Act like nothing is wrong

Ed Maguire was climbing up the corporation ladder
Access to the pension fund made Eddie's wallet that much fatter
Old Maguire was skimming off the top for twenty years
When the FBI caught Ed red-handed he broke down in tears
Eddie said, "I'm sorry I've been stealing for long
Now get my lawyers on the phone and act like nothing's wrong"
Act like nothing's wrong, everything's just fine
Hold your head up high and act like you don't really mind
If you're terrified like me of terrorists and crime
Please take my advice and simply act like nothing's wrong
Henry Ward was drinking every night until he dropped
One by one all of Henry's best and longest friendships stopped
Henry looked around and noticed that he was all alone
No one wrote him letters, no one called him on the telephone
Henry Ward was happy that his whiskey was so strong
Wall-eyed drunk it isn't hard to act like nothing's wrong
Mary Margaret Johnson was a good old-fashioned woman
Her daughter was an angel, she never saw it coming
Mary Margaret Johnson's daughter Sally was on crack
Sally took to turning tricks to keep herself well whacked
Sally disappeared into an old sad junkie's song
Mrs. Johnson knew just what to do: act like nothing's wrong
Act like nothing's wrong, act like nothing's wrong
Stick your chin out, just pretend you're really brave and strong
If you're terrified these days like most folks you will find
Ignorance is bliss, dig this: act like nothing's wrong
Hear and see no evildoers, act like nothing's wrong
---
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"ACT LIKE NOTHING’S WRONG" TRACK INFO

Release DateJuly 25, 2006

Americanitis (2006)Will Kimbrough

1.  I Lie

9.  Act Like Nothing’s Wrong 

The sun came up again today so here we go.  Ah the Trumpster.  The man is totally insane.  Hope springs eternal.  A neighbor came out of the fog.  He admitted he will have to vote for a Democrat if Trump runs.  This is like a Catholic saying they would vote for a Buddist Pope.  It is refreshing to see Republicans with two brain cells working finally realizing what Trump is.  There are those who think Trump is actually smart.  Ya, sure, ya betcha.  Trump is a bumbling idiot.  Watch someone attribute human motives to a dog or cat.  That is what happens when you attribute intelligence to Trump.  Never has a president publicly displayed such idiocy as Individual #1.

Well maybe with some luck we can get the fixer upper sailboat launched this weekend. Kadizzle may go up to the lake and do some work on the ship today.  The lake is only four feet from topping out. The Corp seems to be keeping quiet about the potential for too much water.  One good rain in the wrong place and Bismarck will need to put waders on.

Monday construction will start for the new bathroom.  The first stage will involve removing our wallet and setting the check book on fire.  If that is successful we will melt the credit card down.

Put the Republicans on the spot

The Bismarck Tribune has not accepted my last two letters. This is a crisis, so Kadizzle cooked up another letter this morning.  The last letter to the Tribune was about rental babies on the Mexican border. Even Mrs. Kadizzle thought it was good and laughed out loud, but not the the old Tribune. 

Well here is the letter for today.  Always have to throw a spear at the Republicans. If anyone knows how to spell incentivizing or incentivize, please advise, the spell checkers don't like this version. Maybe here is no such word.

Legislatures shape human behavior by incentivizing or taxing.  Republicans love unborn fetuses, and want all of them to become tax payers.  Why not incentivize women to create these taxpayers? Lets assure every mother that her child will be provided with day care, free college, and medical care.  Let's make sure every single mother is guaranteed a wage of $20 an hour. So how do we pay for this? If Republicans needed the money to save these fetuses from the fate of abortion they could institute an inheritance tax of 100% on everything over one million. If Republicans valued human life so much that they wanted every implanted sperm to breath they would institute the old fashioned progressive tax system that used to exist.  Republicans could have stiff luxury taxes, and there are countless ways the one percent could pay pregnant teenagers to bring their bundles into the world.

Why not put Republicans in a position where they have to choose between bringing fetuses to life and paying taxes?  The truth is abortion is not about life, it is about taxes. Republicans hate taxes more than cold weather, minorities, and socialist. Republicans know the key to manipulating the vulnerable is emotions. Guns are emotional, fear is emotional, abortion is emotional.  Emotions bring in the crowds, not facts, not logic, not reality. If you make Republicans chose between money and morality they will chose money every time. Make them choose publically, make them vote on bills to raise taxes to help unwed mothers. Tax the rich or let the love bundle die, make them choose.

Writ of Mandamus

Kadizzle has lived in Hazen since 1976.  Currently Hazen has the worst city commission imaginable. The commission among other sins refuses to enforce the ordinances.  The ordinances prohibit junk car collections in your yard, but after five years and a great deal of pleading the city has done nothing about the junk collectors.  So what is the answer?  Kadizzle has been educating himself on how to petition for a Writ of Mandamus.  What in the hell is that?  When a group of immovable objects like the Hazen City Commission refuses to act a citizen like Kadizzle can ask a higher court to force the lumps to move.  In this case the State can insist Hazen enforce the ordinance it has enacted.

At the end of the street where Kadizzle lives are two junk collectors.  Junk collector one has in his yard three junkers.  Two junked trucks and one junked car sit for years.  In addition there are four boats, a fifth wheel camper, and assorted other crap.  On any given day there may also be up to four or five vehicles that actually run.  Add to this a couple cats, and dogs that come down to shit in my yard.  Across the street is junk man number two.  In his yard are about three sheds, one in the front yard, and usually he manages to park a junked vehicle or two on the city boulevard.

What can we do the simple minded commissioners say.  The commissioners claim they have no where to put vehicles if they impound them.  Sure as hell they would find somewhere to put a car parked in the middle of main street and abandoned.

The sad and strange thing about the commissioners is they take the side of the slummers.  If a slummer wants to put a trailer on the curb, no problem.  No matter what a slummer wants to put in his yard, no problem.  On the other hand if a property owner wants to keep his property in a neat manner to enhance it's value, the city is not going to help by making the belligerents behave.

Baby Rental

When you think the level of insanity cannot go any farther, it does.  Kevin Cramer was on KFYR radio Friday explaining how immigrants rent babies to cross our southern border.  This quickly brings us to the Sienfield quote by George “ If you believe it, it is true “. Imagine baby rental at the border.  Do you pay a deposit? Do they have different rates? Do the good baby rental companies provide diapers? Can you pick any color baby you want? The appetite for lies is never satisfied and right wing media knows they have tapped a vast market.

Remember when Hillary was running a child sex ring out of a pizza parlor?  With Trump as president reality has taken a sabbatical. Nothing is too bizarre for Fox News, and the local immation on the radio. Maybe baby rental is the answer to abortion.  Baby rental companies will certainly need babies. Republicans have invented a whole new world. When I was a child my parents had to pay someone to watch me. In our modern Trump world parents could actually get paid by renting babies at the border.  Republicans love babies before they are born, but don’t want to pay to educate them after they are breathing. Baby rental is the answer. Let the babies earn a living and quit being welfare cheats. Trump loves the human rental concept, after all he was renting Stormy Danials.

Well folks it is another day.  If you don't read the New York Times you have a problem.  Gail Collins did an excellent job of cutting Mitch McConnell to shreds or the turtle as she calls him.  Human stupidity is amazing, but how the people of Kentucky could elect such an evil man is still puzzling.

Here goes the day, but first let us review yesterday.  Spent hours fixing a bildge pump.  Never would have got the damn thing back in the boat unless skinny Stroupini showed up.  A large lump like Kadizzle just would not fit in the sail locker where the pump had to be installed.

Today is tear out the vanity day.  Our life savings will be spent on a new bathroom.  Somehow the contractor has figured out a way to make the new bathroom cost several hundred dollars a square foot.  Wait, I thought I was exaggerating, but let's do the math.  It comes out to about $180 a square foot.  To save money Kadizzle is tearing out the old stuff, which is todays project.  Mrs. Kadizzle who usually supervises every minute detail of Kadizzles work says she will be in the garden today. Wow, it Kadizzle gets to work without supervision it will be a blessing.

It is a cool morning in the kitchen, and Kadizzle decided to use his super duper hand held thermometer to check temperatures. You can point the thing at something and it tells the temperature.  The deck is 49 degrees, the garage is 70 degrees, and the kitchen is 60 degrees.  The newly insulated garage held 70 degrees of temp over night.  Sort of amazing to go into the garage and find it that warm while the house is a 60.  Bottom line, the insulation is pretty good.

