Peregrinating
2016

April

1 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachua City, AZ

Clear sky this morning which means that it was cold. How cold was it! Well, I did get the light freeze that I have been expecting and at 31° it was a lot colder than the weather gurus had forecast. They now think it will get a little warmer each day through next Wednesday which is guessed to reach a high of 85°. Light winds which, like the poor, are always with us in the Southeastern corner of AZ.

I made good progress on the floor tile mosaic that I wrote about yesterday. A could finish it today but probably will work on the quilt block that I have started. It is best for me to move back and forth between two drawings. Not as boring or not as frustrating depending on where I might be in each drawing.

I did finish the novel portion of the paperback yesterday which was 463 pages. But, there is a 140 page novella included that I only started. I might finish the Paperwhite novel today after reading some of it yesterday. Switching back and forth between the two books is also good for me. Some people think that is crazy.

The Bureau of Labor released their non-farm job numbers for March today that showed an increase of 215,000 jobs - a little more than the experts expected. I read through the News and did not find many headlines by the Ministry of Propaganda. The ones that I found seemed to be focused on the increase in wages after the drop last month.

The CES Birth/Death Model added 64,000 this month which is right in line with the adjustment made for March 2015 which indicates that nothing has changed since a year ago. If you look at the Household Data the number of Employed increased by 246,000 making it six increases in a row, the last four being significant increases. This is very positive but I find no mention of it in the News.

The Unemployed increased by 151,000 and the Not in the Labor Force went down by 206,000. This combination brought the Unemployment Rate back up to 5.0%. That would have had the Ministry printing screaming headline News if a Republican were in the White House but they give it a pass for now.

The Participation Rate went up by another 0.1% to 63.0%, more good News that has received a mention by the Ministry - pointing out that is the best it has been since March 2014. While the Not in the Labor Force now stands at 93,482,000 down from the all time record set in September of last year.

The average earnings increased by 8¢ to $25.43 an hour while the average workweek remained unchanged at 34.4 hours. I continue to think the numbers are a set-up for the Federal Reserve to raise rates again by another .25% maybe in April but certainly by June.

Fred Reed has done it again with My Biochemistry Made Me Do It: Confessions of a Genetic Subroutine. He tends to self-deprecate in his writing to make his point and almost always does it humorously. The pull quote is an example from his worthwhile blog posting.

The implications of genetic determinism for normal people, whatever exactly that means, are considerable. I like to think that I reach my political conclusions through godlike intelligence, unimpeachable logic, and exact information, all bathed in a rich syrup of peerless virtue. Now it turns out that I am just some mutt running a genetic program, probably written in Dartmouth Basic, not under my control. I am no [more] autonomously enlightened than one of those lugubrious twerps at Salon.

2 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachua City, AZ

I have been eating the same thing for breakfast at home for some months now and yesterday decided to change. Made up a batch of 'stuff' that will be re-heated for breakfast for the days to come. I have retained 3 cups of cooked barley as one of the basic ingredients and to that added a chopped onion, 5-6 diced jalapeño, couple cups of store brand eggbeaters and a package of frozen chopped spinach. When re-heated I add a couple table spoons of Ricotta and serve with corn tortillas. Not bad but I may try broccoli versus spinach next time.

This was the second H. G Wells book that I read on my Kindle Paperwhite; downloaded from Project Gutenberg. This is not a book that I recommend but if you want to read a Well's novel that is not science fiction then this is a good a place to start as any. It did give me a chance to learn how to read a book using the Paperwhite so now I'm going to try and get something from the Sierra Vista library.

Ann Veronica is a New Woman novel by H.G. Wells published in 1909. Ann Veronica describes the rebellion of Ann Veronica Stanley, "a young lady of nearly two-and-twenty," against her middle-class father's stern patriarchal rule. The novel dramatizes the contemporary problem of the New Woman. It is set in Victorian era London and environs, except for an Alpine excursion. Ann Veronica offers vignettes of the Women's suffrage movement in Great Britain and features a chapter inspired by the 1908 attempt of suffragettes to storm Parliament. - Wikipedia

I wanted to get the second book in the Century Trilogy by Ken Follett from the Sierra Vista library but it was check out. I could place a hold but wanted something NOW so downloaded one of his other ones. It went rather easy although the instructions were somewhat misleading or my understanding of them were. No problems and I now have a library book on my Paperwhite.

President Obama has had nothing to say about the mass shooting in Richmond, VA where a police officer was assassinated. I know I may be accused of being a racist when I point out that he quickly uses mass shootings by White/Caucasian shooters as an opportunity to climb up on his bully pulpit.

Yet he stays silent when someone that looks like "If I had a son" does the shooting. James Brown III, the Richmond Greyhound station shooter, does look like he could be President Obama's son so if presenting that fact makes me a racist then so be it.

3 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachua City, AZ

Worked on a quilt block yesterday that has proved to be much harder than it originally looked. I'm using some new coding to draw some of the shapes and the learning experience has been difficult. I think I could finish it today but need a rest from it. I think I will finish an easy floor tile pattern that I have started and read more of my novel on Paperwhite and maybe the novella in paperback.

I will not have an interest in all 3,336 books that the Sierra Vista library has available in the Kindle format. However, that is a bigger selection than any of the RV Parks where I have traded paperbacks. It also includes some books that I would never have consider for a trade because they have only been published in hardback or as e-books. The Paperwhite has required some adjusting on my part but it is getting easier every day.

Pouting Obama Says Iran Not Following the 'Spirit' of Nuke Deal by Rick Moran is one of those "Who would have thought this would happen" kind of stories.

Just days after the 'agreement' was signed lawmakers in Iran opted overwhelmingly to continue pushing the "Death to America" slogan chanted across the country on Fridays, after Muslim prayer services. So now President Obama is upset that they are not following the 'spirit' of the agreement. The man is delusional and upset only because they may spoil his legacy!

So you have this ultra-radical, ultra-fanatical, ultra-extreme country run by people who salivate at the notion of committing genocide, and you make a deal with them that supposedly prevents the construction of nuclear weapons. And as president, you sit back and wait for the choruses of Kumbaya to be heard from the terrorist regime's capital as they magically transform into a peaceful, grown-up country. Unless that country is Iran.
I'm trying to decide what's more jaw-dropping: Obama thinking Iran is interested in adhering to the "spirit" of the treaty or that the president actually believed the Iranians ever intended to adhere to it.

4 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachua City, AZ

We have a busy week scheduled. Started it with a short potty walk and then into town with a stop at Café Olé for their Sausage and Green Chile Omelet again.

Did not rush breakfast so I had plenty of time to take Patches for another walk when we got parked at the VA. My appointment was at 9:00 which I look at as being almost the middle of the day. That meant I had a wait and got most of this posting written while doing that. Also had time to read most of my Daily blogs and the News site that I follow.

