Catch up post # 1. From about Sept 2012 through December 2012.

Hello.  Well... I've tried for months to post catch ups - and now I finally have.   This is the first post.  I am going to copy/paste them from where I wrote them up to here.  Please read this one first. :)

Alright.  I started writing an update to this in December.  Then I never posted it.   Now a few months have passed.  What’s worse, is I cannot recall what I wrote about prior to stop writing.  And I wonder if google will delete my blog eventually if I don’t write in it.  

I admit that the longer I go without posting the harder it is to post.   When I want to post I tend to be at work and when I get home I don’t feel like doing anything.   I would like to say I could just take 15 min and write down the day’s events but to be truthful, sometimes it takes more then 15 min!  And I don’t have time!.  

So here is the first  “catch up” post.  This concludes 2012… from about Sept/Oct until Dec.  I’ll do a different post for the first two months of 2013 and so on.

Condo: 

Ok I don’t know what I said already.   I may have mentioned that I lost my renter.   Here is what has been going on the last few months.   In August my renter took ill and gave me notice.   Actually it may have been in July – but they paid through August.  (Needed 30 day notice).   So in September I had the condo put up for sale.   At that time I got one decent offer.  It was under contract for a time, but the contract fell through after the potential buyer talked to my neighbors – who talked up problems both real and imagined.   This was at the Beginning of October.  Then I spent some time making sure things like the furnace was working.  I also contacted the HOA about the problems and got a statement of what was true and what was not. 

As one of the problems was a rumor of mold I decided mid November to get a mold inspection done.  The same day – someone saw the condo and put an offer in.   50k cash.  As I had it for 60 and break even would be about 57-58… I said no.   I countered with 55.  They said no deal ---- but THEN came back Friday with , 52 – then 54, then finally agreed to the 55.   (All without my knowing… the emails were within several hours time.).   SO I accepted.  Problem was – they had wanted to close the following Tue originally.   We didn’t think we could do that – so my Realtor (“D”)  put in for the day after Thanksgiving. ---- except he didn’t check with the title company.   Turns out they (the title company) were CLOSED the day after thanksgiving.  We found out Monday.   So they started trying to get everything together for a WEDNESDAY (day before t-giving) close.   Please note this was only a DAY later then what the buyers originally wanted.  And they (the buyers) were ok with the Friday close before as well… (They were from China and the lady mentioned that they had a flight back…)  We thought that doing it EARLIER then the Friday after thanksgiving would be accepted wholeheartedly.   --- Nope.    I had asked D as we were putting together stuff if he had let the BUYER know about the change in closing and if it was ok.   He hadn’t.  so he called them…..    they said “we are so frustrated”  and – dropped the deal again!   (YOUR frustrated?  -- > what I was thinking.) 

However – there was ONE more offer.  We had to put the person off because we (“D” and I) were working the cash one.   Since that feel through we followed up on the third offer.   At first the offer was for 55 --- but with help at closing.  I didn’t think I could swing that so I suggested 56 with the same help at closing.   Mathematically it would help me.  (Not going to explain everything here – but it actually saved me more then than the 1k increase.)

I had to fix a bunch of little stuff (cost me 400+ for the plumber) but at least they didn’t ask me to fix the water heater (which I really hope works for her for at least a few more years – it is about as old as the one in my house  - 12-14 years – and I’d rather replace the one in my house….) . 

   I had to pay the HOA Management company 300 for a status letter.  I remembered at the last second that that had come up during the whole cash contract deal.   If I had waited, I’d have had to pay another 100 for a rush job!  

In the end I closed a few days before Christmas.  The lady who bought the condo – this was her first place buying anything on her own.  (She was newly divorced.  :( )  

She had her father with her – which reminded me of me when I first bought the condo back in 1998 as my Dad was there at the time.   But this time it was just me and my realtor.   My parents DID take me out to eat after in celebration though. :D 

I sold the condo at a loss, and now I’m concerned about taxes.  Supposedly I just need to fill out a form saying it’s a loss.   I can’t claim a loss, but I won’t have to pay tax on the sale either. 

Problem is, last year my tax adviser told me to deduct depreciation as a rental expense because I rented it.   She said I’d have to “recoup” the depreciation cost when I sell anyway.   BUT what if that makes it a gain!  I don’t WANT to recoup the costs!  And I’m guessing if I never rented it I wouldn’t have to worry about it.  I hope I don’t have to “recoup” the costs over 14 years (including the 12 I lived in there!)  All I want to do is say I bought it at X and I sold it at Y.     We will see and I’ll update on this later.

What is today?

So here it is – 9/11. You know I admit I’m wondering if I should blog about this – I know I may offend someone.

Today we do memorial things for those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attack.   It has been asked in the past – even as soon as the year after – how long should these memorials continue?

Today 9News had an article up about this vary thing.  People have mixed options and emotions about this event.    But what got me was a quote from a lady who lost her brother on this day.   The line starts out saying that she “is surprised at how many people plan outings on a day that changed her life”  then continues with her quote: “’It still boggles my mind that someone can have an event that starts on the 11th,’ she says. ‘It's just another day of business for some people.   It will never be that for me.’”

This bothers me.  Honestly- it would “boggle” my mind if she – who lost a very close family member (a twin and best friend)  would NOT do something to honor the memory of her brother on this day – weather in private or in public.   – The problem I have is she seems to think (this is how it comes across)  that everyone else needs to NOT go about their normal business on this day. – Almost a how DARE they plan events on THIS day.

Now – I’m not saying that everything should just stop.  I mean l I believe they still do things on pearl harbor day – though most of us don’t know the day (December 7th).    But the reality is --- for most people it is going to be just another day.   We aren’t going to stop celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, getting married, scheduling meetings and doctor’s appointments – just because of what happened 11 years ago.   We may participate in some other organized memorial, volunteer somewhere, give blood, or even simply observe a moment of silence, listen to the news reports and read the stories.

