One Day More...: December 2017

Saturday, December 30, 2017

On The Top Of My List

We had a great time in "downtown" Yuma today. Kudos to Yuma for preserving the history of this part of the city.

One of the highlights for me is the amazing buildings that have been renovated. As I detailed in a post in February, the art deco San Carlos Hotel is a jewel. For more photos from that post click (here).

The original downtown (Old Town) is filled with merchants, wonderful old buildings and architecture.

We also enjoyed the Art Center and appreciated their positive approach to maintaining the arts as a vibrant part of the community.

We had lunch at the Prison Hill Brewery. I had a couple of beers there in February and especially enjoyed the Imperial Stout. They didn't have any brewed this time, however I did try a similar stout. At 13.9% alcohol it was as potent as the Imperial Stout.

The original downtown Yuma is a testament of how historical sections and niche businesses in communities can coexist with urban shopping centers. It is on the top of my list anytime we come back to Yuma.

Just one day more...

Don't Have To Be Anywhere

We had a busy day yesterday, starting off with the Yuma Swap Meet. Only about a two-thirds of the vendors were open, however we managed to walk around for a couple of hours. Likely there will be more vendors open today and Sunday.

After the swap meet we decided to take the advice of George and try Lin's Chinese Buffet for lunch. George is right - what an unbelievable amount of food and we certainly didn't need supper after that feast.

After we finished lunch we noticed this 1985 Mercedes 380 SL in the parking lot. Since I had several 1985 Mercedes 300D diesels I just had to take a look. It seemed to be in original condition and well cared for. The 380 SL is a two seater with a removable top and, while a little finicky to maintain as they get older, they are a fun ride.

After we left Lin's we decided we seriously needed to walk off our huge lunch, so we headed for the Arizona Marketplace. Lots of stuff and we did pick up a couple things for the RV.

We've missed the happy hours back at the park because by the time we head back to Pilot Knob from town we always get hung up in the horribly long line of vehicles backed up waiting to get through the two lanes of the California checkpoint. Two lanes of traffic have to funnel into one lane long before the checkpoint due to road construction and I'm not sure what the idea is since they wave everyone through. In the time we have been here no one has been working in the construction area. No doubt when it is finished it will be better, however for now it turns into a long bottleneck.

We're planning to go to Old Town Yuma today, so no doubt we'll get stuck in the California bottleneck again this afternoon on the way back to Pilot Knob. Good thing we don't have to be anywhere.

Just one day more....

Thursday, December 28, 2017

A Nap Might Be In Order

It was interrupted sleep last night resulting from the trip to the dentist in Algodones.

Prepping my tooth for the new crown was what seemed like a lot of grinding. Since this was my first crown - hopefully the last - I didn’t know what to expect. And, as luck would have it, I didn’t think about any resulting pain and forgot to bring any aspirin along. I did find a single use packet of Tylenol in the pickup, so that helped some. However, by bedtime the dull pain came back and kept me awake most of the night. A real wimp, eh? (I don't know how you did it last year Croft!)

After we left Algodones we headed straight for the Pilot Knob RV park. We’ve decided to stay for a week so we can explore Yuma. After we got the truck camper set up we “crashed” George & Suzie’s happy hour (Our Awesome Travels). We had met George & Suzi a couple of years back in St. David, AZ and at a Quartzsite blogger fest.

We also met their friends Bill and Patsy (Chillin’ with Patsy). It is always interesting to meet other RV’ers and share stories. Since both couples are from Canada our discussion included how glad we all are to be away from the cold and snow up north.

Today I go back to Algodones to have the permanent crown put on. That shouldn’t take as long as yesterday and I should be back to Pilot Knob by early afternoon. Since my sleep was restless last night, I feel an afternoon nap today might be in order.

Just one day more…

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Headed To Algodones

We're headed to Yuma tomorrow. I have a dental appointment in Algodones. This will be a first for me, however based on the number of reviews I have read I'm not at all concerned.

I have an old filling that cannot be replaced and needs a crown. The cost at home is $1100, which my dental insurance doesn't cover. The cost in Algodones is $360, so it is a no brainer since we are close to the border.

Generally, the work can be done in a couple of days, however this is the busy season for them. It may take longer, so we will be taking the truck camper if we have to stay longer. Boondocking may not be feasible since the holding tanks in the truck camper are so small and with two people they fill up fast. So, we are considering staying at the Pilot Knob RV park - that is if they allow truck campers. Some parks don't. If I'm told the crown won't be ready until next week, then we'll have to consider our options.

