Settled In

The Earth Module now sits above Lake Roosevelt.  By the grace of The Forest Service we have a wonderful spot with electricity, sewer, and water.  We have a very nice veranda with a million dollar view of the lake and mountains.  Our trail crew is all in one place. Cliff is delighted to be nearby with electricity, and full hookups.  The gate to our gated community is working. Tonight we went to Globe and had fun see the downtown Halloween extravaganza.  Last night a coyote howled right at our door to welcome us.  The desert heat is still intense but the nights are cool and life is good. The Commander will go on a hike with Cliff in the morning and a hiking club.  Kadizzle may take a cycle ride and relax. We have the site cleaned up and are ready to start working later in the week.

Stars abound in the Sky

It is early, the coffee water is heating, and the Kadizzles are starting another day.  The stars are out in full glory and the southwestern sky is dark enough to make a good display.  Yesterday we meandered down to the boat ramp as two Windriders sailed in.  Kadizzle used to sell Windriders way back when.  Kadizzle had a long talk with the Windrider sailors.  One interesting thing he learned was that Chochiti Lake is basically a failure.  When you look at the dam you can see it is much higher than it needs to be for the amount of water it backs up.  The gentleman explained that when the lake was allowed to fill they discovered it pressurized a crack in the ground under the lake.  The water under pressure came up in the Indian village and made a swamp out of it. So now the lake is only allowed to get to 42 feet, when it could probably stay at over one hundred feet.

So this morning we will be off for Lake Roosevelt. Cliff is already down there in the encampment.  Some terrible news came yesterday that the best breakfast burrito in the world is no longer on the menu at La Pasada in Winslow.  Little Joey cried all night at the news.  There will be a protest.

Cochiti Lake

Fresh air filled The Earth Module last night and Kadizzle slept well.  The sun is pouring in the windows with a great view of Lake Cochiti below.  The Commander is getting up to date on her laptop and NPR is playing in the background.  The big decision today is if we move on or spend another day here.  The Rio Grande starts here and runs clear to the Gulf of Mexico. It is the Rio Grand filling the lake.   We are right between Sante Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Both are sprawling cities in the semi desert.  The Spanish occupied this land long ago and of course the Catholic Church made a mess of Indian life as they do everywhere.  These Indians were peaceful farmers.  Not far from here is Tent Rocks a unique sacred area of wondrous tepee shaped rocks.

As The Commander noted the night was so peaceful without the any traffic or train sounds.  The combination of cool air coming down off the mountains and silence makes for some good sleeping.  If we stay here all day boredom will be the enemy.  The Commander says Kadizzle cannot unpack the mototcycle and go for a ride in the mountains.  We will see about that.

The Pretty Indian Girl

On a sunny day with warm weather the Kadizzles headed to Cochiti Lake to spend the night, as we make our way to winter camp in the Earth Module.  The pickup has been sucking up gas like it is air. Now it is time to make one more stop for gas.  This gas stop was a bit unusual in two ways.  First, was the notice we got to stop.  A passing pickup honked the horn and pointed desperately at the Earth Module.  Something had to be wrong so Kadizzle quickly pulled to the side of the road.  Yup, The Commander who never forgets anything had left the steps to the camper down.  We just drove through tight traffic in Trinidad, Colorado with the steps down.  It was a miracle it did not result in a disaster.

Since we are stopped we may as well pull in and get some gas.  As we pull into the gas station we notice a very attractive Indian girl sitting on the curb stop.   A man gets out of a white van and says to her " It looks like you need some help".  He hands her some bills.  The strange thing is the girl did not ask for help, nor did she have a sign.  It was inspirational and as Kadizzle filled the truck with gas he thought maybe he should also give the girl some money.  As he filled the tank he saw another man walk by the girl and pick up a cigarette that still had some smoking left in it, and then he looked around for more good butts.  In the meantime The Commander got out of the pickup and asked Kadizzle if we should donate to the girl.  Kadizzle agreed and the Commander handed her ten bucks.  Kadizzle had instructed The Commander to find out what the story was.  The girl said she just got a job and an apartment, but had no money until her first paycheck.  It all seemed on the up and up, after all the girl gave no sign she was wanting money or anything else.  The strange thing was the guy picking up cigarette butts.  He was sitting in a car very close to the girl.  The entire back window of the car was broken out.

