Home again

Hi there, y'all; we been gone!  Took a quick trip from here to San Diego.  It's about a 6 hour drive since we 1) tow our trailer and 2) obey California's STUPID 55 mph (88kph) speed limit for people towing.  Geez, it gripes my butt every time I think about it.  Here you have a bunch of untutored, text-messaging assholes flying along at a legal 70 mph (112 kph) and they are having to dodge a vehicle, a big cumbersome vehicle, that is doing 15 mph (24 kph) less.  Grrrr!

Had a great trip though.  We had rain here the night before we left so when we got over the mountains into California there had been run-off.  There was dried mud across the road many places and in one place we found several inches (say 15 cm, I didn't measure it!) of water flowing across the road.  We left about 09:00 on Sunday and got there by 15:30 or so.  The only bad part of the drive was around Riverside, CA where I-215 is being worked on; has been for the two years we've been using it to visit San Diego anyway!

We spent our week doing tourist stuff like Old Town and Balboa Park.  The trip was mostly to see our son & his 'girlfriend' of 16 years.  So far they have resisted marriage & I wish them success.  I know I was worried when my wife and I decided to stop 'living in sin' and make it legal.  Guess it worked out since it's been 27 years now.  You never know how people are going to react though so I can see not screwing with a good thing.  We ate together a lot & talked quite a bit.  Had good food and some that wasn't quite so good.  Happily it was all good when we ate at their house and when he ate at ours (she is a nurse and was working some weird shift).

Photos?  Nope.  Except for the flowers around the dog run at the RV park!  Here's one from my cell phone:

Came back on Sunday.  It was my wife's idea to do all our traveling on Sundays and I must say it worked out well.  We had what I would call moderate traffic all the way.  We decided to stay on I-15 going north rather than take the I-215 and that was pretty successful too; not being torn-up is much easier on the nerves and it's only about 10 miles (16 km) farther.  Even at $4.15/gallon ($1.06/l.) and using 1 gallon every 10 miles (23 l. per 100 km ), it's a no-brainer.  Traffic towards Vegas wasn't bad but there was quite a lot of it.  Traffic from Vegas back to California was nasty.  There is an Agricultural Check point on I-15 in California; they had a miles long backup at 13:00!!  When we went through the previous week at about 11:30 it was nowhere near that bad.  No idea if that is always the way it is or not but I did see a few vehicles on a road going parallel to the Interstate.  Guess if I was in a hurry I might consider getting off the Southbound highway at exit 206 and try out the other road.  No idea where I'd get back on but  it would at least be fun!

We get off I-15 at Baker, CA and drive up to Shoshone, CA then cut over to Pahrump.  On the road between Baker and Shoshone (55 miles or 88 km) I counted oncoming vehicles: 3 semi-trucks; 3 work trucks, 20 private vehicles (including motorcycles). We were passed by 7 private vehicles.  My kind of traffic!

Got used to eating three times a day in San Diego; I'm hungry.  Have a good one!

Silly market

There is an old saw about getting out of the market in April and returning in September.  Isn't working well this year!  Dow is down over 300 points today.  Up a hundred one day, down a hundred the next, makes you seasick watching the darned thing.  Oh well.  Not much I can do about that!

We've spent the morning cleaning the house.  At least that's productive!  A friend mentioned cleaning their deck with a pressure washer.  I don't know why we hadn't thought of getting one before but we did and it sure makes short work of the deck.  It looks a 1,000% better in half an hour and the pressure washer uses less water than we'd use with just a hose and a brush.  Life is good!

I was reading Random Roger (as usual!) and he commented that it seems many people of retirement age still have a lot of mortgage debt.  Well, why not?  Having EXCESSIVE debt is always bad regardless of the origin of the debt but the key word is 'excessive' not 'debt'.  We owe $10K or so on our car as well but Toyota offered us a 0% loan.  We get to keep our money invested and pay off the car over several years.  What's wrong with that?  It's not like we trade vehicles every year.  Our cars last us a while:  Mazda 626 (10 years); BMW 325 (15 years); Bronco II (10 years); GMC pickup (9 years).  Aside from this 0% deal we haven't had a car payment since about 1995.  Well, that's not quite true.  When we bought our current Ford F250 they had a deal where if you financed the truck you got an additional $1000 or so off the truck.  We financed it for something like three months then paid it off.  The things we'll do for a grand!

Gotta go.  Keep your head.  The sky isn't falling quite yet!

Tragedy of a sort

Here is the desert we have only a few sorts of wild creatures.  One is the burrowing owl; we knew of two.  One lives in a culvert that passes under a driveway.  The other was living out in the desert where we walk.  Yesterday morning we found that one dead.  We aren't sure how he died but he was sure gone.  This morning his corpse is also gone; only a few feathers remain.  Well, at least some scavenger got a meal.

Another creature that we have become aware of is the white tailed antelope squirrel; they have decided that the seeds that fall from the bird feeder are pretty tasty.  There are two or three of the little critters here most mornings.  They are able to burrow down into the rock and get at seeds the birds have trouble getting.  As long as they are living across the road and don't decide to try to live in our house we'll get along just fine.  When we lived in Florida a neighbor had squirrels living in his attic and that was a big problem! 

Guess it's time to go before I start writing about birds and bees and things.  Have a good one!

Still whining...

It's still hot here and am I whining!  It affects everything, for example, the guys fixing the road around one of our three stop lights don't work when it is this hot.  How hot is it?  Well, it's 11:00 a.m. and we still have lots of warming up to do.  But here is what the birds think of it.

They are hiding in the shadow of the bird bath.  When the sun moves around to the west, they'll be on the other side of the bath.  They aren't dumb, that shade really makes a difference.  There was even one little guy hiding in the shadow of the bird feeder!  As an aside, I was expecting the birds to actually bathe in the bird bath but all they do is stand on the side and drink.  We put a large rock in the middle to act as extra standing room but they don't seem to use it much.

Have a good one.

MIA all over again

Well, I've fallen off the 'regular blogger' wagon again.  No particular reason except a distinct lack of thought on my part.  We've been having record high temps lately.  Las Vegas broke 4 or 5 high marks and the low temps were also hotter than usual so the weather guy has been having fun.  Missing out on Irene didn't hurt anyone's feelings.

This morning we walked our 2.5 miles (4km) then showered.  We had the radio on and when we got out of the shower the announcer said it was 85F (29.4C).  By the time I'd shaved and brushed my teeth, he announced it was 89F (31.6C)!  That's just silly.

In an article on Yahoo taken from The Street a guy from Standard & Poors is saying that the stock market will remain volatile for at least September and probably this is a new normal situation.  "Who or what deserves the blame? High frequency trading, hedge funds, inverse and leveraged ETFs, take your pick," he says.  Well, doesn't that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy!  He's probably right though.  All these new products that weren't available in the past (except hedge funds) have got to be changing the rules.  It's up to the investor to sort out ways to deal with the new reality.  So far my response has been to buy something I like and hold it for some time.  It's kind of a head-in-the-sand approach but as long as I'm diversified and can take some profits when they appear it should work.  At least I hope so! 

One of the new rules requires mutual funds to identify individual purchases of stock so for a fund like Fidelity's Capital Appreciation (FDCAX), Yahoo Finance shows 3 holdings of UAL, 2 of VMED.L and 2 of CVX in their top 10 holdings!  Well, isn't that just helpful.  Google isn't quite so stupid but I usually prefer Yahoo Finance.  Looks like I'll have to change my habits there as well.  Good thing I'm not totally stuck in the mud.

Gotta go.  Real life calls.  Have a good one!