Just one day more...

Monday, December 25, 2017

Christmas Brothers aka Grandsons

Just one day more...

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Holiday Wish

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Christmas Giveaway To The Rich

Here’s the short of the long of the GOP tax bill. It is essentially a huge tax cut for the rich and corporations, which will add $1.46 trillion to the national debt, and a flash in the pan token for everyone else.

• The tax bill lowers the top tax rate for top earners

Under current law, the highest rate is 39.6 percent for married couples earning over $470,700. The GOP bill would drop that to 37 percent and raise the threshold at which that top rate kicks in, to $500,000 for individuals and $600,000 for married couples. This amounts to a significant tax break for the very wealthy, a departure from repeated claims by Trump and his top officials that the bill would not benefit the rich.

• It is also a massive permanent tax cut for corporations

Starting on Jan. 1, 2018, big businesses' tax rate would fall from 35 percent to just 21 percent, the largest one-time rate cut in U.S. history for the nation's largest companies - a $1 trillion tax cut for businesses over the next decade. A permanent cut.

• The middle class will see a short-lived tax cut

The final plan lowers the tax rates for each income level and nearly doubles the standard deduction. The result is that the vast majority of Americans will see their tax bills drop next year. Trump is fond of saying the "typical" family will save $2,000, but the reality is the amount will vary greatly depending up the size, location and circumstances of each family. But all of the individual tax cuts are scheduled to go away after 2025. Republicans opted to make tax cuts for families temporary and reductions for businesses permanent.

• Chipping away at the ACA in the tax bill

Individual health insurance mandate goes away in 2019: Beginning in 2019, Americans would no longer be required by law to buy health insurance (or pay a penalty if they don't). The Congressional Budget Office projects the change will increase insurance premiums and lead to 13 million fewer Americans with insurance in a decade.

A GOP Christmas giveaway to the rich.

Just one day more...

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Sandy Hook Times Five

Today is the FIFTH anniversary of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. One would have thought that the deaths of 20 children and 6 teachers and staff would shock Congress into passing realistic gun regulations.

The memory of Sandy Hook has long faded in Congress and instead of passing reasonable gun regulations, they go about passing more NRA sponsored laws. Most recently The House approved a bill that would ease legal restrictions for carrying concealed firearms across state lines – a move pushed by the National Rifle Association.

Every time there is a mass shooting in this country, the NRA regurgitates the same crap about how more guns would be safer - "a good guy with a guy"... blah, blah, blah; when in the real world a study out of Stanford Law School analyzed crime data from 1977 to 2014 and found that areas with more relaxed “right-to-carry” gun laws saw higher rates of violent crime.

Gun nuts are strutting around flaunting "open carry." Shootings of innocents with assault weapons continues. All the while Congress does nothing but suck up to the crazies at the NRA.

Nothing came from hearings in Congress after Sandy Hook and nothing ever will, except more laws adding to the proliferation of guns. There aren’t words strong enough to describe how worthless this Congress is. After all, not even the killing of 20 children and 6 educators persuaded Congress to act.

FIVE years and still nothing.

Just one day more...

Monday, December 11, 2017

A Special Place In Hell. Again.

A few posts back I commented in a post with the same title about scammers sending phishing emails and how they deserve a special place in hell.

Today I got a notice from Discover that someone had charged an unauthorized amount to my card.

Within 10 minutes I called Discover and they immediately canceled my card. I will not be responsible for the charge and they are going to FedEx a new card. I've been with Discover Card since 1986 and they have always been responsive.

Unfortunately, since the card that was hacked and had to be canceled, I had to go into the various accounts that are set up for recurring monthly payments and switch to another card.

I don't know who AIRBNB is and have never done business with them. Maybe someone hacked their business, but whomever did this there has to be a special place in hell for them, along with all other hackers.

Just one day more...

Saturday, December 9, 2017

Little To Do With Snakes

One of the activities at the RV park we stay at in the winter is ATV rides, as represented in the photo below.

This morning our neighbor asked if we wanted to go out on a ride, which ended up being a group of five ATV's. One couple has been in the park for a little over a week, with plans to stay the rest of the month. Today is the first time we met them.

As we were introduced I noticed he had pistol strapped to his waist. My reaction was, "who the hell are you going to shoot with that?" He responded something about it was for snakes. Snakes?! In the five years we have stayed at this park, with numerous ATV rides in the desert, we have never seen a snake. Likely because it is winter.

My wife and I both find it uncomfortable when someone is walking around with a gun. Our response is to go the other way. This was an unnecessary sign of arrogance (or perhaps a phallic symbol) that has little to do with snakes.

