Peregrinating
2015

October

1 October
Greenfield RV Park
Yerington, NV

I finally beat the Ecuador Page into shape late yesterday just before going to bed. As I said yesterday I don't know if it looks any better but it should load faster. I made all the pictures smaller and wrapped the text around them as best as I could. Aligning text around one picture is a piece of cake for me now but it gets more complicated when there are more than one and they are a mix of landscape and portrait.

We got about half way through our morning walk before it started to sprinkle. By the time we got back to Desperado it had increased to a light rain and we were wet. It stopped raining soon after that and does not look like there will be any more. I would guess 0.01" fell or it might get an official measurement of Trace.

Nothing much happening here except Patches is not feeling so great. She threw up her breakfast yesterday and has been sleeping more than usual. That means she is sleeping all day rather than most of the day.

I did make a change in my breakfast scramble. Replaced the potatoes that I have been including for months with barley. I have done this before so it is not a big change, but something different.

Read most of the bloggers on my Monthly List this morning. I may get current with them all by the end of today or tomorrow. That and more work on the Bootstrap conversions plus some time on the couch with Patches will fill the rest on my day.

Years ago I wanted to start up a tax-free foundation to Stamp Out Death By Natural Causes with myself as the director of same. This was even before the Clinton Foundation so they may have taken my idea and run with it so to speak.

I saw an article today There Are Now Officially 70,000 Ways to Get Sick or Die that says I was way ahead of my time and now I'm too late. I could not find a code among the 70,000 available for "death by natural causes" - it has been stamp out!

There are 70,000 ways to get sick, hurt or mortally injured, and the U.S. is making them official.
On Thursday, U.S. hospitals, doctors and other care providers have to start using internationally developed standards called ICD-10 codes to bill government programs and private insurers in the nation’s $2.9 trillion-a-year health-care system. The codes cover everything from parrot bites to getting sucked into a jet engine.

2 October
Greenfield RV Park
Yerington, NV

I finished converting all of the 2014 Peregrinating Pages yesterday. Then updated the Site Map, that is being remodeled, by adding a button for that year under Peregrinating and one for Ecuador. Making progress.

We did get some more rain yesterday afternoon. Not very hard and it didn't rain for long but there were a number of separate showers. It was threatening during the time we usually do our walk so I made a command decision and called off any walk. Patches seemed to agree, she did not do her usual "We got to go walk act". I did take her out for a short potty walk and we stayed dry - for the most part.

It stayed cold all day yesterday with the high reaching only 59°. The forecast for the next week is great with highs in the 70s; I hope it happens. Looking at the forecast for my next camp I see that I'll be moving to about 10 ° hotter highs. So I'm still on schedule - moving two weeks early. HA!

The Bureau of Labor released their non-farm job numbers for September today that showed an increase of 142,000 jobs. The Associated Press story described the report as "Friday's tepid jobs report from the government suggested that the U.S. economy, which has been outshining others around the world, is weakening".

Most of the Ministry take their clue from the AP so there is not going to be much spinning of good News from this report. The Unemployment Rate remaining at 5.1% is not good News either because the AP has said "...but only because many Americans have stopped looking for work and are no longer counted as unemployed".

The CES Birth/Death Model subtracted 34,000 this month, September being one of the months that traditionally has a subtraction by the model. The Ministry never includes this bit of information when they report all the jobs 'created' so they remain quiet now that there is a subtraction - this surprised me.

If you look at the Household Data the number of Employed decreased by 236,000 which reversed the prior two monthly increases. The Unemployed went down by 114,000 and the Not in the Labor Force increased by 579,000 which means a lot of the unemployed quit looking for a job as the AP correctly said.

The Participation Rate declined another 0.2% to 62.4% continuing to be the lowest it has been since 1977. While the Not in the Labor Force rose to 94,610,000 setting another new all time record. The Ministry for the most part continued to ignored these new records for Not in the Labor Force.

The average earnings remained unchanged at $25.09 an hour while the average workweek declined by 0.1 hours to 34.5 hours. This was not a good jobs report but the Federal Reserve can point to it as a reason why they did not increase rates. The bad News should be good News for Wall Street however since rates now will most likely remain low through the end of the year.

3 October
Greenfield RV Park
Yerington, NV

It felt cold this morning. The low was 39° which was lower than expected and it felt colder than that. The 10 Day forecast guess is that the lows will be in the mid to upper 40s. I hope the guessers get it right starting tomorrow, I did not like it much this morning although Patches was loving it.

In the graph yesterday I did not show what the first adjustment was that the BLS made to the August job numbers. I wait for the second adjustment. What I did say was that the BLS report for September should be good News for Wall Street and it was with the Dow closing up over 1%.

The first adjustment to the August numbers was down 37,000 or down 21% from the BLS original guess. The "market" loved it! The BLS new guess made the adjusted August number 136,000 so the September number became an increase month-over-month. See how this works. Bad News is Good News!

Glenn of To Simplify toured in Australia with the International Glenn Miller Orchestra earlier this summer and now is going back to New Zealand. I prepared a map showing his tour itinerary while in Oz and have done the same for NZ. I'll have a link in the left column within a day or two. It will stay up while he is on tour and I will then take it down. Note: I am posting it here aagin while doing the CSS Grid conversion

Russian airstrikes target CIA-backed rebels is an article that shows what an idiot John McCain is. These CIA-backed fighters are the same "heads of the Free Syrian Army" that he meet in 2013 that included top al Qaeda terrorist leader Ibrahim al-Badri (aka Al-Baghdadi of ISIS, aka Caliph Ibrahim of the recently founded Islamic Empire).

The US of A has been funding the Islamic State to take out Assad and that is why President Obama has not brought the forces required to destroy them. Now President Putin is shinning the light of truth on what has been going on and the Administration have their knickers in a twist . McCain is simply carrying water for them as he did when he ran his half-assed presidential campaign.

Sen. John McCain said Thursday that he has confirmed that some of Russian airstrikes in Syria were aimed not at ISIS, but instead at CIA-backed fighters taking on the Assad regime.
"Their initial strikes were against the individuals and the groups that have been funded and trained by our CIA, in a credible flaunting of any kind of cooperation or effort to conceal what (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's priority is -- and that is, of course, to prop up (Syrian President) Bashar Assad," McCain, R-Arizona, told CNN's Chris Cuomo on "New Day.
McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he "can absolutely confirm to you that they were strikes against our Free Syrian Army, or groups that have been armed and trained by the CIA, because we have communications with people there."

4 October
Greenfield RV Park
Yerington, NV

There was a 50% chance of rain last night and every time I woke up it was raining. It was coming down again when it was time to get up and go walk but Patches had the good sense to not press the issue. We went out about 30 minutes later than usual and did just a potty walk. Stayed dry. Don't know what this afternoon might be like, the weather guessers think scattered clouds.

It was one of those days that called for more time on the couch with my book and Patches. I did some more work on converting web site pages which will get easier as I go back in time and have fewer and fewer pictures to re-format. That is true of the journal pages until I start working on Vietnam, Japan and Bulgaria - those will be as difficult as Ecuador was.

