Peregrinating
2017

April

1 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

On this April Fools Day I went to the range to shoot in the Cochise Gun Club’s monthly Cochise Defensive Pistol Match - fool that I am. I think I shot better than last month but so did everyone else. I think the stages were a little easier this month so it will not surprise me if I come in dead last on a comparative/competitive basis.

I had stopped at Sunny D’s on the way for breakfast which has become my routine when going to the range. Had their Western Omelet with good hash browns.

That accounts for most of my day and why this posting is later than usual. I may get some more of the Penrose drawing done before the day is done or maybe it will be couch time after our afternoon walk.

A Wells novel that touches upon the Socialism that Wells includes in all of his books. He does it with a gentle hand however letting the Mr Chaffery character carry most of the weight with a bit more humor than usual. A good read.

A fine, fine example of all that is best in Wells' novels. If when you think of Wells you think of Martians, Time Machines, and Invisible Men, please learn that Wells "Love and Mr Lewisham" was admired by Conrad, and that most of Wells' oeuvre is made up of novels of social investigation, that Science Fiction, while a thread running though his career, is a thin strand in the sturdy cable of novels and non-fiction for which he should surely be remembered and reread. - Customer Review at goodreads.com

2 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

Another storm blew in yesterday soon after I got back to the Park, posted to my web site and started ‘linner’. It was beginning to look rather dark so we went for our afternoon walk a little earlier and I ate when we got back. Patches was ready after waiting for me all morning while I was on the range and she had to listen to all that gunfire. Started to get a few sprinkles about the time we would have usually been 10-15 minutes from finishing our walk but got only 0.05” of rain from the storm.

Met an old codger on his way out as we were coming back. We had met him a few days ago and Patches thought he was great - gave his bare leg a lick. Yesterday he was dressed all in black with a hoodie - Patches barked at him and would not have anything to do with him. “For the apparel oft proclaims the man” - Polonius in William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Yesterday morning my hands and ears were cold during our morning walk. This morning I had the good sense to wear my wool cap and gloves. Did not feel as cold today at 34° because of that foresight but also due to the fact that there was only a very slight wind. Yesterday morning was 35 with a stronger wind. I would like to believe the 10 Day forecast that is predicting highs in 70s and lows in the 40s but the guessers get it wrong so much of the time.

Good weather would be welcome during my many trips into Sierra Vista next week. There will be two grocery shopping trips plus a dentist and VA appointment. I could have eliminated at least one of those shopping trips IF I had planned ahead - but.

All I can say about the latest Penrose drawing is that I am still working on it. It is starting to take shape and look like the picture that I want to replicate but there is much more to draw; I guess maybe 3 or 4 times what I have drawn so far.

I looked at Pixlr this morning and it does not look like it is something that I can use to draw pixel art. This is something that I may need to do more web research but it does not look like that is a good alternative to GIMP. There are other alternatives - one of them being to forget about doing any pixel art.

3 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

The results are in. I was not dead last in the match on Saturday. I was next to last by a very slight margin over a woman that I think was shooting in her first match. So, no surprises other than I did even worse than I thought I had.

Went off to town for groceries this morning. The breakfast stop was at Café Olé where I had their Chorizo Omelet with some of the best home fries yet - they do know how to cook home fries.

Then stopped at my UPS Store because they had received a package that I was not expecting. I had also received an email notice from VA Prescriptions that a prescription refill order had been shipped - strange, I did not request a refill. That is what the package was however and I will see if I can sort it out with VA on Friday when I have an annual check-up appointment.

I did some more web research and there does not appear to be any software that works like GIMP to draw pixel art on a Chromebook. I have now decided that I will convert my old Toshiba with Windows to Linux/Ubuntu - no dual boot, just Linux. This will support GIMP for my drawing pleasure as well as give me a backup computer.

I am currently reading Modern Democracies, vol.1. by Viscount James Bryce, published in 1921 based on research he did in the early years of the 20th Century. The quote that I have selected below is from Chapter X: the press in a democracy which I found to describe how the ‘media’ in the USA forms opinion today - nothing has changed in over 100 years. They simply have access to more types of media i.e. radio, TV in addition to the press.

This is available online in PDF format or can be downloaded in many file formats. There are two volumes; as printed books they are 524 pages and 688 pages so this is not something for light weekend reading.

Since it is Facts that count for most in the formation of opinion, the newspaper which desires its views to prevail will try to make out its case by facts. Sometimes it may assume facts: i.e. it will put forward a theory of the motives or intentions of a person or a group of politicians, and presently treat that theory as an accepted reality, proceeding to ground charges upon it. Sometimes it may even invent facts — i.e. it will catch up (possibly itself set agoing) a rumour, and then proceed to refer to the rumour as a fact, give it prominence, hammer it into the public mind by repeated blows. This method needs to be prudently applied, for the alleged fact may be disproved, and if this happens frequently, the paper's credit will suffer. A safer and more telling device than either argument or misrepresentation is found in the Selection of facts. In every controversy there are plenty of facts fit to be adduced on both sides. If a paper skilfully and systematically selects for publication all the facts that point to one conclusion, and suppresses or mentions curtly and scantily all the facts that bear the other way, it cannot be charged with direct falsehood, though it practically falsifies the case by withholding from its readers the means of forming a just judgment. The suppression of the truth is more insidious than the suggestion of the false. This Negative misrepresentation is as easy and more prudent than Positive, because detection and conviction are more difficult.

4 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

This is the beginning of a new Verizon billing cycle for me. I will be keeping close track of data usage for the billing month while trying to read all my Daily blog and News as I have been in the past. This morning that is what I did plus a couple of web browsing excursions and used only a little over 20MB. If memory serves me correctly this is a bit less than what I would have seen using Firefox and Windows.

I don’t plan on doing much more online today that will be high data usage. There is the Penrose drawing that needs to be worked on but that is not a very big data user. I may do some Google Map research for future camps and routes which does use much more. We will see how this first day turns out.

Tomorrow should be a light usage day also. The morning will be taken up with a trip to Sierra Vista for a dental appointment. That will upset my usual routine which makes for lower Internet time.

I have a lot of Modern Democracies remaining to be read. That will require some couch time every day which will also be a Verizon data saver. I may have Verizon usage under control this cycle. HA

5 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

I was back into Sierra Vista this morning for a dental appointment. My annual check-up and the first tertile cleaning for this calendar year. Nothing new, same problems with the two lower front teeth and a right upper molar. The two front teeth and not going to last very much longer is my guess.

