"... So, anyway, she never did anything dangerous or out of the ordinary to cause her trouble. The only problem, she was weak by nature physically and medically. That is what ultimately did her in. Now back to what I was saying. Her view of Life in general was very, very, pragmatic. When I had a problem I could not figure how to handle, I would ask her. She always had the right answer and she always had my well being most important, even sometimes to her own discomfort. Never so much so as when I came to her in 1990 with an employment problem. I was an engineer for a very large electronics company and for the most part, over the years, I had enjoyed the work. This last year I worked for them I had been assigned to train Malaysian Engineers and production personnel to implement a final test group over in Key-lang Malaysia thus putting 95 people in the Phoenix plant out of work and I don't mean re-assigned I mean out of work. These were people I knew personally. Knew their spouses their kids. It got to the point I couldn't look at myself in the mirror while shaving. I went to her and she said\" This is easy, go in and give you resignation\". I replied \"You know I will get blackballed out of the industry\". She said So, you have always found work when you wanted it\"!! She said she didn't think I would resign . I told her \"When you are behind me, I am 10 foot tall and Bulletproof\"... We made all the transitions and Yes I did find work. With money coming out of my former employer, We paid our all the bills ahead 5 years and I took some recovery time. As time progressed her medical issues started to show up. SHe developed lung problems that were not curable and would eventually kill her. then Hearing problems associated to Meniers Disease including horrible vertigo and tinitus so loud she had no hearing in her left ear. THis is going on long. I am going to stop here and pick this up later."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:100817","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/100817.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=100817"}}],"title":"Good to know..","published":"2019-09-15T04:26:13Z","updated":"2019-09-15T04:26:13Z","content":"Well it's good to know someone out there will be looking in from time to time. I have been out of the habit for so long it is taking time to get into the swing. I find it in some ways appropriate. This year has been a major transition in my life. Lost my Wife of 41 years in February. She had been so sick for so long and finally the pain the last few months of her life became completely uncontrolled and unbearable. On the 21 of February, she took her own life with my rifle after getting me out of the house. She had been planning it for more than a month, meticulously going through her well thought out parts of it. She tied up loose ends some of which took me some time to discover. Again some thing a lot of people don't understand is that a month and a half after her death , I started keeping company with a woman that I had known 46 years ago. We had mutual grief but, of different sorts. Her's was a daughter. We became our own support group and all I can say is it helped. I think I am being redundant right now because I think I already wrote this a while back. I will work on check in here.I really like this much better."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:100501","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/100501.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=100501"}}],"title":"Update on Starlyn and other things","published":"2019-09-01T20:49:21Z","updated":"2019-09-02T00:18:30Z","content":"Yep, it is official!! Starlyn is out of my Life now Forever.. It appears she set this whole thing up just to off-balance me and create havoc in my life. The other thing this did do was it brought clarity to some of the things in my life I was turning a blind eye to with the hopes, time would correct them. I guess in some respects, it did, but this lesson was rather a bitter pill!! First, I had, had my partner(business) accompany me to California to help me discern the situation. I was thinking another set of eyes and ears similar in nature to mine that I could draw on for advice and clarity. WELL IT WORKED!!!<\/b> Not how I expected though. Yes, he did give me discernment and clarity but, totally in the opposite direction I expected. When everything blew up at my house with Star, she took refuge at Howie's house where she proceeded to weave a scenario of me, being the bad guy and Howie bit, hook, line and sinker<\/b>. She can be convincing for a short period by being nothing but sweet and innocent but, she can only keep it up for finite periods before her mind can't sustain it. Well, she had that situation. She had to only keep it up for 2 days and during that time, she played the perfect martyr... She would serve him High Tea and be just Sweet as Pie<\/b>. Everyone that was either in his house or came to visit was shown the perfect model of a woman and a suffering daughter<\/i><\/b>.. Now, I expected more out of Howie (that was my mistake), after all, he's known me for just shy of 4 years and he met Star, for the first time, just the week before<\/b>. I got a call from Star the day before she was to return to Cali, telling me she and Howie were going to come get her stuff, I told her not to worry I would bring her stuff to Howie's, which I did.. WHen I got there, I unloaded her stuff and was talking to Andrea on the phone so I opted to stay outside til I finished the conversation. This decision was based on 2 factors 1.) I could see by a car parked at Howie's that Kayla(another trainwreck similar to Star<\/b>) was visiting and 2.) no one else needed to hear my conversation with Andrea(even though it wasn't about Star). Before I got off the phone, Howie comes out of the house, looking nervous, conversation very stilted so, I surmised it was not a good idea for me to extend my visit and come in the house. So, I left... I no sooner get home and I have another call from Andrea, telling me Star has just flamed me on Face Book for \"Not even coming in to say goodbye\"<\/b> and \"HELL NO, she wasn't going to give a puppy to an ABUSIVE JUNKIE\"<\/b>!!! WoW!!!