October
1 October
The Landing
Sedgwick, KS
I'm not sure what time it was that we left the Campground this morning, my watch had stopped, but it was probably a little before 7:30. We were at Smith Center, KS at 8:30 where I filled up with gas and then went across the street to Paul's Café for breakfast. I am still in the Mid-west so I had their eggs (over easy), sausage patty, hash browns and wheat toast (the choice of white or wheat was not unexpected). It was a pretty good breakfast, better than KJ's, and the coffee was fair.Smith Center is just south of the Geographic Center of the Continental United States which I have been past on two other trips. I visited the monument while on my 2007 Teardrop trip but did not go out of my way to see it again today.
Kansas was not flat today. The first few miles while still in Nebraska were not either, it was a roller coaster for the first 20 some miles to Franklin, NE and continued with rolling hills until I got to US 56. Total mile for the day were 244 and the route: Campground Rd, Corps Road B, James St (in Alma), US136, NE10, KS8, US36, US281, KS18, KS232, Old US40, KS14, US56, US81 Business, Old 81 Hwy/County 2034, Ridge Rd/ County 811 & 1st St (in Sedgwick)/125th St/ County 588.
A lot of milo (what I called Higerry (sic) when I was growing up) and cattle until I reached US56. From there on it became more corn and soybeans with fields just now being planted in winter wheat.
The Landing is a home base for a couple that travel most of the year in a converted Bus. I met them the first time in Huachuca City, AZ during the winter of 2010-2011. Saw them again in Yuma, AZ last winter for a brief breakfast visit. This afternoon and early evening we had another great visit and a good Mexican dinner, the first Mexican food other than my own since New Mexico.
Patches met them like they were long lost friends. LeRoy even took her for her afternoon walk where she met 2-3 other dogs and did not cause a big problem for him or the dogs. She was so good with them all day - maybe she has made more progress than I often give her credit.
After dinner we drove through part of north Wichita to a very high dollar development built around sand pits that flood naturally from the water table. Then went past a home that they had owned, a huge land fill that was LeRoy's last place of employment and a couple industrial areas in Sedgwick.
I'll probably get to see some more of the area tomorrow. Things that I would not see if left to do it on my own.
2 October
The Landing
Sedgwick, KS
We were up at 6:30 this morning hoping that there would be enough twilight to do a walk. It was pretty dark but only a short distance to a dirt road that had almost no traffic and I could see where I was going. By the time we turned around it had lightened up somewhat but there was heavy cloud cover and fog restricting visibility to a couple of miles.I think the temperature was in the 60s but the humidity was 100%. My cloths were damp by the time we got back to Desperado and the TV weather was still reporting 100% humidity at 10:00. There was a breeze but that didn't make much difference it was just a wet breeze. My A/C kick on for its first cycle today at 11:30 It cycled for the last time last night sometime after 9:00. NOT my kind of weather. I'll be moving into even hotter temperatures tomorrow and Friday but the forecast for Saturday is 66 with 70s during the following week.
LeRoy and Anne, my hosts at The Landing, took me to the local Cracker Barrel for breakfast. I told them that this was probably my third time to be at a Cracker Barrel and twice it has been with them. They did have some sourdough bread which they used to make Eggs in a Basket which came with hash browns. A better breakfast than I have been having but not the corn beef hash and eggs that I was pining for.
President Obama has repeatedly said that he will not negotiate with the Republican House leader yet he sent an 'invitation' to Boehner to attend a meeting in the White House this afternoon. Senator Reid has also been 'invited' but he has said many times in the last week or two that he will not have a conversation with Boehner.
This meeting is scheduled for 5:30, Washington time, this afternoon. The President is meeting earlier today with executives of the Banks To Big To Fail. I wonder if this is just a coincidence or is the President getting his marching orders from the bankers and then conveying them to the House and Senate this afternoon? It does make for a great conspiracy theory.
3 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Today was not the best travel day that I have ever had but it wasn't the worst, just not a good day. It started off well with us leaving The Landing right about 7:00. I had the first three turns committed to memory and by the time we got to turn four I could read my 3x5 card and was looking for KS254. Never saw it and by the time I reached the city limits of Wichita I knew I had missed it. Stopped and found where I was and how I could get back on route. Probably didn't add many miles but added some time.The total miles to Hidden Lake RV Resort were about 317 and 323 for the day. It was the total time of 11 hours to find a new home that was the real downside today. The route: 125th St, 2nd St, 101st St, Greenwich Rd,(all around or in Wichita) *, US54, US77, US177, OK199, 12th Av, US77/Commerce St (in Ardmore), US77, US70 & Hedges Rd (to Hidden Lake) then Hedges Rd, Marilyn LN, Plainview Rd & W US70/Broadway (to Ardmore RV Park).
* This is the route that I would have taken if I had not missed the turn. It would have been faster with less traffic and fewer traffic lights and stop signs than what I did. However, the route that I took did allow me to see the Beechcraft plant or parts of it, it is huge. KS254, SW Adams Rd, SW 30th St & SW Santa Fe Lake Rd to US54.
The problems at Hidden Lake began as soon as I open my mouth and said I had a reservation. There was no reservation on the computer. The woman working reception said that they had a space available so she took name, address but my NOT having a telephone and then admitting that the number I gave her to make her system work was not my telephone number created a second problem. She called her boss and got a work around for that by taking information off my Driver License. She also asked me what year my RV was and what was the license plate, I think the boss reminded her of that.
She then processed the charge against my Visa Card while I was reading the rules. I admitted that I had a dog that weighed over 25 pounds and was included in what many insurance companies call dangerous breeds. This was the third problem and the final one - I could not stay there because of Patches.
I had been in email contact with someone, James, that I thought was the boss and the dog issue never came up. In my first contact I told them that I had a pet and there were no other questions asked. There is nothing on their web site that indicates that all dogs over 25 pounds need prior approval nor do they disclose their dangerous breed discrimination rule. I do not recommend Hidden Lake RV Resort in Ardmore, OK.
The woman on the desk processed a credit to Visa and then drew me a map on how to get to Ardmore RV Park. When I arrived here and told them that I had been refused a space at Hidden Lake they said that dogs were no problem for them and they get a lot of referral from Hidden Lake. All they needed from me was my Visa Card and I was given a choice of two spaces so Patches and I went and looked them over and picked our new home for a month. I do recommend Ardmore RV Park at this time.
It is late, Patches and I are both tired. I'll add to the story of today's travels in my posting of tomorrow.
4 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: October 4, 1925The high here yesterday was 87° with and average humidity of 67%. The low this morning was 69 with 94% humidity when we went for our shortened morning walk. The forecast for tomorrow is for a high in the lower 60s with the rest of the 10 day forecast in the 70s and lower 80s. I think I can live with any of those high temperatures IF the humidity would just drop down below 50%.
Yesterday our first planned stop was for gas but I didn't know for sure where that might be. When I saw a price of 3.179 in Winfield, KS I knew that I had found the place. There were a few stations in Wichita that were that low or lower but I wanted to get below 1/2 tank before filling up.
I asked a woman attendant there about a place to eat breakfast and she gave me directions to a place that I would pass going south. She came back a few minutes later and said that the one south did not open until 11:00 so she gave me detailed directions to one back north, Bleus Family Dining in 'downtown'. Told me where it was and where I could park but the lot she had in mind was small car parking spaces and metered so I parked on the street and walked a block.
I had their Denver omelet which was chock full of ham but none of the other things that I expect a Denver to have. Then it had a coating of melted cheese on top, I much prefer the cheese to be cooked along with the eggs. Still two bread country and one hot sauce - Red Tabasco only. Most places that I ask for Cholula know what it is but no one has any, only Red Tabasco.
The next stop was at Natures Supply to pick up some Canidae Pure Element dog food for Patches. They had the 30# bags in stock as they had said they would and were good enough to carry them out to Desperado for me. I laid on the 'Ol Guy pity me me request to keep for carrying the bag. As the name implies it is a natural food store for people but they also carry Canidae, a nice looking store just north of Wal*Mart in a strip mall in Stillwater, OK. Recommended.
I then stopped at Homeland Market in Ardmore to get groceries. Started up the generator and turned on the A/C for Patches while I was gone. It was a good thing that I did because I was in the store almost an hour looking for everything on my list. Even then I forgot two things that were on the list but I can live without them until my next trip.
After I got checked into the Park here I took Patches for a walk along a frontage road to I-35. Nearly at the end of the road is Roberts Truck Center which services big trucks, mostly diesel. I got there a few minutes after 6:00 but there was a fellow still in the service bay and we talked for a few minutes, he said that they have done RV service in the past. I went back this morning and talked to the Service Manager and he was more than happy to do my oil and filter changes first thing next Monday morning.
