Merry Christmas!

 And Happy New Year!  

Well, things are a bit different this morning.  This is our usual view (with balloon, of course).

This morning we have some of the moisture that California is getting; but the desert version.

Not exactly a blinding sunrise is it?  But, well, it's a kind of moisture I guess.  Otherwise everyone is just running around like we all do just before Xmas.  My wife and I haven't given presents to anyone (much less each other) for years.  It just seems like if we want to give you something, why wait?  And for each other; she certainly knows better what she wants than I do and vice versa.  So why buy the wrong thing?  Ok, I'm an old grump but it's been working for us for 40 years or so.

In the rest of the world, jeez, every time Mr. Trump opens his mouth I cannot imagine why anyone would vote for him.  A server in one of our local restaurants, a Japanese immigrant, was telling us how much he believes the election was stolen in 2016.  Of course the next day Mr. Trump is carefully telling us how illegal immigrants are 'poisoning the blood' of the country.  Hmmm.  Does anyone else see the stupidity of our server?  Of course there are probably other reasons he is a 45 year old server in a restaurant but I have to think 'dumb' is one of them.  

Of course in 2016 Nevada had some Republicans choose to report to the federal government that Mr. Trump had won the election when, in fact, he had lost it.  So I guess it's not just low-income servers who are dumb!  Jeez!  Every now and then my wife and I have this discussion about moving to another country if Trump were to win a second Presidency.  I don't think we'd ever actually do it but Switzerland is looking better all the time!

Sorry about the rant but this shit is getting old!  On a better note my wife and I managed to get our Xmas photo taken yesterday.  With the dog, of course!  So, as I said, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Much Better New Year!  Thanks for stopping by & take care.

Quiet times!

I haven't blogged recently because our lives are just DULL!  Well, not exactly,but close enough.  My wife is still going to physical therapy for her ankle and I'm going to physical therapy for my hip.  We are both improving but it's still a long way from 'normal'.  My wife walks with about a 10 inch step so that's pretty slow BUT she can walk around the grocery store with me which is a big improvement.  

I wrote a blog post the other day that was a rant about the world in general but didn't post it.  Living out here in Trump country just bothers me.  He is such a jerk.  And, of course, having two wars going on filling the news with a bombing here or an attack there isn't the way I'd like the world to be going.  Not to mention all the stuff about climate change and how little is being done about it!  But I won't bore you with that crap.  

The heat of the summer is finally leaving us; it is right around freezing every night and mid-70's (23C) during the day.  That is really nice.  We can even go out to lunch again leaving the dog in the car.  His need to be with us is really a pain in the.....  He just goes nuts if we leave him at home alone.  He seems fine being left in the car though.  We come back and he's just lying there dozing away.  

I drove past one of our county buildings the other day and got this photo of some local ducks.

You will note that they have nice green grass and plenty of water in their little lake.  Things like that make me wonder if the county officials even know we are in the desert.  Idiots!  It is pretty though.

So, things are pretty quiet.  About 90% of our mail is from some organization looking for donations.  Of course we made donations totalling something like $3,000 last year not including the trailer we gave to the American Legion so I guess they think we'll do the same this year.  And I'm sure we will.  Another 9% is from financial advisor newsletters, etc. thinking we should be getting advice from them.  That leaves 1% that are bills.  I don't remember the last actual letter we received from a friend or relative.  I suppose the same is true for everyone.  It just isn't something you talk about.

I'm out of news so I'll be signing off.  Thanks for stopping by.  Keep washing those hands!

Just a beautiful day....

 Daylight Savings Time ended this a.m. so everything is kind of weird BUT the sun is shining on the mountains and making them look so good!  That makes everything ok.  

Well, I sure wish the election was over and way beyond anything close.  I'm tired of being represented at the 'world level' by a pussy grabbing a**hole!  Where we live there are SO MANY Trump flags; I cannot understand how anyone can support such a fool.  But, I guess I don't understand a lot of things:  chemistry for example.  Anyway, I sure hope we get a new President.

I imagine I've said it before but I sure wish that we weren't choosing between two guys in their 70's.  I'm 72 and I think I'm slowing down.  I think the "Leader of the Free World" should be younger.  Not like really young but maybe in the 50's.  And I'd like them to have some experience in government at the national level; like Congress.  I believe that being in the government is different from being in the corporate world or anywhere else.  Knowing how to talk with the people you are working with; or who are working for you, is important.  Having someone from 'millionaire row' being President means that he or she doesn't have a clue about what really happens in the government (have you noticed that lately?).  It would be like me becoming the mayor of our town; I don't have a clue about how much the Roads department needs or the Police or the Parks.  

