Tue, Jul 31st - 9:56PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
141.8 miles
2 bike miles
HOT!

108 recordings of 19 types. 44% clear.

Winnemucca.  I got here about 3:15. Roni calls it the Barstow of Nevada.  She says that like it's a bad thing, but I actually like Barstow. If we had done the 2011 road trip, we'd have done the whole power trail and stayed in Winnemucca. Sigh.  The reason for that is that the next leg was Boise and there's not much between here and there.

American Conservatives
It's super nice that this socialist race baiter [Jesse Jackson, Jr.] is getting a free ride at Mayo ON THE TAXPAYERS' DIME, WHILE THE SENIOR CITIZENS HE REPRESENTS ARE TURNED AWAY AT THE DOOR. Oh, you didn't know?? MEDICARE IS SUCH A CRAPPY PROGRAM THAT NO ONE OVER 65 THAT IS ON MEDICARE IS ALLOWED TO GET TREATED THERE. During the ObamaCare debate when they exposed just HOW bad medicare payments are going to get, LOWER THAN MEDICAID, MAYO SAID 'NO MORE!' Loving the change?

I was up at 6, and grabbed some peaches. Alicia got up. I kept working and was able to leave at 7:15. 8:10, the Gold Run rest stop, where I had to do two things, replace the GPS holder and call Alicia about watering the mandarin tree, which I'd forgotten about until passing Auburn and thinking about the mandarin festival. Of course, when I first tried to call, the voice mail kicked in. WHY does it do that?? I usually give it plenty of time, but it waits till I'm making a call. Anyway, it was Don, who I called yesterday. He is in a residential home.  Maybe I'll see him on the way home. Then I got to talk to Alicia, who called me.  I hate this phone, but it's cheap.  I had two text messages which I deleted unread. We'll see if they charge me for that.

I had heartburn, had a Tums before I left, and also a tummy ache.  Not so good. The Donner rest area is sure different. This has good memories of Rich and David and a snowball fight. Nevada border at 9:36.  Reno was terrible to manoever through.

I was looking for a place to grab a drink and go potty, and turned off on one exit, then decided not and went back on the freeway... almost merging with a double-carrier truck.  Scary! Then I did stop in Fernley.  The Pilot station is nice, but impossible to get into and out of, so after potty/drink I turned right, u-turned into traffic, and again turned right and drove through Fernley. Oh, look, there's a cache there!  And there's a cache there!  And there!  Rich and I had come here in 2010 and found all we could. Sigh.

Then there was a new cache at the "boiling hot springs." I then stopped at the rest area at the junction of 95 and 80 and ate my lunch. I thought maybe my tire was low, but fortunately not. That was 11:20-11:45. Then to the other side of Lovelock for the Battle Born power trail. I started 3.5 miles from the junction with Battle Born: Austin. Once I'd found a couple, I had it down.  Drive as close as you can on the road, stop the car,  get the key out and locked on my belt (the first time I don't do that will be the time I automatically lock all the doors) and go to the cache and sign it, then back to the car.  Set up the next cache, write the number and name down, and rinse and repeat.  I got one every 5 minutes.  I was thinking Rich would have gone for them all (I faded out after 20) but it would have taken longer anyway, because he was anal about note-taking. However, one person doing this is tiring. I've got more stamina than I had last week, but still nowhere near as strong as I will need to be for the Galapagos. It was hot, too.

A guy had driven past once, and half an hour later came back.  That time he stopped long enough to be sure I wasn't "broke down."  Nice guy. I was fairly frightened by this trail: afraid of rattlesnakes, flat tires, broken bones, heart attacks, etc.  The "Prison Area" sign on the highway didn't help, either.

I was nearly back at the intersection when I gave up and came on into Winnemucca.

I stopped at the next rest area (where if I'd paid attention, there was a cache!) but it was being fixed up, so was a porta-potty rest area.  No, I'm not that desperate.  Meanwhile, the iTouch had been playing "genre folllk" since lunch and was stuck on the Limeliters, and beginning to repeat. I listened to the radio (more gospel than country) and found a country station, got "I'm going to love you through it" which is a song about breast cancer but it fit my situation last year and I cried and cried.  At the rest area I changed to "artist Mozart" which helped.

Here I located the motel, came in, gave my name "Yarnot, Y-A-R-N-O-T" and waited while the bored girl peered at her computer, finally asking me "what was your name again?" Grr, but I just handed her my ChoicePrivileges card.  Nice room.  She tried to give me two keys. No. It says "1 adult."  I get breakfast and a drink at the bar. 
 
I hit Facebook, chatted with Roni*, logged my caches, watched Fox News, and went to dinner, which was fettuchini Alfredo.  The casino is lame.  My first machine wouldn't print a ticket and nobody came to help for 15 minutes or so.  However, eventually I got rid of most of my money. (That I'd allocated to play with!) And so to bed.

*They went to the State Fair this weekend, but didn't see me because somehow Roni didn't realize I would still be in town.

UK Experts to Help Destroy Iraqi's WMDs That Don't Exist. I wonder (not really) if the media will cover this?

Mon, Jul 30th - 10:31PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
141.6 miles
2 bike miles
HOT!

112 recordings of 22 types. 42% clear.

I took the dog for a walk for a couple of miles. They're still tearing up my neighborhood and making it impossible to walk or drive anywhere.

I re-posted a picture of Bernadette and Gareth that she posted from the fair and heard from her cousin Cindy:

C. That one pic of burnadette fooled my dad
He thought it was me
J. [:)]
Who did he think the kid was?
C. He asked me...where I was and whose kid it was. lol
J. [:D]
At the California State Fair, and on the monorail, dad.
C. lol
I had to take a double take, I thought it was me

Heh.  What Newsweak's cover *should* have looked like.

Cokie Roberts says Romney went to Poland because he's a racist..
Fred Thompson: GM's stock price has now dropped to less than half of its post-bailout high, but Obama refuses to sell the government's shares before November.

Like many people, he's hedging until the Romney recovery is up & running.

I ran errands. Since the sunglasses I bought just last Sunday fell apart in my hand, I went to Walmart where they are better (the other one was Target, sorry kids!) and got another pair.  I also got 100SPF sunscreen, then thought maybe it was opaque. No, fortunately.  And caladryl, so I can deal with this damn poison oak. Off to get cash (the check from the brokerage account I closed didn't come till later) and top off the gas tank.  (2 cents down from last week.)

And then I packed, worked on the puzzle, cleaned up a bit, did a tish of gardening (unfortunately, the peaches aren't quite ripe.  However, I'm going to have pumpkin blossoms soon. I'm a lot behind my kids, but I may have pumpkins in time for Hallowe'en.) The neighbor brought me the cash they owed me (so I may gamble a little tomorrow night.)  Alicia came and I think we're about ready.  With luck. Tomorrow I'll check the peaches, pack up the 'puter and the food, and go. I'm wearing long pants and closed shoes so I can try the Battle Born power trail.  I'm mostly scared, but a little excited, too.

Mon, Jul 30th - 2:47PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
139.6 miles
2 bike miles
heating up

108 recordings of 19 types. 44% clear.

I'm up .3 pounds for the week, with high BP

I was up at 3 because the poison oak patch near my armpit was hurting and itching so badly. Also, Gareth was turned 90 degrees and kept bopping me with his head. Ow. I got up and made a baking soda paste to put on the patch. Then I was able to go back to sleep till 6:30.  Gareth was upright at that point, with his 2/3 out of the middle.

Yesterday Gareth discovered my Rand McNally atlas. "It has 'MERICA!" So I made sure to give him maps of California and Oregon so he can learn where he is on their trip tomorrow.

This morning we went to church and he was pretty good.  After he had looked at all the books, we went out to the bathroom, and then he was OK except he started to talk. At one point "I DON'T WANT TO BE QUIET!" However, he then behaved. Mass was over except for the peanut butter stories by the St. Vincent dePaul lady.  That was OK, but then Father started commenting, mostly about the upcoming parish festival, and on and on.  Some woman had an announcement though I don't remember what it was about, the deacon had to announce he would be having a class in September, and there are tamales for sale and a car wash. I liked the car wash when it happened while we were at Mass, but no way could we have waited after Mass.  Oh, well. I thought we'd never get out of there.

Then we went home and Gareth changed into his swim clothes and we went over to the Seely Park Splash Zone.  He really had fun playing, all by himself, in the water.  Quite a change from when he was 2 and Rich and I tried this.

Home again. I gave him a cream-cheese and olive sandwich and he liked it.  Then more play and MOMMY came!  They went off to the last day of the State Fair (tears. It's OK buddy, tomorrow you'll go see Grandma!)

I went to the Support Group. One question was "what brings you here today?"  Because I wasn't here last week, and I won't be next week, and these people understand... they're my friends.  Afterwards I went to dinner with them and listened to one woman tell about the last 4 years(!) with her husband and how she practically lived at the hospital or the nursing home. I only had 2 tough months and that was hard enough.

I called one friend who hadn't been there: she is busy getting a new water heater.  Again, thank you, Rich!!!

Duh!

Heh. Hashtag fail.

 Kitchen Cabinet: U.S. Navy ordered to buy $59 a gallon BIO-FUEL from big Democratic contributor to Obama and others. Navy didn't just buy a few gallons.....but $12 million in biofuels to test the ability of Navy ships to run on the stuff for an entire day! Petroluem per gallon today? $3.60..but who's counting pennies!!!

ACLU Supports Chick-Fil-A.

Mike Huckabee: If you let them take a nugget of your freedom, they will come back and take the whole chicken.

Gee, who could have predicted that?

Mon, Jul 30th - 9:53AM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
139.6 miles
2 bike miles
80s

114 recordings of 25 types. 41% clear.

Trevor Thomas: An inadequate writer who has no greater knowledge of English literature than Dickens and Tolkien and no better adjectives than "awesome" would certainly be unacquainted with George Bernard Shaw who wrote: "Democracy is a device which ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve."

There, as regards both parties and their candidates this year, is your fucking "touché."

It's Bush's fault.

Don Surber.

The mayor's argument is that Boston is so tolerant that it will not tolerate people who do not conform to its definition of tolerance.
...
But Mayors Menino and Emanuel are attempting to discriminate against Cathy for his religious beliefs.

What would their reaction be if Cathy were a Muslim who defended the traditional family?

In the case of Emanuel, we already know. This week, he welcomed the support of Louis Farrakhan in fighting the crime that has overwhelmed Chicago.

Farrakhan is the head of the Nation of Islam. Two months ago, Farrakhan blasted President Obama for supporting gay marriage.

0bama's Top Ten UK Gaffes.

What we're really seeing, though, is our corrupt media at its worst -- a media so partisan and devoid of integrity that they look for any real or perceived mistake to keep the blistering spotlight as far away from Obama's failed record as possible and always on Mitt Romney.

I was out walking the dog, and passed a neighborhood garage sale, and here was this huge stuffed horse. For only $5, I bought it!  Gareth was a little baffled by it, but eventually gave it a name... "Dat" ("That" which is his default when he can't answer a question. "What park do you mean?" "Dat!" very frustrating for all.)  Later he changed the horse's name to "Nat" and we'll see if that sticks.

American Conservatives: What kind of stupid do you have to be in order to support Obama, or any other Democrat?? The kind of stupid that believes if the gov't takes more money from your boss he's somehow going to be MORE LIKELY to take on the gov't burdens of hiring more people. Yup. That's a SPECIAL kind of stupid.

Nick Gillespie

As liberal defenders of Barack Obama accuse critics of conscious or unconscious racism, it's worth remembering how far America has traveled from its vile segregationist past. And how little the president's current poll numbers have to do with the color of his skin.

Tim Pawlenty: "We got a problem because we've got a president who's all foam and no beer."

The playground at McKinley Park was vandalized last night.  Sooooo infuriating. 

I went down to Elk Grove to pick Gareth up.  He was thrilled to come back with me.  Mostly he read, and played with the toy school, and read, and read.  We had pasta, meat, cheese and tomatoes for dinner with a salad (which he loved). And cherry jello for dessert (he'd already had a little ice cream cone for snack.  He got ready for bed too early (He was using the Thomas the Tank Engine suitcase) Then he discovered that I have a copy of his favorite book, "The Way Things Work."  So he was happy as a clam till bedtime.  Then he tossed and turned for 30 minutes and suddenly conked out.