I stopped at Fry’s and filled Desperado with gas. Have added 350 miles to the odometer with all these trips back and forth to town and the shooting range (that adds about 50 miles each time). This fill up might last me until I have to fill before leaving, not as many trip remain.

That is about is for today. I have sent out some emails that are getting no responses. Three were to RV Parks asking for quotes. I did get one back very promptly but there is now way I will be staying there. The other two have yet to respond.

Also sent three email requesting help replacing Windows with Linux/Ubuntu. The woman that tried to help me before is tied up in a couple of construction projects. She gave me the name of another ‘tech’ here in Sierra Vista but he has not responded. There is also a Linux Group here that I contacted - no reply.

Will do more Penrose drawing (perhaps half finished) and more Modern Democracies reading (half way through Vol 1).

6 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

Nothing much happening with me today. I did some ‘linner’ cooking yesterday and will do some more today. Got some more of the Penrose drawing done but still a lot remaining. More couch time with my Paperwhite and Patches are also on the to do list.

I received a second quote response from a RV Park but will not be staying at this one either. I thought they would be too pricey for me and that proved to be true. Can not afford them. I sent another email to a alternative stop requesting a quote but have not received a reply. There is a Park in that alternative area that posted their monthly rate on their web page. I will most likely see if I can get a reservation there is the other Park does not respond or quotes a higher price.

The Linux Group contact replied to my email and said they can help me get Linux/Ubuntu installed to replace Windows. Now I just need to arrange a time and place to get it done. I hate to be overly optimistic but think I will have a Toshiba with Ubuntu by the time I leave here.

Scott Adams AKA Dilbert has written exactly what I was thinking in his blog posting The Syrian Gas Attack Persuasion. You can bet that the Lame Stream Media will be on President Trump’s case like white on rice to assassinate Assad as Barack did Osama. The prisoner of war hero McCain will also certainly have something to say. What Adams’ did not include in his posting is that this was a very good time to distract the public from the Trump Wiretap Case that is getting legs in spite of everything that the Establishment can do.

According to the mainstream media – that has been wrong about almost everything for a solid 18 months in a row – the Syrian government allegedly bombed its own people with a nerve agent.
The reason the Assad government would bomb its own people with a nerve agent right now is obvious. Syrian President Assad – who has been fighting for his life for several years, and is only lately feeling safer – suddenly decided to commit suicide-by-Trump. Because the best way to make that happen is to commit a war crime against your own people in exactly the way that would force President Trump to respond or else suffer humiliation at the hands of the mainstream media.

The authoritarian impulse arises when legitimate government can’t or won’t maintain order. Which is beginning to look like now. In America we have attacks by Muslim terrorists while, until recently, the government did everything it can to import more Muslims. Blacks engage in open insurgency of low but increasing intensity. Under Obama, a black federal government supported them. Much of the country is sick of open borders, but the government has supported it. As government imposes more and more restrictions on what people can think or do, on how they must live, government becomes just another enemy.

7 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

What is so “smart” about using “smart” quotes rather than "dumb" quotes? Do you see the difference? Do you care? I don't but when typing a link such as <"http://edwardfrey.com/index.php"> it will not open from the web page if “smart” quotes are used. Therefore, I have found a way to make all the quotes that I type on Google Docs "dumb" to avoid the problem.

It does not fix the problem when I copy and paste however. If there are “smart” quotes in what I copy they may not be shown correctly when I include them in my web posting. I just need to be aware of that and change them if there are any included. This has caused me a lot of problems in the past and only now have I discovered what was happening.

I had my annual VA check-up this morning, the appointment was not until 8:30 which gave me plenty of time to stop around the block at Denny's and get breakfast. I got a 'good to go' for another year but my doctor wanted more blood to do a screening for common afflictions associated with Vietnam Vets. So I go back again next week for that. Cholesterol was borderline high but down almost 11% from last year and within 6% of Desirable. The LDL, or bad cholesterol, was also borderline high but down from last year - I have a long way to go to reach Optimal.

Then before leaving town I went to Tractor Supply to get Patches some food for the next three months. They did not have 3 bags in stock so it has been ordered and I'll pick them up next week. I also stopped at Yombes Handwash and got a quote for washing Desperado and set an appointment to have it done on 21 April

Evidence Calls Western Narrative About Syrian Chemical Attack Into Question by William Craddick is an article far removed from what the Ministry of Propaganda is feeding us.
I would really like to see the activities of prisoner of war hero McCain investigated. There is something about all his 'secret visits' to Syria that smells rotten. However, that is not going to happen.

President Trump has taken the bait and ordered a Tomahawk attack. He will now be condemned, along with former President Bush, as a hateful war president by the Ministry of Propaganda and the Establishment. I had baseless optimism that he would get the United States out of existing wars not intensify them or start new ones. - SAD.

III. The Khan Sheikhoun Incident May Be Part Of An Ongoing Power Struggle Over U.S. Policy In Syria
The chemical attack also appears to play into the ongoing power struggle between the American political establishment and members of the new Trump administration. Political figures who are hawkish towards the Syrian government have noted with some dismay that President Trump had until this week been apparently unwilling to prosecute the United States’ stated goal of enacting regime change in Syria, citing the larger threat of ISIS and other jihadist terror groups as a priority…
On February 22nd, 2017, CNN reported that McCain had made a secret trip to northern Syria the week prior. McCain’s made the trip despite the fact that since late 2015, the Western media has finally admitted that there were no longer any “moderate” rebel groups in Syria…
The trip to meet with rebel groups is not McCain’s first. On May 27th, 2013, The Daily Beast ran an exclusive report revealing that Senator John McCain had made another secret trip into Syria to meet with “assembled leaders of Free Syrian Army.” McCain made the trip in spite of the fact that documents obtained by Judicial Watch which state that the United States was fully aware of the growing jihadi presence among Syrian rebel groups, and reports emerging in the American press indicating that rebels were increasingly engaging in war crimes.

8 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

It has been hot here again since Wednesday with the high at 89°, then 94 on Thursday and cooled down to 88 yesterday. I can only hope that the guess for the 10 Day forecast is correct with highs in the lower 80s. The mornings have been great with more upper 40s and lower 50s to come.

The Co-founder, and member, of Cochise Linux User Group (CLUG) came out to the Park this morning and replaced Windows 8.1 that was on my Toshiba. I now have Ubuntu 16.04.02 OS up and running on what I consider my pixel art platform and back-up computer.

He also installed GIMP and Linux has a built in PDF Viewer. Those two pieces of software will work off line and allow me to do my pixel art drawing with very little data usage. That is the plan, we will see how it comes together during the next week or so. I did use a LOT of data doing this today so will have watch my usage closely again until I get back within my Verizon usage budget.

