Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
|
|
Fearsome beak, Reilly.
Is that some kinky cadaver bird? (First time I've had my TV on in ten days. Watching Body of Proof.)
Ornithophobic, anyone? Any necrophobians?
That little dicky-bird on the creek was just hoppin' and nippin' and HE KICKED MY ASS trying to keep up!
Got downtown, sat on the bench in Bob Hart Square, looked up and there was the black one on the wind vane.
"Hey, take my picture, man...like me better here or over there?"
It was just that easy.
|
|
Gypsy
Social climber
NC
|
|
Gorgeous crested caracara there and I love black-winged stilts
|
|
Gypsy
Social climber
NC
|
|
"There coming to take me away. Ha ha ho ho hee hee"
|
|
neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
|
|
hey there say, mouse...
love those wood ducks... and birds! hope spring
springs here... was 23 this morning... :O
been freezing, getting that last bits of details done on your
painting, :O
but say! shed robin is back--could be one of the originals, or a baby of such, or a baby of such baby... just don't rightly know...
but i am so blessed to say:
dear lord, please help the ol' shed robin nest in said shed, again,
i just love it!
no leaks, this time!! :)
thanks to supertopo care...
gypsy! love you photographs and such!! :)
reilly, NEAT bird, :)
|
|
mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
|
|
EAST of Merced, you cannot see Planada even from here.NORTH of Merced, I cannot see Jays coming from Tuolumne, but I can tell it's going to be overcast here.
Lost in Shanghai is coming down here today. We plan to go to the Castle Air Museum. Old air is fascinating, all the odors of glory days, ceegars, all that manure, and jet fuel. Quite a blend.
We'll see how that goes. Must dress warmly, it's spring here, neebee, but the coast isn't clear yet.
All the years I've been here I've never toured the "bird farm" out in Atwater. There is no real reason. I am not a master of war. I've never had an interest in flying planes. I flew up to Haifa Dome on my 45th and have flown privately over the Bay Area, but it never "got me" like moving up on rock did.
Anyway, the camera's packed and I'm waitin' on Jay, who's on a mission for Lilabiene. Neat trick, Odd!
Hey, while I'm waiting for him to call, I have been "warned off" of the fire escape on pain of whatever they do to bad boys. The property non-managers here have found they hired a thief in the last manager, who replaced Sly, the ex-Air Police sarge who ran this chump-dump for years.
Sure, Sly knocked up the office gal, but he's copped to it, supports the baby, unlike Liz's first Airman. [Zoomie, prop-head--we had little respect for these SACs of manure, in the main. It's the old Townies vs. Themmies story, really.] But the dopes at Manco-Abbott Property Management replaced him with a sly MF, James, who wrecked their credit and has had a hand in the subsequent evictions of at least a dozen tenants who, for one reason or another, had made "rent deals" with James--ranging from doing work around the place for credit on rent, or paying late or in chunks. He ripped them off for thousands that way, and he ordered fake "supplies" for which he paid himself!
My beef is that the work on my bathroom never got completed after the ceiling fell into the tub, and the finishing work on my a/c unit is not "finished" as it should have been. It's also a fact that they got a "report" that I was seen on the fifth floor fire escape taking pictures last weekend. I've not seen a copy of my lease, as they didn't see fit to offer me one the last time I signed one. They claim it's in there that we keep off the fire escapes. OK, I'll go along with it, or I may find myself looking for another place in a hurry. It's still a sore spot and I am fighting back by standing in the doorway of the balcony to shoot photos instead of actually standing on the balcony. Letter of the law, eh?
I have written a "nicely toned down" version of my side of the repairs story, but doubt I'll get a reply this week. It's been two days, not one word from "the new boss."
God's got this one from here on in.
Gene, looks like the morning "weather reports" I've put out on occasion (mostly when there's a good sunrise)
|
|
mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
|
|
are a thing of the past, unless I talk to the Fire Department and explain the situation and maybe can convince the management to make an exception. I mean...
You don't climb the big stone and typically fall down fire escape ladders. Sheesh.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
|
|
neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
|
|
hey there say, mouse.... had a post here, but it 'must have flown south for the spring'... :O
well, have a great adventure today...
oh, i know... it was about the fire escape...
they must have thought you were:
a mouse-burgler... :)
or perhaps just a trouble-some ol' base jumper that they may have read
a story or two about in the news, :O
or, worse, yet...
a REPORTER for the health-department, :O
well, at any rate, you ARE our 'man on the streets of merced' and more...
keep up the great work,
and stay OFF them ol' fire escapes... :)
|
|
neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
|
|
hey there say, mouse...
oh, and gracious so, i must add, not being rude, though, mind you,
but well, MY BIRD begs to differ:
at a freind's neighbor's yard, :)
|
|
mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
|
|
Nobocy who's a rude person is allowed at the Flames fire unless they are sincere. You're not to worry, gracious lady of the north.
Get a load of Jay after we came back from the Air Base.
|
|
Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
|
|
Geez, a flameout on the Flames thread? Mon Dieu!
Or was he just overwhelmed at seeing that rare CF-180 Canuck at Castle?
|
|
mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
|
|
I thought you might like the NORTHERN FLAVOR, among others.
Simple Beaver bait.
There were no Beavers, the planes or other varieties...
The plane truth is that all we came home with were a bunch of carrots and three baskets of strawberries, other than the booty I scored at the gift shop.
|
|
mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
|
|
If any day was a good day, today was one.
There’s an outdoor air museum in Atwater, CA, which has dozens of old fly-babies and a gift shop, of course. We headed out there today but little was found about Mr. Dolt, whose history there was our mission.
