Desert Vistas

Beautiful sky and mesa, just east of Red Hill, NM, late afternoon, January 8, 2006.



Left: The same mesa, midday, August 2, 2009. There is less grass in this picture, suggesting that those cows have been out and about in the summer warmth.

Left: On the road, heading to Mesa, AZ, from Payson.

Before Highway 87 (the Bumble Bee Highway) rises over the Mazatzal Mtns. from the Tonto Basin, it goes over a spur of the mountain range. In the early 80's (about 1981), when the road was narrower, I got into trouble right here, on the descent of this spur. I tried to pass a semi-truck trailer in my 1970 VW Bug just as the road began its steep descent. The semi wouldn't let me complete passing as we both accelerated downhill, and so I traveled a mile praying that there wasn't any oncoming traffic.

Semis scare me....

Left: The Big Maria Mtns., just north of Blythe, CA.

Even in the desert, all mountains sport vegetation, but the mountains in the Lower Colorado River Valley have so little vegetation that they begin to approximate the ideal of perfect lunar barrenness.

Left: The Big Maria Mtns., Lower Colorado River Valley, CA.

Left: A dust devil lazily spins away the afternoon, hardly travelling at all, but staying essentially in one place, at Dry Lake, in the Eldorado Valley, just south of Boulder City, NV.

Left: A hillside of Joshua Trees, just north of Lida Junction, NV, on the south-facing slopes of the Goldfield Hills.

The northernmost extent of Joshua Trees along Highway 95 lies between the north-facing slopes of the Goldfield Hills and the south-facing slopes of the San Antonio Mountains, where Tonopah is located.

I find it mysterious that the Joshua Tree demarcation lies between these two ranges of hills. There is no reason I can divine why Joshua Trees, the signature species of the Lower Mojave desert, couldn't spread farther north. Maybe it's a dynamic boundary, and perhaps the only reason Joshua Trees haven't spread farther north is that they just haven't had time to do so yet.

Left: Brock Mountain, San Antonio Mountains, just SW of Tonopah, NV.

Left: The wave-cut benches left behind by the high-water mark of now-vanished, ice-age Lake Lahontan are particularly noticeable in the Wassuck Range just northwest of Walker Lake, NV. The wave-cut bench here is the pale horizontal feature just below the picture's middle.

Here, gullies from the hills drape steep alluvial fans over the wave-cut bench. Apparently, sediment-bearing water from the gullies abruptly ran into the calm water of the ancient lake and swiftly dropped its sediment. Now that the lake has vanished, the gully water is now digging into and eroding away the alluvial fans they laid down in a wetter era.

Left: Wilson Canyon, West Fork of the Walker River, Singatse Range, near Smith, NV.

This is a very pleasant place. The big mystery is why a canyon like this is here in the first place. It's rare that a river chooses to cut right through a mountain range. Perhaps the river predates the mountains and the land is rising swiftly as the river tries to maintain its status quo.

High Noon At Blythe

Left: The Colorado River at the I-10 bridge.

Misreading The Danger

Stayed overnight at my customary Phoenix motor hotel destination (Holiday Inn Express, I-10 & Chandler).

Preparing to take a shower this morning, I decided to put the rubber bath mat outside the tub, since the bathroom floor seemed so slippery.

Mistake. Once wet, the tub's bottom was infinitely more slippery than the bathroom floor. I fell, and smacked my cheekbone against the soapdish. I sensibly finished my shower sitting down.

Ow. May as well look at the bright side. A bit of rouge has always suited me well.....

Time to leave Phoenix, and head for Vegas! No dangers there, no sir!

Dinner At Hotel Midnight

Left: Deborah and James hold Sitamun The Cat.

Great spinach salad! Wonderful Magnolia Martinis carefully crafted to exacting specifications!


Left: Numerous small paintings that Deborah has been working on.

Triple Junction

(draft)

Left: Three police jurisdictions (City of Mesa, Salt River Indian Reservation, and Maricopa County) meet at this triple junction, where the Bumble Bee Highway becomes Mesa's Country Club Blvd. In the early 80's, a postal carrier was kidnapped at gunpoint at this location, and police response was delayed because of the jurisdictional confusion. My Uncle Marc and Aunt Millie were passing by, witnessed the kidnapping and did a brave thing - they gave pursuit. The kidnappers lost my pursuing relatives in orange groves and ultimately killed the postal carrier, so perhaps it was a good thing my relatives couldn't keep up. Nevertheless, their bravery in the face of danger was favorably mentioned in local media.

