The truth about alcohol and fats...

The truth about alcohol and fats...  Via my pistol-packing mama:

You know you're from California if...

You know you're from California if...  My cousin Mike D. passed this along:

So as not to be outdone by all the redneck, hillbilly, and West Virginia jokes, somebody had to come up with this: You know you're from California if...

1. Your coworker has 8 body piercings and none are visible.
2. You make over $300,000 and still can't afford a house.
3. You take a bus and are shocked at two people carrying on a conversation in English.
4. Your child's 3rd-grade teacher has purple hair, a nose ring, and is named Flower.
5. You can't remember ... is pot illegal?
6. You've been to a baby shower that has two mothers and a sperm donor.
7. You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown, and you can taste the difference between Sumatran and Ethiopian.
8. You can't remember ... is pot illegal?
9. A really great parking space can totally move you to tears.
10. Gas costs $1.00 per gallon more than anywhere else in the U.S.
11. Unlike back home, the guy at 8:30 am at Starbucks wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses who looks like George Clooney really IS George Clooney.
12. Your car insurance costs as much as your house payment.
13. You can't remember ...is pot illegal?
14. It's barely sprinkling rain and there's a report on every news station: "STORM WATCH."
15. You pass an elementary school playground and the children are all busy with their cells or pagers.
16. Or It's barely sprinkling rain outside, so you leave for work an hour early to avoid all the weather-related accidents.
17. HEY!!!! Is pot illegal????
18. Both you AND your dog have therapists, psychics, personal trainers and cosmetic surgeons.
19. The Terminator was your governor.
20. If you drive illegally, they take your driver's license. If you're here illegally, they want to give you one.

Years ago I worked in Orange County, a hundred miles or so from home. I'd go up there for a few days each week, staying overnight in a local motel. In the mornings I'd go to a coffee shop right near the motel for my morning caffeine hit. The girl at the counter there was an extreme example of the first item above. I called her “metal woman” because her weight was at least half from the piercings she had. While they were nominally not visible, the bumps from them showed - easily threw the lightweight tops she wore. Braless, of course. I say "nominally not visible" because she was all too willing to show anybody those piercings. Make the slightest comment about those piercings within her hearing, and the next thing you know she's whipping out a body part that even in California isn't normally seen in a coffee shop at 5 am :)

Paradise ponders...

Paradise ponders...  Elray the well driller isn't having the good fortune we'd wish him to have.  In the past couple of days, he ran into a sand-filled stratum (but with lots of sandy water!), then 18" of rock that he was just barely able to pound the casing through, followed by another 18" of sandy stratum.  Today he'll be drilling down below that, and hopefully he'll run into some decent water.  The worst case is that he'll punch holes in the side of the casing way back up at 120', and we'll use the less-than-excellent water found there.  With lots of water treatment.  We're not too unhappy about this, as the well is just backup for our spring, but still ... we'd rather have a good backup rather than one that's just merely acceptable...

We had a meeting yesterday with a collection of people interested in perfecting the water delivery to the parcels we have a contingent offer down on.  All seemed completely reasonable (an encouraging sign), but surprisingly cowed by the water board (who makes the decisions regarding water distribution).  The result of this meeting: Bruce N. (my realtor) and I will be making first contact with the chairman of the water board and with another member of the board with broad influence.  Should be interesting!  I'm really curious why these folks are so afraid of the water board.  Perhaps I'll find out in this meeting :)

Over the past couple of days I've had two tool chests delivered.  The first one is assembled and ready to go, and it's a beauty: solid oak, very well made, with lots and lots of drawers to put things in.  The smaller top chest Debbie now lusts for as a jewelry cabinet :).  The second tool chest is all steel, and appears to be a kit (I haven't actually opened the boxes yet).  Assembling that is today's project.  Yes, I shall have photos.  This afternoon my welder is due to arrive, and tomorrow my plasma cutter should get here.  Lots of new toys to play with!

Yesterday I got to spend a couple hours working on the electronic clock.  I've got the 60 Hz timing source built and tested, and I'm now working on the prescaler, which divides the 60 Hz by 60 to get a 1 Hz source for the seconds stage.  This kit is beautifully done, with a great manual and very clear directions.  Highly recommended!

Take a gander at our 10 day forecast:

That darned global warming is bringing us an early winter!  It is not normal to have this much cold and snow before Thanksgiving here...