The Triple-hundredth-whatever Bombish Wing had a supply and workshop net of their own and no patches for his unit were found in the displays, nor is there any sort of record of that unit Bill worked in other than the scant ones provided by Audrey.
However,
we are still encouraged by the very fact that we only talked to two persons today, one a volunteer and the other the paid employee at the register in the gift shop, who was very knowledgbabble in her way. We had a goodood talk about how records shoulded be kepted, but when we considered how many thousands of men made their way though Castle, and the length of time lapsed, it hitted me that The Dolt is but a grain of feldapar in the military monotlith. As were we all.
We probably could have done this by phone and save money.
But then we wouldn’t have had the excuse to have an outing aux flambe.
Why does that word make me cringe?
We began and ended the Bill Dolt info-seeking almost in the first fifteen minutes. I talked to Carol, the attendant (there are no docents, just the planes with their plaques along a paved walkway stenciled this way) and made my way out to the "yard" where the "bird-duhs" are kept (Bombi, remember? Learning to say "bird"?)
[Click to View YouTube Video]
There are planes and jets of all varieties--attack, bomber, fighter, tac, you name it. Even a cute little helicopter and an early rice-burning drone. No helicopters but one. But I got Audrey and Camila a pair of twisty-props, the oldest flying device known to man. And an Air Museum ball cap.
And a book--on Castle AFB‘s history, which tells of the first SAC long-range flight operations in 1956-57, in which Bill’s unit probably participated. The first was Op. Quick Kick, with three heavy bombers travelling non-stop for 16,000 miles over the north pole and around the perimeter of North America.
The facts are that Wm. F. decamped from the USAF and made his way to the Yosemitay, just a short hop away, in March.
|
|
mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
|
|
Down at Castle at the bottom of the hill
There’s a big genius airman named Climber Bill
He has a white rope and some tennies to match
And when he’s climbin’ the cliffsides
Is he hard to catch!
Climber Bill, climbing on the Big Hill
Climber, climber
Climber Bill, oh you thrill
Chill, chill, chill, chill Climber Bill
I saw him one day climbin’ up the Nose
With gallons of water and two gallons of rose
I knew where he was headin’, tryin’ to make
The playground of the climbers, named Texas Flake
Climber Bill, climbing on the Big Hill
Climber, climber
Climber Bill, oh you thrill
Chill, chill, chill, chill Climber Bill
He went up to Arrowhead one October week
For the first ascent party with some Nancy-boy geek
He was jammin’ like crazy and he got ‘em to the top
And when they were done they hit the coffee shop
Climber Bill, climbing on the Big Hill
Climber, climber
Climber Bill, oh you thrill
Chill, chill, chill, chill Climber Bill
So Jay and I made the lunch scene at the 510 and then adjourned to Middle Earth to view the photos from the tour. First, we went to the cigar store for postprandial pleasure.
We sat and maundered over our pasts and pretty much killed another wine soldier before we headed back to the Bistro for steaks. I have found the perfect wine, but perfection never lasts. I'll have to go back again and again. It's the way we are wired. You find a place, a person, a wine, and you stick with it until it's a dead horse. Then you move on.
I'm just as bummed as y'all that The Dolt couldn't wait.
As I told Jay today, had he just held out a bit more, he might have made a lot more Friends and a tidy fortune.
And beggars might ride.
|
|
mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
|
|
I spent my youth around heavy aircraft, in Sacramento near McClellan AFB and Mather. Then in Merced under the flight paths of heavy planes of all types.
The Farmers Insurance Company had a regional office on Hwy 99 which was lit by an array of lights that the Castle pilots used to line up their approaches to the runway S-N; and when the company decided to cut their costs by eliminating the Hwy 99 lights, the Base Commander requested they rethink their decision and the lights came back on.
One thing that impacted me when the base was closed in 1995 was the closing of the local climbing/backpacking store, Tuttle Outdoor Equipment, TOE. Mark Tuttle's retail trade slumped bigtime and he was forced to move his trade to a shop in Winton, just north of the base on Santa Fe. We called him, hoping to visit, but he said he was in the middle of some thing.
To wit:
Dave Y. is having a haul bag sewn for an EC attempt and the shop was in disarray. I took the hint and we hit the strawberry stand on our way back to town.
It was a good day.
Ciao, Mark!
|
|
mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
|
|
It is a very rewarding visit, should you decide to make the trip to Atwater on your way to or from Yosemite, to the Castle Air Museum, unique in the State, for sure. The displays are hard to tend, as birds do their thing, and weather takes its toll, but the planes are still there for now and have plenty to offer.
|
|
mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
|
|
This is how the day seemed after our wine and ceegars.
This is the excitement we witnessed on the way over to the Bistro.
Good eats, decimally.
Good booty!
Jay, my boy, you forgot to take your share. I think that I'll be able to find room for them...
|
|
neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
|
|
hey there say, mouse... wow, thanks for the great trip report...
wow, and a NEAT missions for lilabiene...
say, i too, am on a mission of sorts, for ol' lilabiene :))
mine is a SECRET mission, :))
yours was a SEEKit mission, ;)
and--man oh man, are YOU soon to be a surprised but happy mouse...
:) have a few surprises to add to your painting package this week...
as you can SEE i missed mailing it out this week...
seems, i as lost in a hair'o'ing adventure of childhood, :O
but it grew into a better stroke of locks...
man oh man, this code talks sure is fun, this word babble of neat
bables... :) they shine so, though at times, CAN be confusing :O
when folks are ON a different subject (that's when it accidently
turns into code--sure do NOT mean to keep anyone out of the banter) :))
|
|
Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
|
|
Mouse, you are hereby commanded to return to base and suss out the whatfor
of how that 'Canuck' wound up at Castle. My Canuck bro-in-law wants answers!
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!