Getting some loving

Mother and baby exchanging some loving. I'm always amazed at the affection mothers give there babies and how their babies give mothers love and affection. It doesn't matter what animals I'm photographing they all express their love for each other. Whether it's a bird feeding it's baby bird a skunk with it's mother or my kitties and their mother they all express affection. What's real amazing is seeing a soon to be mother deer that's real pregnant come over to a mother skunk and her babies and admire them. She will stand there watching the babies knowing she's going to have babies soon. I was just watching a mother raccoon and her baby. Seems all the animals will see babies and cut them slack. One thing I find real amazing is how several species get along. I've watch the raccoons push aside a skunk and the skunk didn't even stop chewing. The baby skunks challenge everyone even their brothers and sisters. The babies being so small trying to stomp their feet can be real quiet even if there's leaves under them. I really like to two albino raccoons. They tend to get picked on by the others for looking different. Those little pink fingers are really something. All the raccoons do like getting wet and do smell like a wet dog. The skunks only smell when they spray and they don't do that very often. I wonder what ever happened to the one baby skunk that wanted to follow me around. He would come in the house and lay down and go to sleep then would wake up after a few hours and go to the door when it wanted out. When I sit out on the porch it's common for a baby to come up and lay next to me or on my foot and go to sleep. I guess it's the warm body they like.  I hear the skunks making noise and think it's one of the babies. I just have to say forcefully, "Babies" and they stop.

But us rich republican are just cheap

Rich people didn't get rich by spending money. They are penny pincher's and want everyone else to pay there way that includes for national security. Back when "Ike" was president income tax on the progressive scale was near 80+% and the country went on just fine. There were great social programs and no one went to another country to create businesses. When Regan did his tax cut everyone mainly the republican remember that but don't remember the 6 tax increases he had because the tax cuts were so great the county was going to run out of money. Then George H. Bush claimed no new taxes and had to raise taxes to pay for the first gulf war. Clinton said I'm going to raise your taxes and balance the budget and he did. There was a 500 billion dollar surplus at the end of his second term. W came to office and thought he would be cute and win over the people by giving a tax break for the wealthy and a minor check to everyone else. No rich people did anything but put the money in the bank just like it was predicted. We went from a 500 billion dollar surplus to being in debt. How Bush spent 10 trillion dollars while in office still amazes me. He didn't pay for any of the wars and gave the rich outrageous tax breaks. Before the end of his term congress and senate gave themselves a 100% raise while the republicans were still in power. Seems like those benefits they get should be cut. Make them pay for their own health care costs. Let them pay for their hair care too because what they get from the tax payers to keep their hair cut is just ridiculous. It's in the thousands of dollars a month range. Many of the people of both houses aren't insurable but we pay what ever the cost is to get them health care and now they don't want any people in this country to have health care even though they paid into the programs. Why republicans keep saying it's broken and they want to privatize social security when it is where the government has been borrowing money from for years. The government owes social security 75 trillion dollars and doesn't want to pay it back. That's like organized crime getting into the retirement funds of unions. Of course government plays that down and keeps saying it's going to run out of money in some years in the future. If the government paid back what it borrowed it would be just fine but they keep taking money. When G.W. Bush was in office I kept writing that he was doing everything he can to destroy the country and I was right. The republicans pilfered the country. The rich got richer and the working class got poorer. We are at the same place we were when Bush took office or was appointed by the supreme court as president. There hasn't been any growth to the county while Bush was in office. Now we are taking in 20% less income from taxes and fees and the republicans are out to de-fund and break anything and everything while giving tax breaks to the rich and wanting the lesser class to pay for the country. They, the republicans say that Medicare is broken when it works just fine for millions of people. What needs to be changed is both houses need to be placed on Medicare for their health care. Then changes will happen to improve Medicare for all. Why the republican hate all social programs even though before there were this so called conservative movement they were the social party. Now they are the anti-social party and I mean the mental kind. They are social-paths with their idealism. They don't believe in science. Inholf thinks climate change and global warming is a conspiracy even though the rest of the world would have to be in on it. He says it's so scientist can create job security, if that isn't the stupidest thing you ever heard.  It's amazing that most of the religious right broke with the republicans over climate change and said it was a crime not to be responsible for being good stewards of the world. Still slowly they are finding out that republicans aren't the moral party. They are as moral as Michelle's hero John Wayne Gacey the serial killer of her home state. If you look at new reals of hearings where Phil Gramm was defending deregulation and what made Greenspan a disheveled man. Markets can't be trusted at all and the republicans defended this policy saying the market will self regulate. Well we saw what happens there. The market cheats and lies and defrauds people of their money. They bring down other countries while making the country pick up the mess they created. Even if the republicans have their way and getting rid of social security something they hate because a democrat made it it still would only fix the budget for one year and leave many people destitute the year after. Why they want to protect the richest people in the country and I'm not talking about the low end of wealthy making a couple million a year but the people making billions a year with all sorts of tax breaks that common people don't get. Just 1% increase in their income would balance the budget over ten years faster without the Bush tax breaks. Yet they defend the richest companies in the world now that immoral. They don't care about people and yet keep saying how moral they are. They use the voters and harm then with a smile. What gets me is how voters drink the coolaid and think the republicans are going to help them when they are doing everything they can to take their money and leave them out on the street. There you can be arrested for being homeless and put in jail because rich people don't want to see poor people.

