January
1 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Happy New Year
I got the new bathroom faucet installed yesterday and got the sink drain unplugged. It took longer than I had hoped and cost more but you do what you have to do. I also got the propane tank filled since I'm using a lot more than I usually do trying to stay warm.
I woke up sometime during the night and heard rain. When we got up to do our walk I did not hear any rain but by the time we had gone a half mile Patches was shaking and I was getting wet. I also did not feel good, perhaps the broken tooth is causing more problems than I know. It certainly is causing problems with my eating.
The temperature was right at freezing when we went out and has become colder. There is snow in the forecast with a high temperature of 42 today and 37 tomorrow. The weather is going to make going to the dentist that much more difficult if they will see me.
2 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
I got the Will Rogers weekly articles copied and formatted for another month yesterday. That is about all I did other than spend time on the couch with Patches and my Paperwhite. Every once in a while I would check to see how much snow there was on the ground. Then check the weather reports to see if it was going to quit or snow more.
It did stop snowing yesterday but was back with a vengeance this morning. We did a very short potty walk in falling snow that would have worse if the wind had been stronger. This is the biggest snowfall of all the storms so far with a total accumulation of almost 2" at 8:00 am and still snowing. There is hope that this too will pass. The forecast starting Saturday is for sunny to partly cloudy with highs in the 50s and lows above freezing.
There seems to be fight within the Republican Party to see who will wear the John McCain mantel. He has not been sworn in yet as a senator but Romney has made his bid. Romney acknowledged that Trump had enacted “policies mainstream Republicans have promoted for years.” Then went on to attack President Trump's character. What Mr. Romney and The Establishment do not understand is Trump was not elected based on his character. Mitt Romney Slams Trump’s ‘Character’ in Washington Post Op-Ed, Michelle Moons
3 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
This certainly did not garner widespread media reporting but Arizona now has two female Senators. This is not the first time that a state has had two female senators but it may be the first time that the winner and the looser in a Senate race both became Senators. Yet, the media has virtually ignored the story. I would be willing to bet that if the election results, and appointment, had been reversed it would have been a big story.
There is a long blog posting that I have not quoted on this same Romney subject, Strap In – Romney Didn’t Wake Up This Morning and Haphazardly Write an Op-Ed to Attack The President of His Own Political Party… by Sundance.
I received a reply from my dentist office which offered my an appointment yesterday with alternatives. All my hookups were under snow, the roads were all slush and it was cold. It was still cold at 3:00 in the afternoon but the sun had come out and melted off most of the snow. I have an appointment today at noon.
Lock and Key Library Classic Mystery and Detective is a collection of short-stories by Kipling, Doyle, Castle, Weyman, Collins, Stevenson and Anonymous authors, brimming with suspense and intrigue. With minor supernatural elements and mind-boggling situations, the work monopolizes the readers' attention from the outset. Complex plots and intricate characters of these thrillers are exhilarating and riveting. - Edited book promoAll the stories were entertaining but Doyle's were the best of the lot. I had read them all before but did not recognise that until I was into the story, well worth the second time read.
4 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: January 4, 1931
The last day of 2018 and the first three days of 2019 have not been an auspicious start for a New Year. Serious budget impact and multiple medical impacts. The broken tooth was not just a simple break off one corner but one of the roots was also broken from the tooth. To pull it the dentist just broke the tooth off from the other 3 roots and then fished the roots out. Easy and I feel no pain this morning.
The dental appointment went very well. They took me in right on time and I was out there, one tooth lighter, in and hour. They gave me a prescription for antibiotics that I hoped would reduce the fever and chills. Getting that prescription filled at Fry's was not such a good experience. I have very few filled and the next one will not be at Fry's.
The antibiotic has knocked down the moderate fever and the severe chills but not done much for the overall languor that I have been feeling. Languor and flu like symptoms are part of a psoriatic flare. I think that is what is going on with a psoriasis flare that I have all over my butt. I look like red butted baboon.
The weather guessers thought it would be just below freezing this morning and it was 24.4 only slightly warmer that yesterday which at 20 was the coldest so far. We did manage to do our usual morning distance for the first time this year. It was a bit of a struggle and I collapsed on the couch for a few minutes upon its completion.
I think the psoriatic flare was cold induced so I'm in need of some warmer mornings. I could wait for it to warm up but Patches is not going for that. The 10 day forecast show low in the mid to upper 30s with a couple low 40. I hope they get close on their guesses.
I have selectively quoted from a posting, When Guns Are Outlawed Only Outlaws Will Have Guns, by Paul Craig Roberts. The answer to his questions is a desire to disarm the citizens in the United States. If that were not true there would be a hue and cry to ban Blunt objects (clubs, hammers, etc.) that were used to murder 467 people.
Assailants using rifles killed 403 people, and 1,591 were killed by people using knives. Handguns were used in 7,032 killings, many of which resulted from criminals killing one another over, for example, drug distribution...What then explains the fixation and constant propaganda about banning “assault rifles” when the total annual murders by assailants using all kinds of rifles is 403?...Those who advocate banning gun ownership demur, claiming guns are used defensively 100,000 times a year. Why then do gun controllers want to take away guns that prevent crimes six times the number of homicides?
5 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
The last day of 2018 and the first three days of 2019 have not been an auspicious start for a New Year. That is as true for Patches as it has been for me. I noticed that during the first days in January when we were doing shortened walks because of rain and snow that she was getting up the steps slower and she would climb onto the couch rather than jump. Last night she squealed with pain when I patted her on the right hip.
Gave her an extra Glucosamine chew tablet and a baby aspirin. I'll continue the aspirin for another couple of days and with it warming up I hope she can recover. I think that this cold has been the catalyst for her hip dysplasia pains as well as my psoriasis flare.
Starting December 9 though this morning the highest low temperature we have had was 30°. There is no heat in Desperado during the night so she has been sleeping in her nest (refuses to stay under covers) during that time.
I am feeling better. Finished the walk this morning with a more lively step and didn't have to lay down for a rest. The fever and chills I think are gone with the side effects of the psoriasis flare slowing going away.
I have quoted from And the Circus Came to Town by James Howard Kunstler. He certainly did not write this blog posting as you would expect a lifelong Democrat to have. I wonder how many more there are like him out there.
The new Democratic majority congress has convened in the spirit of a religious movement devoted to a single apocalyptic objective: toppling the Golden Golem of Greatness who rules in the House of White Privilege. They’re all revved up for inquisition, looking to apply as many thumbscrews, cattle prods, electrodes, waterboards, and bamboo splinters as necessary in pursuit of rectifying the heresy of the 2016 election...
