Greetings, fellow campers,I think winter is making it's presence felt for the first time in these parts. We're supposed to get a hard freeze tonight. I am fortunate that I didn't sleep late this morning and did the hygiene thing even though it was in the low 40's - even got some time in the steam room. I am not going to venture outside until well into the morning tomorrow. I'm not man enough to hit the hot tub when it is below freezing.I'm on foot today to the library, appropriately clothed but I failed to take into account the viciousness of the west wind. At least this afternoon when I head back to my dwelling, the wind will be at my back. Thankfully, a benefactor supplied some funds for fuel so I won't freeze. I'll run BT a few minutes before I turn in tonight to warm the cab up and, most assuredly, upon awakening, believe you me. Hopefully, I'll be able to sleep until 8-ish in the morning.I was told of possible part-time job opportunity by an individual that I met recently, who is aware of my goals, and I will talk with the hiring manager Monday afternoon. Hopefully, it'll work out. I checked it out on the net and it seems like an OK place to work. The pay is decent but then again any pay is decent these days when you consider that my overhead is nearly non-existent...so far. The temperature is supposed to be close to freezing Monday morning but I have to clean up due to the appointment that afternoon. Well, I guess it will be an opportunity to test my limits - kind of like what I'm doing today with this walking thingy to the library...despite better judgement. Yes, I would've drove BT to my present location but I would rather use that same fuel to warm up in the darkness of the early morning. Earlier this week, I sent a resume in response to an ad in the paper for a manager of a self-storage facility. There was a whisper of something about the ad and I reviewed my Sent mail folder and shor 'nuff, I had mailed a resume to the same company before but to different person. And, yes, I did call and leave a message but no response back. Humans! I haven't worked out for several days due to laziness, I think. Maybe it's encoded in our DNA that when it's cold outside, huddle in the cave with the rest of the clan and conserve energy. That was probably easier to do with the saber tooth tigers roaming around looking for takeout in those days. Come to think of it, probably got pretty gamy huddling in a cave with the rest of the gang during the winter months - no bath, no toothbrush, no porta-johns. We have better technology for our caves these days, thanks to the gods. Maybe the smell was getting to them up high on their lofty perch. Speaking of toothbrushes, I've read where they are testing a toothbrush that you can use without toothpaste. I know what you're thinking but from the results to date, your mouth feels even fresher. It seems that they use titanium dioxide built into the toothbrush and when light hits it when you are brushing, it activates a chemical reaction that devastates the molecules that plaque consist of. They are also testing it as an anti-pollution measure inside houses by coating the vents with that same material. I remember reading some time back where Volvo (or some Euro car company) was painting that on the car radiators to reduce CO2. When I read that, I thought the USA wasn't far behind but yet to hear of our auto industry adopting that practice. Maybe they can start with some of the public bathrooms that I've encountered; destroying galactic evil one room at a time. I stopped at a place this morning for free coffee and they put out some cut navel oranges. The oranges were good, sweet and juicy, but I would recommend not to use coffee as a chaser. I was going to get the large donut thingy but thought better of it since it was cold and I was on foot and didn't have a place to consume that wonderful substance in comfort.Well, getting time to leave so I can beat the saber tooths back to the cave.Take care,David
Hi'ya, fellow humans,Hope ya'll doing OK and keeping warm during these cooler days. And taking care of the jungle friends.It has certainly gotten cooler in the Dallas area. Several days ago, I stopped by and retrieved a few winter items from a storage place; namely a pair of jeans, a couple of long sleeved pull overs, gloves and one thick sweater pull over thingy with a hood. There have been a couple of days that piece of apparel came in handy when out and about on foot. The jeans were a bit of a surprise because they were hanging a bit looser than the last time I wore them this past summer. I happened to have kept a belt and thank god it had some additional holes that I haven't used but am using now to keep the jeans from falling down. When I was packing stuff away in preparation for this lifestyle I almost threw out all the winter gear but something made me keep it. Glad I did! I was thinking at the time that surely I would have another contract before September but I guess that was my arrogance talking. Sometimes our thoughts are not our friends. The cold days in question I wore a tank top with a thick T-shirt with a long sleeve pull over covered finally with that hooded sweater thingy. With the torso thus covered, I donned the jeans with the belt (rung in the third unused hole, thank you) with underwear and tennis shoes. A baseball cap and gloves completed the ensemble and the temperature in the low 40's presented no problem for the few miles that I was in it. But we're not getting overconfident - December 22 ain't arrived yet. And you guys up North are thinking, What a wimp!! Heyyyy, I never claimed to be otherwise.These days, I'm walking everywhere weather permitting in an effort to conserve fuel. Yesterday was kind of an odd day. It was supposed to be chilly in the morning and wasn't which derailed my bathing schedule. It rained all day so I didn't go anywhere. It used to be that that phrase meant that I just hung around the apartment - today it means I stayed in my truck and read, wrote and slept during the day for several hours. I must have needed the rest because it sure felt good when I woke up at 5:30 PM. For the past several days, I've also been conserving what few bucks I have left and doing a good job of it without starving or mugging anyone or knocking over a financial institution. I haven't formalized any plans for the latter at this time. This strategy has depended on the couple of grocery stores' samples that I mentioned earlier, a free Dr Pepper several days a week from kind souls and granola bars with a packet of honey spread across them a few times during the week. I was gifted with some fruit and vegetable supplements that I've been taken on a regular basis that I'm sure is addressing the issue of essential food molecules being processed that the body needs. I'm anticipating a few bucks coming in the next few days (returning a toll tag) that should get me through to the end of the year. We'll let the next year take care of itself. At this point, I'm not really concerned about preparing for any significant year-end taxable events that will have to be reported next 4/15.I read in the paper about a movie called The Golden Compass. I saw a couple of previews where I exercise at and looks interesting to me. Maybe it's because I like the idea of having an armored polar bear as a transport and fellow warrior. I do have to wonder about their grocery bill though. Sorry, buddy, I don't have any spare seals on me right now. The article stated that a religious group was taking issue with it because it might weaken the faith of those who saw it. It seems that there can't be any movie, comment, artwork, literature, etc. these days that there will be some religious group taking a exception to it because it might cause some to question their faith. Are there some people out there don't want to think that maybe what they believe is incomplete/off mark/wrong? Are there some people out there don't want people questioning their faith because there would be less money to line their own pockets? To me, if your faith cannot withstand scrutiny, maybe your faith is a waste of your time. Even Mother Teresa admitted she doubted her faith but she still did the human thing - caring. And while we are on the subject - the Virgin of Guadalupe was in the paper today and the festivities have begun. I think that artifact was in the Dallas area in the recent past and I wanted to see it but was scared away when I read of the crowds. I like some people around but not a whole lot of them. I sure everyone knows the story about her and Juan Diego in 1563 in Mexico. But I bet you didn't know : 1) the plant fiber that Juan's cape was made of usually lasted, at the best of times, only a few decades and his cloak is still around today and I'm sure that that has nothing to do with his impeccable laundry techniques nor the brand of soap he was using; 2) the manner of how her image was imprinted on his cloak is still a mystery - if it was by any known imaging technology to date, our science would have identified that technique; and 3) within the past few years imaging technology has progressed to such a high degree that when they subjected the eyes of the Lady herself that was imprinted on his cape to image analysis, they could see the expression of ol' Juan himself in the clothes of that time period. That is absolutely chilling, not a bad chilling, but a damn good chilling. Yep, non-linear things have been around awhile and will continue to be around. And for anyone to be an atheist is...illogical.I believe in miracles. Do you? DavidP.S.Let me be among the first to wish you Marice Monty Dot and Happy New Year!!