Sun, Jul 29th - 10:24PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
138.6 miles
2 bike miles
80s

118 recordings of 26 types. 39% clear.

I have a couple of patches of Poison Oak, and don't know how I managed, especially the one near my armpit. Ow.

Nancy G. Riley:

Top 12 Reasons to Vote Democrat

1. I voted Democrat because I love the fact that I can now marry whatever I want. I've decided to marry my German Shepherd.

2. I voted Democrat because I believe oil companies' profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene, but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn't.

3. I voted Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.

4. I voted Democrat because Freedom of Speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.

5. I voted Democrat because I'm way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves.

6. I voted Democrat because I believe that people who can't tell us if it will rain on Friday can tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I don't start driving a Prius.

7. I voted Democrat because I'm not concerned about millions of babies being aborted so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.

8. I voted Democrat because I think illegal aliens have a right to free health care, education, and Social Security benefits, and we should take away the social security from those who paid into it.

9. I voted Democrat because I believe that businesses should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as the Democrats see fit.

10. I voted Democrat because I believe liberal judges need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who would never get their agendas past the voters.

11. I voted Democrat because I think that it's better to pay billions for their oil to people who hate us, but not drill our own because it might upset some endangered beetle, gopher or fish.

12. I voted Democrat because my head is so firmly planted up my ass, it's unlikely that I'll ever have another point of view.

There are two cactus flowers outside! I did a little more weeding in the garden. Apparently I will have to block off the other side of the garden, but it'll wait till I get back.

I walked around the block with Pharaoh. It's not much, but at least I wasn't exhausted after I did it.  Then I played Scrabble, which was fun. One lady I played with went to the Galapagos 5 years ago so I learned a little about the trip. 

I went to the BX and got a shovel and a money belt. I got gas for $3.43 (6 cents cheaper than my usual station) and got the quart of oil I hope not to need in the middle of the desert. At the commissary I got ground beef for $2 a pound and froze it up (as I'm using the last of the stuff I got last year with Rich.)

I made a chicken corn chowder today which is excellent.

Last night I replaced the Chicken Ranch Slough: Becerra cache, but unfortunately half the camo is missing, so I reduced the difficulty and will archive it next time it disappears. How sad. It's one of Rich's best.

Sat, Jul 28th - 10:09PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
137.4 miles
2 bike miles
80s or low 90s.

119 recordings of 27 types. 39% clear.

YouTube of Anton Dotson talking about Chick-Fil-A

James Edward Smith: Next time any of my liberal friends get a hankering for a falafel... I've been encouraging them to ask the owners of mediterranean restaurants their beliefs on gay marriage.

Christopher Buckley As the ever clever Amy Alkon points out, "..you have to be the right kind of gay hater (the kind not just saying you think God frowns on [gays], but from the religion that actually calls for and follows through on their slaughter)."

 Nation of Islam can open a restaurant in Chicago, but not Chick-fil-A? - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

Michael Graham: Mayor Menino “sold” $2 million worth of city property to the ISB for $175,000, despite their well-documented links to Muslim extremism.  The mosque teaches a form of Islam that condemns homosexuals to death.

And Menino won’t let a guy spend his own money opening a restaurant because he doesn’t support same-sex marriage? Hey, Mayor Moron—when we the last time Chick-Fil-A stoned a gay guy to death?

He really doesn't want grandchildren, apparently.

Tolerance and Chicken Sandwiches in Oceania

"In order to advance the progressive cause for each new generation, the left needs a constant state of conflict, whether such conflicts exist or not. A generation arises and sees no great suffragette, civil rights, free speech issue to galvanize the masses for revolution, and so one is invented: gay marriage! It’s a civil right! (Never mind that there’s a distinction between a right and privilege, and the newly minted idea of same sex “marriage” is certainly not a universal right.)

Anyone opposed, for whatever reason, is a bigot and a hater. Do the opponents of gay marriage have good reasons based in logic, faith, or morals? Inconceivable! Once goodthink and bellyfeel have been achieved in Oceania, why bother considering things any more deeply, when we can just move on to the next designated Emmanuel Goldstein and begin the two minute hate?

Does the PC left even realize that Orwell was writing about them?"

Aw, poor baby!  I sure hope he's right.

Then I sat down to relax for about an hour. Three hours later I got up and went to see Bernadette, with a stop at her Chick-Fil-A first.  The cool wrap is delicious.  (And, like my local one which I noted yesterday, it was busy.)

I took a toy high chair. I popped Raggedy Ann into it, and Joanna did the expected thing, throwing Ann out and trying to sit in it herself.  But a lightbulb seemed to go on in Gareth's head when Ann joined them for lunch and I gave her a slice of apple.  Suddenly Gareth was giving her drinks, asked if she could see his iPad (he gets a 20 minute playtime with it after lunch), wanted her to cut with him (he's really competent with scissors. Joanna still hasn't figured it out), and gave her a hug.  This kid has never pretend played before, so I'm thrilled he is playing with dolls.

He's also talking in sentences instead of questions. Yay!

Back at home, Nick's parents brought some newspapers.  Marty is working on the Democrat's campaign.  Since I don't even know which precinct I'm in, I didn't say I wouldn't be voting for him.  Well, I wouldn't be no matter which congressional district I'm in. (We were moved in 2000 but the border was only three houses away, so it's a near thing which way they sent me.)

I got a letter listing all Rich's benefits with the VA.  Sigh.  Also, the mutual funds.  They were about $200 down from last month. And Monday was certainly the wrong day to sell.

Then I went to see Comedy of Errors with Bernadette.  Very well done, very funny.  That's three plays this week!!!

And the jigsaw puzzle trapped me again. Midnight.

Sat, Jul 28th - 10:07AM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
137.4 miles
2 bike miles
a little cooler.

127 recordings of 28 types. 36% clear.

Bre McGloughlin: I take the time every night to read Facebook statuses to my children as part of my stay in school campaign.

Don Surber commented on Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Where in the Constitution does it state that your right to vote ends upon death? Grandpa always voted Democrat and he always will.

Chris Steinmayer: If you make a speech and everyone heard it. You didn't say that. Someone else said that.

Wayne A Cunningham Three and a half years of trying and there is not one shred of evidence that this man was ever brilliant. And it isn't as though he hasn't been in the spotlight...

Fallon: President Obama says thanks to him, people in the rest of the world have a new attitude toward America. It’s true – people used to hate us. But thanks to Obama, now they just feel sorry for us.

Bernadette won two tickets to see Comedy of Errors by captioning a picture:

It seems, in truth, multihued mystery
Why milliner presented these hats three
Full ruddy in their tone, with hints of gold
But severed from their cultures e're so old.
Upon the left, a fez is seen to perch
On character who may be seen as merch,
While in the center, drummer turbanéd
Will play Aladdin's genie here instead.
And on the right, a hat that might be thought
To grace the greens of Britain's fair Ascot.
It boggles and confuses every brain,
But players seek to make it clear again.

I'm so proud of her!  (of all of them, of course.)

More fencing today, and I am finished except for pulling up more fence posts and getting rid of the rest of the wire. I left the side next to the shed open, because I believe the dog has been trained not to go in. I cut down all the wire from the FidoShock I could reach, though I still have to take the stuff out of the neighbor's fence.  There's enough fencing left to do the garden next to the house and get rid of that wire, though that's not as necessary. I'll do that when I get back. I'll also lift the daffodil bulbs and give B. her share. And, next month, I want her to go through the remains of the old sandbox and see if there's anything she wants. I also want to move the garbage can of sand, which means taking the sand out first.  Then I'll have another Hauling (hoses and fenceposts as well as the stuff which has been there) and the back yard will be great!

I broke my favorite shovel (it's also on the trash pile!), and got tangled in the wire.  I had been putting the wire into the metal recycling, but it's such a tangled mess I think I'll just stick it in the county recycling, instead.

Then this afternoon, I went to see Brave. I really liked it, and cried because Rich would have really liked it as well.  He also would have been interested in all the upcoming movies, Despicable Me 2, Hotel Transylvania, the Hobbit of course (Rich discovered Lord of the Rings when we were first married and was really engrossed.) Monsters University and Wreck-it Ralph. I want to see them all except for Despicable Me.

I figured out how to hear music in the car from the iTouch! I plugged in the speakers!  Yay yay yay!!

My handyman will come August 13!  I'm finally getting the back bathroom fixed up!!

Fri, Jul 27th - 8:52PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
137.4 miles
2 bike miles
HOT

125 recordings of 23 types. 35% clear.

Up again early to work on the fence again. I took two hours, which made me far too late to go to breakfast with the WPAC ladies. I finished one side. It's wavy, but looks good.

The rest of the day I was watching TV and working on geocaches. I did call the organizers of the reunion to get some information and had a nice talk with our old homecoming queen.

Megyn Kelly, on the news, was talking about an obituary.  How the guy regretted smoking and not having more years with the woman he loved... and she said he probably didn't think as he smoked about leaving his wife alone and YES RICH I AM MAD AT YOU!  Up to now I've been more sorry for him, thinking he pretty well paid for it all last year. I've been more sorry than angry, but today I am mad!!! If he'd quit when Bernadette was born, he'd still be here!  We'd have tomatoes and peppers and cukes and I wouldn't have to be doing all this stuff.  We'd be over 8000 caches, maybe even over 9000.

Dianne Glasner: I find grief to be like ocean waves that first come rapidly, consuming you. Later they come less often, but they still consume you. You try to brace for those waves but sometimes they hit you unexpectedly. Allow yourself to float to the top once again.

Chris O'Brien
Big problems again with Jackson family at their compound in Encino.

Seriously - whether its Jackson or Koresh or Kennedy or bigamists or anyone, is there ever a family that has a "compound" that isn't seriously screwed up? If I were a family therapist, I would say that getting a compound is never a good idea.

What about George Stephanopolis, too?

It's a Miracle!

STUPIDITY OF LIBERALISM: Mayor of NYC Bloomberg, who believes no one should own ANY gun except his personal body guards.....CALLING FOR POLICE TO STRIKE UNTIL GUNS ARE CONFISCATED. Right. Because nothing says "take my gun away" like HAVING ONLY YOURSELF TO DEPEND ON TO PROTECT YOU FROM THE MISCREANTS THAT LIBERALS HAVE SET LOOSE IN YOUR COMMUNITY. Wow. What a MORON.

Victoria Knox: In NYC, cops and criminals have guns. Now our mayor wants the police to stop defending citizens from criminals -- which effectively means that only the criminals will have guns. NYers -- who wouldn't elect Giuliani to a third term even though he saved the city after 9/11, but voted to change the city charter to enable Bloomberg to have a third term -- deserve this moron.

Jim Treacher
Romney has no idea how the economy works:

1. You pay your taxes.
2. Obama throws lavish parties and lies about you.
3. Shut up.

Are we done here, wingnuts?

Elizabeth Scalia
I haven't been following this story at all, but here's what I don't get: whether these ChickfillA people support gay marriage or not, are people no longer entitled to their own opinion? I mean, denying them business licenses? Really? This is what we've come to? "Either fall in line or you will pay; we will destroy you?" For having a different opinion? Whatever happened to "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." If this is true, if this bullying is true, then this is not my father's liberalism, that's for sure. It's something very, very different.

Elizabeth Scalia You know what? This has nothing to do wtih "right" or "wrong" or "turnabout is fair play" -- it's about the bastardization of the word "tolerace" in our society, which no longer means "live and let live" or "let people be who they are" and has become distorted in a very unhealthy way. Someone's a bigot? Let him be a bigot; he's entitled to his damn bigotry. Someone's a curmudgeon? Let him be a curmudgeon. Someone's a misogynist (or, conversely, a male-hater?) let them be! We cannot "make" people be more loving. We cannot "LEGISLATE" kindness. A bigot, or a hater, of any sort will eventually be lonely and have to figure things out for himself, or not. People are entitled to their opinions and to think what they think...or we are not free people, at all.

Katherine Stroud I fully understand not everyone in the gay movement is this way, but getting told I am hateful, a homophobe, believe a hateful religion and am offensive because I don't believe what they do is getting very very old.

John Hawkins: So what scientific evidence would make believers in man made global warming conclude their theory was wrong? Would anything do it?