I also understand that to her and others that it will NOT ever be “just another day”.  That’s ok.

But this doesn’t mean everyone’s  lives need to stop on this day, every year.

To illustrate further – recently in Colorado we had a horrific shooting.   I admit – I don’t even recall the day now.  (Though I could look it up.)   Next year I’m sure the news will report on the anniversary and I will remember.   I’m also sure the people directly affected will have memorials and moments of silence.   They may do that the rest of their lives.   After all, many people remember the day their mom, dad, spouse etc died – for the rest of their lives.  Even if memory dims and pain lesions – it is natural for people to at least think about their loved one for even a little bit on that day – and that is when the person dies a more natural death.  Never mind a horrific one.   If the person’s life is cut short, killed by a drunk driver maybe, murdered like the theater bombings or 9/11, suicide or something equally shocking and unexpected – the person is more likely to grieve on that day.   It may even be hard for them to DO day to day things on that day.  But over time they at least can do day to day things the rest of the year.

However I doubt those people that lost a loved one at the theater expect the rest of us to stop and remember their pain EVERY YEAR after it happened.   And if I lost someone like that (I did lose my best friend – Dec 4th 1999 – but from a heart condition)  you can believe I wouldn’t expect the rest of the world to morn with me every year.

So I’m sorry – but today is a normal day to me.   I recalled on my way to work that that was what I was doing (driving to work) when the twin towers fell.   I will NEVER forget the impact.  But I went to work and I have bible study tonight (we will probably have a 9/11 centered prayer).   In other years I may schedule a doctor appointment or take a pet to the vet.  

Now – I am not saying to forget.  Oh no.  I don’t think we EVER should forget that a terrorist organization that hates us (and still DOES hate us) hijacked 4 of our planes and used them as weapons against us.   Just like we should NEVER forget things like pearl harbor or what happened in the holocaust.    It is important to recall things like this at the very LEAST so that they are not (easily) repeated.

One other thing.  Israel has dealt with attacks and suicide bombers for many many years before 911.  In fact – I was thinking about Israel and praying to God about the attacks weeks before 911 occurred because at the time there were quite a lot.  (but that’s another story)  And of course the attacks continue to this day.

How would YOU feel if every time you got on a bus, or went to the marketplace that you COULD be blown up?    Would you just want to stay at home and hide?   Well that’s what THEY are going through.  And I STILL say that is what COULD happen here.   It wouldn’t really be that hard!    Sure we screen sporting events and concerts and now airports.   Do we have security in subway, bus and train stations?   Why  or why not?     We certainly don’t at Safeway or the mall.

Just something to think about.

Touch the Flowers.

The other day I was outside tending to my garden. This year I wasn’t able to get what I wanted to done because of the weather. Hard to do anything when your overheated in less then 10 minutes. Also I had wanted to sit outside and simply enjoy more this year – instead I think I did this less. Seemed like the only time I had to be outside I felt I needed to do something – like weeding. However I realized I can take the time to enjoy being outdoors while doing other things. I do not have good eyesight. While I correct to well enough to drive, I don’t think my brain uses my eyes much anyway – I have to concentrate to be perceptive and aware of my surroundings- it doesn’t just happen. However, I have noticed my other senses tend to be above average overall compared to the people around me. Not near as much as someone totally blind would be, but enhanced. This includes my sense of touch to a degree and I find I like touching things - like flower petals. This is why I don’t like artificial flowers. I love the silkily smooth cool feel of flowers. I have to restrain myself sometimes from reaching out and touching things in public – though I still sometimes do – like flowers while shopping for plants. So while weeding I do this. I admire the colors and how the flowers are layer out. I reach out and caress the moss rose flowers and watch for a bit as a pollen laden bumble bee makes its rounds of the snapdragons. Snaps have been one of my favorite flowers forever simply because I like to “snap” them. open and close the petals. And thus – I like watching the bees doing the same thing. Landing on the lower two petals and causing the flower to gap enough to work their way inside- sometimes all the way – looking very much like the flower ate the bee. It has occurred to me before to wonder how many people pay attention to small beautiful things like this. I am in Colorado and I drive west to work every day – facing the mountains. And I wonder sometimes how many drivers pay attention to the beauty spread out in front of them each day. Now of course I don’t stare at the mountains to the point where I’m not paying attention to traffic, but there are times I round a corner and the view is just - breathtaking. Not everyday of course – but often. And at lights and depending on traffic flow – I can easily appreciate the beauty. Maybe this is what the saying “stop and smell the flowers” means. Just take some time – no matter how busy you are – to pause and appreciate life, to observe the beauty around us and in others, to stop and smell the flowers – or touch them.

