Peregrinating
2014

September

1 September
Putter's Paradise RV Park
Snowflake, AZ
no pic

We are getting some hot days at the close of summer. It was 89° yesterday with another 88 expected today, 90s forecast for the next couple of days. Will stay in the upper 80s then until the last two days in the 10 day forecast when it will drop suddenly to the mid-70s. My next camp is following that same forecast pattern with almost the same temperatures expected.

We did our morning walk in a much cooler 55° temperature. Then as soon as we got back to Desperado I gave Patches her breakfast and headed for town to get mine. Went back to El Cupidos Express again and had their Chorizo & Jalape'o Omelet with hash browns and some good coffee.

I made a final grocery stop at Ed's Market. I need to get groceries again before I leave here but Ed's is closed next Sunday when I want to go. I'll drive just a little farther and shop at Basha's next time. I expect they will have kale which Ed's did not have today. I also expect that Basha's will have large containers of Greek yogurt and dark chocolate bars which Ed's does not carry.

I was able to pick up the makings for my 'linners' this week. That being pork chops that I browned off and then put into the pot with a couple cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup that was thinned slightly with some lemon juice. On top of that went a package of frozen cauliflower and one of broccoli and the pot brought to a boil then into the Thermal Cooker for 5-6 hours.

My salads will have to be made with lettuce this week with everything else remaining the same. The breakfast scrambles will have spinach in them in place of the kale that I prefer. My dessert remains much the same but I will be glad to change it a little with some nuts other than pecan and get some Greek vanilla and honey yogurt once again.

2 September
Putter's Paradise RV Park
Snowflake, AZ
no pic

Finished reading Journey To The Western Islands Of Scotland by Samuel Johnson & James Boswell a free download from Project Gutenberg. I have been reading short sections of this for months and enjoyed it very much but reading a book, even a short one, on my laptop is not the way I like to read a book. I have a number of other downloads waiting in the queue, will select another now knowing it is going to take me a long time to read it.

I didn't do much today. I did make up my 3x5 route card that I will follow to my next camp. That was rather straight forward and didn't take long. Then spent more time deciding where I was going to eat breakfast along the way. Also checked on gas prices to see where I would fill up with gas. It appears that I should do it here in Snowflake or Taylor next Sunday when I go shopping.

leftpic John Abbott is a pseudonym for a very well known writer. Although a few people at Crown, the publisher, know John Abbott's identity, they were sworn to secrecy and if people were to guess the correct identity of John Abbott the author was quoted as saying "I'll deny it, I'll just deny it." I can not blame him. A bit of sleuthing found that the author was Evan Hunter, his legally adopted name, that wrote under many pseudonyms but was best known for his Ed McBain crime fiction. I could not find any other books published by him as John Abbott, the Weekly's review may have killed that pseudonym. Evan Hunter died in 2005 but Wikipedia list 119 novels written by Evan Hunter or one of his pseudonyms so I know there were better books than this one written by him.

A razor-sharp beginning soon loses its edge in a thriller that will remind many (too many) readers of Frederick Forsyth's The Day of the Jackal. That crackling yarn concerned a plot to assassinate De Gaulle; Abbott's killer is after George Bush. And while Forsyth's lightning-fast plot rapidly convinced readers to suspend disbelief, first novelist Abbott digresses with plodding secondary characters, often fatuous dialogue and--regarding a deadly chemical concoction--overly complex jargon. When tattoos of green scimitars show up on murder victims in New York City, the trail leads to Sonny Hemkar, a Middle Eastern assassin cum Don Juan, who is bent on nationalistic revenge. Genuine suspense, unfortunately, is in short supply here; generic verbiage abounds (the killer fired "into what was left of her head"); and attempts at wry humor generally fall flat. Abbott's laudable endeavors to humanize his characters merely trivialize them instead (the heroine is particularly slow-witted) and slow down the action. While fans of this genre may discover a modicum of excitement here, they will hope for more exciting future fare from Abbott. - Publishers Weekly

How Can You Tell Whether Russia has Invaded Ukraine? by Dmitry Orlov on his blog ClubOrlov provides 10 things to look for if Russia has invaded. I have copied his opening paragraphs and only two of the telltale signs.

Last Thursday the Ukrainian government, echoed by NATO spokesmen, declared that the the Russian military is now operating within Ukraine's borders. Well, maybe it is and maybe it isn't; what do you know? They said the same thing before, most recently on August 13, and then on August 17, each time with either no evidence or fake evidence. But let's give them the benefit of the doubt.
You be the judge. I put together this helpful list of top ten telltale signs that will allow you to determine whether indeed Russia invaded Ukraine last Thursday, or whether Thursday's announcement is yet another confabulation.
The Ukrainian military has promptly vanished. Soldiers and officers alike have taken off their uniforms, abandoned their weapons, and are doing their best to blend in with the locals.
Kiev has surrendered. There are Russian tanks on the Maidan Square. Russian infantry is mopping up the remains of Ukraine's National Guard. A curfew has been announced.
3 September
Putter's Paradise RV Park
Snowflake, AZ
no pic

A nice cool 54° this morning with a little breeze. Very nice after the high of 92° yesterday and the expected high to be the same today. The cooling trend is to begin tomorrow with it dropping into the high 70s by Sunday. But, the weather gurus have now added an 80% chance of rain to their guesses for Sunday and Monday. What is with their predicting rain for the day that I plan on going shopping?

I selected Animal Farm by George Orwell from my queue of downloads. It is very short and in a PDF format when opened in Google Drive Viewer was an easy read. I finished it today and will select another of my downloads, all of them are also in a PDF format. One small aggravation. I would like to place a bookmark in what I am reading to make it easier to find my place when I close the file and the re-open. Will look for that fix today.

This past 31 August marked the beginning of year 9 of my peregrinating. I started a regimen of walking after I had given up riding bicycles and growing fat. That is not to say that I am no longer fat but rather I am now healthier than I would have been if I had done nothing - which is what I did for some time after I stopped riding. During these past 8 years there have been some times that I did not walk, or walked very little, but I have managed to accumulate 10,742 miles during those years.

This is from a story on FoxNew.com, not headline News for other Lame Stream Media. Before you leap to a misinterpretation of what this means I am sure all the military personnel are barefoot so the President can still say that there are no boots on the ground. The USA is NOT building up for Iraq III. President Obama said he would get the United States out of Iraq and Afghanistan. He also said he had no strategy for defeating the Islamic State so this is not part of a strategy.

President Obama announced Tuesday he is sending approximately 350 additional military personnel to Iraq to protect U.S. diplomatic facilities and workers in Baghdad. As of August 13, there were approximately 1,000 U.S. military personnel in Iraq working to combat the threat from the Islamic State. According to the Associated Press, the personnel mainly consisted of security forces and assessment and advising personnel.
The President has also clarified(?) his 'No Strategy' statement of last week as reported by David Jackson's story Obama explains 'strategy' remark in USToday.com. But he put his foot in his mouth again when he talked about leading a regional and international effort - there is no such effort and he certainly is not leading anything other than pep rallies at fundraisers. I have added emphasis to the quote.
"I was specifically referring to the possibility of the military strategy inside of Syria that might require congressional approval," Obama told reporters in Estonia. "It is very important from my perspective that when we send our pilots in to do a job, that we know that this is a mission that's going to work, that we're very clear on what our objectives are, what our targets are."
Obama said his "bottom line" is that "the United States will continue to lead a regional and international effort against the kind of barbaric and ultimately empty vision that ISIL represents. And that's going to take some time, but we're going to get it done. I'm very confident of it."
John Hayward's Obama vows to make ISIS 'manageable' at Human Events is a good article about this same clarification of President Obama's Islamis State strategy.

4 September
Putter's Paradise RV Park
Snowflake, AZ
no pic

As I read Animal Farm I could not keep myself from thinking about the characters in the story and the people that act the same way today. There is Napoleon which it does not take much of a leap to say 'that reminds me of our Leader Comrade Obama'.

Or, the pigs (Democratic Party) most faithful disciples were the two cart-horses, Boxer (Reid) and Clover (Pelosi) These two had great difficulty in thinking anything out for themselves. Boxer's Maxim - Napoleon is always right.

Then there was Squealer, the spokesman for Napoleon. He was a brilliant talker,that could turn black into white. I could not have described Press Secretaries Carney or Earnest any better if I tried.

And last but not least there were the Sheep. They could be called upon anytime there was any disagreement with what Napoleon said and they would dutifully chant 'Four legs good, two legs bad' until those that disagreed shut up. Much like what the Lame Stream Media in the United States does now for our Napoleon.

I have started reading Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith as my next PDF download into Google Drive Viewer. This will not be a quick read with about 1,700 pages in the PDF format. I'm going to try and read a Chapter each day but that will still require a lot of time. That is something that I have a lot of so no problem there.

Our morning walk got rained out. I woke up at 4:30 to the sound of rain. This was the 30% chance of rain that the weather guessers expected. Now that it has rained they increased the chances to 40% but the best thing they did was reduced the chances on Sunday from 80% to NO chance but left Monday at 80%.

A usual day for us except the shortened morning walk. We did get started but turned around when we started to get wet. Have been on the couch with my novel. Also got started on Will Rogers weekly article links again.

5 September
Putter's Paradise RV Park
Snowflake, AZ
no pic
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: September 5, 1926

Patches and I got soaked yesterday afternoon. It was clear in the east and looked threatening to the west but a long ways off. We were about ' mile from Desperado when it started to come down rather hard. Patches was soaked to the skin and my t-shirt was wringing wet by the time we got to shelter. Not a gentle female rain that Patches loves - she was no happier that I.

