December
1 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
A short drive today at only 145 miles. It could have been even less than that if I had stayed on the Interstate for the entire way. Added only a few miles and a little time. As it was I arrived a few minutes before 11:00 am check-in/check-out time and my assigned space was still occupied. I started writing this post while waiting for the current rig to get out of my space.
After waiting about 20 minutes I saw no evidence that the occupant had any intention of moving. Went to the office and they assigned me a different space. This one is a back-in, the original space was a back-in also but can be used as a pull-thru. No neighbors on the east side and I met the west side neighbor just long enough to find out that they are leaving tomorrow. Probably be gone when I get back from my trip to Sierra Vista.
The route: Montgomery Rd, I-8/I-10 (60 mi), Ina Rd, Skyline Rd, Sunrise Rd, N. Kolb Rd, Sabino Canyon Rd, S. Kolb Rd, Speedway, Freeman Rd, Old Spanish Trail, Camino Loma Alto, Colossal Cave Rd, I-10 (24 mi), AZ90 & AZ82.
Stopped in Tucson at Beyond Bread and got their Mediteranian Omelet with sourdough toast. The omelet was only so-so but it was very good toast. Although not much sourdough taste the texture was just right, I was tempted to buy a loaf. Their coffee offerings were not so good. I tried the Paruvian and did not like it at all, the second try was House Blend and it was not much better.
A busy day tomorrow. I'll be posting late in the day but might have something to write about.
2 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
The busy day that I had scheduled went well. It started with breakfast at Sunny D's restaurant where I got their Huevos con Chorizo with home fries. I have had mixed success at this restaurant when ordering this but today was very good.
I went to the VA Audio Clinic and left my hearing aid for them to check while I was at the VA Clinic next door getting my EKG. I was early so had a little wait but was called before my appointment time and was out of there within 10 minutes. Picked up the hearing aids and the audiologist checked my ears and found a wax build up in the right ear that I was complaining about. I'll try to get that cleaned up but it will probably require my getting VA to do it.
Picked up a coffee order from Leapknot Coffee at my UPS Store and then stopped at RV City on the way back to the Park. Got a ballpark estimate for the floor replacement and an appointment for when the work will start. It is going to take about a week (estimate) which will have my home in a mess but I knew that when I decided to do this.
The couch will be discarded so I need to buy Patches a bed. I'll be doing that today or tomorrow. I'll also be contacting the wall hugger recliner provider about getting a replacement for the couch. The re-do project is underway.
3 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Nothing planned for today other than getting caught up on all the books that I have started to read. Probably go searching for some more.
I need to get my basement heater set up also. Yesterday the low was just below freezing with it only a few degrees warmer this morning. The 10 day forecast does not show any freezing mornings but I don't believe them. The expected low tomorrow morning is forecast to be 15 degrees warmer than this morning. I don't think so.
I also need to empty a storage cabinet in the bathroom that needs to be removed for the floor to be replaced. I have looked at replacing it so now is a good time to take it out and throw it away. I'll also have a better idea then about how I'm going to replace it. Or maybe not replace it.
I think Galeano was too critical of himself. The book was not boring in my opinion just poorly organized and not very well written and or translated. I thought it would have been a better read if organized by country.
The ePub that I read would have also been better without all the italics that were a distraction to say the least. He did understand and wrote well in support of Michael Hudson's position on what the banks, IMF and World Bank have done to make all of South America debt dependent.
Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent is a book written by Uruguayan journalist, writer and poet Eduardo Galeano, published in 1971. It has sold over a million copies and been translated into over a dozen languages, and has been included in university courses "ranging from history and anthropology to economics and geography."In the book, Galeano analyzes the history of the Americas as a whole, from the time period of the European settlement of the New World to contemporary Latin America, describing the effects of European and later United States economic exploitation and political dominance over the region...
In 2014, at an event in Brazil honoring him on the 43rd anniversary of the book's publication, Galeano said he no longer felt so connected to it. He said he was not sorry he had written it, but he had lacked the necessary development to write a book on political economy at that stage and criticized the book's prose as "extremely boring". - Wikipedia
4 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
There was total cloud cover this morning which made walking in the dark even darker. There was plenty of light pollution in the Park where we do our morning walks so I could see well enough except when the pollution destroyed my night vision.
I don't remember seeing any forecast of rain yesterday but now the experts think there is a 90% chance but will clear by this afternoon. A continuing slight chance tonight and tomorrow.
I placed the order for Patches new bed yesterday and it should be here next week when I go to town.
The vendor for the wall hugger recliner has not responded to an email I sent yesterday. Sent them the same message this morning hoping that they have someone in Sales that can read and write. It is possible that they save up all the emails they receive and have a 'gig worker' that knows how to read and write come in once a week. I hope.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (retitled Blade Runner: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? in some later printings) is a science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in 1968. The novel is set in a post-apocalyptic San Francisco, where Earth's life has been greatly damaged by a nuclear global war. Most animal species are endangered or extinct from extreme radiation poisoning, so that owning an animal is now a sign of status and empathy, an attitude encouraged towards animals. The book served as the primary basis for the 1982 film Blade Runner, and many elements and themes from it were used in its 2017 sequel Blade Runner 2049. The main plot follows Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter who is tasked with "retiring" (i.e. killing) six escaped Nexus-6 model androids, while a secondary plot follows John Isidore, a man of sub-par IQ who aids the fugitive androids. In connection with Deckard's mission, the novel explores the issue of what it is to be human and whether empathy is a purely human ability. - Wikipedia
5 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Late post today. A trip to town that did not take too much time with a stop at the Landmark restaurant to start. There I got their Popeye which is eggs, spinach, cream cheese and swiss cheese on top. It was very good with their home fries which have always been good.