Cooling down, only going to be around a hundred

Well it has been around a hundred so when the weather reader said on the news today it was going to cool down I thought he meant it was going to cool down. So it's down 4 degrees from 104 degrees to 100 degrees really not much of a difference. It's still like being in a sauna. Going outside for a little bit my shirt is soaked and I'm sweating even though I'm under the celling fan right now.

There was a couple cells of thunder storms crossing the mountains. Up to 2 inch hail coming down. It's mainly following Interstate 80 since that's the low spot in the mountain pass. It's moisture coming up from the Gulf of California. This is the main rain that comes up every summer to water Joshua Tree. It's also blowing up the back side of the Sierra's.

Kitties are moving some what slow but it's hard to keep a kitten down. I'm putting out cool milk for the kitties and they flock to the bowl soon as I close the door. I've notice that the kittens wanted to play with a baby squirrel but the squirrel wouldn't have any of it. The kittens just see the baby squirrel as another fuzzy creature that is the same age as them. They don't see that there is a difference in species. I've notice that what I thought was the white kitty has gray ears, tail and part of it's back legs are gray with white feet. The gray kitty with long hair seems to be more on it's own a lot of the time. It does play with the other kittens but I notice it being off exploring by itself. The black and white kitty and the mostly white kitty are best buddies and are always together.

I put scratch out for the birds on the rails of the porches. The jays are the first to zip in. They come by every morning and evening. They have to be the jets of the bird world with there sleek bodies.  They dive in on each other for what looks like fun. How they drop straight down and land is amazing. It's drying out here so not as many robins as there once was earlier in spring. Every late afternoon the finches come through the trees in a large flock going from tree to tree.

I've added a trash can lid to my cascading water for the critters and birds. Have to do some minor adjustments to level them off. There was a jay splashing in the water yesterday cooling off. I'm amazed at how the birds come in and clean up even in the cold of winter. Now it has to be about cooling down. I've noticed the birds with their mouth open, panting.

Not sure what's going on with the hummingbird feeders but I'll find them on the ground or empty hanging in place. I tried hanging one out on a dead branch but it still gets knocked down. When I took the one down to fill it, it had large ants inside. The ants up here are something else. The worst ones are the carpenter ants, big black ones. They live inside wood carving the wood out just leaving a shell of the wood which falls apart with a touch. The next worse ant is the black and red ones because those like to swarm and they climb all over you rather quickly. There are small ants and I mean real small that seem to be mainly outside.

Trimming some weeds out of the gardens I saw a yellow spider with eggs on a leaf. Was the first time I've seen this type spider. The daddy long legs spiders making a random like web make the material for the finches nests. As I was pulling weeds near the house these two finches came in close then started collecting spider webs from the eves. They make hanging nests like a sock hanging from a branch.

The deer are starting to show up so I should greet them. It's nice to see them sile when I come out to see them. I wanted to water one area so it would be damp for them when they lay under the trees and bushes.

