Ray’s Corner Soapbox – A Farewell To A Friend

Most people that know me know that I am an amateur photographer and one of the major players in the Elfrida Photo Group.  We started the group with around six members and have “roller-coasted” at times with members coming and going. 

One of our members was Pat Collins.  Pat could be described as a “Senior Citizen” but you may get the wrath of Pat saying that.  Even with a bad hip, but still having the ability and wits to operate a motor vehicle, she was a “God-send” to our group.

We lost Gladys “Pat” Collins last Thursday after she recently had undergone  a hip replacement at a hospital is Los Angeles followed by a stroke and then dehydration while recovering in a nursing home.  Pat’s daughter, Patsy, brought her mother back to our Sulphur Springs Valley with plans on staying with her mother.  Unfortunately, Pat had other plans and left us here on earth to carry on with life.  Our deepest and most sincere prayers go to Patsy for the loss of her mother.  Patsy has said she is considering remaining here and we look forward to having her visit or become a member of our group.

 

At one of our group meetings we were discussing portrait photography and Pat was my subject.  The first picture of the left is how Pat would always appear….under control and not too big of a smile.  My dad’s old family album was like that, subjects assuming the correct pose which was not to smile.  The one thing I love about my Canon 40D is the rapid fire flash.  After the first flash I just kept going causing her to start laughing.

 

 

She finally relaxed and made the famous “rabbit” pose.

The last picture on the right is her saying, “You didn’t really take that picture, did you?”

Pat was one classy lady that fought back the pain and tears to struggle through Chair Yoga and finally through the photography group where we occasionally took trips into the field.  She attended the first meeting of our group, the first Yoga class offered by the Community Center and the first meeting of an exercise class.  No one would ever hold her back.  And so for Pat, we send our “Namaste”.

--Namaste means --

I honor the place in you where spirit lives.

I honor the place in you, which is of love, of truth, of light and of peace.

When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, we are one.

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – Snowy Saturday

Waking up this morning we had the pleasant surprise of a fluffy, white ground and bush coverage.  A step outside without wearing a coat was even more of a surprise.  One could freeze their (censored) off.  So I told Jean what a photo-op this is.  I think the hard part for her was leaving those warm and snuggly blankets to come outside in the cold weather.

We took some pictures of the area and went out into the center of the metropolitan city of Gleeson.  I have always wondered why the county hasn’t put in a traffic light at the main intersection of the city.  I’m sure the cattle, coyotes, rattlesnakes and jack rabbits would appreciate it.  I may have to put on my “investigative hat” and dig into this injustice.

 

Notice the pink Flamingos playing in the snow (lol).

                                                                                      

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Pictures in Gleeson, AZ. )

 

We stopped at the KW’s Red Roof Diner & Kitty Emporium where we received good conversation, hot coffee, a furry critter to pet and a brunch special.  The Emporium is by reservation only and they are booked at least 18 months ahead.  Also the Emporium has an unlisted telephone number so the only way to make reservations is by smoke signals.  Make sure you ask them what the daily special is and don’t catch your blanket on fire.

I have not been writing blogs daily due to computer problems that took out my motherboard.  I believe this problem was related to the hard drive problem I had in December.  Well, I now have a new motherboard and case which has 4 fans (with blue LEDs in them) with adjustable fan speeds so I can ensure the processor and other components are kept cool.  Putting in my old components (cpu, video card, processor, drives and memory) was a simple task but for some reason the Gigabit NIC (Ethernet Card) part of the motherboard wouldn’t recognize the DSL modem.  I had to call in the experts and one of the tekkies at VTC helped me through the various minute details, the several adjustments, the reprogramming of the Frietistrand Valve and finally removal of the two dead rats.  Also included were an oil change and 100,000 mile tune-up.  Needless to say, the computer runs great now.

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

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – Kaput or Kaputer

Hey everyone, I’m still walking amongst the living.   Somewhere.  Inside this box full of wires, small fans, little red and green lights, and circuit boards.  Yes, I’m still working on this infernal machine that thinks it is getting the better of me.  But I surprised it with my 20 pound training device.

It takes me an average of five attempts to get this THING to boot up and when it does boot both the external and internal hard drives are running all the time….no flashing light, but on solid.  So I went to the tool shed and got the training tool out to make fine adjustments to the computer.  I figured just the threat would be enough.  NO.  It has a “mind” of it’s own, so to speak.