Syria by Dr. Michael J Hurd is a blog posting worth reading. I have quoted the one paragraph that expresses my beliefs as well as his.

In the fighting and hostility taking place between these two points of view, we’re missing out on the opportunity to debate what really matters most: Are we truly the world’s keeper? It’s not an issue of isolationism or nationalism. It’s an issue of individualism, as well as individual rights. What is the purpose of a government, anyway? In my view, the primary purpose of a government is to protect the rights of the individual. That’s what the whole American Constitution was all about, at least initially. The right to free speech, to bear arms and hold property are individual rights. The Constitution neither stated nor implied anything about forming a government to take care of the world. Now we’ve become a place where our primary — if not sole — obligation is to care for others. But why? Why are we permitted, if not obliged, to rescue Syria, while we’re not permitted to rescue ourselves from enemies that threaten our country?

Fine, but how is all this going to play out? Obviously nobody really knows, but I do think we’ve entered a new period in American history. I think it’s basically a crossing of the Rubicon moment for the American empire. Personally, I don’t expect a strong and visible military response from Russia in the near-term. I don’t think Putin wants to give the U.S. media and newly minted neocon Donald Trump an excuse to do anything truly crazy, which they can blame on Russia in the court of public opinion. I think Putin is too smart for that. Rather, what I think he’ll do is make all sorts of moves behind the scenes to weaken America’s economic power, while at the same time engaging in minor provocations to tempt the imbeciles in charge of U.S. foreign policy to make further mistakes abroad, to which they’ll emphatically oblige.

9 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

The more I use Acer, Chrome OS and Chrome Browser the more I like them. However, there are some small irritations that for long time Windows users would be real deal breakers. Remember the huge flap that Windows 8 caused when the Start button was removed? Well there are bigger differences than that between Windows and a Chrome OS.

I'm pretty easy and can adapt to most any system within a few days. But I was getting really, really aggravated when Acer would go to sleep on me. I could wake it up easily enough but every time it went to sleep it shut down the Internet connection also. That meant I had to re-connect every time that happened.

There is no built-in way to stop the Chromebook narcolepsy but I think I found a fix for that with another Extension called 'Keep Awake'. It will still let the screen go black to save power but will not completely doze off. I have not had a disconnect from the Internet since I installed it. So far so good!

Shopping day at Fry's this morning with a stop at Sunny D's for a Western Omelet for breakfast. A huge omelet, hanging over the edge of the plate and a pile of hash browns.

My usual grocery purchases are for 6 days at a time which puts me on a schedule where I do not go to a market on the same day of the week. I have some justification for doing it this way but nothing that would be very convincing. One of the reasons is I make up dessert for 3 days from each container of Greek Gods yogurt.

This week I was buying for 7 days and wanted one container of Greek Gods (24 oz) and one of Oikos (32 oz). There was no Oikos but I came upon a 32 oz container of Maple Brown Cow. It is not a Greek yogurt so not as thick but being a wild and crazy risk taker I'm going to mix up a batch for dessert and give it a try. Report to follow.

When I got back to the Park I pulled in close to the sewer opening and dumped holding tanks. Took on fresh water and will stay parked where I am until Tuesday morning when I leave again for an appointment to have the generator choke spring replaced by J & D RV Center. Will then park in my usual spot when I return; not that it makes much difference but is justified using the same well thought out reasoning as shopping every 6 days. HA

"Have you ever named your car, talked to your pets or sang to your plants? Don’t worry, you’re not losing it. In fact, it’s a sign of intelligence." - from an article by Jessica Brown. I knew this, it is what I tell Patches all the time and why wouldn't I call my RV "Desperado". DUH

10 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

The Maple Brown Cow yogurt with chopped hazelnuts and mixed berries could be a real winner for those people that prefer the creamy style yogurt rather than Greek style. I prefer the Greek. This experiment did make a good dessert and it has given me some ideas.

I think I have found where some, although I don't know how much, of the Verizon data usage is occurring. When the Acer screen goes black, what I now consider to be Chromebook just resting its eyes, I can still see activity on the MIFI. There are up and down arrows that appear on the MIFI screen which I am presuming to be indications of data transmission.

I can also see that happening when I have a tab open. It has completely opened but I will still see activity on the MIFI screen. I don't think that is being recorded by Data Saver. I think only the original transmission of the data to open the tab is accounted for. Therefore the more tabs that I open and then keep open the more of the added background data usage is going to be occurring.

I also found out that I lose an Internet connection when the Verizon MIFI goes to sleep. There are Setting on it that allow me to increase the time that it will hold a signal so I have changed that with the hope that the disconnects don't happen any more. The Keep Awake seems to be working on Acer.

In the Preface to this volume Bryce explains that he did not include England in his study of democracies because he would be accused of bias. That did not keep him from lavishing praise on parliamentary forms of democracy as compared to the American form. The first volume included a short discussion of South American democratic republics and why they mostly failed. His highest praise for any of them was for Chile and Uruguay which probably holds true 100 years later. He had a lot to say about France and had to refrain making any really nasty remarks, Canada was great because they adopted the British model but his highest praise was for Switzerland. He did say that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to replicate the democratic form of the Swiss. This was an interesting read and I will continue with Volume II but Bryce was not the author that de Tocqueville was.

American political scientists do not need to be told that James Bryce's work is one of the most important ever written on the principles and practice of democratic government. More than a century has passed since his masterly description and appreciation of the American Commonwealth put him at the head of all students of American government and politics. He has served as a member of three British cabinets, he has been the British ambassador to the United States, and he has traveled to all quarters of the globe, always keenly interested in the institutions of the lands he visited. Now he embodies the ripest fruits of these years of travel and study in two stout volumes. After some introductory considerations applicable to democratic government in general, he proceeds to a detailed comparison of the working of democracy in various countries, chiefly France, Switzerland, Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, and concludes with some general observations and reflections on the present and future of democratic government. This is volume one out of two. - Book promo at Amazon

I do believe where there is smoke there probably is a fire. I see smoke in President Trump's National Security Council. First is was the removal of Steve Bannon just days before the missile attack on Syria. Then K T. McFarland was asked to step down as deputy National Security Advisor just days after the attack and after less than three months on the job. I am getting the impression that if he does not like the advice then the advisor hears those tag lines "You're Fired".

