Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

CapnBob

Annual Uro Checkup

Damsel and I drove down to the West Valley today for what has become and annual checkup of my bladder. The urologist and crew use a cystoscope to take a peek into my bladder via the urinary tract to examine for any possible recurrence of the cancer that was resected a little over 10 years ago. The image above shows the monitor where the video is displayed when the ‘scope is connected to it and inserted into the urinary tract.

Today’s procedure went well and detected no cancer recurrence. I do have a sub-optimal condition in my right kidney and the size of the ureter (tube connecting that kidney to the bladder) was a bit smaller than the left side ureter, but the Urologist seemed to think this was no big deal.

The procedure was quick and mostly painless save for a little discomfort during the exam itself and the slight burning sensation when urinating the first couple of times afterwards. I have had this procedure many times (I estimate 15??) since the original diagnosis and never have had to been anesthetized. At any rate, we’re done with it for another year.

I am still working on my US Naval Service History and will be posting those blogs sometime soon.

13 Aug 2024 by Medix Notions

Altocumulus Mammatus

This past Monday evening, I photographed the above image after I noticed the normally flat-bottomed cumulus cloud had these predominantly rounded protrusions below. I recognized them as mammatus.

Mammatus is a cellular pattern of pouches hanging underneath the base of a cloud, typically a cumulonimbus raincloud, although they may be attached to other classes of parent clouds.

I remember from my days as a commercial instructor pilot that these cloud formations were to be avoided. There can be up/down drafts, microbursts, wind shear and possible other airborne hazards.

Not long after the photo was taken, we got some steady rain for about fifteen minutes. The ground got a good soaking with little runoff. Last night, however, several thunder cells rolled through the area and left plenty of rain. There was no evidence of flooding afterward.

Now, speaking of weather, I saw a couple of interesting articles on the topic of the Farce of Anthropogenic Climate Change. The first one “Greenhouse Gases Are a Scientific Myth” from American Thinker, discusses, as the title indicates, “climate stupidity” with regard to so-called “greenhouse gasses.”

The most recent climate stupidity suggests that American factories report their greenhouse gas emissions. As we learned from our country’s first cap-and-trade rule in California, reporting led to required reduction of clean-burning natural gas. Most factories in California have closed because of that rule. It required a 75-percent reduction of natural gas — the factories’ only heat source — over five years.

Read More

The next article, from long-time blogger “GREENIE WATCH,” discloses a study debunking CO2’s adverse effect on the weather.

A powerful peer-reviewed scientific study delivers substantial evidence that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the atmosphere have zero impact on the Earth’s global temperatures. The study concludes that even though most publications attempt to depict a catastrophic future for our planet due to an increase in CO2, there is serious doubt that this is, in fact, the case. Instead, the study authors deduced that their research unequivocally means that the officially presented narrative that human activity is causing a detrimental CO2 increase on Earth’s climate is merely a hypothesis rather than a substantiated reality.

Read More

We’ve long known that the notion of man-made climate change is as follows:

07 Aug 2024 by Environment Global Warming Greenbats Photography

Lughnasadh 2024

Today, we celebrate the Gaelic Cross-Quarter Feast of Lughnasadh, which, in ancient times, marked the beginning of harvest season. We’re going to celebrate with a traditional feast consisting of Corned Beef (Round Cut) and Cabbage with some lower carb vegetables (Squash, Turnips, Brussels Sprouts, etc.) to keep closer to our Keto diet.

As in past posts about Celtic celebrations, we issue the disclaimer that we are not bound by Wiccan or other Heathen religious traditions since we are Christians and practice the only true religion in our daily lives. We only celebrate their traditions since our ancestors were mostly Gaelic and Celtic. The feasting is awesome.

The weather today here in Wickenburg is much the same as yesterday, with thunderstorms over the mountains east and north of here, but still dry here. We have a 20% chance for showers before 8 PM. We could use a little gentle rain.

OK – time to go and slice the entrée for the feast. Enjoy your Sunday — the Lord’s Day!

Update: we’re getting some of that rain now. Big drops far apart but covering the ground and soaking in.

04 Aug 2024 by Food & Dining Holidays Notions

Monsoon Days Are Upon Us

As of a few weeks ago, our Monsoon Season has brought us a few showers, but not in the usual summertime quantity nor have they been very intense. We’re not complaining about the lack of damaging rainfall at all, but as to not getting a good soak now and then. The image above (I later learned) is of a cell located over Yarnell, AZ, a town 30 miles north of here. They had a good prolonged rainfall just up there around eleven AM local, while we have had didley squat.

Later in the day, some intense, dark clouds drifted over us, but again, no significant precipitation. Damsel took the following photo of a Turkey Buzzard circling overhead beneath the clouds:

After the time of the previous photo, I took the dogs for a walk and distinctly smelled wet creosote, but observed no rain. I presume that the Good Lord will eventually bring gentle, soaking rain our way as He always does.