Second stop was at Lowe's where I bought the vinyl planks for Desperado's floor replacement. Paid for them today but asked for them to be held until the 17th when I'll pick them up. Then the last regular stop was at Fry's where I was able to somewhat remember the store layout, which I don't think they have changed, and get everything I wanted fairly quick.
The additional time was spent visiting with a blog friend. Patches got to visit with a couple of hounds as well while the humans were gabbing. She behaved well after I took her off leash but was her usual 'bully' self.
I then did some more socializing with my new neighbor on the west side when I got back to the Park. He is only going to be here for 10 days so I may have an open space on that side when he leaves or then again maybe not.
This novel is included in The Works Of Edgar Allan Poe Volume Three which I am slowly reading on the Paperwhite. This was written some 30 years before Jules Verne wrote his series of adventure books. Since I have just recently finished reading Verne's The Mysterious Island I had to keep reminding myself that I was now reading a book written by Poe. I would say that this could be mixed in among Vern's books, obscuring the titles and authors names, and most readers would not be able to tell who the author was.
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838) is the only complete novel written by American writer Edgar Allan Poe.
The work relates the tale of the young Arthur Gordon Pym, who stows away aboard a whaling ship called the Grampus. Various adventures and misadventures befall Pym, including shipwreck, mutiny, and cannibalism, before he is saved by the crew of the Jane Guy. Aboard this vessel, Pym and a sailor named Dirk Peters continue their adventures farther south. Docking on land, they encounter hostile black-skinned natives before escaping back to the ocean. The novel ends abruptly as Pym and Peters continue toward the South Pole. - Wikipedia
6 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: December 6, 1931
Not much going on here today. The past few days I emptied the cabinet in the bathroom that is going to be taken out. Found a place for the stuff that I wanted to keep and made a pile of that to be given away.
That required some rearranging of the cabinet that is between the kitchen and bathroom which yielded some more stuff to be given away. Then there were a couple of drawers in the bathroom that had stuff to be given away as well as a couple of things in the basement. Also did some basement rearranging and some throwing away. Enough already, I'm going to take a break.
I have had this thought since RussiaGate. There are many people that argue that the Democrats are setting a bad precedent. The Republicans will do the same to a Democrat president when they take control of the House. However, the Democrats don't think that will ever happen again in their lifetime. It certainly will not happen if the Democrats can establish one party rule as in the USSR.
Could it be possible that Nancy Pelosi and her minions in the House of Representatives had a completely different goal than we thought this entire time? As you will see below, the Democrats in the House plan to impeach President Trump, and it could potentially happen by the end of this month. But there appears to be zero chance that Trump will be removed from office by the Senate, and many will consider that to be a major victory for the Republicans. So why is Nancy Pelosi pushing ahead when she knows that this impeachment effort is going to fail? Could it be possible that this entire drama has simply been a political ploy to win votes in November 2020? Is The Impeachment Effort Simply A Political Ploy To Win Votes For Democrats In 2020?, Michael Snyder
This is the closing paragraph of an article posted to the Gardian 15 Jan 2017. Certainly nothing like it could have been posted by the United States media. Usually it takes 50 years or more for all the dirt to be found under the carpet but I have a feeling that in Obama's case the chickens may come home to roost sooner than that. It is a good article that give him credit where credit is due, a suggested read
He had a nice smile, and a good turn of phrase. He was witty, and cool, and looked good in a suit…but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t just more of the same. He could say the right things, and sound like he meant them, but he was still a monster. As he moves out to pasture, the press will try to spit-shine Obama’s tarnished halo, to try to convince us that he was a good man at heart and that, as politicians go, we can’t do any better. The Beatification of Barack Obama, Kit Knightly
7 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
I went on an Amazon buying spree last night. It started with my checking to see if they had the LED fixtures back in stock that I had bought previously. They had 7 of them so I ordered before they sold out again. While I was there I ordered non-slip furniture pads for my chair and the bench seat with storage to protect my soon to be new floor. Also got a case of poop bags for Patches; she is using a lot more of them in her old age versus when she was younger.
The weather guessers expect the high today to be 72 which I consider perfect if there is just a slight breeze. But then by Monday there is a chance of rain and the high temperatures for Monday and Tuesday are to be in the 50s but back to 70 again by next Saturday. Aha, the changeable weather of southeastern Arizona.
I had a FTD delivery last night just before going to bed. Both Patches and I thought we heard a knock on our door but she quieted down quickly and when I opened the door, there was no one there. It was not until this morning when we got back from our walk that I saw the package by Desperado's steps. I'll be taking it to the office when they open. I hope the recipient of the flowers is not upset with the delay, it is the thought that counts.
I have quoted the opening to the second article that I have read since president Trump 'offered to intervene in Mexico's cartel problem'. The theme in both articles is that as US world hegemony is in decline there seems to be a move to focus more on reasserting the Monroe Doctrine. If the US can not control the world maybe it will focus more on just North and South America.
Since the end of the Cold War it seems almost like US/NATO forces have been looking for even the slightest casus belli to start a destabilizing conflict in a foreign nation. But these military actions have been exclusively focused on targets that are very far away from the homeland. Distant locations like the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria were all on the bad end of a “well intentioned” intervention with crippling results for the local population. However, now President Donald Trump is offering to intervene in Mexico to help them with their drug cartel problem, which is in many ways also America’s drug cartel problem. Naturally the answer from the Mexicans was negative, but Washington isn’t known to take “no” for an answer and if the US does take action in Mexico it will be a very different type of conflict due to its proximity. - Finally a Foreign War Close to Home, Tim Kirby
8 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
A lot of cloud cover this morning and it looked like it was raining in the Huachuca Mts. The weather gurus only give a 20% chance of rain here today but a 70% chance tonight and 60% tomorrow.