I could not find any easy way to bookmark where I have stopped reading a PDF document in Google Drive Viewer. For that reason and others I have gone back to Adobe Reader which does not have a bookmark feature but it does have what I need. It will open the document where I last left off reading it - that is exactly what I wanted. Even better than a bookmark.

The Bureau of Labor released their non-farm job numbers for August today that showed an increase of 142,000 jobs. The Lame Stream Media did not make this headline News, you had to look for it. When they did report it as News it was much less important than the death of Joan Rivers.

You need to dig deep in obscure articles to find any reporting that the Current Employment Statistics (CES) Net Birth/Death Model adjustment added 102,000 jobs for the month. The media wants to keep talking about the previous 6 months of over 200,000 jobs each month. Or, they want to talk about the 2,482,000 jobs 'created' during the past 12 months but never mention the 2,426,000 net jobs that were added by the CES Net Birth/Death Model adjustment during those same months.

If you look at the Household Data for August the number of Employed increased by 16,000 which is the fourth consecutive monthly increase (just barely). The media does not even have much to say this month about the all important Unemployment Rate falling to 6.1% again. There was a 80,000 decrease in Unemployed but an increase of 268,000 in the Not in the Labor Force. This set another all time record of 92,269,000 for Not in the Labor Force and only Drudge took note of it.

It was the increase in the Not in the Labor Force that was mostly responsible for the Unemployment Rate decline. It was also responsible for the Participation Rate moving down to 62.8% again for the 6th time in the last 12 months. This is a Participation Rate that prior October 2013 was last seen in 1978 - the Media does not consider this News.

The average earnings increased by 8¢ to $24.53 an hour, while the average workweek remained at 34.5 hours for the 6th consecutive month. All in all another 'unexpected' Jobs Jamboree (a Chuck Butler at Daily Pfenning term) and a disappointing report for those that keep claiming the Recovery is picking up speed.

War Drums Along the Potomac by Pat Buchanan provides an explanation of the strategy that the Islamic State has even if President Obama does not have one. They are just continuing what Osama started with the attack on the Twin Towers. Suck the United States into guerrilla warfare fought on Islamic soil on their terms. They are betting that a coalition of ground troops can not be put together by President Obama and it will be once again only the Great Satan against Islam.

Why would ISIS show themselves engaged in what decent men regard as barbarities, such as the beheadings of innocents and the mass execution of Syrian and Iraqi prisoners, with their hands tied behind their backs?
Though undeniably evil, the men of ISIS are not stupid. And our reaction is playing directly into their hand.
America's recoil, which revealed to the world how the United States has been wounded, enraged and alarmed by ISIS' savagery and success, sends to the most extreme of America-haters in the Islamic world a clear message.
Given our horrified and hyperbolic reaction, ISIS can credibly make this boast to the jihadists from Nigeria to the Hindu Kush, from Libya to Iraq, from Somalia to Syria: 'ISIS is the enemy the Great Satan fears and hates most. ISIS is the Islamist organization that strikes fear into NATO. Not al-Qaida, not Boko Haram, not Ansar al-Sharia, not the al Nusra Front ' ISIS. If you would join the climactic battle for the future of mankind, if you would be in the front lines of the martyrs' brigades changing the world and creating the caliphate of the Prophet, join us. ISIS wants you!'
Thanks to the West's stunned and shocked reaction, ISIS has eclipsed al-Qaida. America daily confirms it. ISIS is today receiving the attention Osama once got for bringing down the twin towers and inflicting the worst blow to America since Pearl Harbor.
Unfortunately, what we view as horrifying, our worst enemies in the Islamic world view as the mark of authenticity, of uncompromising faith.
6 September
Putter's Paradise RV Park
Snowflake, AZ
no pic

As soon as I finished breakfast this morning I jumped up and started chores. Well, one chore anyway, I dumped holding tanks and added fresh water. I was going to do this tomorrow after I returned from shopping but gave it a second thought. I'll want to be cooking as soon as I get back from shopping not dumping tanks.

We stayed dry yesterday although it looked a lot like the day before in the afternoon when we got WET. That day it started off raining and then looked like it was clearing but most of the 0.19' came in the afternoon with us out in it.

I finished the Tami Hoag book that I picked up in trade when I first arrived here. I'll be reviewing it tomorrow or the next day. Started reading another book by a new to me author that I hope to finish before I leave because there was one more book in the library here that looked like a promising trade.

Yesterday when I posted my comments about the BLS 'Jobs Jamboree' I showed that the number of job created were almost all due to the Net Birth/Death Model adjustments. Perhaps Adam Smith was right when he wrote: The demand for those who live by wages, therefore, necessarily increases with the increase of the revenue and stock [GDP] of every country, and cannot possibly increase without it? Perhaps the 'experts' of today have it all wrong when they claim 'Now is Different'? Perhaps the reported GDP for the USA has been manipulated as badly as the BLS 'jobs created' and there has not been an increase in GDP?

Yesterday I also posted about the drums beating for a war against the Islamic State but those are not the only ones. President Obama continues to try and drum up a war with Russia with Europe to provide the cannon fodder.

Sinister Pretext for War with Russia The Downing of Malaysia Flight 17 by Mike Whitney provides a good explanation of the Administration's propaganda as presented by the Sheep Media. I have copied the opening and closing paragraphs of the article, there is a lot of supporting evidence offered in between them. The article also explains why the story has disappeared from Sheep Media coverage in this country.

The Obama administration has failed to produce any hard evidence that pro-Russia separatists were responsible for the downing of Malaysia Flight 17. The administration's theory' that the jetliner was downed by a surface-to-air missile launched from rebel territory in east Ukraine' is not supported by radar data, satellite imagery, eyewitness testimony or forensic evidence. In fact, there is no factual basis for the hypothesis at all. It's merely politically-motivated speculation that's been repeated endlessly in the media to shape public opinion. The preponderance of evidence suggests a different scenario altogether, that is, that MH17 was shot down by Ukrainian fighters in an effort to frame the pro-Russia separatists and demonize Russia by implication. This is precisely why the MH17 story has vanished from all the major media for the last three weeks. It's because the bloody fingerprints point to Obama's puppet-government in Kiev.
The media has played a pivotal role in this tragedy, deliberately misleading the American people on critical details related to the case in order to shape their coverage in a way that best serves the interests of the government. The MSM doesn't care about identifying the criminals who killed 298 passengers. Their job is to demonize Putin and create a pretext for waging war on Russia. And that's exactly what they're doing.
7 September
Putter's Paradise RV Park
Snowflake, AZ
no pic

We did our morning walk, Patches had her breakfast and I then went to have mine at The Skillet Café again. I had the same thing that I did last time for two reasons. First, it was good last time. Second, their menu is limited and I didn't see anything that I thought would be better. They do have some good Daily Specials but the one for Sunday did not sway my choice. A Ranchers Omelet that has bacon and green chile in it with home fries and some good coffee.

Then drove to Taylor, AZ which is only a couple miles south of Snowflake and went to Basha's for groceries. Their produce department is so far superior to Ed's Market that it is worth the drive. I can not say the same for their Meat section.

I was also very disappointed that they did not have Greek God Vanilla and Honey. I asked the stocker about it and he said that they could not order it which I find VERY puzzling. They had Greek God Honey and Lemon and usually carry the plain Honey but were out until Wednesday.

I found everything else that I wanted and even found some Mama Lola's white corn enchilada and table tortillas. I picked up a package of them although Mama Lola never responded to my email asking where I could find her product. She makes a good tortilla but does not know much about PR. I'm buying more of her product in spite of that. Perhaps that is proof that if you have a good product your don't need any PR.

Filled up with gas in Taylor at a station that was right across the street from Basha's and had the same low price of one I saw in Snowflake. The lowest price was at Alvarez Auto Center in Snowflake with a cash price that was 13ยข lower. I never have that much cash on me so I could not take advantage of that.

I came across Pate Chinois (Canadian Chinese Cottage Pie) in a blog that I was reading last week and it sounded good enough to eat. Simple also, which is the way I cook. Browned off about 2# of hamburger which covered the bottom of my Roaster pan maybe 1' deep, added two very large diced yellow onions on top, then 2# of cut corn (I could have used a little less) and topped it with lumpy mashed red potatoes with skins on that included real butter. That sat for a little while until I fired up the Roaster at 375° until the potatoes showed some browning on top. This will last me all week, maybe longer, for my 'linners'.

leftpic The last Hoag book that I read was Still Waters (1992) a stand alone novel that I reviewed as being somewhat like Cry Wolf (1993) that was #3 in the Doucet Series. These are her early mystery novels and she was writing in a Romance Novel mind frame, the genre of her earlier published works. This book was #1 (2002) in her Elena Estes Series and came soon after her first two in the Kovac/Liska Series. I have said that I really liked Liska and there is a lot of Liska in Elena's character. There is only one more in the Elena Series and I hope to find it. I read Kill the Messenger (2004) and found it to be very good so I can hope that Hoag's later mysteries continue to be as good.
It may be of interest to you, then again maybe not, but Tami is a professional dressage rider as well as an author. She has a small stable of horses that compete with her as the rider or another professional dressage rider. She has at lest two more novels that use riding as the background for the story.

Elena Estes is a former cop whose bravado on the force resulted in a colleague's death; it also cost her her job and her self-esteem, not to mention the psychological and physical fallout from nearly being shot. She's been keeping a low profile at a friend's Florida ranch, but her world is disrupted when 12-year-old Molly Seabright, wise beyond her years, attempts to hire Elena to find her older sister, Erin, who has been missing for two days. As Elena digs deeper into Erin's disappearance, the dark side of the horse-show set is revealed. Hoag (Night Sins; Dust to Dust), herself an experienced equestrian, shows off her dressage-to-showing knowledge of the sport as she weaves behind-the-scenes tidbits about the training, competitions, horse brokers and grooms into a plot that gallops along. - Customer Review at goodreads.com

8 September
Putter's Paradise RV Park
Snowflake, AZ
no pic

The time has come. I could put it off longer but decided that today was the day to clean the toilet and bathroom sink. Then vacuumed the bathroom and kitchen floors to get as much dog hair up as I could before getting down on hands and knees to wash them. Let us not rush into this however; another cup of coffee before the washing part.