Coopers Hawk

Coopers Hawk. Saved a Blue Jay the other day from being snagged by this guy as it came diving in. The jay made it into a bush where the branches are close together. The hawk couldn't fly in tight like that, it did try though. I clapped my hands and the hawk flew up to the oak tree first still keeping an eye on the jay. I grabbed the camera and started walking closer to the hawk. It moved from one tree to another watching me very closely.  I hear the hawks crying out every day as they fly around.

The deer were here at sunset today like always. A kitfox came up on the porch for some cat food and was more interested in what was out in the yard them me. I told the little one it was okay and it continued eating like it was tame. For a wild animal it sure is friendly. I didn't want to move to get the camera because movement bothers most all the animals. I try moving real slow with the night shift and talk softly to them. The raccoons are resting up in the walnut tree. Been a real hot day close to a hundred. I see the skunks have the same idea and are laying on the cool concrete. The raccoons are laying with their arms and legs hanging over the branches. You would think the skunks would smell but there's nothing like a wet raccoon for being aromatic.

The baby skunks are trying to show off how tough they are. Saw a mother skunk get tired of the baby making noise and stomping it's little feet. With a fast nudge the baby was pushed off the walkway and totally surprised. There are several generations of skunks here. One my oldest male has been here since I first moved in.

Grandma raccoon's here. She's been here also since I moved in. Has a bit of wear to her too. Her tails trimmed like a toy poodle with a ball at the end from being chewed on. One raccoon has a round cut on it's ear and now looks like something sharp fell on it's head. There's a 3/4 inch piece of skin missing. Doesn't seem to bother the girl and is starting to dry up from the other night when I first saw the wound.

It's funny to watch the skunks sit down because their legs are so short like a wiener dogs. With it being this hot they look like a flat skunk laying around. It's amazing when they stand up on their hind legs to get a better view. The raccoons do that too so do the bears. It doesn't mean they are going to attack it's just for a better view. With the shape of their heads pointed and nose way out there it gets close to the ground. They have to be one of the best smeller's. They can smeel stuff that has past in the air and on the ground. They will follow the smell from in the air to where ever the smell takes them. They have musk glands and will rub the side of their heads on the ground to mark where they have been. I'll see them following their scent even in the rain.

It's amazing how much they look like mini wolverines. Big back legs and small front legs. They have long claws on their front paws and do a bit of digging. I heard if you give them enough time they will go through concrete but I think that is because of the determination they have. For the most part they are very friendly and like to explore everywhere. I've seen them and the raccoons snag bugs right out of the air as they flew by. I used to have a gopher problem but think my night shift took care of them.

I haven't seen the bobcats this year. Maybe because I have a cat with kittens. She's a bit on the wild side and hisses at me every time I get close to her. The kittens are something a mostly white one with a light gray tail and white feet and gray ears. There's a black and white one like the father and hangs close to mom. Then there's the little gray kitty that looks just like mom with the long hair just like her.

Still haven't seen the new baby deer, the mothers are keeping them hidden until they can get larger. I'll see the mothers ears perk up and look out over the yard and once in a while take off to check on the babies. It's going to be nice to see the babies running and playing here soon.

Tiny Flower Time

Looks like "Daisy's" but much smaller. It's "Chamomile" flowers. I have them popping up all over. For a good part of the year this flowers are out making the yard look nice. I do have Shasta Daisy's also here and they are much bigger. It's nice how there are so many of these little flowers covering my gardens. I don't have to do much to take care of these they just grow wild. I like that there's so many of these not hundreds but thousands of them. The animals don't eat them. Makes a good ground cover.

Bochmann in Christian Ponzy scheme

Madoff to the wind out of the story about the Ponzy scheme Bochmann was linked to. She was pushing born again's to a scam, one of her friends selling bogus investments. Then wrote a letter defending her buddy to keep him out of prison. That's still going to court. So her best days are behind her. The fall out from this scam isn't going to be kind to her. There's a lot of mad people wanting their money back. The investment scam was also used to fuel her political champagnes.

