Grandparents House

 Between my childhood home and my grandparents house there was just one other home. My grandparents lived on the next street over. At one time my grandfather was mayor of Wheeling, West Virginia, and also a prominent attorney. He was one of the first professional football coaches ever, and refereed at the Rose Bowl. At one time in college he played against Jim Thorpe. 

My grandfather Russell Goodwin is in the Wheeling Hall of Fame. His house was very nice. At one time it was actually two nice apartment houses. My Grandfather took out the dividing walls and ended up with a nice home. Since it was two separate apartments the house ended up with two of everything. Two kitchens, two nice staircases, two nice bathrooms, and a hall on the second floor that was two halls wide now that the center dividing wall was removed. The bedrooms were large, but the most amazing part was a very large attic with a full sized bedroom, a bathroom, and a large room for a pool table. Neighborhood kids spent hours playing pool in my Grandfathers attic. He was tolerant of the noise created by a bunch of kids over his bedroom. In addition to the house there was a two story garage with several large rooms. One of the rooms above the garage was a dark room. Both my grandfather, and one of my uncles were very enthusiastic photographers. One large kitchen wall was covered with family photos. My Grandfather bought each of his five children a nice home in the area where he lived. My cousins lived within blocks and it was great to grow up with the extended family nearby. 

The Divide

 Nothing new, those with, and those without. Yesterday we met Marty walking down the road by the lake near our new residence. Marty and his wife have quickly become good friends. Marty walked with Winky up the steep hill while Kadizzle road the ebike. At the ranch the political discussion started. Marty is a good liberal and we plowed into a lot of subjects, and of course solutions to world problems. Why are people poor. Both Marty and Kadizzle told the tales of how a little luck propelled them to economic security. It is a long story, but Marty's tale of prosperity came from a call he got from England to capture Wood Rats in the desert. You probably know Kadizzle's career started when he took a nap on the porch swing in Wheeling, West Virginia.

Why do some people succeed and others fail? Of course there are many factors. Maybe daddy left you a piece of land with oil under it. You did not succeed, you just had the right daddy. Trump is splendid example of that. Maybe you got some good DNA and were smart enough to see through the trickery of those who prey on the less fortunate. Maybe you understood economics and saved. Maybe you listened to someone with knowledge. 

Society very much depends on the haves, and how much they soak from the have nots .  Shooting a cow is not a difficult endeavor, but a mountain lion is another category. Why shoot either one? Well you can sell a stupid person a Mr Pillow pillow and it is not hard. Kadizzle was at the Walmart hall where people go to buy items made of Chinesiem. You can get a decent pillow there for twenty bucks or less, but Mr. Pillow will sell you one for a hundred. Really, what can you do to a pillow? Well you can use pillows to bilk the Trump cult. Republicans have turned mental deficiency into a gold mine. 

The wandering Mind

Long ago Kadizzle was a college student in Huntington, West Virginia. The truth is Kadizzle was not the best student. Attention deficit disorder was a plague then and now. When Kadizzle went to the library to do research he would walk between the stacks of books. Before he ever got to the book he was looking for another book caught his attention. Before he knew it his time at the library was wasted. 

The modern version of this is Youtube. Kadizzle starts to look at one thing, and then something else catches the eye. The net result is now Kadizzle can captain a plane, a helicopter, and just about anything that moves. You can learn it all on Youtube. Once you start exploring the journey is endless. 

Morning has come to the mountains. A small skiffle of snow in spotty places. Tomorrow the trail crew will arrive for a turkey dinner. Winky is in the kitchen cooking up a storm. Ah stuffing, the fat mans nirvana. Kadizzle started syphoning the water out of our retention pond yesterday. Winky exclaimed " You will never get anywhere with that". Yes my child, but this morning the pond is dry. 