11 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

I stopped at Country House for breakfast this morning and got a huge Chorizo Skillet. This is my usual routine when I have an appointment at J & D RV Center for any work. Today was the install of the choke spring that was thought to be the problem with how it started, ran and died. It seemed to be running fine when I left there, I'll only know if it is fixed when I need it and it does not run.

I got enough of the Penrose pattern drawn these past couple of days that I see the light at the end of tunnel. Probably will not get much more done the next few days, I have house cleaning to do and then a lot of appointments on Friday. Reasonably sure that it will be done by the weekend.

Who is the dumbest a) Assad to bomb his own people with chemical weapons when he was winning the civil war or b) Trump to launch a Tomahawk missile attack before knowing all the facts? I select option 'b' because he accomplished nothing plus those who hated him still hate him while those who supported him now also hate him.

The Ministry of Propaganda is beating the war drums frantically. The number one prisoner of war hero McCain supports President Trump's bombing in Syria but claims that is not enough. There needs to be even more done so the United States can start a war with Russia. At the same time the Establishment want to start Korea War II which would most likely mean war with China also.

The US of A has not been able to defeat the goat herders in Afghanistan so now it wants to take on the two next most powerful military in the world? What in the hell are these people thinking?

12 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

I fired up my Toshiba/Ubuntu last night for a few minutes to see if I could. Looked around at all the 'stuff' that is available. Found the GIMP software that had been installed and got it locked (pinned) to the menu bar ready for use. Also found Games which includes a lot of different Solitary including FreeCell which I have not had on a computer since Windows 98. Played twice and won both times - I still know how to play. HA

I got started on the monthly house cleaning even though I will not be leaving here at the end of my second month stay. Same routine as in the past; clean bathroom and wash bathroom and kitchen floors. Maybe get the living room carpet vacuumed this afternoon. Desperado's cab will keep until tomorrow.

My Arizona Senator, and prison of war hero, McCain is on a tour of Europe with a most recent stop in the Balkans. There he met with recently re-elected Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic. I would think this is more a function of the Secretary of State versus the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services.

"Although formally, McCain's title is that of senator, in reality, it would be more appropriate to call him the 'secretary of state of the deep state', fighting against Trump's foreign policy, and trying to sabotage his foreign policy agenda, which is primarily oriented toward normalizing relations with Russia" - Saša Adamović, PhD Assistant Professor at Singidunum University, Belgrade, Serbia

I am now reading Mankind in the Making by H. G. Wells which is a continuation of Anticipations which was the first book that I downloaded onto my Paperwhite a little over a year ago. In this book he is setting out his recommendations for what needs to be done to make his New Republican (his Socialistic Utopian man of the future). He starts with the birth and I'm now up to about age 5. Here is one bit of what he has to say.

The newborn child is at first no more than an animal. Indeed, it is among the lowest and most helpless of all animals, a mere vegetative lump; assimilation incarnate—wailing. It is for the first day in its life deaf, it squints blindly at the world, its limbs are beyond its control, its hands clutch drowningly at anything whatever that drifts upon this vast sea of being into which it has plunged so amazingly. And imperceptibly, subtly, so subtly that never at any time can we mark with certainty the increment of its coming, there creeps into this soft and claimant little creature a mind, a will, a personality, the beginning of all that is real and spiritual in man.

13 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

Not doing much. Finished my house cleaning this morning. Cooked up another batch of breakfasts and put together another dessert for 3 days - this time with Greek Gods. Did a little more poking around in Toshiba/Ubuntu last night trying to get set up to do some pixel art drawing. Plus more Paperwhite reading.

I have more quotes from Mankind in the Making. I did not like Anticipations very much and do not agree with a lot of what Wells has to say in this book but at least he says it in an interesting way.

With speech humanity begins. With the dawn of speech the child ceases to be an animal we cherish, and crosses the boundary into distinctly human intercourse. There begins in its mind the development of the most wonderful of all conceivable apparatus, a subtle and intricate keyboard, that will end at last with thirty or forty or fifty thousand keys…
And this idea of infantile receptivity and retentiveness is held by an unthinking world, in spite of the universally accessible fact that hardly one of us can remember anything that happened before the age of five, and very little that happened before seven or eight, and that children of five or six, removed into foreign surroundings, will in a year or so—if special measures are not taken—reconstruct their idiom, and absolutely forget every word of their mother-tongue.

Trump employing a “wag the dog” strategy, in which he highlights his leadership on an international crisis to divert attention from domestic political problems, is reminiscent of President Bill Clinton’s threats to attack Serbia in early 1999 as his impeachment trial was underway over his sexual relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky. (Clinton also was accused of a “wag-the-dog” strategy when he fired missiles at supposed Al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan and Sudan in 1998 in retaliation for the bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.)

14 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

Yesterday I finished the Penrose pattern that I have been working on for some time now. I still have a few things that I need to do before I can post it here to my web site but should have it up by Sunday.

Today I have been busy with an annual vet appointment for Patches. Then to the VA for another blood draw and a stop at Tractor Supply to pick up the Earthborn that I ordered for Patches last week. She will get her bath on Sunday and Desperado gets hers next Friday.

The vet appointment went fine. The VA appointment was for 10:45 but they thought I could get in whenever I showed up. Was there at 9:00 and they were booked solid. Plus, my doctor said it was a non-fasting draw but they had me scheduled as fasting and full blood tests not just a screening for 3-4 things. Re-scheduled for next Friday which could still be a problem, we will see.

The Tractor Supply order pick-up of Earthborn was even worse. The woman that I spoke to when I placed the order looked at me like she had never seen me before in her life. Then remembered but before she could check to see if it was in she got side tracked by a telephone call. RANT: Why does a telephone take precedence over a customer standing in front of you?

Last week she said the order would be in on Wednesday but today I am told that there are 8 pallets of dog food in the back and she does not know if my 3 bags are there or not. I told them to forget it, bought the two bags they had on the shelf and will never try to order anything from a Tractor Supply store again. I may buy online and have it delivered, that seemed to work but maybe I was lucky.

Another quote from Mankind in the Making where I found that Wells and Mencken have very similar opinions about language. However, Mencken wrote The American Language to defend "Americanisms" against a steady stream of English critics (Wells among them), who usually isolated Americanisms as borderline barbarous perversions of the mother tongue.

A gap in a man’s vocabulary is a hole and tatter in his mind; words he has may indeed be weakly connected or wrongly connected—one may find the whole keyboard jerry-built, for example, in the English-speaking Baboo*—but words he has not signify ideas that he has no means of clearly apprehending, they are patches of imperfect mental existence, factors in the total amount of his personal failure to live.
*The term babu [Baboo] English refers to florid, overly polite, and unidiomatic English regarded as characteristic of native Indians who have limited proficiency in English.