Hearing the other matters about her, she's only interested in herself and not the people she's voted to represent. She part of the extreme Christian Right and has her facts confused. It's going to be interesting to watch the media fact check her because she's going to end up like Palin and a foot note in time.

Bockmann, another idiot tea bagger, hoser

Guys vote for her thinking they are getting into her pants. Just another big mouth. Just because you want to slash and burn the country for fun and profit count me out.

Used to be republicans were somewhat normal people but now they want to impress each other by how radical they are. The tea baggers are even more radical then Bush and he was out of the park. Why any person that's in the working class would vote republican, they need their heads examined because they are just shooting themselves in the foot. The antisocial republicans are just that and it's the mentally kind. They are defending corporations not having to pay tax and want to make up the difference by placing the burden on the working class. They want to and are dismantling social programs because a democrat came up with it. They are doing everything that Hoover did leading up to the great depression again and want to take it further. They won't bring back Glass Stegal Act which the republicans pushed and are still pushing for deregulation. Look at the disheveled Greenspan who said that deregulation doesn't work the market can't be trusted to police itself. Yet the republicans weakened the Dodd/Franks Bill giving investment banks free ride again. Stock markets can sell you crap and get away with it again because the republicans depend on insider trading. Republicans don't want people to have health care and want people to go bankrupt. Law makers have it easy and the best health care money can buy. Well they are the best money can buy too, but you get what you pay for. Republicans are what's wrong with this country and doing everything they can for power including breaking the country for fun and profit.

Baby Kitfox

New little guy.  Shy, nervous, alert the little kitfox paces and gets kitty's food.  Had to shoot through the screen of the security door. This little one is about one half the size of the mother. I've been hearing little yips in the evening so thinking there might be more then one.

They are a bit far north. They shouldn't be father then Fresno and living in the valley. Well it is getting hotter down there plus a lot of development. Migration has to happen so they are adapting to the new climate change.

Oh Poor Young Fellow

It looks like Jeffrey's younger brother is blind in one eye. Stumpy was going blind in one eye but his problem was due to old age. This your fellow looks like he might have been poked in the eye or was kicked. Some how they do adapt and can live a long life but I'm a bit worried for him. He won't have depth perception. He's a bit jumpy when others come up on the right side because they surprise him.  Stumpy had cataracts but this looks different. There's a scar above his eye which could be from a deer's foot kicking him. There's a few bigger guys that can be rather mean. Most of the deer that come here are very nice and peaceable. When I called one deer a mean deer it really effected them and they were sad. They hung there head down until I told them they were okay.

Sunny Boy

One of the twins, my Sunny Boys. Born last year around July 4th to Pretty Girl. They have been great to watch grow up over the last year. There's a baby girl that loves to run with the boys. One day she was so disappointed when she came here and the boys went here. She cried out for the boys over and over looking everywhere in the yard for them. The mothers are good at letting the kids play while they rest in the shade. One day there was seven babies running as hard as they can around the valley. Seeing the smiles on all the babies was a wonderful sight. Baby deer are so full of life. So happy at everything they see.  I'll find them looking up at the hummingbirds watching them fly to the feeder. Seeing the babies jump in the air and kick just to test their legs. The Sunny Boys always run ahead of mom getting here first every day. I don't know who is happier to see who when they get here.

Here's looking at you

Surprise! It's kittens, my little ones a little camera shy but just the cutest little ones. Working on trying to get all three kittens together playing. This is the first time I tried using GIMP for more then just viewing a picture and took a bit to find out where the tools were. GIMP is a free open source program that runs on many platforms. (Windows, Linux, Mac)

Mango brings back the wrong thoughts

Microsoft came out with the Mango but that makes me think if Chris Kattan and his character from a Saturday Night Live skit where he plays Mango. So when I saw the ad for Mango it brought back this character of what sex you never knew, it was Mango. Sure was funny so now hearing about a phone called Mango I take it as a phone that's going to be doing odd things to you and others. Think I'll pop in the Corky Romano DVD and do a bit of laughing.