Summer Roller Coaster Ride

Yahoo carried an article from 'The Street' suggesting that the wild gyrations that the market has been making lately may be less serious than they sometimes appear.  Here is a link; the guy points out some similarities to last summer and suggests some possible stabilizing influences that may or may not happen.  Certainly it is reassuring to thing that there might be a logical end to this foolishness; whether it is true or not I have no idea.  I really DO like the last line of the article:  "Although we expect volatility to continue, we foresee a more muted level than last week's market roller-coaster ride and a climb over the months ahead. In general, we advise investors to do what they normally do on a roller coaster: hang on tightly, grit your teeth, scream if you need to, but do not jump off."

It may be beating a dead horse but every investor should understand that the market is no place for money you are going to be needing soon.  The market does have liquidity but being able to sell something doesn't mean you'll like the price you receive.  That's one of the reasons I place as much emphasis as I do on dividend paying stocks; it makes waiting out the market easier if you get regular checks!  It is also good if you have read Benjamin Graham and are careful about paying as little as possible when you are buying.  Needless to say, that can be tough to implement.

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!

Happy, warm times

Given all the foolishness in the stock market these days, it's great to be most of the continent away.  Hopefully it helps keep a clearer vision of the real world.  I've just been introduced to the blog of Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and an investor.  Here's a great post he wrote a year or so ago and recently re-posted asking what business is Wall Street actually in?  He's got some very interesting thoughts!

We are getting on enjoying our summer.  In Las Vegas the temperatures for August 10 were high of 106F (41C) and low of 81F (27C).  We get a little break out here for some reason.  On the same day our thermometer looked like this at 07:18 in the morning.  The upper numbers are the humidity and temp for outside; second row is humidity and temp of inside; third row is the time; fourth row is the date and the seconds value for the time.  (I didn't design it!!!)

Only 64F (18C) - it allows us to open the house and get some fresh air in the place!  Usually, by the time I go to bed about midnight we've got the windows open.

In the heat of the day, it was only 100F (38C).  It doesn't sound like a huge difference but it really does make quite a difference in your comfort (and electric bill!).  Here in the West, it just keeps getting warmer all day unlike Florida, for example, where the high would be about 15:00 then it would cool off a bit in the evening.  I took the photo at 17:04 obviously.  We do have our heat pump set to keep the house at 77F; apparently it was just about to turn on.

I do question the percent humidity that this thing shows.  In the lower photo it shows 10% outside and 2% inside; that's just tough to believe! 

Have a good one!

Good Job!

My wife did a really great thing over the weekend; she went to a self-defense course put on by our county sheriff's office.  Saturday was half classroom stuff and half demonstration.  There was a female deputy who did the talking and a male deputy who was the 'bad guy'.  She was really pumped Saturday evening.  She was learning a lot and really liked the class.  Sunday was the day when they got dirty.  The male deputy attacked each woman in the class three different ways and they had to fight their way out of it.  My wife has bruises on her breast, her side, both hips and more; the parts that aren't bruised are just sore.  The deputy did a great job of attacking physically but not being frighting emotionally.  The women ranged in age from about forty to something over seventy.  The class is free and graduates are welcome to come back for refreshers; one woman was on her seventh class! 

I'm really happy she went to the class and those two deputies are absolutely great!  We are pretty security conscious already but it sure doesn't hurt to be reminded that there are bad people out there.  Having an idea of what to do if you are attacked is really important.  Hell, I'd go to one of the classes if they were offered for guys but we are expected to know it all.  LOL  Yeah, sure, you betcha.  The only thing that keeps me from looking like a victim is that I'm over six feet tall and well over two hundred pounds (1.8 m and 100 kg)so I'm larger than lots of people and if I fall on you it would hurt!  Also I'm pretty physically confident and that counts for a lot.

I'm off to Vegas again today.  The excuse is that it's a booze run.  I'm saving $8 a bottle on cheap scotch so I've got to do it!  LOL  The real reason for me is to buy a birthday present for my wife.   I'm not entirely sure what it's going to be but, well, what husband wants to miss giving a birthday gift???  And no, we aren't in the economic strata where something from Walmart is going to work.  We were there once but not any more.  Besides, we've got a Toyota that's 18 months old and has less than 12,000 miles (19,000 km).  The dealer thinks we are dead.

Have a good one; I'm going to try to!  Oh, and Happy Birthday Bob, we're thinking of you.

Visit to Vegas

We went into Las Vegas yesterday to have dinner with our daughter.  It's a date between her birthday and her mother's so it was kind of a celebration.  We went to Ventano's in Henderson for dinner; made it an early reservation because she needs to get up early for work.  It's a nice room and has a great view.  The food was kind of weird.  Lots of seafood; according to my wife the shellfish was fine, and that's a tough road in Las Vegas!  I had a chicken scolopini.  It was tasty. The only problem I had was that it was served with a side of pasta; pasta with a very standard tomato based sauce; pasta that was plopped on the plate with my chicken & white wine scolopini.  Now that was weird.  As I said, everything tasted good but next time I'd specify that they spring for a separate pasta plate.  Service was fine but we were pretty early so the guy wasn't rushed off his feet!

After dinner, it was only about 19:30, we decided to check out the "M Resort" for a drink.  The M was built when everyone thought it was only time until the Strip needed expansion room and M was going to be the South end for a while.  Needless to say, things change, and now the M is out at the end of the strip and all alone.  Having said that, they are trying to lure locals and have a very nice facility.  We decided we'd like a view and their restaurant/bar Veloce did a great job!  It's at least near the top if not the top floor and you have a lovely view of the strip and all of Las Vegas from quite a distance away.  They had free seating in the bar and drink specials that made us "careful" people happy!  There is even an outdoor seating area that would be great when things cool off a bit.  We'll certainly be back!

All in all, it was a great night.  We ended up spending the night with our daughter and hitting Blueberry Hill for breakfast.  My wife loves their blueberry compote crepes and they have regular stuff for old fogies like me. It's not cheap but the food is good.  They have several locations; we've never noticed a difference in the quality of the food or service.  We've only had breakfast there so can't speak to the lunch or dinner - at least some of the places are open 24/7 and they do have alcohol and gambling it you need that with your food.

Gotta go.  Hope you had as good a day as we did.  Take care.

Well, I warned you!

Hope everyone is ok with the DOW falling by 512 points.  I told you I can't foretell the future. Guess we'll just have to stick around and see what happens. 

JoeinVegas suggested that the two parties will just bicker and blockade each others ideas all next year.  I'm hoping he's wrong but he's probably right.  Especially since it seems as if both parties are out of rational ideas.  In our travels this summer we saw a lot of road repair; at least those guys & gals are working.

We saw a number of things that had been created by the CCC during the Great Depression.  Maybe we need some of those socialistic 'make work' projects to get things going.  Yeah, I can see that passing the congress!  The Tea Party folks wouldn't be the only ones coming unhinged. 

Gotta go.  Have a good one!

Is the sky falling???

Since the news about the 'wonderful' budget compromise that lifted the debt ceiling, the markets are falling all over the world.  So, is the sky falling?

My take is that it depends on your immediate needs.  If you are looking to sell something this week, well, maybe you're screwed.  If you have a longer view, maybe you aren't in so much trouble actually.  I agree with commentators who suggest that there are healthier economies out there than our own.  The problem is that the U.S. is still the big dog in town.  I've got a few investments in Canada, Norway, Australia; I imagine most investors do.  (I've avoided China; I've just got a personal problem with trusting their numbers.)  So should you bail on investing in the U.S.?

