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Monday, November 7, 2011

Random Musings of a Ramblin' Fool XXXVIII

This blog continues to catch fire. Ad revenue is picking up rather dramatically over the past week. It appears this thing continues to gather steam as it has been doing all year since April, but particularly the past several weeks. I shall strive to ride the crest of the wave for as long as I am able.

What's On Tap This Week

Today (Monday) I took a big, scary History 207A class taught by Dennis Judd at Cuesta College. I feel like I triumphed over it but I don't wish to jinx myself by doing any premature touchdown dances over it. Tomorrow (Tuesday) I plan to stay home all day and work hard on my K&K Earthwerks Store really hard by adding hoards of new items given that all day long Ebay has a promotion wherein there is no fee for adding new items all day. I also need to make some calls to various "cash-for-clunkers" outfits to find myself the best deal for getting rid of my old car which is cluttering up my life. I also need to make inquiry regarding the shipment of some specialized minerals to Europe that might experience problems in customs at the European end if not in transit on the American side first. I'd hate to end up on a No-Fly List over a couple of uranium ore minerals. Tomorrow night I have my weekly 3-hour/3-unit Economics 201A class. Wednesday is another school day like today (a 3-unit and a 4-unit class). Wednesday night is a bible study as is Thursday and Friday nights with church Saturday night and Sunday morning. Thursday through Saturday should be full work days for various clients. At some point this week I need to go in and see a counselor about my placement exams and signing up for classes next semester which is now open for class sign-ups. I also need to go down to my high school (Atascadero High School) and see if I can get them to help me acquire my Advanced Placement PIN or whatever it is I need to have in order for them to transfer my AP records to Cuesta so I can get 3 units of college English coursework awarded me for passing that test over two decades ago. I intend to make enough money this week to get a couple of new tires for my Volvo as the front tires are nearly bald and rainy season is upon us.

What Was Accomplished Last Week

I made enough money to cover this months' rent, house-sat for my friend who is fighting pancreatic cancer,  got into my storage unit and did some work for the first time in months and actually cleared a small measure of the clutter, turned in a missive for my History 207A class, missed my Econ 201A class Tuesday night only to find out later it had been cancelled anyway, took a test in my Spanish 201 for which I earned 92% which isn't as great as it sounds given a third of the class earned that or better and the instructor grades entirely on the curve. I also managed to reconnect with most of my clients after being unable to work for most of them during the past several weeks while my transportation problems festered. Speaking of transportation, I also replaced the battery on my newly-acquired 1994 Volvo which died while I was in Santa Rosa weekend before last. I also got new windshield wipers and replaced a burned out break light. Last but not least I attended two new Bible studies (one I had attended once before last Spring or Summer but it was held in another location then and had a different feel). I also attended church at Harvest Bible Church last Saturday night en lieu of attending services Sunday morning at North County Christian Fellowship so I could help an acquaintance for several hours pack for moving this month.

Amateur Geology Events On Tap This Month

Coming up in two weekends is the 42nd Annual "Galaxy of Gems Expo" highlighting petrified wood hosted by the Oxnard Gem & Mineral Society. I shall be in attendance at the show helping my friend Dave Richter of Rocks & Relics operate his booth in the show. That same weekend I shall miss Santa Lucia Rockhound member Cliff Brewen's "rockhound's yardsale" at his place at 6384 Monterey Road, Paso Robles, CA. Historically, I have attended that event selling my own stuff and have done well. However, given the schedule conflict there is no way whatsoever for me to be there this year.

Speaking of Things Geologic

Two interesting geologic events occurred this past week, to wit, El Hierro volcano has been acting up of late as we all know but now it has transitioned into a Surtseyan eruption phase with columns of steam and ash over 300 feet high being ejected out of the ocean. The other notable geologic event was a magnitude 5.6 earthquake in Central Oklahoma that caused widespread minor damage and shook up a lot of people not accustomed to earthquakes. In this seismic sequence which has extended into this week there have been 19 events in magnitude 3 range and 3 events in the magnitude 4 range including two M4.7's, one of which was a foreshock to the larger event with some of the M3's being aftershocks to that foreshock and additional foreshocks to the main shock Follow the sequence HERE.

I Have Not Gained Weight... The World Has Shrunk!

I'm feeling bloated while by pure coincidence my scale is blatantly lying when it says I've gained nearly ten pounds since bottoming out at about 230 lbs. earlier this year. In order to get the world to expand back to its original size so I stop looking and feeling like I've gained weight I need to start walking everyday whenever possible. I was doing that consistently earlier in the year when the world was obviously larger. I also need to shrink my stomach back down and temper my sweet tooth. Too bad I don't have a hot wife to offer me sweet incentives to lose weight right away.

 Of Occupations and Tea Parties

Is it just me or does it feel like the Occupy Wall Street movement jumped the shark over the weekend? It's odd has fast it happened and how soon it happened. The Tea Party movement has stronger legs (because it does not center around trespassing on public property and inconveniencing people). However, it, too, seems to have peaked in its pique. Nonetheless, expect it to disproportionately influence the Republican primaries and cause whatever candidate emerges to be less palatable to the great political middle than would otherwise be the case.  President Obama is hoping for as radical a Republican opponent as fate will hand him and the Tea Party seems interested in indulging him. If the Tea Party inadvertently reelects Obama to a second term it is my intense desire that the American People turn against that movement and utterly repudiate it and its adherents and organizers and leaders and relegate them to pariah status.

Fini

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