This link is to a story that probably will never see the light of day from the Ministry of Propaganda. It may explain why President Obama was so prompt in speaking out about the Oregon shooting. His Administration, following his lead, is complicit in the deaths that occurred there. It was not the gun that was responsible, it was the shooter. It was also the responsibility of those that ignored warnings that could have prevented the deaths.

Oregon Mass Shooter On Terror List Obama Refused To Take from Russia is the story.

The Federal Security Services (FSB) is reporting today that an American black-Islamist terror suspect, who yesterday committed an act of mass murder in the State of Oregon (United States), had been included on a list of 87,000 “known/suspected” Islamic terrorists that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) refused last month to accept from the Federation due to its not being “politically viable in the present atmosphere”.
According to this report, the black-Islamist terrorist who committed this act of terror, Chris Harper Mercer, had previously been indentified by electronic intelligence specialists within the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) as being an Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) adherent after he had attempted to gain passage to Syria via Turkey during the first week of September, 2015.

5 October
Greenfield RV Park
Yerington, NV

We did get more showers yesterday afternoon but they quit and it started to clear by the time for our walk. We dodged a lot of standing water and stayed off the dirt/mud as much as possible. The forecast now is for 70s and low 80s until I leave and move into the upper 80s for the highs. No chance of rain - so they say.

It was my intent to dump holding tanks and take on fresh water tomorrow when I left to go shopping. I need to pull forward in my space to do that and when I'm leaving is a good time. But I was receiving too many signals that my fresh water tank was almost to the point that the pump would be sucking air into the lines.

Went out there this morning after pulling forward and got those chores done. It is a little bit more of a hassle because I need to unplug from electric to keep from running over the cord as I move back. But you do what you have to do and now I don't have to do it tomorrow. HA

The jobs report on Friday was just what the stock market needed to rally. It has gained 700 points or over 4% from the intraday low to where it is as I write this post. Amazing! The other amazing thing is that the latest 3 month T-bill auction had buyers that were willing to give the Treasury their money at -0-% interest. This is the first time ever that the federal government has been able to sell Treasury Bills at par value. What a country! - Yakov Smirnoff

Here we are a year after the article quoted below and the Administration, along with their McCain sock puppet, is still trying to promote the myth of a "Free Syrian Army". They truly do think the "people are brainless", and they are partially correct - the Ministry of Propaganda has done it's work well here in the US of A.

But not everyone, The Western Alliance Is Crumbling by Eric Zuesse is an article that covers a lot of ground. Topics include: EU Is Abandoning U.S. on Overthrowing Assad, Obama Cannot Defeat Assad without EU’s Help, EU Also Rejects Obama’s TTIP & TISA Demands plus Obama’s Presidential ‘Legacy’ Heads to Failure. Recommended reading.

Obama Is Supporting ISIS in Syria – Will He Support ISIS in Iraq Too? by Jim Hoft was posted on 14 Jun 2014. The basis of the story was a filmed interview of Ayad Jamal Al-din, a prominent Iraqi intellectual, politician, religious cleric and former member of the Iraqi parliament. He said this in part:

The pressure on the Syrian regime, which is fighting ISIS, must be lifted. They should not try to strengthen the feeble Free Syrian Army [FSA]. There is no FSA. There is ISIS in Syria and Iraq. You cannot fight ISIS in Iraq, yet support it in Syria. There is one war and one enemy.
The U.S. should give up its hypocrisy. People are not brainless. How can it be that a State Department spokesperson talks about Iraq, and then a White House spokesman says: “We must pressure the [Syrian] regime so that it surrenders”? Surrenders to whom? To ISIS. Where is the FSA? There is no such thing. The war is one and the same. Support should be extended to both Iraq and Syria. The U.S. should pressure the countries that sponsor ISIS.

6 October
Greenfield RV Park
Yerington, NV

Why is it so difficult to get an email reply from most RV Parks? In many cases they do not offer an email address but have a Contact Page that you fill out and it is then transmitted as an email. They don't reply to those either. I contact a few other small businesses that have the same problem responding to email but not a bad as RV Parks.

A month or two ago I was trying to get some information from two Parks east of Albuquerque, NM. I sent each one of them three emails and never received a reply. This past week I have been trying to contact a Park in Yuma and have sent thee Contact Page messages and two emails with no response. Two other Parks in Yuma have received two emails each and one of them did reply after the second one.

I get the feeling that I'm trying to contact RV Parks that are "hobby businesses" or have managers that can not be bothered replying to email. I guess the world is cell phone driven now and I'm a relic, as is email. I'm tempted to send the one Park in Yuma a written letter, in an envelope with a stamp and see what the reaction might be.

Changed our schedule again this morning. Not much of a change but I stopped at Bakery Gallery while on our walk and had a latte and fritter. Then spent an hour reading Daily blogs before unplugging and going to Scolari's for the week's groceries.

The timing was good so I had about a 5 minute wait at Pioneer Crossing before meeting up with my former Baldini's boss for breakfast. We had another good visit until he had to go back to work and I had to get back to my space here in the Park and write about what I did. Not much!

On 26 August 2015 I wrote about the disparity between the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® and Gallop's US Consumer's Economic Outlook. The numbers are now in for September and it is just as bad or worse. The Conference Board has US Consumer Confidence at almost its high point in 2007. Whereas the Gallop index has declined steadily during 2015 since peaking in January. I think Gallop may be right and the Conference Board is just another spin meister for the Administration.

The Ministry of Propaganda will also do all they can to suppress the 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
Greenfield RV Park
Yerington, NV

A do nothing day. Resting up from my busy past two days. HA

Devoted far too much time to the conversion of the Vietnam archived page. The conversion to Bootstrap format is a 2-3 minute process at the most. It is when I try to re-format the text with the pictures that I get bogged down. It is not too difficult if all the pictures are landscape or all portrait it is when they are mixed that it is a problem. Maybe finish it before today is done.

The News cycle has sort of spun dry. The Ministry continues to try and make Russia the bad guy in Syria but most of the world is not buying it. The Russians seem to have done more to degrade and destroy the Islamic State in one week than President Obama was able to do in a year.

I guess the good News was provided by the 10 year Treasury bond sale. They sold $21 Billion at a rate of 2.066%. That means the buyers believe that average inflation will be less than 2% over the next 10 year. Now that is Good News! What a country!

8 October
Greenfield RV Park
Yerington, NV

The fight that I had getting the Vietnam archived page looking like I wanted it to taught me a lot. I think I will go back and make some changes to the Ecuador page that I was never satisfied was well done. I now also have more confidence that I can re-format the other Trip pages. I was unsure about doing them.

But, I have a lot of other Peregrinating pages to complete so that is what I was working on this morning. I'll be doing some more of them later today after our walk. Maybe have another year completed and do some more remodeling on the Site Map.

My whining about not getting replies to my emails has helped. I got a reply from a kennel in Yuma where I will leave Patches when I get Desperado painted. I also got a reply from the paint shop in Algodones, MX where I plan having it painted. I have now asked them to give me an approximate cost and a recommendation for where I can stay while they are doing the painting. The "plan" is starting to come together.

