Peregrinating
2015

January

1 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

More rain starting around sundown. Was the cause of a canceled Park New Year Party with bonfire, roasting marshmallows, drinking and wishing each other Happy New Year.

The rain combined with freezing temperatures this morning left a lot of thin ice. I first noticed it at the dumpster when I could not get the lid open because it was frozen shut. Then found a lot on the pavement, especially around the Casino. We stayed on pavement and gravel again to avoid the mud that I can see here in the Park where the gravel is thin. Clear this morning so it may dry out by this afternoon but will remain cold with an expected high of 47°. Freezing again tomorrow morning with the high to be up only a few degrees then back to much better weather with a high of 75 forecast for Wednesday.

I finished building the replacement maps for Bicycle Trip 1 this morning. Bicycle Trip 3 has the next map in sequence so that Trip will be the one that I work on next. I'm not sure when I will do that. I also want to start moving my site to a different host and may do that before I rebuild any more maps. Undecided at this time.

This is my fourth Deaver book. Speaking in Tongues reviewed on 8 December 2014, A Maiden's Grave 25 May 2014 and Garden of Beasts 19 March 2014 were the first three. I liked the first two better than these last two. This one had plenty of twists and turns which were well done but it all happened in an unbelievable length of time. The 'detecting' was a believability stretch but not within the time frame presented in the story. If the story had happened over days, weeks or month I might have been able to accept criminalist Rhyme as being sharp-witted but not in the compressed time that Deaver used. I did like Amelia and Kara but don't know if they appear in other Rhyme Series books.

Fans of Deaver know that he works storytelling magic in his thrillers, not just the Lincoln Rhyme tales (The Stone Monkey, etc.) but also the stand-alones (The Blue Nowhere, etc.). It's fitting, then, that in his new, giddily entertaining story about quadriplegic crime fighter Rhyme, he casts as his villain a professional illusionist—and an apprentice magician as assistant to Rhyme and Rhyme's cop sidekick–lover, Amelia Sachs. The novel opens with the murder of a young female student at a music school on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Caught in the act, the killer vanishes from a sealed room. Forensic and eyewitness clues point to a culprit with magic training; looking for expert help, Sachs encounters an aspiring illusionist, who goes by the stage name of Kara, who agrees to help her and Rhyme. The villain—revealed in passages from his POV as "Malerick," soon identified as a world-class magician with a serious ax to grind—commits further mayhem (including an attack on Rhyme), which looks like steps toward an act of consummate revenge. A subplot about a white power demagogue's attempt to assassinate the Manhattan D.A. who's prosecuting him grows to involve Malerick, giving the storyline twists—and twists and twists, through Deaver's masterful sleight of hand. Further subplots concerning Sachs's attempt to attain a sergeant's ranking, and Kara's relationship with her stroke-addled mother, as well as the customary difficulties of Rhyme's condition, add ballast to the gyrating main story line, rich in magic lore and lingo. This is prime Deaver. - Publishers Weekly

I have not copied anything from the article but highly recommend Vineyard of the Saker White Paper: the China-Russia Double Helix. It can be found on many sites by doing a search for "China-Russia Double Helix" and is a great analysis of the China-Russia Strategic Alliance (RCSA) that has evolved. In my opinion this is probably President Obama's most significant foreign policy achievement. It would have happened without his involvement but I think his foreign policy meddling has accelerated the RCSA.

2 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

The high temperature yesterday was 41° with a low of 29. The forecast for today is that it will be much warmer - at 49°. This mornings low was warmer at 31°. This was much warmer than what the Park manager was expecting and going from rig to rig yesterday to warn everyone that an extremely cold night was to be upon us.

I decided that I would build two maps for Bicycle Trip 2 that had none before. They will show where we stopped during our ride down Baja. There is only the one road, MX1 involved so the route was not described but the maps will show distances in a way that the written description does not. I made some progress today but did not get any built, having trouble finding LatLng for a couple of the places we stayed. Also having trouble with Yahoo! Search which doesn't make the job any easier.

Top headline News of the day: Harry Reid breaks his face, ribs while exercising by Associated Press on New York Post offers up the Ministry of Propaganda story. I have my doubts that this is what happened, I'll be very interested in 'the rest of the story'.

I would be more inclined to believe the story if he had broke a hip. A fall that breaks multiple facial bones on the way down and then broke several ribs when hitting the floor does not sound plausable - possible, not plausable. The nature of the injuries sound more like a fall down some stairs or maybe someone gave him a good clubbing.

In a statement issued Friday, Reid’s office said the 75-year-old senator was hospitalized overnight at University Medical Center in Las Vegas as a precaution. His security detail had initially taken Reid to St. Rose Dominican Hospital near his home in Henderson, Nevada.
The accident occurred when an elastic exercise band broke, striking Reid in the face and causing him to fall, said spokesman Adam Jentleson. Reid struck part of the equipment as he fell, breaking multiple bones near his right eye.
As he hit the floor, he broke several ribs.

3 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

We walked out in the desert to the west again yesterday afternoon. Saw 15 donkeys this time although I think I saw 5 of them twice. They were in heavy brush and spooky so I didn't get any picture this time. There is also this nagging thought that I have about more pictures of donkeys - If I have pictures of one or two donkeys do more pictures on my web site add anything?

I finished building the maps for Bicycle Trip 2 last night. I still don't know if I will now start on Bicycle Trip 3 replacement maps or wait until I have got into the web site host move. I'll ponder on that some and maybe do both over the next couple of months.

We walked circuits to the Casino this morning which is slightly shorter than our AZ86 ATV trail routes. This gave me the extra time to get two electrical hookup disconnected and the cords put away. Then it was of to Marcela's Café for breakfast. The service was just as bad, maybe worse, this time as last. The waitress did not want to be there this morning from the way she acted. The Huevoes a la Mexicana was not as good as their Chorizo plate either and the home fries were poor this morning. The coffee was still good if I could get the waitress to bring it to me.

The shopping trip at Olsen's was much more satisfying. They were stocking this morning so the aisles were even more crowded that usual but there was no crowd shopping so that was good. The produce area was also being stocked and two of the things that I wanted had not been put up yet. The produce stocker was very accommodating and went into the back and got both of the things that I wanted.

A magnitude 4.9 shook Challis, ID this morning. This was one of my camps in the past and could be again. The news article that I read said the epicenter was 4 miles east of the town and did no damage but an earthquake of that size and that close will get your attention. This is not the first time that Challis has been hit. The Borah Peak, ID magnitude 6.9 quake on 28 October 1983 killed two people in Challis and did a lot of damage to the small town.

Fred On Everything says what needed to be said but no one in the Ministry of Propaganda would ever say it. His article Solving the Police Problem: If They Don't Want to be Policed, Don't Police Them outlines the steps that the individual police officer must take to avoid another Ferguson, MO or New York, NY racial incident. I have copied only select passages from the article that touch on the main ideas presented. From what I have read the NYPD has adopted some of Fred's recommendations, perhaps other police department will sign on also.

It is blindingly clear that nothing but trouble results when cops interact with criminals in places of high diversity. It makes no sense to meddle. It is racism. It is irresponsible. It leads to arson. It needs to stop.
If you were a young white cop just out of the academy, and asked my advice, I would say, "When on the street, mind your own business." ... Do nothing. ... When you respond to the call, drive at the speed limit, stop for traffic lights, and hit the siren and bar lights well before you arrive at the scene. ... This is a happy ending for everyone. You are happy because you will not be charged with racially motivated murder. ... Businesses are happy because they won't be looted, the locals because a brothah was not mistreated.
In regions that are almost entirely diverse, people do not want to be policed. It is unmistakable. Why force outside cops on them? It leads to chaos, arson, and armored shoe-stores. Should they not be allowed to police themselves as they choose, to the extent they choose, as towns once did? Live and let live. It is the American way.

4 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

Our afternoon walk yesterday went out the north ATV trail and looped back to the west. We went through the same general area that we had two days ago when we saw the 10-15 donkeys. Saw only three yesterday but there were probably a lot more nearby. The ones we saw were in tall brush and could only see their heads most of the time, would not have been able to see the shorter ones.

The low temperature this morning was 34° which felt even warmer than that. The 10 Day forecast is expecting the lows to be back in the 40s so we may have had winter here. The day time highs will be back in the 60s with a couple low 70s so that will be good also but getting rid of the cold mornings is the best.

I have not made any Pescadero a la Veracruzana in a long, long time. Decided that I should correct that and found some cod at Olsen's yesterday (most small town markets would not have had any). I have always cooked the dish one fillet at a time in a skillet with the sauce made up in a big batch and added to the fillet. Today I am going to cook everything all at one time in my Thermal Cooker and will then re-heat a serving every day. Will it be as good?

