Summer over? Not yet.

We had a very pleasant weekend here in the Antelope Valley. It managed to make the mid 80s on Saturday and all of 79 yesterday. Today was a mid 80s day with a NNW cool breeze of about 35. But it will be short lived. By this weekend, which is starting on Friday, it will be 105.
But the Missus and I are headed out of town, We are going to Oceanside to visit Sharon's sister and family. We haven't seen Jerry, Hector and Ashlee for quite awhile. There is also the pool, spa and beverage of choice in the hills inland. Just off of the CA 76, the next exit south of the Camp Pendleton main gate.
Might go to the pier and get a new sweatshirt and or ball cap.
It is supposed to be in the seventies in North San Diego County. Pleasant. Sunday next is forecast to be all of 65-68. A fleeting taste of Autumn. Then back to the Desert.

The Highwaymen - Highwayman

For some of us.....from a certain generation

He's a poet, he's a picker--
He's a prophet, he's a pusher--
He's a pilgrim and a preacher, and a problem when he's stoned--
He's a walkin' contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction,
Takin' ev'ry wrong direction on his lonely way back home.

The chorus from Pilgrim Chapter 33. Kris Kristofferson's Album from 1971, The Silver Tongued Devil and I

It was my senior year.

Kind of fits after the life led, at certain points in history.

My sister has it up at her blog  Pixie Place Two from the you tube thingy.

Buck will understand this one.  

Falcon.. Part Two with more plane pr0n!

Here we go again. More random pictures of us out here in the Desert. Plus a few of the temperatures we are dealing with.

Sunrise. Looking towards Barstow.

Ryan, hard at it!

Towing an airplane. They let me do this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dan. Doing checks following engine start.

This was the temp during the launch procedure Dan was doing. It was about 0940!

Dan. Directing the jet out of the chocks.

Me. Waiting to start.

Launch checks.

Dave-O and his new friend, a Praying Mantis!

12:12 PM. Yup. 111 degrees. It did finally hit 113 on this one later. I had already turned in my photo pass and stowed my camera inside.
I hope you readers like them. It is just a point and hit the shutter button and see what happens!

Gettin WARM!

The Weather Thingy on the right has the forecast for this part of the world. In addition the one TV station that I do watch for news and weather(LA) has the temps for the Antelope Valley/High Desert possibly hitting 108 to 110. The LA area is going to be around 107.
But the flight line up here at Edwards and the one for our brethren at China Lake is going to be really toasty for the next few days! Taking camera for a shot of our Time and Temperature, I hope.

Tanking, Naval Aviation Style

Buck got me thinking with a neat shot at his place. So here is a really old one, circa 1980-1981 embarked in the Good Ship USS Ranger CV61 as a member of Attack Squadron One Four Five, The Swordsmen.

Note, this is a scan of a print that is around thirty years old. It has discolored over the years. Taken with a Yashica TL Electro 35mm. I forget what the lens was. I got rid of it a few years later.
Buck at Exile in Portales has a really neat shot of a KC-135 refueling an AC-130 over his location. Go on over and check it out. The link is over on the right.

Hometowns

Havre, Montana
Great Northern, Burlington Northern and now Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Depot. Oh yeah, Amtrak is there, too.
The statue is of James Jerome Hill. The Empire Builder. Havre exists as it does solely because of this man. It is the halfway point between the Twin Cities and Seattle. So when the GN was pushing across the Northern Tier it became a major facility for the Railway. Roundhouse, locomotive and car shops and crew point.

From the hill to the west. Also the site of the Wapka Chug'n  buffalo jump. Along the Milk River.

Downtown Malta. This is 89 miles east of Havre. Did grades one through three here. Mom and her parents taught school here. This is Center Street looking north to Hwy 2 and under the railway. Note stack train in picture.The shadow to the left is the marquee on the Villa Theatre. It is the only movie theatre between Havre and Glasgow, 160 miles apart. The GN hotel is on the right. The white building is the First State Bank.
Grandpa, Grandma, Great Aunt and an Uncle are buried here. People still knew who I was when I was dumping the rock train from here to Glasgow in the spring of 07. Like when I was in diapers remember.

BHO and the mosque and nancy p and associates

Just a casual observation. That idiot just can't keep from stepping in the manure, can he? And his "envoy" sent to the various countries that comprise the sandbox has been shown to be just a tad on the radical side. And now the sphincter of the house has the idea that someone or something is paying for the opposition to the mosque and they need to be investigated, by the FBI? The woman has issues. Reading a real news source is something she has failed to take up. Just like the CinC! Hmmmmm. Peas in a pod?
Seems to me that some of the observations are indeed correct. The Administration and The Congress are out of touch...............with pretty much everything. The percentage of Americans against the BHO Super Mosque is such that the realization of the voters being angry makes things a bit obvious. Well obvious to you and me, anyway.
Oh, just for giggles, Carly Fiorina leads Barbara "call me senator, I worked hard for it" Boxer by five points in the most recent poll here in the Socialist Welfare Republik of Kalifornistan. I do believe this is a step in the right direction. A real turnaround would be on the other side of the San Gabriel Mountains in the 30th congressional district. That being the ouster of Henry Waxman.
BTW, the kidney came out eleven months ago, today. 

Bell, California

If anyone has been following the news lately, out here in SoCal, the little city of Bell has been highly visible. It seems that the Manager, Council and certain city executives have been paid really, really large salaries. This in a city of about 37,000 with a median income of around 35.000 dollars a year. The city manager, a guy named Rizzo, made over 800K a year. The Chief of Police got about 430K or there about.
Now the special investigator from Attorney General Moonbeam, has been in the mix. It seems that the residents of Bell have been overcharged on property taxes to the tune of 3 Million Dollars. Now the boy from Sacramento, a guy called John Chiang, has said they don't get it back. It must go to schools. An overcharge not being returned to the people whose money it really is. Wow, talk about out of control bureaucrats! The overpayments should go back to the taxpayers since the tax overage was declared illegal. But no. Not with the likes of the governator and moonbeam in charge. And the folks in Bell are going to keep getting screwed regardless of what happens.

BHO Commercial

Pretty much sums it up, don't you think?

Thanks to my facebook friend, Chris Muir. This one is a real jewel. Yeah, I swiped it.

I hope all of you get a kick out of it. It is funny and painful, when one thinks about it.