I was overdressed this morning with the low temperature of 45 coming at 3:00 am then warming by the time we went for our walk. I had a very gentle breeze while doing our walk but the wind picked up by 8:00 and it sure seems like a storm is blowing in. Cooler today with and expected high in the lower 60s and then down to the lower 50s tomorrow. A little winter preview.
I'll be hunkering down with my Fire and Paperwhite. Don't have anything planned for today or tomorrow so it is as good a time to storm as any.
Contents:The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym (his only novel)
Ligeia
Morella
A Tale of the Ragged Mountains
The Spectacles
King Pest
Three Sundays in a Week
I liked the novel very much and as I wrote before it is a lot like a Jules Verne novel. The short stories are a mixture of the very good and the very poor as I'm finding with what Poe wrote. Although some people have reviewed those that I think to be poor as being very good so a different view can be taken.
"Human nature cannot be changed by an act of the legislature. It is too much assumed that because an abuse exists it is the business of the national government to remedy it.” —President Calvin Coolidge, 1926
This quote is from All the Presidents' Bankers: The Hidden Alliances that Drive American Power by Nomi Prins. The current book that I am reading on the Kindle Fire where I also have America's Siberian Adventure 1918-1920 by William S. Graves that I am reading off and on.
9 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
More rain during the day yesterday but not that much and none while we did our afternoon walk. We stayed in the Park because I knew the dirt roads that are our afternoon walks would be a lot of mud.
About twice as much rain during the night but still only 0.26" total from the storm. That is enough to leave a lot of puddles in the Park and make the dirt roads a muddy mess. I'll be in the Park again this afternoon if it is not raining. It is expected to be cold with an 80% chance of rain.
I'll be doing nothing today other than reading and trying to stay dry.
10 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
I placed an order with Bradd and Hall Inc yesterday for a Lambright Lazy Lounger Swivel Wall Hugger Recliner with Chianti Ultra Leather. I sent two emails, the second one on 5 Dec, to Glastop RV Furniture telling them that I wanted to buy and for them to give me a quote - no reply. Bradd and Hall wanted to sell to me and promptly responded on 6 Dec. The downside is the delivery will take 6-7 weeks because Lambright is closed down until after Christmas.
I think I have everything ordered for the floor project now except for the floor moulding. When RV City gave me their estimate they said to wait until they had the floor in place then they would know how much moulding I would need. I'm also thinking about having them do wallpapering before adding the moulding. Spending money like a drunken sailor; not to belittle drunken sailors.
There were brief rain showers off and on yesterday morning with the sun trying to make an appearance. There was even a brief hail storm while the sun was shining. I expected to see some snow on the Huachuca Mountains and maybe the high peaks of the Whetstones this morning. A lot of cloud cover on the mountain peaks but yesterday afternoon I saw there was no snow on the Whetstones and only on the highest peaks of the Huachucas.
The 10 day forecast does not expect any more rain but it is going to be colder. The high temperatures to be mostly in the 60s and upper 50s with most of the lows to be in the lower 40s. Winter has arrived.
Do you want to know why the United States as a country is hated all around the world? Fred has written a post that provides one very good reason. I have selected only one paragraph about one country where the US has been improving the lives of its people.
Washington never sleeps in its campaigns to improve the lives of people whose most fervent wish is that America stop improving their lives. To give the Afghans democracy, human rights, and American values, the US has for eighteen years been bombing, bombing, bombing a largely illiterate population in a nation where America has no business. It is a coward’s war with warplanes butchering peasants who have no defenses. The pilots and drone operators who do this deserve contempt, as does the country that sends them. How many more years? For what purpose? And how were the German Nazis different? On Rogues and Rogue States, Fred Reed
11 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
I had a number of things to get done in town today. Started with breakfast at Café Olé where I got my usual Huevos con Chorizo with home fries that was as good as I remember it to be. Then gather groceries at Fry's.
From there I took my settee with storage to my friend for him to store while Desperado's floor is being replaced. We had a short visit after I got the settee moved into the room where he has his collection of bicycles.
Next stop was at my UPS Store where I had been told a package had been received. It was not a package as such just a big 8x10 envelope that contained a diploma from Eller College of Management at University of Arizona. I received a diploma from the UofA in 1966 after completing all requirements in the summer of 1965. But Eller is also issuing diplomas to all business majors that graduated prior to the College of Management being established. So 53 years later I receive a second diploma - HUH.
Last stop on the way home was at RV City to fill Desperado's propane tank. Also spoke to the Service Manager and told him that I would not be in until 11:00-noon on the 17th. I'll be picking up the new flooring, getting groceries and have a VA eye appointment.
The reporting station that I am using claimed that the low this morning was 33.6 but I had ice on my windshield. The forecast lows for the next 10 days are to be in the upper 30s or lower 40s with next Sunday and Monday near freezing. Probably time to have my basement heater connected.
12 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
A good customer review of a good Verne book - recommended.Verne's love for the sea led him to write several novels about ships, shipwrecks, castaways, etc. This 140 year old novel (1875) is the story of the commercial sailing ship, the Chancellor, and it's ultimate demise in the Atlantic Ocean, leaving it's crew and passengers adrift on a raft for 51 days. While it's a good adventure/disaster story, it's also the story of the human experience; how people react to water and food deprivation, the continuous fear of storms and sharks, and the ultimate fear of knowing this is how their life will end. Jules Verne's inimitable style always delivers. - Customer review @ goodreads.com
The Poster Boy for gun control, David Hogg, lost out to the Poster Girl for Climate Change, Greta Thunberg. She was named Time's 2019 Person of the Year to go with her being proclaimed a saint by the media. I think Hogg's 15 minutes of fame have expired but Saint Greta is just getting warmed up. I am amazed that Western Powers have such faith in their children that they now look to them to set policy for their countries.
