Peregrinating
2014

February

1 February
Broke Mill RV Park
Del Rio, TX

I picked up an 8" crescent wrench yesterday at H-E-B that I wanted to use in draining my water lines if I had freezing temperatures during the next few days. Gave it a try late yesterday afternoon and found that the jaws do not open enough to grip the end plug that I was going to remove. I guess I'll just watch the forecast as close as I can and run water at night if it looks like it will be a hard freeze.

The other neighbor north of me that came in after I was here left this morning. That leave me with the same amount of open space around me for this one day as I had when I first arrived. The spaces behind me to the northeast have filled up a lot since I arrived but they are quite a distance from me. The area that I am in has remained less than 1/2 full all the time I have been here.

I did a little bit of house cleaning today. Nothing much but did get the dash wiped down and the floors vacuumed. The washing of floors and a complete bathroom cleaning can wait until I get the toilet fixed. I'll wipe down the stove and counter tops after I finish 'linner' today and will call Desperado ready to travel. I also made some progress reading my Monthly Blogs. Probably will not get many of them read while on the road but I can get back to them when I set up my next month long camp.

I finished another Michael Crichton novel but could not find where I had posted anything about those that I had read before. I think the first one that I read was The Great Train Robbery then Timeline, Airframe and his two novels based on his political views State of Fear and Rising Sun. He was soundly condemned by the Global Warming believers for State of Fear which provided a LOT of information that disputed their beliefs.
Almost as soon as I started Rising Sun I got this image in my mind that the two detectives in the story were a parody of Charlie Chan and Son Number One. This is probably unfair to Crichton but the image stayed with me. The story is entertaining but serves as a thin veneer over his primary message that the United States must change how it treats Japan with regard to trade. The same things could be said now about China since they have taken over from where Japan was in the early 1990s when the book was written.

A young American model is murdered in the corporate boardroom of Los Angeles's Nakomoto Tower on the new skyscraper's gala opening night. Murdered, that is, unless she was strangled while enjoying sadomasochistic sex that went too far. Nakomoto, a Japanese electronics giant, tries to hush up the embarrassing incident, setting in motion a murder investigation that serves Crichton ( Jurassic Park ) as the platform for a clever, tough-talking harangue on the dangers of Japanese economic competition and influence-peddling in the U.S. Divorced LAPD lieutenant Peter Smith, who has custody of his two-year-old daughter, and hard-boiled detective John Connor, who says things like "For a Japanese, consistent behavior is not possible," pursue the killer in a winding plot involving Japan's attempt to gain control of the U.S. computer industry. Although Crichton's didactic aims are often at cross-purposes with his storytelling, his entertaining, well-researched thriller cannot be easily dismissed as Japan-bashing because it raises important questions about that country's adversarial trade strategy and our inadequate response to it. He also provides a fascinating perspective on how he thinks the Japanese view Americans--as illiterate, childish, lazy people obsessed with TV, violence and aggressive litigation. - Publishers Weekly

2 February
Big Bend Resort
Study Butte, TX

It was not a very good day to be traveling. When we stepped outside this morning for a short potty walk the wind was blowing hard and there was a heavy mist in the air. Patches got to say good-by to her very good friend Nancy that she saw almost every morning. Nancy was up early and cleaning the bathrooms, laundry, Fiddle Hall etc. and having lost her dog in November was so happy to get a dog fix from Patches every morning. Patches was beside herself with the affection and knew Nancy from as far away as she could see her.

My route today was 257 miles and rather straight forward. US90, US385, Main Park Road (inside Big Bend) & TX118.

We got out of the mist after about 30 miles but had the wind all day. It was very bad until Marathon where we turned south and it quit being a head wind which killed my gas milage from Del Rio to Sanderson where I topped off the tank.

As I was leaving Sanderson and had just reached my cruising speed of 55mph I looked to my left and I was pacing the west bound Amtrak train being pulled by the Heartland Flyer Big Game engine (Google Search for engine details). The train and I were side by side for about 10 miles until the track and road went their separate way. I next saw the track just east of Marathon and soon saw a east bound freight train on the single track.

I thought Amtrak had probably beat me to Marathon. However, I got parked, walked to the restaurant, ordered and was starting to eat breakfast when Amtrak came through town. I guess the passenger train was sitting on a siding somewhere waiting for the freight to come through before it could continue west. I base this guess on my past experience when riding Amtrak.

I wanted to have breakfast in Sanderson but there was nothing available. When I rode through Marathon on a bicycle trip in 1987 there was nothing there except the Gage Hotel which was under renovation and offered food to their guests. Now there are a number of stores, the Hotel has expanded and there are at least 3 restaurants. I had breakfast enchiladas with potatoes, beans, flour tortillas and coffee which was only so-so, at a tourist price at the Marathon Café.

It was here that I turned south to go through part of Big Bend National Park. I can now say that I have been there, take it off my 'bucket list' and nod my head knowingly when anyone speaks of BiBe (this is what one of the bloggers I read calls the Park).

I was just as well that I planned to stay the night here at Study Butte. There were 4 campgrounds listed on a sign at Panther Junction; three of them indicated that they were Closed and the fourth was Full. If you want to 'get away from it all' this National Park will let you do that but the camping situation appears to be a bit dicey. The RV Park that I am staying in is a Motel/RV Park that is a resort in name only. Very basic dirt parking lot with water, electric and sewer hook ups.

3 February
Pine Spring Campground
Guadalupe Mountains N.P.
Near Salt Flat, TX

I changed my route for today during the initial planning stage then yesterday evening changed it back to what I had originally thought I would do. What I gave up was driving Farm to Market Road, also known as The River Road, from Study Butte at TX118 to Persidio at US67. I went through Alpine to Marfa rather than take the FM170 with its steep climbs and twisting mountain turns. It would have added only about 25 miles to my distance but would have been a much harder drive.
My Route today was 240 miles: TX118, US90, TX54, US180 & Pine Canyon Dr.

The mountains along most of the route were partially obscured by low cloud cover and I was in fog for a couple brief times. The ground was covered with frost in Alpine and many of the trees to the west of town had what looked almost like pogonip. However, this was condensed fog that had then frozen not true pogonip. Some snow on the ground here at the campground with the chance of more tonight mixed with rain and a forecast low of 25°.

The campground has no hookups just spaces in a big parking lot designated for RV camping. I may run my generator but only if I find I have to so I can get this posted to my web page today. There is no Verizon connection but the Rangers told me that I could get Verizon or their WIFI from the Visitor parking lot. I going to drive back down there and try to send.

My house batteries are shot and not holding a charge. I may be able to use my generator to give me 110V to power my computer while sending and that may also charge up my computer battery. It has enough of a charge to get this written and probably sent but will then be needing a charge.

Will only have limited time to read blogs and News today so I'll have to catch up tomorrow afternoon and night. I should have an electric hook up then and can get back to 'normal'.

I just crossed back over into Mountain Time a few miles before entering the Park. That is something else that I'm going to have to deal with now for the next couple of days.

