October
1 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
Important announcement! My eBook has been published and is now available. You can open the download page by clicking on the eBooks button on the menu bar at the top of the page. There you will find three download buttons; one each for ePub, MOBI or PDF format. Pick your favorite flavor and I hope you enjoy the book. Comments are welcome.
We did a slightly shorter morning walk so I could get on the road early. Stopped at Show Low Café and got an expensive breakfast. It was good but I didn't think it was good for the price. Did an interim stop on the way to get a drink and use the onboard bathroom.
Then did a drive by of the RV Park that I was considering. Didn't even stop, the place had no curb appeal. Had some difficulty finding the dog groomer but finally found her and have an appointment for Patches to get her semiannual bath. Total distance today was 287 miles on this route: US60, AZ260, AZ87, Shea Blvd (Fountain Hills/Scottsdale), Loop 101 (Phoenix), I-17 (8 miles), AZ74, US60, US93 & AZ89.
Today and tomorrow are forecast to be in the low 80s but the remainder of the 10 days are expected to be in the upper 80s with one day reaching 90. A lot hotter than my summer temperatures were. The mornings should be great however, they will be in the 50s. I was getting cold in the high country during the morning hours.
2 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
Patches continues to do our walks with no problems. Why she was carrying that left front paw a few days ago is just one of those dog mysteries.
What is not a mystery is how dark it is in the morning when we go out for our walk. We continue to wake up at the same time in the morning but the sun is getting up later and later. I can't sleep in and Patches is even worse than me. Winter is upon us.
I don't have anything planned for today. Probably be on the couch with Patches and my Kindle Fire. I have a couple books on it that I switch back and forth reading. Neither of them are nearing completion so I don't have a predilection for one over the other. Neither one is so spellbinding that I can't stop reading it. So switching back and forth will be the order of the day.
3 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
My check screw up just continues to haunt me. I ordered checks which have my mailing address on the check. I therefore assumed that would be where the check order would be delivered. Wrong, they have been sent to my 'residence' which everyone MUST have to open a checking account at a bank. So I am now trying to find out if they have been delivered to said 'residence' and trying to get them forwarded to me. Living full time on the road is not simple!
The weather guessers have lowered their expected high for the day they thought would be 90°. They still expect the next 8 days to be in the upper 80s however with an 87° on tap for today. Morning lows in the upper 50s or lower 60s which in great.
What is reversing trends that seemed irreversible for the past 65 years is the manner in which the United States has dealt with its bad-debt crisis. The Federal Reserve and Treasury are seeking to inflate the economy out of debt with an explosion of bank liquidity and credit — which means yet more debt. This is occurring largely at other countries' expense, in a way that is flooding the global economy with electronic "keyboard" bank credit while the U.S. balance-of-payments deficit widens and U.S. official debt soars beyond any foreseeable means to pay...
To rescue the increasingly irresponsible financial sector from its mortgage-debt gambles, the United States is taking a path that is losing its international position, ending the long epoch of what was actually a free lunch — the U.S. Treasury-bill standard of international finance. All that U.S. diplomats can do at this point is play for time, hoping to prolong the existing double standard favorable to the United States and its Treasury-debt a bit further, to permit U.S. bankers to get just one more year of enormous bonuses, in keeping with the American motto, "You only need to make a fortune once."
- The Bubble And Beyond, Michael Hudson
4 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: October 4, 1931
The weather experts may have revised their expected temperature guesses to exclude any 90° highs but that does not keep it from happening. We reached a high of 90 yesterday per the Weather Underground reporting station here at the Park. I think we could have a couple more during this next week before the cooling that the experts are forecasting comes about.
There is nothing on my agenda for today other than read the other book that I have had on Kindle Fire for a long time. It is not as dry as Hudson's previous book, which had all the excitement of a textbook, but I can only read rather short segments before starting to doze off. Maybe start the Roberts' historical fiction novel that I downloaded to give me sometime to switch back and forth with Hudson.
I took Jules about 2/3rds of this two volume book to get into the adventure but he finally gets there. The first part of the book drags but picks up considerably with about 100 pages remaining. Over all it is a good read.Lt. Jasper Hobson and other members of the Hudson's Bay Trading Co. and his team along with the company's guests, Mrs. Paulina Barnett and Thomas Black travel through the North West Territories of Canada to Cape Bathurst on the Arctic Ocean. At Cape Bathurst, Hobson intends on creating a new trading post for the company, Paulina Barnett is along for the adventure and Thomas Black intends on viewing a solar eclipse during the summer of the following year. The party establishes their outpost before winter sets in, but when spring arrives, nearby volcanic activity triggers an earthquake, which the colony survives; however, a startling revelation is revealed later in the summer when Thomas Black tries to observe the total eclipse. Cape Bathurst has changed its position to the north by almost three degrees of latitude and to the west by several hundred miles; Hobson determines that the Cape has become an island. Now the party's only hope is the onset of winter, so they might travel across the ice, to reach the mainland Russian America (Alaska). When a mild (by Arctic standards) winter sets in and the island is locked by the ice directly north of the Bering Strait; but the ice is not sufficiently frozen enough for safe passage across the ice. The islands colonists wait for the spring thaw and hope that island will move south with the Bering current and that the boat they've built will be able to take them to safety. - book promo @ goodreads.com
James Howard Kunstler kicked off this post in his unique style. I agree with what he has to say in it but even when I disagree I really like how he says it.