Mark Steyn:

"Since the president is widely agreed to be "the smartest guy ever to become president" (Michael Beschloss, presidential historian), the problem can't be "what he said" but that you dummies aren't smart enough to get the point he was trying to make. According to Slate's David Weigel, the "you didn't build that" bit referred back to something he'd said earlier in the speech – "somebody invested in roads and bridges." You didn't build those, did you? Or maybe he was referring back to "this unbelievable American system we have that allowed you to thrive." You didn't build the system, did you? Or maybe he was referring to the teleprompter. You didn't build that, did you? Well, unless you're Rajiv or Suresh from the teleprompter factory in Bangalore, you didn't. Maybe he was referring back to something he said in a totally different speech – the Berlin Wall one, perhaps. You didn't build that, did you? Who are we to say which of these highly nuanced interpretations of the presidential text is correct?

If this is the best all the King's horses and all the King's men can do to put Humpty Dumpty's silver-tongued oratory together again, they might as well cut to the chase and argue that accurately quoting President Obama is racist. The obvious interpretation sticks because it fits with the reality of the last three-and-a-half years – that America's chief executive is a man entirely ignorant of business who presides over an administration profoundly hostile to it.

But, just for the record, I did "invest in roads and bridges," and so did you. In fact, every dime in those roads and bridges comes from taxpayers, because government doesn't have any money except for what it takes from the citizenry. And the more successful you are, the more you pay for those roads and bridges."

Fri, Jul 27th - 8:22PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
137.4 miles
2 bike miles
hot, a little rain in the early morning

127 recordings of 24 types. 34% free.

The first thing this morning I went out and started putting up the garden fence. I wound up wire, pulled up a couple of fence posts, dug out the grass in the way, patching holes in the rest of the yard (which doesn't appear to be working as well as when I did it in the spring) and got the first section of the little garden border fence in. It looks good. As long as you don't think it should be a straight line, that is.

After a couple of hours I took a shower and decided to rest awhile before I cleaned up for the cleaners.  They always come after noon, right?  About 10:30 I called my broker to close my account. He didn't even ask why or suggest I stay. I would have said it was because he never answered my call when I was trying to put this account into the trust. Now I don't mind having the cash making me feel like I am not digging into my capital quite so fast. But today was definitely the wrong time to sell, when the market was plunging.  Sell low, buy high, right? No?

I was still on the phone to him when the cleaners came. Argh. I was not ready. I had to put the dog out, lock up the cat, move some stuff, move some more stuff, pick up a couple of tables, move a little more stuff... ARGH.  However, it all worked out.  Karla is trying to learn English so I try to have a conversation with her each time.

Then I went to the store and bought a lot of veggies and salads. I looked at my red meat consumption for the last weekend and thought I'd better clean up my act a little.

I finished the jigsaw puzzle and couldn't stand it so I started the next one. Instead of planning to roll it up while I'm gone (the pieces are too big) I've put it on two boards that I can hide in the back room.

I made all my hotel reservations.  Now I have to finish planning the geocaches.

Cartoon

I am a Paleontologist.

You Build it, 0bama Will Come Get it.

John Cleese: A final thought: Greece is collapsing, the Iranians are getting aggressive, and Rome is in disarray. Welcome back to 430 BC.

Jim Treacher: Alan Colmes goes after a little kid, but it's okay because Colmes hates the kid's family.

Jim Treacher: If you directly quote Obama, it might just be a "lie." Depends on how badly he stepped in it.

Jim Treacher: What are Chik-Fil-A's "anti-gay policies"? I know the one guy there said he's against gay marriage, but how is that an "anti-gay policy"? Are they refusing gay couples service or something?

Gina Dalfonzo The issue is simply that he said he favored traditional marriage, not same-sex marriage, and the company has donated to traditional-marriage-supporting organizations. There's been no denial of service, just those things I mentioned. That's it. That's all it takes nowadays for the haters to descend on you like a wolf on the fold.

Kevin Trainor Jr. I myself have seen dozens of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters refused service, arrogantly denied their chicken sandwiches and waffle fries...oh, wait, no I haven't. Because it hasn't happened.

Andrea Dillon This little war on Chik-Fil-A goes back a couple of years btw, folks. A distraction was needed, send in the chickens

Brett Dee It seems like gay people need to be constantly congratulated for being gay. Anything less is evidence of "anti-gay" thinking.

Jim Treacher It's not enough to be free to live your life. Everyone else has to approve or it's not fair.

Thu, Jul 26th - 10:01PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
137.4 miles
2 bike miles
90s in San Jose, even hotter here

124 recordings of 22 types. 36% clear.

I had a really bad night, tossing and turning, worrying about this swollen finger and wondering if I'd have to go to an emergency room rather than to San Jose, or maybe I'd be so sick I couldn't go to Wyoming, etc. etc. fret, fret.... this morning the swelling was a bit down though the discoloration is still there.  So I left about 9 and drove down to San Jose without incident.

Monica was in a panic, as she needed to be down at the theater with Genevieve 15 minutes earlier, but I did get a chance to see her for a second.  Then talked to Mark about bicycles and then we walked to the hot dog place with Charlotte. After lunch Mark drove C&I to the theater and we sat off to the side. I bought some flowers for G., and at intermission C. bought her a candygram.

The play was "Bye Bye Birdie."  (Not one of my favorites, but not one I hate, either.)  Genevieve was in the fan club, and looked lovely, and was able to hit her lines.  I couldn't believe none of the kids was over 14, the leads included.  They had a lot of stage prescence.  Kim, the teen that Conrad Bertie is going to kiss, looks a lot like granddaughter Becca. 

Afterwards we got some pictures, then went to a hamburger place. OK, Friday night a hamburger, Saturday that yummy steak sandwich, and today a hot dog and hamburger. I think it's time to straighten up and fly right.

I left about 5:30 and got home before dark.

Comment (0)

Wed, Jul 25th - 10:33PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
136.4 miles
2 bike miles
80s

125 recordings of 24 types. 36% clear.

There's a bite on my little finger and it's swollen and discolored from the first knuckle to a liver spot partway down my hand. If the swelling goes farther, I'll have to see the doctor. I don't think it's a  spider bite, only one hole (if that.)  In fact, maybe it's from the wood that went through my gloves yesterday when I was getting boards to hold down the plastic.

Alfonzo Rachel:
It would be nice if the BatMan shooting wouldn't be politicized, but since the Liberal media wants to again try to attach this to the Tea Party we have to defend ourselves. James Holmes is a far left registered democrat, and throughout history politicly motivated violence in America is carried out by the left wing, OWS- which Holmes followed is no exception . They accuse America of being greedy and corrupt, but don't realize that the evil they project onto America is their own as they covet the wealth of the job creators. Grow the hell up and realize that the world doesn't owe you a damn thing! If anything the ones who owe are YOU! For example You borrowed money for school. YOU owe it back. Grow up, and pay up, and if you'd stop trying to use the government to take more money from the job creators, they'd have more money to hire you. You lefty OWS types claim to hate greed and violence so much, yet you're the worst offenders, yet so foolishly thinking you're justified.

Ha!!!

Colorado Shooter Probably not a Wingnut

I have been looking forward to the WPAC Membership luncheon for awhile. It was down at Frasinetti's winery. I've only been there once before, with Rich at a History Awards night. I sat with a lot of my support group friends.  The guy whose wife died 3 days after Rich has paired up with a very nice gal who has been widowed about a year. They came in holding hands. He had a (very evil!) jigsaw puzzle for me that I can hardly wait to get into. I spent a lot of time talking to the Polish Catholic usher blood donor guy, who also turns out to be from Pennsylvania. (the wrong side.)  Also to the lady who will be my roommate for the Solvang trip. (I hope she doesn't fade out. It's $550: sounds good, but so pricy. I wonder if I should do it.)  My meal was a steak sandwich. I just got rid of the bread... the steak was 2" thick and just melted in my mouth. SO GOOD!

After the luncheon I tried to get a geocache but only got sticky hands. The other one I tried for didn't appear either.

I got hold of Father Taylor, so will definitely be seeing him on this trip! Yay!

I went to evening Mass so I can start at the right time for San Jose tomorrow.

Wed, Jul 25th - 9:23PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
136.4 miles
2 bike miles
80s

125 recordings of 24 types. 36% clear.

Think Progress list.

Justin McCarthy The irony is that many of these companies (Koch Industries, New Balance) manufacture with union labor in the USA. So the best way to contribute to outsourcing is to boycott these very companies.

Pro-0bama Merchandise Sales Plummet.

0bamacare top ten.

Fred Thompson
After 14 months and $20 million in government money, the Amonix solar plant in North Las Vegas closed down.

Amazing. Obama found a way to lose money investing in a solar company located in a desert.

Chris O'Brien

Well Brian Ross apologized.

This was an asinine mistake. The Occupy Movement has had a history of murders, rapes (although some have rape-free zones now, heartwarming..isn't it?), thousands of arrests and major, major property damage. Yet he feels the need to check the Tea Party. Which has had none of that. Yet golly..he never checked there. Did he?

The first thing this morning I got into long pants, shoes and socks, and headed off with Pharaoh to the softball complex to get the Terrain 2 geocache. The gate was closed, so I parked across the street and we walked in.  Therefore, I didn't get close to my Codger's Walk cache, but took a trail pretty much along the creek. I was nervous, because a lot of homeless folk camp around here.  I only saw a turkey family, though, 2 big ones and 6 poults.  They kept a wary eye on the dog, who wanted to go over and check them out. I suspect if he had, he'd have regretted it.  I looked and looked for the cache, and the GPS was all over on it. Finally I zeroed in on one tree, but still couldn't see it. I was trying to stay out of the poison oak (apparently, 5 days later, I find out I didn't. If it takes that long to show up, no wonder I didn't recognize it in Illinois 5 years ago!) I gave finding the cache One Last Try. And suddenly spied the perfect hiding place: the hollow end of a branch. And there it was! Yay! Apparently I left my sunglasses there. I'm not going back, though.  There was a campsite not far from the cache. I hate caching alone.  And now I remember when Rich was at the softball complex some guy just hit him for no reason, so even caching with him might be scary, too.  But I'm glad I got this cache!

On the way out Pharaoh kept sniffing at the end of the bridge, and I saw a little black feral kitten.  Suddenly, another exploded out hissing and all teeth and claws. It chased us about halfway to the car. Pharaoh could have made a nice snack out of it, it was so tiny, but fierce.

I went and got more sheet plastic and solarized the other two beds. This is flimsier than the first one I did, but wide enough to cover the whole bed.  If it falls apart in a month, I'll just put another sheet on. 

Then tonight we (I met Bernadette) went to King Arthur. I had two comps and a mug and a poster coming, as well as my name in the program. That's for donating for the costumes.  Then because of the theft, I donated more money, as did Bernadette. I saw an old BBS acquaintance, and learned that his mother, a big wheel at the Shakespeare company, was also someone I knew from Girl Scouts lo these many years ago.
Meanwhile, Bernadette saw someone she knew from Boy Scout camp.  It was a nice show, all Shakespearean language and with a happy ending, most unlike King Arthur. And, because it was early (because their lights had been stolen) I was able to get home before it was dark!!  Nice!

Tue, Jul 24th - 9:32PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
135.7 miles
2 bike miles
70s

130 recordings of 26 types. 34% clear.

Daniel L Cameron I think when Governor Moonbeam is raiding funds, cutting pay for state employees, threatening to cut retirements, etc, he shouldn't be spending money on a train when we have trains, planes, and automobiles that traverse the state every hour of every day!

John Glotzer 20 years ago the Berlin Wall came down and it appeared that Marxism was in its death throes and once the little freakazoid in North Korea met his final demise along with Castro that Marxism would be something that people read about in history books.

Flash forward 20 years later and all the same bullshit is being repackaged by a community agitator for consumption by a dumbed down and demoralized US public and people are eating it up like it's pumpkin pie.

Makes me want to go drink a toast to PT Barnum and the enduring nature of human stupidity and gullibility.

RT @politicalmath Maybe Romney's tax-returns show he was smuggling guns into Mexico for Obama. That would be a win for everyone.

The 0bama Record.

Wonderful video by Bill Whittle. 1001 Reasons to Vote for Barack Obama.

Hahaha!

Did the State Make You Great? (Krauthammer)

The 5 Funniest "You Didn't Build That" pictures.

