Peregrinating
2018

August

1 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

My westside neighbor that was going to leave on 4 August left this morning. They were going to go home but the Park fixed the electric problem at their old space; they have moved back into it and will stay here for the month of August.

I have been receiving emails about a planned Combined Year High School Class Reunion to be held in October. I was hoping to attend but the eye exam yesterday put a stop to that. I don't know what the cataract surgery might cost me in co-pay through VA but I know I can not pay the full cost from my monthly income. Sent an email response this morning with regrets.

I'll be getting a new month, new quarter set up in the Archives today. Also need to get that Will Rogers work done. Maybe have some time remaining to finish the page for December 2016 that I have been converting for the past 2-3 days. I have completed 2018, 2017 and 2010 but obviously there is a lot remaining to do.

2 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

A successful day yesterday. I got the Will Rogers weekly articles copied and formatted for the next month. I finished the December 2016 Archive page which had a lot of Javascript in it that drew the images that I am now showing as .png files. No change in appearance and maybe no difference in how fast the page opens but the HTML coding is much better. Nu HTML Checker gives it a clean bill of health, "No errors or warnings to show.", and it took them 480 milliseconds to make that decision.

Rain started a little after 2:00 yesterday afternoon and I thought it had quite by the time for our usual walk. We got about 100 yards outside the Park and we started getting sprinkles so retreated. Ate 'linner' and then finished the rain delayed walk. Local station reporting 0.35" for the day.

I have been doing some research on the Veterans Choice Program which allows for medical treatment by private practice providers versus by the VA. This is the program that I hope to utilize to get my cataract surgery. Complicating that is this from a VA Facts Sheet.

The VA MISSION Act of 2018 consolidates VA’s community care programs into a new Veterans Community Care Program that will help to ensure Veterans choose VA by getting them the right care at the right time from the right provider. Over the next year, VA will need to develop regulations to implement the new law, while also developing policies, training staff, and awarding contracts to furnish care. Veterans and their families, community providers, and VA staff can expect ongoing improvements and regular engagement as VA creates this new Community Care Program. New Community Care Program The new Veterans Community Care Program will be a major advancement that will consolidate VA’s community care programs and strengthen VA by merging the Department’s tangled web of competing and confusing community care programs, including the Choice Program, into one system that is easier to navigate for Veterans. This single Program will also greatly reduce the complexity associated with administration of these benefits, making for more efficient use of VA’s resources.

3 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

This is the Reply I received requesting help from the VA's Veterans Choice Program.

To have cataract surgery covered by the VA you would actually need to have the surgery performed by a VA eye surgeon. This is not done through the choice program at this time. The first step would be to call the Sierra Vista clinic to schedule an eye exam (503-520-1529) and they will be able to help you move forward with your request.

4 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

A very prompt Reply from my Sierra Vista VA Team.

Appointment: Eye Surgery
Good morning,
Our eye clinic schedules are not set up yet for next year. If you need an eye clinic appointment for February please give us a call in December of this year we should have the schedules up for February by then.
You may contact us at 520-459-1529.

5 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

I saw that same herd of bighorn sheep this morning. They were within 100 yards of the spot where I first saw them. They seem to have a liking for the landscaping grass around the rest stop versus the native grass.

If I can put in another work day like yesterday I should get all the maps working for the Archived pages except the Peregrinating ones. There are 15 Total Trip Maps that require coding changes and 215 Place To Place Maps that require different code changes when I add the Google API Map Key.

I have also made the code changes necessary for the Camp Maps All Camps to work although the linked maps have not been changed yet. That same coding change will work for the 11 Maps by State and 10 by Year plus the 20 locations where I have stayed more than one time. There are then 170 Place To Place Maps in the Peregrinating Archives that will use the same code changes as all the other Place To Place.

So 422 maps all together and I might have about half of them fixed by the end of today. HA!

The only other thing I have on the agenda for today is to cook up another batch of hulled barley and oat groats for breakfast. I have not been able to get an canned tart cherries at either Basha's or Safeway. The substitute has been canned pie filling & topping cherries that have no sugar added. That is good but I like the tart better.

6 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

The built-in code validator in my host server shows a big red X with this message "Named entity expected. Got none." when & is used without a space on each side. The New API Key coding that I am required to use had a & in the URL address which triggered the red X and would not show the map if spaces were added.

I looked for a work around and could not find one. Nu HTML Checker accepted it either way as having no Errors. I changed about 50 Maps with the red X showing each time and it kept bothering me although the maps did appear. I finally found the work around that I was looking for which adds amps; after the &.

I need to go back and redo the Trip and Bulgaria picture positioning so I will fix the & in those 50 maps also while I'm at it. I got all of the 215 Place To Place Maps in the Archives now showing. Also had time to reposition the pictures in all the Car, Road/Teardrop Trip pages as well as the first three Bike Trips.

I also found out how to do something in picture positioning that I have wanted to do for a long time and could not do it. Now I'll have to go back again and redo those pages that I have redone. The positioning breakthrough is being able to have three pictures across the page with the right margin of the right picture inline with a picture below it that has been aligned right.