Trump is in Europe embarrassing us all with his idiocy.  If you saw the news you know what I mean. The idiot was being interviewed about why he did not serve in Vietnam.  Individual #1 said he did not approve of the war.  What kind of an idiot would give such and answer?  Trump feels it is morally right to fake a medical problem to get out of a war you don't approve of.  Did they actually ask people who were drafted if they approved of the war? The level of idiocy in this country is astounding.  If you live in North Dakota tune in to Scott Hennen on KFYR radio in the morning.  As Scott sells magic pillows to the red hats he spouts praise for the Trumpster.  This tells you there is a massive audience of idiots in North Dakota that sleep on magic pillows.  By the way they are on sale at the lowest price ever and make excellent wedding gifts.  Just what I want for my gift a magic pillow from a magic idiot.

The bathroom goes out the window.

Someday there will be a new bathroom for the bedroom, but in the meantime the old bathroom has to go out the window. Kadizzle spent the entire day yesterday tearing down the old bathroom and throwing it out the window.  If only we could do that with the Republican government.  Kadizzle had hoped he could salvage the fiberglass shower in one piece.  The salvage did not work, and the old shower had to be beat to death with a hammer to get it out.

Mother of all mothers has to go to Bismarck today so Kadizzle will have not adult supervision. This will enable him to go play with the new boat restoration project.  Kadizzle discovered a strange thing. Oven cleaner works well to remove bottom paint from boats.  Removing the paint is a messy job.  The melted paint is like peanut butter that stains everything.

The grass is growing quicker than the wheat around here, but the grass looks very good.   Kadizzle liberally sprinkled fertilizer he picked up from the local elevator. The farm supply place spills a lot when they load trucks and they give it away to cheap people.

Maybe with a little luck Stroupini and Kadizzle can go out for a sail today.  A little wind would be nice.

Kadizzle watched a Youtube about generating hydrogen with solar and wind power.  It seemed to make sense because you can store the hydrogen and it is in effect a battery.  How efficient it is creates a problem, but what do you do when you have excess power? Perhaps making hydrogen is the answer.  When hydrogen burns it produces water, good water.

Maybe progress

Kadizzle has been involved in a Jihad with the Hazen City Commission for well over five years.  It all stems from the fact the City Commission will not enforce the junk car ordinances.  Hazen has some degenerates that slowly fill their yards with junked cars. Unfortunately one lives up the street from me. Yesterday on their lot they had four vehicles that would run, two junked pickup trucks, one junked car, four boats and a fifty wheel camper.  On some days they have up to eight trucks. Keep in mind this is just a regular city lot.  Another one of this scuff-laws has about six cars in his front yard.  Although the city ordinances are very clear the city fathers don't want to hurt the feelings of the junk collectors.  On the other hand the city fathers  could care less about those who would like to keep the appearance of the neighborhood decent.  Our little street got hit with another one of these collector people who unfortunately lives right across the street from individual number one. This guy likes to park his collection on the city boulevard, and he also collects sheds, one of which is in his front yard.

These people live in a special world where they have a fantasy.  Some day I am going to fix up the old Ford truck.  Ya, sure, ya betcah.  Five years ago you parked the truck in your driveway with the engine sitting beside it.  It has not moved an inch.

So last night, five years later the city started to introduce a new ordinance which will require the bums to pay a fee for making their yard into a junk collection.  This is a great leap forward.  Now for the hard part. They will have to enforce it, which of course they will not.  So maybe in another five years if Kadizzle lives that long the collectors will shape up.

God Chose Trump, and has a plan for him.

The evangelicals missed and important part of the Bible that has some good commentary on Trump. 

8 May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership. 

9 May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. 

10 May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven from their ruined homes. 

11 May a creditor seize all he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor. 

12 May no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children. 

13 May his descendants be cut off, their names blotted out from the next generation. 

14May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD; may the sin of his mother never be blotted out. 

15May their sins always remain before the LORD, that he may blot out their name from the earth

Money shoots out the window

Money comes in and money goes out.  One of house guest in our basement rental had a little run in with the local law people and was stopped for a DUI in front of our house.  Money will go out of his pocket big time. However he paid his last rent and that was money coming in.  Yesterday the drywall guy finishes putting drywall in the garage that was money going out.  We have undertaken to paint the house so that is more money out.  Next remodeling the bathroom will be a major money out. Lately the biggest money out is old Trump and his trade wars. The old retirement account is hurting. How much damage can that idiot do?

On to another undertaking.  Kadizzle is helping a young guy refurbish a sailboat.  Removing the bottom paint is a big job.  Kadizzle found out oven cleaner works, but we will try some spiffy marine paint stripper instead. Nick is very excited about his new boat.  It formerly belonged to two other sailers that were friends.  However, the last sailor sadly neglected the ship and it will take some doing to get it back in service.  At least Kadizzle will have access to a sailboat.

Stroupini wants to be an old goat living in town.  Kadizzle toured his fixer upper home in town.  The place is coming along. Stroupini installed those round skylight things. It worked well and brought a lot of natural light down through the ceiling.  The painting has worn us down and tomorrow will be a day of rest a day late.

Jumping into a war zone

Last nights the old Kadizzles went to a graduation party for a  young man.  Young men have young friends.  Watching these innocent teens about to depart into the fray of life was interesting.  These kids are jumping into a mess.  We have a president suffering from mental illness, a planet melting, and a lot of fat old people like Kadizzle who are oblivious.  So here you go kids. The oceans are melting and so is our democracy.  Lying is the new coin of the realm.  The truth has totally disappeared.  A friend posted a quote from  George Washington yesterday supporting gun rights.  Just a little problem, George Washington never said such a thing.  One of Trump's buddies posted a video that was doctored purporting Nancy Pelosi to be drunk.  On it goes.  People lead by Trump just make shit up.  As they said on NPR this morning too many people rely on social media for information.  Don't believe anything you read here.  Kadizzle just makes it all up.  Pity poor dupe who cannot figure out what is true and what isn't.  If you surrender, just put on a red hat and let the world know you are an idiot.

Back to the young people.  Rarely in history did old people ever change anything for the better.  So if the young don't get a flame under their ass we are doomed.  What will it take?  At some point even the most ignorant realize they are going backwards.  Farmers may figure it out as Trump has to write them welfare checks.  When the young see they are not going to lead the life of mom and dad it may be a wake up call. Look how many young people have failed to launch.  How many smart young people have you seen waiting tables, or otherwise wasting an expensive education.  More than anything income inequality will blow up.  On the west coast the peasants cannot afford to buy a house.  People have to leave because of inaffordable housing.  Meanwhile those with the cash are making it hard for the bums to sleep under the bridge.

The good news is the sun is finally out. Kadizzle is going to see if the ebike can make it to Pick City.  If the attempt fails it will be strange. Kadizzle will have to pull into a farmers yard and ask for electricity not gas. That should be interesting.

Rainy Day Blues

Kadizzle is sitting here with the little cackle hen jumping around like a bean. Confined to the house is not easy when you spent the whole winter outside. Kadizzle was lucky.  When he graduated he was told " Your not smart enough to live life on your own"  .  With a good stroke of luck Kadizzle met Mrs. Kadizzle.  Old Kadizzle never realized how dumb he actually was until the Mrs. started telling him how to do every task a normal person could do on their own.  Living in a group home is not easy.  Shut the door, turn off the coffee, take your shoes off, put your underwear in the bin, and on it goes endlessly.  That is life at the group home.  Adult supervision is such a blessing. For a member of the group home constant orders are a must. A task you have done a million times still requires and order from the house mom.  Top this off with questions.  Did you take the garbage out? Yes.  So you took the garbage out? In English I just said yes. Did you put it in the street? Yes. Well you know the garbage men will not take it if it is six inches off the street.  Take your shoes off, and shut the door. Close the bedroom window when you get up like you have for the last thirty years.  Yup, you never learn at the group home.

This all gets back to a story.  One hundred years ago when Kadizzle was at college we had to go to a mental facility and take the inmates for a walk.  As we went on a nature hike a woman with a mental problem looked at an Osage orange like she was going to eat it.  These things are inedible.  A young psychology student excitedly yelled " Don't eat that".   The mental patient explained to the student. " We are in here because we are crazy, not stupid".  That kind of sums up Kadizzles life here at the group home on 7th Ave.

