Moving Progress Made

It might not look like we are making progress with our moving plans but the past few days things have been pretty busy and we have locked into dates where things are going to happen. Just like when I moved out here, everything is falling into place when it needs to happen. No hangups or conflicts. I am down to just waiting for the end of April to show up before my next thing on the 'to do' list.

More Changes

Like some other times when there have been gaps in my blog posts, although I have not been a daily blogger for some time ... things are either happening or brewing in the background. In this case both have been pretty active and some no fault of mine. So A WARNING here, for me to tell all the stories this will be or could be a pretty long blog post. Not sure where I will start?? How about with the shortest story first??

Times Are Changing

Since our last post a lot of things are changing, here and nationwide. Obviously the blog theme or template has changed, the puppies are changing by getting bigger and possibly easier to live with. Henry is really giving me a run for my money ... funny funny basset hound and very mischievous. Walter has passed the 1 year mark and still considers himself the leader of the pack. Here are a few other things that have changed since I last posted -- gas prices, cost of groceries, warnings on where I can ride or hike, number of cars, different kind of cars, unbelievable decisions in DC, new residents, new houses, hot hot hot real estate market, and a lot of thinking.

The Hounds Enjoy Their Weekend

First of all I hope all the blog readers that experienced tornado weather yesterday that moved through the south made out okay without any kind of damage. We had nothing like that yesterday but woke up this morning to signs of heavy rain last night while we slept. These first few pictures are from an exciting Saturday ... as you will see the hounds didn't do anything different from any other day.

Stella and I had a good Saturday morning walk. I planned on posting just one blog post Saturday later in the day, thinking I would get some activity from Heidi. That did not prove to be a correct assumption. She didn't do much, didn't want to do much and following her lead ... Stella and I ended up not doing too much on Saturday either, with great weather outside.

With a weather forecast of rain most of next week I was going to mow the yard while it was dry. In some spots the grass was tall enough to mow but I knew if I waited another two to three days after the rains, then it would be too tall to mow with a lot of excess grass lying around. After seeing some water standing in the field this morning and my neighbor's culvert I was happy I mowed yesterday.

Like I said, Heidi didn't do much yesterday. Did that short burst of sprinting and getting airborne on Friday afternoon take that much out of her? She spent a little time outside after her lunch but wasn't interested in anything else besides sleeping the rest of the day. She had to get ready to watch the Reds game at 7pm. I decided to spend the day reading books.

Stella felt the same way. Took a look around, then turned to head back inside. She was in her afternoon siesta mode within minutes of stepping inside the house.

I never heard rain last night while I slept. I did close all the windows though because the temps were going to drop to the low 40's during the night. This is always a sign that it has rained a lot. The water comes from under the edge of the shed wall, yet when I sit a level on that carport floor ... it is level.

Even if the standing water is small in this part of the field I know by that, the path in back will be saturated under the leaves and there will be spots of standing water on the path the further we get into the field at a higher elevation.

What a shock I had when I stepped around the car this morning. I had forgot to put all the stuff back in the shed after I mowed the yard yesterday. That just shows that we did not get back outside much yesterday afternoon and I evidently did nonstop book reading right up until the time the Reds game started. Only the mower was rained on.

I was also a little surprised that Stella was going to go on the walk this morning. I took a step onto the path and had water coming up the sides of my boots, over the edge of the soles of the boots. With more rain on the way, about 40 miles west of us, we didn't have much time to get this walk in this morning.

Stella didn't take long to decide the path was too wet and she moved off to the side as we started. The field grass is growing fast, faster than my yard is.

If the path was fairly dry she walked on it. Once it became to saturated with the rain water, she moved off the path just like always. She is smarter than the AKC thinks she is.  :)

We are nearing the back of the field, about 40' higher in elevation based on facts from my Apple Watch, and there is standing water on the path. That is not out of the ordinary.

I made some minor adjustments today in my clothing. With it being 44° at 10am I went from summer clothes back to wool socks and a thermal long sleeve undershirt. I am a wimp the older I get when it comes to cold weather. It did snow lightly the first week of April last year so in comparison this weather is not bad.

Stella didn't investigate a lot of scent nor did she eat deer scat this morning. She acted as if she wanted to get this walk over as soon as possible. Walking at a pretty steady pace we knocked off 3 minutes from our total time for the walk.

You might notice her collar has a slightly different tint of red. (faded) The other bright red collar I tried the other day was just too small for her. Late last night I opened the closet door in the kitchen where I have all the older hound collars hanging along with my three 6' leashes. I found a collar that was a little longer. I moved her current rabies tag to this collar and slide it over her head this morning.