I finished Master of the Game a few days ago but with the travel days and visiting friends I had not managed to write anything about it. This is the first Sidney Sheldon book that I can remember reading however I recognized the name when I traded for this book. I'll pick up some more of his if I get a chance to trade for them. Not at this Park but maybe my next one.Sidney Sheldon is one of the most popular storytellers in the world. This is one of his best-loved novels, a compulsively readable thriller, packed with suspense, intrigue and passion. It will recruit a new generation of fans to his writing.
This is a story about Kate Blackwell, and her family, one of the richest and most powerful women in the world. She is an enigma, a woman surrounded by a thousand unanswered questions. Her father was a diamond prospector who struck it rich beyond his wildest dreams. Her mother was the daughter of a crooked Afrikaaner merchant. Her conception was itself an act of hate-filled vengeance. - HarperCollins.
My book cover was nothing like this one, it was a Warner Books edition. There have been many printings over the years and it is also sold now as an ebook.
5 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
The high here yesterday was 86°, one degree cooler, with the average humidity of 67% again. The low this morning was 53 with the humidity at 94% again but this morning the wind was blowing - it was cold. I stepped outside and turned right around and got my wind breaker. We did almost a 2 mile loop to the west from the Park and with this cooler weather Patches loved it as much as I did.These first few days of October have had me thinking that I started south too soon. That seems to be a fault of mine, moving too soon. But as it turned out I may have been right all along just not perfect timing but real close. Custer, SD had snow and is expecting more today. Here, I have finally received some cooler weather with rain starting around 10:00 that lasted for a couple of hours and brought the temperature down from this morning to 46°.
A very restful day. A lot of couch time with Patches and my latest book. Some News reading on the Internet but not much new News to be read.
There has been a LOT of News coverage about the closure of the WWII Memorial in Washington, D C but that is not the only location where the Park Service is trying their best to 'make it hurt'.
This is governing by temper-tantrum, the same tactic that the President used in an attempt to kill the 'Sequester'. The DC WWII Memorial, an open-air public monument that is normally accessible 24 hours a day; you walk up to it, when you have finished reflecting, you then walk away from it. To close it required far and away more manpower and cost than to leave it open.
The 'closure' of Florida Bay is even more insane if that is possible. The National Park Service this week informing fishing charter boat operators that they are not permitted to take clients fishing in Florida Bay until the feds get back to work. That means that more than 1,100 square miles of prime fishing is off limits between the southern tip of the mainland to the Keys until further notice.
Centuries ago, King Canute famously failed to command the ocean tide to stop. His display was actually a means to educate his subjects on the limits of royal power. Now, however, President Obama intends to show his subject that he has the royal power to control the oceans.
6 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
When the rain stopped and clouds cleared yesterday afternoon the temperature moved up quickly to a high of 77°, with the average humidity at 74%. The low this morning was 44 with the humidity down from yesterday morning to 87%, no wind this morning but it felt cold.We did almost a 2 mile out and back to the west then north from the Park this morning. This took us almost to the entrance of a large Michelin car tire manufacturing plant. The road to the plant is only two lane but has a wide shoulder on each side which was a good thing because I think we got to see part of the late night shift going home. I'm guessing that the plant works 24/365.
Even with the possibility of war in Syria the Lame Stream Media was mum on the subject of casualties in Afghanistan. That was big News when former President Bush was in office, now nothing is said. I don't want you to forget so will show you in the table below the deaths for the first nine months of each year and the President in office when they occurred.
| Total US Casualties Iraq & Afghanistan | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bush | Obama | |
| 2001 | -0- | -0- |
| 2002 | 41 | -0- |
| 2003 | 357 | -0- |
| 2004 | 615 | -0- |
| 2005 | 684 | -0- |
| 2006 | 614 | -0- |
| 2007 | 896 | -0- |
| 2008 | 404 | -0- |
| 2009 | -0- | 348 |
| 2010 | -0- | 418 |
| 2011 | -0- | 402 |
| 2012 | -0- | 264 |
| 2013 | -0- | 136 |
7 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
A very nice day yesterday with the high of 73° and the average humidity at 53%. I can live with that kind of weather! The low this morning was 42 but we did just a short potty walk in that temperature. Desperado was cold when I got up the last two mornings at these lower temperatures however.We did almost a 2 mile out and back to the east yesterday afternoon to check on the opening time of a restaurant. Went to it, Prairie Kitchen, for breakfast this morning. It is like almost any chain restaurant that you can walk into but has a much more limited breakfast menu unless you like pancakes, they offer quite a few of them. I had eggs, ground steak, hash browns and wheat toast (still two bread country). I'm am also now in what I call 'spoon in the cup' country. The last time I was in TX and southern OK I noticed that when you order coffee they ALWAYS serve it with the spoon in the cup.
We then went to Roberts Truck Service for oil and filter changes for Desperado. While that was happening Patches got her longer morning walk. She was very vocal about going, talked to me like she does in the afternoon. Probably giving me 'what for' because I made her wait until so late this morning.
The wait after we got back from our walk was not much at all. However, I waited for 15 minutes for the bill and then had to go ask the Service Manager if there was some kind of problem. He then did what ever it was that needed to be done but he had not done it and I paid the bill and was gone. There were two other RVs there this morning so it is a place in Ardmore where RVs can get serviced.
The final stop of the day was at the Post Office. There I mailed an oil sample away for analysis and bought a stamp to mail a check to Joe's Camera in Alma, NE. The DVD transfer of my 8mm film has been completed so I sent him the General Delivery address to use and asked him to email me his billing. I'm pretty sure it will be less than the oil change although I got almost 4.8 liters of 'extra' oil for the next change.
I think this is the fist novel that I have read by Iris Johansen. She has written a lot of them so I should be able to find more. When I trade again I'll be looking for some of them. This was not great literature but it was a good entertaining read.If fate suddenly made you more beautiful that you ever dreamed possible, would it be the beginning of a fairy tale, or your worst nightmare? The brutal attack should have killed anybody, but Nell Calder did more than survive. She emerged a woman transformed, with an exquisite beauty found only in fairy tales. Nell Calder deserved a happy ending. Instead, her descent into terror has just begun. Her attacker is still on the hunt, determined to finish what he's started. And Nell, protected by a new face, is just as determined to fight back and take her revenge. But to catch her prey, she will have to expose herself--even if it makes her a killer's prime target. - Publishers Weekly
8 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Another nice day yesterday with the high of 77° and the average humidity again at 53%. The low this morning was 42 again and the forecast through next Saturday is for this weather to repeat. The experts are then predicting that it will get cooler and maybe rainy for 3-4 days and then much cooler.Our afternoon walk yesterday was an out and back to the west and south on a dirt road and then south along the frontage road. This was about 2 miles total which is what we did this morning also. But this time we went east on US70 then looped back west and home along a short section of railroad tracks and the road to the Michelin plant.
Patches has picked up fleas. I'm not sure when but it was probably the day we went through high grass at the back of the Park. I picked quite a few of their droppings off of her today, didn't find the critters, but need to get some powder when I go shopping.
The supposedly closed National Mall will be reopened today for the "Camino Americano March for Immigration Reform." The regime wants Americans to suffer, but it doesn't want to inconvenience its political allies, in this case that includes the SEIU and AFL-CIO.
This is a 'Selective Shutdown' that follows the one primary policy that the Obama Administration has followed since his 2009 inauguration - Reward your friends, Punish your enemies.
During this Partial Shutdown of the Federal Government the ObamaCare exchanges went online. It was such a mess that the online web site was closed over the weekend and a 'virtual waiting room' was installed as a fix.
This is what President Obama said on the first day of the healthcare exchanges, it sounds so great, just like ALL of the his speeches. Do you remember that time you tried to buy a TV on Amazon and it took 36 hours and 21 tries to finally get through to the checkout screen? Or when you were forced to buy that TV on Amazon or pay a fine/tax if you didn't?
Starting today, you and your friends and your family and your coworkers can get covered, too. Just visit healthcare.gov, and there you can compare insurance plans, side by side, the same way you’d shop for a plane ticket on Kayak or a TV on Amazon.White House Spokesman Jay Carney explained that this supposedly easy process has had the 'glitches' fixed so that it will now direct you and your friends and your family into an online “waiting room”. This is where everyone will then wait until granted the privilege of buying healthcare under the threat of penalty.
You enter some basic information, you’ll be presented with a list of quality, affordable plans that are available in your area, with clear descriptions of what each plan covers, and what it will cost. You’ll find more choices, more competition, and in many cases, lower prices — most uninsured Americans will find that they can get covered for $100 or less.
CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) has put up a gate at the front end of the system that places visitors into a waiting room and lets them in at a particular pace so that the surge in volume does not cause the problems that it caused in the past. CMS has been working to reduce this issue.There has been another thing happen this past week with the partial implementation of ObamaCare i.e. the opening of the exchanges and the mandatory purchase of insurance by individuals. People have been shocked to find that where they thought they were getting fee healthcare by making other people pay for it; they are finding out that they are the 'other people'.