I need to wash as well as vacuum to get almost all the hair up. I also need to wash because I give Patches all the yogurt containers to lick clean. She does a fantastic job of that but while chasing the containers around the kitchen she also leaves yogurt on the floor and on the bottom of the cabinet doors.

I usually have two cups of coffee in the morning. On a house cleaning day like today I need three. After washing the floors I had my third before putting everything back into the bathroom and vacuuming the living room floor. That was the end of my playing Suzy Homemaker for today. I have some more to do but it can wait until tomorrow and the next day.

I took care of another chore that was much easier than house cleaning although it pained me. I spent money by ordering some long sleeved polo shirts and underwear from Amazon. Wanted to get some Aeropress filters also but all the other products were being shipped from a provider other than Amazon so the combined shipping option was not available to me. I also wanted to get some SmartWool socks but Amazon did not have them and I was referred to a provider that wanted too much money. Ordered them from amazingsocks.com at a good price. All packages to be delivered to my next camp.

I also requested a prescription refill on all my meds at VA. This is the first time I have re-filled since sending in my change of address to VA and it will be the first delivery to the Sierra Vista UPS Store. I hope everything works but will not be surprised if it does not.

Did Putin Just Bring Peace to Ukraine? Obama Begs for More War by Mike Whitney at counterpunch.org is an article making a strong argument that President Putin has put it to Our Leader Obama once again. The pro-russian militias have forced the Ukraine junta government to sue for a cease fire agreement that was put forth by President Putin. Another checkmate by the Russian that is playing chess while the American is playing checkers.

There is no way to overstate the significance of what has transpired in Ukraine in the last three weeks. What began as a murderous onslaught on the mainly Russian-speaking population of east Ukraine, has turned into a major triumph against a belligerent and expansionistic empire that has been repulsed by a scrappy, battle-hardened militia engaged in a conventional, land-based war. The conflict in east Ukraine is Obama's war; launched by Obama's junta government, executed by Obama's proxy army, and directed by Obama's advisors in Kiev. The driving force behind the war is Washington's ambitious pivot to Asia, a strategy that pits Russia against Europe to prevent further economic integration and to establish NATO forward-operating bases on Russia's western border. Despite the overheated rhetoric, the talk of a (NATO) 'Rapid Reaction Force', and additional economic sanctions; the US plan to draw Ukraine into the western sphere of influence and weaken Russia in the process, is in tatters. And the reason it is in tatters is because a highly-motivated and adaptable militia has trounced Obama's troopers at every turn pushing the Ukrainian army to the brink of collapse.
So while Obama is busy trying to ramp up the violence by rallying NATO to expand the wars around the world, international peacekeepers will begin the thorny task of implementing a seven-point peace plan put forward by none-other-than Vladimir Putin.
9 September
Putter's Paradise RV Park
Snowflake, AZ
no pic

I'm continuing to get chores done. Today was laundry day again although I could have put if off for at least another week. With more underwear arriving at my next camp within the next week I could have put it off for a couple weeks. But the facilities here are close, they are nice and clean and they are cheaper than most RV Parks.

I also got around to washing the slobber of my Navigators window. She has not done it even with me nagging her. She needs to have a clear view because I hold her responsible for watching for animals and rocks when I see a sign telling me to watch. She does the watching quite well but never tells me when she see one, it is just as well I would not know who to report it to if she did tell me.

I also got the dash wiped down which finishes most of my housework. I will wipe down the stove top and kitchen counters the night before I leave but that is quickly done and not much of a chore.

I have written about the rain that I got here during the past few days. Got a few sprinkles yesterday. It had to have been the remnants of what fell on the Phoenix and Las Vegas areas. No flooding here like what those areas got although I'm not that far away. Less than 200 miles to Phoenix and less than 400 to Las Vegas but the storm didn't move up to this altitude. The forecast is a 20% chance of rain today but it has been overcast with a threatening look all morning.

I'll finish the book that I have been reading sometime today. I wanted to do so and trade it for one that I saw in the Park library. I hope it is still there later today or tomorrow morning. I'll get the review of the one I finished posted tomorrow hopefully, if not then probably not until Friday.

Monty Pelerin's Shakespeare: 'Kill All The Economists' posted on his 8 September 2014 blog is an entertaining read. He closes the post by saying 'To be a Keynesian implicitly requires these conditions: a) knowledge of where things will end up without intervention b) wisdom to design interventions that will improve outcomes c) arrogance to believe the prior two. Astrologers have easier tasks and their brand of charlatanry does little harm!

10 September
Putter's Paradise RV Park
Snowflake, AZ
no pic

After all the cloud cover yesterday the sun came up on an almost totally clear sky this morning. Then by 9:00 it was clear and the forecast is that it will stay that way. I'll be moving to high temperatures that forecast to be 2-5° cooler than here with a higher chance of rain. Travel day tomorrow with a high of maybe 81 then the remaining 9 days in the forecast to be in the mid to upper 70s. I hope the weather guessers are right.

The only chores that I have remaining before leaving are easy ones. I need to settle my electric bill with the Park office this afternoon. Then do the stove top, counter top and kitchen sink wipe down after 'linner' and my dessert. I'll do another morning walk here tomorrow and then we will be on the road again.

Speaking of 'linners', the P't' Chinois that I made turned out to be rather tasty. It also got me to thinking about making some modifications to the recipe to develop my very own concoction.

leftpic I made the book trade in the Park library that I was wanting to do. Picked up a J. A. Jance novel. I have read a few of hers before and enjoyed them but do not find them available for trade very often. This was the first one that I have found in a long time.

Ridley Pearson was a new to me author but I am glad that I found him and by chance picked up the first book in his Bolt/Matthews Series. The Customer Review that I copied says it all and says it well. I hope to find more of Pearson's Mystery/Suspense novels but some care needs to be taken because he also writes children adventure books.

This is number one in the Lew Bolt Daphne Matthews series. Lew Bolt is a Seattle Police Department Sergeant, and Daphne Matthews is a forensic psychologist who works for the Seattle Police Department. Seattle has been having a series of killings, all women, all involving some torture prior to death, all killed in their own apartments, but the police pulled in a strong suspect who was consequently convicted. He was assassinated by the victim's family before he could be convicted. The killings stopped and peace was restored. But then the killings began again. In addition to these new killings, some women were being killed with the presentation of different evidence than that provided by the killer. Bolt became convinced that there was a copycat killer at work who knew enough about the original killings, where women were left with crosses carved on their chests, to get some of the clues right, but he got some of them wrong. Bolt believed however, that the clues were close enough so that the copycat killer was connected with the police department. Besides that, how is it that the press knows all the clues almost as soon as the crime squad does? Are there leaks within the department, and is there a copycat killer in the department? Bolt and Matthews have to figure out which killings belong to the original killer and which to a copycat. They have to figure out the factor that unites all of these killings, and they ultimately have to track down both killers. Bolt and his wife Elizabeth are having marital difficulties and Daphne has made it clear that she is in love with Lew. There are other internal political problems within the police department. This is an excellent police procedural. - Customer Review at goodreads.com

11 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic

We were up and out for our morning walk and then on the road just a little before 6:30. Patches had her breakfast before we left but I didn't get mine until we reached Eagar, AZ. I stopped there at the Trail Riders restaurant. They had green corn tamales on the menu but served them with chili on top. I asked for red sauce and two eggs over easy which was not a problem substitution. It came with hash browns, a big flour tortilla and good coffee.

I asked where they got their green corn tamales and the waitress had to check but she came back and told me they were from Momma Lola's. I still have not received a reply to my email so I doubt that another one is going to help. I would sure like to find someplace where I could pick up some of her tamales.

The drive was not all that long today at 218 miles but it took a long time. There were a lot of climbs, descents, twisting roads, rough roads and slow speed limits. Went over summits of 7,550 and 8,350' but ended up only a couple hundred feet higher in elevation than where I started. The route: AZ277, AZ77, US60, AZ260, US180/US191, US180, Kirkland Rd & Flury Ln. no pic

There was also an hour added to my time because I moved back into Mountain Daylight Savings Time. Arizona Time is Mountain but never switches back and forth for the saving of daylight. What that means is I will now be waking up while it is still dark, hoping there is enough twilight that we can do our walk. I'll then be going to bed while it is still partially light. Only for a month, I'll then be back on Arizona Time.

The spaces in this Park are very good size with many of them pull-thrus. I however have a back-in that requires a slight jog to get in the space. It will be another learning experience! I never did master the space in Snowflake to my satisfaction but I was able to get backed in without any GOALs after the second time. Lots of trees and bushes separating the spaces, I'll get a picture or two before I leave.

12 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: September 12, 1926

Yesterday afternoon Patches and I walked to Mis Amigos Pet Care Center to see if they had Canidae Pure Elements in stock. They did not so I asked them to order me two bags which I hope to pick up before the end of this month.

This is a good walking route for us so I will be going back again in a day or two and talk to them about a bath for Patches. Hopefully I can get an appointment for her during the first week of October. The day she got caught in the rain washed off all the surface dust but she needs a bath and to get some sweet smelling stuff applied.

This morning we did a counterclockwise walk to the rodeo grounds. It was about 1.75 miles to the grounds via streets and then an ATV trail parallel to US180. Only about .25 miles from there back to my space via a little brush dodging but a very good route. That means we have found 4 routes to walk and have not been here 24 hours yet. That is good!

