The Peregrinating
Graybeard
20 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
The high temperature yesterday was a very nice 75° with a great breeze until noon. That nice breeze gradually built up to a wind of 30 mph with gusts of over 40 mph by late in the afternoon. Today is starting out like yesterday did but the forecast is for it to be a little warmer and the winds not quite as strong in the late afternoon.
I got right on the vacuuming and scrubbing the floors this morning; right after I had breakfast, had coffee and read my Daily blogs. I then took a break from those household chores to work on a nagging problem that I have had with Windows 8.
Windows 8 has what is called a Charms Bar that provides quick access to following 5 system components: Search, Share, Start Screen, Devices and Settings. This Bar is activated by placing the cursor in the upper or lower right corners of the screen and the Bar opens along the right screen edge - that is the theory. In practice what has been happening is the damn Charm Bar pops up whenever it feels like it. That is irritating enough but there is also a BIG black box that has the date and time that pops up in the lower left of the screen.
I web searched for a fix and hopefully have done so. I am not the first person to have this problem so a step by step process was laid out that I was able to follow. It was not simple and Microsoft was not not the one to offer the fix, their first reaction to someone complaining was why would you want to disable the Charm Bar?
The fix does not totally disable the Charm Bar but gets rid of the accidental activation of it. With the fix in place you still go to the upper or lower right hand corners but then you must move the cursor along the edge of the screen to activate the Bar.
I soon discovered that the fix did not completely fix the problem. I was still having spurious openings of the Charm Bar. Did some more web searches and found that disabling Edge Swipes from the Mouse Pad would fix my continuing irritation. Did that. So far so good, no more random openings!
Making good progress on getting my Monthly blog list re-established. I have left a couple off that I remembered but they were about to be deleted before the computer crash. I have a couple of new to me blogs that I'm going to read until current and then they will be added. It will still be a few days before I can get back to those however.
19 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
Yesterday only reached a high of 78° and the breeze held throughout the day. Today is shaping up to be a repeat of that or maybe a couple degrees cooler. Very nice!
As soon as we finished our morning walk I unplugged and we went to town. Well maybe not town but we left the RV Park. The first stop was at Denny's for my breakfast which was a decent skillet but I wish they would bring back the corn beef hash skillet that they had as a promotion.
Then went a little closer to town and stopped at Smith's to get groceries for this next week. I also used 20¢ in Bonus Reward Points to get the maximum of 35 gallons of gas. This did not fill my tank but I should have some more Points accumulated by next week when I hope I can redeem them. I don't know if the 35 gallon maximum is per fill-up or what the rules are. I'll find out.
I then stopped at Camping World which is almost across I-40 from the RV Park. They were still closed however so I'll try them again next week when they claim to be open at 8:00.
I need a new cap for the holding tank dump outlet. I dumped tanks yesterday evening and when I put the cap back on one of the plastic tabs that hold it in place broke off. It stayed in place today with just the one tab holding it but I do need to replace it soon.
Making slow progress with the re-construction of my Monthly blog list. I remembered one that I may have missed reading last month so I've got two months of reading to do on that one to get current.
As a break from all this blog reading I decided that it was time, actually past time per usual, to clean the toilet. I may even proceed to vacuum and wash the floor when I finish with the toilet but that will not be today. There is only so much housecleaning that I can do during one continuous effort.
18 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
The past three days have been in the upper 80s for a high which required some A/C to stay comfortable inside Desperado. It was not entirely the temperature but also the lack of a breeze. The forecast for today is a high of 86 but there has been a great breeze all morning and into the early afternoon. A great day so far.
I have managed to get current once again with my Daily blog reads. I have now saved them to the Bookmark file in MyYahoo! which I did not get destroyed when my old computer died.
I have also saved five of the sites that I go to frequently to FireFox Bookmarks. This was where my Daily blogs were before and I lost everything that was there. I can live with loosing these again, it is easier to add them back to FireFox than it is to MyYahoo!.
Have just started to recreate my Monthly blog list. This is a bit harder to do because I can not remember all of the sites that I went to monthly. Those that I forget in the initial setup may come to me later or perhaps they are not all that important.
When I said I needed to learn how to download on Windows 8 what I should have said was I need to learn how to find the file after I did the download. I found the file for OpenOffice last night and started the installation process but found that the package included a browser that would be installed as the default. I want FireFox as my default so I killed the install.
As I said yesterday I can make do with what I now have. When Ubuntu is able to operate under Windows 8 I should get the equivalent of OpenOffice at that time. It is not much of an issue considering what I have a need for at this time.
I started thinking about the preparation of the Will Rogers weekly article links for June. I had copied all the text into my web site so I did not loose that when my computer died. However, when I looked at copying the text from the Internet as I had in the past I found that I could not do it. I did find a work around that is probably how I should have always been doing it. Sometimes it is a good thing to have our old ways disrupted!
All in all I am now reasonably comfortable in using Windows 8 for my day to day requirements. I am also getting better, making less mistakes, on the new keyboard. When and if Ubuntu becomes available to me I may not want to change and learn a new system again. HA HA
17 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: WA126 May 17, 1925
I have been as busy as a one armed paper hanger. Yesterday after I got my web posting online I started re-building my Daily blog favorites. Got about half of them read to the current date and put their web address in Bookmarks at MyYahoo!. When my computer died I had all of them stored in FireFox Favorites and they could not be recovered.
