We got rain!

We get a reasonable number of storm warnings around here.  They are usually nothing.  But this time we got rain!  AND the mountains got snow!  That is really important because the snow will melt and end up in our aquifer meaning that we have water to drink!  I know lots of local folks grow trees and have lawns full of grass but my wife and I are pretty aware of living in the desert.  We have TWO cactus plants and that's it on our 1 acre home site.  We and our dog drink water and we (people!) shower every couple of days and that's our water usage.  We still worry about the aquifer.  What can I say?  Old farts worry about everything.

We managed to visit our dermatologist last week.  My wife just basically has dry skin that bothers her.  I had one episode of skin cancer that ended up in a Mohs operation.  They just basically scrape off the skin until they don't see any cancer there any more.  Fun?  No.  Effective?  Yes.  And I've got a nice little dent in the skin on my head to prove it.  This time the dermatologist found some spots on my skin that he didn't like so he pulled out the freezing spray and knocked out 13 spots!  They will go away but for now I've got nasty little spots all over my body.

Of course when I open up my phone or computer I immediately find some stupid thing our new President or his incompetent staff has done.  I mean the "Gulf of America"?  What an asshole!  Now "Gulf of the Americas" would at least make a little sense but it's been what it is for hundreds of years.  Taking over Greenland?  I mean I'm sure there are valuable minerals in those mountains; and it makes flying over Russia a much shorter trip; but you don't just go take what you want in this world.  I like my neighbor's car but I'm not going to go steal it!  I like the waitress in the casino but I don't just get to jump on her!  No, asshole is too mild a term for Mr. Trump and his cronies.  I can only hope that we and the rest of the world will manage to remain calm and peaceful for the next four years.  

I read several blogs where people are visiting Mexico and South America.  I see trucks full of bananas and wood and meat.  I know a certain amount of those things are headed for the USA.  Don't worry, those tariffs the idiot wants to impose will only make everything you buy more expensive!  Look at the fish in your grocery store:  product of Chile.  Look at almost anything you buy from Amazon:  product of China.  Don't worry; another 20% tariff will only be passed on to you by every retailer.

Life in the fun lane, huh?  Well, the good news is that it is warming up and we are going out to lunch at our favorite Japanese restaurant.  They haven't raised their prices in a year or so.  Next year will probably see the $10 lunch be $13 but we are here now.  It was 23 F ( -5C) this morning and now we are up to 45 F (7 C) so that's a good thing.  Gas and diesel are in the low $3 range; who knows what will happen there?  Nevada fuel taxes are kinda nasty.  We've been talking about an electric vehicle because it's only at most a 150 mile round trip to Las Vegas.  We could charge the thing here at home basically for free because of our solar panels.  But driving to Oklahoma City to visit our daughter would cost a bit - both money and time!  It's over 1,100 miles so that would be 4 days of full charge on most of them.  We'll see.

So take care & try to stay away from the sick folks.