Just one day more...

Thursday, December 7, 2017

Long Forgotten

The House approved a bill on Wednesday that would ease legal restrictions for carrying concealed firearms across state lines – a move pushed by the National Rifle Association that comes just weeks after mass shootings in Las Vegas and Texas.

On a mostly party-line vote, the measure easily passed, 231-198, although 14 Republicans voted no. Six Democrats voted for the so-called reciprocity measure, which would allow a gun owner with the proper permit in any state to carry a concealed firearm to another state where it is also legal. (NPR)

So, it's always "too soon" after a mass shooting to consider meaningful gun regulation legislation, but the GOP controlled House of Representatives has no problem pushing through another NRA paid for bill. No doubt the Senate will do the same bidding of the NRA.

Connecticut Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D), who represents Newtown, Conn. - where 20 first graders and six teachers were killed in a mass shooting in 2012 - said, "it's unspeakable that this is Congess' response to the worst gun tragedies in American history."

That's right House members, you passed a gun proliferation bill just one week before the Newtown shooting fifth year anniversary. I guess Sandy Hook is long forgotten by you.

Just one day more...

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Assault On Our Monuments And Parks

In reducing two national monuments by a total of two million acres this week, President Donald Trump pleased small government and business proponents in Utah — but touched off what promises to be a furious court fight over whether he overstepped his presidential authority.

His opponents include many of the country's most powerful environmental groups and five Native American tribes.

Trump's unprecedented action Monday sharply reduced, reconfigured and renamed the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in southern Utah. A total of 3.25 million acres that had been protected by monument status were reduced to a total of 1.23 million acres.

Opponents, however, said the reduction would open sandstone canyons, red rock monoliths, sacred Native American lands and forested highlands to incursions by oil and gas drillers, coal and uranium miners and to a flood of off road vehicles. (NBC News)

It just grates on not-my-president Trump anything that President Obama accomplished and his vindictive slashing of our national parks and monuments out of spite is harmful to our country's heritage and history.

Hopefully the lawsuits brought by conservation organizations and Native tribes will stop this assault on our national parks and monuments.

Just one day more...

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Speaking Of National Monuments...

Trump to visit Utah on Monday to announce his plans to

shrink Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments

President Trump will travel to Utah on Monday to lay out his plans to cut the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments.

Democratic presidents established the two national monuments in southern Utah under the 1906 Antiquities Act. Barack Obama last December established Bears Ears, a 1.35-million-acre expanse that is home to tens of thousands of ancestral Pueblo archaeological sites, while Bill Clinton designated the nearly 1.9-million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante in 1996.

The president will reduce Bears Ears by more than 1 million acres, Interior officials have informed multiple individuals who spoke on the condition of anonymity. (Washington Post)

The travesty of not-my-president Trump slashing our historical national monuments and parks has begun.

Instead of recognizing the need to preserve these historical sites for everyone, this moron* has instead bowed to the developers and commercial interests. Can anyone stop this lunacy?

Just one day more...

* according to Sec of State Tillerson

Edit: Okay RV'ers, do we - do YOU - give a damn? Do you appreciate our national parks and monuments? It's time to contact your congressional representatives and tell them to stop this assault on our history and national parks.

More than 5,000 people rallied on the steps of the Utah State Capitol on Saturday afternoon to protest U.S. President Donald Trump’s expected shrinking of two national monument areas in the state.

Trump is expected to visit Utah on Monday and announce cutting the size of Bears Ears National Monument and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, where drilling and mining are banned.

Bears Ears is planned to be cut by 85 percent to 201,397 acres (81,503 hectares) and Grand-Escalante to be halved to 997,490 acres (403,670 hectares), the Washington Post reported, citing administration documents.

Trump has argued previous administrations abused their right to designate monuments under the Antiquities Act of 1906 and put millions of acres, mainly in western states, off limits to drilling, mining, logging and ranching.

Friday, December 1, 2017

Joshua Tree National Monument

We got back yesterday from our two day stay in the Joshua Tree National Monument Park.

As I've commented in the past, our national parks and monuments are testament to the wisdom and foresight of previous presidents who set aside these lands for us to enjoy. We camped in the truck camper and spent one day touring the park.

Every time we visit a national park or monument I can't help but think of how on April 26th, not-my-president Trump signed an executive order to eliminate or shrink our national parks and monuments and would open them up to commercial development.

Joshua Tree National Monument is a good example of why they must be preserved.

Just one day more...