pacing cigarettes

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My target date for quitting cigarettes is, tentatively, July 11. That's when I expect to reeive the nicotine gum in the mail.

But I decided some prep stuff was in order.

One thing that has HELPED in the past is pacing: one cig per hour.

I've been SO conjested in the mornings, though, that I've been chain smoking half a pack, more or less, when I get up. Partly, I do it to calm the coughing. Partly, I do it as a stimulant, as I've been very groggy inthe mornings & wanted to wake up so I could start packing the truck while it's still cool outside.

This morning, I managed to DELAY the 1st cig by apx 10 mins. That's a victory.

I couldn't manage to wait an entire hour for the 2nd cigarette, but I DID WAIT 30 MINUTES!! That's another victory.

Also, I'm going to try to walk 1/2 hr per day.  I took the goats out for a walk in the afternoon. True, motly, I was sitting or standing around, waiting for the goats to graze. But we went several blocks, one pretty long one. I felt it in my calf muscles. And the goats, of course, LOVED not being imprisoned in the back yard! Much playing, gamboling and head butting ensued.

where I'm moving

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Someone emailed me today, thinking Ft. Sumner is in Colorado. I WISH it were in Colorado, but it's actually in semi- or demiHell, New Mexico, almost Texas. They seem to have planted Billy the Kid there: long history of varmints, livin down there. 'cept for the Jesus and the football, I ought to fit right in.
http://www.ftsumnerchamber.com/

If you set this map on "terrain" and zoom in 3 jots before highest zoom, you can see Br's place pretty well, incl. 18 wheelers passing on the highway.

I'm hoping to gawd those big, black, ugly rectangles next door to her place aren't a feed lot or a meat processing plant! The stench and screaming would tear me up.

It's an abandoned hotel, on Highway 60 (north side of the road), on 13 acres. Her payments are $300/month. 1 acre = 4840 yards. I don't know how big an acre is, but i know it's bigger than a standard back yard by some.

They've got horses and a barn. I think I see that, and the horse corral, just north of the living complexes. I wouldn't MIND living in the barn! Done it before. Just need internet, phone and electric. I can make my own septic tank & haul h2o.

I'll be living in a 25' travel trailer until we can get the 2 br mobile home fixed up. I'll also have a motel room for art & recording studio space.

I'll be living there rent free, paying my own utilities & other expenses.

I'll be working as Amanda's personal care assistant, part time.

I plan to work on radio & my art & writing a lot.

I'll be applying for a volunteer position at the actual Fort, a state monument; I plan to do research on The Long Walk. Ft. Sumner is the destination of that walk, during which thousands of Apache and Dine were kidnapped by the US army from their homes and forcibly marched to the fort. The fort -- and the old US airbase (where NASA still does balloon research) are within walking distance.

There's fishing in the Pecos River & several lakes, so I'll be taking my goats & dogs fishing with me.

Within 20 miles, I can visit several "ghost towns," one of which is still occupied by a post office and population of 11 residents.

There's a wind farm near Portales. Portales has ENMU, for "cultcha," science (which I LOVE!) and an occassional, decent cuppa coffee.

I'm hoping to set up an ameteur astronomy observatory, if light pollution permits.

There's a marginally active group of Unitarian Universalists; they range from Ft. Sumner to Eastern Texas. So, I'll have some fellowship occasionally, if they're not the "bickering" kind of UUs (which is why I'm not involved in any Albq. fellowships).

I'm also in contact with a country western AM station; they broadcast jeebus, rush and classic country, from So. Canada to ALL of Mexico, at night, anyway. They're interested in me for the news dept.

I'm in contact with the editor of the De Baca County Register & the Livestock Report, both of which publish weekly, to work as a reporter.

I'm also in contact with SouthernNewMexico.com an online ezine that can use me as a reporter.

I'm planning on being the correspondent of "Little Texas" for KUNM. We don't broadcast down there, but I can listen on the 'net, for now. I'm already discussing with Richard Towne how to put up a little tower & broadcast KUNM off the 'net, plus get some locals to go in with me on producing local programming. I'll discuss it with the Prometheus Radio Project re: low power FM.

It's too late this year, but next year I hope to hell to put in a decent "truck" garden. I have chickens for eggs. I have goats for milk/cheese, once I breed Nilly. Don't see why I should buy food if I can grow it. Hopefully, Br will have some equipment I can use to prepare the ground. I see what look like furrows to the west of the hotel; maybe I'll get really lucky & that'll be on her property.

Mostly, I think the economy in this country will get MUCH worse before it gets better. I'm going to hunker down, eliminate extra expenses, do my art & creative work and heal my body & mind.

Anybody interested in joining us? There's lots of room at the hotel!
--
Rogi Riverstone
http://rriverstone.com


"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
-- President George W. Bush, August 5, 2004.

Wisdom of the Crowds

You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com

This made me feel so much better!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/0301/04.html

to: Emile Normn Subject: info on techniques, please?

You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
Emile Norman Slide Show
http://www.emilenorman.com/

Dear Mr. Norman,

I've watched "By His Own Design" three times now.

I lived in Pacific Grove & Santa Cruz for several years. I miss it, deeply.