Forest Problems On The Mogollon Rim

Left: Ragged-looking ponderosa pine forest on the fire-scarred Mogollon Rim.


Left: Forest fire plume located just west of Heber, AZ, on August 1st.


Left: Politicized billboard blaming environmentalists for the forest problems there. There's blame for everyone, though.


Boy, the forest really looks beat up on the Rim these days! So many people up there at the height of summer, dry as hell too, and ripped up by fires (particularly the colossal June 2002 fire that permanently scarred the area).

The ponderosa pine forests of the Rim and northern Arizona suffer from a strange constitutional defect. Bare soil (resulting from extensive 19th-Century cattle grazing), combined with perfect moisture and temperature conditions in the spring of 1919 meant that every seed dispersed from every dropping pine cone that bountiful year managed to sprout and grow into a tree. But each tree faced fierce competition from all the neighboring seedlings. The result is clusters of tiny, 90-year-old spindly trees everywhere in the forests that serve as perfect kindling for fires. The area cries out for these clusters to be thinned, but its back-breaking work that will never, ever be profitable. Billions of tons of trees need to be ground into chips! Now!

Truth is, better forest management is something that partisan politics is very ill-equipped to address. Conservatives would prefer to finance tree-thinning operations by allowing logging of the bigger trees. That completely defeats the purpose of better forest management. Liberals would prefer to avoid tree-thinning altogether rather than allow logging of the bigger trees. The resulting fuel build-up is a menace to the forest, however, defeating the purpose of better forest management. What is needed is the surgical removal of billions of tons of dead trees and tree limbs, cost be damned. But will that be done?

I look around the Rim and think not.

Sigh. It may be that extensive ponderosa pine forest is ultimately incompatible with modern civilization.

Filling The Coffers Of Socorro County

Left: I've only seen the image of Mary Magdalene once on this mountain, and have never seen it again. Do you see it?


I stopped in Magdalena to look around....



There is a very opinionated fellow in Magdalena who posted a sign on a crumbling adobe wall which I photographed in 2006.

The wall is gone now, but two newer signs have appeared nearby:





















There was a very heavy police presence in Magdalena. They seemed to be pulling everyone aside for speeding violations - including yours truly. The joker said I was going 44 in a 30 mph zone. That is preposterous - I had just pulled onto the roadway from a stop and didn't have enough time to accelerate that fast. But unless I want to contest the charge in Socorro County Court, I will have to pay the $86 fine.

As I was driving away, I saw another sign: "Congress Is A Toxic Asset". I would have photographed it, but rattled as I was by the police presence, I just let it be.

Passing Through Socorro

Left: The Capitol Bar

Left: The Student Union (or whatever they call it) at New Mexico Tech

Left: "M" Mountain

Left: I thought this was mildly amusing

Left: Not sure about this....

Dinner At Sadie's

Left: Dinner at Sadie's (left to right; Marc Valdez, Dr. Cynthia A. Valdez, M.D., Michelle Valdez, and Anthony Valdez).

On Friday evening, my cousins Cynthia (and Joseph) and Anthony took both my sister Michelle and I out to dinner at Sadie's Restaurant. Interestingly, through the Farris family, both Cynthia and Anthony are related to the founders of Sadie's, and since we are related to my cousins, we are related too!

What's New Today? (II)

Well, let's see....

Once again, I watched half an hour of Maury Povich, and a full hour of Jerry Springer today. My tastes are corrupted - I no longer feel soiled, but revel in the dirt.

I jogged along Second Street past Paseo del Norte, and past Ortega Rd. as well, all the way to the bend in the ditch. I could see Alameda Road in the distance, but will not reach there before my return.

The dead mammal is still rotting away on the ditchbank where I run. It smells less than yesterday. The ants are making short work of the poor creature.

A new woman assistant came to bathe my Dad today. For once, he liked it - she's a pleasant person. We had yet another meeting with George the Nurse (I never, ever want to die - there are just way, way too many meetings to sit through if you go that route).

Tonight, my sister and I will dine with my cousins Cynthia and Anthony. I haven't seen Anthony in a long time. I'd like to ask how he got such a great head of hair - easily, the best in the family!

Tomorrow, Phoenix!