This morning after our walk and our breakfast I began the process of posting the days 9-15 May that I had written on my Toshiba (2000). When I had the tech at Staples show me how to transfer the information using an external floppy drive (Drive A/) the format was not readable by WordPod. I didn't truly understand what the tech had done either.
So, this morning I copied the data from the old computer in a TXT format and stumbled around in Windows 8 until I was able to get that to open in WordPod. From there it was not much different from what I have always done with FireFox and Ubuntu.
For the most part, what I am doing now in Windows 8 is not any different than what I did before. There is a very important reason for that however. I had the tech set up FireFox as the default browser and had MyYahoo! set up as the Home Page. When I turn on the computer using Windows 8 I select one icon on the Start page and that brings me up to MyYahoo! and most everything works the same as it did before.
I'm having as much trouble getting familiar with the new keyboard as I am using Windows 8. The #1 problem is there is a Shift key right where the Enter key was on the right side of my old keyboard. It will become a non-issue in a few weeks but it is truly driving me nuts these first couple of days.
I did some web searches for a Free Office substitute to give me word and spreadsheet processing and tried to download one without any success. I need to learn how to download using Windows 8!
Having said that, it is not that important. WordPod is going to work just fine because I can spell check in the web site before posting. I only lost two spreadsheets that were active and one of them I can work around. The other one is simply lost, I have no other source for the data so having a spreadsheet would be meaningless.
The IRS Scandal Started at the Top by Kimberley A. Strassel written for The Wall Street Journal describes the fun I have missed this past week. I don't think the President is going to get away with his usual duck and dodge on this one. Everyone that was paying any attention at all knows that he wanted the IRS to take action against his enemies and that is what they did.
His repeated excuse of 'I didn't know' is growing very thin as each 'scandal' raises its ugly head. There are more and more of the lame stream media that are starting to ask themselves the question 'Why didn't you know?' although they will still not ask that of the President.
Was the White House involved in the IRS's targeting of conservatives? No investigation needed to answer that one. Of course it was.16 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
President Obama and Co. are in full deniability mode, noting that the IRS is an "independent" agency and that they knew nothing about its abuse. The media and Congress are sleuthing for some hint that Mr. Obama picked up the phone and sicced the tax dogs on his enemies.
But that's not how things work in post-Watergate Washington. Mr. Obama didn't need to pick up the phone. All he needed to do was exactly what he did do, in full view, for three years: Publicly suggest that conservative political groups were engaged in nefarious deeds; publicly call out by name political opponents whom he'd like to see harassed; and publicly have his party pressure the IRS to take action. Mr. Obama now professes shock and outrage that bureaucrats at the IRS did exactly what the president of the United States said was the right and honorable thing to do.
I picked up my new Toshiba Satellite C855-S5350 this morning. That is just about all the good news that I have today. It is almost ALL the news that I have for today!
The hard drive on it has been partitioned so that I can run Windows 8 or Ubuntu. This is good! But they could not load Ubuntu at this time because it is restricted by Windows 8 and the upgrades to Ubuntu have not yet been written to make the upload possible. That is BAD!
What that means is I am typing on a totally unfamiliar keyboard using Windows 8 which I never wanted to learn. I no longer have Word with the spell check capability so I'm using WordPad to type this. This is also BAD!
Lost all my spreadsheets also and will have to try and find a replacement. I am not going to give Microsoft any more money for Office but it will probably be hard to find a free substitute that runs on Windows 8. Nothing runs on Windows 8 unless Microsoft wants it to. This is BAD!
I also lost all my favorites. That means all the Bookmarks that I had for my Daily blog reads, all my Monthly blog reads and at least a dozen sites that I go to regularly. This is VERY BAD!
Then there was the problem of getting my Verizon AirCard to work. The one that I had would not work with Windows 8. Surprise! So, I went to a Verizon location near Staples and bought a new AirCard. That was not so good but what was VERY BAD was it took them over an hour to get the new one to work with Windows 8. With 3 Verizon staff all swearing they will not buy a computer with Windows 8 on it if they can possibly avoid it.
I am sure that I'll continue to complain about Windows 8 for the next few days, weeks, months but my life is what it is. I will have plenty to keep my mind active for however long it takes to learn the new system and to re-build all my favorites.
15 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
There was a lot of cloud cover this morning which made for a spectacular sunrise. I think we might have received a little rain during the night from those clouds but it could not have been much. The clouds thinned but provided a high scattered covering with a slight breeze, until about 1:00, giving me another great day for reading on the couch. When the breeze died it was time for the A/C once again.
Right after I ate breakfast I went to the Club House laundry room and got that chore started. Had some coffee when the breakfast room opened up and then looked over the book trade possibilities in the laundry room. I was very surprised to find a Greg Iles on the shelf and another book that looked worth trading my Lisa Jackson.
Finished reading my latest book by James Patterson. If this is an example of his work I will not be going out of my way to find another. The kindest thing that I can say about it is that if you are looking for some light reading entertainment while on a long air flight then seek out one of his books in the airport gift shop.
