AS I SEE IT.....

Ray's Corner Soapbox - As I See It.....

Last month Americans made their choice for the leadership of our country.  After four years of Mr. Obama I thought he would be standing in the unemployment line.  Friends and people I have talked to seemed to think the same way.  But, wait....order now and we'll double the order.  Just pay additional taxes and loss of your medical benefits.

I usually try to add a little humor to my blogs but it is hard to be humorous when you truly look at what is going to happen to our country in the next four years.  To those voters that did not vote or the voters that sold their soul, you will deserve everything that is about to happen.  Me???  I'm looking for an island near Jimmy Buffet and plan to look from afar.  Every raise of taxes will be cheered on with champagne and Captain Morgan.  The lead republican, John no-Brainer, loves to sit on his hands (or maybe that is his brain sitting on his hands) and will probably concede everything to the Democrats making himself the laughing stock of Congress.  He needs to be replaced with someone that has a brain and then voted out the next cycle.

Next is the aristocrat of the congress, a graduate of the Tammy Baker School of Eye Make-up. Ms. Pelosi imitates the "deer in the headlights" look and is about as supporting the people of America as  our President.

Oh, and I did love the excuse given for voting machines that were rigged.  The machines needed "calibration"??  Okay, lets see if we can understand this.....these machines are digital.  Digital electronics operates on a digital math that states 0=Off, 0= low voltage.  The digital #1= On, 1=high voltage.  So lets put it like this 0 or no voltage is off, 1=ON or high voltage.  (Voltage levels are usually between 3 and 5 volts for a logic 1.

Using the "normal" digital logic states exactly as in the prior paragraph.  An output is either on or off with no in between.  Therefore the voting machines were rigged to add a logic 1 to the same output.  Confused?  Congratulations.  Where were the FBI on this?  The machines should have been seized and a trace of the circuits completed.  Severe jail time is usually rewarded to someone tampering with a national election.

Sorry, for the lack of humor and the lack of trust that someone who ran the dirtiest election contrast on record.  I will try to do better on my next posting in approx a week.

For now......That's My Story and I'm Stickin' to it !!!
 

Where the @#$@$@ have you been?

Ray's Corner Soapbox-- Opening The Soapbox

I know it's about time for me to get off my duff and blog some.  This has not been a great year as I have had some health issues.  Let's just say the hospitals are really happy in a financial way.

This year has been very slow for me taking pictures.  But I do have some I can share here in the blog(next posting). I will get to them probably tomorrow.


We live in the greatest country on earth and yet our government has to borrow money just to go to McD's for a hamburger.  How do you explain to the kid behind the counter that "NO!  I don't want fries with that because Congress didn't give me enough money".  Maybe it had something to do with all the golf games or the steak/chanpagne dinners or loaning money to failing "green" companies with no regard as to how much money is left in the account.  When Congress had their own bank, there were several bounced checks and these were the people we trusted with OUR money.

"Yes, we give you entitlements.  You can have all the mustard and catsup you want".  In reality, these are not entitlements because part of what you pay for a burger covers the cost of the "entitlements".

Let's "cut the cheese" and get to the real odor source.  We, the old farts of this country, and for the old retired military guys, have PAID for our retirement. We were recruited with the promise of a pension after 20 years minimum service time. (All we had to do was sell our soles to the government)  Yes, military retirement is an entitlement.  The military men and women did not have to pay a cost-share amount to cover retirement.  What we did was work our butts off (and I'll give you the Navy version) a minimum of 12 hour days, seven days a week while deployed at sea.  We would occasionally pull into a foreign port and have a chance to relax for a few days.  Were we paid overtime? NO.  What we basically used was the military rule: "Due to lack of morale, this weekend is canceled.  Commence Monday on Saturday morning."  While we were at our home station we were on-call 7 days a week (meaning our work day quite often went beyond the 8 hr work day).  We were also sent out on "mini-cruises" (usually 6 to 8 weeks) to train pilots and practice weapon runs on a target towed behind the carrier.  Our families took the brunt of our deployments.  As soon as we would leave the dishwasher, car or any high cost appliance would go belly-up.  Or the kids would get sick or worse...the wife would get sick.  The normal way of life for the military man was to bite the tongue, grin and bear it because you ain't going home.