The Whigs Are Back

For some reason, New Mexico will be a testing ground for that newest of old political parties, the Whigs. I'm not sure why this is. The Whigs are apparently supposed to be a middle ground between the Republicans and the Democrats, and apparently we need them, despite the fact the Democrats keep trying to occupy the middle by ditching the liberal left. Is the Whig movement a fragment of Perotism from the early 90's? Beats me. But the more, the merrier, I say.

Ruben Navarrete's Take On The Gates Affair

I really liked Navarrete's opinion. I hope the beer went well:

It has been two weeks since his arrest by Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley, and Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. still needs an attitude adjustment.

That’s what my father’s generation of old-school law enforcement officers was known to provide now and then when someone mouthed off, or lobbed insults or challenged their authority. Today, folks on the job refer to this sort of thing as “contempt of cop.” It’s not illegal, but it’s also not a smart thing to do if you have an aversion to handcuffs and steel bars, since there are plenty of other things for which you can be arrested.

Just ask Gates, who was written up for “loud and tumultuous behavior” at his house.
What needs adjusting isn’t Gates’ attitude toward law enforcement; that’s between
him and the police. The real problem is his presumptuous attitude toward the rest of us. The professor needs to stop calling what happened to him a “teaching moment.” We’re not his students. More importantly, we’re not the ones who let our ego get the best of us and went ballistic over a simple and harmless request to provide identification.

...The only person who needs to learn a lesson from all this is Gates, and the syllabus for that course should include a few lines about the proper way to interact with police officers. I’m surprised that, with all the knowledge that Gates has acquired on the way to becoming one of the nation’s most renowned public intellectuals, he never learned how to talk to a police officer — and, more importantly, how not to talk to one.

...Besides, this incident wasn’t about racial profiling — a concept that Crowley is well acquainted with since, for five years, he has taught police academy recruits how to avoid it. What this incident was really about was Crowley trying to control a situation that was quickly getting out of control.

That point seems lost on President Barack Obama, who said that the Cambridge police had “acted stupidly” only to walk back on that statement a couple of days later.

...Obama tried to make peace with Crowley by inviting him — and Gates — to the White House for a beer. It’s a nice gesture. It’s not every day that a cop on the beat gets an offer like that. But what concerns me is that Obama also said that he sees this incident as a “teachable moment.”

Oh dear. Just what does the president think is the lesson from all this, and who does he think needs to learn it?

As Crowley enters the premises of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., he should be careful. I hope he doesn’t find himself cast as racially insensitive or on the wrong end of a lecture about how to do police work by those who have never had to do it.
After all, nothing ruins a good beer like the taste of condescension.

"Gamer" Trailer

"Gamer" , starring Gerard Butler, is coming out this fall! The movie was filmed (to the extent that special-effects-heavy movies are ever 'filmed') right in the heart of downtown Albuquerque at the end of 2007. I'm looking forward to seeing the bus with the blown-out tires, which I fondly remember from ambling around the set a year-and-a-half ago.

What's New Today?

Well, let's see....

I watched half an hour of Maury Povich, and a full hour of Jerry Springer today. I am fully entertained, but feel soiled. I hope three or four hours of watching judge shows will make me feel righteous again.

I jogged along Second Street to the other side of Paseo del Norte today. I'd like to run all the way to Alameda Road, but my house arrest will likely end before I develop that endurance. We'll see what I can do tomorrow.

There is a dead mammal rotting away on the ditchbank where I run. The ants have stripped the skull already. I wonder why there aren't any crows gathered like there'd be if this happened in Sacramento. I'm not sure if the dead animal is a raccoon or some kind of muskrat, but it has a luxurious banded tail.

Unforecast thunderstorms continue to plow into the Albuquerque metro area. These really aren't the typical monsoon storms, but seem triggered by waves passing along the trough over the Plains. The ridge along the west coast has been stuck for days, and it's hot there, but at least it's raining here. Still, when will the monsoon really start?

One more full day of this.....

My Father Felt A Bit Better Today

Turning Into A NM TV Crank

I'm perturbed by the bad TV Weather forecasts available here in ABQ. They are always talking about fronts coming through that I know don't exist from directions that aren't right, and their forecasts generally ignore the possibility of thunderstorms popping up on their own, like the unforecast one just outside the window right now.

Bad weatherman service means bad weatherman reputation. It should not be allowed.

And the TV anchors are generally Hispanicized Anglos trying desperately to correctly pronounce Spanish words. The result is that every anchor has their own idiosyncratic pronunciation of Spanish words. Marla Tellez, for example has her own unique pronunciation of 'Santa Fe', with the first 'a' sounding stunted, so it almost sounds like 'Sinta Fe'.

