$1,600 would have bought a lot of shoes

Well, I have officially done my part to stimulate the economy in this past week or so.

It started out nice enough.

Manfriend and I went for a Monday afternoon dive at Redondo before he had to go to work for a late shift. I forgot the o-ring for the camera, so the only picture is from the parking lot.
But the dive was nice. Conditions were totally flat, visibility was decent.

We saw a couple baby horn sharks (no sign of mama shark... whew!) and a traffic-cone orange anemone like nothing I have seen there on any previous dive.

When we got home, MF had to get to work so I cleaned the gear then got cleaned up myself for a quiet night of leftovers.

But I heard water running. I checked the sinks. Nothing. I checked the hose outside where I was cleaning the gear. Nothing. I checked the shower. It sounded like water running in the wall, but no water was coming out of the faucet.

This cannot be good.

Finally, I called MF. He asked about the water heater.

It never even occurred to me to check the water heater.

I went outside to go around to the side of the house where the water heater is, and before I got there I knew that was the problem.

Water was streaming down the driveway from the side of the house. It was all flooded on the walkway.

I got over there and turned off the water going into the water heater and that seemed to stop the waterfall.

It was late. Any solution would have to wait until morning.


Since MF had worked late that night, he was not going to work until later in the day, so he was able to help me check things out in the daylight.

Yeah. It was bad.


Calling a few places, I found out that it would be about $1,000 to have someone come out and install a water heater. But, if we did it we could get save almost $500.

Lucky for me MF is pretty handy to have around the house.

Also lucky for me (yes this will sound weird), my car was in the shop. This was lucky because it meant I had a rental. It was a little Kia Rondo. It looked tiny when I picked it up at the rental place. Turns out the back seats fold all the way flat and you can fit a water heater back there.


So we got it home and dragged it to the side of the house. After only one more trip to Home Depot for the proper valves, we had it installed.

That was the first $560 of the week. Oh, and I had to use a vacation day to stay home to do that and deal with the car in the shop.

Plus it looks like the valve is a little leaky, which is what likely caused the top of the thing to rust out over time. So I still need to get a plumber out to fix that.

Then came the car repair stuff. There were some seals and hoses and whatnots that needed to be replaced. The car, with 85,000 miles on it, still runs great. And since I drive about 80 miles a day to and from work, I need to keep it that way.

So, another $400. Thank goodness I don't have a car payment.

Then the car repair guy told me I needed new tires. I was afraid of that.

Since I had already taken a day off to deal with the water heater, I decided to wait a week on the tires. I was worried all week that I would have a flat or a blowout on the freeway. I get paranoid like that sometimes.

I called a few places and checked with Costco and found a good deal at Ocean Tires in Hermosa Beach. I took the car in Monday and got the thing four new shoes.

$534.

Is that it? Please, let that be it. At least for the next six months.

Oh wait, I almost forgot about the money I spent on the car rental.

$100.

Now, let's add it all up...

$1,594.

Yep. That's my part for the economy.

Craving, satisfied

I finally gave in to my recent scallop craving.
And man, am I glad I did.
I made a lovely appetizer last night of seared scallops in lemon-shallot sauce.

I think I have a new favorite preparation for scallops.
And the best part: It was so easy!

Round Robin: Not of this season

My paltry contribution to the Round Robin Photo Challenge: Not of this Season.

I am not sure where exactly he found it since I did not decorate for Christmas. But George turned up with a candy cane. Well AFTER Christmas.

I don't think he was really eating it. I think it was a toy for him.

Give me a sign

I don't know why, but some guy in Twentynine Palms has a thing for signs.

And now, so do I.

They are from roadside motels and bars and such around the Joshua Tree / Twentynine Palms area. He has them all over his yard. The lot they are on is huge. It is surrounded by a large fence (through and over which these were taken).

They are just awesome. I am glad someone feels compelled to save them, such as they are.










It is probably a good thing I moved to the city. Because if I had a big ol' piece of dirt in the desert, I might also need to fill it up with signs.

Take a right at highway 62

I know I am dragging this out. But I took so many pictures of my day and a half in the desert.
It really is too big for one post.
Plus, there are sort of themes to them.
So you get this post and then one final post. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow will wrap it all up.