Confused? Example that is not inline versus Example that is inline. It is not a big thing but it is all the little things that drive me to distraction.

I thought that the only cooking I would do yesterday would be the breakfast batch. Later in the day I was looking at what I had for 'linner' and didn't have much of a choice. Put a salmon fillet in the Roaster and had some of that for 'linner' with plenty of additional meals to be had from it.

7 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

I put in a full day's work yesterday but have now repositioned pictures again for all the Archived pages except the Peregrinating pages. I should get all of those that I have converted thus far repositioned today.

I can then get back to adding the Google API Map Key to Camp Map States, Years and multiple location maps. When those maps show correctly the popups may not show a Place To Place Map correctly until I get those maps fixed as well. The popup links will work except for those pages that may be under conversion construction. This project has become bigger than a breadbox that is for sure.

Do any of you remember the 'border blaster' radio stations that broadcast from Mexico during the 1940s to 1970s? Perhaps the most famous personality from that time was Wolfman Jack that was a disc jockey at XERF-AM in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico. I think the purging of conservatives from social media is going to result in a resurgence of competing online media similar to the 'border blasters'. Nature abhors a vacuum.

That seems to be the Big News for the next cycle. The purging of Alex Jones by all of social media. There were a lot of people that visited Alex Jones sites, where are they going to go? You think they will now choose some Leftist site or has there been a vacuum created?

8 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

I got all the picture positioning finished quickly yesterday and started in on the State and Year Maps. I thought those had converted well also and got them all finished by early afternoon. Then started to do the Multiple Stay Maps, where I have camped at the same general location more than one time, and found out that I had something wrong with the Year Maps.

Devoted the rest of the day trying to figure out what I screwed up and how to fix it. Went to bed thinking that I had found the problem and fixed it but had all the Year Maps to do over.

I have more problems than the Year Maps. I can get the All Camps, Year Maps and State Maps to open in Chrome but not in Linux Firefox. They do not always open on the first click in Chrome but with repeated refresh clicks on the tab that shows the correct address I can get them to open. I don't have a clue at this point. None of the Place To Place Maps that I have redone will open in Linux Firefox but are great in Chrome.

I haven't made much progress on this Map problem but I did get laundry done. The day has not been a complete waste.

9 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

I have a friend that uses multiple devices and multiple browsers click through the All Camps, Year Maps, State Maps, Multiple Stop Maps to Place To Place markers. All of them had the added Google API Key and they all opened just like I want them on any of his devices using any browser.

That doesn't fix my Linux Firefox issue but I can live with it. I have very few viewers that use Linux Firefox and probably even less that ever try to view a Map.

Therefore, I got busy yesterday afternoon and converted all the Place To Place Maps for 2010. There were a lot of them because that was the first year that I had Desperado and I was running around a lot. They all opened after I made the change but again there was the occasional one that required some coaxing.

I'll get all the Place To Place Maps done and then see what the State Maps look like. More importantly what happens when a marker is clicked. That will tell me if I have working Maps or need to do some more work on the State Maps. If they all seem to be opening I get back to the original project of converting the Bootstrap Layout to CSS Grid Layout. I have a lot of remaining pages to do.

It was on 7 August that I wrote about there will something to fill the social media vacuum as Facebook and YouTube crack down on 'hate speech'. I did not know it but that something is already here. Mind.com could be the response at least many Vietnamese think so. They are getting out of Facebook and getting into Mind by the thousands because of a new law in Vietnam.

When we think of Conan Doyle we think of Sherlock Holmes but he was a Spiritualist, a justice advocate and what would be termed a Justice Warrior in the terms of today. This book is not recommended. Conan is so repetitive he could have said everything that is in this book on a postcard. It is also poorly written by someone that should have been ashamed to have his name on the cover.

The Crime of the Congo is a 1909 book about human rights abuses in the Congo Free State. The book was intended as an exposé of the situation in the so-called Congo Free State (labelled a "rubber regime" by Conan Doyle), an area occupied and designated as the personal property of Leopold II of Belgium and where the serious human rights abuses were occurring. Indigenous people in the region were being brutally exploited and tortured, particularly in the lucrative rubber trade. He lauded the work of the Congo Reform Association, dismissive of the annexation of the state by Belgium noting that slavery and ivory poaching continued to occur after annexation. It was defended and upheld by successive Belgian Governments, who did all they could to discourage the Reformers". - Edited Wikipedia

I will be at a dental appointment today and then shopping so this is my posting for the day. I tell you what happened today - tomorrow.

10 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

The dental appointment was for one of my three annual periodontal maintenance cleanings and it went well. The hygienist at this office in Eagar had once worked for a periodontist so she knew what she was doing and I think I got a good cleaning.

The dentist office is almost next door to Trailriders Family Restaurant so that is where I went next. I got their green corn tamale (with red), eggs, hash browns and tortilla. I think it is best with red. Stopped at a bank on the way to Safeway and got a couple rolls of quarters for the next laundry days. Then gathered up groceries for another week and back 'home'.