15 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

A week ago I said that it had been hot here again since the 5th with the high at 89°, a 94 on the 6th and cooled down to 88 on the 7th. I had hoped that the weather guesser would be right for the 10 Day forecast with highs in the lower 80s. That has not happened.

It cooled down for one day back to almost 90 on the 11th then over 90 for three days and down to only 86 yesterday. With any luck, and IF the forecast is correct, the high temperatures will stay in the 80s. The mornings continue to be just great!

We will not do much today. I am cooking up some more 'linners' and Patches is sleeping. Last night I got GIMP set up for pixel drawing on the Toshiba using Ubuntu. It is almost exactly like with Windows but once I had Windows setup I didn't need to think about it again so this was a little bit like starting over.

These are the two 'groups' that I used to draw the Penrose pattern that I will post tomorrow.The left one is what I call a sun group with 5 Kites shown in gold forming the Sun. Surrounding it are 5 maroon Darts plus 5 Aces. The ace is formed using two Kites, what I call a bow tie, and one Dart each.The one on the right is a star group with 5 Darts forming the Star and 5 bow ties forming a ring around it.

16 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

Today's posting comes to you from the Sierra Vista PetSmart parking lot. I had an 8:00am appointment for Patches to get a bath. I think there were 5 groomers working so there were 5 appointments made for 5 dog all at 8:00am. When I finally got her checked in, around 8:15, I found out that it was going to take two hours to give her a bath - so here I am.

I had planned on doing my grocery shopping while she was being bathed but it did not take me two hours. They did not have the salmon that I wanted, had no salmon at all, so that goes back on my shopping list for next week. I did find the secret ingredient for an experiment that will be reported on tomorrow if successful. If it fails the taste test I probably will say nothing and act like I would never try anything so stupid. HA

I started a pixel drawing on Ubuntu GIMP last night. Didn't do much but got the canvas sized, grid marks to show and the Pencil Tool working. Even applied some color to a few pixels along the top of what I hope will be a good picture.

I am going to follow the basic coloring that is shown for the cross stitch pattern but probably use half the suggested colors. The coloring of pixel art is what I need to learn. I am able to use the cross stitch pattern to locate where the pixels are but the coloring needs to be different.

This is the Penrose pattern that has taken me so long to draw. It is also the pattern that I kept looking at when I was drawing the Infinite Suns and Stars and trying to connect them. Those Infinite patterns and the Cartwheel were drawn from the center outward using circles and radii Javascript to define the x,y coordinates for the Kites and Darts. This drawing started at the upper left corner and x,y coordinates were found somewhat by trial and error with the two 'groups' of Kites and Darts fitted together like a jigsaw puzzle. The Stars were the easiest with the entire 'group' being drawn each time. The Suns were also drawn in their entirety but the number and positions of the Aces and Darts varied as required to fit.

It took almost 4,000 lines of code to draw but I could have reduced that somewhat by re-writing some of the code as Javascript functions; not elegant coding but it worked. There are 106 Sun locations and 36 Stars. I did not count them but I estimate there to be 1,320 Kites and 950 Darts or a total of 2,270 individual shapes drawn in the pattern. I really like it!

17 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

The culinary experiment was a success. Before I tell you about it I need to refresh the memory of those few long time readers and provide background for all the Eastern European readers that keep sending me email.

My usual dessert is made with Greek Gods Honey Vanilla but when I can not find it I can go with Greek Gods Honey because I keep a bottle of vanilla on hand for those times.

Last week I tried some creamy Maple Brown Cow. It was not as good but gave me an idea. The dessert that I whipped up yesterday used Greek Gods Honey, chopped walnuts, Triple Berry Fruit Mix and the clincher - 1.5 teaspoons of Maple flavoring. I have opened up a huge range of new dessert possibilities!

I have been having another irritating thing happening with my Chromebook. It has been opening bookmarks or links at what seemed to be on its own volition. I think I have finally found what was causing that. It was partially my fault but would not have happened if "Tap-to-click" had not been a default setting. I have disabled that feature and my problem appears to have gone away.

As Wikipedia says this book is a sequel to Anticipations both of them being his thesis for a New Republican Socialist society. Perhaps not a world order but one that includes all English speaking people. Of course those people must be taught correct English. I would not recommend either of the two books unless you have an interest in everything that Wells thought and wrote. Of the two "Mankind" was the more enjoyable read.

Mankind in the Making (1903) is H.G. Wells's sequel to Anticipations (1901). Mankind in the Making analyzes the "process" of "man's making," i.e. "the great complex of circumstances which mould the vague possibilities of the average child into the reality of the citizen of the modern state." Taking an aggressive tone in criticizing many aspects of contemporary institutions, Wells proposed a doctrine he called "New Republicanism," which "tests all things by their effect upon the evolution of man." The volume consists of eleven "papers" that were first published in the British Fortnightly Review from September 1902 to September 1903 and in the American Cosmopolitan, and an appendix. - from Wikipedia

Creating Another “Crash of 1929” by Jeff Thomas is not an article that says something that has not been said before but he says it breviloquently. He is also saying something that I agree with so it must be a sign of intelligence. HA

Then, as now, conditions were ideal for the Deep State to create a solution to all problems: An economic crash was inevitable; therefore, create a trigger for it to occur and blame the collapse on the conservative political outsider. Demonstrate to all that the collapse was due to the greed of the outsider and those who were of like mind. Use that leverage to demonstrate to the hard-hit populace that what was needed was the opposite of what the outsider had proclaimed. Recommend far greater control by a new government that was staunchly liberal—a government that would change the political landscape in such a way that all those who suffered would be saved by a benevolent collectivist government.
And, of course, when it’s stated that way, it’s an easy sell. In 2017, it will be an even easier sell than it was in 1929, as the new president has already set himself up for a fall. In his inauguration speech, he focused on a single topic—the return of power to the people and away from Washington’s bureaucracy.

18 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

The most important activity of the day was accomplished by 8:00am - laundry. That will probably be the highlight of the day also the way it looks.

That 10 day forecast that I wrote about on 15 April has been unfavorably revised. Yesterday was not too bad with a high of 82° but the expected high for today is 87 which I think is a Chamber of Commerce forecast. It was already at 79 by 9:00 so I think it will be in the 90s. Most of the days in this next week have 90s in the forecast with a chance of it cooling after that, maybe even some rain.