This is my fourth Iles book. The Quiet Game 7 July 2013, Turning Angel date unknown and Mortal Fear reviewed on 29 January 2014 were the first three. I liked them all but Mortal Fear not as much. This one seemed more like the first two from what I can remember of them. Good characters, good story and mostly believable; I had a problem believing in the "Fear" villain. I don't find his books very often but will pick one up if I see it.

As close to family fare as a kidnapper-rapist-extortionist thriller can get, Iles's (The Quiet Game) latest brilliantly plotted tale walks the razor's edge between cinematic excess and bone-chilling suspense. Joe Hickey is a Southern redneck with an Ivy League talent for evil. He has trained his grossly huge, mentally challenged cousin, Huey, and his gorgeous, exotic-dancer, live-in lover, Cheryl, to work with him as part of a tightly controlled kidnap/extortion squad targeting Mississippi physicians' families while the doctors are off at conferences. But he hits a snag when Dr. Will Jennings, his wife, Karen, and their five-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Abby, prove as resourceful solo as they are formidable in tandem. Joe grabs Abby, turning her over to Huey, who drives her off to a remote forest cabin near Jackson; meanwhile, Joe stays behind to terrorize Karen in the Jennings home. Cheryl gets her hooks into the third family member by vamping her way into Will's hotel room in Biloxi, where Will receives a phone call and ransom demand from Joe, who stipulates delivery in 24 hours. It's a long, horrific night for all as Iles pits each of the captives against their captors in riveting battles of will. The well-rounded characters are trademark Iles, the plot runs speed-skating smooth and occasional near-gooey bits of dialogue are offset by nasty surprises and perfectly timed terror. The one-on-one conflicts punch up the pace, and a perfect Mississippi setting, a spot-on sendup of FBI assistance and a hair-raising finale complete the package. - Publishers Weekly

What the Year 2015 Has in Store For Russia's Economy is an Analysis & Opinion published by Sputnik International, the Russian multimedia response to the western Ministry of Propaganda. I find it just as easy to believe what they publish as what I find in the Main Stream Media of the US and UK. There is support for what they say about the EU in Do Sanctions Against Russia Work? Brief - No35 - 12 December 2014 by Iana Dreyer, Nicu Popescu; a publication of the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS).

A European Union Institute for Security Studies report has pointed out that despite the Russian currency's sharp depreciation, the current downturn "seems less dramatic than the 2009 recession." Due to the fact that "Russia's budget is balanced and its public debt levels are low," and "the Central Bank of Russia's international reserves are still sizeable," the state can resist a 2-3 year "financial storm," noted Nicu Popescu, a senior analyst at the EU Institute for Security Studies in Paris in his report "Do sanctions on Russia work?" published in mid-December. The analyst emphasized that "by decreasing trade turnover, sanctions also decrease future Western leverage, hurt Western exporters and cost jobs in an already fragile economic environment."
"Finally, sanctions are pushing Russia into the arms of China, speeding up the formation of a non-Western global financial infrastructure which poses an alternative (and a challenge) to the existing Western-dominated system," Nicu Popescu stressed.

5 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

Much warmer this morning. So much nicer for a morning walk to not be so cold. I did have to make a fire in the Wave heater for a short time after I had my breakfast and had turned the stove off. I think I'm getting soft, there was the time not so long ago that I could have foregone the Wave heater and been comfortable.

A not do much day. I did read my Daily blogs but while doing so I am considering which ones I may drop during this year. They are other RVer blogs which I have become less interested in as the years go by. I have become rather set in 'my way' of Fulltiming and where I am going to do it so do not find much information on other RVer blogs that is useful. If they write about something other than RVing then I still have an interest.

Spent Internet time reading the News. I am changing what I read there more also. Not reading nearly as much Main Stream Media as alternative sources. Google News and The Drudge Report bring up about all the Main Stream Media News that I read any more and I skip over a lot of that.

More time today reading The Wealth of Nations that I have downloaded. Then there has also been my time on the couch with my latest book, an alternative history, and Patches. She became a wild child this morning while on our walk. She gets these 'fits' every once in a while where she goes to spinning and crouches down like she whats to play but I'm just not up to playing/fighting with her.

The quotes shown below were taken from a translation (sometimes poor) of Move against the United States: Russia advises EU to phase out the TTIP at German Economic News. I have copied only the opening paragraphs but the article goes on to argue for the proposal from Russia. I think President Putin is putting it to President Obama one more time. I doubt that President Obama understands that it is happening and he will continue to believe that he is winning the Sanctions War. I don't think there is anyone in his Administration that has the guts to tell him he is loosing.

Russia has presented a startling proposal to overcome the tensions with the EU: The EU should renounce the free trade agreement with the United States TTIP and enter into a partnership with the newly established Eurasian Economic Union instead. A free trade zone with the neighbors would make more sense than a deal with the US.
The Russian Ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, surprised with a new proposal to revive the partnership between the EU and Russia. Chizhov proposes that the EU should stop the negotiations with the US over the controversial free trade agreement TTIP and instead negotiate with the should work came into force on 1 January Eurasian Economic Union. Chizhov said the EU Observer : "Do you think it is really wise to put so much political energy into a free trade zone with the United States, while much more natural partner had at his side, in the immediate neighborhood? We do not treat our chickens in any case with chlorine. "
Chizhov: "Our idea is to establish official contacts between the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union as quickly as possible. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has spoken about time not so long ago. The EU sanctions against Russia are not an obstacle. "The ambassador believes that it would be reasonable, a common economic space to establish in the Eurasian region in which the could play a role for EU partnership envisaged eastern states of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

6 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

Another very nice morning and I think it may reach the 75° that is expected the high today. Tomorrow is forecast to be a repeat of today and then it will cool down again but only to the low 70s or upper 60s.

I signed up with Web Hosting Hub yesterday afternoon and started the process of moving my web site to their host. It is not going well. I first tried to download FileZilla software to do a FTP of my files from Yahoo! to Hub. That did not work out so I tried another free software FTP that did download but I was never able to connect to Yahoo! and transfer any files.

This morning i was able to download FileZilla but still unable to do any transfers. So, yesterday I copied the "home" file (index.html) and pasted it into a blank file at Hub. Their set up Guide(?) says that I must do this and then when I use their temporary UL address it will open on their host. Wrong! I have messed with it today, sent them an email which elicited a no response reply, read through their Help(?) pages and my "home" page does not open.

I can click on the file and open it in FireFox but the .css styling does not work. That is problem number 2 and may also be the cause of 'home' not opening when the temporary UL is used. If I look at the file using their HTML edit it shows as it should but it is pulling all the formatting, images etc from the Yahoo! host so that means nothing.

Frustrating. I know that I'll have to edit all the picture links. How many more links I'll have to edit is a big unknown at this time. The other big unknown at this time is will I have a web site available to view If I do move all my files to the Hub? Today the answer to that question is - NO!

Two authors in different centuries appear to be saying the same thing and no one was listening. The first quote is from Forecast 2015 — Life in the Breakdown Lane by James Howard Kunstler on 4 January 2015 (worthy of a read). The second is from The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith published in 1776; ironically the year that what was to become the United States declared its independence from England. I have added the underlining to the Smith quote to emphasize that homes are not part of an individuals/countries wealth as our government wants us to believe.

Kunstler:
The dollar these days represents two kinds of capital. The first is the stuff that the US has built and invested in since, say, the end of World War Two: a wasteland of aging and decrepitating suburban sprawl, that is, the infrastructure of a living arrangement with no future, the greatest entropic sink in human history. It extends to whole cities and their subsystems... In another decade, across America, the housing subdivisions and commercial highway strips filled with tilt-up box stores, muffler shops and burger dispensaries will retain less value than the pyramids of Palenque had for the Mayans after their society rolled over and died.

Smith:
The general stock of any country or society is the same with that of all its inhabitants or members; and, therefore, naturally divides itself into the same three portions, each of which has a distinct function or office. The first is that portion which is reserved for immediate consumption, and of which the characteristic is, that it affords no revenue or profit. It consists in the stock of food, clothes, household furniture, etc. which have been purchased by their proper consumers, but which are not yet entirely consumed. The whole stock of mere dwelling-houses, too, subsisting at anyone time in the country, make a part of this first portion. The stock that is laid out in a house, if it is to be the dwelling-house of the proprietor, ceases from that moment to serve in the function of a capital, or to afford any revenue to its owner. A dwelling-house, as such, contributes nothing to the revenue of its inhabitant; and though it is, no doubt, extremely useful to him, it is as his clothes and household furniture are useful to him, which, however, make a part of his expense, and not of his revenue.