Continued to add the Google Map Key to Place To Place map pages and got years 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2014 finished. However, when I try to click through each map marker on any of the years I have errors. The InfoWidow will open, show the date and Journal which is a hyperlink to the Peregrinating page at the date shown. The error however is that the Place To Place Map for that date should also appear and it does not.

I think this is a Chrome problem but I have sent an email to the guy in Google Map Support asking for help. We will see what happens. I can get the InfoWindow to open correctly by doing some reloads but want it to work 'right'.

A little bit of rain after we finished our afternoon walk. Then it tried to rain off and on during the night. It was more of a wind storm than rain storm. A lot of small tree branches on the Park roads and only 0.09" of rain reported.

Mr. Roberts is asking the same question I have been asking for a long time. Why is there not an equal effort to control hammers as there is guns? Obviously the Government thinks they can control a populous that is armed only with hammers but not one with guns.

The Second Amendment, which was placed in the Constitution as a defense against oppression by government, is under attack by well financed organizations in service to the police state with the intention of disarming the population. Many attentive Americans are convinced that mass shootings are staged or pretended in order to create public support for repealing the Second Amendment. Clearly the amount of effort expended against the Second Amendment is disproportional to the number of shooting deaths as compared to other causes of deaths. Why this one cause of deaths has so many well financed and politically active organizations compared to other causes of deaths is a question that is studiously avoided. We see far more opposition to the Second Amendment than we see against Washington’s destruction in whole or part of seven countries during the past two decades, resulting in the death, maiming, widowing, orphaning and displacement of millions of peoples. - Is There Enough of America Left To Be Saved?, Paul Craig Roberts

11 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

Everything was going along swimmingly yesterday afternoon, I was adding the Google API Key to pages for 2015. I did one page saved it, viewed it, did the next page which took about 2 minutes, viewed it and got a big grey screen with "OOPS! Were sorry something has gone wrong". I did a Browser Console check and found that I had a "RefererNotAllowedMapError". It was not only that page but every page, over 300, that were now showing OOPS!.

This is the same error I got last week when I started this adding an API Key Project. I added a restriction that the Key was good only for my website. At that time there was only an API Key with a big long string of characters that was the Key. Yesterday when went a looked there were now two Keys - an API Key that was a different string of characters plus a Browser Key 1 that had the old API Key identifier.

I sent another email to my Support guy and his reply provided a 'solution' in how I needed to show my website address restrictions. I thought there were two options tried one, didn't work, tried the second one, it didn't work. Sent another email and received a reply that the page I had first provided as an example of OOPS! was working. I looked and sure enough it opened but nothing else did.

Sent another email that said yes that page opens but nothing else did. He then wanted examples of some other pages. I am convinced now that this was all just putting me off until Google could fix the mess that they had made. It was about 9:00 pm when all my pages were working again and I had not changed anything. Received a final email from my Support guy with a 7:36 timestamp which was probably Pacific Time so he was working overtime - ass deep in alligators while trying to remember that he was there to drain the swamp.

I'm back to working on the API/Browser Key Project today with the hope that I can finish it. There are a number of other Map issues but they can continue for now if I can just get all the maps to open.

12 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

I am making progress with the Map Key but it is also a project in which I'm taking two steps forward and one back. Yesterday I finished adding the Key to all Map pages. I also thought I had found a fix to one of the issues that I had asked Google Map Support for help.

The problem was when anything was clicked on the Camp Maps drop down menu it might open with a blank page. Not every time but often. That also happened when a Multi Stop Marker (location *) was clicked on the All Camps, Year or State Maps. This is also happening when you click on the Blue Map Button within the Journal pages. That is where the step back comes in. I think I need to change the coding in all those pages which is going to take me about as much time as did adding the Key. But I'm not going to do that until I can also fix the Big Issue.

The continuing Big Issue is when a Single Stop Marker is clicked the InfoWindow does not show a small Place To Place Map. IF the Marker is clicked a second time then the Map appears. Most users are not going to know that which makes it a problem for which I have yet found a fix.

For those people that are worried about what they are going to do in retirement fear not. Like me you will most likely find something that interests you to fill the days. I have more to do now than I did in my 'free time' when working a job.

I'm sure this blog posting, The Most Extraordinary Thing About Donald Trump’s Presidency, by Michael J. Hurd would be suppressed on any of the Social Media sites. It is available on the Internet however and I urge you to read it.

13 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

No latte at McD's this morning. They are shut down for the week while getting an electric power upgrade. This was what the electric contractor told me at the door while he was waiting to get in. I didn't ask why but the only reason I can think of is they will be adding equipment that will require more electricity - robots.

A lot of work on the Map Key Project this weekend but as of last night all the Maps for the Peregrinating pages work as designed. Any Map that is selected from the Camp Maps drop down now opens. When any Marker is clicked either a single Place To Place Map will open inside an InfoWindow or a Multi Stop Map will open. The Multi Stop map then works the same way as those on the drop down. On any Archived Journal page if the Blue Map Button is clicked a full screen Place To Place Map will open.