Words on the Wind

Sometime back Honest Omar suggested Kadizzle call his ministry " Words on the Wind".   For many years Kadizzle has wanted to bring faith to the tribes on the west end of Lake Sakakawea.  How do you get Jesus to people in remote areas of North Dakota.  Sailing is the only practical way.  To this end Kadizzle wants to purchase a new sailboat and take the gospel to the western end of the lake. Imagine standing on the bow of a 30 or 40 sailboat preaching God's love to those who would otherwise go to hell. How do you get sinners to the shore to hear the word? No bait works for sinners like alcohol.  Kadizzle will have agents secretly spread the word about a party on the shore with free drinks.  That is why the ministry will have to have beer, wine, and gin on the ship.  The prayer session will start out looking like a good time by the water.  Don't forget the Bible used wine for the sacrament.  Had beer been abundant in the days of the lord you know it would have been used.

How is all this going to work? It is very simple.  Look at the prosperity preachers with jets.  If they can preach prosperity and get a jet, surely Kadizzle can have a nice sailboat.  Now comes your part.  If you want the blessings of the Bible you must give.  Send a little  check get a little.  Send a big check get a lot. God wants you to sacrifice to show you believe.  So send a check big enough to be painful. God will bless you, and of course it will also be a blessing for Kadizzle.  Does Pat Roberson live in poverty? Hell no he has race horses, and is worth over 600 million.  How about the Graham gang. Billy robbed old ladies, and now Franklin is following suit.  Then you have Joel Epstein who has bilked his followers out of millions. Joel has a 40 million dollar home.  The lord works in strange ways.  So as we used to say at the craps table " Eight, skate, and donate".  Is there a simpler way to avoid hell than writing a nice check to Words on the Wind?

Think of the little children that might grow up not knowing Jesus.  Think of the old ladies and those social security checks they could multiply by donating.  Blessings are not free, however if you send Kadizzle a nice one it will be tax free for him. God doesn't pay taxes neither do rich people.  That is because God blessed them with offshore accounts and a president that cares for them. If you go to hell don't blame Kadizzle.  This was you chance, take responsibility for your future and send that check right now.  The first ten people to send over one hundred dollars will receive a prayer wallet. The wallet will come to you empty, but count on the lord to fill it.  Every dollar you donate from your new prayer wallet will be a blessing for you.

Religion

Yesterday Kadizzle had dinner with a hard core atheist.  Some of the most intelligent people Kadizzle knows are ardent anti religion people.  Religion has probably been one of the biggest frauds on the planet in so many senses.  Religion has served several purposes.  Religion is used to dominate people, extract money from people, and promote some mighty nasty agendas.  Religion primarily works by selling promises and fear.  Isn't that the way we deal with children?  To be religious you have to give up all logic and dismiss reality.  That is why religion has worked so well for Trump.   No logical person could embrace any kind of morality and still vote for Trump.  However, religion has always been able to do such obvious insane things and still keep it's followers.  One only needs to look at the inquisition, or how any battle with other religions took place.

The most amazing phenomenon are the preachers who so clearly bilk their followers.  Billy
Graham was the modern con man.  Now you have Pat Robertson, and Joel Epstein.  These guys rape the stupid for millions.  It is perfectly legal to defraud people using religion.  This leaves out all the sexual abuse committed by the religious.  Add to that how the Catholic Church actually had young girls enslaved in laundries up until 1967.  So why do people embrace this insanity? Why do people gamble?  Humans have an immense capacity to engage in false hope. When a man like Trump can get the support of religion you know the game is close to over.

A known quantity

Yesterday this mass of humanity decided to ride the ebike up towards the lake.  The ride was sort of an experiment to test how far the ebike could go on one charge.  An ebike is like life.  The battery is like the day you are born.  One hundred percent of your life is a head of you.  Now with the bike Kadizzle left Hazen with one hundred percent of the power in the battery.  As the trip progressed toward the lake the batter level dropped.  When do you turn around.  Like life the bike is governed by how hard you peddle. Kadizzle though it best to turn back at fifty percent.  When the trip reached the last big hill 45 percent of the battery had been used.  Now you can of course predict without total accuracy when the battery will give out.  That is the problem with life. At 70 years of age the battery that operates Kadizzle is somewhere near the end.  Do you peddle harder, do you glide, do you put the power setting on high, or do you try to stay low and conserve. The bike has four settings that determine how much help you get from the battery.  The settings are low green, high green, low blue and high blue.  Low green is next to no help. High green just about cancels the extra weight of the bike and makes it pretty close to a normal bike. Low blue is also called standard and that is a good description. In low blue you are cheating, but it feels good. High blue will erase a hill.  Now back to life.  How do you move toward the end of life or as we say your battery.  Do you blow all your money or  do you become miserly and crawl to the end.  After the bike experiment the calculations seemed to indicate Kadizzle could make it to Pick City with the bike.  One big problem, the battery would not get Kadizzle back to Hazen.  So a trip to Pick City means you would have to stay there for about two hours to recharge, which also means you have to carry the charger with you.

Maybe Kadizzle will try that experiment today.  It is 23 miles to Pick City.  Yesterday there was a strong headwind.  With no wind the milage should be better. Back to life. At seventy the battery is not putting out the power it used to.  Being over weight does not help, nor does it help on the bike. The good news is it looks like finally a nice day.

The Sun came up

The sun came up and Trump is still our leader.  What a sad state of affairs.  We are a nation of dolts.  The other day Kadizzle stopped in to talk to the editor of the local paper. He is a young guy as skinny as you can be an still not be in a concentration camp.  The young guy is a paradox.  He seems well read and maybe even well educated, but he has a bad thread of Jesus keeping him from full consciousness .  All things considered he has some interesting political insight.  During our conversation he reiterated that he had no respect or use for Trump, but then went on to say he would vote for Trump rather than most of the Democrats.  If someone on the right rose up to oppose Trump and got the Republican nomination editor would vote for them.  How any person with an once of brains could ever vote for Trump again is mind boggling. 

Imagine an America where Trump wins a second term.  It will be the end of thought as we know it. Stupid people are such fodder for the Republicans.  Now to another group, minorities.  Once in awhile Kadizzle tries to strike up a conversation with a black person about voting. In most cases black people tell Kadizzle they just don't care.  Maybe anyone would feel that way if they were in the other shoes, but it seems strange that you may have a chance to vote yourself out of oppression, but you do not.  Next you have women, what woman would vote Republican?  Unless you are a woman who married a rich man it makes absolutely no sense to vote Republican.  Well you do have the simple minded fundamentalist women who love being oppressed.  That bunch loves the role of incubator.  Until Trump tweets today the world will have no direction.

God must have loved the poor he made so many

Kadizzle knew we spend a lot to feed our pets so he figured he would check out the cost.  It turns out pet care in our country cost 72 billion.  That is the GDP of the 39 poorest countries.  So poverty could be eliminated in the 39 poorest countries for the cost of pet care in the U.S.   If you carried that further and used the money spent to care for the one percent a big hole could be put in suffering.  What is most fun a healthy dog of feeding a starving person.  Of course the dog is the most fun and that is how Christianity works.  Now perhaps God should not get the blame.  God gave us the credit card. We were the ones who fell in love with the puppy and let the kid starve.  What God could do is write the Bible one more time.  There was a new testament.  If you want some really good laughs watch a netflix show called " The Brand New Testament."

The Good Life

A follow up on a little bitching Kadizzle did a couple days ago.  Went to the dentist.  90 minutes of work.  Cost $1,700.   That comes out to $18 a minute.  Now this is in a country where people bitch about a minimum wage of $15 an hour.  Certainly dentist deserve to be rewarded for the effort they put in, but do the rest of the people on the planet have any right to live? Now if you offer me $18 a minute, I would probably take it, but I would invent some super reason I deserved it.  The income disparity in this country has become insane.  When the head of Walmart gets $8,000 an hour and the old greeter at the door gets $12 we have a problem Houston.  Now to the real question, what in the hell do you need $8,000 per hour for?  Well you need at least three homes and a private jet, that eats up a lot, but there is still a whole bunch of cheese left over.  Oh, almost forgot, you have to bribe a college to let your little girl in for five million.  That all adds up. 

Small Town Life

The old Crazy Club meeting hall has gone out of business. Informal meetings have taken place at the Shiner's house in the kitchen, but this ain't as good as the old days.  Mike Krause is trying to revive the old club house. It does belong to him.  Yesterday Kadizzle visited him there.  In the old meeting room he has placed a table.  It looks like somewhere people might play poker now.  Kadizzle went to the library the other day and suggested the Brooks house be used for book club meetings. The Brooks House is the official name of the old meeting hall.  Krause kind of likes the idea, so we may be able to revive the place.