Our economy is not well.  Our markets are dropping.  Sounds like leaving might be a good idea.  There are two sides to this though.  If 'everyone' were to abandon the U.S. markets: 1) share prices would drop like rocks leaving whoever was last out the door holding nothing much; 2) the huge profits of the U.S. corporations, and they are making money, would make P.E.s of 5 common; 3) the inrush of money would raise the P.E. of stocks in, say, Canada to about 50.  None of these ideas are worthy of Newton or Einstein but people who are afraid of a crash aren't really thinking calmly either. 

The U.S. and it's currency are still the world standard.  Not to say that other countries (like the three named above and several others) aren't doing better at economic control but finding a place to invest that offers safety, transparency and sufficient size is tough.  China has size; transparency might be questionable.  Norway, even Canada, is small.  Australia, well, I hope you like natural resources! 

Me?  I'm still about 85% in the U.S.  I'd like a bit more money overseas but it takes me a long time to move.  I'm also not in immediate need so if we have another downturn in view; it's ok for me.  Will I enjoy my paper losses?  Hell, no!  But paper losses like words in general don't hurt.  'Sticks and stones' and all that still holds true.  So hang in there & don't be frightened by the talking heads on tv.  (Remember that Mr. Murdock & Co. like spreading bad news even if it's invented.)

There is one final thought I'd like to share.  This is the year before the U.S. election.  The President, a third of the Senate and the entire House of Representatives will be running for re-election next year.  Do you think that will motivate them to do everything they can to make this a good year?  Just a guess, of course, but I think they will be motivated.  Whether their motivation is enough to make them worth a damn is another question.

Have a good one! 

(Disclaimer:  I know nothing about the future, the stock markets or monetary policy.  If you take my words as advice you are way dumber that a human being ought to be!  Don't do it!)

Vegas!

We DID actually go to Las Vegas today; and we weren't looking at bakeware either!  My wife has decided she needs some new clothes.  Ok, maybe that's not a shock to some guys but you don't know my wife.  For the last ten years she's been wearing tops she buys at Sam's Club; jeans and shorts.  It would surprise me if her clothing budget was $100 a year!  Even I go through more clothes than she does.

Anyway, we went to Town Square Mall.  It's just off the strip south of the  Mandalay Bay resort.  I was a little surprised because Town Square is quite a change from Sam's Club!  It's an open air mall so you have to look out for cars while strolling!  They even have misters going to cut the heat a bit.  (Misters spray water up in the air; they reduce the perceived heat by 15 or 20F (6-7C) - but it's got to be a tremendous waste of water here in the desert!!!)  In the end we spent about three hours wandering from store to store.  Turns out the only thing we bought was a book from Borders!  But we had a lot of fun and learned about a few new options for my wife's new look. 

Let me tell you, this shopping is a lot like work!  We left around 10 a.m.; got home 16:30.  We are both ready to spend some quality time in relaxing.  But I decided a small blog post would be appropriate.  What got me on it was little.red.boat - it's her tenth anniversary as a blogger.  Congratulations!  I found it hard to believe I've been doing this - off and on - for almost seven years.  Amazing!

Gotta go cook.  Tired feet are not the only result of shopping!  Have a good one.

Why is Google so F*&^ing Annoying???

Ok, I don't use Chrome - either the browser or the operating system - but when I want to sign in to Blogger; they want be to stay logged in forever.  Grrr! Of course if I wanted to rant I could do so about Microsoft or Apple as well so in the interests of being someone you might want to read, I think I'll just shut up about it all.

I signed up for email from my senator, Harry Reid.  (I'm still getting crap from the idiots in Florida too.)  The FIRST thing I get is an invitation to a conference on the weather; at the trivial cost of $150!!!  Yep, I had to write back telling him he's an idiot.  Completely out of touch with the world as we are living it out here in rural Nevada.  Dumping the entire Congress is sounding better by the minute.  The only problem would be that we would be hiring a new group that we have to pay forever.   Grrr!

We are having what is called a 'gray day' in Seattle.  It's overcast and there are little rain showers here and there.  It's really unusual for the desert. Temp is only about 78F (25C); and that is almost unchanged from last night.  We went to the "Farmer's Market" yesterday and bought a new cactus; it's getting it's first drink of water today.

Since we've been feeding the birds I always feel a little mean when I go outside and scare them all away.  Screwy, I know but I feel sorry for them.  ANYWAY, they got their own back yesterday afternoon.  It was hot, something like 104F (40C), so the birds are all looking for shade just like any sentient being.  Our porch is on the north side of the house so there is some nice shade there.  I go outside and the ten or twelve birds eating at the feeder take off.  Then I go towards another part of the porch and a big flight of another ten or twelve take off.  I'm still moving toward the bbq which is parked over there when three birds took off from just over my head!  Those guys got me!  I know there is a small space up there that is protected from the sun but I sure wasn't expecting any birds to be hiding up there.  I jumped a foot at least.

I'm going to go work in the garage.  It's the first time in days that it is even close to comfortable and I'll get to smell the rain while I'm working.  Have a good one!

To rant or not to rant; no, that's not the question.

I was going to write a rant today about all the things I see wrong with our political scene these days.  I got tired of that so decided to write a list of things I find good about our country these days.  Got tired of that as well! 

I've got a question for you all.  In view of the tricks played by reporters and editors employed by Mr. Rupert Murdock in the U.K.; what do you think of the odds that persons employed by him in the U.S. are any more ethical?  Personally I'd have a tough time making the argument that persons in the U.S. are more ethical than in the U.K.  Just wondering.....  Think anyone is checking the 'facts' on Fox News?  Naw, I don't either.

Had a good time in Vegas yesterday though we never did get to that bakeware!  Instead I sat around in the doctor's office longer than I would have thought possible.  Still, the doctor says my eyes are just fine.  That's a nice thing to hear!

Have a good one!

Good to be home

We are still thrilled to be home.  Not that we didn't have a great trip but it's good to be home.  Here's a small photo I took with my phone the other day.

It is certainly warm; over 100F (38C) every day and only getting down to 80F (27C) in the evening.  Now we have a few days of humid weather with a 20% chance of rain.  Here in the desert you get so used to low humidity that you can smell the rain in the air.  It's a far cry from our days in Florida!

We have a quiet day planned for today; watch a bit more of the tv that was stored up for us while we were traveling and eat a few leftovers.  There is even the German GP on tv later this morning.  Tomorrow we go into Vegas; I have a follow-up appointment with the doctor who did the surgery on my left eye.  I'm sure we'll manage to spend a few bucks as well whether we need to or not.  There has been wild talk about some new bakeware if nothing else. 

Have a good one!

Diversity

One of the things I like about the RV community is the many different lifestyles in incorporates.  I had just written my previous post about the different parks we have stayed in when I went off to read the blogs of others.  It occurred to me that RV travel can be very different for different folks.  It's really a case of 'what ever works for you'.

Someone like Brian over at RV Boondocking is doing things totally different from us.  He drags his 30 foot 5er places I probably would hesitate to take my truck alone!  They have solar panels and hardly ever stay in a Forest Service campground much less a commercial one. 

Last night I was reading an article in a Trailer Life magazine that came while we were away.  It was about a guy's life long love affair with truck campers.  It's online here.  Again, someone doing things totally differently from me; also different from Brian but it's just another type of RV. 

Then there is Nick who writes the Gypsy Journal; a newspaper for the RV community.  They are full-timers who travel the country and write about it.  Sometimes I think he's got the greatest thing going; other times, when I can't even get a blog post done; well, I figure he's living is some kind of hell on earth!  Nick and his wife have a big motorhome but often stay at Elk's Lodges or the kind of campgrounds that my wife and I use. 

