Landscaping and That Man

Thursday C&C landscaping came out and removed a four year old juniper we stupidly placed too near the house.  It grew a whole lot faster than we thought it would.  The president of the HOA is good at getting grant money to pay for tree removal and thinning of the woods behind us.  This trip he had hoped for more people with trees too close to the house to sign up for removal.  We were the only ones to do so.  We have three evergreens that are too close to the house, but they've been there for 20 years, and the thought of getting them out is more than a body can bear.

The juniper in question.  When we planted it, it was about 3 feet tall, and 18 inches wide.
 

Now it looks like this, the short box wood is the new one.  We recently learned that box woods are used in firescaping because they don't burn quickly.  So, in addition to hardy to -20F, deer won't eat them, they're less flammable.  I have to say, planting it made me very aware of my advancing years.  There was a lot of squatting and standing up.

The woods are looking sad.  Many trees have been put through the chipper, and the whole area is looking bedraggled.  I understand the reason, they're trying to prevent crown fires, but the aftermath is pretty sad.  It will never look good up there.

This is the neighbor's yard.  His yellow plants are always so dang cheerful. 

So, this week in the asylum gave us the following.  

Former Secretary of the Navy Phelan was fired.  47 desires to have a battleship.  These were a big deal in the past.  Lots of big guns, could pummel the shore, wreak havoc.  Now they're known as a drone target.  You can't land planes on them.  They're obsolete.  However, 47 has been watching movies again and he wants one.  He wanted it in two years, Phelan told him it could not be done that fast, and so he was fired.  Think about design, finding a yard, finding enough people to work on it, and etc.  Maybe in S. Korea, but maybe not.

The Assistant Secretary of the Navy is a lunatic.  In this clip he's talking to another religious person about how Monterey CA has become a very dark place.  It's full of Wiccans and witchcraft and we just can't let it spread to Virginia.  One wonders when they start burning women at the stake.  So, yeah, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy is concerned about Wiccans.

This week 47 had the reflecting pool drained.  Now he's having the bottom painted blue with swimming pool paint.  The pool will no longer reflect, instead it will look like a resort pool.  He got no permission from any planning board, he just up and did it.

Last night was the White House Correspondents' Dinner combined with another fake assassination attempt.  Fake, fake, fake, fake.  The guy with the gun was definitely on a different floor in the building, and now there is a question about was he in a different building entirely.  (Update, he was in a different building.)  So, where was the danger?  Thirty minutes after the event, 47 did a press call in which he said this is why we need the ballroom, so events can be safer.  Nope, he just wants a ballroom.  

Iran continues to mess with 47's head.  They are not negotiating. They do not care.  47 painted himself into a corner and now he has no real path to getting out of this.  Meanwhile the rest of the world will be seeing famine and high energy prices. 

In news of the good, a big game hunter wandered into a group of forest elephants and calves while hunting a rare antelope and was promptly trampled to death.  Article is here. 

That's it, that's all I've got. 

 

 

 

Re-entry and the Administration

Well, we're back and pretty much settled in.  There has been much yard work and laundry.  The weeds are here.

The tulip is up again this year.  People in Spokane like tulips a lot, they're everywhere.  This one comes up every year, blooms, and then generally a rabbit will eat the leaves to the ground.

When we arrived this was growing in one of the big pots on the driveway.  Google identifies it as a Prickly Lettuce.  They grow quite large.

I took this on the 18th, with my phone pointed out the kitchen window.  It's a sharper photo than I expected it to be.  That's Venus on the left.

Moss, I think, growing on the boulders in the front yard.  Google can not identify it.

We rode the bikes yesterday, it was a warm, really nice day for it.  We can tell we've been off the bikes for a bit.  Today it was in the 50s and it rained most of the day.  It was good that we went yesterday.  That's the Spokane river.

47 is like a barking mad dog.  Apparently he's going to the Correspondents' Dinner, and plans to have a rage filled speech, and then he'll depart.  He doesn't want to be there for the reporter receiving the Katherine Graham award.  Such a guy.

From twitter I have some things.  The first is from a few days ago, I can't find it again, so I don't have a date.

This morning, Canadian PM Mark Carney sat in a living room, looked into a camera and delivered a message which is summarized thusly: The United States — our neighbor, our largest trading partner, the country whose economy has been braided into ours for the better part of two centuries — is no longer an ally we can count on. They are compromised by a conman. America is breaking, and yes, that special relationship isn’t just over; it’s a liability. The ties that made us strong have become the ties that make us vulnerable because America is a non-functional, malevolent nation.
Posted by The Shallow State 

In a sane administration, the FBI Director doesn’t go on the morning news to prove he’s not a drunk, the Defense Secretary doesn’t quote Tarantino to prove he’s a man of God, and the President doesn’t take multiple cognitive exams to prove he’s not insane.

JoFromJerz

 

From the Daily Adda we learn the following.  Their source is the Wall Street Journal, which is paywalled.  The entire article can be found here.

The crisis began on Good Friday when a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down over Iran and two American airmen went missing behind enemy lines. When Trump received the news, he screamed at aides for hours. The scene inside the West Wing, according to sources, was not one of calm leadership. It was one of a president who had completely lost his grip. 

He was removed from the room.  His screaming was so distracting, they had to take him out.  

