Ridgecrest

http://natchezdemocrat.com/news/2008/nov/11/resident-attacked-break-/
Home invasion in Ridgecrest. Weeks circle is across hwy 84 opposite what we think of as Ridgecrest, but also known as Ridgecrest.

Coffee Table Book

Album purchased here with their create a photo album feature.
I hope this one turns out well. April 21 is Kailani's birthday.

Sneak Peek

What do I do on my day off? Here's a hint: elbow grease required.

Adding a few pictures to show (some of) this long winded project, now completed.

First Colt

Curtis' mare had her first colt a few days ago. In these pictures she is not more than 2 days old. Mama 'Dottie' is reluctant at first to let anyone approach and runs off. As you can see, the colt quickly tires and falls out. After a bit she was rested enough to get up again. Mama Dottie, Curtis' mare since she was a yearling, eventually let Curt pet the little guy. Dottie was broke and trained by the cowboy in these pictures, who will no doubt train this little one too.

How's that roof coming?

We are almost done with the reworking of the carport. As I expected there was more rot that could be seen without uncovering it. Rafters, headers, decking, soffit, eaves, ceiling, and several layers of felt, tar, and pea gravel later, we are nearing the finish line. The rain has fought back, my unrelenting job has fought back, we've had two hurricanes. We are winning. With Kay's help, the roof looks very much like a professional torch down modified bitumen flat roof (we used cold process) Best part, it doesn't leak.
previously homeowner

Work, and FEMA water

  Just getting in this evening as I was called in around 9:30 (Sept 1st) because the generator had died and they were sitting in the dark (they think I am 911). Overheating, due to a design flaw I am familiar with, was the problem. Seems the engineer(s) have the radiator heat exchanger cooled by the cooling tower water, which in theory, sounds good, but fails the test miserably as when the power fails, so do the cooling tower circulating pumps. Took longer to get to work than it did for me to get them lights.

Anyway, about the r.c. water...
On my way home, seems I got caught up in a slow moving traffic jam.  As we crawled forward, past the few blinking yellow lights, I wondered what the circus was about. Hillbilly's took it seriously when they announced that a non-working light meant 4-way stop and it would be enforced? Wreck? Rush hour worse than I remember? Escaped convict? Drivers license check? Turns out, me and my expired inspection sticker with the huge 8 08 was in a parade alright, all the way from downtown to the convention center and through the convention center parking lot, and these policemen directing traffic weren't taking no for an answer, they were dead serious. My radio decided that today was the day to blow a fuse, or perhaps I would be better informed.
I was in my first ever Red Cross water and ice give-a-way for the MS folks still without power, and there was no escape. I spent 40 minutes in a traffic circle, idled $2 worth of gas, and my LA tag and bad sticker wasn't helping. Only a couple of officers looked curious, but I must have looked desperate. I  thankfully picked up my six bags of ice, and two cases of bottled water, and was finally on my way.

Seems the storm wreaked havoc on the city of Natchez, and it seemed especially bent on taking vengeance on the Eola Hotel once again.
(Click me pics)

I joked that's because we are a gambling town now as yet a third casino announced it's intentions to open its doors. http://natchezdemocrat.com/news/2007/jul/22/natchez-hitting-casino-jackpot/
There are some other local images here: natchezdemocrat.com/photos/galleries/2008/sep/01/hurricane

These pictures do nothing to show the actual work involved in a storm's aftermath, the 25x30 foot slab of  mortar and stucco probably easily weighs over two tons, and all had to be picked up by hand. The window in the third picture was blown in, and is propped up with a 2x4 nailed to the floor. The guest in 710, that's the window seen next to the hole in the wall, said they heard and saw a twisting funnel that was spinning this slab in the air before it slammed back into the building and dropped to the ground. Not shown is the other hole that is punched below this larger one. As some of you know, we recently had a lay-off and as I am the only one left, this was somewhat dismaying. Curtis came and helped me pick this up. May God bless him and his good heart. I saw to it that he was paid a decent wage.
There are numerous leaks from the 15+ inches of rain that we have gotten, the  insulation from this wall has plugged every roof and gutter drain and the water finds the weak spots, or it makes new ones. The damages inside are  many. I have much to do, and here, my carport is still not unfinished, with tarps keeping off much of the rain, I have a large Bradford Pear limb down, and a lot of clean-up. Life is full of surprises, and we are thankful.

Homeowner

kay likes the open look, unfortunately, I can't work this look in

Completely bored, and having so much free time on my hands, I wandered around the place on my day off looking for something to do. Sure enough, in being homeowners, there seemed to be a little thing here and there to occupy our "free" time.....
Carport rotten and leaking...
Tree down in the backyard...
Lean-to shed rotten & leaking...
It is set-in raining cats & dogs so I get an unwanted delay in taking care of things here.