Made some progress with the pixel drawing. The idea of using the old Toshiba as a Ubuntu based computer is turning out to be one of the better ones that I have had. I am doing all the drawing off line with one exception. I am going online to get some color codes. IF I understood how to use the color palette that is available in GIMP I would not need to do that. Haven't learned how to do that yet.

I also get to play FreeCell off line using Ubuntu. I don't remember being able to do that before with the System 76 computer that had Ubuntu on it. There is not only FreeCell but a lot of other Solitary games available. I have played some Klondike but don't do very well.

I love this metaphor that Pepe Escobar has formed to explain Piece of Cake: New Normal of Trump's Foreign Policy.

As if bombing nuclear-armed North Korea would be as much of a piece of cake as Tomahawking a semi-deserted air base in Syria. But then, that's the beauty of a box of chocolates foreign policy; you never know what you're gonna get.

19 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans - that caught up with me yesterday. When we got back from our walk I opened the refrigerator to get some cold water and it did not feel cold. Opened the freezer and it was almost finished defrosting. Tried operating the fridge using gas and that did not produce any cold either.

By that time the shop was closed but I sent an email to J & D RV Center asking if they could help me. If I do not receive a reply soon I will go to another shop that is much closer but more expensive. They also did a small job for me years ago and I didn't much care for what they did. Perhaps things have changed - they will be much more expensive but do a better job.

There is some good NEWS as well a bad. First the good. The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee has just requested that the DOJ look again at the case against Lois Lerner and whether she broke the law in targeting Tea Party groups and conservative Americans for political reasons. Lois might end up in the slammer after all and she might, just might, drop the dime on Barack to get a preferred cell.

"The promise of a Trump presidency — that we would start looking out for our own country and own national interests first and let the rest of the world solve, or fail to solve, its own problems — appears, not 100 days in, to have been a mirage. Will more wars make America great again?" - Pat Buchanan

"In January of this year, President Trump’s critics were marching in the streets because they believed he was about to go full-Hitler. Or maybe he was just crazy, and about to do something dangerously stupid. Today their biggest complaint is that President Trump hasn’t shared his tax returns with the public…
Generally speaking, if your critics are reduced to complaining about what might be in your tax returns, you already won." - Dilbert

20 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

Good news and bad news about the refrigerator. The good news is that it happened while I was still near Sierra Vista plus J & D RV Center responded soon to my email. The RV shop that is close by continues to get very poor reviews. So, I had sent out a couple of other email requests for help but they did not respond before J & D.

One of them did reply but they do only mobile service and not in Huachuca City. The other one is also a mobile service but I have not received a reply from them - will never contact them again.

The bad news was about as bad as it could get. The cooling unit in the Dometic Refrigerator that lasted 16-17 years gave up all of its ammonia and died a silent death. All of my options were expensive* so I went for probably the most expensive and got a Norcold to replace the Dometic. Maybe get it late today or tomorrow after my VA blood draw and Desperado's wash appointments.

* New cooling unit $655, used $425, New Dometic $1,460, New Norcold $1,300 - prices are approximate based on Google Search. Then there is shipping, tax, about $500 labor and availability (Norcold 1-2 days, all other options a week or more).

It has been 4 days now that the high temperature has been over 90° but the weather gurus keep forecasting upper 80s for the next 7 days and then cooling. So far the A/C has been up to the task but it does work hard trying to keep the interior of Desperado at a reasonable 80°. Patches finishes every afternoon walk by flopping down on the relatively cold floor for a few minutes and looks to say "poor pity me".

"Irrespective of what is driving Trump; the Deep State, financial pragmatism, the shrinking global influence of the United States or any other factor or combination of the above, Trump is playing a very dangerous game which may prove to be a decisive game of Russian Roulette of global reach.
Trump is up against Russia and China, not to forget the smaller powers of North Korea and Iran. In the Levant you can add the Syrian Army and Hezbollah to the equation. Is the ailing USA up to the task? Rational thinking implies the contrary. Irrespective, the consequences of the interaction of all of those powers at play is something that we as citizens of the world have no other option but to sit back and watch." - Ghassan Kadi

21 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

I found an email from J & D RV last night that was sent to me a little before 6:00pm that the refrigerator had been delivered a bit after 5:00. They said I could come in at 8:00 this morning. I sent a reply saying that I told them on Wednesday that I had a VA appointment Friday morning and did not cancel the second appointment not knowing when or if the refrigerator was going to arrive.

Got off to a good start by collecting a stool sample from Patches that needed to go to the vet this morning. I was also the first in line to check in at the VA and only waited while two people went in for their blood draw appointments.

This was to be screening for hepatitis, HIV, arthritis and maybe something else that I forgot which in my mind was less blood to be drawn. A normal blood draw for my annual checkup requires 4 test tubes of blood (they look to be full) today they took a smaller sample in 12 tubes. I told the phlebotomist this was not blood draw sampling it was a blood letting.

Had time to get breakfast at Café Olé before my appointment for Desperado's wash job. While there I checked email and found that the stool sample was not acceptable because it had not been refrigerated soon after being collected. I get to submit another sample but Patches doesn't care she is always willing to provide one during our morning walks.

I started this posting while at the car wash. Patches was not too pleased that people were getting too close to her house but after we had a talk she laid down at my feet and took a nap. Continued at J & D RV.

I arrived right at my anticipated 10:00 and they got started removing the dead refrigerator and installing the Norcold. That took about an hour and a half with one guy doing most of the work with help when it came time to do the heavy lifting. It has now been connected to operate on gas at the coldest setting. They will check it in a hour and if it is getting cold will finish up and I'll be on my way. I'll report on that tomorrow but it will be late in the day.

22 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

I finally got a working refrigerator at 4:00 yesterday. I should say a 2 way RV refrigerator that works both ways. It was getting cold, especially the freezer, within an hour using propane. But when connected to shore power it kept kicking off the circuit breaker. After a long time it was determined that the old electric outlet, that had been working with the old refrigerator, was the culprit. That was replaced and I was good to go. A very long tiring and expensive day!

I ran it on propane all last night and all the time I was at the shooting range this morning and early afternoon. The shop said that it would get cold faster on propane than shore power. Plugged into electric and changed the Norcold to electric only. Then checked to see how cold it was and found that the vegetables that had defrosted were frozen solid. Dialed the temperature down to the mid-range and see if that is a good setting for the long term.

I stopped at Fry's early this morning on my way to the range and picked up groceries for the week. The afternoon temperatures are just too hot for Patches to be left in Desperado for very long. It was 92° yesterday and 91 the day before with the weekend forecast to be in the 90s. Then maybe we will get a break and some slightly cooler highs.