I now need to get all the other Archived Maps/pages to work as well. I'll be doing that this week but will mix it up a little with the CSS Grid Conversion Project that I put on hold over a week ago. I still have most of 2016 to do and all of the years 2015 thu 2011.

I did find time during the weekend to cook up another batch of hulled barley and oat groats for breakfast meals. Also made up some barley-oats with canned chicken, peas and carrots that will be reheated with stir fry for future 'linners'.

I used a lot of Verizon data yesterday even more than I have been using since I have been doing these Projects. Check this morning and found that I am now on Chrome 68 so that added data usage was the auto update.

There’s nothing left of an American common culture besides a few Disney movies and that’s not nearly enough. That’s what happens when you opt for multiculturalism as your number one political principle. It automatically negates shared values, so why even expect any agreement between groups contending for dominance? - Close Up and Long Shot, James Howard Kunstler

14 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

I did something today other than work on my Projects. I went out and dumped holding tanks soon after breakfast. Filled the water tank also which was reaching the 'had to' level so that I would have water to wash dishes.

I worked on the CSS Grid conversion project yesterday and made some progress. Changing the page from Bootstrap to CSS Grid is simple and quickly done. What is taking me so much time it cleaning up the page by getting rid of all the coding that generated the many images that I have drawn on Canvas using JavaScript. The project will go faster once I get back in time where I was not doing that. The drawing are still there but they are now shown as .png image files.

The War of the Worlds is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells first serialised in 1897 by Pearson's Magazine in the UK and by Cosmopolitan magazine in the US. The novel's first appearance in hardcover was in 1898 from publisher William Heinemann of London. Written between 1895 and 1897, it is one of the earliest stories that detail a conflict between mankind and an extraterrestrial race. The novel is the first-person narrative of both an unnamed protagonist in Surrey and of his younger brother in London as southern England is invaded by Martians. The novel is one of the most commented-on works in the science fiction canon. It was most memorably dramatized in a 1938 radio program that allegedly caused public panic among listeners who did not know the Martian invasion was fictional. - Wikipedia

I have quoted the closing to 10 Numbers That Prove That America’s Current Financial Condition Is A Horror Show by Michael Snyder. It is well worth reading but I know that there will be those that agree and those that will consider the author an economic alarmist.

The system that we have today is not fundamentally sound at all. We desperately need to return to the values and principles that this nation was founded upon, but until things start getting really, really bad it is highly unlikely that the American people will be ready to embrace those changes.

First and foremost, the entire push to make arbitrary de-platforming by tech giants the new norm proves the establishment is scared to death. The very powerful folks accustomed to manipulating and shaping the world via narrative creation aren’t terrified about what Alex Jones says, they’re terrified that it’s popular. The establishment “elites” are in such denial about the consequences of the world they created, all they can do is spastically attack symptoms. Trump didn’t divide U.S. society and Alex Jones didn’t cause our widespread (and entirely justifiably) distrust in institutions; the status quo system did that via its spectacular failures. Trump’s election and Alex Jones’ popularity are merely symptoms of an incredibly corrupt and failed status quo paradigm, the stewards of which continually refuse to take a look in the mirror, accept blame and reform...Trump and Alex Jones are symptoms of a failing society, not the root causes of it.

15 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

A quick shopping trip at Safeway after getting Huevos con Chorizo for breakfast at Booga Red's. It doesn't seem to make much difference what day of the week that I go to Safeway the shelves are always being restocked or they are out of at least one thing that I am looking for. I probably just like to shop too early in the day

I has rained the past two nights soon after I have gone to bed but neither of them amounted to much. The total reported was 0.04" and that came the night before last. What was hitting Desperado's roof last night was just a trace.

I like to see where my website visitors are living and most of them are in the United States. The few foreign visitors are always a treat because many times they provide a learning opportunity in geography. Yesterday I found that someone from San Gwann, Malta (population 12,500) had visited me using a Huawei Smartphone with a 360x640 resolution. Not long ago they would have had a very poor viewing experience but should have been able to see all of my Home Page with no problems. I don't track what pages are viewed other than the Home Page but a lot of the Archive pages are now viewable on the small screen devices as well. That is what the CSS Grid Project is all about.

A list of America’s adversaries here would contain the Taliban, the Houthis of Yemen, Bashar Assad of Syria, Erdogan’s Turkey, Iran, North Korea, Russia and China — a pretty full plate.
Are we prepared to see these confrontations through, to assure the capitulation of our adversaries? What do we do if they continue to defy us?
And if it comes to a fight, how many allies will we have in the battles and wars that follow?
Was this the foreign policy America voted for? - America’s Lengthening Enemies List, Patrick J. Buchanan

16 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

What is it with the people in Vermont? They have Crazy Bernie as one of their Senators, who makes Leahy, their other one, appear sane and a conservative. Now they have a transexual and a 14 year old running for governor of the state. Please don't brand me as a homophobe but I'm rooting for the 14 year old white guy.