7 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

Yesterday afternoon and this morning was devoted to repeated emails from/to Hub to fix my migration to their hosting. I finally received the correct assessment of my problem this morning and was told how I could fix it.

I am now able to use the temporary UL on their host and see what my web site looks like there. When I click on the temporary UL it now opens on my web page and not the Under Construction I was seeing before. That was a big problem because I could not see if the changes that I was making were doing any good. The .css styling was most likely working many changes ago but I could not see that they were.

I was also able to download two files from Yahoo! to my computer this morning using FileZilla. have not tried to upload them to Hub yet. That may happen this afternoon or tomorrow. I have made some progress which is a good thing. I have a lot to do to make the migration complete and have no good idea how long or how much work will be required.

Received a forwarded package from UPS Sierra Vista also today. That was a one day delivery. In the package were my VA prescriptions that I had requested and also a VA Choice Card (Temporary Program) which may allow me to get some medical service while on the road. If I am more than 40 miles from a VA clinic or hospital then the card is to be used like medicare or medicaid.

But even more importantly I got an email fro the Sierra Vista VA Clinic that set an appointment in March. It has been somewhat of a fight but I have an appointment. I'll probably need two more after this one and only hope that I can get them all within the month that I am in Sierra Vista. Time will tell.

8 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

I heard a light rain at about 5:00 but it was only overcast when we got up although threatening. For that reason and because I did not feel so well I elected to do circuits to the Casino. As we finished the only one circuit we were getting wet so called it good for a shortened morning potty walk.

The web migration took two steps forward and one step back. I managed to upload all the .gif files that are used for background and got them linked to the .css files so my opening index.html page looks the same as what I have at Yahoo!. Those were the two steps forward.

The one step back is the flag that I show for every date and location does not open. Currently I show the Arizona flag using a file AZ.gif and have it linked to the index.html file and it works fine. I have not been able to do the same thing in Hub. Devoted a LOT of time making many changes and none of them worked.

I did get some more files transferred from Yahoo! to Hub today. All the files for About Me but could not get the links to work from index.html. The Site Map file which I did link and it is using the styling of allstyle.css correctly. So that was another couple step forward and another one back. Can not to link to a file that is in a folder, nor the az.gif file that is now at the same level as index.html, and not getting much help from Hub Support. Had a half hour online Chat that proved to be a total waste of time, both for them and for me.

I have been seeing a Gila woodpecker in the small tree just outside my window since the first day that i was here. Could not always tell if it was a male or female although I was able to identify which it was at times. This morning I had two of them in the tree and they were good enough to come over right next to the window and lower their heads so I could clearly see that one was male and one was female. No pictures, if I open the door they are gone or they are hidden by tree limbs.

9 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

It stayed overcast all day yesterday, raining off and on. We went out for our afternoon walk in a very light sprinkle that was more a light rain before we completed a lap around the Park. Got a little wet before getting back to Desperado. This morning it had cleared but the ground was a little muddy so we did Casino circuits.

Then unplugged both electrical cords and put the basement heater one away for now and hope I don't need it again soon. The 10 Day forecast is not predicting anything close to freezing so I may be good for the next 10 days.

I wanted to have breakfast at Granny's in Why this morning but they were still closed until later today. Went to Marcela's Café in Ajo where I had their Huevoes Rancheros with the not so good home fries and slow coffee service. The waitress today was the one that I had the first visit and she is not the most pleasant nor attentive waitress that I have ever had serve me. However, she is FAR better than the one that 'served' me the last time I was at Marcela's.

Another non-event shopping trip to Olsen's for groceries. There was a woman roasting green chiles outside by the front door that I asked about tamales and she gave me a telephone number of another woman in Ajo. I may be able to pick up some tamales while I am here, maybe even green corn.

Not much time this morning to get anything done with the migration of my web site to Hub. I still have the problem of not being able to see what my pages look like on their host when I click on the Temporary UL that they have provided that lets me do that. It worked for a very short time and has not worked now for over a day. I'll continue to move all my files and once that is complete probably tell them to transfer my domain name to their host, grit my teeth and fix whatever I end up with.

Just the moving of files will keep me out of mischief for a week or two. I'll wait until I see what kind of Internet connection I have at my next camp. If it is good I'll probably move on, if not so good I'll wait until I get back to Sierra Vista.

The Bureau of Labor released their non-farm job numbers for December today that showed an increase of 252,000 jobs. The Ministry of Propaganda is spinning this as great News but are even more excited about the Unemployment Rate that fell to 5.6%. This is setting up the interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve which considers a rate of 5.2 to 5.5 as being consistent with a healthy economy.

The CES Birth/Death Model adjustments in November and December are historically small decreases with a decrease of 20,000 this December. That means 733,000 jobs were 'created' by the CES adjustments of the 2,952,000 increase in jobs reported during during the past 12 months.

If you look at the Household Data for December the number of Employed increased by 111,000 which is the seventh consecutive monthly increase which does indicate a strengthening job market but nothing a reasonable person would consider strong. The Household Data shows a total of 2,771,000 new jobs during 2014, this includes farm labor which the non-farm numbers do not.

There was a 383,000 decrease in Unemployed which is great but a lot of them dropped out of the labor force. There was an increase of 456,000 in the Not in the Labor Force. This large increase in the Not in the Labor Force combined with the decrease in Unemployed brought the Unemployment Rate down to the 5.6% that the Media and the Federal Reserve are so pleased with.

That increase in the Not in the the Labor Force was enough to change the Participation Rate to 62.7% which the Media is also wont to ignore. They are also ignoring the 92,898,000, an all time record, that now make up the Not in the Labor Force.

The average earnings decreased by 9¢ to $24.57 an hour (the same as October), while the average workweek remained at 34.6 hours. This reduction in wage inflation may cause the Federal Reserve to hem and haw about their decision to increase rates. I think the big increase in November was more than the Fed wanted and so it has been scaled back. I still look for average earnings to move up every month thru the first half of 2015.

10 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

It was overcast this morning which kept it dark longer than it is with a clear sky. I was have trouble seeing the ATV trail ruts and holes so we shortened our walk a little. I also had a very busy day planned and needed to get at it.

Yesterday afternoon I finally received some help from Hub Support. I had 5 previous email and one Chat from different Support staff with replies that ran from worthless to suggesting things that did not work. The problem was two fold. First, I had links that failed, which I knew were going to fail, but everything I tried also failed or so I thought. Second, the Temporary UL that was to click to see what my site looked like at Hub also failed so I could not see what my edits looked like.

The solution was a perfect example of using the principle of Ockham's razor. The simplest solution is usually the best one. In this case the winning suggestion was to clear my browser cache. This is something I almost never do and did not even consider it. When an edit change does not appear using Yahoo! host I would Reload Tab and that would usually fix the problem. It was not doing so with Hub.

So I'm back to editing links again. I still don't know how many I will have to edit but my best guess at this time is about 3,000. Every flag link plus every page has 4-5 links and every photo on those pages (probably 1,000 photos). Yesterday I fixed all of them on the index.html (Home Page), Site Map, About Me and determined what I needed to do for Will Rogers and Bulgaria.

I usually do my housecleaning a few days before I am going to move to my next monthly camp. Because I have been so wrapped up in this host migration and planned on staying here for another month I did not do that. Until today. Right after my first cup of coffee I got the bathroom cleaned and the kitchen/bath floor vacuumed. Then after my second cup of coffee I went down on hands and knees to wash both of those floors. After my third cup of coffee I vacuumed the living room carpet while I had the vacuum cleaner out. That is enough, what is remaining I'll do tomorrow.

During all that coffee drinking time I was reading my Daily blogs and scanning through the News. I was also almost out of coffee but received a shipment this morning from Arbuckle's that should keep me going for another 10 weeks, give or take a week or two.

I got all of the Will Rogers page edits completed today. I managed to do that after doing household chores even when I found that I had errors that needed correcting and had to go back and re-edit a couple of times. This afternoon will be devoted to Bulgaria page edits at Hub with a break to do a walk with Patches. Then probably do more editing into the evening until it becomes a real bore. This is going to be a long term project but I can not let it stretch out much past the time I am in Sierra Vista.

11 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

Today has been all about web site migration and links not linking. I wasted 2-3 hours this morning trying to find a way to make two links work in Hub that did not open the page that was linked. Tried many edits, read about links using Google Search and what I was doing should have worked and didn't. I have sent another email to Hub Support and expect that it is going to take another couple of days an 6-7 more emails to find out what I need to do to fix the problem.

I was able to complete all the edit for Will Rogers & Bulgaria yesterday with the exception of the last link from Bulgaria to Ecuador. Completed Ecuador this morning except for the two links to Bulgaria and Reno. This is a total of 43 pages so far with many more to do. I may get most of Reno 1999 edited today except for the links back to Ecuador and forward to Japan. That is a problem that I'll get fixed someday.