She whines when I take the collar off of her as if she likes wearing one. So she was pretty happy this morning to have a different collar to wear. Heidi does not wear a collar until she makes a trip to the vet. Sadie and Winston didn't either

Most of the day is going to look just like this. With more books to read and the Reds starting at 2:30pm today, it can rain all it wants to outside.

I've gained all the weight back I had lost a few weeks ago. At least I know the reason for that and my spreadsheet confirmed what I thought the reason was. One is eating 500 more calories per day, bumping it up from 1500 to 2000 range. Along with that is an increase in carbohydrates. Like I have said before, carbs and I do not get along, with added weight and slight indigestion when eating food that is called healthy.

I do best somewhere between Keto Diet and a Paleo Diet compared to a meatless diet or one with a lot of grains and fruit.

I thought we might take the older path home but at the "Y" Stella kept walking our newer path we started a few years ago. It's the one we take the majority of time and ends up putting her in the northern part of the backyard.

She got an early start of cleaning her legs up and didn't wait to get in the house to start her daily routine after a walk through the wet field. She will lick to dry her legs and all of her paws dry. I have not mowed the north side year nor this north section of the backyard yet.

She was about as close as she could get next to the house. Closer than she normally does and I can only assume it's because of how wet the walk was. I still have not decided what to do about the area where the river rock is. Mulch or grass?

With temps in the 40's, a cool breeze and no changes predicted for the day, you can expect Heidi to do this most of the day. She does demand the sleeping bag though, even when she moves to the couch. I know that when she is staring at me shivering she is wanting me to bring the sleeping bag to her on the couch.

I heard about Trump's new idea for placing the illegal immigrants in the US ... giving them a bus ride to the sanctuary cities.  LOL ... isn't it interesting that those politicians that support sanctuary cities do not support that plan to accept them. I still say, the Democrats are 'giving' Trump a landslide win in 2020.

The NBA Playoffs have started I guess. I never watch the NBA and I can't even tell you who won the championship last year. For being a sports fan and a college basketball fan it is a little strange how I have no interest in professional basketball.

I found a Toyota FJ on AutoTrader last night that had everything I wanted in one but have not found that combination since I traded my first one in November 2017. It was silver instead of blue, it had the rock rails and the TRD package just like my first one had. The color and features are what I've wanted every since I traded that first one I had.

It is very tempting to make the drive to Northern Kentucky just south of Cincinnati to check it out ... but I won't. I remember why I traded my last Toyota FJ just last August. That lingering sharp pain in my hip joint every time I climbed into the seat. Plus I am on pace to drive less than 3,000 miles total for 2019 unless something drastic changes in my driving habits for the next 8 months. So what difference does it make what kind of car I drive, when I drive so few miles?

IF Heidi decides to shock me today and I can take some outdoor photos of her, I will and add those to my next post. That is highly doubtful but you never know with her. In fact this morning I woke up to her barking from the hallway ... that has never happened, ever. She sprinted to the door when I walked by her and then tip toed around the standing water in the carport to get just off the edge of it to pee. She has always been the perfect house dog.

All is good here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Wide Awake At 3:45am

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Do you remember back in December right after I moved my main blog from Blogger to here? It was around December 9th. I had plans for changes in the way I wrote, maybe the format and the subjects would expand from just the hounds to a lot of other stuff. Just like the blog title says.

There is that word "change" again.

It's what makes life fun, interesting and at times insane. A good example of that kind of change, it was just a few days ago where the hounds and I were not starting our day until 830am whereas it was pretty normal to start at 7am and be in the field for the morning walk by 8am. Of course Sadie was no longer calling the shots on that walk and Stella's clock seems to be on Central time or about an hour behind.

I also played a factor in that starting time. I was staying up close to 2am like the 'old days' and sleeping later. My sleeping app liked that I was getting more sleep, at least that is what it told me.  :)  In the past three days I have done "a 360", I've gone to bed early and woke up earlier. I'm sitting here writing this at 3:48am .... 3:48am !!!!!

I am wide awake and have no plans of going back to bed just like Stella is thinking about right now. She is confused after waking up and walking into my computer room to see the darkness. I just heard her toenails move across the bedroom hardwood floor back to the dog bed in the corner. She will not be getting up at 4am.

I really woke up at 3:05am and after a solid attempt I could not get back to sleep. Thoughts were racing through my brain like screens of computer code. (I just took my fist sip of coffee with 2 tsp of sugar for the first time since last Friday).

This was the type of post I was going to do starting last December, posting whenever I  thought about something or had something on my mind. Multiple posts per day, some with photos some not. I hope I can remember everything I wanted to talk about an hour ago.