I am doing the same old stuff - CSS Grid Project. I think I'll do one more month and then switch to doing some of the Archived Maps that still need to be changed. I started another book on my Paperwhite also which is giving me a break. Haven't touched the pixel art drawing that I started just before the Map Key issue blew up.

I got an email a couple days ago that my 'shooting glasses' had shipped. I checked the USPS tracking this morning and it claims that they are awaiting pick up. I think Patches and I will walk to the Post Office this afternoon and see if they are truly there.

I also ordered her some more glucosamine chewies from Amazon. Used the same shipping address which they were able to deliver General Delivery. The tracking for this one claims it is out for delivery. I see the UPS truck every afternoon when we are doing our walk so that package might be at the Post Office also - I can only hope.

I have quoted the second paragraph in Decline in the Fall (or Late Summer, Anyway): by Fred Gibbon aka Fred Reed. He is just getting warmed up. Read the posting, he has a lot to say that the social media in this country would never allow.

To begin with, America is no longer a country. It is a set of special interests occupying the same place: Corporations, races, ethnicities, faiths, ideologies, foreign agents pretending to be Americans, all at each other’s throats. No cure is possible.

17 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

Patches and I did a 3 mile walk yesterday afternoon and got just a little damp. The reason for the long walk in the afternoon was a mistake but I thought my shooting glasses had been delivered to the Post Office so we walk into town to get them.

I will not go into a long discussion about my mistake but it is all based on my poor ability to read USPS Tracking. They show history in 'blog fashion', that is to say reverse chronological order with the most current location at the top. I saw Show Low in the bottom and in my mind it had arrived there so would be in Springerville on the 16th.

I have presented the Tracking History below in chronological order.

15 August

Received email 10:46am

Glasses Shipped

USPO Show Low 4:42pm

Picked up item*

USPO Show Low 5:11pm

Item left Show Low

USPS Phoenix 10:25pm

Arrived Regional Facility

16 August

USPS Phoenix 1:20am

Departed Regional Facility

USPS Tempe 6:44am

Arrived Tempe Facility

USPS Tempe 2:28pm

The item is currently in transit to the destination.

17 August

Waiting for delivery that was to happen by 8:00pm on 16 August.

Under Senator Warren’s proposal, no business with more than $1 billion in revenue would be permitted to legally operate without permission from the federal government. The federal government would then dictate to these businesses the composition of their boards, the details of internal corporate governance, compensation practices, personnel policies, and much more. Naturally, their political activities would be restricted, too. Senator Warren’s proposal entails the wholesale expropriation of private enterprise in the United States, and nothing less.

18 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

I kept checking USPS Tracking until about 1:00 pm yesterday and saw no change from the last posting on 16 August. It looked like rain was coming so Patches and I went to the Post Office armed with the tracking number. There I was told that the package had been mis-sorted by Phoenix, sent to Tempe, and was being returned to Phoenix. I rejoin the package's travels per the USPS Tracking.

16 August

USPS Tempe 2:28pm

The item is currently in transit to the destination.

17 August

USPS Phoenix 11:41am

Arrived Regional Facility

USPS Phoenix 11:46am

The item is currently in transit to the destination.

Friendly public service reminder that John McCain has devoted his entire political career to slaughtering as many human beings as possible at every opportunity, and the world will be improved when he finally dies.

19 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

I am reasonably sure that my glasses have now been delivered to the Post Office here in Springerville but the Post Office was closed yesterday. I'll be picking them up when I go shopping. This is the final report on their travels per the USPS Tracking. Almost 72 hours from the time the Eye Center said they had been shipped until they were delivered - 44 miles away. The Socialist want the government to manage our medical care; everyone subject to a bureaucracy like that of the Post Office and VA - I think not!

17 August

USPS Phoenix 11:41am

Arrived Regional Facility

USPS Phoenix 11:46am

The item is currently in transit to the destination.

18 August

USPO Springerville 9:17am

Arrived at Post Office

USPO Springerville 9:18am

Your item is available for pick up.

20 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

I shot fairly well at the range yesterday but almost all the targets were at a close distance. Even this half blind old man can hit a target if it is close enough.HA

I have been dry firing with my left hand during this past month. Last month we were asked to shot one handed with the 'weak hand', that is to say the hand that you do not usually use. My left was certainly weak, I had a hell of a time pulling the trigger and one handed I shake like a leaf. Today I was able to fire 10 rounds with the weak hand supported and managed to hit the target with every round.

During the morning I finished December 2015 and completely converted the November Archive page before heading for the range. I had converted the Will Rogers page that those two months link to the night before. Probably do some more Place To Place Maps today as well as October 2015. Then shopping tomorrow will cut into how much I get done during these next couple of days.

I also got a batch of hulled barley and oat groats cooked up for future breakfasts. Had to do it yesterday or I would have been having my breakfast late this morning.

On our way back through the Park yesterday afternoon Patches and I were attacked by a little ankle biter of a dog. I kept Patches away the best I could and although the other dog was snapping at her she never showed any aggression at all. The women/owner finally gathered up her darling and never said one word to make amends. Obviously it was all Patches fault that her dog attacked.