The two Class A neighbors that had me sandwiched when I fist arrived here and then moved to my west left today. That leaves about 9 open spaces on that side of me. With any luck the neighbors on my east side will leave within a week or 10 days but I can not count on it.

We have had scattered clouds all day but probably will reach the expected 70°. The forecast is a 90% chance of rain but it certainly does not look like it will unless the storm blows in fast later today. Continuing to have nice warm mornings with temperatures in lower 50s or upper 40s.

I did read all my Daily blogs but just glanced at the News. I may get to that later today but I think it is more of the same so I am not missing much if I don't read anything.

The one bit of News that the Ministry of Propaganda is avoiding is "Where is Obama".

As more than 50 world leaders joined hands with hundreds of thousands marching in Paris against Jihad and for free speech, as well as remembering the lives taken by Islamic terrorists last week at the Charlie Hebdo cartoon offices, where is the supposed leader of the free world?
Leaders of France, Germany, the UK, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu all locked hands as a show of unity, but where was Obama and what does his failure to appear say, not only about him, but also his pathetic, appeasing foreign policy?

12 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

The weather gurus got it right about the rain yesterday. When we stepped outside for our afternoon walk it had just started. We went as far as the dumpster to throw away some trash and Patches did a quick potty stop along the way. I was getting too wet to stay out there for long and she was doing the "dog shaking water off" dance by the time we got back to the dry Desperado. Walk called - rained out.

The ground was still wet this morning from the official measurement of 0.02" of rain yesterday and last night. We did circuits to the Casino again to stay out of any mud or standing water that I could not see while it was dark. The weather guessers claimed that there was 0% chance of rain today but we had some more start to fall at 1:00 this afternoon. Maybe not much and maybe it will stop by the time we want to walk but it will be on the gravel and pavement again.

I was able to fix my link problem although I do not know why it was a problem. I edited a similar link coding that came directly from Yahoo!, copied that and pasted it into one of the problem links and it worked. Don't know what the problem was and don't know why what I did fixed it but they now work. That is good enough for me, I just want them to work I don't need to know why.

Everything moved along quite well after that. I got all the pages edited for Ecuador, Reno 1999, Japan and Vietnam yesterday. Worked on Reno/Sparks 2001 this morning and will finish it by the end of the day - maybe. Then "all" I have remaining in the left column of the Site Map is Peregrinating which I can probably do in 2-3 days. I think I'm making some headway now.

I was not pleased with how the Pescado a la Veracruzana cooked up in the Thermal Cooker. There was too much ice on the cod (I probably should have defrosted first) which made the sauce very watery. I picked up three more fillets which I cooked this morning in my Roaster. For 'linner' I'll re-heat one with the sauce in a skillet and see how that turns out.

There is a great article Economic Fallacies — Income Re-distribution on Monty Pelerin's World that I recommend reading. I have selected only the opening and closing paragraphs.

Income re-distribution is one of the great economic follies engaged in by the political class. Central planners believe they can alter income distribution without affecting income creation. Believing that income creation and income distribution are independent of one another is economic naivety of the worst kind. Statist propaganda proclaims its value in spite of the harm done to an economy.
Economic efficiency and equity are two different and competing concepts. Efforts to “improve equity” or “increase fairness,” at least as practiced by governments, always produce lower efficiency and per-capita income than would otherwise result. That outcome is true regardless of whether you are liberal or conservative. More equality in income achieved via force means less total income and wealth for a society. This cost or trade-off is considered necessary by some.
The trade-off is obviously acceptable to those made better off. That includes the unproductive and the political class (but I repeat myself). Placating the masses is the means to power. A poor person’s vote counts as much as a rich person’s and there are many more poor than rich. In a country where principles are determined by majority rule, disaster is sure to result. As one wag suggested: Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.

13 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

I didn't finish Reno/Sparks 2001 yesterday, the pages starting in 2005 linked to my Teardrop Road Trips in the right column so I edited those as I did the Reno pages. That was something that I was going to do after finishing the left column but it is better to follow the links on each page and fix them rather than try and remember to come back and do it.

The other reason for not doing any more on the web migration was I needed to get started on preparing Will Rogers links. I didn't finish that project either but I made a start on it. Would like to get that done this week if I can stay motivated.

The rain was short lived and very light yesterday afternoon so we went out the east ATV trail and then looped back to camp over the ridge via two saddles. The second one was a gradual slope on the east side and steep, rock chocked as hell on the west side. I was trying to follow some donkey tracks that had to have been made by a donkey-goat hybrid. I'm going to have to teach Patches the Lassie "Get Help" command if I keep doing this crazy kind of stuff.

Do you know what do you get when you cross a Pit Bull with Lassie?
-- A dog that rips your leg off and then runs for help! Ba dum ching! (rimshot)

I had two RVs come in yesterday and park in all that open space west of me. One of them left again this morning and the other one is 4 spaces away so I won't even call them neighbors. It is the third one that arrived and parked behind me that is more of a neighbor and has blocked me from using their space as a pull-thru into mine. Now I have a back-in space that will require a learning curve, I don't do enough back-ins to remember what I need to do and need to be re-trained every time.

I didn't write about my finishing the household chores. I did get the dash wiped down the day after my original assault on housecleaning but put off the stove top, kitchen counters and sink until yesterday. Cleaning the toilet was my most dreaded chore until I got a porcelain replacement, now cleaning the stove top has become dread number one. I did an extra good job this time as penance for putting it off.

Finished Reno/Sparks and Road Trips just before posting this. Later today and for the next couple of days I'll be editing all the Peregrinating files.

14 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

Colder this morning, not cold at 40°, but colder. The forecast for the next 10 days is for it to be back in the upper 40s or maybe the low 50s. Day time highs in the upper 60s or low 70s. Pretty nice where I'm at.

The markets are experiencing some volatility. The Dow Index has lost almost 600 points from its intraday high of yesterday. The analyst always focus on the closing level so this does not mean much except it may be an indicator of which direction the market is going.

The other indicator may be the 30 year Treasury bond yield of 2.39%, a level which it has never reached before - ever! That decline in yield is being helped along by Russia selling some of its Treasury holdings. I wonder if some of the other BRIC countries will join Russia and also start selling or at the very least quit buying?

"Together with the central bank, we are selling a part of our foreign-currency reserves,” Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in Moscow today. “We’ll get rubles and place them in deposits for banks, giving liquidity to the economy."

Now get that will you? Here we are sore at Mexico, and because they don’t do exactly like we want them to, why we are going and lifting the embargo on all ammunition and guns. We are going to allow, and even encourage, all the bloodshed we can, just because we are having an argument with them, instead of us going down and either licking President Calles, or if we are not, why then quit argueing with them. (Either do one or the two.) But no, we are going to allow Guns to go in and let some Revolutionists get even with President Calles for us. We are going to start the bloodshed all over again down there.

15 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

It felt just about as cold this morning as yesterday although the official measurement recorded 6° warmer. Then the wind kicked up while we were in town and the 60° does not feel that warm when in the shade. That is still pretty nice compared to much of the country.

We were off to town again with a stop for my breakfast at Granny's Café. I had their tamale with eggs over easy, home fries rather than beans and good coffee. The tamale was nothing to get excited about, certainly not at the same level as what I was getting in Silver City.

I had a shorter list for Olsen's and know where most things that I buy are located so we were out of there quickly today. I need not have rushed because I needed to stop at Radio Shack and have them send a FAX to the VA Clinic in Sierra Vista. It worked out just perfect, they opened at 9:00 and I was there a few minutes after that.

I had some of the ingredients and picked up those that I did not have at Olsen's this morning to make a Leek Risotto with Ricatta. I used barley rather than rice and after it was cooked tender I added the diced leeks, white beans and Ricatta Cheese and put it in the Thermal Cooker until 'linner' time today. It smelled good.

I did a much better job of backing into my space today. Only did 2-3 GOALs and then when I got out my neighbor was watching and said that I was about one foot from having my dump outlet lined up with the Park dump opening. I said that was close enough and proceeded to dump holding tanks and fill the fresh water tank.

All these domestic chores cut into my Daily blog reading time as well as the time that I need to type up what I have been doing. Even more importantly it cuts into the time that I have to work on Will Rogers links and the web migration edits that I need to finish. I'll get to them both later today but will not get a lot done.

16 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

It felt warmer this morning although it was 2° colder than yesterday and there was a wind blowing. How it feels to me and what it is does not have a real close correlation - HA. The wind has stayed with us all day and is expected to do so for the next 6 days while the high temperatures move up into the 70s. That makes for some very nice afternoon walks.

I got all the Will Rogers links finished this morning and have made some more progress on the web migration. I'll finish 2011 today and may get a start on 2012. It is slow going but I'm getting there.