9 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Yesterday was not quite a nice as the previous couple of days with the high of 79° and the average humidity up to 60%. The low this morning was up quite a bit to 51. The experts have postponed their predicted cooling and possible rain for only 2-3 days but still say that it will get much cooler.We tried to go out and back to the south on Pleasantview Rd this morning and found it to not be pleasant. A narrow shoulder with a lot traffic because moms were taking their crumb snatchers to school and then returning home. I can imagine those children some 40-50 years from now saying "I can remember those good old days when mom drove me to school every day and then picked me up, now the kids have to walk or bicycle".
My neighbor to the north has two cocker spaniels that stay outside most of the time when he is at home. They are very well behaved and have been shock collar trained to not cross a thin string 'fence' that is laid on the ground around his trailer. They do cause Patches a lot of aggravation however just by being out there. This may be good training for her also however - she has to get over it!
I gave this Park a recommended rating when I moved in mostly because they would have me and Hidden Lake would not. Now that I have been here a week I have more to say. There is probably as much ink on some of the denizens as you will find in the print shops of today. There are also probably as many Harley motorcycles as there are cars, pickups are the vehicle of choice. That does not mean that I would not stay here because of those facts, everyone that I have met has been very nice and it has been a quiet Park.
The restroom, only one, is not the worst that I have ever seen but it is certainly in the lower quartile. I used the last of the toilet paper and told the office that I had done so, many other users do not. I have noticed that there was none and the reason for it - there are no paper towels so people use the toilet paper. Whoever does the cleaning is being overpaid; it is not so dirty that I don't want to go take a shower but it is not five star clean either.
These are the opening paragraphs of Citizens Are The Soylent Green of Today’s Politics by Monty Perlin on October 8, 2013.
Neither American political party is worth supporting. Each has interests inconsistent with those of the American public. The claimed political differences are mostly cosmetic, designed for marketing advantage. Both parties act in their self interest which does not coincide with that of the citizens or the well-being of the country.He then ends the article with this paragraph. I think he 'gets it' even if the vast majority of the American People have not yet.
Each party behaves like a self-serving criminal gang. The quaint concept of serving the public exists no longer. Routinely they exempt themselves from the rules and laws they impose on the rest of the country. Their policies enrich the political class while the rest of the country becomes poorer. Mark Twain described Congress as our distinctly native American criminal class.
The political Ponzi scheme of tax, borrow and spend has reached its limit. Either it will die when citizens turn on it or it will kill the productive, ensuring its own destruction.
10 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Yesterday was a repeat with the high at 80° and the average humidity at 60% again, not so nice. The low this morning was up a little again to 55. The next couple of days are forecast to be the same then 3-4 days with a chance of rain and cooling for the remaining days in the 10 day forecast.We started out to do an out and back to the north on Pleastview Rd yesterday afternoon and found it more unpleasant that going south. No shoulder and more traffic than I want with those conditions. We reached the railroad tracks that pass along the south side of the Michelin plant and went east along them then back home. Pleasentview Rd is no longer on my list of possible walking routes.
My neighbor on the south side left late yesterday afternoon. I now have considerable room on both sides of my space. Almost as much as I had when I was in the COE Campground which is why I like them so much.
This has been another day for doing very little. Some couch reading time, Daily blogs, Internet News and have started on my Monthly blogs. Resting up for a busy day tomorrow. HA
The Partial Shutdown and the Debt Crisis are both smoke screens for the big problem that neither of the political parties want to solve - the devaluation of the US dollar. If the dollar loses status as the world’s most reliable currency, the United States will lose the right to print money to pay its debt, it will be forced to pay this debt. The day that will happen is coming and it will make the Partial Shutdown look like the silliness that it was. China keeps pressing forward toward that end; this is from the Daily Pfenning.
Guess who is the newest member on the roster that makes up countries that have signed a currency swap agreement with China?..The European Central Bank (ECB) announced this morning that they have signed a bilateral currency swap agreement with China to bolster trade financing… Now, Eurozone companies don’t have to change their euros to dollars first to settle the terms of trade with China, they just deliver euros, or receive renminbi… China now has nearly all of Asia on their roster, along with Australia, and New Zealand, Russia, Argentina, Brazil and now the Eurozone!I am not a fan of Glen Beck but I came upon a story that included this excerpt from one of his recent shows. What Beck is saying is very much in line with what I have said over the past few years; there is a third political party forming in this country. The more the Democrats try to marginalize the Republican Party the better the chances are that it will happen. President Obama wishes to destroy the Republican Party if he can but I think what will replace it will be far worse for the Democrats.
Talk about gaining a wider distribution of their currency! This will strengthen the international use of the renminbi/yuan… And that’s what China wants! They want to keep removing the dollar’s relevancy in the terms of trade throughout the world, one country at a time...
Remember, the recent (June 28th) talk by People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Gov. Zhou, where he pledged to expand cross-border use of the renminbi/yuan, and he encouraged multinational companies to include the Chinese currency in their asset portfolios… When China decides to all direct trading between their currency and other foreign currencies, convertibility will occur, and when all that happens, it’s game over for the dollar as the reserve currency folks…
Beck has said multiple times that he has no desire to see a third party, and reminded how the Republican Party began.
“Before the GOP was in existence, it was a two party system – the Democrats and the Whigs,” Beck said, noting that many Whigs and a fair number of Democrats were frustrated that both parties were offering much of the same.
“Charles Sumner was one of the most hated people by the Whigs and the Democrats… so much that he was literally beaten within an inch of his life on the House floor because no one stepped in to stop it,” Beck continued. “Within four years, Sumner wasn’t the most hated anymore — he was the most beloved man in the Republican Party, and the Whigs were extinct.
11 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: October 11, 1925Yesterday was another repeat with the high at 80° and the average humidity at 64%. The low this morning was up quite a bit to 64. Today and tomorrow are now expected to be 86 and it feels like the humidity is climbing then maybe 3-4 days with a chance of rain and cooling for the remaining days in the 10 day forecast.
I said I would have a busy day today but had no idea that I would be doing what I did. I went to Baldwins Restaurant for breakfast and while parking there in the semi-darkness I backed into a post near the curb. Scrapped the right side storage door and right rear panel. Then when I pulled forward to get away from it I pulled off the rear panel where you would normally find a bumper. The left side of that panel was still attached as well as the trailer power cord. With the high humidity and my state of shock I was dripping wet with sweat by the time I got the panel off and inside Desperado.
I got a couple of recommendations for repair estimates so I was busy running around town getting those. Calling my insurance company was a trial. TracFone does not play well with auto-directing phone systems. Then when I borrowed a phone and got a live person on the line I could not hear her. She called back and all was well then the connection went to hell again so I had an interpreter repeating what the woman was saying.
I left the rear panel at the second shop where I think I'll have the work done unless my insurance will not pay them. The first shop is high as can be and I got a better feeling about the second one. It is not going to make any difference to what I will pay now as a deductible and what my premium will be next year.
We then finally made it to Homeland for groceries. It took me almost a hour again to gather up everything I wanted. This time I didn't have the generator running and Desperado was hot and humid when I did get back to it. Probably only in the upper 70s but the humidity had to have been in that same range as well.
I wanted to stop at the local library and see if they would do some book trades. Not today, maybe the next time that I am out and about. I'll have to make at least one trip to get the repairs done, most likely two. There will also be the sitting around at the shop while they do it - not looking forward to the whole process. I don't want to think about what dealing with my insurance is going to be like, however, from what I have read it will be a better experience than trying to sign up for ObamaCare.
Headline Bush's Approval Rating Falls to New Low by Ron Fournier for AP on March 10, 2006 when Bush's approval rate fell to 37%. This is the first paragraph.
More and more people, particularly Republicans, disapprove of President Bush's performance, question his character and no longer consider him a strong leader against terrorism, according to an AP-Ipsos poll documenting one of the bleakest points of his presidency.Headline No heroes in shutdown, GOP gets most blame by Calvin Woodward and Jennifer Agiesta on Oct. 9, 2013 when Obama's rate fell to 37%. This is the first paragraph.
President Barack Obama and lawmakers must rise above their incessant bickering and do more to end the partial government shutdown, according to a poll Wednesday that places the brunt of the blame on Republicans but finds no one standing tall in Washington.
12 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Miserable weather yesterday and last night with today and tonight expected to be more of the same. Yesterday the high was 86° with the average humidity at 71%. The low this morning was up some more from yesterday to 64. We got an official measured .45" of rain in the early morning hours and it looks like we could get more at any moment during the day. Rained hard for only a few minutes here and it was wind driven toward the front of Desperado. This caused a slight leak around the TV antenna inside again.We did a short potty walk through part of the Park this morning. I had not been toward the back of the Park since I had first got here and today I saw that it is almost full up. I'm lucky to still have the vacant space to the south of me.