The range activity today was the monthly Defensive Pistol Workshop which has shooting drills and usually one match stage setup. I think I shot the drills the best I ever have, even able to get one bulls eye out of 5 shots at 25 yards. I do wish the other 4 had been on the paper then that bulls eye would not look so much like sheer luck.

It may have been I had luck on my side with the stage setup as well. It was a popup target that remained up for about 1.5 seconds. The object was to shoot a steel target and when it fell that would cause the popup to appear. I got one shot in the center ring (bulls eye) and one in the next ring out. That is the best popup shooting I have done.

When I got back to the Park I pulled in close to the sewer inlet but will not dump until tomorrow or sometime during the next week. I had a neighbor park on that side of me almost a week ago but have found out that they have left the Class 'A' and car dolly here for the summer and they are now back in Canada. Therefore I don't feel bad about crowding up against the Class 'A'.

23 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

I was back doing more culinary research yesterday afternoon. Made up a dessert again using Greek Gods Honey, with chopped walnuts, blueberries and this time 3 tablespoons of maple syrup rather than 1.5 teaspoons of the maple flavor. The cost per batch using flavoring is cheaper but I think I liked the syrup better.

This past year, measured from one VA appointment to the next, I lost a little more that 6 pounds. That does not sound like much but I lost some and that now totals about 30 pounds during the last 4 years.

A lot of different eating habits during that time. This last year I went with a barley based breakfast when at home and mostly fish, vegetables and big salad for 'linner' with my Greek Gods based desserts. The fish have been baked salmon, cod a la Veracruzana or sardine potato patties.

Usually the potatoes have been yellow gold, white or red. Yesterday I picked up a bag of Potato Medley Fingerlings that included Ruby Crescent, Russian Banana, Red Thumb, Amarosa and Purple Peruvian. They did not mash up as well as the yellow gold (my previous first choice) and the first taste test will be held at 'linner' this afternoon. I'll then know if the experiment was a success or failure.

"Let’s be real. Donald Trump is no consistent proponent of capitalism, free markets, private property and individual rights. People like me wish that he was, but we always knew that he’s not. Yet politically, right now, he’s the greatest (and only) force standing in the way of the complete and consistent implementation of economic wealth redistribution Democrats and progressives had hoped to fully consolidate in Hillary Clinton’s presidency. Trump’s victory showed them that dissenting opinion, from a variety of points-of-view, is alive and well. They cannot and will not let that stand. If they have to shut people up or even shoot them, so be it. With Trump in the White House, that’s a bit difficult at the moment. But Donald Trump will not always be in the White House. Republicans — pitiful as most of them are — will not always control Congress. What do you think will happen then?" - Michael J. Hurd

24 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

The hot weekend forecast certainly came to pass. It reached 97.1° on Saturday with weather underground showing it was going to be WARMER on Sunday with a predicted 91°. How does that compute? The high for Sunday was 95.5 with an expected high today of 87 (I expect another 90+) and a 'Can Only Hope' 80 on Tuesday.

Last Thursday I took a container of cooked cod over to my Harley riding neighbor and asked him if he could keep it in his refrigerator. I noticed that he was gone when I got back with a working refrigerator on Friday but did not think anything of it. Then when I got back from the range on Saturday he was gone again but that was not unusual.

When I saw that he was not at home Sunday morning I knew that all was not right. Saw one of his riding friends come and take the dog for a walk and then when he left the dog started a continuous barking until another neighbor came over. A few minutes after that another car pulled up and three people got out and entered the trailer so I went over to find out what had happened.

Very bad motorcycle crash Thursday night. He is in a Tucson hospital in intensive care and still unconscious with multiple injuries including a broken back. The people that I talked to were his mother and brother from Ohio and I think the third was a local motorcycle riding friend.

I got a relatively large piece drawn of the pixel art that was put on hold during the time I was dealing with refrigerators. Couldn't concentrate on what I was doing while thing about keeping food cold. The piece was another ribbon which I think I did better than the first one I drew. There is much more to the picture so time will tell if it looks good or not.

The sardine potato patty experiment did pass the taste test. Not much different than using red potatoes but with a bit more potato skin which made for a patty that does not hold together very well. I think I will stick with yellow gold when I can find them and the white if available or the red which usually are. If none of those three are available there is very little chance that there will be any fingerling potatoes either.

"I suspect that most Americans — even the ones who follow Rachel Maddow — are about as interested in French politics as differential calculus... So whatever you think now about the French election, or the fate of the EU, is liable to change as the great debt crack-up our time finally gets underway and suddenly every nation has to scramble desperately to keep its shit together. That magic moment may be at hand this week as the US congress returns from Easter recess to face its budget and debt ceiling dilemmas. If the credit-worthiness of this country takes a wrong turn, it will upset the global currency system. In fact, it will rip a hole in financial time-and-space into which the presumed value of all sorts of things represented on paper and computer drives will disappear, never to be seen again." - James Howard Kunstler

25 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

I got a little more added to the pixel art drawing last night and it is starting to look like the picture that I am drawing from. Still not enough to know for sure if the colors are 'right' but I think they are at at this point. What has happened in the past is I don't like the coloring when I'm over halfway finished and I hate to go back to change all that I have done.

I knew that I would have to empty holding tanks some day this week and wanted to do it in the morning while it was cool. This morning was that day. When I went to dish out breakfast for Patches I saw that the gray water tank was backing up in the shower. That is a sure sign that it is time to dump, far more accurate than the idiot light.

Modern Democracies by James Bryce has some good ideas that are worthy of quoting but for the most part that is not possible. His writing style for the two volumes is not so much run on sentences as run on paragraphs. To quote the idea contained requires editing or paraphrasing but I did find a few that were pithy.

In this one I have added the bold emphasis, the 'free press' in the United States of today does not call attention to ALL alleged scandals they are complicit in them. Bryce did not see a day where the 'free press' (media) was controlled by a plutocracy which formed opinion to control government policy.

"The truth seems to be that democracy has only one marked advantage over other governments in defending itself against the submarine warfare which wealth can wage, viz. Publicity and the force of Public Opinion. So long as ministers can be interrogated in an assembly, so long as the press is free to call attention to alleged scandals and require explanations from persons suspected of an improper use of money or an improper submission to its influences, so long will the people be at least warned of the dangers that threaten them. If they refuse to take the warning, they are already untrue to the duties freedom prescribes." - James Bryce.

