No, I did not watch the debate!

Ok, I started watching it but after about 10 minutes of listening to Mr. Trump lie I just couldn't take it any more.  Wow!  And to think that there are people who actually admire him!  What can they be thinking?  And poor old Joe Biden looked so, well, old.  It was just nasty.

The 4th of July is coming up pretty quickly and that's a big deal around here.  We have at least 3 huge fireworks stores in our little town.  Of course you are only allowed to use fireworks at a public area well out of town; not in your back yard or anywhere like that.  And people in Las Vegas can't use fireworks; people in California can't use fireworks; but somehow the stores stay in business.  Hmmmm.  Do you think some folks are breaking the law or maybe just storing fireworks for a day when they will be made legal? 

These folks usually have a flag flying but when it comes to a special holiday they do kind of add to the display.  And, yes, the business is named "Area 51 Fireworks"; a nod to the well known extraterrestrial area just over the mountains from us.  It's maybe 50 miles 'as the crow flies'.  Actually I was on a civilian board advising the government on communicating with the public about the Nevada Test Site.  We got to visit much of the Test Site and even got a long distance view of Area 51.  We were no way close enough to actually see anything aside from dusty desert.

We had an interesting morning a couple days ago.  I really liked the cloud layer.  And it was fairly cool since the sun wasn't baking your body.

Still, that was unusual.  It is usually 'not a cloud in the sky' and something over 100F (38C).  You can tell it's warm when the birds are hiding in the shade wherever they can find it.

Well, that's all that's fit to print this morning.  Keep washing those hands and keep away from the sick people!

Nothing very exciting here.

 Well, it's been right around 3 weeks since I've updated the old blog.  I have an excuse though; my laptop just spent 4 days in the repair shop!  I'm not really sure what it's problem was; things just weren't working right but they did figure out that the battery was deader than anything so I imagine that was it.  It was a $40 part and a $50 install but let me tell you being without a computer for that long was a terrible experience!  I wasn't aware how much of my life is tied to this little thing.  Well, now things are back to normal and I can even update the blog.

The news is all about the election and I've got to admit that I'm spending way too much time reading about it.  There isn't a thing I can do about it until I vote on Election Day and reading all the guesses about what the various courts are going to say about Mr. Trump and his legal problems are just a waste of time.  I have been looking at https://jobsanger.blogspot.com/.  He posts a lot of very insightful comments about Mr. Trump.  I try to find other things to read but, darn it, there doesn't seem to be a lot of other news except the stupid crimes (including bad driving) that people are committing.  I'll tell you, I wish people could suddenly start being nicer to one another!  And not just in this country; those wars going on in other countries are not making my days any brighter either.

I did get a nice sunset photo a few days ago.

And here is a shot of the moon going down behind the mountains.

We have transitioned into summer around here.  Our days are in the 104F - 107F range (40C - 42C); the nights getting down to 65F - 75F (18C - 24C).  Humidity is in the 10-15% range.  Going outside and remaining in the shade is possible but I cannot imagine how the people who have to work out in the sun manage it.  I'd be sweating buckets.  I am thinking about those folks because for the first time in a very long time we are having houses built in our neighborhood.  There is one that has roofing on it already and the wallboard is up.  There is one that only just has it's foundation and there are two that are just holes in the ground.  Around here you dig a hole about 3 feet deep then fill that with gravel or something similiar for the foundation to sit upon.  We have areas in the valley where if you don't do that your foundation will be breaking up in a couple of years.  And that would be nasty for the builder, the realtor, the plumber, the purchaser and anyone else involved in the thing.  Houses in our area also have to have a well dug (ours is 200 feet deep per our well guy - around 60M) and a septic tank/field installed.  It's all very nice but far from cheap.  Houses that are on the re-sale market are in the $450-600 thousand area.  Of course there are some that go way higher!  Needless to say, when we bought this house 16 years ago things were a lot cheaper.

I've been having a lot of trouble standing up and walking is pretty nasty as well.  After all kinds of medical fooling around I finally got an MRI of the lumbar region of my spine.  There are 7 bones down in that area and the doctor looking at the results found something wrong with almost every one.  Now I'm scheduled for some sort of spinal injection to ease the impact of my spinal stenosis.  If that doesn't work then we'll be looking at more surgery and I'd sure love to avoid that.  I've got to admit that while the doctors have all been pretty nice, they sure take their time about scheduling you for care.  That injection is scheduled for August 1st!  I wonder how many patients that doctor has waiting for care.

That's probably all the news that's fit to print.  Take care and try avoiding all the sick people out there.

Mr. Trump and his 34 felonies....

Wow!  What a news flash!  I mean it's not like he shot 34 people or even beat them up but 34 felonies!  That isn't something that normal people should accept.  Of course we've all seen quotes from 15 or 20 Republican members of Congress (or Fox News) talking about how very wrong the verdict was. Of course several of those people are hoping to be the next Vice President under Trump.  Doesn't everyone cover up for the person who might be their next boss?

I was reading a guy's blog today (jobsanger.blogspot.com) where he pointed out that the Republican party used to be known as the party of law and order.  He's pretty sure that isn't the case any more and I can't say I disagree.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure the Democratic party has that honor either.  

I must say that I'm not really thrilled with either party.  My first, and simplest, complait is that both candidates are going to be older than I am!  I mean where are the 50 year old candidates?  Oh yeah, they are more busy trying to get laws passed to make money or slash taxes for their supporters. One of the things I've always liked about Joe Biden is that he seems to be someone who can work with members of both parties. Maybe there are some members of Congress who are doing that work these days but they sure aren't getting the credit/newscoverage they deserve.

At the end of the day I'm just thrilled that Mr. Trump was found guilty. I really cannot find anything good in the man. He started out being a draft dodger during the Vietnam War era. In business he clearly has lied and cheated others as well as the government. I heard, and I know many others heard, a tape recording made while he was being interviewed for some reason in which he claimed he really liked fondling women's genitalia even if he didn't know them. And lately his speechs have become totally confused babble.

One of the things that surprised me was the list of things that he will no longer be able to do as a convicted felon. There are apparently 40 countries that do not allow felons to visit. Of course the various states have their own rules that include things like voting, the right to own guns and various social benefits.

It's an interesting world and this is certainly not clearing things up! Let's see what tomorrow brings. Take care and keep washing those hands!