As Kadizzle pulled away with The Commander he could not help but wonder if this was a scam.  If it was it was very clever.  It depended on just the good nature of people.  Was the guy working with the girl? Why was he just sitting there?  Obviously the guy was broke also.   So either we did a good deed or we got taken.

The Motorcycle Bitch

In my last post Kadizzle mentioned the woman who described herself as " I am a motorcycle bitch".  This morning Kadizzle reflected on his conversation with her.  The woman who had but two incisors top and bottom said " I aint going to let them make me change my religion, and I aint going to wear one of them things over my face".   How many people actually believe Obama is going to get their gun, we will have Sharia Law, women will have to wear Arab garb in our country.  It is such a stretch of reality, yet the Hoopleheads actually think such things could happen.  The other day Kadizzle went into the Hardware store in Hazen.  The hardware store is now owned and run by a bunch of home schooling fundamentalist.  Of course Kadizzle enjoys egging the clerk about his right wing insanity.  In the course of doing so an older man who worked there started ranting about the dangers of a "One World Government", which of course is what Obama and Hillary really want.  Usually you go about life thinking most of the people around you are rational, but then reality strikes, you turn on the radio and hear Rush, you meet the old geezer worried about the Illuminati.  You read an article about the nut cases in Idaho, and on the border fearing secret internment camps. Sadly you realize you are in a society which has a hard core of perhaps 28% severely ignorant people, walking around breathing and believing the moon landing was staged, there is no global climate problem, and Obama is coming for your gun. Trump feeds on these people, Fox News feeds on them.  These are the people every company knows they can easily rip off with pay day loans, credit cards, and 19.95 Chea pets.  Every time you meet one of these people you are meeting an American failure. A failure of our economic system, a failure of our educational system. The election will tell us how serious the problem is.

Denver Delight

Last night we settled into bed about two hundred yards from the rail line.   Ah, that wonderful feeling of deep sleep, and then it started.  First a slow rumble, and then the engineer gave it full throttle.  It seemed like the Earth would shake and fall apart.  Eight thousand horsepower reved up and the brain coming from sleep could not figure it out.  After the train rumbled by sleep came again, but two more trains fractured the night.

So we got up and buzzed to Denver.  In Denver The Commander had to stop at Sam's Club for glasses. Kadizzle engaged a woman at the checkout to promote voting against Trump.  The woman told Kadizzle she voted for Trump.  Kadizzle asked " How could you you do that after what he said about women?".   Kadizzle pointed out how Trump called Hillary a Nasty Woman.   Well the Trump voter said " I a motorcycle bitch, and Trump will have to do way better than that to insult me, I voted for him".  So there you have it Trump has the motorcycle bitch vote locked up.

Here we sit having great fun with Sylvie.  Sylvie made Grandpa go out in the yard and do some circus tricks.  Sylvie stood on Granpa's shoulders without holding on.  She stood straight up.  Granpa said how do you do that. Sylvia said " It isn't hard standing on a fat man".  That little trouble maker.  So off to Chochiti Lake we go in the morning.

Wheatland Wyomng

Drive, drive, and drive some more, and here we are sitting in the park by the railroad track. The TV just fired up and we get two channels, PBS.  Yea.  The beers are settling us down, and now all we need is a train to go by.  Tomorrow we head to see the Ticklepinch.  Up early and away we go.

The Bust Out

Trying to actually pry The Commander out of the house on Bust Out Day is always painful. Just one more thing, Oh I gotta do this, so many little last minute tasks.  So here we sit at 6:52 hoping to bust out and head south.  Of course it would turn out to be a foggy day which will really delay the game.  This will be about the third trip down to Denver in two months.  Tonight we will land in Wheatland, Wyoming if all goes correct. Next day on to see the gang in Denver.  Pulling the Earth Module slows you down, and is not relaxing. Wind and fog will be the big enemies.  Thankya Jesus gas prices are low, but the fuel will shoot out the back and burn the credit card seriously.