I also saw what I have called radiation fog. Water vapor condensing close to the ground that considering the temperature this morning looked more like steam. The humidity was being reported as being 94% but that is Relative Humidity which is calculated using some obscure principles of physics. The Absolute Humidity was far in excess of 100% as determined by my "how it feels" sensors.
After I got home yesterday, I contacted the person that I had been told would be handling my claim . She was prompt in sending back an email reply that said my claim had been assigned to another representative and I found an email from her asking for information. I sent everything that she asked for and she said that was exactly what she needed.
Later in the afternoon I get another email from a totally different representative that says he has been assigned to handle my claim. Says he will be calling me to find out what happened and is sending out a field representative within the next 48 hours. I ask him what is going on? I have had 3 claim adjusters assigned within the space of 3-4 hours and I told the fist contact that I don't do telephones. I also sent him a copy of the email that provided answers to all the questions that the second rep had asked and I had been told that was exactly what she needed. The insurance claim game has begun, it is now their move!
This is another of Tess Gerritsen's mystery novels that feature the dynamic female duo of Detective Rizzoli and Medical Examiner Isles. I have enjoyed two others, I think, and will be looking for more. Anyone wanting to get a brief medical education could devote a lot of time to web searching all the medical terms that M.E. Isles drops into the dialog of the story.When two Boston nuns are found brutally beaten--one fatally and one with a scintilla of life left in her--it's up to homicide detective Jane Rizzoli to find the perpetrator. Medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles, nicknamed the Queen of the Dead, has the unlucky fortune to discover that the murdered nun, a young woman about to make her final vows, hid untold secrets from the rest of the aging convent. Both fallen Catholics, Rizzoli and Isles seek to reconcile the viciousness of the crimes with the seeming blind faith of the victims. Another dead body turns up, and the investigators must rely on their clinical analysis, lest they be sucked in to the drama unfolding before them. Each woman immerses herself in her work rather than face the outside world; Rizzoli refuses to face the truth of what her future holds, and Isles denies her own loneliness. Woven within the horror of this gruesome story is the old allegory of good versus evil, but by relating it through these two fascinating individuals, Gerritsen avoids cliches. Another captivating, horrific thriller in her extremely popular canon. - Booklist
13 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Some more miserable weather yesterday with last night being not quite as bad. The high was 86° again with the average humidity up some more to 76%. The low this morning was down just slightly from yesterday to 62 but so humid I could feel water droplets on my face. The forecast for today is more of the same. Then maybe tomorrow the temperatures will drop into the upper 70s with a 90% chance of rain and probably even more humid.My A/C cycled on for the first time yesterday at about 9:00 but quit cycling earlier last night. The early start was partially my fault because I was preparing another pot of Frey's Special Chili. I didn't spare the cayenne nor the bakers chocolate in this batch, I was using the smaller chocolate squares and would have had two remaining so they went in the pot. I think I have got the cayenne measurements dialed in for me which means I need about 1/2 that much to make it almost too hot for most people to eat it.
I continued to read Monthly blogs yesterday and today and am almost current. That prompted me to get started on the Will Rogers weekly article links for December. I got everything copied into my web page working file today and considered that to be 'good enough'.
The rollout for ObamaCare is not going very well and there are continued unintended consequences that keep cropping up. This excerpt from USA Today focuses on hospitals but I have read others that have talked about the number of doctors that are dropping out of Medicare/Medicaid or simply retiring to avoid the consequences of ObamaCare. The article also continues to parrot the mantra that there will be 30 million additional Americans provided with health care under ObamaCare - my guess is there will be more uninsured at the end of 2014 than there were at the end of 2008.
Hospitals, a reliable source of employment growth in the recession and its aftermath, are starting to cut thousands of jobs amid falling insurance payments and in-patient visits.
The payroll cuts are surprising because the Affordable Care Act (ACA), whose implementation took a big step forward this month, is eventually expected to provide health coverage to as many as 30 million additional Americans.
Health care providers announced more layoffs than any other industry last month — 8,128 — mostly because of reductions by hospitals, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas. So far this year, the health care sector has announced 41,085 layoffs, the third-most behind financial and industrial companies.
14 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Some more miserable weather yesterday with more to come today and maybe tomorrow. The high was 73° with the average humidity up some more to 86%. The low this morning was up just a little from yesterday to 64 but it was raining and is forecast to do so until sometime tomorrow. The average humidity can not go up much more so I have hope that there are better days to come. The forecast high is 73 again today the 70 tomorrow with a couple of days in the 60s to follow.
I did very little today. On the couch with my book and Patches listening to the rain. We went out this morning for two very short potty walks in the rain. The first time I had an umbrella but when the rain slack up we went out again and I didn't take it - got a little wet. Patches loves it, it is not a hard rain just enough to make her shake off some water from time to time. She would be more than willing to go for a long walk in it but not me.I came across this advertisement for an Obama Doll. I think it would be perfect Christmas gift for the young rug rats in your family or one of those office gift exchanges. Buy one for yourself to keep as a collectors item that can only increase in value as the years roll buy. Did you miss out and not buy an Elvis collector plate? Well don't let it happen again, Obama memorabilia will bring you the big bucks in the years to come!
Be sure to Open in another tab for a bigger one.
Associated Press story headline Social Security benefit increase could be among lowest in decades. In the story they say "For the second year in a row, it would be one of the lowest raises since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975." Last year the increase was 1.7% which was the 6th lowest increase at that time.
The 1.5% this year will result in an average increase of 1.36% during the past 5 years. If there is anyone that thinks that average inflation during the past 5 years has been 1.36% I would like to see the proof. When I went online to the CPI Inflation Calculator provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics I computed an average inflation rate of 4.4% during the past 5 years.
There is a 'trick' involved in the computation of the cost-of-living (COLA) adjustment however, it only uses July, August and September data in the calculation not the full year. The COLA is also based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W, not for retired people. The spending patterns of the two groups are not the same, the retired spend a higher percentage of their monthly 'income' on food, transportation and medical care than the CPI-W group.
15 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Continued miserable weather yesterday although the high was only 69° with the average humidity up some more to 92%. It rained almost non-stop from 6:30 in the morning until 6:30 in the evening dumping an official 2.93". The low this morning was down a lot to 55 but it officially started to rain again at 8:00 and got colder.We got out for a short walk through the Park yesterday afternoon but got wet again before obtaining the shelter of Desperado. This morning we did a 1.5 mile out and back that had us finishing the walk in sprinkles. Another 1/3 inch of rain then fell by noon.
All this rain has provided me with some good information. It is not rain that is causing the leak around the TV antenna, it is wind driven rain. The last leak I had came from very little rain but a strong wind at the front of Desperado. All of the rain yesterday and today has not been wind driven and there has been no leak at all - so far.
I got another email from my insurance claim representative yesterday wanting to call me an set up an appointment for the field representative to come and do an estimate of the damages. Wanted to know where I was located so I sent him a copy of the email that I had provided to rep #2 when she asked that same question. I once again reminded him that I do not do telephones and gave him all the hours of the day that I would NOT be available for the next 10 days.
Also got an email from the repair shop that I hope to have do the work that asked for some information so they can submit their estimate. Have not heard anything from the second shop that gave a very high off the cuff estimate, don't know if they have submitted anything or not.
An article Obamacare's Website Is Crashing Because It Doesn't Want You To Know How Costly Its Plans Are in Forbes explains in very simple terms why the rollout for ObamaCare has failed. ObamaCare was built on President Obama's one unshakable belief: Spread the wealth around by rewarding your friends and punishing your enemies.
A growing consensus of IT experts, outside and inside the government, have figured out a principal reason why the website for Obamacare’s federally-sponsored insurance exchange is crashing. Healthcare.gov forces you to create an account and enter detailed personal information before you can start shopping. This, in turn, creates a massive traffic bottleneck, as the government verifies your information and decides whether or not you’re eligible for subsidies. HHS bureaucrats knew this would make the website run more slowly. But they were more afraid that letting people see the underlying cost of Obamacare’s insurance plans would scare people away...
An HHS spokeswoman said the agency wanted to ensure that users were aware of their eligibility for subsidies that could help pay for coverage, before they started seeing the prices of policies...Obamacare wasn’t designed to help healthy people with average incomes get health insurance. It was designed to force those people to pay more for coverage, in order to subsidize insurance for people with incomes near the poverty line, and those with chronic or costly medical conditions.
16 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Continued miserable weather yesterday although the high was only 69° again and the average humidity stuck at 92%. It rained almost non-stop from 8:00 in the morning until midnight but mostly a light rain or drizzle that added an official 0.55". The low this morning was down some more to 50 but felt a little colder with a slight wind and the dampness. The 10 day forecast is now looking much better with most of the highs expected to be in the 60s, I just hope the humidity goes down as well.We were only able to do a short walk in the Park yesterday afternoon and I did that with an umbrella. We were back to a longer out and back 1.5 mile route this morning which I think Patches enjoyed as much as I did. A little rain is always good but not while I'm walking!