So, let the circus begin on Capitol Hill. Let them kick out the jams, as we used to say back in Woodstock era. Let Nancy Pelosi finish the work that the Democratic Party started with the election of 2016 — its own destruction as a viable political force. Let all the darkness and malice be wrung out of it so the country can return to its senses and start paying attention to things that really matter, backed by institutions that people of good faith can believe in.
I am almost ashamed to say that my 'domicile' is in Arizona. The people of the state got rid of a Flake and McCain and voted in Kyrsten. How could they do it? Note: I added the underline in the quote.
Newly elected Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema refused to be sworn in on a Bible, opting, instead, to place her right hand on a book of laws, including the U.S Constitution and the Arizona Constitution.
There is at least one other reason Sinema refused to place her hand on the Bible. According to the Pew Research Center for Religion and Public Life, the Arizonan is the only member of the Senate who does not identify as a member of a religion.
Trump Is A Pied Piper For The New World Order Agenda by Brandon Smith is a posting that will make neither the Trump supporter nor the anti-Trump crowd happy. Which ever side of the fence you may be on it is well worth a read. I quote his closing.
While Trump throws a bone to conservatives at times, including promises of a border wall, or a pull-out in Syria, there is no evidence to support the fantasy that Trump is some kind of ingenious tactician battling the the forces of evil using his wits while inside the system. But, there is considerable evidence as I have linked above supporting my position that Trump is controlled opposition working with the globalists to initiate a collapse that will be blamed on conservative ideals and limited government liberty activists. We shall see in due course. It is unfortunate though how many otherwise very intelligent people within the liberty movement have bought into Trump as a hero on a white horse.
6 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
We did another potty walk in the rain this morning. I can not think of another 10 day period in any of the other 9 years that I have been living fulltime that we have had as many delayed, abbreviated or forced potty walks. Wintering in sunny southeastern Arizona we are not.
The only positive spin I can put on the day is that was not freezing. In fact the low was 45.2°, which is the HIGHEST Low temperature that we have had since arriving. If it had not been raining it would have been a morning to celebrate the break in freezing mornings that started on 28 December.
We drove into town in the rain, I then walked in the rain to the Landmark for breakfast. At Fry's it was walking in the rain and through flowing water in the parking lot both getting in and out to do my grocery gathering. Then drive back to the Park in the rain and get electric connected in the rain. Fortunately is does not look like I will need the basement heater connected for the next 10 days if the forecast proves to be correct and remains unchanged.
Doyle is known for his mystery writing and Well for sci-fi. However this novel by Doyle is ever bit as much sci-fi as anything Wells wrote just a different area of science.The Lost World was published in 1912 concerning an expedition to a plateau in the Amazon basin of South America where prehistoric animals (dinosaurs and other extinct creatures) still survive. It was originally published serially in the popular Strand Magazine and illustrated by New-Zealand-born artist Harry Rountree during the months of April–November 1912. The character of Professor Challenger was introduced in this book. The novel also describes a war between indigenous people and a vicious tribe of ape-like creatures. - Wikipedia
There was a mass shooting (3 dead and 4 wounded) ar Gable House Bowl in Torrance , CA late Friday night. I read stories by CNN, LA Times, USA Today, CBS News & The New York Times; not one of them identified the race of the victims or the race of the shooter(s). How can you explain this reporting lacunae when that is usually a very significant part of the story, that and the motive?
Where is David 'Camera Hogg', don't bowler lives matter? You would expect this in Alaska where 61.7% of the people own guns but not California (with some of the toughest gun laws in the United States). Why is this being reported like any other common everyday Chicago or Baltimore killing rather than the usual three day News Cycle after other mass shootings? Does it now require more than 3 killed or might race play a part?
Please read A Metaphor For America: 700 Pound Man Plans To Eat And Play Video Games While Naked Until He Dies, by Michael Snyder. If you don't understand what is happening to the United States perhaps his metaphor will help.
7 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Old Man Winter reached into his Whitman's Sampler box and pulled out something new for us this morning. Dense fog with visibility of .38 miles per the National Weather Service. The low was 35.5° with a dew point of 34. While we were doing our walk that dew condensed on Patches and she was shaking like being rained on. When I got back to Desperado my wool capote was covered with water as was my beard.
The National Weather Service claimed that the low was 32 which is freezing but that was not at this location. As I was doing our walk in the fog I was thinking of pogonip - freezing fog. It is rare and so very beautiful. I have only seen it twice and both times were in the Reno area.
Just before reading The Lost World I read The Love of Ulrich Nebendahl by Jerome K Jerome. This is a very short short story that Amazon offers free on their Kindle app that I downloaded as a book from Gutenberg. It is worth reading but I don't feel like going to the trouble of getting a book cover image.
Much the same thing with The Master of Mrs. Chilvers a women's suffrage play by Jerome K. Jerome that read after The Lost World. It is also available at Amazon but I got it at Gutenberg. I do not enjoy reading plays that much and this play did not change my opinion.
China Overrated by Right-Wing Kooks: These Crazies Are Just Like Hitler, by Fred Reed is classical ironic. I have not quoted from it; any quote taken out of context would be misunderstood. A must read, Reed at his best!
A Farewell to “Bargain Shopping” by James Howard Kunstler my not be one of his very best but is a good posting. The quoted passage is classic Kunstler.
The K-Mart occupied the better part of a small strip mall at the edge of town, which also boasts a Dollar Store, which appears to sell stuff that fell off a truck. There’s another, newer strip mall beyond it with a supermarket, a drug store, and a Tractor Supply outlet that probably stole a lot of K-Mart’s business after opening a few years ago. There’s much speculation about what’ll go into Kmart’s soon-to-be vacant space, about 80,000 square feet of crappy tilt-up construction not far from the end of its design life, with a flat roof that has groaned under heavy snow loads for four decades. Nobody I talked to has a clue.
Probably not Neiman Marcus, for starters. I’m thinking: maybe an evangelical roller rink. It’s too big for a wig shop, or a motorcycle thug-wear boutique, the usual bottom-feeders in the declension of commercial collapse. More likely, nothing will replace it. The national chain retail model has fallen apart, along with new car sales. Something is up in this foundering land, despite all the heraldic trumpet blasts on cable news about the “booming economy.”
8 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
There is no reason that the psoriasis flash would be beneficial but it has been to some extent. It seems that the onset of the flash partially cleared up much of the scaling that I have had for years. The other benefit was a suppression in appetite. I was not hungry, especially not hungry for the same 'linners' that I have been eating for about a year.
No New Year resolution but that reduced appetite offered a good time to change my eating habits again. This past year I have been eating lots of fish. The change will be to add more chicken and small amounts of other meat. The key word is 'small'. I'm going to focus more on portion size and not so much on what I eat. The big salad will be replaced with the small salad, two corn tortillas by one, lots of vegetables by some vegetables.