I took it and the courtroom drama that I had finished a few days ago and traded for two other books on the laundry room shelf. I don't expect great things from either of these two but they looked like equal value trades for what I was giving up. HA
14 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
I think this morning was warmer than it has been for the past week but don't know what the low temperature might have been. It was calm and a great morning for our walk.
When I went for coffee at the Club House this morning I asked the Assistant Manager if I could use the office computer long enough to check for my emails. He was the one that recommended Staples and feels bad that they are taking so long in getting my new computer to me.
So, I played on his guilt and he let me check. The one email that I was looking for had come in, the renewal billing for my web site, and they had my Credit Card number to charge which I was unsure off and concerned about.
There was one other email that I opened. This one had escaped Yahoo's Spam filter, usually email like it do go to the Spam bucket. It was from one of my few blog readers, this one in Brussels, that was asking if I was alright.
I didn't open the Spam folder, which had 67 messages in it, but there may be some more readers that have sent emails asking the same thing. I'll sort them all out on Thursday - hopefully.
It is VERY disappointing that I do not have my new computer but I have been thinking - a worrisome thing for someone like me. I am actually lucky that my computer died here in Albuquerque when it did. If it had happened during the last week that I was here it would have been as bad as if it had happened while I was in some small out of the way town i.e. Parker Strip, AZ or Wikieup, AZ or Elephant Butte, NM or even Pahrump, NV.
I would have had to drive a long way from any of those locations to find someone that could instal the Ubuntu operating system that I want on a new computer. I would have then been faced with the same issue of how long it would take them to do it. All in all I have been VERY lucky to have it happen here where there was someone to do it and the failure happened when I had time to wait for a replacement.
I made up a batch of Frey's Special Chili today and had my first serving for 'linner'. Served it up Cincinnati style over Mini Farfalle, mini bow tie pasta. This batch is not as hot as prior ones for the lack of some dried habanero. I did find some habanero seasoning but 4 teaspoons was not enough to give me the fire of 4 teaspoons of my own ground dry habanero. I must find some more!
13 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
Another great morning for our walk. We went out and back along the north route for a total of 2.25 miles. I'm not sure what the high temperature was but by 2:00 is was too warm in Desperado so I ran the A/C for a while today.
I haven't paid any attention to my walking pace for some time, just knew that I had slowed down a lot when I was hurting so bad a year ago. This morning I felt like I was clipping along rather well and checked to see if I truly was or just felt that way. My GPS said that yes I was moving along at over 3 mph, not up to where I once was but much better.
When we got home I fed Patches and then headed to town. Stopped at Wecks on N. Coors Blvd where I had their Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas with a couple of eggs on top. It was good but nothing to rave about and was a bit pricey.
Continued on north to Staples to pick up my new computer. The fellow that I talked to on Thursday said it would be ready this morning at 8:00. I did not believe him when he said it but you can always hope.
I think it has been years since anyone has provided a service for me by the date they said it would be provided. So, I was not surprised that it was not ready nor was I surprised that the Junior High School girl at the counter knew nothing about it. Although she knew nothing I was able to get her to tell me that the computer would be ready tomorrow at 8:00. Sure, and I have a bridge to sell ya!
Went back the way I had come but stopped at Smith's for groceries along the way. I will need to go out for groceries again on Sunday but that is too long without shaking Staples tree once more. I'll probably go to see them again on Thursday and raise hell if the computer is not ready. Then maybe I'll only have to make one more trip on Sunday before it is actually ready for pick up.
The most positive slant that I can put on this disappointment is that it gave me more time to finish the courtroom drama I was reading. This was The Judge by Steve Martini written somewhat in the style of a Perry Mason or Matlock TV courtroom mystery. The defense attorney get his client off by proving someone else was the murderer.
No new computer also gives me a LOT more time to play more FreeCell. I am not convinced that more play is making me any better however. Today I am in a real slump. Maybe just not concentrating?
12 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
Another cool morning but felt just right with no wind blowing. Our route this morning was the straight out and back along Central Ave for a total of 2 miles plus a little.
Have had a few scattered clouds build up during the day but it has been one of the better days since I have been here. Don't know what the temperature might be but it feels perfect so I'm guessing the mid-70s. A very slight breeze has made for some good couch time.
That has me spending more time with the court room drama. I probably will not finish it today although I could if I devoted full time to reading. Can't do that I need to get in some FreeCell play time to break up the day.
I had neighbors move in on my south side yesterday afternoon. Took Patches over to meet them and she got to meet two young girls, ages about 4 and 6. Their mother had them approach Patches properly and she was such a great dog with them. She has barked at 'small people' in the past so I am very watchful when she is around young children. I hope the exposure helps her get over whatever bad experience she may have had before I got her.
I can only hope that my new computer is ready tomorrow morning when I go to pick it up. The long drive to get it will simply add to the disappointment if I don't get it. My life is not very exciting when I have a computer that allows me to read blogs, emails, Internet browsing and posting to my web page - it is a real bore when I can not do those things.
11 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
No rain yesterday or last night and this morning was clear and cool almost cold because the wind was blowing. Patches loved it, this was her kind of morning. We did the south route again to start the three day cycle.