Where do I start?


I knew something was up a few days ago. It was a warning sign that I am all too familiar with. "Changes" ... I wanted to change things. Maybe a new blog template, a different look? No. That's it, change the Mac OS to the dark mode. A different desktop picture?? That seemed to have worked. I liked those changes and still do a couple of days later.

Then yesterday it was total mental turmoil. SUGAR over took my brain cells and I couldn't run away from it. I was in my 5th straight day of no table sugar for my two cups of coffee per day. I was eating around 35g of Carbs per day. I was feeling good and I could feel the slight change to my stomach and now having zero heartburn after eating some foods. But ... I had an insane craving for sugar. IF it is more than this I'd hate being a meth addict.

Is it so bad to have just 2 tsp of sugar in a 12 cup of coffee? Or 4 tsps in two 12 oz cups of coffee for the whole day?

So with no intentions of falling off the 'no sugar' wagon Wednesday, I am walking around my library aisle by aisle looking for something to read. Anything to read, because I haven't found any book interesting enough with that "new" tag on the cover. I had no idea what subject I wanted to read about so up and down the aisles I went looking at every book it seemed, from the top shelf to the bottom ... next section.

The book called "Year Of No Sugar" by Eve Schaub

That book stuck out like a sore thumb among the thousands of books I was scanning shelf by shelf, aisle by aisle. It was the only book I brought home with me and I started reading it immediately.

But that's not all that happened.

From the library and the short mile and half drive home ... I made a detour. I stopped at the local Dollar General (Same as the Dollar Store) and bought a 4lb bag of sugar because it fits perfectly in my 21-year-old piece of Rubbermaid container. It kept the sugar safe from mice in 1998 as it does now IF I have any mice.

The the real problem was at the checkout counter of the empty store. One customer before me, one cashier available and she was "a talker". While only checking out a few items I heard her cover everything from health issues, her dead husband, her grandkids, her dogs, cats blah blah blah .... just stick your credit card into the reader and pay for the damn food !!!!!

So I was becoming a little irritable. I don't do well with checkout lines as you read about a few weeks or a month ago. That time also gave me time to look at every brand name candy bar on the planet, strategically placed where I could see them while waiting in a one person line.

An old favorite, kind of off the wall, outside the box thinking ... candy bar ... Zero!!

I grabbed the king size bar and sprinted to my car to rush home. I had a book to read, a new bag of sugar and a candy bar to eat. I had fallen off my 5 day strict Keto meal plan and hard. I could feel myself somersaulting down the side of the highway as I bit into that Zero candy bar with the white icing.

An hour later ... I didn't like it. It didn't taste that good really ... BUT I had no insane craving for sugar.

I didn't have a cup of coffee with my book. It was early afternoon and I never have coffee that time of day. I just wanted to read and find out as fast as possible what this family of four had done for a year with no sugar. After the first 100 pages I had heard their story but nothing about how they felt or how their bodies were adjusting. Only their FRUSTRATION finding food to eat because they were not only cutting out table sugar but any food that had the word sugar in the ingredients. Fructose was the main enemy I learned.

I'll leave the book summary right there. On to my next subject.

By the way, just like when I tried the Paleo Diet in May 2015 for the first time ... ALL indigestion went away immediately. I have not slipped a TUMS into my mouth since sometime Saturday morning around 2am.

Back to that word "changes". As I was looking at my old blog, as I do everyday, I noticed my list of the blogs I followed was so much shorter than it use to be. I had to count them. 19 ... only 19 of them listed. I remember last summer I had 53 different blogs listed that I would read with regularity, each time they posted something different.

I had gone from 53 to 19. How and why?

That cup of coffee with 2tsp of sugar in it did NOT taste as good as it use to. My second cup is black coffee, no sugar.

I look at the old blog sidebar because unlike the sidebar at the bottom of this blog's homepage, the list moves the blogs I follow to the top of the list with each new post. It's easy to pick out those that have posted something that day instead of looking through all of them to see if they have something new.

Also as late as last summer I was still following a ton of RVers that I had followed since finding them in 2011 and 2012. Some of them were full-timers, some part-timers, some tent camped, van camped etc. RVing is what got me started in this type of blogging, although my first blogs were back in 2005 tied into my online sports business and my attempt at affiliate marketing, one product per blog, and hundreds of WordPress blogs.

For those that don't know, in August 2015 when I made the final decision to drive down to Jeffersonville Kentucky to pick up Dipstick (now Stella), I knew then my plans for traveling full-time or even part-time was NOT going to happen. I chose to rescue a bloodhound needing a new home instead of dragging two basset hounds (Winston & Heidi) and one bloodhound (Sadie) all over the USA.