Lack of uniformity confuses the young. It should not be allowed.

And why is 'South Park' on so late? Is there no justice?

The Excitement Continues

Good grief, this gets tedious! And it's just the start!

The most exciting thing that happened today was that an ant stung me on my peeny (ow....)

One of the few advantages of this break so far is that I've been able to work on jogging. At first, it was quite hard, since I normally don't jog in Sacramento, and we're nearly 5,000 feet above sea level here, but since my dad has precisely the same schedule every day, I've been able to get out every morning at precisely the same time for a jog up Second Street. At first I could make it up to only Los Ranchos Rd. or so, but today I reached Paseo del Norte before turning back. This training at altitude will serve me well when I return to Sacramento.

Hummingbirds zip up and down the drainage ditch that runs along Second Street. Quite nice! Today, ditch water levels were low, and so lots of Greater Tail Grackels were out looking for insects on the mud flats, with an occasional wading bird from the river too. I disrupted their bird breakfast with my jogging ways (I like making the dogs bark too). There are plenty of doves and pigeons too.

I will leave Albuquerque on Saturday and head to Phoenix to see what Deborah, James, and Doug are up to. I hope to pass through Vegas again on the return trip, making Sacramento probably on Monday evening.

Doctor's Orders

One of my Dad's doctors is apparently a real sweetheart, with a pronounced stutter. Upon listening to his belly with a stethoscope, she told him something like this:

I know you have gas, because I can hear it, and I know you are a nice man and all, but you have to f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-fart!

As always, we will do our best to comply with doctor's orders.

Tick Tock

Let's see, what's new?

..............

I saw some hummingbirds this morning.

I now make grilled cheese sandwiches (I've made four of them now....)

..............

That is all!

Feature On Jennifer Sanchez

Here is a nice feature regarding New Mexican Jennifer Sanchez (currently on Broadway):

Jennifer Sanchez knows her big break has an ironic side. Sanchez, a Valley High School graduate, is making her Broadway debut this summer, performing in a glitzy, nationally publicized production of "West Side Story." She plays a Puerto Rican immigrant named Rosalia, who is featured prominently in the musical number "America."

In it Rosalia longs to return to Puerto Rico and provides lyrical counterpoints when her fellow immigrants praise their adopted country. When one sings "Everything free in America," Rosalia responds "For a small fee in America."

Ironic? Yes, because Jennifer Sanchez's story could hardly be more American.

Growing up in a military family and pursuing Empire State-size dreams, Sanchez has zig-zagged all over the United States. She's also persevered through teenage pregnancy, single motherhood and tight finances while chasing a career on the stage.

A Family Visit

Left: Here are some of my family. Standing, left to right, nephew Aaron Christopher Browning, and second cousin Joseph Ramon Valdez. Seated, left to right, sister Michelle Browning, father Marcial Valdez, and cousin Dr. Cynthia Anne Valdez, M.D.

Albuquerque On A Friday Evening

Left: I told my nephew, "Quick, take a photo of that plate!" The plate is some kind of New Mexico Tech vanity plate, featuring a photo of Socorro's "M" Mountain.

Left: This former hospital (Railroad Memorial Hospital?) on Central Avenue at I-25, is being renovated into a hotel, Hotel Parq Central. It is also the location where my father's father passed away in 1940.

Left: A fancy new Italian restaurant with outdoor seating dominates the Nob Hill shopping center (Albuquerque's oldest shopping center).

Left: The Nob Hill neighborhood gentrifies and improves. Here is the sidewalk in front on my newest favorite spot, Ecco Espresso and Gelato.

Left: Some things still remain the same in the Nob Hill neighborhood. The Disco Display House is still going strong!

Left: Old Town's San Felipe de Neri Church at dusk.

Martineztown Tour

Left: Bruce Warren's residence, in Martineztown.


My sister relieved me on Friday evening, so I decided to ring up Bruce and see what he was doing for the evening. When he didn't answer, I just drove to his house.

Heading over there, a very fat mosquito blew through my car's driver's side window, and landed on my arm. When I tried to brush it off, it burst, and suddenly I was smeared with blood. I don't know whose blood it was - bird, human, dog, cat, or horse. I only know that if I come down with West Nile/Bubonic Plague/AIDS/Ebola, at least I have an excuse.