One of the key things though is that the experience is the same.  It's too hot or too cold or the road is bumpy or the scenery is amazing.  An 8 foot camper or a 40 foot motorhome is your own little palace and you get to do it your way.  I'm loving it!

Have a good one.

RV travels

I got a couple comments on my earlier post that I just can't let pass. First, did I go rock climbing?  NO! I feel no need to creep up the sides of mountains on the end of a rope! Hell, just walking uphill is strenuous enough for me.

Second, yes, Rv'ing in the heat of the Southwest summer can be less than fun. Some fulltime rigs are probably more efficient but our trailer a/c is only able to reduce the heat by about 20 degrees Fahrenheit (6-7C). That's not enough if it is really warm. Then again the refrigerator isn't terribly effective either so that's a bad thing as well. Of course, we don't ordinarily choose to travel in the summer. We did this time so we could see our friends before they leave on a trip of their own. The questions did remind me of some of the different parks we've stayed in over the years.

There is the place in Ozona, Texas. It looks like an oldtime drive in movie. It is entirely gravel, entirely flat and each space has a little concrete island that contains your hookups and a 50 gallon trash barrel. It's on the side of I-10 so is convenient but a little noisy!

One of our favorite places was in Big Bend NP. It had no hookups but was in a secluded little grove of trees with the next rig maybe 100 feet away. Unfortunately we didn't realize how cold it was going to be and couldn't stay long with no hookup.

We like the Escapee's parks. They are usually intelligently laid out so you aren't looking into someone's rig and large enough to accommodate any rig.  The bigger parks have lots of amenities like pools, game and exercise rooms,etc.  They are also quite inexpensive, often less that $15 a night for short stays and much less for longer stays.

We stayed in one park in Maine that was a huge field.  Around two edges were permanent rigs left by the owners for use on the weekends.  The center was for transients; we had it all to ourselves!  It must have been a couple hundred yards (meters) to the next rig!

We like rv'ing.  It allows us to have a stability in everyday life that moving from motel to motel doesn't allow.  It also makes traveling with our pets easier.  And it's seldom dull!  Have a good ine.

Home again

We made it home early yesterday afternoon. Our proposed stop at Beaver was canceled since they were full up and had no room for us. My wife/navigator had a backup plan at a park in Kanarraville, UT so we called them and slid into their last space. The people were nice enough but the park was crappy. Our space was perhaps 14 feet wide (4.25m); with the slide out our trailer is 11 feet (3.35m) wide. We stepped off our steps onto the mat that our neighbor had put out. Not good but what can you do. At least it was long enough so we didn't have to unhitch the truck. It was only for one night and we needed to dump our waste tanks. The town itself is no more than a wide spot in the road with hardly any amenities but quiet living.

We had both forgotten how spectacular the Virgin River Gorge was even though we just drove through it 3 weeks ago! Of course, that was going up and this time we got to go down. It is absolutely amazing. You drive down a 7% grade towards this cliff that is almost completely vertical and so high you can't see the top through the windshield. At the last moment, the road turns and you find a little way through the canyon. That goes on for like 10 miles (16km). This part if I-15 shared between Utah, Arizona and Nevada just leaves me breathless.

The trip was an unqualified success. We got to see our friends and got to see some great scenery; what more could one ask? Heck, I even bought the right amount of scotch so that I ran out on our last evening! How's that for planning? (It's a LOT cheaper in Nevada so I took plenty.) We've got almost everything off the trailer and I vacuumed it this a.m. so we can put it away in it's shed for the rest of the summer.

The house is just fine. We have a few dead bugs laying around but that's to be expected I guess. That's why I sprayed before we left, so they would be dead. We left the a/c set on 85F (29C) and it was only about 80F (26C) so our electric bill should be pretty reasonable for the month. (It was 101F (38C) outside at the time.) Last night I put the bird feeders out again and we've had a few visitors so I guess they will forgive us for leaving them for a month.

Hope you've had a wonderful month as well. I'm off to catch up on some more blogs. I'll leave you with one last photo of our Colorado River trip - climbers on the walls of the canyon. Have a good one!

Moat, Utah

We drove from Monument Valley, Utah to Moab, Utah.  It was a pretty good road and had wonderful scenery.  I like the combination!  Plus it was only about 140 miles (225 km).  We have no reason to drive all over the place in a day.

Now we are checking out Moab.  Just outside of town is Arches National Park.  Nice place.  You go up some switchbacks to the top of the mesa then drive around looking at arches and other rock formations.  We were there in the mid-morning so it was hot.  Walking to the various arches was tough because of the heat but we enjoyed viewing them.  This is Turret Arch. If you look closely you'll see some of the many, many stairs!

We got back to Moab about 13:30 and had lunch at the Moab Brewery. The food was good and so was the beer! Overall a very good experience. After lunch we went back to the rig for a few hours with the animals. About 17:00 we left again for a jet boat trip on the Colorado River. Going down the river towards Canyonlands NP was fun. We got to see more cliffs, petroglyphs, jeep trails; all kinds of stuff. Here is a photo of one of the mini-canyons by the side of the river. Our guide said the river is usually about 3 feet deep (.9m); because of all the snowmelt this year the level of the river is about 10 feet (3m) over normal!

After the boat ride we ate a 'chuck wagon style' dinner at the boat landing. Considering the limitations of cooking everything in dutch ovens, it wasn't bad. The beef and the pork were the winners for us, the chicken and bbq pork weren't on the same level.

We are having a quiet day today. We'll check out Moab itself and maybe create some new restaurant reviews. Tomorrow we head for home via Beaver, UT. Have a good one.

Roaming around a bit

From Durango we wandered down to Monument Valley (just south of Medicine Hat, UT).  We stayed in an RV campground in the Gouldings area.  This couple moved into the area back in the 1920's and tried to make a name for the place.  Mr. Gouldings made a trip to Hollywood with photographs of the area and talked John Ford into checking out the place for a movie.  It worked and John Ford made quite a few movies in the area over the years.  They have built a motel and campground up one of the side canyons (he died in 1982 & she in 1991).  Here was the view of our campsite.  There were a lot of European tourists in the area.  Probably a third of the RVs in the park were units rented by Europeans.  There was even a sightseeing bus that stopped and dropped off about a dozen tent campers for the night.

We took part of the drive into the valley but didn't complete it. Our 4x4 pickup has about a half-inch suspension travel; that plus the 70 lb pressure in the tires means that we didn't like the road!  This is a formation that, together, is called 'The Mittens'.  

It's an amazing place.  I can certainly recommend visiting if you have the time.  It IS a long way from anywhere and I have to say that the views just from road are amazing.  This photo of Medicine Hat Rock was taken from the side of the road.  Not shabby!

As you can see from the photos, it was unusually overcast and it even rained a bit during our visit.  It didn't really detract from the scenery and made it MUCH cooler than full summer.  Not a bad deal for us 'locals'. 

Have a good one!

Still traveling and having fun....

The Black Canyon was a fantastic place.  The Gunnison river drops a lot more per mile than most so it has carved a very deep, narrow canyon over 2,700 feet deep in places.  We drove along the southern rim and walked to the various view points.  One we especially liked was the Painted Wall.  Different types of lava was forced into cracks in the stone giving a sort of abstract art look to the wall.

You can see the river running waaayyyy down there.  It looked pretty rough.  The North rim is accessible but we didn't go there. The South rim was easily accessible.

Thursday we drove from Montrose to Durango but thanks to some good advice from the manager of our campground we avoided Colorado 550.  550 is a notorious highway, narrow with severe drop-offs and not nearly enough guardrails.  Everyone who knows me knows I'm a coward about heights and my wife is only marginally better.  Not going via 550 was an easy sell.  Instead we took 550 down to Ridgeway then west on 62 to Placerville then south on 145 to Delores then east on 184 and 160 to Durango.  There were a couple uncomfortable miles but that was it.  Nothing tough at all.  There was one high pass but that's just a matter of climbing the hill.  As long as your vehicle is in good shape it's no problem.