This was the headline of the front page story at Google News, FoxNews, Drudge and The Wall Street Journal yesterday when I went to see what was the News of the Day.
Philip Seymour Hoffman found dead in NYC apartment from apparent drug overdose
Upon reading that headline I had two questions a) Who is Philip Seymour Hoffman b) Do I care? I then glanced at the story and found that it was some movie actor that I had never heard of that killed himself with heroin mixed with fentanyl.

Over the past year Maryland, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania have all experienced outbreaks of overdoses from the often-fatal mixture of heroin combined with the painkiller fentanyl. On Friday, Maryland's office of the chief medical examiner issued a statement warning of the illicit drug combination and blaming it for at least 37 deaths statewide since September. Did any of those deaths merit nationwide News coverage? No, they were not News.

4 February
Pancho Villa State Park
Columbus, NM

I went to the Park Headquarters yesterday to use their WIFI and post my entry for the 3rd. I didn't have a lot of time and everything was not working so I cut the posting a little short. By the time I finished writing what I did the fog had rolled in and stayed that way for most of the day. We had a couple of breaks and I ran outside and captured these pictures of the Guadalupe Mountains during one of them.

I changed my route while on the fly today. I had tried everything that I could to get Google Maps to route me around El Paso on Loop 375. It would not draw me a route that included the Loop so I wrote 3x5 card directions that would take me through the heart of El Paso on US 62. But when I came to Loop 375 I saw no reason for not taking it.

There was some construction on about 3-4 miles of the north section that had me on city streets. Then there was some more construction on the west end near Interstate 10. It was 6 miles more than the Google route using US62 but it has to be much quicker and the traffic was not too bad, except everyone is in such a rush.

My route totaled 194 miles: US180/US62, Loop375, TX20, TX178, NM136 & NM9.

I had been looking for a restaurant on US62 as I came into town but didn't see anything so when I came to TX20 and saw one directly in front of me where I was turning I pulled in. It was a Mexican restaurant that had been moved from across the border from all appearances. All of the other patrons spoke only Spanish and my waitress would probably have preferred that I do so also.

I had the same problem yesterday finding a restaurant in Alpine or Marfa until I was almost out of town on the west side of Marfa and saw a sign that said Mandos. I didn't know if it was a restaurant or not from its exterior appearance. The interior shouted 'Mexico' but there were other gringos there having breakfast. I had their Huevos con Chorizo with a big serving of home fries and beans. Today at Las Fuentes in Canutillo, TX in had the Enchiladas de queso Montados with hash browns and beans. Neither meal was anything special and the prices were much higher than in Hondo or Del Rio.

It was much warmer than the forecast at Pine Spring Campground this morning but had strong winds come up with the sun. I ran water every time I got up during the night because the forecast low was 25°. While doing that, I was afraid that my water pump would not turn on because the coach batteries are shot. I couldn't start my generator with them yesterday so started the motorhome so I could get enough electricity to start the generator. But, it was just generator exercise, the batteries won't hold a charge.

I am developing a list of things to fix when I visit my RV Repair shop in Sierra Vista. Now have the A/C, toilet flusher, water leak, sewer hose storage and new AGM batteries. I hope that is the end of things needing to be fixed!

5 February
The Homestead
Near Double Adobe, AZ

I was lucky this morning. There was a restaurant in Columbus that opened at 6:00am. If there had not been one open I would have had to cook breakfast before I left or do without until I got to Douglas, AZ. The small store/café in Rodeo, NM might have been open when I got there but it might not have been.

The restaurant here is Martha's Place which served up a decent beef hash and eggs with some hash browns, toast and coffee. Each item is ordered separate as a side order and then it is all added up to give a total that is a litte expensive but it was tasty and it was available. When you are the only game in town you can charge what ever the traffic will bear.

I changed my route slightly from what I had on my 3x5 card again today. I didn't have a planned stop in Douglas which I found was needed. First, I stopped and took on 10 gallons of rather expensive gas, I can fill the tank with a little cheaper gas in Sierra Vista tomorrow. Second, I went to Wal*Mart and got a pair of pants to replace the ones that I had worn out. I get about a year use from a pair so the clothes budget is holding up well.

Total of 173 miles today, the route; NM9, NM80, AZ80, Douglas city streets, AZ80, Kings Highway, Double Adobe Rd & Frontier Rd.

Patches was pitching a fit when we arrived at my cousins. I turned her loose in their fenced yard but I didn't stay with her and that was not good either. She did a little running around but also did a lot of standing up and looking in the window to find me. I visited for about an hour and she was beside herself when I came back for her. Then when we got back in Desperado she collapsed on the floor by my feet for a long nap. Traveling really takes it out of her.

They were having some weather here in Sulphur Springs Valley as I drove in. I could see scattered rain along the mountains to the south and west. It also looked like it was snowing on the Chiricahua Mountains which were slightly covered. I had a few sprinkles as I was leaving Douglas but the storm seems to have moved east and it has left a partially cloudy sky with lots of sun.

The afternoon was devoted to visiting with my cousins. Sharing my travels and catching up on the family news of what little bit of family that I have left.

6 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

I was up and on the road soon after 6:00am so I was driving in the dark almost all the way to Sierra Vista. Stopped at Country House Restaurant, which is close to my RV Service Shop. I had their Chorizo Skillet for breakfast which was nothing much and the flour tortilla was so thin you could almost read through it. Not a good choice, I have eaten there before and was not disappointed.

Then it was time to go see what all my RV repairs were going to cost me. The good news; my A/C is probably(?) good and the attempts to start even when turned off was a low 12v battery problem but it still cost me 1/2 hour in labor charges for them to test it. So 2 new AGM batteries.

My broken toilet cable could have been replaced but it would have cost me almost as much as a new toilet. The other deciding factor was the owner of the shop told me that I was lucky, usually the plastic foot pedal breaks before the cable. So a new ceramic bowl toilet; much better looking, easier to clean(?) and one inch higher from the floor. All good things.

The slight leak was fixed and the sewer hose storage pipe was fixed. They also found a missing vent pipe cap which is the second one that I have lost. So two new metal vent caps that have screws holding them to the roof rather than just pressed down on the vent. Last, but not least I filled up with expensive propane. If I were to amortize the costs of the batteries and toilet over the 4 years that I have had Desperado then my monthly RV living still beats apartment rent for most places in the United States. If your going to Fulltime then you are going to have maintenance expenses and you need to plan for them.

I then went to see what I could do about getting my Seiko watch fixed. The watch repair place here confirmed that the mainspring was broken but did not know what it would cost to fix. He farms out the repairs and after getting an estimate it is 5-6 weeks for the watch to be returned.

I looked at some new Seikos, have had two of them over the past 45 years, but did not like any of them that I could afford. So I am now the proud owner of a new Quartz Caravelle by Bulova. This is the first quartz watch that I have ever owned so although I'm a Luddite I have finally succumbed to technology that has been available for clocks and watches for many years.

I also stopped at the UPS Store and the VA Clinic and started the process for moving my domicile from Pahrump to Sierra Vista.

Made one last stop, at Fry's for groceries and to fill up with gas. I'm about 20 miles from town which is going to add to the cost of my weekly grocery runs but I wanted to see what this Park was like. I'm here for a month and I may then move only a short distance for a one week stay before heading for Pahrump with an ETA there of mid-March.