Sometimes, if you open up a big enough gate and stand in the void, the gate will swing back and slap you on the ass — which is where serial bungler and arch-schlemiel Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) finds himself at the end of an exhausting week’s dissembling in the WhistleGate matter. Long about now, his reluctant partner in the latest impeachment gambit, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, must feel date-raped just a little bit as every unraveling thread in the story leads back to another exposed deception by Schiff, the Inspector Clouseau of impeachment politics. - Do You Have a Lisance for that Minky?
5 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
I received a reply from Quail Ridge RV Resort, my 'residence' to satisfy government requirements, that the checks had been delivered and they were sending them to me. If I understand the reply they are being forwarded to the Congress, AZ Post Office with postage due.
That is not something I had considered nor knew that it could be done. With any luck I'll be able to pick them up next Thursday. I don't have a tracking number so it is only a guess when they will get here. Must make a seperate trip after 1:00 in the afternoon because of this P. O.'s rules on picking up General Delivery.
I am also trying to contact a dentist office to get an appointment for a cleaning next year. They offer only telephone numbers as a means of contact but I did find an email address that was to be used for sending Comments. I used that to send a message that I would like to correspond with them but not by telephone. Could they please 'talk' to me using email. I will be surprised if I get a reply.
That is about all that is going on with me today. I'll still be reading the Hudson book and have started the historical fiction book by Roberts.
6 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
Shopping at Safeway again this morning. Different store but they also do not have any peanuts in the shell, salted or unsalted. Is there a peanut shortage because of the midwest flooding? Georgia is a big peanut growing state and I don't remember there being a lot of flooding in Georgia. Harvest time there is usually between 15 August and 1 November so there should be peanuts coming on the market. Bought some shelled almonds.
When I finished my grocery gathering I went across the street to Lydia's La Canasta for breakfast. Got her Chorizo con Huevos which was good although not great and the service was pleasant although slow. Final stop was at Maverick to fill Desperado's gas tank. I was told last year that they were the cheapest in Wickenburg and that seems to be true this year as well.
If the weather experts are right there will be three more days with high temperatures in the upper 80s. It was already 80° at 9:00 am so today will be one of those three. Then cooling to the lower 80s and maybe even a couple days in the upper 70s. Morning to remain very nice with lows in the lower 60s, 50s and maybe a couple in the upper 40s. Snowbird weather, they are migrating now.
I have been quoting from this book for the past few days, so you should have a fair idea what it is about. Mr. Hudson wrote this one in a less academic style but the editing was poorly done. It is a compilation of his articles written for many publications and tend to say many of the same things over and over and over. The updated edition was published in 2014 and what he said at that time continues but I think the Bubble is about to pop and there will be a lot of talk about what needs to be done. I don't think all the bank loses can be added to the federal debt this time. President Trump is doing all he can to keep the Bubble inflated but I think he will fail and it may cost him his re-election. There are exciting times ahead.The world faces a choice between trying to recover the Bubble Economy’s debt-leveraged gains, or realizing that the financial sector has careened along an unsustainable path since 1980 and therefore that a fresh start has to be made.
The “business as usual” approach is to keep today’s debt overhead on the books and bail out insolvent banks. This policy implies that financialization was a viable way to get rich in the first place. But the effect is to polarize economies further between creditors and debtors. Economies will shrink as a result of debt deflation, and falling tax revenues will push government budgets deeper into deficit — unless they cut back spending, which will make the downturn worse and threaten full-fledged depression. Unemployment will lead to emigration, the balance of payments will worsen and economies will be even less able to pay their debts. - The Bubble And Beyond, Michael Hudson
7 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
Today is going to be another warm one. I don't think it will reach the 91.2° high that we had yesterday but warm. The forecasting experts didn't think it was going to be over 89 and that is what they think the high will be for today. I think it will be slightly less than that but warm.
I was on the couch with the A/C running all afternoon except when we did our walk. Speaking of walking, I have had some left foot heel pain the past few days that does not seem to be getting better. I think it is probably time to buy some new shoes.
I sent an email last night to a mobile RV wash and wax provider and asked for a quote to get Desperado cleaned up for the winter. I had a reply waiting for me this morning. I was very surprised, here is a guy that wants my business. The quote was a little higher than I probably could get from someone else but if he does the wash and wax with as much attention as he does to email then he is my guy. He also gets rave reviews on his website so I'll give him a try when I arrive at my next camp.
That is about it for today. More couch time with my Kindle Fire where I again have two books that I read by switching back and forth.
8 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
I wasted a lot of Verizon data and a lot of time last night and this morning messing with the TextMe app. This is a Free message app that I installed on Kindle Fire and allowed me to send SMS messages.
