Moving Day

Jumping around like drunk frogs we are getting ready to move to our next adventure. Our next location may be the White Mountains or Bear Canyon Lake.  Imagine moving your house. Of course Winky gets nervous when we move and wants to put it off for another day, and another day. If the plan works we will be moving to Heber, AZ and doing some volunteer work there. 

Let The Mystery Be - Iris DeMent H.Q. Religious people please listen carefully

Urban Sprawl, Rural Poverty

Yesterday the Kadizzles drove to Phoenix, Scottsdale to be correct. What do you see when you drive in America?  You see some wonderful scenery, but also urban sprawl, and rural poverty.  Urban sprawl is insane. We experience it on the East Coast, Along the front of the Rockies, and of course around here. Then you have the rural junkyards and some Indian reservations are in pretty poor shape. America, good old America.  In Scottsdale at the airport there is nothing but a pile of private jets. Meanwhile the people who did not quite make it are living under the bridge. Poverty is an artificial construct. It always has been.  The old kings built castles while the peasants lived in shacks. Nothing has changed. Since the rich now move in jets why not let the roads and rails fall apart.  Why waste money on health care for the peasants when you need a new yacht? Buy yourself a congressman, and get yourself a few nice tax breaks. Why pay taxes at all? Most of the big corporations cheat and pay nothing. Needs some votes? Buy a Fox News and fill the Hoopleheads full of nonsense.  What a wonderful country. Then nicest thing is the lottery.  Everyone who wants to be rich merely has to go to the gas station and buy some lottery tickets. We are all going to be filthy rich, it is just a matter of time. So the best thing to do no matter how poor you are is to support all the benefits for the rich because someday you will be the one cheating the poor. Just be patient and vote for Trump if you get a chance. 

Just Keeping UP

 

No Country for Old Men

 Things that used to be easy and stressless are not when you are 72. Building a new home is stressful. The Kadizzles are building a home in Payzon, AZ.  The idea was a home with the right climate, and plenty of outdoor adventure.  The home is rising from the ground.  Problem one. The builder of course wants to squeeze as many homes as possible onto the land.  Our lot is on a culdesac, so that means it is pie shaped.  Kadizzles are not too happy with how the home will be close to the next home.  Now we are picking out granite, tile, and cabinets. Thankfully we have a designer for a daughter, but she is in Philadelphia.  Winky and Kadizzle will be tied up most of the day picking out granite.  This is no easy task. We will have to drive to Scottsdale about one hundred miles away.  They will only hold the slabs for a short time, same with the appliances.  The building boom makes all this much more difficult.  Perhaps we should have stayed in the little Republican hamlet of Hazen. 

Einstein and God.

When Einstein gave lectures at U.S. universities, the recurring question that students asked him most was:

- Do you believe in God?

And he always answered:

- I believe in the God of Spinoza.

Baruch de Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher considered one of the great rationalists of 17th century philosophy, along with Descartes.

(Spinoza) : God would say:

Stop praying.

What I want you to do is go out into the world and enjoy your life. I want you to sing, have fun and enjoy everything I've made for you.

Stop going into those dark, cold temples that you built yourself and saying they are my house. My house is in the mountains, in the woods, rivers, lakes, beaches. That's where I live and there I express my love for you.

Stop blaming me for your miserable life; I never told you there was anything wrong with you or that you were a sinner, or that your sexuality was a bad thing. Sex is a gift I have given you and with which you can express your love, your ecstasy, your joy. So don't blame me for everything they made you believe.

Stop reading alleged sacred scriptures that have nothing to do with me. If you can't read me in a sunrise, in a landscape, in the look of your friends, in your son's eyes... ➤ you will find me in no book!

Stop asking me "will you tell me how to do my job?" Stop being so scared of me. I do not judge you or criticize you, nor get angry, or bothered. I am pure love.

Stop asking for forgiveness, there's nothing to forgive. If I made you... I filled you with passions, limitations, pleasures, feelings, needs, inconsistencies... free will. How can I blame you if you respond to something I put in you? How can I punish you for being the way you are, if I'm the one who made you? Do you think I could create a place to burn all my children who behave badly for the rest of eternity? What kind of god would do that?

Respect your peers and don't do what you don't want for yourself. All I ask is that you pay attention in your life, that alertness is your guide.