I also got an email today that said I have a place at my next camp. I may have to move from space to space during the time that I am there but that is not an issue for me. I just want a place to park for 4-5 weeks.

I found this article to be the best News of the day, Harvard's prestigious debate team loses to NY inmates.

Against Harvard, the inmates were tasked with defending the position that public schools should be allowed to turn away students whose parents came to the U.S. illegally. Harvard's team responded, but a panel of neutral judges declared the inmates victorious.

9 October
Greenfield RV Park
Yerington, NV

I wasted a good part of this morning trying to upgrade NetWorx. They have released an upgrade but when I tried to install it I somehow created a mess. I got off out in the weeds with Windows Safe Mode and finally did get the old NetWorx uninstalled. Downloaded the "New" release and got it installed and I'm not so sure that anything has really changed except I underwent a learning experience.

It did give me a break from the archive page project that is taking up most of my time. I did get another year of Peregrinating pages and the Vietnam page finished and reflected that in the Site map re-modeled page. That project is moving along much faster now that I am working on pages that have few pictures. Therefore, I have started working on some of the Trip pages that do have a lot of pictures so I don't forget what I have learned.

Yesterday I got an email from my next possible camp and I think I have a place to stay. I told them that I was willing to move during my 4-5 week stay and that seems to have moved them in a favorable way. I won't know for sure until I show up but I'm encouraged by the tone of the email.

Of the three RV Parks in Yuma that I tried to contact only one has replied and wants my business. They are a bit more expensive than I would like but it appears to be a nice Park. They also wanted a three month commitment for a price that I'm willing to pay, their month-to-month is outside my acceptable range. So I'll be wintering over for three months in Yuma. I had thought that I may have to do that anyway to get Desperado painted so it is nothing that I did not consider. I had not yet planned on where the third month stay might have been.

The forecast high temperature today is 90°. Then it will remain in the upper 80s until I leave so the move is not going to cause me much discomfort. The forecast at the new camp starting next week is for the high temperatures to be in the mid-80s. Maybe I'm not the two weeks early that I originally thought.

10 October
Greenfield RV Park
Yerington, NV

I made up my 3x5 route card yesterday and selected my breakfast stop. Also built the Route Map which I can change quickly if the route changes from what I plan or the breakfast stop should change.

To justify their continued employment the Google Map programmers have made changes again. They have added nothing to what was there before. Sort of the programming equivalent to shuffling the chairs around on the deck of the Titanic. I'm sure I'll become familiar with where everything is and how it works again by the time they work up another change.

Received the first SPAM posting to my ShoutBox today. That gave me something else to learn. How to remove the posting and Ban the poster. This will also provide me with a test of the Ban feature if they try and post again.

I'm building a fair sized list of email sending addresses in my email SPAM filter. Most of them are trying to sell me their services to increase my position on the page when a web search is performed. This will make my "business" that much more profitable. I have not found any of those in my Junk Folder after adding the address to the list so I think they only send once.

Not doing much. More archive page conversions, more walks with Patches and then some time on the couch with her and my book. I did make up some more potato and salmon patties for my next 3-4 'linners'. I think I'll buy a couple more cans of the Red Sockeye Salmon to take with me since the chance of finding more is slim.

11 October
Greenfield RV Park
Yerington, NV

Not doing much today. Continuing to work on the archive pages project and making good progress. It is now getting to the point that it is repetitive and boring. The Trip pages that have a lot of pictures that need the text re-formatted around them is a nice break.

Doing some mental preparation for my move next week. Even thinking about the move after that to my "winter over" home and getting Desperado painted. Have not heard anything more from the Algodones painter since I asked for an estimate. I may send him another email next week.

On 30 March 2015 I wrote about the Social Security's Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI) trust funds and when they would go broke. I did not write about the Medicare trust fund at that time. The report for that was released in July and claimed that the trust was also solvent until 2030. The other bit of News that was buried in that report was that the Part B premiums for 2016 would be increased by an average of 52% or the lowest premium would go from $104.90 to $159.30.

The premiums are established in October of each year to begin in January of the next year. HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell said that “Seventy percent of enrollees in Part B will have no change in premiums." Those 70% have their premiums deducted from their monthly Social Security checks and won’t see a rate increase above the cost of living increase in Social Security (which will be 0% again this year).

This quote was pulled from an article written by Jim Quinn on his blog The Burning Platform. He has written at least two series of articles based on The Fourth Turning. I read the book some years ago, maybe early 2000s, and thought it was great.

Quinn's articles do a good job of bringing the words of Strauss & Howe to bear upon what is happening now. The reference to a Grey Champion is a character in a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne which can be read as the backstory. He questions whether The Donald is a Gray Champion for this turning. He does not question that someone like The Donald is needed as a Gray Champion.

Americans have always been blind to the next turning until after it fully arrives.
Most of today’s adult Americans grew up in a society whose citizens dreamed of perpetually improving outcomes: better jobs, fatter wallets, stronger government, finer culture, nicer families, smarter kids, all the usual fruits of progress. Today, deep into the Third Turning, these goals feel like they are slipping away. Many of us wish we could rewind time, but we know we can’t – and we fear for our children and grandchildren.
Many Americans wish that, somehow, they could bring back a saecular spring now. But seasons don’t work that way. As in nature, a saecular autumn can be warm or cool, long or short, but the leaves will surely fall. The saecular winter can hurry or wait, but history warns that it will surely be upon us.
We may not wish the Grey Champion to come again – but come he must, and come he will.” – The Fourth Turning – Strauss & Howe – 1997

12 October
Greenfield RV Park
Yerington, NV

I'm on a roll today. It started the same as usual with our morning walk. Then it was off to Pioneer Crossing for breakfast where I used a Meal Comp that paid for almost all of it. It being a mushroom and spinach omelet that was good, home fries that were better and so-so coffee.

One more grocery trip to Scolari's where I did pick up a couple more cans of Red Sockeye Salmon that I will not be eating soon but probably will not find any soon either.

Stopped at the Maverick station that is at the entrance to the Park and filled up with gas. Pulled far forward in my space and dumped holding tanks. It has been only a week but I prefer to travel with empty holding tanks and a full fresh water tank. Got hooked up to electricity again by backing up a few feet and did not have to worry about running over the cord.

Then I immediately cleaned the toilet and bathroom. This was all before 9:00 am so I thought it is time for an Arbuckles' coffee break. Then vacuumed all the floors and wash down the bathroom and kitchen floors. That is it for today but most of my household chores are done and I'm just about ready to get back on the road.

Yesterday I finished the Peregrinating pages for 2012 and the Other Trip pages. That has now been reflected in the re-model of the Site Map. Two more years of Peregrinating to go then probably will work on the Reno pages, all the time doings some of the Trip pages also. I'm making progress.

I agree with David P. Goldman (Spengler) My prediction: A Cruz-Rubio Ticket. I further predict that they will be running against a Biden-Warren Ticket. The first presidential election in a long time that will offer competing ideologies rather than the American Idol choices that have been offered for many years. This will not be a Democrat Lite vs a Democrat election.

