Author Archives: Robert

Just tried to update to the iPhone 2.0 software.  The install failed and now my phone is blank. 

Thanks Apple!

This just in: Came back from Tucson, tried it again and the whole thing worked.  I have the new 2.0 software but the same old phone–which is fine.  Love the downloadable applications.  If only the camera worked better. 

We picked up the other fountain.  Going to set it up this weekend.  🙂

My little digital point-and-shoot takes video.  I figured I’d try to capture the moment of sunset, fountain, cocktail hour with motion and sound.  This could get interesting…

Here is a mediocre shot of the fountain we bought at Tivoli Gardens and Fountains up in Tucson.  It looks much better in person.  We had a hard time finding something because our style leans more on the contemporary side.  Most fountains we saw were Spanish style, a statue or a copper-drippy-sculpture thingie.  This fountain fits our home.  We found another cool one that we’re going to pick up soon.  More to come. . .

Right now, Ray and I are listening to Goldfrapp while we workout.  I love to workout with music.  For a long time I had The Crystal Method playing during our workouts but the mood is somber tonight.  The evening is cool, grey and drizzly.  The forecast calls for this trend to continue for a few more days.  It’s kind of sad.  I live for the summer.  Right now it feels like October. 

I had to fish a dead bullfrog out of the pool filter today.  That’s a be-the-man thing for me.  I get to play Jeffery Dahmer with dead, bloated animals.  I just throw them over the wall for the other critters to eat.  It’s the circle of life.  One time I had to literally rip a rabbit apart.  Its whole body got sucked through a hole less than the width of a wine cork.   It stopped at the head.  I had to tear the thing apart with pliers. 

Looking forward to Saturday.  There’s karaoke at the Stock.  One of my favorite pastimes.  There are some pretty good singers in Bisbee. 

Got to do another set.  I am finally starting to see some positive results.  It’s very encouraging–and speaking of encouraging.  The comments on my last post are most appreciated.  It’s like your journal talking back to you.  (You’re right Steve, I need to explore the podcast.)

I will keep writing…and practicing my guitar…and working out…

Yesterday evening as the sun was setting, Ray and I we’re chatting outside while two dragonflies were buzzing around the backyard.  They seemed to be courting.  Seeing (and hearing) them flitting about with the brilliantly colored clouds in the background made me very happy. 

That’s all I have to say. 

I’ve been struggling with my blog.  I don’t live where exciting things happen.  All I can write about are my own personal ideas and observations–like snakes and insects and heaven forbid, myself.  It must seem pretty boring to my tens of readers. 

What some people may not understand is that I’m happy.  Really happy.  I used to work in film production and play in a band.  I lived in LA and Chicago.  There was always a grind.  A pressure of sorts.  Get a bigger gig.  Get a bigger production.  Go on location for 4 months and work 7 days a week.  I was always on the lookout for something bigger and better.  Over time, it got to be too much for me.  I had to escape.  To tell the truth, I’m much happier hanging with my man in the backyard watching the bugs fly by than going to a big premiere or getting past the velvet rope at a nightclub. 

There are no sirens here.  No gunshots.  No pushy people on the train.  Our 16 mile commute consists of two stop signs and a 65 MPH speed limit.  The best thing of all is a total lack of billboards.  It’s just mountains and sky…and an occasional dragonfly.

Anyone know what a degausser is? It’s a device to decrease or eliminate an unwanted magnetic field.  We use them here at work to wipe all the info off old hard drives.

For reasons I still don’t understand, the thing makes a hell of a noise.  It’s kind of like the electronic machinery in Frankenstein’s laboratory that brings the creature to life.  It’s really, really loud.  They’re degaussing across the hall.  It’s Monday morning, I have a terrible case of the fuckits and Frankenstein’s monster is coming to life right here in IT.  Need I say more?

As usual, I’m freezing my ass off.  My cold hell-with-florescent-lighting office is situated right next to the server room so I imagine that’s why this office is so cold.  I just don’t get it with all the air conditioning.

OK, here’s a question:

Why do people turn the A/C down to a temperature in summer that would be considered cold in winter and vice versa with the heater?  What’s up with that?  If it were 65 degrees outside right now, we’d have the heat up to 80!

Why can’t we just set the fucking thing to 70 and leave it alone?

It’s fucking July in Arizona and I’m sitting here wearing a sweater.

Ray and I went to Homer’s (and Sandy’s) places in Tucson to watch the 4th of July fireworks.  As usual, we had a great time hanging out with the gang.  Ray and I stayed overnight to avoid the late-night 90 mile drive home.  The next day we got up, went to breakfast and picked up a fountain we’d bought.  (We couln’t fit in in the little car so we had to come back with the bigger one.)  While we were picking up the fountain, we found another one that we liked so we’re going to have to head back up to Tucson this weekend to get it. 

After our cargo was loaded in the car, we made our way over to a little get together with a bunch of guys for some NPV (naked pool volleyball).  Yes, it’s silly, there are a bunch of naked guys splashing around in the pool but it’s still a game (or games) of volleyball and very good exercise.  My arms and legs were totally sore the next day. What a great workout.

We got home late and decided to set the fountain up the next day.  It’s made of concrete and was hard to navigate.  After lifting and positioning and all that, we turned it on.  It worked like a charm and we’re very happy with it. 

Ray decided to do a little bit of gardening in the front courtyard.  I went to clean out my fish pond to get it ready to move over to the other side of the patio to make room for the other fountain.  Ray yelled through the front door for me to come out front.  Something in his voice made me grab my camera.

This is what we saw:

A gopher snake in the courtyard.

It was about four feet long and didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave.  Now, some people may get a bit squeamish when it comes to these critters.  Ray and I think it’s cool.  Just part of living in the country.  Ray finally shooed it away and I went back to my fish. 

About 15 minutes later, I’d finished refilling the fish tank and got the pump going when I noticed this:

Mr. Gopher Snake in the back courtyard!

It was actually behind the fish tank when I first noticed the little beady eyes which means it just slithered past me while I was standing there.  Ray came over and shooed it away again.  For something that moved from the front yard to the back in a matter of minutes, it sure was slow. 

About a half hour later, I saw the snake crossing the driveway going back out to the wilderness. 

Never a dull moment here at Stolen Horseshoe.