The Path to Nirvana

 Construction on our street has cut off our access to the west. To solve the problem we have been building a path through the wood so the west so we can reach the lands towards California. Of course the way is strewn with boulders. Again Kadizzle has been prying the rocks out of the way. Winky uses the path to recover the blasted plants she wants to put in the backyard. Kadizzle was given his orders this morning that include more GD plant digging. Of course the desert plants have roots that go to China. 

Sitting in the garage shading himself Kadizzle saw one of the owners of the construction company headed his way. Jerry pulled up a chair and the chat was on. Jerry is pretty friendly and a nice guy to talk to, but his brother is a grump. 

These two old guys must love construction work. On weekends they keep working as their employees rest. Grump runs a large tracked backhoe. They have their work cut out. It will take about three months for them to chew out room for about thirty more homes. To dig the sewer and water they have to beat on rock all day. 

Jerry is recovering many of the huge boulders to build a rock wall in front of his home. None of his rocks could be moved without the aid of the large machinery he has. The Chinese could have completed their wall much quicker with modern machinery. 

Always be nice to working people and particularly those with heavy equipment. They can do you big favors. 

It looks like another perfect day, but the Commander has big plans to make the old lard work hard.  

The Sun popped up again

Hearing from friends in North Dakota we realize how good we have it. The weather we have enjoyed for months has been full of clear sky days and warmth. The estate is taking shape. Winky again made Kadizzle transplant desert forest plants into the yard. If it does not work we will have a lot of dead plants to remove. Most of the plants are in the Garden of Delight. Another strange project is our path through the woods. Construction has made the street to the west unusable so we only have access through the forest. Since Kadizzle is an ebike rider the path must accommodate the ebike. Rocks grow here faster than weeds. The rock battling skills were tested again yesterday. The right hand and it's arthritis acts up from prying rocks out of the ground. It feels like the right hand is twice the size of the left one. 

Kadizzle had to go onto the construction site to ask the construction people to put up a barrier that would keep silt out of our yard. The guys working on the new part of the street are very grumpy if someone invades their sacred area. When Kadizzle went to talk to them he got the chew from two of the gang for being on the site. The old grump running the large tracked backhoe is also one of the owners. Grump gave Kadizzle a little lecture about walking near the backhoe. Actually it is good that these guys are very safety conscious. Kadizzle was a little affronted by the lecture since his entire career was spent doing safety work. Of course Grump did not know this, however Kadizzle got him up to date. The issue was walking near a machine that rotates. Kadizzle has worked around a lot of large machinery.  One golden rule around large machinery is to make eye contact with the operator, and have the operator acknowledge he has seen you. 

This brings back a recollection of a mining accident. It was not at the mine Kadizzle worked at, but the report was circulated.  A very large bulldozer was backing up to the peak of a slope. A worker drove up toward the dozer from behind. The dozer operator drove over the pickup and the man was killed. Kadizzle investigated at least three or four incidents where pickup truck were run over by large equipment. Fortunately only one incident involved injury.  It is amazing to see what a large haul truck will do to a pickup when it runs over one. 

Well this brings up a story and a memory. Once upon a time there was a surveyor at our mine. The guy drove very recklessly. Kadizzle had chastised him about his driving. One morning the surveyor called Kadizzle on the radio and said he had a problem with his pickup truck. Kadizzle got to his location and found out a haul truck had chopped off the front of the truck right at the dashboard. Apparently the driver came around a turn too fast and slid under the 13ft dual wheels of the trailer on the haul truck. The truck went right over the front of the pickup. Arriving at the scene Kadizzle thought there was a minor problem like the truck would not start. Kadizzle was baffled by the fact the surveyor discribed the incident as a problem. No doubt he did not want to announce over the radio what a stupid thing he had just done. Kadizzle was angry about the incident since the surveyor had been warned. Kadizzle wanted the man fired. The surveyor was given two weeks without pay. 

Now comes a very interesting part of the story. Thirty years later Kadizzle happened to meet the surveyors wife. Kadizzle recalled the incident to her. At this point she told Kadizzle a very interesting thing about the incident. Her husband was not actually driving the truck. His assistant was. The helper was set to retire. If the helper were fired before his retirement it would have a severe impact on his retirement income. The surveyor actually took the fall for his friend. Kadizzle has been amazed what information he has found out twenty and thirty years after the fact. 

The lesser of two evils

As Kadizzle sat in the dentist chair waiting to get his teeth cleaned the dentist appeared. He was a nice young guy, but not dressed in the usual dental garb. Kadizzle asked if he was working today. Yes, he answered. His blue jeans and street jacket threw Kadizzle off. The dentist explained he was a cowboy dentist. We had a nice conversation, and got to know each other. The dentist is running for town council. He seemed like he would make a good candidate. According to him he is an independent. Kadizzle confessed he is a flaming liberal. The dentist was going to attend the same meet and greet we were at the BBQ place. 

At the BBQ meet and greet we met up with Tina. She was another candidate for city council.  The problem in Payson is a Democrat does not stand a chance. Just the name Democrat is frightening to the Hoopleheads. This puts the Kadizzles in the position that we have to vote for the most progressive Republicans we can find. Both the people we met seemed reasonable. Should have asked if they voted for Trump. That is something that cannot be forgiven. 