Leaving means people have to be designated to carry on while we are gone.  Wes will keep the Republicans in check and do what he can to fight the Hoopleheads.  Shiny and Stroupini will keep downtown in order at the Crazy Club.  Erika will do her best to keep the library going.  One big issue the town must face is a new town bum. Hazen only has one bum left in the old tradition and he is now living at the senior suites.  The are some young an up and coming bums perfecting the art of living like slummers, but we do not have a good old pro like Alvin.  If worse comes to worse Hazen may have to hire a town drunk and a bum.  Perhaps Hazen could get one person to do both.

The Day Before

Last packing day.  So much crap has to go into the Earth Module.  The Commander is already complaining about getting up the Christmas tree.  So many little items that need to be in the module. It is always so annoying to find out you forgot something.  Like launching a rocket you want as little weight as possible. Unfortunately everything weighs something.  Do we really need the solar panels?  How about the spare for the module, it must weigh 70lbs?  Yesterday we had the house cleaned so we are on high alert to keep it clean.  In my morning dream a rattlesnake bit me, it woke me up.  The rattlesnake beside me started barking out the days commands.  What will Kadizzle miss most at his home?  The shower is a favorite, easy internet is nice, but one thing will not be missed, the blistering cold.  The hell with freezing. The hell with ice.  On the other hand there is not always infinite water in the Earth Module, nor is the store nearby.  Television is also a thing of the past on the road.  Sometimes we can get a signal here and there, but usually in the southwest it is mainly stump preachers bilking old ladies.  The worst part of getting there are the winds near Wheatland, Wyoming.  Why in the hell don't they put up some windmills there?  Last night Kadizzle watched a video of an RV being blown over.  Not pretty.  Since we have been upside down once with a camper already, it is a latent fear.  Best bet, just sit still until the wind is gone.  The next damn thing is driving that blasted module through traffic.  No fun.  So tomorrow morning it will be blast off.  Of course the co-pilot will be driving from the passenger seat.  " That truck is slowing down",  yea I noticed when those red lights on back come on it usually means something is going to happen.  Your going to fast, turn right now, how much gas do we have? If you were blind The Commander is the perfect co-pilot.  She acts like you cannot see.  So let the fun start tomorrow.

Almost forgot the best news of all.  Cheech, my littlest daughter called yesterday to announce she got the big job with Anthropology.  Maybe you never heard of them, but they are a big deal in the ritzy shopping malls for those with acute prosperity.  Cheech is amazing.  Cheech started her own fashion business in New York, went on to do fashion work for Macy's and K Mart.  Now she will be moving to Philadelphia with husband Sam.  Best of all the Cheech has a bun in the oven so Granpa will have another playmate.

Can't Stop chuckling

Trying to cook some eggs Kadizzle just keeps laughing to himself. He ran across the best explanation of The Trickle Down Theory.  Republicans live and die by this principle which has proven to be so untrue, and false, but the Republican Party insist God meant it this way.  Read below, and if you don't get it or laugh, vote for Trump the next chance you get.

Packing the Earth Module

Withing a few days the Earth Module will be launched from the driveway.  Once in space or on the interstate the Kadizzles will have to survive with only the supplies packed on the module.  The module must be self sustaining. With solar panels, a generator, gasoline, water, propane, and so on the module should be able to survive in space for up to ten days.  However, there are always those little things, like the proper charger, the right battery, or some little gizmo that is essential.  Now that gets us to huge long checklist. Here is where the problem starts. To get into orbit the Earth Module can only hold so much.  The reality is the more the Earth module weighs the less the brakes can hold back. So down the road you go pulling over 7,000 lbs of junk. You put on the brakes and hope the Earth Module does not come through the back window of the pickup truck.  Then next spring comes and you return to planet Hazen.  Suddenly you realize how much too much crap you took that you never needed.  You just cannot win.  Do you want to be in the middle of the desert saying " Gee I wish I had the dodad"  or do you want to be going down a hill from Flagstaff realizing you are now on a coaster with no brakes?   So the stuff keeps going into the module.  We carry a spare tire for the module.  We have never used it and it must weigh about 70lbs.  Could we live without it?  Should we carry the propane tanks full on the way to nirvana?  On it goes.  In a week you can read the results here.