I wanted to cook the remainder of the pork stew meat and make another batch of pork and cabbage today. Discovered that I didn't have another can of beef broth but I did have a can of crushed tomatoes. Therefore, a new recipe was formulated right here in the Frey Kitchen.
I browned the diced pork in a skillet then into the Thermal Cooker pot with the crushed tomato, a little water, what was left of my crushed habanero chile, a square of bakers chocolate and the half head of cabbage. I'm not sure what I might call this stroke of culinary genius but it tastes pretty good.
That was the beginning and end of any excitement for the day. Have been on the couch with a new book, a court room drama this time. Have also been playing some more FreeCell and have stacked up some losses after the initial rush of wins. It looks like 91% is about as good as I'll ever be.
10 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: WA126 May 10, 1925
Our morning walk was out and back to the north for just over 2 miles total. These same three routes in the morning and then around the Park in the afternoon will be boring to me by the time we leave but Patches enjoys every walk. Everyday is a new experience for her but she does remember where another dog(s) confronted her and she is watchful as we pass those places.
The Club House breakfast host stopped by my table this morning while I was having coffee and asked me if I was going to have anything else. I told her that I was a Monthly and had been told that I could not partake. I said I had taken something the first 3-4 days I was here without knowing the rules but was informed by the Registration staff that the Continental Breakfast was not for Monthly's. She said that was right but she didn't know who was daily, weekly or monthly and I was welcome to all the coffee I wanted. Because of their policy I don't think many Monthly's come in for coffee or it may be that most of the Monthly's are still working and have gone to work by the 8:00 opening.
I miss reading my Daily blogs and the Internet a lot. I am also getting further behind on my Monthly blogs rather than catching up. Missing the News is not that big of an issue, I'm sure that what happened yesterday or today and what will happen during the coming weekend will be nearly the same News that the lame stream media propagandizes every day.
I have replaced those times on the computer that died with some FreeCell Solitaire games on the old Toshiba. I had not played any games on it since 2007 but it still retained my accumulated wins and losses so I am adding to those 22,000 games. I have a historical win record of 91% and so far I am doing even better than that.
The Solitaire was used to break up my time on the couch reading a Lisa Jackson mystery. I think this is the first book of hers that I have read but may not be the last if I can find another one when I trade again. With no blog reading or Internet I might finish another book during this weekend. HA
There were scattered clouds all day yesterday and this morning. As today progressed the scattered became a complete overcast that looked like rain was possible at any minute. I could see rain falling on the horizon but only got a few sprinkles here in the Park around noon. Thought I might get wet when I took Patches for her afternoon walk but we lucked out although Patches would have loved a light rain.
9 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
The day started off like most all of mine do. Patches and I went out and back along Central Ave for about a mile each way. I then had breakfast and read most of my Daily blogs before going to the Club House for coffee. When I left I turned my laptop off and unplugged it as I try to always do when I leave Desperado.
When I returned I plugged the laptop in and turned it on and was greeted with a blank screen. I tried it 2-3 more times with the same result each time accompanied with a start up sound that was different than I am used to hearing. Decided that I needed someone with more expertise than myself to look at it so I went to the Park Office and asked for a recommendation.
Received directions to a Staples in the northwestern part of town (maybe 10 miles away) on Coors Blvd. Arrived there around 9:00 and had purchased a new Toshiba laptop by 10:00. They will install Ubuntu on it so I will have that as my primary operating system but Windows 8 will be available also. They will set up the driver for my Verizon AirCard and transfer all the data from my dead computer. The cost of those services were about as much as the price of the computer. I'll provide more information about it when I pick it up on Monday - hopefully.
I'll type up my daily web postings for the next few days on my old Toshiba (bought in 2000) with Windows 98 and using Open Office that served me well for a lot of years. The only problem with this laptop is it can not be upgraded to WIFI or an AirCard. That is why I bought a new one in 2007 that had WIFI capability then added Verizon to it in 2008. I'm having some trouble with the different keyboard, the battery is shot but it still works!
When I get the new computer I'll transfer the days postings that I have typed via floppy disk from this computer. I'll still have to do some formatting prior to posting but most of the writing will have been done. It will also have been done on the dated day just a delay in posting.
Without access to the Internet what I have to say every day will most likely be shorter and even less interesting than usual. It will be about what is happening in my life or what is not happening as the case may be.
8 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
Another day of much the same o same o. Our morning walk was out and back on the southern route but shortened to just under 2 miles. Had a GPS blunder and didn't know how far I had walked on the outgoing leg. It had credited me with more distance than I knew was possible so when I turned around I then doubled the return reading.
When I went for coffee this morning I had a short chat with a couple that I have seen leading a pair of Great Danes here in the Park. I asked them if they had a separate trailer for them and they said that they did not and admitted it would be a good idea because they did make for a crowd it their motorhome.
They are still both 'pups' but one weighs about 140 pounds and the other smaller one only 125. I am amazed at how tall they are, just huge dogs that have not got their full growth yet and will probably reach 200 pounds when full grown. I have not seen it but the couples little dog is a full grown Saint Bernard. What a house full!
Browned off about a pound of pork stew meat in my skillet this morning and then put it in the Thermal Cooker pot with some beef broth and half a head of cabbage. That will cook until I have some of it for my 'linner' today. Should be enough for about thee meals plus I have the other half head of cabbage and another pound of meat for another batch. Good eating and not very expensive compared to beef prices.