James Wittenbach: I dunno. I prefer to contemplate things the Government actually did have a hand in building. Like the Public Schools System. Solyndra. Chernobyl. The Cabrini-Green Housing Projects. The Chevy Volt.

It was another vegging out day at home. I was going to walk the dog this morning, but then changed the cat's litter box, coming -><- this close to having a bad fall trying to keep the cat in the house. After I changed the box, I was panting and tired out, and just never quite got on my feet and got out.

I called my cousins in Wyoming to announce I wasn't coming, had a nice long talk.  I tried calling the priest who married us and didn't get a call back. I wonder if he's all right? St. John can't use the CPAP. I'll have to get hold of the Visiting Nurses Association, again.

Then I got into the geocaching web page and lost a few hours. I found the cache that finished the Terrain 2 challenge we started years ago. There's apparently one for the Terrain 3 cache that I thought we were missing, too, but I had no luck finding that.

While Rich was alive, there were 7102 finds on our caches. I've put out 4 since, and have had 530 finds on all of them, making 7632 total. It seems to me it's giving back to the community if there are the same or more finds on your caches as you have finds yourself.  We've never been there, except I am so slow to find it may happen soon.  Rich died when we were at 7802 (he was with me to find 7800, though I drove and got out of the car for that one.)  I'm now at 7957. So we were 700 ahead in November, only 325 now. My plan and hope is to get over 8000 finds before I get back from Wyoming.

This whole browse made me very sad. I remember going after the Terrain 2.5 challenge last year in Maidu park in Roseville and the other caches we found there. Rich was still in pretty good shape. I re-read the text I wrote for Codger's Walk, and the embedded text Rich wrote for it when it was Sailor's Memorial Cache. I should check on that one tomorrow, when I go after the Terrain 2 final.

Midnight, and the fresh air is full of skunk, so the windows stay closed.  Darn it.

Tue, Jul 24th - 8:35PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
135.7 miles
2 bike miles
70s

131 recordings of 27 types. 34% clear.

Dan Fitzgerald: Obama has rationalized his privilege to believe that this was the norm for everyone, which it is not. He pretends to be ordinary, yet he has reaped rewards reserved for those with abilities that far exceed his. He is the classical example of fail-upwardness of Affirmative Action.

Jim Treacher
 Obama 2008: "I grew up in other countries. Isn't that great?"

Obama 2012: "Romney has money in other countries. Isn't that awful?"

        Joshua Sharf Obama 2012: Many of my contributors have money in other countries. Isn't that great?
       
        Dan Fitzgerald Many of Obama's contributors are citizens of other countries.

Don Surber:

 A new study of tree rings dating back to 138 BC (2,150 years ago) "prove that the Earth is slowly cooling due to changes in the distance between the Earth and the sun," the London Daily Mail reported.

Scientific studies are like buses. You wait around long enough, one will come by headed in your direction.

Still, I find this study amusing.

The emperor has no clothing, and James Hansen and the rest have no independently verified proof of their wild claims that global warming is caused solely by carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, England weathers a cool and wet summer while the Chicken Littles on this side of the ocean claim a hot, dry summer "proves" global warming.

* * *

President Obama smugly promised "smart diplomacy."

This week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Egypt, where protesters threw tomatoes at her motorcade and chanted, "Monica! Monica! Monica!"

Promise kept. America smarts from his diplomacy.

Bre McGloughlin: Some people lack the ability to laugh at themselves. This is where *I* come in.

No fair!

The Nobel Peace Prize: You Didn't Earn That

Former Navy Seal Launches PAC to Fight 0bama

“The President has failed and he is jeopardizing the safety of our troops, their families and our National security for political gain. Obama has exposed the identity of special operations units, leaked classified information, and limited the rules of engagement of forces on the ground.

For those who have taken an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic, it is a call of duty to take back America from a Commander-in-Chief that is incapable of understanding the sacrifices that have been made for the values that have made America great.” -- Ryan Zinke, ex-Navy SEAL and Montana State Senator.

Fred Thompson:
While angrily attacking Romney's Bain days, Obama said, "being president, one of the things you learn is, you are ultimately responsible for the conduct of your operations"

Take it easy, Mr. President. Not so fast. Not so furious.

Oh, I particularly like the Lego one.

FrankB:

Way to miss the point. Obama made that statement as a claim on what others have done.

“He didn’t invent iron ore and blast furnaces, did he?”

“Who?”

“Rearden. He didn’t invent smelting and chemistry and air compression. He couldn’t have invented his Metal but for thousands and thousands of other people. His Metal! Why does he think it’s his? Why does he think it’s his invention? Everybody uses the work of everybody else. Nobody ever invents anything.”

She said, puzzled, “But the iron ore and all those other things were there all the time. Why didn’t anybody else make that Metal, but Mr. Rearden did?”

Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand, who knew her statists.

[I really have to finish that book... but it's so turgid!  And also reads like today's Bee and I sometimes want to escape this reality.]

Carl Pham:

No, Steve Jobs didn’t build the roads to Apple headquarters, but Steve Jobs and the roadbuilders play very different roles in the creation of the iPad. Without Steve Jobs, you have no iPad, full stop. You have some roads to an empty building in Cupertino at which nothing interesting happens. Waste and futility.

On the other hand, without the roads — you know, you probably will, eventually, have the iPad. Because Steve will probably find a way to get the job done without roads — maybe he’ll use railroads, or helicopters, or have everyone work by the Internet, or some other idea entirely. The whole magic of entrepreneurship is they find a way around a thousand minor obstacles that stop lesser men. That’s exactly what distinguishes a successful entrepreneur from just a guy with a good idea.

There’s no doubt the lack of roads would slow down and make more expensive the development of the iPad. But they’re not 100% NECESSARY, even though, in this version of reality, they indeed form a part of the final result. On the other hand, Jobs himself IS 100% necessary. Without the driving smart work of the entrepreneur, nothing ever gets invented. You can have as much “infrastructure” and “educated work force” and “investment” and “opporunity” as you like — and it will all just sit around rusting unless and until the man with the idea and the drive comes along. A car, no matter how powerful and finely tuned and gassed up and ready to go will go exactly nowhere without a driver.

I went to Bernadette's today, which let her leave to get an oil change. It turned out that she also needed brake work.  At least she found it out here, not in the Siskyous! Nothing too exciting happened with the littles: Gareth was working on a puzzle and Joanna was tired enough to take a nap.

This evening I got calls from both sons, and had a good chance to catch up. This always makes me happy. And Roni called last Saturday and I'll see Monica on Sunday. 

Sun, Jul 22nd - 9:30PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
135.7 miles
2 bike miles
Cool, nice

126 recordings of 28 types. 36% clear.

Don't lead, I'll wander off bored.
Don't follow, I'll get you lost.
Just walk beside me and help me cause trouble.

Bre McGloughlin: There is never enough time to do all the nothing you want.

Jim Treacher
I probably shouldn't say Obama is gambling. It's not really gambling if you use other people's money. All he has at stake is his ego.

Carl Huffman: "All he has at stake is ego" What else has Dear Leader got? OK, he can read pretty well from a teleprompter. Other than that, he's got Mom Jeans, and ego. Give us back our space program, I want humanity off this rock. All our eggs remain in one basket. Guarded by an egomaniac in Mom Jeans.

Mark Hamill says Romney isn't Human.

Mark Hamill telling America we'd be "insane" if we don't vote for Barack Obama and that Mitt Romney is "not actually human" won't ruin the experience of watching the first "Star Wars" trilogy.

The prequels, George Lucas's ham-handed tinkering, Ewoks, and Han Solo getting his chest waxed (for the rainforest) has pretty much accomplished that.

I went to breakfast with the WPAC ladies.  Then, as it was still cool, I climbed the ladder and got most of the plums off the tree, but I had to stop because I was totally exhausted. This does not bode well for the Galapagos/Macchu Pichu trip!

I can get the Sync to play the iTouch, but not so I can hear it.  I can hear the music play on the iTouch when it's not hooked up to the car.  This technology is remarkably frustrating.

I vegged out all day then got the half-price Straw Hat pizza for dinner (and breakfast...)

I seem to like Charles Wysocki jigsaws, as I've gotten two from the library or thrift shops.  I started a new one today.

Sat, Jul 21st - 11:28PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
135.7 miles
2 bike miles
Cool, nice

125 recordings of 29 types.  36% clear.

My mother would have been 97 today.

Utter disaster this morning! The microwave door wouldn't close. I tried cleaning out the parts I could reach, and found the light switch, but not how to close the door. 

Meanwhile, my neighbor had called last night in a bit of a panic  because her husband had forgotten the mask and tubing for his CPAP on their 2-week resort vacation in the mountains.  I went across the street and got it together, and today I was to take it to Fed Ex. I walked the dog for about an hour, waiting for her to call me with the info. I finally called her. It turns out she used the wrong phone.
I took the stuff to the wrong place and got directed to the FedEx store in Arden Fair (gorgeous) and sent it on.

Then the next order of business was to go to the BX. Then I couldn't find the exact model, so I was torn between a slightly smaller Panasonic, or another big one, a Sharp.  I'm used to the Panasonic buttons now, and the last Sharp I had only lasted a few months, so I went with the former.  After standing in the aisle comparing and thinking and dithering for about 15 minutes, that is.  Yesterday someone had said one of the problems of living alone is you have to make all the decisions.  And I said, at that point, nobody else to blame, either.  I sure hope this microwave was the right decision.

In the afternoon I went to see "The Intouchables" because someone at Scrabble had mentioned it.  It's the first time I've been to Tower in years. I liked the movie, even though I had to read it. It was very popular in France and I wonder if the problem it's having in this country is the name.

Then this evening I went to the WPAC Newcomer's dinner. I wasn't too hungry (movie popcorn) so settled for a Reuben, which was really good.  Good company, I enjoyed it.

Reading: (I finally finished The Land of Oz!) The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (vol 1), Edward Gibbon, The Bible (1 Machabees), A Healing Year, Alaric Lewis, The Introduction to the Devout Life, St. Francis de Sales, Blue Highways, William Least Heat Moon, Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, Explosive Eighteen, Janet Evanovich, Galapagos, a Natural History, Michael H. Jackson, The Voyage of the Beagle, Charles Darwin, Death, the Final Surrender, Fr. Cedric Pisegna.

Dont trash O....well ok go ahead

An impressive list of accomplishments:

First President to apply for college aid as a foreign student, then deny he was a foreigner.
First President to have a social security number from a state he has never lived in.
First President to go on 17 lavish vacations, including date nights and Wednesday evening White House parties for his friends paid for by the taxpayer.
First President to preside over a cut to the credit-rating of the United States
First President to have 22 personal servants (taxpayer funded) for his wife.
First President to keep a dog trainer on retainer for $102,000 a year at taxpayer expense.
First President to repeat the Holy Quran tells us the early morning call of the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on earth.
First President to violate the War Powers Act. .
First President to be held in contempt of court for illegally obstructing oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
First President to defy a Federal Judge's court order to cease implementing the Health Care Reform Law.
First President to require all Americans to purchase a product from a third party.
First President to spend a trillion dollars on 'shovel-ready' jobs when there was no such thing as 'shovel-ready' jobs.
First President to abrogate bankruptcy law to turn over control of companies to his union supporters.
First President to by-pass Congress and implement the Dream Act through executive fiat
First President to order a secret amnesty program that stopped the deportation ofillegal immigrants across the U. S., including those with criminal convictions.
First President to demand a company hand-over $20 billion to one of his political appointees.
First President to terminate America's ability to put a man in space.
First President to have a law signed by an auto-pen without being present.
First President to arbitrarily declare an existing law unconstitutional and refuse to enforce it.
First President to threaten insurance companies if they publicly spoke-out on the reasons for their rate increases.
First President to tell a major manufacturing company in which state it is allowed to locate a factory.
First President to file lawsuits against the states he swore an oath to protect (AZ, WI, OH, IN).
First President to withdraw an existing coal permit that had been properly issued years ago.
First President to fire an inspector general of Ameri-Corps for catching one of his friends in a corruption case.
First President to appoint 45 czars to replace elected officials in his office. .
First President to golf 73 separate times in his first two and a half years in office, 90 to date.
First President to hide his medical, educational and travel records.
First President to win a Nobel Peace Prize for doing NOTHING to earn it.
First President to go on multiple global 'apology tours'.
First President to take a 17 day vacation.
THERE'S AN ELECTION COMING UP...
I HOPE YOU REMEMBER THIS LIST WHEN YOU VOTE!