13 October
Greenfield RV Park
Yerington, NV

Patches just did a potty walk yesterday afternoon. I did not feel like doing our usual walk and she has been throwing up sick twice in the past week. Time for a rest. I'm like all the politicians, especially those leaning left, "I had to do it for the children" or for Patches in this instance. That is my story and I'm sticking to it.

We did a usual morning walk today. Patches seems a bit lethargic and she may think that I am also. We will see how we both feel about an afternoon walk when the time comes.

Finished up the rest of my monthly housecleaning with a wipe down of the dash and cab area. The windows were not too bad and can wait. Even the dash was not as covered with dust as usual because the space here is surrounded with grass and paved streets.

I think this was the first, and only Cussler book, that I have read. I now have read it twice. I knew when I started reading it that I had read it before but did not always remember what was going to happen next. That kept me interested and entertained. It is a long book, the reason that I selected it, that could have been three stories in three smaller books. The hero and his companions are somewhat like comic book action characters that do improbable things. The customer review that I have copied provided a good assessment. It is good entertainment and I'll pick up another of his books if I find one.

Pitt is back with his trusty companions trying to thwart the evil plans of a Chinese madman whose intentions of diverting the Mississippi River. Coupled with a slave ring of illegal immigrants from China, a gang of ruthless killers stalking Pitt and a lovely Chinese American INS agent, Cussler weaves an interesting tale and even writes himself into this story that was both clever and humorous. Plenty of narrow escapes, witty dialog, a nefarious villian (but a close group of henchmen was missing) and a great story of a missing passenger ship fleeing the Communist take over of China and a fortune of vanished artifacts. Blend these together and it spells another terrific tale from Cussler. Not the best, but certainly entertaining reading and not to be passed over. Once again, Al, Sandecker and company work with Pitt who uses his charm, snappy come backs and his trusty .45 Colt to save the day. - Amazon Customer Review

14 October
Greenfield RV Park
Yerington, NV

Well, we did walk yesterday afternoon. One of our shorter routes that is slightly less than 2 miles. Then our morning walk today was one of our shorter morning walks at just over two miles. Stopped at Bakery Galley for a latte which will probably be my last for some time to come.

I have everything done for an early morning departure tomorrow except the stove and counter top wipe down that will be done after 'linner'. This has been a good camp for all the walking routes that are available. The market here is better than most where I usually shop. The weather at this time of the year is fine. The grounds are nicely landscaped with good shade and well maintained. Probably will not stay here again.

I like to use Park showers because they are bigger than what I have in Desperado and they usually have a bigger supply of hot water. Also using the bathroom and the showers keeps me from filling my holding tanks as fast. However, I expect them to be as clean as what I keep mine. This Park does not meet that standard.

I may be posting a little later than usual tomorrow. I will have a long day.

There is surprisingly little News about last nights Democrat Debate. What little I have read called it the Sanders and Clinton Show with The Hillary declared the winner. The Drudge poll is the only one that I could find this morning and it gave Sanders the win by a HUGE margin.

The New York Times had a puff piece Democratic Debate Turns Hillary Clinton’s Way After Months of Difficulties by Patrick Healy that tries to paint her with the same brush that coated her husband with "The Comeback Kid" sobriquet. Sanders made it easy for her when he took the email scandal off the table. Did he get bought off to take a dive in this fight?

I did not watch the debate and there was only one quote that caught my attention when reading the Times article.

“We have to stand up to his bullying,” Mrs. Clinton said. “I think it’s important, too, that the United States make it very clear to Putin that it’s not acceptable for him to be in Syria, creating more chaos, bombing people in support of Assad.”

15 October
Pair-A-Dice Escapees RV Park
Pahrump, NV

We did a slightly shorter walk this morning because I slept in for an extra 10-15 minutes. I wanted to leave by 6:30 so the shorter walk got me back on schedule.

Stopped at Maggie's Once More in Hawthorne for breakfast. The menu does not have a lot of choices so I settled for the Chili Omelet Special. It was good as was the sourdough toast, the big serving of home fries were even better and the coffee was drinkable. A good place in the middle of nowhere to stop.

We also stopped in Beatty, NV for a few minutes to walk Patches around in the parking lot. She was at about her limit for a travel day. She is much better now but still is a Nervous Nelly on long travel days. I also picked up a cup of coffee to keep me awake during the last leg of a boring drive.

It was 330 miles with some winds starting around 50 miles north of Tonopah and easing up after we crossed Goldfield Summit. It was in Goldfield that we got into rain and stayed in off and on rain even after we got set up in our space here at the Park.

The route: US95 Alt, US95, NV160, Homestead Rd, Manse Rd & Oakridge Ave.

That is it for now. I'll be here for 4 weeks/28 days which is what the Escapee Parks consider to be a month. My space is in the back 40 this time rather than up near Oakridge where I have always been before. It is like all the other spaces and right now I do not have a next door neighbor. The spaces are large enough that if one does come in I doubt that they will bother me or I them.

Democrat Debate question for all 'debaters' (this is a Miss American question which again shows that the 'debates' are entertainment): “Which enemy that you made during your political career are you most proud of?”

Clinton’s response to the question was, “Well, in addition to the NRA, the health insurance companies, the drug companies, the Iranians … probably the Republicans,” after which she smiled broadly to raucous cheers from the partisan audience.
No doubt, the former secretary of state’s disdain for Republicans stems in part from ongoing investigations regarding her part in the Benghazi terrorist attack and her ongoing email scandal, although decades ago she famously denounced the “vast right-wing conspiracy” that she claims plagued her husband Bill Clinton’s presidency.
The question remains then, if Hillary is elected the first woman president of the United States, how will she “break through the Washington gridlock,” as she claims she can do, working with Republicans whom she considers to be her enemy? And how will she represent around half of the ultra-divided American electorate that will likely vote for the GOP candidate? - Colleen Conley at TPNN

16 October
Pair-A-Dice Escapees RV Park
Pahrump, NV

We did a long potty walk yesterday afternoon and got a little damp. This morning I thought it had quit but about the time we reached our half way point it started a light rain and we got wet. But not as wet as I got when I returned from attending the Koffee Klatch at the Club House.

There was a big group there considering the rainy conditions. Almost all of them the same as the last time that I was here. Everyone a little older, as I am, but looking the same and carrying on the same conversations that were going on when I left the last time. This is a fine place to visit but I could not live here.

It finally quit raining around 11:00 and started to clear. The forecast is for partly cloudy this afternoon so we should be able to get in a walk. I don't know how I manage to pick my spots to camp when weather records are being set but did it again yesterday. The reported rain yesterday was nothing compared to most places but it set a new record for 15 October in Pahrump, NV. With all the 'talk' of drought I was surprised to see that the total rain here so far this year is above average.

President Obama's "no-strategy" strategy in Syria has been best described by Tyler Durden in Russia Sends Its Only Aircraft Carrier To Syria, Signals It Is Just Getting Started.