The House is receiving testimony today from what are being described by the lame stream media as Benghazi 'whistleblowers'. I think the most important thing that will come out of these hearings is that the lame stream media does not want to report on them as News.
When the hearings are over the media will report it as some Old News and support Hillary's position that it doesn't make any difference – it is over. Or as the Democrat Representative Elijah Cummings, a member of the hearing, said today 'Death is part of life'. Can you imagine what the uproar would have been in the lame stream media if a Republican had so cavalierly commented on the deaths of the students at Sandy Hook?
7 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
Patches and I have been doing 2 mile morning walks since we have been here. This morning I wanted to stay in bed and not walk at all but I knew that Patches would not let me get away with that. I compromised by getting up and doing a little over a mile within the Park for which Patches gave a Thank You Howl when we got back to Desperado.
I fed her breakfast and then un-hooked from electric and we went to town. I don't think any restaurants here open before 7:00 and The Breakfast Club wasn't when we arrived. I went back to Desperado and read until 7:00 and tried the door again only to find it still locked. I did get in and had breakfast but it was nothing to recommend the place. They do have some good prices on many specials which I probably should have taken advantage of. Another negative is there Credit Card policy: If you pay with a Credit Card they add 50¢ to the total.
From there we went to Smith's where I picked up groceries for the next week. Got everything I wanted except dry habanero chiles. I stopped at a Mexican Grocery at the bottom of 9 Mile Hill on the way home thinking that they would have some. They did have a large selection of dry chiles in bulk but no habanero.
The rest of my day was devoted to reading Daily Blogs, Monthly Blogs, a couple of new blogs and the News. I also finished a mystery by Greg Iles which I'll trade for another of his if I can find one at the next Park where I stay. There certainly was not one here when I looked a few days ago and I don't expect much has changed.
6 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
It has been overcast since late yesterday afternoon, looks like it might rain at any minute but has not done so. The chance of rain has been reduced to 40% today and 10% tomorrow so I doubt that there will be any. Continued partly cloudy for the next few days with high temperatures in the 70s. My kind of weather IF the wind remains a breeze.
Our morning walk was out and back along Central Ave for about a mile each way. This took us to the crest of 9 Mile hill where we could look out over the Rio Grand and Albuquerque spread along its banks north and south. The sun was just coming up so I did not get the night time light show that I saw when I was here in September. I think I was getting up an hour earlier than I am now.
When I went to the Club House this morning for coffee I also had an English Muffin. The women that had checked me in last Wednesday approached me when I went back for a coffee re-fill and informed me that the Continental Breakfast was only for daily and weekly stay people. She apologized for not telling me when I checked in and said that I was welcome to get coffee. I'm not sure that I understand this policy but it is what it is.
The Dow and the S&P Index have reached new record highs and the lame stream media are falling over each other to tell us how great the 'recovery' has been under President Obama. There are a few dark clouds on the horizon or as the President likes to say a few bumps in the road. One of those bumps just may be the high level of margin debt that has been driving the market. What do you think is going to happen when stocks begin to decline and margin calls begin? Has everyone forgotten where the Indexes went in 2008?
Margin debt amounted to $379.5 billion in March, the latest month available. The total was the second-highest in the history of the NYSE’s figures, going back to 1959. The highest was the $381.4 billion recorded in July 2007.
5 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
The weather guessers are not going to give up on their prediction. They said the high yesterday was going to be 81° but it only reached 76 so they now say that today will be 81. They then go on to say 'Today is forecast to be nearly the same temperature as yesterday' so I'm thinking we will remain in the 70s.
Winds were blowing during most of the night and this morning in the 25-30 mph range with gusts near 40. They will most likely continue as a storm is blowing in with a 50% chance of rain. That is weatherman speak for 'It may may rain, then again it may not'.
Patches and I went east on Central Ave again this morning but turned north on Atrisco Vista Blvd, crossed over I-40 and then went west on the north frontage road. Walked until we had gone about 1.5 miles then reversed our route. The road shoulders are good all the way so this will be a regular second morning walk for us.
Yesterday afternoon I took Patches out the Park's southwest gate that is identified as an entrance to a Pet Walk. It simply put us outside the Park on a seldom used dirt road that runs along the south and west sides of the Park. It also extends to the west along the perimeter of the fence of the adjoining property back to the Park. That is all well and good except for the number of goat heads and sand burrs that Patches had sticking in her paws – we will not be doing the Pet Walk again.
I tried my sweet potato hash browns with an omelet again this morning with mixed results. Got the potatoes a little too crispy and don't have the omelet flipping mastered yet. It was good eating but I'm afraid that if I were to serve it to someone other than myself it would get sent back to the kitchen. Practice, practice!
4 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
Patches and I went east on Central Ave this morning where there is a broader shoulder to Atrisco Vista Blvd (NM500). There we turned south and went as far as the entrance to Tierra West Estates and then returned along the same route. This is much safer walking than what we did yesterday.
