SD Rowdies

This just in ... Say, I see that several of my Geocaching pals are quietly showing up on Google+; though not yet sharing anything. Delighted to see this trend. It's really important to appreciate the difference betwen Facebook and Google+. Facebook is merely another form of email used to keep in touch with family members and close friends. Don't expect this sort of thing with Google+. Google+ is a place to follow your passionate interests with like-minded people that will be for the most part strangers to you. No matter what your interest is just use the Google+ search-box to discover others of like interest and then "follow" them. Good example for James would be a Google+ search for "Tall Ships." In my own case I follow a large circle of professional photographers, a circle of Photoshop professionals, a circle of 3D imaging experts, a circle of encryption innovators, and more. Result is a steady flow of content that feeds my passionate interests. For my own family and close friends email serves my needs and avoids that silly Like button thingy. Simple ... Facebook for people, Google+ for content. Sweet ol' Harmon

Day one .. Duck Tape flip-flops! Day two ... Cousins take Duck Tape beyond Cheatah cammo' containers including flipflops, belts, purses, flowered ballpoints, and more. Overnight stay put huge dent in "Papa's" grandpa-wallet. - Sixteen rolls of Duck Tape - Dinner out for four - Unlimited snacks - iPod and iPad Apps Note to Self: Nine grandchildren ... I'm a goner! Note two Self: Twelve year old arithmetic ... 12 + 12 = 100 dollars

O please! Dear Mark Zukerberg, Note to Self: The usual response, "Unfortunately, they wouldn't reply"

Oh my.... Please nooooooooo. Feel free to use this photo as your desktop image. Kiss-kiss, Sweet ol' Harmon Note to Self: Aha! finally I figured out what sort of thang they will respond to.

Summer Sucks

Ah yes, the Citroen "deaux cheaveaux" (two horses). Officially, the designation is Citroen 2CV which means "deux chevaux-vapeur" or two horsepower. But that's a little misleading since this is "fiscal (tax) horsepower" and refers to a French law on taxing engine size. The actual output was a whopping 9hp. The design was intended to be an umbrella on wheels capable of carrying two farmers and 50kg of potatoes to market. Another design criteria is that it be able to carry a basket of eggs across a plowed field without breakage. James, Nine horsepower y' say ... now I know why my kneck ached after each and every acceleration. My gosh, I once owned a ten-horsepower lawn mower. With regard to eggs, we had good results transporting eggs and other daily needs from the village street markets roundabout our quaint river-stone bungalow in St. Romaine de Malegarde. The Citroen came with the bungalow as part of our VRBO (Vacation Rental by Owners) outing to Provence. Of course we also rented a modern vehicle on arrival in Marseilles to support our more adventurous wanderings that might have put the Citroen into retirement. As to the bottle of wine, like all wines the ingredients came from the same cooperative vats; the difference being only in the bottle, the label, the chemicals, and the coloration that differentiates each and every gargle of the very same fluid that is so fawned over by uninformed, what's that word, ... oficiandos? Reminds me of the famous line spoken by P.T. Barnum. On the other hand I do subscribe to a concept that goodness is improved by aging. Not naming any names of course. So it goes, Sweet ol' Harmon

BlondHiLites ... Poster Child: San Diego County Unbunched Sock Police

This just in ... Sunflower on a boulder made me happy! Citroen with wine will make you cry. Note to All: St. Restitut in Provence if you must know. Note deux All: We were going to la chapell if you must know ... for a Geocache find. Note trois All: Four in a Citroen will truly make you cry! Note quatre All: All four have t' wear it at th' same time y' see. Note cinq All: We scored th' find of course.

Testing something new ... and then removed it. More later. It's later .... Cool, I figured it out ... direct URL accesss to images stored on Microsoft Live Skydrive thus bypassing the Skydrive share- image viewer. Test photo is of Sandy and me above the Dublin Canal while on our way to find a Geocache container hidden in a canal gate that's beside a stone bridge built in 1769, a few years after I was born. Take a good look at Sandy's cheesy brolly ... fractured ribs and broken stitching but still keeping the rain away. Blame John of Jahoadi and John for this because he asked me how to share very large image files with friends due to the fact that his gmail account doesn't accommodate large attachments. No good deed goes unpunished ... now I have a 57-Gbyte Skydrive account that I didn't really want. Only way to advise is to know, so at least I learned to drill into the Skydrive server as needed to tame it. The first seven Skydrive Gbytes are free by the way with no strings attached. That's more than enough for John's purpose. I wasn't able to control my click-fanger and so paid $25.00 for the additional 50-Gbytes of storage, a calendar-year charge. My usual online-storage account is on a Serif server in England that gives me 100-Gbytes and that fabulous tele'-support lady with the sexy Brit' accent that I've come to know and love. Thanks for asking John, Sweet ol' Harmon Note to Self: Like PUD cake, more is always a good thang. Note two Self: Why am I writing this? Nobody will read it!

This just in ... The good old days of San Diego Geocaching Honk if y' know who that Geocacher is.

This just in ...

Man in the moon? No ... Snake-biting blond in the moon! But is it art? Note to Self: No hitch in her get-a-long if y' please. Note two Self: Does she spin when not being watched?

Has a hitch in her getalong!