Our new headquarters sit on top of a hill up in the mountains. No one would have thought water would be a problem, but puddles have been forming in the basement. The blasted builder still has not put gutters on our home. Hopefully that will solve the problem. However, Winky wants to play drain the crawl space tomorrow. The mud here is something special. It is like walking through glue and sand. One step into the mud and your boot will pick up three pounds of mud.  It is easy to see how the Indians could make pottery out of this stuff. Almost like natural cement. 

These are Megan's two little monkeys. Love these little bums. 

 

Nope, you can't be a vagabond

The plan was to be without a home for a couple years, travel about, let the sun power the Earth Module, maybe some foreign travel. Nope, didn't happen. The Captain of the Universe Commander Winky wanted a home drilled into the ground. Here we sit at five thousand feet. After a long, very long wait, we are in our new home. Endless hassles, that is what home building is about. The house is not at the exact angle to the universe it should be. Picking out colors was like picking out lottery numbers, and of course the garage doors came the wrong color. The granite had to find a hiding place because of the building delays. The Earth Module will be a squeeze in it's home beside the home. On and on it goes. Since the builder has been too slow installing the gutters water is accumulating in the crawl space. Kadizzle has storage containers on the deck collecting water to keep it away from the foundation. 

All things considered we are actually in the lap of luxury, if you can be in that lap with no furniture. Just about everything got sold in North Dakota. We kept the kitchen table, some chairs, and a futon. The new beds are great. Setting up utilities, and getting mail service are problems of a large magnitude. Mail service has driven us insane. The post office and the builder cannot  manage the installation of the mailboxes. Over the summer we have had three addresses. Until you change your address you have no idea how your address is tied to everything. Not hard to see how the homeless cannot survive without an address. Credit cards, banking, the car, you name it. Without an address you do not exist. Then of course we have not entirely faced the mess of changing drivers license, medical care, and on and on. 

Prior to his insane debacle we were debt free. Now, maybe we can leave the children some juicy debt. 

Well, better go to the good side. We are in the mountains with endless trails. The weather is spectacular compared to a winter in North Dakota. Drive down the road and the temperature goes up ten degrees. Drive up the road and the temperature will drop five degrees. Life is too short to spend all in one place. Too many of the hillbillies Kadizzle grew up with never busted out of the hills. That is the report for this morning. Hope everyone had good holidays. 

A dusting of snow

At our refuge from winter we awakened to a dusting of snow. That can happen at five thousand feet. Kadizzle is trying to get the engine room in order. The engine room is world headquarters for The National Association for the Advancement of Humanity. The engine room has computers, music, a desk, and all the comforts of a place where you can be alone with your thoughts. Once Kadizzle manages to come alive in the morning he wanders to the kitchen and puts ten little measure of the coffee in the coffee pot. When he pushes the button the world begins to come to life. As the blood and caffeine bring Kadizzle back to life he checks of the evil Republicans and plots his means to secure a good life for the oppressed. At some point little Joey awakens and wants breakfast. With luck Winky might make some French Toast or an omelet. The main research organ is the New York Times. The NYT is one of the last bastions of democracy. Evil Republican agents are buying up newspapers like the Bismarck Tribune and turning them into right wing rags. The entire country is doomed as we turn into Fox News Nation. 

Back to the National Association for the Advancement of Humanity. Everyone gets those calls where the caller does not identify themselves. When Kadizzle answers the phone if he does not recognize the call he will answer " National Association for the Advancement of Humanity".  If you will not tell me who you are, then I will return the favor. So if Kadizzle answers that way don't be put off, just identify yourself. 

The Morning News

Once upon a time Kadizzle told himself his next house would be a small one. Here we are in our new home, it is not that small. The old house had a basement that basically doubled the size of the house. It was way more room than two old people need. Now, in our new home we just have one floor. That is what you do when you are old, no steps. The new house still has enormity. The living room is the main and perhaps the only public room, but it is huge. Filling it with furniture will break the bank. Kadizzle likes roomy rooms, but he may have gone overboard on the bedroom. Even with a king sized bed space is plentiful. The garage is also a vast warehouse. 