Finbar Furey 'I Remember You Singing This Song'

Either you like it or you don't

 Below is posted some music by Finbar Furey. Winky is sick of Kadizzle listening to this man. There is something about his voice and his Irish sound that pulls Kadizzle in. A playlist happened to feature Finbar, and Kadizzle like the song. Soon it was some song of Finbar's playing all the time. He has some good collections. Give it a try. If  you don't like it so what. 

Finbar Furey performs The Galway Shawl | The Late Late Show | RTÉ One

How smart are Plants?

 When you think about nature it quickly becomes mind boggling. Watch a bumble bee, a hummingbird, or an eagle. How do those little brains control the complexities of flight? Yesterday Kadizzle was in the crawl space splitting a huge rock. The rock must have been at least two feet thick and three feet across. After a great struggle Kadizzle was amazed he got the rock to split in the middle. The most amazing thing was a root that had grown into the crack in the rock, clear into the middle of the rock. The crack was invisible, and as thin as a human hair. The question is how does a root have a computer that lets it follow a crack into the middle of a rock?

Here in the southwest there are countless soaring birds. Kadizzle loves to watch them fly. The birds seem to defy logic. Often you will see them going into the wind without moving their wings. How is that possible? Only by skillfully reading updrafts and air currents could such a thing be accomplished, yet they do it. The eagle down at the lake has attracted a huge following. The eagle sits in a tree to spot fish. Under the tree the locals gather to take his picture. His fishing and flying skill is something to behold. With a real crowd pleaser Mr. Eagle dove into the lake and plucked out a fish. Then the real excitement started. Another eagle tried to steal the fish in mid air. Mr. Eagle kept the fish and went to his perch in the tree where he sits on a single small branch. Kadizzle wondered how does and eagle carry a fish with his feet, and use the same feet to land without dropping the fish?  He did it. Who knows how. 

Cannot resist a rock fight

 Kadizzle went into the the dungeon, the crawl space excavation project. The concept is to level the floor so there is eight feet of ceiling height in the area Kadizzle wants to reclaim. The area is infested with rocks. Some of the rocks weigh up to six hundred pounds. One beast is so large Kadizzle sadly thought it would have to stay in place. Kadizzle wanted to move a smaller rock near the beast. In this effort he placed a twelve ton hydraulic jack between the beast and the smaller rock. Low and behold the small rock did not move,  but the beast did. Of course this inspired Kadizzled with the idea that maybe the beast could be moved. With the jack Kadizzle forced the beast to the surface. The fight was on. Kadizzle attacked the beast with a hammer and chisel. The beast was coming apart. Wow, victory after victory and soon the beast had been reduced to half of it's size. Before Kadizzle knew it the clock had moved to five P.M.  Kadizzle had become mesmerized by busting up the beast. Kadizzle began to understand the beast. The beast had plains of weakness. If the chisel were properly placed in a plane of weakness a huge chunk of the beast could be busted loose. Another thing Kadizzle learned was to listen to the chisel. When the chisel found a weakness in the beast it gave out a different ring. 

During this rock battle Kadizzle thought of all the people who made things from rock. Think of all the people who shaped stone into churches, public buildings and so many other things. There is  a lot of skill in cutting stone. If you have any doubt, try it.  

Magic Money

Kadizzle likes giving advice to young people. One economic lecture is about the two kinds of money.  One kind of money you have to go out and earn. That is not the kind of money you want. The other money comes home by itself. 

Kadizzle tells young people starting out about how he used to get the mail with his mother.  At the old homestead we had a little black mailbox on the porch. Wilbar the mailman came up on the porch and put the mail in the box.  With my mother we would go out on the porch on the right day and open up the mail. Mother would say "$300  dollars from Wheeling Steel, $200 from Continental Can Company....". These were the dividends from the stock she had. My grandfather had endowed my mother with a variety of stocks. 

Kadizzle tries to make young people understand that the best money is the money that walks up the steps and jumps in your mailbox all by itself. The trick is to convert the money you work for to the money that works for you. Most young people want tattoos, shiny car wheels or some other silly thing. The idea of saving is foreign.

It will not be long before the tattoo generation has to try to retire. It may not work because there is no cash. Our country is headed for an economic meltdown.  

Moving the forest

 When the Kadizzles moved from North Dakota part of the motivation was getting away from yard work. Nope, we have been going into the forest and digging up native plants to put in our yard. Digging potatoes is one thing, transplanting desert cacti is another. The wheelbarrow rumbles into the woods to fetch agave, some kind of bear grass, and sotol.  These plants have to go deep for water and that means deep roots and hard to get. 

Yesterday we first went to the community garden, a splendid set up for Payzon gardeners. Later we met many of the same people in Pine for a trail dedication.  A strange thing happened at the trailhead where everyone was gathering.  Everyone was dressed in the usual hiking garb, or in a Forest Service uniform, but one guy stood out. There was a guy shaped like a potato with a bowling ball for a head.  The head was shaved nearly bald, and the eyes were covered with  sunglasses. On the head was a brightly colored hand woven hat that looked like the end of a condom.  The strange fellow wore a brightly colored shirt that seemed to come from some strange culture in the Himalayas or elsewhere. The guy could not have looked more out of place. It seemed as though someone going to a hippie reunion had got the wrong address. 