Rather than my usual egg scramble breakfast I first cooked up the diced sweet potatoes as you would hash browns. Then egg substitute went into the skillet with some sliced fresh jalapeño, roasted peppers and shredded cheese that I allowed to cook for a few minutes and then attempted to fold over into an omelet. The attempt was almost successful and did not take away from the eating pleasure only the appearance.
My morning coffee time at the Club House does not look like it is going to include much socializing. The majority of the people that come in are couples that are interested in getting their Continental Breakfast, eating and leaving; there is not a lot of conversation going on.
I finished the Elizabeth George mystery that I have been reading for the past 4-5 days this morning and went to the Park Office to inquire about an exchange library. I was told it was in the laundry room where I found the smallest and poorest selection for a Park of this size that you could imagine. I did make a trade but when I finish my next book I doubt that I'll be making another, there were less than 25 paperbacks and maybe 10 hardback books available.
3 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: WA125 May 3, 1925
Patches and I went west this morning on Central Ave which has become the south side frontage road to I-40 by the time it reaches the Park. We went out for about a mile which was not bad but there was a lot more traffic going west as we returned. The road has narrow shoulders that slope off rather sharply so the oncoming traffic was a bother.
The frontage road turns south farther west and becomes Shelly Dr which leads to Napa and Sandia Speedways as well as a Charter school and the Metropolitan Detention Center. At 6:00-6:30 in the morning I'm guessing all the west bound traffic is a shift change of Detention staff. There is probably a steady flow of east bound traffic starting around 7:00.
It was 61° for a high yesterday with a 37 low. This morning matched that for a low but the high is expected to reach 75. Then tomorrow we will get up into the low 80s and the lows will go above my preferred minimum of 40. We might even see a 90° high by this time next week – that is taking things to far in my opinion.
My routine here is to cook breakfast when we return from our morning walk then go to the Club House for coffee at 8:00. I did no socializing this morning at coffee but did stop and talk to a young (maybe late 30s or early 40s) couple from Florida that have retired and are doing a loop around the US of A. The majority of the conversation focused on their experience with the Fiat 500 that they are using for a 'toad' behind their Mercedes Sprinter motor home.
The rest of my day has been the usual reading of blogs, web News and my latest novel. Then there is my slow progress on Monthly blogs that I might complete within a week. I also have a new 'travel' blog that I found that I'm slowly reading from its beginning. When/if I get current with it I'll probably add it to my Monthly list and drop one that is on there now but rarely posting.
The Bureau of Labor has released their non-farm job numbers for April, an increase of 165,000. This is more than the 'experts' were forecasting but is not getting a lot of media hype. I think the media is actually disappointed that there was an increase, the sequester was billed as the thing that would kill jobs and that didn't happen. The good News, which the media is focusing on, was that the Unemployment Rate has gone down by another 0.1% to 7.5%.
If you look at the Household Data for April the number of Employed was better yet with an increase of 293,000 while the number of Unemployed decreased by 83,000. This was very good News since most of those Unemployed got jobs. There was also a decrease of 31,000 in the Not in the Labor Force so the primary reason for the drop in the Unemployment Rate was people got jobs. This should be headline News but I have not seen any.
The Participation Rate remained unchanged at 63.3% the lowest it has been since May 1979. The number of people Not in the Labor Force is now at 89,936,000 the second all time record high after March set the record. Convincing millions of Americans they don’t need a job, the government will care for them, or compelling desperate workers to settle for part time work has been Obama's most effective policy for reducing Unemployment.
2 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
The wind forecast is usually accurate and the call for high winds last night proved to be so. We didn't get the over 50 mph gusts here at the Park but the 40 mph gusts and steady winds of over 30 had Desperado mov'n n shak'n until the early morning hours.
We will have some more of that later today and tonight. Not quite as strong but there will be winds. The temperatures dropped 10-15° from yesterday also both the high and the low so this morning was below my preferred 40 and tomorrow morning will be about the same. Then warming up into the lows 80s and lows in the upper 40s or low 50s for all of next week.
Patches and I were out in that wind yesterday afternoon with a walk through all the Park streets. We also got caught by a dust devil that neither one of us care for much. Patches was VERY happy with our out and back walk along Central Ave this morning. She loves the cold mornings and is happiest when it is below my 40°. She even gave me a thank you howl when we got back home which is unusual for her. She may 'talk' to me before a walk but very rarely say anything after.
When we got home I fed Patches and made my breakfast. Then went to the Park Club House for some coffee which is not available until 8:00. There is a crowd that gathers soon after that opening to take advantage of the free Continental Breakfast offerings so I was lucky to get a cup of coffee. When I went back for a re-fill the pot was empty and I had to wait while another was being brewed.
Sat with a couple that were originally from California, now living in St. George, UT, that are staying here for a week while in New Mexico for the first time. Conversation with them was a big contrast to what I was having with the more 'mature' RVers in Pahrump and Elephant Butte. This couple were your more typical recreation travelers, probably with a bucket list (No, I did not ask), rather than people that 'live' in an RV with travel being simply an adjunct to that life.
President Obama said the following at his Press Conference as part of his defense of ObamaCare. In very simple words what he is saying is that for 90% of Americans they have received all the benefits they are ever going to get from ObamaCare. They can look forward to higher and higher medical insurance premiums but what they have right now is as good as it gets.