I will not show my route today but rather will include the route that I would have taken if I had not needed to stop in Sierra Vista for all the things that I got done today. Direct route: Frontier Rd, Davis Rd, AZ80 & AZ82. This would be about 38 miles versus the over 60 that I drove today.

7 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

There was some rain here last night or early this morning but I can not find that any of the weather reporting stations had any. Almost clear sky today with a few scattered clouds. Much warmer this morning than it has been for me when we went for a serpentine walk through the eastern side of the Park for about 3/4 mile. We did a walk yesterday afternoon around the perimeter and that was about about the same distance.

This afternoon we will go out a gate on the southeast corner of the Park and hopefully follow a trail around to the northeast corner. There is also a trail that connects the northeast to the northwest gates that we will check out and I suspect there are ATV trails branching of of those trails. There are a LOT of ATVs here with weekly scheduled ATV rides.

A much more diverse group of campers than I usually find. This is based on the license plates that I saw in my two short walks. A lot of different states are in evidence whereas the past three months when I was in TX I saw mostly Canadian and Texas plates.

The Bureau of Labor released their non-farm job numbers for January today that showed an increase of 113,000 jobs. The average prediction by economists was for an increase of 180,000 so there was a lot of disappointment. I found a very interesting fact, or maybe factoid, in a Bloomberg story today. When reading the BLS numbers for jobs created each month, keep in mind that the margin of error is plus or minus 90,000 jobs.

December was the first month on record that health care employment actually declined and the total health care numbers remained unchanged in January. Perhaps this foretells the cost reductions that the President has promised to be obtained under ObamaCare. No increase in staff should hold cost down although it may also cause 'some' increase in the waiting time for medical care. But, he never said that he would reduce cost and you could keep your same level of care.

If you look at the Household Data for January the number of Employed increased by 638,000 establishing a three month trend. There have been increases of 818,000 in November, 143,000 in December and then this increase in January. Much more encouraging than the monthly Establishment Survey that provide the monthly numbers that the media focuses on.

The Unemployment Rate dropped to 6.6%, continuing the move toward what the economist consider full employment. The number of Unemployed decreased by 115,000 with many of them finding work. The Not in the Labor Force decreased by 353,000 which caused the Participation Rate to move up to 63.0%. I am guessing that this months decrease will turn around again next month as the 1.3 long term Unemployed begin to loose their monthly benefits. This month moved the total down from its record high but I expect it to move up to new record levels during 2014.

The average earnings rose by another 4 cent to $24.21 an hour, while the average workweek gained 0.1 hours to 34.5 hours. That means that between the increase in the average hourly earnings and the gain in hours worked the average worker is in about the same position they were back in November.

A very interesting article Obama — a Well-Known Weakling on the World Stage by Bill Tatro at Townhall.com. He probably has hit upon the reason for the failure of the two Party system as we once knew it with his last sentence in the second paragraph. With all the information gathered by NSA there most likely is no one in Washington that could not be brought low. The Democrats now hold the power to protect their own and can punish the Republican that cause them too much grief. That power position will reverse if/when the Republicans once again hold the power and the NSA data.

The president’s former worldwide rock star status is merely a distant memory as fingers continue to be pointed at America’s military aggression, from the Ukraine to Sudan. How the mighty have fallen as Obama’s domestic popularity numbers continue to rival those of the much hated George W. Bush. Both friends and foes definitely recognize the demise of our president and the United States, as world leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin continue to manipulate every opportunity in order to position themselves to take advantage of this glaring U.S. presidential weakness.
What’s most intriguing is not the skill level of the world leaders in exploiting Obama’s weakness for their own advantage, but the total ineptness of the Republican leadership in doing the same thing. From Boehner to McConnell, from House to Senate, and from conservative to RINO, they all seem to fail when it comes to making the most out of Obama’s day-to-day blunders. It would appear that since these Republican leaders are all cut from the same political cloth regardless of labels, they all have the same goals — namely reelection — and thus cannot do the right thing for the benefit of our country. Needless to say, it gets a little frustrating watching our so-called political opposition leadership continue to miss opportunity after opportunity of exposing the lies, corruption, and incompetence of our current president. Perhaps it’s because the so-called political opposition suffers with the same problems in exposing the “emperor’s new clothes,” which would only expose their own.

8 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

We went out the southeastern gate for our walk yesterday afternoon as planned. The trail was a wide ATV track along the power line but I soon saw a foot path branching off to the left that I was hoping would loop back to the northeastern gate. It does IF you are willing to crawl under, or over, a barbed wire fence. I found a place where I could get under the fence and then follow an ATV Trail back to the northeastern gate. This will not be a route that I will do again.

We walked a serpentine route through the Park streets on the west side of the Park this morning. I think I'll try the power line ATV trail this afternoon and see if it loops or I'll have to settle for an out and back route. I think there are going to be plenty of options for out and back maybe not so many loops.

I discovered another problem with Desperado that I didn't get fixed last Thursday. The three 12v lights in the ceiling of the living room and over the cab bed don't work. I think they were working when I was at Pancho Villa State Park but I'm not certain. I know I did not try them when I stopped at The Homestead. I have checked the fuses twice so far and can not see that there is one burned out so it is back to the RV Repair Shop on Wednesday.

A few more facts about the Employment Situation in the United States. They make a mockery of the President's repeated proposals for more stimulus money to build roads and bridges in this country. He has no concept of what skills are needed to build roads and bridges as his reference to 'shovel ready jobs' has proven. Even if the money were available this country no longer has the skilled labor to do the work.

...only 58% of the noninstitutional adult civilian population with only a high school degree is counted in the labor force. For adults with less than a high school diploma, the labor participation rate falls to just 44%. Deduct the unemployed, and the result is that less than half of Americans without college are at work. That’s why 60 million Americans are on food stamps, and why a third of all American households have at least one member receiving means-tested government subsidies.
Meanwhile employers report shortages of skilled labor in numerous fields. It is hard to find skilled machine operators, who require the equivalent of a couple of years of college math to master the computer controls on industrial equipment, for example.

There are certain elements of the party who go out of their way to demonize people who don’t look like the way they’d like them to look like or came from some other place. I think the party has to deal with this.

9 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

I had a package from Amazon waiting for me at my cousins when I arrived there on Wednesday. In the box was another box that contained my new Timex GPS Marathon Watch.

It is a watch but it also uses GPS to compute the distance that I walk, elapsed time, pace and can do all of that in lap segments if you so desire. It is primarily a runners watch but will work fine for what I need. It does not have all the features that my dying Garmin has but I used very few of those features. The Garmin would recognize when I stopped and would stop the clock for elapsed time which the Timex does not do, that is probably the only feature that I will miss.

It has been a bit of a trial to get the watch to tell the correct time. Then it was another trial to get it to obtain a GPS signal and start measuring my distance. For the next few days I'll be wearing the Timex on my left wrist and the Garmin on my right until I understand what buttons I have to push and in what order I must push them. I know I am going to enjoy the much smaller size of the Timex; it is smaller and probably lighter than my new Bulova.