21 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

I didn't get the October 2015 Archive page converted yesterday but have completed adding the Map Key to ALL the maps. To do a lot of them the same day is very boring but they are now done. Maybe get to that October page this afternoon.

Shopping day. First stop was to fill Desperado with gas at a station near Trailriders restaurant in Eagar where I had their Veggie Omelet. From there it was to Safeway for a quick grocery gathering.

Then to the Post Office to collect the three packages that were waiting for me. The glasses which traveled many miles to get from Show Low to Springerville. An order of glucosamine for Patches that Amazon/UPS was able to deliver without any problems. Also a mail forwarding of VA prescriptions and all mail held at my UPS Store in Sierra Vista.

I was too early so read more of my latest novel while sitting in Western Drug & General Store's parking lot which is across the street from the Post Office. When they opened I gave the gun department a flyer for the Second Knoll Shooting Range 2nd Anniversary Celebration that I was asked to give the store by the woman that runs the Defensive Pistol League. I also ordered some ammunition while I was there at a better price than what I paid in Huachuca City.

Stepped outside into a slight drizzle. A short rain storm had come and gone while I was inside but from the look of the sky it may not be through with us yet.

22 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

We had rain almost all day yesterday. Not continuous but off and on throughout the day with one short period when it came down by the bucket full. Local reporting station claims a total of 0.50". There is a 80% chance that it will do it again today and tonight. The high temperatures expected during this next week are to be in the lower 70s with lows in the lower 50s. That will be great if I don't get wet.

Rainy days are a good time to be on the couch with a book. I was there quite a lot yesterday with one on my Paperwhite that is a long one. Then I also have a long article in PDF format that I'm reading on my Acer laptop. That is what I'll be doing again today with some Archive page conversions done in between reading.

Another remarkable and unexpected symptom of national decline is the intensification of internal political hatreds. One would have expected that, when the survival of the nation became precarious, political factions would drop their rivalry and stand shoulder-to-shoulder to save their country…
True to the normal course followed by nations in decline, internal differences are not reconciled in an attempt to save the nation. On the contrary, internal rivalries become more acute, as the nation becomes weaker…
The heroes of declining nations are always the same—the athlete, the singer or the actor. The word ‘celebrity’ today is used to designate a comedian or a football player, not a statesman, a general, or a literary genius. - The Fate Of Empires And Search For Survival, Sir John Glubb

And then, there are the oligarchs. The master manipulators. These corporate kings of the modern world have learned the secret that every ruler since the dawn of civilization has known: whoever controls the narratives that are believed by a society is the controller of that society. Identity, language, etiquette, social roles, opinions, ideology, religion, ethnicity, philosophy, agendas, rules, laws, money, economics, jobs, hierarchies, politics, government: all mental constructs which only influence society to the extent that they are believed and subscribed to by a significant majority of the collective. If you have influence over the things that people believe about those mental constructs, you have influence over society. You rule it. The oligarchs manipulate the narratives of entire societies. - Society Is Made Of Narrative. Realizing This Is Awakening From The Matrix

23 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

There was not as much rain yesterday, only 0.12", but the pattern was the same - on and off during most of the day. It was on again when we usually go out in the afternoon so I had 'linner' and then we went out. Just a few sprinkles at the start that became almost a light rain. Did a retreat and finished the walk with a slight sprinkle and just a little short of our usual distance.

We walked to McD's this morning and I got a latte for the first time since they were closed for the electric upgrade. I saw no evidence that the upgrade added anything. There could have been some robots added in the back, maybe a burger flipper, but I didn't ask.

Planning on today being just another one devoted to getting the Archive pages converted and reading my latest book. Patches plans on doing even less from the way she is starting the day after our walk and her breakfast - sleep.

In recent years, the idea has spread widely in the West that ‘progress’ will be automatic without effort, that everyone will continue to grow richer and richer and that every year will show a ‘rise in the standard of living’. We have not drawn from history the obvious conclusion that material success is the result of courage, endurance and hard work—a conclusion nevertheless obvious from the history of the meteoric rise of our own ancestors. This self-assurance of its own superiority seems to go hand-in-hand with the luxury resulting from wealth, in undermining the character of the dominant race…
The impression that it will always be automatically rich causes the declining empire to spend lavishly on its own benevolence, until such time as the economy collapses, the universities are closed and the hospitals fall into ruin. It may perhaps be incorrect to picture the welfare state as the high-water mark of human attainment. It may merely prove to be one more regular milestone in the lifestory of an ageing and decrepit empire. - The Fate Of Empires And Search For Survival, Sir John Glubb

24 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

I think we got the most rain in one day since I have been here. I had a small lake under Desperado which never happened before and the roads were all small streams rather than roads. The local reporting station claims we got 0.84". There was another walk delayed but we did it after I had 'linner' and we stayed dry.

The forecast is for a lessening chance of more rain but scattered so I could still get wet. The days are getting noticeably shorter and the mornings cooler. I suspect I'll be whining about the cold before I leave here.