I got back to drawing the Japanese theme pixel art piece again yesterday. Had not drawn anything in a week or more due to other stuff taking up my time and just feeling bad. I'm going to try and finish the pattern section that I'm working on then take a break and draw more on the third in the series of four. That piece I have not touched in more than a couple of weeks.
Patches is still not 100% but she is better. This morning she jumped up onto the couch and was also doing her 'happy dance'. Both of those activities have been missing since I discovered that she was in pain. I gave her a baby aspirin for three days and then stopped. I know that I need to talk to her vet when she goes in for her annual checkup, maybe get a dog pain prescription to be used when needed.
9 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
I was a Good Samaritan yesterday afternoon. There was a quad ATV sitting in the middle of my walking route. Just as I was going past a guy in a truck pulled off AZ90 and said that he was going to pick it up. I walked to my turnaround and when I got back to him he was still trying to get a 'come along' anchored inside the bed of the pickup. He got that done and I then guided the ATV up the ramps as he pulled it up with the come along. Something different in our walking routine. HA
"A man reaches a certain age where he doesn't want any drama. He doesn't want to fight anyone - and if forced to, he will not fight fair. He will not quit and there are no weapons he will not use.
It's best to leave him alone with his coffee, bourbon and cigars. Don't poke the old men. They will hurt you." - Unattributed meme
The Age Of Trump Clearly Shows That Narrative Is Everything by Caitlin Johnstone is a recommended read. Mrs Johnstone and Ms Coulter are now a couple of very critical 'supporters' of the President. He should take note that words alone are not going to get him re-elected in 2020.
This has consistently been the story throughout Trump’s presidency: a heavy emphasis on words and narratives and a disinterest in facts and actions. A rude tweet can dominate headlines for days, while the actual behaviors of this administration can go almost completely ignored. Trump continues to more or less advance the same warmongering Orwellian globalist policies and agendas as his predecessors along more or less the same trajectory, but frantic mass media narratives are churned out every day painting him as some unprecedented deviation from the norm. Trump himself, seemingly aware that he’s interacting entirely with perceptions and narratives instead of facts and reality, routinely makes things up whole cloth and often claims he’s “never said” things he most certainly has said. And why not? Facts don’t matter in this media environment, only narrative does.
10 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
I think all this hand wringing about the government 'shutdown' is misplaced. This is a perfect opportunity to make some changes in federal government budgeting and its fiscal policies. The 'shutdown' is all about funding governmental activities where the funds are extracted from the taxpayer or are borrowed from suckers - the debt will never be paid.
The Democrat Party solution is a 70% tax rate. Such added funds would not be used for current expenditures to reduce borrowing but would be used to fund even more income redistribution projects. What is going to happen when that 70% tax bonus dries up and the suckers will no longer buy federal debt? Shutdown!
Straho is a member of The Race, the reptilian alien invaders of the world, in Harry Turtledove's 1963 alternative history, Colonization: Second Contact. A rather smart Lizard in this world peopled with Big Uglyies.
“Governments do not do what males and females want them to do.” Straha spoke as if quoting a law of nature. As far as he was concerned, he was quoting a law of nature. “Governments do what governments want to do. How could it be otherwise, when they hold the power?"
“You count snouts,” Straha said. “Whichever side can persuade the most snouts to join it prevails. It does not have to be clever. It does not have to be wise. It only has to be popular.”
Ann Coulter has a posting, Media Throw Everything at the Wall to See What Sticks that does not direcrly support President Trump's immigration speach but she has moved back to supporting him again - provisionaly. I have quoted her closing.
The current DNC talking point against a wall is that it is a “medieval solution to a 21st-century problem!”
Turn on MSNBC or CNN right now, and you’ll hear someone saying it.
So are wheels. Are Democrats taking tires off their cars?
A roof is a medieval solution. How about Nancy Pelosi replace the one over her house with “new technology” — like a drone! Drones won’t keep anything out, but at least she can see what’s coming in seconds before it drops on her head.
11 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: January 11, 1931
A gloomy gray day all day yesterday. We got a few sprinkles in the morning but the Park streets were only damp. Then had short showers throughout the day that never amounted to much but were enough to get us wet. We went out for our afternoon walk and because our usual routes were probably muddy stayed in the Park with the threat of more rain at any time. Stayed dry but it was a damp, cold (50°) miserable day in sunny southeastern Arizona.
We have a repeat of that weather this morning; a low of 35° with gray cloud cover. There is no rain in the forecast but is sure looks like it could. The expected high is 59 which might happen if the sun ever breaks through the clouds.
NBC News breathlessly declared that the U.S. "could face an economic hellscape" if this shutdown stretches on for an extended period of time. One of the 'hellscape' things is already happening; TSA employees are quitting. I consider that a huge positive versus any part of a 'hellscape'. NBC's basic premise is the United States can not have a vibrant economy unless all the parasites in Washington, DC are being fed.
Another aspect of the shutdown that is horrifying NBC News is the fact that no new beers are being approved right now.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is out during the shutdown. That means the federal government will not approve beer labels or process permits, which translates into no new beers.
At this moment there are literally millions of people around the world that actually have nothing to eat and no clean water to drink, and this is what we are whining about?
I have an idea. Why don"t we shut down the "Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau" permanently and let people make beer without having to get permission from the federal government first? - The Mainstream Media Warns America Will Be Facing An "Economic Hellscape" If The Government Shutdown Continues, Michael Snyder
12 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Shopping day with a stop at Sunny D's for breakfast. I got their Corned Beef Hash with poached eggs and sourdough toast which is my go to item on their menu. The grocery gathering went well although I have changed the items that I now buy somewhat I know the store layout fairly well.
What did not go so well was the stop at my UPS Store where I had two packages waiting for me. I thought they opened at 8:30 am but not on Saturday. I arrived at 8:45 and then sat in the parking lot until 9:30 waiting for them to open. No big deal, I typed up this posting. Got a cheap saddle blanket to use as a bathroom rug and a couple month supply of GoPo®.
Harry Turtledove has a reputation for writing alternative history. The book that I am reading now is a combination of alternative history, sci-fi and cultural satire; I'm enjoying it even more than his prior books.
"He did not hold to the doctrine of equality. What was civilization itself, if not a graduated structure of inequalities?" - Straho, character in Colonization: Second Contact
"Anna Suslova tossed her head again. "In an emergency, superior sir, one does what is immediately necessary and worries about its consequences later." Anna is a Big Ugly, superior sir is her Lizard professor in Colonization: Second Contact
O No! The Russians are now meddling with the Magnetic North Pole. This will be a huge problem for the spymasters in the United States that rely on GPS to keep advised of everyone's location.