I’ve worked on computer hardware dating back to the “stone ages” of computers.   (Worked on IBM Models 360/720 which were their top of the line mainframe computers. )  The main difference was our computers were mainly used for navigation and weapons delivery from an attack US Navy aircraft.

There weren’t any PC’s at that time.  The “PC” referred to here does not stand for political correctness.  (Political correctness came years later when instead of saying “Barbara Streisand” it was easier to say “BS” …. or was that the other way around?)

Anyway, the problem will be resolved in approximately a week because I am replacing the motherboard and case.  A larger case plus more fans to keep the processor and board cooler.  In the meantime I will just have to suffer with what I have or use Jean’s computer. 

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

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – I’m Still Here

Some of you wonder what ever happened to ol’ Ray.  Well, the soapbox needed a fresh coat of paint and it took a while to dry.  And if you don’t believe that one then I’ll have to think of another.  I am a good fisherman and can come up with some really good whoppers.

The real problem is the BIOS on my motherboard died.  Funeral arrangements are pending as I used the paddles on it (plus put in a fresh BIOS battery) and have resuscitated BIOS a couple of times.  I don’t know if it was the old hard drive failure that caused the BIOS problem or BIOS caused the old drive to fail.  BIOS fails to recognize that it has two hard drives (lists NONE) and two CD/DVD RWs installed (only one recognized).  Electronics is not considered a technical field but rather a magic one with guys dressed up like Marlin.  My board must have some negative magical energy running loose causing havoc on my zero’s and one’s.  Sometimes the threat of doing something is enough to make the electronic unit work correctly.

I believe I will have to reinvent the wheel sometime in the very near future to include a new motherboard and, most likely, a new case.  I built Jean’s and my computer around the same time using micro-ATX board and case.  Nice if you have to move it but then it is a desktop computer so how often do you really need to move it?  Everything is too crammed in the micro box and heat is not good for electronics.

On the other news front, I called my younger brother in Maine recently to complain of the cold weather we are having.  I told him temperatures were in the high 60’s during the day and complained that 70’s would be better.  His reply is not printable without major corrections in the spelling and I’m not sure those words are contained in any dictionary.  Sometimes I just have to remind him he does live in Maine.

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

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – My Final Pix for 2009

The day after Christmas, we had another snow storm, though much smaller than the first of the season, it was still dramatic enough to capture a few pictures.

The snow disappeared quickly as the air was warmer than the snow causing dramatic fog to hide the background trees and mountains.

Jean and I visited a fairly unknown Army post in Naco, AZ.  It was known by two names: Camp Naco or Ft Newell.  The post was established in 1915 to help fight the excursions of Pancho Villa (not to be mixed up with Bob Villa, he is a carpenter/tool person).  The fights were won by the US Army but the war was won by Villa and he established several Mexican restaurants in North Carolina and Virginia (http://www.panchovillava.com/locations.htm).  It was suspected that he held the controlling interest in the Taco Bell chain and was trying to spread it through Arizona.  Anyway, the post has now been completely cutoff from the public by a barbed wire topped fence to protect what is left of the barracks and other buildings.

The barracks were usually setup in a 3 sided area with a mess hall (below) to feed the troops.

This last pictures captures what I assume is an administrative office.  It is facing the open area between the barracks.  Internet search for more information about the post turned up very little information.  There are no signs or plaques to tell you about the camp.

So, as usual……

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

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – New Year’s Resolutions and Other Thoughts

Happy New Year everyone!!!  Hmmm, now that is a collective statement.  Do I really mean to wish a Happy New Year to everyone??  I really, really don’t think so.  Osama??  He could give us a happy year.  My ex that used superglue on all my levis forever sealing my pockets closed and then glued the fly down.  She finished the job by putting  thumbtacks in my shoes.  No, not her either.  So Happy New Year to a selective group of you.

Resolutions:

My wife suggested I write about resolutions and I told her I didn’t need any because when your perfect in every way, who needs to change???  I may write some later….maybe when my arm is out of the sling (again).

1. Procrastinating.  My wife says I have got to stop procrastinating.  Hey, the “pro” means I am for it.  We have a male cat that was crastinated a couple of years ago so he ain’t gonna give us no puppies.  She was in favor of it then.
2. Lose weight.  Ya, that’s always a good one.  I’ll cut down to only 5 pizzas and 3 cases of beer a week.  That should make someone happy.  Besides, the wife believes in recycling and this resolution is recycled from last year.  Maybe I’ll take action on it ……starting next week.  Maybe.  The last time I lost 5 pounds, I opened the closet and found it plus another 5.  Dang pounds just seem to multiply faster than rabbits.
3. Put up a new mail box.  Ya, right.  Just another object to put junk mail into.  The door fell off the box last week and hopefully now the junk mail and bills will get caught in the wind.  The envelopes can then hide in the bushes until they turn to mulch….see?  I do recycle.