Susan Peterson Battelle:

You may think that Romney may not be the best representative the Republicans could have selected. At least I know what religion he is, that he won't desecrate the flag, bow down to foreign powers, or practice fiscal irresponsibility. I know he has the ability to turn this financial debacle that the current regime has gotten us into. We won't like all the things necessary to recover from this debt, but someone with Romney's background can do it.

But, on the minus side, he never worked as an attorney, never was a "Community Organizer", never took drugs or smoked pot, never got drunk, did not associate with communists or terrorists, nor did he attend a church whose pastor called for God to damn the United States of America.

Steve McCann
Many Republicans and conservatives dissatisfied with the prospect of Mitt Romney as the nominee for president are instead focused on re-taking the House and Senate. That goal, while worthy and necessary, is meaningless unless Barack Obama is defeated. The nation is not dealing with a person of character and integrity but someone of single-minded purpose and overwhelming narcissism. Judging by his actions, words and deeds during his first term, he does not intend to work with Congress either Republican or Democrat in his second term but rather to force his radical agenda on the American people through the power he has usurped or been granted.

The governmental structure of the United States was set up by the founders in the hope that over the years only those people of high moral character and integrity would assume the reins of power. However, knowing that was not always possible, they dispersed power over three distinct and independent branches as a check on each other.

What they could not imagine is the surrender and abdication of its constitutional duty by the preeminent governmental branch, the Congress, to a chief executive devoid of any character or integrity coupled with a judiciary essentially powerless to enforce the law when the chief executive ignores them

Conservatives, Libertarians, the Republican Party and Mitt Romney must come to grips with this moment in time and their historical role in denying Barack Obama and his minions their ultimate goal. All resources must be directed at that end-game and not merely controlling Congress and the various committee chairmanships.

Gregg Pruitt I have to give him some credit. Just when you think it is impossible for him to exceed low expectations, he does it - consistently too.

Sat, Jul 21st - 10:14AM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
135.7 miles
2 bike miles
Cooler

119 recordings of 25 types. 39% clear.

I'm a half pound down for the week, but with high blood pressure.

Bre McGloughlin: If your status update contains the words, “I know 99% of you won’t repost this,” there is a 99% chance you’re an idiot.

So I took my shower and came out to discover the dog and cat, fighting, had managed to pull down the puzzle. Argh. I just gave up and threw it out, too frustrating with the missing pieces and all.

Steve Graff: Government is the method whereby citizens discharge duties and tasks that are impractical to accomplish on an individual basis. Supposedly, we are a government OF the people. Therefore, the small business owner, through his taxes, is responsible for the very infrastructure that the president is trying to paint as bestowed upon the people by the government. We are not dependents of the government, we ARE the government.

Jim Treacher:
Obama openly stokes bitter resentment against Americans who work hard, take risks, and create jobs. But at least he's "likable"!

0bama to Americans: you don't deserve what you've earned.

July panic for 0bama.

The WPAC support group was interesting today, at least the second half.  The room is a real mess because we are now also leasing the room next door and they've knocked the walls down, but there's still a lot going on. So it was crowded and hard to hear. One of the facilitators embarrassed us the first half by ignoring the "no talk about religion" rule and reading some Bible verses. It was hot and some people left at half-time, including my friend Ron.

Then afterwards the fun started. One guy asked if we are now "single."  The answer, a resounding "NO!"  How many people still wearing wedding rings?  I'm wearing two, my own (well, the anniversary ring... we cut my wedding ring off at one point because my fingers were swelling so much) and Rich's on a chain around my neck. I was surprised yesterday, listening to someone who talking about single people, divorcees, widowed people... no, I am NOT single!

And then: the other facilitator asked what we thought about companionship... especially moving in together.  Did that ever take off!! There are various experiences. Many feel the way I do: they enjoy meals or plays together but don't want anything else. One lady has just had her companion die, and she's really having a hard time. It's probably selfish, but I don't want to go through this ever again.

After dinner I called Ron to tell him about what he missed, but I wasn't the first.  He has a number of women who enjoy his company.

Also, I think I have a (female) roommate for the Solvang trip. Yay!

Fri, Jul 20th - 10:39PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
135.7 miles
1 bike mile
Delta Breeze, a little cooler

122 recordings of 28 types, 37% clear.

I went out early while it was cool and no one was around to replace a cache. This one is hard to maintain, but someone wants to find it on its anniversary. I put a temporary cache there and told him to pull it when he'd found it and I'll archive it.

33 Times to Repeal 0bamacare?  No, it's a lie.  2 times.  Plus 2 times to de-fund it. The rest of the votes are for some of the parts that you had to pass it to see what was in it.

When I was going to meet the kids in Fair Oaks Village Park, I forgot my route for a bit and was mentally thinking Folsom, so I set up a couple of caches on Madison Avenue. I realized my mistake, but I had time to look for one. I spent about 10-15 minutes on it but didn't have any luck.  Then to Fair Oaks village Park. I got there and found a nearby parking place, came over to the park and made sure that I had the right place for the play. I picked up my tickets and saw that there was a picnic table and playground and a bathroom behind the community center. So I called B. to tell her where I was.  With excellent timing, she managed a parking place right there.

The kids didn't eat much and we had an hour to kill before the show (Puss in Boots) but somehow we kept them from getting too filthy even though there was mud.  Joanna discovered the little house under the slides and wouldn't let anyone else go into it.  Both kids were reading: J the letters, G the whole signs.

Finally it was time for the play.  The kids sat in chairs for a couple of seconds, then went to the floor, but they couldn't be trusted alone so Bernadette went to the floor with them. I could see them either directly or in the mirror.  Gareth behaved through 75%, and paid attention. I heard him laugh at one funny bit. He also got excited and waved his hands.  He was MUCH better than the last time we tried to take him to a play. Joanna behaved like a two-year-old: watching and getting bored and trying to wander away.  (Succeeding once. Suddenly B. got up and dashed to the back of the room.)

The play was cute. Despite being for pre-schoolers, they had some jokes that grownups could appreciate. At one time one actor asked me for a mushroom whisker, but I didn't have one on me. Afterwards, they signed Gareth's program and he said thank you. I don't know what he thinks about the actors: I think he knows that Puss was not a real cat, but his understanding of "pretend" isn't that great.

Afterwards, we went on Fair Oaks bridge. You can't park close to it at all any more. We walked down and across, looking at all the rafts on the American.  And then, back to the cars and home. A nice day!

Thu, Jul 19th - 8:07PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
134.3 miles
1 bike mile
Delta Breeze, a little cooler

120 recordings of 25 types. 38% clear.

Mike Walther: Only one of them began his campaign a few years back cozy in the home of an unrepentant commie and domestic terrorist, and it wasn't romney.

John Hawkins: According to libs, Mitt's decision to talk to the NAACP was based on racism. Of course, not talking them would have been racism, too. #nowin

Treacher: there’s just something about the phrase “experienced anarchist” that I find pleasing. You don’t want to trust your anarchy to a bunch of noobs who’ll just screw it all up.

Krauthammer, the Islamist Ascendacy

The Top Ten Terrorists in 0bama's Life
And Bill Ayers is only #10.

Jim Treacher: It's a little over 16 weeks until the election. That means at least 32 more moronically inept attacks from David Axelrod. Yay! #Obama2012

Yukari Ryle: Obama's campaign has basically turned into an internet amusement park for conservatives. Very fun rides and virtual cotton candy.

Treacher It really is a blast, isn't it? I thought this stretch of it was going to be a drag, but they've made it so much fun!

Ed Maguire Jim do you think they could run out of dumb and just be listless?

John Hawkin: I'd be surprised if Rice gets the VP nod despite her strengths. She's never run for office, isn't conservative, won't bring the black vote

Bill Dawson said: "who donated over 20% of his income to charity last year? It was Romney, not Obama. In fact, the leftists in Obama's administration who want to raise taxes on America frequently dodged paying their own taxes."

I rode the bike around the block.  Tired myself out!  This is the way to train for the Galapagos trip, obviously.

Today Nick's parents took me to the Shenandoah Valley, outside of Plymouth, because they belong to a wine club and get free pasta lunch on Fridays.  It was a pleasant drive up the Jackson Highway, and I remembered a cache Rich and I found at a winery in the area (not one of the three we visited, though if I go again I've got a couple to stop at.)  Lunch was nice, and such a beautiful winery.  On the way back we stopped at two nearby ones.  The Bray winery has a great sense of humor. They offer "Brayzen Hussy Blonde" and "BH Red." Their logo is "Farm Responsibly."

At the third winery I began to get sad when I saw the trivets with the happy couples on them.

Then once we got back down to the Sacramento Valley I asked them to stop at Davis Ranch so I could get Sloughhouse corn. I bought a bag of 10 ears for $3 and took 3 ears, giving them the rest.  And I boiled up one cob tonight and it was SO DELICIOUS!! I forget from year to year how special this corn is. I'll eat the other two tomorrow. 

My PG&E bill has gone down: I'm still underwater on it but it'll be paid off pretty soon at this rate. I paid my credit card bill 4 days late, because I misread the bill. I wonder if they'll charge me interest.  Guess we'll see.

I went to bed late because I had to put Just One More Piece into the jigsaw. It's annoying, though, because it's missing at least 10 pieces.  I'll just throw it out when I'm done.

Nice delta breeze today!

Wed, Jul 18th - 3:57PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
134.3 miles
HOT!

135 recordings of 34 types. 33% clear.

"It's code for vouchers!"  And that's wrong how?  Connecting the money to the kid instead of the school is a great way to get better schools for disadvantaged kids.

Ray Zacek: Bush's Fault is a deep regressive psychic geological structure that is the cause of all calamities in this country.

William Bailey: Our tax dollars at work: Now THAT was a really good solution! General Motors (now known as Government Motors) now has 7 out of 10 cars built overseas; and, the largest domestic customer is......... the government (that buys its cars with..... our tax dollars). "And the wheels on the bus go round and round.... round and round....round and round. The wheels on the bus...." ??????

This was a vegging out day, in the hopes of knocking this cold out before I get a lot sicker.  I had a Mom-dream, how come I haven't had a Rich dream for months and months??

I weeded a little, and pumped up the bike tire and that tired me out.

I have not seen a record digitizer on Woot! since I saw that one for Rich's birthday.  Such good luck!  It was a good birthday present, one full of hope. I hope now that the car is talking to me, that I can get the Sync working so I'll have folk and classical music on the trip.

I tried to make the GPS work with my laptop, which would certainly improve the trip if I didn't have to have the westbound stuff confusing me with the eastbound, but it will only talk to Rich's computer.  Grumble.

And blech.

Mon, Jul 16th - 10:07PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
134.3 miles
HOT!

137 recordings of 36 types. 32% clear.

I went out on the bike. I only made it about a half-block, and decided the front tire was too low to go further. But wow am I out of shape!!

Then I called Ron to tell him I'd ridden it and thank him again. He said he wasn't exactly tired of seeing the bike, but it needed to be used.  Which is why I WILL use it.

Jim Earl IM'd me and asked me caching. I'm too sick and had a funeral to go to, but I was pleased to be asked.

Then my cousin IM'd me to say she wasn't sure she could make the Wyoming trip. Somehow, I knew she'd flake out.  I mean, we've only been talking about it since Thanksgiving.

I had to go to the funeral, so didn't blow up, just said I can go by myself, but if I do, I'm not going to Casper. This is up in the air.  She has a new job, but thinks maybe she can go.

The funeral was for geocacher Kimbo.  The last time I saw him was for the 10 year RCGDS anniversary last year. He knew he had lung cancer then (found out last March. He'd never smoked.) He was only 56 (born in '56.) He was the first to hide a geocache in the Sacramento area (we used it for our 5000th cache.) He hid at least 27, and we found 11 of them. The most significant was Survivor Sacramento.  Anyway, there was a large geocaching contingent there, at least 15 of us. It was a strange funeral. No, it was nice, it's just why do you have a "pastor" when he never prayed once?  The brothers and sisters spoke, and there was a nice slide show, and the pastor was very nice, but the only thing even vaguely approaching a prayer was a moment of silence at the end.

My logs on the two best Kimbo caches:

Survivor Sacramento: #580!!