Since 1900, the north magnetic pole has moved directly north into the Arctic Ocean just northwest of Greenland. Through the 1900s, the pole moved at about 15 kilometers per year. In the mid-1990s, it picked up speed to around 55 kilometers per year, pushing it into the Arctic Ocean by 2001. In 2018, it crossed the International Date Line into the Eastern Hemisphere, where it is currently making a beeline for Siberia. This increase in speed has been baffling scientists for the last 18 years, but the pulse that drastically altered the pole's location in 2016 has provided a theory. These quick pole movements may be linked to a high-speed jet of liquid iron located beneath Canada. This jet may be smearing out and weakening the magnetic field beneath Canada, which is allowing for that field to lose the magnetic tug-of-war with the magnetic patch below Siberia. - Earth's Magnetic North Pole Moving at an Alarming Rate, Matt Callihan
13 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Damn, more rain. These winter rains will make for some great spring desert flowers but I'm tired of them. Woke up in the early morning hours and heard it, no hearing aids so it was coming down hard. When we stepped out to do our walk it took almost no time before Patches was shaking it off. Not raining hard but enough that we were getting wet. Declared a potty walk and we went back to Desperado.
The local Weather Underground station was reporting only 0.01" that fell around 6:00 am. There was nothing reported earlier when I heard the hard rain. The forecast is for it to quit by early morning with radar showing a huge patch of green moving from the WSW right over the top of Huachuca City. A cooler high temperature expected for today but this morning the low was above 40 with a couple more in the 10 day forecast.
China Releases New Panoramic Footage of the Moon’s far Side, by Meghan Bartels is News that the United States media has ignored for the most part. Since it does not support their narrative that the Chinese just copy Western technology and do not innovate they simple ignore a historic accomplishment.
China made history earlier this month with the first successful soft landing on the far side of the moon — and now, the mission has sent back an incredible panorama view of its work site.
The mission consists of two robots: the Chang'e 4 lander and the Yutu 2 rover. Since their arrival on Jan. 2, both have been exploring the lunar surface inside Von Kármán Crater, a 115-mile-wide (186 kilometers) feature.
If America Stopped Destroying The World, The Bad Guys Might Win by Caitlin Johnstone is a good article. She devotes a lot of her writing time to attacking the media but does not spare the United States foreign policy its well deserved criticism.
The US is different because the US has moral authority. It’s okay for the US to continue to interfere in the political affairs of foreign nations while it would be an unforgivable and outrageous “act of war” for a nation like Russia to do the exact same thing, because the US is countering the interests of the Bad Guys while Russia is countering the interests of the Good Guys. Who decided who the Good Guys and Bad Guys are in this argument? The US...
It is entirely possible that the US is capable of functioning like a normal nation and simply defending its own shores and sustaining itself without interfering in world affairs. It is entirely possible that the threat everyone imagines of some foreign power stepping in as the unipolar dominator should America vacate that role is the product of fearful imaginings with no bearing on reality and a fundamental misunderstanding of humanity. It is entirely possible that we are capable of creating a world where nobody dominates anybody, and no iron-fisted world leader of any kind is needed. Either way, the train we’re on is headed for a brick wall, so we’ve now got nothing to lose by stepping off.
14 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
The sky was mostly cloudy this morning so I thought there would be a great sunrise. It was disappointing. The 10 day forecast has a lot more mostly cloudy days to come with more opportunities for some great sunrises. Low temperature this morning was 35 with the expected high to be in the low 60s. That is the forecast for the next 10 days as well. Still winter but no rain expected.
Turtledove published Second Contact in 1999 but he makes a very good case (using characters in the book) for the Russians NOT being responsible for the 'attempted' 2018 Skripal poison assassinations.
Her daughter considered that with her usual seriousness. "If the NKVD had sent assassins after us, they would not have made such a poor attack." "Exactly so," Liu Han answered, pleased. "The Russians do not attempt assassinations. They assassinate."- Her daughter is Liu Mei in Colonization: Second Contact
This is one of Dr. Hurd's better blog postings - recommended.
When two or more parties disagree on matters of principle, you’re at a point of civil breakdown. The First and Second Amendments are at the top of our Bill of Rights for a reason. When the two major political parties disagree on these two most precious components of individual liberty — the right to defend your body and to speak your mind — then civility is over. What a literal civil war would look like, in the twenty-first century in the USA, I frankly have no idea. Maybe we’re already in it. The government shutdown is a metaphor for the impossible, irreconcilable differences between two schools of thought. I keep thinking: This is what civil war looks like. Each side wants the other to humble him- or herself. But it’s not going to happen. Never, ever with the Democrats, who have never once caved on anything, ever. And no longer with the dissenters or so-called "deplorables", at least if President Trump is any indication. - This is What Civil War Looks Like, Michael J. Hurd
15 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Today is eye appointment day at the VA in Tucson. My appointment is not until after noon but I wanted to get there early because I have never been there before and wanted to get a parking space. Stopped in Benson along the way and got a Baja Omelet at The Horseshoe Café. It was good, very big and served with some great home fries.
There was heavy traffic almost all the way from Benson to Tucson on I-10 with it getting worse the closer to Tucson I got. I found my way into the VA Hospital Complex without much difficulty but then my problems began. I had read that Lot 'H' was where I could park my RV but it was chock full when I arrived at 10:00 am. I asked a fellow that looked liked he worked at the VA where I could park and he called Security for me and said that Lot 'A' was my best bet.
Finally found Lot 'A' which was not any better but adjacent to, maybe part of, Lot 'A' was a small lot that was signed RV Parking. There was a pickup with a slide in there so I pulled in and parked. Soon thereafter a bumper pull trailer squeezed in next to me although there were other spaces that would have been easier to park in the guy did a great job slipping it into the space.
I was parked about 4 blocks from the building where I had my appointment but there is a shuttle that makes a circuit around the complex. I will probably take Patches for a walk around noon and see if I can find the building where my appointment is scheduled. If it is a straightforward walk I'll do that come appointment time otherwise I'll catch a shuttle.
I have now completed 2/3rds of the third pixel art drawing in the series of four. The next few days I'll be working on the one with a Japanese theme which is much more difficult and very slow gto draw. Almost finished with Colonization: Second Contact and since I have a lot of time before my appointment I should read a lot of it today. With no power my laptop battery will only last so long today so I won't be doing as much web surfing.