Social Security: The Entitlement
There is plenty of talk from all politicians to this "entitlement".  Even calling it a Ponzi Scheme.  But....we are the victim, not the one that got all the money.  Well, excuse me but I have paid into Social Security all my working life.  Social Security funds were suppose to be in a "chest" to keep them safe.  Enter politicians that figure how to raid the reserve for SS.  Not enough funds???  Start a campaign for the congressional districts to pay back all the pork barrel items they received because their representative help rape the SS funds. An entitlement?  Hell, no we paid for it.  One additional item about SS, when FDR devised it, all the first recipients were given a gift because they NEVER paid one penny into SS.

Medicare:  The Entitlement
Again, we paid a tax toward coverage of  Medicare.  Now that I am retired, I have to pay an additional $100/month to Medicare for medical coverage.  While that may not be the most expensive medical insurance around, the money paid into the system should classify Medicare as a paid insurance premium.  Boy, we really need to replace a bunch of politicians with people that understand the difference between an entitlement and a consumer paid insurance.

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox and call it quits for now.  Pictures to come later.  I have to download a bunch into the computer (this is a new laptop) and then manipulate them so they look perfect.  Hmmm....is that an entitlement or a benefit??

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!!

 P.S.  I've updated this a slight amount.  Last night the computer said it could not find Live Writer and gave me an error when I tried to post. Guess I'll have to "add" a couple of things to see if Win7 64 bit is "agreeing" with Blogger.  Thanks to the followers for your comments as it keeps me fired up......and if you each would send me a few thousand dollars, I'd really be happy.

Ray's Corner Soapbox -- Tumbleweed Photo Group (TPG)

Our photography group meets in Elfrida, AZ and has taken an official name to use at events away from the home site.  The group is now officially known as the Tumbleweed Photography Group (TPG).  We have our own blog and will have sample pictures from personal and group shoots, information about Windows XP, Vista, and 7 (choose one) generally related to photography.  Also we will include information about our photography group showings, local Art/Photography shows and Arts & Crafts where we will be offering photographs for sale.

In the past I have covered such technical subjects as:
1)  Why is a mouse called a mouse?
2)  I am getting a battery light on my camera when transferring pictures.  Is this ok?
3)  My dog ate my User Handbook for my camera.  I gave him a laxative to get the pages back out (ugh) a little faster.  Is there any way to scan the pages that I recovered?  (Not on my scanner.....)
4)  What are all these cables I got with my camera.  Do I really need these?
And the classic.....
5)  I have a blue dress that I love to wear.  When my husband tries to print the picture, the dress is green and the skin tones are red.  I decided to dye the dress green but how do I get John's face a different color??

(Answers: #1 Because they didn't call it a dog.  #2 NO.  Always ensure you have good batteries or a dc power source or you will lose pictures.  #3 No further explanation.  #4 Yes and No.  Cameras normally come with USB cables to upload to the computer, audio/video cables so you can hook the camera directly into a TV to view the photos or video. No refers to most photographic printers have ports for camera memory cards and you can use the manufacturer's software to upload pictures.   #5 This is cause by being in the wrong spot so the light is changing the colors.  Let me explain, I know you have seen a rainbow.  If you stand under the wrong color, it will cause the picture to change colors due to the Zynikky rays of the rainbow mixing with the outbound color rays it comes in contact with.  This causes what is known as the Buuke Ultrasound Laser Links (otherwise know as BULL) bands to interfere with the electronics of cameras within 5 miles of the site.  Also there is no pot of gold under the rainbow.  Oh, all right.  My wife says that was too technical.  To simplify, check your ink cartridge or buy a better quality of photo paper.)

My expertise in Computers and Windows are put to the test weekly.  Yesterday's blog was about the properties of photographs using Windows 7.  If any photography fan (you don't have to be a member of our group) has a general question about digital photography, please send your question, date of birth, model/type of modem used, a blank check made out to cash, a sample picture of your fishing boat and 5 Wheaties Boxtops to ray1al65@gmail.com.  The group and I are in desperate need of something to make us laugh.....and we may write a book if we get enough questions.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Ray’s Corner Soapbox–President’s Day

Today we celebrated President’s Day giving credit to the elected Presidents of the United States.  Originally today was George Washington’s birthday but not wanting to give an additional time off for each president, it was agreed by the Congress of the US to honor all presidents on George Washington’s birthday.
So, I have a question:  Who are the following men?
John Hanson, Elias Boudinot, Thomas Mifflin, Richard Henry Lee, Nathan Gorman, Arthur St. Clair, and Cyrus Griffin
Answer:  I know you will love this.  They are the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th Presidents of the United States.  Prior to the Constitution of the US, the country’s government was formed by the Articles of Confederation (which only allowed the President to serve a one-year term….what a concept).   The Articles of Confederation didn’t work well as states were given too much power.  Hence, the leaders of the new country’s government banged heads together and came up with…The Constitution of the US.  George Washington was the first president sworn in under the Constitution.
So, there you have it folks, no pictures, no jokes.  Just pure fact and part of our history.
That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!!!