I got an email from the insurance claim field rep that he will be here on Friday to take pictures and estimate the damage to Desperado. I don't know what happens then but I can tell it is not happening very quickly. Got another question from Ardmore Auto Works that the answer may let them submit their estimate. Still have heard nothing from the first shop, I'm not so sure that they wanted to do the work and I don't think I want them to do it.
If there is one good thing to come out of the Federal Government's Slim Down and Debt Default hype it is that I'm seeing more articles about a third political party than I have before. The Republican Party is no longer a viable opposition party to the Democrat Party, more than 1/2 of the Republicans in office now should run for re-election as Democrats. Neither existing political party want a third party to become strong enough to challenge the way they currently do business but I do believe that the day is coming.
17 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
I finally got a break in the weather yesterday, the high was only 62° with the average humidity way down to 66%. No more rain, mostly clear sky all day and this morning the low was 39. There is a 30% chance of more rain tomorrow but the 10 day forecast continues to predict highs to be in the 60s. If the humidity does not go up from the level yesterday I can live with that.Did the out and back 1.5 route again this morning and then headed for town. Stopped at Denny's this morning and thought I had hit the Lotto. I'm not a huge fan of Denny's but I do like their skillets. Got the Santa Fe Skillet this morning and was a winner with some sourdough toast then the bonus was getting some Cholula hot sauce.
Stopped and almost filled up with gas at the lowest price that I have paid in a long, long time - $3.099/gal. Then it was on to Homeland again for groceries where I managed to get everything I had on my list within less than a hour. Went to the post office and picked up my General Delivery of the 8mm film and DVD that had come in from Alma, NE.
Got all of this taken care off and then had about a 20 minute wait for the library to open. They did not have a very large selection but I was able to trade 8 books that I have read for 8 new ones. I don't think any of these new ones are by any of the authors that I have grown fond of but that is fine, perhaps I'll discover some additional favorites. The very good thing is that I now have a full unread library once again.
The Chinese have expressed my opinion of the Debt Deal as well as I could have and their words have far more significance than mine. I am not alone in my thinking, everyone knows that the object is to have the collapse happen on 'Any Watch but Mine'.
America's largest overseas creditor wasn't exactly blown away by the deal Congress struck to avoid a potential default.Mr. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, also speaks with more authority than I do so maybe people will listen to him. When he was asked how worried he was that one morning the bond market will have moved against the U.S.? This was his answer.
"[P]oliticians in Washington have done nothing substantial but postponing once again the final bankruptcy of global confidence in the U.S. financial system," government-run Chinese news agency Xinhau Thursday. Wednesday's vote, the commentary said, "was no more than prolonging the fuse of the U.S. debt bomb one inch longer."
And a Chinese credit rating agency Dagong downgraded the United States, saying the deal did little to change the outlook for the country's financial condition. It lowered its view of the U.S. debt rating from A to A- and kept it on negative credit outlook, which means further downgrades are possible. "The government is still approaching the verge of default crisis, a situation that cannot be substantially alleviated in the foreseeable future," the firm wrote in a note.
It’s virtually assured, the question is when and how. I don’t know if it will be two years or five years but it will happen. It is a matter of time, the United states can’t borrow indefinitely. Over hundred years of bankruptcies of country after country who thought they could get away with it because they had the reserve currency and the military power of the world. We are going to have fiscal discipline. It’s imposed upon us or we do the right thing and do it to ourselves the right way… America knows the way, it doesn’t have the will.
18 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: October 18, 1925Yesterday was nice, the high was only 69° but the average humidity inched its way up again to 71%. This morning the low was 50 with an overcast sky and there continues to be a 30% chance of more rain. The 10 day forecast now predicts the highs to be in the 60s and low 70s.
The insurance field rep showed up this morning at 9:00 and took a bunch of pictures, did a little measuring and will stop at Ardmore Auto Works to look at the rear panel. From what I can understand the claims rep will look at the field reps report and arrive at at an amount and send me a check. If I can not find anyone to do the repairs for that amount then I'm out of pocket the difference. Getting estimates and submitting them to said claims rep doesn't seem to mean anything. Maybe I'll know more sometime next week.
I saw gray water backing up into the shower this morning. That is usually a sure sign that I need to dump holding tanks, so I did. Filled the fresh water tank also while I was out there doing chores. That should take care of water issues for the next 10 days or so. I am using the on-board shower now so I don't get as long between gray water dumps as when I'm using the Park showers. The one here in the Park has become progressively worse since I have been here.
Today also marked an end to my usual breakfast at home. I have been making up some kind of scramble at home every day since getting Patches and only eating out once a week when I go shopping. While west of the Continental Divide I never had a problem finding the large cartons of house brand Eggbeaters, not so since Gunnison, CO or maybe even Angel Fire, NM.
Therefore, I have been eating a lot of eggs. Not a good thing if you believe that the body stores up dietary cholesterol which I think it does to some extent. So, I had my last home cooked breakfast using eggs this morning and will be going to tofu as a replacement. I have been experimenting by adding some to my scrambles for the past few weeks and I think it is going to work but will have to try it to know for sure.
The lame stream media is dancing in the street to celebrate their victory over Senator Cruz and the Tea Party. I hope they enjoy their time in the sun because this is not the end of the fight; it is simply the end of the beginning. I don't think the Senator is going to rollover no matter what Senator McCain has to say about him and the Tea Party supporters are not going to shut up.
Sen. Ted Cruz isn’t very popular right now on Capitol Hill — and he says he doesn’t care.
“There’s an old saying that, ‘Politics, it ain’t beanbag.’ And, you know, I’m not serving in office because I desperately needed 99 new friends in the U.S. Senate,” the Texas Republican told ABC News in an interview set to air Sunday...
“I will say that the reason this deal, the lousy deal was reached last night, is because, unfortunately, Senate Republicans made the choice not to support House Republicans,” Cruz told ABC. “I wish Senate Republicans had united, I tried to do everything I could to urge Senate Republicans to come together and stand with House Republicans.” The freshman senator hasn’t named which Republicans he blames specifically the “defund” failure.
“I think it was unfortunate that you saw multiple members of the Senate Republicans going on television attacking House conservatives, attacking the effort to defund Obamacare, saying, ‘It cannot win, It’s a fools error and we will lose, this must fail,’” Cruz said. “That is a recipe for losing the fight, and it’s a shame,” he said.
19 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
What a difference a week makes, yesterday was not too bad. Yesterday the high was 68° compared to the 86 last week. The average humidity was up some more to 83% compared to the 71% last week when I was complaining about the miserable weather. This morning the low was 35° and only 37 at 8:30 when I finally succumbed to the pleadings of Patches to get out the Wave Heater. I need to start looking for propane!There was no official rain fall yesterday but we got a little damp from something falling out of the sky while on our afternoon walk yesterday. Then this morning it was clear and cold, I was wanting my gloves long before we got back home.
When I went to town on Thursday I started up Desperado and the idiot lights for brake and ABS did not go off. I thought they might go off after a couple of more starts but by the time I got home they were still burning brightly. The Owners Manuel suggests that I'm low of brake fluid so when I go out again that is something else that I need to get checked.
My no egg breakfast this morning was good and I think I will be able to live with it. As I said yesterday, I have been cooking up some kind of scramble at home for almost two years now. I have made some changes from time to time and will probably do so again in the future but will try to continue using tofu rather than eggs.
This is what I'm currently whipping up: about 4 oz of tofu (crumbled), a couple handfuls of diced potatoes, about 1/4 of a diced yellow onion, a handful of spinach, a big spoon of minced garlic and a scattering of shredded cheddar cheese. The only seasoning is my home made cayenne hot sauce that now has some Sazón Goya added to it.
I picked up this book in one of my trades based on how thick it was as much as anything. I think I might have got it while in Custer where the selection was rather slim. It has three pages of high praise, was selected as a Book-Of-The-Month and I did not like it. I may give the author another chance but if it comes to his book or one of the authors that I know I like he will get a miss.The title of this quiet, absorbing suspense novel by a Danish author only suggests the intriguing story it tells. After young Isaiah Christiansen falls from a snow-covered roof in present-day Copenhagen, something about his lone rooftop tracks--and the fact that the boy had a fear of heights--obsesses Smilla Qaavigaaq Jaspersen, a woman who had befriended him. Smilla is 37, unmarried, and, like Isaiah, part of Denmark's small Eskimo/Greenlander community. She is also a minor Danish authority on the properties and classification of ice. Her search for what had frightened the boy leads her to uncover information about his father's mysterious death on a secret expedition to Greenland, a mission funded by a powerful Danish corporation involved in a strange conspiracy stretching back to WW II. As related in Smilla's sober, no-nonsense narration, the plot acquires credibility even as its details become more bizarre. While the novel will probably be compared to Gorky Park , Hoeg has much more to offer, both in terms of his impeccable literary style and in the glimpses he provides of an utterly foreign culture. Its chief virtue, however, is the narrator: Smilla is never less than believable in her contradictions--caustic, caring, thoughtful, impulsive, determined and above all, rebellious. Smoothly translated by Nunnally, this is Hoeg's third novel, but the first to appear in English. - Publishers Weekly
20 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Yesterday the high was 64° with the average humidity back down to 70% which felt pretty good. This morning the low moved up some to 37° and then warmed up faster than it did yesterday. The expected high today is 75 but then back to the lower 60s tomorrow with a 30% chance of rain once more.When I stopped at The Landing I was treated to some Folgers Black Silk coffee by my hosts. I found it to be good, not better than Arbuckels but good, so I bought some this last shopping trip. Have made 2-3 cups so far using my Aeropress and it makes a good cup of coffee. Better than the Folgers Gourmet Selections® Lively Colombian that I bought in Alma, NE. It is also much better than a French Roast that I bought there.