16 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
I checked into the VA Eye Clinic about 30 minutes early and had settled in to read more of my book on Paperwhite when called 20 minutes before my scheduled appointment time. How many times have you been seen before the scheduled time? I think I was examined by an optometrist at the Sierra Vista VA Clinic, yesterday I was seen by an ophthalmologists that would do the surgery if needed.
She did another exam and said that my vision was testing better than it had in December in Sierra Vista. She also said that from everything that was reported about my cataracts she would say they are 'moderate'. What put paid to doing any surgery to my way of thinking was when she said that the risk of surgery was greater than any expected benefit.
She said that they could never give me 20/20 vision again with prescription glasses but that my vision was very good for an old fart. Didn't say it in exactly those terms but that was her meaning. Got a prescription from her that I will take to the VA Clinic in Sierra Vista my next trip to town. Will also try to get an appointment for another eye exam at the Clinic a year from now to keep monitoring the cataract progress. Then have the surgery when the benefits will outway the risk.
Patches and I did most of the designated walking route around the Tucson VA medical Complex at noon yesterday. That was about half our usual afternoon distance. We got back to the Park and had Desperado hooked up by the time we do our afternoon walk so we went out and did the other half distance. I probably added another mile walking back and forth from the RV Parking lot to the Eye Clinic building.
Gold hits an all time high in 72 currencies by Ross Norman @ Sharps Pixley, London
Popular belief has it that gold prices have not performed especially well despite some egregious geopolitical and economic factors. Well measured in 72 currencies, gold is at ... or within a few percentage points ... of being at an all time high for people in those countries. Not on the list are the British Pound, the Swiss Franc, the Euro and Chinese Yuan - but we are not far off in all of those currencies too. Only in USD does gold lag - and not all of us live in the US.
Using the dollar gold price, as most of us do, has disguised what is actually quite a powerful bull market. If my memory serves me right, we saw the same phenomenon - a stealth rally in minor currencies - ahead of the last major gold bull run (in dollars) in the late 1990’s. Arguably this may be a very good leading indicator.
If Walls Don’t Work, Why Did Castles Have Them? by Paul Craig Roberts is a blog posting that rambles over many issues. I have quoted only his closing sentence.
Vladimir Putin has made a good decision to sit patiently unresponsive to provocations while the United States destroys itself.
17 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
I wasted a huge amount of time and Verizon data these past couple of days. I first tried to use an app in Chrome that would let me use Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) to read DRM protected epub books. I failed 2-3 times. Then tried to install Wine on my Toshiba that is running Ubuntu. Failed repeatedly but think that I now have it successfully installed. It then took me another 2-3 tries to get an older release of ADE installed. Downloaded a book and can not get it to open in ADE, I think I'll give up for a day or two.
In the extraordinary World War tetralogy, set against the backdrop of the World War II, Harry Turtledove, the "Hugo-winning master of alternate SF" (Publishers Weekly), wove an explosive saga of world powers locked in conflict against an enemy from the stars. Now he expands his magnificent epic into the volatile 1960s, when the space race is in its infancy and humanity must face its greatest challenge: alien colonization of planet Earth.Yet even in the shadow of this inexorable foe, the United States, the Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany are unable to relinquish their hostilities and unite against a massive new wave of extraterrestrials. For all the countries of the world, this is the greatest threat of all. This time, the terrible price of defeat will be the conquest of our world, and perhaps the extinction of the human race itself. - Book promo @ goodreads.com
For centuries, the battle of morality was fought between those who claimed that your life belongs to God and those who claimed that it belongs to your neighbors—between those who preached that the good is self-sacrifice for the sake of ghosts in heaven and those who preached that the good is self-sacrifice for the sake of incompetents on earth. And no one came to say that your life belongs to you and that the good is to live it.— Ayn Rand
To stop drunk drivers from killing sober drivers, just prevent sober drivers from driving. That is the same premise supported by the gun control advocates. But gun control is not about preventing deaths, it is about power and control.
18 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: January 18, 1931
I have no good explanation for why in worked but yesterday afternoon I tried to open the book in Adobe Digital Editions that I had downloaded and it opened. I now have a Digital Rights Management (DRM) protected epub book open in the ADE reader and can read it as I would any PDF document on my Toshiba laptop. I don't like to do that however.
So like a dog with a bone I was back trying to find a way to remove the DRM which would give me an epub file that can be converted to Mobi and read on my Paperwhite. The only software that I could find that I was sure would run on Ubuntu/Linux was Calibre which was a relatively painless install. But the DeDRM plugin for Calibre gave me a lot of trouble. I finally got it to install just before we did our afternoon walk.
After 'linner' I tried to remove the DRM and convert the epub file to Mobi and could not do it. It was ONLY when I read through Comments and Answers on the software's blog page that I found, "The tools are not designed to remove DRM from rented or library ebooks." The book that I downloaded was 'rented/borrowed' from archives.org so stymied again.
We went to town this morning with a stop at the Landmark restaurant where I got their Spinach Omelet. That is one of two omelets that they have on their menu that I like. Then a grocery stop at Fry's which went well.
The next stop was at VA to see about getting the eye glasses prescription that I received from Tucson filled. Alas, things didn't go well. I wanted the new prescription put in my current frames. Sierra Vista Clinic can not do that, I need to use a frame that they offer or go back to Tucson to the VA Optometry Shop.
My other alternative was take the prescription tgo Wal*Mart and have them put the new prescription in my current frames. That is what I did. Will have to wear glasses with a 5-6 year old prescription for the next couple of weeks. I can see but it makes me very aware that my current prescription was not as bad as I thought. HA
War Whores Scramble To Say Syria Attack Means Troops Must Remain by Caitlin Johnstone is a anti-war article that you will not be reading in Main Stream Media.
If ISIS is indeed responsible for the bombing, as war pundits are unquestioningly asserting is the case, then they’re either really, really stupid or they really want US troops to remain in Syria. Or perhaps the attack was engineered by someone else who has a vested interest in keeping a US military presence in Syria, either using ISIS as a patsy or completely separate from ISIS. Wouldn’t be the first time a suspicious attack took place in Syria while the Trump administration was working to withdraw troops.
Accountability — It’s a Beautiful Thing! by Michael J. Hurd is a good blog posting about President Trumps withdrawal of government transport during the 'shutdown' for Speaker Pelosi's junket. We have a president that fights back!
It’s refreshing in the extreme to finally have a President treat imperial politicians the way these imperial politicians regard the rest of us, and treat us. Voters are the means to the end of enhancing their power. They buy power through votes and money by appealing to the worst and weakest in human beings — envy, laziness, low self-respect, and neurotic fear. That’s what politicians do, and politicians like Nancy Pelosi have made it a life’s work.