Other satisfying things. My Leek Risotto and Ricatta was pretty good eating. I'll find out how well it re-heats for my 'linner' today and if it re-heats well than I have found a new winning recipe. My neighbors to the west left this morning opening up a little bit more of a view in that direction. However, I still have a big 5th wheel 3 spaces away that is blocking about half of my views in that direction. The move by the Swiss Central Bank has been very good for my portfolio.

The Myth of State Power Takes a Hit at Monty Pelerin's World is a good article about the move the the Swiss Central Bank made yesterday and what it may portend.

What happened yesterday calls the notion of central bank omnipotence (and integrity) into question. The Swiss banking industry used to be considered the most trustworthy in the world. The Swiss Central Bank blinked, just as their banking industry had done earlier regarding customer privacy matters. The US forced the latter. The recent event was likely mandated by market conditions. No central bank is or ever will be omnipotent.
If there is omnipotence in such matters, it is markets that hold this power. They are bigger, stronger and relentless. The myth of State power is that markets can be controlled by central force. They cannot and we may have just seen the beginning of the end of the myth. What happened yesterday is likely the first shot fired in this battle. It will not be the last, nor will it be considered the biggest. Subsequent revelations of market forces are coming and they will obliterate the myth of State control over markets.

17 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

The wind that the weather guessers thought was going to be with us for these next 5 days went away. It died down yesterday afternoon and has not come back again. In fairness to them they did say the winds would be light and variable and so far we have got mostly variable.

The only thing that I did today that was the least bit out of my ordinary was laundry. That is ordinary also but not part of my daily routine.

I did finish the edits for 2011 yesterday but didn't start on 2012 until this morning. I'll now mix some Monthly blog list reading into the edit project to give me a break from time to time. The edits become very boring after a short while and I lose concentration on what I am doing so breaks help the project rather than slow it down.

Some more unintended consequences that Europe will suffer because they have signed on to President Obama's Sanctions War. The EU Commission has been pressuring member states to withdraw from the project to sanction Russia and Bulgaria succumbed to that pressure.

The South Stream pipeline would have provided Europe with 63 billion cubic meters of gas and would have been built by Gazprom/Russia. Now that pipeline will go to Turkey and if the rest of Europe want any of the gas they can build their own pipelines to connect to the Gazprom end point there.

Gazprom announces final nail in the South Stream coffin an article in RT reports the details. I have copied only selected portions.

Europe will have to get gas via Turkey or Ukraine, there will be no direct transcontinental pipeline to Europe, Gazprom has confirmed. It is disappointing news for Bulgaria, which was hoping to get gas directly from Russia, and not via Ukraine.
Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller made it clear that Turkey, and not Bulgaria, will become the main gas valve between Russia and Europe. “South Stream is dead. For Europe there will be no other gas transit options to risky Ukraine other than the new ‘Turkish Stream’ pipeline,” Miller said Wednesday, as reported by RIA Novosti.

Russia has shut off gas supplies through Ukraine to six EU states, ostensibly due to Ukraine’s alleged illegal siphoning gas from the pipeline. The European Union warned that the sudden cut-off to some of its member countries was ‘completely unacceptable’. The move comes just as winter begins to bite across Europe.
The pipeline crossing Ukraine supplies over 60% of the entire EU’s natural gas. Six countries – Greece, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Croatia, Romania and Turkey – report a complete halt of gas coming in from Russia.
Yesterday, Ukraine confirmed that Russia had completely cut off their supply. Croatia said it was temporarily reducing supplies to industrial customers while Bulgaria said it had enough gas only ‘for a few days’ and was already in a ‘crisis situation’.

18 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

I had two big Class As come in yesterday afternoon and park in the two spaces next to me on the west side. What little view I had in that direction was gone. The good news however was they left this morning

I will finish the 2012 edits by the end of today. If the motivation holds I might even get started on 2013. I do see and end to this step but will still have most of the right hand column in Site Map to transfer using FileZilla and then also edit. I would like to have that all done before I leave here while I have a good Internet connection but what I would like and what I can do may be two different things.

A House Divided – America’s Tribal Rivalries by Gary Spina for the Independent Sentinel, an e-newspaper, is a great article. Now that I have found his writing I need to go back in the archives and read more. I have copied only a few choice part of the article.

“Oh, Lord, what fools these mortals be…” So wrote Shakespeare over 400 years ago.
Today’s multiculturalism has brought our world back to an ancient time of tribal warfare — a hostile landscape of our own making.
In a mindless rush toward the acceptance and celebration of all cultures, the global community of man has embraced the concept of multiple, distinct enclaves within the borders of once homogenous nations.
Petty tyrants, demagogues, and academics stoke the fires of shame and distrust in countries that once prospered in the peaceful assimilation of all citizens.
There is a natural territorial prerogative and a territorial imperative embraced by every creature in the natural world – from primates, to birds, to fish in the sea. Territory is fought for and died for.
Our American territory used to be one nation under God. But now, instead of rejoicing in our national identity, in our assimilation and our unity, we have drawn new boundaries around new sub-classes of our population – stubbornly proud of our hyphenated differences, angrily resentful of earlier wrongs. We have regressed into an ancient world of tribal distinctions, suspicions, and prejudices.
It is no longer enough to merely accept diversity. Instead our leaders require us to embrace and celebrate all human conduct and all ways of life – the good, the evil, the deviant, the ignorant, the self-serving, the self-destructive, and the absurd.
Political correctness and multiculturalism drive our modern world. All doctrines, religions, and traditions enjoy moral equivalence even in the textbooks our children read in school. We tolerate the intolerable as we defend the proliferation of stone-age aberrations and horrors.

Militant Diversity is our new god.

19 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

I made it thru the edits for the 1st Quarter of 2013 last night before saying enough is enough. I also made a dent in the Monthly blog list. Part of that was due to my picking those that did not post at all during the past month or posted only a few times.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day to you all. I would not have known that today was a holiday if I had not looked at what the markets were doing and found that they were closed. I missed the Proclamation that President Obama issued.

That made me curious and I checked his Proclamations for February 2013 and 2014. In neither of those years did he issue a Proclamation for Washington or Lincoln's Birthdays nor for President's Day.

In February 2014 he did proclaim Read Across America Day, National Consumer Protection Week, Colorectal Cancer Month, American Red Cross Month, Irish-American Heritage Month & 20th Anniversary of Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice but no white guy birthdays.

Obama and the Global War on Whatever by John R. Schindler on his blog The XX Committee has written the best explanation for why President Obama did not go to Paris or send anyone in his place. I have copied only two paragraphs from the article but he explains what Salafi jihadists (Islamism) are and what they believe versus Islam better than anyone I have read before.

That Obama has been perfectly willing to employ assassination, usually with drones, against terrorists, accepting the deaths of many civilians along the way, while not being able to admit that the enemy is what he says he is, will no doubt puzzle future historians. I can attest that the White House’s ardent desire to not call Islamism Islamism has infected the whole U.S. Government from practically the first day of this administration.
I have no direct insight into what the President’s “real” views are but Obama is the product of an elite liberal education — Punahou, Columbia, Harvard Law — and he possesses exactly the views one would expect to find in someone so educated. In case you haven’t been near an Ivy League campus in the last fifty or so years, their take on security matters, inasmuch as those get any attention, is one that tends to find blame in the West, America especially, while excusing away crimes and outrages by “the oppressed” as “really” the fault of colonialism, neo- or old school. I don’t think Obama or anybody in his National Security Council has an ounce of sympathy for Salafi jihadism; deep down, however, many of them will look for “root causes” for why terrorists are terrorists, rather than listening to what those terrorists say constantly is actually motivating them. You have to be highly educated to miss these kinds of basics.

20 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

I didn't feel like walking this morning. Not a physical feeling but rather a mental one. Decided that I would do one circuit to the Casino. I then extended that just a little until I had walked one mile and was back at Desperado. Decided I could do part of another circuit but ended up doing the extended again for just over 2 miles. When I finished I still did not feel like walking this morning.

A few days ago I said that in the Peregrinating web pages I had about 200 photos that needed editing. What I forgot was that soon after I got my digital camera and started posting the photos on the pages I was using two links; a smaller one on the page that when clicked would bring up a larger image of that same photo. Therefore, I had closer to 325 edits that needed to be made beginning with the August 2013 page.

I did get thru September 2013 before I quit last night. My goal for today is to finish 2013 and maybe start 2014. It was slow going before I reached August 2013 and started posting photos, now it is even slower.

This is the first in Jean M Auel's Earth Children's Series. There are a lot of reviews of the book and of the movie with many of them going on and on. I have selected two paragraphs from a review that expresses my thinking about the book. I have the next book in the Series in my unread library and am looking forward to reading it. This is alternative history as I like it; I will be looking for any of the other books in the Series.

