Cold Weather

Last winter's weather was the coldest/wettest I have experienced in the 12 years I have been coming to southern Arizona. Well, this winter is beginning to look a lot like last year...

Where is global warming when you want it

PS - Not that I am spoiled, but I now define "cold" as anything below 60 degrees F. I suspect my Canadian friends are laughing their beaver tails off as their temperatures usually have a minus sign in front of them this time of the year.

Kryptex Cryptocurrency Miner

There are a number of Windows based programs that will allow you to earn passive income by mining cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin using your home computer. They run 24/7 in the background with an Internet connection and you can still use your PC for other tasks. It should be noted that these programs run hot and your system needs to have excellent cooling capacity. My experience has been not to run them on laptops as they generally overheat and then shut down.

I am trying out another cryptocurrency miner called Kryptex. It supposedly generates more income than most other miners. If you would like to try it along with me, here is a referral link: https://www.kryptex.com/?ref=006df462. The program is projecting I will earn around $40/month (at current Bitcoin prices) with my RTX 3080 GPU. Time will tell.

California Madness

Just when I think California politics cannot get any crazier, they will begin providing their 700,000 illegal immigrants free medical care at an estimated cost of $3.1 billion per year. Considering they are projecting a $68 billion deficit for 2024, this is sheer madness. And in addition to the cost, imagine what this will do to an already overburdened health care system.

My experience has been anything that is offered for free is almost always abused

Annual Christmas Parade

Newt Gingrich Quote

"I think that the left is deeply committed to taking your money and spending it on their friends. Think about the irony. You go to the Middle East, the center of producing oil and gas, in order to have a conference about why you shouldn’t produce oil and gas. And they’re good enough that they say it with a straight face. This is an amazing Broadway show which goes all over the world playing from place to place. It’s John Kerry flying into the next five-star hotel to go to the next gourmet restaurant in order to be deeply worried, at which point he has to go back, get on his plane to go to the next five-star hotel, to the next gourmet restaurant, to be even more worried. 

This whole thing is an elite ripoff of everyday workers. And that’s why you’re seeing in Argentina and Holland and Italy and across the planet, a move towards the right from people who realize they’re the ones paying. When John Kerry talks about giving away money, guess what? That’s your money. John Kerry is cheerful about taking money from you to give to these people he’s never met. Who will then, by the way, mostly squander it. They won’t achieve anything. It’s an absurdity. And historians will someday look back and say, how could they have been so stupid for so long?"

Angel Wings

I rode shotgun with Clay and the Jeep group up to an old asbestos mine in the mountains north of Globe, Arizona that from a distance looks like angel wings...

The last couple of miles of the trail is a rugged, rocky section that requires a high clearance, four-wheel drive vehicle with lockers and ideally some armor as you will do some "rock polishing" along the way...

There were also some serious off-camber spots that created a bit of a "pucker factor"...

Here's the view from the mine...

Lastly, this old mining equipment has become the victim of a lot of target practice...

Tree House

I joined the park's Jeep group for a ride to an old miner's cabin where the tin roof was built around a tree. Hence the name "tree house"...

Click on images to enlarge

Most of the trail was rocky shelf roads with panoramic views of the mountains...

Once again, my old body does not tolerate rough terrain as it once did. It is going to be a two Ibuprofen night!

Update (11/25/2023): I just discovered the ability to capture screenshots from my Garmin Tread Overlander. Here's a graphical image of the ride...

Constitution Omission

Electric Vehicle Problems

In my opinion, this is a great analysis of the problems associated with electric vehicles (EVs)...

Sad News From Minnesota

The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma complications from repeated pokes to the belly. Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin with the gravesite piled high with many flours.

Numerous celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, Betty Crocker, the California Raisins, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch.

Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded.

Born in 1965 and bread in Minnesota, Poppin’ Fresh rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was never considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half baked schemes.

A little flaky, he was known as crusty man, but still considered a positive “roll” model to millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough; three children – John Dough, Jane Dough, and Dosey Dough…plus, they had a bun in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly uncle, Pop-Tart. The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 15 minutes.

