Mind Boggling

What you can sell people.  Religion is the classic case of fraud.  Getting millions of people to live on the basis of a made up fantasy seems impossible, but it happens.  Donald Trump shows us lying and fantasy in action.  Religion has sold walking on water, virgin birth,  and a host of nonsensical crap.  Trump can contradict his own lies within minutes and people believe it.  Republicans sell trickle down economics and the dolts buy it by the truckload.  What in the hell is wrong with people? Most people who go to the magic show ultimately walk out an know they were fooled.  How do the same people go to a Trump rally and never figure it out?

Now we have a hell of an economic mess and people relying on the mafia to fix it.  This virus insanity is doing so much economic damage. However, anyone who pays attention will quickly see the silver lining.  The lying will show up like a bump on the end of your nose.  The economic falsehoods will also become evident.  The deficit will be shot to hell.  Watching the unwinding will provide a lot of panic and entertainment.  Hopefully the little stooges like Kevin Cramer, Kelly Armstrong, and the gang will melt.

The real test will be the election.  Will people buy one more scoop of stupidity?  Wait and see.  It is a bad sign that we are turning to old white goats for answers.  Who created this mess?  Yup it was old white goats mostly Republicans.   So lets get some more goats to run things?

Up on the mountain

Kadizzle had not been up on the Four Peaks for a few years, but with a huge bucksaw on his shoulder he was headed up the trail.  The mission was to clear the trail of large trees that had fallen across the trail.  You can see for almost a hundred miles in every direction from the peaks.  It was surprising how quickly the old fashioned saw could go through a tree.  Rules and senseless regulations prohibit chainsaws in the Wilderness.  Certainly we want the wilderness to be quiet and peaceful, but sometimes common sense should prevail.

It was a nice day.  Several young people passed us working on the trail.   Talking to them later in the day it was amazing how quickly they sprinted to the very top of the peaks.  It is a very difficult climb and one this old man may never make.

Nested out here in the desert our little group is self isolating.  Hard to find a nicer place to hole up.  In the background Pence is on NPR with his suck up personality talking about the virus.  What a sad man who cannot see what a dolt is Trump is.  Pence is assuring us we can trust Trump.  How stupid can we be?

The Isolated Life

Where do we start? Winky is like a spinning top going into the future and finding some virus problem to worry about.  The Kadizzles sit in one of the most isolated places possible.  We are in an encampment with few people separated by a lot of distance.  We are in a gated community.  Only a few people are allowed in where we are.  Even as isolated as we are Winky can imagine all sorts of ways the magic death can get here.  If the virus can live for several hours then avoiding it is pretty hopeless.

Some good news is the virus has slowed down in China.   Perhaps China is over the hump.  In reality very little in our life will change. Maybe we will not go up to the marina to have dinner.

Maybe some more good news.  This panic will show the fallacies of a lot of systems.  Income inequality will shine out and people will see that no health care,  and not savings affect mostly the poor.  This exercise will show how fragile the existence of so many is.  The Democratic Hoax has already shown all but the most hard core what an idiot Trump is.  Anyone who cannot figure what a liar Trump is by now has a real problem.

Ideally we all are getting smarter and many myths about the world we live in are being destroyed. 

What about trickle down?  If rich people can trickle on poor people and that is how the economy works, then now is the time for trickling.   Trump should demand trickling to start immediately.

How dead can you be?

Forty thousand people get killed by guns, no one cares.   A few people so far have had death by virus.  Solving the gun problem is simple, but not much fun so forget about it.  Now, lets have some virus hysteria.  The virus is a problem, but how does it merit so much attention when other problems are ignored.  If a gun nut goes to school and shoots your kid, you kid is dead.  The virus on the other hand may make your kid sick or enable your kid to give it to grandpa, but it more than likely will not kill your kid.  The virus is going to wake people up to reality.  If people have awakened to the idiocy of Trump we have already won a major victory.

All of this reminds Kadizzle of his all time favorite cartoon.  A man is tied to a post and he is about to be executed.  One of the men assigned to shoot him offers him a cigarette.  The man about to be shot says " No thank you, I am trying to quit'.    This is the state of the United States.