This and That

Here I am again. I’m still sporadic. Days fly for me. There isn’t a good time to sit and do this writing. I can’t recall if I wrote this in here but – at the end of July I found I lost my renter. It started with an HOA warning letter about the stupid screen door being ajar or off the tracks (turned out to not be anything! I thought it was all bent or something. Stupid picky HOA!) So D. my realtor/manager called the tenant and found out she had been in the hospital for a few weeks. She got her gallbladder out but then they discovered that she had something else. Now she is going home to her parents’ to recover. They (her father who was paying and her) gave the required 30 day notice and paid for Aug. They have now moved out and cleaned the place! That was nice of them. I’m praying for her just about every time I think of her. One of my old Condo neighbors “A” called me and had noticed the place was empty and wondered if I was going to re-rent it as she had someone who would like to. Well I called back and left a message saying they had until the end of the month and outlining what I would require to rent. Plus I want to try to sell it. She didn’t return my call. I tried again yesterday after I received more info from my realtor. Still have not heard back. To change the subject – Sahara, my spider morph ball python, was sold to me last year as a male, but has sense been sexed by just about everyone as female. One guy insisted on male because of the “spurs” but apparently that is not reliable on ball pythons. “He/She” was sexed female twice by my vet (probe) twice by someone at S+T (popping) and by both popping and probing by two people at an event from the mile high bug club. So I’m going with female though I’m still uncertain. - Side note for people who don’t know – popping is normally done on younger animals and involves gently squeezing certain areas to get the hidden “male organs” to pop out. If nothing happens, female. If you see something, male. Probing means sticking a special small well.. probe – in that area – being careful not to damage the snake of course, how far in the probe goes is what decides male or female. Supposedly the further it goes (need more room for the “junk”?) the more likelihood the snake is male. The probe went in only 3 or 4 scales – so they said female. Because of this I decided to go ahead and get the other color snake I wanted a chocolate morph. In this morph the darkest area of the dark brown is extended so you get thicker bands. Also in some cases the lighter brown and the yellow areas are darkened into a med brown and light yellow-brown. So I contacted someone “R” on a recommendation from someone at S+T. He did have a chocolate male left but he (the snake) wasn’t as obvious as some the breeder had in the past. His clutch mate also may be chocolate – but the breeder is even less sure. After some back and forth the breeder offered 200 for BOTH. I wasn’t expecting that. As a chocolate goes for 150-200 I thought ok. But I wanted ot make sure the first one was guaranteed. He was a bit hesitant to actually guarantee the color so he dropped the price to 150 instead. So I either got a great deal or got bleeped depending on if the main one really is a chocolate. Because normal balls go for 25-40 as babies. So if they are both normal they are worth at the most 80. However, after seeing the snakes the darker one is either chocolate or very close. I suspect there is more then one gene at play here. People just breed the off colors or patterns in hope to “prove” a morph… no one really knows what makes up these colors or what the genes are doing! And I doubt the scientific community carries as much as they do for cat colors/breeds. Oh well. Either way they are mine now and settled in. I’ll see if I can attach a picture here. (Note, I will most likely move or delete this picture in the future so if you are reading this months or years from now the picture may no longer exist.)

Ouch!

This morning one of my cats, Onyx, decided to get extra cuddly - coming up and curling up next to my chest - making one of my older cats a bit jealous.  As a result I spent extra time in bed.   When I did get up, around 8- I was only up a few minutes when I got a horrendious cramp in my neck.  I was unable to do things like brush my hair or take my nightshirt off without crying out in pain.   This spasm lasted the entire day.

I unfortunately had to spend the entire day resting and icing me neck.  :(  I wanted to garden today, but couldn't chance it.   My mom drove me to church and then to dinner and scales n tails afterword- because I didn't feel safe as I couldn't really turn my head to the right without being in pain.  Now I'm sunificantly better so I hope tomorrow I'll be able to drive.  

Blut!

Hellos.

Well first --- in case you see this first --- I wrote some blog posts on the 1st... but forgot to publish them.  So I did that now after making sure that they are dated the 1st when I wrote them.

I'm watching the Olympics right now.  They are doing time trails for various running events.   I am going back and forth between events I recorded earlier and stuff now.   Though I forgot so I missed a few heats.

I mentioned in the earlier post I do not have "paid tv".   But I do have a dvd player recorder.   I have not used it in years.   I hooked it up for this, but couldn't get the disk to work.  I know I had problems before and honestly, thought it was the recorder.   But I decided to buy new disks just in case.   Before I had -RW disks  - which allows a re-write but only if you reformat the disk.  This time - after checking that the dvd recorder allowed the format -  I bought +RW which is read/write but you can delete and record again.   I had to look up the definitions to be sure.   These seem to work fine so far. :)

I spent most of today weeding outside and cleaning up the basement inside in prep for a guest coming over hopefully next week.

I made an error, however.   See last year - I had kept several large squashes with the idea of harvesting the seeds.  I put them in a box in the storeroom and... forgot about them.   I moved them to the snake room temporally to get the store room converted to a guest room.   Well... I went to toss them and found out that at least one rotted enough to wet through the box- it fell open.   then I tried to toss it and on my way to the staircase - dropped it.   It went BLUT  and now I have a nice big yellow stain on the floor.  I got most of it up with "spot shot"  but it's still lightly stained... and I used the entire new 14 oz can.   :(

I'm being bugged by a nippy kitty (Missy)  so I got to go pet her now.  

My news.

News- Personal

Garden:  Squash plants are doing great.   In fact I just did a squash casserole (today) for a potluck.   I also used Basil and Oregano from my garden (though I just planted the Oregano – so I almost pulled it up trying to pick some).    My tomatoes are still mostly green, but there are a lot of them.  Both on the “just in case” bought plants and the from last years seed plants.    My strawberries are doing fine, but I keep missing them.  I think for every one I pick to eat – I end up pinching off a dried up one or starting to rot one or – moldy one.    I still have a lot of weeds within the strawberry plants I need to get rid of.   Speaking of weeds – they are taking over areas I cannot attend to.  I wish I didn’t have to weed, then I could spend my outdoor time putting together patio areas.    I could pay someone of course but that could get expensive after awhile.   I may have to anyway.

Other:  I just found out yesterday that the person renting my condo is very sick.  She has to move out and move back with her parents to re-cooperate.   So they are giving notice and I believe will pay Aug, but then after that I have to decide what to do – attempt to sell the condo – or put it back up for rent.

General News

Alright I admit it – I’m still not good at this. Don’t know if I ever will be.  But I wanted to record the general news so if I wanted to I could go back and search for it.   I need to find out if there is a way to store blog posts offline in a “blog” form.   Because what if I offend google or something and they close my account?

Anyway-  This is simply a news update before the events get to far away.  This isn’t a life update – I’ll do that next.

The most sobering event that occurred was on the morning of July 20th.   A man walked into a theater in Aurora, set off a gas canister and opened fire killing 12 people and wounding many more.   I’m not going to say his name here.

Recently, the unborn child of one of the victims (who I belive is still in critical condition) all died.   But no one in the media or court system will acknowledge him/her as the 13th victim.   I will.   And that’s all I’m going to say about that at this time.

