Sometimes when I find just an eensie piece of a plant

laying around on the ground, I will stick it in this pot to

 see if it grows. These were all really small when I put

them in there and now one of them just

starting showing happiness.

Overheard at a party.

I bought a new Zippo lighter for my collection.

A Vietnam map Zippo. This one will never be used.

I have no idea if I overpaid as I cannot find one to

compare it to. This Zippo was made in July of 2010.

I actually bought this lighter on January 23rd of
this year (2025), but I am just now posting it.

Huzzah!

Two more teeth pulled today. At least the

hard part is over with and those guys on the right
lower side will no longer be a pain.

But the aftercare is not a cakewalk.

Happy Easter 2025!

The Easter Bunny came a'callin

and left me a chocolaty self-portrait.

There are even fun activities on the back

of the box he came in! I am going to save
these for later as they make take
some time to complete.

While at the thrift store I found something else that I had

been looking for. I bought this little tin whatever you call

it to put my incense burner in. This is the best burner I have

ever had and it catches 98% of all ashes dropped but it does

drop some and it also leaves my counter discolored.

Enter this little tin whatever you call it. It doesn't exactly

match the motif but it is otherwise PERFECT. And all of

this without even having measurements. Not too big, not
too small. Pure luck.

And yes, I had been looking for something
to put under the burner for a long time.

 

TRANSMISSION #74

And when I went to the thrift store the other day
I bought this over the door hook thing for about $3.00.
It is going to come in handy.

The Millennium Falcon in back of
my TV looks like it is in flight.

Well alright then... Another kind of

successful trip to the thrift store.

DVDs and Blu-rays galore.

And afterwards, lunch at Panda Express. I have

been craving the Panda and hadn't had lunch
out or Panda for some months so I went for it.

Rice, Kung Pao chicken,

Beijing beef and Pepper sirloin steak.

And of course, the customary fortune cookie.
I would love to surround myself with kindness
and beauty. I will work on that.



The day was beautiful and the view
was nice. Skinny, but nice.

My mom and I had a great day.

Happy BURT GUMMER Day, 2025!

...also

~ earthquake - 10:08 AM ~

When I was burying my Ghost Pepper plant, the

hand trowel I was using was just about to hit the
dirt when this little rattlesnake started
moving underneath it.

Man, there are a lot of snakes around this year.

This is a sad day, my friends. My Ghost Pepper plant

has given up... the ghost. I have been raising him for

just two months short of two years. But I suppose the

last pruning was just too much for him. He never gave

me a pepper, but I salute him.

His survival efforts under my amateur growing skills

were valiant. He has been buried in a place of honor

and will not soon be forgotten.

It is in his honor that I will attempt to grow a Ghost

Pepper plant with the last batch of seeds from the

Ghost Pepper kit that my son gave to me two years ago.

In this pot there are five seeds. Perhaps one will lead

us to glory.

But there will be a difference between this effort and the

last one. I will not be documenting this unless something

exciting (like maybe a pepper actually growing) happens.

I can't say "stay tuned" this time around.

Today we had another little rattlesnake visitor by
the front door and bigger one in the shed.

They are becoming active.

The crazy things you see while in the
waiting room at the doctor's office.

Wait a second... um...

This could come in handy.

When one chapter ends...

...another begins.

I will put this cactus in a bigger
pot when I get one.

TRANSMISSION #72

DOH!

Road closed.

HOLLA!
Anime in the wild.

When I was 16 I took a picture of a couple'a cactus

I had on our back balcony. Pretty bleak looking.

I've always had cactus.

All those open parking spaces and I watched the white

car park right next to the blue one. Then the
driver had to squeeze out of his door.

I don't get it.

Here is another photo I took at summer ranch camp
when I was 9 or 10 years old. It is a.... a.... it's a...
Well, I don't remember WHAT it is but we
caught it and I took its picture.

When I was 9 or 10 years old I went to summer ranch
camp. This was the dining hall (if you can call it that). 
All I remember about the dining hall (if you can call
it that) is that there was ALWAYS somebody in there
holding a bag of ice to a wasp sting.

Today's takeaway? Even back
then, my photographs were stunning.

I love Velcro. I use it for all kinds of things. In this instance

I use it to hold a pen in a very convenient place. This pen

is next to my Blu-ray player. Before I watch a movie I take an

envelope that is in the movie case and write the current date

on it. That's how I remember the date of my last viewing.

Weird, but true.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, 2025!!

TRANSMISSION #70

~ Wienerschnitzel in Diamond Bar, California ~
A short short video.

That's the longest long bus I have ever seen.

We had another little visitor outside the house today.

When I moved this rattlesnake, he was pretty calm.

I had to add this one. On this blustery but beautiful 

day, the American flag looks magnificent!

~ Happy National Pig Day, 2025! ~

And look what we have here. Happy Momma Pig

is feeding her hungry babies. Just perfect for Pig Day!

Oink oink!

For about two years, every place I have gone, I have

kept my eye out for 8 inch aluminum pizza pans.

I just want them for general stuff around the cooking

area. I never found any... anywhere.

I finally wangled free shipping from Amazon and

got both of these for a total of  $5.80.

And that's the name a'
THAT tune. Huzzah!

Whatever.

I found what I think is a pretty good deal. The clearance section
 at Walmart had two DVD copies of "The First Omen" on sale for
$5.00. I have heard that this movie is FANTASTIC. I was really
looking forward to watching it, but when I got home I checked my
receipt and discovered that they had charged me
the full price of $17.96.

Now I can't open and watch it until I go back next week to

have the price adjusted. I should have checked the receipt

before I left the store. Silly rabbit.

Oh well. I have something to look forward to.

TRANSMISSION #64

I saw this truck parked today. This one has a pool table
and a bar back there. There is no way that it doesn't.
And there is also probably a smallish dance floor
with a mirrored disco ball.

I pruned the jalapenos that I have growing in the garage.

This is the first time I have done that with these.
We'll see how it goes.

Happy Valentine's Day, 2025
from
El Rancho De La Tex

A cannister I bought at the thrift store.
I believe that it had been filled with tea.

And as promised, here are all my pals together. The name of the

guy on the left is Twenty-Four, because I bought him in 2024.

The guy in the middle, his name is BC because he was my first

Birthday Cactus (2023). And finally, on the right is Twenty-Five
because I bought him for my birthday this year. Makes sense, eh?

When you give a cactus a name, great responsibility is yours.

A brand new American flag is flying over The Ranch.

~ Happy National Pizza Day, 2025! ~

TRANSMISSION #60

!!! Ghost Pepper Update !!!

I planted my Ghost Pepper Plant from seed on

Wednesday, June 21, 2023. I pruned it the first

time on Friday, February 2, 2024. Now that
most of the leaves have again fallen off...

...I pruned it for the second time.

No peppers so far. All we are

asking for is one little measly pepper.

We're dying to try one.

We have yet to give up on this little guy.

Stay tuned (again)!

We had to get new tires for the car.
I love the smell of these places, garages
and such. But the loud noises
I can do without.

TRANSMISSION #58

I recently noticed that at night, when certain lights

are on in the house, a shadow that looks (to me)

like a dog, appears on the floor.