The Path to Nirvana

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Sun popped up again

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

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

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

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

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

The lesser of two evils

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

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

Finbar Furey 'I Remember You Singing This Song'

Either you like it or you don't

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

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

How smart are Plants?

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

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

Cannot resist a rock fight

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

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

Magic Money

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

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

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

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

Moving the forest

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

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

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

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

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

The Trap

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

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

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

You don't belong here

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

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

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

We plant em, the elk eat em

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

Stupidity Blizzard

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

Two Post today

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

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

Winky goes Wild

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

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

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

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

The rock Battle

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

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

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

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

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

A Change in the Season

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

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

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

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

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

Change the Universe

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

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

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

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

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

Kadizzle vs The Rock

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