The Cannon roared

On a sunny Saturday all the compatriots of Ray gathered in his yard yesterday.  Brian charged the cannon Ray had so carefully cast and crafted.  Like the fuse Ray lit in so many lives, Brian lit Ray's farewell fuse on the cannon.  The blast was aimed at Stanton. Ray woke Stanton up a long time ago with his projects to enhance the sleepy little town. The cannon had been charged with newspaper.  That meant word shot out everywhere.  That was Ray. Ray was outspoken for what he believed in be it art or politics.  If more people would come out of their shell life would be better.  So Ray is gone, but so much of what he did lives on.  No more will some loud pickup truck that should have a teenager in it, or some thumping motorcycle, or the dignified white Cadillac pull into our driveway.  The days of wonderful chats on the back porch or at the kitchen table have ended, but will always fondly be thought of.  One by one all of us will go to the great beyond.  Most of us will not head that direction from the end of a cannon, but that is how Ray should get there.  In the great beyond Ray will come tumbling down out of the sky.  After he shakes off the dust his first question will be " What do you want to build?".

Shove a needle in my foot

After weeks of nagging Kadizzle finally went to the physical therapy guy.  After a few pokes and prods Steve wanted to shove some needles in me.  Kadizzle is used to this The Commander needles him all day.  Steve said this would hurt.  It sounded like it would because he intended to shove them into the very spot on the bottom of my left foot where the foot was sore.  Actually it was not as bad as he made it out to be.  Now for the sizzler.  After he got the needles in he hooked them up to electricity and repeated the experiment we all did with the frog leg in biology class.  The muscles twitched and Kadizzle had a strange urge to eat flies, but hopefully it worked and the foot may soon be back to normal.

So the Kadizzles are frantically packing the Earth Module getting ready to head south.

Firebelly Pills

Kadizzle succumbed to the demands of The Commander and went to the doctor yesterday to have his chronic cough cured.  It seemed like almost instantly the pills cured the cough, but now Kadizzle was faced with terrible firebelly from the medication, so Kadizzle ate Tums all night and cursed the medicine. Great to go from a cough that keeps you up to an all night session of firebelly.

Now the good news and bad news.  The medication says it must be taken with food, so that means a good breakfast. The bad news, Kadizzle is trying to lose some weight.

Falling apart in old age is no fun, and the country is going to be faced with a massive bill as the old farts slowly slip into oblivion.  At ten Kadizzle has to go for physical therapy for his foot that has been sore for months.

Slowly the Earth Module is being prepped for launch.  There is so much junk that makes the circle from the boat to the house, and back to the Earth Module.  We have large checklist to make sure every pencil gets to the right place before launch, but you always forget something.  The goal is to keep the weight down. When that magic moment comes where you apply the brakes and the Earth Module pushes you into the car in front of you, you know you took one too many cans of beans.

Special guest at the Crazy Club

The Commander, the Supreme Commander attended yesterday's Crazy Club meeting.  Stroupin showed up and gave a report on his last sailing trip in Port Townsend.  A great deal of discussion went on about how Stroupini would approach his upcoming retirement.  Kadizzle is trying to get Stoupini to come down to the desert and go for the mother of all cycle rides.  October 31, the finical world will be shaken when Stroupine retires from the banking world.

On the way to the library Kadizzle ran into Hazen's old Postmaster General.  He had a pretty good pheasant hunt on the other side of the river.  Kadizzle and The Commander chased the blasted pheasants around, but they out smarted us yesterday.  Our tactics were lacking.  The Commander chewed Kadizzled because he was cleaning the windshield when she busted out six pheasants.

As the day ended the Kadizzlites found themselves in front of the TV for the last big shoot out with the Trumpster.  It was a good one.  The Trumpster as usual took the bait and Hillary smashed him.  No matter the election will be rigged says the old Trumpster.  Nothing is more fun than watching the Republican Party implode. Only the hard core dingers are left.

The leaves will not leave us alone

The Commander is obsessed with keeping all the leaves raked up.  It is a hopeless pursuit, but today we are having fun engaging in the impossible.  On the trees we have plenty more to come down, but each time a leaf falls we have to start the riding mower and run out and pick it up. Now you could wait until just about all the leaves were off the trees and it would be a simpler task, but nooo we have to do it twice and three times a week.  You would think leaves were dangerous, or toxic.