What it also allowed me to do is send a message to someone that I didn't know because I made an error in entering the TO name. What that also did was it synced that name to my Contacts on Fire and I could not make it go away. Very poor support from TextMe with almost as bad support from Amazon Kindle Fire. I finally fixed the problem by uninstalling TextMe.
I have now also installed Skype which is Not Free although their sales pitch want you to think it is. It has been easier to set up however. I'll find out before the day is done if it is easier to use and if it will be worth the expense. There is a BIG problem with Skype however, the person that you call can not reply using Skype unless they are Skype users also.
That is all I have planned for today. That and try to stay cool, it has been hot these past few days, I'm looking forward to the weather experts being right and we will get some cooler days. The mornings remain wonderful!
9 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
I gave up on Skype. Too expensive and too restrictive. Did some web searching for an alternative to TextMe for a text messenger app and found a lot of them. However, most of them were used by very few people and/or they used your existing cell phone number. The main reason for my wanting the messaging app it to give up my cell phone. I don't use it and it is also too expensive.
Reinstalled TextMe and have devised a work around to get around the TextMe failure to sync telephone numbers from the Kindle Fire's Contacts app. I did finally receive some support from TextMe but what they suggested I had tried before. I tried again at their urging since the reinstall and it did nothing. I don't plan on using messaging very often so my work around will not be much of a bother.
I cooked some beans for daily salads yesterday. Today I'll Get some more hulled barley and oat groats cooked for future breakfasts.
Ordered new shoes yesterday from my second choice seller. I sent an email to my first choice asking them about who the shipper would be and have yet to receive a reply. The second seller said that they would be shipping via UPS Mail Innovations where UPS hands off to USPS for the final mile delivery. Hopefully that final mile will be General Delivery at the Post Office. It worked with FedEx and the Post Office in Springerville I hope it works here.
10 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
The weather has been good here but yesterday was excellent. The high temperature was 87° although it felt much cooler than that. There was an southeast/east breeze blowing which gave me some cross ventilation that was great. I think the Weather Underground station here in the Park has been changed and I can't believe the temperatures that this one is reporting. I'll go with a station in Wickenburg for now, I think Weather Underground may be screwed up again.
The most important thing I have on my To Do List for today is to go to the Post Office in Congress. I don't have a tracking number and am only guessing that the package, with checks, that was forwarded from Quail Ridge has arrived. If it is not there I'll try again next week when my show order is expected to arrive.
Less important are my usual activities. Today that will mostly be reading books on Kindle Fire and Paperwhite. Probably do some web surfing as well.
11 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: October 11, 1931
I was able to pick up the package that had my check order at the Congress Post Office yesterday. There was no postage due which was even better. Hopefully my shoe order will also be delivered next week.
I think the only thing that I will do today, other than the usual daily routine, will be to dump holding tanks and add water. I can probably go another day or two but with the moving around tomorrow when I go to town I think it best to dump today.
I give you the closing to James Howard Kunstler's posting and suggest that all of it be read.
As I’ve averred before, don’t be surprised if the 2020 election doesn’t even happen. The institutional damage may be too deep.
History doesn’t like vacuums anymore than nature does, and what we’re facing is a vacuum of authority that the USA has never experienced before. That’s the final consequence of a society in which anything goes and nothing matters. Better check what you believe and who you believe in the days ahead, and recalibrate accordingly. This ain’t no foolin’ around. - In Memoriam: Reality
12 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
My order for doing things today was changed but not what I had to do. First was a stop at Safeway where there were still no peanuts in the shell. Got everything else that I wanted. Then across the street to the laundromat. While the washer was washing I got started putting this post together. When laundry was dry I then when for breakfast at Lydia's which is almost next door. Got her Chorizo con Huevos again but without any cheese on top of everything.
The last stop was at Wells Fargo which was across town through 'downtown'. I had a number of things that I wanted from Wells. The easiest one was a couple rolls of quarters for future laundry days.
The second thing was to complain about my checks being mailed to my 'residence' address that the bank requires me to have but I have a mailing address that I wish to have ALL mail sent to. The clerk made a change to their records so checks should always be mailed to my mailing address.
Last thing was to get my daily ATM withdrawal limit raised. The current limit is so low that access to an ATM really does me little good when I am in need of cash. I use cash very seldom but when I need some it is almost always going to be more than the daily limit. The clerk did that also with only the admonition that ATMs other than Wells Fargo's may have their own machine limit. My issues with Wells were handled quickly and pleasantly, I was surprised.
13 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
The only things I have planned for today are more time on the couch reading the two books that I have on Kindle Fire and watching the short time visitors. They provide a lot of entertainment as they go about their setting up, not so much when they get ready to leave. Those that have been doing this for awhile are also not nearly as entertaining.
I am reading another book by Michael Hudson, Killing the Host: How Financial Parasites and Debt Bondage Destroy the Global Economy (2015), hoping that he had something new to say. But he has a one trick pony that does the same trick in every chapter.