Kadizzle has to run to Bismarck today to the dentist.  As luck would have it both the Mr. and Mrs. cracked a tooth.  The bill will come close to three thousand dollars.  Dental work in this country has become as insane as all other health care.  Just to peek in the mouth and see what work need to be done cost over $100.  Dentist are creating a line of traffic heading over the border to Mexico to get dental work done.  What if the guy at the gas station came out and looked at your car for ten seconds and said " You got a flat tire, that will be $20 for looking".   When you do the math, it took the dentist less than 15 minutes to tell me I had a problem.  She did not do a damn thing.  That means her dental office was making about $400 an hour.  Lets be generous and cut that back to $300.  So that comes to about $2,400 a day.  Cut that back even farther to $2,100 per day.  That works out to about $550,000 per year.  That is not the entire picture.  There are one maybe two people cleaning teeth at $100 an hour.  That puts the figure back up there. Now the total intake comes close to $1,000,000 per year.  Of course it cost something to run the office, and the receptionist and accountant have to make something. The Googles says the dentist is netting $72 an hour.  So maybe it isn't all that bad. 

Now what if our country had better dental care? What if our country had something like Denmark? In Denmark there is a school dentist.  If that were the case the mess in the Kadizzle mouth would be far less. The total cost would be far less.  Preventive medicine saves lives and dollars, but that means we have to be smart and it might impact the tax cuts that are so important for the rich.  Oh, what the hell we will just pay the 3k and be happy.

Social Credit System

Mrs. Kadizzle and Mr. Kadizzle are sitting here buzz cackling about the Chinese social credit system. Last night on the NBC news it was reported how the system is being experimented with in China.  Google it or watch a You Tube on it.  In China cameras watch people. If someone litters or create a public nuisance they are penalized.  Would this work in our country?  What if you were dinged fifty points for each junked car in your yard, or maybe loose one hundred points if your dog shits in my yard.  Now the system has some bad implications.  It can get out of hand and you have big brother watching, but on the other hand how do you deal with the people who just don't care about the rest of humanity.  What about the guy on the green Harley Hog that goes by and wakes the entire town with his hog blaster at one in the morning?  How do you control the dolts that just throw crap out the car window?  The Chinese may be taking it too far, but at least they are trying.

Mumbling along

Winky went nuts sealing up the insulation in the garage.  As we get ready to install drywall the Kadizzles have insulated the garage.  Foam and insulation are now complete.  The yard got fertilized yesterday.  Kadizzle is a famous cheap ass and knows how to get free fertilizer down at the farm supply outfit.  When the trucks are loaded they spill more than enough for the yard.  Yesterday Kadizzle got three buckets of nitrogen, phosphate, and who knows what.  The lord cooperated and it rained last night.  Maybe it is just in the head, but the grass seems greener already.

Here we sit getting up to date at the kitchen table. In the background NPR is playing.  The guy just mentioned school shootings.  What in the hell is wrong with a country that bows down to the NRA? Each of us has seen the NRA idiots running around with their guns.  Our country has become a third world country in every sense.  We have gun slingers, a dictator for president, and two classes of people, the rich, and the poor.  Of course we all shout we are number one, but it simply is far from true.  Now some dolt will say " If you don't like it leave".   Why not fix it?  Every time you spill coffee in your house do you leave?  With the help of Fox News we have dumbed the country down to the point of insanity.  Trump is the evidence.  Trump is insane and his cult members act like they just don't notice.

Cancer Scare

The worst thing about turning old is seeing your friends get shot down.  Cancer has eaten up a lot of our best friends. Mrs. Kadizzle just had a cancer scare.  An ultra sound in Hazen indicated a problem with her pancreas.  For days she was in that terrible state where you think the end is near. The sun rose yesterday and brought good news when she had an MRI in Bismarck, no cancer.  It was a dark cloud lifted. The bad news is the people who don't get the good news.  Kadizzle went through the prostate cancer treatment.  Not fun, but still alive and the doctor said to chose something else to die from. 

There is a lesson in this.  Enjoy every moment.  Another lesson, give up on that little shit. Does it really matter if a weed came up in the garden?  There will still be plenty of flowers. For better or worse we are in the fourth quarter.  It is time to sit back have a nice glass of wine, enjoy some music, and drink up the joy of the grandchildren. Does it really matter? 

Kadizzle invented the word niggifiddle.  What is a niggifiddle?  A niggifiddle is someone who gets all tied up in a meaningless task.  A good friend recently lost his dad.  Cleaning out his father's home the friend found tons of shotgun shell casings in the basement.  His dad reloaded shells.  So for some strange reason good friend decided to sort and count all the shells. As life goes on do you really want to sort and count things that should be shoveled in the trash and thrown out? That is classic niggifiddle.

There most be some comfort in meaningless task for niggifiddles.  It must get their mind off life and into a realm of oblivion.  Maybe it is a good thing. Routine makes some people feel good.  That is how people get stuck in the military.  They love a life with rules and regimentation.  What fun it that? All this brings Kadizzle to another niggifiddle incident. Years ago Kadizzle was scheduled to ski with a niggifiddle.  The fiddler shopped for three weeks to find the perfect skis.  When the day finally came to ski the niggifiddle stood at the top of the mountain and said " Now we have to find the right snow".  The mountain was covered with what appeared to be fine snow, but not for the niggifiddle. So after a search of the mountain the niggifiddle decided there was no " good snow".  Down the mountain he went and put on cross country skis.  He made one trip down the mountain with his carefully selected downhill skis.

Perfection never comes, and a life pursuing it is a game some people like.  God bless the niggifiddles.

Push the rock

My hero has always been Sisyphus. You know the guy who keeps pushing a rock up hill only to have it roll back down on him.  That is the stock market under Trump. Here we sit enjoying John Prine on a Monday morning.  The garage is out there with most of the insulation in, but no where can we find drywall Willy. We need someone to put up the drywall.  Finding a plumber, electrician, or any tradesman in Hazen, North Dakota is hopeless.  This all means we may end up doing it ourselves. It will be like building our own Sistine Chapel.  You can imagine the results.

Winky is up at six in the morning watching Game of Thrones.  As Trump drags the country into the sewer we watch Game of Thrones, and sports.  Someone wrote an article in the NYT today about ignorance being the national menace.  With Trump as president what do you think? Will the simple minded be the fodder for the Republicans in the next election while the literate people sit on the couch? 

Spring will never come to North Dakota.  We left Arizona and flowers were blooming, the grass was pushing the trailer up in the air.  In North Dakota everything is struggling to turn green.  The sky is gloomy and the state feels like it is being run by old white greedy Republicans.  One amazing trick the Republicans get away with is telling everyone welfare cheats are the problem.  There are no greater welfare cheats than the people of North Dakota.  For every dollar in taxes paid by North Dakota the state gets back $1.78.  What a deal, I send you a dollar you send me back almost twice as much.  Does it get any better?  Then you say our country is being destroyed by welfare cheats.

This welfare cheat needs to get off his ass and get something done today.  Perhaps riding the ebike.  Our mission is to make the country safe for democracy.  Good luck.

Drywall madness

For years Winky has been longing for a garage with drywall instead of the bare studs that have served us so well for years.  Here we go. We are putting in the insulation that goes in before the drywall goes up.  Lord have mercy what silliness.  Neighbor Bob came by and realized the stupidity of insulating a garage that will be impossible to heat.  That doesn't matter we seem to like the idea.  Kadizzle is not a craftsman and deep down he knows he can mess up any project.  The drywall will be crooked and look like a puzzle put together by a drunk.  Today again we will be cutting and stuffing insulation. 

A reader of this insanity called in and complained about the lack of rants.  The Trump nonsense can supply rants for eternity.  Since we live in North Dakota it pisses Kadizzle that the state is represented by such worthless lickspittles like Kelly Armstrong, Kevin Cramer, and John Hoeven.  Hoeven, and Armstrong were caught in a money storm caused by their daddies.  It brings to mind the saying " He was born on third base and thought he hit a tripple".   Then you have Cramer who was bought as a pet by the oil man Harold Hamm.  What do we have?  A state owned by the rich, run by the rich, for the rich.  The legislature is like a herd of sheep run around by a dog.  Every one of these worthless toadies follows the Trump party line.

Civil War

The Kadizzles are sitting around the breakfast table in Richmond.  At Uncle Ben's 1880 home in the Church Hill section of Richmond the coffee brings us to life. Yesterday we walked around Belle Isle. The island in the James River was a prison during the Civil War.  Uncle Ben is one of the foremost experts on the Civil War and currently makes his living appraising Civil War artifacts.  Ben lives breathes and sleeps Civil War.  His knowledge of the war is detailed beyond comprehension. Ben can tell you what brand wiping paper each Civil War general preferred.  Yesterday Ben quickly declared a Civil War hat fake.