Friday was our day for the Durango to Silverton train.  The train is an old steam locomotive that takes you from the 6,500 ft (1980M) Durango to 9,300 ft (2835M) Silverton.  There are actually three trains a day leaving at 08:00, 09:00 and 10:00.  It goes really slowly over the 50 mile (80 km) journey so there is time for photography.  We took over 175 photos!  You get two hours in Silverton - an old silver mining town amazingly enough!  It's enough to have lunch and check out the tourist traps.  There are about 500 permanent residents so it isn't a large place.  550 runs through it; it's the only paved road in town.  The train journey was a beautiful trip.  We chose a one-step-up-from-the-bottom class of travel.  It was $140 a person (wow!) but we felt it was worth it.  There are open cars and closed cars.  We chose a closed car; and when it started raining about half way up the mountain that choice seemed pretty smart.  The woman hanging out the window just in front of us was a slight negative.  There was one other downside:  we got on the train at 09:30 and got off at 19:00.  It was a long day.

 Two seats on one side and one on the other.  Quite comfortable and kind of old time style.  They had a concession car that sold soft drinks, wine, mixed drinks & junk food. 

 For the most part we followed the Animas River criss-crossing it on mostly modern bridges.  A docent said that the river is running at about 130% of it's normal volume.  There is usually rafting on the river but because of the high water they are only rafting in the quiet areas. 

There were plenty of sharp turns on the trip.  This photo is taken from our car; about the tenth back from the engine.  The railway company has done a lot to reduce the danger of fire from these old steam engines.  First they have filters on the exhaust then they have mist-ers that extinguish as much as it can.  One of the boxcars following the engine has water and pumps for firefighting.  Finally, they have another engine (diesel) following along behind, mostly out of sight(!), with more firefighting equipment.  They get to use it too, along the rails we saw occasional black spaces of a couple square yards (meters) where a small fire had been extinguished.  They don't do all this out of altruism.  In 2002 the train was closed down and lost $4million in revenue due to fires in the area (NOT started by the train).  They sure don't want to start anything though.

Today is a day of rest.  Reading email, writing to friends, just resting.  Gotta go.  Hope you are having as good a time as we are!

Nice day....

We left Colorado Springs this morning and drove West on CO 24.  It was a really nice road.  We went as far as CO 558 where we went south a bit then turned west again on US 50.  All were well maintained roads.  Except for the fact that we went up over 11K feet again (over 3,400M) it was just fine.  The truck doesn't really like those altitudes but we managed it ok.  We probably didn't need to stop for diesel but we don't like running low so we stopped and filled up in Gunnison.  One time returning from California we were stretching to get to another city before filling up; we came WAY TOO CLOSE to running out because of the variability of the mileage between flat roads and mountain roads.  We don't want to do that again!

The scenery was amazing.  We saw tight canyons, beautiful trees, fantastic rivers.  It is a beautiful area.  Now we can say we've driven through the heart of the Rockies.  There were two or three moments when we were a bit uncomfortable but it really wasn't bad. 

We ended up in Montrose, CO for the evening.  It's a P/A park so we paid $34 for two nights with full hookups.  The spaces are pull-through and are nicely spaced.  You really can't beat a deal like that.  We are planning to visit the Black Canyon of the Gunnison tomorrow then leave on Thursday for Durango.  As the site says "No other canyon in North America combines the narrow opening, sheer walls, and startling depths offered by the Black Canyon of the Gunnison."  Should be fun. 

Gotta go.  I'm going to need my beauty sleep for all that canyon viewing.  Take care.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Thank you to all who are serving and those who have served before.  The military has always been the hard shell protecting our precious liberty.

We have been visiting friends here in Colorado Springs.  Lots of talking and eating; not so much sightseeing.  We did manage to get to the Air Force Academy.  Unfortunately there isn't a lot to see.  Since Osama was killed most of the base is off limits to casual visitors.  You can check out the visitor's center, gift shop and the chapel.  That's it.  Still, the chapel was very beautiful.

It's an interesting building.  The largest chapel is the non-denominational Protestant chapel upstairs.  This is the one where you see the soaring ceiling.  Directly below that chapel is a Catholic chapel; it is about two-thirds the size of the protestant chapel.  Finally, there is a small Jewish chapel and an even smaller Buddhist chapel behind the Catholic chapel.  It is a very interesting plan trying to make room for all faiths under the same roof.  We visited on a Friday and there were some people in both the Protestant and the Jewish chapels preparing for weddings.  Life goes on.

The weather has been extremely unusual.  There have been wind and rain storms almost every afternoon.  Saturday our friends came to show the RV to their grand-daughter.  She was interested in this combination of house and car and inspected it carefully!  While they were here a storm blew up.  Ordinary rain is noisy in the RV but today we got hail!  It was so loud you could hardly hear yourself think much less carry on a conversation.

Tomorrow we leave Colorado Springs and head towards home.  We are planning on going west to Gunnison, Durango and more.  We are planning on taking the Durango to Silverton Railway among other delights.  Then we'll try to see Monument Valley; John Ford made so many movies out there that we just have to check it out.  Finally, we'll head up north to pick up I-70 and go on home.  Should be fun.

Gotta go.  Hope you are having a good one.

Colorado National Monument

Visited Colorado National Monument.  It's an amazing place.  Didn't care much for the road getting up there but once up there is was lovely.  This is the view from our campground - taken with my cell phone so not the finest photo but.....

The Monument is pretty much what you see here.  It is a huge area of canyons and plateaus and rock formations that is very impressive.  We took a short walk along the rim of one of the canyons.  Here's a bit of the view.

The photo doesn't give any hint of the scale of the place.  We are talking hundreds of feet high.  Many of the rock formations have been named but, come on, I'm not going to remember them!  LOL  The problem was that it was 95F (35C), the altitude was something like 8,000 feet (2,440M).  Taking that walk wasn't the smartest thing to do; the heat was pretty intense.  Happily we are somewhat attuned to warmth so it worked out.  Still, I'd think twice if we were going to do it again.  Doing it earlier in the day would have been much smarter!

We are now stopped in Colorado Springs.  We have friends here to visit and lots of other things to do.  May not spend a lot of time on the net.  Take care & have a good one.

On the road again.....

We left the warm desert last Thursday headed for our summer vacation.  We'd like to be gone for most of the summer but that's just not an option.  This trip should be three weeks to a month; going to visit friends in Colorado Springs then head back home via whatever scenic route we can find. 

For the outbound trip we are just running the Interstate.  I-15 north out of Las Vegas then I-70 to Denver, finally I-25 down to Colorado Springs.  The scenery on I-70 has been just fantastic.  Driving through these canyons with rock as high as the sky on either side of you is amazing.  And this is with a 4 lane Interstate coming through the canyon.  Wow.  I could have taken a picture a mile easily but we are trying to get somewhere.  On the way home we are expecting to travel some of this same road and I'll do more photos then.

For the first time we aren't traveling every day.  We spent our first two nights in Beaver, UT.  Beaver is really kind of a neat little town.  I'm not sure what the population is but I suspect the horse population is about the same!  LOL  People in the town have enough room that they can have their horses in the back yard.  It's cool!  The RV park is kind of rustic but quite nice.  No internet but otherwise a PA full hookup was only $13.  At that rate, it's a bargain.  I cannot recommend their Mexican restaurant though; it was awful!  Here's a photo of our spot in one of the local RV parks.