When I wasn't messing with my new GPS watch I was reading Monthly blogs. I had much more success with them and have become current once again. I have also just caught up to current with a blog that I may now add to that list. Still working on becoming current with a second one but it is going to be some time; I'm still in 2009 and the author has posted frequently.

The afternoon walk yesterday was out the southeast gate along the power line to Kellar Rd. There I turned north and walked until I had gone just a little over one mile and returned along the same route. This will make for one good option for our walks. It has only one negative and that is a barbed wire gate about 100 yards west of Kellar Rd that is a little hard to close but not bad enough that it will keep me from using this route. I can also continue along the power line for a second out and back route using the southeast gate.

This afternoon we will be trying the ATV trail that I found leading out of the northeast gate. There are two main trails leaving from that gate and a third that looked much less traveled. The one that we will follow today will be the one that goes directly east.

10 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

The ATV trail that I took from the northeastern gate follows a square to the east and then north. This brings it back to the northeastern gate as the second trail that I saw. Total distance around the square is about 3/4 mile and it will be two routes for us; one clockwise and one counter. I'll be doing the clockwise this afternoon.

There has been a lot of media attention to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report that included an estimate that ObamaCare would cut 2.5 million jobs during the next 10 years. The Republicans have jumped on this as the proof that ObamaCare was a job killer. The Democrats are doing their best to spin the report as being a good thing. ObamaCare will provide more freedom and is a good thing for 'family values' and 'work-life balance' not something that they claimed it would offer until now.

I think I will change the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) terminology of Labor Participation Rate to something more in keeping with the Democrat spin and start referring to it as the Jobs Liberation Rate. The lower the rate goes the more people there are that have been liberated from having to labor for their own needs and wants.

This is what the CBO said in their report; nothing about increased 'family values' or 'work-life balance' but that was probably just an oversight.

The reduction in CBO projections of hours worked represents a decline in the number of full-time-equivalent workers of about 2.0 million in 2017, rising to about 2.5 million in 2024. Although CBO projects that total employment (and compensation) will increase over the coming decade, that increase will be smaller than it would have been in the absence of the ACA. The decline in full-time-equivalent employment stemming from the ACA will consist of some people not being employed at all and other people working fewer hours; however, CBO has not tried to quantify those two components of the overall effect. The estimated reduction stems almost entirely from a net decline in the amount of labor that workers choose to supply, rather than from a net drop in businesses’ demand for labor, so it will appear almost entirely as a reduction in labor force participation and in hours worked relative to what would have occurred otherwise rather than as an increase in unemployment (that is, more workers seeking but not finding jobs) or underemployment (such as part-time workers who would prefer to work more hours per week).

11 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

There is nothing much different about the two routes from the northeast gate. You see the same things going clockwise or counterclockwise. This afternoon I'll give the northwest gate trail a try and see what it has to offer. We did all of the Park streets this morning which was almost 1 1/4 miles. That plus a one mile out and back or two mile loop will give us a good walk for each day.

Just finished this rousing non-fiction account of the Battle of Mogadishu or what the Somali call the Day of the Rangers. It probably made a great movie with a lot of people getting killed and lots of stuff getting blown up. The dialog could have been minimal and it would have been thrilling. However in book form I found it difficult to read because of what Publishers Weekly points out; the vignette after vignette. I could not connect them together to form a continuous story. If they are read as separate scenes from a movie then it is exciting but I'm not sure that the story ever gets told.

This is military writing at its breathless best. Bowden (Bringing the Heat) has used his journalistic skills to find and interview key participants on both sides of the October 1993 raid into the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia, a raid that quickly became the most intensive close combat Americans have engaged in since the Vietnam War. But Bowden's gripping narrative of the fighting is only a framework for an examination of the internal dynamics of America's elite forces and a critique of the philosophy of sending such high-tech units into combat with minimal support. He sees the Mogadishu engagement as a portent of a disturbing future. The soldiers' mission was to seize two lieutenants of a powerful Somali warlord. Despite all their preparation and training, the mission unraveled and they found themselves fighting ad hoc battles in ad hoc groups. Eschewing the post facto rationalization that characterizes so much military journalism, Bowden presents snapshots of the chaos at the heart of combat. On page after page, in vignette after vignette, he reminds us that war is about breaking things and killing people. In Mogadishu that day, there was no room for elaborate rules of engagement. In the end, it was a task force of unglamorous "straight-leg" infantry that saved the trapped raiders. Did the U.S. err by creating elite forces that are too small to sustain the attrition of modern combat? That's one of the key questions Bowden raises in a gripping account of combat that merits thoughtful reading by anyone concerned with the future course of the country's military strategy and its relationship to foreign policy. - Publishers Weekly

President Obama would do well to read Economics in one Lesson by Henry Hazlitt but I know he will not because the thoughts contained therein are in such opposition to his ideology. Here is only one quote of many that I know he could not accept. His Administration has been one that has relied on force and fraud rather than enforcing laws that prohibit them.

Practically all government attempts to redistribute wealth and income tend to smother productive incentives and lead toward general impoverishment. It is the proper sphere of government to create and enforce a framework of law that prohibits force and fraud. But it must refrain from specific economic interventions. Government’s main economic function is to encourage and preserve a free market. When Alexander the Great visited the philosopher Diogenes and asked whether he could do anything for him, Diogenes is said to have replied: “Yes, stand a little less between me and the sun.” It is what every citizen is entitled to ask of his government.

12 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

The ceiling light problem has been fixed. I had to drive out of my way and wait for almost a hour but they work again and I wasn't charged anything. When they were working on all my other problems someone flipped a switch by the entry door labeled Ceiling. There is another one labeled Porch neither of them have I ever switched on or off. They were at the same positions for the past 4 years.

If the ceiling lights are turned on and the Ceiling switch is in the ON position I have lights. If then ceiling lights are turned off and the Ceiling switch is in the ON position I do not have lights. But, the problem that I had for the past 6 days was that the Ceiling switch was turned OFF and no amount of turning ceiling lights on or off would make them come on. You learn something every day!

My first stop had been at Café Olé for breakfast. There I had the Enchiladas de carne de res y pollo Montados, or what they call Santa Fe Rise and Shine, which were much better than what I had in Canutillo, TX. I have eaten here in the past and it has always been good, I'll be back again before I leave this time.

After getting the ceiling lights fixed it was grocery shopping time again. As I have said many times a new store is always an adventure. This store is truly not new, I have been here before, but after being away for a while it is somewhat of a treasure hunt for me to find every thing that I want.

Our afternoon walk yesterday was also a bit of an adventure. We went due west out the northwest gate and followed an ATV trail that then turned south at the fence line. There was another turn back to the east that I am sure creates a square route like the one out of the northeast gate.

I climbed over the fence at that point and continued west following the remnants of a road that ran along then power line. Came to another fence that had a gap by the gate that was large enough that I could get through it and so we continued on for about 1/4 mile more. Then climbed over another fence that gave me access to the dirt road that parallels AZ82. This dirt road is very powdery because the Border Patrol drag it with tires that will let them see any foot prints crossing the road made by illegal immigrants. I did not cross the road but Patches and I left a lot of foot prints down the center that should give them something to follow; it is probably very boring to look for foot prints and never find any.