Kadizzle likes to help people so about two weeks ago he helped a young man, perhaps bum would be a better word clear up his criminal record. It seems the poor fellow had a felony on his record that was supposed to come off and the state was slow in clearing his record. This was supposedly keeping the ambitious bum from getting a job.  So Kadizzle did some calling and checking and it seemed to get the process jump started a little.  Kadizzle heard through second sources that his attempt had worked for the bum.  Kadizzle set out to visit the bum first hand and see if his efforts had been a success.  The junior bum was living with a senior bum in a run down trailer.  As Kadizzle approached the door of the run down mobile home two stray cats scurried away.  In the usual bum landscape fashion the yard was scattered with junk, and of course there was junk on the street in trailers as all good bums will do.  Looking though the door as he knocked on it Kadizzle could see bum Senior sleeping or slumbering in a chair.  Senior bum looked like someone had sponsored a rodeo on his face.  He had about a weeks worth of growth on his face and looked about as shot up and destitute as one might achieve.  While Kadizzle stood at the door the toxic fumes from inside rolled toward him.  The stench of cigarette smoke, cat urine, and human detritus was overwhelming.  Senior bum invited Kadizzle in.  Kadizzle would rather have gone into a nuclear waste dump than enter that hovel.  Junior bum was sleeping on the couch. Keep in mind this was about 11:00 A. M.  Bums don't rise very early.  Junior bum told Kadizzle his record was being cleared.  Afraid he might drop from the fumes emanating from the door Kadizzle left in haste.  A normal person would only live a matter of minutes in that nauseating bum trailer with the fumes of death.  As Kadizzle drove away reeling from the experience he realized how low humans can sink.  The bums in Denver at least were outside breathing fresh air, our local degenerates seem to thrive on toxicity .  Sadly Kadizzle has to admit to himself the hopelessness of trying to help these people.

Back to the Prarie

Never fails, after driving for ten hours we almost are home.  Need to go slowly through the Beulah revenue raising area.  After somewhat carefully obeying the 25 mph speed limit Kadizzle decided to speed up to 40.  Nope about 600 feet to soon. Mr. Policeman did not understand so $15 out the window.  Hope everyone in ND saw the moonrise.  NPR did a story on it. It may be even better tomorrow.  Heading due East we got to see it in all of it's splendor.  Now home without Sylvie to play with.  Sylvie and her little buddy are both firecrackers.  It will be a bit of a relaxing day with no entertaining required.  Most of you know the Bickersons, well that cartoon up above sums it all up.  So here we are back home to fight the leave into submission.  Hopefully we will be blasting south soon.

While in Denver Stroupini called from the Crazy club.  He said there was a critical vote and they needed a tie breaker.  Kadizzle asked " What are you voting on?".   Stoupini said they don't know yet, but were sure they would disagree.  Reluctantly Kadizzle gave Stroupini his proxy to vote.  Wednesday Kadizzle will see what the vote was about.  It might have been a vote to throw Kadizzle out.

The Commander Returns

The Commander is back in command.  No more lazy days of running his own life. Kadizzle is back under the thumb of the leader.  Back from her adventure in Moab she is now running the adventure in Denver. Today we took a long bike ride, perhaps 20 miles from Erin's house to downtown to meet a ND friend for lunch.  Denver has a very good system of bike trails.  We rode ten mile along Cherry Creek, all downhill. It was a pleasant ride past many nice homes, golf courses, and small water falls. A bike makes the city much more enjoyable and being able to put it on the train makes it even better.

One more Time

Bored Kadizzle once more set off for downtown on the train.  On the way to Union Station the conductor threw a cheater off the train.  The conductor says he catches about twenty a day.  After making my way down the street mall a bagel shop caught Little Joey's attention.  Locks and cream cheese on a bagel seemed the way to go.  It turned out to be too much cheese and too little locks.  Slowly Kadizzle made his way to the state capital area where the is a very nice park.

As Kadizzle sat down he noticed a shiny quarter on the sidewalk right in front of him.  Being a frugal man he reached for the quarter only to find out it was very well glued to the sidewalk.  Someone must have put it there for bum bait.  Now to the highlight of the day.  Denver has an excellent selection of bums.  Kadizzle sat in the park and watched the bum parade.  The bums seem like human pigeons.  They move about randomly. Denver bums all have big back packs. The prized possession of the bums seemed to be something soft to sleep on.  So here comes a bum with one of those quilted mattress covers wrapped around him partially dragging on the sidewalk.  As Kadizzle sat Shanika called for an update. Shanika called at the wrong time because he tied up the phone just as the most marvelous nut case of them all was dancing about picking up cigarette butts.  This totally insane girl with bright pink short hair and camouflage pants on danced about singing and looking for a smoke.  To make the act better she was babbling nonsense.  A picture would have been a treasure.