<\/b> OK, I get it, she was going to play the part til the end. I relied on my partner to smooth this over and try to help her see reason in this situation. He assured me he would talk to her and make sure she actually understood the situation. oh well, in all this, the folks that were supposed to come get her evidently flaked out so, Howie decided to take her back to California himself, using the van he had told me would not make it that caused me to go out and rent a vehicle for the original trip. One of the things I asked him was could he at least come over and talk to me before he made the trip. He assured me he would so. Anyway, after many texts that evening, he finally went dark and the only communication from him(after 2 days of inquiry's) was late in the evening, he finally answered me he was just leaving L.A. I said ok, talk to you when you get back. 2 more days go by and I was talking to someone else that knew him and was informed when I told him that I knew he was worn from the trip and not to try to contact him til the next day, he pipes up and say \"Oh no, he was up and very active last night, at home\"!!! So, after many text's un-answered, I decided to drive out and see him. I took Erin with me just as an outside observer to make sure I understood what was going on and didn't let my emotions rattle me in a way that was wrong. When we left there we both had the same impression, he was agitated and was not forth coming on the trip or Starlyn. Even to the point he was point the finger at me as the only reason the situation did not succeed!!!! On a subsequent visit to his house(again with Erin in tow), to discuss some projects we were working on, he was condescending even to the point of being verbally antagonistic so, I cut my losses and left, feeling uneasy and disappointed. I now have been reviewing things in my head, even going back to before Dottie died and realized, he has been half-assing me for a long time. Giving me wrong information, sending me down blind paths offering help but, then, not ever showing, leaving me to work the situation out for myself. I am bewildered, saddened, and hurt. I thought we had the perfect partnership. Looking back, I can now see, his efforts have been half assed or non-existent in many cases. Things that actually made my situation worse and almost crashed me in a couple of instances!! Time for another change, I guess. I had been warned by others about him and especially when it came to women.. I had ignored those warnings because, I thought we were mentally on the same page. Oh, Well!!"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:100312","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/100312.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=100312"}}],"title":"Update on Starlyn","published":"2019-08-18T04:18:13Z","updated":"2019-08-18T04:18:13Z","content":"Well we didn't even make it a week. Sadly she was still that same Star from years past. Things went well the first few day but, I tempered myself a lot. There were times I wanted to speak up and held back for fear of destroying the harmony. I was starting to get a bit edgy because when she was alerted to things that we wanted to happen a certain way , she seemed to ignore them. For instance we have a front deck area that was converted to an enclosed area to smoke. We have been keeping her dogs in there til her house is ready. Erin asked her to not leave food out there because I am still battling carpenter ants and it attracts them. Her pups are not house broke due to their age but, when she cleans up after them she does it half assed and that also attracts the ants. Have DT earth but, it's fine dust and getting tracked everywhere!!! With all that it has slowed me down on getting her house done. She stays at Howie's at night for the time being. Just not enough hours in a day. Actually she is over at Howie's full time until she leaves because she blew up at me and I reacted back in kind. She was doing things her way disregarding what we said and to me it was total disrespect for Erin. That ain't gonna happen. So, it is over. I am done and will not try again. She told Howie that she was going to go take care of the trial in California on Tuesday, take a month in the mountains and then come back and maybe try it again. Well that's interesting, because I don't remember telling her I would be willing to try it again. As a matter of fact, My answer is NO. No next week, No next month, No next year.... Just flat NO!!! I will never do this again. First I am not her servant and I am not her spouse and so on. No control on me and I say NEVER AGAIN...
Somewhere down the road' if she lives that long, She is going to find out I am putting this place in a trust so if I go before Erin she will be the conservator of the property and nobody will be able to either contest her authority or sell it because the trust will be in the control of my daughter Andrea until which time the grandsons full fill a set of conditions listed in the trust charter. If both Erin and I are gone, there will be a proviso to give it to my favorite charity rather than let the family fight over it. I really am tired of her and her drama.+"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:100067","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/100067.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=100067"}}],"title":"It's Thursday!! ","published":"2019-08-09T01:27:35Z","updated":"2019-08-09T01:27:35Z","content":"Yes, it's Thursday and I am still working on the building for Starlyn. It will not be done before I leave but, should be able to finish it in short order when we get back. The outer structure should be complete and windows and door in place. So, not going to spend much time here right now. Will probably check in from the road."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:99806","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/99806.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=99806"}}],"title":"Daughter coming home!!","published":"2019-08-05T23:12:27Z","updated":"2019-08-05T23:12:27Z","content":"On Friday of this week way early in the morning, I am going to take a trip to California to pick up my Daughter Starlyn and bring her back to Arizona. I am preparing a humble little abode here on my property for her to live in. Having to move fast to get it completed on time but, I think I can do it. I will post some pictures shortly."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:99515","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/99515.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=99515"}}],"title":"A lot of water under the bridge!!","published":"2019-08-01T12:34:41Z","updated":"2019-08-01T12:34:41Z","content":"Hi,
To anybody that might be out there. This is the place that I always felt comfortable and for that matter, still do. I never wanted a FaceBook account. The one reason I got a FB account was that I had a couple of guys from South Africa that were on my raking crew with the farm. TO keep in touch, I had to have a FB page because they did not want a LJ account. As it stands now there is only one of the guys still on Fb. We talk once in a while.
Today I spent a number of hours reviewing my old journal entries. Geez, did I talk alot! That's ok it gave me a way to review to look at things in a much more subdued atmosphere.
I will reduce the couple thousand words to a maximum of 400 words or less. If I can't do it in that time, I will save it for another day.