Nurse Kelly came and got me before the 9:00 appointment time to do the weigh in, blood pressure readings and general questions about depression etc. I then sat for about 30 minutes waiting for the doctor. I didn't ask but she must have just recently completed her residency and got her license. I think I have pants, that no longer fit, that are older than she is - no, I did not ask the lady her age.

We got along well and I hope she remains my doctor as long as I am coming to this VA. She had told me in an email after my last blood pressure report that she thought I could come off the medication. She confirmed that today so I plan on taking my last dose on 15 April 2016. I am reasonably sure I have been on some kind of blood pressure drug since 1999 and this will be my last prescription drug.

The check in process here at this clinic is automated and works well. The check out process is handled by two clerks that also answer walk in questions and telephones. Telephones take precedence over someone standing in line waiting everywhere and the VA is no exception. It took me another 15-20 minutes to get checked out.

While we were in town I went to Fry's and did my weekly shopping. Since we were later than usual the parking lot and store were packed. I didn't need to be reminded that it is best to get there in the early morning, before 8:00 is best.

Two more appointments this week. I hope they go as well, or better, than the one did today. Although, for VA it was not all that bad.

5 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachua City, AZ

We did our usual 2 mile afternoon walk yesterday but it was too hot. Patches was 'dogging it' the last 1/2 mile and then laid down by the steps into Desperado when we got back. She does not like it to be over 80° and I found out that it was 88-89° when we were out there. That is pay back for those mornings when she has had me out there in freezing temperature - but I really don't want to do that. It was a mistake and she let me know it!

My VA doctor had very little to say about my lab results yesterday except that my Total Cholesterol was borderline high at 228 and the same with my LDL at 154. She then did add that my HDL was good at 53. I then asked her how that compared to last year and I don't think she had even looked so we looked together and found that Total, LDL and Triglyceride were down (improved) and HDL was up (improved).

But, even before we looked she had said that there was no reason to put me on any medication. I told her what my experience had been with statins and that I would NOT go back on them. IF there was any need to reduce my cholesterol levels then we had to find some other way. She seemed to think I'm doing fine on the fish oil and my diet.

The diet seems to have helped. I have lost a little over 20 pounds during the past 3 years and every year my cholesterol numbers have been better. I like to look at the Ratios which some 'experts' claim are better indications of heart attack risk than just the numbers. This is what those Ratios have indicated over the past 3 years.

Total Cholesterol/HDL: 2014 At Risk , 2015 Good, 2016 Good
HDL/LDL: 2014 At Risk, 2015 Good, 2016 Good
Triglycerides/HDL: 2014 Normal, 2015 Normal, 2016 Ideal
Note: Studies have shown that the ratio of triglycerides to HDL was the strongest predictor of a heart attack, even more accurate than the LDL/HDL ratio.

Last night I finished the paperback that I have been reading; will get a review posted tomorrow. I also completed a difficult quilt block and selected another that looks to be easy. This morning I finished a floor tile drawing that was moderately easy and selected another that looks like it is going to be difficult. Balance - yin and yang - is needed when drawing is it not?

6 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachua City, AZ

Another trip into town. This time I stopped at Denny's and had their Santa Fe Sizzler, my long time favorite. Then had only a short wait before going in for my dental appointment.

Got what I thought was a excellent cleaning and not good news. It is no surprise but I have the same decay problem with the top back molar on the right side that I had on the left. It can not be fixed and will have to be pulled, as was the left one, but not until it causes me trouble/pain. I was also told that the lower two front teeth and not long for this mouth either - which I have been told before.

One more appointment tomorrow, another shopping trip next week and I think I am finished with Sierra Vista until next year. There is a chance that I will stop here overnight for a December dental cleaning IF I can not find a dentist elsewhere to do it. Not having much luck getting one to reply to my email requests for an appointment.

This was my fourth Steve Berry book and all of them have been great. The others were Venetian Betrayal reviewed on 16 February 2015, The Romanov Prophesy on 28 March 2015 and The Columbus Affair 28 May 2015. This book also included a novella about the Tudors which added to its heft. I found the previous three last year almost together then did not find another one for a long time. I have cut the best part of a customer review of this book that expresses what I thought. I really enjoy Berry's use of historical background for his fiction. The Sierra Vista library has 12 of his books available in the Kindle format so I know where I am going to get some more of his.

Berry returns with his newest Cotton Malone installment, sure to impress those with an interest in British history... With enough history and drama to keep the reader interested, Berry woos the reader once again with his latest Malone novel. Berry does it again… to no surprise of the long-time fan. Using loose historical facts found during his extensive research, Berry concocts a tale that leaves the reader on the edge of their seat from the opening pages until the book’s epilogue. The dialogue is crisp and the style is fast-paced, which serves the plot and character development well. Berry weaves numerous realistic tales and only deconstructs the story in his afterwards, one of the best parts of the novel, as you learn where you have been duped as your jaw drops to the floor. Another great piece of work with quite the development of the Malone character. - Customer Review at goodreads.com

7 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachua City, AZ

Today was the last scheduled appointment. I do have to go back to Sierra Vista next week for groceries and to drop off a Patches stool sample at the vet's office but that will be the last time this trip.

Patches is in good health but could have her teeth cleaned. This is just far more expensive than I think it should be and I don't like the idea of having her anesthetized to have it done. I think I am going to get her some knuckle bones during this year and see if that takes off some of the tarter build-up. For the two of us it would cost a fortune to keep our teeth clean.

Stopped at my Executor's office and dropped off some change information for my will. New bank account and added another person to the list of people that are willing to take Patches if I were to die or become incapacitated. Then went to my UPS Store and picked up an Arbuckles' coffee order and other mail.

In that mail there was a letter from the University of Arizona telling about body donation changes that requires me to re-register. IF they accept my body then cremate it when they have finished with it the ashes will be disposed by them as they see fit (probably dumped in the trash). They will also not accept any bodies that are overweight per their guidelines; I now meet their standard but would not have 3 years ago and have no idea if I will when I die. I have asked for a form to be mailed to me and will re-register.

The Ministry of Propaganda has been very quiet about any casualties in President Obama's Iraq War III. They were quick to parrot what his Administration had to say about the Iraq II withdrawal but are rather slow in reporting the re-buildup in troops. It takes deaths, and lots of them, before they find it worthy of News. The numbers shown below are for the first quarter of each year and the president that was in office when it happened.

8 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachua City, AZ

About the time I went to bed I started hearing rain on the roof. We had experienced a few sprinkles while on our afternoon walk but I didn't think much would come of it. The weather station that I follow is reporting 0.16" which for this time of the year in this part of Arizona is a 'good' rain.