How many people in the world live in tiny apartments, huts, and cramped quarters. Maybe we take too much. Why? Because we can. Even when we attempt to take less we still fail. Our cars are too big, and pickup trucks roam like wild beast on our streets. Are the Kadizzle's guilty? Hell yes, but we are different, we deserve all this. Of course no one else does. We worked hard for what we have. That is a lie. We were born into families that had an extra edge. We had good educations, homes with books, and two parent stable families. 

Conservatives love the old saw " I worked for what I got, why can't you?".  Well, take a black family for example. Did they get help buying a house from mom and dad? Nope. Did they inherit a little money to help along the way? Nope. Did they sort of have a job fall in their lap? Nope. If you help poor people it makes them lazy and dependent. Of course that does not happen with upper middle class Americans. They always flourish with help and support. The wonderful double standard. The rules that apply to me are not suited for you. 

History Lesson

Babylon Berlin is an expensive Netflix production Winky and Kadizzle have been watching for days. A very strange production that takes place in Berlin around 1918 to 1929. The chaos and politics of the time was as strange as it is now. The theme reminds one so much of the Trump plotting to overthrow our government. History is always the same, some group sells a new society to the gullible. Like always the poor are the pawns. Like always the uneducated are the fodder. 

Seems people never change. You can always play on the same weaknesses, delusion, religion, greed, and the hope your side will win. It never happens and almost always ends in a mess. In the old days a mess was just a couple million people killed in a silly war. Maybe the next mess will include nuclear weapons. Chemical weapons made world war one a lot of fun, and phosgene plays a big role in this mystery thriller. 

History is always about those on top wanting more and manipulating those on the bottom to get more. Selling the foolish false hope has always been a big theme in history. The idea that our side is right, and those other guys are up to something has always been a big seller. The lesson of history is the common guy usually loses. 

OK, a little change of the tune. Yesterday Kadizzle took a test on his favorite database. Do you want to see a different world? Yup, the world is not what you think. Go to a site called "Gapminder". There you will find a quiz that ask you questions about the condition of mankind. The quiz will show you based on facts, that you are wrong. You are wrong about how many people can read, how many people have clean water to drink, and you are wrong about so many important things in the world. We have made progress, but we have a long way to go. Sadly those on top now want things to stay the same because they are on top and they like it that way. So the Republicans are suppressing voting,  and doing every evil deed they can to stay in control. 

Well the new year is coming, and no one can stop the clock. We are all marching toward the end. No matter how old, how tired, or how depressed we still have to fight so our children can have a decent future. Doing nothing is not acceptable. The grandchildren, Quinn, Sylvie, and Evie deserve the chance to live in a better world so it is game on. Talk to the dolts, ask people to vote no matter how hard it is. When that person on the phone says " Can I do anything else to help you?", here is the answer. " Yes, you can vote against every Republican that breaths".  You can talk to the clerk at the grocery store and explain that those who make more than 138,000 pay no social security. Watch their expression. You have the right to wake people up. If you let them sleep we all will slowly parish in the swamp of Republican lies. 

Sharing the family

Children are precious, in more ways than one. First they cost a fortune, but then perhaps they are worth it. Now our children have had children, which we may even enjoy more. You can turn them in when you get tired of playing with them. You don't have to feed them, and eventually you get some peace and quiet with grandchildren. However, you have to share the family with inlaws. In the old days in Hazen we had both extended families at Christmas. Now that we have moved to Payson we will be alone for Christmas. Sister Patty could not come up from Cottonwood because of the weather. Our new neighbors Larry and Grant brought us some cookies yesterday. Christmas will be celebrated with just Winky and the neighbors. 