My beloved, this life is not a test, not a step on the way, not a rehearsal, nor a prelude to paradise. This life is the only thing here and now and it is all you need.

I have set you absolutely free, no prizes or punishments, no sins or virtues, no one carries a marker, no one keeps a record.

You are absolutely free to create in your life. Heaven or hell.

➤ I can't tell you if there's anything after this life but I can give you a tip. Live as if there is not. As if this is your only chance to enjoy, to love, to exist.

So, if there's nothing after, then you will have enjoyed the opportunity I gave you. And if there is, rest assured that I won't ask if you behaved right or wrong, I'll ask. Did you like it? Did you have fun? What did you enjoy the most? What did you learn?...

Stop believing in me; believing is assuming, guessing, imagining. I don't want you to believe in me, I want you to believe in you. I want you to feel me in you when you kiss your beloved, when you tuck in your little girl, when you caress your dog, when you bathe in the sea.

Stop praising me, what kind of egomaniac God do you think I am?

I'm bored being praised. I'm tired of being thanked. Feeling grateful? Prove it by taking care of yourself, your health, your relationships, the world. Express your joy! That's the way to praise me.

Stop complicating things and repeating as a parakeet what you've been taught about me.

What do you need more miracles for? So many explanations?

The only thing for sure is that you are here, that you are alive, that this world is full of wonders.

- Spinoza

Morning in America

It is a quiet calm morning. Seems ominous like it may rain. That would be glorious. Coolness pervades, but not for long. 

Yesterday Kadizzle took the daily ebike ride around the camp site.  One part of the ride parallels the lake.  Three grown men were out there in their fishing boat with a flag. One was posing for a picture. The flag proudly said " Fuck Biden".  This is the legacy of Trump.  Kadizzle wanted to yell an obscenity at them, or make a rude gesture, but what does that do? These men are making a public declaration they are idiots.  What more needs to be done? 

A long time ago Winky and Kadizzle briefly worked with a guy that sold black light flashlights.  What was the purpose? You could shine the light at night and see the scorpions if any were around. It made them glow.  Trump has made the idiots glow.  Now you can spot an idiot easily.  You know where they live, what they drive, and even see them fish.  People who self identify as idiots save us all a lot of time. 

Twenty miles on the ebike with Winky

 Winky's energy is endless. The boss of our organization made old Kadizzle get up and drive the ebikes to the mountains. Once there we set off to look for an Indian cave we never found. After asking a few four wheelers we realized we looked in the wrong place, but pedaled through some very nice scenery.  High in the Serra Anchas.  

The New York Times has an article about the movie Nomad.  A lot has been written about the movie.  We live among the Nomads and actually we are well to do Nomads.  We have a new truck,and a new fifth wheel.  Kadizzle loves the hard scrabble Nomads. They are very interesting people.  Bill comes over every afternoon and we have a beer with Bill. Bill is a true Nomad.  He was a professional machinist and a man with some very good skills. He has  lived in tents for five and  three years at a time. Bill can laugh and is fun to talk to.  Bill is very good a firing a stinger on Kadizzle.  In the past Kadizzle has written about Gary, and Duane, other people eking out an existence. Bill has more honesty, and morals than your typical person living the life chasing money.  The Nomads are easy to make friends with.  Working together is something essential for the Nomad life.  Giving things away, and getting things for free are all in the game.  Although we have way more cheese than Bill he has given us several useful items.  We try to give Bill a meal, some beer, or whatever we can. The tribal life is way better than the Republican life.  Does it really matter? Most people eventually realize what matters and what does not matter. Nomads know most things in life really don't matter.  Being warm, having something to eat, and the ability to move do seem to matter. Little else does.  Recently Winky and Kadizzle spent some time with a woman who was a van Nomad.  She made a living editing books. We once met another woman who did the same thing.  Kadizzle needs a Nomad editor.  There are many women Nomads whose life has gone to hell when the husband split. Nomads have good stories.  Bill told me a good story how his son in law went to prison. His son in law had a job at the post office.  A casino sent their daily cash bag by mail. The man decided to take a couple bags worth a couple hundred thousand dollars. It did not work out. Although he claimed he found the money, and had his young son testify to finding it beside the road, the court did not buy it. Reminds me of the story Gary told me about robbing the ice cream truck company and ending up with hundreds of pounds of change. 

