It's Cold !!!!

It's cold here in SE Arizona but if I were to compare 27° here with 27° in the winters back in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana it would not be close. Even on those days the skies were clear, blue and sunny the wind back in the midwest would cut you like a knife while we took our morning walks through the field. Here in temps like this, the daily walk was canceled Monday morning because all three of us have turned into bad weather whimps. We don't do much when it's cold during the day.

The difference in those winter days of temps in the 40's, one there is no snow on the ground and if I were to sit outside in the sun, it is so hot on my face it felt like winter was gone and summer was here again. We, the hounds and I, cannot wait for spring and summer to arrive. As you can see Heidi wasn't sure it was warm enough to lay out in the sun and nap next to the back of the house. She kept going in and out of the house as I sat facing the hot sunshine.

Stella also was a little confused. She really did want to sleep in the sunshine like she always does IF I AM HOME but when she stood in the shade she could feel how cool it was. I continued to sit in my ugly but comfortable patio chair with my camera nearby. I was going to test my equipment today and shoot photos with just one camera ... but I did sneak in a few photos with my iPhone camera.

While I was back inside fixing some low carb lunch ... do you know carrots are carb loaded? ... Stella decided it was warm enough outside for a late morning nap. Again I thought to myself "I wish she would enjoy the backyard like this while I am gone to town or riding my bike" but she has proven to me as recently as Sunday, she will not be comfortable in the yard if she knows I'm gone. She seems to think she can tunnel under the house from that one spot she started last summer. The one I keep filling back up.

Heidi had enough of the cool breeze as the wind picked up after 1pm. After my bike ride on Saturday I now know that winds 14-18mph that are gusty, is nothing to spend time in. Even if I cannot see the trees or brush blowing in some direction behind my house, that does not mean the winds are gone. Sunday the winds were so strong on my trip to Bisbee, all the flags I saw along the way were blown straight out with rippling force.

Once Stella got up to walk back inside, I slide my chair up into her spot on the patio. The temps on my face increased at least 20°. It didn't take her long to come back out, sleep and have some added back support with that rounded edge of the patio floor against her from head to tail.

She too got too hot ... but just like I did, she found out staying in the shade was too cold. I did my test on the shade by standing on the east side of the house in total shade to see if it was even possible that I might want to take a bike ride. It was freezing in the shaded yard and I went back to the sunny patio.

Within minutes she was back out in the sunshine while I snuck back inside.

Believe me, I am not complaining about SE Arizona winters. It is just what I expected it would be. It's just that I have found I don't want to put up with cold weather even when it's bright and sunny outside.

Other news outside of hounds and bikes ... I made the mistake a few months ago of downloading the Facebook app on my iPhone out of "convenience" and I knew then I had sold my soul to the devil. They would know everything I said on the phone, texted on the phone, emails I would send or websites I would visit. With that data collected they would pound me with advertising on the exact things I had talked about with friends, texted to friends or emailed.

It's not that I am bothered by that strategic advertising it's just the thought of how they can do that.

Since they have butted into my life and billions of other Facebook users or ex-users ... they still track you ya know after you delete your Facebook account??? ... the Ukrainians have decide to index my blogs and are now the leaders in traffic to my bike blog and this public blog on Blogger. The USA number of visitors are a distant second place when I look at the blog stats on the dashboard. I find it interesting that when I click a link many times it's a Blogger blog that had their last post in 2011 or 2013. Can anyone more knowledgeable than I, explain what they are doing?

I have been bopping around different internet browsers again. I use Safari on all my Apple devices like iPhone, iPad and the laptop. On my iMac I use Safari the most because of their security features built into their system. I only have a google account ending in gmail because I have a Blogger blog. None of my personal emails have gone through gmail for years. I use Apple's email system for that. I figure if the FBI cannot break into an iPhone or iMac without asking for Apple's help, then security must be pretty good.

I always get curious about stuff though so I wander around the internet, checking out the new and bestest Firefox. I like Google Chrome but rarely use it because I don't trust Google although after 24 years of being on the internet it is definitely too late to worry about what Google has on me.

So here I am on Safari with the same problem I was having last summer. They updated their OS the other day and now it works with my Blogger blog differently. When I sign into my blog, it takes me immediately to my blog dashboard. When I go back to my blog home page to read other blogs and to make comments ... Safari has logged me out !!!!

