Hanging with Bill - Fresh from Montello

I walked in the door a few hours ago fresh from Montello. This trip ran super smooth! I met Bill (montello valley ranch) out there on Tuesday. We were supposed to meet at the Cowboy Bar at 5 o'clock for dinner. I showed up in town around 11 a.m. to get some work done (new custom built chimney flue and more tire pounding). Here's where the smoothness of the trip started. I pulled into town, filled my water jugs at the park, and started off for the property. On my way out I ran into Curt (only the coolest excavator in town) on the Gamble Ranch road. We chatted for a few minutes and then I got him to commit to come hang out for a while. He showed up a couple hours later near the end of the chimney/welding project. Thanks again Curt for adjusting the power for me multiple times. Kept me from filling my shoes with dirt three for four more times by climbing up the embankment.

Curt and I are B.S.'ing around 3 o'clock when a silver SUV pulls up on my land. I still don't know how he found us, but all be damned if it wasn't Bill. He arrived early into town and apparently asked some very resourceful questions at the Cowboy. With that info, he drove straight to my place. We had a couple hours of sunlight left so we all hopped in Bill's SUV and set out to put boots on his property.

We had barely crossed over 233 and the R.R. tracks when a red car coming in our direction slowed to a stop and out steps this burly looking dude with a ski mask on. Did I mention this trip was smooth? It was Geoff! He was returning from a days work at his property (which is looking sweet....keep up the hard work man). He quickly jumped in and joined us for the next hour or so as we almost blindly bounced around the desert. After a deep wash turned us around, we backtracked, made a huge circle, and touched down on Bill's slice of heaven. What a nice piece of land. Over on the east side of the valley between town and the mountains. The views, the views, the views! Hey Guy, we were within a quarter mile of your place more than once. I thought of you every time we went by! Great area man, great area!

The sun set on us pretty quickly, so we called it a day shortly after arriving on Bill's property and retired to the Cowboy for cheeseburgers and fish sandwiches. Thanks again for dinner Bill! Have I ever mentioned the Cowboy Cheeseburger is awesome? My wife doesn't like thick burgers and won't back me up on my burger sentiments, so I'll ask Bill to break the tie. Until Bill responds, I'll lead with the thoughts that Jimmy Buffet would be proud!

The next day Bill and I returned to his property to walk it properly. We had a bit of time on our hands when we finished, so we decided to go check out Brian's place and snap some photos for him. Brian, your slice of heaven also has views that are, well, heavenly! I think you're going to be very pleased when you lay eyes on it for the first time...even though there is no motel on it!!! I'll email you more of the details.

After snapping some pics at Brian's place, we decided to go look up Rev. Mike and Michael. We lucked out and caught them both at home. They are carving out there homestead and making a solid go of it. I don't feel it's my place to share some of his construction techniques without his permission. But, I will suggest you go meet both of them and see what they've got going on. Nice folks and easy to talk to. I look forward to getting to know them better!

This morning Bill and I headed North in the Jeep. We went in search of Augie's place by way of the Gamble Well (i think that's the name). We found the well pretty easily and from there had to go check out the abandoned trailer that Augie pin pointed on a recent google earth pic he posted. I couldn't help but think of the broken down trailers as someone's dream that didn't work out. We walked around it, soaked it all in, and decided to head up the hill in search of Augie. Augie gave us a pretty good idea of where we were headed and his directions were excellent. We drove along the east jeep trail bordering your place Augie and wished you were there! We attempted to head south on that trail, but some snow on the north face of a steep incline (in the junipers) proved stubborn. Santa brought me chains for Christmas...apparently I weighed down his sleigh for nothing because the chains were back at home. I put it in 4 low and made it up a little higher, but in the end the ice won and we turned around. One more time we were able to pass by and see Augie's dream coming to life. Nice work up there Augie. Can't wait to meet you! And, views! Augie has views. I love my view from the valley looking up at the mountains in every direction. But Augies views are altogether different. Same heaven, different angle, but once again EXCELLENT scenery. I'm thinking I need another 10 acres up there!

Curt, Geoff, and Bill...thanks for hanging out. I loved it! Jay, one of the best hours I've spent in the last year. I feel you man! Dell and Robin...nice to meet you guys! Bill, I thoroughly enjoyed your company and am looking forward to bouncing around in the Jeep on some more trails...I'll have new rear shocks for next time!!!