The strategy of the US and its allies seems to go something like this: 1) covertly arm and train groups who you know might ultimately become terrorists because arming and training these groups may be a way to destabilize unfriendly regimes, 2) wait for blowback, 3) launch serious effort to combat terror if unfriendly regime has been “successfully” replaced by puppet government, or launch half-hearted effort to combat terror if situation still fluid and regime still clings to power.

What are the policy implications of giving up the illusion that the Pentagon knows how to build foreign armies? The largest is this: subletting war no longer figures as a plausible alternative to waging it directly. So where U.S. interests require that fighting be done, like it or not, we’re going to have to do that fighting ourselves. By extension, in circumstances where U.S. forces are demonstrably incapable of winning or where Americans balk at any further expenditure of American blood -- today in the Greater Middle East both of these conditions apply -- then perhaps we shouldn’t be there. To pretend otherwise is to throw good money after bad or, as a famous American general [Omar Bradley] once put it, to wage (even if indirectly) “the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong enemy." This we have been doing now for several decades across much of the Islamic world.
In American politics, we await the officeholder or candidate willing to state the obvious and confront its implications.

17 October
Pair-A-Dice Escapees RV Park
Pahrump, NV

It set another rain fall record for the date of 16 October here in Pahrump and I suspect that today will be another record setter. I woke up to the sound of rain at 3:00 then again hard rain at 5:00 that lasted until almost 6:30. Patches then had to go out for a potty walk in light rain which she likes, I had my umbrella this time.

Every walk that we have done so far since we have been here has been in the rain. This is a town that has an average annual rainfall of 5.07" and averages 0.39" in October. So far this October it has measured 1.24" and the month is just past the half way mark. I should hire out as a rain maker. HA

I did some work on the last Car Trip page this morning. I may finish it this afternoon and the two remaining Peregrinating pages for 2011. If not today certainly by tomorrow.

The Democrats' Dream Ticket Doesn't Include Hillary by John Zogby is a puff piece in support of Vice President Biden's bid for the presidential nomination. He does a fairly good job until he says this:

Mr. Biden, old hand and warrior that he is, offers something fresh to the race. A smiley face, a politics of hope, and the kind of family we all want to have.

18 October
Pair-A-Dice Escapees RV Park
Pahrump, NV

If I hear anyone in Pahrump whining about the drought I think I'll slap them up alongside the head. We were able to do an afternoon walk yesterday without getting wet but I thought I felt a sprinkle or two. Maybe getting paranoid.

That was yesterday and the days before when we received "female rain" brought by Nephelae . But this morning at about 4:00 Zeus sent Hecatoncheires and Kyklopes to do their thing. We lost power in the Park at some point and it was still off when I left for breakfast.

This hard rain all fell in about 30 minutes and measured one third of an inch with a strong wind pushing it. That would usually have caused my roof to leak but it did not happen. I did not think the gentle rains would start the leak but was surprised that this morning's storm did not. I would like to think that somehow it has 'fixed' itself but that is doubtful.

It was not raining when we did a walk inside the Park where the streets were covered with water. But nothing like what the roads in Pahrump were like. There was running water across NV160 and the town streets. Then just as I was leaving Andrea's it was pouring down rain again, adding to the flood and bringing the October total up to 1.88".

Breakfast at Andrea's was Corned Beef Hash with poached eggs, O'Brien potatoes and a biscuit-n-gravy. This is the first time in a long time that I have had biscuit-n-gravy but it came as a choice of toast and I'm glad I got it - very good. Everything was good, I'll be going back before I leave here.

It was then grocery shopping time at Smith's. This is a big store compared to where I usually shop. I found sardines without skin or bones which I usually can not find. I thought I might find hulled barley but did not, maybe a health food store here will have some? I wanted to try some and compare it to the pearled barley that I can find about half the time that I shop. I also wanted some mustard greens but the produce section was not much better than many smaller stores - disappointing.

That is it for now - I see more rain coming. Hurry Noah!

19 October
Pair-A-Dice Escapees RV Park
Pahrump, NV

I stopped writing yesterday when another wall of water was approaching. It hit just like that, a wall of water, for maybe 15 minutes with a minute or so of heavy hail as a parting shot. Patches does not mind the rain but the hail does upset her. I think that brief shower dropped another quarter inch of rain - no leak.

It cleared up some in time for our afternoon walk but the Park streets were a mess. The town streets were even worse so we did the same in the Park route as in the morning. I knew that the town streets had probably dried but with no shoulder I did not want to be out in the mud when meeting cars so we stayed in the Park again this morning. Did a longer serpentine route than what we did yesterday to add some distance.

I finished the Peregrinating pages for 2011 and the last Car Trip page. The Site Map has been re-modeled to reflect that those pages are now done. Only one more year of Peregrinating pages and I have started working on the Bicycling Tour pages. They will be the hardest to do because of all the pictures and text to be reformatted.

Lots of sun today with just a few clouds along the mountains. If the weather guessers can be believed the next 10 days will all be clear with the high temperatures in the mid to upper 70s and the low temperatures in the lower 50s. It does not get much better than that - IF it comes to pass.

This concludes my record setting rain making at 4 days. Yesterday there was a total of 0.60" bringing the total for the month to 2.12" or not quite half of what Pahrump gets in average annual rain. This is far short of the October record of 13.02" set in 2004 but more than enough for me.

20 October
Pair-A-Dice Escapees RV Park
Pahrump, NV

Since I have been here in Pahrump I have been having Verizon Internet connection problems. I thought it may have been weather related but yesterday was perfect weather. Continued to have problems. They are worse in the afternoon and into the evening so I am now sure that it is too many people using too much bandwidth. I think the tower is less than a mile from me so signal strength is not the issue.

My fresh water tank was almost dry again this morning. That required a re-fill which I could have done without moving Desperado. But, in for a penny in for a pound; I pulled forward and dumped holding tanks also. I used the on-board shower more since the last water fill so the gray water holding tank was going to need dumping soon. Might as well get it done now.

I am almost as far away from the Park showers as I could be placed so I'll probably use Desperado's shower while I'm here. It is not as good as a sticks-n-bricks shower with ALL the hot water I want in a BIG shower stall but it will do.

Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party won the Canadian election on a platform that could have been copied from the United States Democrat Party platform. The only significant difference is the Canadians call their party Liberal. Here in the Good 'Ol US of A the only politician on the left that has the guts to be honest is Bernnie, he is a self proclaimed Socialist. The other Democrats try to hide behind the label "Progressive" while putting forth the same policies as Bernnie and Trudeau.

I find it interesting that Canada is moving left while many governments in Europe are moving to the right. I don't think what Canada has done will have any influence on the US election but if the mood in North America is for more Socialism then we will get the government that we deserve.

Putin Officials Said to Admit Real Syria Goal Is Far Broader is a News article that conveys no news. President Putin has never made it any secret that Russia has gone to President Assad's aid. There is one pull quote from the story that I like, like a lot. Any one in the United States that even speaks out against the government is an 'extremist' yet those in Syria, armed by the US, that have taken up those arms against their government are 'moderates'.