Gangs all here

Been out with my deer friends. They have been lounging around since the bears left. The mother deers look a bit lighter and I believe they had their babies. There's one that still looks pregnant. Saw Momma Girl's ears perk up and she dashed across the creek to the other side where I think her babies are hiding. Pretty Girl did the same thing the other day. She went down to a spot on the creek and came back up to the house area. Most of the creek grass was cut down. They all have areas they like to lay down in the tall grass. Some like under a tree. They all like eating the low hanging branches of the apple trees. Can't wait to see the little babies. They are really fun to watch. See how happy they are always smiling. They like running around here and the mothers will lounge around watching them.

Saw a couple baby skunks following mom around. I could smell the babies after spaying it's a unique skunk smell like Vitamin B with a little over tone of skunk. Have to work with them so they won't be afraid of me.

The kittens are a lot of fun to watch playing with each other. Momma Kitty still hisses at me. I'm not sure if it's because she's wide or wants me to keep back from the babies.

I was cropping a photo of the kitties when my 13 month old HP computer melted down. What a scam HP has. You pay for a whole computer if you get the extended warranty. Cost $99 dollars for them to tell me it was broken. I knew that, that's why I called tech support. They could tell me anything except give us money and we will tell you that you have a broken computer and it's going to cost you $327 in advanced to fix it. So that's over $425 to get the computer repaired and only a 3 month warranty after that. A new mother board cost $120. If they replace my hard drive because the mother board to the drive to do strange things I'll loose my data. Even sending the computer in and not replacing the drive they can't say the data would be there because they just clone a drive. They only know one way of doing things and it's not customer friendly. Now I'm stuck with a 20 pound door stop. It's funny that HP would send me an update 30 days after my warranty ran out and my machine craps out. It said in the log it fixed my BIOS. It had a lot of other things it said it done too to the registry.

HP makes good science equipment but not computers. Everything is made by someone else. I'm sure HP doesn't even assemble the computers. I read several forums where people are looking for mother boards because there's burned up. It's real funny it's the same model of mother board that craps out too. I didn't see that it was different models just this one a PEGATRON M2N78-LA made by ASUS.

HP Computers, they never loose

After my long talk with HP service Techs, the guys in India with a flip book to try to figure out what's going on with the computer. I've come to the realization They only know what's on the cards they are reading and no more. They don't understand computers and it only cost me $99 dollars for the phone call to tell me I have defective parts at no fault of my own. For another $327 dollars they will fix the computer but no guarantee on saving anything on the hard drive, just that I will get a computer back in a somewhat new state like when I first opened it up. That means I'll have to reload all my software digging through hundreds of disks to do that. The software I bought online will be gone along with my music, lectures, All my data on earthquakes over the past year. All my photos all 15,000 pictures. My videos I transferred from tape to the hard drive. I'll have to be downloading software not to mention two days of Windows 7 updates. What gets me is the prices they are charging. I could get the same mother board from the manufactures for $100 dollars. I could get a 3TB drive for the price they want for a 1TB drive, same manufactures. What gets me if their warranty notice. They told me my warranty will be running out soon, since I was busy at the time I pressed remind me. The Tech said it ran out 40 days ago and just for phone support to find out that I'm going to have to send it in because they can't find a card to fix the problem because they aren't real computer tech but phone guys and it's going to cost me another $327 but he said you get the one year of phone service you just paid for. They don't pro rate that for the time they have the computer in the shop. They only give you a 3 month warranty on the new parts not like the 1 year when you bought the computer. I believe I got the late notice about extending my warranty because they would have to replace any parts and make a $99 dollar fee which most people never use unless you get a defective computer. I've never had a computer fail like this but then I bought good mother boards where the IWill Manufacture give you a life time warranty on it's products no questions asked.

So, HP makes disposable computers because it's cheaper to buy a new one then having it repaired. They say they have warranty but that's as good as the paper it's written on. Every with that you still have to pay. Everything they will do you have to pay.

I used to work on PH test equipment and that was built good but there computers are all parts from other people. I'm sure they don't even assemble them and they sub out the repairs too. I heard that some transport companies now have a corning in the warehouse where they fix computers. They don't really fix them because they don't have that bright of people there it's people that keep replacing parts until it works.