19 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
I have tried every method that I can find on the Internet to remove the DRM from the epub book that I downloaded from archives.org. All of them have failed. I hate to accept defeat but it looks like this is a time that I must. Maybe I'll come upon something else; there are some websites that offer software for sale that claim to do the removal but I am sceptical.
The only thing different that I have planned for today is some cooking. First, there is some hulled barley and oat groats boiling for future breakfasts. There is nothing different about that. The difference will come when the pot is available again and I'll prepare some lime beans and ham brought to a boil in vegetable broth then placed in my Thermal Cooker for the rest of the day.
Caitlin Johnstone has another good blog posting, Credulous Atheist Believes Evidence-Free Establishment Russia Narrative, where she makes a good argument that the Russian Narrative is faith based just like a religion. Recommended!
The quote taken from her posting has been attributed to Sam Harris by AZ Quotes although Caitlin attributes it to Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens.
While believing strongly, without evidence, is considered a mark of madness or stupidity in any other area of our lives, faith in God still holds immense prestige in our society. Religion is the one area of our discourse where it is considered noble to pretend to be certain about things no human being could possibly be certain about. It is telling that this aura of nobility extends only to those faiths that still have many subscribers. Anyone caught worshipping Poseidon, even at sea, will be thought insane. - [Sam Harris]..
Establishment-fueled Russia hysteria is a religion. It is an entirely faith-based belief system which has toxic effects on the people who subscribe to it, and toxic effects on the world as it manufactures support for insane escalations between two nuclear superpowers
At Age 70, Time to Rethink NATO by Patrick J.Buchanan
Halfway into Trump’s term, the question is whether he is going to just talk about halting Cold War II with Russia, about demanding that Europe pay for its own defense, and about bringing the troops home — or whether he is going to act upon his convictions.
Our foreign policy establishment is determined to prevent Trump from carrying out his mandate. And if he means to carry out his agenda, he had best get on with it.
20 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Well I have given up on the idea of installing Adobe Digital Editions to read DRM protected epub books. I can not strip the DRM protection from the epub so the only place I could read them would be on my Toshiba. I thought I had it installed, I had one book open, but when I tried to open another one it did not work.
The bulk of my time and data usage yesterday was trying to clean up the mess that I had made in Linux on my Toshiba. All this time and effort was not a total waste. I do have Calibre installed and it is working. I can download the same books that I have been easier to my Paperwhite and have a library management tool in the bargain.
The low temperature this morning was 31.6 versus yesterday mornings 30.7 but I felt colder today. I probably was spoiled by the abnormal low of 40.5 that we had on the 18th. The weather guessers think there will be another morning above 40 tomorrow followed by 4 morning of freezing lows then gradually warming to above 40 toward the end of the 10 day forecast.
Doug “Uncola” Lynn has written a State Of The Union speech, A Satirical Dream: Trump’s 2019 State of the Union Address, for President Trump that he will never deliver. It is rather long but well worth reading.
21 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
The lima beads and ham has proved to be a winner for 'linner'. I'll be making it again. I still have some of my chicken or tuna with hulled barley and oat groats that I am eating also as well as some salmon that I cooked about a week ago. A lot of 'linners' pre-prepared.
I read a very very short story book, Mrs. Korner Sins Her Mercies, by Jerome K. Jerome prior to this book. It does not merit a book cover and is not recommended unless you are reading everything that Mr Jerome wrote. It was not nearly as good as the worse to be found in Novel Notes. That I do recommendA better title would have been “Four Men and a Book”. The narrator is joined by three friends on a houseboat in their belief that collectively they have a good novel in them, a position not shared by the narrator's wife, Ethelbertha. Their efforts to get on with the task are diverted by endless stories, tall tales and reflections on life. Novel Notes is a treasure chest of the telling comment and witty aside There are more serious themes, too - the sadness of life, the emptiness of success. - Edited Customer Review @ Amazon
I am having a hell of a time with my computer(s) this week. I had this notice on my Squirrelmail email account:
"Current Folder: INBOX Please be advised that Squirrelmail has been deprecated by cPanel, and will be removed in the near future. If you are using Squirrelmail as your webmail client, please consider using Roundcube or Horde instead."
It took me well over an hour and three Web Hub Chat sessions before I got someone in Support to move my email account to Roundcube.
A whole lot more wasted time and Verizon data. I'm going to be on a data diet to get through this billing cycle.
22 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
The weather guessers are expecting a cold day today with the high in the mid 50s. Then tomorrow morning the low will be even colder than the 31.2 that we had this morning. Slowly warming during the 10 day forecast to reach an expected high of 66 but then cold again. Winter is still here but nothing like some places in the United States.
I have managed to do some more pixel art drawing on the Japanese theme piece but it has been even more difficult. It was hard enough before but with the 5 year old, or more, prescription glasses that I'm now wearing I'm having even more trouble seeing what to do.
Reading my Paperwhite is somewhat more difficult but not as much as reading my laptop screen. In both cases I can increase the font size which makes it easier. I can do that in GIMP for the pixel art as well but that creates other problems.
I quote part of a poem about getting old.
..so the doctor orders me a test that is audible
Contradictive of her opinion my hearing is less than optimal
My vision is not as keen, so progressive lens are ordered at the nearest optical
Unattractive teeth no longer, these dentures I now wear for a smile that is exceptionable
Addictive medications I hate to take, so I chug this vitamin supplemental
Cognitive of my lack of patience, could it be all of these pharmaceuticals?
Alternative medications, herbal and organics could they be just as viable?
I am positive that getting old is hell, but it sure beats the alternative and that is undeniable!
Contradictive of her opinion my hearing is less than optimal
My vision is not as keen, so progressive lens are ordered at the nearest optical
Unattractive teeth no longer, these dentures I now wear for a smile that is exceptionable
Addictive medications I hate to take, so I chug this vitamin supplemental
Cognitive of my lack of patience, could it be all of these pharmaceuticals?
Alternative medications, herbal and organics could they be just as viable?
I am positive that getting old is hell, but it sure beats the alternative and that is undeniable!
23 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
I knew that the temperature was lower than the forecast 27 even before we got outside. Then while on our walk my legs were cold so I was sure or it. The low this morning was 21.7° but that happened after we finished our walk. It was about 23 while we were out there.
I should have plugged in my basement heater but ran water in the early hours which I thought would keep the lines from freezing at 27. But I know better, the forecast low is almost always higher than what we get. Still freezing at 8:00 am but with the sun doing its thing in a clear sky we might reach the forecast high of 57. That is what the expected high was to be yesterday but we got 52.8.
