eparchos and I went camping near Magdalena this weekend, close to where we plan to go deer hunting in November. We arrived Saturday afternoon, hiked around a bit, set up the tent, built a fire, and cooked & ate the horrible, horrible Cheddar Wurst we bought. It was just about the perfect Campsperience. That evening, I looked around the valley for deer, but I didn't see any -- it's probably a bit too early to expect to see them, anyway.

About half an hour after we went to bed, it started to rain. It continued pretty much the entire night. The sound of the rain was really loud and obnoxious in the tent, even though I don't think it was actually raining all that hard. Combined with the stuffy and damp nature of the sealed-up tent, the noise kept us both up just about the whole night. We'd had plans to scout around some more and then eat breakfast at camp in the morning, but we decided to bag it and head back to Socorro instead.

I was sort of disappointed not to have found any signs of deer, but just as we were packing up, there it was by the side of the road -- DEER POOP! Joy of joys! Once winter arrives, I think it'll be a decent place to try to hunt. Hopefully we'll get another chance to go out there before the season starts.

Tags: camping, hunting
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Tzun Tzu - Kunoichi

Midi is looking better this morning: he cleaned off the blood/drool around his mouth during the night, which makes him look a lot better, and he got up more-or-less normally (if a little wobbly) when I went to check on him. I gave him his meds and a can of squishy food, which he proceeded to lick to death... it's sort of cute. Hopefully he'll up to to eating more normally once he's had time to heal.

Tags: cats, midi
Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: Incantation - Decimate Christendom

Midi is officially old and toothless now -- I took him to the vet because it seems as if his mouth has been bothering him, and they said his last two canine teeth were abscessed, so they pulled them both. :( I don't think he has any teeth left, except for maybe some in the back, which cats don't really use anyway. Poor guy. He looks pretty miserable... his mouth is swollen and drool-y, and his tongue is sticking out a bit. He's all curled up in his favorite hiding spot in the closet, on top of the Costco-sized brick of toilet paper, where nobody will bother him.

I've got some antibiotics to give him for the next 7 days... hopefully they'll take down the infection by tomorrow night. I'll also go buy him some squishy food tonight, instead of the dry. Other than that, I guess I have to let him be, and see what happens. Hope he gets better soon.

Tags: cats, midi
Current Mood: sad
Current Music: Strictly Inc. - s/t

I spent some time in Holbrook, AZ this weekend, visiting family. That's right up by the Petrified Forest, so I bought a bunch of nice rocks for the house. I'm hoping to landscape the yard sometime this fall, so a few petrified rocks should come in handy.

That's a really neat area; between El Malpais, the Wolf Sanctuary, the Ice Cave & Caldera, and the Petrified Forest, I could easily spend a week or two exploring, and there's plenty of camping available, which makes it a lot cheaper than staying in hotels. Maybe next year...

This week I plan to start the Say Goodnight to Insomnia six-week program. I've always had trouble sleeping, even as a kid... hopefully this will help. Having read through it briefly, I'm confident that it will. I'll spare you the worksheets and such, but I'll probably post about how it goes!

Tags: vacation
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Susumu Hirasawa - Paprika soundtrack

It rained a lot last night, so I got to test out the new gutters. One of them leaks from the seams (I can easily fix this with some caulk, once everything dries out). The other one works perfectly -- it filled a 60 gallon water barrel to 3/4 full! The barrel in front of the house seems to be working, too: it kept the usual Giant Puddle from forming, so I'm happy.

Hurrah, drainage! I need to figure out where I put my watering can, so I can take advantage of all this free water while I've got it.

Tags: gutters, house
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Order from Chaos - Plateau of Invincibility

Andrew from MiyA Pottery came by today and showed me how to put up gutters on the house. They came out really well, very nice looking. They didn't cost much (less than $100 for the whole thing), but the rain barrels were a small fortune... wonder why? At any rate, here's some photos:

( What's LJ for, if not photos of other people's gutters? )

Tags: gutters, house
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Operation Winter Mist - Allegiance of the Profane Pack

I went to the Gathering of Shadows in Colorado this weekend -- it's a black metal fest out in the woods. It was pretty great, with some excellent bands (Gospel of the Horns and Sanguis Imperem were definitely the best of both evenings, but there were a bunch of others that were also pretty good) and rather nice people. I sold and traded a few CDs for the distro, as well. eparchos and I both got way too drunk, though. Next time, JUST BEER, NO RUM.