Mount Ord

 

Yesterday Winky and Kadizzle rode the ebikes up Mount Ord. The view from the top was incredible. The collection of antennas on top of the mountain was unbelievable because it is the second highest Mountain in the area.  If you want to take the trip watch the video below.  Will have to see if Kadizzle can post some pictures from the top. Amazing view, one of the best ever. We peddled up to 7.500 ft. 

Today's news the Rusty 1 was sold. That ornery boat had to go. A very nice young guy from New Mexico bought the boat and hope he enjoys it. That boat kept trying to drown Kadizzle.  Tomorrow Winky wants to go up in the mountains and ride some more. 

Mount Ord highlights (Arizona scenic drive / off-road trail)

Up Mount Ord

The second highest mountain around here is Mount Ord. Of course Winky wants to go up it. We are back a our base camp and will move the Earth Module in a few days up to the White Mountains. Mount Ord was once used in the Indian wars as a message point of the old fashioned devices they used to signal with the sun. Kadizzle cannot remember the name of the device, but it could be used to send a message from Flagstaff to Tombstone in 45 minutes. It was crucial in the defeat of the Apaches. Winky just came in the door and reminded Kadizzle it was called a Heliograph.  Look it up the history is interesting. The ebikes will hopefully take  us the six miles up the mountain. The ebikes are charging. Winky cannot stand still and a trip up that mountain should wear us both out. Cliff is pulling his fifth wheel up to his home in the White Mountains. We had a nice drive back from there yesterday. There is some wonderful country, but also some serious urban sprawl and professional slumming. Kadizzle had no idea how big a population was living up in that area.  A lot of summer homes. People trying to escape the heat in Phoenix. Why people have to accumulate trash?

Life on another Planet

 Here we are in Springerville.  Way up in the White Mountains we went for a hike in an entirely different environment.  No more desert, now tall pines, mountain streams, and a totally different ecosphere. This is where we will bring the Earth Module in a few days. Cliff is graciously going to let us park by his mountain home with water and electricity.  

The town of Springeville is thick with Trumpites. The gun store is sold out of ammunition. Not a box of any kind on the shelf. A big war is brewing. and they are ready. 

Strange to be cooler, and walking in a pine forest.  Elk are everywhere. The drive up here is very scenic. If you ever get the chance to drive through the Salt River Canyon do it.  The Canyon is a chasm you don't often get to see.  Imagine being able to drive down into the Grand Canyon and up the other side. 

Game on

Up early with fresh coffee. Hook up the trailer and head to Springerville. Fist step in escape to cooler mountains. The Earth module will stay behind as we move the utility trailer Al and Debby lent us to Springerville. Inside is the motorcycle and some other junk. The desert is turning green, but lacking the moisture to bloom the flowers. Here it comes, the sun just jumped over the mountains. Looks like a warm day. Should be a nice three hour drive.  The exciting part will be going through the Salt River Canyon, a mini Grand Canyon you get to drive through. There will be some driving through poverty stricken Indian reservations. No excuse for poverty in this country.  Greed stricken Republicans have robbed so many of the chance for a decent life. Sorry Republicans, but such is life. The sun on the mountains early in the day is a wonderful site.  In the background the fishing boats are roaring out to capture the prey.  Here we go. 

Dwindling Down

Winter volunteers are migrating to cooler places. Steve took off for Colorado, Kadizzle and Winky are about to move to the higher mountains, Ken and Rita went back to Spokane, Cliff may go to the Grand Canyon, Bill says he may go to Montana, and Helen will go to California. The people you meet. Al and Deb took off for Lake Powell. So down the road we will meet again. Like the days Indians roamed the west the tribes meet and disperse. 

The desert is doing it's best to bloom.  The lack of water makes all the plants struggle. Today Winky is going to go pick out tiles, and other surface material for out new home.  Kadizzle will pack the trailer to move junk to Springerville. Change is coming. 

Jeeps doing Reno Pass where we rode motorcycles

The soldiers made it and so did we

 The road over Reno pass was abandoned by the early military because it was so steep and difficult. Al and Kadizzle took on the boulder strewn road on the motorcycles yesterday.  The narrow road has a very steep drop off as it hugs the mountain on the way to the pass. Kadizzle cannot determine if he has become a better cycle rider or a more stupid on. Facing a small cliff and rows of boulders you either need stupidity or skill to challenge them. We made it to the top and rode out the ridge. The entire ride was very challenging. Fortunately Al noticed Kadizzle's cycle tire was flat.  It was so rocky Kadizzle himself did not notice. After pumping up the tire a few times we made it back. Recovering a motorcycle from that mountain would be a real chore. 