At the time I still felt like following those traveling bloggers though.

Then like anything else, as time passes my interests change and as time moved on the urge to travel decreased. Add in those bloggers that disappeared and stopped blogging without notice or the few bloggers that have died ... it was easy to cut the list from 53 to 19. I don't even read the 19 sometimes. I look at their blog title and decide if I want to read or not.

Changes.

Stella by the way is NOT a traveler. Oh, she does great riding in any kind of car (Toyota FJ or a Mini Cooper Countryman) but it's when she gets out in public, like the dog food store or at a park or just anywhere that is not her field or yard that she goes spazo. She turns into a scared, anxious, stressed bloodhound that wants to run away if I lose grip on the leash. She has always been more than happy to jump back in the vehicle and head home.

She does not mind riding though and did well on the 4 hour drive home in August 2015.

I will climb back on the Keto Diet horse though. It's not really a diet because I plan on making this change in eating permanent. I have to get down to 185 and then maybe even lower after I achieve that. Friends tell me I look okay and don't need to lose weight. I am never short on breath. I can jog if I want. I can ride a bike for many miles if I want. I can ride a bike fast inside my house on the trainer if I want without any feelings of being light-headed or a pulse rate that is above my maximum.

I can climb on the roof to clean gutters, haul stone one wheelbarrow at a time, shovel dirt, dig ditches and even pull weeds for four days in a row in the August heat ... nothing bothers me. Still I want to lose the weight. I want to lose that fat I can't see inside and behind my stomach. I want a clean liver and not one blocked with fructose.

I DON'T want to live to a 100 or even 90 years old but I want to live healthy while I am living.

So how did my two neighbors live into their late 90's after living near me for over 50 years? I am pretty sure they were not eating grass-fed beef, nor were they using a water filter and used the water the local company was providing straight out of the White River. Surrounded by chemical laden fields of corn and soybeans. Did they go Keto or Vegan? I doubt it.

Or as my dad use to tell me, every meal for him growing up just across the highway from me, was like a holiday meal with lots of fat, butter, gravies, beef, pies, cakes and of course water from the same local water company I use in 2019. He lived to be 89.

So I can't keep from asking myself "is it really that important to eat well, and lose weight" just so I can grow old and live in a society that I am becoming sick of, from politicians, illegal immigrants to $30M dollar per year baseball players??

You really do have to wonder about all of it. Is it that important?

So while I was taking the afternoon walk yesterday with no camera and Stella on the 25' retractable leash I started wondering. Of course this was after that 4 lbs of sugar was back in my house. It was after I had read about 50 pages of the "Year Of No Sugar" book, but I was pretty sure I had a clear mind and was mentally stable, even after eating the "king size' candy bar.

Why do I even give a shit what is happening in a country that I will not be around in 10, 20 or 30 years. Who cares what happens? Yes I have a niece and nephew, one with kids and if the country turned into the worse possible scenario that I can imagine ... then yes, it would suck for them.

I can't comprehend that though. I can't picture the USA turning into a current Venzuala. It's imaginary not real. It could even be outlandish, paranoid thinking. With images of a million people rushing across the borders from San Diego to the tip of Texas ... with white border patrol trucks chasing them across the dusty deserts. Since approximately 600,000 of those million don't have an education past the 12th grade of course they would be supported by the 'dingbat AOC' with free food, a livable wage, free medical, free free free free.

But what if ??? I didn't give a shit one way or another ??

Will all of that effect me and the hounds living here in "bumf***" Egypt ??? Here in small town USA ???

Does it matter at all that 22 Trillion dollars in debt means anything. A couple of friends from my college days with Accounting degrees, try to convince me that the national debt doesn't mean anything. So why not add another 94 TRILLION DOLLARS so I can have solar panels installed for free and trade my Mini Cooper S Countryman for one of those Electric Cars that the 'dingbat AOC' will provide for me. Besides, I don't like flying in airplanes anyway and I have a single railroad track just a half mile away ... maybe we could build a train station with our savings ????

So who gives a shit about all the chaos in the news today. Those in power obviously don't give a shit about the grave possibilities so why should I ... while hiding down here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana ????

BTW ... I don't care who Trump went to bed with BEFORE he even decided to run for President ?? I don't care that he would have made $100M if he had Trump Towers in Russia. I don't care if he was an asshole businessman BEFORE he even decided to run for President ... I've in fact worked for two bosses like that. They were also rich, arrogant and some days were assholes ... but that's what they do. Being sued meant nothing to them, go ahead and do it ... I'm not paying you ... was their battle cry.