The weather guessers think there is a 40% chance that we get more today and an 80% chance for Sunday. They also predict that it will be a lot cooler here until I leave than it was the past few days. The weather at my new camp is showing about the same forecast.

I had another short visit with a fulltime RV couple and bloggers that I meet here in Huachuca City the first winter that I stayed here during their 100 year hard freeze. We have stayed in contact off and on now for about 5-6 years. They were down in this area just for the day in their toad saying goodbye to some other friends. They will be leaving their winter over camp next week also. The snowbirds are migrating!

I will not suggest there is a cause and effect involved but can it be only coincidence? "Not many years ago GM made automobiles in Flint Michigan and you couldn't drink the water in Mexico. After 7+ years of President Obama GM now makes cars in Mexico and you can't drink the water in Flint."

I MUST copy and post this from Woodsterman

Proof that you can't ever underestimate the creativeness of boys for mischief.
Considering all the brilliant, devious minds we had in high school, I don't know how we missed doing this........
At a public high school in Montana, a group of students played a prank....they let three goats loose inside the school.
But before turning them loose, they painted numbers on the sides of the goats: 1, 2, and 4.
School Administrators spent most of the day looking for No. 3.

9 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachua City, AZ

The latest quilt block that I have been drawing is not very complicated and I can draw it easily. The problem is it looked so humdrum, so drab . Therefor, I added some crosshatching like I did with the Indian Trail block then I wanted some dots inside some small red squares. (I will write about this block again when I show it in the margin of the Home Page.)

When I drew Millwheel I placed 48 small fleur-de-lys inside quarter circles by coding the x,y coordinates. For this block I wanted 4-5 dots inside each small square or 64-80 dots. I also did not want them to be in a pattern as the fleur-de-lys were but randomly scattered. That meant I needed to randomly select the x,y coordinates within each square then move on to the next square.

It has taken me 3-4 days and a number of coding failures but I finally succeeded this morning. Now every time that coding is run (i.e. the quilt block is viewed) a different pattern of dots appears in the red squares; “in order to make a man or boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.” ― Mark Twain

While I'm in the quoting frame of mind I offer up these from Theodore Roosevelt. He was hated by the Establishment of his time, as is The Donald and The Cruz today, and went on to run for president in the Bull Moose Party. Will we see a history rhyme in 2016 or 2020?

The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.
The most successful politician is he who says what the people are thinking most often in the loudest voice.

10 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachua City, AZ

The idiom 'don’t judge a book by its cover' is attributed to a 1944 edition of the African journal American Speech: “You can’t judge a book by its binding.” That was before the cover provided a good indication of what genre it was and the blurb on the back confirmed what the cover promised.

I went to the Park Library yesterday to exchange the Steve Berry novel that I had finished and found that the vast majority of the books were in the Romance genre if I judged by the cover. I read 8-10 blurbs until I found one that seemed to offer some suspense and/or mystery but I won't know for sure until I start reading it. This trade experience confirmed that my Paperwhite purchase was the right thing to do.

We had perfect weather this morning for a walk. Then starting around 8:00 the winds picked up, clouds built up and it looks like we could get some of the 80% chance of rain that the experts are forecasting. They think it will clear tomorrow but a 40% chance on Tuesday. My travel day looks good with a 15-25mpg tailwind - maybe.

I got started for that travel day by preparing my 3x5 route card including a breakfast stop selection. I'll fill up with gas here in Sierra Vista tomorrow when I go shopping so there will be no stop for that along the way. I could partially fill -up tomorrow and then stop in Lordsburg, NM where Gas Buddy shows a cheaper price but the difference is not worth the trouble.

I also got the route map built for my web page. I may have to change it IF my planned route changes but it is easier to change than to start from scratch.

11 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachua City, AZ

The quilt block that I have put up in the margin of my Home Page today is the first one in my second series of drawn blocks. The first 28 are all now available to be viewed on one page by clicking on Select under Drawing Archives and the a click on 1st 28.

This block today was the first one that I did with a LOT of arcs involved. I think there are 68 half circles in the block and I made a point of using 41 'shades of green' just because I could.

We got some light rain yesterday afternoon but when it came time for our walk it was raining hard in the Whetstone Mountains nortwest of us. I decided that I didn't want to take the chance of getting soaked so we did an in the Park short walk.

Today was our last planned trip into Sierra Vista during this two month stay. I usually only come here for one month but came early this year to have the VA look into my hearing problems. I don't plan on having them do the same ear cleaning next year but may come for a two month stay again just because the price is right and the weather is better than most places from mid-February to Mid-April.

I picked up groceries at Fry's and dropped off Patches' stool sample at her vet office. Then went to Mom's Kitchen which I have driven past a number of times and always said to myself that I should give her a try. A very limited breakfast menu but she did offer Corned Beef Hash. Provided a good size serving of so-so hash and good hash browns. Not great but better than some restaurants I have been to.

When I got back to the Park I pulled far forward in my space and dumped holding tanks and took on water. Then backed up to where I prefer to in the space. This is also my preferred timing to do this dumping chore - when I return from a shopping trip.

When I checked my email I found one from the RV Park in Taos that indicated that they understood what I have been saying and provided an answer that I could understand. So, the way it looks now I will be staying there for a couple months this summer. Now to find a dentist there that will answer my emails or maybe I'll breakdown and use the telephone - Grrrr!

I finished another drawing of floor tile yesterday and today will probably finish drawing the quilt block that I have been working on for the past week. Have select the next floor tile to be drawn but have not yet decided on a quilt block. Maybe something with more arcs but it needs to be simple enough that I think I can draw it, most of them are rather complex as I now see them.

Started on household chores prior to moving day. Did the dash cleaning and washed Patches slobber off the side windows so she can have a nice clear view of the passing landscape as I drive to out next camp. She most likely will have her side slobbered up again by the time we get there.

12 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachua City, AZ

Well I used the telephone yesterday to get a dental cleaning appointment in August. I first tried an office a couple blocks from the RV Park where I will be staying. The first connection was very poor and then died on me. The second connection was good but the person that answered the phone rattled off something so fast that understood not one word.

I asked her to slow down just a bit and I was then able to understand that they had one of the dentist in the group leave so they were not taking new patients. I told her that I did not need a dentist, I only needed a cleaning. She said they were taking no new patients; I said thank you and hung up.

I then called the office that has done a cleaning for me in the past but would not answer their web contact form nor my emails. When I got a person on the phone there she explained that they do not read nor answer the web contact page forms or emails. They ONLY make appointments by telephone or in person. She was apologetic about the email situation but I understood that she was only a company drone and had no say in the matter. She did give me an appointment!