The park had these little covered picnic tables at each site.  Some of the folks leave their rigs there the year round and had made modifications: like enclosing it, doubling the size, putting in sliding glass doors!  It looked like a great place to escape the pressures of Salt Lake City, for example.

This is coming from the small town of Fruita, Colorado.  Nice little place right off I-70.  Fruita is bigger but it's still a small town.  We will visit the Colorado National Monument before we leave but haven't made it yet.  It's plateau and canyon country; very spectacular I'm sure.  The park here is much more sophisticated and upscale and the price reflects it.  Still, it's going to be 96F (35C) today so we are enjoying the a/c and the shade trees.  Others will enjoy the pool but we are leaving that to the kids. 

Gotta go.  Hope you are having a good one.

May you live in interesting times.....

Back in 2007 I had cataracts surgery in both eyes; left eye in July or so, right eye in November.  They were a fast growing cataract and I went from seeing well to very poorly in just a few months.  The surgery went well and I've been pretty happy with my sight until recently.  Lately it almost seems like the cataract has come back to my left eye.

That's not possible, of course, but it sure looks like it from the inside!  My surgery was done in Florida so I'm not going back to them.  I found the Shepard Eye Center in Las Vegas and made an appointment.  The doctor suggested trying glasses first; I did that but it did absolutely nothing.  So  it's time for surgery.  Here is something I found on the web.

"The most common complication of Cataract Surgery is opacification of the posterior lens capsule resulting in the formation of a Secondary or After Cataract, which occurs after as many as 30% of Cataract Surgery procedures. When this occurs you will experience a gradual blurring of your vision. Fortunately your surgeon is able to use a YAG Laser to perform a quick painless procedure called a YAG Laser Capsulotomy in which a small opening is created in the cloudy membrane allowing your vision to be restored."

It was an amazing experience.  Got up at OMG Early so we could get to the doctor's office by 07:30.  We were out before 08:30 and now my left eye is almost perfect.  It's still a bit blurry from the dilation but unless something nasty happens, it's great.  The procedure is simple (for the patient!), you get about 8 different eye drops then you put your face in one of those machines that holds your chin and forehead steady.  The doctor turns on the machine and you see this cluster of red lights; she says 'Focus on my ear ring'.  It's bright but not bad.  There are lots of small clicks and snaps as the doctor uses the laser but there is no pain or anything.  It was kind of tough to see the ear ring sometimes since it seemed to be in the middle of the red light cluster.  When she stopped, I could see.  How cool is that!  Hell, I probably won't get as lost since I'll be able to see the street signs.

I'll go back in about a month to have a review.  But in the mean time, I'm going to be enjoying seeing stuff again. 

Have a good one!

I don't get it...

I was catching up reading some of RandomRoger's blog posts and there's something about the way he implements his philosophy that I just don't get.  He's a financial adviser and clearly a pretty smart guy.  He is constantly saying that he doesn't require that his portfolio go up as much as the market in a bull market as long as it doesn't go down as much in a down market.  That's cool, I suspect many of us would be happy with that sort of performance.  He offered some of the Rydex Managed Futures Funds as an example of something he uses to bring stability. 

Let me summarize about these funds.  Over the past 2 or 3 years they have varied between $24 & $28.  Their beta, measuring price volatility, is very low.  The annual expense ratio is just shy of 2%.  The last dividend paid was at the end of 2008.  To quote Yahoo:  "The investment seeks to match the performance of the Standard & Poor's Diversified Trends Indicator(R) (the "benchmark" or the "S&P DTI"). The fund invests substantially all of its net assets in commodity, currency and financial-linked instruments whose performance is expected to correspond to that of the benchmark".

I'm going to jump to the assumption that they are doing a reasonably good job and do actually track the index.  My problem is that I've given these folks my money for 2 years and haven't received anything in exchange except some stability.  Not only that but depending on the timing of my purchase, I may have lost some money.  So what's wrong with a CD?  Or even a savings account?  At least I don't have to pay the bank 2% (yet!).  The index is supposed to have a commodity component but I'm sure not seeing it reflecting the way the price of copper or gold has changed in the last couple years.  So I guess I just don't understand.  I like some stability in my portfolio but this seems a strange way to obtain it.

Have a good one!

NOT 'Just Doing It'

Ok, I've been not blogging lately.  No good reason.  Just not. 

Since the first of the year I've lost several blogs that I've been enjoying for years.  For the most part people just stop, for whatever personal reason and don't make any announcement.  I guess it's whatever someone wants to do so if they decide to stop, well, that's up to them.  It DOES bother me a bit.  After you read someone's blog for a few years you feel like you have a friend.  Then when they stop blogging; it's like your friend is gone and you have no way of telling whether they won a million or got arrested or got hit by a truck.  Let's hope I remember this feeling if and when I decide to give up this blog!  LOL

I was looking at the photo at the top of the blog.  It's not like that any more folks!  Snow is almost completely gone even at 11,000 ft (3,350m).  We are 'enjoying' our first triple digit day; it's 103F by our thermometer (that's a hair less than 40C for you logical people).  Our house is pretty well insulated though and the desert cools off in the night.  So we aren't running our a/c and it is a warm but comfortable 83F (28C) her in my den.  If I was doing physical work, it would be too hot.  The 24/7 a/c use is coming up for sure.

Walking the other morning I took a photo of the mountains to our east.  I call this a 'motel' photo since motels in this country always seem to have paintings like this on the walls.  Took the photo with my new DROID X phone so sorry if it isn't up the the quality of the Canon. 

It's Flag Day here in the states.  Heaven only know why we have to have a day to honor the flag but who said we are logical?  I mean we are still talking miles, fahrenheit and ounces!  Still, it's one of the few days I feel like I ought to fly the flag.  Here we go:

I feel strongly about my country.  I'm a proud veteran of the U.S. Army.  It will always be home.  Don't get between me and my rifle.  But don't offer me the loan of your place in Normandy! 

Have a good one!

Nice walk

We took a nice walk this morning.  It was pretty much our usual walk taking about 45 minutes.  We saw a quail, a couple jack rabbits and, unusually, a coyote.  The parcel of land that we use for our walks is probably 100 acres (40 hec.), maybe more, I'm not good with knowing the size of an area.  There are other odd empty pieces of land but they are more lot sized, 1 acre or 4,000 sq. m.  Given that there is little vegetation, it doesn't seem like a lot of land for a coyote.  Happily this guy just wanted to be left alone so took off in a direction opposite from us. 

Read a very interesting article about value investing the other day but I didn't make note of the address so can't find the stupid thing.  The whole point was that some university professor made a study of what would happen if you invested in 'value' companies vs 'growth' companies.  In this country and overseas the result was that the value investments were more successful than the growth style investments.  Now this was simply an article written for a magazine or Yahoo Finance or something equally un-rigorous so there weren't actual numbers.  Not to mention, the professor has probably got, and needs, half a book full of charts to support his thesis.  Nor were the terms 'value' and 'growth' defined.  Do I agree with 'value' beats 'growth'?  I guess so.

It seems to me that to be a 'growth' investor almost requires one to be a pretty active trader.  Constant growth is pretty unusual.  As an example, look at Google.  In the last year it's share price has varied between $450 to almost $650 and is at about $525 now.  There are no dividends so the way to make money is by trading; seeing a buying opportunity at $450 and selling at $550 would work if you can do it.  So you are going to have more turnover in a 'growth' environment; and I'm not sure how many swings of up-a-third you are going to find.  Apple did even better, it went from $240 to $320 over that same year.  Another great performance but again, the only way you get money in your pocket is by selling.  Apple's gain was less choppy than Google so the date of purchase was less important but if you bought in the last six months you are only looking at a 10% gain. 