The little Yamaha 250XT impressed the old man.  Looking at that little cycle one would not guess it was capable of the rock hopping it did. Kadizzle has a rule not to do this kind of trip alone.  We carried the satellite communicator to call the helicopter if need be. A friend had a terrible crash in a nearby mountain and they had to hike to the top for phone service so he could be helicopter rescued. 

Maybe some getting ready to pack up today.  

Pack up the Wagon

 As the heat builds the need to move north into the mountains increases. Looking around while walking back from the executive suite Kadizzle realized all the stuff that has to be moved.  Trying to stay light makes being a nomad hard. That brings us to the book Nomad. We watched the movie in Florida.  Kadizzle found it boring. Maybe it was boring because we live among the Nomads. Van Nomads are just a subset of the overall group trying to live on the road. A lot of people living the traveling life are not poor.  Many people are scraping by on Social Security. Dry camping is the common term for people not hooked up to anything. That means solar for electricity, find a place to dump sewage, and find some water.  All. these things can be a challenge. Our society needs and overhaul.  People should have a basic means to survive.  When Jeff Bezos of Amazon makes and additional 64 billion during the pandemic it is time to wake. up and make him pay people rather than enslave them.  Then on the very bottom are the bum walkers. These are the people you see walking down the highway pushing a cart or on a beat up bicycle with a dog. The bum walkers are truly destitute.  Who knows where they sleep. A lot of the marginal people are there because of poor planning. Then there are the people from busted marriages, and dead spouses.  The plan falls apart when someone dies. 

The Garbage Man

Kadizzle used the little John Deere tractor to scoop up spilled garbage at the transfer station yesterday.  We miss the prisoners. Usually it is their job to clean up the mess of spilled garbage, but the virus has imprisoned them. Waste, we waste, and then we waste. Plastic is the bane of humanity. Tons of plastic get buried every day. A thousand million years from now there will be pockets of solidified garbage that will amaze the geologist of the future.  Maybe when the oceans dry up plastic will form a layer like the Great Salt Lake.  Maybe when we burn up the planet plastic will blow about the planet from violent winds as on other planets. 

Horton Spring

If all goes well the Kadizzles will have a new home in Payson, AZ. in the fall. It will be an entire new area to explore.  With out friends Al and Deb we took an eight mile hike to Horton Spring yesterday.  The exosphere up in the mountains is a different world from life here in the desert. The smell of pine is always refreshing. Hiking up the trail the stream was dry for the first small portion, then the water suddenly was a good sized stream with fish.  After a long slug there it was the spring. This was not the typical spring, it was water gushing our of the rocks and roaring down the mountain only to eventually disappear. Although the walk was relatively gentle Kadizzle managed to end up sore.  Kadizzle's muscles have become attuned to riding the ebike, not walking. The trail had no signs prohibiting ebikes, and someday we may ride it. 

The American medical system is insane.  For about a one hour visit to the emergency room for a kidney stone Kadizzle is being billed over four thousand dollars. Today we fight the hospital billing department. 

Down the Canyon

 Two couples and a dog headed down the Campaign Creek slot canyon.  This is not a hike for the timid. In order to get to the bottom one must get down several drop offs. The drops are in conjunction with small waterfalls. Each drop off involved rigging a rope, and lowering Debbie, and coaching the dog to come down. On some of the drops we videos.  After the hike laughing at the videos provided a lot of fun. 

Today the crew is going up near Payson to hike to Horton Spring. This hike will be in the mountains and should be cool and relatively easy. 

Up to the canyon

Today we are going up the mini slot canyon.  It may take some climbing down ropes. Debbie's arm is not good so we will have to lower her in some places.  Al has invented a rope harness to do this. Then there is the dog, Zuni who will also have to be lowered.  Add to all this the logistics. We will leave the electric bike or truck at one end of the canyon and the other at the other end. This will be some juggling. Of course we will have to walk in the water, just one more complication.  