Back on May 2 we went to Les Miz and started this cache, but then there was a little problem with ''geoid'' and we put it aside for awhile. We're just as glad about that, as we can't imagine doing this in the summer!! As it was, we removed a couple of layers as we walked, and still lost a couple of pounds in sweat. Next time the doctor asks us if we exercise, we'll just say ''We did Survivor!''

So, ten days ago we decided to get back to this cache, and get it off our first page. We had the little problem with the first puzzle, and had to ask Kimbo. We don't think that word means what you think it means, but at least it fits! We had no other problems, apart from a bit of one with the last puzzle. Actually, we had the last one figured out, but it was in a different form than we're used to, so we didn't know it. Fortunately, Mr. Codger said ''Try it anyway'' and it worked! To both our surprises!!

It was a beautiful day for this hike. When we left, we were driving and spied a bobcat!!! The views were spectacular, and also a good excuse to STOP and take a picture, and catch our breath!! A runner went by and said we were going the hard way. That wasn't news to us! There's an easy way? Not for Sailorscodgers!

We left a Survivor book (So many books, so little time-- especially now that we're caching) and took a happy-faced slinky keychain which is going to become a replacement travel bug for our oldest grandson. There are lots of great goodies in the cache, and it was hard to decide.

Thanks for the wonderful experience. WE SURVIVED!

and Granite Beek:
#5000! Our initial plan was to have the 58 counties be this cache, but our timing was entirely off. So we looked around for something closer that would be important enough for this milestone. What better than the first cache ever placed in the area?

We want to thank the Man Behind the Curtain for all he has contributed to this game. We don't see Kimbo too often any more, but we enjoy the mailing list and the website, the things that make RCGDS unique and the best!! This cache was fun to go for (nice day, but still enough mud to make it challenging). We left a geocoin, a toy, a flag pin and a token.

Thanks, Kimbo!!

These caches have been adopted by others and will continue.

Reading: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (vol 1), Edward Gibbon, The Bible (1 Machabees), A Healing Year, Alaric Lewis, The Introduction to the Devout Life, St. Francis de Sales, Blue Highways, William Least Heat Moon, Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, The Land of Oz, L. Frank Baum, Galapagos, a Natural History, Michael H. Jackson, The Voyage of the Beagle, Charles Darwin, Death, the Final Surrender, Fr. Cedric Pisegna.

John Hawkins:
Mitt Romney: A rich Republican who wants to help other people become rich. Barack Obama: A rich Democrat who wants to keep everyone poor.

Matt Gray:
What is it with nut job activists who spend their waking hours protesting against the system and never accomplishing a single thing to build their personal net financial worth (nor building job skills to achieve a livable wage), and when their life is in utter disrepair -- no job, no home, no hope -- they want the system to provide the safety net, meaning that somehow those with worth (who spent THEIR time investing in a future) owe the activists a share of their resources. "Yes, it is everyone else's fault that every decision you made in life was the wrong one!"

Third California City in Two Weeks Declares Bankruptcy.

The state has run annual budget deficits for years that run in the $15-25 billion range; their latest is an $18 billion gap.  At the same time, the California Senate just approved the construction of a completely unnecessary high-speed rail line between two points in California where no one wants to go, as a first step to building a full line between San Francisco and Los Angeles that will carry passengers at a rate roughly two and a half times slower than air travel.  The cost? $100 billion, at the moment.  Furthermore, it will run on electricity, which California already doesn’t produce in enough quantity to meet its current needs.

What's wrong with CA education.

Mon, Jul 16th - 9:27PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
134.3 miles
HOT!

134 recordings of 35 types. 33% clear.

The first thing this morning, I moved one of the tall cactus in back because it was growing up under the eaves.  This is when I realized Alicia apparently lost the dowel for the window. I can jam a book into the trough, and of course the cacti are right in front of that window, but argh.

Yeah, I definitely have a sore throat and cough.

I went to breakfast with the WPAC ladies, and of course the waitress was slooooow. I finally left just before 10 and had to wait till she ran our tabs.  I was a few minutes past 10 when I got home, and Ron came by with the bike a few minutes later.  It's beautiful. It's blue (somehow I was picturing purple: the helmet is purple.) It's a 70s 3-speed Schwinn. I gave Ron a couple of peaches. 

Bernadette had called about it being library day so I went over and joined her for awhile, but began to feel really washed out and tired, so I left. I did get my card re-activated.  So then it was a quick trip to Walmart for a lock, and I looked at their shower curtains but most of them are fabric which means a liner, too.  Seems like a huge waste of effort. So I went across the street to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and got a geometric design black-and-white curtain and a black beach towel. Damn dog.

At home, I moved Rich's trike (waaaah.  He's the one who locked it up sometime in September.) Then I swept up a lot of stuff and put the bike in that space. The lock is great. 

I was exhausted. I decided to skip the movie ("The Intouchables").

Anti-0bama float
The maker of the anti-Obama float has parodied Bush and Clinton in the past. If it is okay to roast Bush or Clinton, why do they call the Secret Service when he roasts Obama???

Susan Duell:
We lived in Leamington, an hour E of Detroit. My neighbor was tall and thin, model like. Her stomach started getting so big she couldn't fit in any panties from Wal mart no less. That is hard in it self! Her Canadian Drs kept telling her she had a food allergy. For many months. She went to visit her daughter in New Jersey, he took one look at her stomach and said "you're going in for an MRI" She said, "I'm going home in a few days, I cant hang around here for 6 months" Dr. replied, "What are you talking about, you are going to the hospital today for your MRI" LOng story short. She had ovarian cancer, paid out of pocket for the surgery IN New Jersey. Went back to Canada and had to drive an hour and a half for chemo and radiation. I say NO to that. In defense of Canadas health care if you have bunions they will give you free Birkenstocks! LOL

Breitbart.com: "No wonder the media are now obsessing that Romney's campaign needs a "staff shake-up." His current staff is winning."

The 8 Most Shameful Moments of Barack 0bama's Presidency.  He actually started by asking for 10 and we all said "only TEN?"

Sun, Jul 15th - 9:45PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
134.3 miles
HOT!

135 recordings of 37 types.  33% clear.

Last year we went to the model railroad show and the Filipino dinner. I decided I should clear out the back room so Rich could make a train layout there. I guess now I've got to clear it out so I can solve a 9000 piece jigsaw puzzle there.  Sadness, especially when combined with hospice stories and Ed's illness and mandarins and some letters...

After the cleaners were gone I went to the commissary. I actually went to a clerk, and had someone pack it and take it out. I had dog food and cat food and kitty litter and it was all heavy and awkward.  When I got home, I saw that Peter (the groom's dad) had made it home in one piece.

And I started to get a sore throat. Oh, crum.

These formless days are odd... I feel like I should be doing something, but I have no deadlines. I don't know if I like it or not.

Obama used “I” 98 times and “me” 19 times, according to a transcript of the speech posted by the White House

Lisa Miller on why conservatives are happier. Liberals make a living off of discontent and voting. Conservatives make a living by serving their fellow man and creating their own wealth.

LOBSTER MEAT CHEAP 'CUZ OF ABUNDANT SUPPLY. How is it that US News can report that the supply-and-demand model works with LOBSTER, but REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE SAME FREE MARKET PRINCIPLE WITH GASOLINE & OIL??

Jim Treacher: Leftists freak out over first hot summer in history.

Philip Hahn: Will is spot on: "there is a difference between climate and weather" ... which is what the global warmists have been proclaiming for years. Feed it back to them.

Michael V Lang They have never heard of an Almanac apparently.

Dan Fitzgerald It wasn't global warming that caused all the previous hot summers. /sarc

If you think it's hot outside because I left my cellphone charger plugged in, not because it's, y'know, July, #YouMightBeALiberal.

Sat, Jul 14th - 9:50PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
134.3 miles
hot!

125 recordings of 35 types.  37% clear.

At least the mountains reappeared on my trip home. I got really good views, even of Mt. St. Helens.

Screwed, and see how badly the dog wanted out of the bathroom.

Bernadette came and got the cradle and stuff.  SOMEthing in back is squeaking, driving me crazy, and I can't find it.

At the support group, it looks like the guy whose wife died 3 days after Rich has found a "girlfriend."  (Her husband died in October, I think.)  I had thought he was probably going to find someone quickly.  He misses his wife, no question, but there's just an attitude he has.  He also has a jigsaw puzzle for me!

Meanwhile, my friend (NOT boyfriend) Ron wasn't there, so I called later and asked if he was serious about giving me his wife's bike, and he'll bring it by on Tuesday!

I made two peach pies.

A couple of sad milestones: I threw out the last of the salad dressing Rich made... :( Waaah! And I've now driven 10,000 miles since the last time he drove.

I smelled skunk outside so just decided to leave the dog in tonight. (It turned out to be no problem.)

Victoria Knox: We still have nearly 4 months to go before the election. These people can't get *any* form of ID (non-drivers' ID, passport, student ID, etc) in that time? I highly doubt it. And if they can't they are obviously too stoopid to vote anyway.

Jeff McCabe: I don't believe it. 3/4 million in PA who don't drive, have bank accounts or receive any government benefits, or has ever been in a government building.

Canada Scandal shows how 0bamacare Would Work.

Eric Robinson How arrogant and egotistical do you have to be, to believe that YOU can make Socialism work, when nobody else in history has been able to? So, you're either stupid, crazy, or you want to enslave the people. Which is it, Democrats?
           
            Christyne Boston Lowman Very scary what we are about to be forced into! What is happening to our freedom and our once free country???
           
            Michael Eachus wow, running it like the DMV? Now you know we are all in serious trouble. I can see it now, an ambulance takes me to the emergency room, and I need 19 different forms completely, and the decision by a panel of "experts" who are not even doctors, before I get treated! Oh, and take a number and have a seat. Bleeding out, no problem, when your number is called we will fix that, if the panel of so called "experts" agree you have lived the proper lifestyle to warrant care!
           
            Linda Foster While traveling by train a couple of years ago, I encountered a Canadian couple. Bottom line; they had to travel to the U.S. for cancer treatment, or any other major medical issue because the 'Waiting List" for services would have had the man in a grave before Canada's Socialized medical-care got to treating him..... The elderly had better watch their backs and make sure they have plenty of money if they intend to live over 65.
           
            Linda Zeitoune I have many friends in Canada and Linda Foster is 100% right!

Fri, Jul 13th - 9:14PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
134.3 miles
getting hotter

I started at 7:20 this morning, stopped for gas, and was on my way.  This is the long leg of the trip.
I got a cache at one rest area and kept going, going, going to exit 66.  This is where the cache I really wanted to find was. I looked and looked.  No joy. The name of the cache was STICK.  In the long run, I picked up the anagram... TICKS.

I started to feel creepy crawlies while I was driving, but couldn't prove anything. I stopped in Medford for gas (that's a nightmare... you have to drive nearly a mile before you can get any gas) and crossed the California border at 12:47. Then I had Siskyous to drive through, my least favorite part of the trip. There was road work, too. I was ready when I stopped in Weed for lunch.

That's when I spied the tick inside my shirt. I flipped it out onto the table and smashed my ice water glass down onto it.  I ordered, then felt one on my neck, and flipped it onto the floor. I then smashed it with my foot.  This does NOT make for a good lunch companion.  Fortunately, I was eating alone.

I decided at this point that I didn't want to stop in Redding for any chocolate exhibition, I wanted to go home!  So I put pedal to the metal. By which I mean, with the road work, I sometimes got to go as fast as 30 MPG. Sometime in there, I felt one more tick crawling into my ear. I flipped that out somewhere in the car, which bothered me a lot when I got home.

Stopped at rest areas. It was getting hot. I did find one more cache, near Willows, but I just kept driving driving driving. I was getting really tired, too. I pulled in about 5:30.  Alicia was surprised.  She'd told her mother I'd be there at 6, which is what I'd thought, and couldn't get hold of her, so after I got debriefed, she stayed and stayed. I finally went to take my shower to check for ticks. Fortunately no more.

The debriefing included her attempt, on Tuesday, to lock the dog in the bathroom so she could go take a final. ???!  This not only meant the dog tore up the shower curtain and my favorite bath towel and scratched the door, it also meant she'd locked the cat OUT of the bathroom, and the cat and her bad litter box skills is the main reason I hired a house-sitter to begin with.  Fortunately, Abby apparently behaved herself. Alicia, with Bernadette's help, had located the dinosaur shower curtain.