Someone sent me a PDF about how the Chinese are doing so much better than we in the US.  It talked about Chinese railroads, dams, bridges, roads, etc.  First of all, they do have a country that needs lots of upgrading and they can finally afford it however, it is certainly true that the infrastructure in the US needs upgrading.  Anyone who has driven I-70 in Colorado knows that!  Not to mention things like the dam in Michigan that washed away.  I'm sure there are plenty more that could use upgrading.  Then there is the whole sustainable energy problem.  Sticking our collective heads in the sand and saying global warming is a 'lie' won't work for us in the long term.  It's about as true as saying the coronavirus isn't anything to worry about.

My wife and I are planning our next trailer trip.  It's going to be a biggie - 3 or 4 nights in Las Vegas!  Yeah, well, we go to Vegas every week or ten days but we never take the time to see the sights.  There are actually some interesting places and we just never take the time to visit them; this time we will.  And it will give the dog some time in the trailer which he needs.  He won't learn about it if we don't take him.  Anyway, I should have a few Vegas photos next time.  

Gotta go.  This 1st day of November is zooming away.  Take care & keep washing those hands!

AFU

Boy, just when you think things are halfway reasonable some idiot comes along to screw it all up.  I'm refering to the idiot cop who killed George Floyd or, to be politically correct, the cop who is accused of killing Floyd.  What an asshole!  And what were the other cops on the scene doing aside from nothing?  I'm a law-and-order kind of guy but cops like that we sure do not need.  I won't even guess at how many hours I've spent watching COPS and Life-PD and those men and women have a tough job every day.  Now we don't really need riots and looting to express our displeasure but I do kind of 'get it'.  If I was black and thought that if I was arrested there would be a chance some idiot would kneel on my neck; well, I'd be pretty pissed off too.  Hell, if I thought that I'd get arrested where some white guy would just get a warning, yeah, I'd be pissed off about that as well.

Ok, aside from that, things are pretty quiet around here.  Our daughter came to visit from her new home in Texas.  It was just a long weekend but that's enough.  She has been remodeling the home she purchased and that is being just a total pain so she had lots of steam to blow off.  We had been thinking we'd be visiting her in her new home around the first of April; now it's looking like mid to late June.  Oh yeah, visiting Texas in the middle of summer.  That sounds just a bit warm.  Of course the restaurants around here aren't fully open so we got to cook at home and do a little takeout.  Life in the fast lane!

I posted a photo of our cactus flowering a couple weeks ago.  Much to our delight our other cactus decided it was going to flower as well.

It is almost like we know how to grow the darned things.

I've been working trying to clean up the room I call my 'office'.  It is mostly a disaster but I am to the point where I can see most of the desk top.  I've got some old things that I got from my parents:  a couple of those 'Empty Book' things that they were supposed to write all the family secrets in; photos of long dead relatives; that sort of thing.  Now I'm trying to figure out what to do with all that junk.  Some people are interested in their family tree, etc.  I guess I'm not there. 

I did see an interesting article in an issue of the American Legion magazine talking about donating one's brain to science.  They are working on trying to find physical reasons for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and other brain injuries.  Here is a link to the place to sign up if you are interested.  Why not donate and try to help the studies to reduce the pain of others?

Gotta go.  Thanks for stopping by.  Keep washing those hands!

More quiet times

We haven't been doing a whole bunch lately.  The weather has been odd to say the least.  It's been quite cool with highs of maybe 70F (21C) but it's been fairly windy as well, like 15 mph (25 kph).  It isn't awful just not what we expect at this time of year.  To add injury, my wife managed to fall down and do something to her right side that makes walking painful.  THEN she did something to her right shoulder that caused her doctor to prescribe physical therapy.  All in all, it's not big problems but enough to keep us from wandering around much. 

We did make it in to Las Vegas a few days ago and bought a small table from IKEA.  We've been fans of the store since we lived in the Netherlands.  You wander around in the maze they call a store and can actually come up with some interesting ideas.  Anyway, the directions for the table were fun I thought.

I mean, 36 different languages to tell you how to clean the table???  It also speaks to how dull things are that I counted them all! 

At least one of our cactus plants is happy.

It usually comes up with one or two blooms but this year it is out-doing itself.  It makes the bees happy as well. 

I'm to the point that I can hardly look at the news any more.  Our President is such a jerk; I keep thinking he can't get any worse then he trump's himself.  And some people still support him.  Driving into town we pass this house that is flying TWO "Trump 2020" flags.  The Democratic party seems to be trying to keep him in office given the huge group of losers they have running for President.  There are 23 of them!  Most of them are unknown except for their own family and the front runners are the same old white men that have been unelectable for years.  These fools are simply helping the President stay in office.  To make it even worse, Biden and Sanders are 76 and 77 respectively.  I mean they are older than me for crying out loud (and Trump for that matter). 

Well, sorry for the rant.  It just bothers me that we have such an unreliable fool for President.  Thanks for stopping by. 

Second step!