I have quoted the closing to a good article that offers up the two scenarios for the 2020 election that I also see coming. It is worth reading.
It could be that history will reveal the election of President Donald J. Trump as the “bleeding of the brake lines before the big stop”. And, it doesn’t matter if he is real, being used unwittingly, or is a wizard himself because either…
1.) The U.S. economy will crash before November 3, 2020 and whatever Leftist Loon inhabits the white house will soon deliver socialist hell
Or
2.) Trump will win and the economy will implode followed by a dollar crash and the remainder of his second term will be devastated by economic hell, war, and societal breakdown.
In either scenario, the Land of Oz will be begging for a new global order, and even more powerful wizardry, by 2024.
Order out of chaos. - The Revenge of the Illusionists at the Whim of the Deluded, Doug “Uncola” Lynn
13 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: December 13, 1931
An unscheduled trip to town this morning. Stopped at Sunny D's for breakfast along the way. What got me to make the trip was an email from my dentist office that they had a cleaning cancelation and did I want it. I had asked for a December appointment and they were booked so I asked for the first cancelation that might come up in December.
Before going to that appointment I stopped at the VA Clinic and asked them to contact the Tucson Ultrasound department that sent me the letter about not being able to contact me and set an appointment with them. I had two people try 3-4 times each from 8:00am and they got no answer. I stopped again at 10:00am, my Team 2 nurse tried repeatedly for almost a half hour and could not reach anyone that could set my appointment. He wrote a note to my 'doctor', a PA, recommending that I have the ultrasound done in Sierra Vista. Will see what happens.
I also went to Home Depot to see if they might have a chair that I found online. I didn't plan on replacing the chair that I have until the floor was finished and I had received the wall hugger recliner. I then was considering having the existing chair upholstered but yesterday two of the three springs broke away from the frame. So I went online looking for a replacement. Will probably order it today and have it delivered to RV City.
While I was in town I picked up a new bed for Patches that had been delivered to my UPS Store. She doesn't seem to think much of it so far but when the couch is removed that is to be her bed. Maybe she will like it more when there is the new bed or the hard floor to choose from.
Gay has replaced homosexual and now newspeak is replacing homeless with unhoused to spare the feelings of those that are homeless.
"The term homeless implies that someone does not have a home and is somehow viewed as “less” than others. We find this term to be denigrating and so we use the word “unhoused”." - OSL Seattle, WA
14 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Nothing planned for today. I'll finish reading All the President's Bankers and get started on something else on the Kindle Fire. Still have the other book on there that I'm reading off and on.
Yesterday I was driving past a Christmas Tree Lot and saw the 'Skoolie' that is owned by the couple that I met in Casa Grande last year. They ran the Lot last year and are doing it again this year. They live full time in a 'Skoolie' with their two homeschooled daughters but have now made Sierra Vista their full time home with short trips from here. It is getting crowded in the the Sierra Vista area with people that I have met via blogs. HA
Bankers of the 2000s didn’t care who was president. They only needed the White House support in action, if not rhetoric. Into the 2000s, from Clinton to Bush to Obama, political parties and certain bank leaders changed. But the reckless greed animating the bankers’ mission did not, nor did their thirst for global supremacy. The crises of the 2000s were manifestations of the power bankers had captured by design, enabled by presidents unwilling to thwart or challenge it. - All the Presidents' Bankers, Nomi PrinsCaitlin Johnstone has written another excellent post for her blog. I have quoted only one paragraph as a teaser.
This is exactly how the two-headed one-party system works, in America and elsewhere. One party owned by one imperialist oligarchic class is placed in two separate offices “to give some semblance of competition,” just like Steinbeck’s pearl buyers. And just like Steinbeck’s pearl buyers they work together to deceive the people into accepting the lowest possible bid, in their case meaning the acceptance of virtually no change at all from the imperialist oligarchic status quo. America’s Two-Headed One Party System
15 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
I'll be getting ready for next week when Desperado will be undergoing her makeover. The interior is going to be a mess and our routine is going to be disrupted.
Patches is already upset. I tried telling her to get in her new bed which she would do but would not stay there if I was on the couch. However, last night when we went to bed I took her blanket off the couch and put in her new bed and told her to 'go to bed' and she curled up in it and slept through the night. This morning after her breakfast she went right to her new bed and laid down for a morning nap. I think she needed her 'blankie' to make it her bed.
I'm cooking some garbanzo this morning for salads. There are enough 'linners' prepared to get me through next week. The only thing that I'll have to cook during next week will be some hulled barley and oat groats for breakfast. It is either that or go to Sunny D's every morning for breakfast which is a very expensive option.
As the customer review that I have quoted says this is a historical book. Lots of footnotes, just like what is required by the academics, but Nomi uses everyday common language versus the obscure jargon of the academics. She writes history books that are to be read not to gain tenure at some university. Her warnings will not be headed however so she will have plenty of new material to write about - soon.As a history lesson, it could make a wicked and dramatic 10 part miniseries. But when it really sinks in how war and global/cultural strife were used over the last century to keep the masses ignorant of how these self proclaimed "captains of industry" screwed the entire global community over, your head wants to pop. I mean, really, the situation is what it is because we continue to allow crooks to run the show with impunity. I don't think this is news to anyone anymore, but All the President's Bankers will be useful and inexhaustible going forward for those who want to know the matter of fact details of what has allowed this EPIC scale corruption to persist under the guise of freedom and democracy. Rated 4 out of 5 not because it isn't well researched or even that it isn't well written, but it is rather dry and heavy with dates and names for long stretches. Still, a must read for those interested in the variety of topics and historical events that Nomi Prins covers here. As has been said "Nomi knows and now Nomi tells." - Customer review @ goodreads.com
16 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Today is the first day of the remodel. I think they will remove the cabinet in the bathroom and the couch. Hopefully they will get all the carpet removed and determine what they need to do about the sagging floor near the entrance.