While I went back to put something in back, I heard the back toilet running. I'd told A. about this last time: when it runs the water hits the top and leaks out the side. By sheer luck, the bucket was full to the brim but not yet running over, so I was able to bail it out and keep the floor dry.  Whew!

Outside, Alicia had harvested all the peaches (14 pounds) because they all came ripe. I ended up making a couple of pies and sharing out a lot, and they were delicious.  She kept my pumpkins alive and they're looking good. The hydrangea, not so much. "I thought you said something about the hydrangea, but I didn't know where it was."  We'll see if it comes back.  I'm tired, must keep remembering the pets are fine and the house is still standing... (the next day I discovered she somehow lost the dowel I had put in the back window to keep it from opening too far. Mind you, there's cactus next to it, I really doubt anyone would break in there, but it's frustrating.)

Finally her mom came to get her and I was able to get back to my life again.  What a long, tiring, annoying, day this has been! I'm sure glad to be home, and I'll be back on the road in less than 3 weeks.

Jim Treacher: Obama has made history. He's the whiniest president ever.

Most People Would Acknowledge that I've Tried Real Hard.

(In between golf games and fund-raisers and lavish vacations.)

Mike Applestein: If I worked for a private company, was clearly incompetent and and increased our expenses by several x, and the board of trustees called me in to explain, and my response was "Look, most people would acknowledge that I've tried real hard..." would the outcome be a four-year extension of my contract? Or would they hire that other guy who, despite his mysterious religion, seemed to have done this kind of work before?

Stuart Creque: Mike, I'll go you one better: the last time around, the "board" took a chance on the new guy even though people warned he was untested. What makes him think the board will extend his contract now that he's been tested and failed the test? There isn't even room to give him the benefit of the doubt: his performance has removed all doubt, to our detriment as well as his.

Just Imagine the Mess 0bama will Inherit if He's Reelected.

Fri, Jul 13th - 5:24PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
134.3 miles
clear, warm

I got up early and had breakfast with Vince, and was ready to leave right after he did. So I left Snohomish before 6.  And again at 10. I prayed for a safe trip, and indeed that's what I had. I spied the indicator light come on just out of town and pulled over to see what it was... ah, low tire. So I stopped at a Shell station, but they didn't have an air pump, but directed me across the street to a 76 station which had one. I pumped the tire up. This is the first time I have done this myself. Back in the car, however, the light was still on.  Hmmm. I got about a half mile to an Arco station and called AAA.  Of course, I got the California one so had to be transferred, but I had an address and a safe place to stop.

I called Niki just so she'd laugh, at about 7:15.  She wasn't up yet, but called back a few minutes later and sympathised. Then, finally, the guy came from Woodinville. He figured out where the tire was, and where the tools were (again, I was very thankful that I hadn't already loaded up all the stuff for Bernadette. I was thankful for the indicator light, and that I was near civilization when all this happened, and that I had AAA.) Again, talked to Niki about what I was going to do (initially I thought I might be staying over another night...oh, rats, I stripped the bed).  She told me where the Les Schwab in Snohomish was.  Then she said "you're doing very well, Jan" and I burst into tears. I actually was doing pretty well, but I just hate being the only person there to do it.

Dan from Grandpa's tow was done putting on the toy tire about 8 and I trekked the 9 miles back to Snohomish. I missed the turn, but found another way to the tire place.  They said it'd be about 30-45 minutes and in the event, it was more like 90 minutes, but I had a place to wait, drank coffee, ate popcorn, and had a little talk with the little old lady who was also waiting. If I'd known it was going to take this long, I would have gone looking for the nearby geocache, because I think I now know where it is.  Oh, well. I had my cup and my Nook.

Total cost: $0.  WHY did Rich like Big O?  The last time this happened, it cost him $15. So I called Niki again and got on my way about 10.  4 hours, 2 miles.  I decided to skip the first cache I'd planned to look for, at the park & ride I was at on the 4th, and go to Cabela's instead.  This time I knew the exit number. I did NOT remember that it was such a long way to get to Cabela's, which is right next to the freeway.  This is the third cache in the area and I'd anticipated a light pole cache, but it turned out to be a nice little walk in the woods for a sizeable cache.  Very nice!  Then I visited Cabela's restrooms, and since they didn't have a snack bar, I decided not to browse and just went back to the car, driving on, on, on...

Lunch was in Centralia. I sat at the counter and a nice garrulous old guy sat next to me. He usually eats at the senior center, but today was lasagna and he doesn't like lasagna, so he came to the Copper Kitchen.  He knew a lot about Centralia, but only moved there in the late 80s, so he wouldn't have known my step-father, and later I realized this old geezer was too young and might, if he'd been a native Centralian, have known my sister or brother!  Oops. I ended up translating for him with the Asian waiter, who didn't understand the guy not wanting big chunks in his soup. Heh. This made for a nice break.

I stopped at a beautiful rest area just north of Vancouver, and found one of the two caches there I looked for. I also called Joan and told her I'd be about an hour late.  This gave me the chance, when I got to the Albany area about 5, to go off I-5 onto country roads for a series of challenge caches. I/we qualified for 30 of them, and if I'd seen them before I left Sacramento, I might have been able to get them all, but as it was, I only loaded 11. I got 8 of them in an hour... they are easy, all alike, and on back roads that don't have many people going by wondering what you're doing. I stopped at 6 and then took a series of back roads to Junction City.

Joan had a cradle and a bunch of stuff in the driveway. I backed in, almost running over her sacks of fertilizer, and we loaded the car up. Plenty of room. 

A good dinner of a great salad (beans, corn, olives, greens) and Baby Back Ribs, a little TV, and so to bed..

Thu, Jul 12th - 10:30PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
134.2 miles
clear, warm

Massive Government Expanson:

"Lawyers Have Already Drafted 13,000 Pages of Regulations for New ObamaTax Law"

"“It’s a delegation of extensive authority from Congress to the Department of Health and Human Services and a lot of boards and commissions and bureaus throughout the bureaucracy,” Matt Spalding of the Heritage Foundation said.
{...}
The federal government is about to assume massive new powers."

And, they aren't even done writing regulations yet!!!!!

Charles Krauthammer: The Imperial Prez:

Scotus' slapdown of Obama imperiousness on immigration has been largely overlooked. It shouldn't be.

Sandra Stickle: Mr. Krauthammer, I have had issues with former presidents. However, this is the first one that has genuinly frightened me. I see my freedom and liberties being eroded. He holds himself in such a way that gives one the opinion that he beleives he alone know how to fix America's problems. He doesn't understand that government does not have the right to tell us how to live. Government is to protect the people. He really frightens me on so many levels.

Robert Shimel: The Obama legacy.
Years 1 & 2 Obama creates National health care instead of creating jobs.
Obama raises the national debt by $5 trillion dollars.
Obama touts green jobs knowing that green energy costs 7X the amount of fossil fuels.
Years 3&4 Obama destroys the American military by doing away with don’t ask don’t tell allowing Gays to serve openly.
Obama says no to the Keystone XL pipeline which would have created 20,000 American jobs instantly.
Obama says Gays should be allowed to marry.
Obama gives amnesty & green cards to 800,000 illegal aliens giving them American jobs knowing that there are 25 million Americans out of work!
Come election day the national debt will be $16 trillion Dollars.
There are 47 million people on food stamps up 50% since Obama took office.
The unemployment rate is 8.2 % in real life it’s 22% with 25 million people out of work!
And to all of you saying Obama saved GM – GM still owes the American taxpayers 20 billion dollars!!!
Overwhelm & Collapse the American System. Obama: Mission Accomplished!!!

0bama Aides Gild the Lily

This is for Vince, though I already showed it to him:

Almost two hours into waiting in line at California Adventure for the new Cars ride, I suddenly had the awful thought that perhaps the line itself, mimicking our insane traffic, was the ride. In other words, you stand in line for a couple of hours, edging your way slowly toward your destination, and then they immediately send you out of the area with an expression of thanks for taking the time.
...
Perhaps the wisest course of action is to head over to Cars as soon as you enter the park, get a fast pass, go do a bunch of other stuff, and then return to Cars at the appointed hour. This way, you can avoid the long line and your party can be seated together.

Why would a grown man spent two hours in line for an amusement park ride?

Because it’s fun. Cars is fun. It’s a lot more fun than driving in real cars to Disneyland. But everybody in southern California knew that already.

I slept in.  But still got up pretty early.  I took Vince and the boys to see Madagascar 3 and pretty well slept through it.  It's far too frenetic for me anyway, but the guys enjoyed it.  Then before we went home, we found a geocache.

I finished SON OF A WITCH which I borrowed from Roni.  Now I not only have to find and read the next two books, I also have to re-read THE LAND OF OZ since Llyr ran into Tip and Mombi at one point.

And one of the original Sacramento cachers died, so I'll be going to his funeral next week.

Wed, Jul 11th - 8:09PM

This is kid #6A, who was over here so often in the 80s we thought he was ours. He played video games and babysat the younger two kids and helped us chop wood. Later we went to his party when he got his PhD, and we visited his classroom in Pittsburgh.  We went to his brother's wedding, his mother's funeral, his father's "broom-jumping."  We met a number of his long-term girlfriends, but none of them could make him commit.  Then, about two weeks after Rich died, Rick announced that he was engaged.  My jaw dropped.  I met Christina when they visited up here ("are you the fiancee?") and I guess I made a good impression on her, because they later invited me to the wedding. It sounded so different and interesting that I accepted. It's also a good excuse to see Vince and family again.

I heard from the wedding coordinator that the van driver would pick me up about 3:30, so I was dressed and ready. Niki had warned me that I might have to pay for my drinks, so I took a $20, too. William got to the Park&Ride in plenty of time, and then we waited.  Finally the coordinator and her fiance and a gazillion things to carry got there.  A couple from British Columbia also squeezed in and we were off to the dock!

We were about an hour before it was time to get on the boat.  William went back for more guests, and I helped carry some of the stuff down to the dock. I was delighted to see the groom's father, my neighbor, standing there. Although, one of the first things I did was get him to sit down.  Just last week it looked like he wouldn't live this long.  He was distressed because he'd forgotten his notes for his toast.

They were doing pictures, which is how I got that first one.  There was a table with a few snacks, someone checking us in and giving us our goodie bag, and these rocks to use as a guest book. In the goodie bag, two drink tickets, a kazoo, 3-D glasses, a program, and bubbles.

So it was getting late, and I hoped to get onto the boat.  A boat guy said we could, Crystal said we couldn't, but too late, most of the groom's family, and I, were on, so we went to the top deck and picked seats. Chitchat ensued.  They had a rehearsal in the space and I took pictures on the theory that I might not manage the actual ceremony. 

Other people were finally allowed on.  The limit for the upper deck is 125 people, and I think there were 130 guests, so I thought a little bit about capsizing. It was a bit choppy and the captain wouldn't leave the dock till 7:15, so the wedding started a little late. It was quick and beautiful.

Then things got really complex.  They were taking more pictures upstairs, trying to feed us downstairs, not enough room to sit, people here, people there. Then there were the toasts. The father winged it, listing the family members who had passed on, especially Rick's mother (who would have LOVED to see this day, at last!) Brother Doug said after they met Christina, 7 words kept going through their heads... "Christina, what in Hell are you thinking?" Heh.

Then the usual wedding stuff, and then the fireworks! Then, about 11:15, the party broke up. I had to wait quite awhile for the van, since William got stuck in post-fireworks traffic. I went with him and waited in his car while he made the last trip, and then he got me home a little past 1.  What a great wedding!  I'm so glad I went!

Mon, Jul 9th - 7:44PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
134.2 miles
warmer, clear

It's been 8 months, and the Fourth was always one of our best holidays together, except for last year.

"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force."
    – Ayn Rand, The Nature of Government (1963)
  
Jim Treacher: Let's all celebrate Independence Day by luxuriating in the warm embrace of the all-encompassing State. Freedom Is Slavery!

"He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance."
(Thomas Jefferson)

I will not listen to anyone who uses "teabagger" any more than I think anyone who says "nigger" is worthy of my time. They are equally offensive.