I had one package waiting for me yesterday when I arrived. There are two more coming from the orders I placed with Amazon. There was a time that when I ordered from Amazon everything was shipped by them but now they are simply a middle man that passes on orders to suppliers so I get three packages.

I was somewhat surprised to receive an email from the UPS Store in Sierra Vista that I had a package there. It has to be my VA meds which I did not think would be there until next Monday at the earliest. VA has always provided good service to me but this was even beyond my expectations. VA got the address change correct, the UPS Store did what they said they were going to do. I'm surprised!

I didn't do much today and Patches was collapsed on the couch most of the day. She works hard on a travel day and needs to rest up. Although yesterday afternoon she was VERY excited about going for a walk. She was 'talking' to me and criticizing me about how slow I was in getting ready and getting out the door. Mellowed a lot today.

I did not listen/watch the President's speech but I did read the transcript today and found that he now has a strategy. Two weeks ago he did not have one but he caught flack about that and the polls indicated that he needed one so he got one.

It is a fine strategy, as are so many of the ideas that he professes, but I believe that it will fail as have so many of his other strategies and ideas. It ALL rests on the coalition of partners which I do not think he can put together. It is very hard to put together a coalition when no one trust you or most people hate you. Good luck Mr. President, you have calmed the political waters somewhat prior to the November elections but I don't believe you have done much that will degrade and ultimately destroy the Islamic State.

So this is our strategy. And in each of these four parts of our strategy, America will be joined by a broad coalition of partners... But I want the American people to understand how this effort will be different from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil. This counterterrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist, using our air power and our support for partners' forces on the ground.
I think Pat Buchanan says it well in The Forever War. I have copied his opening and closing, there are some good points made in the body of the article as well.
The strategy that President Obama laid out Wednesday night to 'degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as ISIL,' is incoherent, inconsistent and, ultimately, non-credible...As the threat is not primarily ours, the urgency to go to war is not ours. And upon the basis of what we heard Wednesday night, either this war has not been thought through by the president, or he is inhibited from telling us the whole truth about what victory will look like and what destroying the Islamic State will require in blood, treasure and years.
13 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic

Our afternoon walk got rained out again yesterday. Not completely rained out but we shortened it by about ' to avoid getting wet. The Chino Mine, also known as the Santa Rita, is located in the town of Santa Rita, NM 15 miles east of the Park. It is very visible from the Kirkland Rd ridge top but I was getting a few sprinkles and could not see the Mine because a sheet of rain was coming my way. The better part of valor is discretion, in the which better part I have sav'd my life - Shakespeare. In my case yesterday it would be ...in the which better part I have sav'd getting WET.

We got 0.10' of nice female rain after scurrying back to the shelter of Desperado. This morning it was overcast and looks like it is going to stay that way most of the day. A very nice 53° this morning when we walked out and back from the Park to US180 & Morales Rd using ATV trails on the north and south sides of US180. The 10 Day forecast has some chance of rain every day but the most probable days are next Thur-Fri at 80% - my intended shopping day. How do they know that?

Today was a shopping day and I went to Food Basket to get it done. They had everything I was looking for except Greek vanilla and honey yogurt or any Greek yogurt in the large containers nor did they have dark chocolate bars.

I went to Food Basket because it was a couple of blocks from my favorite restaurant in Silver City. When I finished shopping I was ready for a great breakfast at said restaurant and went there only to find that it was no longer in business.

So I then went to #2 on my list, La Mexicana. There I had a very good plate of tamales with green, fried eggs on top, hash browns, beans, flour tortilla and some poor coffee. They also sell tamales to go so I ordered a dozen of their vegetable tamales that I'll pick up next week. This restaurant has now moved up to #1 on my list and I'll shop at Albertson's next week which is near by.

Obama assembles non-coalition to fight not-war against ISIS by John Hayward for Human Events discusses the failure of a coalition to form up just because President Obama gave another speech. There are more country spokesmen saying they are NOT signing on than there are joining with the President. The article supports what I was thinking when I wrote my posting of yesterday which makes it a good article. HA

What's amazing about all this is how absolutely amateurish it is. You don't give a big speech announcing a broad international coalition unless you actually have the coalition lined up. It's increasingly clear Obama and his buffoonish Secretary of State, John Kerry, didn't actually talk to anyone outside the Administration before throwing the Wednesday night speech together. They just assumed everyone would give them immediate public support, and maybe get in touch behind the scenes to invoice them for whatever pot-sweeteners it would take to secure minimal practical cooperation, such as using Turkey's air bases. It would be tacitly understood that America did all the heavy lifting on the actual air campaign, which Obama sees as a politically cost-free way to drag the ISIS story out until the news cycle rolls along to something else. Why wouldn't all those interesting foreign leaders Obama loves to dine with step forward and give him just wee little bit of rhetorical support in his hour of crisis?
No doubt one of the reasons for this tepid global response is that it's got all the makings of a classic Obama cut-and-run disaster. The Administration is still spending a ridiculous amount of time arguing over the very semantics of what they're doing. When you can't even bring yourself to use the word 'war,' don't be surprised when no one is eager to rally to your banner.
14 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic

We did a bit of ATV trail walking yesterday afternoon. I wanted to go back to the rodeo grounds and then take the contestants entrance road out to US180. However, just off the upper left corner of the map shown below there is a mobile home trailer where people and dogs are living. The dogs started raising Cain so we turned south and I found an ATV track as we left the big cleared parking area by the rodeo grounds.

leftpic The black line on the map is an approximation of the route that I took. It follows the wash on the east side for the most part, sometimes in the wash, and we found a road again at Karn Way. Did not know where I was but knew that I needed to go east to find Kirkland Rd so tried Cooper Vista until it dead ended. Back tracked to Coye Ln then Talissa Ln and home after getting on Kirkland. A good walk which I may do again but will go around the rodeo grounds on the south side and avoid the mobile home and dogs if I do.

I finished the Will Rogers weekly article links for next month last Wednesday and Thursday but did not proof the last work I did until today. That is done now and I'll start reading the blogs on my Monthly list. Have keep up with the Daily and weekly list very well and not behind with the Monthly. Dropping of a few from each list has helped. I have 2-3 that I'm reading from their beginning that I have not read much of in the last couple weeks so those are also on my to do list.

The weather officials claimed it was Scattered Clouds this morning and they have been bouncing back and forth during the day between Mostly Cloudy and Overcast. In my opinion it has been Overcast all morning. As I was coming back into the Park after our morning walk a fellow camper said 'Good Morning, a bit chilly'; I thought it was perfect at 55°. No rain in the forecast but it looks like I could get wet this afternoon.

15 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic

We tried a route along a power line south of the rodeo grounds yesterday afternoon. We made our way but it was not a good route until we reached the ATV trail that we found before. I knew that it continued west along the power line and that is a good route to Peterson Dr. From there we looped back to the rodeo grounds road and brush hopped across the wash from the rodeo grounds locked gate.

It had cleared by the afternoon and we were not threatened by rain. There were Scattered Clouds this morning and a bit warmer at 60° with a 30% chance of rain. It is the next 3 days that are now the threat with an 80-90% chance of rain. The weather gurus decided to move their predictions to earlier in the week and now my shopping day has only a 60% chance.

I finished the book that I have been reading late yesterday. Stayed up just a little past my bed time to do so. I have started another one and went to the Park library to see what was available for a trade. Not much of a selection but I did find a Deavers which I like. I'll get the review up tomorrow, maybe.

I made a ground turkey pie yesterday that is rather tasty. This was made in my Roaster also as before. Browned off 2# of turkey and covered the bottom of the pan, covered with diced onion, then a couple small cans of creamed corn, 2# of frozen mixed vegetables and covered with mashed red potatoes. I had the Roaster at 400° this time for almost an hour and just barely browned the top of the potatoes but scorched them along the side of the pan. Not bad enough to not want to eat the darkened potatoes however.

U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California makes the others that are mentally challenged in that state appear rational. She says the Democrats are not fear-mongers but precedes that statement by fear-mongering. Chuck Ross reported on statements she made on Real Time with Bill Maher last Friday 12 Sep 2014.

Maher asked Pelosi about recent polling which shows that the GOP is likely to take over the upper chamber and asked, given gridlock in Washington, why it matters that Democrats keep control.
'It would be very important for the Democrats to retain control of the Senate,' Pelosi told Maher. 'Civilization as we know it today would be in jeopardy if the Republicans win the Senate.'
Maher asked about voter turnout for Democrats, which he asserted was too low to carry the party in the mid-term. Maher said. 'The people who get health care now ' they're the people least likely to vote. The people who come out to vote are the angry people.'
'That's true,' said Pelosi. 'Fear is a motivator, and we are not fear-mongers. The Democrats are messengers of hope, and that's what we will continue to be.'
16 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic

We got rained out this morning. I took Patches for a potty walk with me using an umbrella and Patches getting wet. Within an hour it stopped raining but looked like it could start again at any minute. It started around 3:00am and I woke up soon after that then woke up again at 4:30 and it was coming down hard so I knew we were not walking this morning.

Total reported by 7:15 was 0.12' with a forecast of more to come all day then 80-90% chance again for the next two days. I think we are getting some of Hurricane Odile's remaining storm, not the winds but the rain.

A good day to stay inside and read. That is what I did - blogs, News, new book. Patches on the other hand was napping on the couch for most of the day.

leftpic This is the first Kellerman book that I have read and is #12 in his Alex Delaware Series. I don't know why I have not picked up a book of his before but now that I have read one I'll be looking for more. It was not great literature but not nearly as bad as the Journal review makes it out to be. It was entertaining as the Journal admits and Dr. Delaware is a character that I liked as well as Milo. The lack of character development may be due to this being #12 in the Series although I did not find that to be much of a weakness.