In maybe happier news- On July 27th the summer Olympics opened in London, England.
I loved the opening ceremony, but I missed parts of it and cannot view a re-play.  NBC is being really snotty this year.   You can only see limited programming locally (and I DO NOT HAVE cable or satellite – “paid tv”).   They have streaming live stuff and replays online - -- but guess what?  To view the content, you have to sign up.  In order to sign up – you have to give your user id and password from a PAID TV service!   So in other words – if you don’t have cable or satellite or similar you can’t watch the full Olympics – something that I believe should be FREE TO EVERYONE TO WATCH EVERYWHERE!    I can’t even go to the England news site, as any access coming from outside the country has limited access to their site content.

Title? What title?

Hello.  Here I am on my lunch.

I have been very busy at work lately on a project that is very time consuming and brain numbing.  Plus on top of that I am far behind on yard work and house work.  When I get home in the evening the last thing I want to do is write in this blog.  

But I wanted to be fair and report that currently all wildfires have been contained.   Right now all the stories I see are about rebuilding.  

At home, I am working through an area that is all thistles.   It's annoying I scattered hundreds of snapdragon seeds and it's like I sewed thistles instead.   I almost feel like there is a proverb involved.  

I am finding some of the plants I planted before the invasion... the invasion btw came about through a combo of events.

1.  days to hot to do much outside.
2. rainfall providing a sudden growth spurt
3. me seeing all these plants at a young stage but not recognizing them as weeds and not wanting to pull them due to sowing the snapdragons. 

Now they are going to seed again and I'm trying to get them out before its too late... but I think it already is. :(   

In the meantime I have my first squash.  I'm going to pick it when I get home.   And I have been picking strawberries, but I have to be more diligent at finding them.  I let too many go to waste.

Ok that's all for now.  Just a little break before going back to the grind.

Oh yeah !  and I got my new outside electric outlet that is closer to the patio table so I can bring my computer outside - or a radio. :)

Monday update. (Oh I'm on a roll now)

Hopefully if I did this right, this is an updated spreadsheet.    Colorado fires 2012  It looks like things are calming down a bit which is good.

It rained today.  I hope enough because I didn't water.  I checked my stuff... I have one variety of squash that is getting HUGE - I really need to check the name.   I noticed that my baby lettuce looks like it was munched a bit!   :eek:   That was why I planted marigolds... which are dead of course.  I don't know why I can't keep them alive.  Every-time I've tried... doesn't matter don't water... water everyday... soak,  leave damp, let dry no matter what the condition 80%-100% die.   I have like 2 or 3 alive right now over by the squash.  But all the ones in the lettuce area - dead.

I had one spider molt last night.  I don't have the name handy - it's one of my brachys.

Speaking of, my favorite spider supplier has a 4th of July sale... and he has a brach I don't have yet - and he has the same species of avac that died last month.    So.... replacements anyone?

When I feel like it I'll spell out the full names of these guys... just a pain because they are in Latin.  :)

Sunday Fire update

Hello Again.  I decided instead of doing a big detailed update that I'd put the previous info and the new info on the fires into a spreadsheet.  Then I had one heck of a time trying to figure out how to get it here.  I thought I could embed it but it just looks dumb and doesn't scroll.    The first time I uploaded it, google wouldn't display it with the grid lines.  So I put in boarders and re saved and re-uploaded.  Then I stumbled across how to open it as an editable doc.  (They replaced google docs with something called google drive - and I had to figure out how to get it to be a "doc")

I will update this on a daily basis - I may change the layout of the doc, and if so I may have to re-upload and publish.  Not sure how that's going to work - so this link may not be valid in the future... look to more recent blog posts for an updated link.  Note- if you are viewing these posts months or years in the future, I may no longer have the doc stored on google docs.  

Fires Spreadsheet

Personal Update Friday

I decided I wanted to keep this separate from the fires.   Now I don’t always recall what I wrote in the past and I don’t want to re-read my posts.   I write free-flowing anyway – so I most likely will repeat myself.  :)     Well after I opened this up I STILL have only one comment.  So it makes me think most of my hits are bots.  :(    I’ll still write here though, who knows – maybe the more I write the more traffic I will eventually get.

Lets start with a garden update.  On the positive side – I have little lettuces despite the hot weather.   They are growing instead of fading away.   I also still have violas blooming, which is cool in the middle of summer.    My squash plants are getting larger – esp one variety.   I’ll have to look up which one it is.    I think it is because it gets more water though… the front part of that garden gets watered with the grass.  Then I come along and water everything because the back doesn’t get water – and it’s easiest to set up the owl head sprinkler in the middle of it all.    I also think most of the plants I planted in the xeroscape are becoming established.   I missed watering and the type of plants that had died (or nearly died) before are now blooming.  (these are the replacements).

Now the negative.   Where those violas are?  A ton of weeds.  Because I’ve just been watering, the weeds have gone nuts.   I’ve been able to control them in the new gardens, because they have new soil on them.  The other areas – are full of weed seed, ready to spring to life and outgrow everything else.   Going from seedling to large plant before I can blink.   I also have lots of weeds in my patio.   So guess what I’m doing this weekend?    Well that and working on the extra patio areas.  Did I mention that here?   When I bought the house, the area in the back between the porch and the house was COVERED in Ivy.   It looked nice… and I admit I liked it… however it most likely wicking water to the foundation, causing problems.  Also it was starting to go up into the siding, into the AC and – well there was a small amount in the front that actually invaded the basement window screen.      Anyway – I hired someone to do a few things around the house… he also built my little garden areas.   He took out the ivy for me and tilled the ground and put bush killer down.   Hated to put chemicals on there but I’m not going to be planting anything there.   I’ve been digging out large roots and stems.  Blah.   I’m prepping it to put stepping stones that kinda match the brickwork of my patio.  Thus extending my patio.   In the odd shaped areas I’m going to put down decorative rock.