Today we did a very short potty walk in the morning and will try a foot path from the northwest gate this afternoon. This footpath goes north for as far as I could see yesterday so it may just be an out and back, we will find out.

How could this happen when President Obama said that his Administration was going to be one of the most transparent and the main stream media has been a water carrier for him these past 5 years? We now trail Samoa #40, Botswana #41, South Africa #42, Trinidad & Tobago #43, Papua New Guinea #44, Romania #45 and just ahead of Haiti #47, Niger #48 and Italy #49.

According the the World Press Freedom Index for 2014, an annual study conducted by Reporters Without Borders, the United States, under the Obama Regime, is now only ranked 46th in the world out of the 180 countries studied...In 2009, the year Barack Obama took office as president, the United States was tied for 20th in the world.

13 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

The afternoon walk yesterday was one that I probably will not repeat. The foot path just meandered through the desert brush where a few people, like myself, saw it and decided to follow. It ends in a whimper with no real ending and then you may wander off on your own before returning to the gate or simply retrace your steps. I came across another walker with his dog off leash that then reappeared at the gate as I was leaving. Patches then made a fool of us both with her barking and lunging. She did not act as well as she could have - sigh.

I went to the Park library and made a couple of trades this morning. They do not have a lot to choose from but I might be able to trade a few more. I have two more that I have finished reading and will certainly finish the one that I am reading now and probably one more before if leave here.

It is forecast to be near 80° here today through Tuesday. Mostly clear with partly cloudy being the worst that we can expect. I have sympathy for those in the south that got hammered again but not much for those in the northeast, they know what winter has to offer and should not whine when it arrives.

All of the stories that I have read all use the same wording as what I have quoted below. That is to say all the stories speak of a debt limit. This is a non sequitur; there is no debt limit any more. What they passed was a law that permits the Treasury to borrow regularly through March 15, 2015, and then another law must be passed. This is the second suspension of a debt limit and you can expect that there will never again be a limit placed on how much debt the Federal government can issue. But all the stories are about how the Republican rolled over and passed a 'clean bill' with only obscure or misleading statements regarding the 'limit'. There is no limit between now and March 15, 2015!

The Senate on Wednesday approved an increase in the nation's debt limit, sending the legislation to President Obama's desk as party leaders opted to avert another standoff over the government's deficit spending. The bill cleared the Senate on a 55-43 vote.
The hastily called vote comes after the House, a day earlier, approved the increase, with no strings attached. The decision by Speaker John Boehner marked a retreat from Republicans' past practice of demanding concessions -- spending cuts, or other provisions -- in exchange for raising the debt limit.

14 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

Our afternoon walk yesterday was to be a clockwise route around the square out of the northwest gate. What we found was the ATV trail that went south from the gate went more to the southwest, winding through the brush, meeting the trail along the power line about midway in the square.

From that mid point on the south side I walked back to the east and found that there was another entrance at the southeastern corner and Park streets could be used to make the route a loop. This will give us two routes. Therefor I now have identified 6-7 routes that we can walk that should reduce the boredom for me - Patches doesn't care.

I'm doing very little other than our twice a day walks. Read my Daily blogs and on the couch with Patches and my latest novel. Started to get the Will Rogers weekly articles for April ready by copying them to my web site. I now only need to get them formatted correctly so they can be linked. I would like to have that done by the beginning of March, always trying to stay one month ahead, and this is a short month.

There are plenty of people that will read the quote below and think it is a very good thing and that there should be even more. However, I'm wondering if it is like the canary in the coal mine with regard to the economy? The quote is from the posting of 13 February 2013 at Daily Pfenning by Chuck Butler.

Have you been following the news on these Bankers that are turning up dead? Suicides all of them (allegedly)… There comes a time when you have to begin to connect dots folks… The latest one was a 37 year old executive director of program trading at JP Morgan… So, maybe 1, 2 or even 3 bank executives commit suicide, but what about 4, 5, 6? Doesn’t that all smell of yesterday’s fish now? It sure does to me, but then I have conspiracy blood that runs through my veins!

15 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

We went out the southeast gate for our walk yesterday afternoon. This time we continued to follow the power line toward the east but soon came upon another fence with a power line beside it running north. Stayed on that easy walking ATV trail until we came to a very deep wash with lots of brush. There has not been a motor vehicle across at this point in a long long time and I did not see that the ATVs had made a bypass trail around it. We did get across and then turned back to the west and brush whacked our way back to Keller Rd and then home.

I could have saved these researchers a lot of time and probably taxpayer money¹. Patches always wants to smell my ears after I have been away so she can find out where I have been. She probably knows more from smelling my ears than these researchers will ever find out.

Researchers from the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia decided to analyze earwax as a possible source of personal information...Researchers identified odor producing compounds contained in earwax then heated the earwax samples to prompt them to produce odorous volatile organic compounds (VOCs)...Odors in earwax may be able to tell us what a person has eaten and where they have been, earwax is a neglected body secretion whose potential as an information source has yet to be explored.

16 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

We did the clockwise route out of the northeast gate yesterday. The past couple of days have been in the 80s and Patches has been feeling the heat even more than myself. She loves the cold weather but I need to be a little careful about how much I walk her when it gets hotter.

I started having a problem with the down arrow on my laptop keyboard yesterday. So I fixed it - now it does not work at all - HA. This keyboard has to be a cheap piece of junk. My first Toshiba laptop was used for about 7 years and the keyboard still works well, the second laptop had some of the keys lettering starting to come off after about 4 years when it died. This one has the lettering coming off of a couple of keys and one now does not work after less than a year.

I think computers have become throw away utility items like so much of what we buy anymore. I can continue to use this one with the down key on the number 2 in the number pad but will need to get the keyboard replaced and have all the dog hair blown out before too much longer.

The only thing that I did today of any consequence was make up a Thermal Cooker pot of vegetable barley burgoo. A rather simple thing to make with a quart of chicken broth, 3/4 cup of barley (less if you want soup), a package of frozen Lima beans, mixed vegetables and broccoli florets with a couple tsp of powdered cayenne and a packet of Sazón Goya to season. Boil for a few minutes and then into the Cooker for a couple of hours. A good healthy stew.

I finished this Cornwell book yesterday, the first one of hers that I can remember reading. I was disappointed. Do you remember when the movie theater would show a Newsreel, a cartoon, and a serial then the feature film. I don't think I ever saw a complete serial so I was disappointed with them.

This book was like that. It ends not so much with a cliff hanger but rather with a lot of unresolved issues that I suspect are carried over to her next novel in the Scarpetta Series. IF you are going to read this book my advice would be to read the previous 16 in the Kay Scarpetta Series first and in order. I enjoy many authors that use the same characters in their books but they almost always stand alone, I did not feel that way about this one. On the other hand, you may read it as a stand alone novel and agree with Publishers Weekly.

