Year 3 Week 26

December 10 to 16, 2006

Palm Springs, California

Year 3 week 26

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny, mild, and very windy. It rained for a couple of hours overnight, which is pretty rare out here in the Mojave Desert. A storm blew in off the Pacific, hitting Los Angeles hard, and blowing right over the mountains out here into the desert. But by morning there was really no evidence that it had rained. The desert just soaked it up like a sponge.

Yesterday I forgot to mention that during the Puppies In Training Christmas Party, we ( the student residence ) received a donation of 7 frozen turkeys, from Fed Ex, for Christmas. Thank you very much, Fed Ex. But ... < whispering > we only have 3 students at a time in the dormitory ... and ... none in December !

This morning while I was looking at a local area map, I saw that the infamous San Andreas Fault runs along the north side of Interstate 10, and is just a few miles wide. Guide Dogs Of The Desert is sitting right on it ! If "The Big One" hits California in the next 4 months, we're toast ! HA HA HA !

Today we went to the 10th Annual Winter Pow Wow of the 29 Palms Band Of Mission Indians in Coachella, about half an hour east of here on Interstate 10 where it meets Hwy. 86. It was held on the grounds of Spotlight 29 Casino, owned and operated by the Indian Band. The 29 Palms Band Of Mission Indians are part of the Chemehuevi Tribe. Spectacular dancing ! And as always at a Pow Wow, native food and craft vendors. We bought some gifts. Midway through the afternoon, the wind picked up and created a sandstorm, blowing fine sand dust off the desert. I felt sorry for the jewellery vendors. Their jewellery, all on velvet displays, was covered in sand dust. Late in the afternoon, as it began to get cool, we went inside Spotlight 29 Casino to take a look around. Joanne wanted to spend a dollar playing penny slots. I left here at a penny slot machine, thinking that a dollar would probably last her an hour at a penny slot machine, as it has previously at Chuckchansi Gold Casino near Coarsegold, California. I wandered around the casino for about 10 minutes, looking it over. When I returned to where I had left Joanne, she asked me what took so long. Her dollar lasted about 5 minutes. What a loser ! HA HA HA !

 

Monday ; Today was sunny and hot.

We are alternating between days "worked" at the dormitory, cleaning and fixing things, and days "out", shopping or seeing local sights and attractions. Today was an "in" day. Joanne worked on continuing to clean in the dormitory, and waxing the trailer late in the afternoon after the sun was low enough that at least part of the trailer wasn't in direct sunlight. It's impossible to work out here in the Mojave Desert in direct sunlight, even in December. I worked on more minor maintenance, and reviewed the incoming batches of mail which were waiting here for us when we arrived a week ago.

Bo escaped again today, while we were walking from the fenced courtyard through the parking lot to the trailer to have lunch. My fault again ! He ran at full speed across the desert chasing rabbits for about 15 minutes, refusing to respond to my commands. I finally trapped him when he came back to visit with a volunteer puppy walker walking by with one of the guide dogs in training from the kennel across the street. I confined him to our dormitory bedroom for about 6 hours, repeatedly telling him what a bad, bad dog he was every time I went into the bedroom. He got the message ! ****ing little ****head terrier !

I went to the Guide Dogs Of The Desert website ( www.guidedogsofthedesert.org ) and viewed the photos from Saturday's puppy raiser Christmas party. HA HA HA ... it included photos of Bo and "Cat" with Santa, and pictures of Bo with his Nylabone Christmas present.

 

Tuesday to Saturday ;

Computer in repair shop.

 

DSK