This post will be some shots of the general landscape of the Joshua Tree / Twentynine Palms area.

I know some of my regular readers are very familiar with this, but I also know that they still enjoy the strange, singular profile of a Joshua tree, which is much like a snowflake in that no two are alike.

So, fasten your seatbelts. Let's go for a drive.

The road from Desert Hot Springs back to highway 62 to take me through Yucca Valley and Joshua Tree into Twentynine Palms. Yep, that is snow on those distant mountains. But that is not where I was going. This was heading west to get me to the road that would eventually take me east to 29.

This is a bleak-looking stretch of road from Joshua Tree to Twentynine Palms. Bail bonds office included. The court building for the area is not too much farther down the road.

Welcome to... Well, really, to what seems like a smaller and smaller town every time I go there.

This is heading down into the main part of town. See what I mean about small town?

But the drive-in is still there! Good thing, too. Without that there really would not be much to do unless you are somehow connected to the Marine Corps base out there.

I do not know why, but I like these kinds of windmills. I think it is something about the pattern and shape of them. But when I see one, I want to take a picture. Luckily there was a beautiful sunset going on when I happened upon this one at the Schoolhouse Museum in Twentynine Palms.

End of day one, Sunday. As I was driving back to the hotel after dinner, I saw this huge, bright moon coming up over the hills. When I got back, I grabbed the camera and the tripod.

This was the best I came up with after taking about 50 shots. Not bad. I'll keep that one.

The next day I made a couple spots in town then started to head home. I took the long way, through Joshua Tree National Park. Here are a few snaps from that drive.

Joshua trees are bizarre and alien things. This one seems to have cracked under the pressure of its own weight. Which is not uncommon. Some of the older trees have dozens of bits branching out from them.

Joshua trees in an area that burned at least a couple years ago. This is pretty much what it looked like when I was through here a couple summers ago.

This is the road to the Split Rock picnic / day-use area. The park is popular with rock climbers. Not these little boulders, but there are some nice sheer rock faces in several areas that draw people who look like little bugs climbing up the side.

There is a spot called Keys View. It is a little drive off the main road through the park, but I figured with the wind that day, it might be nice and clear. This is about the best I have seen it. That is looking down into Coachella Valley, onto Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, etc.

Looking a little to the west, there is Mt. San Jacinto.

Driving back down Keys View Road to the main park road before heading into Joshua Tree and back to the big city. This area was thick with some of the bigger Joshua trees I saw that day.

And finally, all the way back down highway 62 to the 10 freeway, west to Los Angeles.

This is the point where I feel like I have left the desert.

So, that is it. I had a lot of pictures, but really, they were rocks and Joshua trees. A lot of rocks and a lot of Joshua trees. It is a strange place, a place I did not appreciate as a kid. But a place that calls me back once or twice a year.

Because while I love where I live now, the desert is still home to some degree.

Crazy desert genius

I grew up in the desert. So I can speak from experience about the crazy genius that can only come from too much exposure to sun and cactus.

A prime example of this is Cabot's Adobe Pueblo.

Check out the Web site. Read the history of the place. I think you will agree with me.

In the meantime, pictures...


On the I-10 freeway, just before the turnoff to State Highway 62.

From here on the photos are from Cabot's Adobe Pueblo in Desert Hot Springs, Calif.

Click on the link above to find out more.

It is an odd place. Sort of the dream of Hearst Castle meets a shack in the desert.

Cabot Yerxa was a genius. Cabot Yerxa maybe was a little crazy.

But Cabot Yerxa had a dream and a vision. And he saw both to fruition.

For that, he is a man to be admired.

I remember coming to this place as a child, my father bringing me here.

I did not appreciate it then the way I appreciate it now.

Just like I did not appreciate my father then the way I appreciate him now. Now that he is gone.

From him I learned that sometimes it is OK to be different. From him I learned to appreciate Monty Python. And from him I learned a little piece of desert history that many people probably drive by everyday without even seeing.


And that those are not bad lessons to learn.

Here's to embracing the crazy genius in us all.