Where's Orca? Pet Orca and she might wake up and
follow your mouse around.
 Steven wrote:
> How did you come to live where you live ?
> Your friends advised or did you find friends secondary
to finding the place ?
Good question, good topic. Simple answer: I stumbled onto
this town of Tonopah about 1998. Thanks for the topic.
The longer storey is buried in all these letters from then
and now: "We must either choose the wisdom residing
within human nature or contort our natural selves to fit a
corrupt moral authority." —R.Downey
in The Moralist
"What is the use of being a boy if you grow up to become a
man, what is the
use?"
—Gertrude Stein
So I more or less decided to not grow up and ran away
instead.
26-27 September—Monsoon Strikes Back
PHX got inches of rain and hail, flooded streets, floating
cars, Tonopah receivedonly a trace of rain. Next day was a
Big Weather Day here. All manner of storm/flood/wind
warnings. Inches of rain and one-inch hail forecast. Radar
showed nasty-angry red blobs headed right for Tonopah so I
disconnected all power and antennas and closed windows, ran
on battery power for the duration. But the usual course of
events prevailed and the intensity faded. We received only
0.07" of rain and hardly any wind at all.
September 30 Keeping Me In Stitches—Nose Job
My nose had a duel with a scalpel; it was a draw. X marks
the spot now. Mohs removal of skin cancer. Click on
the stitches for a gory detail.
 Clocks Revisited—Add One
Eight Day Wind? Chimes on the hour. Roaming
Numerals. Now there are 30 clocks... at least.
The Cat In A Hat Learning to TEXT
ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
or [^._.^]ﾉ
or ₍˄·͈༝·͈˄₎ﾉ
or (=ↀωↀ=)
Discussions With A Large Language Model
Correspondent Steven (a genuine Human—trust me) has been
“chatting” with an AI named Gemini over the past few
weeks. He typically baits Gemini with certain keywords
and then poses a problem or situation to which the AI
responds within the framework of the keywords. In this
instance Steven set up the AI to speak in the mode of an
arrogant cantankerous Victorian Darwinist on a bad day, who
dispenses disdain along with casual contempt for the topic
at hand. In this mood, prompted with just the phrase
"smartphones" Gemini said:
The Smartphone: A Case Study in Tragic Necessity
“The smartphone is not a luxury; it's a cruel necessity
that exists only to solve problems—most of which it either
created or exaggerated":
| Necessity |
Disdainful Reality |
The Snob's Contempt |
Communication |
It is required to maintain the
bare minimum of social and economic
cohesion. Without it, one is immediately
relegated to the pre-modern status of the
"uncontactable peasant". |
The incessant chirping proves that
humanity has lost the ability to schedule its
affairs with dignified forethought, requiring
constant, interruptive, low-value
micro-coordination. |
Navigation |
It solves the pathetic human defect
of poor innate spatial memory. It is a
digital crutch necessitated by the general failure
to retain simple cartographic data. |
The dependence on GPS proves the
masses are incapable of the noble art of getting
deliberately and thoughtfully lost—a pursuit
essential for true self-discovery. |
Entertainment |
It provides an endless stream of low-stakes
distraction—a continuous, low- level flow of
dopamine to prevent the user from confronting the
terrifying, high-stakes void of their own
thoughts. |
It is the ultimate device for the fear
of silence. Its constant illumination is a
frantic, pathetic gesture against the inevitable
darkness of the Heat Death of the Universe. |
Work |
It turns every minute of one's day
into a potential unit of productivity,
erasing the civilized boundaries between
professional and private life. |
It is a glorified digital leash
that allows the system (Moloch*) to demand constant,
immediate sacrifice of spare time, ensuring
that all one has left is time left—which is
then also polluted by pings. |
*Mo-loch (moh'lok, mol'uhk) n.
1. Also, <Molech.> a deity who was
propitiated by the sacrificial burning
of children. II Kings 23: 10, Jer. 32: 35.
251006 Poll Worker Training Complete 
With this certificate I will be empowered to tell (and
perhaps even help?) voters where to stuff their ballots.
