Re: tower on hill?

On Jul 25, 1:40�pm, Gosh Darn <stealth...@iglou.com> wrote:

On Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:36:08 -0700 (PDT), "m...@sushi.com"

<m...@sushi.com> wrote:

http://www.lazygranch.com/images/a51pan/july2010/cam.jpg
http://www.lazygranch.com/images/a51pan/july2010/cam2.jpg

About 500 pixels from the left. Looks like a small tower on the hill
in the foreground. Or I'm inhaling....


� � � � I would be afraid to go out in the desert alone, three
things happened to me that makes me paranoid in my
old age.

� � � � When I drove south from I-15 on the east side of
the Virgin River I did not think I was going up hill much,
but with all the windows open, I could hear the wind
sounds as if it was very windy.

� � � � The wheel tracks I was following went in between
boulders 20 to 40 feet in diameter and then started
down a steep hill.
� � � � I stopped right away, I didn't want to be below
those boulders if there was even a minor earthquake,
and the grade was getting so steep I didn't know if
the car could back up.
� � � � I don't think the car had a dual brake master
cylinder, and if the brakes would have failed, and
the wind noise was from being at the edge of a
cliff at the Colorado River, it could have been bad.

� � � �Another time I turned off �the freeway near
Death Valley where there was supposed to be
fire opal deposits, and about 5 miles or so in,
the battery cable got against the hot exhaust
manifold and shorted and blew out one of the
lead connections between cells on the 6 volt
battery.
� � � �Lucky I had jumper cables, I dug the pitch
out from around the connections and used one
cable to make the connection and continued on.
� � � �I found some rocks that look like there may
have been opal in them and held one and hit
it with the rock hammer, and didn't close my
eyes like I usually did, and fragments hit both
eyes, and I couldn't see hardly at all.
� � � �I always had two desert water bags, and
I rinsed my eyes with water every 5 minutes
and finally after about an hour I could see
well enough to drive. � � � �

� � � �Even with cell phones now it still could
be bad, maybe a satellite phone, extra car
battery, and somebody that could drive to
go along, I might feel confident.


I use a SPOT satellite messenger. I'm sure the base tracks me. I carry
a few gel cell batteries to run radios, but can jump start myself with
the battery. I bring a ridiculous amount of water. I generally have a
jerry can of water as well, though the last time I managed to get a
pinhole leak in my can thanks to a small but sharp pebble.

Flat tires are a reality. You need a full size spare. The Death Valley
rangers often have two spares.

I got a flat leaving TIkaboo. I made it back to California without a
spare. I hate buying tires in Vegas. The tire shops are so expensive
in Vegas. I'm accustomed to things in Vegas costing more then
California, but the tire shops are just outrageous. Perhaps Costco is
the same price, but they don't carry my tire. The food at the
Summerlin Costco is more expensive than in California too. Two Buck
Chuck in Vegas is three bucks. Of course, housing is a hell of a lot
cheaper in Vegas, but that doesn't do me any good.

You would have to have a pretty old car not to have dual master
cylinder. I think they were mandated in the late 60s.