...I had never heard of the Earth Children series before reading this book, which is the first in the series of 6. This book is set 30,000+ years in the past and with that the author would usually have a license to rewrite history as most readers would have very little knowledge base on life at that time. However Jean Auel has painstakingly researched everything she could when writing this book and any inaccuracies within the text are mainly due to findings after the book was published. It is amazing how much detail is in the book regarding the life of the Clan and how all forms of life lived on earth at that time. There is so many descriptions of anything you may need to understand, yet it never feels like a history lesson. The story is full of heart and suspense and even though the book has many pages, you can’t help but eat them all up.
What I liked about this book: The character of Ayla. Your heart goes out to her at every turn but she is not a damsel in distress. She has a strong survival instinct but she isn’t headstrong. She wants to be independent but lives every day trying to conform. She is such a complex character in the way that she thinks and feels, but on the most natural level possible you understand her as she is more modern thinking than any of the characters around her. Something else I love about this book is the storyline itself. It is a story that has been told for generations in a way; the trials Ayla goes through could be taken from her prehistoric time and placed in the 18th or 19th century and still feel true as it is essentially a story of a repressed woman. The storyline seems quite modern and it’s easy to empathize and sympathize with the heroine of the book. I think it is that which elevates this book from being an interesting fictional history book to an exceptional read... - The Book Addict Blog

I traded this book at the Park library exchange yesterday but didn't get much for it. All the books that are on the self that I want are books that I have read and put there in trade. The pickings were slim when I arrived and they haven't improved much. Am I the only person in the Park that reads?

21 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

We did a modified AZ86 ATV trail and Casino circuit this morning to provide some variety for our morning walk. It looks like where I have been walking to the east may soon be under construction. The north side of AZ86 to the west has been for the past week with what looks like the addition of more highway, maybe divided.

As soon as we finished our walk I gave Patches her breakfast and headed for town to get mine at Marcela's Café again. I remembered that their homefries had been disappointing so got the hash browns to go with what they call a Ranch Omelet. The hash brown were acceptable but I don't think I'll be having another of their omelets. It was not bad, it just was not good enough that I want to try another one.

Olsen's had everything stocked today with one exception. I wanted a package of six Boneless Country Style Ribs and the only package on display had four. I asked the butcher if he had six and he handed me a package that was exactly what I wanted.

I had them in my Roaster soon after getting back to the Park and got electric hooked up. They will be eaten with some boiled white potatoes that will have real butter on them and a side of some sauerkraut. That plus a big salad will be 'linners' for this next week.

President Obama's State of the Union Address 2015: A man in search of his legacy. I think he truly believes what he says and he also believes that if he says it often enough that everyone else will. Even if the facts prove him to be wrong he will continue to believe and be very puzzled by the facts as well as why everyone else is not puzzeled.

President George W. Bush famously stood before a “Mission Accomplished” banner in 2003, when U.S. forces still faced many bloody battles in Iraq. Could President Obama be making the same sort of mistake by describing the economy as healed and insisting that the “shadow of crisis has passed?”
For the first time in his presidency, Obama spoke in victorious terms when describing the economy during his 2015 State of the Union address to Congress. He described 2014 as a “breakthrough year for America” and said, “We have risen from recession freer to write our own future than any other nation on Earth.”

22 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

With the excursion to town yesterday and then the cooking after I returned I had a busy morning. That impacted my usual routine so there was little time remaining to do much with the web migration. I did get three more months edited before going to bed last night. I got another three months finished this morning and may have the hardest edits behind me by late tonight.

We had winds yesterday afternoon that were in the 10 mph range with the temperature at 69° which was slightly cool. Today the forecast is for the wind to be 20-30 mph and the high to be 63° which is not going to be so nice. Back up into the 70s starting Sunday.

Same-sex marriage is an issue that President Obama said was “America at its best” in his State of the Union speech. Seven years earlier, campaigning to become President, he said that marriage was “a sacred union” and was “between a man and a woman.” An eminent achievement for his legacy - an "evolving" stance on gay marriage.

This is "America at its best" per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that released a report in 2014 that men who have sex with men (gay and bisexual) comprise about 2% of the U.S. population. They also reported that in 2010, among persons newly infected with HIV, 63% were men have sex with men (MSM) and among persons living with HIV, 52% were MSM. Yes, America at its best - is this a great country or what?

President Obama lathered it on so thick in his State of the Union Address Tuesday evening that even MSNBC Obama cheerleaders Andrea Mitchell and Chris Matthews are calling him out. The other long time member of the Ministry of Propaganda, Associated Press, has also deserted the sinking ship and criticized the President. If he is losing the Ministry it is going to be a long, hard two years for him to firm up his legacy.

President Obama took a victory lap with his State of the Union speech touting the great US economy, which may have been premature, and also introduced the Middle-class Economics Doctrine (helping working families feel more secure in a world of constant change).

He said "We’re upholding the principle that bigger nations can’t bully the small by opposing Russian aggression and supporting Ukraine’s democracy". This is a 'democracy' that was bought with $5 Billion of United States taxpayer (or borrowed) money, plus a president that is a US sock puppet that had his hat handed to him at the Donetsk airport.

A Ukrainian military spokesman played down the surrender of the terminal buildings, saying it was simply a tactical withdrawal. This was a 'tactical withdrawal' that left 15 wounded Ukrainian military behind at the airport. I said before that if President Poroshenko did not deliver a re-united Ukraine to the US that his time in office was going to be short. I look for him to be gone before long.

Another bought president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in Yemen, resigned under pressure from al-Qaida rebels. This was the country that President Obama cited as the poster child for his fight against the Islam State. The country that he spoke of in his State of the Union speech; "Instead of sending large ground forces overseas, we’re partnering with nations from South Asia to North Africa to deny safe haven to terrorists who threaten America."

Not a great week for the man Oprah called "The One".

23 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

I finished all the edits for Peregrinating pages last night. I will still have to transfer the month of January 2015 to Hub when the month is complete and then edit it but I might have to do that with February also. I also transferred all the files for Bike Trips, Car Trips and Other Trips plus all the photos that are on those pages. The edits to the pages are going to be very easy but the 675 photo edits will take some time.

I did get four of the seven Bike Ride pages edited this morning which included 192 photos. The editing is much easier on these pages since there is only the one size photo involved. The most photo intensive pages are in trips 5 and 6 that I hope I can do tonight. But the way it has been going so far I could have this project near completion within a week.

We cut our walk short this morning. Not too cold but I was not dressed for the colder temperature, 43°, and certainly not with a wind that was cutting through me. Patches does not like the wind either so she was happy to get back home for breakfast and some more sleep on the couch. I joined her later in the morning with my book.

I finished reading my Monthly blogs today. That means I can start over in a couple of weeks. It seems that it takes me about that long to go through them so the fist one I read is two weeks old by the time I finish them all. Monthly blog list is probably not the correct name.

I also got a new west side neighbor late yesterday, when it was getting dark, and they were still setting up when I went to bed. Had two big spot lights on that provided lighting for about half the Park. I found out this morning that part of the set up is a huge pen for a pair of miniature collies (little tiny Lassies). So far Patches has not noticed or she is willing to give them a pass.

I wrote about this once before in connection with the Bureau of Labor Statistics adding 'created' jobs by using the Net Birth/Death Model. It has come to my attention again because a couple of analyst have also noted that there have been fewer start ups than failures since 2008. No one is talking about that in connection with the Model - yet. This is part of what the BLS says about the adjustment. I have added underlining.

Earlier research indicated that while both the business birth and death portions of total employment are generally significant, the net contribution is relatively small and stable. To account for this net birth/death portion of total employment, BLS uses an estimation procedure with two components: the first component excludes employment losses due to business deaths from sample-based estimation in order to offset the missing employment gains from business births. This is incorporated into the sample-based estimate procedure by simply not reflecting sample units going out of business, but imputing to them the same trend as the other firms in the sample. This step accounts for most of the birth and death employment.

24 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

I finished the edits for Bike Trips 5 & 6 last night. That is only two pages but they included 248 photos. That leaves me with only one more Bike Trip the Car Trips and Other Trips that have about 235 photos. It looks like I'll be able to finish this stage to the web site migration to Hub by tomorrow. I then need to read about what I need to do next and decide when I'm going to do it.

I have checked the Verizon Data Coverage Map and it claims that I will have as good a connection at my next camp as I have had here. I'm leaning toward not making the switch to Hub until I'm at the new camp. I'll then be settled and have everything prepared for the day that I pull the plug on Yahoo! and go live with Hub. Probably not seamlessly but I can hope.

