Category Archives: Uncategorized

This is a great day! Neighbor D finally found a horse. They had to put his old horse Bud down a few months ago, planning to immediately replace him but finding that for one reason or another good riding horses … Continue reading →

The reason the pipe is a funny color is that it used to be painted black. The heat not only made the paint and cement go away, it warped the pipe. I’ve never seen that before. And I’m not at … Continue reading →

Any time I run out of some needed thing it tends to leave a mark. Several years ago the crappy little town nearest where I live ran out of matches. Seriously. In winter. Just when I was about out of … Continue reading →

Okay, that water heater thing is getting scary. I was doing some yard work around noon, sunny day in the mid-nineties, when I saw that the water heater was dripping off the powershed roof again. Shouldn’t have been, the pressure … Continue reading →

Happened to be at my workbench when hot water started pouring down off the powershed roof… …and to be honest I’m surprised it took this long. PVC cement melted, I’m guessing. That water gets hot when the sun is really … Continue reading →

I’m no wiser as to exactly what broke on the ebike than I was yesterday, but I have a surprising resolution. I mentioned yesterday that the bike is under warranty – I don’t know off the top of my head … Continue reading →

It’s been a lackluster summer for hummingbirds, until the last few days. Since then a whole flock of Rufus moved in, and now it’s a little scary sometimes. Until this week that feeder needed filling every four or five days. … Continue reading →

Those big fancy targets Ian brought up at the end of May didn’t really attract me because they’re also heavy targets and a real hassle to transport and set up. But last weekend he brought something a little more down-to … Continue reading →

Leaving water in the hot water bucket has an add-on benefit… How long can you tread water, parasite? Of course this has always been obvious, which is why bucket traps are common in the desert. But as I learned during … Continue reading →

For the benefit of anyone thinking of getting one, the RadRover broke this week. Oh – physically it’s fine but electrically it’s an ex-ebike. This came as terrible news but the cause wasn’t hard to find: an open circuit shook … Continue reading →

With only intermittent full sun… …I ran water into a bucket and onto the thermocouple wire… …with visible steam coming out of the bucket and a temperature reading almost 30 degrees higher than the highest ever recorded. Yeah – the … Continue reading →

Neighbor S very carefully drove the glass cover for the heat exchanger to the Lair this morning. And between the two of us… …we got it ten feet in the air and mounted on the box. So now I’ll be … Continue reading →

I can’t show you what Torso Boy did with that herd last Monday. But it turns out I can show you some of the effect of what he did… ETA: In honor of his having found something useful to do, … Continue reading →

The speculation has ended: Ol’ Remus, of the long-running Woodpile Report, has died. No more updates, alas.

We saw it on the way home and decided Monsoon is Here, which always means race the storm because even if it isn’t over your home you don’t know how long it’s been lingering over a dry riverbed, or the … Continue reading →

There’s a fourth one already in the Jeep. I/we keep a dispenser working at Ian’s place, for a sort of way station, and it went empty yesterday as well. And… …yesterday afternoon I ended up going back to Ian’s place … Continue reading →

…it felt hotter yesterday because I was out in the sun longer. Today just feels like July, so, y’know, of course it’s hot. No need to be a pussy about it. Yesterday felt like an ordeal by sun, even though … Continue reading →

Now all I need is the glass, which to be safe is a 2-man job. This should exactly double the output, which basically means I can get 1.5 big buckets of hot water instead of 3/4 of one – and … Continue reading →

…with a few rifles to zero, his local ranges being closed. Not for any bullshit Covid shutdown, but for fire season. Along with a couple of videos it was three hours in the sun on the hottest day so far … Continue reading →