Tomorrow maybe get the wood flooring removed and the new vinyl floor down in the bathroom. I'll be picking up the vinyl tomorrow morning so they will have a little over half the day to do that. We will see.
Got off to a slow start this morning. They opened at 8:10 rather than the stated 8:00 and didn't get Desperado moved into a bay to start work until after 9:00. I was expecting this but it is still disappointing. I'll probably be here all day and can only hope they get everything done that I outlined above.
Patches is taking it in stride and has made herself comfortable in the waiting area. I should take lessons from her.
The State Department has been a solid member of the Deep State for many years. Under the Constitution, the President of the United States determines U.S. foreign policy. The Secretary of State, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the President’s chief foreign affairs adviser. The Secretary carries out the President’s foreign policies through the State Department and the Foreign Service of the United States.
I have been reading America's Siberian Adventure, 1918-1920, William Sidney Graves (the Commanding General in Siberia ) off and on. All the time there were troops there he was odds with State Department 'policy' versus the orders he had received from President Wilson and the War Department. The Deep State may have had its origination in the State Department. That may also be the reason people outside the United States believe, with good reason, that all State Department personnel are CIA agents.
17 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
I stopped at the Landmark restaurant for breakfast where I got their California Omelet which is very good but I think I like the Popeye better. They had an overflow crowd this morning because Fort Huachuca had lost power. Then went to Lowe's and got the vinyl planks. They will not be installed until tomorrow at the earliest. Next stop was at Fry's for groceries with the last stop at my UPS Store to pick up two packages.
I needed to check on what was being done inside Desperado about every two hours yesterday. Then after checking tell the Service Manager again what I wanted done. When I checked the first time I found that they had thrown away the broken chair but it is the ONLY thing that I have to sit on unless I want to sit in the cab for the rest of the week.
The carpet and bathroom cabinet removal went much faster than I had expected. I asked that some of the paneling from the cabinet be saved but found it in a pile to be discarded. Then there was miscellaneous junk that they were saving for me piled up on the kitchen counter. What were they thinking?
I needed to tell the Service Manager again that all the old wood floor needed to be removed. They got started on that around noon and it has been a very slow process. Hoping that later today they will put down some 1/2" pressboard/plywood for a subfloor before installing the vinyl planks. We will see, I don't have a lot of expectations that is going to happen.
I'll be sitting in their waiting area again until around 4:00 in the afternoon. That is about as long as I can stay there without any lunch I need 'linner' by that time.
18 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
I arrived at RV City at 10:00 yesterday and made my first tour to see what had been done at 11:00. Nothing! Went in and talked to the Service Manager. The fellow that worked on the floor on Monday came at 11:30 and told me that he had unloaded the vinyl planks but would not be doing any work. So I drove Desperado back to her space in the Park.
Back again this morning with the promise from the Service Manager that they will remove the rest of the old floor, except for some around the toilet, today. He also said that they would get the subfloor installed. They might get some of the subfloor installed but I have my doubt that they will get it all done. We will see.
Keep America Great. The US House passed a $1.4-trillion spending bill that will fund the US government through September 2020. This is domestic spending the military spending was in a separate bill. Within this domestic spending there is a 3.1% increase for federal civilian employees. Yesterday I also picked up a notice from Social Security that told me how much I was going to receive next year - a 1.6% increase. Federal employees get 3.1% and I get 1.6%.
There are only two ways to make it in big-time politics today: One is to come on like a mean dinosaur, with a high-powered machine that scares the shit out of your entrenched opposition (like Daley or Nixon)… and the other is to tap the massive, frustrated energies of a mainly young, disillusioned electorate that has long since abandoned the idea that we all have a duty to vote. This is like being told you have a duty to buy a new car, but you have to choose immediately between a Ford and a Chevy. - Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, Hunter S. ThompsonThis is Thompson quoting what Ron Dellums a black Congressman from Berkley said. Apparently it took until 2008 for the Democratic Party to take his advice and form the coalition that got Obama elected.
It’s time for somebody to lead all of America’s Niggers,” he said at the Capitol Hill press conference when Shirley Chisholm announced she was running for President. “And by this I mean the Young, the Black, the Brown, the Women, the Poor—all the people who feel left out of the political process. If we can put the Nigger Vote together, we can bring about some real change in this country.” - Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, Hunter S. Thompson
19 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
I was at RV City yesterday about 10 minutes before they opened at 8:05 with another rig waiting in front of me. Did my first check on progress a little after 9:00. Nothing. Spoke to the Service Manager and he said they were going to get the subfloor down.
Did my second check on progress at 10:30 and found that Desperado had been moved. Progress, Nothing. Spoke to the Service Manager and asked him if I should come back today and he said that they were going to get the subfloor down. By 4:00 they did have all of the living room subfloor down and about half of the kitchen.
When I asked the Service Manager what time I should come in today he said 11:00. That is just as well because they didn't get started until that time yesterday. If there are quick jobs that they can do for people that show up early in the morning then work on my floor gets put off. They know that I will not say enough is enough I'm taking this job someplace else, what do I owe you?
It is frustrating for me and Patches does not understand being held on leash all day long in a strange place. She has lost her couch bed and can't sit in Desperado's passenger seat and watch all the neighbor dogs go by. This is not fun for her either.