Days are slipping by

Most of our beloved trail crew has gone north for the summer. Winky and Kadizzle are sitting in the Tonto National Forest while our new home is being built in Payson, Az.  The foundation is complete and like a flower sprouting from the ground the home is growing.  Al and Debbie pulled in beside us yesterday with their camper.  This means we have to plan some local adventures.  Perhaps we will go toward the Doll Baby Ranch. Winky and Kadizzle took a bike ride into some entirely new parts of the planet. The Doll Baby Ranch is near the East Verde River. It is close to what will be our new home.  There is such a vast new area to explore by foot, bike, and motorcycle.  Hundreds of new forest roads, streams, springs, and Indian sites. 

The logistics of moving is a mess.  First everything has to be moved to Cliff's in Springerville, and then we have to take the huge trailer to North Dakota to get our junk collection.  Money is flying out the window at a frightful pace. Winky is sitting over there picking out new appliances.  Those hoping to inherit need to make other plans. 

Had a nice afternoon soiree yesterday, with Bill, Al, Deb, and Cliff.  All friends we have met in our RV adventures. Bill has a wonderful sense of humor and is a pleasure to have with his wicked sarcasm.  Bill may spend the summer in a tent in Montana. Bill is in his mid seventies and it seems odd he will be perfectly happy living in a tent, but he has done it for five years at a time.  The scattering of the tribe seems like the old Indian days. We come together and move apart. Al and Debbie have no good idea where they are going except to the North West.  Cliff is first going to the Grand Canyon to volunteer, and then play it by ear. 

 

Rampant Paranoia

 Sitting in the shade talking to someone new you recently met. The conversation goes all over the place. Inevitably Kadizzle has a bad habit of turning things towards politics. This person who seemed intelligent, rational, and normal slowly reveals they are into the insane conspiracy theories. The popular right wing crazy idea is that Obama is secretly running the government. Where is this insanity coming from. Kadizzle needs to check.  Rush is dead.  Is Fox firing out these lies? There must be some popular nut radio or internet person dreaming up this insanity.  The Republicans find paranoid people a gold mine of votes. Making the Hoopleheads dance with crazy ideas is game on for the Republicans.  Fear is the name of the game. Someone is after your money, and your gun, and they don't want to let you talk to Jesus. The country is in a swamp of stupidity, and uninformed people. We are living in a country of the rich for the rich by the rich. The absurdity is the poor support those who are smacking them down the most. This is one amazing plantation where the slaves love the master and thing they will strike it rich picking cotton. 

One more time

 Distraught that there was no wind Kadizzle sat on the dock debating if he should just take the Rusty 1 out of the water.  A little breeze piped up and motivated Kadizzle to go  out again.  After a short sail a big wind came up and overturned the Rusty 1 for the second time. Someone must watch over old Kadizzle. When the wind hit Kadizzle was sailing towards two lime green kayaks being paddled by two senior citizens. The plan was to sell them the Rusty 1.  The old gentleman who paddled toward the wreck immediately said he knew how to upright the boat. One could not have better fortune than to immediately have someone show up with an unusual skill.  After a lot of struggling we managed to upright the Rusty 1. The wind was still going strong. By this time a nice gentleman came out in a pontoon boat.  Kadizzle was able to get back in the Rusty 1.  The boat would not sail as it should.  The rigging was wrong and messed up. Somehow Kadizzle managed to get the boat to shore.  Cliff had been up the lake in his trimaran. Cliff showed up and helped Kadizzle relaunch the boat.  The Rusty 1 would just not sail right the jib was out of control and the boat would only go on the port tack.  After struggling for a long while straining to control the boat Kadizzle gave up and once again sailed ashore at the wrong boat ramp.  Cliff made it back to camp and sent Winky to rescue Kadizzle.  After more struggle getting the boat on the trailer the job was finally done.  The Rusty 1 is cursed.  The little boat just does not have any ballast and it has a knack for turning over. When the old fellow came out to rescue Kadizzle in the kayak the first question was " How long have you been sailing?".  Kadizzle answered. " I am too embarrassed to answer". Kadizzle thought he had conquered the quirks of the Rusty 1, and like an idiot failed to secure the items onboard.  Now all the tools and a few other things are too deep to recover.  To remind Kadizzle of his age and his stupidity he is sore all over.  Put it down to a slow learner. 

Speaking with the mentally ill

Yesterday started with Kadizzle taking the long ride to the top of the Four Peaks. Winky, and Cliff got out of the Forest Service Truck to head across the Arizona trail. Kadizzle made a second trip up the mountain to leave the truck at the end of the trail for them.  At a perfect temperature with sunshine and clear skies Kadizzle drifted the six miles down the mountain on his ebike.  