Kadizzle approached the strange looking man and asked him if he had knitted the weird hat he was wearing. The voice replied no. Wait, wait, Kadizzle recognized that voice. It was the voice of someone who grew up in the south raising pigs. All of a sudden it hit Kadizzle it was Anthony. Yup, this guy is Anthony. Who in the hell is Anthony? We met Anthony years ago. He works as a map maker for the Forest Service. Usually we see him in his work garb, which is a Forest Service uniform. He is weird, no doubt. He once shared a Forest Service apartment with another person we knew. Anthony and his strangeness about drove Matt crazy. At the apartment one day Kadizzle noticed a strange device. He asked Anthony what it was. Anthony explained it was a razor blade sharpener. Remember those old fashioned safety razors your dad used. They opened in the middle and had a double edged blade. To save money Anthony sharpened his razor blades. 

When we first met Anthony we were discussing local places to eat. Pizza came up in the discussion. Anthony said he did not like Pizza, but remarked " It'll Eat".  Winky and Kadizzle have adopted the description.  If Winky asks Kadizzle how dinner was, and the meal was not the greatest Kadizzle will reply " It'll Eat".

Back to Anthony's strange garb. Kadizzle asked Anthony why he was dressed in such a crazy fashion. His reply was " I am in disguise". Indeed he was, neither Winky nor Kadizzle had a clue we knew the guy in the strange get up until we heard his pig farmer voice. 

The Trap

 The vacuum is pulling us in. Winky insisted we install two "smart" televisions in our new home. Normally the Kadizzles have been immune to TV rays, but these new smart TVs have us watching brain draining TV series. With bad weather yesterday the suction from stupidity glued us to the couches. 

The television thing is like becoming a drunk in one day. Our normal life for the past few years has included virtually no television. Well we would watch PBS newshour, or a brief informational show, but we never got hooked on binge watching too much. 

Once you take the leap from reality, you soon forget about the life you have given up. It can be worse. Some people have Fox News on all day. 

You don't belong here

Kadizzle wandered on down to Democratic headquarters in Payson. Who was there for the potluck? Not many, but one person stood out. It was a young woman. She looked like maybe she was in her twenties. The rest of the people there were old like Kadizzle. Every other person looked to be over 65.  What happened to young people? Did they just give up? When Kadizzle went to college young people had blood in their veins. Young people were politically very active. Of course back then the government wanted to ship off young men and get them killed.  That could get your blood moving. 

Today the Republicans are stealing the country and handing it to the rich. Who cares, I got my TV, truck, and beer. The storm is coming, but no one notices. Republicans have attacked the schools, and the dolts love Republican conspiracy theories, and lies. 

Our country has reached a state of collective unconsciousness. Social media has put everyone in a trance. Believing the absurd goes back a long ways. Religion set the stage for believing nonsense. Somehow illogical thought has become mainstream. It is true if ten people believe it, that is the new science. 

We plant em, the elk eat em

As our morning coffee was being sipped Winky gave a strange little shout.  Out in the backyard four elk were passing through. These were all young guys. Onc stopped to munch on a tree we had just planted. Kadizzle explained to him the trees were not snacks. Fun to be so close to these guys in the yard. They don't seem to mind people at all, in fact landscaping is hard here because of the beast. The elk are a real bonus to living here. Town people are used to them, but Kadizzle never lived where elk were traipsing through the neighborhood. Down the street Falisca saw a bear.  It will be fun living next to the wilderness. Of course there can be a rattlesnake now and then. Amos the contractors dog was struck by a rattlesnake over the weekend.  He is recovering just fine. 

Stupidity Blizzard

 Old Kadizzle stepped into the Jesus thrift store. On the couch was an old goat with a Trump MAGA hat. Kadizzle could not resist. The battle was on.  The old goat said he was a democrat until Obama was elected. Kadizzle asked " What did Obama do to piss you off?". " My wife did not like him because he was black, so I joined the Republicans. ".  That is the level of stupidity here in the swamp. Of course other people heard our conversation. An old lady said Trump was wonderful. Kadizzle said " What about all his crooked stuff?' " All politicians are crooked" she replied.  Wow, the people just kept getting more insane. There was not a conscious person in the group. The cult has a strong hold here. Reality left the building. 

Two Post today

 Kadizzle just checked the statistics for the blog. To his amazement there are 259 Russians following the blog. This seems hard to believe, but let's give it a try.  Good morning Russians, or whomever you are. If you are really Russians you need a revolution. Putin has lost his mind, and he is grinding up a lot of poor Ukrainians.  We have Trump, who wants to be like Putin. Trump likes your Putin.  If Americans continue to dumb down we will be invading Mexico just like you are bombing Ukraine. 

Information is the key to the new world.  We have voluntary stupidity, and Fox News. We are doing this to ourselves.  Russians, it is time for you to take back your country.  The United States is run by the rich, looks like your country has the same problem.  If any real Russian is reading this email me.  Don't know if you can get email out of Russia, but give it a try. dakotaquinn@gmail.com.  Maybe a Russian has left the country and is reading this.  It would be nice to hear from you. If anyone in Ukraine is reading this let me know and Kadizzle will try to help you in anyway he can.  Why any Russian would be interested in this nonsense is a mystery. 

