Peregrinating
2014

October

1 October
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

I did some more API Map building yesterday but have come across a couple of problems. One of them I can not do much to fix - at least I can not think of a fix right now. The second one I can, and should, fix with different coding.

So it was back to school yesterday afternoon and this morning. The problem is coding for more than one Waypoint between my departure camp and my destination camp. One Waypoint I can now do but it is adding the 2-8 that are possible that I need to learn how to do. That may(?) give me a way to fix the other problem but I need to learn how to have more than one Waypoint to find out.

Clear sky today with the 10 Day forecast predicting it is going to stay that way. The high temperatures to be in the 70s with the lows in the 40s. How good can it be! That is IF the forecast comes true.

As soon as we finished our walk this morning we went to town. More groceries at Albertson's with no Greek God vanilla & honey yogurt available. It has to be popular, why don't they order more. They could have sold me two large containers of it this morning. I did find a vanilla only substitute. Everything else that I wanted they had.

Nothing picked up there for my 'linners'. Went to La Mexicana restaurant where I had breakfast again. This time I ordered Huevos Divorciados which were not on the menu and I had to describe how they were made. Neither the owner nor the cook knew what they were but the cook did a great job putting them together for me. I may have given them a new menu item. HA

It was there that I also picked up my 'linner' items for the week. A dozen Chicken and Green Chile tamales. I'll be covering them with some Hatch Green Chile sauce that I did get while at Albertson's so my saying nothing for 'linner' was picked up there is not totally correct.

I got backed in with only one GOAL and a couple of pull forward and back again moves when we returned to the Park. Stopped a little bit forward in my space so I could dump holding tanks and add fresh water. I'll do this again next week also. Could not last until then and I don't want to leave here with almost full tanks.

Read all my Daily blogs and did a quick scan of the News. Now it is time to get back to school and study API Maps using JavaScript.

Government Desperation Increasing by Monty Pelerin is a very good article about governmental lies, 'We have entered the 'Khorosan phase' of duplicity. That is an advanced state of Orwell's modification of the language to mean whatever the government wants it to be.'

What does government do when it is failing? Why it lies, of course, just like any other criminal enterprise. It lies about anything it believes it needs to and can get away with. When you have the media running interference for you and an opposition party too cowardly to blow the whistle, that means you can lie just about anything and get away with it.
Even under normal conditions government fudges numbers to support its actions and policies. Government always benefits from making conditions look better than they are. A true understanding of what government does as opposed to what it pretends to do would mean its end, at least in any form resembling its current size, configuration and responsibilities.
Allowing government to report its own performance is worse than allowing the fox in charge of the chicken coop to report on the number and health of the chickens... Those most sanctimonious and quick to impose rules on others exempt themselves from meaningful oversight.
H. L. Mencken understood the game at least as well as the politicians playing it: 'No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.'

2 October
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

I am hard pressed to find anything to complain about regarding the weather yesterday. It was WONDERFUL! The high was 75° with a low of 44° average wind speed 11mph and a totally clear sky. If the 10 Day forecast can be believed then I can expect every day to be like that until I leave here.

My API Map schooling yesterday was mostly remedial. I went back to one tutorial that I have found and working my way through it from the beginning. The documentation provided by Google for 'developers' may be great IF you have been using their previous versions of AIP Maps. It leaves a LOT to be desired for someone like me. I need AIP Map JavaScript V3 for Dummies!

I received an email from my UPS Store yesterday that they had my package in hand once again. I replied that they could send it to me here in Silver City and they replied that they had done so and gave me a tracking number. I checked this morning and found: 'Your item departed our USPS facility in TUCSON, AZ 85726 on October 1, 2014 at 9:11 pm. The item is currently in transit to the destination.' Alright!

Clapper Under the Bus by Andrew Napolitano posted on The Unz Review: An Alternative Media Selection is a great article. In it he raises a lot of questions about President Obama publicly accusing Clapper of failing to inform him of the Islamic State advance on Iraqi population centers. If the President had attended the intelligence briefings or read the written briefings or watched the News he would have known that the Islamic State was gaining strength. I have copied his opening a closing.

When President Obama attributed the rise in Iraq of the Islamic State, or ISIS, to the failures of the U.S. intelligence community earlier this week, naming and blaming directly National Intelligence Director Gen. James Clapper, he was attempting to deflect criticism of his own incompetence. He was discussing the fact that ISIS, right under his own and the general's noses, gained control of nearly half of the landmass of Iraq.
Yet, if Clapper and his spies so miserably failed to educate the president about a threat he now claims is real, why do they still have their jobs? They have their jobs because if the president fires them, they might freely speak the truth, and the truth is the president's enemy. They have their jobs because the president is so bad at performing his.

3 October
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

Yesterday and this morning I had a slightly different breakfast scramble. I think I'll stick with it for a while. I need a change but can usually go a long time having the same thing every morning with my weekly restaurant breakfast treat.

The scramble now contains a medium sized yellow squash, a Roma tomato, 2-3 slices of yellow onion, big stalk of kale and ⅓ of a tofu brick. After that has cooked down I add 2-3 cloves of sliced fresh garlic and a shot or two of my home made hot sauce. Eaten with a couple of toasted corn tortillas.

I have just about reached the point where I am going to throw in the towel trying to do what I have planned with Google Map API JavaScript V3. That is I will throw in the towel until I can buy a real book made from dead trees that explains in plain English, with examples, how to use Google Map API. The online information provided by Google sure does not do it for someone like me nor for many others I am finding.

Didn't do anything at all with Maps API this morning. I worked with a test Google My Map, this is what I have in my left column of the 'home page', that I have to try different things. I can add route directions between all the camp markers but as I said before it gets to looking very cluttered. A possible solution would be to show each camp to camp route on a separate map level but there are only three available so that is not a solution. Alas, I need to know how to build Maps API.

The only constructive thing that I did today was my laundry. The Park has one washer and dryer which could be a problem but I was able to get them today. They are among the cheapest that I have found in a Park in a very long time.

I spoke to the owners yesterday about coming back in April. The wife was concerned that the space I am in is always taken by the same person for the month of May. I told her that I didn't care what space and would move from space to space to stay for a month. She is looking to see what she can put together.

My package has arrived: 'We attempted to deliver your item at 8:29 am on October 3, 2014 in SILVER CITY, NM 88061 and a notice was left because no secure delivery location was available.' I should get the delivery notice from the Park owners before the day is over. I'll then go to the Silver City Post Office on Tuesday when I go shopping and pick it up.

In Poverty Report Contradicts GDP Claims Paul Craig Roberts writes about the most recent release of 2nd Qtr 2014 GDP growth rate of 4.6%. He questions how can this be with consumer spending making up ⅔ of GDP and median household income declining. He asks 'What has changed since the 1st Qtr when GDP declined by 2% that it has now increased in the 2nd?' The answer to that is most likely - the upcoming November elections!

The US Census Bureau's 2013 Income and Poverty Report concludes that in 2013 real median household income was 8 percent below the amount in 2007, the year prior to the 2008 recession and has declined to the level in 1994, two decades ago! Even though real household income has not regained the pre-recession level and has declined to the level 20 years ago, the government and financial press claim that the economy has been in recovery since June 2009.
Clearly, something is wrong with the government's economic reporting. It is not possible to have real GDP growth when real median family incomes are declining and business investment consists of corporations buying back their own shares. Either the government's GDP estimate is incorrect or the Census Bureau's Income and Poverty report is incorrect. Apparently Washington doesn't understand that if it is going to rig the numbers, it must rig all the numbers.

4 October
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

I didn't feel like doing an afternoon walk yesterday. To keep Patches happy we did a long potty walk and then sat on the Park porch waiting for the owner(s) to show up. They have a 'back at clock that hangs on the office door' which said 4:00. It was 10 minutes after when I sat down and close to 4:30 when someone arrived. This is very common - they operate on New Mexico time, that is the same as Mexico Time but in the 'new country'.