Name one successful company that has 800,000 non-essential employees. That’s what the government has. Which makes you wonder why exactly we are taking tax dollars from one American, and handing it to someone to do a non-essential job…
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has become the media poster child during this federal government 'shutdown". Did you know that 22 US airports use private security? But airports have to get permission from the TSA to fire them and hire their own private security. If the TSA sets the standards, it should definitely not also be carrying them out. Otherwise, it has an incentive to protect itself rather than the flyers. Of course, this is all a massive conflict of interest, but that’s classic government for ya. - Source
Part of the U.S. government has been shut down for a month. The wall has not been built and may never be. President Trump’s decision to pull 2,000 U.S. troops out of Syria has met massive resistance from our foreign policy establishment. Trump is being pushed to confront Russia from the Baltic to the Black Sea and to trash the intermediate-range nuclear missile treaty that Ronald Reagan negotiated with Mikhail Gorbachev. And we are being pushed toward a new Mideast war with Iran. This was the establishment’s agenda, not Trump’s...
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible … make violent revolution inevitable,” said John F. Kennedy. In the last analysis, Kennedy was surely right.People who see the policies they have voted for rejected again and again, by the very elites they defeated, will inevitably turn to other means to preserve what they have. - When Democracy Fails to Deliver by Pat Buchanan
I met a magical fairy yesterday who said she would grant me one wish.
I wish to live “forever”, I said.
“Sorry,” said the fairy, “I’m not allowed to grant that particular wish.”
“Fine,” I said, “then I want to die the day after Congress is filled with honest, hard-working, bipartisan men and women who act only in the people's best interests!”
“Your crafty bastard,” replied the fairy.
I wish to live “forever”, I said.
“Sorry,” said the fairy, “I’m not allowed to grant that particular wish.”
“Fine,” I said, “then I want to die the day after Congress is filled with honest, hard-working, bipartisan men and women who act only in the people's best interests!”
“Your crafty bastard,” replied the fairy.
24 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Somehow I screwed up and everything that I wrote this morning while doing laundry did not save. That is the first thing that I did this morning when we went to town. The second was to get my usual Chorizo Scramble at Café Olé with a third stop at Fry's for groceries.
A reasonably quick stop at my UPS Store where I picked up my second order from Leapknot Coffee Roasters. My first order was for Swummy Blend with today's being single country Guatemala. Then a last stop at the bank where I wanted a couple rolls of quarters. That took far longer than you would think. I'm not sure why but bank tellers no long seem to keep any rolled coin in their teller drawer.
The weather guessers did it to me again. They forecast a low of 31 and we got 24.8°. The 10 day forecast has the next few days lows to be just above freezing (yeh sure) then moving up into the low 40s. I would certainly like them to get it right for a change.
The media has been reporting the Russian 'meddling' in our United States 2016 election for over two years. Even if that were true they just don't understand how it is done. You simply declare who you want to be president and it is a done deal!
Washington routinely meddles but now has gone far beyond mere meddling. Washington has this day (January 23, 2019) declared that the elected president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, is no longer the Venezuelan president. Washington, not the Venezuelan people, has decided who is Venezuela’s president. Declaring the elected government to be “illegitimate,” President Trump elected by diktat the Venezuelan president: “Today, I am officially recognizing the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as the Interim President of Venezuela.” - Washington Has Appointed A President For Venezuela, Paul Craig Roberts
25 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: January 25, 1931
The weather gurus are getting closer with their predictions for the low temperature. They insist on forecasting at or above freezing and the actual lows are gradually moving up. This morning it was 28.6° but still only 31 at 7:30. They think tomorrow morning will be 32 the same as what they thought about this morning.
i need to get out there and dump holding tanks and add water. I'll wait for it to warm up before doing that however, maybe around noon. Nothing else on my agenda for the day. I'll get back to drawing the Japanese theme pixel art piece and reading more of the latest Doyle book on Paperwhite. Same O, Same O
Democrats are irrational. They act and speak as if destroying Donald Trump will make all of their problems go away. But Donald Trump exists — as a President — because millions upon millions of people don’t like where the country has been, and where it was going. Barack Obama sneered at dissenters for eight long years and Republicans in Congress gave him every single thing he wanted, in the end. That’s what gave rise to the Republican and independent rage. Are Democrats really stupid and foolish enough to think that movement will die with Donald Trump — assuming they even can totally destroy him? The genie is out of the bottle. Deplorables and dissenters are not going away. - Earth to Democrats: “Deplorables” Never Going Away, Michael J. Hurd
Please note the "something brand new". This proposal is NOT a tax on INCOME it is a tax on ASSETS. Annual confiscation, I assume until the asset level drops to below $50 million or the taxpayer is able to escape to some other country with their assets. Is this a great country of what?
"We need structural change. That’s why I’m proposing something brand new – an annual tax on the wealth of the richest Americans. I’m calling it the “Ultra-Millionaire Tax" & it applies to that tippy top 0.1% – those with a net worth of over $50M." - Elizabeth Warren @ Tweeter
Where is 'Camera' Hogg? There was another mass shooting at SunTrust Bank in Sebring, FL and i have not read a word that 'Camera' Hogg has said. Has his 15 minutes of fame expired and he is no longer useful to the anti-gun crowd? This shooting had a new twist, the shooter called the police. Expect to see that more in the future. No report on the gun used so I'm assuming it was not an AR-15, no race identification of the victims so I'm assuming they were white, no motive so I'm assuming the victims were white. Move along now nothing to see here.
26 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
The holding tank dumps were done yesterday with no problems. It was when I tried to add water that the problems appeared. The Park's water line was still partially frozen at noon and I was getting less than half the normal flow and pressure from it. I think the inlet line to my water tank was also frozen. Between the two of them it was not until after we finished our afternoon walki that I could fill Desperado's water tank.
Will Washington announce tomorrow that the US has decided that Alexei Navalny, not Vladimir Putin, is president of Russia? Will Washington announce that the US no longer considers Xi Jinping to be China’s president, as his one party regime makes him illegitimate, and has replaced him with Tsai Lng-Wen? How long will other powers tolerate Washington’s illegality and aggression? How long will Americans tolerate the shame that Washington heaps upon their shoulders? The Exceptional Nation Asserts Its Exceptionalism, Paul Craig Roberts
27 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
The weather gurus will not give up. They have now increased their guesses for the next 10 day lows to range from 38 to 42. This morning the low was 30.5°, I can not believe that it is going to be 38 tomorrow. They still think the high temperatures will be in the mid 60s but have increased the low guesses by 5 degrees or more.