Rain fell all day yesterday and the sediment pond in the back yard filled up. The pond was a strange aspect of the property Kadizzle is not to happy with. It is not actually a pond, but a cinder block enclosure. It should have been a pond. Kadizzle may turn it into a more attractive part of the yard, but that will take time. Rushing into this house purchase has had a few glitches, but Winky wanted a home in Payson. Our main reason for living here is the surrounding area. There are endless trails, mountains, and wild area. We have such a large new area to explore on foot, on ebikes, and on the motorcycle. Then there is the Earth Module which can take us out for longer trips. Waking up with mountain scenery is very different from the old prairie in North Dakota. We have not escaped the Trump flags and the redneck pickup trucks. Add to that the pretend motorcycle guys who would like to think they are part of some gang. 

Now Winky just came in the engine room and said Kadizzle must help her pack up the bar stools she ordered. Winky does not hesitate to order things and send them back. Not sure what color she wanted she ordered every color. Now out of four chairs three will have to go back, what a fun way to start the day packing chairs. Of course next the chairs will have to be hauled somewhere like UPS and that also will be fun. Money flies out the window with a new home. We are doing our part to support the economy and inflation. The trick will be for us to give out before the money does. 

The Lord'll Provide

What do you do?

 You have a good friend or neighbor and they reveal they have a problem. What do you do? Your neighbor could not be kinder or more friendly then one day they say " I could never vote for a black man". Almost falling out of your chair you realize an aspect of a person you never thought was there. Then one day you look at out the window and see a Trump flag flying next door. Again you are shocked. The person seemed rational, and intelligent, but no. One thing both these people have in common is a deep religious belief. What went wrong?

The real dilemma is do you say anything? The older generation thought you could mix religion and hate with no problem. You could despise other humans for no reason and that was just fine with God. Kadizzle wants nothing to do with that God. Part of the problem with these people is their minister knew better, but the man that stood in front of them in church needed a paycheck, and a job. That man up there in front of the church knew what those people wanted to hear. The preacher knew how to polish Jesus so he would shine brightest on white people, Republicans, and those who spiced their life with a little evil. 

Kadizzle has known two preachers that are good people, but they did not express their true religion until after they quit preaching. What a strange world. Good man who cannot speak out until it is too late. How many people will die wishing they had said more about the infestation of evil caused by silence. 

Another day for the old goats

The truck rumbled up to Peter Bigfoot's refuge deep in the desert canyon. The road was in the best shape ever. Floods had ravaged the road, but a lot of work put it back in order. Our mission was to re establish the trial for Campaign Creek. Peter is a lucky man. He has a friend with a D9 Dozer who is helping rebuild his ranch that was devastated by the monsoon floods. The amount of water that came down Campaign Creek is incomprehensible. A stream that normally you could hardly drink out of ran deep enough to surpass the top of the pickup truck. The evidence in the trees told the story. The Stream had been up to eight feet or more deep in place. The water moved boulders the size of cars, and tore up everything in it's path. 

Rain in the desert is an entirely different animal. The desert has no holding capacity for water and a big watershed will flood instantly. As Kadizzle writes it is starting to sprinkle. The prediction is for up to two inches. If it comes quickly look out. More sand will inundate the highways and the boulders will move. 

Heard from Dave

 Long ago and far away when Kadizzle was a surface coal miner Dave took care of putting things back together after the miners tore the land apart. Dave was dedicated and won several awards for his work. Like I told him most people would be hard pressed to figure out what land was mined and what land was not. In West Virginia, my home state, the land will never recover, but Kadizzle can be proud of the reclamation done in North Dakota. Dave played a key role. 

Sad that although we restored some land in North Dakota we are now endanger of losing the whole planet to Republican greed, and denial of climate change. Kadizzle and Winky are in the southwest which is burning up from fires, and ravaged by drought. With six thousand planes in the air at all times burning 3,000 gallons each, do the math about how much crap we are putting in the air alone with aircraft. Of course this does not include the cargo ships burning oil sludge. Who cares we will  all be dead soon, but the grandchildren may suffocate. 

Who reads this crap?