A couple weeks ago we decided to try some of the recreationial marijuana that is newly legal (kind of) here in Nevada.  Well, we bought it a couple weeks ago.  After that we had a few things going on that kept us from actually trying the stuff.  Finally we got to a day when we thought we could try the little mint things. 

The mints contain 5mg of THC oil.  They come in a package intended to be difficult to open to deter small children and it would take a determined kid to get into it.  Sure they would eventually make it but at least the company is making an effort.  You are directed to place the mint under your tongue and let it dissolve.  That is kind of a pain but after about 15 minutes it is gone.  They say you might not feel the effect for up to two hours.  Neither of us really felt anything at all.  No high, no low, no nuthin.  Next time we are thinking of trying two of the mints.

A few days later we decided to split one of the cookies.  They contain 20 mg of THC oil.  Well, that was very different.  We both felt the effects this time but they weren't particularly wonderful.  My wife said she felt a little woozy but that she could continue with whatever she was doing.  I felt slightly dizzy so retired to go watch tv for the rest of the afternoon.  It was fine but a couple glasses of wine would have probably brought about the same desire to veg out in front of the tv.  Long story short:  it will be a long time before we have to go refill our supply if we ever do bother.  The liquor store is in no danger of losing our custom to the marijuana pharmacy.

Other than that experiment we've been staying indoors a lot.  Daytime highs are in the 105-110F range (40-43C) so the a/c doesn't get a rest.  Nighttime temps are cooler but (78F or 25C) but that is in the hour before sunrise so we don't really open the house.  We do take our morning walk and have been trying to get out between 05:30 and 06:00.  The sun gets over the mountain shortly after 06:00.  This morning was kind of a bummer.  We found a rabbit that had been hit by a car just in front of our neighbor's house.  Then we found a burrowing owl that had apparently been hit as well.  Finally, when we went out to breakfast we saw a cat that had been run over.  It was just a deadly night for the critters. 

To make my morning special I decided to deal with Vanguard Group.  We have an account that contains a couple mutual funds and they apparently want us to change to a brokerage account.  Turns out that since the account is in the name of our trust it is just a giant pain.  Fifteen minutes on the phone with a representative and it turns out that they will have to send us paperwork to sign and enclose copies of the trust paperwork.  What a stupid way of doing business.  I want the account to be secure too but we already sent them copies of the trust paperwork when we set up the account.  What idiots!  I'm tempted to tell them to close the account altogether and move the money into a company that actually wants our business.  Grrr!

I'm going to end with a photo I took while in Las Vegas a few months ago.  We were sitting at just the right table in a restaurant looking across the parking lot with a light pole in just the right place.  What should I see but the ASS Christian Church!

It is, of course, the OASIS Christian Church but I sure had to look twice!  I'm sure it is a wonderful organization and that they help many people but I got a kick out of the mistake I had made.  Thanks for stopping by.

I'm back!!! And dull!!!!

Ok, it's a Wednesday in the dessert.  110F = 43+C  Brought the garbage pail in and got the paper.  Exciting, huh?

Well, actually the paper did have something kind of cool.  These two kids are trying to make the world a better place!  And, no, they don't require the assistance of the world's largest asshole, Donald Trump.  They are just trying to get some local folks to take the first step to All Lives Matter.  My wife and I are planning to be there.  It took me a long time to find this quote:  "Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing."  Thank you, John Stuart Mill. 

Our country, the good old U.S. of A., seems to be under the misaprehension that it is AFU.  Well, no.  Not only no but HELL NO!  Actually this place seems rather like heaven on earth without the assistance of either of the Presidential candidates.  (How the hell did we get in this position?)

Ok, lots of places get things working better.  Health care in many countries is more affordable.  Until recently I would have said race relations were better in Europe than here; now I'm not so sure.  Education is clearly more valued in many countries.  It is a f*cking crime but it's true.  I've actually lived in Florida and Nevada and each has an education system that is pathetic to put it mildly.  Criminal does come to mind!  Then there is the gun issue.  Sorry, I want my guns.  But, clearly we need to do SOMETHING.  Nice, France showed us that guns aren't the be-all and end-all of any problem but in this country they sure as hell are part of it. 

You know, if you want to make a life here, it's not that tough.  My wife, with a high school education, retired as a second level manager in the phone company.  Our kids, both of whom declined college, are each making nice livings in sales, nursing and IT.  Really if you look beyond working at McD's life can be pretty good.  Our favorite Mexican restaurant is run by a family from Durango - as in Mexico.  In the eight years we've been here they have gone from a small place off the highway to a much larger place on the highway (which is obviously a big deal) and another place in a small 'community' that is in a business area.  This is in the middle of another 'Depression' if you listen to the idiots.  All you have to do is try and this country will work really well for you.

