May 2012 – Page 3 – Bus Driver Jim

Cabin Inspection

I’ve tracked down the original owner of that Old Cabin thanks to Steph’s contacts in the Title Business here and some good old internet detective work.

The United States Government deeded the property to Peter Jacobson and his wife Enoch Julin (commonly known as Cal Carrington) on 3/12/1910. The document I found was stuffed up into the attic of their new home as insulation, five years later.

Jacobsen is a Danish name, in keeping with the language of the document but it appears they changed the surname to Jacobson. Pete went on to be a Teton County Sheriff in the 1920’s. I have the complete property record up to present day, if anyone’s interested…

Here’s a video I shot yesterday, looking up into the rafters to see what’s there.

Update: (5/9) I got a phone call the other night from Kay Fullmer, the lady that runs our local museum here in Teton Valley. I’d sent her the links for the document and she wanted to include it the museum. I dropped it off yesterday. (Honored…)

Older Man

Do you remember that Neil Young video I posted a while back titled Old Man?

Well, here he is 14 years later performing live at Farm Aid in 1985.

It’s better to burn out, than to fade away because once your gone, you can’t come back…

Last Road Trip

The time is approaching… I will be quitting my job on June 1, 2012, cashing out my retirement and traveling around the warm part of the United States for three months.

This is the item at the top of my bucket list, and I’m pouring it all out! I’m sixty five years old, in questionable health, and I have no health insurance. Medicare? Don’t ask…

It’s not one of those ride off into the sunset scenarios. I have a home here in the valley, and a partner. It’s just something I need to do before I die. My employer has accepted my resignation and while they can’t guarantee my re-hire based on State rules, there is an understanding that I will re-apply the first of September.

My son Riley is prepping a sweet little 1988 Mazda B2200 pickup that’s a second owner vehicle and has been in the family since his grandmother acquired it from it’s first owner. 86K miles, 2.2-liter in-line four-cylinder sweety with a canopy for sleeping.

We’re going to make it extremely road ready and I’ll pick it up when I roll into Seattle on Sunday, June 3. I’ll stock up on travel supplies and depart Seattle on Tuesday, June 5.

The agenda is to hug the Pacific coastline heading south, all the way to San Diego, and then turning left, to the tip of Florida. I’ve done the Pacific run before and driven, flown and hitch-hiked the southern states, but I’ve never driven from San Diego to Miami.

I’m old and it will be my last run.

I’ll be living out of the truck, enjoying the beaches, showering at an occasional 24 Hour Fitness (getting a three month contract…) and maybe an occasional cheap motel.

I’ll also be borrowing bandwidth at every opportunity and documenting the adventure on this blog, which I started on June 6 last year after returning from Vegas.

Thanks for following my eclectic posts, and please stay tuned…

Huntsmans Buffalo

There is a magical mystery to each of our individual lives that transforms it into what it’s eventually meant to be.

If you think back upon the twist and turns of your own life that have brought you to this moment in time, you are seeing the magic. You are meant to be here now, as you are.

You may be remorseful about the way you got here, but screw it, you’re here!

Every second of your life that moves forward is a past you may either value or regret, so enjoy every moment, forget how you got here and live until you die…

Having said all that, here’s some buffalo:

Cliplets

Microsoft Research has released a great little app that allows you to create amazing, compact little 10 second videos. Here’s Microsoft’s description:

Microsoft Research Cliplets is an interactive app that gives users the power to create “Cliplets” — a type of imagery that sits between stills and video, including imagery such as video textures and “cinemagraphs”. The app provides a simple, yet expressive way to mix static and dynamic elements from a video clip.

Cliplet 001: A tree blowing in the wind while the two small trees on both sides, don’t.

Cliplet 002: A tractor on Bates Road with the canopy flapping.

Cliplet 003: Birds swimming.

Wedding 01: Jessica Bangert held by her sisters.

Horse Guard

I stopped along Packsaddle road today to shoot a quick video of the menagerie of animals in this field consisting of lamas, sheep, goats and a horse.

I wasn’t there long before the Horse Guard made his appearance. This guy made it very clear that he was the boss, and the guardian, of this herd. This is wolf country after all!

Update: I redid this video into Flickr format and left the sound in…