Trumpazootic

Our country is in the midst of an epizootic.  The epizootic is related to the Trumpazootic.  Symptoms of the Trumpazootic are excessive lying, a sense of self aggrandizement,  and the denial of science.  Often the victim also has an extremely greedy self serving personality.

Back to reality.   Kadizzle spent hours with the weed wacker trimming the grass.  The desert is growing as fast as the lake is rising.  Winky and Kadizzle are self isolating.  We have been for six months.  Our biggest danger is the lack of internet service.  Verizon is terrible here.  Sometimes it works in the morning, and late at night.  During the day it is helpless.

This whole mess reminds Kadizzle of a boat.  When you buy a sailboat you think about how the boat will perform in a storm.  Just about any boat will sail, but when the wind blows the game changes.  Seems like an idea for choosing a president.  The storm is testing Trump and the sails are ragged and the the mast has fallen.

Lake is rising

Lake Roosevelt is coming up.  The lake must have risen a foot last night.  At this rate all the boat ramps will be flooded soon.  At last sunshine, but it rained more in the mountains yesterday.  Self isolating is something we deal with everyday here, but the frustration of the internet is driving us crazy.  Verizon is too cheap to put in another tower so we skimp by.  Hat to reset the breaker on Winky she is going nuts because her phone will not work as a hotspot.  The verizon guy was no help.

Cheech says Quinn our new grandchild is a giant.  The poor kid is being accused of looking like grandpa.  Not much happening here at lake wobegon. 

Kadizzles are isolated

If the virus is going to get us, it will have to work hard.  The Kadizzles are far from most people.  We just stocked up on food and should be able to eke out a month.  Kadizzle has even squirreled away some MRE's.  None of this takes into account the food little Joey has stored down in the belly department.  Isolated is the word.  In the desert we sit with other volunteers scattered in this campground.  We even have a gate to keep out unauthorized people.  Who knows.  Few things are foolproof.

The lake here is rising quickly and will soon be over the huge parking area down by the boat ramp. The road to the boat ramp will go under water.  This would be a great time to raft the Salt River.   After being womped by the stock market life takes on a different tone. 

A little good news.  The credit card insurance for rental cars paid off.  They will send a check to cover the bumper scratch in New Zealand.  Always remember you have that coverage with your credit card. 

How about a little rant?  What does it take for the Trump Cult members to see what a liar the man is?  Trump goes on national television and lies.  His own people explain how he lies the next day, yet the cult members just keep following him.  Trump said anyone can get tested. The next day the people who know said there was no way to get people tested.

There goes the sailboat

Old Kadizzle has been thinking about buying a nice big sailboat.  Well the money instead went up in flames with uncle Trumpster and his virus.  Kadizzle has lost in his retirement account way more than what the boat would have cost.  Now it appears an inflatable raft is out of the question.  The loss will be worth the price if it results in the demise of Trump.  The liar was on television last night with his lips moving.  Someone else was operating his mouth to make sure he did not let his brain run it.  However, it did not work.  The market is plunging today.

We are holed up in the desert.  There is probably no better place to be.  We are far from anyone in our little shoebox.  We have enough food for a month.  Perhaps we will have to kill a Javelina and eat it or make some rabbit stew.

The desert becomes the prarie

Walking to the executive suite Kadizzle was amazed by the grass growing in what is supposed to be a desert.  The transformation is unbelievable.  What was hard baked ground that looked like potter is now lush with grass two feet high.  Walking on the grass can be dangerous it may lift you in the air it is growing so fast.  What rain can do to the desert has to be seen to be believed.  If all this grass and vegetation drys like it will the fire hazard will be incredible.  This fall could easily be an inferno.