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – Memorial Day

A few citizens of this country have voiced opinions about Memorial Day and the participation by the military.  They are quick to point out that we have Veteran’s Day in November so why should we have two federal holidays for military?

First of all, Memorial Day is not just the military but a day to reflect on the citizens that came before us making this country great.  People like my father who did not serve in the military.  He wanted to join in World War II even though he was at the upper limits of the age the military would accept.  The military refused to allow him to join.  He was working for a defense contractor (Raytheon) installing a top secret electronic system on PT boats and Destroyers.  The mere mention of the system in public would subject him to years in prison.  We still use that electronic system and not just on military vessels.  It is called RADAR.

I never knew about what he did during WWII until I became a RADAR technician in the US Navy working on avionics.  (Electronics for aircraft…)

Back to the subject I started with.  Memorial Day is a celebration of someone who is no longer with us.  This happens all too much considering Iraq and Afghanistan War with our boys taking the major roles of the war.  Veteran’s Day is for veterans, like myself, that have served their country and are still here to talk about it.

You’ll probably hear speeches this weekend from politicians (folks that stay on the top floor of the ivory tower)stating the men in our national cemeteries have made the supreme sacrifice for their country.  Yes, they did sacrifice but the ones that made the supreme sacrifice are the wives, children and other family members of these soldiers.  The soldier is at rest, the family is now solely in the hands of the military widows and their offspring.  To my fallen comrades and their families, I salute you not only this weekend, but always and always.

That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – Photo Group Blog is Posted

Please check our photo group’s blog (that I am maintaining) for the latest post:

http://ourphotographygroup.blogspot.com

 

Let me know your thoughts and suggested improvements.

 

That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – Something New

I have thought long and hard….well, maybe not so long and hard as I don’t want to kill off too many brain cells.  I started a second blog for our local photo group and am hoping the members will put some of their work in that blog.  We started going out the last Monday of each month for photo shoots and last Monday went to Camp Naco located in Naco, AZ.  Yes, I know NEXT Monday is the last Monday of the month but it is Memorial Day.

The new blog is located at:

http://ourphotographygroup.blogspot.com

The members of our group have come a long way since we started it almost a year ago.  We even have Al of the Bayfield Bunch as an honorable member and he really enlightened a lot of us about LOOKING at what is around us and not just looking through the lens.

So, again…take a look often at the photography group page as we will be adding pictures often.  We are a bunch of amateurs but we do have a professional photographer that said he will try to make some of our shoots.  Knowledge is golden….well, may silvery…..ok, copper will do.

Welcome to Rick for being the 12th follower and to Ben S. for being the lucky 13th follower.

That’s my story and I’m stickin to it.

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – What is a Kazoot-Kazoot???

We don’t get too many guests out here in the wilderness but these colorful critters did pay us a visit (and return often) to munch some of our offerings.

Someone played a cruel joke on these poor critters.  Here in the mountain valley we have Cardinals, House Finch, various Hummingbirds, Dove, Quail, Roadrunners, etc.  But what are these birds called???  Pyrrhuloxia.

So I believe it is my duty to give these beautiful, Cardinal look-alike feathery friends a decent name that everyone can remember plus everyone can spell it.  We shall call them the Kazoot-kazoot.  There, easy to remember and spell.

I believe we should start calling the scientific community “antispellingidiotsorfools” for coming with such a name for one of God’s creatures.  Another look at one of our Kazoot-kazoots practicing crash landing techniques at the food trough.  Don’t worry folks, he pulled it off and landed safely. 

We did have another very beautiful visitor to our feeders.  It is a rare site and my picture is slightly out of focus (oh no….the Photo Group will throw me out!!!) but this is the chance you take using a 300mm lens without a tripod.

 

This beauty is the Western Tanager.  It is rare for them to come in our little valley (5300’ elevation).  We have several species of birds that pass through in the spring and stay a very short time in the fall.  I don’t know how the new Arizona Immigration law will affect these guys because they do cross the border just south of here.