For me it's better to buy value and hold it for some period.  In my experience as a trader, I make a good loser.  I don't know if my basic stock choosing is too influenced by things I read or if there is some other reason but my timing stinks.  What can I say?  I just don't do timing well.

Have a good one!

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.

Had a call....

Our neighbors from when we lived in Florida called last night.  It wasn't a long call but it reminded us how much we miss them and they say they miss us.  It's the first time we've had neighbors that we really cared about.  Interesting.  Then along come S & S.  I've no particular idea why but we just clicked.

Has that happened to you?  Just clicking with someone?  Nothing sexual, at least not overt, but just having a great time with another couple.  It kind of makes me wonder about (sexual) swinging.  Unfortunately I suspect it would  be like finding our neighbors:  Odds bieing 1 in 15 or maybe 1 in 5000.  Who knows.  I'm pretty sure we aren't going to check it out. at least I'm not going to wish for it.

Had a great walk this a.m.  It's still unseasonably cool here; our 40 minutes were over slightly differently terrain but we enjoyed it.  The dog was kind of dragging her ass but we are hoping that was due to the rabbit chasing excursion - unsucessful thank goodness.

I put the jerky on to dry this a.m.  Gotta have some of the good stuff!

Confession

My wife is having a love affair with her Wii.  She is on it first thing in the morning to weigh herself and last thing at night when she is exercising on it.  Once in a while I join her but not too often.

Last fall I turned 62.  At the time, according to the Wii, I weighed about 235 lb (106kg).  Too much.  The Wii takes great delight in proclaiming "That's obese!"  Makes you want to kick the thing.  However, in that weird thing called my brain, I figured out that I was about 35 lb (15+kg) heavier than I would like and in 36 months I would be 65 years of age.  Hmmmm, how about a gradual diet so that on my 65th birthday I would weigh 200 lb (90kg)?  So that's my plan.  Let's see if I'm still blogging by then!

Actually I'm about a third of the way to my goal already.  Just getting out and walking every day helps.  The mantra "portion control" is also helping.  I hardly ever finish a restaurant meal these days.  Either I leave it or get a doggie bag for later.  The other day we each had three leftover portions in the fridge.  Think we eat out enough?  Yeah, but we are doing it to try and keep the economy going.  Yeah, right!

A couple of interlopers I found in the back yard about 04:30 the other morning.  They were cleaning up under the bird feeder so I guess I should thank them.  They hopped off down the bunny trail before sunrise.

Have a good one!

It used to be Decoration Day....

Honestly, I think I'd forgotten that.  Of course it came back in a moment!  It's not like we aren't military around here. 

My grandfather was in the Spanish-American War in 1898 or so.
My mother's brother was in World War I in 1918 or so.
My dad was in WWII - he was a divorced man of 36 so eligible for the draft.
My father-in-law was at the Inchon invasion of Korea.
I was a veteran of the action in Vietnam though I did not serve in Vietnam.
My brother-in-law was in the navy during all the recent mid-east conflicts - he retired after 28 years service
in 2000.

I think we understand a bit about putting yourself on the line for freedom; let's give a thought or two for those who have given the ultimate price for our freedom.  

P.S. can't upload a photo because blogger is AFU.  Good story that I can share though:  went to the store the other day and bought a purple flower from the guys at the Disabled American Veteran display.  Didn't buy one for my wife knowing she was coming after me and would buy her own.  When she showed up, she had 2!!  She had found a DAV display in front of Walmart and bought one for me.  Isn't she great!

Summer Travel

My wife and I are planning our summer travels which is mostly going over to Colorado to visit friends.  On the way back we'll spend some time in various parks checking out a few of the natural wonders of the American West.  We thought we would spend most of our time in Colorado and Northern Utah.  Later on in the year we hope to make quick visits some of the places that are closer to home like Bryce and Zion Natl. Park.  Google says it is a 4 hour drive to St. George, UT from here.  We probably don't go as fast as they expect us to but it's still a day's drive;.  If you make a week of it, you have plenty of time to wander around.

We won't be going for a while yet but we get a lot of enjoyment from making plans, looking up places we might visit in guidebooks (remember them?) and on the net. There is also a certain about of staring at maps.  As the time to leave draws closer, it just becomes more fun.  If anyone has a favorite road in Colorado or a favorite park or whatever; I'd be happy to hear your ideas.

I had a list of things I wanted to fix on the trailer before using it again; now if I could only find the list!  One thing that is a no-brainer is to wax the front of the rig.  A nice coat of wax making bug removal so much easier!  And I can do it while the rig is still in it's shed, the only piece of shade in our yard.  It's not really warm here yet but the other day I was trying to clean the car windshield and the cleaner was drying on the glass before I could wipe if off!  That's just silly.

Speaking of silly; I was watching Fox News this a.m.  Yes, I know how unlike actual news their programs are but they have great weather & traffic.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.  ANYWAY, there was a piece on Mark  Zuckerberg, you know, the Facebook guy.  Apparently he has started living a new diet:  he only eats what he has killed.  Hmmm, far be it from anyone to make fun of another's beliefs, but really!  They claim he's killed a chicken, a pig and a goat.  Why do I think he has someone else do the butchering?  And I guess plants don't count or is he killing his own corn and peas?  If that's what happens to your brain, I guess I'm glad I don't have all those billions!

Have a good one!

Personal Finance

I was out on the net getting my RandomRoger fix today and he referred to a Wall Street Journal article about five things a high school graduate should know about finances.  Then he went on to suggest that financial education is not supplied and as a result we are financially illiterate.  I'm not so sure that formal financial education is the answer.

First of all, personal finance is different for different people.  We have friends (our age & income group) who live in a house that is twice the size of ours.  Building that house was a choice they made; it was where they wanted to put their money.  It isn't something that I would be comfortable doing but it works for them.  Education isn't going to change their desire for the large house nor my desire for more diverse investments. 

The brand of personal finance that works for my wife and myself doesn't work for either of our children.  I suspect this is because my wife and I were brought up by parents who had lived through the Depression and WWII.  The deprivation and sacrifice that those two events brought about made our parents thrifty to say the least!  Both of our mothers re-used aluminum foil, for example.  Our children were brought up in the relatively affluent 70's and 80's.  My wife and I both worked and the kids pretty much got whatever they wanted within reason.  We 'educated' our kids to have what they wanted; happily we also educated them to work for it!

I suspect there a LOT of people who basically don't know how to handle money but I'm not sure it's something you can teach but rather it is something that must be learned; learned by living life.  I know that when I was 22 I made some mistakes; wasted quite a lot of money as a matter of fact.  Lost on my first few investments as well.  The problem is when people are living so close to financial disaster that any loss, however small, is debilitating.  If that happens when you are 25 you have plenty of time and hopefully the resilience to recover; if you are 55 your options are more limited.  It's why I'm 100% in favor of governmental old age pensions.  My wife and I are fortunate enough not to need it but there are millions who are not so fortunate.

RandomRoger talked about a couple who lives near him who have no stocks, no bonds.  But they did understand fixing houses and renting them out and saving money.  It's a different type of personal finance but it worked for them.  That's really all that matters.  If it works for you then it works.  There are no wrong answers as long as it works.

Have a good one!

Hmmm......