On the bike Kadizzle made his way over to the Cherry Creek bike path.  Many bridges cross over Cherry Creek and it seems the bridges were put there to give the bums refuge. Gliding down the pathway Kadizzle could see some bums drying their laundry washed in the creek.  Other bums were sunning themselves. The best bum was one letting his dog romp in the creek, but what made him an outstanding bum was the dog kennel on the back of his bike.  So many of the bums appear to be backpackers that came down from the mountains for a bum festival of some sort.

Finally Kadizzle made it down the creek to REI.  After carefully looking at everything in the store and determining nothing was missing from his life Kadizzle went outside.  On one of the benches was a brand new canister of stove fuel.  Kadizzle has several of the stoves that use this type fuel. Puzzled Kadizzle sat for awhile and wondered why someone went off and left the canister.  Kadizzle noticed there was a piece of paper with the canister.   After about twenty minutes when no one came to retrieve the canister Kadizzle went over for a closer inspection.  On the paper was a little hand written note.  The not said "I cannot take this fuel on the plane it is free to anyone who wants it".  Seemed like a good deal so Kadizzle came home with fuel for the stove.

Across the great divide

Kadizzle has been free to sculpture his own adventures since The Commander is off on an adventure in Moab.  The plan was to make a trip to IKEA by rail, which is a long way from Stapleton.  With the bike under his butt Kadizzle set off.  First to the local rail transit station. This is the brand new one that has a real nice rack for bikes.  Off at Union Station the next leg of the trip would be a long one.  After a wait Kadizzle got on the E Train which was to take him to his destination.  Being a country bumpkin Kadizzle noticed two things the train went the wrong way, and he was the only one on it.  Sitting on the train feeling a bit like an idiot and facing the possibility the train had been parked for the day Kadizzle began to wonder.  Soon the driver came by and asked " Did you forget to get off?".   Kadizzle explained " No I got on".   Well, things got sorted out quickly and soon the train did head the right direction.  It was a good ride to see a lot of Denver.  Eventually Kadizzle made it about 25 miles south and got off at a nice shopping center where he realized he needed nothing.  Another bike ride and IKEA was discovered.

You have to love IKEA and their deliberate way of forcing customers to zig zag through their store.  Again Kadizzle discovered how many things he did not need.

Back on the train and back to Stapleton.  It is a nice way to get around, especially the combination of the bike and the train.  Today Kadizzle may just go downtown to explore on the bike.  Denver sure ain't Hazen.

Pike's Peak or Bust

Sylvie, Grandpa, and Erin headed up to Pike's Peak on the cog railway.  On the way down they let Sylvie drive.  There are some extremely steep grades.  The wheel Sylvie is holding works the brake system.  It was scary.  The underwear stand at the bottom sold out when we got down. 

Free at Last

Unfettered by any supervision Kadizzle had the day in Denver to himself.  After the usual morning update a trip to slummers paradise,  Sam's Club.  After checking over all the things not needed a trip to downtown was in order.  The ability to hop on the train for $1.30 and buzz down to the center of Denver with the bike is a pleasure.  Kadizzle hopped off at Central Station and proceeded to ride the streets of downtown.  Denver seems to have a nice sprinkling of parks and plazas.  With the outdoor lifestyle they make it easy to get around on a bike. The bike rental machines are all over.  One strange sensation was the smell of people taking their medication.  Medical marijuana is no legal in Colorado. Kadizzle went by one little plaza and just about got a buzz from inhaling the street air.

Ticlkepinch's parents decided to go to a beer festival, so that left Kadizzle home to babysit.  Keeping the Ticklepinch entertained is not easy.  Soon the doorbell rand and two little girls showed up.  Kadizzle sent them all down the basement to play.  Again the doorbell rang and two more.  More and more came and the basement was full of girls laughing and having a good time. Kadizzle could sit upstairs and relax.  At one point Kadizzle did go down and do magic tricks for the crowd.