Yes ... I've unchecked cookies, I've uncheck 3rd party blah blah blah ... I have logged out of Blogger and back in ... I have turned off my computer and logged back in ... I have unchecked and rechecked those blocks that should not be checked so I can stay logged in on my blog when using Safari. I have all my settings set the way they should be for it to work ... it does not.

That is when I look at other browsers.

I had my Cox tv channels fixed sometime Sunday. They never notified me nor have they closed the ticket the made Saturday night when their tech department requested a service call. Sports Junkies, like myself, are still having problems "cutting the cord" as they say. I would but based on my cost analysis and the rising costs of these streaming companies that use to be free or low cost ... I am actually spending $30-$40 more per month now for what I need compared to "cutting the cord" to cable or tv.

I am watching less sports by the year and I found out the other night when I could not get the BTN channel due to a signal problem, I could follow the IU basketball game on my computer. I've known that for years but too lazy to learn how to do that streaming stuff from the computer to tv. I wasn't watching the game but watching the data of the game. I have watched IU football games this past fall on my computer when they were not carried on my Cox channels and the picture quality was just as good as my Sony tv.

Wow ... looks like I am rambling a little this morning and about very little actually.

My new addiction .... PGA Golf for PlayStation4.

I use to love playing this game on PS2 and PS3 but I never cared for Tiger Woods and his name was associated with the Sony EA Sports golf game, so I stopped playing it. When I got back in the mood to play games or Grand Turismo racing game, I saw a used copy of the golf game on the GameSpot store shelf with a different professional golfer's name on the cover.

Basically I have to have a lot of choices in life. From cars to drive, to bikes to ride, to food to eat and how to waste time. I'm not always in the mood to read books, never had the urge to paint, draw or learn to play an instrument. So this PS3 and PS4 games are just something else added to the mix of things to do. Plus like I have said before, I think "hand and eye coordination" are important to keep healthy as we get older. What better way to do that then play video games ... or Mahjong for time.

Now if I can find a Flight Simulator game and a Sim City game like I had on my PC ten years ago, I'll be set.

Sorry for the rambling and I admit I am surprised that I am going to post this as a real blog post.

Bright sunny skies and 31° while it's almost 9am here in the 'Wild West'.

The Hounds Enjoy Their Sunny Sunday

I was curious what my hip would feel like this morning after riding two days in a row after taking eight days off the bike with soreness in the lower back and hip. I was thinking I'd ride for the third day in a row but it's never a bad thing to ride for two days and day off in between. It was cold as I opened the door to let the hounds out for the first time this morning. By the time I had their breakfast kibble poured, they were standing at the door wanting back inside. I could tell it was going to be a good day today.

I did my usual morning coffee while looking over the websites I visit daily. The hounds sleep next to my desk while I do this and if we can wait for just a couple of hours before our morning walk, it warms up quite a bit. This morning we were out the door at 8:39am, a little later than normal and too late if it were a weekday but perfect time on a Sunday.

It was almost warm enough to go riding when we got back. As you see the hounds took up their normal sunny positions as I tried to decide if I wanted to ride that early or wait an hour for the temps to get just a little warm. A few degrees more would make all the difference in the world.

By the time that hour wait was finished the winds had picked up, strong enough that I was feeling them sitting in my patio chair. The warm sun felt great on my face and I knew I wasn't going to pass this up. Cool air, hot sun ... but too windy to ride. When I say windy I mean any flag is blowing straight out with ripples and if a plant is thin it's bent over from the wind.

While the hounds slept I took some photos and enjoyed the sunshine. I have a couple of different once I don't think I've ever had on the blog.

Looks content, sound to sleep but if I were to leave and keep her in the backyard, she is now digging to get out. More than ever.

Heidi might look like she is awake but she is in a deep sleep. I noticed when I downloaded this picture the lump the has been there for years on her year seems like it has grown or opened. Six different vets over the years have looked, felt and said it didn't need to be removed. I'll look at it closer. We might be going the vet on Monday for that. From this angle it doesn't look good.

People have always commented how big Stella or Sadie's paws were ... well here's a close up to get a better look at them.

With a hot sun and cool breeze ... this is Heidi's favorite daytime spot.