To make up for the exercise that I skipped by not walking I made my bed. This probably gave me more aerobic exercise than the walking does. It is always a struggle but the fitted sheet that I bought for the bottom that has elastic all the way around has been money well spent. Much easier than a flat sheet.

The package forward saga has finally come to a satisfactory end. I received the package today, delivered by the RV Park owners. I checked with them yesterday to see if they had received a Delivery Notice in their mailbox and they had but it did not have my name on it. I was sure that it was mine but did not know if the Post Office would release the package to me if the Delivery Notice did not have my name on it. It was decided that it was best for the RV Park owners to go and ask for the package. The reason that my name was not on the Delivery Notice was the way the package was addressed (I think), the USPO does what they do so it may not have made any difference:
Manzano's RV Park
Edward L Frey
103 Flury Ln
Silver City, NM 88061-8818

I asked for it to be addressed:
Edward L Frey
c/o Manzano's RV Park
103 Flury Lane
Silver City, NM 88061

The Bureau of Labor released their non-farm job numbers for September yesterday that showed an increase of 248,000 jobs. The Lame Stream Media did not make this headline News, they were focusing on the 5.9% Unemployment Rate. However, even that did not get the headline treatment that it usually does. Has the Lame Stream Media forgone their Ministry of Propaganda duties to spread the economic disinformation that the government keeps putting out?

For the first time since January the Current Employment Statistics (CES) Net Birth/Death Model adjustment subtracted 26,000 jobs for the month. September is a month that historically reduces the number of jobs 'created' by the CES Net Birth/Death Model adjustment. It was less of a reduction this year than in 2013 which leaves the total adjustment for the past 12 months at an increase of 2,430,000.

If you look at the Household Data for September the number of Employed increased by 232,000 which is the fourth consecutive monthly increase. There was a 329,000 decrease in Unemployed but an increase of 315,000 in the Not in the Labor Force. This set another all time record of 92,584,000 for Not in the Labor Force which the Media has mostly ignored.

It was the 5.9% Unemployment Rate that was News. This was driven by the combined forces of a declining number of Unemployed and an increase in the Not in the Labor Force. A lot of those Unemployed dropped out! That increase in the Not in the Labor Force was also responsible for the Participation Rate moving down,for the 7th time in the last 12 months, to 62.7% . This is a Participation Rate that prior October 2013 was last seen in 1978 - the Media still does not consider this News.

The average earnings remained unchanged at $24.53 an hour, while the average workweek increased by 0.1 hours to 34.5 hours. A rather mixed report that the Media for the most part ignored which is probably the best 'spin' that they could put on it. More Bad News from the Jobs Front by Paul Craig Roberts is an article without any 'spin'.

5 October
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

A very good day for doing nothing. That is exactly what I have been doing. Lots of time on the computer this morning with blogs and scanning the News. Perfect weather with a very nice breeze. I am getting a payback from Mother Nature for putting up with all the rain she sent my way.

Then even more time was spent trying to determine what is wrong with my Javascript coding for the API Map that I can not get to show up. Found an online web site that identified that I have at least one error that is described as 'SyntaxError: invalid property id'. That does not tell me much but at least I have some place to start looking for a correction. Before today all I knew was that the coding didn't work. Progress?

That has sent me back to my Javascript Tutorial. I'll most likely be spending a lot of this afternoon working through that some more. I pick up bits and pieces of understanding from a lot of sources maybe one of these days it will come together and I can build something useful.

I tried adding some smoked kipper to my breakfast scramble this morning. All I have to say about that experiment is - I won't do it again. I ate it - BUT.

Recent Gallup Poll question:
'Will your vote for a candidate be made in order to send a message that you SUPPORT [Barack Obama],
be made in order to send a message that you OPPOSE [Barack Obama],
or will you NOT be sending a message about [Barack Obama] with your vote?'

This question was first asked in 1998 with Clinton's name within the brackets and Bush's name in 2006. This year the Survey said:
SUPPORT: 20%
OPPOSE: 32%
NOT: 46%

This is the highest OPPOSE percentage for any President during the past 16 years. That would appear to be a strong signal that the voters will use the midterm elections in November to tell President Obama they oppose his agenda. There is still time for the Democratic October Surprise but the polls are not looking good for President Obama or the Democratic Party. The President never looks at polls however - except when he is deciding what policy he should adopt on any given issue ie immigration reform or the Islamic State.

6 October
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

WAHOOO! Finally at about 6:00pm yesterday I found the magic formula to show more than one Waypoint on a Google Map API v3. There must be over a hundred examples of how to go from point 'A' to point 'C' with point 'B' as the one Waypoint. Nowhere could I find a simple example like that going from point 'A' to point 'D' with the two Waypoints 'B&C' in between.

But even better yet the extra Waypoints can be 'hidden' with no Marker just the small white circle that you see when you drag the route off what Google has drawn. I was one Happy Camper last night! Now I can move on with the project of building interactive maps for all the routes between camps for 2014. I will then start working my way back through the years I show on my Home page in the left column.

I didn't feel much like doing our usual walk this morning. I got up later than normal which always puts me in that kind of mood. Disrupt the start of my day and my whole routine is disrupted. I told Patches we would just go to Kirkland road this morning but when I got there I was feeling that it was a normal day and we went on to do our 2 miles.

I had breakfast and then started building the remaining Map AIPs for 2014. That year is now completed and looks like I want all of the years to look. I also prepared my 3x5 card route for the move to my next camp and selected a restaurant along the way. I'll fill up with gas here tomorrow when we go to town again.

The dutiful media will do all they can to also suppress that News about casualties in President Obama's Iraq III/Syria War simply by not reporting them as they have done since Obama became President. I will do my best to report them here, the table below shows the military war deaths for the first nine months of each year and the President in office when they occurred.

7 October
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

When I said the map for 2014 was finished that was not quite correct. I have the spreadsheet finished that contains all the date that I'll save as a CSV file and then use that to build the 'finished' map. I'm holding off on doing that until I get to my next camp.

Probably will not get much more done on the map for 2013 today. I did start the spreadsheet with data for it and have completed it as far as what is now shown on the existing map. The next step is to build the individual route AIP Maps that will have a Map Button link in the Journal Page and also in the 2013 Map Marker Infowindow. It will take me a few days to get that done but not the next few.

Today was the beginning of chore time. We went to town with the first stop to fill up with gas. Then a grocery run to Albertson's where I picked up some cod at a very good price. They were almost out of all Greek God yogurt but I picked up two large containers of honey, no honey and vanilla. To fix that I bought a small bottle of vanilla and will make my own honey and vanilla - so there, take that.

One last stop at La Mexicana for breakfast before leaving here. This morning I had the tamale breakfast plate with vegetable tamales and green sauce. I wanted a dozen of the vegetable tamales but they did not have a dozen ready so I settled for chicken and green chile. Those will stay frozen for 'linners' a week or two from now.

Then it was time for Patches to go get her bath at Mis Amigos Pet Care Center. I thought it would be just an hour but the groomer said that she was already behind for the day with a dog in the tub so it would be closer to 2 hours (she did it in 1.5). Nothing I could do about it other than use the time to give my generator some exercise. I don't think I have started it for 6 months, which is not good, but it started and sounded good while running.

When we got back to the Park I did not back all the way into my space so the holding tanks could be dumped again (backed in like I knew what I was doing). They are not full but I don't like to travel with them holding much. They will have 3 days accumulation rather than 10 with me dumping today.

Over the next couple days I'll be doing the inside housecleaning of Desperado before we hit the road again.

8 October
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

The forecast was for a 30% chance of rain with a shower or two around the area early in the day then scattered clouds in the afternoon. It started raining at about 4:00am and continued to do so until 10:00. It did give us a break with just light rain at around 7:00 and Patches went for a potty walk in it. I had a umbrella. No drips - so far.

I got on the housecleaning soon after breakfast and my first cup of coffee. Did the bathroom sink and the toilet, even removed the toilet lid to clean the recessed bolt holes and under that part of the lid. That is not something I'm doing every cleaning but some craziness overcame me. It was then time for a break and my second cup.