I'm off to a meeting of the NSSAB - Nevada Security Site Advisory Board.  All that Area 51 crap is the center of a MUCH larger area where A-bombs were tested back in the day.  It's about 50 miles from the nearest person but people are worried that something is going to be in their water.  The government has this stupid board to help spread the word:  it ain't happening.  But the people who are afraid aren't going to listen so WTF.  Let's just tell them to put their heads under their wings and drop off to sleep.  Grrr!

Gotta go.  Have a good one and thanks for dropping it!

I'm not even going to try

There just isn't much you can say about the tragic murders in Orlando of all those people.  When someone is that determined nothing much is going to help.  Cops can't be everywhere watching everyone.  Gun control isn't the answer; they'd just create a bomb.  Teaching love, understanding, even the freedom to be different doesn't seem to have much traction either.  The human mind can go such strange places. 

This post is just going to be a ramble.  Just a warning in case you want to bail now!

Out here in the Nevada desert we are enjoying a slight reprieve from the Excessive Heat Warnings.  It's just hot; not 'don't go out unless you must'.  We still have people doing foolish things.  A woman was cited the other day for leaving her young dog in the car.  She left a window open but it was still over 120F (49C) inside - as measured by the Animal Control officer.  So she is shoping at Goodwill when she gets the ticket; I'm thinking she isn't very well off.  And she gets a $650 ticket for abusing her animal.  How do you think that going to work out?  Animal Control is doing their job but $650?

There was a 'feel good' story on the news a month or so ago where this cop pulls a guy over then notices the guy's kid isn't in a child seat.  Why not?  The guy says he can barely buy food, doesn't have any money left over for a child seat.  The cop could have written him a ticket but instead takes him to Walmart and buys the kid a car seat.  Later he said he couldn't see writing a ticket the guy couldn't afford.  I guess there are people like that in the world as well.

Big plan for today is to take some food stuffs over to the VFW Food Bank.  We try to make it over there every month.  Last month's load was kind of light but we made up for it this time.  We find it difficult buying for a food bank.  Who knows what they need?  We ask but I suppose the needs change daily.  At any rate the answers we get from the folks running it do.  They support some people, both male and female, who are living alone out in the desert; they also support people who have families even extended families.  As a result some of the stuff we buy is single serving, eat from the can.  Some is family size requiring cooking.  What can you do?

Our local Primary Election is tomorrow so my wife and I will be voting.  It really is pretty sad though.  We are both independents, not associated with a political party.  All voters, including us, have two positions to vote for:  a member of the University Board of Regents and a member of the School District Board of Trustees.  Each position has only one person running so, they will both win.  It really motivates a person to go vote!

The Republicans and Democrats have to choose candidates for the Senate and the House of Representatives.  In addition, the Republicans have a race for a seat on the County Commission.  Thus, in the fall the ballot will have President, Senator and Representative.  That's it.  No state offices, no local offices at all.  What a farce.  Maybe we are getting the government we deserve. 

So that's all the news that's fit to print today.  Sorry about the random nature of it all.  Thanks for stopping by and have a good one!

Closet

Having fun in the desert with closet renovation.  On top of Thanksgiving, of course!  So now would be the time for the Toyota's power windows to stop working.  Grrr!  There are THREE fuse panels that we've found but we haven't found a burnt fuse yet.  Double GRRRR!  Well, maybe it's time we talked to an automotive repair professional.  At least we need someone who isn't 65 and 225 lb trying to stuff himself under the dash of this damn thing. 

We (well, mostly my wife) did get the closet painted.

Then there was the time I came home from grocery shopping and the closet had been dropped on the front porch!  I'm not sure they even rang the doorbell; my wife didn't hear it but she was painting! 

This is only part of the delivery!  It's kind of funny.  Two boxes will be the same size; one will weigh 10 lb and the other 50.  I've no idea how they do these things but so far it looks like everything arrived in good shape. 

Gotta go get things ready for Thanksgiving.  Have a good one and if I don't get online again, all you U.S. folks have a great Thanksgiving.!

Getting on...

We are still getting used to the new normal of no dog.  It will be a long while before one of the other of us goes a week without thinking we see or hear her but it will happen.  In the mean time we just need to get over it.  We got her almost twelve years ago and were separated from her for a total of 16 days in that time.  When we had her put down there was absolutely nothing wrong with her aside from the mess that was her cancer.  However.....

I was reading RandomRoger (famous financial blogger) a few weeks ago and he pointed out that there are a LOT of funds and ETFs that mimic the SPY ETF; which is supposed to mimic the S&P 500.  Since I read that I've been trying to find funds that will give us diversification while keeping charges low.  The problem is the HUGE universe of products almost generates an inability to make a choice.  I've read of this condition but now it's got me.  In the end, I know what I'll do.  I'll go for large products and just go along for the ride.  We certainly won't get famous or particularly rich but we'll do ok.