That’s my story (for now) and I’m stickin’ to it.

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – Not a Good Day in Gleesonville

This is to my friends and family that monitor this blog.  I do have another blog entry in the works concerning Saturday’s show.  I cannot do any more at this time because I am beat…..down to zero energy.  Those that know me know that I suffer from Diabetes, Neuropothy and extremely low blood cell count.  Today I woke shivering with chills and my temp spiked a 99.9 degree temp but I did not go to the hospital….yet.  This is usually a sign that I have an infection somewhere but this time I can’t find the source.  If I hit the magic 3 digit temp, then I’ll go but I know I will be there for up to a week or more.  To my sons back east, just thought you might like to know seeing as you rarely call but I know Shannon reads the blog page occasionally.

 

Again, that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – Busy Weekend

Jean and I had a busy weekend starting Friday at our Camera Group’s first show.  The show was held in one of  Elfrida’s Community Garden hothouses and was the seasonal opening for the garden, the Elfrida Photo Group first show and the displaying of paintings/drawings from the Art Class.  We have had some wacky weather lately (as a matter of fact, Tombstone had a couple quick snow showers on Friday.).  The hothouse was NOT hot as the name may imply and we had consistent winds in the 25--30 mph range with gusts up to 50 mph.  The plastic of the hothouse did hold back most of the winds but there were times I could just imagine all our photos headed to the ground.
Overall the event was a success and several items were sold by the photographer or artist.  (They had a choice of selling or just displaying their work.) 


















Two of the visitors were Jerry and Suzy authors of the blog site Our Life on Wheels  (http://jerrysuzylifeonwheels.blogspot.com/).  This was the first time we had a chance to meet these fine folks. 

















I know I usually make some off-color comments but the show was indeed a lot of fun. So.....

That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – A Song and Dance for our Photo Group

We, the Elfrida Photography Group and the Sembrando Salud Art Classes are having a Photography and Art Show in the community garden on the 30th of April from 3:00pm to 6:00pm.  This is also the opening of the Community Garden/Farmer’s Market which is one reason we will be in the garden.  Take a look at this quick video to see what Sembrando Salud is about:

The Sembrando Salud has a grant to fund various classes for the citizens of Cochise County of which the Photo Group is one of these projects.  If you happen to be in or near our area on the 30th of April, please stop by and give us your thoughts on our work.

 

The main purpose of this posting is to prepare the group members (hmmm….should I call them groupies??) in selecting and printing their pictures.  I will start with number one (#1) because it didn’t make sense to me to start with number six.

#1  Take the picture.  Hey, sounds simple, doesn’t it?  Our members have discovered over the past few months that taking a picture is an art form in itself.  It is suggested that the fellers do not take pictures of nekkid womans, especially your wiffy.  They tend to get rather testy either way.  So it is safer to take pictures of general subjects like birds, pets, scenery, still life, birds, animals (other than human), kids (usually younger than 2-3 years old), dogs, birds and etc.  Upload these pictures from your camera into your computer. Place these pictures in your Master Folder (see disillusion below)

#2 Rename and Change the file extension for the picture.  I know most of you have seen me jump up and down on the tables or stand in a corner crying but the doctor has given me a bunch of pills to help with that now.  Jean also has a special jacket for me to wear if I get chilly (that’s what she told me).  What is the number one rule of taking electronic pictures???  Guess.  That’s right, we don’t have physical negatives so…backup, backup, backup.  Upload them suckers out of your camera to a MASTER file (see disillusion below).  What you wish to label your picture is up to you.  I will give you an example in just a minute….puts your hands down, please!!!  All right, I’ll do it now.  Give the picture a name so you will be able to relocate it.  It helps if you don’t name your cat “DOG” or your dog “CAT”.   (How am I doing, Al??)  Next picture….someone hit the switch on the projector.

 

This disillusionment (more pills, please) shows the basic flow (ya, right) of taking a picture and getting ready to print it.  What is the difference between the 1st two boxes?  The “Working Folder” is your second backup of the picture.  Open the “working” copy in Photoshop Elements, Paint-Dot-Net, or GIMP and IMMEDIATELY (Did I say do it right away??? YES I DID!!!) and do a “Save As… “ command changing the name (optional) and extension (not optional).  You have two basic extensions to use: TIF and PNG.  Do you notice I did not say JPG ???  Save this file into the 2nd folder under the Master Folder called (strangely enough) “TIF or PNG”.  This the copy of the picture that you will actually work your magic on.