Went hard at it with more caffeine in the system. Got the bathroom and kitchen floors vacuumed. Took another break and more coffee before getting down on hands and knees again to wash those floors to pick up the Patches hair that the vacuum always leaves. That is enough for today, I now return you to our regular scheduled program.

I went back to all the Map APIs that I have built that Map API would not draw the route that I drove. The Map API has its own built in routing from point 'A' to point 'B' when avoid highways has been selected and that is what it will draw although there are alternatives which many times I take. What I did today is make the routes on maps where that was the case 'draggable' and the viewer can drag the routing to match my written description if they wish.

Why the White House Fudged the Numbers on Student Loans for The Fiscal Times by Liz Peek is a story about this Administration rewarding their friends and punishing their enemies. The President has been getting criticism from the African-American/Black/Negro community that he has not done enough for them. With the November elections almost upon us he needed to give the Democratic Party candidates something positive to talk about to keep this voting block on the Party plantation.

Eager to broadcast some good news approaching the midterm elections, the Obama administration recently announced a welcome dip in student loan defaults...Unfortunately, it turns out the numbers are bogus.
In keeping with a White House that talks a good game on transparency but that is cloaked in secrecy the Department of Education moved the goalposts at the last minute, changing how the default rates were calculated and thus sparing some colleges from tough penalties. It has so far refused to say which schools were given a reprieve, though it appears likely that black colleges were the major beneficiaries.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan, speaking recently at a gathering of [Historically Black Colleges and Universities] HBCU leaders, announced that because of changes to the way the numbers were calculated, none of the black schools would lose federal aid.
Proprietary (non-profit) schools, which have been under attack by the Obama White House for some time, were not so lucky. Twenty-one institutions, typically small for-profits offering beauty and cosmetology programs, were deemed to have default rates above the federal limit; those schools will likely lose their opportunity to offer students federal loans and grants ' thus effectively putting them out of business.

9 October
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

We did manage to do a dry afternoon walk yesterday but the rains came again at 7:00pm and fell hard or moderate until 10:00. The official measurement was 0.30' but it seemed like more than that. The forecast is a 50 % chance that we get more today. This is all coming from the remnants of hurricane Simon. I don't want to be too critical of the weather guessers but back on 1 & 2 October they were forecasting 10 days of Clear with 0% chance of rain. If they knew that Simon was coming this way (which they did), where is this 10 Day forecast of Clear and no rain coming from?

The only good thing I can say about all the rain is that I did not get any dripping on my bed or chair. It could still happen as I can see where the headliner is wet. More rain will most likely cause it to start dripping for sure.

I vacuumed the living room carpet yesterday. That left me with only cleaning the dash for my housecleaning chores today. That was quickly done and now the only thing that remains is to wipe down the counter and stove tops after I finish 'linner' tomorrow.

I built a few more Map APIs for the year 2013 but still have a long way to go. It is a slow process but I will get it done, all in good time. Read my Daily blogs and went through the News. Not much is happening with either of them, they are in the same grove that I am.

President Obama is hot on the fundraiser trail for the next month. While he is out there you will hear a LOT about how the Budget deficit has been reduced during fiscal year 2014. The Congressional Budget Office released that number yesterday and the Ministry of Propaganda (AKA The Media) has taken it in their teeth and run with it. The President will do so also and the Ministry will set up the chant 'four legs good, two legs bad'.

What I don't understand is why the Treasury borrowed more than what is claimed to be the Deficit? It looks like the Treasury is borrowing almost $600 Billion that is being spent 'off budget' or is there something I am overlooking? These are the numbers that I am looking at.

10 October
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

We let the threat of rain curtail our afternoon walk yesterday. We got started under a threatening sky with rain to the west and north of us. We went about ⅓ of a mile and started to get some sprinkles so turned tail and beat a hasty retreat to Desperado. That was all it took - no rain fell.

The weather gurus give it a 30 % chance of rain here today but claim it will be Clear tomorrow while I am on the road. The 10 Day forecast at my next camp location is Clear and 0% chance of rain. Warmer than here with high temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s with the lows in the lower 50s. IF it does not rain I'll be a happy camper.

I did some work on links for the Will Rogers weekly articles yesterday and this morning. Also doing some more Map API building for 2013. A little couch time with my latest novel, that I can not really get into, and Patches.

Speaking of Patches. I'm trying to come up with a provision for her care that I can include in a re-do of my will. I'm going to have that done, and name a new executor, in November while I'm in the Sierra Vista area. I asked the few remaining relatives that I'm in contact with if they could take her in if I should die and no one could promise that they could. I'm now trying to line up an Animal Rescue that might take her under those conditions.

U.S. finds Air Strikes against ISIL in Kobani 'useful' by Fahwad Al-Khadoumi for nsnbc international covers a lot of issues concerning the US and its 'coalition' bombing in Syria. He also included these two paragraphs which once again shows the poor judgement that Senator McCain had when he went to Syria and what he had to say when he returned. Now he is a raving hawk against the same people that he was praising as being 'moderates'.

The U.S., Saudi Arabia and other members of the so-called coalition against the Islamic State, which critics describe as a coalition against Iraq, Syria and Iran, will be training, arming and deploying 5,000 so-called moderate Syrian opposition fighters. As among others the renown U.S. historian Webster G. Tarpley pointed out, there exists no 'moderate Syrian opposition' other than those opposition parties which are active and peaceful participants in Syrian politics.
Among those whom the U.S. describes as moderates, Tarpley noted, were radicals such as Khalid al-Hamad (Hamid), a.k.a. Abu Sakkar. Al-Hamad or Sakkar gained world fame for cutting open the torso of a slain Syrian soldier and chewing on his heart and part of the slain soldiers lungs. The moderate opposition, which U.S. Senator John McCain illegally visited in the Syrian city of Idlib is, in other words, led by Al.Hamad a.k.a. the Cannibal, by Salim Idriss of the defunct Free Syrian Army, and in fact, the Caliph of the Islamic State, Caliph Ibrahim a.k.a. al-Badri, a.k.a. Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader al-Baghdadi.

11 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

We just did dodge a bullet yesterday afternoon. There were storm clouds in every direction with rain falling to our southeast. Made it back to the mostly dry Desperado and within 10 minutes got hit hard. Very heavy rain with pea size hail that covered the ground like it had snowed. Patches can put up with the rain, lightning and thunder but she does not like hail. I was sitting with her during that part of the attack.

A flood advisory was issued about 30 minutes after we had been hit. 'NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS THE ADVISORY AREA. DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED AN INCH OF RAIN HAS FALLEN ACROSS THE AREA.' Lost power after about the first 10 minutes, was still out when I went to bed but saw that it had come back on sometime before midnight when I got up. Most violent storm that I can remember being in Desperado. Certainly the most violent hail storm, there was remaining patches on the ground when we went for a mud and water curtailed walk this morning.

On the road just after sun up. Stopped at Denny's in the Flying J in Lordsburg. I had looked for possible restaurants and drove past 3 that were closed, have been closed for some time, before getting to Denny's. I think the Interstate killed a lot of restaurants that were along the old highway, now only those that are at an Exit survive.

I thought I would arrive here at noon and was a few minutes after or almost an hour before depending on what time you happen to be using. I'm back on Arizona Time and if my plans come to pass I'll stay on it for about 6 months. The drive was 193 miles on this route: Flury Ln, Kirkland Rd, US180, NM90, US70, US191, AZ266, Fort Grant Rd, Ash Creek Rd, Fort Grant Rd & Virginia Av.

I have re-built the 2014 map shown in the left column of the Home Page. It now has a link to the same Map API as the Map Button. Anyone reading the Journal page can access it using the Map Button and those that are viewing the map can click on the Camp marker and then open the route map. This is how I plan on have all the maps in the left column work as I get the Map APIs built.