There was a song " I am going to sit right down and write myself a letter".  Kadizzle writes himself a letter almost every morning. Does this nonsense go out into the digital universe and then on into space? One thing Kadizzle has been to lazy to do it set up the comments section on this system. If you want to make a comment and you really want Kadizzle to get the comment you can use the email, dakotaquinn@gmail.com  Maybe you did want to communicate something and forgive this old man if he never got your communication, but now you have a means. 

We are back at the Earth Module and are going to go up the mountain today. My heart isn't in it. My hand is eaten up with arthritis and the hand needs a rest. Have not actually climbed up the mountain trail in many weeks. It will be interesting to see how much the rain, fire, and growth has damaged the trail. 

This new life style of having a lake home and a mountain home is a bit strange. Calling the Earth Module a lake home gives it an uppity tone. 

Two Old People

Our new yard is actually a rock garden. Rocks of every size dominate the landscape. Some weight a pound others six tons. Winky and Kadizzle moved rocks yesterday. Two old people in their seventies vs a two or three hundred pound rock. The old goats finally won, but Kadizzle is sore today. A handful of arthritis like never before. With rudimentary tools, a pick and a hand truck we took on the rocks. So far maybe three tons have been moved. Just prying one out of the ground is a job. Kadizzle lifts by prying with the pick and Winky puts some small rocks under it. The final victory is celebrated by hooking two old people to the hand cart and pulling the prize to its new home. 

Morning has come once more and it is feeling  more like home in our new home. If you are in North Dakota freezing your backside off come on down. No real furniture yet, but we do have a very comfortable extra bed. It looks like the new neighborhood will be mostly old folks, but a real mix. Kadizzle met two gun loving ex marines down below. The man and woman were both marines. She brought some damn good cookies up to welcome us the other day. Fred comes by pretty regular walking his dog. Fred and Deb have spent their time on the rock pile at their home. There may be some kids nearby. Kadizzle likes young people and cannot understand why old goats would want to live without them. They are the hope. Only the young can save us from the Republicans. 

A Changing World

 People's choices about how they live have become less restrained, and that is a good thing. In recent times we have become friends with more gay people. Our new friends are intelligent, and interesting. They add spice to our lives. Living in a tolerant society seems to be a good thing. Since we are in the heart of redneck Trump land seeing gay people navigate the landscape is interesting. The rednecks seem to have adapted. Gay people have money, and they spend it, just like black people do. No matter how right wing and redneck you are as a businessman you will not do well if you offend minorities.  In the old days we had unions to protect people, but strangely our economy protects minorities even though Republicans don't want them to vote or have a decent life. Every business caters to Spanish speaking people by giving them the choice to deal with the company in Spanish. Minorities are encouraged to boycott discriminating businesses. 

The most important thing for minorities to realize is who their worst enemy is. The answer is pretty simple, it is the Republicans, and coming in second is probably religion. What religion? Thing about it. Religion robs the poor with the TV preachers, and look what the Catholic Church has done to women, native Americans, and the poor in general. Then look at how the fundamentalist have supported Trump. 

Yelling at the Computer

Winky is driving  Kadizzle nuts. Winky gets frustrated dealing with computers on the phone. The new voice technology has been adopted by just about every company. Computers that analyze  your voice do it by analyzing the electronic signature for the words you say with an algorithm.  When you yell and say something quickly it is self defeating. Getting angry with a computer is insane, and sitting next to Winky in the morning while she yells at computers drives Kadizzle nuts. Realizing if she would just say " Yes" slowly the computer would understand yes, but if she says it at the speed of light it creates a problem. Old people and technology is a recipe for mental illness.  

Awakening in the Morning

Cloudy and overcast in the mountains. Here we are in Payson, Arizona. Endless task await getting into the new abode. Spent yesterday assembling a desk. Instruction said one hour. Into the third hour the desk is still not put together. 

Kadizzle awakened in the middle of the night to a noise, and could not figure out what it was. There is a small airport within hearing distance. It sounded like someone was reving up the ending of a turboprop ready to take off. The sound persisted and the brain expected the plane to go into the air. Nope, just the sound. Suspicious that it might be coming from the house Kadizzle went into the living room. When he opened the bedroom door the noise stopped. It turned out the noise was from the furnace sucking air through the crack of the bedroom door. 