I would have made more resolutions but I didn’t want to over burden the system.  Now Ray’s Thought of the Day (or week or month or….you get the picture).  My wife says I never get any thoughts (that count).  Why do we call this new year Two Thousand Ten.  Remember 1999 (nineteen-ninety-nine).  Why did we suddenly go from teen numbers to thousands.  What’s wrong with Twenty Ten??  Ya, I know it is the same but we changed format in mid-stream.  Who decided this?  Another mystery of life that will never be answered so to quote myself…….

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

(For submission on 12/31/2009)

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – Gleeson Airport

I have believed that by opening an airport in Gleeson we could attract more people to the area.  We might be able to get rid of the “ghost town” title our little community carries.

And with an airport we should be able to attract new manufacturing business and federal money for support of the airport.  So today we tested the new Gleeson air port and I have included a couple of pictures.  Everything started great but before the birds could land, things deteriated quickly and there were many near-misses.  So the airport has been “tabled” by the mayor and town council.

 Tower:  “Flight Leader, your group is looking good as you approach.  Instruct other pilots to fall into straight line and line up on runway two-six-niner.”

Flt Ldr: “Roger, tower.  We are approximately two miles from the runway and have visual at this time.  Instructed second leg of flight to get in line for the landing.”

Tower: “Roger Flight Leader.  Continue approach.”

 Tower: “Flight Leader, radar shows your flight group has changed positions and some have changed direction.  Advise to regain altitude and go around for second approach.”

Flt Ldr: “Roger, tower.  A couple of our pilots have put their wings on backwards so it only appears they are not going in the right direction.”

Tower: “Flight Leader, your group is too wide.  Go around and regroup correctly before start approach.”

Flt Ldr: “Negative tower.  We are low on fuel and the grass looks tempting around the community swimming pool.  We are on final approach now”

Sudden “honking noise heard”

Tower: Flight Leader, stop the approach.”  (Silence….)  “Flight Leader, do you copy?”  (More silence…..)

Well, the test was a utter failure with feathers all over 2 1/2 acres of Gleeson.  Federal Investigators are on the way and will stay in the Gleeson Motel 2 (The town couldn’t afford a Motel 6).  There will be more news available as soon as they can figure out which bird was the flight leader.  So for now, Gleeson shall remain a ghost town and it looks like more ghosts have made the town their home.  And so that’s the way it was, December 28, 2009.  Good night, Chet….good night, Dave.

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

Welcome to my newest followers: Motty, Mary Ann and William, and Tango.

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – Christmas Eve, A Poem For The Upper Class People That Understand I Am NOT Charles Dickens!!

It's the night before Christmas and all through the house
things were very quiet except for my mouse.
My hard drive was clicking much louder than norm
and the air from the exhaust was extremely warm.

Then from the computer room there came such a clatter
that I knew immediately what was the matter.
With thoughts of getting the sledge hammer for my computer's despair
cuz' I knew it was beyond economical repair.

When suddenly an old, short, round person did appear
and told me he could fix it so I shouldn't fear.
He looked in his bag of goodies for a new hard drive I would hope
but only found a box of scratchy old rope

A hard drive, a hard drive I heard myself say and gave back the gift
so Santa looked again shaking the bag as if he would sift
through every box and toy looking for the right one to keep my computer alive
came out with a shiny, black hard drive.

“Thank you, Santa” I said as he left, his eyes had a big sparkle
and I was happy again until I opened the box and it said.....

MADE FOR MACINTOSH

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Hope everyone gets their wishes on this Christmas Day.

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

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – SURPRISE!!

The one thing about the weather here is that it is a guessing game and the weather forecasters pull their predictions from a hat.  Being from New England, I enjoy a good snowstorm occasionally as long as I don’t have to shovel  it.

Monday was my day at the doc’s office in Sierra Vista and yesterday was the  FJ’s day at the dealer to fix a leaky air conditioning hose.  Everyone needs to make sure their AC is working during the month of December.  (LOL) Snow does give a fresh perspective to taking pictures by giving a sharp, clean look to everything.