Last week was a tough one for the major stock indexes. Next week should prove to be an interesting one. If they continue to fall it is going to make President Obama's fundraising talking points even weaker than what he had available a week ago. It is going to be a lot tougher to get the big spenders to write a check when their portfolios are going in the toilet.

12 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

There is a good walking/bicycling path along the south side of Ft. Grant Rd from near Virginia to Quail Dr. Then along Quail Dr there is a park with baseball fields and a rodeo grounds. We walked around the grounds yesterday afternoon but it was not something that I will do as a regular route, to go around the baseball fields will be good however.

This morning we went east on Rex Allen Dr for a mile and returned. This took us past the two markets that are available. I will give the independent store a try tomorrow. If they are not too my liking I will then be stuck with Safeway. We will see.

This RV Park would be described by most people as a good overnight stop. All the roads and spaces a gravel with an immature tree by most of the spaces. The I-10 borders the Park on most of the south side and there is highway noise, I am aware of it but it does not bother me, and the train whistle can be heard. The spaces are level and there are walking routes available for Patches and I; she is happy and if she is happy then I'm happy.

I have made good progress on the Will Rogers weekly article links these past couple of days. Also got a good start on my Monthly blog list, dropped one off when it reached the six months with no postings. Also pruned one blog from my Daily and moved a Weekly into its place. A little couch time and more work on 2013 Map AIPs that I just might finish later today.

David P. Goldman (AKA Spengler) in a review of To Make and Keep Peace: Among Ourselves and with All Nations by Angelo M. Codevilla had this to say in part. A position that supports my contention that there are no policy differences between the two major political parties in the US.

All regard foreigners as yearning for American leadership. Their proponents regard foreigners as mirror images of themselves, at least potentially. Liberal internationalists see yearners for secular, technocratic development. Neoconservatives see budding democrats, while realists imagine peoples inclined to moderation'. Different emphases notwithstanding, there is solid consensus among our ruling-class factions that America's great power requires exercising responsibility for acting as the globe's 'policeman,' 'sheriff,' 'umpire,' 'guardian of international standards,' 'stabilizer,' or 'leader''whatever one may call it.

It isn't just that the emperor has no clothes: the empire has no tailors. In the decade since President George W. Bush's 2003 'Mission Accomplished' speech, America has gone from hyperpower to hyperventilater. The Obama administration and Republican leadership quibble about the modalities of an illusory two-state solution in Israel, or the best means to make democracy bloom in the Middle East's deserts, or how vehemently to denounce Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, everything that could go wrong, has. Europe's frontiers are in play for the first time since the fall of Communism; Russia and China have a new rapprochement; American enemies like Iran have a free hand while traditional American allies in the Sunni world feel betrayed; and China has all but neutralized American sea power within hundreds of miles of its coast.

13 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

Our morning walk to Quail Park and back this morning was a good one. We saw three coyotes run across Ft. Grant Rd just before Quail Ln and I turned Patches loose in the baseball field. She had a good run through the wet grass of the outfield until picking up a couple goat head stickers. I'll be giving her a run every time we go there if I can.

The day sort of went downhill after that. The restaurant that I had picked for this morning is closed on Mondays. Drove back along Rex Allen Rd and found no other restaurants so had breakfast at Country Pride which is at the intersection of Virginia and Ft Grant, almost back in the RV Park.

Then went to the independent market and was disappointed. So much so that I left and went to Safeway to get my groceries for the week. They did not have everything that I wanted either (no Greek God Honey & Vanilla, but did have Greek God) but much better than the independent. I really prefer to give the local market my business but the only good thing I can say about this one is they had a great selection of canned and packaged items. Their produce section was very lacking so I gave up at that point.

It is another nice clear sunny day but the wind has come up. That does not surprise me at all, the wind blows in the Sulphur Springs Valley from autumn through spring almost non-stop. Then in the summer there is the daily monsoon rains with accompanying winds. No rain in the 10 Day forecast with highs still to be in the low 80s and upper 70s. Pretty nice!

I finished the Will Rogers weekly article link preparations yesterday. Today I may finish the 2013 Map APIs and build a 2013 My Map. Or, I may finish reading my Monthly blog list. Probably not both of those but then there is also the good chance that I will not accomplish either of them.

Obama's Stupid Sanctions Give Putin New Oil Bonanza by William Engdahl for New Eastern Outlook is probably only the first of many repercussions that are going to surface due to President Obama's Sanctions War against Russia. This is the same President that has been quoted as saying 'Don't do stupid shit'. Truly a case of do as I say not do as I do!

US President Barack Obama, or at least the warhawk neo-conservatives pushing him to war everywhere, are beginning to get hit with the boomerang of their stupid economic sanctions against Putin's Russia. A few days ago, Russia's largest oil company, state-run OAO Rosneft, headed by close Putin ally, Igor Sechin, announced discovery of a giant new oil field in Russia's Arctic north of Murmansk. The stupid part comes from Obama's decision to agree to impose sanctions on Sechin and his company and to prohibit US companies from doing business with them.
Because of the economic sanctions drafted by the US Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, David S. Cohen, as of October 10, ExxonMobil will be forced to withdraw from the Russian project and incur huge losses or violate the US Government sanctions and face severe penalties. The Obama Administration has just scored an own goal (Eigentor?) with its brilliant new precision financial and economic warfare unit inside the Treasury Department. Bravo, Washington! You have just inflicted major damage on one of the largest corporations in the United States...Now with ExxonMobil and most likely MorganStanley as the financing agency to organize the billions needed to expand the drilling next spring, banned by US sanctions, Sechin is turning east to China. Conveniently for Rosneft, ExxonMobil is forced out just after finishing the most complex and difficult part of the project.

14 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

I did finish the 2013 Map APIs and built a New My Map for 2013 yesterday. I have it up in the left column of the Home Page. I also got a notice that my Verizon account had used approximately 75% of my data allowance for this month and I thought at first that it was due to all the map opening and closing that I have been doing. However, I took a look at the usage numbers and most of the 75% occurred yesterday afternoon. About 45% was used in only a few hours.

I sent an email to Verizon asking them to look into what may have happened. I certainly did not use that much of my allowed bytes in only a few hours. Contacting Verizon by email is a trial also, they do not want to be contacted by email and it is VERY hard to find an address or an email form on their website. I am not expecting that they will do anything about this massive usage but want to put them on notice if there are more hits to my account. Maybe I'll get lucky and they will reverse it but I am not expecting that to happen and have pulled the plug on my Aircard and will use WIFI until I can get through this month without some huge overage charge from Verizon.

The email address that I found was for land line support only but they did reply and tell me that. I ended up going back to the Verizon website and using their Chat. I don't like to Chat much but it worked out alright. I am being given an increase to my allowable usage and a Credit against my billing for that increase. I now just have to watch the account closely, The Chat agent thought that I may have received a software update that runs in the background that I do not see. I guess that is possible but if so it was a huge update that I have not seen yet. It is a puzzle!

I have changed my breakfast scramble again but not that much. I'll be using eggbeater part of the time and tofu part of the time now. Have dropped the tomato and will add some canned beans to the squash, onions and greens. Trying for more fiber to reduce cholesterol and provide almost as much protein as the tofu. My 'linners' this week are the chicken and green chile tamales that I got in Silver City. Adding the Hatch green chile sauce mixed with the left over mole that I made up a couple weeks ago. This mix is much better than the mole was alone and may have improved the green chile sauce - I think I have found a recipe.

We have established three walking routes that can be reversed to make six and there are some other possibilities. Most of any route that I do select has a good portion of it that is out and back but better than some places where I had nothing but out and back routes and not many of those. I think we will do well here with maintaining our walking routine. Patches seems pleased. Do a morning walk and then sleep most of the day before getting up full of energy to do the afternoon one.

Pendulum Politics No Longer Works by Monty Pelerin describes the upcoming elections as well as anyone. It is not going to make any difference which major political party 'wins' control of Congress in 2014 or captures the White House in 2016. The two parties support the same goals, it is only the path to reach them where they differ. Vote early and vote often but know that it is not going to make much difference.