Image courtesy Foxtrot Mike Products

In other news, we have been monitoring some of the court proceedings regarding our rights to keep and bear arms. There are some good decisions and some bad decisions about various aspects of arms and accessories. We anticipate that one of these days the US Supreme Court will gather their collective cajones and grant certiorari for one or more of the “Assault Weapons” cases where various Communist states (California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, etc.) are unconstitutionally restricting the right to keep and bear those “commonly in use for lawful purposes” firearms. Maybe I will live long enough to see that become a reality.

03 Aug 2024 by Arizona Beltway Kabuki Environment Firearms

Mesquite Tree Bean Pods

This morning, while walking the dogs, I photographed them inspecting the myriad of bean pods recently fallen from the Mesquite tree in front of our house. You can get an idea of how numerous the pods are under this and other trees in the area from the (clickable) image above.

During the spring and summer months, the Mesquites produce these pods, which are said to have been a staple food source among the native Indians and this area’s early settlers.

From American Outdoor:

The yellow pods were once used by all the indigenous inhabitants of the desert regions, usually ground into a flour and eaten. The ripe pods are sweet, and when ground into flour, can be used to make a variety of tasty and nutritious dishes.

This shrub, or one of its close relatives, can be found throughout the deserts of Southern California, southern Nevada, parts of Utah, in Arizona along the full lengths of both the Colorado and Gila Rivers, southwestern New Mexico, and even east to Texas along the Rio Grande River.

There is no point in attempting to clean up the pods since the desert critters and other conditions do it eventually for us. Moreover, it is too warm to be handling a rake in the 105+ degree daytime temperatures here.

By the way, Cabela (on the right above) will celebrate her SIXTEENTH birthday tomorrow. Other than partial blindness due to cataracts, she is still going strong. We expect that she’ll be with us for quite a while longer.

02 Aug 2024 by Critters Home & Garden Notions Photography

Nine Squared

Having competed yet another orbit around the sun, the total of my years is equivalent to the title and graphic shown. In spite of that rather large-ish sounding number, I am still in very good health with only minor symptoms of arthritis and a slightly under-performing kidney. I still see a dermatologist who eliminates some skin carcinoma from time to time, thus reminding me of my younger days of over exposure to the sun’s UV radiation.

Here’s a brief summary of life to this point:

  • Born during the second world war in Long Beach, California.
  • Graduated High School in the early 60’s
  • Active duty US Navy – Avionics Tech School for a year
  • US Naval Missile Center, Point Mugu, CA Targets Dept. 2 years.
  • Went into Aerospace industry for the next 40 years.
  • Retired in Wickenburg, AZ.

I may have left out a few details. There are a couple of blog posts in the works that detail my Navy service – coming one of these days.

22 Jul 2024 by Notions Retirement

July 11th – 7/11

Today’s date reminded me of the dice game “craps” which is popular in casinos worldwide. We are not particularly gamblers, especially at our advanced ages, but reminisce occasionally about things we did in the past which we thank God that we’re now over those days and urges.

Anyhow, here a couple of notes about the goings-on in our world on July 11th of 2024:

The (clickable) image above shows one of the several mesquite trees around the house which are all fully endowed with green foliage and numerous bean pods. Not shown in the image is the ground beneath the tree covered with more bean pods. The desert critters and other phenomena eventually clean up the pods, so there is no labor involved, which is good since daytime temperatures here are in the 105-115° range during pod season.

These deciduous trees lose all the green (well, most of it) during the colder months, but have lots of bipinnate leaves providing shade during the warmer months. We’re thankful to have these around the property.

We have had Cabela, our Min-Pin, for almost fourteen years now, and she was estimated to be about two years old when we adopted her in August of 2010. In the (clickable) photo, you can see that she has cataracts in both of her eyes, the right eye completely blind now and the left one not far behind. She does OK in bright light, but tends to not see very well in darker conditions. She also seems not to be able to see things close up and her depth perception is certainly impaired judging from her reaction to things around her.

In spite of her vision problems, she is physically able to get around and prances like the little puppy still going inside of her. We worry when she runs around, since she tends to collide with objects from time to time.

This particular breed of miniature pinscher (not related to Doberman Pinschers) has skin problems resulting in bumps and growths on the surface of her (almost) hairless body. These aren’t a significant problem since they are benign and if she doesn’t scratch them and make them bleed, they don’t seem to affect her.

So, we will continue to baby her as long as she remains healthy and spry. Naturally, we dread the day that eventually will come when we lose her. Dog lovers everywhere know the pain of that.

11 Jul 2024 by Arizona Critters Notions Retirement

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