Stella thought she was going to sleep up in the corner of the fence where the shade is. After standing there for a few minutes looking lost, she decided she would wander back over to the 'dirt spot' that she continues to dig out whether I fill it in with rock or leave it bare.

That hot sun moved behind a cloud for only a couple of minutes.

Stella thinking on what to do ....

She never did lay down.

Heidi heard me talking to myself and thought she heard the word Bisbee. I left the patio door open so she could come and go as she pleased while I was gone. Stella spent time in her crate with the blinds closed in the bedroom. When she knows I am leaving or going bike riding she walks into the crate on her own before I can get there.

It was a nice drive over to Bisbee. It was a pretty quiet town for being a couple of weeks before Christmas. I found a parking spot right across the street from the bicycle shop. On the way back for the first time I took the "southern" route back home. It parallels the border a few miles north before curving later on near the Huachuca mountains. With too many cars I like to exercise them every once in a while.

By mid-afternoon I was feeling a siesta was right around the corner. I think I might head over to the Mall Theater tonight to watch Ford vs Ferrari.

Actually a pretty lazy day here in the "Wild West" today.

Tonight's Post Is All Heidi

It had been days since Heidi had any photos on the blog. She really is camera shy or is just stubborn enough that she doesn't want to be bothered having her picture taken. So the other day I decided I would go to her and take whatever pictures I could get. These show her typical day as I took two days worth. I just missed getting pictures of her sleeping outside in the sunshine because every time she would wake up by the time I came back with a camera. She loves the bed I bought a couple of months ago and will spend most mornings in the bedroom lined up with the sunshine while she sleeps on the floor.

You can tell it's cold at night, not that I leave the windows open during the 30's and 40's but she knows what time of year it is ... it's again a two blanket winter.

I put one of her favorite blankets folded in the corner of the computer room but that wasn't what she needed. She pawed and scratched the blanket from the corner of the room out by the book case, out of the way but directly behind my desk chair. She folded it exactly like she wanted it.

Any breed of dog will walk in circles to mash the grass down before they lay down ... this is her sequence to get the blankets in the perfect spot. She does this many times throughout the day.

She doesn't stay in one place too long either.

One of her favorite spots to sleep after her morning breakfast. She will also walk in circles in that space before laying down.

Once again not going to look directly in the camera.

Headed out for a nap in the sunshine.

Not happy having every one of her movements photographed.

She was sound to sleep in the sun until she either heard me or smelled my scent, that I was outside looking at her.

The day is over. Fed twice, many naps and she will do this while I blog tonight.

The last couple of days have been busy with errands around town, and a bike ride in the early afternoon. Yesterday I went to Lowes for their Craftsman sales but only bought one thing Craftsman but something else that was also on sale. This morning was going to be a busy morning. With some of my tv channels losing signal Friday night, the Cox technician was here by 8am. He found the trouble to be out in their box in my yard. Of course another technician can only do that kind of work and that's another appointment ... luckily I don't have to be here for them to fix the problem.

I also had a friend coming over this morning to pick up shelving my neighbor gave me when he moved out. I decided I did not want to put holes in the walls to hang those shelves plus I didn't have that much stuff to fill up a garage full of wall space. There were enough shelves to go around the garage more than once.

While I waited for him to pick up the stuff, I put a shelving unit together to not only hold the few things I brought with me when I moved, but also to have a workbench of some type in the garage. Instead of having different tools, tape, sockets, tape measures and anything else that would go into a toolbox ... scattered in different portable tool boxes and kitchen drawers ... I wanted everything organized in that black Coleman tool box.

The Cox tech, my friend picking up the shelves I had and me getting to this picture, job completed, taking me 3 hours. By 11am I was on the road for a Saturday morning bike ride.

These next few photos are taken from the patio but zoomed 65x and is clearer than the 300mm zoom I use on the Nikon D3500.

Those are the Mule Mountains down by Bisbee.

It did get over 70° today but I am finding out that since it is winter, even if it is sunny and high temps, there is still cool wind most of the time. A little too cold for cargo shorts but still sweatshirt weather after the early morning hours.

My hip and lower back feel good after my 26 mile ride today and most of it in a headwind of 14-18mph. For the last two days I have applied an ice pack to the spot that is sore plus taking those natural supplements to heal tissue and promote healing of muscle and bone. I plan to at least ride a short ride tomorrow.

