• " Pahrump Valley Gazette, Thursday, May 29, 1997 23
i i1| iiii ii i
Community News In The Thermometer's Shadow
by Mike Dougherty, i!
simple matter of afewsprinklers
It seemed so easy. The neighbor lady has a lawn that
requires frequent watering. Her oldest son is only 13 and
sometimes self discipline isn't fully developed at that tender
age and daily chores sometimes are let slide a bit. I tried to
keep the lawn watered, but at my tender age self discipline
isn't well developed either. A problem.
No problem! There used to be a sprinkler system under the
new lawn and all I need do is find the risers, install some
sprinkler heads, and set the timers. A simple afternoon chore
with a little spraying water to keep everything cool.
First stop is a city hardware store for parts. Cheap, not
expensive, low priced stuff. Until you buy several of each black
inny little plastic whatsits, and then the few pennies each
..arts to make dollars. I fill a sack with what I figure I might
need and a special tool to keep it simple, this will be an easy one.
Afternoon at the neighbor's house. The boys are home
from school and I'm the most interesting thing on the block.
They even invite their friends over to observe this master
sprinkler mechanic at work.
First order of business is to figure out the electronic secrets
of turning on the system so I can find where I need sprinkler
heads. I read the directions several times and determine that
they really are written in English. I push several mysterious
buttons and water sort of starts to burble from the ground. I run
out and mark where heads are needed and then work on
shutting down the system. By this time I am approaching a
condition of maximum soggy. I'm wearing swimming trunks
so the wet doesn't much matter and the youthful audience
seems rather amused.
Simple to twist on new sprinklers. Except when the riser
breaks under ground. "Are you digging a hole, Mr. Dougherty ?
Why is the hole full of water, Mr. Dougherty? My mother
won't let us say that word, Mr. Dougherty." The main sprin-
kler feed pipe is half-way to China and it takes forever to set
the sod aside and dig down to the main line.
Laying in the wet grass reaching into a hole full of muddy
water and trying to clean a broken riser from the pipe threads
on the T fitting, this is not my idea of summer fun. I can't give
up in front of the boys. I have to do this damn job. There's not
even a plumber in town I can call. Why did I ever...
Finally, at last, the riser is repaired. The hole is filled and
the sod is laid. A row of fresh black sprinkler heads run in a
row down the center of the lawn and it's starting to look like
I might win this one.
I operate the system on manual and it works! The sprin-
klers pop up perky as can be and drool and dribble water all
over themselves. Seem to need a bit of adjusting. The only
way I can see to adjust a sprinkler is when it's operating. A
fellow could get a wee wet.
The boys are having a fine time watching the old fellow in
the red trunks lean over the spraying sprinklers trying to fit a
tiny little screwdriver into that little brass screw while his
glasses are a running streams of water. Open this one a bit, and
that one goes down a little. Turp this one up, go turn that one
down. Finally two sprinkler stations are fully adjusted and it's
time to set the electronics.
' Remember the old mechanical timers? Set the peg and turn
the screw? Those were the days. Now it's gone all modem.
Read the directions four times before even starting. Try to
figure out what the engineers are talking about. Get it straight
in the head and go step by step into the wonderful world of
automatic electronic controls.
Set the time. Set the hour first. Is that a.m. or p.m.? They
use military time and I can't even figure out how to say 5 p.m.
Now that the hour is set, set the minutes. Now pay attention,
there are four control stations on the timer, I am only using
two stations, so two must be disabled.
Push each station and set the time you want the sprinklers
to operate. Those two unused stations can't be forgotten, they
must be set at No time of operation. Keep pushing the little
button until the little red light reads "00." And on it goes. I
want the sprinklers to operate more than once a day so we've
Around Amargosa with Andrea
by Andrea Lynn
The Chamber of Commerce had a fund-raiser over the
weekend to raise money for the Amargosa Cemetery. The
chamber has already donated $1,000 for Fred White to start
on the watering system. This weekend, they brought in
approximately $315.25 which will go toward replacing the
dead trees.
The chamber wishes to thank everyone who helped, in-
cluding a special thanks to Marie Reagle, Penny McGhee, and
the school kids for the great job they did performing for
everyone. Thanks also to Pahrump for participating in the
swap meet.
Don't forget the Sand Drags this weekend. This one is a
money race, which means there will be more races than usual.
Time trials begin at 7 a.m. and racing begins at 7 p.m. There
will, as always, be food and drink in the snack shack and a
good time watching the races!
Calendar of events:
Mondays; Boy Scouts, 3-4 p.m, Community Center
Tuesdays: Senior Tap Dancing, 9-11 a.m. C/C
Crafty Ladies Club, 9:30
a.m., Senior Center
Girl Scouts, 3-4 p.m., C/C
Wednesdays: Bingo, 7
p.m., C/C
Girl Scouts, 2-3 p.m., C/C
MAY
Friday, May 30: 8th Grade
Graduation, 7 p.m., C/C
Saturday, May 3 h Road
cleanup, 8 a.m., Comer of
373 and Farm Rd., Sand
Drags, time trials 8 a.m., races
7 p.m., Race Track
JUNE
Wednesday, June 4:
People For The West, 7:30
p.m., C/C
00_00Zue 00qgiamon00 00Nu.er V
Cactus ,. Cactus
Largest Selection in Nevada
Desert Plants ~ Succulents
Lots of native Nevada plants including:
Red Barrels, Cholla, Yucca, Mound Cactus, Ciadet
Teddy Bear, Beaver Trail, Prickly Pear, Saguaro
Golden Barrels, Organ pipe, Desert Willow
Blue Pale Verde, Ocotillo, Mexican Fence
Post and Extremely Nice
Nevada Joshua Trees
IFme Cactus Say you saw it in the Gazette, limit of one.
Over 4,000 Desert Plants in Stock!!!
Open: 9 am ~ 5 pm Daily, Sun 10 am ~ 5 pm 12740 Blue Diamond Road
1/2 Mile off 160 W. on Blue Diamond Rd. (Hwy 159)
! €..,.lt
(702) 875-1968
Fax (702) 875-1913
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got to do something fancy there.
Eventually it's done. The right lights are lit and everything
appears as it should. I am not going to watch it over the next
24 hours to check it. The lawn either gets wet or it doesn't. The
job is done. A simple little chore that only involved one trip
to town, six hours labor, and numerous helpful remarks from
my young associates.
Last week, Slim mentioned a new type of irrigation in his
column, I wonder how that high colonic irrigation works on
Wednesday: 2 Tostadas - ground
Thursday: 2 Sopes - ground
Friday: Came con chili Colorado
Saturday: Pozole
Open lla.m. - 8p.m.
Smoke - Free Dining Atmosphere
Rosa's
Mexican Restaurant
(702) 372- 1131
Hwy 373 & Mecca Road.
"Authentic Mexican Food"
II I
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