October Nine No Longer In Stitches
Back to being my usual dour Self. Well, maybe not quite that
bad.
October 19 Monsoon Really Over Now
The past few days the morning temperature outside The Cat
Drag’d Inn has been in the low 50s and my furnace has
turned on. I am obliged to keep my shirt on to go for
a Cat Walk.
Food pantry yesterday. This is the monthly outdoor
drive-thru affair where the big truck from Saint Mary's
Food Bank delivers six to ten pallets of stuff and we
divide the product into bags and boxes to load into client's
cars as they drive through the line. Four to five hours,
100-150 cars, some days we have lots of volunteer help--kids
from the Middle School working for Social Studies credit,
people doing court ordered community service, and always a
core group of caring adults.
20th October One Down Eight To Go?
F2F Poll Worker Training yesterday. Now I am fully
qualified to assist and instruct voters as to where to stuff
their ballots. Returning from training at 16 o’clock
to change togs and shift tasks I saw Orca run across the
drive as I drove in. That was her last
appearance. Already we have a routine. Usually she
comes in when I call before sunset for supper. She under the
table, me on the table. No Orca this time. I
wandered around the yard calling Heeer
kitty-kitty-kitty-Orca-kitty-kitty... No Orca.
After my supper and an hour of Roadshow I went out again
looking under vehicles, in trash barrels, fed Paul’s
critters, calling
kitty-kitty-kitty-Orca-kitty-kitty... No Orca. Finally went
to bed thinking all sorts of evil thoughts about the big
dogs and other carnivores in the yard and dreamt all manner
disturbing dreams. Up an hour later to wander a
different part of the yard. Paul’s cat Linda came in
with a small mouse to let go in my bed so I was up an hour
later to help catch that. Another hour later I
remember one place I’d not checked was under New Shed
where momma rattler has been seen with a clutch of
snakelets. No Orca.
Oh-Dark-30 and something is clawing my leg. I claw my
way up from another dream where I am tending a cat with a
torn ear and find Orca! You’re ten hours AWOL! Where
have you been? —Out. What did you do? —Came in.
She went on for half an hour pacing to and fro, looking out
windows, checking under here and there, before she settled
down to letting me pet her and purring in return.
23 October—This Would Be Saint George’s Day If We
Were In April
This morning with the eyedoc was full of surprises and I
still don't know what my total copay/out of pocket will be.
I guess they don't tell you that until after you are
sedated. Now scheduled for cataract surgery in November and
December providing I can find a Responsible Adult to drive
me to and fro.
 251029 Orca PBS Big Cats
Orca likes watching mountain lions on PBS. This time
she started out sitting back with me and the sack of
popcorn. Then as the yowling and action increased she move
closer to the telly, finally standing on her hind legs and
pawing at the screen, following the action as momma lion
took down an elk and her cubs ran about. When the
lions ran off camera Orca dashed around behind the telly.
Halloween—Yes, Voting Is Like That
No grigs here. This is a No Kid Zone. Not a one
of them kid things lives within a mile or two and we all
know kids cannot walk—or are not allowed to—and only travel
by car or school bus. This Last Day of October was also the
first day of voting in some parts of Maricopa County.
No candidates in contest, only Bonds and Budgets. I served
as Marshall at one polling place and as such am privileged
to proclaim “Hear Ye Hear Ye The Polls Are Now Open!”
Monday was a relaxing day at the polling place. I made
seven zipper fobs and knitted one of my Haiku Towels in
between the two voters we had that day. Tuesday, the
real voting day, we entertained 457 voters. They come in
waves so we were quite busy at times tending to them.
A Twist of Oliver
How many olives did Oliver eat? Those olives were tasty; I
shouldn't have eaten all of them.
A Day Of Weal?
My church is the road. Road of the Weal. Whether going or
coming, collecting donations from my flock or sharing the
bread with others, praying to see me through, the road is my
Way.