This full length novel is similar to the short stories that feature Brigadier Gerard but Micah is not as braggadocious. Since I like historical novels this was excellent. A good introduction for anyone interested in the Monmouth Rebellion. Recommended!I also downloaded MY Friend The Murder by Doyle from Gutenberg as a nook but it only 24 pages in paperback. I had read it before as a short story in one of the short story collections. It is a good story but does not merit a book cover. You can see it at Amazon and buy the Kindle book for $0.99
Micah Clarke is a historical adventure novel by British author Arthur Conan Doyle, published in 1889 and set during the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685 in England. The book is a bildungsroman whose protagonist, Micah Clarke, begins as a boy seeking adventure in a rather romantic and naive way, falls under the influence of an older and vastly experienced, world-weary soldier of fortune, and becomes a grown up after numerous experiences, some of them very harrowing. At the conclusion he must go into exile as a hunted outlaw, becomes a soldier of fortune himself and is launched on lifetime military career. In the process the book also records much of the history of the Monmouth Rebellion, from the point of view of someone living in 17th century England. - Wikipedia
"Hopefully, now the president has learned his lesson." - Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
There are few times that I have ever agreed with anything that Chuck has said but this statement is one that I do agree with. I do hope that President Trump has learned that he can't 'deal' with Chuck and Nancy. They want to destroy him and you can not 'deal' with someone that has such intent.
The anti-Trumpers are just giddy with the arrest of Roger Stone. It is nothing but theater by Mueller since he has nothing on President Trump he is doing his damndest to get someone/anyone to bear false witness against him. The more spectacular an arrest can appear the better for the narrative.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Wray should hang his head in shame. At a time when he should be restoring the FBI’s reputation after Jim Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok and others tarnished its image as our country’s premier law enforcement agency, he allowed 29 gun slinging agents to make a predawn arrest of former Trump advisor Roger Stone.
Stone is not a drug dealer, nor is he a terrorist. Stone is charged with obstruction of justice and making false statements to the special counsel. Significantly, the alleged false statements specified in the indictment were about conduct, which, if admitted, was not criminal.Why Did Christopher Wray Allow Mueller Gang To Use 29 FBI Agents On 66-Year Old Roger Stone?, Victoria Toensing
28 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
I think this was Mr. Jerome's first published book. Not bad but nothing to recommend it.This book contains Jerome K. Jerome’s 1891 monograph on stage productions, entitled "On the Stage and Off". Within this work, Jerome reflects on his personal experiences – both good and bad – working as an actor in the late-nineteenth century. A fascinating and insightful text, On the Stage and Off is highly recommended for those with an interest in the development of theatre, and would make for a great addition to collections of related literature. - Edited book promo @ Amazon
My local Weather Underground reporting station has no reports for yesterday. However it is showing a low or 31.7 for this morning which is a far cry from the forecast 38. That does not change the forecast of 40 as a low tomorrow morning. The high expected for today is 71 which may happen after the 69 we had yesterday. The afternoons are great, the mornings are slowly improving.
The people in Arizona that voted for Mz. Sinema have to be so proud. You need to go to the article to see the pictures of her in the Senate. Perhaps you will also be proud of her but I would bet that you would also condemns McSally for appearing in the same attire. Please note the body language of her two male escorts in the second picture in the article.
But even though I am constantly writing about this stuff, I was absolutely stunned when I first saw the photo above. If Kyrsten Sinema had shown up on the floor of the U.S. Senate looking like that in the old days, she would have been immediately hauled away. But today, apparently it is perfectly acceptable for America’s first bisexual senator to parade around the Senate floor looking like a prostitute. 3 Pictures That Show How Much America Has Changed Since The Old Days, Michael T. Snyder
29 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Finished just over half of the Japanese theme pixel art drawing. The second half looks to be much easier. I am going to try and draw the rest using the pattern colors although I know that there are a about a half dozen that are so close in shade that GIMP can not tell the difference when asked to select by color.
I was using very vivid colors as substitutes for those while drawing the first half, then replaced each with the correct colors. What I have drawn so far looks very good but it has been a lot or work. I have gone back to drawing the third in the series of four which is easy to do in comparison.
Finally, after a week of freezing low temperatures we had a 39° morning. That was close enough to the forecast that it is gimme for the weather guessers. The high of 73.5 yesterday and cloud cover during the night helped a lot to keep the overnight low warmer than it has been. The expected low for tomorrow morning is 41, I think the forecasters may be pressing their luck. The 10 day forecast is for a week of highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s then back to 50s and 30s. We are not finished with winter yet but the people in the middle of the country would love to be here.
By Chris Martenson @ peakprosperity.com
Collapse is already here.
However, unlike Hollywood’s vision, the early stages of collapse cause people to cling even tighter to the status quo. Instead of panic in the streets, we simply see more of the same — as those in power do all they can to remain so, while the majority of the public attempts to ignore the growing problems for as long as it possibly can.
"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one." - Charles Mackay
I have not quoted from Notes on a Curious People: The Maya and Their Doings by Fred Reed but it is a blog posting well worth reading.
30 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
The Man from Archangel and Other Tales of Adventure is a volume collecting 15 short stories published in 1925. The collection is divided in two parts : Tales of Adventure with miscellaneous stories, and Tales of Medical Life with stories about medicine and doctors. The first part had four of five short stories which I had read before in some other collection. I did not recognize them by title so read then again. The Medical stories were all new for me and I enjoyed them.I didn't get a lot of pixel art drawing done yesterday but I did some. House cleaning duties got in the way. Today I'll be spending time in town and will not get much drawn either.
Stopped at Sunny D's on the way into town and had my usual breakfast there. Then on to Fry's where Desperado got a tank full of gas and I picked up groceries for another week. Then picked up a package at my UPS Store that contained cargo pants that I had ordered from Carhartt. Last but not least I got a haircut.
I never liked the Wrangler cargo pants that I got in Springerville this summer and they have not worn very well. Already getting a hole on the inside of the leg where it rubs together as I'm walking.
That is where all my pants wear out but the Wrangler pair has not lasted very long.
31 January
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Everytime I think about trying to find a dentist in Agua Prieta there is a story like this one from which I quote the lead paragraph.
Mexican federal police and soldiers arrested suspected cartel gunmen with an arsenal of rifles, ammunition, and three grenades over the weekend in Agua Prieta, Sonora. The seven were believed to be involved in drug smuggling activities near the Arizona and New Mexico border. - Mexican Army Captures Seven Cartel Gunmen with Grenades near Arizona, Robert Arce from Source
On 21 January I got someone in Web Hub Support to move my email account from Squirrelmail to Roundcube. Everything was different but I thought I had found everything. No, not everything. All my email addresses are gone. Most of them were not active so no big loss but there were a few that I am now missing that it would be nice to have.
I got a little bit more of the pixel art drawing done yesterday and maybe will get some more done today. But I need to get another month's of Will Rogers weekly articles prepared first so there will not be much done.