Well, we ended up moving to Verizon and getting DROID phones.  No photos because I'm facing a large learning curve!  Maybe I'll manage something later today.  My 'real' excuse is that the phone needed to be charged before I could use it.  We really wanted to stay with AT&T because we worked for them for a long time back in the day but they just would not offer us unlimited internet access.  It's HIGHLY unlikely that we would ever use much internet via that tiny screen but they wouldn't match Verizon's offer so we bailed.  Sorry but it's still the dumb company that used to be known by their unofficial slogan:  we don't care, we don't have to.  Of course Verizon is what used to be GTE & they were so bad they made AT&T look good so we'll see what happens here.  Actually I'm hoping Virgin grows into a real competitor.

On to another equally inspiring tale.  Woke up this a.m. to see our neighbor inspecting their prone mailbox.  Someone knocked it over in the night.  The first thought is a drunk with a car but there are zero tire tracks.  Then we saw something down the road.  Yep, TWO more mailboxes beat up.  Vandals apparently; why they didn't knock ours over we'll probably never know.  Maybe the fact that it is so 'normal'?  Who knows what kids think!  Maybe they heard me snoring in my recliner and thought I might come out and kick their asses.  Humph, it would take more that a little twerpy teen to wake me!  LOL

Apparently the 'end of the world' thing didn't come off; or maybe I'm contacting you from the 'other side' but anyway I feel pretty much the same.  I'm still chilly; my foot is still bruised from the other day; the dog is still a whiny beast.  No, I've got to think it's business as usual.  Works for me!  Actually, I love this world.  There are blots on the landscape, like the little twerps who knocked over the mailboxes, but they are just annoying.  We walked around the pond over at Terrible's Lakeside last night.  It's an rv park that has won awards for it's beauty.  It IS very nice and they had a ton of birds.  Ducks begging for food and many smaller birds that I couldn't name.  They even had hummingbirds going for insects in the air.  It was really cool to see them darting around. 

Quiet day planned for today:  visit from our daughter, a meal, maybe a vid.  Life in the slow lane if I've ever heard it.  Have a good one!

The End of the World?

Give me a break!  Plus we got a  couple Jehovah's Witnesses at the door this morning to talk about it.  Jeez!

Well, if it's happening, bye.  It's been fun. 

If not, I've just wasted a few more electrons. 

We are continuing our search for smart phones today.  It's a giant pain; my wife who is a meticulous shopper at any time goes into hyper mode when we are talking about something we'll be stuck with for a couple years.  I'm just way more impulsive.  I've got to admit though, she doesn't make many purchasing errors!  Hopefully I'll be able to post a cell phone photo here by tonight.  I'll try. 

Have a good one!

Wild and Crazy!

I went all wild and crazy this afternoon and washed the car!  Talk about unheard of behavior; that is practically the definition.  I've been taking it to our local car wash of course but haven't gotten the old pail and hose out in several years at least.  The problem is that for $8 the car wash isn't getting the sides of the car clean.  The big dirt is knocked off but not the little stuff.  So I went for it.

Turns out I had some really nasty tar on the bottom of the door sills.  It took some time with a special cleaner to get rid of that crud.  And we've got two places where the paint is chipped!  Grrrr!  Well, that's what we get for living in a place where there are lots of rocks.  When heading over the hump we always find people with  rocks in their tires.

Went to a new Mexican place for lunch.  It was ok but making a return visit is questionable.  The sauce on the burrito was not as good as our regular place.  I had some chicken tacos; that chicken seemed like it had been through a food processor.  That's not a nice consistency!  Also it seemed like they weren't seasoning their food very well.  The chicken was just chicken; the rice was just that; I guess there was a kitchen problem that is most likely endemic.  Guess we'll have to go to the old place.

Had some leftover cajun roast for dinner.  There was a guy named Justin Wilson who had a cooking show back many years ago.  Justin loved being Cajun and his food reflected that love.  We bought both his cook books and I love making this roast.  It's a  chuck roast with lots of jalapeno, cayenne and wine:  what's not to like!  Justin died many years ago but I raise a glass to his memory every time we have some of his food.

After dinner we went out to the patio to enjoy the evening.  It was a pretty quiet evening for us; sometimes we are busy solving the worlds problems but tonight it was just enjoying the beauty of the evening.  We had finches, sparrows and mourning doves joining us.  Considering that there was a dog and a cat hanging out with us on the patio I thought that showed plenty of courage.  Or maybe they recognize a creaky dog and a lazy house cat when they see them.  Don't know but no feathers were harmed during the evening.

Hope you had a lovely and peaceful day.  Take care!

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!

Woof! It's been almost a week.

So much for that blogging every day thing.  It looks like every-other day is kind of out the window too.  Oh well!  I'll try to do better, honestly.

We've been wandering back and forth to Vegas quite a bit.  We went in on a shopping trip early last week; mostly just the usual stuff that we don't find here.  However on our last trip, my ophthalmologist suggested I might try wearing glasses for a while.  I didn't find anything I liked here at home so went into Vegas.  We found some at PearleVision.  They said it would take about a week, that was Tuesday.  Then on Thursday I got a call saying  my new glasses are ready!  Ok, guess it works for me; so we went back over the hump on Friday.  I got the glasses and managed to find a new router for our home system and a few other things.  Amazing how things just seem to fall off the shelf into one's cart, huh?

So now I have a new pair of glasses.  I thought you didn't have this joy once you'd had cataracts removed but I need something.  Unfortunately these glasses aren't the thing I need!  They do almost nothing for my sight so I'm headed over the hill a few more times over the next couple months before we get this straightened out.  The doctor did say this was the 'conservative' strategy so next step is getting some kind of laser treatment.  We'll see when I can squeeze that into my busy schedule!

The odd weather I've been commenting on is continuing.  One day we'll be near a record high; next day our high will be a low record (if you know what I mean).  We are getting quite a bit of wind as well.  Since I don't have to shovel it or put up sand bags to keep it out I guess it's all good.


I was looking for some new international investments and keep finding things that just don't do much for me.  I love reading Random Roger; he seems to have a different prospective from my own so his take on things is always interesting.  He's interested in not 'going down a lot' where I am more interested in a slow steady climb knowing that I'll be down at times.  I see the possibility that our investments will need to fund our lifestyle for another 30 years.  We can't afford to be too safe or inflation, even moderate inflation, will eat our lunch!  It's an interesting problem that I need to get at least somewhat right.


Is it just me or is the pace of change increasing?  It seems like every time something new comes on the scene, it becomes old sooner.  Five years ago GPS and iPods were all the rage.  Today your smart phone does both of those things.  And this laptop is clearly so last generation.  Personally I'm still happy with distinct units but am I just hiding my head in the sand?  I don't know.  Call me when the computer can be integrated with my brain directly without the use of my eyes and fingers.  Plug me in!


Gotta go.  Have a good one.

Quiet Day

This has definitely been a quiet day.  Spent much of it searching for foreign investments.  I'm convinced that investing outside the U.S. will be a mainstay of our future prosperity.  It probably will never get to be even 25% of our portfolio but I wouldn't be surprised to see it at 20%.  Another thought is that many of our current investments are multinational corporations; for example, I've owned Merck (MRK) for years.  Even Paccar (PCAR) earns quite a lot of it's income from overseas.  Now if our corporate tax structure was such that they could bring some of those profits home....  Yeah, I know, I'm dreaming again.

We did manage our 40 minute walk in the desert.  I was kind of surprised because sometimes it takes the desert a while to dry out but it was just fine.  As always, our eyes stray to the mountains that surround the valley.  Do you wonder?

This was taken just as the morning light was washing down the mountain.  Two or three minutes later the entire mountain was lit.  Even rock can be beautiful.

After the rain from the other day we have more snow on the mountains east of here.  I'm thinking it is late in the year for snow but it works for us.  This may be a desert but we need SOME water!

Short post today.  Have a good one!