This book is also very poorly edited with duplicate words or misspellings, if I can detect a misspelling that is a sure sign of poor editing. There is also the classic misattribution that claims 'The dog that didn't bark' was said by Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Any editor that is deserving of the title would have known that the passage came from The Adventure of Silver Blaze.
I will finish reading the book but you could number slips of paper with the chapter numbers. Put them in a bag and shake it up well, pull a numbered slip and read that chapter; do that for the entire book and you will not have missed anything.
This formating is not the best but it is the best that I can do with my current knowledge. Trying to create a table using Div Tags and don't yet know all that I need to. This second volume of Poe's works was not as good as the first one.The best short story of the lot was The Purloined Letter with Le Chevalier C. Auguste Dupin doing the detecting. Taking liberties with what Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote; "When he is good, he is very, very good, and when he is bad he is horrid."
These are the short stories in the volume.
1) The Purloined Letter
2) The Thousand and Second Tale of Scheherazade
3) A Descent into the Maelstrom
4) Von Kempelen and his Discovery
5) Mesmeric Revelation
6) The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar
7) The Black Cat
8) The Fall of the House of Usher
9) Silence - A Fable
10) The Masque of the Red Death
11) The Cask of Amontillado
12) The Imp of the Perverse
13) The Island of the Fay
14) The Assignation
15) The Pit and the Pendulum
16) The Premature Burial
17) The Domain of Arnheim
18) Landor's Cottage
19) William Wilson
20) The Tell-Tale Heart
21) Berenice
22) Eleonora
14 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
There is nothing much happening here today. The weather appears to be changing with a lot of clouds building up this morning. The experts are forecasting the high for today to be 82° and Weather Underground claims that it will be Much Cooler than yesterday when the high was 82.4. Huh? Then wednesday is expected to have a high of 90 but by the end of next week it will drop down to 77 for the high. Changing weather.
I got another overnight neighbor directly across the street from me yesterday that I watched set up. He had a big 5th wheel which did not interest me all that much but when he opened the trailer door he pulled down the steps that looked like a ramp from where I was. I went over later to talk to him and see the StepAbove steps. It would be nice to have them for Desperado but they are made for trailers; can not be lowered to the ground from the inside. There are a couple of other drawbacks but the four step versus two and lower risers would be nice.
You may call me a Conspiracy Nut but I think James Howard Kunstler may be onto something. A suggested read.
All of this hocus-pocus suggests to me that there is no “whistleblower,” that it is a phantom confabulation of gossip threads that unraveled the moment Mr. Trump released the transcript of his phone call to Ukraine’s president Zelensky, aborting Mr. Schiff’s game plan. The ensuing weeks of congressional Keystone Kops buffoonery since then appears to conceal a futile effort by Mr. Schiff and his confederates to find some fall guy willing to pretend that he-she-it is the “whistleblower.” He might as well ask for a volunteer to gargle with Gillette Blue Blades on NBC’s Meet the Press. - Wait For It
15 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
The high temperature yesterday was right at what was expected and almost the same as the day before but felt hotter. Today is forecast to be near 90 with that to be the high tomorrow and near 90 again on Thursday. Three hot days before a cooling trend but still plenty warm for October.
There has been no afternoon breeze so the A/C has been on and probably will be these next few days. I'll be on the couch where I think I'll finish one of the books that I have on the Kindle Fire. Stay cool and do nothing is the plan.
It appears that those 'moderate rebels' that prisoner of war hero McCain was chummy with back in 2013 are no longer held in very high regard.
A CNN report back on May 27th, 2013 cited a statement from McCain’s communications director that he had visited with anti-Assad “rebels” in Syria. The report noted that While in Syria, McCain met with General Salem Idris, the leader of the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army.
“This is total chaos,” a senior administration official said at midday [13 Oct 2019], speaking on the condition of anonymity about the confusing situation in Syria.
Although “the Turks gave guarantees to us” that U.S. forces would not be harmed, the official said, Syrian militias allied with them “are running up and down roads, ambushing and attacking vehicles,” putting American forces — as well as civilians — in danger even as they withdraw. The militias, known as the Free Syrian Army, “are crazy and not reliable.”
16 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
I got a neighbor on my north side yesterday. There were 10 spaces open between me and the street on that side plus a lot of other spaces available but I now have a neighbor right next door. She had a lot of problems. The first was getting backed into the space. With the help of another neighbor across the street she did finally get backed in.
Then she could not get the trailer off the hitch on her truck. I think there was a fellow that was Park Staff that was leaving for the day that she got to help her with that. It seems that the electric tongue jack is not working.
Last but not least she could not get the sewer cap off. She went to the Park office but was told there was no one available to help her until today. I couldn't help, my hands are now so arthritic that I need one of those 'cheaters' to open a jar. When confronted with a new bottle of Cholula at a restaurant I need to send it back to be opened.
While on my walk I stopped a guy in a golf cart and asked him if he could help her. By the time he arrived she had managed to get the cap off. She is a 'newbie' but is learning, just a bit too impetuous that only some more time on the road will cure.