Kadizzle is cheap, no question about it. He saves a nickle where he can. Today you will get a lecture on banks and credit card companies. Refuse to pay their fees. Kadizzle just avoided $70 in surcharges. Credit card companies pay a lot of money to get a new sucker. Over the years Kadizzle has save hundreds of dollars by calling the credit card companies and telling them to remove late fees. If they have any sense they will remove the charge. With our moving our finances are a mess and things are all mixed up. The bank wanted to charge $39 for an overdraft fee. A mix up caused about a two day delay in the money transfer. The bank removed the fee by simply asking. Now think about it how many billions banks and credit card companies make charging these insane fees. These companies have no compunction about abusing the costumer so why shouldn't the customer fight back? Another case if Verizon. Often because we travel we get terrible internet service. At the end of the call with Verizon they always ask "Is there anything else I can do for you?".  Kadizzle says yes, you can take $25 off my bill for lousy service. Usually they do. Once Kadizzle asked for $25 and they took off $70. You may want to purchase the new book put out by Lord Kadizzle enterprises. The title of the book is " It don't hurt to ask".

The Year of the Dog

Last night Winky and Kadizzle watched the movie The Year Of The Dog. It was strange western with a theme about a young homosexual, and another older gay cowboy.  Kadizzle would recommend it. The movie was set in Beech Montana. Perhaps the movie makers did not know Beach is in North Dakota. The movie was set in 1925 which meant there were cars in the movie. 

Today the plan is to go up to Payson and the new home. Living in two places has complications with what goes where. 

Waking up in the morning and perusing the news is depressing. The real virus is stupidity and it's spread has brought the planet to it's knees. The years spent with both Trump and Covid have just worn people down. The Supreme Court is scary. It is now a political arm of the Hoopleheads. Think about the implications. 

 

The right size

We live on a planet that has always been the same size, but our cities have not, our use of the atmosphere has not, and so the planet is being overwhelmed by human termites. Capitalism is premised on the idea of infinite growth. That doesn't work in the giant terrarium we live in. Go into just about any public space and it will be posted on the wall how many people can occupy the space. Perhaps we need a sign on the planet that says how many people it can hold comfortably. Sadly we have long past the comfortable level. 

Awake next to the Catalina Mountains

Here we are at Debbie and Al's in their home they don't live in. Debbie and Al prefer their fifth wheel out back in the little RV park they are building for friends, so Kadizzle and Winky have this huge home to ourselves when we visit. Al made a wonderful homemade pizza last night. The view from here is fantastic, so are the bike trails, and hiking. 

Al is a craftsman and has gone insane buying nice equipment for his shops. The garage is a metal working shop, and the living room is a woodworking shop. Al bought a professional grade lathe and it will be interesting to see what he makes. Al has surrounded the home with an artistic steel fence. Each of the three gates will be works of art.  

Arabic Numerals.

Republicans have successfully fought CRT, critical race theory. Now, Kadizzle ask you to help fight the teaching of Arabic numerals in the schools. You can see where this is going. The Republicans will take up the fight clueless of what Arabic numerals are. The Hoopleheads will go to school boards and blast the members. Like Jewish space lasers any cause is worthy. Kadizzle has had a long running Jihad against Rob Port, but today he wrote an excellent article pointing out the grifters in the Republican Party. Covid did something to Port's brain that resulted in a massive improvement. It seems he is gradually becoming a liberal. 

Today we head to Tuson to visit friends and do some bike riding. 

Two days of fighting brush

Day two of fighting brush on the Deer Creek trail is over. Six worn down old people stopped for ice cream on the way back from the trial. Carrying the motorized weed whackers in three miles to start work was chore, but many hikers will be happy to walk the trail unaccustomed by thorns. 