Bestseller Cornwell's solid 17th thriller to feature Dr. Kay Scarpetta (after Scarpetta) finds Scarpetta—who's the senior forensic analyst for CNN—probing the murder of a Central Park jogger as well as looking into the disappearance of Hannah Starr, a wealthy financial planner. Quizzed on-air about previously undisclosed details of the perplexing Starr case, Scarpetta realizes that the tentacles of the case reach further than she imagined. Her niece, forensic computer whiz Lucy Farinelli, has her own reasons for digging into Starr's disappearance, along with Lucy's girlfriend, New York County ADA Jaime Berger. NYPD Det. Pete Marino, another series staple, is also in the loop as a member of Berger's task force. But it's the dark past of Scarpetta's psychologist husband, Benton Wesley—particularly his presumed death in Point of Origin and shocking reappearance five years later in Blow Fly—that binds the disparate pieces together and make this one of Cornwell's stronger recent efforts. - Publishers Weekly

17 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

Our afternoon walk yesterday was counterclockwise out the northeast gate. I noticed that there is a foot path that appears to go north from the ATV trail that I may explore soon. Then I also saw a cleared path through the brush, running east and west, in the center of this square that I have been walking around that also merits investigation.

We have had some high clouds during the morning which may make for a cooler afternoon. If that happens I think we will be doing a little longer walk out the southeast gate and along Keller Rd this afternoon.

My accomplishment for the day was to take on more fresh water. I didn't need to dump holding tanks yet, the RV Repair shop did that when they replaced the toilet, but I did it anyway. That keeps me on a schedule to dump tanks and take on water at the same time. Much easier for an old guy to remember such things.

I also took a couple more books that I had read to the Park library to trade. I didn't find any of my favorite authors but did pick up a couple of books that looked like they would be entertaining. I'll have 2-3 more to trade by the time I leave here but the pickings are rather slim. I can only hope that some new material shows up on the shelves.

18 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

It was slightly cooler yesterday afternoon but we did the shorter clockwise loop from south to north on the west side of the Park. I did not feel good the night before last and felt all achy in the afternoon. Picked up a cold someplace that has me still feeling poorly today.

That did not keep us from going to town however. Nor did it keep me from getting Corned Beef Hash with poached eggs for breakfast at the Landmark Café. It is good to be back in the part of the world were that is almost always on the menu and you can get it with Sourdough toast. Were not in Kansas any more Patches!

Stopped at the vet here in Sierra Vista that did Patches spay when I adopted her. Picked up a card with telephone number but more importantly with an email address that I can use to set her appointment in April 2015.

Then did my weekly grocery run at Fry's. They had a special on Folgers in the 2 lb 3 oz size but did not have any of the Black Silk in that size. I talked to one of the stockers and when she could not find any in the back of the store she said she would give me 2 of the 27.8 oz size for the special price. I got a Deal!

A very interesting thing happened during December 2013 while the United States was having a Merry Christmas. China and Japan were net sellers of US Treasury Debt during the month; China reduced it's holdings by $48 Billion and Japan by $4 Billion. These are the two largest foreign holders of Federal Debt. But, that was not bad news because Belgium (the European Union) ponied up with an increase of nearly $60 Billion so everything is fine.

I have to wonder if there is not some 'back door' money transfers going on between the Federal Reserve and the EU. On the one hand the Fed is cutting back it's monthly purchases, China and Japan also have cut back but on the other hand the EU is a big buyer. I don't know what is happening but I have this feeling that it is not good and does not bode well for the future.

19 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

I did only a couple of short potty walks with Patches yesterday. In the afternoon I took her to the dog run and let her smell around, not much running was done. She seemed to accept that and maybe needed the rest as much as I did. The cold is breaking up but I don't feel like doing much.

I'm still struggling with the cold but it seems to taking its normal course. I had a fever break early this morning and now the usual drainage and cough that comes about around day 3 for me. I think I can look for a better day tomorrow. I did take Patches for a longer morning walk today and will try and get in a longer one this afternoon but I'm feeling peaked.

It didn't matter how I felt I just had to get laundry taken care of today. Got that started as soon as we finished our morning walk. I had some problems with the washer and dryer but mostly of my own making. You need to read ALL the instructions: on the washer, on the dryer and on ALL the walls in the laundry room to avoid problems of your own making.

There has been a lot said about the Congressional Budget Office report on the effect of raising the minimum hourly wage rate to $10.10/hr. Most of the lame stream media has focused on the 16.5 million that would receive higher wages. Few have had much to say about a two-thirds chance that the effect would be in the range between a very slight reduction in employment and a reduction in employment of 1.0 million workers.

I assume that some of these reductions in employment would come about when the wage increase caused a decrease in ObamaCare and other income based entitlements. There has been almost nothing said about the redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the poor as the CBO pointed out in their report. This is the President's approach to achieving income equity? Then why not raise the minimum wage to $20.20/hr. That will cause some additional reduction in employment but “If You Want to Make an Omelet, You Must Be Willing to Break a Few Eggs.” — Lenin.

Moreover, the increased earnings for some workers would be accompanied by reductions in real (inflation-adjusted) income for the people who became jobless because of the minimum-wage increase, for business owners, and for consumers facing higher prices. CBO examined family income overall and for various income groups, reaching the following conclusions:

1. Once the increases and decreases in income for all workers are taken into account, overall real income would rise by $2 billion.
2. Real income would increase, on net, by $5 billion for families whose income will be below the poverty threshold under current law, boosting their average family income by about 3 percent and moving about 900,000 people, on net, above the poverty threshold (out of the roughly 45 million people who are projected to be below that threshold under current law).
3. Families whose income would have been between one and three times the poverty threshold would receive, on net, $12 billion in additional real income. About $2 billion, on net, would go to families whose income would have been between three and six times the poverty threshold.
4. Real income would decrease, on net, by $17 billion for families whose income would otherwise have been six times the poverty threshold or more, lowering their average family income by 0.4 percent.

The White House on Wednesday floated the possibility of imposing sanctions against the Ukraine in the aftermath of violence that has killed at least 25. The White House weighed in on the possibility of U.S. sanctions as the European Union on Wednesday announced it would hold "extraordinary" talks on the crisis.

20 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

I have cut back on my walking distance while fighting this cold. Feeling better this morning with a lessening of the runny nose and cough but continue to feel 'washed out'. Maybe a couple more days?

This period of recuperation has allowed me to make progress with getting the April links for the Will Rogers weekly articles ready. Not quite finished but will make my goal of having it done by this month end. I have also been on the couch with Patches, me reading and she sleeping.

Remember my comments of yesterday about Ukraine and the threats of sanctions when President Obama said “There will be consequences if people step over the line. We expect the Ukrainian government to show restraint, to not resort to violence. We expect peaceful protesters to remain peaceful.”

So he drew another line in the sand and the Ukrainian government stepped over it as did Assad's in Syria. President Obama is an empty suit and everyone outside the United States knows it; with more in the United States finally coming to that same conclusion.

President Vladimir Putin sees the events in Kiev as "an attempt to carry out a coup", according to his spokesman, and puts the blame for them violence in Ukraine's capital firmly at the door of the protesters. "The president believes that all responsibility for what is happening in Ukraine now lies with the extremists," said Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman.