"To those who have cherished an affection for a faithful and sagacious dog, I need hardly be at the trouble of explaining the nature or the intensity of the gratification thus derivable. There is something in the unselfish and self-sacrificing love of a brute, which goes directly to the heart of him who has had frequent occasion to test the paltry friendship and gossamer fidelity of mere Man." - Egar Allan Poe
A very good historical fiction book. I'll be reading more of those that Mr. Roberts wrote.Fantastically written fictionalized tale of the failed attempt to take Quebec by Benedict Arnold and Daniel Morgan in the winter of 1775, told by a young man from Arundel (now Kennebunkport) Maine. The reader feels not only the bone freezing cold of the river crossings, but also the lack of food, warm clothing, and decent maps. There is a new appreciation of all that the Native Americans did to help the Patriot Army. Amazing descriptions of Revolutionary War main players, especially Benedict Arnold and Aaron Burr. It is clear that Arnold was a brave and charismatic leader. Roberts' tale is based on his own ancestor's involvement in this heroic, although failed attempt to pluck Quebec from British rule. - Customer review @ goodreads.com
17 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
The shoes that I ordered from New Balance were not delivered yesterday. I contacted their Customer Service prior to ordering and asked specifically if their SurePost shipping would deliver to a Post Office General Delivery address and was told that it would. I placed my order.
Their tracking shows this:
Undeliverable: OCT 16 11:04 AM
The receiver states the product was not ordered and has refused the delivery. Phoenix, AZ
I contacted their Customer Service again and told them to give me my money back OR deliver the shoes prior to the end of this month because I will not be in Congress, AZ after that date. Received a robo reply with a complaint number for my efforts. I have been avoiding Amazon because I know that orders with them using a General Delivery address have only a 50/50 chance of being delivered. It seems that is also true of New Balance.
During the last Democrat presidential candidate nomination debate Pete Buttigieg and Beto O'Rourke clashed on who had the best woke position on gun control. Pete claims that “The problem is the National Rifle Association…and we should be united in taking the fight to them.” He seems to think that the NRA is simply another political lobby versus the spokesman for millions of NRA members. He is going to have a hell of a fight on his hands if he takes the fight to them.
However Beto's position is "If someone does not turn in an AR-15, an AK-47 — one of these weapons of war —...then that weapon will be taken from them. But the expectation is that Americans will follow the law." I think he will have to take them!
A great gun grabbers analogy.
A wolf attacks a sheep. The sheep dies.
Other sheep observe the killing, and notice that teeth kill sheep.
The sheep remove their own teeth for their own safety.
18 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: October 18, 1931
New Balance decided that they would give me my money back when the shoes were returned to them. They were able to see the tracking that told them the shoes were on their way back. They suggested that I reorder and provide a different address. I'll try to order again when I get to my next camp but not from New Balance. I'll give some other vender a chance.
Today was time for another trip to town. First was grocery gathering at Safeway which I found to be surprisingly cheap compared to what I usually spend each week. Then across downtown to Cowboy Cookin' where I got their build your own omelet with all the veggies offered. That was probably a mistake since it made for an expensive omelet that was good but I could have saved some money by only selecting a few of the veggies.
Almost across the street was the groomer. However I had a 30 minute wait before she opened for Patches' bath appointment. I'll have to wait an hour or more before Patches is all pretty again. That gives me time to get this post typed and uploaded to my website.
The customer review that I have quoted says what I have said in prior posts. The book presents thoughtful ideas but it poorly written and even worse editing.This book is honestly not that well written (although the version I got from the library may have been slightly outdated) but it is fascinating. You won't find ideas like this in a standard economics book. A good editor could make this book into a masterpiece. - Customer review @ goodreads.com
Paul Craig Roberts is a supporter of Michael Hudson. You can read his long review in The West Is Traveling The Road To Economic Ruin. He starts the article with the quote below and then provides a good bio for Hudson plus outlining his economic theories.
Michael Hudson is the best economist in the world. Indeed, I could almost say that he is the only economist in the world. Almost all of the rest are neoliberals, who are not economists but shills for financial interests. If you have not heard of Michael Hudson it merely shows the power of the Matrix. Hudson should have won several Nobel prizes in economics, but he will never get one.
19 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
I think today is going to be another very nice day. Maybe like yesterday when I got a good cross ventilation breeze and the high temperature was 80°. The weather experts think that it will reach 81 today and Weather Underground says that it will be COOLER today that yesterday. The mornings are certainly getting cooler, expected lows during the next 10 days are to be in the mid to low 50s. That is good but I am now wearing a windbreaker over a flannel shirt.
For many months my at home breakfast has been hulled barley and oat groats with dry fruit (sometimes with added nuts), almond milk and maple syrup. This morning I replaced the maple syrup with Grandma's Molasses. I like it. This will give me a change when I can find molasses.
Caitlin makes a good point in this post about how non-interventionism has become isolationism. Now Tulsi Gabbard and Trump are being tarred with the same brush but Tulsi is becoming less popular with Democrats.