With that being said, I confirmed to myself on that Wednesday afternoon dog walk, the Democratic Party can f***off ... FOREVER !!! From yesterday forward I will always vote for ANYONE RUNNING against the Democrats in future elections. And that is coming for someone who jumped back and forth across parties, voting for whom I thought was the best man running.

So we got that out of the way ... politics and sugar, even a little immigration, wandering thoughts, blah blah blah ... I just don't give a shit ... but I DO CARE if my favorite teams win. Any loss is like the world has ended and I either fall into deep depression or fits of anger until the next game.  :)

I STILL DO CARE though about my meal plans. I'll eat healthy, it can't hurt and besides ... if I am going to be blogging when I am 90 years old and still complaining, bitching and moaning about society I need to be healthy don't I ???  :)

Wait ... I'm not finished yet.

I'm only up to
2,492words. (I added a few new words when editing)

Those house rehab tv shows are so much fun to watch. Of all of them I have watched over the years, Hometown is the my favorite out of all of them. I'd love to have them show up here 'in the tropics' and gut this place. I'd have them build the same floor plan, which is simple but just upgrade from the 1970's.

Then I think ... why ???

I am a hermit with few visitors. My hounds are allowed on the couch or the big leather chair, their choosing. I only need a 'man cave', which I call my living room, to watch hours and hours if not days of ballgames or an occasional movie .... or the times I binge watch Dexter, Breaking Bad or True Detective.

My 1975 Tappan 400 stove and oven still works perfectly. My cheapass basic fridge that I bought in 1998 still hums right along while I give it annual deep cleaning on all sides of it, including the back and bottom sides. I don't care if I am wiping a counter of formica instead of marble. I don't care if my backsplash is just a painted wall, unless it's the stainless steel part of the stove and small oven on top.

That living room wall of old fashion paneling looks pretty awesome AT TIMES  but I wonder what it would look like as painted drywall. The yellow aluminum siding I have covering the house and I have painted over for 21 years is in better shape than most of the new vinyl siding which I have never been a fan of. Yes, the siding has a few dents, one major by my 'senior moment' mistake and one by the renters in 1996. Besides I have a box of the original yellow siding stored in my carport shed up top, if I need to repair anything.

So yes ... "they" could make my house look tv quality if they did a total rehab but do I really need to. I mean, I can and do fix the normal maintenance stuff that needs repaired. The house is in great shape and protects the hounds and I in all kinds of extreme weather.

Plus .... I live here for free !!!! Not counting that whopping $220 in property tax I paid in 2018.

Do I really need my house rehabbed ???  LOL

Hmmmm ... I might be finished finally. My list of "blog thoughts" have been written about. I am looking around for my next topic and can't seem to find anything ... besides you might be surprised how many people are up and driving between 5am and 5:24am based on the noise from the highway. No, highway noise does not bother me.

My working neighbors probably think I am an insane old man living next door ... they would have seen my small kitchen light on from their house, as they got up at 5am. I do not have nor do I want a large curtain covering my large picture window in the kitchen that looks out through the carport. If I remember correctly that window is around 80" wide. It's the best view in the house.

Heidi is still in a deep sleep because the house is pitch black besides the light from my computer monitors and the small light above the kitchen sink. Stella is restless and confused as she walks in to the room to see if it is 8am but can tell it's only 5:30am. She has to be asking "Is it too early to eat breakfast???" Then she walks back to her dog bed and goes back to sleep.

Let me know what you think of my new "I don't give a shit" policy. Am I on the right path?

Single digit temperature highs are on the way here in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana.

My Return To TV News

Isn't technology great? We can see beheadings, homeless war refugees, citizens versus cops, fraternity lunch mobs, and government shut downs in hi-def."

I guess I will start this morning by passing out a couple of warnings. This post could get political and I'm in a grumpy mood at 5:19am. It could also be a long post, maybe not. I'll include only two photos in this early morning rant just to keep within the design pattern of my blog's front page.

So you wanted transparency ... you'll see transparency this morning from the depths of an overactive brain. Don't blame me.

I am not totally sure I am grumpy. Probably am. I got up AGAIN before 5am, did the same routine as always, dogs out coffee on. They eat, I read the internet, check email etc. They go back to sleep in the dark bedroom while I walk back in my dimly lit kitchen (on purpose) to pour a cup of coffee. As I am about the grab the pot handle I barely notice that the coffee level is not quite to my mark "6", which gives me two twelve ounce cups of coffee.