Our crew has been eating like royalty.  Every night we have been enjoying some local fine eatery.  This is not Hazen, North Dakota.  Both daughters are fine cooks and at Megan's we also had excellent meals.  Fighting the gravity is hopeless.

Give me the west.  The East Coast is a mess.  The cities are run down and the rich poor divide is just making things worse.  As we have become a country of rich and poor the rich don't give a damn about the problems of the poor.  In the old days we operated more as one people.  Now the rich move behind their gates and let the unwashed have their fun in the crumbling areas of town.  Traffic is insane.  Politicians simply refuse to address high speed rail or any other solution that might cost the Koch brothers a dime in oil sales.  Oh yes, the noise.  Now we have idiots that drive around in booming vehicles deliberately annoying everyone.  Why is it tolerated?

"I'd rather be in Philadelphia"

W.C. Fields asked that on his tombstone it be written " I'd rather be in Philadelphia".  Well, Kadizzle is in Philadelphia with Evie, Sylvie, Uncle Ben and the whole gang.  Megan lives in an old row house so we are on the third or fourth floor. It is a hike up to our room and back down, but we are having fun with the two little cousin's playing together.  Sylvie is the big sister type.  The big job has been helping Sam and Megan build their new patio.  Moving debris from the back of the house to the front is a nightmare because of the narrow walkway between the houses.  We have 24 inches to work with.  Now how in the hell are we going to haul paving bricks, gravel, and sand back there?  Somehow we will need a narrow wheel barrow.

The Kadizzles now move back and forth from the mid west to the east.  The entire east coat has become a giant shopping mall from Florida to well past New York City.  The country is filling up.

Back to the back yard project.  In the course of removing all the cement and stuff from the old set up it was necessary to move tons of concrete chunks and gravel.  How do you do it?  You hire a guy with a Mexican and a Honduran.   Then you fill buckets and haul them by hand to the street.  Sam, Kadizzle, tow immigrants, and their boss moved the two tons of rubble.  Once Trump deports all the people willing to work hard, the country will come to a stop.  These two immigrants work hard all day.  Actually with tips they might make a half decent living.  We worked for about two or three hours. Kadizzle gave them each a twenty dollar tip.  If they did three of these jobs a day that would come to sixty bucks each just in tips in addition to their pay.  It is worth it.  The insanity of driving low cost labor out of the country is something only Trump could dream up.  The idiot we have for president uses cheap labor at his own golf courses.  Nothing like shooting your own foot off.  The number of businesses that cannot function for lack of help is amazing.  In our home town in the middle of nowhere the grocer has to import people from the Philippines to work the deli. Back in AZ sits a new restaurant that cannot open for lack of workers.

Go East young man

Up early and off to see Megan, Evie, and Sam.  Of course it will be the airplane routine.  One strange thing Kadizzle has found hard to understand is the terrorist rule book.  Why are airplanes the only things terrorist are allowed to attack?  Terrorist could do all sorts of damage in our country attacking all sorts of things like bridges, dams, buildings, railways, and so on.  Yet we go insane protecting planes and apparently the terrorist adhere to the rules.  Now what gets a lot of Americans killed? Guns get people killed, but ain't no way we will address that nonsense.  It is just to much fun to play he man cowboy.  So every simple minded dinger is armed.

At the zoning meeting last night it was the old " Who cares".   Hazen needs a new category for zoning, not agriculture, not business, not residential, but recreational slumming.  If you want to fill your yard with trash and junked cars you should request to have your area rezoned recreational slumming.  Yesterday the guy up the street set a record.  On one residential lot he had eight pickup trucks two boats, a junked car, a camper, and a nice display of yard trash.  When Kadizzle brought this up at the meeting the mayor said there were only six pickup trucks when he drove by.   One of the pickup trucks has sat in the driveway for five years with a piece of the engine sitting beside it. Most amazing of all is the city officials cannot see how this mess could possibly affect property values.

Fight City Hall

Last winter Kadizzle was in Winslow, Arizona.  He has been there before.  However, something changed. They cleaned the town up.  It looks like someone put the dirty town in the washing machine.  Kadizzle was blown away by the cleanliness of the place.  Every weed, every piece of trash, and every lot was scrubbed.  To put it simply the city decided to clean up and they did.  The summer residence of the Kadizzle crew is in Hazen.  The governing body in Hazen is totally incapable of confronting the bums, and slummers who make a mess of the city.  For years the city has ignored zoning laws, and regulations.  So tonight Kadizzle will go to a zoning meeting.  Someone has requested the land across the creek be made commercial.  Of course the City of Hazen would allow a hog feeding operation on main  street if someone thought they could sell a little hog feed.  Talking to a city commission that's idea of art is a toilet in the front yard with flowers in the bowl or maybe a nice tractor tire with flowers in the middle is a hopeless endeavor.   So the spring Jihad will start.

E Bike adventure

Yesterday Kadizzle took the ebike to Harmon Lake north of Mandan.   The bike trail is deceptive.  The lake does not look that big, but the trail around it is a long trail.  As you ride you realize how many times the bike trail ducks in and out of coves.  The trail is very well done and shows what you can do with a well designed trail.  Riding the trail Kadizzle kept thinking why are there not more of these type of trails in North Dakota?  There are so many potential places.  A nice trail could run along the big lake for miles.  Trails are not hard to build, nor are they that expensive.  For many years Kadizzle has advocated a trail from the dam at Pick City to Bismarck.  How nice would it be to cross country ski, bike, hike, or even boat along the Missouri.  The trail could have little camp spots and pit toilets.  The stops could include the knife river Indian Village, and Cross Ranch.  Why not?

A Hang Fire

Old Kadizzle used to be involved in blasting in his career.  At one time Kadizzle would spend midnight shift in the coal mine drilling and blasting the bottom so it could be loaded to give the trains more room.  The underground rail system hauled the coal out of the mine.

A blasting term is "hang fire".  A hang fire can be dangerous.  First, let's define a hang fire.  If you set off a blast and it is burning, but not exploding, you have a hang fire.  You light the fuse, but somehow the fuse does not burn all the way to the powder.  The fuse could be burning slowly.  If you walk up there to see what is wrong and the fuse takes off again, you are toast.

So what?  The point here is the Mueller report.  The Mueller Report is a hang fire.  There was no explosion, but it is still fizzling.

A different world

The Earth Module sits beside the house in Hazen, North Dakota. The transition from living in a box to a good sized home is strange.  At headquarters we have four computers strewn all over the place, music plays in every room, and now we have two Alexa's and a Google mini.  Electronics seem to sprout from the walls.  Here you get to stand in the shower and soak as long as you like.  There is not little journey to the outhouse in the morning.

Now for the flip side.  There is no warm sunshine, no flowers, now crystal clear sky, no walking around in a T shirt,  and not looking at mountains all around.  Here everything is struggling to get out of the ground.  Back in AZ the plants shot from the ground like they had been turned on.  Sitting on the flat plate they call prairie you do not get to find anything as a surprise.  Here you can see everything a day before you get to it across the barren plane.  Eventually spring will come here, but in the meantime what do you do.  You feel like a pickle in a canning jar.

Oval Room, you better listen.

I miss my boat

What does it feel like when your dog dies?  Well no dog died, but this is the first year in 35 years Kadizzle doesn't have a sailboat. The old Sovereign is gone. That boat is missed. Kadizzle just picked up some old brochures that featured a nice picture of the boat with the spinnaker up.  The magic of sailing is addicting. If we make it through the summer without out a sail boat it will be tough.  Do they have methadone for sail boat owners.  The boat was like a dog you had to feed and take for a walk. The old boat got us through some incredible storms.  Kadizzle wants that boat back. Not another boat, the old Sovereign.  It had some issues, but what the hell. It's only money as they say.  Without the good ship there is not reason to stay in the arctic.  Just will have to see how the summer pans out.

Step into a different world

The Earth Module sits beside the house.  Jeff is in the basement.  Who in the hell is Jeff?  Jeff is a millwright.  If you don't know what that is look it up.  Anyway Jeff was here a couple years ago as an Air B an B guest.  He has become a good friend as most of our guest do.   So Jeff is back to work the outage at the old power plant where Kadizzle used to work.  It is about five thirty in the morning.  Could not sleep.  Here we sit in a huge house compared to the Earth Module.  We made it back.  It is like being dropped in another world.  Right away someone called and wants to look at the house.  If they actually where to buy it that would immediately set things astir.  Here we go launched into a strange summer without the boat.  The lake is already extremely high for this time of year and there may be problems if there is a lot of mountain run off.