I also have to work on the front area – there I’ve been setting up irregular pieces of chocolate flagstone.   About three feet back to the house and then “lines” coming out and down from that area that will frame plant areas.   I seriously have to weed there too.

The other bad news – my spinach seeds are not sprouting… even inside.   I know they need cool weather but I thought I could get them started inside.   I may just end up with a fall crop.

All my pets are doing fine currently.    (Hope I don’t jinx myself saying that.)   I don’t know if I mentioned it on another post – but I walked into the spider room the other day to find my large B. Klassi hanging from one of the small screen areas of the cage by one leg.  (Note I use tarantulacages.com to buy my cages – the top is NOT a full screen, it is just a few circle areas – so this doesn’t really happen that often.)    He was almost touching the ground but not quite, and he could reach the side of the cage with other legs but didn’t have the leverage.  I’m glad I noticed him, cause I don’t know how long he was caught like that and I’d have hated for him to have to throw the leg- even though they regenerate there is always a possibility of the wound not sealing (which it generally does if they throw the leg instead of having it ripped off)   and the spider bleeding to death.  They have no clotting factors.    I carefully eased the cage off the shelf (it’s above my head)  and then tilted it so he could put the other legs on the side of the cage, and he was able to unhook (yes they have little hooks on their feet)  his 8th leg.
*******

This evening... I first got a haircut.  While in the salon the sky opened up in a drench pour.   But it didn't last very long.   When I got home the ground was wet though so I decided at least some of my garden got enough water.    I felt in the mood for pizza so I called pizza hut to order one.   They didn't have any specials that worked for me so I asked how much for double cheese and a topping ground meat on a medium pizza.  The price wasn't too bad so I was curious what it would be if I added another topping of meat - so I asked for double cheese and double meat.  The guy paused and said "so three toppings" and I said "yeah"   and the price went down!  This made us think that there was a deal on 3 toppings after all.  So I said I'd take it.   Then he told me it would be about 40-45 minutes for the pizza to get here.   I said ok and that I'd be working outside but around 8 I'd start looking for him.

Well.. I was outside for a bit and it was 15 til 8 and I realized I didn't take my cell with me.  so I went inside to grab it and checked to see if i missed a phone call.  I had.

It was from the delivery guy... he had shown up at 7:39!   HUH?  That was about 20 minutes after I called!   So I called back and apologized, but I HAD told them if they came early that I'd be around back and they didn't seem to have a problem with that - I don't know why he couldn't have gone around back.  If they did have a problem with it they should have mentioned it.   So they said they would get it back out asap.  I'm only 1 mile from them.  10 min or so later here he comes.   And I asked if I could check it first because one time there was a problem with the pizza and I didn't realize it until after the person left.  So I like to make sure there isn't any problems... *I open it*  - like right now.   the pizza had green stuff on it... I know I didn't order it with peppers.  I WAS going to take it anyway if it was just normal peppers - but when I pointed it out he said " you didn't order Jalapenos? "    I'm like HECK No...   He then told me that he's the one that took my order.  (I guess he could have lied and blamed it on someone else)  So I was like - Remember?  I asked about double cheese, then double cheese with meat and then double meat?     I must have looked shocked or something because he goes "I'm not blaming you"  I'm not sure if that was a "I know you said one thing and now claiming to say another but to be nice I'm not blaming you --- though I will when I'm back at the store"   OR if it was " I won't admit I'm wrong but I will say I'm don't think your wrong."

I guess I choose it to be the latter.    Anyway he called the store and they redid the pizza and I finally was able to eat at 8:30.  And yeah . two toppings of meat would have been more.   I had wondered about that.   He told me he thinks that he had just punched up a generic three toppings on the computer.   I still don't know where in the world he got jalapenos though.

Fire update

I really should have done this yesterday, but I admit I didn’t feel like it.
I saw on the news last night about I70 being closed due to a fire I had not heard of before.  Turns out the fire was started by lightning Wednesday afternoon.

Now I’m on 9news again and am seeing names for fires that again I don’t recognize.  This is insane.

NOTE: I do not want to include a detailed location and map every time.  Please refer to my information and links on my blog post dated [date]  for info if you are curious about locations.  9news.com also has maps.


First up Is the Eby Creek fire.  As of this typing it is only 8 acres and is by Castle rock.  (between Denver and Colorado springs)  It started yesterday by lightning.  It is expected to be contained and put out quickly.

Next is the Flagstaff fire – the one in Boulder.  They are still saying it is 300 acres – so it doesn’t look like it’s doing much of anything. (Good)  It is currently 40% contained.

The first big fire – the High Peak  Fire is 87k acres with 85% contained.   This fire started June 9th and is responsible for 1 death and at least 259 homes burned.  The cause is listed as lightning.

The second big fire which is now worse then the High peak fire:
The Waldo Canyon fire-  This is the nasty one that “blew up” a few days ago.   It has now caused 1 death (though there is another person missing so unfortunately it may be 2.  ) :(   It has also burned 347 homes.    I saw a picture of the neighborhood – it’s layout was typical for suburbia – very close together houses.    All I want to know – was this in a forest area and if so what were people thinking putting a whole neighborhood in an area with a fire risk?    And btw ALL forest is a wildfire risk – even if it rained everyday.    At some point it won’t.    I’d like to think suburbs in Aurora, Broomfield, Westminster etc  would not burn like that simply because they aren’t surrounded by wild trees that can get dangerously dry, be filled with brush and killed by beetles.  Oh sure there are trees, but they should be well watered, and mostly well taken care of in comparison because they would be in people’s back yards and deliberately planted as opposed to being part of a forest.

Now if I’m wrong, and the neighbor hood wasn’t surrounded (or even on 2 or 3 sides)  then I’d want to know what the beep happened.  Yes I know that it surprised fire fighters and “blew up”  and I don’t blame them completely for not being able to predict that.   But if these neighborhoods were a few miles away right next to the forest – then there SHOULD have been a “fire line” established there just in case.  Of course, they may have been in the process of doing that.   I know they were in the process (well I heard this on the news)  of doing something similar to protect the flying W ranch – but they ran out of time when the winds kicked up and the fire flared.  