On the way back to camp Kadizzle stopped at the shack the Arizona Trail hikers use to resupply.  At the shack Kadizzle had a long discussion with a Republican.  Kadizzle explained to the delusional man that he like to probe the minds of Republicans to see how those minds put a view of the world together.  This man said Obama is running the goverment and Biden is just a front.  Kadizzle has found this it the latest mythology promoted by the right wing.  Republicans for some reason cannot admit they are afraid of black people. Being scared is a thrill for them so they cook up conspiracy theories.  We all live in our own world.  Mr. Republican said climate change is the result of the sun wobbling. He is not sure, but he read it somewhere.  These people vote, and of course try to make sure no one else does. 

The drive down from the Four Peaks is spectacular on a road many are afraid to drive. On the way down Kadizzle listened on the radio to anther kind of insanity.  An FM radio preacher was explaining the Bible.  The man sounded very scholarly, and kept throwing out the names of all the Biblical kings and kingdoms. The sermon was such an entanglement of nonsense.  If God wanted to send a message, why did he have to do it with dreams, prophets, and the most obscure scripture imaginable. Fundamentally it makes no sense. It was a great prelude to talking to the Republican.  People seem to love ridiculous simple explanations. Back to the God stuff.  IF God wanted us to know something he now could go on TV, the internet, or appear in the sky and let us know first hand.  However, God seems to prefer crooked preachers, Fox News, and Donald Trump. 

The Mother of all bad roads

Al told Kadizzle we would take a motorcycle ride on the west side of the Catalina Mountains near Tucson. As we approached the start of the ride Al said we would turn around if it got too bad.  The road immediately became terrible. After a mile and a half we surrendered. The road was strew with watermelon sized boulders and ever conceivable rock mess. Before it was over Al crashed five times and to his absolute amazement Kadizzle did not crash. The road was so bad Kadizzle did not think making the journey without a crash was an option. Al is a much better rider and has a much more aggressive cycle than Kadizzle.  That may have be the salvation. 

We are in Tucson, AZ. We came to borrow a huge utility trailer from Al. Ultimately we will use it to get out worldly possessions from North Dakota.  

Little Chicago

The home town of Kadizzle, Wheeling, WVa. was known as little Chicago. Kadizzle has been reading the history of Wheeling crime. The extent of mafia influence is amazing. Seeing the names of people Kadizzle knew and went to school with is fascinating. One name popped out. Bob Dorn went to grade school with Kadizzle. One morning in about the sixth grade Kadizzle was on the porch of the school. Bob Dorn was wearing a sweat shirt.  Bobby kept scratching here and there and it seemed like he had fleas or something. He held out his right arm and a hamster crawled out of his shirt.  Bob went on to become a drug runner, professional high end shop lifter, and served half his life in prison.  Kadizzle found out the lawyer down the street in the fancy house represented the mob.  Kadizzle went to school with his son. Seeing all the names Kadizzle realized how many children of the crime people we knew and went to school with. Strangely many of the crime bosses sent their kids to private schools.  Bill Lias who was the crime boss was purported to be the richest criminal in the U.S.  On Wheeling Island Lias built an elaborate racetrack.  The government went after him for taxes and took the race track. Then they hired Lias to run it.  The audacity of the crime was unbelievable.  One good story was about a man thrown out of a whore house into the alley. The police arrested him.  He said to the police " You arrest me and allow prostitution in there".  The police said " If you want to prove it, you need a recite. "

Repair the Plumbing

Off to Payson today to do some doctoring as they say. Poor old Kadizzle will get a CAT scan in preparation for having a camera inserted into his bladder.  Have had this done before. Interesting procedure. You get to see on television inside your bladder. The last time is was like being in a Gold fish bowl with little bits of stuff floating around. Not real enthused about it all. 

Weather has been great, and the Kadizzles will pick up a huge utility trailer this weekend. A friend has agreed to lend it to us to bring our worldly belongings from ND.  

At the soiree yesterday we has some nice guest from Washington. Kadizzle met them in the morning and invited them to the meeting held every day at 3:30.  You show up with your own drink and tell your stories.  Meeting so many new people is always a main pleasure of being on the road. 

Will be interesting to see if the Republicans can keep the country from going forward.  As usual they see progress as a threat to the rich.