SC's Pseudo-Blog
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15 January 2025
Hey guys. You can thank Tigermark for this update. He sent me a message the other day, asking how my family was dealing with the massive fires that are still, as I write this, active in southern California. I'm not going to dive into that subject, at least not now. This is all about the gentle nudge Tiger's message gave me towards re-attempting ... again, to reconnect with the furry genre and community. Now I admit, my presence in the community over the years has been confined mostly to the Planet Furry Forums. As far as I know, it is the only place where I have maintained and contributed to a presence, never mind how sporadic and sketchy that presence has become lately. So I will do two things:
I will start blogging again. Nothing serious, just a way of catching up with folks who might be interested in what I'm doing these days. I'm not very good at keeping up with individuals these days. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say I'm not very good at initiating the process of keeping up. My bad, but at least blogging is a first step towards resuming regular dialog with folks I miss.
I will not harbor any illusions about getting back to my stories. I have chattered here and there about them, and making myself sit down and creating more content. But that's the problem, I'd have to make myself do it. In the past my creative writing ... story-telling, was spontaneous. Call it having an active muse. I'd get an idea that would lodge between my ears, and I'd retain that intelligence long enough to spend an evening or two writing it down. That muse has been gone for years ... a dozen or more. I know what caused my muse to disappear, and I can't recreate the conditions which might lure it back. So it is what it is. Except for brief flashes, briefly illuminated scenes of momentary clarity regarding characters or situations they are in, there's just not that much there. I blame that in part on my memory, which is deteriorating due to a head cluttered with un-necessary stuff from a writer's standpoint. I also blame my stubborn resistance to using any kind of tech, easily to paw, to record the content of these flashes. I have a phone in my pocket that could easily lend itself to that task, but ... as I said, it is what it is.
What I will chat about, well, you'll just have to stay and check it out. As a member of the gear-head, mech tech, gun-dog calling (as I have been told), I suspect you'll find a lot of stuff about off road vehicles (particularly Jeeps), overlanding, travel in general, aviation, railroading, history, photography, edged and ballistic weaponry, two way radio systems (I was a telecomm tech for a few decades), and anything else that wanders into my head on the spur of a moment.
So ... let's catch up.
As I alluded to, we (my wife Brigid and I) spend a lot of time in Jeeps. We own three of them. We also enjoy doing this:
OVERLANDING
14 September 2024, near the Owens River Gorge, northwest of Bishop, California.
This is what many refer to as "overlanding." It is basically living off grid ... any amenities or infrastructure you require to be safe and comfortable, you need to bring them with you, and you need to bring enough of it so that you can be off grid for several days ... or weeks, or months, as you desire and your equipment is capable of. We like to get "out in the sticks" for a few days to enjoy our natural surroundings. But after no more than four or five days, we need to get back to civilization long enough to refuel, restock, and clean up. Then we go back out for more. We do this primarily in the western US, but we have ambitions that include the greener side of our country, and Canada and Alaska as well. We'll see how that goes.
Overlanding can be as simple as throwing a tent and a couple of sleeping bags in your trunk with some type of stove to cook on (unless you plan to find, cut, and burn firewood once you're in camp), clothing, cooking utensils, food and water. We're kind of at the other extreme, I suppose, as we have a small trailer that allows us to have a lot of things at our disposal that most folks may not consider "necessary." Like a refrigerator, a hot water heater (with a shower attachment), a 40 gallon water tank, dual propane tanks, and lots of storage space. Oh, and did I mention the queen-size bed in the tent on top? Our rig also has a lot of other stuff. For details, look here.
22 July 2024 somewhere northeast of Lucin, Utah. It's 105°F in mid-afternoon.
Also near Lucin, still 105°F.
Our Jeep, long known as the Little Red Beast, is also well loaded, as you can see. It's a 2017 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon, Hard Rock edition. I'll say this for the motorheads: Dual Dana 44s, 4:10 gears, factory e-lockers and swaybar disconnect, part time 4:1 transfer case, six speed manual, LT255/75-R17 BFG All Terrains. There is a long laundry list of other things I've done to this rig, if you're interested click here. Suffice to say that loaded for the trail as you see it, it weighs about 6400 pounds. Jeep people are wincing at that, at least the ones who have bothered to learn what the GVWR of these vehicles is.