Today will be a day of getting unpacked and oriented to our new life.  Amazing to be in a land where not a single flower has bloomed.  We are in North Dakota a special land where the politicians are caught in the ice age of progress.  Always the same old crap, guns, abortion, and how can we get money from the lobbyist without smelling bad.  The sun is not even up.  At least it is quiet.  Soon the simple minded dingers will be out on their noise machines making their engines roar.  The desert was so quiet.  We will miss that.   The snow is at least gone here.  Strange we even have to think about that.  Summer will go roaring by and next thing you know the Earth module will be heading south again.

Blast off to North Dakota.

Fran is back from London, Paris, and Berlin,  all in one business trip.  So here we sit with Erin and her complete family.  Today we blast off for North Dakota. If we can make it half way to the Arctic it will be a success.  Not at all like awakening in Arizona to sunshine and warmth.  This summer we will hold a remembrance for old friend Bill Butcher.  Kadizzle sailed with Bill for at least 25 years on the big lake.  Part of the plan to memorialize Bill will be firing his ashes out of a cannon.  Another dear friend built an authentic civil war cannon.  If Kadizzle can get his hands on the full sized cannon it will be a nice salute to Bill.

So back home a lot needs to be done.  We want to sell the house so it needs improved.  Among other things we need to remodel a bathroom.  A lot of money will go up in smoke.  The main fear today will be icy roads.

Crawling with people

In our annual migration back to North Dakota the Kadizzles always spend a few days with the grand daughter in Denver.  Within spitting distance from her house is the old tower for the Stapleton Airport. The airport is gone, and in it's place are thousands of houses, hundreds of eating places, and urban sprawl in every direction.  The pace of development is insane.  My mother most have thought the same thing as she produced nine children.  Too many has consequences.  The Earth is being plundered at an amazing rate. We are burning up the planet with no one caring or noticing except a few trouble makers.

My old neighbor who was a good friend and a hopeless Republican once came back from South Dakota.  Like the country bumkin he was he never had much of a grasp about the world.  After driving south of Bowman, North Dakota he declared the United States would never run out of space.  If he saw the ocean he would have said we will never run out of water.  He was a classic Republican unable to see the forest for the trees.  He never thought about polluting the air, poisoning the ground,  or killing all the wildlife. 

It is like the old joke " It is not the fall that kills you, it is the sudden stop".   You are fine until you hit the ground.  So we keep growing with total disregard for the consequences.  Republicans cannot grasp the concept that we live on a globe.  That inherently means the amount of everything is finite.  When you live in a world of finite resources you will die if you overwhelm them.  Mrs. Kadizzle and old Kadizzle spend the winters where ancient tribes used to live.  Research seems to indicate these people disappeared fairly quickly.  The evidence points to the fact that they may have overwhelmed the resources they had.  It did not take that many people to accomplish this suicide in the desert.  We learn nothing. 

Sent from Nepal to cook my dinner

As we were just about to pull into the entrance to the Cheyenne Mountain Park Kadizzle noticed a little Toyota partially parked by the four lane.  He remarked to Jasper that the guy was going to get hit if he did not get his car all the way off the road.  As the gods of the universe would have it the same guy pulled into the visitor center as we were there.  Then we encountered him once more near our camp site.  A conversation ensued and soon we were friends with Bsarat.  Bsarat is an engineer from Napal.  He has been in our country for two years.  Bsarat offered to cook us a Nepalese dinner.  Bsarat seemed to love photography so after he cooked us dinner he did a film shoot right before we ate.  Since he could not find engineering work in Colorado Springs he works in a liquor store.  On the table was an excellent bottle of whiskey.  We all gave a toast as his cameras automatically filmed the event.

Earlier in the day the Kadizzles had the mother of all bike rides.  The park has the best bike paths ever.  With the ebike Kadizzle and Jasper spent hours on wonderful trails along the mountain. 

Back to Bsarat.  Kadizzle asked Bsarat if he knew about the NORAD tunnel right above where we had dinner.  Bsarat knew nothing of the installation.  This got Kadizzle to explain it to him and do a little research himself.  According to the research there is a 13 story building in that mountain mounted on springs. The is a man made lake with enough water to last the crew two years.  Imagine the money pissed away on this project.  Like everything we do with the military money is no object.  It is like spending 62 million dollars so Trump can golf, who cares?  Trump needs to golf even if his caddies say he cheats.

One more Day

Waking up to warm sunshine is one of the greatest pleasures in life.  Today the Kadizzles awakened to warm sunshine on the East side of the Rocky Mountains.  High above Colorado Springs right next to NORAD we sat outside and drank our coffee.  Winkie had a crash yesterday on her mountain bike, but was not injured seriously. Today we will probably seek more injuries on the bikes.  Right now she is making french toast with Juneberries.  Does it get any better.

Ok, now for a little bitching.  The state park we are staying in is very nicely done with nice facilities. Colorado spent the money wisely and people can enjoy this great park.  That brings us to North Dakota, a state full of old white goats that finds it painful to spend on public resources.  The old white goats grew up on farms and recreation was a no, no.  So the old white goats want to build a Teddy Roosevelt library.  What a waste.  Scott Hennen on KFYR radio has proven the people of North Dakota are not interested in education. The people of North Dakota watch Fox News.  They enjoy being ignorant and mislead.  So why not use the money to build some nice parks and trails?  We could have a trail along Lake Sakakawea,  a trail from Pick City to Bismarck. We could have nice places for people to get exercise.  Perhaps the circulation of blood would encourage thought.

The Spanish Peaks

Sun is streaming in the Earth Module windows in all it's glory.  The view over the dinner table is the Spanish Peaks.  Snow is on the mountains and it is like waking up looking at some more famous pile of Earth like Mt. Hood.  On our way back to the prairie flat lands it might be easy to forget there are places with huge bumps called mountains.  On this glorious day we are at the little state park in Colorado where we always stop.  Today we will go toward Denver and stop near Colorado Springs for two days.  There the electric bike will get a fun work out.

The is a song on the playlist " Who will be next?".   As we watch our friends get shot down by cancer and old age you cannot help but wonder.  Kadizzle comes from a family of nine.  Three siblings have been shot out of the saddle.  Colin, my younger brother was taken to the beyond by a heart attack at 49. This is what scared Kadizzle into retiring at 50.   Louise was next.  She was fourth from the top.  Again her heart gave out.  Next Kathleen, two above Kadizzle signed out from a combination of maladies.  So out of nine we got six still running.

As a younger person you never noticed these things, but now it seems to take too much mental space.  Kadizzle is beginning to realize how old farts become obsessed with obituaries.  Now the old poem or saying that has the words " go softly into the night" comes to mind.  Are you going to die watching Fox News or be killed trying to do something you are to old to do?  I doubt Darch is reading this, but Darch is about as aggressive as one can be taking on old age.  He bikes like a teenager, and now wants to take on a new life as a dirt bag.  Studying to be a dirt bag Darch insisted on sleeping in the cold in the back of his pickup truck.   We hate to see anyone suffer, so my wish to all my friends is you go in a painless flash.  Book a flight on a Boeing 737.

What a day

For the Kadizzles moving from Arizona to North Dakota is always traumatic.  Today was no exception.  Kadizzle often tells friends he is divorced about four times a year.  Today there were probably at least three divorces.  Kadizzle made the terrible mistake of telling  It turned out to be a very lucky insignificant deal, but Jasper insisted on making it an international incident.  That was just the beginning. The day only got worse.

On to another subject.  A good and long time friend passed away today.  We sailed many miles together in storms, on sunny days, and in every condition imaginable.  Now Bill has pulled the anchor on this planet and only God knows what sea he is sailing.  We had some serious laughs together, some serious fights, and we both raised two wonderful daughters in spite of ourselves.  Our kids have become good friends from the many days they spent growing up together on sailboats.  Bill and Kadizzle have got themselves into and out of every imaginable predicament you can produce with wind and a sailboat.  We sat around camp fires and sang, drank, lied, bragged, and finally went to sleep.  Bill blamed Kadizzle for turning his girls into Democrats.  Well Bill now that you are meeting the big guy ask him if that really happened, and if that is so bad after all.  Dina, Bill's wonderful wife is still with us. Dina is a hero. Dina is the one who forced honesty and integrity on a bunch of Republicans in North Dakota who wanted no part of it. Dina put the lid on the cookie jar.  The legislators are furious. Dina and her buddies passed measure one.  Now lights shine on the rats. 