Putin understands what President Obama has been attempting to do in Ukraine and he will not let it happen. "We cannot characterise what is happening in Ukraine as anything except a violent attempt to seize power," said foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, blamed extremist groups, Ukraine's opposition and Western leaders for encouraging the violence. "Many western countries, who have tried to interfere in events and played games with insurgents, are also to blame.

Remember on 14 February 2014 that I wrote about the banker suicides? Well, there have been a couple more as is being reported in the Daily Pfenning blog posting of today 20 February 2014. I am with Chuck Butler on this one, my conspiracy blood is also heating up and I can not see any good to come of this.

And last week, I told you about the stream of bankers that were committing suicide… Well, since I wrote that, 2 more have taken their own lives… This is getting pretty serious folks…All of these had something in common, and that is that [they] worked on trading desks or were associated to trading desks… I don’t know about you, but my conspiracy blood is really heating up!

21 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

A do nothing kind of a day. I did finish getting the Will Rogers links prepared. Now need to move on to reading my Monthly blogs before I get too far behind on them again.

The cold is much better. Quit taking any acetaminophen yesterday since the fever seemed to be gone, although the achy feeling remains which it might have helped relieve. Still some sinus drainage but that and some congestion should be gone in another 24 hours and I'll be as good as I was last week. Not as good as I ever was but as good as last week.

I think the deal that was brokered between the protesters and the government in Ukraine yesterday has postponed the civil war in that country until next year. This may be a good thing but then maybe not. It will give both sides in the conflict more time to arm up which will benefit Russia the most. They allowed the West far more latitude in western Ukraine than you would have expected and now must correct that.

So, President Obama has brought peace to the Ukraine through his words alone much as he did in Syria. OH, there is no peace in Syria? Well, it is no longer headline News and neither will be Ukraine which is just as good as peace. Now, when is he going to fix the protests in Turkey and Venezuela?

22 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

After posting to my web page yesterday I remembered that I had not included the Will Rogers link for the day. When I went back to correct that oversight I found that I had not included the link for 14 February either. Went back and corrected both omissions. Although no one has ever brought to my attention that I have left a link off I do want them included for my own pleasure.

I didn't see them come in yesterday but did see a Man 4x4 expedition rig from Switzerland parked in the first row north of the Park office while on my afternoon walk. This morning I saw that a smaller Mercedes expedition rig from Germany had parked beside the Man 4x4. The Man 4x4 was built by Action Mobil, an Austria company that has a web site that is written in German.

The smaller yellow rig is built in Germany and had a web site address on it but I could not find it any place. I spoke to the owner of it briefly this morning and he first traveled to Argentina in 2010 where he meet Peter & Ruth Zaugg. They recently met up again in Las Cruces, NM but will be going their different ways very soon. Peter & Ruth Zaugg must leave the United States because of the visas but will leave their motorhome in Phoenix until their return late this year. The smaller rig will be going on to Alaska and then will return for storage in Phoenix when it's owners must also leave because of their visa.

The Man 4x4 owners, Peter & Ruth Zaugg, have a blog at traveljoy.ch that is also written in German but Google Translate does a reasonably good job. Their motorhome is 24'8" long (just slightly longer than mine), 7'7" wide (slightly narrower) and 11'7" high (slightly taller). But there the similarity stops. They have massive ground clearance with a 4-5' ladder to reach their living area.

It is powered by a 280 hp diesel engine, 3 diesel tanks holding 211 gallons, and an average miles/gallon of 9-12; that gives them a range of nearly 2,000 miles between fill ups - WOW. It has an 8 speed transmission or a total of 16 gears with the 4x4. A fresh water tank for 96 gallons but only one holding tank of 31 gallons; that holding tank is 'black' and their gray water is disposed of daily on the ground almost everywhere in the world except North America.

23 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

I spent almost all day visiting with my cousins at The Homestead in Sulphur Springs Valley today. Also met some more cousins that I had not seen in 50-60 years and others of a different generation that I never had met before. The one cousin that lives in OR and winters here is driving back tomorrow so there was a pot luck luck in his, his wife and my honor.

We stopped in Tombstone on the way over and I parked in the Free Parking on 6th St just south of Allen (the main tourist street). As I started to get out Patches began to whine which is not her usual behavior and when I looked where she was looking I saw a coyote less than 100' away walking on the street to our left.

I then saw a second one and a third and then a fourth. Patches was not happy! She has confronted coyotes while off leash and she was very quiet about it not the way she acts when seeing another dog, today she was acting like they were dogs. They finally disappeared and she settled down secure in her own mind that she had protected our home from the threat of these strange dogs.

I went to the Longhorn where I was the first customer of the day. That soon changed and by the time I left there had been over a dozen motorcycle riders come in and almost overwhelm the one waitress that was on duty. Nothing special about the breakfast nor the restaurant except they open at 7:30 which may be the only one that is open relatively early. DO NOT look for breakfast in Tombstone during a Holiday.

After the pot luck I drove to Sierra Vista and stopped at Fry's for groceries. I saved a few miles by doing so rather than go back to the Park today and then go to town tomorrow which would have been my usual shopping day. The downside of shopping late on a Sunday was that there were a lot of empty places on the shelves. Did not get all the water that I wanted and the tomatoes that I wanted were all gone.

I now have a lot of catching up to do with my Daily blog reads.

24 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

Patches had a rough night last night. Wouldn't stay in her bed, had difficulty climbing into if I forced her, sat up most of the night making sounds of distress and then would start to woof for me to get up and take her outside. We did that 4 times last night. I gave her 1/2 of a baby aspirin around midnight and then the other half when I got up. I was able to sleep in until 7:00 when I got up and took her for her morning walk and she seemed fine.

I think the reason she felt so much better was she knows that she looses a meal if she is sickly. Gobbled her breakfast down just like any other day and is now in her bed catching up on her sleep. I think I'll join her for a nap later today.

The two expedition vehicles were gone by the time I got back to the Park yesterday. I did keep trying to find the web site of the German builder and finally did find it. It is all written in German and can be found using their name Exploryx.

They built the yellow one on a Mercedes Sprinter 4x4 chassis with a 163hp diesel engine. It is 20'8" long, 6'10" wide and 9'5" high about what the Sprinter RVs that you see here in the US are but with an expedition build and look about it. This owner did not volunteer a blog address but you can read about his trip in South America on the Exploryx web site under Exploryx Impala II "Milou".

Monty Pelerin posted the quote shown below and his following paragraph in The Fed's Bubble dated 24 February 2014. What Ayn Rand said is being tested as will what Monty has to say in the coming days, weeks maybe years but I think the thought of both will be found to hold true.

You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality. - Ayn Rand
It is possible to steal from tomorrow to improve today but only at the cost of having less of a future. That is what both nations and citizens have been doing. The ability to continue doing so has about run its course. The damage done to the future is real and will result in substantially lower living standards for those who foolishly believed that spending beyond one’s income was a miracle created by John Maynard Keynes.