So you might loose all your data on the hard drive because they replaced the hard drive when the only thing that might be wrong is a bad cable and they might find that out last after replacing everything in the computer first.

I taped the phone call and plan to edit it down because it's 90 minutes before I ran out of tape. The phone call was over 2 1/2 hours. You will be surprised at what they say and how much they put you on hold. That a part that I found amazing being on hold they talk about all the things that went wrong with my computer after it did an HP update and there software did some fixes. And yes those service cost you more money but by the time you pay for your computer twice you will at least maybe get a computer that works.

Why it's Jeffrey

My shy friend Jeffrey. He always is smiling and happy but looks somewhat sad at times. He always cheers up after I talk with him. It's real nice interacting with the wildlife. They do respond to a smile and kindness. I'm so amazed that each deer has it's own personality. They are very smart too.

Deer Friend Buddy

My deer friend Buddy. He was kicked last winter by a larger deer and broke his jaw. Now his tongue hangs out but it hasn't got him down. I was worried he was going to have problems. He can't open the right side of his mouth properly. Since he was kicked he picked up that bad habit which I keep telling him it's not nice. He's getting that, just taking a bit. He was really friendly before he was kicked but that effected him. He's really a good deer just had some bad breaks. I think he might grow out of this habit. I'll keep working with him. He is a real friendly deer. He's real good with the girls.

Mom and baby

		Nature VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

From baby kitties to baby squirrels and soon baby deer. there’s some of my favorite one year old male deer here along with the girls. Momma squirrel and her baby too.

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Pretty Birds

		Black Headed Gross Beak VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I’m always amazed at the wildlife here. Every spring and summer birds come through like this Black Headed Gross Beak. I’m not sure but think it’s the bird with a great song. I’ll hear the songs but never see the bird directly singing. They don’t seem to like landing on the ground at least I haven’t seen them there. Seems the birds come by at different times of the day. Morning time is one time that all the birds want something to eat. Then there’s a pause in the day until late afternoon and evening.

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The Amazing Nose

		Much Bigger then Boo-Boo VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The porch light came on and this is what I got to see. A big nose wandering around sniffing things. I was at my desk on the computer and grabbed my camera when I saw the nose at the window looking in at me. I’m always amazed at the wildlife here. There’s always something new to see. Have to wonder what’s going on in that big head when it looked into my eyes as I was looking into it’s brown eyes.

This is the first time the bears have been around more then just a sighting. There’s a baby Boo-Boo bear which I thing is one of these guys baby. So there must be a den where they live. I don’t know if they are always on the move or not.

When the bears were here last night the owls were real vocal. when the bears came through in the day time the birds seem to go silent. The small bear, Boo-Boo looks cute sitting on the picnic table and looks real small but is rather large and will grow even large. I’ve noticed that long lived animals stay with mom for a while where they learn how to be themselves. They have to learn what to eat and where to look for it.  I feel sorry for them in that their lands are being taken over. I saw a story on the news where a woman couldn’t understand why a mother bear and it’s two babies walked through their back yard in the house they just built near Tahoe. She was so confused that a bear could even think about walking in her yard after moving from the city to the forest. She couldn’t figure out they built a house in the bears backyard. 

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Deer Friends

		Deer Friends VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I’m always amazed here seeing what the deer do and see their personalities and social behaviors. Seeing a deer smile is one thing. Seeing baby deer playing with their friends is a real joy. Seeing that deer have friends is amazing. They may call out to their friends if they don’t see them and be disappointed if they don’t show up. That they care about each other is a wonder that is so touching. How people can call shooting them a sport when they do have a developed brain. I’ve even had one deer that would get jealous if I paid attention to other deer. When I talk to them and they respond to what I’m saying shows me they have the ability to learn and are intelligent. Anyone that says they are stupid animals is an idiot and needs his head examined. Sure they live a different life then we do but they are built for that life style as we learned and evolved to stand up and get out of the trees. What made humans successful, our claim to fame is are ability to kill everything else. We are the only life form that kills for fun. Is that really make us better then them. They just love life as much as anyone except human who are depressed, war, kill themselves, kill others, have greed and put that above life itself and the planet they live on.

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