Finished Grieving for Hurricane Hazel-Rah
The cat who lived with me was called Hurricane
Hazel-Rah. As a kitten she was named after that
hurricane of 1954; you can guess why.
She prefured music of the early days of wireless
broadcasting as well as Cat Stevens, The Alley Cats Doo-Wop,
Aristocats, Duetto buffo di due gatti (Humorous Duet for Two
Cats), and of course the musical "Cats". Her hero was
Busterfur Jones In White Spats, who is of course the father
of Puss in Boots. But she was the only one with a Ham Radio
call, me0w, and her own email and webpage.
HRH HHR was most at home on 40 meters where her favourite
mode of operation is CW (Cat-Whisker sending &
receiving), this XYK has worked all the lower 48 states
during her 12 years of hamming it up on the road in The
Cat Drag'd Inn. For portable operation her tail
doubled as a quarter-wave vertical antenna for the 440mHz
UHF band. Her Ham call sign was me0w which will be
adopted by Ostensible Orca.
Thirty-eight correspondents helped me through this, a few
wrote more than one letter of support. Thank you all
very much; this has been an interesting journey. After
Hazel perished I laid her out on a flet we have a ways up an
old power pole in the yard. Mostly pork rib bones and
chicken legs are put there to share with the ravens. A
few days later all that remained of Hurricane Hazel-Rah
was the last four inches of her tail which I will keep along
with other treasures ensconced in the archives of The
Cat Drag’d Inn (along with the many rolls of obsolete
pennies) for someone to find when they clean up after me.
11-11
Once upon a long ago on this date Sara(h) La Gata
went to the Vet for her Annual Checkup. She weighed in at 11
pounds 11 ounces and appended 11-11 to her name, shortly
followed by Tacocat.
ajo18a_ComingAndGoingSara(h)08.jpg
Today Orca and Linda walked with me on my Morning
Constitutional. Yesterday on our peregrination Linda
was showing Orca how to climb trees, today Orca
soloed. Back in the yard Orca brought in a
sparrow--perhaps she is looking to learn how to fly?
251119 December Rain Early
I'm always working on some laptop or another. There are two
stowed in the port closet (one is for poll working the other
is Nagrivator Standby), three are in the store room (dead
storage), a nice fairly new HP on the galley forward
seat (latest effort for developing a replacement for the
desktop I'm writing this on), a Lenovo on the table beside
me (Win7 primary), a Dell in the Ham Shack (Win7 Secondary
and ISS SSTV receiver), another Dell stowed on the driver
seat (Win7 tertiary and primary Nagrivator) and then there
is my tablet but I'm not sure what that is good for.
Some of these are from an estate I cleaned up, some are
donations to the Food Bank Thrift Store but are unsaleable
because they are too old to run Win11 and of course everyone
just must have the latest and greatest Win11.
Took some time off from road side cleanup yesterday and went
for a walk with friends and on the drive home collected
seven tyre carcasses from along that roadside.
Raining now this Tuesday morning. I don't know how much is
in the rain gauge outside but there is 1.09" (Flood Warning
posted by NOAA) in the leak-catcher under the head's roof
vent.
Friday 21 November
Today when I went in on Baseline at 0800 to my doctor visit
the Hassyampa River crossing there was dry. On my return by
the same route at 1100 that crossing was flowing fast and
nearly a foot deep. Some cars were driving through. I
turned around and found my way north to i10. The crossing
there looked dry. Parts of the Hassyampa flow underground.
Thanksgiving, The Day After, The Day Before
Returning from first post-op visit. The cataract
surgery Tuesday on my right eye went well. Took about
12 hours for fireworks and vertigo to smooth out and the
double vision to meld into one.
But Mike rang me from hospital (did I mention that he’d had
a stroke?) suggesting he just might maybe almost be ready to
be released and I was all ready feeling pressed for time
what with the need to get back to Tonopah to wash pots at
the community Thanks Giving dinner. So I did neither and
just went home for lunch.
Eye is great. Wenzday post-op evaluation: 20/20 and
everything is so bright and shiny and new. Worst is that
this new lens shows up just how bad my "good" eye is.
