Friday, May 25, 2012

Lobster Hat and other things

There's this part-time employee where I work that defies all common sense as to why he still has a job, especially in this economy. I won't go into all the details of why he shouldn't still have a job, but I will share a few things with you that will bring some amusement.  He told some of us at work how he was overweight as a child. This wasn't exactly a stretch for us to imagine, since he's about 300 pounds. He shared with us a story about how the restaurant Red Lobster made him feel better about himself when he was a fat kid.  He fondly recalled that whenever his family went to Red Lobster, they gave him a "lobster hat" to wear. This made him feel special, he said. Well, it was a rather touching story. He ended with, "Yeah, they're my most favoritist restaurant in the whole wide world!"  He followed this story with this, "My sister-in-law told me about a job and I'm gonna apply for it. I'm going to work at a dog factory. Um, dog food factory. They don't make the cans there, but I think that they make the food that goes into the cans. It's a warehouse job. I don't think I'll like driving forklifts. I'm scared that I'll hit something. Do you think my wife will let me have a dog if I get that job?" This is what happens to Ralph Wiggam when he grows up.

Yesterday, I was doing some ongoing cleaning out of a storage unit of my family's.  A lot of my deceased sister's belongings were stored there and sorting through her stuff has been a job that I've taken on.  Occasionally, I will find something that will open my eyes to my sister's past. I was sorting through her book collection--flipping through the pages to find notes and such.  I was going through a new, unread book.  It looked to be something she intended for someone else; it was. A note inside read, "For my boyfriend Jack, who has no balls."  This note had me rolling in laughter. My sister's humor is something I'll always miss. I'm just glad that I got to hear her crack one out posthumously. (For those who don't know: Jack was her last boyfriend, who left her in a hard place--she was fighting a serious alcohol and prescription drug addiction in the last year and a half of her life, which ultimately claimed her. She had previous troubles with alcohol that we--family--were never aware of.)

People who ride ATVs are on my shit list. Why? Because they just are.  Well, some are and some aren't. The ATV is not to blame, it's the idiots who ride them.  I guess what I am trying to say is that ATVs are great at enabling idiots to reach places they normally wouldn't be bothered to venture, due to the effort involved.  This idiot delivery system minimizes the appreciation of distances and terrain covered. So, in other words, an idiot is not humbled enough by the exertion of bike, hike, or horse. They get to a place and wreck it like it is their own little garbage dump/playground.  This is why I am angry: the structures and/or places are full of litter, tagged with "gang" symbols, and going to ruin faster than normal. I understand the appeal of riding ATVs and I have enjoyed riding them.  But the idiot factor gets my blood boiling.  

My grandfather "Vern" used to tell me that it was WWII that ruined the wilderness.  He said that the returning GIs and other people bought up surplus army Jeeps and 4x4s.  This led to people traveling further into the woods than before; people who were not as appreciative of their environment. He would say that they brought the city with them and left it there to rot.  I listened to my grandfather Vern and now tend to leave the "city" behind me when I go into the hills.

Lobster hats for everyone!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Proof of my advetures and stuff!

My eventual destination was the ridge line just at the top left of this shot. I wasn't certain where I should be headed at this point of the journey, but I figured that I would use my intuition and memory of what I saw on Google Earth to find the mine works.
I was hoping to do a more complete post on this, but providing my audience with proof of my adventures is top priority! The outing started off last Saturday with my brother and I driving up a desert canyon towards some mountains. We had spotted an interesting area on Google Earth and wanted to see what was up there. Well, the plans got foiled when my brother's Ford Exploder was not up to the task of going up the rest of the trail. So, I told my brother that I'd hike the rest of the way up myself and take pictures of what I found. I told him I'd only be a couple of hours. Four and a half hours later, this is some of what I found, in no particular order....
Me holding my find: a single-shot, break breach shotgun.
This is part of the tramway that the mine used to haul the ore down the mountain.
This is the main entrance to the mine.  I explored what I could and the network was decent. As for what I didn't explore, I was alone and had no desire to find out if "bottomless" pits were really bottomless.
One of several structures that I found. Most were foundations or had collapsed in on themselves completely.
I hiked to the top of the ridge to get cell reception. I needed to let my brother know that I was still alive (he was down the canyon in his car waiting for me). When I started down from here I noticed the butt end of a gun sticking out of the dirt. I pulled out the gun that you can see in the picture above. It must have been forgotten. I'd say that it had been there a year or two--nothing rare or special.
This was taken on my way up to the ridge mine. My destination was to the left of the shot.  Directly ahead of me is a beautiful mountain.  I have plans to hike up it in the future.
The gun after a light cleaning and oiling. I was able to break the breach open and cock the hammer. It wasn't loaded.  I haven't figured out the gauge yet. It's smaller than my two pump actions. As long as I can get the inside of the barrel clean and the breach seals properly, it should be safe to fire.
The remnants of an old building.
The wheel from the top tram house.
This was one of those pits I was talking about.  The complex (not this shaft) probably went down 1,000 feet, evident by closed adits seen on the way up. Look at the vein of iron ore; I'm not sure that's what they really were hoping to find.
Poltergeist or deadly gasses? I'm thinking it's a gassy Casper.

In conclusion, I am awesome. The End.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Ten Things that happened

  1. I had a birthday.
  2. I saw The Avengers.
  3. My back got better.
  4. I had a disturbing dream.
  5. I learned that it doesn't matter, so long as you don't murder them in real life.
  6. I went for a long hike, took pictures of old frontier ruins, and explored many mine tunnels.
  7. I found a shotgun up on a high ridge. It was half-buried in the ground.
  8. I did not find human remains near the shotgun, but wondered if it were dumped there by a criminal.
  9. I am stupid and took the gun with me. I plan to restore it and shoot at old T.V.'s and other "desert" appliances.
  10. Discovered that my deceased mother recently shared something on Facebook; thus, proving that the afterlife can be just as mundane as the present life.
In reference to #9, I present...


Monday, May 07, 2012

Back-ack-ack!

I threw my back out. Why? Because I wanted a new one. So I am now rocking the prescriptions--relaxin' with some Skelaxin and friends.  I can see how recreational avoiding pain can be.  But I am just an old fuddy duddy and follow my recommended dosages.  Wheeeeeee! More like "Whe--this kind of feels less like shit."