For the 85 to 90 percent of Americans who already have health insurance, this thing has already happened. And their only impact is that their insurance is stronger, better, more secure than it was before. Full stop. That’s it. They don’t have to worry about anything else.
I noticed that our President has expanded his language by adopting the European expression i.e. “Full Stop” rather than using the more common Americanism “Period”. I wonder how many of his sycophants recognized the expression and knew what he meant when he said it? Is it now the chic thing in elite circles to use European expressions?
1 May, 2013 American RV Park (Albuquerque, NM)
We got away this morning a few minutes before 6:00 and drove to Socorro, NM with virtually no wind. Stopped there for breakfast at El Camino Restaurant where I have had breakfast every time I have been in Socorro. This time I had their Greek Omelet which was a big one and very good, the hash browns not so much.
Then soon after leaving Socorro when on I-25 I started to get buffeted with winds from the west. Not nearly as bad when off of I-25 because my speed was less and there were trees along the roadway part of the time. The forecast is for winds in the 20-30 mph range starting around sundown, increasing to 30-40 mph during the night with gust over 50 mph. Very glad I got an early start and that I'm here!
It was only 157 miles so I arrived before noon. That included a breakfast stop, a stop at Westside Pets where I picked up 60# of food for Patches and a grocery stop at Smith's where I got a few pounds of food for me. The route: Yapple Canyon Rd, NM195, NM181/NM52, NM181, I-25 (2miles), NM1, US60/Clifornia (in Socorro), I-25 (23 miles)*, US60, NM116, NM314, NM45/Coors Blvd & Central Ave.
*I had directions from Google Maps that gave me a convoluted route through north Socorro that would have cut 10 miles from the I-25 driving but I missed the first turn and was on the Interstate. I got off at the first exit and tried to get back on the Google route but could not without turning around and trying it again where I went astray. Got back on the Interstate and went to the US60 exit.
Parts of NM1 and NM116 were old US85 that I-25 replaced. Central Ave. in Albuquerque is the old US66 route after 1927 that ran east and west. The original US66, until 1927, ran north and south through Albuquerque and parts of it became US85.
30 April, 2013 Cedar Cove RV Park (Elephant Butte, NM)
It reached a high of 87° yesterday and was very calm until late in the afternoon. That had me running the A/C from about noon and it looks like we are in for similar weather today. The expected high is to be 90° but then on Thursday and Friday it will be back down into the 60s.
I'll be gone from here by then. However, the weather forecast for Albuquerque is almost the same. The wind will probably be less but the temperatures will be within the same range although I'll be 500-1,000' higher in elevation.
The only thing that I had to do today was dump my holding tanks and add fresh water. I got that done early today before it got very hot which I'm glad I did. It was over 80 before 11:00 so the expected 90 was on its way. Tomorrow morning all I need do is un-hook from electric and go.
Said goodbye to the Club House Kaffee Klatch this morning with the possibility of seeing one of them later next month in Albuquerque. I'll go to see John and say goodbye later this afternoon when I take Patches for a short potty walk. It is going to be too hot for our usual long walk.
In Liberal Frustrations Grow after 100 Days of Obama 2.0 by Chris Stirewalt he points out the multiple failures of President Obama in his second 100 Days, as judged by his liberal supporters. If he looses them who will remain? This is especially bad since a large majority of the media are liberal and have been carrying his water for him since Campaign 2008.
President Obama is not Mitt Romney. And on the 100th day of his second term in office, that seems to be his cardinal virtue among members of his political base.
Despite – or, more likely, because of – the president’s boldly liberal vision and broad promises after his re-election, liberal Democrats are feeling crabby about Obamism these days.
A largely unchecked genocide in Syria, an ever-escalating drone warfare program, a botched effort for gun control, fumbling implementation of the new health law, defeats on fiscal policy and the president’s seeming acceptance of business as usual in Washington are all causing alarm on the left. What is the use of having a crusading liberal president if he won’t crusade or can’t win when he does?
In the President's Press Conference today ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl asked a question that pointed out these failures. This is not what you do in one of his Press Conferences and I would bet that is the last question that he gets to ask this President. Here is Obama's reply, in part, to the question. I say in part because this President never just answers a question, he almost always segues into a lecture to show how smart he is and how ignorant the questioner.
“If you put it that way, Jonathan, maybe I should just pack up and go home. Golly! You know, I think it’s a little, as Mark Twain said, ‘Rumors of my demise may be a little exaggerated at this point.”
29 April, 2013 Cedar Cove RV Park (Elephant Butte, NM)
Our afternoon walk yesterday was out toward NM195 then northwest on an ATV trail that followed the power line. Only went a couple of power poles in distance and then turned west before circling back to the Park. Walked in the bottom of a big draw and then climbed over a couple of ridges and through a couple smaller draws. A little bit of a workout but only 1.5-1.75 miles.
This morning we did an out and back to NM195 which is one mile. I then went to the Club House for a cup of coffee but stayed for only that one. I had told John that I would pick him up this morning at 7:00 and we would go to breakfast so I had to get back and un-hook.