Bruce lives in this nice old house in Martineztown, a neighborhood that, despite its central location, I never had familiarity with, even when I lived here.


Left: A Martineztown landmark: Luis Jimenez' Pieta Suroeste (Southwestern Pieta).

Left: Life was made more exciting in the neighborhood recently when the TV series "Breaking Bad", filmed on location in Albuquerque, featured this Martineztown house just a few doors from where Bruce lives.

Cuff The Professor

Time to wade into this controversy between the Cambridge Mass. Police Department and Harvard Professor Henry Gates, Jr.

Gates has characterized this kerfuffle as racial profiling. Even President Obama accepted Gates' argument.

Nevertheless, it's important to remember that Gates isn't just a Harvard Professor (the highest paid professors in the country work at Harvard) but a Tenured, Celebrity Harvard Professor (seen regularly on PBS!) Thus, Gates isn't just a professor, but a 100% USDA Grade Professorial A-Hole. The fellow isn't accustomed to explaining himself to anyone, and certainly not in his own home, much less to a Cambridge cop.

This squabble isn't about race, but about class.....

Now, given the turf, the Cambridge cops are a pretty tony lot. Nevertheless, on the class scale, they are way, way below Harvard Celebrity Professors. Given the burglary call, the cop had good reason to grill Gates, even in his own home - maybe others were in the home unbeknownst to Gates.

The cop and the Professor seem to disagree whether Gates adequately demonstrated that he was in his own home. Whatever. The charge was Disorderly Conduct, and Gates apparently was disorderly. The charge has apparently been dropped. Too bad. Someone needs to puncture Gates' bubble.

Obama characterized the Cambridge Mass. police department as 'stupid'. I don't think so! Look in the mirror, Mr. President!

More Mobile Home Fun

Last night, we watched Will Smith's "Seven Pounds" on DVD. A much better movie than I expected at first. An interesting ending! And Rosario Dawson is the best!

Endless television: Judge Alex, Judge Karen, Judge Joe Brown, and, of course, Judge Judy. These shows are ever-popular!

My current, completely-inert lifestyle is driving me bonkers. The lack of exercise, in particular, is killing me. So, I've started jogging in the morning, when my Dad is taking Nap #1. I jog right next to a truck terminal just as the morning deliveries are going out, so the air is choked with soot, but at least it's a change from complete inactivity.

Simple activities, like cleaning the toilet, or washing the windows, are welcome departures from the daily tedium, and thus highly-welcome.

Some characters featured on Albuquerque TV commercials are STILL here, 30 years after I left town. Ambulance-chasing lawyer Ron Bell still has his schtick (although he seems focused on the lucrative Social Security benefits appeals process these days). As do a slew of other lawyers.

In this recession, everyone is confused about how to focus their educations to remain economically-viable. As OMB Chair Orszag recently explained on Charlie Rose, unemployment is considerably higher than they expected - roughly 2% higher than they consider reasonable. That is probably because the economy as a whole is over-staffed. Excepting the loss of consumers, the economy could probably function fine with just 1 out of 4 people currently employed retaining their jobs. Improvements in computer technology are just aggravating this trend.

Society's confusion bleeds onto TV. Vocational education advertising seems obsessed with health care, one of the few sectors that seems to be growing. Oh, the opportunities in health insurance pharmaceutical coding! Remember, the Baby Boom generation will start retiring in two years, and we'll soon be just like Japan is now! In ten years, half of America will be inserting suppositories into the other half. We'll still have a budget deficit, though, because we still won't be exporting anything. Even our suppositories will come from India. And it's hard to export services: I'm sure Europeans won't need our help in that department.

My Dad's shower is set up for himself, so I shower, when I can, at my sister's place. I haven't been able to get over there very often, though, so instead of showering every day, I now shower every three days, or so.

Interestingly, this chronic fungal-type infection I have, which I affectionately call crotch rot, has improved the less I shower. Maybe it's not really a fungal infection at all, but some kind of skin allergy. Whatever. This cleanliness thing appears to be over-emphasized in American society.

I think I will stop showering entirely. Because that is the healthy alternative!

Preparing For The Mission

Everyday features meetings of one sort or another regarding my Dad's health: spiritual support, oxygen supplies, and medical support. It's almost like he is going aloft on the Space Shuttle, or something.

My Dad's appetite has increased, but only after significant weight loss: from 135 to 122. Hopefully we can stabilize that loss. He currently has about 20 meds, some used several times a day. That list is increasing to about 30.