This just in ... Cheatah Duck-Tape flower ... soon to be a Geocache swag item.

Speakin' of country gals ... What's th' latest news on that ol' gal with th' cornsilk hair?

Now she's off to the big city to become a famous chef. But we can say that we knew her when she baked PUD-cake in San Diego. James, You're always so well informed. Harmon Note to Self: Dang, I suppose she has a Facebook page.

This just in ... My gosh, the father of the "This just in ..." is in town and on the trail. How did I miss out? O yeah, Jeep or FJ t' qualify, I get it. Good on you guys for hooking East Mesa into the Noble Canyon area. That's been on my list to do for some time. How nice it is to see the ol' boy from Alabama return to San Diego. From the photos it seems that you still have a full set of front teeth ... don't that set you apart from others when y' venture into th' 'bama piney-woods? Flatulent Fathers, yeppur, Alabama through and through. So it goes, Sweet ol' Harmon Note to Self: Of course I had t' fix their friggin photo. Second thought, you guys reminded me of the good old days of San Diego Geocaching. Here's another useful medication Those were the days my friends ... Any more photos from this event? I was there but not in this photo!! There's several photos posted on the event page but I don't spot you in those shots. You know how it is, the front-runners always hog the front row. Event Link Unfortunately I didn't have my camera at that event. Of course Photoshop can remedy this problem. By the way, this was the very first PUD-cake event ... baked by PQmommy. Ain't she th' sweetest thang? Lest we forget ... Devhead shooting a staple through the Ethenet cable during the pre-event work party. So it goes, Sweet ol' Harmon

I got my eye on you, pal! I do like the detail on the jeans. Hey, are those spuds or cow patties? Concho-girl, where y' been? O yeah, Oregon and parts in between haven't y'? Missed y' babe. Those conchos I tacked to your riding breeches are from an Internet western-wear. As to th' flyin' horse-apples, they were contributed by ol' Happy, my Sandy Creek Cowboy mount that not so long ago became infirm and had t' be put down. My years at Sandy Creek Ranch were deeply enriched by Happy and by Ricky D. Goose, both gone to where th' good critters go. I'm sure that you will treasure the honor of being the only cowgirl, or perhaps mulegirl ever honored with flyin' Happy horse-apples. Maybe I can find a shot of Ricky D. Goose to spruce up another BlondHiLites photo. Say, remember th' day we hid those doggone dawg-caches? I'm still lame from a bruised heel that was aggravated by the paved and cobbled streets and closes of Scotland and the two Irelands. Ouch! Kiss-kiss, Sweet ol' Harmon

On another topic, it took a while but finally somebody noticed the fact that clicking a Facebook Like-button is a sleazy marketing trap used to boost Like-count advertising revenue for online firms. Works like this ... whenever you click a Like-button offered on a Facebook page of an online firm they then make use of your expression of "Like" by sending an RSS Internet feed to your Facebook Friends asserting that you, by name, Like (recommend) their firm. Result is that a fair number of your Friends will view and click the Like button of the firm's Facebook page. Payoff is that the firm gains a substantial increase in (false) Like-button activity, thus being able to justify larger fees for advertising on their online site. Lemmings lead not over a precipice but to a Facebook Like-scheme and advertisers being cheated. After all, what are Friends for? A false-Like extortion scheme, I like it! Sweet ol' Harmon

Probably because the OED is, almost by definition, an English dictionary and those words are not English but rather Scottish. May I recommend the Dictionary of the Scots Language? James, Thank you for the thoughtful recommendation. Fact is that I have the DSL link in my Favorites list. How life has changed reading-wise ... now seeking the best combination of an eBook with either the online or a physical dictionary. How odd it is that the latter case offers freedom to read in bed or away without desktop or handheld Internet access. Trouble is the DSL runs to many volumes so that texting you for answers at all hours is clearly the most sensible option.

Harmon, you seem to be coming up in the world. That's quite a change from the ol' homestead. Note: Harmon didn't say it, so I will. Honk if you know where it is. (Hopefully your answer will not be wholly rude.) "Wholly rude ...," James, you are too cool for words. Speaking of words, I'm presently amidst the collected works of Sir Walter Scott. The only problem I'm having is that the Oxford English Dictionary version that came with my Kindle fails me, just now and again, with regard to ancient words and phrases of the Highlander variety. Because you are not wholly blameless for Kindle functionality how would it be if I text linguistic inquiries to you for interpretation as needed? For example - "If he had stuck by the way, I would have lent him a heezie, the dirty scoundrel, as willing as ever I pitched a boddle." Honestly, how can the OED fail on "heezie" and "boddle?" Note to Self: Hmm, should I forewarn James that I read late into the night? Note two Self: Nah, he'll be up finishin' a pot ainy w'y. Note three Self: Concise Dictionary of Scottish Words and Phrases isn't integrated into Kindle dang it!

Slow day on med' bottle donations; however, ... This donation came with vine-ripened bonus prizes. Note to Self: Now if I can just figure how t' get PUD cakes included. Note two James: How y' like my desktop image?

Grampa, tell us 'bout th' good-ol' days ... Halloween 2009 Note to Self: All finds are not equal.

Edinburgh Castle Memorial-Hall guards