Angels Wings

You can see them from twenty miles away, the angels wings.   High on the side of a mountain are the tailings from an asbestos mine that went defunct many years ago. The tailings form white wing looking images.  Our band of adventurers all had a trip to the mine on our bucket list.  There is a road to the mine, but it is impossible to drive any vehicle on the boulder strewn road. Kadizzle decided to bike as far as he could on the road. The rest of the crew would walk.  After biking a mile or two even Kadizzle could go no further so he pushed the bike up the boulder strewn road.  The idea was that there may be some good stretches where he could ride. After a great deal of struggle and leaving the bike behind Kadizzle made it to the old mine site.  The rest of the crew got there about the same time.  The view was incredible.  We were five thousand feet higher than the lake where we started our trip.  The mine entered the mountain from a cliff side.  Somehow the miners had carved out a little road to get to the mining area.  Kadizzle went in the old mine to try to see the vein of asbestos.  Maybe a better description would be the layer of asbestos.  It seemed like a lot of work for a layer of asbestos only inches thick.  Back inside the mine it appeared the thickness increased.  Strangely it appeared the miners lived in the front of the mine.  There were old bed frames there.  The price of asbestos must have been very high at the time the mine was active to make such a difficult undertaking worthwhile. It might have been mined around world war two.  Kadizzle will do some googling and get back.

Wow

Set  a new record for losing money.  At 71 Kadizzle lost more today than he ever earned in most years. Having a total idiot for a president has its benefits.  Can you make a bad situation worse, yes.  Trump can poison any situation with lies.  Hopefully all will end well.  Amazing incompetence is all you can say for the old Trumpster. 

Shot out of the saddle

Planning for the future is related to retirement savings.  The stable genius does not give Kadizzle much faith.  The stock market is in free fall this morning, and the Trumpster is lying at a record pace.  Can Trump kill the virus with lies?  Who knows, but the stock market cannot not seem to believe the stable genius.  Kadizzle has to put some dreaming on hold.  No new motorcycle or sailboat.  In a crises what you want is a lying stable genius.  To make matters worse Trump has surrounded himself with idiots that believe him and make up their own fantasies. 

So in the middle of the night Winky decided we will hike up to the Angels Wings.  That is an old asbestos mine at the very top of the mountain.  Kadizzle was not real enthusiastic about the trip, but decided to go as far up the mountain as possible with the electric bike and then hike.  The road up the mountain is impossible even for a jeep.  Should be interesting. Kadizzle rode the bike partially up that route last year.  The brakes got extremely hot coming down with the large lump in the saddle.

I have been to the mountain

As Kadizzle fingers the laptop the ebike is charging. Yesterday the ebike took Kadizzle up the mountain with 11 % of the battery.  This morning another trip up to the cliff dwellings.  Each spring the National Park has a little display and free admittance to the Cliff Dwellings.  Our trail crew sets up a booth to inform people about the hiking and amenities the Tonto National Forest has to offer.   

Cause and effect.  The internet service here was terrible yesterday.  Kadizzle threatened Verizon with a class action lawsuit.  The net is working so much better today.  You just have to put the fear of God in them. If Kadizzle remains this delusional he will become a republican.

Summer seems to be rolling in.  The nights are warm and the rattlesnake reports are rolling in.  Every morning Kadizzle checks the executive suite for a lurking snake.  The board meeting might go a lot quicker with a snake present.

Kadizzle has been fiddling with the canal trail.  One major problem the lake is rising and may come up and flood the trail.  The canal was built as part of the original dam project.  The canal was an amazing accomplishment of human labor.  The canal was dug by hand around 1907.  There were 19 tunnels needed on the 23 mile canal.  It is just hard to imagine the work that went into the ditch.  We are trying to establish a trail along the canal for horses.  Well that is all from Lake Wobegon for now.  Whoops, almost forgot. Kadizzle is going to take on a book " Sapiens".  Honest Omar the book is something you might enjoy, if you have not already read it.

Canadians

The Canadians have poured in to our campsite.  Old friends from Canada gathered last night for evening drinks.  The Canadians claim they have a leader as bad as ours.  We are still waiting for Darch and John to show up.  That would give us a total of six.  Often it seems Canada gets way better use of our parks than Americans. 

