What kind of wood is this? 05-23-21

There are two renovation projects going on in the neighborhood.  One had a pile of lumber delivered the other day and noticing the texture on the top piece I had to stop and look.  

 

This "plank" is about 12" wide, 6' long, and 4" thick.  

Here you see the top and the end.  Weird, huh?  The bottom part of the image is clear plastic. 

And this is an end view.  Rather beautiful I think.  I thought about having it printed on fabric.

I wonder how this compares to "old fashioned" planks considering the astronomical increase in the price of building materials in the past year.  I may have waited too long to have my deck rebuild.  Maybe now I can't afford it!  

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The last obstacle to getting home 08-08-14

Coming home on I-15 is not a bad drive, lots of open country, straight road (except for the Virgin River Canyon) and there never seem to be a lot of big trucks.   But then one must drive through Las Vegas.  It is always a hassle.

 

The radio told me there was a storm approaching  LV and the clouds concur.

I-15 goes through a "slot"  to the east side of the Strip.

(I don't know why the color in this image is so different from the rest.)

It was darker and the clouds lower as I drove south.

And in the congestion the trucks towered over me.

 This is the Mirage Hotel home of Cirque de Soleil.  Don't  know where the Ferris Wheel belongs.

 

I believe the shiny building is the Aria Hotel.  Nice reflections.

This building is on the west side of the highway, also shiny and reflective.  It is getting darker and I am expecting a downpour.

Another unknown hotel or casino, but a bright spot along the way.
Whew, I drove through LV with only a few raindrops, but later that night the downpour caused flash flooding which can be dangerous in the desert.  Glad I missed it. 

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Inspiration 07-07-14

Denver, CO  May 2011

 

I don't spend a lot of time in cities and have lived in suburbs all my life.  I was fascinated by the streets of Denver when I was there in 2011 for the SAQA conference.  Before digital cameras I took a lot of pictures of city buildings with my 35mm - some day I may have them moved to digital.

Some building going on. 01-03-13

This is a sight that once was very common in Orange County, but I haven't seen any new building going on for several years.  I was surprised when I drove up a street that I rarely take and discovered these townhouses going up.  I honestly don't remember what was on this property, but I think it might have been a golf course.   Maybe the economy is on the up swing.  I hope so, for all of us. 

 

 

 

Walking with Corky 11-26-11

As I said the other day for the last few years I have been taking Corky for his walk around vacant industrial buildings.  My favorite is the 1065 building.  I don't know how many suites are still occupied, there have never been signs on the outside of the building and we usually go on the weekend, so there aren't many cars in the lot. 

The distant building used to be a home decorating place, but it closed about two years ago. Lots of empty parking lot over there - I imagine the cars you see belong to people who parked to car pool.  That building abuts the 91 freeway, so it is easy on and off.

I don't know how to fix this picture to show the abundance of yellow leaves. You might click to enlarge.

This is the opposite side of the building.  The trees closest to the building all around are liquidambers.

Along the perimeter sidewalk are crape myrtles with their wonderful smooth bark.

 
Across the parking lot is the Anaheim Metro Station and beyond the tracks one of the ugliest apartment buildings for miles around.   It is only a few years old, but looks like a leftover from from distant era!

Familiar Views 09-15-11

Several years ago I took some pictures of old Spanish style buildings at the junction of CA 152 & 156, east of Gilroy and San Juan Bautista.  The next time I drove that way the buildings were mostly gone - removed to build an overpass from one highway to the other to avoid the terrible accidents that happened when frustrated drivers tried to make it across in front of speeding cars and trucks.  So, the rerouting is a good thing, but I still miss that small group of buildings.  Their absence makes me more aware of places I drive all the time and barely notice anymore.  These views along Highway 101 in Long Beach have hardly changed (in my mind) since the first time I drove this route in about 1959.   I KNOW things are different now - fifty years ago there were still forests of oil pumpers in this area and maybe only one power generation facility instead of four.  I could do some research, but the point is actually what is there now and the possibility that it will be gone someday and most of us will never notice.  There have been many proposals over the years for building on the land between Pacific Coast Highway (101) and the power plants, but the cost of cleaning up the soil from years of oil exploration and pumping is prohibitive.  Several places along the coast have been carefully revived as wetlands, which all of this was before oil and before WWII and the population boom.  But it is an ongoing war between the preservationists and those who see open land as an opportunity to make big bucks by building houses, strip malls, shops and vast parking lots.  I hope the preservationists continue to win their battles - I like seeing undeveloped land with plants both wild and opportunistic, with birds and wildlife, and with a view of what is beyond the curb of the roadway.

Oil pumpers and power plants with wild palm trees. 

A long shot of the power plants with the early evening (6pm or so) light reflection off the metal panels.

 

While I was in Ralph's Market parking lot taking the above pictures I attracted some attention from the local guys - I wonder if someone comes to feed them there.  There were half a dozen walking and flying around me, but this guy was very brazen.  Handsome fellow.  I've never been very good at identifying gulls, the Herring and the California are very alike, but these pink legs make me think he is a Herring Gull.  

Under Construction 08-27-10

This is an overall shot of the building under construction that I showed yesterday. I think this is part of the new Kaiser Permanente facility, but it could as well be something else. There are a lot of apartments being build in this area of Anaheim, along with Kaiser. This is north of and adjacent to the 91 Fwy and about two miles west of the intersection of the 91 and the 55. I wish I had found time to photograph it before the purple faded so much. I might try earlier in the morning when the sun is more in the east. I haven't seem a crane like this before - it looks like a child's plastic toy. The workmen are still employed - so someone has a paycheck these days.

Wordless Wednesday on Thursday! 08-26-10