Lightning

Looks like Phoenix got a lot of lightning last night. Fortunately, it was past my bedtime.

Pareidolia

Burning Man 2025

This was not a good year for Burning Man. It started with a massive dust storm, then a torrential rain, and ended with a murder. Imagine paying $550-$3,000 to join 70,000 strangers for this experience...

Phishing

Occasionally, I receive what I believe to be a phishing email that is trying to steal personal information. One way I try to determine if it is legit is to click on the "From" address to see the actual email address. In this case, you can see it is "work@secure.net" which does not have the word Capital in it. If you enter the URL "secure.net", it comes back "This site can’t be reached". 

This may not be fool proof, but it does suggest you may not want to click on anything and should delete the email. If you want to be absolutely sure it's fake, call the company directly.

Dying Baby Fox

While picking up my trail camera, I came across this young dying fox. The way it trembles makes me think it may have been bitten by a rattlesnake.

Arizona Haboob

We had a massive dust storm (haboob) come through the park. It was short lived but definitely interesting...

Looks like it was filmed on the planet Mars

Photo courtesy of Ellen Capps

Sports Drink

Javelinas

My cellular trail cam is working well, but so far the only videos I have been getting are of javelinas...

Cellular Trail Camera

I have been using traditional trail cameras to record videos of desert animals visiting a natural spring about 2 miles from my house. However in order to retrieve the videos, I had to physically visit the site to access the SD card. Fortunately, they now have cellular trail cameras that allow you view your videos remotely from anywhere in the world via the Internet. 

I recently purchased a very affordable cell cam on Amazon for $41.99 that comes with a 7-day free and unlimited trial data plan. After that you need to choose a cell plan starting at 19.99/month or $169.99/year per device. Here is the first video I downloaded from the comfort of my recliner.

Update 8/27/2025: Camera quit working and would not restart. After no response from customer service, I returned it. According to Amazon, this is a frequently returned item...

Rattlesnake

While walking around the house this morning, I came across a huge rattlesnake coiled up against my neighbor's place. Fortunately, we have an individual in the park who captures and relocates them out in the desert (hopefully, in a different zip code).

Click on image to enlarge

Here's another photo that gives you a better sense of how big it is...

Look at the number of buttons on the tail

Lastly, here's a link to Scott's video of the release: https://www.facebook.com/1252588536/videos/765415452745361/

Amazon Overnight Delivery

I just received my first Amazon overnight delivery. I ordered everything yesterday around 2:00 pm and it was here this morning at 5:05 am...

I live out in the desert 10-15 miles from the nearest shopping centers which makes being able to order items from the comfort of my home and then have them delivered to my doorstep extremely convenient. Amazon has developed and implemented an outstanding business model.

Cute Video

Kensington Avenue

Kensington Avenue in Philadelphia is known for its homeless and drug addicted population. This is a live video that gives you a feel for what it is like for these people. If they are bent over at the waist, they are probably on fentanyl (a/k/a "fentanyl fold").

What a horrible way to live... and die

Kick-start Demo

Here's a demonstration of the proper way to kick-start an engine on today's cars. Make sure the audio is on.

Luxury RV

I almost bought this RV but was concerned that I might get a flat...

The Elastic Dancer

Could this be where Michael Jackson and James Brown got some of their dance moves...

Summer Heat

In case you have been waiting for it to warm up here in Southern Arizona before visiting the area, now is your chance...

Humanoid Robots

The future of manual labor is here...

Full Self-Driving Cars

The future of driving is here...

U.S. Constitution

The U.S. Constitution is 236 years old. It is amazing that something written so long ago has held up so well during that time. Can you imagine today's politicians doing to that?

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. 😄