Vince made enough oatmeal for me, too, and I filled my bowl and put two teaspoons of sugar on it... only it was salt.  This just caused a huge meltdown, as I was close to the edge anyway.  Erin, Niki's sister, very kindly made me some oatmeal, because I just couldn't cope.

The boys could hardly wait for the festivities to start.  Eric bought a bubble wand that makes huge ones, and Niki has this trick of stabilizing the bubble mix with baking powder.  Gabe needs to have someone watching him or playing with him or listening to him all the time.  I love him, but he tires me out. And if he'd finished his oatmeal, he wouldn't be "so hungry!" a half-hour later!!

0bama shuts down Holder Protest.

Tue, Jul 3rd - 8:46PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
134.0 miles
cloudy, rain, cold

Jonah Goldberg, Romney Surrenders

Eric Bohnet    07/03/12 09:06

Wasn't Fehrnstrom the guy who started the Etch-A-Sketch craze during the primary? He seems like a good candidate to play Joe Biden for the debate rehearsal.

Bugg    07/03/12 09:11

Echoes of September 2008. Welcome to McCain 2.0-risk-averse, not grasping that the campaign cannot pussyfoot around big things,, believing happy talk nothingness can carry the day. And you wouldn't want to be called "raycess" for merely running and aggressive campaign; cannot have that. Either take dead aim at Obama or lose.

Has the RNC learned nothing? Why is Fernstrom on a MSM outlet at all? What is there to gain?

0maha    07/03/12 09:17

When I saw Fehrnstrom make those comments, I cringed. The other team fumbles the ball over to you, and you fumble it right back?

Order66    07/03/12 12:35
All this in spite of our own moron candidate who proves almost every day why I was 100% right about him since the beginning.

RE: "I give Romney and his campaign credit."

Then Romney is clearly doing something wrong.

Our candidate is supposed to be for us, not you, but is a train wreck.

ANY other of the GOP hopefuls would NOT be having this problem right now.

gumbyandpokey   07/03/12 09:40

Just from talking to other Conservatives here in SE WI, it's apparent that the energy and enthusiasm from winning the Walker recall is now gone and reality has set in due to the unbelievably awful Mitt Romney.and his campaign team.
'
It's all kind of funny, really. We all knew in our heart of hearts that Mitt was not a Conservative and he wouldn't put up much of a fight and now it was proven by giving up the Obamacare issue. Get a gift and re-gift it back to Obama. Only the GOP...

0bama's new three-front war

3. The ire of the Catholic Church

Call this one the War of Choice in the health-care battles, irony fully intended. Obama took a powerful voting bloc that gave him a nine-point edge in 2008 and its Catholic bishop leaders that support universal health care, and turned them into bitter foes just months before the election.

Architect of ObamaCare admits he was 100% wrong about cost savings:

    Gruber then: Obamacare will “for sure” reduce insurance costs

    Before the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act became law, Gruber published a widely-cited analysis, using his Gruber Microsimulation Model, in which he asserted that in 2016, young people would save 13 percent, and older people 31 percent, on their insurance premiums. Gruber’s numbers were used to rebut an October 2009 analysis from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which projected that non-group (a.k.a. individual-market) premiums would increase by 47 percent over the same period.

    Gruber now: Obamacare will increase premiums by 19-30 percent

    As states began the process of considering whether or not to set up the insurance exchanges mandated by the new health law, several retained Gruber as a consultant. In at least three cases—Wisconsin in August 2011, Minnesota in November 2011, and Colorado in January 2012—Gruber reported that premiums in the individual market would increase, not decrease, as a result of Obamacare.

The beauty of this? All the poor will move to states that expand medicaid – all the businesses will move out to non-expansion states. Let the progs live in their wonderland with zero dollars – and a congress that won’t help them with funding.

    Zomcon JEM on July 3, 2012 at 12:21 PM

Don Surber about people complaining because their power isn't on yet:
Tell you what, ace, you shimmy up that pole in the dark and grab those hot wires -- then you can complain.

Don't get mad, get to Work
In 2010, we were angry and disorganized, but we loved America and had the fire in our bellies. Now we’re infuriated and organized, but we still love America and now we know we are truly fighting for its life. Hey Carville, if the Tea Party was dying, John Roberts just applied the paddles.

Roberts the Coward

So, the great and wise Roberts, man of mystical magisterial thinking, actually switched his vote over politics. I used to think that politicizing the court was a bad thing, before I learned from the liberals that politicizing the court to help liberals destroy the very fabric of our constitution is actually a super-secret method of becoming a wise jurist.
Posted by: Vashta Nerada at July 03, 2012 01:15 PM

John Hawkins: Mitt should fire Eric Fehrnstrom. If he's too dumb to make tax lemonade out of the SCOTUS lemony mandate ruling, he's in over his head.

I woke up crabby, and nothing today really improved my mood.  Although while I was babysitting AJ (while Niki and Erin took the boys swimming) he fell asleep and I did too, for about an hour with another half-hour just lying there. Then I sat up but he stayed asleep till they got home, about another hour.

I miss Rich. He would so love this baby.

Tue, Jul 3rd - 7:53AM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
134.0 miles
partly cloudy, but no rain till I got here.

Snohomish

Ace of Spades:

Ah, "nuanced view." Of course he can't make the case of media bias without undermining it, claiming it's "nuanced."

No, it's not. The media was writing apocalyptic stories about the Rogue Court and the evil Justice Roberts the day before the ruling; after the ruling, he's the greatest justice since Louis Brandeis.

There's no nuance there. To the extent there's "nuance," the media should still hate him if it were not a partisan institution, because he claimed what they said was an outrage: that the Commerce Clause has limits.

But they're partisan, so the important thing to them is Obama's Big Win.

I started the day deciding not to stop for the caches I had marked, so I didn't even try for any till I got to the Baldock rest area, where I didn't find two. I did stop at a number of the rest areas, though. I left at 7:40, crossed the 45th parallel at 9:03, and sortly after that was the Baldock area.  Daniel Boone's grandson crossed a river here. And there's a huge solar farm.

At 10:23 I stopped in Oregon City for gas. I'm getting 29 mpg still. Had a snack at 10:45 and kept going to Tumwater where I stopped at Nickelby's restaurant and had a BLT salad. Yummy.  There was another woman there eating alone but I didn't have the nerve to speak to her and tell her how I hate it.

I remember touring the Oly plant (back when there WAS Olympia beer "It's the water") and the kids getting "clear beer" (water.)

On the radio, out of Portland (both of them though different radio stations) a guy was fretting about the violent language of tea partiers.  Then later, after Rush, another one talked about Occupoopers.  The Uncle Sam sign near Chehalis says "Even Kings are not above the law, why is President 0bama?"

In the restaurant there was an AA meeting going on... in the lounge! And a guy with a "Shroedinger's Dog" T-shirt.

I continued to skip caches, though I actually meant to go to one rest area with one, but didn't see that it had one till it was too late. Driving past Ft. Lewis I remember being there with my Mom and the girls and Roni seeing the guys drilling: "Daddy!"  Then I picked Rich up at McChord and a husband of another woman in Laramie, took the husband to Sea-Tac and then Rich and I stopped at a motel.  He was baffled when I surprised him by wearing a wig.  Then we went to Seattle to see the kids, and he tiptoed in to see Monica, then said "and where's the baby?"  I think it was then he realized how much he'd missed.  After that we left the girls with the two grandmas and went to Mt. Rainier for a second honeymoon (the jungles of Viet Nam to the glaciers (there still was an ice cave at Paradise, where we were staying) in a week.) Sometime then we also went on the ferry to Victoria. (Something I've wanted to do again.)  After we picked up my Mom and the girls we went back home through Yosemite.  My Mom, who had driven up and down highway 99 from Bremerton to San Diego countless times, had never seen it.  After the valley, we were heading across Tuolomne pass and this newlywed was coming up the other side leaning over showing his bride the map and hit us. If I'd been driving, I'd likely have swerved us over the cliff.  We lost a headlight (the groom was worried about his father-in-law's car!) but fortunately, no one was hurt. "Poor Daddy's car!" said Roni.  Down the east side we went, with one light, and every time we went around a curve my mom would draw breath in through her teeth.  Rich said later he was so tempted just to drive us off the cliff just to shut her up. We had to stay an extra day in Lee Vining before getting her home and heading off to Barksdale AFB in Louisiana for a class before we went to England.

Lots of memories.  Also caching near McChord when? in 2005? 

It's 32 miles around Tacoma to skip I-5 and get to the 405, then 22 miles on the 405.  When I got to 9, I pulled over for a cache, but it was 200 feet ahead and there was lots of traffic (not a minute later, of course, but I didn't know that.) I decided not.  Then the last one I had scheduled was across the road and I'd have had to turn around. No, decided not.

"Nana's here!"  Gabe, of course, zeroed in on his present. (Hexbugs and a track.) I think it was a good choice. Vince came and Niki and her sister went out.

AJ was a little fussy and I put him down over my knees.  That didn't work so I picked him up and turned him over and I scared him and he really cried. Then later I was worried I'd hurt him, though I certainly didn't flip him fast.

Then I thought I was going to bed early, but ended up on the geocaching site and discovered a challenge alley on the way home (I have been yearning to do the one in Redmond, but not on my own.)  There are too many to do them all on Friday, but I could do a few.

Mon, Jul 2nd - 9:15PM

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 103
133.6 miles
cloudy, then clear and hot, then clear and cool

85 recordings of 21 types. 52% clear.

Last month's summary: 15.8 miles in June, 1.5 pounds down (.7 up for the week), and 7 pages read.

I read 3 books, went to 2 movies and 3 plays, and 6 Masses.

I found 41 caches last month, and I'm at 7938. I'm 322nd in the world (still slipping-- it's all those power trails),  and 20th locally. (power trails and Lil Devil logged his caches. We raced for 1000, but now he has nearly twice as many as I have.)

In proofing, I'm in 1094th (out of 39872 proofers) place in the first proofing round, with 873 pages proofed, 19th (out of 4830) in P2 with 23523 pages, 600th (of 974) in P3 with 469 pages and formatting 723rd place (3790) with 1020 pages. I really really really have to get back to this.

In Flickr I have 42842 pictures, with 96091 views, and 216 sets to work on. I'm determined to start working on these things this month, though that's exactly what I said last month.

My Netflix viewing was Word Wars and The First Grader.

Today I drove to Junction City.  The day started poorly with my having left my nice egg-salad sandwiches out all day. Oops. So I picked 73 peaches off the tree to thin it, taking 10 pounds off so with luck the branches will stop dragging on the ground. 

So I got started at 7:20. I drove a bit up highway 99 to get a challenge cache. By that time I'd remembered that I didn't take my morning pills either, so I had to get my suitcase out and dig them out.  Then the first cache I tried was a DNF, but I did get the challenge one.  Back to I-5, First rest area at 8:30.  I am still dealing with a lot of memories, these triggered by the ads for Music Circus and I remember him last year. There was a dead frog toy on the road! Sunflowers.  Bill and Kathy's is closed. We went there on one of the quick trips we took when he was in Sacramento and I in Novato.  From Bill and Kathy's we went to Weaverville then over to Eureka and the Samoa cookhouse.  All kinds of good memories.  Going on to the big trip we took in 2008 to get caches in all the counties.  At 9:45 I was at the Olive Pit and spent a half hour and $117 there.  Because I'd spent over a hundred, I got a little magnet which will be a good cache goodie.

I stopped in Cottonwood where they have metal cows and cowboys along the main drag, and a micro cache on one. Highly amusing. Another stop was up a hill for a big enormous cache. 

Since I had to stop for lunch I went into Dunsmuir, a first, and went to the Cornerstone Cafe where I had chicken curry salad.  I left at 1:15.  Then there was the barn, cow, and dragon at Yreka but I didn't see Yreka.  The mountains are gone, no Shasta at all.

I got into Oregon just past two and stopped in Medford for a virtual cache at Railroad Park.  It's cute.  There's a tiny bridge there with "no jumping or diving."  From there it was pretty much pedal to metal until just north of Eugene, where they were having Olympic trials. I discovered that the SYNC in the Ford, which hasn't been talking to me at least since the battery change, works when you push the voice button. Oh.

I got to Joan's at 6:15.  We talked and then her family came with the Bumbo for AJ.  She fixed noodles and lima beans with tiny scallops. I have never liked scallops but these were really good. We watched Masterpiece Mystery and so to bed.