Decadence is a moral and spiritual disease, resulting from too long a period of wealth and power, producing cynicism, decline of religion, pessimism and frivolity. The citizens of such a nation will no longer make an effort to save themselves, because they are not convinced that anything in life is worth saving…
The stages of the rise and fall of great nations seem to be: The Age of Pioneers (outburst), The Age of Conquests, The Age of Commerce, The Age of Affluence, The Age of Intellect, The Age of Decadence.
Decadence is marked by: Defensiveness, Pessimism, Materialism, Frivolity, An influx of foreigners, The Welfare State, A weakening of religion.
Decadence is due to: Too long a period of wealth and power, Selfishness, Love of money , The loss of a sense of duty. - The Fate Of Empires And Search For Survival, Sir John Glubb

History has a velocity of its own, and its implacable forces will drag the good, the bad, the clueless, the clever, the guilty, the innocent, the avid, and the unwilling to a certain fate. One can easily see a convergence of vectors shoving the nation toward political criticality this autumn. - The Dogs of Vengeance, James Howard Kunstler

25 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

I finished converting year 2015 yesterday and got December 2014 done as well. Still a lot of pages remaining but I'm making progress. No longer any code within the pages which makes it easier but it is time consuming.

Just a very light rain, maybe a trace, yesterday after we got back from our afternoon walk. This morning there was cloud cover that made for a great sunrise. That cover has become even heavier and it looks like there is more rain in them. The National Weather Service give them a 70% chance, local Weather Underground station says only a 60% chance. Cooler - expected high temperature to be only 70°.

Senator (and prisoner of war hero) McCain has chosen, or his family has, to discontinue medical treatment. I quote the family's statement below. The media will now break out their 'prisoner of war hero' meme and forget all those nasty things they said about him when he was running for president.

Last summer, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news our family already knew: he had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious. In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict. With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment. Our family is immensely grateful for the support and kindness of all his caregivers over the last year, and for the continuing outpouring of concern and affection from John's many friends and associates, and the many thousands of people who are keeping him in their prayers. God bless and thank you all."

If you want to see a world with more and more John McCains, with more and more US wars of aggression and regime change interventionism, then by all means play right along with his public beatification. If you want to see a world where neoconservative war whores are treated with the revulsion, disdain and rejection they deserve, then now is your chance to help create that world. Refuse to be shamed and guilted into polite silence and move in the exact opposite direction from where the establishment shepherds are herding you…
Let death get its wish. Let death die so that life may live. So long, John McCain, you despicable death cultist. I wish you and everyone like you a peaceful, painless, permanent end.

26 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

There are a lot of people that have this mental picture of dry desert with sand dunes when they hear the word Arizona. Not true! We had showers again yesterday during the day and a steady rain last night after sundown. The total for August at the reporting station in Springerville is 3.41". That compares very unfavorably with Olympia, WA that has had a total of 0.08". I have had enough, let it dry out for a few days!

This is just a coincidence but after Caitlin Johnstone's blog posting of yesterday https://caitlinjohnstone.com/ shows the following today:
"Resource Limit Is Reached
The website is temporarily unable to service your request as it exceeded resource limit. Please try again later."

I guess I could be next because I quoted her. But her point was that the Establishment would try and make McCain a Saint upon his death and that is exactly what they are doing. John would be so happy, he finally is getting what he wanted his entire life. All he had to do is die to get it.

Has this country gone insane? People are now being punished for the sins of their father. Between what I have done and said and what my father did and said I don't stand a chance when the Leftist regain power.

Lilly Diabetes has parted ways with driver Conor Daly ahead of his NASCAR debut after reports surfaced that his father, Derek Daly, a retired Indy 500 and Formula One driver, used the N-word during an interview in the 1980s.
On August 24, the pharmaceutical company announced they would be ending the sponsorship of the 26-year-old driver ahead of the NASCAR Xfinity race scheduled for August 25. Lilly confirmed in a statement that its partnership with Daly, who primarily races for IndyCar, was intended to raise awareness for treatment options and resources for people living with diabetes.

27 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

I cut our afternoon walk a little short because of very threatening rain. There were two walls of water coming at us from the south and southeast. Neither of them reached the Park and we could have finished our usual distance. Mother Nature faked me out.

Shopping this morning. First stop was at Booga Red's where I goth the Booga Red Special but asked that Chorizo be used rather than link sausage. I had it with 'green' although I think it would have been even better with 'red', maybe next time. A quick grocery collection at Safeway but then there was only one cashier open and I had a monthly shopper in front of me.

There was no rush however because Western Drug and General Store was not open and I had about a 30 minute wait there. It was for nothing, the ammunition that I ordered had not come in yet. I'll try again next shopping day.

It is not just Caitlan Johnstone that is telling the truth about the late Senator (and prisoner of war hero) McCain. If he were such a wonderful person and such a hero the Establishment would not need to try and spin his legacy.

I think that legacy includes him being a willing tool of the CIA and the Establishment. They played upon his hatred of Russia probably due to the Russian interrogators at the Hanoi Hilton. But played even more on his belief that he was due the same admiration that his grandfather and father earned. He wanted that admiration his entire life and is now getting it in death from people that really admired only his hatred of President Trump.

