|
||||||
 21 March 2009 - Big Skies My computer did it again last night. I finally figured out what was causing the trouble after I’d deleted my whole operating system and all the programs – dust and lint in the fans and heat sinks. I’ve never seen a computer get that bad that quick. As I’d gotten rid of my whole operating system, I spent today putting it back together again. So here’s the pic for 21 March – finally. Taken with a cellphone from the drive through at Der Weinerschnitzel because it was one of those big sky scenes with the really high clouds. I love those types of vistas   20 March 2009 - Progress! Sorry for the delay in posting this, but my computer nearly completely died last night. I mean it was blue screen of death and reboot city. I was up until 0430 trying to get it to work properly but it wasn’t until earlier today that I finally managed to get it fixed. I was really about to take it out into the desert with a few articles from my firearms collection so I could put it out of my misery. In any case, here’s a picture that shows real, concrete proof of progress I’ll try to get a better one today  19 March 2009 - Beaded Lizard So I went to the exotic pet store again today to check some prices and whatnot. As I was perusing the inventory I happened upon this enclosure with several animals. The one in the water bowl was the only one not moving very much which is why he’s the one in the picture. I apologize for the reflection in the glass, but there’s no way I was going to ask to open that cage up for a better snapshot. These are beaded lizards which are very close cousins to Gila Monsters (pronounced “heela monsters”). Gila monsters and beaded lizards are the only two venomous lizards on the planet. And it’s not mild venom, either. Rather than injecting venom through hollow fangs like a cobra or rattlesnake, gila monsters have grooves in their teeth that the venom runs down. They bite down and don’t let go. Back when I was in grade school we went on a field trip to the San Diego zoo for a behind the scenes tour which included the reptile house. They told us that the only keeper ever bitten by a venomous reptile had been bitten by a gila monster. Another keeper had to pry the lizard off of him and suffered a nick from one of the venom bearing teeth. The bitten keeper was in the hospital for a month and the one who was nicked was in the hospital for a week. Don’t get me wrong, beaded lizards and gila monsters are cool looking, but I’ll let someone else keep ‘em Here’s hoping they have the albino western diamondback rattlesnakes on display again next time I go back there  18 March 2009 I’ve actually had this plane for a bit over a year. Different things have kept it on the ground so far, but I hope to fly it before the end of this year  17 March 2009 I thought it was pretty I took that picture just after coming out of Exotic Pets where I’d left a 25% deposit on a new companion animal  17 March 2009 - Ziva the cornsnake! Yep – a cornsnake. I had been considering an Emporer scorpion but decided not to go that route as I didn’t want people to avoid visiting due to my apartment’s other residents. Ziva is a black cornsnake (her color pattern) and I’ve named her after Ziva David on NCIS. The 25% is just to hold her until I get paid and I can get the rest of the stuff to take care of her. Her enclosure will be the 20 gallon tank that used to house my fish and will probably cost less to operate than a tank full of fish. This could be both fun and interesting Today’s post for yesterday’s picture post (yes, these were taken yesterday) is a twofer – two pics fer one day  16 March 2009 - Spring Evening in Las Vegas I thought this looked rather nice  16 March 2009 - Upstairs Advantages I remembered to take this one while on my way back to my apartment. I’ve wanted to show people why I moved into an upstairs apartment when I knew full well what an unbelievable pain in the behind it would be. Notice anything about the downstairs apartment? I see no reason to even bother locking the deadbolt on that unit. All you need to gain access is the ability to jump the wall into the balcony. Even if you can’t jimmy the lock on the sliding glass door, you can either use a brick to break the glass or you could keep low and out of sight while going to work on the lower track. Yes, that’s my upstairs apartment. At least you’d have to choose between breaking in my door or using a big-ass ladder which is not a recipe for avoiding attention  15 March 2009 - CPAP Mask Yes, I missed yesterday’s picture. I have to admit to having a cocktail in the evening and I flat fell asleep at the keyboard. My most sincere apologies go to everyone out there – especially Kath Today’s picture is of the CPAP mask I wear to bed every night. You can see the hose connection on the bottom as well as the holes above the nose where the air comes out of it. It’s a full face mask so it covers my nose and mouth. The funky lookin’ thing at the top is the forehead support. I can use that to relieve pressure on my nose. Ya know, I’m just going to have to do a pic with this and the helmet sometime I decided to head on over to Sportsman’s Warehouse to see what might be new and exciting in their Friday shipment. It turns out they didn’t get one. They’re not going to get any more either. After only being open four months, Sportsman’s Warehouse is closing their Las Vegas location. I should also mention that they’re closing their Henderson location and another 26 stores along with these two. One of employees said that it’s his third job in a row that he’s been laid off from. I’m not going to get into politics or anything at this time of night. I just think it’s sad.  13 March 2009 - CPAP! Today’s picture shows my wonderful new CPAP (Constant Positive Airway Pressure) machine. Yes, pictures of me in the mask will come soon enough, but I figured I’d show everyone what I’m hooked up to every night. I suffer from severe obstructive sleep apnea. Basically, my airway closes up while I’m sleeping and my brain comes almost to full wakefulness every time to get me breathing again, only I don’t know it. My snoring has been likened to a team of lumber jacks in the petrified forest with chainsaws and jackhammers because of it. I finally went to the doctor and underwent a sleep study. It was determined that my airway was closing and I was basically waking up about 150 times an hour and that my blood oxygen was very low most of the time. What this means is that I was asphyxiating most of the night and six hours of sleep for me was the equivalent of 1.5 hours for the average person. No wonder I was always so freaking tired! CPAP therapy basically pressurizes my airway and prevents it from collapsing. I get the sleep I need, my blood oxygen stays good, and I’m not so incredibly tired all the time The part of the machine in the top of the picture is the flow generator which blows the air into the hose and mask and does the real work. The clear part below that is a heated humidifier which is a godsend as I breathe mostly through my mouth and use a full face mask. Humidified air keeps me from waking up with a really dry mouth. I found out the hard way what happens without it when I let the water run out by accident – not good I’m glad I have good insurance – the sleep study would cost someone paying out of pocket $1000 but I only have a $15 copay. The machine was fully covered as are replacement supplies. I looked up the cost for the equipment online and the machine you see in the picture with the humidifier is about $900 which is the discount price. The mask is another $145. Now to figure out how to afford a sealed deep cycle battery, charger, and 300 watt continuous duty pure sine wave inverter so I can take it camping… |
Click on the text or picture to go to the cause or organization's homepage.     
      Click on the text or picture to go to the business website.       |
|||||
|
Copyright © 2012 Parrothead Jeff & Friends - All Rights Reserved 111 queries. 0.865 seconds. |
||||||
Yep, it’s a kitchen 
Notice the absence of boxes (aside from the one with the coffee maker in it) or general things tossed everywhere. The mountain bike is only there temporarily 
.