Winky goes Wild

 Winky always says she is going to give up gardening. Never happens. Yesterday we went garden nuts. First we went to the community Garden.  Winky says we save money growing our own vegetables. If she only knew with all the crap we buy the carrots are about ten dollars each. Now, back to the ranch. Landscaping the new home has gone into the thousands. Rock work, gravel, you name it. To top it off we are robbing the forest. Winky made old Kadizzle go into the forest to transplant plants to the backyard. 

One area of the backyard has been designated, The Garden of Delight. In the Garden of delight there are all native plants. 

A major problem with the back yard is a sediment pond or surge holding pond, whatever you want to call it. A good part of the development drains into our backyard.  That means we have a small pond when it rains. What to do with that area is a mystery. 

How about a small dose of politics? In Arizona you have crazy light, and crazy heavy, and bat shit crazy.  There is no normal.  It seems the Trump addicts love bat shit crazy. Normalcy and truth do not sell well here.  Remember this is the state the had the ninjas do an audit on the election.  Like so many Republican strongholds you have the rich in their compounds and the poor in their trailers.  Life is good on the right side of the fence. 

The rock Battle

 Kadizzle took on another large boulder down in the dungeon. Had to put the 18 ton jack on the miscreant, but Kadizzle won. Unfortunately Kadizzle thinks he wore out the jackhammer on the last resistor.  This boulder may have to just stay in the cave, but out of the way. 

Cloudy day and Winky wants old Kadizzle to go to the community garden to work on our plot. Winky claimed gardening was a big burden in ND, but now she wants to go again. Winky is addicted to carrots or tomatoes or something. 

Every morning we facetime with Megan, Quinnie, and Evie. Usually it is while they are on the way to school with Evie.   Watching the little guys grow is a pleasure for an old grandpa. 

We got a nice refund on our taxes. Republicans have worked hard to make taxes illegal.  The rich owe 900 billion, but according to the Republicans it would be an invasion of their privacy if the rich were forced to pay what they owe.  However, there is a plan. Run up the debt and let the next generation pay it. This gives Kadizzle an idea. Getting close to the grave Kadizzle should run up his credit cards. Make sure they cannot get to the estate and it could be a bonus. Give all the loot to the kids then run up the debt. 

Trump made tax cheating popular and a worthy cause. The rat still has not showed us his tax returns. 

A Change in the Season

 The Earth Module is squeezed up against the house. Lake days are over until fall. What to do with the summer? The Kadizzles are in a new area and there are endless trails to hike and new roads to explore. On the other hand most sensible people head north in the summer. Kadizzle has a bizarre idea of taking the Snoochel to Europe.  Winky does not seem keen on the idea. Sylvie loves the idea. 

Construction around are new home is about to go wild.  A new house will be built to both the left and right of ours.  Then one more will be added to the cul de sac.  Noise will be constant, but more than likely we will be gone a lot. 

All businesses are suffering from the lack of employees, and the border is plugged to keep employees from our country. 

This reptiles are out and about. Birds are heading north.  Sorry we missed the blizzard in North Dakota. Nothing like a nice blizzard stuck in. you home in April.  Somehow Arizona seems to have a different breed of hillbillies than West Virginia did. Everyone has a little four wheel buggy that they roam the mountains in.  Of course flying big flags from your little wagon is the thing.  If your are seriously stupid you fly some Trump flags, but a couple of American flags will suggest you are a Trumper. Flag waving is popular.  Almost forgot the silly pickup trucks.  A good western hillbilly will have a goofy pickup truck. Oh yes, the loud engine, that is a must if you are simple minded. 

Well, it looks like another perfect day weather wise and we will be consumed with a bunch of small task. Kadizzle may fight the big rock in the crawl space. Might take a bike ride down to the park at the bottom of the hill. Might go see Jesus. Jesus runs the thrift store down on main street.  Jesus is a big inflated Mexican immigrant who has been over saved.  One day Kadizzle was bargaining with Jesus for an old table saw.  The saw looked like it may or may not work. Kadizzle offered Jesus five dollars for the saw, and Jesus said he would sell it for that.  Kadizzle could not make up his mind so Jesus said " Why don't you risk it for the biscuit?".  Never heard that one before.  So " Risk it for the biscuit", is the new bargaining tool.  Anyway we still need some odds and ends for the house and Jesus seems to get some good stuff.  Jesus does have a good system.  He puts the new furniture out on the walk in front of his store. This enables Kadizzle to see what he has every time we go by.  If you need prayer or a Bible Jesus gives those out free. Maybe Kadizzle could ask Jesus to pray for a price drop. Kadizzle has puzzle about how the phrase " risk it for the biscuit" came about, but here is an idea. Maybe it was the last supper. Remember they broke bread.  Jesus decided to have a party and he " risked it for the biscuit".  He lost the gamble, his buddy Judas turned him in.  Sounds like something Trump would do. 

Change the Universe

 The supreme commander Winky wants to go down to the lake today. Packing up and preparing to move to the Earth Module is the first step. Winky is worried about the gin supply. Kadizzle likes a gin and tonic for his heart condition. 

