Arizona Bobcat

Here's my first trail cam video of an Arizona bobcat. It looks a little skinny. I think it needs to eat something other than weeds...

DIY Air Purifier

While looking at YouTube videos, I came across an idea for building an air purifier for your home. Basically, you tape a quality filter that traps particles such as dust, pollen, spores, bacteria, rattlesnakes, etc. to the back of a large fan. Hopefully, the condition of the filter in a month or so will tell me if it is working. It may be a little harder on the fan motor, but a $7 filter sure beats a $700 Dyson purifier.

MERV 8 rated filter

Trail Cam Video

I set the trail cam out by a natural spring in the desert to see what critters are visiting the waterhole...

Humidifier

You normally run a humidifier in the winter months. However, with our current humidity around 7%, I am running mine at full blast here in June. It keeps my nose from bleeding and reduces static electricity to the point that I do not go around electrocuting small appliances...

Wimps

As of today, my next door neighbors and I are the only ones left on our street. All those wimps that cannot handle triple digit temperatures have fled to cooler climes. 😄

Monsoon Rain

Early this morning a little after 2:00 a.m. a massive thunderstorm with heavy winds and rain hit the park. As far as I can tell, there was no major damage, but it did cause some serious washouts...

Click on image to enlarge

After a long period of drought, I actually enjoy the rain. However, I could do without the wind as it has damaged my carport twice which makes me a little nervous whenever it gets too high.

AI Photo Editing

The park removed the flower bed in front of my neighbor's park model which has a great view of the Superstition Mountains...

So... I thought it would be a good idea to spoof him with a AI generated image of his new view...

Click on image to enlarge

This technology is becoming scary good. You have to wonder if at some point digital photos will not be allowed in court due to the ability to manipulate them.

Nice Weather

This Spring in southern Arizona has had some of the best weather I have experienced in the 14 years I have been visiting the area. Granted we could use some rain as it has been very dry, but the cooler temperatures and low humidity have made for some very pleasant days. And it looks like it may continue for a little longer...

The average high temperature in June is 104 F

In North Carolina where I grew up, it was generally a race between the temperature and humidity in the summer months to see which would get to 100 first. That makes for some very unpleasant days. If you have never experienced high temperatures with low humidity like we have here, you might be surprised at what a difference it makes. In addition, you become somewhat acclimatized to the warmer weather to the point that I now think anything below 60 F is cold!

Life In The Fast Lane

Interesting information about our planet:

• At the equator, the Earth's rotational speed is approximately 1,000 miles per hour
• The Earth's orbital speed around the sun is about 67,000 miles per hour
• Our Solar System is moving through space at a speed of around 448,000 miles per hour
• The Milky Way galaxy is traveling through space at 1.34 million miles per hour
  

I am thinking of putting a safety belt on my recliner just in case we run into something.

Tour de France Training

My neighbor, Glenn, has been training for the Tour de France this summer. Here's a video showing his progress to date...

At the rate he is improving, I may have to invest in one of those high speed cameras that tracks speeding bullets!

Trail Cams

When you do not want to miss any of the action...

Bulldog Canyon West

Joel chauffeured Ralph and I up Bulldog Canyon West to the Bush Highway in his tricked out Jeep...

Click on photo to enlarge

The trail is rated 2.5 which means a high clearance vehicle with 4 wheel drive is highly recommended. It also requires an OHV permit which can be purchased online at https://www.recreation.gov/activitypass/AP22844

Entrance to the trail

Where we had lunch

Gambel's Quail Family

First GoPro Video

Back in 2010 I purchased a GoPro camera which I mounted on my Gold Wing motorcycle. This is the first video I created from a ride around my neighborhood...

Self Portrait

While playing around with the photo settings on my phone, I took a self portrait. I was going for the hot, metro male look. Unfortunately, I got the dirty old man look...

Click on photo to enlarge

Monster Lizard

Yesterday, I placed my trail cam out by the AC to begin videoing some of the critters that stop by for water. This is the first one I captured. Counting the tail, it is almost two feet long! Hopefully, it just eats bugs, not people.

Dihydrogen Monoxide

Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO) is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and kills uncounted thousands of people every year. Most of these deaths are caused by accidental inhalation of DHMO, but the dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide do not end there. Prolonged exposure to its solid form causes severe tissue damage. Symptoms of DHMO ingestion can include excessive sweating and urination, and possibly a bloated feeling, nausea, vomiting and body electrolyte imbalance. For those who have become dependent, DHMO withdrawal means certain death. 

Quantities of Dihydrogen Monoxide have been found in almost every stream, lake, and reservoir in America today. But the pollution is global, and the contaminant has even been found in Antarctic ice. In the midwest alone DHMO has caused millions of dollars of property damage. And yet our government has refused to ban it!

Dihydrogen Monoxide is the chemical name for water

PCmover

The cooling fan in my main computer is failing. It is an All-In-One system that is difficult to open up for repairs. I called Best Buy and was told that it would be a minimum of $200 plus parts. Fortunately, I have a spare computer that was being used to mine cryptocurrency that I will use as a replacement. Having transferred data from an old computer to a new one several times in the past, I dreaded the conversion process, so I went online and discovered a highly rated program (PCmover) that would automate most of the work.

It did save me a lot of time by transferring photos, videos, documents and other miscellaneous files. However, it did not transfer everything and you wind up having to do some stuff manually. All in all, it was worth the price, but it is still a pain in the tush to get your new computer back to where you want it.

Unknown Visitor

Here's another reason I like having surveillance cameras around my property...

Fortunately, he was just curious and there appears to be nothing nefarious about his visit. However, I think it would be more appropriate for someone to knock on the door and request permission first.

Bra Tree

You never know what you will see in the desert. On our way to Box Canyon, we passed the extremely rare "Bra Tree". Apparently, last night's rain caused it to bust out (pun intended) in full foliage...

I tried to get Lyn to add to the collection, but she was not having any part of it.

I've Been Everywhere

While looking at some old home videos, I came across one from my biker days...

Getting Lucky

Immune System

This image reminds me of the times I drank water from a garden hose as a kid...

Drenching Rain

After a long period of drought, we are currently experiencing a heavy, drenching rain this evening...

We even got a rainbow to celebrate the much needed rain...

Steep Descent

I took an OHV ride with my neighbors to Box Canyon via several ridges with 360 degree views of the surrounding area. I had intended to make a drone video of us going through the canyon, but high winds kept me grounded. Here's a video of Lance going down a very steep and gnarly slope...

 
Unfortunately, the camera never quite captures how intimidating an obstacle like this is