We have decided on a new way to spend money; well, new to us!  Viking River Cruises have been sending my wife their brochures for some time.  Right now they are giving 'special' rates if you book a 2014 cruise now.  We just couldn't say 'no'.  It is weak of us I know but what are you going to do?  Take it with you?  We have signed up for a China river cruise that includes flying around to some sites that aren't on the river.  It is one of those drag you around by the hand things where you are either on one of their ships, one of their planes or in one of their buses.  It is going to be really weird but we are both intimidated by not knowing the language or even the script.  We don't go for over a year but are already getting excited.  It will be the first time we've been out of the country since 2000.  Amazing!

Somehow I managed to watch much of President Obama's inauguration.  I thought it was ok as such things go; the poem that was written for the occasion seemed longer than the President's speech!  It will be interesting to see what he does with a second term.  His first seems to have polarized the country even more than it was before.  I'm afraid he isn't a man who learns cooperation easily and the Republican party seems pretty divided so I'm not so sure anything much is going to happen.  I hope he doesn't take the back door approach to things and start proclaiming Presidential Privilege all over the place.  That crap will stick us in the ass.  The Constitution did a great job of defining three parts of our government; having some fool try to jimmy the definitions on the fly for his own ends is not good for any of us. 

Have a good one.  I'm going to work on it too!

What can one say?

I had a thought or two that I was going to share this morning but after the shooting in Connecticut, what else can I say but Oh My God, all those little children dead.  The photos of the parents who have found their children; the photos of the parents who have not; it is just heartbreaking.  The news that is coming out is so contradictory.  I suppose in a couple of weeks we will have a better idea of what happened and why.  Not that I expect it will help the parents of the children or the husbands and wives of the school workers.  Maybe it will help the survivors, a little.

Needless to say all the gun control people will be howling.  They seem to misunderstand that people who want to kill will manage it regardless of the laws.  Don't you have to be 21 to purchase a gun?  The kid identified as the shooter was only 20.  Laws don't protect people, they can only punish people who get caught.

I don't break speeding laws much but there are plenty who do.  Maybe we should build cars that know the speed limits and won't break them.  Surely the technology is there.  Our GPS knows the speed limits on most streets and highways; it would be trivial to tie the GPS into the car computer system and have it just say 'no' when you want to speed.  That and a car that won't start if the driver has been drinking would save thousands of lives.  Laws are only the answer if people obey them and some people just don't.

On a happier note, we got half an inch of rain (1.3 cm) yesterday and a bit more today.  For a place where four inches (10 cm) is the average, that's good news!  It means we have lots of clouds around the mountains as well.  Very pretty.  The ski resort over on the Las Vegas side of the mountain is pretty darned happy too.  Let me close with yet another photo of the mountains I look at as I sit here; this from yesterday afternoon.  Have a good one!

Collapse!

I have been reading blogs lately whose writers are anticapating some sort of incredible collapse of our society - soon!  I disagree but I am in sympathy with them.  Our society is clearly in trouble; and not just ours but seemingly the entire world.  Let's see what sort of collapses I can find.

1.  The economic state of the U.S. - Public Debt is just crazy, the economy in general is dull at best.
2.  The euro - bailing out the poor countries will be awful; kicking them out ditto.
3.  Islamic unrest - is it out of control?  How does a primarily Christian country like the U.S. but believing in a separation of church and state respond to a religous war? 
4.  Will terrorists start sneaking serious bombs into our country?
5.  Is there a threat from China?  Clearly they make everything we use, buy all our debt, are establishing a huge military presence, may have the abliity to undermine our infrastructure.
6.  Our infrastructure is dying on the vine anyway since our country isn't investing in it at all.  And basic scientific research is dying without investment - if you don't think that is important you are sadly mistaken.


Of course I've not mentioned the things I don't think are dangers (and why) - like:

1.  Whether or not Mr. Obama was born in the U.S. (It's a done deal folks!)
2.  Increased gun control. (Against - I like guns AND the Constitution; read the 2nd amendment.)
3.  Immigrants. (This is the melting pot, let them in.  Legalize them!  In a generation, we'll all be better for them.  No one is complaining about the Irish any more.)
4.  Paying for abortions via Medicare. (Would you rather support the kids on welfare?  How about paying for orphanages?)
5.  The decline of morality.  (This does bother me but I don't see it as a danger as long as we don't try to impose any specific definition of morality on our society.)
6.  Religion in general.  (Read the damn Constitution!  Whatever you believe, as long as you keep it reasonably to yourself, go ahead.  Yes, even Scientologists, Islamics and athiests.)

Have I ever been wrong?  Of course!  All the time!  But really folks, I don't think the sky isn't falling any more than usual.  And even if it were, no one gets out of this life alive anyway.

9/11 again

I doubt if there are many in the Western world who don't remember 9/11; where they were, what they were doing.  My smartphone tells me it is Patriot Day.  Well, I don't mean to be a grouch but who really needed a named day?  And what the hell does it have to do with patriotism?  Tragedy Day; Terrorism Day; those mean something but Patriot Day?  The soldier who gets killed today in Afghanistan is a patriot.  The people killed in the terrorist attacks were mostly victims; the first responders might be called heroes; but I just don't care for the term Patriot Day. 

