ASSHOLE!!!!

GOODBYE

     This morning I told my brother, who has been sleeping on my couch for the last 9 months, that it was time for him to leave. He has become too much of an issue for me to continue to deal with it. I have given him a lot of warnings in the past and I finally tired of his shit.

BACK STORY

      My brother is 17 years younger than me and has struggled with drugs since he was a teenager. He went to rehab an couple of years ago and seemed to be doing better so last year when I was losing my house I let him stay there rent free because he had no where to go. During this time I also had him watch my dogs in my apartment if I was working really long hours. Around mid-October I did a century bicycle ride and knew I would be gone a long time so I had him come over to watch the pups for the day. Somehow he ended up staying on my couch. It was never invited but 9 months later he is still here.
      Over the nine months I have had a variety of things come up missing. A Gerber utility tool, my I Touch, a digital camera, money on numerous occasions. Plus he would eat me out of house and home with out bothering to buy any sort of food or maybe even volunteer to walk the dogs without being asked. I have told him that this is my apartment and his friends are not welcome (sounds harsh but I know his friends). This being said I have no doubt he has had numerous friends over. The biggest clue was when he cleaned the apartment after I went to work. Well that and the women's underwear and dildos that I have found in his stuff while looking for my possessions.
     A couple of weeks ago when I got in my car my ashtray (where all non-smokers keep change) was open. I never do this. Then it happened again a couple of days later. So I got suspicious. As a photographer I notice little things that are out of place like that. SO my first thought was to check on the location of my 2 spare keys. I was right. One of them was missing. The next 10 days or so I would look thru his stuff to see if I could find the key. Well the first thing I found was a pipe used for smoking his drugs. Did I say he is a "recovering addict". I didn't find the key but I kept checking everyday. Usually when he headed to the bathroom or was on my patio with the blinds drawn. Today, after about 10 days of looking, I found the key. On a key ring sitting amongst his stuff he keeps on the coffee table. I waited a few minutes just to calm down and just as he was falling asleep I woke him up and asked him " So when are you moving and showed him he key I had found". He was a bit shocked. He excuse was that he had found it on the floor about a week ago. I called bullshit on this because I had discovered it before I left for vacation ( I wasn't going to put off my vacation). He said he got busy and forgot to give it back. You don't put it on a key chain if that's what happened. You put it on the counter with a note. I might have believed him if money wasn't missing again. I then told him that I couldn't trust him and he had to go.
     This is a short version with the basics of the story. I don't know what he is going to do for a place to stay but it was time for tough love. He makes more money than me. He could find an apartment in the shit hole I live in for about $550 a month. He is a union sound and lighting tech he should be able to afford that.
     I love my brother  but I am not going to be stolen from and lied to on a daily basis when I am payng his rent and buying his food. It went on way to long and I finally had to put my foot down.

VACATION 2012

     Took two extra days off form work a couple of days ago and got my ass out of town, I was burned out and I figured I had better do it while I had the time and money to do so. And some one to watch my dogs (more on that in the next post.
     I went up into the California Sierra's and visited Yosemite, Mono Lake, Lee Vining, Mammoth Lakes, Bodie Ghost Town, and Devil's Post Pile. It was very good to get away, even if it was a bit warmer than I wanted, 40 miles down the road it was 105 degrees. Still better than home in Vegas, it was 115 + there.
      The strangest moment was about 5am on the first day just outside of Lee Vining. I got there about 2 hours early and decided to find somewhere that I could pull over and take a nap in the car.I set my alarm for about 5:45am so that I could wake up and shoot photos of Mono Lake at Sunrise. Well my phone alarm has not been ringing properly so  I didn't hear it go off. Around the time The alarm was supposed to go off, while I was sound asleep, I heard a voice call my name and wake me out of a sound sleep. Clear as day. It was so clear that I woke up and looked out my car windows to see who was outside my car. Nobody there. Just my mind. It was a little freaky.

Mono Lake Tufa at Sunrise

   I drove that morning into Yosemite Vally (this was not my intention) after driving into the entrance of the park. I got there so early I just kept driving and shooting the occasional photo. I got to Crane Flats (about 20 miles from the valley) and decided to go and see if the walk-in campground had any available sites for the night. There was no chance the more popular sites were have any availability. Plus it is only $5 for the walk-in campground. It is located right at the base of El Capitan and is traditionally a climbers campground. It was at least 95 degrees in the valley and with the traffic I was getting extremely overheated. I set up my campsite and made a bee line for the village store.....something to eat, ice, and BEER. back to my campsite to cool off and wait for sunset to go and shoot some photos.

Half Dome at Sunset

    The next day I drove back out of the valley, 75 miles, and went to Lee Vining to find a new campsite. Lee Vining is pretty much central to all of the areas that I was visiting. Plus it has all the normal amenities that you will need. I found a campsite at a motor home park and paid for 3 days. I don't mind camping out but at 50 years old I am not so much into roughing it. This campsite has a store, showers, flush toilets, hell it even had classic video games, and electricity so I could recharge my phone and e-reader. After setting the campsite I went immediately to Nicely's restaurant. I have been going there since the mid eighties. Great food for a small town. Seems to have gotten a little pricey but still worth it.
     After lunch I decided to drive out to the Bodie Ghost Town and check it out while taking a few snaps. In all the times I had been to this area in the past I had never gone to the former gold mining town from the 1860's. It was a little warm but I was glad to go there it was pretty cool.

150 Year Old Globe in the Bodie Classroom

Me and a truck in Bodie

The Bodie Stamp Mill Viewed Thru a Fallen Wall

 

Over the next couple of days I spent my time going around to the various sites of the area and eating way to much. Overall it was a relaxing trip. I did a bit to much driving and not enough just sitting around.

Devil's Post Pile

Half Dome from Glacier Point

Lee Vining Creek

Food Truck at Mammoth Mountain

Toulomne Creek at Sunrise