Finished the quilt block yesterday as expected. Could not find any blocks that required arcs that looked like I could draw them. Most of the blocks shown that have arcs are made using appliqués cut from templates.

I have found a web site that claims it can teach me geometric design using pencil, paper, compass and straight edge. That geometry is nothing but numbers made visible, which is what I try to do using HTML Canvas. Perhaps I'll soon be able to show you what I have learned.

The weather guessers got it right with their prediction of rain today. I came a little earlier than they thought; it started last night around bed time again. It was raining again when I woke up around 5:00 but had stopped by the time we got up. It was raining hard to the north of us but looked like it was starting to clear so we went for our walk. Stayed dry and made it back to Desperado before the rains hit - a lucky walk this morning.

Perhaps you remember this. Priceless®, the award-winning advertising campaign, was launched in 1997 and ran in 98 countries in 46 languages. This campaign significantly raised brand awareness and usage—and enter “MasterCard” into the lexicon of everyday usage.

The advertising slogan from that campaign has been modified for the past 7+ years to: "There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's Taxpayers". If The Hill or The Bern become president we can expect that slogan to be the continued policy. Remember that money borrowed by the government is repaid by the Taxpayers.

Tax Freedom Day® for 2016 is April 26 which equals what it was in 2006 and is five days less than the record set in 2000. This is how long the average person must work from the first of the year to pay ALL their taxes as computed by the Tax Foundation each year. So celebrate, my guess is that there will be a new record set in 2017.

There is no way that this economy can be righted via the normal political process. No politician can afford sponsor the necessary changes. He/she would be destroyed by the political process. No politician is brave (or honest) when their livelihood demands duplicity. No one person or group of people want to be seen as ushering the US into another Depression.
There is no economic solution to our current problem because there is no political will to admit mistakes or to sacrifice one’s career to do what is right for the country. Instead, more band-aids will be applied and more poison will be administered in an effort to defer the inevitable. From a political viewpoint, that is optimum. From an economic standpoint, it makes no sense and only makes the Judgment Day more painful when it does arrive. - Monty Pelerin

13 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachua City, AZ

The official measurement of rain by the station close to me was 0.03" yesterday. It sure seems like I had more than that fall on me. So be it, today is clear as can be with a very gentle breeze this morning. Winds to pick up to the 5-10mph range in the afternoon increasing to 10-20mph tomorrow afternoon. But those winds are forecast to be from the SW which will be a TAILWIND.

I finished up my household chores yesterday, except for the stove and kitchen counter tops which I'll do today after 'linner'. Also got some of the Follett novel that I have on my Paperwhite read. I may have a renewal learning experience with this novel. It is 1,024 pages in paperback or 19,546 locations on Kindle. I downloaded it on April 6th and have read only 21% of it - need to read more and draw less.

A lot of that drawing was progress yesterday, trying to follow the geometric design tutorial and then changing the paper, pen, compass and straight edge instructions to Javascript code. I still have a difficult time wrapping my mind around how I need to write the code to put the arcs where I want them but this was a big step up for me. All my previous attempts to draw arcs have been done with a LOT of trial and error.



That is not to say that I did not make a lot of errors while drawing this simple example but I had a much better idea of what I needed to do. Moving on with the tutorial!

I did not need to draw this complete design. The tutorial lesson was about how to draw a square. I never thought about it, and certainly did not learn it in Geometry class, but "How did the Egyptians and the Maya draw squares?" They may have used one of three methods with my drawing using the intersecting circle method.

I did not draw the square around my design but the square is formed by connecting the points were the arcs cross. For me to draw a square on Canvas requires only one line of code, to get the 4 points required 8 lines of code. But with a square drawn I was able to move on in the tutorial and draw some more 'Good Stuff'. I'll be showing you that tomorrow or the next day.

14 April
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

Up earlier than usual because it is moving day and I wake up early. Got on the road just in time for sun up to be right in my eyes for the first hour. That is part of the excuse I have for missing a turn on Gleeson Rd; the other part is a very small street sign. That only added a mile or two to the total drive today.

I added another couple of miles to the total of 256 for the day when I went off route to check out a RV Park in Safford, AZ. The route today: AZ82,AZ80, Gleeson Rd, US191, Kansas Settlement Rd, AZ186, Haskell Av, I-10 (7 miles), US191, E. Solomon Rd, S, Bowie Av, US191/US70, US70, NM90, US180, Kirklans Rd & Flury Ln.

Stopped for breakfast in Willcox at G-Ma D's Café where I got their Southwest Omelet. It was very good with taco meat, refried beans and cheese. The home fries where not so good but not so bad that I will not stop there again - the coffee was good.

Arrived here at the Park about 12:30 AZ time. Need to do all the clock settings to Mountain Daylight Savings which is a pain for all the devices that now keep the time. The Park owners had to go to Deming but the space that I have been in before had a Reserved sign and my name on it. A woman at the clubhouse called them on her phone because I could not get a signal and they said for me to get hooked up and "Thanks for staying with us again". These are the ONLY Park owners that ever tell me that - nice people!

This is another drawing that I did by following the tutorial for paper and pen. But I have managed to do it with Javascript code on HTML Canvas. This was not very difficult and I could connect all the points easily because they fell on Canvas x,y coordinates. The drawing that I worked on yesterday was not that easy. I may have something to show you tomorrow or maybe not.



A little late getting this posted today but maybe have the regular scheduled program back tomorrow.

15 April
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

Yesterday we did a late afternoon walk out Flury Ln, which is the only road in and out of the Park, and were confronted by two mixed breed dogs that were running loose. They had collars and tag so I believe they belong to a house that sits about 100 yards to the south of the road. They did not come out when we walked back but they were there again this morning. Problem!

Perfect temperature for walking this morning at 46° but the forecast high is to be 70° with winds that could gust at 40mph. That may put a crimp in our afternoon walk. Then tomorrow the expected low is 37-38, high 60, winds again with gust at 40 mph and a 10% chance of rain. Warming up to high 70s and low 80s by next weekend with the perfect lows.

The new quilt block that I posted in the margin of my Home Page today is one that I am proud of. It is a very pretty block and I was able to draw it well if I do say so myself. The Roman mosaic that I posted today will be the last of those that I have done. I'll have a link to the page that contains all of them added to the Drawing Archives soon.

This drawing is much like the stars that I drew and showed you yesterday. However, on this one I have labeled the compass points with Capital letters and where an arc crosses the square with a small letter. With paper, pen and straight edge those points are then connected by drawing a line. I drew the arcs using JavaScript coding just to show what the hand drawing would look like. Then when I drew the lines I used Javescript coding that knows where to place the point on Canvas by the location of the circle center, radius and circle degrees and it connects the points with a line.