Just a little warmer this morning but the big difference was the lack of wind. That did not come until around 10:00 and is expected to blow 10-20 mph this afternoon. The high temperature is forecast to be back in the lower 70s today and tomorrow so even with some wind that will be good. Then on Monday much colder, maybe 60°, with a 90% chance of rain but warm mornings.

Russia’s Emerging Holy War is an article at The XX Committee that repudiates President Obama's State of the Union comments on Russia. He said "Well, today, it is America that stands strong and united with our allies, while Russia is isolated, with its economy in tatters. That’s how America leads — not with bluster, but with persistent, steady resolve." These are only two paragraphs from the article which has a number of links to other articles that are equally good reading.

To the shock and dismay of hopeful Westerners, including nearly all NATO leaders, the hard hit of sanctions has caused Russians to hate the West, not Putin. Most Russians view their war in Ukraine as a legitimate defense of Russians and Russian interests, certainly nothing like America’s aggressive wars of choice halfway around the world, and they are backing the Kremlin now.
As Russia’s economic crisis has mounted, Putin has unsurprisingly turned to fellow Chekists, some of them very like himself by background. They share a worldview which is conspiratorial and deeply anti-Western; they view America as their Main Enemy and now believe Obama is on a mission to destroy Russia. That they will not allow, and they will stop at nothing to halt what prominent Orthodox clerics recently have termed the “American project” that wants to destroy Holy Russia. This volatile combination of Chekist conspiracy-thinking and Orthodox Third Rome mysticism, plus Russian xenophobia and a genuine economic crisis, means that 2015 promises to be a dangerous year for the world. The Kremlin now believes they are at war with the United States, an Orthodox Holy War in the eyes of many Russians, and that struggle is defensive and legitimate. It would be good if Obama and his staff paid attention. This is about much more than Ukraine.

25 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

I finished ALL the file transfers and edits of my web site from Yahoo! Hosting to Web Hosting Hub this morning. At Yahoo! I could see the size of each file but never knew the total size of my site. Hub tells me that it is just a little over 135 MB. I could not get my mind wrapped around how big that was until I found that 100 Megabytes equals three feet of books on a shelf and 10 Megabytes equals a box of 3-1/2 inch diskettes. I made a zip file backup also that I was never able to do with Yahoo! Hosting.

The next step is to change my domain Nameservers where is currently registered at MelbourneIT.com.au. I tried to walk through that process but got an error when I tried and bring up my account at MelbourneIT. I sent them an email requesting help but have not received a reply. I have time on my side at this point so I can wait.

I think that once I have changed the domain Nameservers the process is rather simple. That is probably famous last words but I can hope.

Not very cold this morning but it was overcast and became more so as the day progressed. The weather guessers were expecting the high to be 78° today but it was only 64 at noon and didn't feel that warm. There was a 5-10 mph wind that added to the cooling. There is still a prediction of rain tomorrow but it has been reduced to a 60% chance.

It may have been the overcast this morning that caused Patches to let me sleep in. She was not anxious to get up and neither was I so we did a long potty walk when we did get up. That is a walk which is twice as long as a potty walk and about half of our usual morning walk. We were both happy to get back to Desperado.

Starting around 10:00 she was entertained by the neighbor next to us on the east side as he gathered up all his toys and left. The couple that he has been camping with to my southeast, that has a couple of dogs, is still here but is making some preparations to move, maybe tomorrow. That will be good if it happens because I can then drive thru his space to mine rather than back in.

26 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

It was very overcast but warm, 60°, this morning. It looked like it could rain at any moment so we did Casino circuits and only felt a few drops. Not long after we got back to Desperado it started a light gentle rain and the temperature dropped to 53° by 10:00. A good day to be inside where we may stay for the rest of the day.

My southeast neighbor was out in the rain for about 2 1/2 hours getting ready to leave this morning. I now have somewhat of a view in that direction but have to look through the tree that is about 6' away. Better than looking at his 5th wheel. His two dogs were not a problem although they did bark at Patches every time they saw her. That caused her to reply in kind but was quick to shut up when told to - she behaved very well, I was proud.

I received a reply from MelbourneIT.com.au that said I need to contact Yahoo! their re-seller about changing my Nameserver. I sent Yahoo! an email today asking them for help. Will see if I get help or a run around.

I finished my latest novel and traded it for the 'cleanest dirty shirt', so to speak, in the Park library. There were a couple books to choose from that I don't think were there before and I took one. If the other one is still there when I finish my next book I'll get it also, if not I may not be trading any more books here.

I reviewed Absolute Power on 18 December 2013, the first of Baldacci's King & Maxwell Series Split Second on 23 March 2014 and Deliver Us From Evil on 4 June 2014. After reading this one I still think Absolute Power was the best of his that I have read. The Weekly goes a bit overboard with their praise when comparing his work to Grisham. It has been some time since I read most of Grisham's novels but I remember them as being better than anything I have read of Baldacci's except Power. That does not mean that I do not like his books, they are good entertainment, I have one more in my unread library and I will look for more when I trade.

It's a truism that readers who like Grisham's novels often take to Baldacci's, but never has Baldacci's debt to the more veteran author been so evident as in this strong-boned thriller that features the Grishamesque premise of young lawyers who uncover a conspiracy reaching into the U.S. Supreme Court. Baldacci isn't as smooth a writer as Grisham: he'll hop point of view in mid-scene, and the opening sentence of this novel, at least as presented in the review galley, is a run-on. But for foxy plotting, Baldacci is easily Grisham's peer, and his characters are always captivating. Here, the principals are Rufus Harms, a slow-witted black giant who, after decades in a military prison, realizes that, for reasons revealed only at the novel's end, he is morally innocent of the murder for which he's doing time; John Fiske, a cop-turned-lawyer who's drawn into Harms's quest for justice after his younger brother, a Supreme Court clerk interested in Harms's case, is murdered; and Sara Evans, another Supreme Court clerk who joins forces and beds with Fiske. Plenty of cinema-ready action ensues as Harms, aided by his Vietnam vet brother, escapes from prison and Fiske and Sara try to get to him before the conspirators who put Harms behind bars do. The novel's resolution is predictable, however. This isn't Baldacci's most original book, but it's his most generously textured, distinguished by thoughtful delvings into family psychodramatics (of both the Fiske and Harms clans), a nicely rendered romance between two tentative lovers and, adding a welcome and strong backdrop of authenticity to the outlandish turns of events, vivid detailing of the Supreme Court behind closed doors where the truth, apparently, is anything but simple. - Publishers Weekly

27 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

We got a lot of rain yesterday. Not a lot for some places, 0.37" officially, but for this part of the southwest that is a lot of rain in the winter. This morning it was mostly cloudy and looked like it might rain some more but probably not. The weather gurus claim it will be partly cloudy and there is a chance for more rain on Friday and Saturday with it getting into the lower 60s for a high temperature.

We did another long potty walk, I unplugged and we headed for town before it might rain. Stopped at Granny's Kitchen for my breakfast which was Huevos Rancheros with hash browns. Neither Granny nor Marcella can make Rancheros to my liking; I don't recommend them at either restaurant. I have the same opinion about their Huevos a la Mexicana.

Tuesday is the big shelf stocking day for Olsen's and they were hard at it this morning. Sent the two produce stockers into the back to get me what I wanted again. I asked for 86% Dark Chocolate Bars but they had none to stock. The same with the Wild Blueberries that I have been getting, there were none ordered although I did get a different brand.

The fixin's for a Cowboy Stew were to be had and that is what I put together as soon as we got back to the Park. Browned off beef stew meat, some boiled white potatoes and a couple cans of Bush's Grillin' Beans Southern Pit Barbecue. That is all there is to this quick dish. I'm letting it sit in the Thermal Cooker until 'linner' time today and will re-heat servings for the rest of the week.

I did stop at the Casino gas pumps on the way back. They lowered their prices to what I saw the last time I went into Ajo and were still matching the lowest price I saw there today. I didn't fill up but put in enough to get me back and forth to Ajo a couple more times and then to Tucson. Gas there is 75¢ less than what I paid today here in Why and it is only a little over 100 miles away.

The closest neighbor, with the two tiny Lassies, on the west side left this morning. I now have a least one open space on every side of me with 2-3 open everywhere except on the northeast. All of the neighbors have been well mannered and easy to get along with although I don't ever have much contact. The empty spaces probably will not last until I leave but it is rather nice while it does.

28 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

The space on my west side is very popular. There was a smaller 5th wheel pull into it soon after I posted yesterday. That still leave an open space between us and since the rig is small it didn't cut off much of my western view.