The President and the idiot

Our Canadian friends are pulling out as fingers hit the keyboard.  For the second night we played the card game " The President and the Idiot".   It is a strange game where two people have to pass their best cards to the President, and vice president. The idiot gets the worst cards as does the idiots assistant.  This gives the President a huge advantage, and the key is to become president.  Of course Kadizzle got stuck as the idiot two nights in a row.

Now that we have a president who is an idiot the game seems very relevant.  As in the game the real idiots give the president what he needs to abuse them.  The nice thing is the idiots wear red hats so you know who they are.  The red hat idiots could have health care, a decent retirement, clean air, and educated children, but they give away everything to the one percent.  In the game it is just sheer luck if you can dig your way out of the idiot position by getting some good cards.  In the real world the idiots think the lottery is the answer.

Tomorrow the Kadizzles will crank up the Earth Module and head North to the arctic.  Packing four bicycles is today's puzzle.  Since Kadizzle bought the new ebike the crew has to get rid of enough weight to make up for hauling the new bike home.  So we are jettisoning as much as we can.

The Evening Tide

We spent a lot of time on the lake together.  We weathered many storms, practiced many Chinese fire drills, raised sailing girls together, argued, drank, sang, and played dare to be stupid.  We raced against each other and with each other.  Now Bill is going out on the evening tide.  Bill is pulling his anchor after a long life as a sailor and friend.  All this made me check on a story I wrote many years ago.  " Local man invents sailing".  Local Man invents sailing.  Life goes on and we all will be pushed by the winds of time. 

Up on the mountain.

Today we head up to the Four Peaks.  Perhaps we will find some tablets and a burning bush.  Our goal is to check out some trail work another trail crew has done.  The sun is struggling to come up.  The morning air is fresh and full of oxygen.  Over the mountains is Phoenix spewing pollution as fast as possible. Once people were sent here for clean air. That day is gone.  Fishermen are like flies here.  The lake is up and it brings them in.  Back in North Dakota the big lake is rising a foot a day.  If the snow melt in Montana does not go just right there could be some problems with the big lake.

Slowly the camp is emptying of volunteers.  Rita and Ken have departed.  Ted will go Monday, and the Kadizzles should blast off by Wednesday. 

Another Crystal Clear desert Day.

Here we sit drinking coffee with the smell of fresh air permeating the universe.  Mrs. Kadizzle is refusing to leave the desert.  Old Kadizzle can see her point up to a point.  The desert is in full bloom and so lush it may lose the title of desert.  The grass is unbelievable.  The wet weather a while back has transformed the flora into a different universe.  So we do have to return to the arctic red neck infested area where our house is.  Work needs to be done.  A bathroom has to be remodeled, the garage needs to be dry-walled, and on it goes.  Mrs Kadizzle loves the area we are in and refuses to leave. 

We could do some more exploring up Cherry Creek, but it is time to get in gear and head north.  The summer will be very strange in ND without a boat. 

Ebike Adventure to Coon Creek Ruin

Kaidzzle headed up Cherry Creek, and then up Coon Creek.  The goal was to seek adventure on ebike.  With the help of the battery old Kadizzle peddled in six miles to a cliff dwelling type ruin.  This was not the well known ruin on Coon Creek, but one nearby.  Kadizzle did not even know this particular ruin was there.  Perhaps ruin is the wrong title.  What it turned out to be is simply a cave that had been occupied a great deal. There were no walls or any features made by humans other than the smoke on the ceiling.  However, a metate and one pot shard gave away the secret.  It was a great ebike adventure. Will try to add the video when I get some energy.

Educated Fool

You can go to your church, you can go to your school, but without Jeeesus your and educated fool.

It doesn't hurt to ask

The day is glorious. The temperature could be no more perfect, the sky is crystal clear, and God is in heaven, but Trump is in the White House. None the less it is a good day.  Kadizzle hopped on the Yamaha and took the treacherous ride to the the Arizona Trail.  Good judgement told Kadizzle he should not make the trip alone, but what the hell.  The heavens smiled and he made it without a crash.

Next a trip to the mail box on the ebike.  Since mail man Willy was late Kadizzle had to waste some time until Willy came.  Kadizzle took the Emil the ebike over to the marina store.  The idea there was to purchase a coke. The ultimate plan was to have a bourbon and coke late in the day.  Even though a Coke truck was parked in front of the store, there was no Coke inside.  Elma Jean the store lady said Coke had delivered, but it had not yet been received, so no Coke would be available until tomorrow.  Not easily defeated Kadizzle went outside to the Coke truck and found the Coke delivery lady.  Explaining the dire need for a mixed drink with Coke Kadizzle asked the truck driver is she could supply Coke for the drink . The kind lady tattoos and all obliged.  She would take no cash for her kind deed so Kadizzle put her on the Christmas list.  All doers of good deeds get on the Christmas list. Under the tree they will find diamonds or gold.

Life wants to give you what you want, but you have to ask.  Kadizzle has made astounding accomplishments simply by asking try it.  Try not to abuse the magic.  Mrs, Kadizzle no longer responds to while you are up could you get me a whatever. 

Jasper Little bottom and the rest of the trail crew are going to do an overnight or two hike.  Kadizzle is to big a lump to haul a 32 pound pack plus his lump five miles up the trail.  So here we are alone enjoying music and the sun. The Archaeologist crew is in our campground and Kadizzle may invite them to a campfire tonight.  Yesterday we took Jeff and Barb up to the Sycamore ruin.  Littlebottom found a nice piece of black and white pottery.

Coon Creek Indian ruin

Well we found the Coon Creek Indian site.  It turned out to be way better than old Kadizzle remembered. Kadizzle walked with John the last mile or so because John did not have a good heart, but we made it.  The site was much more elaborate than the memory from many years ago.  The trip had two highlights. First, Kadizzle found an unusual piece of pottery.  It was not large, or anything special with designs, but it was extremely well made and was very thin.  Additionally the pottery shard seemed to have a core of white sand. This was the most unusual part.  The color was also a bright orange.  At first Kadizzle thought someone might have sewn it there as a prank, but after consulting with brother in law Ned, Kadizzle found out it was traded from the Hopi far north of this location.

Now for delight number two.  Kadizzle has been searching for ancient sites for almost twenty years.  The net result is a feel for where a site should be.  As Kadizzle walked out of the valley where the Coon Creek ruin was he noticed an area that would make a perfect open site.  There was no visual indication from the road that a site existed, but it was just that intuition.  After telling John to go ahead at his snail pace back to the jeep Kadizzle walked off the road a couple hundred yards to see if there was any indication of occupation.  Sure enough there were the outlines of rooms.  It was a surface site.  Kadizzle needed confirmation.  After poking around a bit Kadizzle found the requisite pottery shards.  He was delighted.

Now Kadizzle has not always said good things about Globe, Arizona, but on his birthday the other day a friend offered to buy dinner.  The little trail crew group accidentally found a very nice little place to eat in globe that served an Asian noodle selection.  Eating the meal which included a great wine,  Kadizzle realized he has had some very good food in this little mining town.  So hats off to Globe for some nice eating places with good and different food.

Find the Indian site

Today Kadizzle will set off with a couple of Canadians to find an ancient Indian dwelling on Coon Creek.  Kadizzle has been there before, but it was a long time ago.  It will not be easy to find.  It is not much of a ruin, and perhaps Kadizzle will talk his friends into visiting a better one.  Time  will tell, but if we do go there it will be a long drive up Cherry Creek on a poor road.  Not all bad, the desert is in full bloom and nice to see.  One big problem the rattlesnakes are our and hungry.  Kadizzle has heard lots of reports of sightings.  A couple horse back riders told Kadizzle they spotted one on the trail Kadizzle was motorcycle riding yesterday.

Long drive, bumpy road

The trail crew set off on fifteen miles of bumpy road to fix a sign.  Five people worked for four hours painting and re-installing a very large trail sign held up with two six by six pieces of lumber.  Of course the sign had bullet holes in it.  The NRA makes sure every idiot can get a gun to shot holes in signs.  The five people fixing the sign were working for free, but it still cost the tax payer something.  The cost of driving a three quarter ton truck.  The cost of housing the volunteers, the paint, the supplies,  and the salary of the management people that work with us.  If you paid the five people each even fifteen dollars an hour the cost of the repair could easily come to five or six hundred dollars.  Multiply that by thousands of signs all over the National Forest.  Gun damage probably cost you hundreds of millions nation wide. Don't forget the simple minded gun people shoot the windows out of fire towers, and do countless other damage to prove their manhood.  Who encourages these idiots, the NRA.