#3  Open your choice of photo manipulation software and open the TIF or PNG file.  Crop it, change it, reverse it, turn it upside down, make it B&W, Posterize it, change it to water paint.  Just make sure you SAVE it back into the TIF/PNG Folder (renaming it will give you yet another copy of this photo).  PLEASE PAY ATTENTION…ya, I know.  You’re so broke you can’t pay attention (old joke).  I did not mention Picasa.  After you are through with all your editing and feel you a need to use the options in Picasa, then use it BUT ONLY USE IT ONCE.  Why??  Picasa will only save in JPG.  One of our members asked me to make a 8X10” print of his selected pictures but the file is so small it MAY only be able to print in 5X7” or 4X6”.  BEWARE THE COMPRESSION BUG!!!  No, that is not a virus or worm on your computer but a fact of life for JPG files.  Each time you save the file in JPG, it compresses the photo more which gives you a smaller and smaller (compact) file.  The smaller the file, the less detail your photo will have.  The less detail, the worse your larger prints will look.  ‘NUFF SAID FER NOW.’

OK, I’ll get off the soapbox.  Just remember, big file….good; small file….bad.

That’s my story and I’m stickin to it.

Ray’s Corner Soapbox -- Go Big or Stay Out of the Game

Ya, I did it.  Went BIG.  Too big.  I mean it’s almost like owning a one room house and your mother-in-law moves in…..well, almost.  We (Jean will deny it!) decided to get a wide carriage photo printer and it was delivered today.  It’s not big, it’s HUGE.  I don’t have the smallest computer desk but it won’t fit on there.  So tomorrow, with saw in hand, I’ll be modifying my computer desk for the printer.

I went back to HP because we’ve always had great reproduction and NO PAPER JAMS.  Our main printer has been the Epson Artisan 800 All-in-One printer/scanner/fax/copier.  Good photo reproduction but the thicker photo papers jam easily so you have to feed one at a time. 

The new photo printer is a B8550 (13X19 inch prints) and is 22.75”X15.5”X7”.  I don’t worry about the top clearance as this is a dedicated photo printer and has no scanner or copier functions and the paper feed is front load.  So if I don’t return to blogging after a couple of days you can assume the board I cut was a load-bearing wall and the desk collapsed into a pile of sawdust.

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – Who Am I??

One of our photo group members came up with an idea….a picture of yourself.  Not just the person, but a picture that tells a story of the person.  Here below is what I came up with.  AND YES, I DID MODIFY. GLORIFY, APPEND, CHANGE, FOLD, SPINDLE AND MUTILATE THE PICTURE!!!  So if you are insulted about being artistic, please stick your head in a bucket of water.

 

 

This displays some of the various interests that I have, both present and past.  Metal detector, fishing pole, 35mm camera, wood/metal working tools, picture frames, and NASCAR.  The Navy flag represents the service I was in for 23 years and the US flag was the ship’s flag for the USS Nimitz  (CV-68) which was presented to me on my retirement.  The picture must be my twin holding a small-mouth bass.  I would never have had MY picture taken with such a small fish. 

********************************************************************************

Jean and I live in Gleeson which is a ghost town in SE Arizona.  Some people laugh at the thought of a ghost town but it really is haunted.  For example, the following suddenly appeared one day beside the road.

 

As usual the people here believe someone like me may be responsible for such a heinous sign.  It seems all the tourist have left Gleeson, checking out of our local hotel (The Scorpion and Rattler Motel 9) and leaving rubber on the pavement……hmmm.  We have dirt roads so that couldn’t be true. 

My blog of last November had a paragraph about a barber shop I visited.  To quote:

I went into a barber shop in Sierra Vista that had 50 choppers parked outside.  As I walked inside,  everyone pointed to the barber chair so I sat down. Out came the barber, 350 pounds of muscle and fat, leather tee shirt and a “I hate computer geeks” tattoo.  He walked up to me and in a loud, humiliating voice asked, “What do you want?”  Not to be humiliated I looked him square in the eye and said, “I’m a Blogger.”  Got the best haircut ever, became a member of the Mohawk tribe with five pounds of motorcycle grease to hold the hair in place.

Unquote.