Actually I am now picking this draft up after a few days. I am not sure where I was going with the 400 words so I am going to forget I ever said it. It's going to take a week or more to just sort out where I was when I left off here and where I am today. Even the difference between 2017 and now is rather drastic. Stated simply I retired from working a \"Real\" job, My wife of 41 years died by suicide after a long battle with Illness, I am rebuilding my life and my house, I am re-setting up my recording studio in the house so I can record the compositions I am hearing in my head, I am upgrading my HAM radio station, lastly I have a new Life partner. I will cover these in detail over the next few days and go on to others. Oh, one last thing my prodigal Daughter is coming home. The prep for this is tying me up because I am building a small dwelling for her on my property.. Will write more later today."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:99156","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/99156.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=99156"}}],"title":"New Year","published":"2017-01-04T01:20:43Z","updated":"2017-01-04T01:20:43Z","content":"Goodbye 2016.<\/b>
Wow, what a year that was. Got through it. Made a lot of changes but, kept some of my bad habits.
Probably will not get rid of all my bad habits but, I am looking at curtailing some of them.
Am down to under 1\/2 a pack of cigarettes a day. That right there is a big change for me. a month ago, I was up over 2 packs a day. With lowering the tobacco intake, the beer intake a going down as well.

Hello 2017<\/b>
Again, I am working on recapturing my life. Was getting so frustrated that I could not get anything accomplished. A lot of it was money. Had lots of ideas but, money was getting in the way. Managed to sequester enough to, at least, get going in the right direction. I am in the process right now of getting the radio station table and the build it bench completed. The first tier of the station table is done and I have the frame built for the test \/ build it bench. Will be working on the test bench tomorrow to get it closer to completion.
Have got a big weekend going on here with the Robotics Team so, I need to get as much done as possible by Thursday. Will post pictures wHen I am closer to done. Starting to look good though.

Regards,
DM"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:99055","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/99055.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=99055"}}],"title":"just another day","published":"2016-12-28T02:46:26Z","updated":"2016-12-28T02:46:26Z","content":"Sad to hear!<\/b> Carrie Fisher died today. Star Wars was an interesting phenomena in my life. It was released about the time I was doing my last trip with the road band. I had already met my wife to be Dottie but it was still early in our relationship. my last road trip was to San Angelo Texas and of all things they had a movie theater in town and it was playing Star Wars. I remember seeing it on the marque and wondering what is this, Star Wars? I figured by the time I got back to Phoenix it would be history. Didn't go to see it in San Angelo, I waited until I got bak to Phoenix. Saw it at the Cine Capri first time. one of the things I remember was having to wait in line to get tickets and then having to wait in line over an hour to get in the theater. My thought at the time \" Is this the only theater that it's playing at here in Phoenix? Probably should have gone another venue then I wouldn't have had to wait in all these line!!! I had no idea!
It was funny. After the first time seeing the movie, I was hooked. For the first month, I think I saw the movie at least 3 time a week! I had never, ever gone to see a movie even twice in the theater! I also got my girlfriend(future wife) caught up in the madness! By the time we started slowing down, I had seen the movie 47 times! One of the things I remember was fans in line comparing how many times they had been to see it... There was just something about that movie. The cast was magic together. Even the corny lines seemed to work. I mean really!!! \" I got a funny feeling about this\".... The space scene and the poetic license the producer took. Ship darting around like they were in an atmosphere and explosions. It was all for the story . It just worked as hokey as it might seem looking back on it now. Carrie Fisher was a big part of that but, I must admit, the cinnamon roll hairdo was a bit much!!!! funny thing, We did not repeat our dedication to the franchise on the second movie. As a matter of fact the first time I knew anything about the story line of the second movie was when I read it in Readers Digest. Funny!!!! The only time we saw Empire was once in a budget cinema. On Return, we got back into the swing even seeing it on opening day... So in all.... R.I.P. Carrie Fisher!!!!
Just a short not: Getting the room set up for the delivery of the new work table \/ desk tomorrow. Tearing down the HAM station and moving things around so I can get it situated and start re-organizing the room. Otherwise a quiet day here finished another book and on to the next. Don't know, I might turn on the T.V. and pop in the old VHS tape of Star Wars in memory of Carrie Fisher."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:98732","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/98732.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=98732"}}],"title":"Day after Christmas.","published":"2016-12-26T19:53:44Z","updated":"2016-12-26T19:53:44Z","content":"Yesterday<\/b> was enjoyable. Went to mesa to have Christmas dinner with my siblings and a couple of very close friends of the family. It was good. It wasn't a big rockus party like in past years. Very subdued but, very comforting.