I received an email from the insurance field rep this morning that included a copy of the estimate that Ardmore Auto Works had prepared. He said that he had also sent a copy of it to the claim rep along with his report so I know that the claim rep now has it and maybe he has the one from Color Pro.
The difference between the two estimates is huge. I would make a lot of money IF the insurance company gave me a check for the Color Pro estimate and I had the work done by Auto Works - that is not going to happen however. I just hope that the insurance company agrees to pay what the Auto Works estimate is and I can get the repairs done and I can get out of here before it freezes up.
I made up a pot of stew a few days ago that has been great for 'linner' during these cooler days. I don't eat much beef but when I do it is usually in a stew or some hamburger for tacos.
Maureen Dowd, one time Obama idolater, wrote an editorial today Cat on a Hot Stove for The New York Times that excoriated the President. Since I am a blogger, and I mention President Obama often, I'm am honored that he has singled me out as someone that profited from the recent conflict in Washington. Now all I have to do is determine how it is that I profited!
So why did the moment feel so small?
At his victory scold in the State Dining Room on Thursday, the president who yearned to be transformational stood beneath an oil portrait of Abraham Lincoln and demanded . . . a farm bill. He also couldn’t resist taking a holier-than-thou tone toward his tail-between-their-legs Tea Party foes. He assumed his favorite role of the shining knight hectoring the benighted: Sir Lecturealot.
“All of us need to stop focusing on the lobbyists and the bloggers and the talking heads on radio and the professional activists who profit from conflict,” he sermonized. (We have met the enemy and they are . . . bloggers?)
21 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Yesterday the high was 69° with the average humidity dropping some more to 64% with a breeze in the afternoon -very nice. This morning the low moved up quite a bit to 46°. That might have been due to the overcast sky that is forecast to remain and the expected high to be only 63 and a 30% chance of rain.The big News of the day was the Rose Garden speech by President Obama. He gave a speech - problem fixed - time to move on to more important issues. I read the entire transcript of his speech and was left with the impression that I was reading the transcript from a late night Infomercial including customer endorsements. He devoted almost the entire speech to telling us once again how great ObamCare is and very little time describing in any detail how the online problems were going to be fixed nor when.
It reminded me of the joke from years ago. It seems that there was a woman that had been married 3 times and was still a virgin. The first husband was killed in an auto accident as they were leaving the church. The second husband apparently was gay (homosexual back in those days). Her third husband was an IBM salesman and he did nothing but sit in bed and tell her how good it was going to be.
I received nothing from the insurance claim rep nor from Ardmore Auto Works. I was not surprised that I have heard nothing from the claim rep, I think he would be just as happy as he could be to never pay me. It is surprising that I haven't received anything from Auto Works but then maybe they know that the claim rep is doing nothing.
It was another day for doing little other than some blog reading, News reading and reading my latest book while on the couch. I did a morning and afternoon walk with Patches of course, she does not let me avoid that very often.
22 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Yesterday the high was 60° with the average humidity moving back up to 75% with a breeze in the afternoon - not so nice, I felt cold almost all day. This morning the low fell back to to 37° and felt even colder. I had gloves on and put my wool cap on for the first time to cover my ears. We old guys get cold hands and ears whereas Patches loves it even when her ears feel like iceIt was a Big News day with the release of the Jobs Data and the follow-up to the President Rose Garden speech. I found it interesting that out of the 13 people that back dropped him in the Garden to provide customer endorsements there were only 3 that had 'registered' through the ObamaCare website and maybe 2 had 'bought' insurance. The were all simply props that were placed there to make the viewing audience believe that they had successfully obtain insurance using the website.
The Bureau of Labor was non-essential during the Federal Government Slim Down and did not release the non-farm job numbers for September until today, an increase of 148,000. All of the economic experts were expecting 180,000 and have immediately blamed the shortfall on the Slim Down.
If you look at the Household Data for September the number of Employed increased by 133,000 providing mixed signals for which way the trend might go; there were increases in April thru July then a decrease in August now an increase. But there is good news, the Unemployment Rate went down again to 7.2%; on a steady path toward Full Employment.
That was partially due to the decrease in Unemployed by 61,000 but unfortunately many of them did not find jobs. The Not in the Labor Force increased by another 136,000 to another new record high of 90,609,000. This was not enough to change the Participation Rate (after August was revised) which remained at a 35 year low of 63.2%.
There was some additional good news in the monthly Bureau report. The average earnings rose by another 4 cents to $24.09 an hour, while the average workweek remaining at 34.5 hours. There was an additional shift in part-time to full-time during the month which probably accounted for the increase in average earnings. I'm not convinced that wage inflation is a good thing but it is always reported as being so by the financial News media.
President Obama lied, as has all of his Administration spokespeople, about the failure of the ObamaCare website. They are using the same spin control methods that they used with the Benghazi scandal; place blame on something/someone external (how have they missed blaming Bush?), stonewall any explanation and bloviate about everything being under control. This is from The Washington Post article Health insurance exchange launched despite signs of serious problems by Lena H. Sun and Scott Wilson.
Days before the launch of President Obama’s online health insurance marketplace, government officials and contractors tested a key part of the Web site to see whether it could handle tens of thousands of consumers at the same time. It crashed after a simulation in which just a few hundred people tried to log on simultaneously.John Howard wrote this in his essay Shutdown Theater fallout: Trey Gowdy vs. the National Park Service for Human Events. I certainly hope that the Republican candidates, of whatever stripe, keep this in mind during the 2014 election season in addition to the ObamaCare roll out. More importantly I hope they keep it in the voters minds during election season, but I'm afraid the 'moderates' of the Party are more concerned with bad mouthing the Tea Party than they are defeating the Democrats.
Despite the failed test, federal health officials plowed ahead.
When the Web site went live Oct. 1, it locked up shortly after midnight as about 2,000 users attempted to complete the first step, according to two people familiar with the project.
There was never anything about Shutdown Theater that made a lick of sense. It should stand as an enduring monument to the Orwellian absurdity of a system that views its constituents with a disturbing level of hostility. Nobody involved in this fiasco, from President Obama on down, gave a moment’s thought to making the shutdown easier on the American people in any way. Quite the contrary – it was crucial to their interests to make it more painful than necessary, not just to obtain political leverage against Republicans, but because they feared nothing more than the public growing comfortable with a 17 percent shutdown. What might have happened if the debt ceiling had not been added to the mix, forcing a quick and dramatic resolution?
23 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Yesterday the high moved up to 73° with the average humidity going back down to 68% with a breeze in the afternoon - this was good. This morning the low was back up to 44° which was also good. I didn't have gloves nor wool hat on and it felt fine. The 10 day forecast expects more days like this to come with maybe some rain at the end of the month - I hope they have guessed right.Today is Patches Birthday. Not that I know for sure when she was born but the vet in Sierra Vista, AZ, where I adopted her, said she was 2 years old and assigned her a birth date of October 23, 2009. That makes her 4 years old in dog years but she has now entered her 30s in people years. The rule of thumb about 7 people years per dog years is an average with dogs aging faster when young and slowing down as they get older. Why can that not happen for us also?
I got an email from the insurance claim rep yesterday that asked for an address where to send a payment. He also provided his estimate but I was confused and questioned him about where I was required to have the repairs done. He replied today that I can have the repairs done anywhere and he will make the payment by direct deposit to my account as I asked him to do if possible.
I am going to stop at Ardmore Auto Works tomorrow morning and talk to them about getting Desperado fixed before the end of the month and before I get froze up here. I need to be moving on south toward warmer climes. The Landing, in Kansas, where I stopped for a couple of nights got a dusting of snow so it will not be long before it happens here also.
I have had a long time problem with the location that Yahoo! wants to use for local News and Weather. I have set my default location to where I am located many times and their system insists on using some place else. The past two days the Weather app on My Yahoo! has been giving my New York, NY so I have given up and deleted it from the My Yahoo! homepage.