Surgery to fix that eye is scheduled for 9th December.
Pot-washing at the Community Dinner is a fun
adventure. Along with roadside trash collecting this
is one of the things I do best. Mindful Zen exercise.
Thanks Giving with extended family. Eat Well, Eat Often.
Small Bowl, No Seconds!
After Dinner—After Dishes
Ate Well, Ate Often. Small Bowl, No Seconds but lots of
firsts, including desert! Well! That's over for another
year. In other news we had a different sort of
adventure. My other friend Mike who spends 3/7 of his time
in dialysis had a crisis of sorts. Two of them.
A few days ago he had a stroke—minor perhaps—but he ended up
in hospital for a few days and if anything was released too
early on wenzday. Thursday noon he called me again, this
time with one of those "I've fallen and I can't get up"
situations, like in the TV commercials. He called me instead
of 9-1-1 for who knows why, he ended up in the ambulance
anyhow some six hours later, but that chapter is another
storey.
He lives about 12 miles away from me at the end of a mile
and a half of washboard. Usually I send a "good night" via
text message when I go to bed at 21 o'clock and sometimes I
see his reply when I wake to pee or later in the morning.
This time there was no reply. After I was up and ambulatory
Friday morning I texted him again. No reply. I called, no
answer. I called again, no answer.
When I'd left him the day before, Thursday, he was sitting
on the floor, I had got him that far, sitting on the floor
amidst his clothing. I had got him that far and could stay
no longer. The day was now after sunset, I needed to take my
meds and eye wash, and I'm not at all that happy about
driving at night right now. He was either going to sit there
all night, call another friend—Robert—for further
assistance, or call 9-1-1.
I called again. Still no answer. I called Robert, no answer.
So I drove over there again. Half expecting to find Mike
asleep on the floor, or worse. I found him not there. No
clothes, no Mike; the door was unlocked, his car was there.
Then a neighbour called across the fence to say the
ambulance was there sometime during the night. So! Mike must
be in hospital, but which one, and why does he not answer
his phone?
So I called Paul, another person in this group of sort of
extended family. Paul suggested that maybe Mike didn't have
his phone, that perhaps he'd been carried away without, that
I should call Mike's number whilst I'm there and listen for
the ring. So I called Mike's number. All I could hear was a
cat: Meow... Meow... Meow... Hung up, looked around for a
starving cat. Mike often fed as many as several cats in the
yard there. No cat. Called Mike's number again. Meow...
Meow... Meow... Then I remembered... Mike's phone Meows for
a ringtone. Eventually I found his cargo-kilt and shirt and
jacket rolled in a ball next to the day's trash bag between
his front door and his car. I wonder what he was wearing
when the EMTs carried him away... Later we learned
which hospital he was in and Paul delivered the bundle of
essential belongings.
"And what cats have to tell
on each return from hell
is this: that dying is what the living do,
that dying is what the loving do,
and that dead dogs are those who do not know
that dying is what, to live, each has to do."
― Alastair Reid
The Ants Go Marching
Remember that campfire song?
The Eyes Have It
Second eye surgery went well. Interesting that I was awake
more for this one tho the doctor says I was awake for the
last one as well but the anesthesia drugs interfere with
one's memory more the first time and less the second time.
The eye is working. We'll see how well at the post op later
today.
HH Arrived In The Mail
So "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" (not to mention
Hanukkah & Kwanzaa...) have been reduced to
"HH"... Next thing you know the entire last week of
the year will be reduced to a Monday Holiday.
Actually that's not such a bad idea. If we had five
6-day weeks for 12 months that would leave six days for
YuleTide party-party-party and a much simpler calendar.
>
> Haven't heard from you in a while and thought to
just check in...
Thank you for checking on me. I have been thinking of
you as well and about to write. That time of the year
again for Post Office Box Rent.