I think I have learned more in the past week about Geometry than I learned in school or during my entire working career - an accountant does not need to know very much Geometry. This drawing is the framework for what I want to draw, which I'll try to show you in a day or two.

16 April
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

The weather wind forecast has been accurate the past couple of days so I can look forward to strong gusts again this afternoon. Although here in the Park I think we a protected because I did not feel the shaking that a 45mph gust would provide. That is what was recorded at the airport but it is much more exposed that the Park.

They also got the temperature forecast for today correct - colder. It was still only 44° at 10:00 this morning when I decided it was time for the Wave 6 to be put back to work. Patches wasted no time getting right in front of it. I told you she was a smart dog!

Yesterday afternoon we did our walk to the rodeo grounds, a route that we have done a lot in the past. That may now be off the list, Patches got into bullheads at least a dozen times before we got back. That route being closed and the dogs along Flury Ln is causing us some walking issues. No dogs this morning but I now never know.

Went to Albertson's for groceries and was reminded how good I have had it with Fry's for the past 5 months. The store here is only marginally better than the small town grocery stores that I have shopped at numerous times. I did get 'most' of what I wanted with the exception of frozen blueberries. When I say 'most' I had to settle for what was available rather than a choice between two similar products.

Then had breakfast at La Mexicana which will be the only restaurant that I will go to in Silver City. It is convenient and they serve a good breakfast. This morning I ordered off menu and got a chicken tamale, eggs, home fries and refried beans with some pretty decent coffee. They have VERY good tamales!

From the drawn framework that I posted yesterday these are geometric shapes that I want to be drawing. The Regular Octragram was not shown in the framework but is drawn in the same way as the Octagram. The Octagram skipped every other point when lines were drawn, the Regular Octagram skips two points.

17 April
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

Another cold morning at 36° with an expected high of 62° for the day. The weather guessers still think it will be back into the high 70s or low 80s by the weekend. These low temperatures may be a good thing, no dogs out along Fury Ln.

I have been so intent on the geometric design tutorial these past few days that I left a floor tile and quilt block unfinished. Went to the floor tile drawing yesterday and added more to it for about an hour. It was then that the pattern was starting to form and I saw that I had an error. Wasted another half hour trying to fix it and then did what knitters and crochet hobbyist do - tear it all out (or in my case I deleted the Javascript code).

I have made good progress with it this morning but still have a quite a bit to do before it is finished. I need to take a rest from all the drawing and devote more time to the novel I have on my Paperwhite. The 3 week library loan period is now more than half over and I am not yet half way through the book. The one disadvantage of having books on loan, you are under time constraints to get the reading done.

This is the 'framework' that the tutorial draws using paper, pen and compass then draws the lines. I have now got a grasp on the JavaScript coding and was able to draw this easily. It has taken me some time to get my mind wrapped around how the coding works but I think I do now understand.



Tomorrow I will show you what the shapes look like that I want to be drawing as I did for the static shapes yesterday.

18 April
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

Still slightly colder than I like it at 40° this morning but it is warming up a little each morning. The weather gurus forecast that I will be walking while the temperatures are in the mid 40s or low 50s during this next 10 days. But they have also lowered the expected high temperatures so I'm not convinced.

I have posted the first floor tile drawing that I did in the Home Page margin today. This is not the one that I messed up a couple days ago and then finished yesterday but rather the very first one that I drew. The floor tile are not much different to draw than the Roman Mosaics were. The page that contains all of those is now available in Drawing Archives also found in the left margin of the Home Page.

I have a confession. I do not believe that “The United States of America, right now, has the strongest, most durable economy in the world,” which I think was “peddling fiction" as President Obama so glibly phrased it. That puts me on the wrong side of history as he is also wont to say repeatedly. I offer up some of the 'fiction' that is being peddled that has made me a disbeliever.

March retail sales fell by 0.3% making it three straight months that they have fallen. At least gasoline sales were strong, as prices rose 22% since mid-February. So, If gasoline sales were excluded, retail sales fell by 0.4%. Year over year retail sales have been falling since 2015. Job cut announcements at major firms in the United States are up 32 percent during the first quarter of 2016 compared to the first quarter of 2015.

I expect that the next BLS jobs report will peddle some more fiction but I want to know "How can there be more and more jobs 'created' when retail sales are falling, inventories are building up and job cut announcements are increasing?" If the "United States of America has the strongest, most durable economy in the world" then the world economy is in VERY bad shape and the US economy will also go to hell soon.

There is some Good News coming from this 'strongest economy' however. The stock price for Hecla and a Gold Miners Fund, my 'investments', have both set new 52 week highs this past week. That must mean that Everything is Great does it not?

These are the dynamic shapes that I wanted to draw using the 'framework' that I showed you yesterday. When I showed you the octagram that I drew a couple days ago I could not outline the border. That static octagram was drawn the same way it was shown in the 'framwork', that is to say two overlapping squares, and I could not work out the coding to fill it with color and also draw an outline. I have learned how to do that now. The dynamic octagram that I drew today was done by following the border of the star which then made it easy to code the border and fill with color.

I have learned a lot from this tutorial already and have not finished the first lesson. It continues now to build a grid on which the shapes that I have shown you are drawn. Well I don't need to build a grid, that is what HTML Canvas is although you can not see the grid lines except in your minds eye. I will be drawing what the lesson does but will be doing it all with JavaScript code. That may take a few days now that I seem to have loaded my plate with more things to draw and read than I have time for. Plus I must keep Patches happy with her walks or she is hell to live with!

19 April
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

I feel like I am catching up with my projects. Yesterday I finished the quilt block that I had started. I have also now read enough of the novel that I have on Paperwhite that if I continue on pace I'll finish it before my lending period is over.

I also started on drawing the geometric designs shown in the first lesson that were done on a grid. The very first one shows a picture of a design and the lesson talks about how to draw it but the drawing does not match the picture. I am trying to draw a design that does match.

I am finding it to be very difficult however. The Octagram is drawn using Javascript arc coding but I can not find arcs that will give me the points to draw a square with indentations that match the octagrams stars. Worked on that all morning and was able to arrive at a solution using a lot of math and the x,y coordinates. That is a very tedious solution however.

I haven't done anything else all morning. I think it is time to post this and take a break from the geometry drawing for a while!

20 April
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

I wasted(?) so much of yesterday morning trying to draw a geometric design that I didn't get my Daily blogs read until after noon. Then didn't get the News read until I was eating 'linner'. I did do some Paperwhite reading after I posted yesterday so I maintained my progress there.

I did not miss much by not reading my blogs of the News until in the afternoon yesterday. Most of the News was that NY was having a primary election. Then today a lot of News is about the primary election results. The talking heads will talk about the NY results for some days to come, until the next batch of states have their primaries on 26 April.