Yesterday a new bit for the jackhammer came. Kadizzle could not resist trying it out, so down into the dungeon he went to try to make the big rock into a small rock. It was like trying to make a Republican into a human. No matter how much you drilled and hammered it was still a big rock. However, the rock is down to the size it can be moved. 

This morning Kadizzle read an article by Paul Krugman. Krugman usually hits it right on the money. For some strange reason the entire world is turning toward repressive governments. 

Yesterday Kadizzle had a long conversation with Rick the guy who runs the paver crew and does the foundations. As usual Rick is convinced it is the welfare cheats that are the problem. You know those lazy guys who wear neat clothes and don't work. The Republicans have done a marvelous job convincing working people they are being robbed by the poor.  Meanwhile the real welfare cheats are taking rocket rides. The average billionaire now pays about 8% in taxes. Even old Kadizzle pays more than that. Republicans love the poorly educated. 

Back to the lake senario. It will be a different world when we drive thirty miles and drop down about three thousand feet. Down in the semidesert it will be spring and no doubt a lot more flowers. 

Kadizzle vs The Rock

Down in the crawl space it was Kadizzle vs a huge rock. The rock had to come out so Kadizzle could build a work space down there. Kadizzle's favorite weapon against a nasty huge boulder is an 18 ton hydraulic jack. The jack takes no prisoners, but has a major flaw. The jack has to push against something that does not move. Dirt moves. Rocks can wind by letting the jack just push itself into the dirt, but yesterday Kadizzle was able to get the jack up against the footing for the house, the rock surrendered and popped up out of the ground. Now what?  The damn rock must weigh about four or five hundred pounds. How in the hell can Kadizzle get that rock out the opening to the crawl space?  Well the landscaper left a jackhammer, and Kadizzle hammered until he is even more deaf.  The rock will not split. Perhaps the rock won.  The battle may go on today.  

Roll your own

 Most of us grew up with ready rolled cigarettes. Poor people rolled their own. Since we are living in the midst of housing construction we see a lot of construction workers and people doing manual labor. Most of these people did not get too far in school. So their job is a roll your own. With a pickup truck and some hand tools you can be in business. In the last two days the painter has come by, and so have a couple of landscapers. These guys put together their own business. In fact so many of the people building these houses all went to high school together. The company could be called "Dropouts".  Some are making a damn good living. The electrician and plumber have the cherry jobs. A lot of the other guys make a decent living. Everyone knows everyone in this small town. A common problem for these guys is getting help. Kadizzle has sat in the sun in the driveway and watched the old timers try to break in a teenager. The modern teenager just cannot cut it. When ever the is a second out comes the phone, and there is a teenager standing staring at a phone. The typical teen makes it about three days. One teen made it for two weeks.  One landscaper has a tall lanky kid who does work, and does not give up. These people work hard. They like to get it done. We have been working with a landscape guy, home made of course, who puts in some long days. All these people have a hard luck story. Most have kids and a divorce.  These hard working guys spoil their kids, but seem to be good dads. Have not seen to many women show up on these jobs, just one cement truck driver who was female. Winky fell while she was digging a hole for a plant and cut her face.  It was touching how concerned the workers were for her. Kadizzle likes to treat the working man nicely. One day Kadizzle cooked hamburgers for the block layers. Yesterday the landscape guy installing the drip irrigation had pizza with us.  You cannot go wrong being on the good side of the worker bees. They can do you a lot of little favors.  No one ever went wrong being nice to everyone. 

Anything else I can do to help?

Most businesses have their employees ask at the end of a conversation " Is there anything else I can do to help?".  Always answer yes, then say do whatever you can to defeat the Republicans, vote. Most employees will avoid a political discussion, but if they laugh, or make the right comment, you will know you had a victory. 

Will it make a difference? Look at a large brick building, it was built one brick at a time. Remember the Republicans recruited one idiot at a time. They ended up with 70 million idiots. 

Now let's look at flies, and mice. Kill one fly and you really may have killed thousands, same with mice. You know the old exponential concept. That is how Trump lies work. He tells a lie, two people repeat it, and next thing you know we live under a dictatorship. 

Haves versus Have nots

 Human history is pretty simple. Accumulate some stuff, then try to keep it. Food used to be the first thing. Then it was gold. Now who knows what? Republicans know history. Tell people someone is after your stuff. They want your gun, your religion, your money, you name it. The government wants yours stuff, so do the socialist, and the leftist. Of course Republicans are going to protect your stuff, so vote Republican. This is where the strange part comes in. The people who want your stuff are poor people. The Welfare cheats, and the bums want your stuff. The Democrats are friends of the bums, and the welfare cheats so don't vote for them. Here comes the tricky part. Who has all the stuff? Strangely all the stuff does not belong to the welfare cheats and the leftist bums. All the stuff has been protected by the Republicans and all the stuff has gone to the right people. Never have the right people had so much stuff. History is a little strange. Always when the right people get too much stuff, the wrong people take it back. It happened in Russia, France, China, and a few other places. The wrong people don't fight to get their stuff back until they are really hopeless. As long as the welfare cheats, and the bums are reasonably comfortable, and there are not too many, then the Republicans feel fine. So we all need to keep the welfare cheats, and the bums fairly comfortable. Fortunately that is relatively simple. Keep them warm, give them some beer, and a TV.  Remember these people are lazy, that is how they got the job of welfare cheat or bum.  As long as they have a decent bridge to live under or somewhere warm to pitch their tent things will be fine.  Now a history lesson. The last time things got out of hand ordinary people were living in shacks and soldiers were camped on the mall in Washington.  If you have driven in Denver, Phoenix,  or any of our large cities you might have noticed the bum gauges are rising. You see more bums, more tents, more destitute. Right here in Payson, Arizona we have a nice bum population.  A good sign of your bum health situation are the people with cardboard signs begging at the grocery store or on street corners.  As a kid I never remember people with begging signs. The only guy I remember was blind in the post office selling pencils.  Tell old Kadizzle things are better than they were in the 1950s. 