Rain may fall this evening, and the desert can use a dose. Tomorrow we head to Tuson and perhaps some ebike riding. A hot shower will feel good, and then wonderful rest. 

Here we go

It is not even five in the morning, Winky and Kadizzle are up buzzing about in our new home. We are at a new level of luxury. A huge kitchen, instant warmth, and a king sized bed. On it goes every convenience we could dream of. So like fools we will go to the Deer Creek Trail and work for free in about two hours. Blasted brush and desert cat's claw that tears your arms apart. Kadizzle has been assigned to run the weed whacker. It is sort of fun to curse the blasted brush and then give it a dose of spinning blade. The victory is short term when rain hits the weeds they come back twice as strong. 

If you are a reader in good standing of this nonsense you are certainly invited to stop in Payson and spend the night. We like company, and have already made many new friends here. Some nice lady brought cookies for us yesterday as a house warming gift. Good cookies. Just what Kadizzle needs as he approaches the weight of a black hole. 

Paper Houses

Kadizzle has seen a lot of homes built, but never like what they do in Payson, Arizona. Most houses have plywood or strandboard placed over the studs, not here. Many of the houses here have the exterior siding, some weather paper, and then insulation. Apparently the building code allows these paper houses. We insisted on a real house. Just looking at a home you cannot know if the walls are substantial or paper. Kadizzle thinks if you put a light fixture on an exterior wall and there is no sheathing behind he exterior siding you may be in for some sagging fixtures. Builders will make a nickle where they can. 

Kadizzle grew up in a home built in 1914. That home had one hardwood floor on top of another for a total thickness of about two inches. That does not happen any more. Hardwood was used everywhere in older homes. Today softwoods are pasted and glued to come up with a home. Maybe one is not better than the other, but the old homes had copper pipes. No more of that. The wires even seem smaller. Well the insulation is better. Craftsmen built the old homes, the new ones are build so quickly and the old fashioned woodwork is just not there. In Europe they build homes to last centuries. Here they might last until the paint dries. Once upon a time Kadizzle had a job supervising the demolition of homes where an interstate was going to go. The big endloader would put it's bucket under the corner of one of those well built homes and the entire house would come up as a unit. Now if you did that to a modern home you would just tear a hole in the corner. 

 

Our New LIfe

 Last night we slept in our new home in Payson, Arizona. We met the neighbors this morning. Two figure skating instructors. Seems like they will make good neighbors. Already we have made many friends in Payson. Payson is a cowboy town. No shortage of rednecks and Trump cultist. However, the people are friendly, and helpful. The worst thing is the traffic. How such a small town can have so much traffic? Payson is at the intersection where people go North, East and West. Most of the streets are quiet, but the main street through town is always busy. 

We are near a nice little park with three small lakes. People are always fishing there. How they can fish as much as they do and not run out of fish? The home sits high above town and gives us a good view of the lights at night. Working all the bugs out of the ceiling fans, the garage door openers, the fireplace, and so on is a daunting task. The kitchen is very large and Winky should be very happy. As usual we have more storage than junk to fill it. 

Tonight is night number two. The area is quiet and the National Forest is just on the other side of the Street. We took our first walk in the local forest and elk tracks were everywhere. It will be fun to see the first elk wandering around. 

I know where one good person is.

Kadizzle was a bit shocked to see a vicious attack on his good friend Dina Butcher by Rob Port in the Fargo Forum. Dina had a measure passed that irritated the Republicans. Dina's group called the Badass Grandmas has promoted transparency in North Dakota government. Of course this makes it hard for the Republicans to harvest bribes. Port is a pathological liar much like Scott Hennen. Kadizzle personally has experienced Port's lies. Port once asked Kadizzle to appologize for stuffing money down Kevin Cramers shirt. Kadizzle was to call in to the radio show and an agreement was made about what would be discussed. Port totally broke the agreement and used the opportunity to promote Cramer.  Before this radio interview Port called Kadizzle to arrange a time. Kadizzle was riding his bike north of Hazen when he got the call. Kadizzle told Port he was on his bike and he would call Port back. For absolutely no reason Port said Kadizzle was not on his bike and lying about it. Kadizzle reached the city landfill north of town and called Port back. Kadizzle offered to have the landfill people verify he was on his bike. Port did not want the proof. This is the way he operates, and so does his buddy Scott Hennen. Lying is a way of life for these guys. To top it off Kadizzle did a little research and it turns out Port is funded by right wing groups. Port accuses Dina Butcher of taking out of state money, yet he takes dark money himself. 