De-crowning the dollar, and the 'collapse' ahead written for CNBC by Michael Pento is a straight forward explanation of what is happening and what is to come. This is only the closing paragraphs of his article. I have added the italics for emphasis.
The fear of an economic meltdown was the genesis of a constitutionally-based third-party political movement. The Tea Party was formed to prevent runaway inflation and an economic depression resulting from a crumbling currency and devalued debt. It appears by the absolute and universal vilification of its members by both Republicans and Democrats that U.S. citizens are not yet ready to undergo the pain associated with the removal of our pernicious addictions.
Since there appears to be no political solution in site it would benefit investors to take steps now to protect their portfolios from the de-crowning of the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency.
24 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Yesterday the high moved up some more to 78° with the average humidity dropping down more to 63% with a breeze in the afternoon - another nice day. This morning the low was up some more to 50° which was also good. The highs are expected to stay in the upper 60s through the weekend with a chance of rain coming on Tue & Wed.As soon as we finished our morning walk I unhooked from electric and we went to town. Had breakfast at Prairie Kitchen again but tried their Rio Grande Omelet with hash browns and a big supply of flour tortillas. This was much better than my first visit.
Stopped at Auto Zone and asked them to check Desperado with a OBD Code Reader to determine why my brake and ABS lights were on. This store did not have a Reader so I continued on to the post office where I picked up a package of mail forwarded to General Delivery.
We next moved on to Ardmore Auto Works where they removed the damaged right rear panel and right rear storage door. They will straighten the sheet metal and frame and maybe put them back on next Tue. or Wed.
I was also able to get them to check for codes with their OBD Reader and they found no codes at all. The fellow that checked it said he had never had a situation where the lights stayed on but there were NO codes. He also checked the brake fluid level and it was not low. I still have lights!
The last stop was for groceries at Homeland where I came across the guy from Color Pro that did my estimate last week. I told him that I was having Ardmore Auto Works do the repairs because I thought it would take too long for him to order the parts. He also volunteered that they would probably do the work cheaper but if he could help me don't hesitate to call.
I put some of those groceries in the pot as soon as we we got home. Made up a stew of sorts using broth, keilbasa, red potatoes, onion, sun dried tomatoes, lima beans and carrots. Changed my daily salad this week to greek yogurt, cucumber and nuts with some hummas and pita bread. Kind of a Mediterranean theme for my 'linners' this week.
The Administration spin meisters have resorted to singing the chorus from their song sheets in their attempts to cover President Obama's ass for him. He didn't know that the ObamaCare website was in such a mess until he heard it from the media. He knew nothing about the IRS scandal, he knew nothing about Benghazi, he knew nothing about Fast & Furious he knew somethings that NSA was doing and approved of everything (spying on US citizens is good and necessary).
He never knows that anything is going wrong in his Administration until it gets reported by his lap dogs in the media. If he can keep them from reporting it, then it never happened; but if they do report on it then he never knew about it. Then he is always mad about it, always going to find out what happened, find who was responsible and then he is going to fix it - give a speech, problem fixed - let us now move on to more important transforming issues.
In an Opinion Obama's Credibility Is Melting written for The Wall Street Journal by Daniel Henninger he identifies why President Obama no longer can be trusted or more politely no longer has credibility.
Bluntly, Mr. Obama's partners are concluding that they cannot do business with him. They don't trust him. Whether it's the Saudis, the Syrian rebels, the French, the Iraqis, the unpivoted Asians or the congressional Republicans, they've all had their fill of coming up on the short end with so mercurial a U.S. president. And when that happens, the world's important business doesn't get done. It sits in a dangerous and volatile vacuum.
25 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: October 25, 1925Yesterday the high was right at the expected 68° with the average humidity dropping some more to 57% - another nice day. This morning the low went down again to 42° with a wind that made it feel colder. The highs are still expected to stay in the upper 60s through the weekend but the chance of rain has been moved up to Sat & Sun with a lesser chance on Tue & Wed.
I didn't feel like getting up and doing a long walk this morning. When it was time to get up I took a peek at Patches and she appeared to be sleeping soundly so I was all set to get a few more minutes in bed. It was not to be. She has some internal alarm clock that goes off when it is time to get up and she then does the ear flapping thing, morning scratching and jumps up and down from the couch until I get up.
She did allow me to just take her for a short potty walk. Before we did that however I noticed that the light in the storage bay where the door was removed had been burning since the door came off. There is a switch that the door holds in the off position when closed - no door, the light stays on. I was going to try and tape it in a shut off position but while attempting to do so it went out after burning my finger. Job well done?
A rather quiet do nothing kind of a day. Some more work on the Will Rogers links, some reading on the couch time and my usual Daily blogs. Didn't even find anything of interest in the News; a lot of rinse and repeat.
26 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Yesterday the high was a rather cool 62° with the average humidity remaining at 57% - comfortable. This morning the low was up to 50° with a overcast sky and a 80% chance of rain during the day. The chance of rain next week has been revised once again and they now expect in on Wed & Thu but they also increased the % chance.Rain did not happen this morning when we went for our walk. But, I did get a small shower around 10:30 that would have been unpleasant if I had been out in it. Probably not officially recorded as rain but certainly a trace that would have got me wet.
I have been looking, off and on, for some widgit that I could add to my web site that would allow me to search all of my pages. Finally found something yesterday that seems to be working. I did some modifications of the cut and paste coding to make it look the way I wanted it but the basic coding is what does the search. This is a GOOD THING, I have wanted this for a long time and finally stumbled upon how to do it. Look for it under the Shout Box in the right margin and give it a try!
I finished this Elizabeth George mystery last night for the second time. I think I also reported reading it back on August 18, 2012 although I did not say what the title was. This may have been the first George book that I had read and it was a great re-read, although I remembered a lot of the action but not the 'who done it' until near the end. This is story that led to Havers being demoted before rejoining Detective Inspector Lynley In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner which I finished reading on August 24, 2013.It's a little too long, but this rich, engrossing novel portrays a contemporary England that's culturally complex and simmering with tension. The star is moody police sergeant Barbara Havers, who's on leave from New Scotland Yard to recuperate from injuries suffered in In the Presence of the Enemy (1996) while Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and Helen Clyde honeymoon. When her neighbors, microbiologist Taymullah Azhar and his endearing young daughter, Hadiyyah, leave London to visit his family in Balford-le-Nez on the Essex coast, Havers follows them--out of boredom, curiosity and a little suspicion. She's also concerned for Hadiyyah, aware of riots that followed the recent murder of a Pakistani immigrant in Balford. In Balford, Chief Detective Inspector Emily Barlow asks Havers to help investigate the crime that sparked those riots. The murdered man, Haytham Querashi, was engaged to the daughter of Azhar's wealthy uncle, the sister of a hot-headed Muslim activist named Muhannad. Although the killing has racial overtones, other motives arise--love, jealousy, sexuality, religion, greed. Smuggling, burglary and other crimes also come to light. Hidden in the plot are subtle clues to the solution, which hinges on Muslim law and tradition. Havers astutely identifies the murderer but risks her career when she countermands orders from the ambitious, bigoted Barlow during a heart-stopping boat chase in the North Sea. This is an unusually elaborate and intricate mystery, but George keeps an unrelenting grip on her readers as the police constantly shift their focus among a dozen well-drawn suspects. - Publishers Weekly
A Queen in Obamaland by Patrick J. Buchanan for Human Events says it as well as all the others that I have read regarding the lack of accountability for the failure of the ObamaCare website. This was to be President Obama's legacy yet he had so little interest in how it was being implemented that he was surprised when the website was a failure.
In most great U.S. corporations, if an executive had three years to roll out the product on which the company’s future might depend, and delivered this debacle, he would be gone. Panic would ensue. Emergency meetings of the board would be held to determine if more heads should roll and who should be brought in to save the company.
Outside of government, people routinely pay for their mistakes. Inside, there is often no penalty, no price, no punishment for failure. To Obama, a mess that has members of his own party calling for suspending Obamacare for a year is just the result of “glitches.” Still good enough for government work.
27 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Yesterday the high was again a rather cool 60° with the average humidity remaining at 87% - damp even before the rain came. This morning the low was up to 55° with heavy fog early on and then a overcast sky for most of the day. The rain came as scattered showers through the afternoon until about 4:00 when it became a torrent for about 1/2 hour. The official record shows that it was 0.73" but I think I got more than that here at this location. No leaks, which was good. I think the TV antenna leak happens only when the rain is wind driven and even then only when it comes from the front of Desperado.I have Debit/ATM Card that is expiring at the end of this month. In the mail that was forwarded to me recently was the replacement card which had a sticker attached telling me to activate the card by calling a telephone number. I did so and after responding to all the questions that the automated system asked I was informed by this robot that 'she' could not activate the card.