Today<\/b>, I went to WalMart and picked another of their 2 cube organizers. I am working hard on getting my \"hobby room\" fixed up. The organizer is necessary to get more of my large vinyl collection off of the floor. I need to start getting more floor space in the room so I can move things and make room for the new Electronics work \/ test bench that is coming on Wednesday. have just so much vinyl, I estimate somewhere close to 2000 albums. May be less, may be more but, they are taking up a lot of room and I really don't like that they are flat on the floor. As time progresses and money permits, I will get another organizer to continue the on-going project.

I think I stated this a couple of days ago but, I am happy to be back Lj. Facebook is great for finding old friends and making new acquaintances but, here on the journal it more lends itself to actually writing my thought and keeping a log of what is really happening in my life. Maybe someday, some old friends from here will figure this out and start returning just as I have hopefully. If not, maybe, some new friends will find this journal and start some dialog with me. Whatever the case, I am going to continue here.

Update:<\/b> The town is still small. It actually started to return to the population level that it was before the housing boom( 2006-2008) and then bust of 2009. We were well up over 15,000 residents and now we have returned to around 7 to 8 thousand. That's ok with me. One thing that does concern me is they have finally started construction of PhoenixMart out by Casa Grande and that could, in the long run, affect the population here in Coolidge.

Another thing that occurred this past year. I am now semi-retired. this is one of the reasons I am working on the \"hobby room\" so hard. I have been feeling the urge to be building electronics projects again and without a proper place to do so, I have been very frustrated and about all I have been doing is coming home from work in the morning and drink beer. I am truely hoping to have the bench set up by next week at the latest. I managed to acquire some of the missing pieces to some of the High Power R.F. amplifier projects I want to build so, it is time to get cracking.

I think that is enough for this morning. have to go run a few errands and get a hair cut. When that is done I will be back here in the room rearranging stuff so I have room for the new bench that's to be delivered on Wednesday. I have some pretty high end test(even though it's older) equipment that has just been sitting here doing nothing. I may do another update on one of the list later this afternoon."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:desertmann2000:98429","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/98429.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/desertmann2000.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=98429"}}],"title":"The work bench.","published":"2016-12-23T22:51:33Z","updated":"2016-12-23T22:55:58Z","content":" A new start.<\/b>

I have been trying to figure out whether I should re-do the top of my bench I brought down from my shop in Tempe or just find another. Well, that was answered today. The local veteran's thrift store has the perfect desk\/ bench for my needs. It is 3\/4 particle board construction with a hardwood veneer it has 4 drawers, one being extra large. I will have to add a 2 shelf unit on the top( for the test equipment) but, I had already purchased the plywood to add shelves to what ever bench I decided on in the final draw. The best thing it was only $40 bucks and they will deliver it. I decided to have them wait on delivery until next Wednesday so I can re-arrange the computer\/ work room in the house. I can hardly wait! To be able to work on stuff in my house under controlled environment conditions is going to be a blessing!!!! There are so many projects right now that are waiting for me to have a real place to play!!!! Just a few to mention. I want to restore the old Hallicrafters SX-28 Super Skyrider receiver I bought for my Father and we were never able to get to working on. I am collecting parts for a linear amplifier using a 4-1000 vacuum tube. This amp should put out almost 2KW R.M.S. I am going to re-do a linear that a close friend gave me that uses 2, 4-1000s which should do almost 5KW R.M.S. I also am collecting parts for a number of A.M. transmitters. Plus, I have a bunch of test equipment that I want to build to make a complete A.M. HAM Radio station. The list goes on and on!!!!!! Now that I am semi-retired( 3 hours a day, 4 days a week), I want to find other thing to keep occupied besides drinking beer and playing slots on my smartphone!!! Those are the forth coming projects. I also have a set of Heathkit twins( SB-303, SB-401) I need to get going. 2 more vintage receivers( Hammerlund Super-Pro, Hallicrafters SX-62) to restore. A linear using 2, 813 vacuum tubes. OH my the list goes on and on. Just needed to take the first step!!!!!!

So, I think that takes care of number 11 on the list. <\/b>"}]}