Well, I needed another haircut after my Mohawk grew back out so I revisited the same barber shop. The name of the barber shop is” We Hate Rice Burners and Other Funny Looking Cycles Bike Club, Pool Room, Bar and Barbershop”.  The barber was watching me as I slid into the chair and he said, “Ain’t you that dadburn Blogger?”  “Yes, I am….and proud to own a Toyota FJ Cruiser, too.”  His eyes had a strange look as if you could see the fires from Hell burning inside.  He put his clippers away and got the straight razor.  I was done before the hen crows in the morning.  This time he gave me a really nice trim.

Boy, do we live in a great part of the country or what???

That’s my story and I’m stickin to it.

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – Weather??? And Pictures

Well today started off with dreadful weather….WIND!!  We don’t mind the rain, or heat or cold…but the worst of the bunch is simply wind.  First a couple of pictures from 10 minutes ago:


What was simply wind with light rain mist turned into something solid.  AND the wind is still blowing.

Working on some of my pictures from our Timbucktoo photo shoot, I accidently hit a setting with my mouse.  But I liked the results, so I didn’t correct it.  The “yellow” building at the end is disappearing from my original so it will only leave the old store.

I add these so Al of the Bayfield Bunch can put on his SE AZ glasses to see the beauty in old, falling apart, burnt, antique buildings.  Al says in Canada they have to get rid of the old stuff that falls out of repair or falling down.  (Don’t slow down, Al and above all, don’t trip!!!)  This was a beautiful, old ranch until a few years ago when some illegals set it on fire.

 

                                                                                                                                                                         These were taken around an old farmhouse that was completely destroyed.  This is what I would guess was a ranch hand's house….kind of an all-in-one bungalow.  The water tank was next to the windmill and would have been filled by the pump attached to the windmill.  (Wind?  In this valley???)
A revisit of Bisbee is something we always do.  There is more and more that capture our eye when we drive on the open, wide roads of Bisbee.  (Actually the roads were originally mule trails and you didn’t dare own a fat mule in those days.)
The lunch box was in one of the shop windows.  I remember that one.  I had a Hopalong Cassidy one.  The cute doggie is waiting his master who is in a little “hole-in-the-wall” breakfast restaurant.  There are several old advertisements on buildings, just wish someone would repaint them back to their original glory.
Ok, so…..
That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

Thank you to my two newest followers:


Sam & Donna Weibel
            and
Kenny and Angela's Adventure

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – Living in a Ghost Town

Many new tourists come each year to southeast Arizona and have to check out the local ghost towns.  Gleeson, the town Jean and I live in, is officially a ghost town having lost the Post Office sometime in 1949.  The surrounding mountains are pock-marked with several mines, some were gold, some silver but the biggest mineral here is simply copper.

I guess some of the miners were disappointed because gold and silver were valuable items used in jewelry and coins but what was the poor copper used for?  Yes, electrical wiring and tubing but when you think of copper you think of pennies first.  Not much romance in saying “I’m a copper miner.  I am a penny expert.”

Today most of the copper mines have gone silent after digging out the majority of the copper, gold and silver they could find in the mountains.  When the price of copper hit dirt bottom after WW2, it spelled the end of Gleeson. (Note: A mining company has bought the rights and is researching the feasibility of reopening mining operations.)

We also have Courtland and Pearce, AZ.  The majority of Courtland is gone leaving only a few adobe walls and foundations where a bustling little town once covered the mountain.  The old jail is still standing with a lot of damage but a tribute to some architect that knew how to make them strong.  The Gleeson jail was almost identical to the Courtland jail and has recently been purchased by a local resident.  It is now a museum open on the first Saturdays of the month.

Some people don’t believe in ghosts but they do exist.  During one of our local camera group outings I spotted a ghost in the old Timbucktoo restaurant and captured it on film…ah, on memory card.  Look at this photo and you can see his hideous form looking out the window at me.

So all I have to say to those skeptical people out there that don’t believe in ghosts, is let the chips fall where they may.  Or to put it another way….

The picture is from me, the cow pie was from last night’s hamburger.

The group did another photo shoot in the field.  This ranch house was only around 15 feet across and was in a octagonal (8 sided) shape.  One of the reasons I used B&W on this picture was because the floor actually had green shag carpeting.  Now that is really old!!  I’ll include other pictures taken on the photo shoot as I process them.  (OK, YA I’M GOING TO ENHANCE THEM!!)

And as usual…

That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.