A top Russian military official said on Friday that the Kremlin sees no moderate opposition in Syria, leaving only terrorists and the pro-Assad forces Moscow is backing.
“In the West, they talk about ‘moderate opposition,’ but we so far haven’t seen any in Syria,” General Andrey Kartapolov, commander of the Russian operation in Syria, told the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. “Any person who takes up arms and fights the legal authorities, how moderate can he be?”

21 October
Pair-A-Dice Escapees RV Park
Pahrump, NV

I have changed my breakfast again. I have been adding one egg but decided that I may be working against myself in the fight against cholesterol. I have read that there is NO correlation between higher cholesterol levels from eating one egg versus none but it is not "settled science" so I am going to stop.

All the 'experts' claim that the addition of fiber is what is needed to lower cholesterol levels so it will now be barley (hulled if I can find any), beans, squash, some onion and jalapaños (lots of vitamin C) with a little ricotta cheese. I have been eating a lot of fish during the past 6 months also. In another 6 months I'll see if any of this has made any difference.

During the early, dark hours, of our morning walks around the Park I have seen another walker a couple of times. This morning our paths crossed for the first time and we walked and talked for a few minutes. The walk is a lot easier when you have someone to talk to while doing it but I rarely have any company. I may meet up with this fellow again.

The only thing that I did other than our routine was laundry. That is also rather routine but not something that I do every day. The Park laundry here is a little small for the number of spaces but I had no problem getting a washer or dryer. The cost is among the lowest that I find anywhere so that is a big plus.

The snowbirds are coming in to roost. I got a neighbor this morning. Have not spoken to them yet so I don't know if they own the space or if they are just visiting like me. The Park has one of their two annual member meetings at the beginning of November so a lot of owners show up for that. This always makes it difficult for me to get a space because the meetings are always held in the two months that I want to be here - when the weather is usually at its best.

I guess the elites in the Democrat Party have had a talk with Vice President Biden and told him "how the cow eats the cabbage". He has taken his name off the table as a possible presidential nominee. That means The Hillary has been presented with a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card and is positioned for the coronation.

22 October
Pair-A-Dice Escapees RV Park
Pahrump, NV

When I wrote about having a neighbor in this Park not bother me because of the large spaces I did not know how long I would be here before a neighbor showed up. I then wrote that they had arrived. The interesting thing is that they drove a big Class A in, leveled it, hooked up electric then left. I didn't see them again until this morning when a fellow came and hooked up to water and sewer. He then left again; now that is a quiet neighbor!

I have written about the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in the past. This is the "green energy" installation near Las Vegas that was killing birds, 3,500 of them during its first year of operation. It seems that it is not quite so 'green' after all. They need to use natural gas to preheat the water pre-sunrise and when it is cloudy or at night (when there is no sun - HUH).

During its first year, Ivanpah emitted 46,000 metric tons of CO2 or enough that it will be required to participate in California's cap-and-trade program to reduce carbon emissions. Clean energy, cleaner than most coal burning plants, but not clean enough.

I think this is my 5th Greg Iles book and the 3rd in his Penn Cage Series and by coincidence the 3rd Penn Cage book that I have read. The first two were The Quiet Game#1 reviewed 7 July 2013 and Turning Angel #2 date unknown. His other two books that I have read were Mortal Fear reviewed on 29 January 2014 and 24 Hours 4 January 2015. I have enjoyed them all but like Penn Cage the best. Iles presents two breeds of fighting dogs in the story that I had never heard of before. What we always read about in the News are Pit Bulls but there are other fighting dogs that make the Pit Bull seem tame by comparison. I have one more Iles in my unread library and always look for more.

Bestseller Iles's stellar third suspense novel to feature Penn Cage (after Turning Angel) finds the former prosecutor and bestselling novelist serving as the mayor of Natchez, Miss., his hometown. Frustrated by his limited ability to change the system, Cage is plunged into a deadly duel of wits with some bad guys after a childhood friend, Tim Jessup, now a card dealer, alerts him to illegal dog fighting and sexual abuse connected with a floating casino. Before Jessup can deliver proof of his allegations, he's tortured and killed. Convinced Jessup managed to pass on the evidence to the mayor, Jessup's boss confronts and threatens Cage. Daniel Kelly, an old friend working for a private security organization, lends support, sneaking Cage's 11-year-old daughter out of town to safety. Iles brilliantly creates opportunities for his characters to demonstrate principle and courage, both on a large and small scale, making this much more than just an exciting read. - Publishers Weekly

Biden's Incoherent Farewell Address Shows Everything Wrong With The Democratic Party by Ben Shapiro is a great article than pans the Vice President's Rose Garden speech. The entire article is well worth a read but the take away lines for me were.

Before receding into the hairline of history, Biden rambled on for a solid fifteen minutes. He obviously didn’t get the message that he wasn’t running until it was too late to stop; his own self-stated irrelevance couldn’t pry him from the microphone. Nonetheless, his drunk-uncle-toasting-at-the-wedding speech did offer a glimpse into the incoherent mind of his Marxism-addled party.

23 October
Pair-A-Dice Escapees RV Park
Pahrump, NV

I started reading The Laws of Our Fathers by Scott Turow yesterday and by the time I finished the first chapter I knew that I had read it before. Used my Search Box in the NavBar and found that I had finished it on 17 January 2013. It was a good book but not so good that I want to read it again this soon.

We had a busy morning. When we finished our walk I unplugged from electric and went to Mom's where I had their Corned Beef Hash Omelet with some good home fried potato rounds and nice thick sourdough toast. The omelet was good but I think I'll have their Corned Beef Hash with poached eggs next time.

Another shopping excursion at Smith's. I found some mustard greens this time so my daily salad will use them for the next few days. Found every thing that I was looking for which is always the sign of a good market by my standards.

I had the same kind of an experience at Acme General Store where I stopped to order some Earthborn Holistic Meadow Feast dog food. They had it is stock! I have never found Canidae Pure Elements in stock even at this same store. Both the Canidae and the Earthborn are grain free with lamb, the other ingredients differ somewhat. Earthborn is a little cheaper, although still expensive, and I thought it would be easier to find but never thought I would find it on the shelf.

Then on the way back to the Park I stopped at Big O to verify when they opened and did I need an appointment to get my tires rotated. Last stop was at the dog groomer that I have always used here in Pahrump and always need an appointment. Patches will get her semi-annual bath next Friday.

President Putin spoke at the International Valdai Discussion Club's 12th annual meeting in Sochi yesterday and made some quotable remarks. President Obama got a Peace Prize for such lofty speeches, I doubt that President Putin will.

Why play with words dividing terrorists into moderate and not moderate. What's the difference?... success in fighting terrorists cannot be reached if using some of them as a battering ram to overthrow disliked regimes [because] it's just an illusion that they can be dealt with [later], removed from power and somehow negotiated with.
...hypothetical nuclear threat from Iran is a myth. The US was just trying to destroy the strategical balance, [and] not to just dominate, but be able to dictate its will to everyone – not only geopolitical opponents, but also allies.
We had the right to expect that work on development of US missile defense system would stop. But nothing like it happened, and it continues. This is a very dangerous scenario, harmful for all, including the United States itself. The deterrent of nuclear weapons has started to lose its value, and some have even got the illusion that a real victory of one of the sides can be achieved in a global conflict, without irreversible consequences for the winner itself – if there is a winner at all.