I'm moving to -- of all places -- Ft. Sumner, New Mexico in a couple
of months. I'm taking my art supplies with me.

I've always been so low income that creative arts always got
sacrificed to keep a roof over my head. I plan to change that when I
move. I want creative arts to be my first priority. I've never truly
been successful unless I do what I love to do. I'm not "connected,"
and may never sell anythig I create, but I need to create it, no
matter what.

I plan to pay attention to the landscapes, the skies, the animals, the
fauna, the geology, the light, the astronomy and the weather.

I'll be working, part time, as a personal assistant to Amanda, who is
severely developmentally and physically disabled from a car crash 10
years ago. You can hear a radio documentary I produced about her
family at http://kunm.org Just look for "podcasts" and subscribe to
"Sunday Specials." Look for "What's a Disability to Brenda's Girls;"
that's it.

I became close friends with the family during production. They live in
an abandoned hotel, on 13 acres of land. I'll be living in a trailer
and using an hotel room -- and an outdoor structure I'll make of
corrugated metal -- as studio space.

That, and my Social Security Disability Insurance, will be my primary
income -- along with some independent radio documentaries.

I truly appreciate your epoxy techniques. I've always done that sort
of work, with inferior materials, and loved it.

I wonder if you would be so kind as to give me a few hints.

What sort of wax do you use? I noticed it's grey; it's not parafin, is
it? Once you've melted it out, can it be reused? How do you melt it,
without too much heat on the work?

Do you MAKE your own epoxy? I know you blend it with sawdust -- which
is brilliant, by the way. If you make your epoxy, would you give me
some hints?

At first, I thought your sculpting was conventional inlay, requiring
much careful sanding I see you DO inlay, but the mosaic on wax
technique with sawdust epoxy makes a LOT of sense. I was also
thinking of ground glass, sands, pebbles, seeds, beads, etc as mortar,
too.

I plan to use a lot of trash -- I'm a recycler -- to create my stuff.
Especially, for large pieces, I was thinking of papr mache over frames
made of old milk & soda bottles, cans, newspapers, etc. Ft. Sumner is
FULL of trash!

But, for smaller pieces, the wax makes a lot of sense to me.

I'm bisexual; I used to identify myself as Lesbian, but I'm not a
purist at anything, really. I'm not closeted, fortunately. I want you
to know that the story of the partnership between you & Brooks truly
touched me. I admire your courage, your insistance on authenticity,
your very "butch" hard work.

Enjoy that magnificent environment you and Brooks created!

slumlady, redux

The art of KIH. Most artists in pastel use soft strokes, gently blending colors by smoothing them with a soft tool or finger tip. Rarely do pastel artists resort to harsh strokes, jagged lines and short, rapid "scrubbing" strokes. Usually, pastels are soothing, blended, rather like water colors. Colors are blended so carefully as to create an illusion of textures. Many artists use the subtleties of the color blends to bring out depth, three dimensionality and smoothness, roundness, translucence and transparency.

KIH's work looks childish, frantic, harsh, angry and incomplete. Basically, it looks like her mind, not the peaceful (and UNPOPULATED!) landscapes she mimics. It looks like she WANTS you to believe the natural you see, not realizing she has unconsciously revealed, by her techniques, the unnatural within the artist.

You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com

sewage backed up again
Monday, June 23, 2008 3:27 PM
From:
"Rogi Riverstone"
To:
Katherine
Cc:

Rachel, could YOU please call her? I just can't.

No, we don't put anything down there besides toilet paper.

====================

the apartment was FLOODING
Monday, June 23, 2008 7:28 PM
From:
"Rogi Riverstone"
To:
Katherine

I pushed the garden hose down the sewer to try to push loose the clog. THE HOSE WATER WAS NOT ON! I want you to PROVE to me that you have "three witnesses" that SAW that the water was ON, as you stated when you called to verbally attack me tonight, calling me a liar and accusing me of things I never did.

You couldn't answer email or phone messages, and water was POURING out of the toilet and bathtub onto the floor, spilling out onto the hard wood.

I've been mopping YOUR hardwood floors for an HOUR to try to prevent water damage.

I called the City of Albuquerque, who sent out a truck to flush the storm drains and manholes, in case the sewage backup was THEIR fault. IF you don't believe THAT, call 311 in Albuquerque, tell them the address and date, and THEY will verify it.

I WAS TRYING TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY!!!

"Therapists" do NOT address people with PTSD the way you just did.

ASK me what I've done, instead of ACCUSING me of stuff you got from the criminal neighbors' gossip!

=============================

MUD in the sewer lines
Monday, June 23, 2008 7:33 PM
From:
"Rogi Riverstone"
To:
Katherine

I also walked around to all my neighbors, to see if anybody had a snake to try to clean out the drain, it was THAT urgent.

Cris & Sasha's trash is parked right over a sewer cap. That's why the lines froze in the winter: they knock the cap off the sewer lines; I told you this back then.

I see where they've been hosing down the walkway outside their kitchen door. There's a BIG stream of MUD, going RIGHT into the sewer line, where the cap is always missing.