8 October 2024, on top of Frazier Mountain west of Gorman, California.
We are here supporting the removal of a two-way radio system from a vault. You can see one of the several towers on this mountain in the background.
Livin' large on the Los Padres National Forest!
Somewhere in the eastern Sierra, 22 May 2024.
24 October 2024, Brigid and her birthday present in Oakhurst, California.
So the Little Red Beast is maybe getting a bit long in the tooth. He turned 8 years old a month ago, and has 135,000 miles on the clock. Still going strong, still lots of life left, but that damn stick shift ...
So meet Bonnie Blue, Brigid's 2024 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon. It was built on the same template as the LRB was, the only major difference is that Bonnie has an eight-speed automatic transmission and came from the factory on 35" tires (which included some augmented suspension system components). It also has a factory mounted (and warranted) Warn winch hiding behind the front bumper. Oh ... it also has this funny glass thing in the dash that lights up and shows pretty pictures, maps, plays music and videos, links to her phone, etc. The LRB was fancy with a AM/FM/CD player with an auxiliary input. Brigid is definitely in the 21st century with this rig!
It took us six years to discuss and save up for this rig, but the wait was worth it! It's exactly what she wanted.
We are slowly upfitting Bonnie with systems and equipment that will allow her to become our front line tow vehicle. She is stronger than the LRB ever was because she has <motorhead lingo> a full floating rear axle </motorhead lingo> rated to tow 5000 pounds, compared to the 3500 pounds the LRB can tow. As our overnight temps are dipping well below freezing these days, our upfitting activities have tapered off somewhat. But I have materials to knock off at least three major projects with her as soon as the driveway gets warm enough to work on (warmer than 50°F, at least). Until then ... well, bonus blogging time!
PHOTOGRAPHY
Brigid and I both carry digital camera systems with us when we travel. She's at least as big a photography nut as I am, but we tend to point our cameras at different things. And that's cool. Here's a couple of my recent efforts:
15 March 2024, a pooch having fun on the beach near the north end of Lincoln City, Oregon.
I was about 125 yards away from him and maybe 50 or 60 feet above him. My Canon 5D with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM Lens, ISO 320, f/10 @ 1/500th.
Yosemite Mountain Sugarpine Railroad engine # 10, taken at the end-of-track loop 26 October 2024. She is seen here "decked out" for Hallowe'en.
# 10 is a 1928 product of the Lima Locomotive Works, is a 3-truck Shay C-3 70 ton class geared locomotive.
The 81.6 ton oil-burner is reputed to be the largest Shay Locomotive ever built.
Taken with my Samsung A53 phone, ISO 50, 5mm focal length, f/1.8 @ 1/60th.
This image actually indulges three of my passions at once; photography, railroading, and history.
Taken in the cupola of the caboose at the end of the train hauled by the locomotive above. My son Mike and his younger daughter Lennon, enjoying the ride.
Brigid loves taking selfies, and I'm glad. 15 March 2024 near Oceanside, Oregon.
Turning 65. Another one of Brigid's photographic efforts.
Don't ask me to explain why three candles. This was at my cousin's house, she made the cake, and I asked no questions.
It was delicious.
So yeah, we've been knocking around in the sticks some, spending a lot of time with family, working on our home, watching a few hockey games, and just enjoying being alive and reasonably healthy. The previous year was absolutely lost as far as my blogs here at The Range are concerned, hence this little bit of catching up. Moving forward I will try and put something up here, just as soon as something interesting happens.
... did I just mention hockey?
4 December 2024, the Jack Daniels Club on the 300 level of the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
The Ducks hosted the Vegas Golden knights, Brigid's favorite team.
She is wearing one of Mark Stone's "away jerseys", while I am wearing Lubomir Visnovsky's "home jersey."
The night was a birthday gift from Brigid, front row seats at center ice, next to the home team's penalty box.
The Ducks lost 4-1, but it was a great, high-energy battle down to the last horn. We had a blast.
Don't laugh, back in the day Lubo was a hell of a defenseman who played both ends of the ice. His shot from the point was like a cannon.
Anyway, this will do for now. We'll get after it again soon. Catch ya later!
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