We had to make an urgent trip to California today in connection with refinancing the home there. On the way, there is always something interesting to see on the interstate. I saw this yellow Smart Car drive up the ramp to get on the road. Just after I took this photo, I saw a billboard on the other side of the interstate with an ad “Driving a Lemon? Want your money back?” We both LOLed at that little coincidence. Click on the image to enlarge.
Today was another beautiful summer day in our town. A few puffy white clouds floating by, mostly blue skies and warm (but not too warm – 104°). It always makes me so happy to walk up the driveway to my pretty little desert house. We love this place. Click on the image to enlarge.
The United States Air Force will be facing a shortage of fighter pilots in about eight years according to a story on Fox News website. The Air Force has started a program of offering a retention bonus of up to $225,000 to encourage pilots to stay on the job.
The Air Force is currently short some two hundred pilots with the shortage expected to grow to seven hundred at the eight year mark. Pilots are retiring citing reasons from war fatigue to having a menial jobs like flying remote drones rather than cockpit experience.
Another reason pilots quit is to take advantage of a boom in commercial airline pilot hiring. Here is an excerpt from Fox News:
Boeing estimates there will be a global need for 460,000 new commercial pilots over the next two decades, which will add to the need to woo the U.S. military’s ace pilots.
The FAA has also raised the qualification requirements for commercial co-pilots from 250 flying hours to 1500, making U.S. military-trained pilots with years of experience even more attractive.
I think a lot of military pilots are frustrated with Obama’s phony sequestration tantrums in which a third of active squadrons are grounded. God knows what a cesspool the military is turning into with this weak-tit of a Commander in Chief running the show.
Damsel captured this image of a red dragonfly in the courtyard of the medical offices this morning. We’re not sure, but it looks like a ruby meadowhawk dragonfly that we spotted in California in October of 2007. Click on the image to enlarge.
We have several varieties of prickly pear cacti growing in the neighborhood, but none on our property. I have imported several cuttings which are just about ready to transplant from their pots into the ground west of the house. We hope to form a boundary along the west property line consisting of several varieties which we have in pots.
The cactus in the photograph is growing near old downtown Wickenburg. The pears on this cactus look just about ready to harvest. Someday, I hope to harvest our own pears and experiment with making jellies, syrups and whatever else we might think of. Click on the image to enlarge.
Another Milestone has passed and Damsel and I are celebrating my birthday. We wanted to continue our tradition of being on the road for this occasion, but circumstances preclude that. As soon as we clear up some personal matters this summer, we hope to be able to hit the road again.
Also. Happy Birthday to Tin Can Assassin.
We bought this cereus a couple of years ago at the garden shop. When we got it, it needed re-potting, so I put it in this three gallon container. It was getting little lobes on the sides and needed the room. The bad thing is that I lost the name of this variety of cereus (I think it’s a cereus).
Well, in timing with the monsoons and the other cereus “queen” flowers, one of the flowers on this cactus opened early this morning. It’s very beautiful and it has a light fragrance – almost lemony.
The image above is one of five in a slideshow. Click the image to advance to the next frame.