A good review of Graves book. I too think that any failure of America's intervention in the Civil War between the White Russians and the Red Russians was blamed on Graves as the fall guy. There was the civil war between the State Department and the War Department that was more the cause of any failure.I really enjoyed this book. I know some will be put off by it because it is more of written defense by the author, General William Graves, Commander of the Siberia Expeditionary Force, against charges that he was a Communist sympathizer at worst or incompetent to fulfill his mission at best. So the author repeats several things (a lot) and quite bluntly in-your-face repeats what his orders were before his deployment. What this book is good for is to see the politics of what was going on in Siberia between the Americans, the White Russians, the British, and the Japanese by the man in charge. Personally, I often thought Graves got a raw deal from the US State Department and the British. - Customer review @ Amazon
20 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: December 20, 1931
I was at RV City yesterday at 11:00; did my first check on progress at noon. Nothing. Did my second check on progress at 2:00 and found that Desperado had not been moved. Progress, Nothing. Went to speak to the Service Manager and his assistant told me they had been backed up all morning and would be starting work on my floor in just a few minutes.
Checked on progress again at 3:00. Nothing. Went to see the Service Manager's assistant and she said someone would be working on it as soon as I dropped it off this morning. I asked for the keys and I told her that when I got back from my VA eye exam if there had been nothing done I was leaving again. Left Desperado at RV City at 8:00.
A friend picked me up there and we went to breakfast at Sunny D's. He had never been there before so this morning was a good opportunity to introduce him to one of my three regular breakfast stops. From there he took me to the VA Clinic for my appointment and waited to take me back to RV City. A big help!
This book about the 1972 election may be a guide to what we will see for 2020. Interesting, suggested read.
Hilarious, terrifying, insightful, and compulsively readable, these are the articles that Hunter S. Thompson wrote for Rolling Stone magazine while covering the 1972 election campaign of President Richard M. Nixon and his unsuccessful opponent, Senator George S. McGovern. Hunter focuses largely on the Democratic Party's primaries and the breakdown of the national party as it splits between the different candidates.With drug-addled alacrity and incisive wit, Thompson turned his jaundiced eye and gonzo heart to the repellent and seductive race for president, deconstructed the campaigns, and ended up with a political vision that is eerily prophetic - Book promo @ goodreads.com
This quote could just as easily have been a Tweet by president Trump.
"Don’t worry, boys, we’ll weather this storm of approval and come out as hated as ever." — Saul Alinsky
Support for impeaching Trump and removing him from office stands at 45% in the new poll, down from 50% in a poll conducted in mid-November just after the conclusion of the House Intelligence Committee's public hearings. Opposition to impeachment and removal stands at 47% in the new poll, up from 43% in November. Support for impeachment and removal among Democrats has dipped from 90% in November to 77% now. SourceSo the Democrats have got their Articles of Impeachment but are reading the polls and are now afraid that the Senate will acquit Trump. So they are thinking that withholding the articles will keep the charges as News leading up to the election. I say go for it, withholding the charges from a trial in the Senate will probably be to Trump's benefit. Plus it will give him lots of Tweet foder.
A group of House Democrats is pushing Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other leaders to withhold the articles of impeachment against President Trump that emerged from the House on Wednesday, potentially delaying a Senate trial for months.
The notion of impeaching Trump but holding the articles in the House has gained traction among some of the political left as a way to potentially force Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, to conduct a trial on more favorable terms for Democrats. And if no agreement is reached, some have argued, the trial could be delayed indefinitely, denying Trump an expected acquittal. Source
21 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Yesterday was the best day that I have had all week. Patches probably feels the same way.
I was at RV City at 8:00, parked Desperado and got myself and Patches in Steve's truck for the trip to Sunny D's and then to the VA. Steve waited there with me until it looked like I was going to be another hour so he took Patches to his place. He had the same problem that I do when trying to take a picture of Patches - she avoids looking at the camera.
Pit Bulls & Staffordshire Terriers, Doberman Pinschers, Chows, Rottweilers, Presa Canarios and German Shepherds are the top six dog breeds that are the most denied by insurance companies. They therefore are not accepted by many RV Parks. Patches in an American Staffordshire Terriers and I have had a dog trainer evaluate her and tell me that she is not aggressive and that has proved to be the case over the years. Steve's pictures show some of her aggressive behavior while with his dogs during a play date yesterday.The third picture shows a buff and muscular Patches at her best but she still will not look at the camera.
When I got back to RV City at 11:30 there was no one working on Desperado but there was considerable work that had been done. When I went in and talked to the assistant Service Manager she said that they had to go to town to buy a saw blade but would be back to work after lunch. They were and by the end of the day had all the old flood torn up, except around the toilet, and almost all the subfloor in place. Progress!
No work to be done over the weekend which is just as well. Patches and I both need a rest but we will be back at it on Monday. But first I'll be going into town that morning to drop off the eyeglasses prescription that I got from the VA. The cataracts are not significantly worse and my vision overall was better yesterday than it was a year ago. The left eye is worse but when the two eyes are working together I was seeing better if that makes sense.
So the old adage about killing the king comes to mind. If Pelosi et.al. miss here, the retribution from Trump will be biblical...this coup attempt by Pelosi is now open warfare. There will be casualties. The Coup Becomes a Civil War – Trump Impeached, Tom Luongo
22 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
I won't be doing much today. I have another Turtledove book on Kindle Fire that will keep me occupied. I sure missed the couch yesterday when I wanted to lay down and read. I think Patches misses it as well but she does like her Bomber Bolster Dog Bed With Fleece by Orvis. But she also likes to lay on her 'blankie' in front of the Wave 6. She is not very demanding.
I'll be going into town tomorrow before another day of waiting at RV City. Need to get laundry done, my usual grocery stop and then new glasses at Wal*Mart. The website posting will happen sometime either during or after doing those things - probably after.
What I think we have here is a case that will be taken to a higher court. It sure seems to me to be cruel and unusual punishment since the punishment doesn't fit the crime.