Things have changed.  The diversity of the girls was amazing compared to when Kadizzle grew up.  Two black girls, an Asian girl, and of course the white girls.  Kadizzle could clearly see discrimination is learned.  All the girls gave each other a hug when the party ended.  It gave Kadizzle a lot of hope for the future.

Denver

With The Commander for Co Pilot Kadizzle made it to Denver yesterday.  Wind farms seem  to be sprouting everywhere on the prairie. Once at the Ticklepinch's house Kadizzle had to play with her solving a mystery, then have his hair done at one of Sylvie's multiple hair doo places.

So Kadizzle will try to keep himself entertained with no adult supervision while The Commander goes on to Moab today to hike and rapel into the canyons.  Kadizzle has been plagued with foot problems so his outdoor skills cannot be exercised.  A break from the drill sergeant will be calming.  No fighting the leaves back at the ranch.  Erin's home has all the luxuries one could want, music, TV, and of course a good bar.  Kadizzle may take his bike on the train and go town town to explore.

Good Memories

The Commander wanted old Kadizzle to check some AA batteries.  In the course of using the volt meter, and putting the batteries in the GPS Kadizzle had to take the battery cover off the GPS.  On the back of the GPS is a little cover for the batteries.  At some point the cover became dysfunctional.  Our old sailing friend who is missed to this day said he would take the GPS to Bismarck and load it with maps.  This is the kind of thing Dean would do.  When the GPS came back not only had Dean filled it with maps and information he also did a very neat repair on the battery cover.  Every time I put batteries in that GPS I think of Dean.

Now, Ray has moved on to his workshop somewhere else in the universe.  Over our kitchen sink is the stained glass Ray made.  On the boat Ray put in a lot of time and made new slides for the hatch cover.  As life goes on those of us still on terra ferma will see those little reminders of good people will bring us good memories.  It was those small acts of kindness that last.  There is no better friend than the one who sees you have a problem. Without being asked they come to your aid. Someday we all have to go to the great beyond. Hopefully what we will leave behind is little acts of kindness that will stay in the hearts of those we left behind.

Let's go see the Ticklepinch

On Thursday the Kadizzlites will fire up the Highlander with two lowlanders and head to Denver.  Kadizzle wants to see the Ticklepinch.  The Ticklepinch has been wearing herself out getting scared, and ready for Halloween.  The Commander will go on to Moab to do some repelling, and canyon exploring with friends. Kadizzle is a bit laid up with a sore foot suffering from planter facitis.  So jumping around on the end of a rope is not his forte, unless you hang him.

Kadizzle is thinking about taking his bike to Denver.  With the new rail system he can put the bike on the train and go downtown, ride around, and figure out how Denver works.

Meanwhile it is a full on assault on stupidity.  The country is in grave danger of being overrun with stupidity.  Reality has been suspended.  For five years the Trumpster stirred up hate and discontent for Obama by lying about his birth certificate.  Then one magic day The Donald said " Just kidding".  Trumpster supporters just did not notice their hero had been lying for five years. On it goes the Trumpster lies like it is going out of style and no one notices.

So here we sit with people willing to vote for a man who has so clearly shown he is mentally ill.  The saddest thing in this whole game are the so called leaders of the Republican party who just want to pretend that we are dealing with an ordinary dolt.

Public Television has run a wonderful program on Frontline.  The program is called " The Choice 2016".  Kadizzle has been making a special offer to anyone thinking about voting for Trump.  Watch the program and let Kadizzle know if you will still vote for Trump.  Tell Kadizzle you were not phased by a factual unbiased comparison of Clinton and Trump.  Kadizzle will donate $20 to your favorite charity or church.  Kadizzle has done this experiment several times with hard core Republicans.  Kadizzle printed out a factual article for the former mayor of Hazen, a hard core right wing dinger.  Kadizzle told the ex mayor that if he read the information he would give the mayor's church a donation.  All the mayor had to do was read the article and underline anything he disagreed with.   The ex mayor crumbled up the article and said no way.  This is the state of mind we have reached.  People will not hear, read, or see anything that might change their world view.