I'll try to get out tomorrow for some local exploring. I have some new ideas of where I am going. I might reverse my riding to go in the morning with cooler temps and the exploration in the afternoons. Stella did not mind not being the featured hound tonight ... she sleeps as much as Heidi does.

Another beautiful busy day here in the 'Wild West'.

A Short Trip To Miller Canyon

I had seen the road sign "Miller Canyon Rd" every time I was driving south to the Coronado National Forest or down further where I could turn back north on Hereford Rd. It's a popular road for the local mountain bike riders and was part of the weekend ride a few weeks ago in honor of a young lady that had passed away too early in life. So today I grabbed a few cameras and drove down to see what I was missing. It is not as high nor as steep as Carr Canyon or Montezuma Pass but the road is narrow and in many places just one lane.

Turning off Hwy 92 I passed through a small residential area of very nice homes that had fantastic views.

It would be the first trip for the 2007 FJ but from the past FJ's I've owned I know what it can do in this type of terrain. It is the best 4x4 of all the cars and truck that I have. I started the morning by trying one more time to find the camera shop in town. I had a phone number this time and a better idea where it was located. Only one problem .. the number was disconnected and in that small shopping center there wasn't a sign that a camera shop ever existed. So I had four different cameras with me including the iPhone camera.

See if you can tell which camera took which photo.

As I pulled into the Lower Parking area there was plenty of room for RVs, trucks with trailers, and had restroom facilities. I am not sure if overnight camping was allowed but I did NOT see any signs saying it wasn't allowed. Based on the map I had, it was farther than I wanted to walk to the trails and possibly too much incline for my walking at this time ... so I took a few photos, hopped back in the FJ and headed to the top.

Believe it or not, that FJ hit the road for the first time in November 2006 ... 13 years old and only one owner before me. There is not a scratch or dent anywhere and it's very possible that it never drove off paved roads until I bought it.

I was not going to the top of this, it was just a closer view of what I took standing by the FJ.

Looking at this picture I have to wonder just how many different kinds of landscape do you see between the trees, wild grass, flowers etc.

At this point of the drive there was enough room to pull over and let a large truck towing a horse trailer pass by, coming at me. Up ahead I would have had to backup to a place I could pull to the side of the road. It wasn't scary steep but quite narrow at times.

From the way the map looked I didn't think this road was going to get too high in elevation. I did know for sure that I was not going to be driving along the side of the mountains straight ahead nor going to the top of them.

As I pulled into the Miller Canyon Upper Parking Lot, there was a U-turn with a sign for private property straight ahead ... or to the right of this picture. I didn't see a sign but the maps call that property the Beatty's Guest Ranch and Orchard. I did not see any entry or road leading to the Miller Canyon Recreation Area ... unless we are looking at the entry point in this picture.

Behind me and to the left of where I am taking this photo, all parking spaces were taken, leaving me no room to park and check out the trails. I had only two choices and that was to head back down to the lower parking area or head home.

If you can try to picture a 26'-29' Class C RV coming from the other direction. Luckily we were at a point I could slide to the right edge in the rocks to let her pass by. She would barely have enough room to make the U-turn at the top ... then again, she might have been too long to make the sharp turn back down the hill. Something tells me that wasn't the first time she had driven her motorhome up there.

I was able to go up and back down in 2-wheel drive. It just wasn't that steep and maybe two switchbacks at the most with plenty of room to turn out around the corner. It was the perfect weather to go hiking but I had done what I came for ... find out what is up here and take some photos. I'll come back another time to hike those trails at the top of the road.

Once you hit pavement it's just a short drive to Hwy 92. Those snowcaps you see are north of Tombstone almost 40 or more miles away.

When I walked into the house Heidi was nowhere to be found. She was outside sleeping in the sunshine but by the time I went back to get my camera, she heard me and met me inside. Stella on the other hand was sound to sleep in her crate. Once I opened the door she stopped as usual to get her collar put on then trotted outside. She wasn't finished sleeping and she loves the hot sunshine.

It took this with the patio post in the picture on purpose. I just wanted to show what a nice day it was. A little cool but still nice bicycling or hiking weather. I was/am going to take one more day off from riding. I am having very little if any pain at all in my lower back or right hip. Two of my bicycling friends feel that cycling will keep that hip loose and will help the healing process instead of causing any damage. Better to keep moving instead of being stagnant.