This mass murdering monster [George W. Bush] has been growing more and more popular with Democrats lately just because he offers mild criticisms of Trump sometimes - Peace Expert George W Bush Says ‘Isolationism’ Is Dangerous To Peace, Caitlin Johnstone
This excerpt is from the book Can "it" Happen Again which includes an essay first published in The Business Cycle and Public Policy, 1929-80, Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States (1980). What Minsky says here is the basis for the three books by Michael Hudson that I have read. Minsky was a mentor of sorts for Hudson and he has taken this idea of Minsky's, expanded it and then beat a dead horse. No one listened to Minsky while he was alive and no one is listening to Hudson now.
Even though Keynesians and monetarists differ in their policy proposals, they use a common economic theory; they are branches of a common economic theory, which is usually called the neoclassical synthesis...
The neoclassical synthesis treats the complex system of financial institutions and instruments that are used to finance ownership of capital assets in a cavalier way. A detailed analysis of the behavior of financial institutions and the way the interrelations between financial units and operating units affect the performance of the economy is absent from the core of standard theory. Neither the standard Keynesianism nor any of the varieties of monetarism integrate the financial structure of our economy into the determination of income, prices, and employment in any essential way. - Can "it" Happen Again?: Essays on Instability and Finance, Hyman P. Minsky
20 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
The high temperature yesterday was 79° but felt much hotter because there was no breeze. Weather Underground says that today will be MUCH THE SAME with the weather gurus expecting it to be a little warmer at 83.
I had something different for 'linner' yesterday. Probably will add it to my list of routine meals until I get tired of it. Nothing very elaborate just green beans, yellow squash and some turkey kielbasa. That with my bean salad was pretty good.
I found out why my weekly grocery bill was less although this was not the only reason. I forgot to pick up any Greek Gods Yogurt. How in the world that happened I don't know, maybe senility is beginning to raise its ugy head.
I'm making do without however. I did get some black berries which combined with chopped dates, raisins a little almond milk and some maple syrup provides a very good dessert.
I'll be on the couch reading most of today with nothing planned. I have some hulled barley and oat groats on the stove but that is not going to require much effort to put away when it is done.
21 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
This morning the low temperature was near 60 but with a 15-20 mph wind it felt cold. There were times that I wished I had worn my wool shirt/jacket because the wind was cutting through the windbreaker. If the 10 day forecast is right there will be another week like the past few days and then it will start to get cold; highs in the 70s and lows in the 40s. HA
I have even less planned activities for today than usual. Certainly nothing much happening in my life that is newsworthy. That could be a good thing however since News is usually about something that is bad.
The people who think Warren would make a good president are the same people who think Obama made a good president. The people who think Obama made a good president are the same people who are now beginning to say that Bush was a good president. - Caitlin Johnstone
22 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
The only thing that I have on the agenda for today is do holding tank dumps. I could wait until tomorrow but want to do it before going to town again. When the tanks are nearly full they tend to splash up and out when driving and I'm reaching that point.
I received an email from New Balance that the shoes have been returned and they have reversed the charges. I may reconsider ordering from them again if I can find some place that will accept the delivery. I have sent emails to two UPS Stores near my next camp asking them if they will accept the delivery, what will be the cost and how should I address the shipment. No reply as of this morning
Roberts has a posting that could have been written by Michael Hudson or Hyman Minsky. He is one of the very few that support those two economists that are critics of the consensus thinking of neoclassical synthesis economists that now set policy.
What America has is an economy stagnating in debt with a growing amount of consumer income diverted to the service of debt. This is not Trump’s fault. It is the fault of corporations moving middle class jobs offshore and filling many that remain in the US with lower paid foreigners on work visas. It is the fault of the Federal Reserve’s policy of saving the banks rather than the economy. It is the fault of the policy of supporting aggregate demand by substituting consumer debt for the missing growth in consumer income. This is a huge problem, and a president alone cannot correct it. - The American Economy RIP, Paul Craig Roberts
23 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
It has been two days now since I sent the first email to two UPS Stores near my next camp. I have also now sent a second email to both of them and have not received a reply from either. There was another store that offered the same services as the UPS Stores that did respond to my email saying they would not accept a package for anyone that did not have a mailbox with them. Having a lot of problems finding someone that will accept a package delivery.
The only other thing that I have on today's agenda is maybe finish reading the book that I have on Paperwhite. Then again maybe not but surely be the end of tomorrow.
I have also downloaded another book onto the Paperwhite to replace that one. This new download is another economics book that I am hoping has been written in common man's language. The Minsky book has been easier to read that was Hudson but he still gets in the weeds from time to time and resorts to using academic jargon.
24 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
Shopping at Safeway again this morning. This time I remembered to get Greek Gods Yogurt. But even with the yogurt my bill was a little less than usual. I wonder what I might have not picked up this week.
I then went for breakfast at Nichols West in Congress. I knew that it was going to be more expensive that Lydia's and the clientele would probably be snowbirds but I wanted their Tamale-n-Egg Plate. Wasn't disappointed with the breakfast, the price was what I expected (higher than I like) and the people that came in after me looked to be showbirds.