Voting out one party and in the other does little anymore. Government is too big and involved in too many things it is incapable of doing. Yet it continues to grow in size and power.
Both parties are incompetent, corrupt and self-serving, but both benefit from the scam. Every legislative day represents this trade-off: how much more can be taken before the fools figure out they are being plundered.
Unless power is taken away from Washington, the next election will be a replay of this one. The country will turn on those currently in power and replace them with their opponents in the hopes that things will change. Continuing to repeat this process over and over will change nothing. Continuing to do this and believing that the results will change is merely another example of Einstein's definition of insanity.
We are past the point where the ballot box can effect such change. Virtually every election, at least at the national level, affords two choices ' Statistism Heavy or Statism Medium. Neither choice changes the continued increase in government growth. One party grows it slower than the other, but that is all.
It is not an accident that the Republican Party did not want Goldwater, Reagan or the Tea Party. They are the party of Statism Medium and any outsider threatens them as much as it does the Democrats. The two parties beat each other up in the attempt to lead, but they come together whenever their great scam is threatened.

15 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

I started work on 2012 Map APIs yesterday afternoon and made some preliminary progress. Also finished reading my Monthly blogs today.

That freed up some play time and I went back to doing so by trying to create Map APIs with multiple waypoints that do not have markers. This was a question posed in the Google Maps Help Forum that got my attention and something that I have been toying with in my mind. First I needed to suppress the markers that are automatically added when a map route is requested from Map API. That was easily done. What was not so easy was to then put back a marker at the start and end of the route. SUCESS, is mine however. It is great to finally start to understand how SOME of this Map API programming is done and to accomplish what I set out to do.

I am now going to put together some examples that will answer the question. There have been other answers offered which the questioner is going to try but if they fail maybe he will give my solution a try. Fun stuff.

Speaking of fun stuff. Patches and I did a new route this morning, which makes number four, and since they can all be reversed that gives us eight routes to mix and match. Perhaps not the most that we have had to chose from but much better than most of the camp locations that I have been in.

I am still trying to find a place that will take Patches if she should outlive me. I have found one but they can not provide any guarantees, only that they will do their best if the time should come. This place offered the name of another care provider that is more of a non-profit enterprise that will take care of her and find a foster/forever home but at a price. I could not find them online so I have asked for more information. I don't know if I'm going to have this resolved by the time I meet with a lawyer or not.

The stock market indexes are not having a good day. I look forward to the 'spin' that is put on the huge drop. The Administration has been patting themselves on the back as the indexes moved up; what excuse are they going to come up with to explain the drop?

Dark clouds over Novorussia posted by VINEYARDSAKER on 14 October 2014 provides his assessment of what is happening, and going to happen, in Ukraine. This one paragraph was of interest since the Ukraine has disappeared from US Media coverage in favor of Ebola. If this author is correct things will heat up again after the Ukraine elections and the current president, Poroshenko, gets thrown under the bus by the United States. He was most likely given the word, as well as a golden handshake, by Ms. Nuland during her visit.

Past experience shows that each time a top level US official visits Kiev, something very bad happens. Victoria Nuland (aka "f**k the EU") has just concluded a visit to Kiev which received only very little coverage. The purpose of her trip was never clearly explained and after she left, no official results of the trip were announced.

16 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

I didn't want all that new found Map API knowledge to go to waste. Therefore I devoted some time late yesterday a lot of this morning to working up a templet of sorts that I can use to re-do all the Route Maps that I have built for 2013 - 14. The default markers that Map API put in place are so 'common', I wanted something with a little more individual style.

What I settled on were a couple stick pins at the beginning and end of the Route that have mouse over titles and an icon for the restaurant that I stopped at if there is one.

I have also found that I can add waypoints that force Map API to draw the Route where I drove - for the most part. I could do this before but it became very cluttered and ugly. Now with the ability to suppress the markers at those waypoints the only ones that appear are the 2-3 that I add back in for the beginning, end and restaurant. Pretty slick!

That has been about all that I have been doing. I did read my Daily blogs and scanned through the News. The Lame Stream Media have done their best to ignore the bad News about the stock indexes and have continued to run with Ebola as the News of the day.

17 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

I have come almost full circle which may be appropriate since I am at the Magic Circle RV Park. On 28 September 2014 I said: I can add one map to a monthly page on my web site but can not get a second one to appear. I have tried numerous combinations and all have failed. I sent off a HELP message to Stack Overflow where I found the coding that I was able to modify and post the one map with directions on a page. I'm am not holding my breath that I'll get an answer on Stack Overflow. Most questions may get a lot of views but not many answers. I'll continue to search the Internet for help or maybe stumble upon and example that I can use. Very frustrating that it so complex.

I never got an answer to my question on Stack Overflow but I got an answer. I found it myself last night just before going to bed. I'm using the Map APIs that I have built and then embedding them on the Journal Page where I previously had the Map Button.

BRILLIANT, why did no one give me that answer in Stack Overflow? I think it was because the question was SO simple that no one on that Forum would deem to stoop so low, they are answering question that I don't even understand the question much less the answer.

That means I'm back to modifying the Map APIs that I have built some more. Just some minor tweaks to get them to look they way I want on the Journal Pages. The bigger changes are adding my custom icons and removing the extra waypoints that I use to force Map API to draw the route that I drove.

Patches and I tried another walking route yesterday afternoon that will be a 'one time only'. We had two loose dogs come out into the street and had almost every dog in every home on both sides of the street for a couple of blocks raising all kinds of hell. Patches never barked, not one time. She can be such a Good Girl!

President Obama cancelled a fundraiser to meet with Cabinet members to discuss Ebola. You know that the situation is serious, perhaps a crisis, if Obama has canceled a fundraiser. That, I do believe, is unprecedented. Then yesterday he made this bold statement "It may make sense for us to have one person ... so that after this initial surge of activity, we can have a more regular process just to make sure that we're crossing all the T's and dotting all the I's going forward".

Based on that statement it is thought that he will appoint Ron Klain his "Ebola czar". Now that is the leadership that has been missing with regard to this Ebola issue. The President now really, really has the bit in his teeth and is running with it. He has sent 3,000 troops to Africa to rage war on Ebola there and it is rumored that he is going to call out the National Guard to provide even more military there. And now he will appoint an Ebola czar. Problem solved - until after the November elections.

No reply from the organization that I sent an email to asking if they could take care of Patches in the event of my death. I don't know if that means "No" or they do not "do" emails. I am SO out of the loop of todays culture by refusing to use a smart phone, texting, Tweeting and having a lot of Friends on Facebook. Perhaps I will go see them when I am in the Sierra Vista area, they have a Thrift Shop that is not too far away from where I plan on camping.

I did have one small bit of success using my TracFone today. I could find only a telephone number for a RV Park that I wanted to contact and make a reservation for my winter stay. I tried to call a few days ago although my phone said No Service and sure enough - I had no service. Many times I will have that message on my phone but can call out. I tried again today and was able to contact the Park and they then sent me an email confirmation so I now have their email address. I also have a place to stay during the winter

The Media, and many others, use these two Indexes interchangeably referring to the consumer sentiment index as consumer confidence or the reverse. I have very little confidence in either index but don't know what to believe when the indexes are moving in opposite directions. What little belief that I do have is more in the confidence rather than sentiment based on who is doing the survey. I trust Nielsen more than Reuters or any university.

U.S. consumer sentiment rose in October to the highest in more than seven years, boosted by views on personal finances and the national economy, a survey released on Friday showed. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary October reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 86.4, the highest since July 2007. The gains were unexpected, as a Reuters survey showed a forecast for a slip to 84.1 from last month's 84.6 reading.
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index', which had increased in August, declined in September. The Index now stands at 86.0 (1985=100), down from 93.4 in August. The Present Situation Index decreased to 89.4 from 93.9, while the Expectations Index dropped to 83.7 from 93.1 in August. The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey', based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch.