Oh the joy...

When work is too much...

A fellow supervisor who has recently experienced a tragedy can't tell you, she is probably still at work. A single Mom who has worked long hours trying to provide the best she can for her two boys, has worked 10, 12, even 16 hour shifts, and every weekend as long as I've known her. Probably the least paid, yet hardest working supervisor we have, our housekeeping overseer has remained a visible presence for all of the 12, moving on 13 years, I have been with this company. She started out as a housekeeper, and was promoted through her diligence nearly 18 years ago.
I've watched her children grow up, and ever dependent on their mom for advice and support, they have called daily to the point of annoyance to our desk clerks, they have visited often almost every day, as this seems to be the only place they can find their Mom. Even as this story unfolded, with the arrest of her youngest boy, who just turned 18, around 2 A.M. on a Tuesday morning, this workaholic Mom almost predictably came to work at 8 A.M., after a sleepless night.
Needless to say, she is stunned and in shock, but she knows work, and finds comfort in passing time there. She is easily brought to tears, and going through grief as much as anyone can without the finality of death. Afraid to go home, she stays with her brother, the child's father no where to be found, he is a product of the ravages of an addiction that is unknowing, and unconcerned. Knowing that her boy is in the hands of the law, and feeling the consequences of being black in America, she knows that the penal system is full of boys just like hers, and she is filled with fear, and sorrow. She says she has cried for the victims mother, and she has cried for her boy, who is only a child to her.
I don't know why I am relating this story, but feel I should.
They say this is in retaliation for another young man who's life was taken a little over one year ago, and street talk is there will be another, a brother for a brother, and so the fear. This is life in the trenches, sometimes it touches us, sometimes it touches our friends. Senseless, yet all too commonplace. I can't think of a person who is more undeserving of this, that their life is suddenly changed for the worst, but it makes me further understand a thought I have been having lately, that there are more important things than provisions, sometimes, we should be at home with our families,... work can wait.
You can read more on this story here: http://natchezdemocrat.com/news/2008/aug/13/man-murdered-roselawn/

Yard

Been rather preoccupied lately, in my absence, Kay took these few snaps.
Mostly have let the last couple years plantings do as they may.
The potato vine taking over the beds again, hiding most of the other plantings.
The plantings by the carport struggling with the creosote toxins which leech into the soil, what survives, is stunted and doesn't flower much. Not complaining, just making a recommendation so the rest of you don't get any thoughts about using old crossties for flower bed containers. Only suitable for berms and such.

Winter Soltice 2012

On the winter solstice of 2012, the noonday Sun exactly conjuncts
the crossing point of the sun's ecliptic with the galactic plane,
while also closely conjuncting the exact the center of the galaxy.
The place where the December solstice sun crosses the Milky Way
is precisely the location of the "dark-rift in the Milky Way
...'xibalba be' - the road to the underworld."

I have heard these and similar stories since I was a child, and have a particular interest due to some purported/imagined Mayan ancestry. So.., I was wondering if any of you historians could shed some light on the origins of the ancient Mayan prophesies of Dec 21, 2012. My interest is in knowing whether these beliefs are rooted in astrology, mysticism, or religion. Of course, astrology as a religion does exist, but I am looking more for a separatism or narrowing to a historical period, if possible. With thousands of places to research and read, I am hoping that someone has an actual historical account of the beginnings of this belief that is widely attributed to the Mayans, although I have learned that this belief existed within many different cultures as well; to wit:

As avid stargazers, the ancient Maya were keen to an astrological cycle we call the Precession of the Equinoxes. This is close to a 26,000 year cycle in which Earth transits through each of the 12 signs of the zodiac for about 2152 years each. Each of these astrological ages represents one month of the grand, Cosmic Year. Sumerians, Tibetans, Egyptians, Cherokees, Hopi, and Mayans refer to this same 26,000 year cycle in their mystical belief systems and each have developed calendars based on this great cycle.
http://www.13moon.com/prophecy%20page.htm

The date December 21st, 2012 A.D. (13.0.0.0.0 in the Long Count), represents an extremely close conjunction of the Winter Solstice Sun with the crossing point of the Galactic Equator (Equator of the Milky Way) and the Ecliptic (path of the Sun), what that ancient Maya recognized as the Sacred Tree. This is an event that has been coming to
resonance very slowly over thousands and thousands of years. It will come to resolution at exactly 11:11 am GMT.
Mayan scholars have been attempting to correlate the Long Count with our Western Gregorian calendar, since the beginning of this century. There has been massive variation in the suggested correlations, but as early as 1905, Goodman suggested a correlation only 3 days from the most popular one today. Known as the GMT correlation, or "correlation # 584283", this was finalized in 1950, and puts the start of the Great Cycle ( day 0.0.0.0.0) on 11th August 3114 BC, and the end-date (known as 13.0.0.0.0.) as 21st December 2012.