25 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

Patches was carrying her right leg from time to time yesterday afternoon so I decided to give her some time off this morning. I didn't get a nap yesterday but made up for it by sleeping in a little later this morning. Didn't feel much like doing a longer morning walk but giving Patches some rest is my story and I'm sticking to it.

A few days ago I opened Google Maps and thought I had a problem. It didn't look like the Google Maps that I have been using and sure enough it isn't. They have gone and 'improved' it. Why in the hell can't they and Yahoo! leave well enough alone? Google Maps has worked well for me for years and years; I see nothing that makes it better for me and somethings are worse until I can find out how to use the Maps again.

Overcast today and cooler with a 20% chance of rain. I don't think we will get any but the chances are increased to 60% on Saturday so maybe then. The highs have been in the upper 70s for the past couple of weeks so a cooler day it not to be unexpected - it is still winter.

It has been too long since I have had any fish. Bought some cod while shopping on Sunday and cooked it up yesterday in my Roaster. I also made up a batch of sauce. Then this morning I cooked some quinoa with oregano and menudo spices then added sliced garlic to it after it had cooled. That will be my 'linners' for the next few days; a salad and Pescado a la Veracruzana with a side of spiced quinoa.

26 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

We were back doing our usual morning walk today. Patches wasn't carrying her leg and acted like she was feeling well. I was also acting about as normal as I ever do any more.

Did another book trade with the Park library. I found one by the same author that I am currently reading and one that is military history in content rather than a novel (a delayed trade for Black Hawk Down).

I'm making good progress on reading my Monthly blogs. I have also made a decision about where I'm going when I leave here which is progress. I'll have more to say about that in a few days if I get a reply to an email that I sent. If I get no reply I'll have more to say also but it will be in a few days.

Barack Obama spoke before an audience of BarackObama.com, otherwise known as Organization for Action (OFA) volunteers on 25 February 2014. The quote below is the actual transcript of his remarks and demonstrate clearly just how poor of a speaker he is off teleprompter.

He also managed to clearly insinuate that those who don’t fall in line with his progressive agenda to fundamentally transform America are doing the work of the devil whereas the OFA volunteers are doing "God's work". I seems improbable that such a strong secularist President would be invoking God when speaking to a group of other secularist - but you do what you have to do.

Reach out to, to your Republican friend who, who can’t stand Obama, but is basically a nice person and they just, you know, they, you know, but, they, they, they, you know, they watch the, the, the wrong newscast.
We’re going to make a big push these last, uh, these last few weeks. But, as I said, I can talk, uh, you know, my team can talk here in Washington. It’s not going to make as much of a difference as if you were out there making the case. Um, the work you’re doing, you know, is God’s work. It, it is hard work. You don’t have the op…, you, you, you don’t have the prerogative, you don’t have the prerogative to just go around and say no to everything. Uh, you don’t have the prerogative to just be cynical. You, you don’t think that the country moves forward just on its on. You understand that it happens because ordinary people come together to do extraordinary things.

As Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland made clear in her speech last December and in the leaked recording of her telephone conversation with the US ambassador in Kiev, Washington spent $5 billion of US taxpayer dollars engineering a coup in Ukraine that overthrew the elected democratic government.
There is no doubt whatsoever that the coup is a strategic move by Washington to weaken Russia...The loss of Ukraine to the EU and NATO would mean the loss of Russia’s naval base on the Black Sea and the loss of many military industries. If Russia were to accept such strategic defeat, it would mean that Russia had submitted to Washington’s hegemony... By bringing a direct strategic threat to Russia, the crazed Washington hegemon has engineered a Great Power confrontation and created the risk of world destruction.

27 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

A not doing much at all kind of a day. More time on the couch with my latest novel and Patches.

I did spend some time with the New Google Maps preparing my 3x5 card route to Tucson on 6 March. I'll be doing a bit of town driving to cross through the eastern side and then the northern side of the city proper. I followed a similar route a few years ago and it was not too bad. That was in the afternoon and this will be in the morning but I hope to be having breakfast during Rush Hour.

These are the first two paragraphs of a story US warns Russia on war games as tensions mount in Ukraine's Crimea at FoxNews.com. Don't you just know that President Putin is trembling in his boots upon receiving the 'stern warning' from Secretary of State John Kerry (who served in Vietnam). Putin has crossed another of President Obama's red lines and has said "Your move Mr. Obama". I think he will respond by giving a speech!

The United States warned Russia it would be a "grave mistake" to intervene militarily in Ukraine, as the Kremlin ordered 150,000 troops to test their combat readiness and armed men seized government buildings in Ukraine's Crimea region and raised a Russian flag over a barricade.
Secretary of State John Kerry issued the stern warning on Wednesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the large-scale military exercises in what many see as a show of force or possible prelude to intervention in Ukraine.

28 February
Tombstone Territories RV Resort
Near Tombstone, AZ

The neighbors on each side of me left today. I expect that I will receive new neighbors before I leave next week but I do have a lot of open space for now.

I was reading a blog this morning that had a couple of pictures of trees that were budding and it reminded me that tomorrow was Baba Marta Day. This in turn reminded me to send my Bulgarian friends Internet "Martenitsi", virtual red-and-white interwoven strings, that brings health and happiness during the year and is a reminder that spring is near. I do not hear from them very often anymore but that is as much my fault as it is theirs. It was good that I remembered Baba Marta Day this year and made the effort to send Greetings.

Please read the following two quotes and then answer the question: Which speaker is the winner of a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics? Which speaker is a former adviser to Enron which declared bankruptcy at the end of 2001 and many of it's executives were indicted for a variety of charges and were later sentenced to prison?

"Like all artificially created bubbles, the boom in housing prices cannot last forever. When housing prices fall, homeowners will experience difficulty as their equity is wiped out. Furthermore, the holders of the mortgage debt will also have a loss. these losses will be greater than they otherwise would have been." - Ron Paul, 2003

"To fight this recession, the Fed needs more than a snapback; it needs soaring household spending to offset moribund business investment. And to do that... Alean Greenspan needs to create a housing bubble to replace the Nasdaq bubble." - Paul Krugman, 2002

IRS official Lois Lerner was called to testify last May, but before invoking her Fifth Amendment right to refrain from testifying, she gave a statement denying her guilt. The House Oversight Committee voted 22-17 in favor of acknowledging that Lerner, by reading her statement, had waived her right to Fifth Amendment protections and now, she is scheduled to be called before the Committee on March 5th.

I am so looking forward to what she has to say which could be the 'smoking gun' that President Obama has attempted to hide for so long. The question now is will Lerner testify only in exchange for immunity from prosecution or is she willing to take a Contempt of Congress hit for the President. The other big question is, “What would she need immunity from if, according to President Obama, there isn’t a ‘smidgen’ of corruption in the IRS scandal?”

If she does fall on her sword and takes the Contempt of Congress citation there is very little chance that she will suffer any lasting consequences. She may have also received a promise from the President that she will be rewarded for doing so.

If it were me I would grant her immunity with the possibility that she will commit perjury which would be a far more serious crime than Contempt of Congress. We all have contempt 'for' Congress but are not nearly as forgiving of perjury unless it is President Obama doing the lying.