Where are the good people?

" Evil prevails when good men fail to act".  Evil in the form of Republicans is prevailing. Good men are failing to act. Reading the news and seeing how openly the Republicans cheat, lie, and steal is discomforting. Thugs have learned from the Republicans with the new mass stealing at stores how to just overwhelm normal people. Stupid people act in mass to destroy our democracy. The assault on the Capital was no different from a smash and grab operation. The Hoopleheads cheer the bullies. Republican congressmen are cheered when they promote the virus. Again normal people idly stand by and think it will all come out OK. Normal people are nice, polite, and thoughtful. It does not work anymore, but normal people continue to be nice to the Hoopleheads. Normal people do not realize there are far more Hoopleheads than they ever thought. 

Rape by banks and title loan companies

It appears our loan will be wrapped up on Monday. Kadizzle spent the morning dealing with the title company and the loan company for our new home. When it was over it felt like financial rape. It is like buying a car. You are dumb enough to focus on the cost of the car, but whoa, what about the tax, the license, and about ten things the dealer dreamed up like air in the tires. The title company plays the same game and so does the lender. There is a fee for spelling your name correctly, and another fee to have someone else check the spelling. All of this nonsense has been invented to provide vacation money for bankers and title company owners. What do these people actually do? Most of it they learned from the Wizard of Oz. Like the funeral industry which made it so expensive to die people go on living, these rats manipulate state law to make sure they can be paid well for doing little or nothing. Now, everyone gets cremated. Of course it cost way more than it should. You are already half burnt up when you find out what a traditional burial would cost. Parasites live on fees, and by the way there is a cleaning fee, a service fee, and a fee for me smiling while I cheated you. 

Free at Last

Our builder said we can move in. The world will  change. We will have a home without wheels. Friday the junk will flow into the new home. We have already met some new neighbors. Kadizzle has always wanted to live on a hilltop, or maybe a mountain top. Sitting on the massive deck Kadizzle can sip some wine and drench in the sun and shade. Landscaping will be equivalent to building a pyramid. There will not be a blade of grass. The home is in what might be called high desert. Cedar trees dominate the landscape. 

The news is playing in the background on NPR. The school shooting. As in many things a simple solution is there, but Republicans love to get some gun votes. Kadizzle has advocated making it mandatory to put a chip in guns. The chip would give off a radio signal. Stores use these chips to keep people from stealing liquor, clothing or expensive items. The chips are cheap. Imagine molding a chip into a gun. When the chip is exposed to microwave energy it gives off a radio frequency with a message. If anyone goes into a school, a church, a bank with a gun the gun itself triggers an alarm. However, the gun nuts would go nuts. The military already uses this system, and so do many police departments. Gutless coward Republicans will do any spineless thing to placate the Trump cult. 

Aggressive Drivers

Kadizzle spent six hours yesterday going over the defensive driver course. This is a requirement to drive a government vehicle. Of course there were all kind of statistics to scare you about driving. So many of the offenders could be caught with modern technology. Aggresive drivers are the ones Kadizzle has the biggest problem with. These nut cases weave in and out of traffic like it is a game. Computers could catch them. Computers can detect many traffic violations, but oh, oh no, catching people with computers is a violation of their privacy. Like the right to carry a gun and kill anyone you want, you also have the right to drive a car and kill anyone you want. In Arizona traffic cameras reduced accidents by 20%, but the delicate people objected so we went back to killing people.