Month: June 2021

Learning to love the scariest of what nature has, the desert has them all.

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One of my biggest fears has been of a cold black widow or brown recluse finding sanctuary in my soon to be worn clothes and unknowingly dressing. Well it happened. Not one of the dangerous ones, but a camel spider was chilling out on my sarong when I wrapped it around myself. The number one rule, shake all clothes, was not followed. I tied and retied, then wrapped to a skirt before I realized she was there. Trying bite me with her giant sized mandible mouth pinchers were just to small to do more than draw my attention to her. I pinched her in my skirt till she was out the bottom. From my hip to the ankle I didn’t know what was in my fingers. It drops to the ground writhing angrily chomping trying to bite. I scooped her in a jar and looked at her closely. Scary!!! Looks like a cross between a spider and a scorpion. This one was about an inch long.

After a little research she is added to the list of my well respected insect friends. Not aggressive but there need for shade makes them appear to chase things when they just want to sit in your shadow. At night the are extremely attracted to light. Maybe because their food is hanging out in the light.

They are not scorpions or spiders regardless of their common names the camel spider or the wind scorpion. They are neithet. They are just a super creepy looking arachnid of its very own.

I’m now slightly obsessed with them. Not afraid. They can bite, but have no venom and they can run 10 miles am hour!!!

Check out my latest Instagram to see!

Seatbelt lifesaving car flipping accident

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That my friend, 3 dogs and I were in yesterday.  Just outside of town while I’m looking at my phone I hear the rumble strip, the see us drifting off the road I yell and grab the wheel to keep us on the road when my friend some how completely overcompencated sending us across the highway toward an embankment that worked like a nice ramp to flip us over. Hanging from the seat belt both of us and the dogs are slightly disoriented even trying to figure out how to turn the engine that is still running off was a challenge. We both manage to get out of the seat belts sitting on the ceiling and windshield. The doors were wedged shut by the angle and the bushes, but it was only a few moments before we heard our Spanish speaking saviors probably asking if anyone was in there, do you need help, but my continual reluctance to learn Spanish had left me ignorant again.  Joyce my dog ran off immediately back across the highway for a nice tour of the burnt up old palm farm. Finally I catch her and make my way back over to the highway as the emergency services has pulled up.

No one was hurt. My friend had a huge bump on her forehead of great concern but she had done that on a tree earlier that day.

The services people stay till the police show up then police stay till the tow guy shows up and just before sunset we drop the car in front of her shabby slab. 

Seatbelts save lives. This is the second car flipping accident I have been in, both the seat belt saved me.  I can’t imagine, and I was really surprised none of the dogs were hurt.  I was asked multiple times if we flipped more than once, and I said no, but who knows. It did seemed longer than one. Doesn’t matter really.

I was bracing for impact with the embankment knowing we were heading straight for it not slow enough. I did not expect the flip although I visualize this exact accident often like a terrible premonition.

I’m curious if I’ll keep doing that now or if I’ll just replay the memory all the time.

Summer days in the slabs

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To get back into writing about my days, I though I would start with what love about this hellish hot inferno.

Instant hot water at all times. Great for an evening wash. Nothing quite cools you down like a nice hot shower before bed. I miss it in the winter. Only the perfect temp after a 110+ degree day.

Cooking in the sun. Cheesy dips of any kind cam be done in a mason jar with a mirror and a right lid. Not to mention soup out of the cupboard ready to eat.

The solitariness creates a meditative interspection like on a beach where you get to hot go for a dip cool off start over.

Drug indused psychosis, signs

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One of the well known rumor/ truth is the ramped drug use in slab City the worst of them “meth” being the most destructive.

I have seen this pattern more than once now and am convinced it is real and spells death for many here.

Often these individuals have a chemical mental imbalance of some kind to start with and are sometimes self medicating. Trying things till one fills the void, rights the ship, feels more normal, feels better than normal even to the point of a shot. Shot in the body with the medication with no doctors order or concern of affects, or those are quickly blinded by the delight of the intense explosion of warmth, calmness, fulfillment,or self worth that calls you back until your view of reality has shifted to a quasi dream state with thoughts of grandeur, importance, out landish tales woven quite tight in the swirling mind of the drug indused physchosis.

The mild ones are easily dismissed with some entertainment by the tales, but some keep going and don’t come back. Their mind is stuck. At a certain point the things they say are so out there. They want you to commiserate their thoughts but sadness overcomes my thoughts knowing it’s hard to come back from there.

Many deaths happen here in the relentless summer months, most from the continual use of the shot method of drug use. It’s so fast, so intense, so right how can it be so wrong. Many become full blown advocates for it.

The damage, death and destruction of some truly beautiful souls has been witnessed here and will continue. My only hope is my friend I once wished ill will for actions I now know we’re based in her own self insecurities and not my power and strength, doesn’t fall all the way down the rabbit hole. She is close. Questioning all aspects of reality and free will, claiming thoughts are being put in her head and others are talking through other people. Seeing signs and communications in the most mundane things. I have seen it before and hope she can grab the life raft.

Tv broadcasts in a desert zone

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Working in the cellular broadcast tellecummications industry, I have a little better than average understanding of antennas and signals.

I will admit I’m a gulton for the boob box. The rolling display of media with no actual control other than the off button or a change of the channel. Terrible daytime tv that keeps the quiet at bay in the distance as you get stuff done. You don’t actually watch it, just have it playing.

On the road I have spent hours focusing a directional antenna toward broadcast towers for at best a few PBS stations, comet, charge,courttv and ion. Ion has disappeared since Texas.

In the slab city desert, you are a minimum 40 miles from any American broadcast. Its 4 directions of further distance you have to make choices. Also mountains could play a part.

Courttv, comet, and charge come out of yuma, I think. So does cw,fox,and abc, but not all the time. ABC, fox,NBC,and cw also come out of the Indio direction. But no charge, comet and court.

Recently purchased an old fashioned updated wire style antenna. I’m hoping to get all the channels.

Summer heat all projects take more time…

Surviving slab city summer setting up the long awaited pool

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A few posts back I explained the various ways I have stayed cool in the dreaded summer heat. With water the constant, misting and air hydration the goal, a pool … 10 ft round 2 1/2 deep pool is my solution this year.

Started with a couple weeks of building an area to accommodate the pool with shade and dust/ bug block. Only a couple of issues, aside from my own laziness.

Setting up the pool was not difficult. Very basic construction.

The filling of the pool ended up being the one giant hiccup besides dropping the staple gun in it with only 2 inches of water. Enough water not to start over, the pump needed repair after the first 2 inches. A day goes by and I managed to slice a nice inch long slice in the bottom as in slow motion I watched the staple gun jump off the table and into to the pool.

The patches sent with the pool do not work. So far the flexseal seems to be.

Finally get the pump going only to have the next load of water look worse than water out of a murky pond.

It seemed to clear, but each load of water was matched in annoyance till the end.

I stared at my full leakying murky pool as I am reminded by my friend he had 2 inches of sand in his after the first wind storm.

I laughed at the pool vacuum I saw… Second guessing that one now