Ok, rant is over.  My wife and I are self-described weird people.  Take our eating habits for example.  We will start out a week with the fridge almost empty then we cook several days in a row and then darned thing is stuffed with leftovers.  Does anyone else do that?  For example, right now we have a big tub of ham & bean soup; another of a beef & barley stew; several pieces of leftover steak; some leftover salmon; leftover taco filling and more!  There is enough food for a dozen people; no wonder I'm overweight.  One thing we are both proud of is that we don't eat a lot of processed stuff.  No Hamburger Helper in our cupboard though we do have at least 30 different spices.  We might cook up some noodles and put hamburger in with them but it won't be out of a box. 

Of course that isn't our only weirdness.  Take vehicles; we keep them quite a while. It's not a contest or anything; I don't like unreliable vehicles but we keep them and take care of them.  Our last truck stayed with us for 9 years; the car 15 years; the one before that 10 years.  We are having a party in December; we'll be paying off the RAV4 after three years.  (Toyota was offering 0% interest & I just couldn't say 'no'.)  That means we'll have 6 to 10 years without a car payment.  That makes life a lot nicer!  The truck is an 08 model, nearly five years old, paid for, but it's only got 30,000 miles (48,000 km).  We are planning on keeping it for quite a while too.  What do we care if it's old? 

Being atheists marks us as weird too.  I doubt if I could get elected dog catcher in this country; much less in this town.  We have a church around every corner and at least two church related schools.  (Oddly, there is  no Catholic school here though there is a fairly large church; the fundamentalist sects are the ones with schools.)   It must be a reflection of my age and upbringing that I am unfamiliar with churches like The Rock Vineyard Church or The Foursquare Faith Fellowship or the Heritage Bible Church.  I'm more used to the couple different kinds of Lutheran or Baptist Churches. 

Speaking of religion; I came across an article on Thomas Jefferson and his religious beliefs.  Apparently he didn't care for the entire bible so he selected the parts he liked and physically made up his own version.  http://www.smithsonianmag.com/multimedia/videos/A-Brief-History-of-the-Jefferson-Bible.html  For me it is an astonishingly thoughtful and ambitious undertaking.  Apparently he was a person who took his religion seriously.

On that odd note I will leave you.  Have a good one.

Election in Quebec???

Ok, I know the US is insular but this is carrying things too far!  There was an election in Quebec and the new P.M. is a separatist.  The Las Vegas Review Journal had not a word about the election; even though there was even a shooting involved!  Grrrr!  (Some nut came into the hall where she was speaking and managed to kill someone while missing the new P.M. entirely.)  The point for me is that Canada is an important part of the world and we don't have any knowledge of what's going on there.  Jeez!   The way I heard of the whole election/shooting was via my smartphone.  I think it is just sad that our traditional news media has become so isolated. 

Someone sent me an email the other day suggesting I watch a documentary on our local Fox affiliate on President Obama.  Are you kidding me?  What possible credence would Murdoch's right wing empire have with any normal thinking human being when talking about a fairly centralist candidate?  Oh, but I forgot, thinking is a very old fashioned virtue and isn't much done any more.  It certainly isn't allowed on television!  Every time I catch myself watching a show on Fox is pisses me off knowing I'm funding his empire. 

In an attempt to lower my blood pressure, I'm going to change the subject!  I am looking forward to the new vans that Ford and Dodge are supposed to be introducing.  I've always liked the look of the Transit van and some of the Fiat vans are pretty good looking as well and should be pretty cheap to run.  They all come from places where $5 a gallon fuel is the rule rather than a political scare tactic.  They should give the Mercedes Sprinter a run for it's money.  I don't see the traditional U.S. pickup being abandoned even though they do get awful mileage; they are kind of like cowboy boots, a tradition.  Besides, I've never seen a viable substitute.

Speaking of vans and trucks reminds me that we haven't traveled anywhere lately.  I'm not sure what's next.  There are lots of places in California that we want to visit that aren't far:  Sequoia National Park, Yosemite National Park, San Francisco, the wine country, the list goes on and on.  However, most likely it will be another run to San Diego but after the new year.   Dull, that's me.

Have a good one!

Insurance Folly

I read blogs from other countries where there is some sort of socialized medicine and think that if only we could call it something other than 'socialized' it would be a big hit here in the U.S.  Unfortunately that particular word is misunderstood in this country.  I blame it on the abysmal job done by our education mafia but I digress.  I got a letter from my doctor's office yesterday containing a bill for an x-ray I had done.