The BIG News out of NY is that The Cruz is now mathematically shut out of a first vote nomination; if he were to win all the delegates in the remaining primaries he can not reach 1,237. The Donald needs to win only 59% of those remaining. The Establishment and the Ministry of Propaganda must be at their wits end how to stop The Donald from getting the nomination. Their focus now has to be on how to defeat him in the general election and a Plan 'B' on how to kill him if it he should win.

I did solve my geometric drawing problem by taking a break and letting my subconscious mind work on it. Then got a couple rows finished last night before running out of steam. The drawing was inspired by the Breath of the Compassionate pattern shown in the picture in the tutorial.

It would have been much easier for me to have drawn it as the lesson shows with the Cross in a dynamic posture (i.e. shown as an upright cross rather that as a X when rotated). That would have happened if I had drawn my dynamic octagrams as shown in the tutorial (i. e. side by side) the cross is then the shape that appears between them. What I did was draw an X between alternate octagrams in rows. This would also show up as the X shape when it is in the center of four surrounding octagrams even if I did not draw it.This morning I finished X-Octagram and then did a drawing as the lesson intended and now show them to you side by side.

When I looked at what was drawn in the lesson and looked at the picture I could not see the X that I could quickly see in the picture. It was the picture that has been roated 45° from the way the tile were originally placed so the lesson drawing follows the original pattern and I have discovered a way to draw it rotated.

21 April
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

I received an email from TracFone last week that said: "Telecommunication carriers around the world are beginning to retire 2G network towers, in favor of faster 3G and 4G networks. Our records indicate your phone is on a 2G network. An upgrade is REQUIRED for your cell phone." They then said they had a FREE phone upgrade and all I had to do is call an 1-800 number.

I finally did so yesterday but could not get through their automated telephone receptionist so luckily they have Chat and I was able to get my request for the free upgrade placed. Maybe have it before I leave Silver City or maybe not. I'll get it forwarded to me somewhere.

I'll then go hang out at some Middle School and ask if anyone of the students wants to earn a Tubman to teach me how to use the damn thing. You have heard about the Tubman have you not? Politicians, celebrities and women's groups have gone gaga over the announcement that Harriet Tubman's likeness will replace Andrew Jackson on the US $20 bill.

What could possibly go wrong? Does anyone remember the Susan B. Anthony $1 planchet with an hendecagon inner border? How about the Sacagawea dollar (also known as the "golden dollar") another coin that has been minted every year since 2000, although not released for general circulation from 2002 through 2008 and again from 2012 onward? I have never seen one of those.

I think this is simply another step toward the governments goal to eliminate 'cash'. No one wanted those $1 coins and there is a good chance that no one will want to be carrying around any of the new Tubman's. Then there is the problem with it being accepted in the 'hood'. Even though it has the likeness of a African-American/Black/Negro woman on it, is it going to replace what everyone in the 'hood' calls a Jackson or a double? I really can not imagine the homeboys will start saying "That lid is gonna cost ya a roll of Tubbies"

That is what is happening with fiat money. Meanwhile gold and silver prices have been on a tear this month of April especially silver. Silver has moved up over 13% so far this month and has gone bizarre in trading today with a trading range of almost $1/oz. That has reflected well in the stock value of Hecla, a silver mining company that I am invested in, being up over 33% for the month. That is not so great however when you consider that the price now matches what it was in March 2013. LOL

The quilt block drawing that I have posted in the Home Page margin today is one of the first blocks that I drew that required some serious Javascript arc coding. I managed to get it drawn at the time that I did it but with difficulty and completely by trial and error. I could now draw that same block in minutes compared to the time I put into it when I originally drew it. It is a good looking drawing however, I do believe.

Meme about teaching math in 1956 vs 2016 is scarily TRUE by Allen West is a good article and the teaching math meme is classic. You must read this one.

22 April
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

I made a good start on another floor tile drawing yesterday afternoon and last night. I have completed about a third of it and it should go faster now that I see the pattern. It is always slow at the beginning. I may take a break from it today, it does become tedious if I work on it for too long.

I also made good progress reading the novel I have on Paperwhite until I got a message that the battery was running low. Needed to plug it in for a charge that took about 4 hours. That was time that I used for our afternoon walk and the floor tile drawing. I may finish the book by Monday or Tuesday which will be only a day or two short of its due date.

We did our usual morning walk, unhooked from electric and arrived at La Mexicana right at 7:00 the hour they open if you want to believe the sign by the door. I waited until 7:15 so don't believe it - they open at 8:00.

Went to the next place on my list today that also claims to open at 7:00. That was Albertson's where I stocked up with groceries. Starting to get low on barley so I tried to buy some today and even with the help of two clerks we could not find any. They and I agreed that they probably do not carry it.

Then to Tractor Supply where I found two 28# bags of Earthborn Meadow Feast on the shelf. I thought I might have to order it but this is the third time that I have been able to buy it right off the shelf. Much more convenient than what I was going through trying to keep Patches supplied with Canidae.

Almost next door was Walmart where I found ammunition that I wanted to buy, including some .410 buckshot shells. That was the good news, the bad news was they had it locked up in glass cases as if it were cigarettes. I did finally find an employee that made a telephone call and got the clerk with the key to come and sell me what I wanted. There were two other guys hanging around waiting for someone to help them and she was able to sell them some also.

Another stop at La Mexicana where I did get breakfast. I had their Omelet Special of the day which was pretty good but not they best I have had there. Final stop was at Wells Fargo which opens at 9:00 - middle of the day. There I traded a Jackson for a couple rolls of quarters in anticipation of doing laundry again. Not today nor tomorrow but soon.

As soon as I got backed in and hooked up to electric I started cooking up a batch of mishmash for 'linner' the next 3-4 days. This particular dish has sardines, green peas, black beans and cooked barley. It will be reheated for 'linner' and served with a large salad and corn tortillas.

I'll be getting to my Daily blogs and the News after posting this again so any commentary will be included tomorrow. I know how you look forward to my analysis of the News. HA

23 April
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

Yesterday afternoon I drew the Tiled Dynamic Octagons as show in the tutorial but without the hand drawn grid that the lesson uses. I did it with Javascript coding and it was VERY easy because I copied the coding from my previous drawing and made the changes necessary to show 9 octagons rather than just one.



I then added some more to the design to approximately replicate the floor pattern at Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb as show in the photograph on the lesson page.

Late in getting this post out today. I spent over 3 hours at the Grant County Public Shooting Range with the Southern New Mexico Shooters. There were only 6 of us shooting so everyone got to shoot a LOT. I think I shot 72 rounds but not sure of the count.