A multitude of events have been happening with/to me over
the past few months. Back in August or so I was
dealing with Vehicle Titles at the registry and a sign on
the wall exhorting customers to update their driver's
license to a Travel ID resulted in my having, for the first
time in 60-some years of driving, a restriction on my
license: Corrective Lenses. Well that set in motion wheels
grinding away that resulted in: For the first time in since
forever I now have body parts replaced. Cataract surgery
over the past three weeks returned my eyes to 20/20 status
so next week I will have the Corrective Lenses restriction
removed.
That and a few other points of interest have led me to some
further earth shaking choices. I have for a year of so
been intending to redo my will and estate and that in turn
has led me to reevaluate my so-called "Intent To Return" to
residency in NH. This Post Office Box Renewal has put
me over the edge. Center Conway 03813-0144 wants
$188.00 for renewal.
What was the annual cost when we started with those boxes?
What—50 years ago?—25$? I can no longer justify this expense
for a service that I use at best once or twice a year. So I
will not renew Box 144. I'll mail them the key next
week.
Pending this that and the multitude of other things I am
saving up to drive The Cat Drag'd Inn to Fryeburg
next Summer for a rally of my primary Residence Vehicle
club. Things being as they are getting to be, could be
the last time. Maudlin? Poignant? Besides, I need to
harvest a new batch
of Balsam Fir Weather Sticks.
Fireplace In The Desert
33.287877,-113.013801 location of the chimney. What is this
fireplace
doing here in the desert? What became of the cabin this
fireplace once heated?
 Yule Branch
Shopping for high speed wood bits and my traditional Yule
Branch. Always an interesting storey when I tell the tree
sales person that I have no room for an entire tree—not to
mention no pocket for the 50$ price tag—all I want is a
branch. Usually that one which you're going to trim and
throw away.
Food Pantry Yesterday.
Warm enough and lots of yummyness. What to do with a jug
o—very expensive i'm sure—StōK Cold Brew Coffee? Pounds of
Uncooked Ground Chicken? Factor Meals (yucky—I tried a few).
One pallet (1000#) of various tinned product: pasta, tuna,
olive oi,l sliced carrot,s cut green beans, pinto beans...
A Blessed...
Advent and Epiphany for you, who/whom when where-ever you
may be.
Boxing Day & Cleaning Up After Day
A nice busy day of continuing the past few days of
adventures with a recalcitrant computer. Took some time off
from that to work on a Massey-Ferguson antique
loader-tractor and succeeded in making that problem worse.
Batting near zero. Then went to supper with several
neighbour friends down the street. Sitting around the fire
after eating, with my feet up on the edge of the fire pit
and my sandal soles smoking, spotted something glinting on
the ground. A lens from glasses? Mine? Oh dear! What a day!
Nature by Numbers
Fibonacci
A four minute movie. Thanks to Pitzl for the link.
Keeping Track Of Time
“The first public clock was installed in 1924 at the Pier
Hotel at Main Street and Atlantic Avenue. The newspaper
hailed it as a “great convenience to visitors and
citizens.”The New Year was ushered in at the stroke of
midnight, a time closely monitored by many partygoers
anxious for a very noisy start.Time-telling devices are
everywhere this year with the advent of the electronic age.
There’s no shortage of clocks these days, a far cry from
1924.By 1935, the timepiece had pooped out. A newspaper
columnist told it this way: “Because 10,000 tourists won’t
get a stiff neck looking at the Pier Hotel clock. (they’ll
soon learn that it’s always stuck at 4:10).By 1936, a
coquina clock tower rose up on the nearby Boardwalk, a
55-foot structure with a unique feature. The face of the
clock didn’t carry the conventional numbers, but spelled out
DAYTONA BEACH.The clock tower was a project of the Works
Progress Administration.---Stay curious with our monthly
‘Did You Know?’ spotlight—where we share interesting and
obscure facts about Daytona Beach’s rich history."
"Halifax Historical Museum News Letter--KEEPING TRACK OF
TIME" (Thanks Trish)
Longer Takes The Longer Gets
> Welp........ Interesting word that "Welp"
whelp (hwelp, welp) n., v. <whelped, whelp-ing>
n. 1. the young of [certain mammals including the human]
2. youth, esp. brat.
v.t.
