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!