I feel my pulse rise ... maybe my pulse has a news hangover.

Instead of turning on the regular kitchen lights that are bright I grab my small camping flashlight on the shelf, you know the one, the one I use to track Stella in the dark when she is outside to take her last pee break of the day.

There is nothing like walking the dark backyard late at night or early morning after midnight, sometimes in the field, in freezing weather wearing a down jacket, shorts (yes) and cheap large Chinese rubber sandals, telling Stella "HURRY UP!!! or Where in the F*** are you????).

So I lean over so I can slide that light from the flashlight between the bottom of the bucket that holds the the coffee grounds and the top of my coffee pot only to see a stream of coffee so small it might take all day to make coffee. This does not make me happy. That stream of coffee, so small, also reminds me I may or may not have a prostate problem.

So we have the slow making coffee and a news hangover after trying to follow one of my "campaign" promises a few days ago. Remember? I told you that I might make a comment or two about what's going on in the news. Since I had not tuned into any kind of news besides my sports addiction since October 28, this was a major step for me. Don't they say the first step of recovery is admit you have a problem.

I do ... a big problem with the news and everything else going on including sports.

It's like telling a recovered heroin junkie "here take some of this". It didn't take an hour? 30 minutes? Who knows because I possibly had blacked out from anger. I had given into the popular majority and made a promise I wasn't sure I wanted to keep but here I was.

I stood in shock as I was looking at my 55" tv screen with CNN, FoxNews, MSNBC, CNBC and maybe others. Geeeezzzzuuuuuussssss H. Christ !!!!!!

What am I doing?

I won't go into a lot of detail because you have all seen it, heard it or read it. The news in general. There is so much stuff to pick, choose to comment on and literally all of it in my eyes is total bullshit. It amazes me how so many intelligent people can be so f****** stupid.

All I got from my short time viewing the news was SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN .... should I keep going? I felt myself getting a little lightheaded. Reminding me of my days of too much tequila, standing in the same spot of the living room with the stereo turned up to concert level sound with Metallica .... before passing out. Then at work the next day bright and cheery.

It's no better online. CNN, FoxNews, Breitbart, TheGuardian ... blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

All that crap that infested my corrupted brain cells did one thing ... can you believe it????? ONE THING POSITIVE !!!!

After turning off the tv and telling Heidi who had witnessed everything from the couch, "NEVER again". I would have told Stella the same but she slept through all of it and has no time for stress in her life ... food and sleep is all she wants.

I sat at my kitchen table with my MacBook Air lid closed. Looking out my large kitchen window across the highway, at the harvested corn and soybean fields .... thinking if the crap they call news even affects my daily living experience? Am I hurt in anyway?

I think you can see here blogging about RVs at first, then the Hounds later, that it is a pretty simple easy lifestyle that the hounds and I live. The only stress here is when the toilet overflows with clear clean water because that damn rubber flap doesn't settle right in the tank after flushing the toilet.

Does all that news YOU made me watch and read, so I could comment on it, make one bit of difference to me?? Does it???

I did NOT get on my knees but I did thank my lucky stars for the life I have, my hounds and the good health I experience.

Yes, like John Mellencamp sang many years ago, "Small Town" ... that is where I am from although different from where I live now. My parents grew up here. My great aunt built the house I live in today .... back to the news. (Sometimes I have to grab my brain like a mother does to her child in the grocery store saying "get back here")

Before the 2016 Presidential election I never paid attention one iota about politics. In their own way there isn't one politician that isn't corrupt, in some way. All the way back to George Washington. Did you realize that George was the first president of many to have sex with a woman besides their wife in the White House??? Did you?

History will tell you that George being a short man, and small in physical structure, had sex in a White House closet. Yep ... do some history research. I've never googled it, I read about it in the fall of 1970 in Ballentine Hall at Indiana University sometime before noon during a history class I had signed up for. I heard it and I wasn't stoned either.

Now whether that closet was a walk-in closet was not stated.

Anyway ... back the USA Cesspool I call the news.  (Coffee is tasting great by the way)

I understand the desire for people from the south of us willing to die, give up their children and leave their families to cross borders from Texas to California. I really do. It's just not the reasons for economic, gangs, violent neighborhoods in Central America ... it's lack of money, lack of jobs, lack of water to grow crops for food, it's lack of HOPE ... on and on. It's happening all over the world, not just in America.

I understand all of that. How terrible that is for anyone with a family, even single?

So why don't they stop and settle in beautiful Mexico? I mean people from Canada, and the USA drive across their borders every fall to spend the winter in beautiful country from the beaches to the mountains. Why don't they settle there?