The Noise Dogs

One of the greatest blessings of being out in the wilderness is the overwhelming silence. Unfortunately in the little town of Hazen the police are incapable of suppressing the simple minded dingers who enjoy making loud noises with their motorized contraptions. Kadizzle lives near an intersection where the dolts often like to display their skills with a loud noise.  Kadizzle does have a plan.  He could sell these mentally challenged a tape or recording of loud noises.  The dingers could put on head phones and drive down the road.  They could turn up the volume and blow their own ear drums out. Their vehicle would not need to emit a terrible noise.

Animals often make some sort of loud noise as part of the mating process.  Apparently some humans have not evolved past this point. To attract a mate young males drive around in noise machines.  Now if this does work one must wonder what quality mate they attract.  Look at some of the women beside the dingers in their noise machines, look at some of the lovelies on the back of loud motorcycles.  The noise tactic does not seem to work well.  Sadly the worst outcome is for to dingers to meet using the noise machine mating process. What happens?  They produce a whole new crop of dingers.  Strangely the mating season for dingers seems to be warm weather. The dingers are worst on warm summer nights, exactly the nights Kadizzle wants to open the window for fresh air and sleep.

Ray Crossed Over

Yesterday a great man, and a great friend went to his final workshop.  Ray was an amazing man, probably the most Amazing Kadizzle has met.  Ray could build anything.  Ray wanted a cannon, so Ray melted down the metal, built a mold, and cast a cannon.  When Ray decided to build something, he did not go to the lumber yard and buy the lumber, Ray went to the tree and cut it down.  Soon some wonderful piece of woodworking would emerge.

Ray was outspoken.  He did not suffer fools lightly. Few people did as much for the community he lived in as Ray.  For years Ray promoted his trading post by the Knife River Indian Village. The Commander, and Kadizzle went with Ray in the early stages of that project to harvest the lumber for the building.  In Ray's old truck dragging a trailer we set off for Southwest North Dakota to the logging camp ranch.  With the old cobbled buzz saw we cut the lumber and hauled it back. It was a great trip and just one of many adventures we took with Ray.  Over our kitchen sink is our memorial to Ray.  Among his many talents Ray made stained glass.  He was meticulous about picking out the colors. When we remolded out Kitchen Ray provided a stained glass accent for our kitchen.  Last night The Commander left the light on behind the stained glass and Ray's memory glowed in our little kitchen where we spent many times sitting at the table discussing the world with Ray.

Listen to me Butterfly

Is this really happening? Last night The Commander and Kadizzle sat down to watch Bill Maher.  Bill kept wondering, like most of his guest if this is really happening.  We have a man trying to be president who got up yesterday at 3:30 A.M. and started attacking an ex beauty queen. By any standard Donald Trump is totally insane. Strangely a lot of people just don't notice. 

Kadizzle knows there are some defects in his gene pool.  That is the way genetics works.  You fire out a bunch of seeds, some make good fruit, others grow mangled and diminutive.  Because old Kadizzle comes from a family of nine, and his mother came from a family of five, and his father came from a family of multitudes it only stands to reason there will be fruits of all kinds.  The Donald Trump phenomenon has been the opportunity for the genetics that control the brain to bear fruit.  So far there have been a couple surprises. Yesterday Kadizzle found out a nephew went off the deep end. A cousin is in shallow water. 

Prior to the great age of Trump you could pick up little signals you were dealing with a dinger.  In a conversation when someone started to tell you about the corroborator in Detroit that gets 100 mpg, but has been kept off the market by the oil companies, you knew you had a dinger on your hands. Then there is always the old guy who launches into the "One World Order", nonsense.   These were the old signals for " I ain't quite right".   Now we have Trump.  Did you ever put on some special glasses that allowed you to see 3D or maybe some hidden message.  Now you can throw away the special glasses.  Trump has made all the simple minded appear what they are, simple minded.  What is scary is the shear number.  Look at North Dakota.  The governor turns out to be a hard core dinger, as if that is not bad enough so are two of our congressional delegation.

The whole thing seems like a Halloween party where people have done a good job with their costumes. At the end of the party everyone takes off their mask and you get to see who they are.  Trump has tricked a lot of people into taking their mask off.  As this Halloween nears the costume that seems to be selling best is the one with the dunce cap or is it the KKK hat?