Jalál (Glory), 12 Sultán (Sovereignty), 166 BE – Saturday, January 30, 2010 about 1:01 PM Pacific Time

I step outside my house after sunset, not something I'm in the habit of doing, but last night was the night of the Wolf Moon. The first full moon of the year is called the Wolf Moon, it's a winter moon that according to legend hungry wolves howl at; I didn't hear any wolves howling. Despite the high thin clouds I did see the bright, big, beautiful Wolf Moon. I also saw the planet Mars which was to the left of the moon. Mars looked like a ruby glowing in the night sky.

The light pollution in Las Vegas interferes with stargazing, unless you go to one of the hotel-casinos and pay to see a show. On a clear night in the city, I can sometimes see the Big Dipper or the Little Dipper. Planet, such as Mar, Venus, or Jupiter, are visible if you know what you're looking for; planet don't twinkle like stars and they don't move like air planes or satellites.

The moon is visible on clear night or night when the clouds are high and thin. If you really want to see the stars, not those appearing on the Las Vegas Strip, then you have to get out of town. You have to get a long way out of town because the hotel-casinos aren't confined to the strip anymore and their light pollution is visible from Boulder City or Searchlight. I doubt that Nelson's Landing is a good place to stargaze anymore, all though, I think it's still a good place to see UFOs.







 

Istiqlál (Independence), 11 Sultán (Sovereignty), 166 BE – Friday, January 29, 2010 about 9:20 AM Pacific Time

It's a chilly morning in late January. The sun is shining through thin, high clouds. It's about 41 degrees, but the weather report indicates the day will warm. I still have enough fresh ground coffee to make another percolator today. There is a puddle in my driveway left from Wednesday's rain.

I renewed my tag on Wednesday, so I can drive legally in the state of Nevada or anywhere else in North America. I've decided not to take a day off line until sometime in February. I may take February 15 off, if I have enough GPs to extend my premium membership another month. Then again, I may not take a day off until the middle of March.

I'm feeling better this morning. My mood is brighter. I heard a nightingale singing when I went out to pick up today's paper. I've written two haiku about the bird singing. I've had my first breakfast of the day, I'm going to make this entry and fix a second breakfast.

 

Istijlál (Majesty), 10 Sultán (Sovereignty), 166 BE Thursday, January 28, 2010 about 3:36 PM Pacific Time

Three days left in January and for some reason I can't focus on this post. Maybe I need to take a day off line, not get on at all, but just write, do house work and pray. I have several items I need to write, but I can't focus on any of them. I don't know what the problem is, I know I have to do something to solve it. I just don't know what. I think I'll read the spiritual newsletter before I get. Reading the spiritual newsletter always helps, maybe I'll find some suggestions in it.

I feel like I'm plodding through thick mud. I feel like I'm driving a car and it's back wheels are stuck in mud or sand, the more I accelerate to get out the deeper the wheels become stuck.

I'm not going to review tonight because I don't think I would do a good job. I just don't know what the problem is and I'm repeating myself. When I start repeating myself it's time to end a post.


 

I changed the description of one of my off-site blogs. The blog contains ads I write for products, those ads are sponsored so I have to have a site wide disclosure. I put the disclosure in the description of the blog. I changed the description today and made the disclosure the first item on the description. I don't know how to make the disclosure more obvious then I have it now. Perhaps I should make a specific entry about the disclosure and point out that it's in the description of the blog. If anyone reading, this post wants to check the disclosure out click on Poet 999's Thoughts about Writing and Other Stuff.

 

‘Idál (Justice), 9 Sultán (Sovereignty), 166 BE – Wednesday, January 27, 2010 about 9:03 AM Pacific Time

Wet January
More rain then all of last year
A gentle cold rain

It's raining again and according to the weather report it's supposed to clear up. It will stop raining sometime today, but not before, I have to get out and drive in it. There's no use complaining because I have business to transact that can't wait for the rain to stop.

I've accomplished all the writing I set out to do this morning. That means I have to get up from my computer and do other things. I'd rather continue writing because I still have a lot to catch-up, but that's going to have to wait until I return home.