Today we go up to the monument or shall Kadizzle say the Cliff Dwellings.  At the monument our trail crew will represent the National Forest Service for the annual free day and exhibit.  This is the day we try to spread the word about all the National Forest has to offer.  It will be a nice day and food trucks will appear to serve the crowd.  There will be flint knapping, reptile displays,  primitive fire building, and many other displays. 

The rattlesnakes are out

Once a couple people say snakes have been spotted life changes.  Going out at night takes on a different feel.  Watch where you step.  Cliff saw a big snake up by his camp.  Snake time is  alert time.

The real snake is in the White House.  Biden will just be the same old same old kissing up to the same gang that keeps the mess going. We need bold, we need different.  Incremental change does not work.  When you are drowning underwater you have to immediately come to the surface.  Coming up slowly an inch at a time does not work.  The peasants are drowning. Read the article in the New York Times about how people with no college education are dying early.  Incremental change hopeless.  In the background the stock market is down eight hundred.  Here goes another day.

Monkey Jumper

Sylvie has been accepted to the Denver School of Arts.  This was her reaction.  Love this little bug that has turned into a big tall bug.  She is an incredible actor, writer, and artist.  Of course Grandpa is not biased.  She is also a stable genius and uses the best words.

No, you can't give me money, and you can't work for free

A Canadian friend wants to work for free for the U.S. Forest Service, but Canadians are not allowed to volunteer.  What?  Somehow the government thinks this takes work away from Americans.  What? Some things you cannot have too much of, volunteers is generally one of the things.  The Forest Service is very fortunate because some very well qualified people offer to help for free.  Kadizzle will attempt to get this mess figured out this morning.  Getting an answer from da goberment is not easy.  The phone people move you to someone else and put you on hold.

Well the Biden news.  Same old, same old.  Are we going to get the same old crap once more from the same establishment democrats.  Yes, nothing is going to change it looks like tweedle dee and tweedle dumber.  Fooling the stupid is just too easy. 

A big empty plane

Who will pay for the gas?  In the Airbus the seats were eight across, but well over half were empty.  Here we are back in the desert.  Thankya Jeusus and Donald Trump.  Wait, I think they are the same.  OK, we are back in nowhere away from the ant colony in Philadelphia.  The new grandson is great and for sure one more genius added to the clan.  Big city life, you can have it.  Cheech said she did not want to be in a shoe box in the desert.  Kadizzle will stay in the shoe box.  Open the door on the shoebox and it is miles of peace and quiet.  The simple minded idiots who have to do the macho driving in big cities need to be rounded up and shoved up Trump's ass.  City folks have lost touch with reality, they think the entire world is paved.  Prices are insane.  Four people have lunch $120?  Tickets to the flower show 49 bucks?  City planning, no such thing, just let the mess expand like a mold.  Interstates are like the root ball of a plant.  Population is out of control and the planet is reaching the limit.  Hard to be optimistic.  Today a dose of sunshine, and maybe a bike ride.

East to West

Back to the west with the gun toting cowboys.  Sunshine, warm air, and silence.  No simple minded dingers driving noise wagons down the street.  Arizona has coyotes.Philadelphia has manly men who drive loud booming cars.  The noise attracts females, or maybe other idiots.  Urban insanity is not Kadizzle's cup of tea.  Thousands of people living in boxes with televisions, glued to computers and cell phones plugged in their ears. 

Airports full of people scrambling like ants.  Planes with rows of vegetables packed for shipping.  Four hours in the air spewing jet fuel into the pollutisphere. 

The Mother of All Flower Shows

Perhaps it is the biggest flower show in the world.  The crew went to the show.  It is a wallet buster. $48 per ticket.  A little high for a flower show, but it was packed with people.  Amazing what can be done with flowers, but a good walk in the forest, or desert would be Kadizzle's choice.  In New Zealand the free flower show in an abandoned rock quarry was a way better show.  The whole idea that people who rarely interact with nature on a large scale can get so excited about tamed plants.  Wild plants in wild places seem a lot more intriguing.

Will the virus rid us of Trump? We can only hope.  Trump's response to the problem has blasted our retirement savings with a major shot. Trump and his gang rejecting science and the truth seem like a bad combo to face any problem.  Can he lie his way out of this one?