There was a lot of fog hanging along all the mountain foothills this morning. Also a lot of condensation on the creosote bushes. The rain that fell is going back into the atmosphere almost as quickly as it fell out of it. The forecast continues to say there is a chance that it will fall again on Friday and Saturday with the high temperature on Saturday to be only 58°.

My biggest accomplishment for the day was to dump holding tanks and take on fresh water. I'll have to do this chore one more time just before leaving here but it is a rather routine, every two week occurrence.

President Obama was strongly criticized in the China media for his gum chewing in public. Not by the Ministry of Propaganda however, when they wrote about the criticism it was spun to be more about the Chinese media picking on their Dear Leader. Well, he did it again in India with a similar response from the India Media. Is there no one on his staff that can instruct him on proper behavior when in public in an Asian country?

He then spoke to an audience of mostly young people (his audience of choice) celebrating India’s Republic Day in New Delhi. To celebrate Republic Day he spoke in classic Obama fashion for 33 minutes and made reference to himself 118 times. I'm sure the young people were thrilled.

He talked about inequality in both India and America, as if the two countries are indistinguishable — as if poverty in the U.S. is in any way comparable to poverty in India. And, of course, no Obama speech is complete without him playing the race card - as if the treatment of African-Americans/Blacks/Negros in the United States is comparable to the Untouchables of India.

Ah yes, another triumph for our president in building better foreign relations with our allies. I would suggest that India be very careful. "President Obama may have gained something politically or ideologically by recognizing Cuba, but just what did the United States gain? Like so much that has been done by this administration, the diplomatic recognition of Cuba demonstrates how safe it is to be our enemy, while our policies toward Ukraine and Israel demonstrate how risky it is to be our ally." - Thomas Sowell

29 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

I had two more neighbors join me yesterday afternoon, a big Class A and a Class C that was about Desperado size. They parked behind me, to the south, and since I don't have any rear windows I didn't know they are there. Except, they turned my pull-thru space into a back-in once again. I do need the practice but they were gone by 10:00 today.

The forecast of rain tomorrow and Saturday was slightly off. It was very overcast this morning when we did our walk and the at noon I got a few sprinkles that could develop into some rain before the day is done. It may be another day to stay inside, stay warm, stay dry and do some reading.

There has been a lot of News these past few days. The First Couple making News in India and Saudi Arabia. The markets going crazy after the elections in Greece. The Pope making comments that are not PC. “May you live in interesting times" is an English expression purporting to be a translation of a traditional Chinese expression. Despite being so common in English as to be known as "the Chinese curse", the saying is apocryphal; the nearest related Chinese expression is "better to live as a dog in an era of peace than a man in times of war."

The Pope has come out against Western culture as a 'society without fathers'. This is going to lose him point with the liberals that fell in love with him when he appeared to be favoring their attacks against Capitalism and supporting homosexuals. The Western culture, especially the United States which I think the Pope was denouncing, has gone from Father Knows Best ('50s & '60s) to Murphy Brown ('80s & '90s) as the family model to be emulated.

Pope Francis pulled off his kid gloves Wednesday [28 January 2014], denouncing in the strongest terms what he called a “society without fathers.”
“Particularly in Western culture,” he said, the father figure is “symbolically absent, missing and removed.”
At first, Francis explained, the absence of fathers “was perceived as a liberation: liberation from the father-master, from the father as a representative of the law that is imposed from the outside, from the father as a censor of the happiness of children and obstacle to the emancipation and autonomy of young people.”
The real problem of our day, Francis said, “does not seem to be the intrusive presence of fathers anymore, but rather their absence and their inaction. Fathers are often so focused on themselves and on their work and sometimes on their individual accomplishments, that they can forget even the family, neglecting their children.”

The WEIRD [ Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic] contingent has had an impressive string of victories since the 1960’s, especially in America. Their record of wins, fast, may have no precedent in history, since culture tends to shift slowly, sometimes glacially. The culture war has been won, and the victory for the WEIRD side is essentially total. In the last fifty years, racial relations have been so dramatically transformed by government and culture, ...Even more transformational have been shifts in gender relations since the 1960’s, with American young women today being better educated than their male counterparts, with access to opportunities personal, professional, and sexual that their grandmothers could only have dreamed of. Some feminists now ask what good men are actually for, not in jest. Young men have noticed this seismic shift and numbers of them are dropping out of the race — professional and sexual — in a way their dads and granddads could not possibly comprehend. ... As with race, feminism has triumphed so totally in just a couple generations that we have NGOs plus governmental bureaucracies hunting for evidence of racism or sexism, however fragmentary, to prove the need for more transformation.

30 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

Our afternoon walk got rained out yesterday. We did do a short potty walk in a light rain and it was a good thing we went home because soon after it started coming down much harder. It was not a good day for man nor beast and Patches is the beast.

I had some entertainment when very small 5th wheel backed into a space to the southeast of me during that harder rain. After a couple of attempts I told the lady standing out in the rain to drive around and pull thru. But it was the wife standing out in the rain and the husband was intent on backing in.

She finally got a little postage stamp of an umbrella and had a 'talk' with her husband and he drove around and pulled thru. He didn't like where the trailer ended up, did some more backing then pulled thru again. They then spent a lot of time getting soaked while they set up camp. There is a lot to be said for a Class A, B or C on such days.

This morning we did a long potty walk in a mist that left us both as wet as if we had been walking in a light rain. By 10:00 that is what we had - more rain. The forecast remains for cool, low 60s, and more rain thru tomorrow. We may be housebound for a day or two.

I received an answer to my Domain Nameserver question from Yahoo! Hosting. I think I now know what I need to do and will probably do it before I leave here. My month of service with Verizon starts on 4 February so I think I'll wait until then, pull the plug with Yahoo! Hosting and hope for the best.

I built a couple of API maps at Hub just to see if I could do it and how much different it would be from how I have done it in the past. It went well enough but I think when Hub is hosting my site it will probably be much the same as it has been.

Greece Begins The Great Pivot Toward Russia by Tyler Durden at zerohedge.com is another story about the unintended consequences of President Obama's Sanctions War. His European allies in the War are starting to unravel. The pipeline deal with Turkey after Bulgaria surrendered to Brussel's pressure and now Greece. Greece is a member of the Eurozone and both Turkey and Greece are members of NATO. The Ministry of Propaganda continue to parrot the Administrations claim that they are winning but the facts don't seem to support that assertion.

Ten days ago, before the smashing success of Greece's anti-austerity party, Syriza, we noted that Russia gave Greece a modest proposal: turn your back on Europe, whom you despise so much anyway, and we will assist your farmers by lifting the food import ban.
And, sure enough, Greece's new premier Tsipras did hint with his initial actions that Greece may indeed pivot quite aggressively away from Europe and toward Russia in general and the Eurasian Economic Union in particular (as a tangent recall "Russia's "Startling" Proposal To Europe: Dump The US, Join The Eurasian Economic Union").

31 January
Hickiwan Trails RV Park
Why, AZ

We were able to do an afternoon walk yesterday although it was very cloudy. About sundown it started to rain and rained hard for about an hour. The official record keepers did not record any rain during this period so I would say we got more than the official 0.28" recorded yesterday.

However much it was it caused my roof leak to drip on my bed again. When I went to bed last night I found my down sleeping bag wet, the quilt soaked through and a wet spot on the mattress in the same place where it dripped before. The headliner was soaked and dripping. It is back to D & J RV Service in Sierra Vista as soon as I get there in March. This is aggravating!

It did not rain hard during the night but it was steady. Was raining when I got up and took Patches for a short potty walk. I had my umbrella and stayed mostly dry but Patches got wet and was very happy to get back to Desperado. The Park roads were running water and the area right outside my door a small lake. The berm around the tree to contain water is doing its job with that depression full to overflowing into the small lake. Not a good day for a walk.

Three recent stories that highlight the disconnect between perceived economic strength in the United States and what the true conditions are. Appearance over substance has been a way of life in the United States since the early 1990s in almost every part of our culture. How much longer can it go on? What will be the event(s) that brings substance back in importance? Perhaps it will go on forever and substance is no longer meaningful?

Hey lookie here, someone else has taken a look at the Birth/Death Model adjustments. I'm not the lone voice in the wilderness. Is The BLS Overstating Jobs by Lance Roberts at streettalklive.com is not part of the Media but he has written an article that makes the same points that I have.

The United States does not rank among the Top 10 countries in the world for economic freedom, according to the Heritage Foundation’s 2015 Index of Economic Freedom. Since 2008 the United States has fallen from 6th to 12th in the most most recent Index. The U..S. is now ranked behind other developed countries but also behind Chile, Estonia and Republic of Mauritius. For those that never knew, or have forgot, Estonia was formerly a part of the Soviet Union.

The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index tells us that Americans are the happiest (have the highest sentiment) since 2004. Where do they find these people?