Life Confined To An Albuquerque Mobile Home

Hum-dee-dum. Dum-dee-hum......... Gonna be a warm day today! Hope we get some rain!

Watched two movies on DVD: "Paul Blart: Mall Cop", and "The Wrestler" Good movies! Paul Blart, especially, is iconic.

Read (and reread) the latest issue of 'Vanity Fair', the one with the Sarah Palin, Harvard endowment, and AIG profiles, plus the 1930's photoshoot including Greta Gerwig. Nice!

Oh God, is Judge Judy on again? Drew Carey looks a little unsteady on 'The Price Is Right'. KOB TV's 24/7 weather channel features some of the worst, most-indistinct weather graphics ever. And the commercials are filled with a variety of drugs, and a variety of lawyers. Has all of America become incontinent and hard-of-hearing these days, or is it the elderly audience alone that watches free TV?

Bruce Warren In Albuquerque

Left: Bruce Warren at Albuquerque's Frontier Restaurant.


Bruce and I ate enchiladas and talked, among other things, about how bad free television reception has become since the digital converter boxes became mandatory.

Out Of Hospital, Dad Slowly Improves

When I first saw dad on Saturday morning, he looked very, very tired (you don't get much sleep in the hospital, ever), but after several good nights of sleep, he looks a little better. He is now resuming his normal schedule, which is highly-regimented and programmed by the ever-expanding list of medications he is taking around the clock.

As luck has it, the tumors have first hit areas and organs that do not yield pain, so he as comfortable as anyone with stomach cancer, COPD, and emphysema can be - for now. That will change, however, and likely soon. Right now, I'm providing important support, allowing 24/7 attendance for now, while my sisters cobble together a way to provide attendance 24/7 when I leave. I'm sure they don't want me to return to Sacramento, but I've got responsibilities there too, and plan to return in a week-and-a-half. I just hope we can get close to 24/7 by then. If it's troublesome, I anticipate lots of airline trips to ABQ in the near-future.

Hector, the robust fellow who mows the lawn, came over today. He was happy to see my father, and when informed of the cancer, blew all that aside in favor of the power of faith and prayer. Nice guy: I like his confidence!

My Dad Didn't Quite Hear....

Dad, it's hospice, not hostage!

Quiet Saturday

With my arrival, my sisters, who had been living on adrenaline all week, could get some much needed rest.

Went to visit my dad. Hospice staff came over to start the enrollment process.

Watched TV, did laundry, took naps, helped my dad.....

Dad looks better than I had expected. A quiet night's sleep after a hectic, sleepless week in the hospital sure helps!

Assessing The Trouble In Albuquerque

At 12:30 a.m. on Saturday, I arrived at my sister's place. Interestingly, she was already outside in the driveway, relaxing after a tough day by watching the thunderstorm roll in. Driving up, I waved and said, "Good to see you! I'm heading back to California!" She laughed and welcomed me in.

She explained the events of the week:

• On Tuesday, they had taken my dad to the hospital after stomach bleeding was noted;
• On Wednesday, masses located near the stomach had been detected;
• By Thursday, stomach cancer (adenocarcinoma) was strongly suspected; and
• On Friday, results of the biopsy were in. The diagnosis: Stage 4 metastatic adenocarcinoma, in the stomach and several other locations.

All of this on top of the long-existing, life-threatening COPD and emphysema.

Mr. Valdez, may I introduce to you the Grim Reaper; Mr. Reaper, Mr. Valdez.

There had also been a real interesting confrontation between the VA medical doctors and the staff of a hospice that had been recommended to us for final care.

The doctors felt the cancer was beyond surgery's power to help, but radiation might help as a palliative - not as a cure, but able to slow the cancer's advance. The hospice staff viewed radiation as part of a continuing effort to cure the cancer and not as a palliative effort. They did not want to enroll my father under those circumstances: all hope must be surrendered to enter hospice.

The VA doctors reacted with white-hot indignation and fury to the aspersions about radiation's purpose. Their job was to make certain that all veterans, including my father, get the best care possible, and they would not tolerate any hospice questioning their judgment about what constituted palliative care. Ultimately, hospice staff backed down.

It was heartening to see what doctors do when challenged. They fight like mad dogs! They gouge! They rip!

Go East Young Man!

Left: The Roadkill Cafe, in Seligman, AZ.