18 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

I am making slow but sure progress on re-doing the Map APIs that I had completed for 2013-14. Maybe finish that step by tonight or tomorrow and then a day, or so, to replace all the Map Buttons with embedded maps. It has taken a few false starts and more work but I am finally pleased with the result. This is what I had envisioned when I first had the idea of including maps on the Journal Pages.

The weather gurus got it wrong again although they will be able to claim that their forecast of no rain was correct because they did not measure any. However, I got some rain yesterday. Not much I will admit but it was rain. The next 4-5 days have a 10-20% chance of rain but it is cloud free and sunny today with an expected 83° high.

I ordered some Aeropress filters and was given an estimated delivery date of 17-22 October. Stopped at the Park office yesterday to find out when the daily delivery was and my package had been delivered on the 16th. If I had only known, I could have avoided the aggravation with getting packages at Manzano's if I had waited to do my other ordering. Nothing would have changed with the Forward from my UPS Store however, that screw up would have happened with me at either location.

I noticed that westbound Interstate 10 traffic had come to a complete stop around noon today. I could look out my south facing window and see a parking lot were fast moving traffic once flowed. Couldn't find what the problem was with a search on-line but most likely a crash. Traffic began to move again after about 1/2 hour but slowly with stops and starts.

19 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

There were some high scattered clouds this morning but nothing that looked like it was bearing rain. The weather guesser have raised the chances of rain to 40-50% during the next couple of days then Clear with 0% chance for the remaining 8 in the 10 Day forecast.

Our morning walk had us pass through the TA Truck Stop parking lot on the west side were I saw four pilot cars bring in an oversize truck yesterday afternoon. It looks like most any other 18 wheeler but this trailer had 28 wheels with one axle that could have had 4 more mounted. The oversize part was its length, it was one trailer that was about as long as most dual trailers. This morning I saw a Willcox Police car sitting by the rig as well as the pilots that were making ready to lead. Two very small signs on the corners of the trailer - Explosives.

We were then off to town with a brief stop at the Park entrance to take down the overnight chain and then replace it after driving through. Made me think of the question: "What seat is the best in the front of a pick-up? The center seat, you don't have to drive and you don't have to get out and open the gates! ba-dum-DUM

Our first stop was at G-ma D's Restaurant where we went last Monday and she was closed. Open this morning and got a Southwest Omelet that was only fair, enough home fries on the plate to make their presence known, both a bit too greasy. The coffee was good, however I'm not sure that will be enough to entice me to return. There are not a lot of restaurants to chose from so that may be the reason for going back.

I picked up groceries at Safeway again. While at the daily case I asked the stocker why they had no Greek God Vanilla & Honey. They had Honey, which all Greek God yogurts contain, as well as other flavors but no Vanilla. He acted like he had never heard of such a combination as Vanilla & Honey. O Well, I bought some more vanilla so the Honey will work just fine.

They also wanted an outrageous price for blueberries so I'll be having cherries with my yogurt and walnuts this week. Got the makings for Chicken Pazole and stirred up a pot of that soon after getting back to the Park.

But first I emptied holding tanks and filled up the fresh water tank. I think my water pump is failing and hope it does not quit completely for another 3-4 weeks. I am going to have some RV repair work done while in the Sierra Vista area next month and it is one of the things that needs looked into. I get fair water pressure with a full tank but it gets weaker and weaker as the tank is emptied.

I finished re-doing all the Map APIs late yesterday and embedded 1/2 dozen in Journal Pages before going to bed. I like the way this project has worked out although it was a struggle. I finished embedding all of 2014 today and got started on 2013 which I could finish by late tonight. I'll then start building Map APIs for 2012.

20 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

The weather gurus got it right yesterday. The rain came at about 3:00 and rained hard for over 1/2 hour. I thought it had finished by our usual afternoon walking time so we started out. Had a few drops on us as we left Desperado but as we started for the Park gate we were getting more and more drops. I decided that it was raining again and Patches was starting to shake water off so we beat a hasty retreat to Desperado and called it a potty walk.

The official measuring guy said that we got 1.14" which seems right considering the size of the puddles I saw this morning. The good news was that I did not have any leaks. It seems that I get leaks only when the roof is lower on the driver side. I think water forms a 'lake' against the A/C and then starts to leak down around it. That is another one of the things that I need the RV repair shop to take care of.

I finished the re-do of all the 2013 Map APIs and got them embedded in the Journal Page. While I was doing that I found that the 31 July link did not work. I knew this but had put it out of my mind until I was confronted by it again. Devoted some time trying to fix it yesterday and failed, spent some more time this morning and failed again. Finally decided it was a problem with how my web site host had compiled the page so I copied all the coding and text to a new page, saved it and that fixed the problem. Have started building Map APIs for 2012 and embedding them in their Journal Pages as I finish them.

President Obama makes an appearance at a Democrat candidate's rally and people walk out as he is speaking. I can only assume that the vast majority of those in attendance were Democrats there to support their Party candidate so you have Democrats walking out when the President begins to speak. This can not be a good sign - people walking out as the Messiah speaks.

President Barack Obama made a rare appearance on the campaign trail on Sunday with a rally to support the Democratic candidate for governor in Maryland, but early departures of crowd members while he spoke underscored his continuing unpopularity.

21 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

I spent almost the entire morning getting the last 4 Map APIs for 2013 built. A route can not simply be dragged into place and then saved. You must programmatically 'tell' Map API the Longitude/Latitude at a place along the route that will then cause it to draw the route line where you want it to go. If you dive the Google 'suggested' route it is very simple and Map API will draw that route.

My problem is that I do not always drive the 'suggested' route be it using Interstate highways or the route that Google 'suggests' when the Avoid Highways option is selected. I choose to take other highways that avoid Interstates and also avoid the Google 'suggested' route. It then become very difficult to get Google Map API to follow that route. I have found one thing for certain, that IF I do drive any Interstate it is easier to move the route from an Interstate to another road than to do the reverse.

I will now re-build the 2013 map that is in the left column of the Home Page using a Google New My Map so it will look, and function, like 2013-14. That is not very difficult and I should get that done before the day is over. Then tomorrow I'll start preparing a spread sheet for 2011 and after that build Map APIs for that year. I am making progress but it is slow.

Meanwhile, Patches is sleeping on the couch. Resting from her morning walk which she thought was a very good one. She 'talks' to me before we go walk, usually in the afternoon, but she does not have much to say when we get back home. This morning she let me know that we did a good walk with a few howls when we got back.

I have been trying to use the Park WIFI to save some of my Verizon allowed bytes. It was good for a couple of days but the past two have been poor because we got a lot more rigs in the Park. Then this morning I could not use it at all. It was showing a 'connected' icon but no web page would open. I don't use any Park's WIFI very often but whenever I do I am always disappointed. I can not remember ever using any Park WIFI that I would describe as good, better than Verizon at the time but never good.

I find it interesting that the Media has decided that the uncoming mid-term elections are not News. If I remember correctly they did a lot of reporting in 2010 and 2006 but they have been rather silent this time. Do they anticipate a Republican controlled Congress in 2015 and are saving all their News reporting for then?

22 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

I got the easy part of 2011 finished this morning. That was to prepare the spreadsheet from which I create a CSV file that is imported into a Google New My Map and presto change-o I have a map almost like 2012-2014. All that is needed is to change the Marker icons or their color. The harder part is preparing each individual camp to camp route map using Google Map API. That is going to take a few days but I'll get started on it before the day is done.

Working on all these old maps has me thinking about where I am going to go during 2015. I have made two tentative reservations and will probably make a third one for March at my next camp near Sierra Vista. That is when I will be returning to the Sierra Vista area annually for my VA appointment, a dental appointment, a vet appointment for Patches and RV repairs (if needed, which is usually the situation).

I have yet to receive a response from the organization that I sent an email about taking care of Patches if I die before her. I'll send them another email tomorrow but suspect that no answer means NO they are not interested. What I may do is have instruction in my will to send Patches to them if I die even if they do not respond. They can then deal with her and my executor when/if that time comes.