Still I think there is something wrong here – the other fire took a week to burn 200+ homes.  This did the same in days.     I think people need to rethink where they put these shoulder to shoulder neighborhoods, with large houses crammed next to eachother.

Getting off my soap box – The fire is also 16750 acres and only 15% contained.
added: After I got home from work I discovered that a 2nd person has been confirmed dead. 

Lightner Fire: This is a small fire burning near Durango.  It is 80 acres and it is 40% contained.  The cause is also listed as lightning.

Little Sand Fire:  This is a month old fire it is located NW of Pagosa Springs.  This is another lightning caused fire, but it is no where near houses/structures – so none have burned or are threatened.  This fire is currently 23k acres and 34% contained.

Pine Ridge Fire:  This is the one that started Wednesday – more lightning.  I70 was closed for a time, now one lane is open both directions in the effected area.   It is near Ne of Grand Junction and about 12k acres.  It is only 5% contained, and there are 35 gas wells in the path.   9news states that officials have shut off the wells.

Treasure Fire:  This fire has burned 470 acres and is 70% contained. It started June 23rd and is by Leadville.  This fire is listed as human caused and still under investigation.

           
           
The last active fire is the Weber fire  This is/has burned 9k acres and is 45% contained. It started June 22nd and is located in Montezuma County 6 miles south of Mancos. No houses have been burned but 100 were evacuated.  9news report “ Officials say someone started the fire, but no further details are available at this time.”


Note – I typed most of this up at lunch but am not posting it until this evening.  So stats may have changed by now.

I don't know what to say

I had a post in mind earlier - but that's been shot to you know where. A quick personal note. I did receive my 2nd roof check yesterday and was able to meet with the roofer today in order to finish paying for the roof. But then I heard about the fires. There is a new one around the Boulder area. I could see the smoke from my house.   Then I got on Facebook because I was concerned about a friend from the area (she's not near the fire but there is smoke in the area.)  and I discovered another friend in Co springs posting about the loss of a famous ranch nearby.   Apparently the Waldo fire seriously flared up today.   We got thunderstorms across the state...and while I thought this was a good thing as it brought rain... it wasn't good down there.   It was very windy and the fire took off.

9news still had one structure burned, but my friend said that there were houses burning.   She gave me a link to the local news and I've been listening to the streaming as they evacuated neighborhood after neighborhood.    They couldn't confirm houses burned at first, but later they showed pictures of houses burning. :(    They are talking about how much a disaster this is - and how they don't think the state of Colorado have EVER had a wildfire season as bad as this.

I used to dream about houses catching fire as a kid.  One after another you'd see flames on the roofs of the houses.   In my dreams they were in my neighborhood - but at the time those houses did not exist as it was farm country.  The whole area is built up now.  

These fires are just awful.    I really don't know what else to say about it.

The news is irritating me right now.

The news is irritating be right now.   They say that there are 12 wildfires burning in Colorado right now.   But they only list 6.  So what about the others ?    I mean if they say 12 wildfires – I expect there to be 12 that are growing, that are not fully contained, or ARE contained but still dangerous.    Not some fire that is smoldering and has been for weeks and will be for weeks yet before it’s fully out – being watched but not currently a threat.    If they are counting some of the latter types of fires in their total then they need to clarify.   They need to say – and 6 are currently active, in various statuses of containment and are threatening.  Here are the highlights:  blah blah blah.     The remaining 6 are fully contained and smoldering.  They are being watched in case of flare up.   That’s what they SHOULD say.   But no.  They just proclaim that there are 12 wildfires and watch us all go GASP  with visions of 12 out of control fires.
** NOTE:  See update at bottom of this post**

Anyway I can’t find info anywhere else currently.    So I’m just going to use 9news.   Now, they tend to over-write their news articles with new information, and I want to capture what is going on *now*  So I am going to copy what they have.   Due to potential copyright though, I’m going to paraphrase or simplify  (I’ve been simplifying up to now)  some of what they are saying and quote some blurbs.   - Edit note: Ok I don't know why but this isn't quoting the way I want.  I don't like the block quote because it just centers it and doens't indicate it's a quote.

Ok I just went to 9news and now they have this: [quote=9news] Below are the largest fires in the state that are causing either evacuations or threatening homes. [/quote]  For reference here is the link to the article:    http://www.9news.com/news/article/274145/339/Wildfires-cover-CO-burn-homes-displace-families  I do not know how long this link will be viable – and like I said they most likely will update it as time goes on, so if you click on this link several days from now, the fire stats most likely will be totally different.  
I don’t believe they had that up earlier.   Now looking at the comments (I had posted a complaint) I see several others had the same complaint so I’m guessing 9news must have added it.

Anyway as of lunch today here are the stats on the biggest/most notable fires in the state:  (Btw Denver is the capital of the state and is located a little bit north east of the center of the state.   Here is a map of Colorado for reference: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl&q=Colorado%20   Though you’d have to zoom in to see all the towns I’ll mention.

High park fire:  Day 17, 83k acres only 45% contained.  [quote=9news] The fire started on June 9 around 6 a.m. and is burning approximately 15 miles west of Fort Collins. More than 2,000 personnel are fighting the blaze. [/quote]
57 more homes were confirmed to be destroyed for a total of 248.  Lightning is listed as the cause.

Little Sand fire: Now this is interesting – the site says the fire started MAY 13th.
It appears to be deep in the mountains.   Here is a quote: [quote=9news] The Little Sand Fire has burned 21,616 acres with 31 percent containment.  The fire is burning 13 miles northwest of Pagosa Springs and started on May 13 around 4 p.m. The fire is in rugged and inaccessible terrain just north of the Piedra River. [/quote]

This is listed to have been started by Lightning as well.