I check & replace that cap, any time I think of it, which is seldom, as I never go over there & can't see it with the trash on top of it.

The threads from pipe to cap don't seem to work any more; the cap won't screw on tightly.

==================

it's 1am and I can't sleep -- AGAIN!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 2:00 AM
From:
"Rogi Riverstone"
To:
Katherine
Bcc:
"Br", "Glen", "Corey", "Marjorie", "Judith",  "Paul"

"Thanks, Rogi, for trying so hard to prevent damage to my hardwood floors. You were level headed. You sought help from the city, who came out to pump the storm drains and manholes in the neigbhorhood. You walked the neighborhood in the heat, trying to find a neighbor with a snake. You tried to push the clog out of the pipe with your garden hose, when you couldn't find a snake. You worked for over an hour to clean up the mess with mops, rags and A PUMP (kneeling on the sewage-covered floor, up to your elbows in sewage, as you struggled to keep the hose in the pump to drain water out of the overflowing tub and out the bathroom window). You single-handedly prevented thousands of dollars in structural damages that COULD have gotten the property condemned by the city as a substandard building and health hazard (while Cris and Sasha just drove away and left it all)! It was a serious emergency. I couldn't answer your email or phone call. The water was spillingout into the apartment. You didn't have my instructions on how to hire a plumber in an emergency (although you TRIED to find out, by phoning Waz, the only maintanace person whose number you had). You did your very best under difficult circumstances, and a lot more than most other tenants -- including Cris and Sasha -- and I'm grateful." ~~words I'll never hear from Katherine.

I have to be up in 4 hours, while it's still cool enough that I can pack the truck, when someone can help me. And I'll have to do it, without enough rest, even as the triage nurse on the phone insisted, days ago, that I SHOULD take an ambulance to the ER, as I have all the symptoms of pulmonary edema. I'll have to do it because, no matter HOW sick I am, you'll "PUNISH" me if I'm not out of here on the day my lease is up. If someone can help me, I have to be there when they can. And I can only work a few hours per day, so I'll need the entire term of the lease to get out.

Your little phone call elevated my pulse, respiration and blood pressure to the point where I became dizzy and began coughing convusively, until I became incontinent and vomited. It COULD have KILLED me!

Yet, I NEVER raised my voice; I NEVER accused YOU of ANYTHING. And I'm the one with PTSD!! I maintained a PROFESSIONAL relationship with you while you just lost it, slurred speech and all. You were SO invested in HATING me, you REFUSED to listen to a word I said!

I won't be able to sleep at all tonight -- again -- because of your hysterics, abuse, false accusations, presumptions of my guilt, arrogant snobbery, COMPLETE lack of personal boundaries and totally unprofessional conduct.

What the hell do you call leaving water running off the roof for DAYS and thinking the swamp cooler was working???? THAT's good for your brand new roof and ancient walls and foundation!

When you wrote an email to Rachel and me, saying WE didn't have a good sense of boundaries, we - and ALL our friends and associates we'd told (legal council, included) -- had quite a laugh, hearing that coming from YOU of ALL people!

How DARE you think you can call me up, scream false accusations at me and hang up on me when I try to explain that YOU WERE MISINFORMED --AGAIN!!! THOSE PEOPLE IN THE FRONT ARE CRIMINALS! THEY LIE TO POLICE OFFICERS, for crying out loud! They're professional THIEVES! They physically ASSAULT anybody who gets in the way of their ignorance! But you believe their gossip like scriptures, over anything I say.

Your "hysterical female" routine is wearing rather thin; you're a bit old for high school tactics.

I see what you are.

You are a brat. You are a bully. Your life is COMPLETELY out of control, so you are OBSESSED with controlling those you believe your "inferiors." You manipulate, intimidate, harrass, threaten, meddle, and insinuate your agenda into the lives of those to whom you mistakenly compare yourself as "superior." Someday, someone is going to wipe that smug smirk off your face. I'd LOVE to see that happen, but I HAVE a life, and won't be around for it. I take my satisfaction in just KNOWING it will happen.

I feel SO bad for those poor children, subjected to your "therapy!"

You are common as dirt. You respect nothing but money and phoney status symbols. My god, I told you I was beaten in the head, and you tried to use the notion that I accepted a deposit from a prospective, new roommate as some lame, litigeous argument that I violated the LEASE??? I should keep my abuser here, rather than try to live a healthy and safe life, because of YOUR obsession with MONEY????

What runs through your veins: warm blood or cold alcohol?

You are SO SICK! And you're hell bent to poison anyone around you who dares QUESTION your warped "reality!" Yeah, you created your own reality, all right. It's repulsive, unjust, cruel, twisted and sadistic. It has NOTHING to do with who I am, what I stand for and believe in, the work I do, the people I respect and the planet I steward.

STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!

I was going to delete the Barbara Bush quote in my email signature, but it sounds SO MUCH like you, I left it in.

Rogi Riverstone
http://rriverstone.com

"Why should we hear about body bags, and deaths, and how many, what day it's gonna happen, and how many this or what do you suppose? Or, I mean, it's, it's not relevant. So, why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?"
-- Barbara Bush on Good Morning America, March 18, 2003