Another couple months, come and gone.  Not much has changed, although we did get to visit Kauai in July.  Pictures are in the gallery under “Kauai 2008″.  Seems fitting.

Haven’t had the telescope out much, unfortunately, the smoke has been far too thick.  It is, however, starting to clear, and the night sky is slowly returning.  I’ve been trying to do some simple widefield tripod-based shots of different constellations and sections of the Milky Way, but I need more practice before I put them on display.  Still in the learning phase of that venture.

Well, another month has passed since I’ve visited. . . and coming up in a few days we will have been in our house for 3 years. Exciting, eh? The backyard is finally (for the most part) done, our garage is still a mess, but it’s home.

Not much has changed in the last month. I did go get my fishing license and the Delta stamp, so hopefully I can start catching dinner for one or two nights a week. Went out friday night and got skunked, but did see this.

Well, no web work as of late. . . not really any work as of late. It’s been slow all around. But what are ya gonna do? We’ve got to let the people with money clear up the mess caused by all the ignorant people who thought they could afford that half-million dollar house and the rising gas costs. Woot. Well played.

My motivation levels have been less than nil lately, anyway. I just feel like watching movies or playing Warcraft. Or riding the horses. That’s what I want to do during the day. The movies and games are for night.

At least the weather has been nice.

Call off the troops! I just received word that the State Park Dept. is negotiating a deal with Shadow Glen Stables.

We’re still wary, of course, of the distinct possibility that they are dealing in order to keep us quiet at the next meeting, and in the public eye. Next public meeting: Tue, March 11, 7-9pm, Folsom Middle School Auditorium, 500 Blue Ravine Rd., Folsom.

Huge FYI: The new General Plan released by the Cal. State Parks Dept & the Bureau of Reclamation lists phasing out the Shadow Glen Riding Stables at the Folsom Lake State Rec Area as one of the goals for the Mississippi Bar section of the park.  Their main point in favor of this is to remove private boarding of horses, and improve trail access for the public.

I think I can safely speak for all patrons of Shadow Glen when I say that we, as users of the park, find this unacceptable.  There are a few points that the State has failed to consider, or have ignored completely:

1.  They are looking to expand the marina on Folsom Lake, which happens to be inhabited by privately-owned boats, while eliminating the private boarding of horses.

2.  The cost of the insurance policy required by the State to operate a trail ride operation far exceeds reasonable expectations of revenue generated by said trail rides.  Boarding supplements the monthly income, making it possible to maintain insurance coverage for riders.

3.  Allowing the private boarding of horses enables people from outside of the immediate area  to enjoy the trails, and brings money into area businesses.

4.  Shadow Glen in no way  inhibits general public use of the trail system, and in fact, allows many new people to experience the State Park on horseback.

There are more, but this should be an adequate sample of the problems with this General Plan.  If you have any stake in this matter at all, or know someone who does, please sign our online petition and leave a note.

We had the first public meeting last night, and I’d personally like to thank everybody who showed up, and especially people not associated with Shadow Glen who commented on our behalf.   The next meeting is March 11, 7:00-9:00 pm at Folsom Middle School (auditorium), 350 Blue Ravine Road, Folsom, CA 95630.

You can go here for more information, this is the official site: Folsom Lake SRA General Plan

I left my camera at work in my haste to get to class yesterday.  Stupid stupid me.  Now I’ll have to wait till 2010 for the next full lunar eclipse.  Perhaps by then my photographic equipment and technique will be a bit more refined.

Check out the gallery for my latest acquisitions.  Same targets, Moon and Saturn, but better images I think.

So I may have been commissioned to do some web slinging for the school my wife teaches at. Actually for both the school, and possibly the individual departments. Won’t make any money on it, but I like to help out when I can

Updating the page, yet again. Hopefully be done today sometime. . .

**UPDATE**
Ok, got the basic framework up, and a gallery, and a few of my songs listed, so I’m happy for now. Will continue working on it as I get time