CR 102 fire:  This is new and started yesterday. It is in Elbert county which is  south east of Denver and North east of Colorado springs.  It has only burned 300 acres but 100 people were evacuated from it.  It also slipped from being fully contained to 75% contained.
There is no cause listed.

State line fire: This fire started June 23rd and is now 350 acres and 15% contained.   It’s on our southern (New Mexico) border.  It is burning in a remote area and is listed as human caused, but with no other info.  (Ie if it was on purpose, campfire etc etc)

Treasure fire:  This fire started June 23rd and is east of Leadville.  ( A little south of Denver and West into the mountains.)
It is 320 acres and 10% contained. Cause is listed as unknown.

Waldo Canyon Fire: This fire is becoming a concern.  It also started June 23rd.  It is west of Colorado springs and just north of Manitou Springs.   In fact Manitou springs was ordered to be evacuated yesterday.     [quote=9news] The fire is burning near Waldo Canyon off of Highway 24 in Pike National Forest and is at zero percent containment. The fire is at 3,446 acres and smoke could be seen from the Denver area over the weekend.  [/quote]   I didn’t see a cause- it is apparently being investigated.

Weber Fire:  This fire started June 22nd,  and has burned 8300 acres.  It too is zero percent contained.  It is located in Montezuma County just outside the town of Mancos.   And I have no idea where that is… checking map:   Ok this is extreme south west corner of the state – almost to the 4 corners.    9news says it’s human caused, but no other info is known.

This is 7 active fires.   9news now lists 4 inactive fires: Hewlett Gulch; Springer; Sunrise mine and woodland heights.  (the one in Estes Park.)

Looks like 9news listened to us – Now the opening paragraph says “There are seven active fires burning” etc instead of saying 12.

Oh and… it’s also 99 degrees out.

Journey days

Yesterday our church held what we call "Journey days."  It is a summer festival.   In years past it has been mostly on Saturday and Sunday - with a few things happening Friday night.   But they have now changed it.   I think it was changed last year but I had forgotten.  So I was surprised to find out the silent Auction was only on Sat.  Well it was on Fri night as well but I didn't go Fri night, because I thought there would be stuff on Sun. 

It was from 3 to 11 on Sat and I was gong to go around 4 or so then meet my parents for dinner at 6, however I was messing around in the garden for later then I thought.   See though it was hot, the one area I was working in was shaded.  I don't have very good stamina though - even when it's not hot, so I was going in and out and being careful.    By the time I cleaned myself up it was almost 5, so I decided to just meet my parents and go over afterword. 

My mom and I got there at 7.  When I was driving over and stopped at a light - I put my kindle which I had with me into my fanny pack and zipped it shut - and the zipper went SPRONG and zinged off into my car somewhere - leaving the pack permanently zipped.  Mom helped me unzip it when we met up but of course I now couldn't close it

I mainly looked at the auction items and played bingo.  Mom just went around and looked at the auction items really quick, did a $10 mystery wine pull (and got our fav wine, white Zinfandel.)  and then went home.

I spent 10 bucks on a raffle drawing that was ending in about 10 min (at 7:30)  - I put about 5 tickets into the box for the housecleaning, 1 into another box and 4 into a box for flowers.   I won the housecleaning. :D
Though there was a problem claiming it in the end... there was supposed to be a certificate that they couldn't find.  However, the ladies name and phone number was on an auction item form tapped to a basket of cleaning supplies that came with the housecleaning so that ended ok.  :)   I really need it.

I also bid on several silent auction items and one a flower print, a basket of mtn man stuff (mostly nuts and trail mix kind of things)  and the services of someone with a dump truck that could haul away items - or help me buy some rock I need.   I discovered the auction item about 5 min before closing and had to ask to make sure that it could be used to haul stuff TO my house instead of away.  They found the guy's wife who was also volunteering at the auction and I described what I wanted, and she said that was why they donated it - to help someone who couldn't physically do it themselves.  I want to get a boulder too and wanted to make sure that he could move it.    But I missed out on the wax melter thing (where you dip your hands or feet in hot wax)   but my mom said she'd give me hers - she only used it briefly.   My hands tend to get dry and it helps.   I used to do it in the salons all the time, but now they have these "soyaphin" gloves that is like self contained and chemical/water activated and they get too hot for me. 

Today we had the big unity mass.  Just one mass for the entire weekend.  The IDEA is that the whole church is supposed to gather together but of course there are people who will go to other churches instead.    which irks our Pastor.  In fact for weeks before the festival he pretty much lays out guilt trips.  He has a point, but it can be annoying.  He talks about how we are a community and everyone should participate one way or another or they arn't part of the "family" etc.    I can understand somewhat - as there are people that are pew warmers - they do the minimum possible, but it's still annoying for him to harp on it all the time.  

Of course this year it was really hot - we are going to have 5 days of 100 degree heat and Sun was the third day.   They had tents all over and the elderly could go inside.  (There are way too many people to hold it inside the church - fire codes)     Mom and I found a good spot that was shaded so it wasn't too bad.

Afterward, we went for breakfast.  Later in the day I left to go to my friends' for our twice a month anime meeting.   We meet generally every other week to watch anime and play games -- normally it is on the 1st and 3rd sunday of the month but we altered it this month due mainly to Father's day.   I needed gas so I stopped, and discovered I didn't have my cell phone. 

I kinda worried about it all day.  As my fanny pack zipper had broken the day before I had loaded my stuff up into an older fanny pack I found and didn't realize the phone area wasn't staying shut.   (Velcro not working  so I was afraid I lost it at the Mass or breakfast.  I called the restaurant and it wasn't there.  I was reveled when I found it on the love-seat when I got home.

Now my eyes hurt, my kitties have had their snack and are sleepy and I think I'll hit the hey. 

My Dad said...

... that there are now 9... NINE wild fires burning in this state. (Colorado.)

So I'm on nine news now to see if I can confirm.