24 October
Pair-A-Dice Escapees RV Park
Pahrump, NV

I have two prescriptions that are being filled by the VA pharmacy in Tucson, AZ. The first one was ordered by my VA Clinic in Sierra Vista on 19 October and has been delivered to my Sierra Vista UPS Store. It was sent United States Postal Service (USPS) and this was the tracking:
Departed Tucson October 23, 2015, 12:38 am
Arrived Sierra Vista P. O. October 23, 2015 7:01 am
Out for Delivery October 23, 2015 10:19 am

The second one was a re-fill that I requested on-line 20 October. It has been sent United Postal Service (UPS) and this is the tracking so far: Departure Tucson October 23, 2015 8:08 pm
Departure Nogales Oct 23, 2015 9:40 pm
Arrival Phoenix Oct 24, 2015 12:39 am

Expected delivery to be on October 26th by the end of the day. Mystery #1 is why did VA send this second package UPS? Why it went to Nogales is mystery #2 then why it was not sent back to Tucson is mystery #3. I can almost bet that Phoenix will send it to Tucson. Say what you will about the Post Office they sure did a hell of lot better job than UPS has done so far.

I knew this but did not have the 'settled science' to back up my intuition! This is why I went pizza and ice cream 'cold turkey' about two years ago and cut all hard cheese from my diet 6 months ago. I'm off the 'hard stuff' now and use only Ricotta or Cottage cheese sparingly.

Which foods may be addictive? The roles of processing, fat content, and glycemic load. is perhaps far more scientific than you will care to wade through. However, buried in the study it is disclosed that ice cream was the #2 problem food and pizza was #4. Full disclosure here; I do eat chocolate which is #1 but I eat only a small portion of 85-90% dark chocolate, with reduced sugar and fats, compared to the problem variety.

Speaking of dark chocolate, this week that will be eaten with my Greek God yogurt desert that will include hazelnuts. It is rare that I find any hazelnuts in any of the grocery stores where I shop. I may buy a few extra bags of them while I'm here if they remain available.

The total US debt held by the public hasn't budged from $18.1 trillion since March 16, 2015 because that is when the last debt ceiling limit was hit. In the seven month since, the US Treasury has been cruising along on emergency cash measures, even as the total debt - if only for reporting purposes - has not budged (in reality it has grown by about half a trillion).

That will change after a few days of melodramatic debt ceiling fights and it is expected that the US will have a new debt ceiling of $19,600,000,000,000 that lasts until 17 March 2017. I don't know why they have picked such a number, I would be more in favor or a nice round $20 Trillion. President Obama does not see any number as a 'ceiling' he thinks of it more as a 'goal'. I do believe that the total debt will be over $20 Trillion when he leave office with the Treasury using 'emergency cash measures' again.

25 October
Pair-A-Dice Escapees RV Park
Pahrump, NV

Yesterday I started working on the Will Rogers weekly article links and had copied four weeks from the Internet. Then when I started to do the formatting I did something stupid, know not what, and wiped out those 4 weeks plus three weeks that I had previously copied and formatted.

So I had to re-do those weeks before I could start on the next month again. It took some time last night but I made good progress and I finished all the formatting today. I took a break from re-formatting the Bicycle Tour page that I had been working on. This misadventure makes me want to get back to work on it. HA

Patricia, the strongest hurricane ever recorded at sea hit the southwestern Mexico's coast Friday (23 October 2015) evening. By late Saturday (24 October 2015) morning, Patricia had been downgraded to a tropical depression, and there were no reports of fatalities or major damage. The Ministry of Propaganda over-hyped this hurricane with the hope that it would cause death and destruction which in turn would support their 'climate change' narrative. BIG disappointment for the News purveyors.

I have become very frustrated with Verizon service here. I don't remember having such slow connections and/or dropping connections in the past. Connected to the Park WIFI this morning and it has been working reasonably well for a RV Park WIFI. I think I have lost a connection only once and it is as fast or faster than what I have been getting from Verizon.

26 October
Pair-A-Dice Escapees RV Park
Pahrump, NV

I was wrong about UPS sending my package back to Tucson. They do have a strange way of getting something from Tucson to Sierra Vista but from the tracking information it looks like my UPS Store will be sending me a notice that it has arrived.

Depart Phoenix October 26, 2015 1:38 am
Arrive Sierra Vista October 26, 2015 5:39 am
Out For Delivery October 26, 2015 6:40 am
Distance from Tucson to Sierra Vista 74 miles. Distance that the package traveled from Tucson to Sierra Vista 438 miles.

Nothing happening here. My usual daily reading of blogs and News. Back to work re-formatting a Bicycling Tour page which is coming along but I still have more to do. I also have more pages yet to be started. A daunting prospect.

27 October
Pair-A-Dice Escapees RV Park
Pahrump, NV

The UPS prescription package was Delivered to my UPS Store yesterday at 11:39 am. I checked my mail at 1:00 pm my time and found the notice from the Store and promptly sent them a reply to forward every thing that they were holding for me. With any luck I'll have it here before the weekend.

Verizon has been dropping connections this morning or has been very slow. I think it will get worse the longer I stay here and more people arrive in the area. Too many people using the limited bandwidth.

I went to the Park office and got a password for their WIFI and since I am about equal distance from two of their six Hot Spots I thought I might get a good connection. So far so good. It pains me to be paying a $1/day more for Internet but Verizon is flaky so I do what I have to do.

Maybe this will let me do more work on the Bicycling Tour re-formatting. I did get some done yesterday but I never knew when Verizon was going to die on me nor when it might come back up. I can deal with slow but dis-connects are a big problem. I'm now thinking that may have been what caused the Will Rogers page screw up a couple days ago.

28 October
Pair-A-Dice Escapees RV Park
Pahrump, NV

It has been a busy morning for me compared to most days. Doing a lot of cooking. Prepared cod Pescado a la Veracruzana in my Roaster and will turn it on about 30 minutes before 'linner' time this afternoon.

I also have a pot in my Thermal Cooker that has a pound of pinto beans and a pound of edamame cooking until late today. That will be added to about 3-4 cups of cooked barley that I also did this morning. This will be used during the next week for breakfast with onion, peppers, squash and Ricotta cheese added.

High thin overcast this morning that is forecast to remain for the rest of the day. Since it quit raining the weather has been near perfection with the high temperatures mostly in the lower 70s. The low temperatures were in the lower 50s until yesterday and this morning dipping down to 45° and 47°. That 45 felt almost cold and the 10 Day forecast shows some upper 30s before I leave. I may have to break out my wool cap and gloves.

The only other thing that I have done is start reading a new book that is the third of a trilogy. I just traded for this book a few days ago and usually would not read it until I had read all the other books that I have in my unread library. I want to read it now however so I can put it back in the Park library because they have the other two books in the trilogy and I hate to break up the set.