Why not settle down in a country that speaks the same language and an easier way to adapt to the country's society, plus closer to their family in Central America or even in Mexico??? Am I confused??? Or will you call me a racist like people get called on Twitter? My old friends from the past that were black, brown and oriental would laugh out loud at that accusation.

To shut off this immigration commentary so I can move to other stuff, here is what bothers me about illegal immigration.

Let just say that the news is not fake. Let's just say.

From what I have read in the past on online news articles before October 28th ... illegal immigrants from Mexico are taught where to apply and how to fill out the paperwork for financial assistance, food assistance, and housing once they cross our border. Our country is 20 TRILLION DOLLARS IN DEBT !! so stop whining about the national debt.

An article I read less than 6 months ago in the LA Times reported that some of these illegal immigrants that do not work, don't want to work and don't have to work because they are pulling in approximately $3,500 per month in welfare payments and that does not include $500-$800 per month in f****** food stamps. Even quoted participants laughed and bragged how easy it was to get money here ... then send it back where it was needed ... to their families south of the border.

What about medical insurance? They don't have any and don't need any ... the good old USA government, that no one likes, will take care of them.

So I answered my question why don't they just don't stop in beautiful Mexico and I am serious when I say "beautiful Mexico" ... the land is beautiful and the families and people are the kindest. I'll blog later about my days of going to Baja every two weeks and later becoming friends with a few families I met at the horse racing book in downtown Tijuana. (1979) In fact for a year I went to Tijuana every day from Carlsbad CA to the "foreign book" on Avenida Revolucion to bet horse races in the USA while working for a horse racing handicapper. (Great funny job before computers)

They don't want to stop in Mexico because that isn't where they get free money, to get housing, and to eat. Plus many already have family in the USA so I can understand they have other motives.

I'm a racist?

I wouldn't say that. I mean had a "white trailer trash" living next to me for 5-6 years that knew how to play the system and played it like a professional. His live-in 'wife' using her maiden name, made above average salary working. How else can you get disability payments every month with a bad back declaration and then spend all day and night working on cars that you drag race. Anyone want to help changing that engine, it's heavy? Not needed, he did it bad back and all by himself. "Honey did the disability check come in yet?"

So yes, you don't have to be an illegal immigrant to work the system for free money.

I forget the number I saw the other day for the decrease in Food Stamp precipitants since Trump took office .... 3 million?? 300 thousand??? That's what happens when short term memory is on the blink, you can't remember a simple number 48 hours ago.

Good for him though, now if they would just work on that disability payment plan problem. I hate all cheating ranging from taxes, food stamps and disability payments and it doesn't matter what color of skin they have.

So now what?  Let see .... hmmmm

Oh, I just caught this morning's headlines or the sub links on CNN news ... Californian wants to tax 'texting' to raise money so they can support all their new illegal citizens with iPhones and Samsung smart phones ... their choice. Does that mean they will will have to change all of the amnesty forms filled at the border with a little box  they need to check for Apple or Android phones??

I would say it but I can't say the word "fuck" too many times here.

You know that you can use that word 14 different ways in the English language? I'll not count the ways. I was hesitant in typing it but you wanted transparency on my blog ... you got it. Sometimes while watching ballgames on TV ... ALONE ... the referees think that word is their first name. Oh well, so what if I am a 'sick puppy' ... it's my dry sense of humor.

Even where I live in "BumF*** Egypt" ... otherwise known as Small Town USA, we have illegal immigrants living downtown. In fact in 1997 this house I live in may have had a few. My dad owned the house then and rented it out to the owners of the new, at that time, Mexican restaurant.

Of course the owners were not renting it for their families but what looked like their whole kitchen staff, based on the repairs and painting I did before moving in my furniture and three hounds, Harry, Maggie and Maxwell.

They still work in that same restaurant under different ownership. I never read about crime from them ... oh a couple of drunk divers that have killed innocent citizens in this county turned out to be here illegally but that could happen to "white trailer trash" or in a high powered lawyer in Indianapolis just as well ... so it's just not an illegal immigrant thing ... it's a drunk driving thing.

That is pretty much my feelings on illegal immigration. I like legal immigration, not illegals who feel they are entitled to free support from the rich USA who just happens to be 20 f****** TRILLION DOLLARS IN DEBT. Who are now saying as of yesterday, the USA Government owes them money at the border ... Ha, what a joke.

Feel free to leave your honest thoughts in the comment section. I'll read them all. I WILL NOT ARGUE and I WILL respect your opinion. Besides, I am sure I can learn something on this issue from other people. I guess subconsciously I am looking for more knowledge about this immigration issue.