See you soon Montello, see you soon!

(sorry no pics. forgot the camera. bill came prepared and will be posting pics on his site soon)

7 Days to Heaven

I'm counting down the days until the next time I'm in heaven (a.k.a. Montello). I'm meeting another future resident out there to walk him through the shipping container so he can see exactly what I've constructed among the sage brush. I'm envisioning shipping container pods dotting the valley. Actually, they already do!

Another burger at the Cowboy, cruising jeep trails to find his property, pounding some more tires, and camping out on the land....heaven! I'm looking forward to meeting all of you out there sooner or later. Until then, keep up the research and pad those bank accounts! Take care.

Got Cistern? 1700 Gallon - $1500

Matt from Bosstanks called me today from Elko with a few questions about shipping containers. I probed a bit and discovered that he sells both above and below ground water storage tanks, as well as septic tanks. A 1700 gallon cistern (underground) sells for around $1500. The tank is manufactured by Norwesco. They have many different size options as well. Click on the links to visit their websites. Enjoy!

The American Dream in Montello?...The Great Escape??

Last night while watching a news channel, I saw something like unto the following scroll across the bottom of the screen..."Obama's budget allocates 192 BILLION to fund wars". I've tried to take a couple week hiatus from all things political so I could feel what it is like to experience bliss from ignorance. I should have left the T.V. off...it worked for the last two weeks!

What does 192 billion mean? If you divide it by 365 it means $526,027,397 is likely to be spent per day to fund wars. Divide that by 24 and it means $21,917,808 million will be spent per hour. Further division suggests $365,297 per minute and $6,088 per second to fund war.

I'm not taking sides on the issue of war, I'm just trying to understand what a billion means. Take your cause, whatever it is or isn't and do the division on the cost of that cause. What are we talking about here? This is so far beyond my ability to comprehend that my mind starts to swim when I break it down in hopes of understanding it?

I do view Montello as an escape from many, many things, including 192 billion for war....whatever either of those things mean? In reality, I know it isn't a true escape, but it sure feels like a place where I can do better at being ignorant by removing myself from most of the stimuli in my current surroundings. If you care for comedy, old men, and can appreciate an honest (but who knows how true) perspective, then check out George Carlin on youtube discussing the "American Dream."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLW1vFO-2Q


Another Carlin clip that makes you think about our politicians....and us....meaning you, me, and we.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIraCchPDhk

One last thought on war. I suppose plenty of people have gotten their asses kicked over time who justly deserve it. And, I suppose there are a few innocents who woke up bloody or didn't wake up at all and the aggressor later realized his motivations were flawed. Personally, I haven't been to war, but I have been in a few fights. Some justified, others not so much, but I went and did the dirty work. I didn't ask someone else to go into the trenches for me. Thus, I would propose a suggestion, even a checks and balances, to determine with absolution the legitimacy of war, resulting in a solid justification for its associated costs and perhaps even an understand of what a billion means.



Those politicians who vote for war, INCLUDING and ESPECIALLY the President, should be the first ones to step off the boat with their boots on the ground and an M-16 in hand...leading from the front, not Washington! Don't worry, I've already worked out the logistics of leadership vacancies after losing all those "good" men in Washington. The vice-president will serve as president until the president returns from war with ALL of his soldiers. All of the politicians who so bravely go and fight for their convictions will have their seats in Congress temporarily filled by the runner up in their last election. Surely the runners up are willing to accept the job and are at least marginally qualified. End of story! And, I'm guessing end of war and at least a reduction in the number of times I have to do math with so many zeros!

I got into rock climbing during college and would routinely rappel over shear cliffs 150 feet high. Needless to say, the pucker factor on those descents was extremely high, but my buddies and I loved it. Some of them would volunteer to tie off the ropes to the anchoring points on top of the mountain. I always encouraged them to do so, but quickly followed that encouragement with the disclaimer that they would be the first one to go over the edge, as I was when I tied the ropes. Like the call to war, a simple checks and balances to determine who is willing to walk the talk.

Enjoy Carlin. There isn't much he produced that I can't understand where he is coming from. Crude? Yes. Honest? Yes. True? Depends on whose tying the knots and whose going over the cliff first. It's amazing the clarity and resolve that comes with anything when it's your ass on the line and the costs are life altering, perhaps even threatening. I'll see you in Montello and if you're up to it we'll look around for some shear walls. I bet Carlin will be there too.