Sisyphus

 Kadizzle always had a picture of Sisyphus in his office. Yesterday was a Sisyphus day. Under our new home are boulders of every size and shape. Kadizzle has the dream of hollowing out a space under the house to make a workshop. To accomplish this the boulders have to be moved. Inch by inch Kadizzle struggled to move about a five hundred pound rock out of the crawl space. With levers and hydraulic jacks the rock moved about three feet. Next the rock had to go up in the air about two or three feet to make it out the little entrance. 

The rock was close, then Winky had to get her nose into the game. Winky enlisted a landscape guy working next door. Rick came down with a jackhammer. The hammer did not have the right bit, but we did manage to bust a big piece off the rock. With a great deal of strain, struggle, and some levering the rock finally popped out the window. 

Today Kadizzle may again participate in the same insanity. Keep in mind Sisyphus never won, the rock always rolled back down on him. That is the story of life. We are all just pushing a rock uphill. Nobody wins. So today is Sunday, go to church and let Jesus help you push your rock ( just kidding Omar).  If Jesus does anything this weekend he needs to help the Ukrainians. 

Cave Dwellers

 Way back in 1976 we moved to Hazen, North Dakota. One peculiar thing Kadizzle noticed in the homes there were the small windows, and the closed nature of the dwellings. It was if the people feared the secret police. Kadizzle has always liked sun, and sunlight. Kadizzle was raised in a home full of large double hung windows from close to the floor to nearly the ceiling. In the old days windows provided all the light. 

Let there be light. In our new home the sun pours in. One thing we have is sunlight. Since we are at the top of a hill we get light and sun from every direction. Far away and long ago Kadizzle worked in Southern West Virginia. Those poor people lived in the bottom of deep V shaped valleys. They did not feel the sun until ten in the morning and even in summer the sun was behind the mountain in no time. To make it all worse they worked in the dark of the mines. 

Today is going to be a perfect day without a cloud in the sky.  Winky is out on the deck that surrounds the house on the North and East. She is looking for birds.  Some showed up today to the new feeders.  

The crippled leg is just about healed and the devastation is about gone. Here we go one more day circling the sun. 

The Devestation

 One more time Kadizzle awakened  suffering from the devastation. With a head that felt like it had been filled with concrete the Kadizzle slowly managed to clear the sinus enough to breath. Of course there was a side dish of torn muscles in the left leg. Kadizzle asked Winky to make a reservation at the funeral home. 

Recently Kadizzle bragged he had gone so long without a could or flue he could not remember. Now, the devastation has set in an will not leave. Kadizzle got the epizootic from his little grandson. The old body is crumbling. Kadizzle just turned 73, never thought Kadizzle would make it this far. Crumbling is a process. Hopefully Kadizzle can fight the rolls of chicken meat that have accumulated around the middle, lick the devastation and wander comfortably to the finish line. 

The Sun Popped Up

 Our new home has a lot of windows and good natural lighting. All of a sudden the sun popped over the mountain, so here we go another day. The left leg refuses to heal. Kadizzle has been limping around for two weeks. Top that off with the episodic and the days could be better, but it is not that bad the weather has been nice. 

Yesterday Kadizzle rode the ebike down to the lake and watched two radio controlled sailboats racing. The technology built into the little boats was astonishing. The boats performed like a real boat and two guys were racing them around the buoys. The boats could tack and even go wing and wing downwind. It looked like fun. 

One of the boat sailors talked about racing on real boats to Hawaii.  He told Kadizzle in the old days boat owners would buy you a ticket to crew on their boat. That would have been a fun adventure. 

Visitors have been stopping by our new home. Everyone is welcome. Republicans will be asked to atone for their sins.  We have set up the house to accommodate a small RV or camper next to the house. We have a full hookup.  Honest Omar you can probably get your beast in there. 