The best thing is we didn’t see any accidents out there.  When I lived in Tennessee after retiring from the Navy, this much snow would be a tragedy closing schools for a week at a time.  (They are crazy drivers on ice and snow!!!)

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

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – Manipulation Again???

I received a feedback today about the old manipulation post I did sometime back.  The post came from someone who is definitely NOT a blogger or a blogger within the group.  I include the post:
Quote

“lori said...

photo manipulation is unethical if you work for a newspaper, newsletter, magazine, online news org, etc. It's unethical if you're altering content that should not be changed. National Geographic and Time Magazine front page photos should not be altered. Military pubs, though steep in propaganda, should not manipulate, either. As for personal photos, manipulate till your heart's content.

December 20, 2009 9:31 AM”

Unquote
Well, lori, I gave you the benefit of the doubt by posting your comment (Freedom of Speech isn’t always free).  No where in my post did I indicate that a PROFESSIONAL photographer should manipulate photos.  As a matter of fact, most of the magazines you mentioned require the submission to be in RAW format.  Why??  The publisher may make adjustments to the picture for the best lighting and clarity of items covered within a shadow. (Usually referred to as the “bottom line” or money in the pocket.)

The reason I almost deleted this post message was the next to last line.  I am retired military and do not know what publications she is referring to.  The line is basically a political one, stated on personal thoughts and not on fact.  The political nature of the statement is the reason I will no longer post any comment that can be taken as a political statement.  There are plenty of smutty blogs in cyberspace she can use for politics.

The last thing about accepting a post is to ensure there is an email address with it.  Lori’s was a “no-reply” email address so I could not ask her any questions or request she change her post.  I include an email address….is it my “real” email address?  It is not the one I have from my ISP but is from Google (Gmail). Anyone can get a Yahoo, MSN, AOL, etc FREE email account and still  remain “anonymous”.

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

Should a woman who puts on lipstick, blush and eye shadow be called “manipulator”?  What if I were to shave my beard off?  Is that manipulation?  LOL

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – The Big Crash

Alas, it was bound to happen someday.  The Crash!!!  And it did come with a warning:  “NO OPERATIONAL SOFTWARE DETECTED.  DISK MAY BE DAMAGED OR DEFECTIVE.”  There it was….staring me in the eyeballs waiting for the message to sink in.  A little window on top of the monitor opens and out comes a small hand with a white flag waving back and forth.  Then the loudspeaker sounds off with a repeated message “Hard Drive Crash”…….“Hard Drive Crash”…….Well, you get the picture.

What does a person do when he has all his photos backed up to a single hard drive???  Usually cry.  Smash things, like monitors, cameras, etc.  That is one reason I preach to our photo group three things:
1) Backup
2) Backup
3) Backup
No, I don’t keep my MASTER pictures on the boot drive (C: drive).  I have an external USB drive that keeps my pictures (crossing fingers, knocking on wood, don’t step on the crack or it will break your mother’s back) safe.  I also back up my photos to CD’s (technically DVD’s because they hold more data).  So I was a little boy scout this time and read the warning signs, ensuring all documents, etc were removed from the annoying drive before the final scream, crash, clunk of the antique (10 years old) drive.

I know there are some that would read about hard drive crashes and say….”I’ll back up my pictures and data tomorrow”.  Aw, come on, Annie….sing it.  “Tomorrow, tomorrow, there’s always tomorrow….”  Ya, that may be true in life that there will always be a tomorrow but not so in computer lingo.

Anyway, that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.  (Hmmmm…is there something burning somewhere???  Smells like burning wire insulation or power supply burn out.)

Ray’s Corner Soapbox -- Memories

I let something slide this last week.  It was my dad’s birthday…he would have been 100 years old.  Guess that makes me an old fart when I really think about it.  My dad was the 13th of 13 kids born back when life seemed to be more simple (at least how we see it).  I asked him why he didn’t save a couple rolls of “S” pennies from the year he was born.  If you are not a coin collector, those pennies are now worth a fortune….each.  Of course, we have the advantage of hind-sight.

I really only knew my dad closely for 17 years because immediately after graduation from high school I was off to the Navy.  I spent approximately 23 years  traveling the world, as the advertisements would say.  I did get home for a week or two occasionally on leave.  We all knew our parents loved us but it was rarely stated in verbal form until I was home in 1973 prior to a Western Pacific cruise when my dad hugged me and told me that he loved me.  It was kind of a foresight into the future for I received a Red Cross message a few months later stating he had a massive heart attack and passed away.  Flying from half-way around the world gives you time to think and put things in perspective.