3. to give birth to (young). --Random House Websters
I have added: 4. The term ‘welp’
is thought to be a variant of the word ‘well.’ It is often
accompanied by the sentiment of ‘well, that’s that’ or ‘what
can you do?’ Its usage has been documented since at least
the early 2000s...
I remember my Venerable Mother using welp in senses 2 and
4—sometime both senses in one instance—as far back as the
late 40s early 50s concerning me and or my siblings in
matters of "just you wait until your father gets home!"
Another Delay
Don came in for tea and mentioned he could smell propane.
I've been catching a whiff of that odor but every time I get
close to sniffing the smell is gone. Today I got out my
bubble bath and did some serious looking. Found the
regulator blowing bubbles around the crimped part where the
indicator is at the top. I've had two regulators before this
one fail in that same place. Tomorrow I will be out spending
the big bucks.
Wind up to 35mph SW this afternoon. 0.30" in both my gauges.
Small (0.1") Hail never amounted to enough to cover the
ground.
Another Q Quits The Quorum - KD7TKQ SK
Mike Schrody,
KD7TKQ, passed away of cardiac arrest in hospital at 0128
this Friday 16 january 2026.
My friend Mike in hospital passed away yesterday. Quarter
past one in the morning I was rudely awakened by a jangling
oblong. The nurse in ER said he's carded [cardiac arrest
—ed], we're pounding on his chest, he's been without a pulse
for 12 minutes, do you want us to continue? I said that's a
hell of a question to be asking someone you just woke up at
one o'clock in the morning. The doctor came on the phone and
said your name is on his paper as next of kin, notify in
case of emergency, we need some help here, we need you to
tell us if we should continue.
I thought of all Mike had been through in the past few
weeks, years even-- skin cancer, kidney failure, stroke,
rectal cancer, colostomy bag....
Told the doctor let him be. Let him go. The doctor repeated
my words and asked me to confirm. 01:28 Mike died.
So goes the passing of another friend. The older I get the
more dead people I know.
So now I have another mess to clean up.
Already The Second Sunday of Febter
Church of Chores today: Prelude, Dishes; Opening Prayer,
Clean the LitterBox; Sermon, Vacuum the Floor; Collection,
Polish Silver; Postlude, Cup of Tea... I'm just getting
started and already I'm tired. I believe I am having a
Denial of Service Attack.
Warmer today, 20 Febter, up to 45f now.
Yesterday was a tale of woe. Two of my gas log heaters
failed to start yesterday with the temperature outside at
38f. I got them working before frostbite set in but that set
the tone for what was to come.
TinyTruck has been off her feed the past few days so I
started out to do a load test on the battery. Poor. Not
failed but enough down that I should replace. That battery
was installed in 2010!
Finally on the road and got a mile or so out when I
remembered I was supposed to make a phone call. Phone not in
my pocket. U-turned to fetch phone and got stuck off the
pavement. First car by offered a tow but I didn't have a tow
strap so he drove four miles to a truck stop to buy one and
returned to pull TinyTruck out of the sand. Refused my offer
to buy the tow strap, gave to me instead and admonished: Pay
It Forward. So I gave him one of my Zipper Fobs: I
make these for people who help me on my Way.
On to the garage and Mike's place for one last—I hope—time.
Cleaned out the last food cupboard. Mostly boxes of various
exotic teas and a jar of honey. With a little help from my
friends we have been over the past few weeks cleaning out
Mike's house-yard-storage. Three pickup loads of stuff
to the Thrift Store, two loads in the dump trailer to the
Transfer Station, and there is yet all Mike's Ham Radio
equipment to inventory for sale. Later in the afternoon I
modified one heater to get around the failure. Today I will
see about the other one before shit happens again.
Want any tea?
|
2025 Winter Solstice And Then Some — Greetings Virtual Travellers and Pen
Friends: 
251029 Orca PBS Big Cats 