The only 6 rounds that I am sure of were the six .410 triple O buckshot rounds that they let me shoot when we wrapped up the day. The recoil from them is perhaps twice, or more, what the .45 recoil is. The targets were about 21' away and the 4 triple O pellets spread out about 4". In the rgular shooting I shot fair to poor because the targets were more distant than what the set up was in Sierra Vista. The longer the distance the worse I shoot - as does everyone else.

24 April
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

Not much happening here in Desperado this morning. Patches had a tiring day yesterday as did I. She was all fired up for our walk this morning but right after her breakfast she went back to bed. Catching up on her rest after sitting up and watching me yesterday for most of the time I was on the range. She does keep an eye on me!

The temperatures for our morning walks the past couple of days, and forecast to remain during the next 10 days, have been what I consider perfect. In the low 40s with no wind. We get out at about 6:00 with the twilight and then get to witness the sunrise. I don't know what Patches thinks about that but I like it.

The drawing that I have put up in the Home Page margin today is one of two Daltile Basket Weave patterns that I have drawn. They are not as eye catching as the AKDO pattern but this one and the other Daltile show patterns that can be made using only one size tile. I am going to draw a couple Crossville basket weave patterns also since that pattern and Herringbone are my favorites.

I'm still working on a very detailed Daltile pattern that is a pain to draw but will look very nice when I get it finished. It is tedious!

I also finished drawing the Tiled Static Ocatgons that were shown in the first Geometric Design lesson.



I'm working on the last drawing in that lesson and should have it completed in a few days. I'm not in too much of a rush with the idea that I will not start the next lesson until next month.

This was the seventh Ken Follett book that I have read and since this was the sequel to Pillars Of The Earth I was expecting the same great writing. This one was good but not as good as I remember Pillars to have been. Perhaps the Weekly has found the words that I lack when they say "While the novel lacks the thematic unity of Pillars". This was a good test for my Paperwhite if nothing else. I think it went a long way in breaking me away from the number of pages to the new measure of a book - location and time remaining. The time remaining is a very handy feature that I did mentally based on the number of pages remaining, now I have a device that does it for me. I will return it to the Sierra Vista library but will not check another one out from them yet. I have downloaded another H. G. Wells from Gutenberg Project that will be my next Paperwhite book.

Eighteen years after Pillars of the Earth weighed in with almost 1,000 pages of juicy historical fiction about the construction of a 12th-century cathedral in Kingsbridge, England, bestseller Follett returns to 14th-century Kingsbridge with an equally weighty tome that deftly braids the fate of several of the offspring of Pillars' families with such momentous events of the era as the Black Death and the wars with France. Four children, who will become a peasant's wife, a knight, a builder and a nun, share a traumatic experience that will affect each of them differently as their lives play out from 1327 to 1361. Follett studs the narrative with gems of unexpected information such as the English nobility's multilingual training and the builder's technique for carrying heavy, awkward objects. While the novel lacks the thematic unity of Pillars, readers will be captivated by the four well-drawn central characters as they prove heroic, depraved, resourceful or mean. Fans of Follett's previous medieval epic will be well rewarded. - Publishers Weekly

25 April
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

Excitement this morning - after I finished breakfast and read most of my Daily blogs I went to the 'club house' and did laundry. There is one washer and one dryer and I was lucky that no one else was using either.

The price is right, probably the lowest of any Park that I have stayed at, and you certainly get your moneys worth from the dryer. I took most of my clothes out after 35 minutes and folded them. Went back for two heavy towels after the dryer had been running for 45 minutes and found them to be dry. Folded the towels and the dryer was still running after I cleaned the lint filter and left.

I finished drawing everything that I am going to from Geometric Design lesson one. I have started reading in lesson two but that is all for now. Made significant progress on the floor tile drawing that seems to have taken me forever. I think I will finish that today.

There is one Crossville basket weave floor tile that I'm going to draw next but the others are the same pattern as what I have drawn from Daltile. However, I have found some pictures of hand weave textures that I am going to try and draw after that last floor tile.

21st Century California Reverts Back to the Wild West by Victor Davis Hanson is another good article by this author. I have pulled his two closing paragraphs as a quote from it but the entire article is worth a read. What he says about California is the path that this country is now treading with bad news at the end in my opinion

California is hyper-lawful and lawless, completely free and without freedom, a condition entirely predicated on one’s sense of income and dutifulness. If one picks and chooses legal compliance, claims grievance, and earns ideological sympathy on the basis of race and class, then the law is negotiable; otherwise, he is a ripe target for bureaucracies and agencies to monitor every aspect of his life—on the principle that because millions now do not pay traffic fines and income taxes, file proper and legal names, and obey bureaucratic summonses, a few thousands must to the nth degree. We are back to the Wild West circa 1890; and all the iPhones, apps, and Teslas cannot change that fact. But with one key difference: In 1900, lawlessness in California was a result of the natural wild and the frontier; today it is a symptom of civilized wild and ideology. Historically, the latter is far more dangerous than the former.

26 April
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

We did a short potty walk in the Park yesterday afternoon. The wind was blowing 15-20 mph with gust of over 40 mph. I don't like walking in those windy conditions and certainly did not want to be on Flury Ln that was graded only a few days ago. The loose dirt was flying!

Started on a quilt block yesterday that had what looked like a static regular octagram as the major part of the block. Then inside that large octagram there was a smaller one. I drew both of them using my new found knowledge from lesson one in Geometric Design. I have drawn a number of octagrams on blocks before but none of them were 'regular', they were just 8-star shapes that I put together using a square and triangles. That is what the quilt patterns used also; squares and triangles with no attempt to make the stars a regular octagram shape.

Colder this morning with the low back down to 38° and still below 40 at 8:00. That was not a surprise, the weather gurus had forecast that as well as only a 61° high for today. What was a surprise were the snow flurries that started around 8:00. That was when I decided it was time to fire up the Wave 6 - winter has returned, AGAIN.

A good day to stay bundled up and format another month's worth of Will Rogers weekly articles. This month seems to be rushing toward a close and I have not done that yet. Maybe not finish the project today but it is best that I start. This is also presidential primary election day for 5 east coast states so there will be lots of political News tomorrow.

Emmett Rensin is a liberal essayist that has written a very long essay that is not going to go down well with his usual audience. The smug style in American liberalism could have been written by a conservative writer and the liberals would have shrugged it off. But, when one of their own writes it they have only two choices 1)pay attention to what he is saying or 2) throw him out of the club. Here are the leading paragraphs:

There is a smug style in American liberalism. It has been growing these past decades. It is a way of conducting politics, predicated on the belief that American life is not divided by moral difference or policy divergence — not really — but by the failure of half the country to know what's good for them.
In 2016, the smug style has found expression in media and in policy, in the attitudes of liberals both visible and private, providing a foundational set of assumptions above which a great number of liberals comport their understanding of the world.
It has led an American ideology hitherto responsible for a great share of the good accomplished over the past century of our political life to a posture of reaction and disrespect: a condescending, defensive sneer toward any person or movement outside of its consensus, dressed up as a monopoly on reason.