Hopefully we can make it again next year. I would definitely recommend it for metal fans within traveling distance of Colorado.

Tags: metal
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Slough Feg - Traveller

The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.

Now, if only they'd restore the 1st and 4th Amendments in equal measure!

Tags: guns, politics, shooting
Current Mood: jubilant
Current Music: Bolt Thrower - For Victory!

It is so damn hot here this summer... I've been suffering every day. Even past midnight, with all the windows open and all the fans on, it's over 85 degrees in my bedroom, which doesn't make for comfy sleeping.

So, I gave in and bought an air conditioner off Craigslist. It's the portable type with the vent you stick through a window -- unfortunately, I can't get a window AC unit because I have bars on all the windows. This seems to be a good compromise. I've had it on for only a few minutes, and it has already cooled down the living room quite a bit. Hopefully, judicious use of fans will allow me to transfer some of the cool air to the bedroom as well! Hurrah!

Tags: air conditioner
Current Mood: hot
Current Music: Spearhead - Decrowning the Irenarch

The results from my NM hunting application came back today: I drew a deer tag for Unit 13 in November! If all goes well, I'll be going hunting with eparchos and Andrew. Hurrah!

In other news, I just got back from a trip to San Diego. My main goal was to spend time with family and see the Angelcorpse/Gospel of the Horns/Ares Kingdom/Sanguis Imperem show. The concert was excellent! Nice venue with cheap beer, and a small crowd of die-hards up front. Ares Kingdom had sound trouble, which is too bad, but their show still kills -- they played a couple of new songs, even, and then the Order from Chaos members reunited with Pete Helmkamp to play "Webs of Perdition"! Arrrrrrrgh! Helmkamp's later performance with Angelcorpse was insane as well... half an hour of sheer audio violence! The other bands were also solid -- GotH put on a great show with a near-perfect setlist, and Sanguis Imperem were impressive as well, especially for a new band. Hopefully I'll get to see the latter two again later this month.

I also did a bit of San Diego tourism. The USS Midway was especially neat -- you can wander through the lower decks, and they have a great collection of aircraft on the flight deck. I liked the animal park, too. And I got to eat FISH MEALS! Hurrah for coastal vacationing!

Tags: deer, hunting, vacation
Current Mood: excited
Current Music: Assaulter - Subservience 7"

Here are a couple of Warhammer 40K minis I've been working on. I've had the Bolter team completed for a few months, but finally put them on a base today. The sergeant is newly painted, and will probably be the leader for my HQ.





( More pics inside! )

Tags: minis
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Incantation - Onward to Golgotha

I got a new water heater yesterday. The original one was not only leaking from the valve, but from the bottom, so there was nothing that could be done for it. Fortunately, I managed to find a plumber who was willing to install it for less than Lowe's wanted. It was epic, and still cost me quite a bit, but I've got hot water again!

Tags: house, water heater
Current Mood: busy
Current Music: Sanguis Imperem - The Stagnation of Centuries

My water heater leaked yesterday, and created a lovely vinyl-tile-ruining puddle in the kitchen. I'm pretty sure it is leaking from the cold-water shutoff valve, because that's the only part that was dripping. I turned off the water intake, and will be meeting with a plumber tonight to see about getting things fixed. I'll probably just get an entirely new heater, as this one is old and doesn't work adequately during the winter, and it'll probably cost $100+ just to have the plumber come out to replace the valve... might as well get my money's worth. I hope the kitchen floor will be OK once it dries out!

I swear, there is some Homeowner's Law which stipulates that crap like this always has to happen two weeks before vacation. Oh, well, there went my stimulus check!

Tags: house, water heater
Current Mood: aggravated
Current Music: Incantation - Onward to Golgotha

Tags: meme, memes
Current Mood: bored
Current Music: Tyrants Blood - Prophecy