By the time an hour had passed, Stella had moved back inside because she gets too hot after about 15 minutes then came back outside to do the same thing she did before when she ended up getting too hot. It's a vicious circle I guess.

Here she is showing the the thoughtful process of a bloodhound sunbathing in the winter.  LOL

This is a zoom photo of Carr Canyon I think. If you look closely you can see the road in the center, switchback to the left and climb ... it would go behind what the photo shows. It is a road that I classify as 'scary' in some parts, 4-5  of them.

By the time I gave myself a haircut (13 years experience), Stella had moved back inside and was sleeping in the living room where it's nice and cool.

I'll end this post with some short notes, questions or comments ----

Those that use Blogger as your blogging platform, how do you like the "new Blogger"??? They are slowly changing it page by page. Is it time for me to install a new design??  (theme)

When I moved in June my old Dyson had been picking up dog hair out of the carpet for almost 11 years. That's a lot of dog hair. It was still working perfectly but more than a few people told me it was time for a new one. I waited until I moved before buying another Dyson. This time I went with the cordless model (can't remember the number) and that has really cut down on the time it takes to vacuum. Good purchase.

I have too many cameras.

I guess I should have NOT tried to save money when I bought the Nikon D3200 4 years ago and spent 2x or 3x as much to get a professional camera that does everything that I want. Instead I have spent too much money trying to save money. So I have two Nikon's and the small Canon G9X and EACH does one thing the best. Then the iPhone 11 camera improves so much it moves to the top of the list beating the DSLR's in everything but one thing ... 300mm zoom.

I replaced the D3200 with the D3500 because in the 4 years I've had the D3200 I've dropped it in a snow bank, had the wind blow it off a chair and bounced it a few times on my gravel driveway back in Indiana, plus it needed to be professionally cleaned. It looks like somewhere in Tucson is the closest place I can find to do that. Yet with the "Deal" at Best Buy this fall I could buy a new D3500 AND the 70mm-300mm lens I wanted for LESS THAN just the lens !!!

I am still not happy with the quality when using the 300mm zoom on the mountains from the patio. I am trying a different camera for that, "a loner" if you will, with 65x zoom and it is bringing in the mountains quite sharp and clear .... but that same camera does NOT take better pictures in low light, inside or even outside in the sunshine ... it has a "soft" picture quality.

Without any adjustments, the iPhone 11 camera I have now blows all of them away in picture quality ... except for the zoom.

I think I'll find a few camera shops in Tucson where I can sell some used equipment and get down to my iPhone camera and the camera that does well in max zoom. OR trade all that I have except my iPhone camera for something more professional that will do everything I am looking for in a sharp clear high quality photo. Stay tuned.

One thing good about blogs ... you can go back to any year you blogged, a lot of times on the exact date and see that things really haven't changed that much. I just found out this morning on this date just last year I woke up at 3:10am just like this morning. I also didn't get back to sleep in either year and got up to start the day a little after 4am. IN BOTH CASES, 2018 AND 2019 STELLA WANTED TO EAT HER MORNING KIBBLE WITHIN MINUTES OF WAKING UP AT 4AM !!!!  LOL

I was over on Wordpress this time last year claiming I was going to be more 'transparent' in my blogging and opinionated ... that didn't last long ... it was fun while it lasted but really not a good move. I came back here because it's free and Wordpress was wanting to charge me for a free account and they always had a limit on how many photos I could have in my account.

Their photos are better quality on the blog because they do NOT COMPRESS the photos like Google does on Blogger or in Google Photos. Bye bye sharp and clear when that compression happens to a photo.

(I hear the music for the ice cream truck that passes through the neighborhood every Thursday)

That music brings Stella out of a deep sleep.

So that's it for today. I am still debating on whether to take a 'short' bike ride today or hold off one more day. It's a confusing time for what to do.

These photos were taken with the following cameras/lenses:

Nikon D3500 / Nikon 18-55mm lens
Nikon D3200 / Tamron 18-200mm lens
Canon G9X
iPhone 11 Pro Max

Beautiful weather here in the 'Wild West' again today ... as usual.