Readers will find this latest installment in the Alex Delaware series entertaining despite the author's tendency to overdescribe settings at the expense of character development. The psychologist again helps his friend, detective Milo Sturgis, solve a cold case: a deaf and mildly retarded Israeli girl, the daughter of a diplomat, is strangled in a park, and the letters "D-V-L-L" are found on a scrap of paper in her pocket. Authorities have failed to come up with a suspect or any leads, so the victim's father brings in a detective of his own, the great Daniel Sharavi, from Kellerman's The Butcher's Theater (Bantam, 1988). Over 200 pages later, Delaware finally goes undercover to infiltrate a sinister MENSA-like organization, and the ends of this plot, filled with psychopathic cops and pseudo-scientific racists, are (too neatly) tied up. Despite the book's flaws, Kellerman fans and readers seeking an intelligent thriller should enjoy this. - Library Journal

In the course of the President's speech on declaring to degrade and ultimately destroy the Islamic State (that is not Islamic), Obama said he had dispatched 475 more troops to Iraq. That now brings the total to an estimated 1,500 or more troops on the ground but only as advisors and to protect embassy personnel. They are NOT being sent there to degrade and ultimately destroy the Islamic State, they are NOT to be involved in combat.

He has also announced that he intends to send up to 3,000 troops to West Africa to help combat Ebola. I say again, that is the most serious problem that President Obama has with regard to our military - he does not understand its purpose. The military is NOT a group that fights disease, they are trained to kill people and break things.

What he is going to do is train the Free Syrian Army, the 'moderates' that the US was funneling arms to and the same group that he described thus to CBS on 22 June 2014 :
'When you get farmers, dentists and folks who have never fought before going up against a ruthless opposition in Assad, the notion that they were in a position to suddenly overturn not only Assad but also ruthless, highly trained jihadists if we just sent a few arms is a fantasy.'
He now wants to train those same 'farmers, dentist and folks' to degrade the Islamic State in Syria and keep Assad in power. A man with a plan or delusional?

It appears that there are some problems with his plan. Patrick Poole writes Yet Another U.S.-Backed Syrian Rebel Group Makes Peace with ISIS for P J Media that the 'moderates' are either fighting along side, or making peace with, the Islamic State. If Poole knows this why does our vaunted intelligence community and President Obama not know it?

As I've reported here at PJ Media over the past week, the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army is operating openly with ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra, the official al-Qaeda affiliate, in certain areas. I also noted an L.A. Times article last Sunday where a reporter traveling with fighters from the U.S.-backed and armed Harakat al-Hazm, one of the first groups to receive U.S. heavy weapons, was told that the group fights alongside Jabhat al-Nusra. And earlier this week I reported on a statement by a Free Syrian Army commander admitting his group is in an alliance with ISIS fighting near the border with Lebanon.
17 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic

Our afternoon walk yesterday was called because of rain. We did get in about a mile with maybe ' of it doing some brush hopping down to the wash which is still dry. I had enough foresight to take my umbrella and got only slightly wet. Patches did not fare as well, she was soaked by the time we got back to Desperado. I tried to dry her off and she thought that was a great game and wanted to play/fight.

This part of New Mexico is under flood watch until Friday. NM152 has been closed today because of flood waters. The eastern side of the Gila mountains are of more concern than where I am but I could see flood water in the wash by today or tomorrow.

The afternoon rain only added 0.05' to the total yesterday. This morning it started again at 1:00 and was raining hard. I had one small leak around the A/C which I don't remember having before. It then quit from about 4:00 until we went out for our morning walk. We went a ' of a mile and I was glad that I had my umbrella with me again because Patches was wet before we made it back to Desperado. Already over '' has fallen by 7:15 and the forecast guess is that we will get another 2.00' before the day is done.
I got an email from Google Maps yesterday that said the following in part:

Hi,
We want to let you know that in the coming months, we're upgrading the content you created in My Maps. All of the maps that you've created will automatically move to the new Google My Maps (previously called Google Maps Engine). Classic My Maps on maps.google.com will no longer be available. You don't have to take any action to ensure all your content will be upgraded.
If you don't want to wait to start using the new Google My Maps, you can begin migrating your maps today.
I did not want to wait back in August when I converted my Classic My Maps to Google Maps Engine so why wait now (I added the underlining in their email). I clicked on the migrating button and had another set of maps that looked like the Google Maps Engine ones so I removed them to keep from being confused. What that did was it removed the embedded maps that I had on my web page which I did not discover until this morning. I have re-embedded them using the new Google My Maps and all appears to be well.

rightpic On 21 June 2014 I posted a picture of Senator McCain that was taken while he was on a secret trip to Syria to meet with the Free Syrian Army rebels who were fighting against Bassar Assad. It seems that another picture taken during that trip has surfaced and supports critics of McCain, and the Administration, that the US is responsible for creating the Islamic State monster. McCain has now become one of the loudest screaming war hawks in the Senate to attack the Islamic State in Syria. The man is dangerous! I don't think much of President Obama but McCain's loss was this countries gain.
John McCain meeting illegally in a rebel safe house with the heads of the 'Free Syrian Army' in Idlib, Syria in April, 2013. In the left foreground, top al Qaeda terrorist leader Ibrahim al-Badri (aka Al-Baghdadi of ISIS, aka Caliph Ibrahim of the recently founded Islamic Empire) with whom the Senator is talking. Behind Badri is visible Brigadier General Salim Idris (with glasses), the former military chief of the FSA, who has since fled to the Gulf states after the collapse of any semblance of the FSA.
18 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic

We had a rain free afternoon yesterday and got in a good 2 mile walk; only a potty walk this morning as Patches got wet. It started to rain again at 6:00pm last night and has done so through this morning and into the afternoon with only occasional periods when it was not raining. I had a leak on the foot of my bed wake me up around 10:00pm that is dripping down from the headliner. A slight leak around the A/C vent where it leaked before and I think both are from around the A/C unit.

I put down a towel on my bed to keep the sheet from soaking up so much water. It was totally soaked this morning and I replaced it with a dry one that is not taking on as much of a drip. Maybe it will stop raining sometime today with a 50% chance of more tomorrow. The guessers have reduced the chance of rain for tomorrow but we remain on a Flood Watch until late tonight.

I have done nothing and Patches has done even less. She is taking these short walks where she get soaked in stride - just shakes it off (pun intended). A lot of reading on the computer today with more of a focus on Weather Underground than what I usually do. I have even devoted some time to the weather radar that they offer up, hoping to see a break from the constant rain. Maybe(?) by the time I post this it will have started to clear or at the very least quit raining.

Washington's War Against Russia by Paul Craig Roberts discusses the sanctions for what they are - war. Russia was told to move its troops back from the border which they did. They were told to quit supporting the 'rebels' in eastern Ukraine so President Putin arranged a cease fire. What he got for his efforts was more sanctions not less. I think Mr. Roberts understands the situation very well and no doubt President Putin does also. This could be a cold winter in Europe IF the Europeans continue to do Washington's bidding.

The real question is the purpose of the sanctions. My conclusion is that the purpose of the sanctions is to break up and undermine Europe's economic and political relations with Russia. When international relations are intentionally undermined, war can be the result. Washington will continue to push sanctions against Russia until Russia shows Europe that there is a heavy cost of serving as Washington's tool.
Russia needs to break up this process of ever more sanctions in order to derail the drive toward war. In my opinion this is easy for Russia to do. Russia can tell Europe that since you do not like our oil companies, you must not like our gas company, so we are turning off the gas. Or Russia can tell Europe, we don't sell natural gas to NATO members, or Russia can say we will continue to sell you gas, but you must pay in rubles, not in dollars. This would have the additional benefit of increasing the demand for rubles in exchange markets, thus making it harder for speculators and the US government to drive down the ruble.
The real danger to Russia is a continuation of its low-key, moderate response to the sanctions. This is a response that encourages more sanctions. To stop the sanctions, Russia needs to show Europe that the sanctions have serious costs for Europe.
19 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: September 19, 1926

No rain this morning although it was mostly cloudy and they look like they could rain. The storms during the past 3 days officially measured 1.94' of rain but it seemed like a lot more. The chance of more today has been reduced again to 20% and there is no day in the 10 day forecast that now has over a 50% chance. Maybe my towels will dry out, I have three of them hanging in my bathroom that are still very wet. My bed has dried out enough that I think I can use the foot of it once again but the headliner is still quite wet.

As soon as we finished our walk it was grocery shopping time at Albertson's. They have a very good produce section with everything that I wanted. I was also able to get the large containers of Greek God Vanilla and Honey for the first time in a long time. They also had a selection of nuts, expensive as always but a selection.

Took two mail delivery slips to the Silver City Post Office and picked up the two packages that were not delivered. The clerk could not tell me why they were not left in the big mailbox that Manzano's has available and where one other package was left.

I was a bit premature about everything working with VA and the UPS Store in Sierra Vista. VA did send my meds to the correct address, I think, and the UPS Store notified me that I had a package, as they said they would. I sent an email with the address for them to forward and received a reply, my Credit Card was charged the following day but it has now been a week and NO forwarded package from Sierra Vista.

From the Post Office I went to La Mexicana restaurant and had their La Mexicana plate for breakfast. Picked up a dozen vegetable tamales from them also that will be my 'linners' starting in a couple of days. I still have turkey pie remaining for today and tomorrow.

Almost across the street was Griffin's Propane. I noticed that the propane idiot light claimed that I had only ' of a tank remaining so today was a good day to get it filled. I could not remember when or where I last filled the propane tank - had to look it up on my web site (there is a reason behind my posting the trivia in my life). The last fill up was in Hondo, TX on 26 November 2013 when it took 10.9 gallons; today was 10.5 gallons. That is almost 10 months or just a little over 1 gallon a month.