Shanika might be reading this, who knows, but Shanika informed Kadizzle he sold his most recent old man car. Shanika has gone through more cars than Kadizzle has underwear.  There is some DNA in old white guys that makes them want to drive a car that feels like a boat. Shanika had a brother who had a big white Cadillac. It was the old fashioned Cadillac every old guy wanted. Kadizzle used tor drive Darell to Bismarck in that boat. The old guys would drool over that car. Old guys in a few generations back thought they hit heaven if they had a big diamond ring, and some old diesel of a car. Back to Shanika, I have been counseling him for years just to buy a decent Toyota. Kadizzle has owned about five Toyotas, and never had a problem. On the other hand every old American boat Shanika has bought turns out to be a nightmare of repairs. Remember when old guys used to retire and the first thing they did was buy a jumpsuit with an elastic waistband? What is the big thing for old goats now? A lot of goats around here have four wheel buggies. Rarely do they go off road, but it makes them feel good.  Most old geezers go through that stage where they have to have some car like a corvette, or some classic car. The idea is to park the car and have people come up to the car and admire it. Of course there are those with too much cheese who go all out an buy some $250,000 car. Now they are in hog heaven. The reality is most of these cars are really not good to travel in. Who wants to drive down the road with your ass two inches off the ground? Kadizzle likes to sit in something as high as practical, then you can see. Long ago when Kadizzle made some trips with his brother in a tractor trailer it was nice to sit up high and see the world.  At some point all old guys realize you cannot buy back your youth.  Kadizzle has been having oldman dreams about buying an adventure motorcycle. The child brain says yes, and the old man brian says " good luck with that stupidity". Now, all of this presents an opportunity for younger people.  The old goats with the money buy some nice thing and realize they are too old, and this means some nice boats, cars, motorcycles and so on flood the market. In Arizona some old goat is always surrendering and if you shop you can get the old goat special. 

The famous Eagle

 Down at the lake the Eagle sits in a big Willow Tree.  Under the tree his admirers gather. The Eagle has figured it out. The humans fish all day and he ends up with some of the fish. The newspaper recently featured some photos of him. North Dakota had plenty of Bald Eagles, but in Arizona there are not that many so they make a splash. The local Eagle lives up near us on a nearby mountain. On his way to work he flies over out house.  Arizona is very protective of the eagles that live here. God help the person who harms one.  Down on the Salt River they hired people to watch the eagle nest. Young people sat there all day and watched the nest. Fish were put in a child's swimming pool at the bottom of their nest tree to make sure they had food. Up by Lake Roosevelt every year there are people hired to keep an eye on the eagles. Once we camped near an eagle site. The game and fish people decided to close the gate to our campsite because of the eagles. They did not throw us out, but opened the gate for us when we came and went.  It was the best gated community we had. Back down on the Salt River they prohibit the helicopters from flying near the eagles nest. If a helicopter comes up the Salt River too low he is reported and fined. 

There is on other bird that goes over our home. It is a Raven with one leg. How that bird survives is a mystery. For the last story, the birds and the rattlesnake. Winky was down at the big lake and someone ran over a rattlesnake.  Within an hour the snake meat was picked cleaned to the bone. It appeared the birds somehow pealed the snake skin back like a sock. 

Perfect Day up on the Mountain

Kadizzle just finished a nice ebike ride  down to the lake. The weather is perfect. People really enjoy the three little lakes at the bottom of our hill. Last night Jeff, and Barb stayed with us. They are enjoying a life of leisure in their Cricket. Behind their SUV they pull the Cricket. The Cricket is a clever small camper designed to have a lot in a small space. Too small for the Kadizzles, but Jeff and Barm sail in a boat with a small cabin and are used to it. 

We enjoy good company, and Jeff and Barb are doing a lot of the adventures we did years ago. Jeff was telling Kadizzle about Zion. Zion has become insanely crowded since we used to go there. Now you have to get a permit to go out on Angels's Landing. Jeff said it could be a three hour wait in line.  Back in the old days we just hiked up and walked out to the edge. 

If you ever explore the southwest get hold of us. If you need advice we have plenty. Over the years we have beat these states into submission. Arizona is just about mastered, but still a lot to hike, bike, and do. 

Utah is the mother of all states. No state has such an incredible variety of scenery as Utah. If you have to pick one, Utah should be your choice. 

Hear it first Hand

 The Kadizzles have succumbed to the terrible plight of television. After installing a TV in the engine room Kadizzle was curious what programs it might get free. Low, and behold it go the Trump channel. Newsmax is lying on steroids the Trump way. All the time Kadizzle wonders where the Trumpers come up with their fear of Hunter Biden. Well, Newsmax has the spinner going 24/7.  Hunter Biden is a crook that makes Trump look minor league. Now the strange thing is Newsmax is going to explain to the Trump crowd how Hunter Biden is crooked and takes bribes from communist. Strangely Trump's honesty is never questioned. It is the old Fox News trick, use a pinch of reality. Now all this stems from the find of Hunter Biden's computer. Remember that silly story. Of course the computer has all sorts of incriminating things on it. We live in a strange world. Whatever you want to believe, there is now someone who will help you. 

Strange Day down at the GVP

 The GVP, Green Valley Park, is a very nice city park below our new home.  People are always there fishing the three little lakes, and walking their dogs. Kadizzle likes to coast down the steep hill on the ebike and circle the lakes for exercise. The exercise comes getting back up the very steep road leading home. 