26 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

What has been named the Sawmill Fire started on Saturday southeast of Green Valley, AZ but the winds blew it east over the Santa Rita mountains and closed down AZ83. It has now burned about 20,000 acres and for the past two days has been sending some smoke and smell over to me. It is less than 10% contained with some 88 homes evacuated from the east side of AZ83. I'll be getting more smoke for some time to come with the winds usually blowing this direction.

A friend of my neighbor that crashed gave me an update on his condition this morning - not good. Still unconscious and still in intensive care. I think he in Tucson Medical Center but they will move him to a VA hospital when/if he gets out of intensive care. A lot of damage with head injury, four broken ribs as well as the broken back.

Another good quote from Modern Democracies by James Bryce. It should have been required reading for the neocons that have been intent on regime change and nation-building these past 3-4 decades. I have added the bold highlighting.

Here is the real difficulty. It is said, with truth, that knowledge and experience as well as intelligence are needed to fit a people for free self-government. But a still graver defect than the want of experience is the want of the desire for self-government in the mass of the nation. When a people allow an old-established government like that of the Tsars or the Manchus to be overthrown, it is because they resent its oppressions or despise its incompetence. But this does not mean that they wish to govern themselves. As a rule, that which the mass of any people desires is not to govern itself but to be well governed. So when free institutions are forced on a people who have not spontaneously called for them, they come as something not only unfamiliar but artificial. They do not naturally and promptly engage popular interest and sympathy but are regarded with an indifference which lets them fall into the hands of those who seek to use the machinery of government for their own purposes.

27 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

The smoke has cleared this morning and I don't smell it as I did the past couple of days. Yesterday afternoon the Whetstone Mountains were clear of smoke but it had built up against the Mule Mountains on the east side of the valley and they were completely hidden.

The news is reporting that it has now burnt 40,000 acres but is 20% controlled as of last night. More high winds today will most likely increase the area burnt. That might also bring the smoke back, the wind died down last night and changed direction somewhat.

I made some progress on the pixel art drawing even after going back and changing the color on part of what I had done. I keep trying to match the cross stitch colors and that does not work. I must use much 'stronger' colors for the pixel art drawing to look anything close to the cross stitch picture.

President Trump surrendered his 'Wall' to the Democrat blackmail threat that they would close down the federal government. So sad! Once you pay blackmail it never stops. The Democrats now say that the government will shutdown if the ObamaCare subsidy payments to insurance companies are not continued AND give Puerto Rico a billion to help bail them out of bankruptcy AND extend the expiring health care for miners. It never stops!

Volume II of Modern Democracies continued with a review of the democratic governmental form in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. The second half of the volume is then a repetition of of what he has said at least two times prior when discussing each country. For the most part I think the second half can be skipped and you will not miss much OR forget reading Volume I and the first half of volume II and read only the second half. He wrote a number of other books which I am guessing are in this same style but I may give him another chance. He does go on and on and on. I have one last quote that may, or may not, prove that Bryce had prescience about a democratic government in the United States.

Strange and unexpected evolution! Democracy overthrows the despotism of the one man or the few who ruled by force, in order to transfer power to the People who are to rule by reason and the sense of their common interest in one another's welfare: and after two or three generations there arises from the bosom of the democracy an effort to overthrow it in turn by violence because it has failed to confer the expected benefits. The wheel has gone its full round; and the physical Force which was needed to establish democracy is now employed to destroy it.

28 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

The Sawmill fire is now being reported to have burned about 47,000 acres, I did not see a containment number. They re-opened AZ83 late yesterday. Wind still blowing hard with the smoke going to the north end of the valley were Benson is probably getting a good taste of it.

While at Fry's this morning to pick up groceries I saw an aircraft tanker support truck in the parking lot with MT license. Then as I was almost back to the Park I saw the Prescott Hotshot trucks and those of the Santa Fe Hotshots. I can only guess that they were coming off the fire line to check-in a motel for some rest.

I stopped for breakfast at the Landmark which almost always has some of the Army personnel there since it is the closest restaurant to the main gate to Ft. Huachuca. This morning there was a table with 4 males and 2 females - all captains. Joining them was another female captain from Korea and and a male from Belize(?) that was probably also a captain.

One of the female captains was sporting a 101st Airborne patch on her right shoulder. I would have enjoyed talking to her to get her story. She had to have served in Iraq and/or Afghanistan and appeared to me to be a rather young looking captain. As did the Korean - but then again everyone is starting to look young to me! HA

The only thing that I will probably do today that could be considered constructive has been done this morning. Made up a batch of breakfast meals and the next three days dessert. For the dessert this time I used some sliced almonds, Greek Gods Honey, Triple Berry Medley and some maple syrup - looking forward to having some this evening.

29 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

It was time for me to get next month's Will Rogers weekly articles copied and formatted. Past time. I did one of the articles last night and will do a couple more today. I could do them all but it does get boring and I have pixel art work to draw also. That drawing is finally looking like something and I'm more excited about finishing it now.

The Sawmill fire is now about 60% contained and did not grow much in size since yesterday. The winds have changed direction and are now blowing somewhat back in the direction that has been burnt. Early this morning when we were doing our walk there were a lot of dark clouds that looked like possible rain. Within an hour they were all blown away and the wind had died down quite a bit. The firefighters have to be grateful.

We finally got some relief from those high temperatures that started on 16 April. There were 8 consecutive days with high temperatures over 90. Broke below that on the 24th and we have had two days since then that were below 80 with today forecast to be 68°. All good things come to an end however with increasing highs to be in the upper 80 for the 10 Day forecast.

30 April
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ

I have not yet reached the end of my Verizon billing cycle and have not gone out of my way to curtail data usage but I'm under budgeted usage. That includes over 1GB for Ubuntu updates, without those I would be way below my limit.

I discovered a trick a few days ago that will save me a lot of usage in future periods. Then this morning I used a Chrome feature that may not reduce data usage a lot but is great. It does allow me to disconnect from Verizon and work offline so it does save some. The feature lets me turn a web page into a PDF document which I can read later offline. Slick!

I finished next month's Will Rogers week article setup yesterday. Also made some good progress on the pixel art drawing. I might even finish that within the next few days. It is a slow process.

The Sawmill fire is now considered to be almost 90% contained. The home owners that had been evacuated to the Pima County Fairgrounds have returned home but remain on pre-evacuation alert as are two other residential areas. One of them, Rain Valley, is about 5 miles from the Park but probably 10-15 miles from the remaining active fire. No smoke and light winds this morning.

Not much happening. I did make up some more sardine potato cakes this morning for 'linners'. That used the last of the fingerling potatoes that proved to be not the way to go.