The big fire - High Park Fire has taken off again - it's now 75k -81k acres. and the containment is down to 45%.  It's day 15. Still listing 191 homes destroyed and 1 dead.   BTW the range is because the headline says 75, but in the body of the article it says 81.

A new fire is burning in Estes Park.  It's within the city limits.  <wince>  Only 20 acres, but 21 homes burned.  They are calling this the woodland heights fire.

Then there is a breaking news blurb "Waldo fire (no jokes please)  burning in El Paso County.  This one is west of Colorado springs ( The springs are way south of Denver)  and is 2000 acres and growing. 

I don't currently see any more news articles but I found a link to a map of what they are calling the Springer fire.  This is also west of Colorado springs and looks to be in the mtns somewhere.

Ok I found a site that lists all of Colorado fires.  It is: http://inciweb.org/state/6/#

On here it states that the High park fire is 81,190 acres.

Other fires I haven't mentioned yet: 

Little Sand located in the San Juan National forest- 18k acres.  This is deep in the mtns near our southern boarder. 

Sunrise Mine - way south west - on the Utah boarder.  Listed as active but the details say it's 100% contained as of June 7th - so may no longer be a factor.

Hewlett fire.  Last update was the 6th of June. Some trails were re-closed.  It mentions flare ups and smoldering.   I think this was the fire started by the controlled burn, but I'm not sure.  So it would be contained, but not completely out.   And may be out now as the last update was awhile back.

I can''t find any more news on fires at this time.  

I will update in my life in general tomorrow. 

Friday. yeah I know boring title.

Ok Quicky update.

Fire:  Wow. I just went on 9news for the express purpose of giving a fire update to this blog.  But I was just expecting an expansion and more containment news - instead I get "flare up prompts more evacuations"

Well when I open it it doesn't seem to bad  68440 acres (and I think it was 67? before)  60% containment. 191 homes destroyed and still only 1 dead.

But 1000 new evac notices have gone out.   Some to people who had just returned back home.

and it's going to possibly hit 100 tomorrow too.

speaking of 100 - apparently it hit 102 at DIA (the airport) today - which breaks a record.  
It was actually kidna nice this evening - I was able to work on the front of my house without feeling like I was going to die from the heat.

I need to work on stuff tomorrow morning before it gets hot.

Also - it's my church's "fair" event this weekend.  Called Journey Days.   Generally I donate to the silent auction but I couldn't get stuff ready in time (I do photos)  and my mom told me that they had ALOT of stuff already so I think I'll just go and bid. :)  Not sure about the timing yet though.   

Cool down.

ok wasn't going to post but I checked the news before bed so thought I'd at least do a quick update.

First... it was much cooler today.... I think 70s though it may have hit low 80s.   It was cloudy when I woke up!   Way different then the forecast.   But it's supposed to be right back up there the rest of the week and it may hit 100 on sat!

Anyway I was able to plant a few more things.  I put in some basil because the seeds never came up.   I also put in some "rocket" snaps out front.  One is two toned red and white.  The others will just be yellow if they grow... we will see.

Lettuce in the garden still looks good - and I think I saw a spinach sprouting.   The potatoes and squash look different every-time I look at them so THAT's good.

I planted a yellow tomato in case mine don't work... but I waited to long and almost killed it.  So now I'm hoping it will spring back.    My other tomatoes look better.

I discovered a few more wild flowers in my weed area to the side.

Don't know if I mentioned that area before - it's on the side of the house and it is about 20x12 or so and was full of weeds when I bought the place.  Last year I sprinkled wild-flower seeds that didn't seem to do anything and planted a columbine and some other flowers.  Well the columbine came back!  and it did great!  It's pretty much finished now.  I'll cut it back and see if I can get it to bloom again but they tend not to.    I also had a day lily come back.   And mom's boarder plants did- almost forgot about those.   But most of the area is still weeds.  

Though now I have some purple wildflowers and some stuff that I think are black eye'd susans?   They look like daisy's or sunflowers but their petals are almost straight down instead leaving the brown "ball" of the flower exposed.  I don't know if I like these, but at least I know they aren't weeds.

 Fire update as I go to bed the headline is Day12: 68200 acres. (eek)  55% contained  still 189 homes destroyed and 1 death.  Below is an outline map I "snipped" yesterday.  The red blob in the upper left corner is the fire.   My brother lives at the blue circle and I'm down in the purple circle.   So quite a distance... but I did go to school in Ft Collins.   -- I didn't know you could upload pictures to blogs - I thought you had to have them on photobucket or something.  this is cool.   I wonder how long google will keep the picture?   

Updates.

Well here I am on Lunch at work again.

Fire update: Day 11-58k acres 50% contained 189 homes destroyed 1 dead.  However, it had the lowest 1 day growth in it’s history yesterday.

*****

Weather: very hot and dry.  Supposedly broke a record yesterday – that is according to the news it hit 100 in Denver.  However I didn’t see temps past high nineties locally.     It’s also going to be very hot today.

I’ve totally saturated my lettuce area so what happens is the top soil “crusts” over – but you can tell it’s still moist in the “trench”   But it may be too hot for the lettuce to progress past seedling stage. 

*****

A postscript to losing and finding my check.   Last night I heard Missy Meowing from the basement.  As she tends to grab random items and walk around with them meowing – I wasn’t unduly concerned.  It DID, however cross my mind that I should go down there.   But then I got into watering and forgot. 

This morning when I was feeding the cats I realized Missy wasn’t hanging around waiting for her food like she normally does.   At first I thought I shut her in the garage.  I had been out there earlier to grab an item.   I checked she wasn’t there.   So I started to wonder – did I even see her last night?   I realized I must have shut her in one of the downstairs room.   So I went down there.   No response.  I checked the snake room, she wasn’t in there.   Then I opened the door to the downstairs bathroom.   MEOW!  There she was!    Now I still have stuff in there from when I got my carpets cleaned so I guess she must have hid last night and I shut the door, not realizing she was in there.   Hope she didn’t leave a surprise….