27 April
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

Soon after breakfast this morning I did the tank dump chore and took on fresh water. It was the very low level of fresh water that compelled me to do what I should have done a couple days ago. This morning the water pump was sucking air so I needed to re-fill if I was going to have water to do dishes.

Colder again this morning than yesterday at 35° but should be back into the 40s for the low and 70s as the high during the next 10 days. IF the 10 Day Forecast comes to pass we should have some VERY nice weather. Perhaps yesterday was winters last gasp here.


The last Geometric Design drawing from lesson one.I will post one more tomorrow or the next day that is not from the lesson but rather something that I did using what I learned.

The latest H. G. Wells book that I downloaded to my Paperwhite, and read, from the Gutenberg Project. I did not like it much and understood it less. This is what Wikipedia has to say. "Boon is a 1915 work of literary satire by H. G. Wells. It purports, however, to be by the fictional character Reginald Bliss, and for some time after publication Wells denied authorship. Boon is best known for its part in Wells's debate on the nature of literature with Henry James, who is caricatured in the book. But in Boon Wells also mocks himself, calling into question and ridiculing a notion he held dear—that of humanity's collective consciousness." If you do decide to read it I would suggest that the Wikipedia Summary of the book be read first. I have selected another H. G. Wells that is a collection of his early essays that are described as humorous - I'll see.

The quilt block that I posted in the Home Page margin today looked far to complicated for me to do and I passed over it a few times. But after doing the Roman Mosaics and some floor tile it did not look as daunting. It took a lot of time but was not that difficult. A pretty block!

28 April
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

On 26 April I wrote that I had drawn a static regular octagram inside a larger one as the major part of a quilt block. That was all well and good but I could not add the minor decorations to the block if I used those regular octagrams.

Yesterday I discovered how I could change my coding to draw the octagrams as they were shown in the block instructions to make the quilt. As I said, the quilters use squares and triangles. I have now replicated the squares and triangles in the finished octagrams but drew them with Javascript arc code.

The finished shape is the same but I have now learned to do it with about half the coding that was required when I was drawing squares and triangles. This may not mean much of anything to my few readers but it is a BIG DEAL for this 'ol man to accomplish something like this.

It was a very nice morning for a walk with the low at 42° but probably 44-45° while we were walking. That is the good news, the bad news is a Wind Advisory for this afternoon right during our walking time that expects the wind to be 25-35 mph and gust of over 50 mph. That weather pattern is going to hold for at least the next 3-4 days; perfect temperatures but strong afternoon winds.

We were off to town on another shopping expedition after the walk. Stopped on the way in at USA Gas (Walmart) were I filled up at over $2/gal. I was able to fill up 5 times at less than $2/gal but I think those days are now gone again. I do believe the US of A is in for another dose of Stagflation and the presidential election will do little to fix it.

A quick stop at Albertson's where I got everything I wanted except Greek God Honey and Vanilla - they did have Black Cherry! Then a Heuvos con Chorizo breakfast at La Mexicana and back to the Park before 9:00.

I'll be working on the floor tile drawing that I have going and finish the Will Rogers weekly article formatting this afternoon. Reading more of the H. G. Wells book that I downloaded which is MUCH better than the last one of his that I read. Maybe do an afternoon walk and maybe not - I do not like getting beat up by strong winds and blowing dirt.

29 April
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

The weather guys are putting up Chamber of Commerce forecasts. They still want us to believe the lows will be back up into the 40s but have lowered their guess about the highs to the upper 60s and low 70s. The low this morning was 38° which was not bad while walking but it was very slow in warming up and by 8:30 was still at 44 and the Wave 6 was put back in action. Expected high for today is 63 with the afternoon winds again.

I did finish the Will Rogers weekly articles formatting for another month. Also did some more drawing on the latest floor tile yesterday and will do some more today; it is another one that is tedious but should look good. I think I will use some non-floor tile colors and turn it into a 'modern art' piece. HA

Gold and silver have been on a tear this week and my 'investments' have been riding their coat tails. Both of my holdings set new 52 week highs but both have a long way to go before they reach the levels of 5 years ago. It has been a long time going down and I'm willing to wait that long for them to come back.

The Mask Comes Off: Putrefaction Most Foul by Fred Reed is another of his take no prisoner articles. He may have trouble getting through immigration the next time he tries to visit the good 'ol US of A but he does tell it like it is. I quote only his opening paragraph, it gets even better - a suggested read.

I love it: Donald Trump’s campaign reveals the establishment for what it is, a swamp of corruption as fetid as those of Latin America. It is better entertainment than Vaudeville. The frantic scramble to rig the primaries, change the rules, and thwart the voters–anything to defend their cozy entanglement of political tapeworms–makes absurd any pretense of democracy.

A woman walks into a pharmacy and asks the pharmacist for some arsenic. He asks "What for?" She says, "I want to kill my husband." He says "Sorry, I can't do that." She then reaches into her handbag a pulls out a photo of her husband in bed with the pharmacist's wife and hands it to him. He says, "You didn't tell me you had a prescription..."

30 April
Manzano's RV Park
Silver City, NM

The low this morning was 39° but it felt colder than that. It had warmed up to only 43 by 8:00 so I brought the Wave 6 back into action. Patches agreed by immediately flopping down right in front of the heater.

I still have a couple of week here but the 10 day forecast continues to show low 40s and highs in the upper 60s to mid 70s. What is troubling with this slow warming trend is my next camp is forecasting freezing overnight lows and highs in the 50s, 60s and 70s with snow forecast for tomorrow. It better warm up soon!

I'll be starting on Geometric Design lesson two later today. I have read through the lesson, now will start trying to draw the shapes using Javascript code on HTML Canvas rather than paper, pen, compass and straight edge. I think this lesson is going to be a little more difficult but will only know that after I try.

This simple drawing was done to display what I learned from Geometric Design lesson #1.

I may not displace Andy Warhol but if he can become famous by drawing Campbell's Soup Cans, thirty-two canvases — one of each of the canned soup varieties the company offered at the time, then I think my drawing has merit.

The floor tile drawing that I have posted in the Home Page margin today has a very similar pattern to the Daltile Basket Weave that I posted a few days ago. I have given this one a bit more of a lively appearance with the colored tiles. Not something for the dinning room but might work well in the kitchen or bath. HA