This is my 7th David Baldacci book and I have listed the previous ones in my posting on 16 March 2015. The list is getting too long to keep repeating them every time I finish another. He has 8 different Series with the same characters in each but this is the fourth book (#5 in his stand alone order) that I have read from his total of eleven stand alones. The Weekly does a fair review but is a bit more critical of the book than I would be. It is not a 'great' book but it is good entertainment and I never felt confused by withheld data.

Baldacci's fifth high-concept premise in as many novels (The Simple Truth; Absolute Power; etc.) propels his hard-working new thriller: a renegade CIA faction attempts to reassert the agency's primacy over the FBI by manipulating members of Congress who fund both outfits. To do so, the CIA conspirators aim to take over a bribery scheme they've discovered. The scam was concocted by legendary lobbyist Danny Buchanan, who has been greasing the palms of lawmakers to gain their support of bills aiding the poor and hungry overseas. The spooks plan to assassinate Buchanan and his protégé, the lovely Faith Lockhart, and force the legislators, under threat of exposure, to support the CIA over the FBI. First, however, they'll have to kill the FBI person guarding Faith, for she has confessed everything to the bureau in hopes of working a deal for herself and Buchanan. But the CIA villains haven't reckoned on the resilience of the two lobbyists, nor on the grit of FBI agent Brooke Reynolds, nor on the skill of PI Lee Adams, who gets caught up in the attempted hit on Faith and her guardian and who then goes on the run with the lobbyist. The novel evolves into a frantic, exciting chase, FBI after CIA after Lee/Faith, with a few nifty twists. Baldacci's characters continue to grow in complexity - there's an exceptionally fine scene in which Lee, drunk, nearly rapes Faith - but, alas, so does his plotting. This novel is overdone, with too many heroes and subplots and enough data withheld from readers to generate confusion. Baldacci's prose can still break the jaws of subvocalizers, too. - Publishers Weekly

29 October
Pair-A-Dice Escapees RV Park
Pahrump, NV

When we stepped outside yesterday afternoon to go for our walk we stepped out into a sprinkle of rain. It never got beyond the sprinkle level but I could see that Mt Charleston and the mountains on its north flank were getting a hard rain. Therefore, we stayed in the Park and did a long potty walk.

The official measurement was a Trace of rain. Some scattered clouds today but no chance of rain. The forecasters do give it a 60% chance next Tuesday and a slight chance Thursday.

If the News that I read is close to being accurate the winners of the Republican presidential contenders debate last night were Rubio (the new darling of the Republican Establishment) and Cruz (an old darling of the Conservative Right Wing).

The biggest losers were CNBC, booed by the audience multiple times, and The Jeb not too far behind although he was not booed. Jeb's performance will make Rubio look that much better to the Establishment. Carly, the girl that the Ministry was so enamored with in the earlier debates, did nothing that will improve her chances so she lost also.

I finished re-formatting the Bicycling Tour page that I have been working on for the past week. I have one more like this one and then the rest should be a little easier. To give myself a break I'll now work on Peregrinating pages. HA

I have always liked REI and first become a member sometime back in the '70s; that is the 1970s for those of you that sometimes wonder what century I am living in. This is only an example of why I have always liked the store and the company!

A message
From our CEO

(Signed)
Jerry Stritzke, President, CEO

30 October
Pair-A-Dice Escapees RV Park
Pahrump, NV

It was a busy day today. The wind blew all through last night and there was still a cold wind this morning so we started the day with one lap around the Park for a long potty walk. Then it was off to town.

Stopped for breakfast at the Golden Harvest, a restaurant in the Nugget Casino, where I had their Chorizo Omelet Special with home fries. The kitchen messed up the order and I got hash browns that needed more grill time. The server promptly went and got me some golden brown home fries and all was good.

Next on the to-do-list was a tire rotation on Desperado at Big O where they said I needed wiper blades also. I knew this but had forgot about them so good service from Big O with the free tire rotation and new wipers. Patches and I sat in the waiting room for a little over an hour. During that time Patches got a pet from all the Big O employees and every customer that came in the store. She was such a good girl - sitting, laying down and responding to every other command as if she was well trained. She really did me proud this morning!

Another trip to Smith's. Got everything that I wanted except fresh dill. That is something that even a store in a big community either does not carry or like today they were out of it. I did get some more hazelnuts so they do score points for that.

Yesterday I received my forwarded mail from the Sierra Vista UPS Store. In it were the prescriptions that had been sent from VA, my new Debit Card, a few magazines, some junk and a letter from AZ DMV. The AZ DMV/Insurance saga has been going on for months now and I was afraid to open this letter and see what was the next hoop I had to jump through.

What I found was all the documentation that I had sent them from Chama, NM as well as the $50 Money Order that I had sent to get my suspended registration removed. I am registered once again by AZ DMV and they gave me my Money Order back. I almost fell over I was so surprised. So, I went to the Post Office this morning expecting that I would have to do the hoop jumping with them to get cash for the Money Order. Easy Peasy! So the only thing extra AZ DMV cost me was the aggravation, worry and the Money Order fee. Is this a great country or what?

One more chore to do when we pulled back into our Park space. Dump holding tanks and take on fresh water. I will probably do that again next week when I return from my shopping trip. I can go longer than a week but can not make it to two weeks now that I am using the shower more.

I have another appointment this afternoon. That will give me something to write about tomorrow.

31 October
Pair-A-Dice Escapees RV Park
Pahrump, NV

The afternoon appointment yesterday was for Patches to get a bath. All that was required of me was to wait for her and then pay the bill. It did make my getting 'linner' ready a little later. That, the continuing wind and my just not feeling like I wanted to walk had us doing another long potty walk. So I have recorded yesterday as being a rest day with half of our normal distance.

We did get back to our routine and did a usual morning walk. No wind today and much warmer with an expected 81°. That is going to last until Tuesday when it is forecast to drop to 60° for a high then remain in the lower 60s until next weekend.

I roasted some cabbage this morning that I will re-heat and serve with some salmon that I'll cook in my Roaster later today for 'linner'. I'll be having that everyday for the next few days. Got a little bit more done on the Peregrinating pages yesterday and this morning. I might finish them today but certainly by the end of tomorrow.

Let me explain this latest boots on the ground in Syria as I understand President Obama's no boots on the ground policy. There should not be any disagreement about boots on the ground in Syria because they are the same no boots on the ground that he has placed in Iraq. The boots are worn by troops that will only "advise and assist", they will not be in "combat", so the President's promise continues to hold.

The 50 U.S. special-operations troops will link up with local forces in Kurdish-controlled territory whose mission will be to choke off supply lines to Islamic State militants in their Syrian stronghold of Raqqa. To support local forces with their ground campaign, Mr. Obama has authorized the deployment of A-10 Warthog ground-attack planes as well as F-15 fighters to the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey. However, Turkish warplanes flying from the very same airbase bombed these very same Kurds as they were trying to fight these very same Islamic State militants! "Here's another NICE mess you've gotten me into".

The Death of the American Welfare State by Daniel Greenfield is a very good article that I will not quote but do recommend.