Still no reply from either of the UPS Stores. I sent emails to corporate UPS asking about having a delivery made to the Customer Service Center. Also sent an email to another UPS Store farther away from the next camp. No reply to either one of those. Most UPS Stores are independently owned but they seem to follow corporate policy in response to emails.
Wikipedia claims that this is one of Verne's adventure novels but it certainly is not of the same class as the others that I have read so far. This one is more a spoof than an adventure. It may be acclaimed but has very little of the science fiction that Verne is well known for.Around the World in Eighty Days is an adventure novel published in 1873. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a £20,000 wager (£2,242,900 in 2019) set by his friends at the Reform Club. It is one of Verne's most acclaimed works. - Edited Wikipedia.
Note: It is amazing the amount of times that Jules Verne’s novel “Around The World in 80 Days” and its main character, the phlegmatic Phileas Fogg, have been used as a reference to hot air balloon flights. Phileas Fogg never rode a balloon, at least not during his epic journey around the world; he used trains, elephants, sailboats, steamboats, sledges. However,the several film adaptations do include hot air balloons, and definitely that’s the key, the power of an image, although the picture was from a 'B' movie and the words are the words of a genius like Jules Verne. Source
25 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: October 25, 1931
There was a lot of smoke in the air yesterday afternoon. All the mountains were obscured. It had been clear in the morning and is clear again this morning. My best guess is that it was a prescribed burn between Flagstaff and Prescott that has a crew of 50 to keep it under control.
Still no replies from any of the UPS Stores that I sent emails to requesting help to receive packages. The corporate response has not been received either. I sent a third email to the first two Stores telling them that they are now too late and they need not reply even if they were considering doing so.
Does anyone remember how Bush 43 was hammered by the Democrats and the media that his Iraq War was all about oil. Now they are virtually silent when President Trump admits that one of the reasons the United States is in Syria is all about oil. How dumb do they think we 'deplorables' are that we can not see the hypocracy?
We’ve secured the oil, and, therefore, a small number of U.S. troops will remain in the area where they have the oil. And we’re going to be protecting it, and we’ll be deciding what we’re going to do with it in the future. - White House transcript, Remarks by President Trump on the Situation in Northern Syria
26 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
It is starting to get cold during our morning walks. This morning the low temperature was just above 50° with tomorrow morning forecast to be just below 50. Then it will continue to drop with a forecast low of 34 on Wednesday 30 October. My next camp is showing a similar pattern but the lows will be a few degrees higher.
I cooked some more beans for daily salads yesterday. This morning I have a pot of lintel, beef broth, canned beef and a package on the stove. That will give me a 'linner' about every three days for a couple of weeks. That and more reading is all I have planned for today.
Household debt was reported at the end of 2nd Quarter 2019 to be $1.2 trillion higher, in nominal terms, than the previous peak of $12.68 trillion in the third quarter of 2008. It was the twentieth consecutive quarter with an increase; so the past 5 years of very slow growth in the GDP has been mostly driven by increasing household debt and government deficits. Three of those 5 years have been while President Trump was making America Great again. What is going to happen when the economy enters recession?
27 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
It didn't feel as cold this morning as it did yesterday but I had my wool shirt/jacket on. The low was also two degrees warmer than yesterday. The forecasters are still expecting colder days and mornings for the next 3-4 days so I'll keep wearing the wool shirt/jacket.
I'm beginning to gear up for the move to my next camp. No reservation for where I hope to stay so I might have to continue on to Plan 'B' or even Plan 'C' if I must. Probably put a 3x5 route card together today that will get me to the expected camp and if that does not work out then decide where to go and how to get there.
Tomorrow will be the start of month end cleaning of Desperado. I have to do one more trip to town and holding tank dumps to do as well. So today will be another very relaxed one with To Dos on the agenda for the days to come.
I have been thinking about coming back to this location next year or not coming back and have decided that I will NOT. In May the morning walks are a pleasure but during October we get out there in the twilight and the light pollution here is terrible. It is bad at Quail Ridge in Huachuca City during my winter or early spring months also but it is far worse here. There are also far too many loose dogs here, more than any Park I can remember staying in. No, I'll not be coming back here.
28 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
The low this morning was just slightly above 50 and felt even lower with a bit of breeze. By the time we finished our walk I was cold even with my wool shirt/jacket. The forecast high for today is only 71 and tomorrow morning is expected to be below 40. I'll not only have on my wool shirt/jacket but will be wearing my wool cap and have gloves on. Winter has arrived in Congress, AZ.
Cleaning the bathroom and kitchen this morning after breakfast. Probably get the floors washed down in those two areas and vacuum the living room. Maybe get the cab vacuumed today also but if not there is always tomorrow. I'll finish whatever is remaining tomorrow because there is another trip to town and holding tanks to be dumped still pending.
The attitudes of both central bankers and other members of the money market during a boom can be characterized as a version of the Maginot line mentality. The defense against the imperfections of the financial mechanism that was revealed in previous depressions is now perfect, the money market is now working well, hence there is no need to worry. However, the institutions of the money market are constantly changing and as a result of these institutional innovations, the next financial crisis will never be just like the last one. What is required to counteract the effects of such evolutionary developments is a broadened view of central bank responsibilities and a clear recognition that, in spite of corrective steps, the money market will always stretch liquidity to the breaking point...