The United Church of Christ in Ames, Iowa, for reasons unknown flew a LGBTQ flag/banner of sexual perversion. A 30 year old Hispanic immigrant took it down and burned it. For this “crime” he was sentenced to 16 years in prison!
In response to college kids or provocateurs burning the US flag during Vietnam War protests, the US Congress passed the 1968 Flag Act that permits those who burn or defile the US flag to be imprisoned, but not more than one year. What has happened to America that burning a flag of sexual perversion is 16 times more serious than burning the American flag? Sexual Perverts Are the New American Privileged Class, Paul Craig Roberts
23 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
I got 3 of the 4 things that I wanted to do in town this morning. Everything took longer than I had planned except doing my laundry. I wanted to have breakfast at Cafe Olé but they were closed so I went to the Landmark and got the Popeye again. They had a crowd again probably because Cafe Olé was closed.
Then went to Fry's which had a crowd also. Didn't get two of the things on my list because the shelves were bare. Not much of a wait at the checkout but I was still 10 minutes late getting to RV City. The eye glasses at Wal*Mart will wait until next week or next year.
The replacement chair that I bought from Home Depot is out for delivery. The UPS truck should be bringing it to RV City today and I have asked to have it assembled and put in Desperado tomorrow. With any luck at all there will be vinyl planks down on the floor in that area. Then by the end of the day tomorrow they will have all the floor down except around the toilet. Finish that after Christmas and get all the trim in place by the new year. Undo optimism perhaps but I can hope.
24 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Another day of waiting. Back to RV City this morning at 8:00. They will only do a half day of work, I hope, but the one thing that I want is to leave with my new chair in Desperado. It was delivered yesterday late in the day. Reqires some assembly but shouldn't take very long.
The other thing that I hope they can accomplish is to get the vinyl floor placed 'dry' and determine their cuts. If they can get that done today the floor may be down on the 26th except for the area around the toilet. The trim probably will not happen until next year but I can live awile longer without the trim if I have a floor again.
The forecast has an 80% chance for rain today starting around 10:00 and continuing through our usual afternoon walk. I could see that it was raining in the Huachucas as I drove to RV City so it may be here sooner than forecast. Then again it might not rain here at all, it does not look like it has an 80% chance to me.
I'll be doing as little as possible this afternoon and tomorrow. All this waiting wears me out. It has become much more of a new routine for Patches and she has been meeting lots of new people and getting a lot of attention. I think she has grown to like it. HA
25 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
MERRY CHRISTMAS
I was wrong, the rain started a little before 10:00 yesterday. I did get my new chair assembled and put into Desperado. It is a gem; a little wider and the seat is a bit higher. Most importantly the seat is firm and does not let my butt sink down below knee level which makes it so much easier to get up from it.They quit work on the floor around 11:30 with approximately half of the floor laid 'dry' with the cuts made. There remains a chance that they will have all of it, except around the toilet, glued down by the end of the 26th. Maybe everything except the trim done by the end of the 27th and possibly the trim added before next year. I can wish!
Today will be another rest day. That is resting from sitting in the waiting area at RV City. It stayed cold yesterday with the high only up to 51 and the forecast is for similar highs the next two days. Then it is expected to be in the low 40s on Friday and Saturday and upper 40s low 50s for the rest of the 10 day forecast.
I'll have the Wave 6 on during the day for much of that time. I'll also be back in bed to do my reading since the couch is gone. Patches is happy as she can be in front of the Wave 6 on her 'blankie'. Right now she is tanking her after breakfast nap and snoring - loud.
26 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Back to what has become our routine. It is very similar to what I did when on my road trips. However , I did not have to set up and prepare to leave everyday plus there is not much driving now. I am getting into a routine for setting up and leaving that is taking less time than it did 10 days ago.
I'll finish the Turtledove book that I have been reading today. While sitting here at RV City there is not a lot I can do other than read so finish that one and start one by K. L. Roberts; a historical fiction book that I am looking forward to and hoping it is as good as his Arundel.
I Just Realized Something
My dog sleeps about 20 hours a day.
She has her food prepared for her.
Her meals are provided at no cost to her.
She visits the Dr. once a year for her checkup and again during the year, if any medical needs arise.
For this she pays nothing, and only walking with me is required of her.
She lives in nice Parks in a RV that is much larger than she needs, but she is not required to do any upkeep.
If she makes a mess, I cleans it up.
She has her choice of places to sleep.
She receives these accommodations absolutely free.
She is living like a queen and has absolutely no expenses whatsoever.
All of her costs are picked up by others who earn a living.
I was just thinking about all this, suddenly it hit me like a ton of bricks - My dog is a CONGRESSWOMAN!
27 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: December 27, 1931
I got unhooked in the rain this morning. We had been lucky to not get rained on during our walk. Drove to RV City and waited about 5 minutes to give my keys to the Service Manager. When he showed up he said they could not do any work inside Desperado today because it was raining and they would make a mess inside.
I did not point out to him that they had bays which Desperado could be driven into out of the rain. Just went back out into what was now snow and drove back to the Park and hooked up again, this time in snow fall versus rain. I'll be going back on Monday and hope they do not have some other reason for not completing the floor. I am becoming more and more discouraged that this project will ever be completed.
Striking the Balance is the fourth and final alternate history novel of the Worldwar tetralogy, as well as the fourth installment in the extended Worldwar series that includes the Colonization trilogy and the stand alone novel Homeward Bound which gives some closure to the storylines in Worldwar Series. In this book, while the Race considers total annihilation or continuing hostilities, the humans make a stand for the sovereignty of the planet.As I have said before it is best to read Worldwar first then Colonization versus the order I have. I now have only Homeward remaining in this extended series and I'ii then make sure I start any other of his series at the beginning.
Another good post by Paul Craig Roberts.
