This weekend at the Lodi Grape Festival showgrounds there’s the Jazzy Cat show, which I’ve been to before and it’s fun. She’ll be one of the vendors there, demonstrating some really yummy relaxation and inner-and-outer beauty goodies (think luxurious creams, bath soaks and makeup).

Anyway, if you’re near Lodi, or know somebody who is, I’d really appreciate it if you could pass this one. Stop by SERENE ANGEL HOME SPA’s booth and say that Linda sent you. It’s her first time doing a show solo, and I know she’d love the encouragement. :)

Jazzy Cat’s “A Haunted Weekend” Cat Show
Lodi Grape Festival grounds
Fri, 3 Oct: 3 - 11 p.m.; Sat & Sun 9 - 5 (4th & 5th)

Quite often I would find that the ringing of the phone caused me a unique form of anxiety way out of proportion to the result. If it was someone I knew I’d be fine. Someone I didn’t…all bets are off.

That’s why I think Caller Base is such a cool service. Those who knew me well would begin talking into the answering machine; those who didn’t, would hang up. Caller Base gives a free reverse phone search service that allows you to figure out who’s been calling and whether you want to call back. No stress. No annoying calls at dinner time. (The source of these phone numbers appears to be legit., i.e. from existing directories and databases.) If you can’t figure it out from the free information, you can pay to get the name and address (which works the privacy issue in the other direction, of course.)

You can use it to find out about prank callers, unknown numbers on your phone bill, or just plain missed calls. Give it a shot. It’s easy to use, and service helpful to all we phone-challenged people nationwide.

Thanks to our sponsor, Caller Base, for this opportunity.

The days are blending one into the other, all the same. They feel a bit like this image of the cornfields, rushing by at 55mph. Blurred. But more gray than green.

If I understood correctly, Shasta Dam is the second largest dam in the USA. If not, then it’s the second largest concrete dam.

Either way…dam!

I’m starting to question whether it’s better to be online for a couple of hours every day — during which, invariably, only some things get done, which means that other things get thoroughly neglected — or whether it’s better to be offline, period, meaning that everything gets neglected and everything nags with equal energy (somehow that’s easier to deal with). Either way, I’m grateful that my web hosting is stable and behaving itself, that my domain name registrar didn’t get swept away in the recent hurricanes, and that everything on the technical, if not the creative level, is ticking along reasonably well.

For those less lucky, who need to find new webhosting, or who might be looking for a home for their first site, though…you might want to check out Web Hosting Rating. It brings many hosting companies together in an easy to use search; just plug in the features you need and see how they were rated. Not just that, but they have a blog/articles repository with lots of interesting features on topics such as picking out your domain name, colocation and which are the best control panels.

Check it out!

We went to fill up the rig, and crossed a bridge to do so. On the way back, we noticed this magnificent view. Even freeways can be wonderful at times. :)

It was quite exciting to see this moored on Shasta Lake. You see, this is the Canadian plane that was sent down to help fight the fires. It scoops up vast quantities of water and dumps them on the hot spots. :)

I had no idea that about another month later I really would be stuck around Lodi area again.

This truck was from the Lodi company, based in Sparks, Nevada. It was halfway up the steep and interesting road to the Castle Crags viewpoint. At the time, it seemed amusing. ;)

The Castle Crags are sheer and spectacular. They seem to explode up from the landscape. I took this shot on a rather annoying little hike I took. It was annoying because I was almost up the road when I saw the “viewpoint trail” and took that, only to add at least another mile to my walk. It was a steep one at that!

When we got to Castle Crags campground, the “no fishing” sign on the pond made us laugh. Then I wandered down there to pay for a second night…and was startled to find the pond well stocked with trout. I guess they may not have been kidding after all!