You may have done some early morning math this morning ... let see he is 66 years old, in 2016 he would have been 64 minus the 21 years it took to vote LEGALLY .... why was he not interested in what went on in politics for 43 years and then all of the sudden gets interested, inflamed during the campaigns, angry on Facebook angry on Twitter, and shouting at long time friends over the phone ???

Two words and I could add one more like "f*******" before the two words here:

Hillary Clinton

I don't give a shit if her opponent in November 2016 was always wearing red, carried a pitchfork and the MEDIA called him/her "the devil" .... I WOULD HAVE voted for him or her.

That's all I'll say this morning about politics .... otherwise you would be looking at an hour or more reading time, 100,000,000 words, and possibly news that Steve had some cardiac problems while writing on his blog. He was found leaning back in his desk chair with his mouth wide open in a screaming position clutching his chest.

Now that would have been something you could call fake news.

I will say I am a little familiar with President Donald Trump. No, I've never met him nor do I want to. He has his own mental issues, don't we all? I never watched his TV show and I didn't need to read much about him during the campaigns either.

So how am I familiar with him?

From 1995 - 1997 I worked for a small family owned business ran by two brothers. Mysteriously they had pulled up stakes in Chicago and moved to Bloomington Indiana of all places. IU grads?? No. Family around??? No. Sports fans???? No. Every question I asked due to my background check on them was answered with "No". They seemed to have followed "The Donald's" plan of tying things up in court with lawsuits if they didn't agree or didn't pay the bills. They later declared the company was bankrupt, took their money and ran.

Kevin must have read the book that Trump wrote because I swear to god on a stack of bibles a mile high or space station high ... Kevin was a spittin' image of Donald J. Trump in his attitude. I never jumped through so many hoops they called a job. There were days I loved working for him and their days where I coulda ... shouda .. uhhhh, we won't go there. That would lead us to the fight on gun control and how did someone so demented mentally get a gun.

You get the picture though don't you?

You know ... hounds and sports are so much easier and nicer to write about.

After a few days in the news muck or quicksand plus I can see nothing has changed since October 28th, my last viewership. It WON'T change either. Personally I don' think it will ever change. Society has fallen off the cliff and hasn't hit bottom yet. I cannot fathom what the next century will look like or lets say from the years 2030 onward, who knows from now on?

There are days I hope I am not around to live it.

I was told a few months ago by a friend whom I made the mistake of sending him a draft of the first post for my brand new blog I had set up. He didn't reply immediately because he doesn't live on the internet like I do because he has a family and a life.

He did say this though after reading it:  "Don't do it. What I read here could put you behind bars" ... I immediately thought of all the bars I had attended during college, California, Breckenridge CO, Hussongs in Ensenada, even Whidbey Island.

I told the hounds when I read his text ... "Stella, I don't think he is talking about drinking bars". She raised her head from the floor, acknowledged I had spoken to her ... then went back to sleep.

Again ... you've heard it before from me ... toward the end of a long post ....

I've lost my train of thought again !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why?

Where are those bullet points icon under this new Wordpress system? I want to list a few news highlights that have caught my attention before my second cup of coffee? I'll do them manually I guess.

• Over 95% DACA applications, renewals for illegal aliens approved by Trump. (Really?????) Who woulda thunk it?
• Google CEO Sundar Pichai told "5 Whoppers" to Congress
• Huawei is a "Front Group' for the Chinese Communist Govt.
• China is 'building communism' in America with Technology, Finance
• How God led rock superstar from demons and $23 million
• ObamaCare continues to fail

As you can see I FOUND the icon to add bulleted comments.

Well it's a small sample but geeeeezzzzzuuuussss, what's fake and what isn't? Really how can you tell? Which news agency tells the truth? Who can I depend on as I wade back through shit that is knee deep and the hip waders I bought at Cabela's don't work as good as they were advertised?

There are a few people I will mention that I cannot talk about, now ... possibly never.

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
• Robert Mueller
• Maxine Waters
• Purdue University
• F****** Hillary Clinton

I must admit that after typing only 2,974 words I'm exhausted.

I've lost my train of thought. Who knows maybe this will be more than enough transparency that the general public loves.

Just remember I am not an expert in any of this crap. My expertise is in basset hounds, bloodhounds, craps tables, a little computer, and sports.

I kept my promise to you about writing more open and as one comment said ... transparent.

If I continue to watch the news --- WHERE I REALLY DON'T WANT TO ---- I will have to pull my stamp out of the box in my closet labeled "Work Info"

 No worries .... it's all good in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.