Each time the Federal Reserve acts as a lender of last resort, it prevents some financial institution or some financial market from collapsing. When it does this, it introduces additional Federal Reserve liabilities into the economy and extends a Federal Reserve guarantee over some set of financial practices. - Can "It" Happen Again?: Essays on Instability and Finance, Hyman Minsky
29 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
I'm experiencing another psoriasis flash. I thought I could feel it coming on these past couple of days. Yesterday afternoon when we finished our walk I started cooking 'linner' and rather suddenly felt terrible. Before I could make it to the couch I fainted, or perhaps it was a swoon. Laid on the floor, awake, for maybe 15 minutes then made it to the couch and after another 15 minutes put the 'linner' away.
This attack was a lot like the one I had at the beginning of this year. I don't have the chills as bad as then but fired up the Wave 6. We did a little over half our usual distance this morning and I was dragging but didn't collapse. Everything I find online talks about high blood pressure and psoriasis but I am sure that when I have a flare my blood pressure drops. I've experienced both high and low blood pressure and yesterday was a sign of low vs high.
I have only Desperado's cab to whip down and dump holding tanks. Feeling well enough that I should be able to get those chores done.
I can not get nearly excited about this fifth book in the Earth's Children Series. I'm not sure why it took 12 years to write this book after the fourth was published. I would say that about 75% of the book is just a recap of the prior four. Auel has a good thing going for her with the series but this book does not compare favorably with the one that started it all. Clan of the Cave Bear was a great book but I think each one that has followed has simply been playing on that first book's success.After the fourth bestseller, The Plains of Passage, however, 12 years elapsed, and Auel thereby added the protracted anticipation of her fans to her bestselling mix. Here at last, beautiful Ayla and her tall, gorgeous Cro-Magnon lover, Jondalar, arrive in Jondalar's Zelandonii homeland, to live with his clan in vast caves of what today is France. Travelling with a pet wolf and two horses, able to speak the strange language of the "flatheads," Ayla is once again an exotic outsider. Pregnant with Jondalar's child and as zealous in her desire to help as she is resourceful and creative as a medicine woman, Ayla soon wins the respect of the people she wishes to join. Bursting with hard information about ancient days and awash in steamy sex (though lacking the high suspense that marked Ayla's debut), Auel's latest will not only please her legions of fans but will hit the top of the list, pronto. - Edited Publishers Weekly review
30 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
Cold this morning but fortunately the wind had been gusting at 27 mph was calm by the time we went for our walk. It was still cold, a little above the low of 43. It will stay cold with the expected high to be 65 and tomorrow morning down to 36.
I did our usual walk yesterday afternoon and this morning and felt fine after both of them. I was a little slower than normal pace but not by too much. The flare is still present but I don't have the extreme tired feeling that sometimes accompanies it.
Last trip into town after our walk. First stop was at Safeway where I did a quick gathering now that I know the store layout. That will all change next week when finding everything will become an adventure once again. Then went to Maverick to fill Desperado's gas tank. Back to Lydia's where I used some of her Chorizo con Huevos to fill me for breakfast.
I'm ready to hit the road for my next camp with only the kitchen counter and stove top to wipe down. That and pay for electric late tomorrow afternoon so I can depart early on the 1st.
31 October
North Ranch
Congress, AZ
Much colder this morning at 37, even colder than forecast although that is not a surprise. Tomorrow morning is expected to be warmer but not by much. My next camp (maybe) is guessing that the low will be 50 on Saturday morning. That is better if it happens and I'm there. I have no reservation so not certain where I might stay.
Not going to do much today. Don't have that exhausted feeling that the flash sometimes gives me but just don't feel like doing much. I have some hulled barley and oat groats cooking, that will be about the extent of what I will get done today.
The customer review that I have copied is a bit more harsh than what I think the book deserves but is close. Since most of the essays were written for academic publications, they're dense. The only two chapters that I can claim to have understood, I think, were #3 and #13. Chapters #10,11, & 12 were chock full of mathematical formula that were far over my head. The graphs did not help and his explanations of what they showed was much more than dense. I gave up on all three of those chapters.Some rent seeking editor seems to have collected a pile of Professor Minsky's papers and wrapped them in a snazzy title for public consumption. Although unintelligible to the lay reader, Minsky is justly renowned for his financial instability hypothesis, which holds more or less that investment demand is hostage to the varying price of long lived capital assets and shifts in the debt carrying capacity of financial actors. He divides financial techniques as Julius Caesar divided Gaul: there is Hedge Finance, Speculative Finance and Ponzi Finance (guess which is unsustainable). Exactly how this works is largely a matter of faith and of course calculus for the initiated. The important thing to know is that equilibrium is unsustainable, crisis a recurring theme. Those who read the newspapers already know that. Rather than wasting money on this book, those interested should Google 'Financial Instability Hypothesis'. Excellent two page summaries abound. - Customer Review @ Amazon