 

It's a bright cloudless morning in Las Vegas, which I don't think will last. Rain is predicted for late to night and early tomorrow. I'm chilly, but I think that has more to do with my metabolism then the temperature. It's been an interesting morning, I still have writing to catch-up from last week. My fantasy newsletter is due on Monday, I have to finish the research, find some contest and/or review forms, and write the newsletter.

This morning I encounter a couple of technical issues and contacted support at both the websites about those. I don't expect hear from either today. If I haven't heard from either website by Thursday or Friday, then I'll contact them again. One of the issues isn't any big deal, but the other needs settling this month if possible.

I feel good this morning. My attitude is positive and I feel I can catch-up on some of the stuff I'm behind on this week. It's my own fault I'm behind, one would think at 63 years old I'd be able to schedule my time better then I do. Oh well, I'm still a work in progress, there is always hope that I can learn from my mistakes.

 

Fidál (Grace), 8 Sultán (Sovereignty), 166 BE – Monday, January 25, 2010 about 5:31 PM Pacific Time

When in doubt read the directions, unless you can't find the instruction manual. Which was my problem this morning attempting to use my new coffee grinder. I still haven't found the manual, I know it's in the house somewhere I just don't know where. My mother put it away, I don't know where she put it and Mom can't remember where she put the manual.

I solved the problems this morning when I unlocked the grinder. I can now grind enough coffee for two percolators of coffee a day, when I bought the whole beans I bought a 12 oz. package, so I have enough coffee for the next four or five days. However, now I have to buy another bag of whole bean coffee for a backup.

I don't like running out of coffee because I go into withdrawal. Therefore, I have to keep, at least, 12 oz. of whole bean coffee for a backup. My old coffee grinder, which I still have, was too small. It didn't grind enough coffee at once to make a an entire pot of coffee.

I figured out how to use the new coffee grinder without the manual, but now I have to find the manual to see how I clean it. Maybe I'll look in Mom's bedside stand, it's possible she put the manual in there.


 

Jamál (Beauty), 6 Sultán (Sovereignty), 166 BE – Sunday, January 24, 2010 about 4:56 PM Pacific Time

It's Sunday, the beginning of a new week. I made mashed potatoes and gravy today for lunch. The mashed potatoes turned out fine, but I screwed the gravy up. Let's face it's difficult to mess up instant potatoes. To transform instant potatoes into mashed potatoes you just have to add milk, butter and hot water. Making gravy from scratch is a little more difficult.

I had my hot vegetable oil in the fry pan. I went to add what I thought was flour. It wasn't flour, if should have know by the feel it wasn't flour. It was cornstarch, at least that what it felt like. Anyway I then added canned milk, some flour and stirred it up again. I added a can of water, another half a can of milk, and some more flour. It was too thin, with lumps.

We ate it anyway. It tasted like gravy made with canned milk tastes. Mom and I are fine and we don't have the runs, so guess it was cornstarch I put in the first time. I'm going to have to label that container. I don't know why the container wasn't labeled. I don't know why I didn't realize it was cornstarch when I put my finger in it. Cornstarch and flour may look alike, but they don't feel alike. I hope this doesn't foreshadow the way the rest of the week will go.

 

My mother has a favorite coffee cup. It's white with a person playing some type of musical instrument on it. My mother loves this cup and uses it for everything from coffee to soup. My mother also has a short term memory problem and forgets where she put items.

This morning Mom had the coffee cup and drank coffee out of it. She couldn't find the cup about 11:30 or 12:00, so we looked for it. I looked every place that Mom usually puts the stuff, but couldn't find it. Finally, I looked in the fridge and found the cup. So I washed the coffee cup out and put it on the drain board. The next time Mom misplaces the cup, I'll look in the fridge first.

 

It's a bright sunshiny morning in Las Vegas. I rolled the plastic trashcan to the curb about 6:30 and now all I have to do is listen for the garbage truck to pick it up. When I took the trashcan to the curb there were clouds around the tops of the mountains. However, right now the sun is shining and the sky is a hazy blue. Hazy blue is the best that we can expect in Las Vegas any time of year.

The hazy blue sky
encourages mourning doves
to build nest and weep.