Privatization is a siren song of free market libertarians. It needs a closer look than libertarians have given it as in most cases privatizations benefit private interests at the expense of taxpayers. In the case of privatized prisons, taxpayers provide profits to private companies to operate the prisons. The companies make additional money by leasing the prisoners’ labor. Large companies benefit from the low cost of the labor. Perhaps this is a reason the US has not only the highest percentage of its population in prisons but also the highest absolute number of prisoners. America has more people in prisons than China, a country whose population is four times greater. - Privatization Is Resurrecting Feudalism
28 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Tere was not a lot of snow here yesterday and it was all gone by noon. Then there were scattered rain showers through the afternoon. I could see that the Huachuacas had received snow down to the foothills but the Whetstones were only snow covered at the peaks. It looks like they both may be getting more this morning.
The high temperature yesterday was 45 with a low this morning at freezing. The forecast for today's high is to be about the same but the low tomorrow morning to be 24 then warming up into the 30s for the rest of the 10 day forecast. My guess is that about half of them will be freezing or below.
Shopping this morning with a breakfast stop at Café Olé where my usual waitress told me what I was going to have and all I had to do is say 'yes'. From there it was a quick stop at Fry's which had a much smaller crowd than the last time I was there, but the wait at the checkout was just as long.
Last stop was at Wal*Mart where I left my VA glasses prescription. This time I am getting progressives that are somewhat like the Shamir Office lens. They will give about half the lens to reading/near vision rather than the quarter of less that I have always had in regular progressives. More expensive and it is an experiment so I will only know if it was money well spent when I see with them.
29 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
I will be cleaning the bathroom today as part of my month end chores. However, there will be no floor washing or carpet vacuuming since I have no floor. The cab cleaning will wait until 1 January when I am in the Park for the day and not sitting in RV City's waiting area.
I can get the new year blog pages and Archives set up while in the waiting area. So that is what I'll be doing tomorrow and Tuesday. Need to do some cooking today since I will not have the use of Desperado during the day for the next couple of days. Other than that I'll just try and stay warm while reading the conclusion of the Roberts novel and start another one.
The low this morning was 20.5° a few degrees colder than the forecast. I always expect it to be colder than the experts thought it would be so that was not a surprise. The forecast is 29 for tomorrow morning then above freezing on Tue and Wed with a balmy 35 on Thu. I think it will freeze all four days; furthermore I think it will freeze every morning during the current 10 Day Forecast which will end the morning of 8 January 2020.
Paul Craig Roberts has been a long time Conspiracy Nut with regard to the assasination of JFK and 9/11. In this post he quotes French author, Laurent Guyenot at length. With the success that the government has had in the past I would expect another false flag to be flown soon. The ones that have been run up the flagpole in the Middle East in recent years have failed simply because president Trump has not taken the bait. If The Establishment could just get rid of him we could quickly be back into a very profitable war.
Reviewing such a book [JFK-9/11: 50 Years of Deep State] is a challenge that I avoided by securing permission to reprint two chapters from the book. One chapter, “Ghost planes,” deals with the mystery of the four allegedly hijacked airliners. No trace of the one that allegedly hit thePentagon has ever been found, and the many videos of the event remain under lock and key. No trace of the one that allegedly crashed in Pennsylvania has ever been found. Neither has any trace of the two that allegedly hit the two World Trade Center towers ever been found, although an unburnt passport was allegedly found in the ruins of two massive buildings. How Controlled Explanations Are Achieved
30 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Essentially, when humans make decisions, they seldom have any idea of what they are doing. - Source, Paul Craig Roberts.
The quote describes my situation with Desperado's floor. I made the decision to replace it and didn't know what I was doing.
With 20/20 hindsight I would not have done it. However, I have no idea what would have happened with any alternative that I might have decided upon. Probably an equally poor decision.
I had the Wave 6 working through the weekend plus generating steam from my cooking. This left a lot of condensation on the inside of the windshield. I didn't check yesterday but this morning I found that all that condensation was ice,
The low was 22.8° at the reporting station and I am reasonably sure that is what the temperature was inside Desperado as well. Much colder than the forecast but the experts haven't changed their guesses for the lows during the next week. They have even raised their guesses for the last four days in the 10 Day to the upper 30s. I would like them to be right but don't think it is going to happen.
The first part of this book is chock full of sailing terms which left this landlubber guessing at what was happening. That did not distract from the story however which I enjoyed. The Captain's time in Dartmoor was not as good and some of the characters speaking in dialect were difficult to understand. It is a recommended book however which I liked a lot overall.This is the classic series from Pulitzer Prize-winning historical novelist Kenneth Roberts, all featuring characters from the town of Arundel, Maine. Arundel follows Steven Nason as he joins Benedict Arnold in his march to Quebec during the American Revolution. Rabble in Arms continues with the exploits of Benedict Arnold, and includes many of the characters from the first book. The Lively Lady is a novel about the War of 1812 and tells the story of U.S. sea captain Richard Nason as he is captured by the British and sent to Dartmoor Prison. Captain Caution is another seafaring tale of the War of 1812. - Book promo @ goodreads.com
31 December
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Another day of sitting at RV City. Even a longer day today because they want Desperado to remain motionless as long as possible. The Service Manager was flabbergasted that I did not have a furnace in Desperado. They need to get some electric heaters inside her to make it warm enough for the glueing of the vinyl planks. The 'plan' is to glue all of them down today - I have my doubts that they complete the plan.
It is warmer this morning than it has been for the past couple of days with the low just below freezing. It had then warmed up to 36° by 8:00. I don't know how warm it needs to be for the glue but maybe they can get something done today. This project just goes on and on.
I have plenty of time today to finish the latest book that I have on Kindle Fire. Probably even start another one.