All the crying, whining and slobbering over McCain’s death reveals just how sick — and even twisted — elements of our society are.
First there are the leftists. They brutally attacked McCain in 2008, the year he ran against Obama. Now those same leftists can’t say enough good about him. They know he protected Obama’s legacy. First, by losing to him. Second, by ensuring — with his critical vote — that Obamacare remained law, despite his repeated promises to repeal it…
John McCain was not a good person. He did a lot of harm to the country. Perhaps the most telling sign? That statists and fellow tyrants like Obama now rush to the microphone to declare how great McCain was. Of course they think he’s great. He enabled them every step of the way. Without pseudo-Republicans like John McCain, Democrats would not end up getting everything they want, in the end. - It’s OK to Speak Ill of the Dead When They Deserve It, Michael J. Hurd

28 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

Cold! I wore my windbreaker over my flannel shirt for the first time this morning and was comfortable. What was not comfortable were my hands which were cold until the sun came up. We need to walk a little later in the morning or I need to start wearing my gloves.

I also need to start thinking about house cleaning. There is another month coming to a close so the Will Rogers weekly article preparation needs to be put on the list. Probably do neither today but I'm thinking about doing them which is a start.

Paul Craig Roberts doesn't think the late Senator (and prisoner of war hero) McCain deserves sainthood anymore than Caitlan Johnstone does. The media and Establishment will do their best to keep that meme going until the November elections. As soon as President Trump is no longer president McCain will be added to the ash heap of history.

NPR’s other constantly repeated news story today is a UN report that top military figures in Myanmar are guilty of crimes against humanity in their treatment of Muslims in Rakhine province...Our new American Hero John McCain urged on Washington’s atrocities against Libya, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and he supported Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians. In America to be associated with crimes against humanity brings hero status. In Myanmar it brings denunciation and demand for trials before the International Criminal Court. - There Is No Limit To Presstitute Hypocrisy

29 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

A Senator Masquerading as a Gas Station is another obloquy blog posting about the late Senator (and prisoner of war hero) McCain. Dmitry Orlov is a Russian-American that came to the United States at the age of 12 but witnessed the collapse of the Soviet Empire and believes that the United States is on the same path.

He says the following which is certainly not PC now that the Establishment is trying to make the Senator a double hero. I have selected only a few of his veracious comments - a must read.

McCain did a great deal to destroy America. He devoted his entire lifetime to American destruction…His “martyrdom” as a POW helped pave his way to a political career, first in Congress, then in the Senate. During his obscenely long career in national politics, McCain did what he could to make American “democracy” look like a complete joke and to hasten America’s collapse...Internationally, McCain was a stellar performer when it came to meddling in the affairs of other nations, often in ways that helped undermine America’s standing in the world. Whenever he visited a foreign country, the likelihood of civil war breaking out there went up by a notch, sometimes by two.

30 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

We walked to town this morning with the intent of my getting a latte at McD's. All we got was the extra half mile walk. The latte machine was down, maybe next week.

Right after we got back to Desperado and I had breakfast then got started on the house cleaning chores. I'll get most of them done today in between typing up this posting and drinking coffee during breaks. The cab and windows will probably be put off until tomorrow as will the monthly Will Rogers weekly article preparations.

I'll be doing some more Archive page conversion/cleanup today. More time on the couch with Patches and my Paperwhite and the long book that I am currently trying to finish. It has kept my interest but it does go on and on.

Today we lost an American original. Sen. John McCain was a maverick and a fighter, never afraid to stand for his beliefs. John never took the easy path in life — and through sacrifice and suffering he inspired others to serve something greater than self. John McCain was my friend. I will remember the good times. My family and I send prayers for Cindy and the McCain family. - Sarah Palin

1. Strikes trade deal with EU
2. Called twitter out on shadowbanning
3. Brought back soldier remains from North Korea
4. Historic 4.1% GDP

31 August
Casa Malpais RV Park
Springerville, AZ

I finished my regular house cleaning chores this morning. Whipped down Desperado's dash and got the windows cleaned. Now Patches has a clear view and clear canvas on which she can apply more dog slobber.

I also cooked a batch of my hulled barley, oat groats, peas-n-carrots and chicken. This time I also added some Ricotta cheese just to be different. I'll see how it reheats with some stir fry for my 'linners'.

I still have to get the Will Rogers weekly articles prepared. Maybe this afternoon. Want to finish an Archive page that I have started first. That project is moving along a bit faster now that I don't have to remove Canvas drawing code and there are fewer pictures. Still a lot left to do but I think I'll complete the project within 2-3 weeks.

There have been a few vacant spaces appear in the Park this past week. I am guessing they will be filled during the Labor Day weekend and then there will be a general exodus. The 10 Day forecast high temperatures are in the 70s with a couple high 60s, the lows will be in the lower 50s a a couple upper 40s. By mid-September I'm expecting those lows to all be in the 40s, maybe even see some upper 30s.