Dining After Dark

When the sun sets in the desert, the temperature drops very quickly. Fortunately, my neighbors have a propane heater built into their outdoor table, so we were able to dine in comfort...

Glenn & Sheila

96 Ranch Road

The 96 Ranch Road south of Florence, AZ got its name from an old abandoned ranch...

It appears to have been a nice home years ago

Unfortunately, time and vandals have taken their toll...

On the way to the ranch, you pass a number of huge, 100+ year old saguaros including a very unique half-crested one...

Bitcoin Soaring

Bitcoin has been setting all time high price records since Trump was elected President. I started mining it years ago when it was $100 per coin. I now have ~$6000 (at current values) which I use to buy Amazon gift cards. If you have a high end computer with excellent cooling, may I recommend a Windows based program called Kryptex that mines cryptocurrency 24/7 and still allows you to use your computer for other purposes.

You can also purchase Bitcoin via sites like Coinbase, but remember it is highly volatile which makes it a risky investment; whereas mining has very little risk.

Bad Influence

They say you can judge a person by the company they keep. I think I may be in trouble...

Missy, Darby, Dale

You may note that while they were drinking beer, I was drinking ice tea. I was the "designated passenger" on the ride.

Blog Blocked

Yesterday morning, I received this notice from Google indicating my blog had been made unavailable to blog readers because it violated their Community Guidelines...

Hello, As you may know, our Community Guidelines (https://blogger.com/go/contentpolicy) describe the boundaries for what we allow-- and don't allow-- on Blogger. Your blog titled "http://ncmotorcyclists.blogspot.com/" was flagged to us for review. We have determined that it violates our guidelines and have made the URL http://ncmotorcyclists.blogspot.com/ unavailable to blog readers. Why was your blog removed? Your content has violated our REGULATED policy. Please visit our Community Guidelines page linked in this email to learn more. If we feel that a blog's content does not fit within the expectations of our Policy, we no longer allow it to be publicly available. If you believe we made an error, you can request an appeal https://www.blogger.com/go/appeal-blog?blogId=14759407. You may have the option to pursue your claims in court. If you have legal questions or wish to examine legal options that may be available to you, you may want to consult with your own legal counsel. Sincerely, -The Blogger Team

I immediately appealed the decision as I was in danger of losing 14 years of posts and photos. Fortunately, that evening they reinstated my blog...

Hello, We have re-evaluated your blog against Blogger Community Guidelines https://blogger.com/go/contentpolicy. Upon review, the blog has been reinstated. You may access the blog at http://ncmotorcyclists.blogspot.com/. Thank you for understanding. Sincerely, The Blogger Team

In my opinion, it would have been more appropriate for them to have given me a warning first and then the opportunity to make corrections instead of just banning the blog outright. My guess is that it was due to some autonomous bot and when a real person looked at the blog, saw nothing that violated their Community Guidelines.

Suspicious Voting

President Trump has been severely criticized for suggesting there was fraud in the 2020 election. Here is a chart listing the number of popular votes for each candidate in the last four presidential elections...

Note that in three of the four elections including the last one, the Democrat candidates consistently received around 66 million votes each. However, in 2020 the year of the pandemic when states extended voting hours and expanded early voting via absentee ballots and ballot boxes, Biden got 81 million votes. I do not consider myself to be a conspiracy theorist, but I have to wonder how many of those 15 million additional votes might be due to fraud?

Backway To Mt Lemmon

I took the Jeep the backway to Mount Lemmon from Oracle, AZ. It's a crooked, dirt trail that requires a high clearance vehicle. Although I enjoyed the ride, there were not enough "WOW" moments for me to want to do it again anytime soon.

I thought the paved road coming up from Tucson was much more scenic and would be a good Sunday drive, particularly, in the hot summer months.