The final chore of the day was to dump holding tanks and take on fresh water when I got back to the Park. I needed to back in closer to a post by the sewer hookup than I have in the past and was able to do so for the first time without a spotter. I did 3-4 GOALs before I got in where I needed to be but I backed in. The dog leg that must be followed to get into this space makes it extra tricky.

More Unlawful Presidential Killing by Andrew Napolitano asks some very interesting questions in this article. He also spells out how the President is once again going to violate the law unchallenged by Congress or the Judiciary. President Obama has been reported to say 'Turns out I'm really good at killing people, didn't know that was gonna be a strong suit of mine." So he is going with his strong suit and does not need anyones permission nor approval.

Obama announced on Monday that the operation against ISIS, whether authorized by Congress or not, will be directed by retired Marine Corps General John Allen. This is a novel use of government assets, as Allen is no longer a part of the Pentagon and thus not subject to the military chain of command. Apparently, the president does not trust his military advisers, whose advice he has repeatedly rejected, to run his war. Is the White House planning to run this war directly as LBJ did in Vietnam? Is the State Department? How can a civilian who is not the president command military troops?
On Monday of last week, the White House announced that in its pursuit of ISIS, the U.S. will go wherever it finds ISIS targets, and if ISIS hides in Syria and the government of Syria does not permit U.S. jets to use its airspace, the U.S. will attack Syria. That sounds like Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Ukraine.
20 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic

We had a short thunderstorm shower just before we were going to do our afternoon walk yesterday. I waited it out and when I thought we could slip out between dark threatening clouds we did so and only had a few sprinkles fall on us. The official rain measuring guy claims it did not rain yesterday nor during the night. However, when we did our morning walk today the roads were surprisingly wet looking. I think we got some last night although it did not wake me.

I wanted to get something to put on my tamales as a sauce. Happened upon some 505 Southwestern Enchilada & Tamale Sauce at Albertson's when looking for something. It is labeled as Mild so I added a good dab of powdered cayenne pepper to it as well as one oz of Baker's chocolate. I wanted more heat than Mild offers and the chocolate was to give it a mole flavor.

I'm going to give it a try today for 'linner'. The one serving of turkey pie can keep for one more day. I want to try the tamales with my improved tamale sauce.

Dutch MH17 Investigation Omits US 'Intel' First by Tony Cartalucci for New Eastern Outlook is an article that you will NOT find reported by the US Main Stream Media. The US Media (Ministry of Propaganda) continues to chant the mantra 'Bush Lied' (four legs good, two legs bad) but not a whisper about Obama's lies that supported his Economic Sanction War against Russia and his attempt to make it a shooting war.

I do not know how missiles 'kill' their aircraft target however I think both air to air and ground to air missiles use proximity fused blast-fragmentation warheads. The Dutch report seems to support that this is what brought down MH17. Or as the reports says it: 'The pattern of damage observed in the forward fuselage and cockpit section of the aircraft was consistent with the damage that would be expected from a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside.'

The report does not say where these high-energy objects came from but they do have pictures of the cockpit and do say: 'Puncture holes identified in images of the cockpit floor suggested that small objects entered from above the level of the cockpit floor.' This suggests to me that the warhead exploded above the aircraft from an air to air missile. A ground to air proximity fuse would have exploded below the aircraft as it approached its target from below.

The report titled, 'Preliminary Report: Crash involving Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 flight MH17″, cites a wide variety of evidence in its attempt to determine the cause of flight MH17′s crash...Satellite images are referenced in regards to analyzing the crash site after the disaster, however, no where in the report is mentioned any evidence whatsoever of satellite images of missile launchers, intelligence from the United States regarding missile launches, or any information or evidence at all in any regard suggesting a missile had destroyed MH17.
The report specifically mentions information collected from Russia, including air traffic control and radar data ' both of which were publicly shared by Russia in the aftermath of the disaster. The report also cites data collected from Ukraine air traffic controllers. The United States however, apart from providing technical information about the aircraft itself considering it was manufactured in the US, provided absolutely no data in any regard according to the report.
In the wake of the MH17 tragedy, the West would rush through a series of sanctions against Russia as well as justify further military aid for the regime in Kiev, Ukraine and the literal Neo-Nazi militant battalions serving its pro-Western agenda amid a brutal civil war raging in the country's eastern most provinces. With sanctions in hand, and the war raging on in earnest, the MH17 disaster dropped entirely out of Western narratives as if it never occurred.
The United States, United Kingdom, and the European Union have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are at best tasteless, irresponsible, politically motivated exploiters of human tragedy, and at worst, the prime suspects of a heinous act of mass murder aimed at perpetuating their agenda of war and carnage in Ukraine and beyond.
21 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic

I got to thinking about the propane fill up and remembered that Google Search does not do that good of a job. Thought I may have filled up after Hondo and found that I did on 6 February 2014 when I had some RV repair work done in Sierra Vista, I didn't record how much I added at that time. That means that I used 10.5 gallons during the past 7 months rather than 10. That is still a respectable usage rate as I see it.

I was awake at 6:00 this morning when I heard it start raining. It wasn't very hard but I knew it was hard enough to get us wet. When we got up and went out to do our walk it was a very light drizzle that was enough to get us good and wet if we stayed out in it for very long. It looked like it was going to clear but I was not excited about taking the chance and didn't much feel like walking so it was a short potty walk for Patches and back inside for both of us.

The 10 day forecast looks great with high temperatures in the low to mid 70s. However, there is a chance of rain every day, not a big chance but I seem to have a black cloud over my head recently. Sort of like Joe Btfsplk in the comic strip Li'l Abner. A small, dark rain cloud perpetually hovered over his head to symbolize his bad luck.

The vegetable tamales that I got are very good. A lot like green corn tamales which I prefer over pork, chicken or beef. The tamale sauce that I made was not up to my expectations. I'm not sure what is wrong with it, just not up to my expectations, and therefore don't know what to do to make the next batch better. I'll have the last of the turkey pie today and then see if the tamale sauce has improved by tomorrow.

This survey confirms what I have thought for many years - elections in this country are nothing more than popularity contests. I think a lot of money could be saved if national elections were held as one big Political American Idol show and be done with it. There was a time when the United States had an educated electorate; even when there was a low level of literacy the electorate was politically educated. No longer.

If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be...whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that, whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them right. - Thomas Jefferson

A national survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania has found:
While little more than a third of respondents (36 percent) could name all three branches of the U.S. government, just as many (35 percent) could not name a single one.
Just over a quarter of Americans (27 percent) know it takes a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate to override a presidential veto.
One in five Americans (21 percent) incorrectly thinks that a 5-4 Supreme Court decision is sent back to Congress for reconsideration.
Asked which party has the most members in the House of Representatives, 38 percent said they knew the Republicans are the majority, but 17 percent responded the Democrats, and 44 percent reported that they did not know (up from 27 percent who said they did not know in 2011).
Asked which party controls the Senate, 38 percent correctly said the Democrats, 20 percent said the Republicans, and 42 percent said they did not know (also up from 27 percent who said they did not know in 2011).
22 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic

I finished reading all my Monthly blogs yesterday. It was a big help that about six of them had not posted within the past month and one of them is about to reach the 6 months with no posting and get dropped. I need to work harder to get current with the one that I'm reading from the beginning to replace it. That will not happen by this time next month, I have a lot to read.

We were also able to do our afternoon walk. It was dark and storming to the north in the Gila Forest but stayed there and left us dry. That was not to continue however. It started a light rain soon after midnight and then rained heavily for a couple hours from 4:00 to 6:00. That was enough for the leak around the A/C vent to begin dripping as well as the headliner over my bed but neither as much as during the previous storm. It began to clear at about 7:00 when I took Patches out for a potty walk; me with my umbrella and she got wet, but it was her kind of rain by then.

With more rain that gave me some added time to finish the book that I have been reading. It was selected from what was offered at Snowflake and most likely chosen for its size. The author was new to me and I think the book was written with a female audience targeted. The author is Welch, Oxford educated, and she uses some British expressions or words that are understandable in context but still strange. I'll have a review posted soon.

23 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic

We were rained out again yesterday afternoon. Total for the day was nearly 1' and made for the shortest walking day that we have had in well over 6 months. It was a Rest Day. We did a long potty walk in the afternoon but I was watching the storm close in on us and got inside a few minutes before it came down by the bucket full.

This morning was almost clear but the clouds are building up again. The rain guessers give them a 50% chance of raining on us.

I spent a few hours trying to make a map using Google Map API after our abbreviated walk. I did manage to make one but using HTML does not seem to be the way to go. There is also a Google Map JavaScript API that I may try but I need to be schooled on JavaScript before I tackle that.

What I found while doing that was a Google Search API that led me to a Customized Google Search Box. I put that together this morning and now have added it to my web site. This Search Box works like I have always wanted it to. It now finds words that I knew were in recent monthly postings that all the Google Search Boxes that I tried before would not.

To see what I am writing about, and why I'm so pleased with myself, go to Google.com and a Search Box will open. Type propane:www.edwardfrey.com in the Box and search. The results will NOT display www.edwardfrey.com/
peregrinating /period51.html where I found that I had filled up with propane in Sierra Vista. The Customized Google Search Box that I now have available does find it when the word 'propane' is typed in as a search. Yipee! Sometimes it is the simple things in life that make me SO happy!

True Heroes Behind Kiev Ceasefire by William Engdahl for New eastern Outlook is a very good article about Ukraine. Where it is now, how it got there and what the future prospects might be. I have copied only the opening and closing paragraphs, there is a lot of good information in between them. Especially the detailed listing of Ukraine military units that have been destroyed by the 'rebels' which has led to the ceasefire and why it will most likely hold.