Left: Heading east on I-40, near Meteor Crater.

Smoky Flagstaff

The trough off the CA coast has kept the monsoon in NM, away from AZ, and the results are forest fires in the Williams/ Flagstaff area.

Dang It, It's Still Under Construction!

Left: The Hoover Dam bypass road, still under construction.

Quick Las Vegas Evening

Left: View of Tropicana and I-15, from my room.

Left: The Las Vegas Strip at night.

Left: Medieval props never die, they just fade away.



Left: Welcoming staff at Studio 54.


I drove into Las Vegas from the NW, on Highway 95, about 11 p.m. I had no plans where to stay, but I remembered where the Excalibur registration desk was located (having stayed there last October), so I went there first. There was a long line there. Terrible. What would the charge be?

They offered a room for $66.00 I was stunned by the low price.

And the room turned out to be a 3-room suite: enormous bed, enormous bathtub, shower, couches, a bar, 2 sinks and 2 toilets. What am I going to do with 2 toilets? Same as I would do with one toilet, I presume. Grandiose beyond belief! Too bad I would be here for just 11 hours!

I had to squeeze days worth of debauchery into two hours, three hours tops, so I headed over to the MGM Grand.

The music was unappealing at Studio 54, so I played blackjack instead for an hour (loss: $120). Returning to Studio 54, the music had much improved, so I danced, danced, danced! A few strange things there.... Flailing my arms, as is my custom, I accidentally gave a guy a slap on the behind. Well, I hope he was flattered. A break dancer spun on his head - amazing! How do they do that?

At the MGM Grand they had signs for a birthday party to be held at the Tabu UltraLounge, for Natalie Martinez. I wonder who she is? A microcelebrity wannabe, maybe? Maybe I should do the same and rent out Tabu?

I got five hours of sleep, tops. Sightseeing helicopters woke me up. The day would be blazing hot!

After an oil change at the East Tropicana Jiffy Lube, I quickly hurried over and got stuck in the Hoover Dam traffic jam. Nothing like idling in a hot tin can perched on the side of a stuffy desolate desert canyon on the hottest afternoon of the year so far!

A McDonalds In Crisis

The Tonopah sunset was approaching, so I stopped at McDonalds for a bite to eat.

I was struck at first by the absence of customers, and then the smudged windows. Odd. Inside, it was blazing hot: a broken air conditioner and the absence of blinds had turned the the glass box building into an oven. Propped-open doors barely helped. The bathroom was non-functional too. This clearly was a McDonalds in crisis.

Food was nevertheless being served, by a small, stressed staff. The clerk misentered my $20 as $10 into the cash register. He was very worried that his till would be off, but his superiors assured him repeatedly that, as long as he gave me the proper change, everything would still be OK.

I wonder what happened here? The location is good - comparatively lots of traffic, and it's located near the high school. But something was amiss....

Reminds me of a standoff I once witnessed at a Las Vegas McDonalds, located in the basement of a Strip casino (since replaced), about 1986. There had been a labor shortage that year, and everyone on the graveyard shift was mentally-challenged, with the exception of the manager. A show had just ended, and a wave of demanding, rude customers began hurling abuse at the slow service. Wounded, the staff rebelled, and refused to give service. There was nearly a riot! I saluted the rebellious staff!

Here. who knows?

[Update here]

Yerington In Summer

Generally, the few times I've passed through here, it's been in winter. It's nice to see the hay fields of Lyon County at the height of summer.

(more)

Hawthorne Ordnance Museum

Hawthorne, NV, is home to an army base focused on the development and use of high-tech munitions. The Hawthorne Ordnance Museum, located in town, features wonderfully-presented mockups of the sorts of munitions I've read about since childhood.

I missed business hours, so I had to be content with taking pictures outside.

Museum boosters sell engraved bricks to raise funds to support the museum, much in the manner that other non-profit organizations do. Nevertheless, it's strange. Here, you can buy bricks to memorialize weaponry that can pulverize other bricks into oblivion.

Juvenile South Lake Tahoe Bird

The gray bird landed on the surface of the hot parking lot and started fluttering its wings. What was it doing? Looking at its reflection in the hubcaps? Looking for food?

I tossed some bread crumbs its way, but it didn't react: it just continued fluttering.

Instead, a black bird the same size strode over, picked up a crumb, chewed it up, and offered it to the gray bird, who eagerly accepted the offer. Ah, the gray bird was a juvenile! Almost looked like a different species!