Away from it all

Kadizzle spends most of his life in the countryside.  Every visit to a city like Denver, or Phoenix feels like a trip into a world of insanity.  Cars are the number one insanity. There simply has to be a better way.  Moving a two hundred pound person in a six thousand pound car just seems insane.  Our obsession with cars goes on.  Mass transit is something no one seems to perceive.  Yesterday the Kadizzles went from Stapleton in Denver to the Denver Airport.  We took the light rail.  Oh how pleasant compared to making the journey by car.  It was fast, quiet, efficient, and roomy.   A couple blocks from Erin's house we jumped on one of the trains that come every fifteen minutes.  If this simple minded country had put half the money of car systems into mass transit getting around would be so much more sensible.  Our world is choked with cars.  At any given moment there are forty million car engines running in the United States, and six thousand jet engines flying over our country.  You think the air will not suffer?  It is amazing we have not already choked to death.

Back here in the desert among the mountains it is  peaceful and you can forget about the city insanity.  This morning Kadizzle gets to sit in the sun and forget about the clogged arteries of the city.

Amazing

Stop now if you don't want to read a bragging grandpa.  Sylvie's performance as Mary Poppins was terrific.  She is an amazing little kid with multiple talents.  Needless to say Grandpa is very pleased.  Her little cousin Evie is already showing signs of more genius in the family.

The Kadizzles had a great time in Denver.  Last night we were treated to a wonderful meal.  Tess gave us a magic card she gets through her business that gave us a 70% discount. You can imagine what it does to your appetite when you only pay 30% at an excellent eating establishment.

Back into the air an home to the desert today.  Denver is growing at an unbelievable pace. Traveling from place to place one can only conclude human life is unsustainable. Like termites we are destroying the Earth.  People don't even notice the crowding.  Cars are the curse of the planet.  Aggressive drivers are like mad men haunting the highways.  Why can't computers spot and catch these nut cases?  Standing in front of the theater where Sylvie performed it was like being on a drag strip.  The piston heads raced down a crowed street with no regard for common sense.  The potential for the death of a lot of innocent people is always there when you combine testosterone and gasoline.  Imagine having 40 million car engines running all the time.  That is just the United States. It is not going to work.

Off to Denver to See Mary Poppins

Tonight Sylvie our wonderful grand daughter will be Mary Poppins.  Sylvie has been practicing, taking voice lessons, and singing lessons.  It will be very exciting to see my little girl perform.  She is a natural actor and has performed Jefferson for us in the living room.  Her current obsession is Greek Mythology.  Her mom and dad will be dealing with a nuclear bomb when the teen years hit.

The Best of Times

It was the best of times it was the worst of times.  I just made that up and really like it.  Looks like it will be a very nice day, crystal clear and warm.  Snow is on the mountains again.  The green is spreading like paint and the poppies are going nuts with their bright yellow.  Below I will post the Coal Mining Blues video.  As an ex coal miner I find the song very nice.  Be sure to listen carefully to the words.  Kadizzle like the part about looking in the mirror.   The coal miner sees the old man he has become.  Kadizzle has the same problem.

Matt Andersen - Coal Mining Blues

Preparing the Ark

Rain has been pouring from heaven in torrents for almost two days.  The Kadizzles may have to make a tour this morning to see the streams flowing.  This much rain in the desert is a sight to behold. Roosevelt  Lake will rise several feet per day if this keeps up.  Once the sun shines the desert should bloom with an explosion. 

Friday we fly to Denver to see Sylvie perform as Mary Poppins.  Sylvie's other grandma will come from North Dakota for the event.  It will be a performance as never before in the family. 

Along with the rain the wind is howling.   The driven rain is sneaking under the door.  Wind is rocking the Earth Module as we burn up the gigabits. making Verizon rich.

A gathering of Eagles

As the day ended friends kept pouring into our camp site.  All friends we met while in our many years of travel.  Best of all our friends have become friends of each other.  We are united as sailors, hikers, bikers, and just plain outdoors people.  Drinking beer, wine, and maybe a mixed drink Darch, John, Emily, Rita, Cliff, Dave, Winkle, Barn, and Jeff all sat in the sun and enjoyed adventures.

Everyone pooled food for dinner and the group had a wonderful dinner in John's deluxe motor home.  Now morning has arrived and the aspiring dirt bag Darch is out there in his truck where he slept. It appears to be another nice day in the desert.  So here we go.

Canadian Ambassador to the Crazy Club

All the way from Canada Darch came to sleep in our little compound. Darch is the Canadian Ambassador to the Hazen Crazy Club.  Darch is way too full of energy.  He runs, rides a mountain bike and is 74.  No one has the energy he does.  The Kadizzles had a great time sailing with Darch west of Vancouver Island.  Hopefully Darch will bring his new trimeran to Hazen this summer.

Megan and Evie

Two of my loves. An artist rendition of Megan and Evie.

Rattlesnakes are out

As we drove up to Oak Flat to put up some trail signs the trail crew encountered the first rattlesnake of the season.  This signals spring or some other change of season.  The Trail Crew works in the brush a lot.  With the snakes active it means you have to be on the lookout.  The grass makes it hard to see a snake.  Fortunately the snakes don't have any desire to strike people.  Strikes are mistakes by both the snake and the hiker. Both are scared and the result can be bad.

How about a little political rant for lack of anything better?  Socialism will be the new buzz word. As usual your typical dinger has no idea exactly what socialism is.  Republicans know socialism might mean the rich have to pay taxes.  Republicans will do everything in their power to demonize socialism. The classic trick will be to compare socialism with dictatorships.  This brings us to Democratic Socialism.  This is a term that really leaves the dingers clueless.  The dingers rely on Fox News to interpret words.  The principles of Democratic Socialism can be written down and spelled out, but that will not happen.  Instead the will be scary talk and deliberate confusion hosted by the right wing nut crowd.

From the Air; Roosevelt Lake and Dam 11-8-14

The Canal Trail

Cliff and Kadizzle busted the canal trail through to the work center.  After a lot of brush clearing you can now follow the old canal along Lake Roosevelt from our camp site clear to the horse camp.  With the gas powered brush saw we made some serious progress. Today Kadizzle may go back and try to get rid of some of the stumps.

Slowly the season is coming to an end.  The Kadizzles will have to soon go to Denver to see Sylvie be the star of Mary Poppins.  Sylvie has been practicing day and night and is very excited about being Mary Poppins.  Three grandparents will fly in just for the performance.  Things have changed.  No one ever flew anywhere to see Old Kadizzle do anything.  Coming from a family of nine that would have been a lot of flying, but then again Kadizzle's grandparents just lived two houses away.

Sitting with Pay Phone

More than once we have taken in hikers from the Arizona Trail.  So here we sit with " Pay Phone", that is the trail name of Mark who is hiking the Arizona Trail.  Mark camped in our camp area as our guest last night.  Rita met him while she was working on the trail and they put him up for one night. Mark speaks with a French accent since his is a French Canadian.  At 29 he is a nice young guy wandering through life. Kadizzle has been giving him a lot of life advice.  Politely he listens.

The big excitement yesterday was the canal hikers coming across a rattlesnake.  It is that time of year when the snakes come out.  Rita, Littlebottom, and Ken decided to walk through a tunnel on the canal.  The rattling of the snake scared Mrs. Kadizzle, but she could not see it in the low light of the tunnel.  She did not know which way to go to avoid the snake.  Fortunately she chose the right direction. Ken saw the rattlesnake.  Apparently Ken realized he had just about stepped on it.  Snake will now be on the list of things to look out for on the trail.

Pay Phone is going back on the trail today, but is worried about the snow he will find farther North.  Pay Phone wants to get to the Grand Canyon.  He may have to stop when he gets to the deep snow.

The Jug

Bob came and slept of the floor for a couple nights as we hiked the area.  Yesterday we hiked down to the Jug. The Jug is a narrow rock canyon.  With the recent rains and snow the water was roaring through the Jug.  It was a sight Kadizzle has always wanted to see.  On the previous day we hike up Tule Trail.  In two days we did about ten miles of hard hiking, so today we will rest.  Bob took off at 3 A.M. to return to Hazen. 

Today looks like it will be a very nice day. Mrs. Kadizzle who cannot be satiated hiking may take off with the trail crew to explore more of the canal.  With the help of the prisoners great progress has been made creating a trail along the canal.  Kadizzle may buzz down there in the ebike today.  Sunday should be a day of rest.  Hope all are doing well.