I then sent an email to the bank asking them to activate it because their telephone robot would not. Received a reply today that they would be happy to send me a new PIN number if I would give them an address. I responded by telling them to read my original email once again; I need card activation NOT a new PIN. I am very happy with my PIN, I am unhappy with having a card that is inactive and therefore making the PIN useless. I await a response.
The formal House-Senate budget negotiations are set to begin next Wednesday but I see very little chance that another crisis will not develop in January and February when the current 'deal' expires. A Nash Equilibrium exists where the optimal outcome of a game is one where no player has an incentive to deviate from his or her chosen strategy after considering an opponent's choice. Overall, an individual can receive no incremental benefit from changing actions, assuming other players remain constant in their strategies. This is where I see the Democrats and the Republicans in their 'game' and only a total upset of said 'game' will cause either side to modify their strategy.
28 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Yesterday the high was again a rather cool 62° with the average humidity moving up even more to 92% - damp, cold . This morning the low was down a little to 50° with a repeat of heavy fog early in the morning and then a overcast sky for most of the day. The forecast now for the next 5 days is for highs in the low 70s with increasing chance of rain through Wed.IF I can get Desperado repaired this week I'll be leaving here next Sunday. If she is not ready by then I'll be staying here week by week until she is. Right now the forecast at my next planned stop is expecting high temperatures in the low 80s with a slight chance of rain. I'm ready to move on.
Didn't do much today, like a lot of my days. I did finish getting the Will Rogers weekly article links for December ready to add to my posting. This is a good. I also made some progress on reading my Monthly Blogs before I got too far behind. I also added one that disappeared when my computer died and I just today remember what it was. Probably still missing some but the memory has not dredged them up yet.
James Howard Kunstler has a very good posting Two Forces and Three Bears on his blog dated October 28, 2013. This first paragraph sets the tone of the rest of the posting.
In these climax years of industrial technocratic society, two opposing forces shape the destiny of government: the desperate effort to control everything versus the decline of the ability to carry out that effort. The result will be the loss of legitimacy and the collapse of government from the highest levels, moving downward until the real power to make anything work re-sets at a feasible and appropriate level — probably very local. This dynamic is seen very clearly in three spectacles du jour: the “national security” (spying) mess, government-sponsored accounting fraud in finance, and the ObamaCare rollout.
29 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Yesterday the high warmed up to 69°, a little less than forecast, with the average humidity remaining at 92% - damp, damp . This morning the low was only down to 66° with the continuing overcast and very damp, damp. Expecting a 80% chance of rain tomorrow and a 70% chance next Tuesday.I was hoping I would be going to Ardmore Auto Works today to get the panels and door put back on but it looks like it will be tomorrow. Will be going there in the rain and then doing my shopping in the rain most likely. Really, really hope I am out of here before the Tuesday expected rain. Although that is what is forecast for my next camp also so there seems to be no avoiding it.
John Hayward wrote an article yesterday for Human Events about the latest NSA 'spy scandal' that President Obama knew nothing about. I wrote about his not knowing that the ObamaCare roll out was poised to fail along with a list of some of the other scandals where he knew nothing. Now there is another one tied to NSA spying. This time it is world political leaders, that have been spied on for the past 5 years, that he only recently was made aware was happening.
Evidently the federal government consists of five thousand rogue agencies that do whatever they please, while the President gives speeches, plays golf, attends fundraisers, and occasional spits out his morning coffee upon reading the latest astounding revelation from a media that tries to break as few astounding revelations about this particular Administration as possible. This “President Bystander” model of irresponsible government would work somewhat better if there was a truly adversarial press rattling the White House’s cage more frequently.This excerpt is from a story in The Los Angeles Times that takes the position that NSA is not very happy about President Obama trying to throw them under the bus for spying on world leaders. This could be bad for the President, there may be whistle blowers in NSA, other than Snowden, that will come forward if he ticks them off.
Obama certainly didn’t sell himself to voters as a disengaged, out-of-his-depth spectator who can’t be held responsible for the actions of a titanic government he desperately wants to make bigger. At some point, one would think True Believers in the superior managerial power and accountability of Big Government would find it very difficult to reconcile that belief with Obama’s model of the renegade State, and his constant professions of ignorance about every single scandal that comes along.
Some U.S. intelligence officials said they were being blamed by the White House for conducting surveillance that was authorized under the law and utilized at the White House.
"People are furious," said a senior intelligence official who would not be identified discussing classified information. "This is officially the White House cutting off the intelligence community."
Any decision to spy on friendly foreign leaders is made with input from the State Department, which considers the political risk, the official said. Any useful intelligence is then given to the president's counter-terrorism advisor, Lisa Monaco, among other White House officials.
30 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Yesterday the high was 75°, just about on forecast, with the average humidity moving down to 83% but with the higher temperature it was more uncomfortable. This morning the low was only down to 68° with the continuing overcast and then the rain came at about 11:00 as I was loading groceries into DesperadoI went to Denny's for breakfast again and had one of the Skillets which I like. Then arrived at Armore Auto Works about 8:45 and was gone by 10:30. The panels and door look great. In fact the rear 'bumper' panel looks better than it ever has, they painted the entire panel which before showed evidence of partial painting. They also found the blown fuse that caused my steps to not retracts this morning.
There are two electrical circuits that activate the steps. One is controlled by a switch just inside the door that allows you to activated the steps when the motor home engine is not running. This switch is on the same circuit as the storage bay light that I was trying to get to shut off last week and blew the fuse. The second circuit is tied into the ignition so when you start the engine the steps will retract.
I made my weekly stop at Homeland for groceries and then went to Jeffs Auto in Lone Grove. This shop was recommended by Ardmore Auto Works to check out my brake and ABS light situation. They specialize in Fords and can check it out but not today. I need to go back again tomorrow afternoon and wait around for them to do their thing, much more than just an OBD Code reader check.
This sounds like money. However, the insurance claim payment was enough that I paid Ardmore Auto Works and should be able to get the brake situation fixed - or I am certainly hoping that becomes true. Ardmore Auto Works did a great job at a great price compared to Color Pro. They are Recommended!
Even if I don't get the brake light issue taken care of I am set to leave here on Sunday. The fellow that I talked to today at Jeffs Auto said that there was only a brake danger IF I were to lock up my brakes then the ABS would not be working. I have not noticed any difference in my braking and he said that I should not. I would still like to get the lights out before leaving!
31 October
Ardmore RV Park
Ardmore, OK
Yesterday the high was 71°, just about on forecast, with the average humidity moving up to 91%; a very wet, humid day that had me feeling clammy. The official rain fall yesterday was only 0.05" but it was a drizzel almost all day. This morning the low was only down to 62° but there is a clear sky again for the first time in many days.I made up a pot of pozole when we got home yesterday and sampled it last night. I think this is the best that I have made. The difference this time was my using powdered cayenne and a packet of Sazó Goya for seasoning.
The first Tami Hoag novel that I read was A Thin Dark Line back in January 2011. The second and third ones that I read I also enjoyed but didn't post the titles. This one uses Louisiana for the background setting as did A Thin Dark Line but I did not like it as much. It seems that her romantic mysteries have become more and more romantic and her character development delving deeper and deeper into their 'touchy feely' side. Not as much mystery.As in her last romantic mystery, Still Waters , Hoag creates a pair of lovers who are so awful that they deserve each other. But this time she factors in an offensive theme: bad boys are to be tolerated, but bad girls are to be raped, mutilated and strangled. The "bad boy" is the hero, horror writer Jack Boudreaux. With antics like crashing a Corvette and swatting a smarmy evangelist preacher with a bag of fish, Jack charms Laurel Chandler. Laurel has returned to her hometown, Bayou Breaux, La., to lick her wounds after she blew a case involving child sexual abuse, lost her public prosecutor's job and suffered a breakdown. But matters are grim on the home front, where a serial killer is haunting young women, and Savannah, Laurel's man-loving sister, is becoming increasingly unstable. Despite Laurel's anguish over losing her child abuse case, her reaction to Savannah's problem--also rooted in abuse by a stepfather--is, "If I'd known, I don't think I would have come back now." Eventually Savannah sniffs around the wrong man and is murdered. Then Laurel is all tears and determination to find the killer. - Publishers Weekly
In preparation for my departure this Sunday I made up my 3x5 route card for the first of two days that I will take to reach my next camp. The second day route has not been determined yet, I'm awaiting an email regarding a possible visit along the way which may or may not happen. That email will determine what route I select. I also emptied my holding tanks and took on fresh water. Ready to move!
I was back at Jeffs Auto this afternoon and sat around for a little over an hour before paying for a new rear wheel speed sensor. This made the brake and ABS lights go off which is a good thing, the cost to do it was not so good. However, it is only part of the total cost of living a Fulltimer life style which I am still willing to pay. In this case the insurance claim payment was able to cover it so I was very lucky all in all.