I have two other brothers…I’m the poor kid in the middle and one sister.  She suffered relentless attacks from her brothers.  My sister passed away in 1995 from leukemia.  I temporarily moved back to Massachusetts from Tennessee to help my younger brother take care of mom from 2000 to 2005 when she passed away from cancer.  My two brothers are both living in Maine now and I’m out west as all of us chose our own paths to follow.  I’ve loved the west since I was stationed in California for over 14 years at Lemoore (near Fresno) and then China Lake Weapon Center near Death Valley. 

Even though my brothers and I are apart, we are closer now than we ever have been.

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

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – Four Wheeling

Yesterday we met some friends for lunch in Sunsites, AZ at a fairly new Mexican restaurant.  After a good lunch, Jean and I stopped in Sunsites so she could shop for home-made soap while I just looked around the store.  They are basically a candy store and they do have fudge with no-sugar added.  Wow!!  They seen me coming but I resisted the fudge and gave into the frozen yogurt. 

 

Jean and I then headed for home using Ghost Town Trail.  There is a mountain with an old mining road that I have wanted to check out for some time.   The top looks like a great place for pictures of the valley floor and sunsets.  The road leading up to the mountain is pretty rough but the Cruiser is made for off-road travel. While we didn’t make it to the top of the mountain because Jean was getting nervous about the drop, I did take a few pictures while over half way up the mountain.

 

I don’t see why she was getting nervous about the mountain trail because you can see it’s had a lot of serious usage.

 

 

Ended up having to backup around 500 feet with a very nervous person trying to direct me.  (Ya could have put a Mack truck through here…..well, a small Mack truck.)

 

After we were back on flatland I heard a sigh of relief as I turned and headed in the direction of home.

 

Love that sign….lol.  Okay, we survived to take pictures again another day.

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

Ray’s Corner Soapbox – Lights, Lights and More Lights

Today was a busy day assisting friends in getting setup for high speed service.  The problem they run into is that they are too far out of town for the cable/telephone guys to give them high speed (but these services will say it is coming).  So today I helped them subscribe to a satellite service.  They do not do any online gaming but rather a limited amount of surfing and use of emails.

So it sounds like the satellite service should fit their requirements at a reasonable price.  Jean and I had to do some shopping in Douglas (AZ) and after we left Wally-world, headed to the lights of town.  Yes, Douglas is one community that decided to put up their lights in this bad economy.


While they have limited the amount of lights, they have shown that the Grinch is not going to kill Santa off this year.  Jean and I are going to do a little night driving around the area shortly and find some good light displays.  It was suggested that I play Santa but after crawling out of the local bar someone said I should play Rudolf with the shiny, red nose.  (That’s a joke, friends.  I don’t seriously drive alcohol.  Guzzle, not drink!!)

We got back to the house this evening to find our 3 foot Christmas trees (5 of them) that were set in the front yard missing.  Hopefully they are still in the county somewhere and we did find one of them down the hill a couple hundred feet away.  We used tent stakes to hold them down but the wind just ripped them out of the ground.  Also our gas BBQ grill was missing but only a few feet away turned over.  Will have to look at it in the daylight to determine what needs to be fixed.  So I guess the hurricane is not over yet….

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

Ray's Corner Soapbox -- SNOW??? HA, Never Happen!!

Ya, I know it is dangerous to end a title like that but this time I know I am right.  Following the “weather-guessers” around here on TV is like going to the Gypsy fortune teller with a glass ball.  I think the weatherpersons here use gold fish bowls to try to tell the weather.

Well, the weather did give us a few interesting shots across Sulphur Springs Valley.  And yes, it did look like snow clouds except the temperature was too high and the wind was 35-45 knots all afternoon.  Even higher gusts are expected tonight.

Saddle Mountain

The dark clouds surrounded the higher tops of the Chiricahua Mountains but the other mountain chains were yet to capture the clouds.

Chiricahua Mountains

Weather reports in Tucson say the storm passed north of the city and way north of us.  We may get a little rain by morning but sorry, no snow pictures will be coming forth tomorrow.

Evening Storm Clouds

We did have our weekly photo group meeting and I believe I managed to bore poor Al today.  Hopefully next week will be a better picture day as I am going to suggest we travel to an abandoned business (Timbuck Too) and have everyone take pictures.  This way we can download them on the library computers (if they have the two broken ones fixed) and compare how each photographer perceive the building.

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