It would have been only a one mile walk to Hodges Corner Restaurant but I would have had to leave Patches for a couple of hours and did not want to do that. So, I drove us down there and I got their Huevos Rancheros breakfast special. John and I sat and visited for about an hour which was great and he was kind enough to pick up the check which was even greater. HA
After poaching three salmon fillets I have gone back to baking them in my Roaster. The poaching method was so much easier to clean up and it did leave the cooked fish more moist but I found that I did not like it as well. The cut corn, roasted peppers, black bean, artichoke salad with a walnut oil, lime dressing however has been good. I like this dressing better than the walnut oil, balsamic vinegar that I was using before although it was good also.
It seems that the worm may have turned and may be bad news for President Obama and the Democrats. Even with the complicity of the lame stream media people in the good Ol' US of A are beginning to wake up and see that they government can not provide them security. The government's promise of more security at only some small loss of freedom is not selling nearly as well as it once did. This is NOT the bad news. The Bad News is that a population that does not believe the government's security promises will soon question ALL government promises.
A Fox News survey polling a random national sample of 619 registered voters the day after the bombing found despite the tragic event, those interviewed responded very differently than following 9/11. For the first time since a similar question was asked in May 2001, more Americans answered “no” to the question, “Would you be willing to give up some of your personal freedom in order to reduce the threat of terrorism?” Of those surveyed on April 16, 2013, 45 percent answered no to the question, compared to 43 percent answering yes.
A similar poll sampling 588 adults, conducted on April 17 and 18 for the Washington Post, also discovered the change in attitude. “Which worries you more,” the Post asked, “that the government will not go far enough to investigate terrorism because of concerns about constitutional rights, or that it will go too far in compromising constitutional rights in order to investigate terrorism?” The poll found 48 percent of respondents worry the government will go too far, compared to 41 percent who worry it won’t go far enough.
28 April, 2013 Cedar Cove RV Park (Elephant Butte, NM)
Patches and I went out yesterday afternoon to follow A Memorial Walk Honoring American Military. There are 18 cairns along the walk plus two representing the locations of Baghdad and Tehran. We visited them all except the cairn labeled #13 on the map.
We found a #13 but it was where I would have expected to find #11 and then found none with a #11 on the post. The post for #1 and #18 are not labeled as such but rather as Alpha and Omega and they are the closest to the Park and not more than a dozen feet apart. This is also where a feeding and watering station for birds and rabbits is located.
I made a note of the GPS coordinates at each cairn as we went along. When I got back to Desperado I started to place them on a map but did not like how inaccurately I was doing it. I think I need to do some more study on how to prepare a Google Map using coordinates.
There was enough climbing up and down through a few draws that I woke up with a right knee that was a little sore and I was lazy this morning. That meant that Patches got short shift on her walk. It was longer than a potty walk but not up to the morning standard that I have established and what she likes. Enough to keep her happy however which is a good thing.
When I went for coffee this morning I took the novel that I finished yesterday with me. Checked the library here for the same author, Allan Folsom, but they did not have any. That did not disappoint me that much, his book was a good read but I was happy to trade for another DeMille.
The only thing that I did out of my ordinary routine today was prepare 3x5 cards for my trip north on Wednesday. I'll stop in Soccoro for breakfast then at a pet food store and a Smith's in Albuquerque to fill the larder for the two of us. It is not a long drive but I have made it much more complicated by avoiding as much of Interstate 25 as I can.
The past couple of days have been so much better than the 10 days starting with my departure from Pahrump. The winds finally dropped down to a level that I can live with and need if the high temperature gets up into the 80s as it did yesterday. The weather guessers are predicting a repeat of yesterday and that is good - it was very nice.
27 April, 2013 Cedar Cove RV Park (Elephant Butte, NM)
Yesterday afternoon I took Patches down to level 3 in the Park and then up a slight climb up a ridge to the southwest. This brought us to about the same height as level 1 where my space is. The ridge then overlooked the deep draw that we had walked in previously but now we were walking south.
After perhaps ½ mile we came to a fence and turned back toward the east through a shallow draw and up onto a wide ridge that runs south by southeast also at level 1 height. At about the point where we reached the top there was a cairn of rocks with an American Flag lashed to a 2x2 and a number attached. Looking east I saw another flag and walked to it and found a similar cairn with the number 15 on the post.
We turned back for home and I went past two more flags along the way. When I stopped in the Office upon getting back to the Park I asked about the flags and they only knew that a guy in the Park had built them as a War Memorial.
This morning I went over to see John again and asked him about the flags and he told me that there was a map on the Laundry Room bulletin board. I now have a copy of A Memorial Walk Honoring American Military which shows 17 locations along a roughly outlined perimeter for the shape of Iraq where the Office Staff said the builders son had died.
A note on the Map says the walk is 1 ½ – 2 miles long so Patches and I will go back this afternoon and see if we can visit all 17 cairns. I'm also going to see if I can get GPS coordinates for each one of them and then prepare a Google Map. This is something I have never done before so it should prove educational.
I think the bicycling couple from Texas, whose blog I am now reading daily, went past me today on their way north. I was in contact with them yesterday when they were planning on stopping at Caballo State Park some 22 miles south of my location. I asked them to slightly detour off of NM181, which I was guessing they would be on today, and stop by but I have no seen them. I probably will not be on their route again so will only know them through their blog – like so many of my other Blog Friends.