I don't know what's happening in the Strait of Hormuz.  Apparently it's not open, and apparently the US and Iran have been shooting at some ships.  Other than that, one just does not know.  As Ron Filipkowski posted, "We are currently in the 3-5 day pause on the 14 day extension of the initial 48 hour hard deadline for the ceasefire."

 

There is news from the candy world.

 So, there you go.

 

Butte to Spokane, Washington

Today's morning had an inauspicious start.  The hotel supplied alarm clock went off a 5 am.  It took forever to get back to sleep.  Then, I forgot to turn on my alarm the night before, so Jim was up rousting me 20 minutes after we were supposed to be up.  We managed to eat the terrible hotel free breakfast and get out fairly quickly, but we weren't done yet.  We have a high zoot Lexus.  What do you think its tire pressure management system provides?  It's an idiot light.  It doesn't tell you which tire, or how low.  The Jeep Renegade we have, which is made by Fiat tells you about each and every tire, and what its pressure is.  So we had the low pressure idiot light.  In the car was a tire inflator, but no tire pressure gauge.  We stopped at a mini mart and wonder of wonders, they sell them.  Jim tested the tire pressure, all four were at 30 pounds.  Our theory is that it was so cold last night it confused the sensors, or the air shrank, or something.  About 15 minutes or so down the road, the light went out and all was good.  

The route takes you across the top of Idaho, the handle, so to speak.  Idaho is digging up much of I90 and replacing it, pretty much across all of it.  There will be new bridges, as well.  There is no signage, but it's probably due to Biden's Build Back Better money.  Idaho is pretty red, so their tongues would catch on fire before they would admit the source of the money.  We're wondering if we should reconsider the Oregon route, because that construction is going to be there and be worse than it is now.

Montana has fabulous skies.

My wonderful husband went down to the local high zoot grocery store, they sell lettuce by the pound (who does that?) and got a frozen pizza and a bag of salad.  I am extremely happy about this.

 

There will be a mass grocery shopping tomorrow.  

Spanish Fork to Butte, Montana

It was a cold and windy drive.  About half the day was a fairly stiff head wind.  Then it switched around to a tail wind.  The wind in both directions was really cold.  It snowed off and on.  It wasn't a lot of snow, and it didn't stick much.  The entire drive was, again, on I15.

Today in Tucson it was 85F and partly cloudy.

Eighteen miles south of Pocatello there is much construction going on.  They've got some very huge cranes.  I think it's bridge replacement.  They're going to be there for awhile.

The clouds in Montana were interesting.  They looked like virga and fog.  Here is the one photo that turned out half way decent.  The cloud, or fog, or what ever it is, touches the ground.  We've been here about an hour, and it's snowing sideways.

Internet is a little slow tonight.  We're at a Hampton Inn and Suites that we always stay at.

Dinner was the Chicken Tika Masala we had on Tuesday.  We like that a lot.

Tomorrow is the last day, Butte to Spokane, which is a short day.  

Bullhead City to Spanish Fork, Utah

Today was a long day, most of it was very windy.  Fortunately it was not a head wind.  The entire drive is on I15.  Traffic getting out of Las Vegas was backed up as it always is.  We did see an accident in which a red car had been pushed up on top of the jersey barrier and was totaled.  Hopefully the people in the car survived.  Traffic behind the accident was backed up for at least five miles.  What a start to the day.

The route took us through the always lovely Virgin River Gorge.  I was driving, so no photos of that.  If you'd like, refer back to this post for photos. 

We are once again at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Spanish Fork.  It's a nice, if somewhat over priced place to stay.  They're doing this with the roll of toilet paper now, which is adorable.

Tomorrow we are up and out for Butte, Montana where it is cold and snowing.  Not looking forward to it.  It's also a long travel day.

Today 47 has issued directions to Hegseth to get a nuclear reactor orbiting the moon before the end of his term.  Right then.  Yep, the directive involves other agencies, but it was directed to the Pentagon, in the form of Hegseth.

This was dinner.  We didn't hate either one, but we didn't like them much, either.

Also when leaving Las Vegas, forego the Flying J at 93 and 40.  Getting out of there and back on the freeway is a confusing bear.  Ten miles south of the Flying J there is a Terribles (that's the name!) gas station that is easy on, easy off.  

Tucson to Bullhead City

Today was Tucson to Bullhead City.  The weather today has just been delightful, in the mid-70s.  The last two days in Tucson had high winds and it was not delightful.  

We're looking for a new route between Bullhead City and Tucson.  We would like to not go through Kingman.  They have significant traffic and frequent accidents.  So today we went I10 to US95 in California and up that way.  As a new route, this is not the one.  Once you get off I10, it's all two lane roads and zero passing lanes.  It's also a truck route.  I drove most of the two lane roads and it's exhausting.  So, please make a note of this, and don't do it again.

This is Picacho Peak.  It's north of Tucson.  It's kind of weird how it just sticks up out of the ground, with no surrounding mountains.

This is how much of the drive looked.  There are some really desolate parts of the state. 

Safeway had the frozen Indian dinners again, so we got those.  I'd like to not eat at Subway on this trip.  Their quality has really declined, and everything is too salty.   Some of the Indian dinners are high in sodium, but these two are not bad.

So, we're back at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites, it's still a nice hotel.  They have raised their prices some.

Update to post:  The chicken curry is good, but it's hot.  If you're a hot food wimp, like I am, it's hot.  I like the chicken Tikka Masala better.