First of all, we have health insurance that is associated with my wife's retirement.  It basically does nothing and costs us about $10K a year.  However, if either of us ever had something desperately wrong, it would pay for itself in moments.   BTW, my wife, being the inquiring sort, has figured out that even though we are pretty healthy, we are actually getting our $10K a year back based on accounting such as I shall relate.  Now, back to my doctor's bill.

On 16 May I had my x-ray.  The statement is dated 16 August; how it only got here on 23 August (from Las Vegas) is between the doctor's office, the Post Office and God.  I was billed $282.00 for my x-ray.  The insurance company paid $79.34 for the x-ray.  The contract between the insurance company and the doctor's office obligated the doctor to 'adjust' the bill by $182.82.  So my bill is $19.84.  Now what kind of screwed up mess is that!  If you walk in without insurance you pay almost $300; with this 'insurance', you pay $20.  Huh???

So folks, if you don't think the medical situation in this country is AFU, think again!

On a completely different subject, I normally use Firefox for a browser.  Yesterday I discovered that trying to view a video on YouTube (a Google company) gave me a message:  "An error occurred.  Please try again later."  Remember I was getting messages from Blogger( another Google company) about using Firefox; well, I fired up Chrome, Google's browser, and was able to view the video perfectly.  Anyone want to guess what's going on?  I'm not paranoid but I could learn to be. 

Have a good one!

Vindy!

It's VINDY today - The Weather Channel says 20 mph (32kph) but they lie!  My cell phone info also comes from The Weather Channel and on it they say 38 mph (61kph) - that's more like it. I'm just going to have to get a weather station so I can monitor this stuff!

Had a great weekend with our son & daughter-in-law who came over from San Diego to celebrate his 40th birthday.  Wow!  How did that happen?  It the slides I've been copying he's only about 10.  Of course his mother and I are skinny and only about 30 ourselves in those photos.  We mostly ate out.  Here that is frought with difficulty.  We went to Stockman's inside the Golden Nugget casino.  The food was good but the wait between our salads and our dinner was almost an hour!  And that's one of the better restaurants in town!  There are others we can't take anyone to because they are so unreliable.  Going in to Vegas is investing about two and a half hours in driving before adding in the time to actually eat.  Grrrr!

When I worked in Seattle, we were on the 24th floor of a building that isn't even there any more.  We had good views though.  This would be when we'd get off the elevator on the 18th floor and walk up because we all needed the exercise.  Don't do stuff like that anymore! 

This is Elliot Bay from the old Pacific Northwest Bell building.  The light is kind of subdued because the windows were heavily tinted.  You can tell it's a nice summer day though, it isn't raining!  Have a good one.

Getting Ready...

It's coming up on Thanksgiving and that's pretty much our favorite holiday of the year so we are excited.  I mean how excited are we atheists supposed to get at Christmas?  What we are expecting is that it will be my wife and myself, our daughter, our son & his significant other (SO) together for a few days.  So it won't be a really big thing but we have seen so little of our son (her son, my stepson) and his SO that it's still exciting for us. (A sidebar:  I'm not one to intrude in others lives but I do wish he'd just marry the woman.  They've been together for 16 years and this SO shit is so boring!)  My wife is almost over her cold and I seem to have avoided catching it so at least we can have everyone here.  Wouldn't that be nasty:  go for a holiday visit and catch some nasty bug!  

Of course the holiday means that we have to have the house looking a bit better than usual.  We've already had the carpets cleaned one day last week.  I managed to clean the deck/patio area yesterday.  It's a favorite hang-out of the birds after they have visited the feeder so you can imagine the mess.  After hearing from a friend in Florida, it occurred to me that I ought to have a pressure washer so I bought one.  It sure makes a difference in the amount of work it takes to clean the deck and the furniture!  It also cuts down on the amount of water used as well; as a desert dweller I'm loving that.  Next up is washing all the windows.   I'm beginning to think that if we didn't have visitors we'd never do a deep cleaning ever.  Hmmmm.

Our big deal this weekend will be shopping for the local foodbank.  The radio station will have a stand in front of a store and we'll help them to fill their box.  For me it's the worst to think that there are people in this country who are hungry.  We are the wealthiest country on earth, we have the highest standard of living, and we still have people who are hungry.  Isn't that just awful.  I don't really give a toss about the drunks and drug addicts who might be hungry, I'm talking about families (who might even be working!) who can't afford a decent meal.  It gives an opportunity for relatively wealthy old folks like me to practice some charity but otherwise I'm pretty appalled.  

As always, have a good one!

Innocent until proven guilty

The local paper has a story about some guy who has been charged with growing pot.  It's tough to get a job in the valley these days; apparently there are alternatives!  It's nice to hear about entrepreneurs in any field.  When we were in Colorado the papers were full of stories about cracking down on medical marijuana growers.  Apparently they weren't keeping good records about how much they grew and to whom they sold it.  The authorities suspect that maybe some was reaching an illegal market.  Hmmmm.