In the mythology of the Aztecs, the first age of mankind ended with the animals devouring humans. The second age was finished by wind, the third by fire, and the fourth by water. The present fifth epoch is called Nahui-Olin (Sun of Earthquake), which began in 3113 BC and will end on December 24, 2011. It will be the last destruction of human existence on Earth. The date coincides closely with that determined by the brothers McKenna in The Invisible Landscape as the end of history indicated by their computer analysis of the ancient Chinese oracle-calendar, the I Ching. We also have some researchers such as Terence Mc Kenna who claim that Earth comes into alignment with the center of the Milky Way Galaxy at this date, and that linear time breaks down at that point. world.http://www.greatdreams.com/end-world.htm
The Maya believed that time was cyclical instead of the western conception of linear time. This means that they thought that time repeated itself, so therefore, if they knew the past they could predict the future. By understanding time, they Maya could gain power over their world. Another important calendar for the Maya was the Venus cycle. The Maya were excellent astronomers, and could calculate the Venus cycle with only a two-hour margin of error.
http://www.armageddononline.org/mayan_calendar.php

On Sunspots:
Adrian Gilbert and Maurice Cotterell, in their book the Mayan Prophecies, say that the end of the Great Cycle is the culmination of a series of long-term sunspot cycles which will flip the sun’s magnetic field, causing earthquakes and flooding on earth. Moreover, the changing magnetic field will alter the endocrine production of the pineal gland.
Note: Real science is predicting the next/current sun cycle to be the worst in 50 years. The first two sunspot's of 2006 are moving in reverse direction.
Generally speaking, scientifically accepted records of sunspot activity do seem to be heading for a climax in the near future. From: http://www.diagnosis2012.co.uk/
August 15, 2006: On July 31st, a tiny sunspot was born. It popped up from the sun's interior, floated around a bit, and vanished again in a few hours. On the sun this sort of thing happens all the time and, ordinarily, it wouldn't be worth mentioning. But this sunspot was special: It was backward.

The Milky Way connection:
"The Milky Way is observed as a bright, wide band of stars arching through the sky. In the clear skies of ancient Mesoamerica, many dark, blotchy areas could be observed along the Milky Way's length. These are "dark cloud" formations caused by interstellar dust. The most prominent of these is called the "dark-rift" or the "Great Cleft" of the Milky Way. It looks like a dark road running along the Milky Way, and it points right at the cosmic crossing point, the center of the Maya Sacred Tree, right where the sun will be in 2012! The Maya called this dark-rift the Black Road, or the Road to the Underworld. They seem to have imagined it as a portal to another world, and the December solstice sun can enter it only in A.D. 2012. http://www.greatdreams.com/2012.htm
recent picture of the milky way:

This photo was taken in Southern France by Laurent Laveder on 7-28-08

kailani2.mov

grainy, as the uploader doesn't want to work properly with quicktimes .mov files:(

New yard work

cleaning the shed out. I needed somewhere to put an unused stack of bricks.

Everyone remembers the extraordinary skill I displayed here: http://tejasmidget.multiply.com/photos/album/145/landscapes
So, not to be outdone by older brother, here is some more insight into my never ending productivity. My imagination is only exceeded by my lack of deneiro.

Graduation '08

This is my last baby boy, all grown up. Maybe.
Anyway, I'm proud to see him reach this important step in his life, and my wish is to see him make many more.

screens

what i see

Clip1.AVI

my two, before they drove real cars or trucks

Early Years

Doing some file transfers and thought I would share a few of these early photos from Levens Addition. There should be some other interesting pictures and avis
from that period I may post up.

la rednecks

What do country boys do in their spare time? well, this is one of them. gator hunting.

Carpentry102

The maintenance where kay works told her to return this to the store because some screws and parts were missing (he also chipped a corner on one piece) Here, a four year old makes an instructional video for maintenance people everywhere.



Very simple;Begin by READING THE INSTRUCTIONS.Then you can proceed with assembly:


Find a good helper to steady stuff for you:


Always make sure it is sturdy enough to use as you have planned, books, art supplies, etc.:


Get your helper to check for bending:


Pose with your work so you can get credit for it:



Get rewarded:


Remember to reward your helper:


Not shown here are the final pictures showing the completed cabinet, replete with two shelves, doors, and hinges. Hope this helps!  

carpententry102

The maintenance where kay works told her to return this to the store because some screws and parts were missing (he also chipped a corner on one piece) Here, a four year old makes an instructional video for maintenance people everywhere.

Misc