The Kiev government of President Petro Poroshenko has suddenly agreed to, of all things, a ceasefire proposal based almost identically on a proposal unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The ceasefire, which seems to be more or less holding after several days, has caught Washington completely by surprise and forced the Obama Administration hawks to pressure the EU at their recent summit to agree new sanctions on Russia anyway. It all underscores the hypocritical nature of the war in Ukraine as a move by Washington warhawks to split Russia from the EU, especially from Germany and make a new Cold War with Russia again the 'Empire of Evil.' It's not working out as planned, however.
The most alarming facet of the crisis in Ukraine today is the near utter ignorance in Western Europe, because of a de facto NATO press censorship, of the true stakes of the war in Ukraine. It is the nothing less than the question of possible thermonuclear obliteration, not of Washington'whose warhawks initiated the expansion of NATO and the threat of nuclear First Strike'but of Western Europe. Such a war will turn western Europe, from Poland to the Czech Republic and beyond, into the nuclear battlefield of what will ultimately become a new world war. This is something which at least ought to deserve a sober and open debate in mainstream media.
24 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic

Not a cloud in the sky this morning. It has been more than a week since that has happened if my memory is true. We got in two long walks yesterday with only a few drops of rain at the end of our afternoon one. I'm SO looking forward to going for a walk and not having any water fall on me.

Devoted more time to JavaScript and Google Maps JavaScript API yesterday after we finished our walk. I don't know if I learned anything or not but can not say that I succeeded in creating the map on a page like I wanted. One of the tutorials that I found says "Using the Google Map API is not easy if you don't have much JavaScript experience. If you find the Google documentation too difficult to understand, it's not because it's badly written it's just that the subject is not easy." I'll be back at it today.

leftpic Janey King, n'e Morris, is a British journalist and romance novelist, writing under the pseudonym of Rosie Thomas. This is the first book by Rosie Thomas that I have read and was the 9th that she had published. It is a romance novel but not so much that I could not enjoy the entrepreneurial story that is the basis of the book. I think the romance was added because she is known as a romance novelist and her fans expect it of her. I will not go out of my way to find another one of her books but this one was a good read.
She is not only a novelist but also an adventuress with a love of traveling and mountaineering. She has climbed in the Alps and the Himalayas, competed in the Peking to Paris car rally, spent time on a tiny Bulgarian research station in Antarctica and traveled the silk road through Asia. I would enjoy reading about those adventures more so than her romance novels.

In this brisk, engaging tale of entrepreneurship and romance by the author of Bad Girls, Good Women , Harriet Peacock, 30, not pretty but blessed with business acumen and drive, sells her London boutique to launch a risky venture--marketing a game of number skill and chance that is "like life." The game, "Meizu," or maze, has been invented by Simon Archer, a former WW II Royal Artillery officer and Japanese POW, now a sickly, indigent recluse whom Harriet suspects may be her father. Meizu sells grandly. Harriet buys an upscale Hampstead house; runs her firm, Peacocks; and juggles her men: Leo, the philandering photographer spouse she sheds; boyish Robin, a patrician venture capitalist; blunt, grizzled Caspar, an over-the-hill Hollywood star; and David, whom she once hid from. After one jealous lover undermines Peacocks in a treacherous takeover, indomitable Harriet pulls out her millions to start anew, fighting to have it all, loot and love. Thomas's flavorsome tale also edifies with details of commerce and real estate. - Publishers Weekly

The US economy and financial system are in worse condition than the Fed and Treasury claim and the financial media reports. Both public and private debt burdens are high. Corporations are borrowing from banks in order to buy back their own stocks. This leaves corporations with new debt but without income streams from new investments with which to service the debt. Retail stores are in trouble, including dollar store chains. The housing market is showing signs of renewed downturn. The September 16 release of the 2013 Income and Poverty report shows that real median household income has declined to the level in 1994 two decades ago and is actually lower than in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The combination of high debt and decline in real income means that there is no engine to drive the economy. - Paul Craig Roberts and Dave Kranzler

In spite of what they say the major stock market indexes are at record highs and the US dollar is stronger. At the same time the small cap stock index is moving down, precious metal spot prices and mining stocks are down and the US dollar is being challenged as the world Reserve Currency. It does not make sense to me and I can not see how it can continue but it will until it stops.

25 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic

Yesterday started so well. Then by 2:00pm the clouds had come boiling in from the southeast and dumped one more shower on us. It did stop in time for us to do our afternoon walk but I'm getting tired of all the rain. It started raining again today at 1:30pm. Maybe stop by the time we usually go for our walk?

leftpic rightpic I was on the computer a lot yesterday afternoon and evening trying to produce a Google JavaScript AIP Map and have finally succeeded - to a point. The map shown below on the left is an AIP Map the one on the right is a New Google My Map. The maps shown in the left sidebar (on the Home Page) are Google Classic My Maps that have been converted to Google Maps Engine Lite then converted again to New Google My Maps. There are good things about all of them and there are weaknesses in all of them.

The two maps shown above were built using the same data input for the marker location and what appears in the InfoWindow. As a trip planning tool I like the New Google My Map on the right that is very easy to build from a spreadsheet that is uploaded into a blank My Map. However, it has all that clutter on it and that huge InfoWindow that is not good for a small map - when viewed in full size on a separate Tab it is not so bad. They are both interactive with zoom and drag but what you see here are screenshots.

Because the New Google My Map is so easy to build I will probably re-build the maps that are shown in the left sidebar. The only thing that will change will be the InfoWindow and the data contained therein. The Journal link will remain, which I think is the most beneficial thing that I added to the maps.

I have more work to do and more to learn about building AIP Maps. As one tutorial that I have been using says 'There are two ways to use this tutorial:
Read it and try to understand the principles involved.
Use the example files as templates. Paste the code into your own web page and change the API key and data. Read the "potential pitfalls" sections, and try to avoid them."
I have been using the file examples and trying to understand the principles involved which is working - somewhat. The API Maps are all built by writing code which has been a challenge!

After we finished our morning walk we went to town. The first stop was at Albertson's for groceries where I was able to get only one large container of Greek God Vanilla & Honey yogurt. I did find another large container of vanilla Greek yogurt and also found a package of cashew nuts that was not outrageously expensive. So, those two items with a package of blueberries will be dessert for the next 3 days.

Then had Huevos con Chorizo at the La Mexicana restaurant where they made a better pot of coffee this morning. I also asked about their chicken and green chile tamales and will pick up a dozen of them next week.

Final stop was at Mis Amigos Pet Care Center to pick up the two 24# bags of Canidae Pure Elements that I ordered. They may have made a mistake but I gave them a chance to correct it. The price was 'very good' and I told them that it was. Almost $10/bag less than what I have paid a couple other times. The only place that I have paid less was in Chama, NM and that was mostly because I bought from a non-profit that had no sales tax.

In Peter Van Buren: Back to the Future in Iraq by Tom Engelhardt for The Unz Review: An Alternative Media Selection he expands upon my barefooted troops being sent to Iraq by President Obama. It is not just 'boots on the ground' that has become Orwellian doublespeak but many common terms are being re-defined to fit the President's ideology. I don't find fault in President Obama trying to change our language but I think it is a crime that we have a Main Stream Media (Ministry of Propaganda) that then takes up the chant 'four legs good, two legs bad' to cover for him.

Remember when the worst Washington could come up with in contested words was the meaning of 'is' in Bill Clinton's infamous statement about his relationship with a White House intern? Linguistically speaking, those were the glory days, the utopian days of official Washington.
Just consider three commonplace terms of the moment: 'war,' 'boots on the ground,' and 'combat.' A single question links them all: Are we or aren't we? And to that, in each case, Washington has no acceptable answer. On war, the secretary of state said no, we weren't; the White House and Pentagon press offices announced that yes, we were; and the president fudged. He called it 'targeted action' and spoke of America's 'unique capability to mobilize against an organization like ISIL,' but God save us, what it wasn't and wouldn't be was a 'ground war.'
Only with Congress did a certain clarity prevail. Nothing it did really mattered. Whatever Congress decided or refused to decide when it came to going to war would be fine and dandy, because the White House was going to do 'it' anyway. 'It,' of course, was the Clintonesque 'is' of present-day Middle Eastern policy. Who knew what it was, but here was what it wasn't and would never be: 'boots on the ground.' Admittedly, the president has already dispatched 1,600 booted troops to Iraq's ground (with more to come), but they evidently didn't qualify as boots on the ground because, whatever they were doing, they would not be going into 'combat' (which is evidently the only place where military boots officially hit the ground). The president has been utterly clear on this. There would be no American 'combat mission' in Iraq. Unfortunately, 'combat' turns out to be another of those dicey terms, since those non-boots had barely landed in Iraq when Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey started to raise the possibility that some of them, armed, might one day be forward deployed with Iraqi troops as advisers and spotters for U.S. air power in future battles for Iraq's northern cities. This, the White House now seems intent on defining as not being a 'combat mission.'
26 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: September 26, 1926

The rain that started yesterday at 1:30pm continued in a start and stop manner until early this morning. We went out in the afternoon for a short potty walk between showers and had to take shelter at the Park Club House for a few minutes. By the time I was ready for bed I found that I had water dripping on it again. The drip near the A/C vent moved enough to drip on my chair now rather than the floor. The headliner is so soaked that even a slight rain now starts the dripping anew.

I am sick and tired of the rain, rain, rain - this is the Chihuahuan Desert it does NOT rain in the desert. The monsoon rains were to be finished by mid September that was when hurricane Odeil pushed a lot of rain up here. Why are we still getting soaked every day with it coming from the north yesterday? Silver City, NM has a historical average rainfall of 1.94' during the month of September. The total since I arrived on the 11th is 3.03' with the total for the month at 3.33' - so far.