If you enjoyed reading this, rise to the occasion and share it with a friend who’s having a crumb-y day and kneading a lift.

Pool Shark

Here's why I do not use the park's swimming pool...

Video shot with my Insta360 GO 3

Thomas Sowell Quotes

I recently came across an old blog post of Thomas Sowell quotes that I thought would be worth repeating...

• It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong. (think EPA, IRS, etc)
• It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer it.
• Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good.
• Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it.
• In liberal logic, if life is unfair, then the answer is to turn more tax money over to politicians to spend in ways that will increase their chances of getting reelected.
• The old adage about giving a man a fish versus teaching him how to fish has been updated by a reader: Give a man a fish and he will ask for tartar sauce and French fries! Moreover, some politician, who wants his vote, will declare all these things to be among his 'basic rights'.
• People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything.

Roadrunner Feeding

Trail cam video of roadrunner grabbing a meal out of mid-air and then bragging about it (first time I have ever heard a roadrunner make a sound, other than "beep beep")...

I recommend watching on YouTube to see more detail

Rabbit & Quail

My Wyze cam continues to capture some interesting sights around the A/C. Here's a short video of a rabbit "streaking" a covey of Gambel's quail...

Bathroom Surprise

This was in my shower stall tonight...

I think I need to have a long talk with my exterminator

Fantastic Body Painting illusions

Once again, I am amazed at the imagination and creativity of some artists. The following video depicts animal illusions that were created by using body painted models...

Bizarre Tattoo

Toad Snack

Here's the upside to having hungry toads around the house...

Rising Gas Prices

The cost of gasoline has risen dramatically here in southern Arizona and is now averaging around $4.49/gallon. Back in March of 2022, I posted an article on how an abundant, affordable source of energy is the basis for a modern economy to grow and prosper. Even Elon Musk, perhaps, the smartest man on the planet and a proponent of electric vehicles, believes we should increase domestic production. 

As far as I can tell, Biden's war on fossil fuels has done virtually nothing to improve the environment. It has, however, created high inflation (fuel affects the cost of all goods & services) and made our enemies richer by raising the cost of the oil we import (in a way we are funding the Ukraine war). Until China, India and Russia quit building new coal-fired power plants, the "green new deal" is simply hurting the U.S. The rest of the world has to be laughing their collective asses off watching our own government destroy the country.

Hypocritically, the Biden administration continues to fly all over the world for political junkets, fundraising and vacations. As usual they are never subject to the actions they impose on the rest of us.

Orwell's 1984

I just re-read Orwell's 1984 and the similarities between it and what is happening with our government today are simply frightening. When I first read the book many years ago, I thought this would never happen in America. Little did I realize how prophetic it would be. In my opinion, this book should be required reading in school. Click here to download a free copy in a pdf format.

If you enjoy 1984, then I would also recommend Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. It's long and a little wordy for my taste, but tells a great story.

Wyze Time Lapse Video

I have been using Wyze Cams for some time now. They are inexpensive and loaded with features. It's how I recorded the quail and roadrunner videos. Here is a time lapse video that shows the clouds moving across the sky...

Photos were taken every 3 seconds

Gambel's Quail

A family of Gambel's quail at the watering hole...

Roadrunner

Here's a video of a young roadrunner drinking from a pool of water created by the A/C...

Update: the next day the roadrunner returned and I was able to create another longer video...

Showing Respect

I don't play golf but 3 of my friends do. I went with them just to get out of the house on a nice day. They invited an older man whom I did not know. They all played and I kept score. We were near a highway and the older gentleman was about to tee off when a funeral procession passed by. The older man stopped, put his club down, took off his hat and bowed his head. We all noticed that and did likewise. The funeral procession passed and he took his stance when I told him that was a nice, respectful thing he just did. He looked at me and said, "It was the least I could do. She was a good wife for 47 years".

The Mystery Continues

Back in May of 2022, I wrote about people parking right next to my new car regardless of how far away from other vehicles I parked. Well, here it is over a year later and I am still having the same problem...

If you have any idea as to why people do this, let me know in the comment section below.