I said yesterday that the Media seemed to be ignoring the mid-term elections this time around. What do I find today in The Drudge Report? A story, What election? Big 3 networks ignore anti-Obama election in the Washington Examiner about the the Media ignoring the 2014 mid-term elections. Am I on the cutting edge of what is hot News or am I not? HA

The nation's Big Three TV networks that breathlessly reported the 2006 anti-Bush election which gave Democrats control of Capitol Hill have practically ignored this year's anti-Obama midterms that are expected to return full control of the Hill to the GOP.
A new and exhaustive Media Research Center analysis compared the last seven weeks of CBS, NBC and ABC news coverage with the same period in 2006 and found a 6-1 disparity between the Democratic election wave and the current election. The story count: 159-25.

President Obama told MSNBC host Al Sharpton in a radio interview Monday that it made little difference to him whether Senate Democrats in tough races didn't want him to campaign for them, because "these are are all folks who vote with me; they have supported my agenda in Congress."

Keep in mind that most of these laws are not preventing the overwhelming majority of folks who don't vote from voting. Most people do have an ID. Most people do have a driver's license. Most people can get to the polls. The bottom line is, if less than half of our folks vote, these laws aren't preventing the other half from not voting.

23 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

Other people have had a problem with Yahoo inserting Sponsor advertisements at the top of their email Inbox since 2013. Today was the first time that it has happened to me, I know not why. After wasting almost an hour trying to Opt Out per Yahoo instructions I have installed Yahoo Mail Hide Ad which seems to be doing the trick. I have become more and more disenchanted with Yahoo! since the new CEO took over and has been 'improving' it. I don't want to move my email account but Yahoo! is certainly not doing anything to keep me.

Nothing much else happened today that will make it memorable. I built four more Map APIs for 2011 this morning and will try and do a like number this evening. I start to get sloppy with my cutting, pasting and begin sloppy thinking after I have built a few of these. I need a break.

Took that break to read through the News of the day which was more of the same. Ignoring as much News as is being reported. The Main Stream Media could not drum up a general panic in the United States about Ebola but they have not let it die yet. There needs to be some other crisis they can latch onto before dropping such a good story.

24 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

For the past 2-3 days I have had a pop-up appear around 2:00pm notifying me that Windows 8.1 would be automatically installed on the 24th. It offered me the options of postponing until then or do it in a hour or two. Yesterday I selected "Do It in 1 Hour" and that was when it started. It was still installing when Patches and I left for our afternoon walk.

When we got back it had stopped at a point where it was asking me to set up my internet connections. I made those selections and then it went into another 15-20 minute setting up process. WIFI then worked as well as my Verizon AirCard and Firefox seems to be operating the same; those were my biggest worries. The Window Screens that I have looked at so far are almost the same but I go to them infrequently.

With Windows 8 my computer would open on a Start Screen and I would click on FireFox and it would open a Windows Home Page and then the FireFox Home Page. Now it opens at the Windows Home Page and I click on FireFox. The Start Page now has a Power Button that can be used to shut down but when I close the cover on my laptop it shuts down just like I modified it to do using Windows 8.

All the whining about the Start Page on Windows 8 was just that, whining. I had no problem opening Windows 8 and see no great improvement with Windows 8.1 which by adding the Power Button seemed to satisfy the whiners.

That has been the extent of excitement here since my last posting. More map building, more blog reading, some News reading, some couch time with my novel and Patches and our twice daily walks fills the day with just enough time remaining for eating and sleeping.

25 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

Patches was up way too early this morning. Doing her ear flopping wake up call, loudest ear flap of any dog I have ever known. I convinced her to lay down again even if she did not sleep but that is what happened with me also. I may have dozed some but never really went back to sleep.

Up just a few minutes earlier than usual and did the shortest of of our routes which is .02-.03 short of 2 miles. Then it was off to town, or the part of town that I frequent. It was the Plaza Restaurant, across the street from Safeway, for breakfast. I had scrambled eggs with chorizo and home fries which were fair but a bit too much grease again. There are not a lot of places to chose from so I will have to take my chances with different menu selections at the ones that are available.

The Safeway experience was much like last week. No Greek God Honey & Vanilla which I now do not expect and my adding vanilla has worked well. They did have some reasonable priced blueberries but I think I was lucky; three packages were way in the back on the bottom shelf in the freezer. No tofu and the produce guy said that they usually did not have very much.

They did have all the makings for a hamburger pie however. I got started on that as soon as I got back to the Park. First layer was browned off hamburger, a layer of diced onion, then a couple small cans of creamed corn, a 2 pound layer of peas topped by potatoes mashed with real butter. That is all in the Roaster and will get plugged in at about 400° for nearly and hour just before 'linner'. There will be plenty of it left over for the rest of the week.

No response from the animal shelter that is near Sierra Vista. I did find an organization, 2nd Chance 4 Pets, in California that promotes lifetime care planning for pets. I sent them an email yesterday and received a reply today. They do not provide the care but offer up a lot of resources to help you set it up. One of those resources was a list of animal transport organizations that would work to get Patches from where ever I may die to a shelter/sanctuary (if I ever find one).

This bit of assistance was great. I was thinking that I would need to find a number of shelters around the general areas that I travel through. Knowing that there are transport groups that do this makes it a little simpler. I still need to find a shelter but only 2-3 of them so that if one can not take her perhaps the next one on the list can.

The demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots. - H. L. Mencken
Here is a quote from remarks that Hillary Clinton made at a rally in Boston for Democrat gubernatorial candidate Martha Coakley that clearly proves what Mencken said. If she is not a demagogue then her only excuse would have to be ignorance.

Don't let anybody tell you it's corporations and businesses that create jobs. You know, that old theory 'trickle-down economics.' That has been tried, that has failed, it has failed rather spectacularly.

26 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

I did nothing to move my map project forward yesterday. Took a day off. I'll get back to it today and there is a good chance that I'll finish 2011 by the time I go to bed. That leaves 2009/10 which requires almost as many maps as two of the other years combined. It is going to be some work but I'll 'Git-er-done'.

Just when you think it is safe Windows comes along with another update and computer re-start. Saw a notice quickly flash in the lower right of my screen yesterday afternoon and again this morning. Took a look at the Windows Updates and they were going to do an automatic update later today so I did it early when it would disrupt what I was doing only a little versus a lot. I just installed Windows 8.1, what is this?

I have found another no-kill animal shelter in the Sierra Vista area. This one was found on the No More Homeless Pets Network which is partnered with the Best Friends Animal Society. I sent them an email today with the hope that they will respond favorably. There is a second organization in Arizona that is part of the Network that I will also contact but I'm taking them one at a time with the closest to Sierra Vista being my first choice.

Saw this bus parked at the motel north of the Park yesterday morning when we were on our walk. The performance is not scheduled until 29 October and the bus was still there when we went for our afternoon walk. I checked online for information about Yahoo! On The Road and found that they probably have two buses, one in the East and one in the West. I think this one was last at a concert in Texas.

This has got to be another of the new CEO's brainstorms. It is the second year of the tours which target a college age audience. I don't quite understand the what and why of it all. This is what Yahoo! says on the FaceBook page "Yahoo On the Road" is a mobile entertainment and innovation festival that toured the US and Europe with the hottest names in music, comedy, and more. Yahoo is focused on making the world's daily habits inspiring and entertaining". That did not help me understand how it might fit into the Yahoo! business plan - but, it is a good looking bus.

Ex-CBS reporter's book reveals how liberal media protects Obama by Kyle Smith for the New York Post is a story about Sharyl Attkisson and her book Stonewalled: My Fight for Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction, Intimidation, and Harassment in Obama's Washington. I think the title says it all and her book will be stonewalled as well.

Smith says "Attkisson unloads on her colleagues in big-time TV news for their cowardice and cheerleading for the Obama administration while unmasking the corruption, misdirection and outright lying of today's Washington political machine". I believe most thinking people know this already and those that do not think will not, or can not, read her book. She also does not understand the culture of 'today' in the USA. If it is not on TV or YouTube then it didn't happen for the vast majority of people in this country.