A lot more time spent on creating a Google JavaScript AIP Map yesterday afternoon. Partial success but mostly a failure. This morning I was at it again with more success and less failure. I am not there yet but I am getting close to what I want and how I want it to look. I am using examples that I cut and paste and then modify to get what I want. A lot of the difference between success and failure is where you place a particular line of code rather than the coding and the lack of a comma can make all the difference also. Maybe tomorrow. I now could make a screenshot of what I want it to look like but I also want to be able to embed it in my postings. That is going to take some more work.

In a nation where there is a scarcity of good news, hearing Eric Holder give a farewell speech upon his announcement that he will be leaving as the Attorney General was surely welcome in some circles. - Goodby Eric Holder/ Alan Caruba
It was welcome in my little circle. The only bad news is he will remain in office until the new Attorney General is confirmed. That could be as long as the next two years of President Obama's term and Holder's announcement was just a head fake.

In Will Russia and China Hold Their Fire Until War Is the Only Alternative? Paul Craig Roberts expresses his concern that Russia and China are not responding to the United States threat of world hegemony. He then goes on to outline a 'lethal blow' that I think Russia, China and the BRIC countries are preparing to deliver.

As far as I can tell, neither the Russian nor Chinese governments understand the seriousness of the threat that Washington represents. Washington's claim to world hegemony seems too farfetched to Russia and China to be real. But it is very real.
By refusing to take the threat seriously, Russia and China have not responded in ways that would bring an end to the threat without the necessity of war.
Or China could deal a more lethal blow. Choosing a time of heightened concern or disruptions in US financial markets, China could dump its trillion dollar plus holdings of US treasuries, or indeed all its holdings of US financial instruments, on the market. The Federal Reserve and the US Treasury could try to stabilize the prices of US financial instruments by creating money with which to purchase the bonds and other instruments. This money creation would increase concern about the dollar's value, and at that point China could dump the trillion dollars plus it receives from its bond sales on the exchange market. The Federal Reserve cannot print foreign currencies with which to buy up the dollars. The dollar's exchange value would collapse and with it the dollar's use as world reserve currency. The US would become just another broke country unable to pay for its imports.
27 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic

This is the map I have been trying to build for the past few days. I wanted a map that the blog reader could use to follow along my route as I move from one camp to the next.

This is a screenshot of the interaction map that I have placed on the 11 September 2014 posting, the day I arrived.

rightpic Marker 'A' will always be the camp that I am leaving from, in this map that would have been Putter' Paradise RV Park. There may then be some Waypoints along the route such as 'B' which was the Trail Riders Restaurant in Eagar, AZ where I stopped for breakfast. Then the new camp, or Manzano's RV Park, is shown as 'C'. The map can be zoomed to see down to the street level, it can be dragged to follow the route if you desire, a click on the markers will bring up the address of the location the marker is pointing to.

I don't know how easy it is going to be to get the map prepared at the end of the day when I do move. I know it will take some time until I develop a routine but it will not take me the days that this one did. I will continue to provide a written description of my route as I have on every arrival day.

We were able to do two rain free walks yesterday and then another one this morning. The weather guessers may have finally received the message - we are tired of rain. They have assigned 20-50% chances of rain for the next 3 days but then are offering up the prediction that the following week will be Clear and Sunny with 0% chance of rain.

My bed dried out yesterday which was nice. My chair has also dried as well as the towels that I used to catch the drips. The headliner remains wet and more rain will cause drips to begin once again fairly quickly.

My closest neighbor, to the south, left yesterday in the VERY early morning hours (maybe around 4:00am). The space did not stay empty for long however. I had a new neighbor more into it during the afternoon. I haven't met them yet and Patches has accepted the change with no problems at all. The space here are well separated with a lot of trees, brush and cactus providing good privacy screens. A very nice Park which I know I'll return to.

The Khorosan Group Does Not Exist by Andrew C. McCarthy for National review Online is a good article about how President Obama is changing language to serve his ideology and politics. He ran for re-election on this one foreign policy statement, 'Al Qaeda has been decimated, Osama bin Laden is dead.' Obama has his story and he's sticking to it and must now fabricate new terrorist groups to explain away his failure to decimate al Qaeda.

The 'Khorosan Group' is al-Qaeda. It is simply a faction within the global terror network's Syrian franchise, 'Jabhat al-Nusra.' Its leader, Mushin al-Fadhli (believed to have been killed in this week's U.S.-led air strikes), was an intimate of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the emir of al-Qaeda who dispatched him to the jihad in Syria. Except that if you listen to administration officials long enough, you come away thinking that Zawahiri is not really al-Qaeda, either. Instead, he's something the administration is at pains to call 'core al-Qaeda.'
'Core al-Qaeda,' you are to understand, is different from 'Jabhat al-Nusra,' which in turn is distinct from 'al-Qaeda in Iraq' (formerly 'al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia,' now the 'Islamic State' al-Qaeda spin-off that is, itself, formerly 'al-Qaeda in Iraq and al-Sham' or 'al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant'). That al-Qaeda, don't you know, is a different outfit from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula . . . which, of course, should never be mistaken for 'al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb,' 'Boko Haram,' 'Ansar al-Sharia,' or the latest entry, 'al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent.'
28 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic

We got some more rain last night, it was not much and I did not have the dripping again. The official report was that there was not any rain. They should have been here.

The roads were muddy and there were some puddles when we went for our morning walk but we stayed dry. Continues to be cloudy with a chance of rain today and tomorrow then Clear. I sure hope the forecast is right.

I read my Daily blogs this morning but have been struggling with API Maps to the exclusion of all else since then. It has become an obsession. The problem - I can add one map to a monthly page on my web site but can not get a second one to appear. I have tried numerous combinations and all have failed. I sent off a HELP message to Stack Overflow where I found the coding that I was able to modify and post the one map with directions on a page.

I'm am not holding my breath that I'll get an answer on Stack Overflow. Most questions may get a lot of views but not many answers. I'll continue to search the Internet for help or maybe stumble upon and example that I can use. Very frustrating that it so complex.

It is also frustrating that I have not received my forwarded mail. I sent an email to the UPS Store is Sierra Vista asking them what was going on. The last time I heard from them was on 19 September when they claimed they were in 'the process of retrieving the package'. It is now approaching a time where they will not be able to send it to me here at the Park because I will be gone by the time it arrives.

I need to add at least one day to any estimated delivery time because the contractor that delivers mail to the Park mailbox out on the main street may, or may not, put the package in the box. I have had 3 packages come to the Park address and only one was put in the box, the other two I had to pick up at the Post Office in Silver City.

29 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic

The day started off very Clear but by noon it had clouded up again with what look like rain clouds. The forecast is a 50% chance of rain up to 3:00pm. If they are right we will get in another day with both morning and afternoon walks.

I woke up at 3:00am this morning with a bright idea that would solve my problem of putting maps on my monthly Peregrinating pages. It seemed easy enough during those early hours while I laid there thinking about it but the execution of the idea is taking longer that I thought. Surprise! Maybe have something to show and talk about tomorrow.

I received an email from my UPS Store today and they said the following in part:
I had gotten in contact with the office clerk at Sand Creek RV Park and she had taken the package back to the post office to have it returned to sender (our location). After tracking the package just now, it looks like they have tried to resend it to Sand Creek and it was refused, so it should be on its way back to us now. I will get in touch with the post office here in Sierra Vista and the Post Office should be returning it from Utah as well today.

What that means is I will not be receiving the package while I am here in Silver City. What I now need to do is find out if I can have it sent to my next RV Park or need to have it go to General Delivery. I am going to wait until the 1st before contacting my next RV Park. Confirm that I am arriving on the 11th and ask about their accepting a package. A real screw up all around between the UPS Store and the USPS.

That is about the extent of my excitement today. More API Map work this afternoon. A walk with Patches if I'm lucky.

30 September
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM
no pic

No rain yesterday but my bed got wet all the same. The headliner is still drying out and water is condensing to cause a drip. Very slight but during a 24 hour period it was enough to made my blankets damp. I also have water condensing on the screen below the bathroom vent fan. Again not much but I saw a few drops on the floor this morning and 2-3 hanging from the screen.

Yesterday was mostly devoted to getting two interactive Google API Maps to appear on the same page. On 27 September 2014 I said that I had successfully built a map like I want for every one of my routes from camp to camp. I showed a screenshot of the map on the 27th and placed the active map under the route description on 11 September.

Now if you go to the 11th you will find a small Black Map button that when clicked will bring up the same map in its own window in a larger format. It can still be zoomed, dragged and the markers when clicked will provide the same address that you would see if you clicked on that location in Google Maps.

The reason for doing it this way was I failed in writing Javascript code that would put two route maps on the same page. If you want to look at the month of February 2014 you will find that there are now 5 Black Map buttons on the page under the route descriptions on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th. There is a mixture of routes that have a breakfast stop or a stopover or simply from one camp to the next. Each one of those situations requires slightly different coding as well as the different data input. Even with that I can not always get Google to draw the exact route that I have taken. I am sure there is a way but I have not progressed to that level yet - may never.

This Map button solution offers an additional benefit. I can now add a link to my 2014 New My Map infowindows for each camp marker that will bring up a Route Map. It will then be possible to see the route that I took from one camp to the next. This could be shown directly on the New My Map but it looks very cluttered and would require a LOT of zooming and dragging to get to the detail that can be found on the API Maps.

I am back at it again today. I had 12 more Route Maps to build for 2014 at the start of the day. Have not counted how many will be required for all the other years since I have been Fulltime. Then there are some old bicycling and other trips that I linked to map screenshots that are poorly done and should now be linked to interactive AIP Maps. That is a lot of work. I'll see how 2014 goes.