I would like it if we just did away with all drug laws for adults.  Clearly society has a responsibility to look out for children but if an adult wants to do virtually ANY drug; it's fine with me.  Do meth for a couple years and you won't have any teeth and then maybe things get bad.  But, you know, I've never tried it; don't want to.  The folks who DO want it can find it.  Why not just legalize it and tax it.  Companies would provide clean, probably cheap, product of known consistent quality.  The user would have a better experience.  The drug cartels of South & Central America would be out of business.  The drug gangs in the U.S. would be out of business.  Hell, even the lawyers, jail keepers and police would have to find something to fill their empty hours.   Nah, we can't do that, it almost makes sense.

Speaking of making sense:  Yahoo's sports page had a link to the Mark Cuban blog post that I quoted the other day.  They are giving him credit for warning about the stock market collapse; I read it that what was happening in Wall Street is uncontrolled and needs new rules, simpler rules to draw lines between investing vs trading.  He did say that what is going on now will lead us to a crisis.  He also said Australia has better rules; well, we can't learn from anyone else!  That's un-American!

Off to dinner this evening.  Last time the food was pretty awful.  Wish us luck!

Nothing to say?

Yep, I've got nothing to say.  Have lots of things to do; things I should be doing anyway, but I'm even being lazy about that.  We've been walking our 40 or 45 minutes every morning and I manage to do not much the rest of the day.  We've been eating out too much but when you are careful about portion control it isn't too bad. 

I was reading Random Roger this a.m. and his outlook for the U.S. economy is going even farther downhill than before.  He's probably right, he seems like a pretty sharp guy and the news is certainly grim.  The Congress is doing it's best to disagree about almost everything and the thought that they might do something responsible is pretty much impossible.  The topping on the cake is all the politicians, John Edwards, John Ensign and Arnold Schwarzenegger are only the latest, who can't keep it in their pants.  I don't expect too much of our politicians but damn, here you are 50-60 years old and wanting to run the nation and you can't manage yourself.  Bah humbug!

Locally some people have come up with the idea of building a theme park outside of town.  A theme park, you mean like for kids?  Look folks, we are an hour outside of Las Vegas.  You know, Sin City?  It's partially a 2 lane road going up a 7% grade.  We have 3 or 4 brothels in town.  This isn't fucking Kansas, guys!  Oh, and the developer they are talking with; they haven't ever done this before.  Their first park is supposed to start construction later this year.  Yeah, sure!  These 'site location' experts have their first bill prepared anyway if the Town Board is will to pay them their $150K.  What hicks!

Gotta go.  Hope I didn't depress you too much.

What's going on??

We've got unusual things going on in the valley; not just the normal stuff.  We have a couple days of warm weather then a few of colder than normal.  A couple days of windy weather then a couple days of calm.  There is a lot of 'sabre rattling' in the normal way of things but not much actual violence.  It's not unusual to go into the grocery store and see some guy my age wearing a handgun on his belt.  Not this week.  No, this week I had a deputy come up to the door and ask if I'd heard any gunfire or loud cars lately.  Hmmm.  No, sorry, I had to reply.  If any low-lifes had been playing shoot-em-up, I didn't hear it.  Oh well, I've always preferred life in the slow lane.

Speaking thereof, I've been reading how TIPS bonds have been screwing their purchasers several ways from Sunday.  How's that for ugly?  Not only are you getting no return but the value of the bond is going down.  Here I was actually thinking of buying some.  Guess lethargic is the best reaction after all. 

Talked to our neighbor yesterday as a reaction to the sheriff's visit.  They revealed that they have a gun in the house that 'looks like' a real gun.  Jeez, if that isn't asking for trouble.  Break into a house insured by Smith and Wesson and you'll probably leave feet first; break into a house insured by BB and Associates and the home owner might just precede you.  NOT a good result for the good guys.  Just for the record, my wife shoots better than I do but I did get my marksmanship badge.

A couple of months ago we were talking with the guys who run our ISP and discovered that our router was semi-broken.  Last week we bought a new N-series router.  Today we managed to get it installed.  Not to hope that things will be faster but at least we shouldn't have any delays on our side of the tracks!  It DID take a call to our ISP to get the thing going but that's the joy of living in a small town:  we know where they live so they are really great with customer service!  (See para above re shooting on our street!)  Really, they have been great with service from day 1!  Go AirInternet!  I've got to give them a 5 out of 5 in every way.

Talked to a friend today who's son has had a child with an alcoholic.  It makes you thankful for normal life.  The kid is facing having to take his child away from it's mother for it's own good.  Imagine coming home from work at 15:00, finding your partner drunk in bed and your child not having eaten all day.  It's a classical definition of the need for Child Protective Services.  If that young man cannot take on the roll of single father, that child really needs to go into care.  It's ugly, ugly, ugly anyway you look at it.  Here's hoping he can make some lemonade from those lemons! 

Have a good one!