27 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

I received a response from the Tombstone Small Animal Shelter yesterday afternoon. Since it was Sunday I thought this was a good sign. It was - Good News! They are willing to take Patches if the time should come that it is necessary. I will be touring the shelter sometime after 13 November and if it looks like the animals get good care then I am set with one shelter on my list. I think I would like to get two more lined up if I can.

The Tombstone Small Animal Shelter is a non-profit, no-kill facility dedicated to finding homes for lost, surrendered or abandoned dogs and cats in the area of Tombstone, Arizona. This is the type of shelter that I want to find for my other two. The other nearby shelter has still not contacted me and they are off my list now even if they do.

I did finish the 2011 maps yesterday and the one in the left column of the Home Page is now like 2012-14. Started the 2009/10 spreadsheet this morning and have decided that I'll approach this year in three parts. I got the Mexico portion of the spreadsheet done and will start building Map APIs for that part. Then do the buying Desperado and getting back south part of the year and finish up with the loop at the end of the year.

There was some scattered cloud cover this morning that has lasted for the most part until noon although the official weather guys claim it it Clear. A little cooler today than it has been and the forecast is for a much cooler as we move into November. Still pretty nice as far as I am concerned with the high temperatures to be in the low 70s and high 60s and the low temperatures in the lower 40s.

28 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

I didn't feel like doing a 2 mile walk this morning but convinced myself that I would do a one mile out and back. At the 1/2 mile turnaround I decided that I would do a 1.5 mile out and back. When I next looked at my GPS watch I was at about .85 miles and said "What the hell" and did the 2 miles.

I got started building the Map APIs for 2009/10 yesterday. The first 4 were in the USA and I found that Google considers some highways to be the same as Interstates. Usually when you select Avoid Highways that keeps you off Interstates but I found out that Google thinks CA99, CA58 & CA86 are also Highways and this caused me some grief. I did a lot of trial and error, mostly error, before I got 3 of the maps built that had me sometimes driving on those three roads and at other times avoiding them.

The two maps in Baja were simple, only one road. The hardest part of building those maps was finding the LatLng for where I camped. I think the same thing will be true for mainland Mexico. I drove only main roads and have done the hard part of finding where I camped so building the maps should be relatively easy.

I am getting tired of computer upgrades. I have had a notice about AVG going to upgrade for the past couple of days and was hoping it would just go away. No such luck. I think they do it to try and sucker users into selecting their monthly fee service, which is high $, rather than the FREE antivirus and anti-spyware security software that I have downloaded.

Adobe Reader is bugging me daily to upgrade to their latest release. What I have works just fine for what little I use it for why do I need to upgrade? I think all this is a Programmer Full Employment scheme. The companies have a software product that works but they also have programmers that are on the payroll so they need to do some programming. What the programmers do is screw up a working program so that they can stay employed fixing the problems that they have created. It is not just one company it is what drives the entire industry.

I contacted a second shelter via email yesterday. No response from them yet which I think is a bad sign. I guess it is easier to just ignore requests such as mine rather than send a reply that says "No we will NOT take in your dog if you should die".

29 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

I took Patches to Quail Park to run on the baseball field grass again yesterday afternoon. When we arrived there were three guys taking a break at their truck along the first base side of the field. We entered through a gap in the center field fence and I turned Patches loose. She made a bee line for the truck and I thought I had made a BIG mistake.

She made it through the infield and went to sniffing around the fence along first base. Looked over at the truck and guys a couple of times but made no move to approach them, no bark - acted like they were not there. They started to get in the truck and again I thought that now would be a problem because she loves pickups but again a couple of glances and back to sniffing around. She can be such a Good Girl!

This morning we did a slightly different route that took us thru Keiller Park and Recreation Center. There is a walking path that we followed part of the way and a couple baseball field that had sprinklers on plus a Little League field that is too small for Patches. We may be back again in the mornings, there are too many people around in the afternoon.

I get a report from Yahoo! every week that tells me how many visits I have had to my web site and where they came from. This past week the most referrals came from Baja Nomad where a commenter had posted a link to my 1975 Baja Travel Journal Page. He said he had found it on Expedition Portal but I could not find it there. Good Stuff!

Built all the Map APIs for January 2010 this morning, 7 of them. All of them included some roads in Mexico and as I said before those are actually easier to build. However, Google is very strict about how it draws routes in Mexico and it does not let me deviate much from what they want to draw. I can specify LatLng and Google will not go there so there is some slight differences in the map and what I actually drove.

I have also read a few of my Monthly blogs and need to start preparing the Will Rogers weekly article links soon. Making slow progress on my latest novel but map building has cut into my reading time.

30 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

I have done some chores the past couple of days. Dumped holding tanks but most importantly I added fresh water. My water pump is failing and I only get somewhat decent pressure when the water tank is full. As it is emptied the pressure becomes less and less and the pump runs longer and longer after the faucet has been shut off. I am guessing that the seals in the pump are shot.

This morning I got my laundry done. Another good price for the washers and dryers here at this Park. The dryers are also really hot. I bought 36 minutes of time and could have probably got away with only 24 minutes.

Built another 7 maps for February 2010 that completed my last Teardrop trip, except getting it to the RV dealer where I traded it. I still have 30 more maps to build for the year but this first part has been completed. The rest of the year will be harder to build than those in Mexico so it is going to take me some time.

Although it has taken me much longer to read my last novel I will finish it before I leave here. While at the laundry this morning I check the limited exchange library and found a couple of worthwhile trades. The library also contained a lot of books that I have read considering the small number there are to choose from.

More college students support post-birth abortion by Mairead McArdle for The College Fix is a story that will become more 'mainstream' in coming years. Post-birth abortion is the new 'hip' term for infanticide which is so negative and old school. It will become the hip term as has pro-choice for those that wish to support the killing of infants that might have been missed being aborted.

Another step toward the eventual elimination of anyone of any age that is no longer deemed useful in an enlightened USA culture.

Anecdotal evidence by leaders of prolife groups such as Created Equal and Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust said in interviews that not only do they see more college students willing to say they support post-birth abortion, but some students even suggest children up to 4 or 5-years-old can also be killed, because they are not yet 'self aware.'

31 October
Magic Circle RV Park
Willcox, AZ

Seem to be getting up in the middle of the night now for our morning walks. Must be that the sun is getting up later and later because we are getting up at the same time. I would sleep in some but Patches is on Her Time. She does not care about the sun, what time it might be or when I may want to get up; at about 5:00am she starts to stir and by 5:45 she is past ready to GO WALK.

We did the short route this morning and I then went to the Country Pride Restaurant in the TA Truck Stop. This is at Fort Grant and Virginia not much more than 1/4 mile from my space in the Park. It has also turned out to be the best restaurant that I have found for breakfast. I will give the Plaza Restaurant another try but the Corned Beef Hash and poached eggs that I had this morning was very good so they will have to go some to beat it.

It was then grocery shopping time again. Picked up some very meaty Country Style Ribs that were browned off and added to a pot that has red potatoes and sauerkraut in it. That boiled until the potatoes were almost done and then the pot went into the Thermal Cooker for an overnight cooking. I'll have some for 'linner' tomorrow and 5 days after that.

Before doing the cooking I had one more stop to make on the way back to the Park. There is a Truck Wash about 100 yards from the Park entrance that I pulled into and gave Desperado a bath. Can't remember when I last did that but it has been a long time. Don't remember what it cost me last time either but the price today was a very reasonable $30.

I finished the long novel that I have been reading for what seems like forever. It is 815 pages in paperback which I generally love but the first 400 pages of this one did not grab my attention. It was slow in building up to the point that I could start to 'get into' the story. I'll have a review posted in a day or two.

Well, the market indexes have shrugged off all the news and are on a tear again. My holdings continue to go the opposite direction so I can only hope that when the market does turn that I see some big improvement in prices for me. I thought this last market drop would be that time but it has not come yet.