Pedaling around the lake Kadizzle saw a man with a bike that looked like he was traveling. Always curious, Kadizzle engaged the fellow in conversation.  Soon it became evident he was mentally compromised with Jesus. There are people who get into Jesus mildly, and then there are those who go entirely nuts.  As we spoke Kadizzle noticed the disciple had some new shiny clothes pins lined up on his bike in a strange fashion.  Kadizzle asked what the clothes pins were for. John the Baptist explained that the cloths pins had bible verses on them. He took one off and asked if Kadizzle would like to have one. Very neatly printed on the clothes pin was a reference to the Bible. Also there was some Hebrew text. Kadizzle asked this man of the lord if he spoke Hebrew. He replied that he was learning, then he said he would look up the verse and see what the Hebrew meant. Pulling out his Bible Kadizzle noticed he had made his own cover for the Bible which was titled " The Peoples Book".  His bible was totally indexed and marked with little tabs. You could tell he was obsessed. Kadizzle had a feeling this guy was more or less homeless. He claimed he lived by the airport, but there is nothing but expensive housing there.  After checking his Bible he never did figure out what the verse on the clothespin meant.  The entire encounter was just another version of how people become delusional. The Trump insanity is just another form of the same thing. 

Farther along during the ride Kadizzle spotted a very old, hunched over woman walking a dog. She looked like an old granny Apache Woman.  Getting closer Kadizzle began to think the woman was the same little old woman that always hung around the Post office at Lake Roosevelt.  Kadizzle rode up to her and asked if she was the same person. Yes she was.  Once you saw her, you would always remember her.  She never had a dog before, and how she got to Payson 60 miles away was a mystery. We had a nice little conversation and she said she remembered Kadizzle from our encounters at the National Cliff Dwelling festivals. Her skin is a very dark chocolate brown, and she seems like a full blooded Apache. Someday it would be interesting to know her life history. She seems very old, but never gets older.  Kadizzle suspects she is some kind of special Indian spirit. 

Just finished talking to Sylvie in Mexico on vacation. They are returning today. Sylvie had a strange accident yesterday. While at the sink in the hotel the bottom of the sink fell out and cut her toe badly. She had to be taken to the emergency room by ambulance.  She is fine, but the hotel staff was very nice to her. They wrote her a nice get well note, and put balloons in her room.  Sylvie has been studying Spanish online and speaking Spanish to the staff has been a good learning experience for her. 

What is mental illness?

 Most of us have lived among people we might consider mentally ill. Is there really such a thing? Maybe one might look at it differently. The problem might be the " Mentally ill are seeing the world differently". Kadizzle knows a couple of people who are color blind. Those people are seeing the world differently. Generally speaking the world does not frighten Kadizzle. However, it is apparent a lot of people live in a world of constant fear. Strangers bother some people, and not others. Black people and minorities appear differently to different people. The more you think about it the more you realize everyone is living in their own world. Look at the Trumpers, they live in their own world with a system of belief hard to comprehend. How do you detect reality? 

Kadizzle went into the post office the other day and saw a man with a Trump hat. The devil took hold of Kadizzle and he asked the man if thought Trump should be in jail. Of course the game was on and the Trumper started to brag about what Trump did. Statistics show Trump massively increased the deficit, but this Trump claimed that Trump reduced it. Kadizzle suggested we look up government date. Immediately the Trumpers said we could not trust government data, and Kadizzle needed to put his "smart phone" away. From a practical standpoint the only source of information that would work for the Trumper was information he agreed with. He lived in a universe that worked differently. 

What brings on this discourse on mental illness? Yesterday Kadizzle became involved in installing a large tv over the fireplace. Kadizzle needed someone to help him lift the tv into place. Winky was down at the lake. Kadizzle set off on his bike to look for a breathing human that could help. In another culdesac he saw some workmen. One young healthy guy was standing around doing nothing. Kadizzle thought he might be the ideal helper. Kadizzle asked the young guy if he could spare ten minutes and help lift the tv into place. Apparently the young man was an immigrant and spoke English poorly. The young man indicated he would have to ask his boss.  Kadizzle spoke to his boss and explained he would pay the guy for the little help. The boss explained they were measuring something and they would be done in about fifteen minutes. Perhaps then they could help. Kadizzle said fine, and waiting was no problem. 

This is where Mrs Mental illness comes in. Kadizzle from the first meeting had a sense this woman's bolts were loose. The woman became very irate that Kadizzle had asked for help. She made some rude comments and then told Kadizzle he needed to leave. Kadizzle apologize for the interruption. Kadizzle was of the opinion the woman had nothing to do with the project the men were working on. She lived in the house next to the one they were measuring. Kadizzle did not know what to make of here sudden burst of insanity. At first Kadizzle wanted to react in a nasty fashion to repay the woman in kind. Thinking about it he realized she seemed to have some mental disorder. Kadizzle gave her the benefit of the doubt. 

To complete the mission Kadizzle left the area and waited at the top of the hill for the men measuring to leave. His plan was to intercept the men and then they could help with the tv project. As the men got into their truck to leave, Mrs Mental apparently went over to them and instructed them not to help Kadizzle. When they met Kadizzle they had a fabricated story that the help they offered to provide could not be accommodated because all of a sudden they had another appointment. 

The Kadizzles had considered buying a lot in the cul de sac with the mental problem.  Thank ya Jesus we did not. Mrs Mental has already been nasty to other people living nearby. On the good news side the Kadizzle have two good neighbors and have enjoyed their company. 

Good neighbors are a blessing. In our old world we had the best neighbors. It was great to help each other, and get along. It all comes back to how you see the world. Do you see everyone as a threat, a potential problem, or do you see each person as a new opportunity to make a friend?