Back home

Daughter and I are back home again. Got the car fixed since last writing and we got to Yellowstone for a couple of days. 

I had no idea the park was that huge! 

We had fun. Saw all the waterfalls and lots of geysers. Smelled a LOT of sulfur. 

Nearly froze on two nights. The second night we got up in the morning and sought out the nearest hot shower in the morning to thaw out. Glad that daughter brought extra blankets. After the second night the wind picked up and clouds blew in during the third day. We figured that bad (and colder) weather was blowing in, so we vacated rather than freeze another night. 

Sure enough, I checked the weather for that day when we got home and it did drop several degrees below freezing.

While we were driving toward Yosemite, the car had more problems. The A/C clutch froze up, burned the belt off just outside of Logan, Utah. Got back to town and to a parts place. Once again, they did not have the correct belt in stock. So we ordered one and had to wait for it to come in. It was not scheduled to arrive until 4:30 PM on Sunday, so we just stayed both nights in a hotel. 

When I say the belt burned off, I really mean it. The belt caught fire. Luckily I stopped soon enough to keep the fire from spreading worse. The fire warped the wheel well cover and part of the CV axle boot. So, I'll have to replace that sometime. Functioning fine for now. It can wait a while. 

By the time we went through two breakdowns, we decided this was a karmic warning and chose to head for home. Yosemite and the west coast can wait until next year or some other time. 

We drove through a whole lot of desert lands coming home. It was seriously hot as heck. We both got a little grumpy along the way. No fights but not a lot of talking at times. I tried picking the coolest route but that wasn't saying too much. 

One bad thing about leaving for several days in the summer is that the thermal mass of the house heats up and it takes at least a couple of days for it to cool back down. The only other choice would be to leave the A/C and/or swamp cooler running the whole time we were gone. I left the living room A/C set to run automatically if the temperature went above 85. That only covered the living room, though. The rest of the house was really hot. Just now getting back into normal temperature range. 

Dropped daughter off at her mother's house a little while ago. She didn't seem all that happy to go. The more she tells me, the more I see she is not getting along with her mother all that well. I knew that would happen when she reached her teen years. I had hoped it would wait but I think this has been going on for a while and daughter is just now speaking up about it. I do not blame daughter for most of it. I know the ex and she is still the same. She enjoys conflict and laying blame. There does not have to be anything wrong for her to say something is wrong. My daughter is extremely strong willed and rational as opposed to emotional. If something is wrong, she would rather talk about it while her mother is more prone to fighting. I cannot recall daughter and I having any actual fights. Uncomfortable talks yes but no fights. I admit I let her have more freedom than some may think I should. I just want her to have the ability to make decisions. Because I rarely set my foot down and only do so with valid reason, she listens when I do. I do admit her mother has the more stressful side, with school and such. On that I cannot fault her. It's just her approach. Daughter says she does the same thing she used to do to me. "You know what you did wrong." No, no I do not. "Yes you do! Stop lying! This is all your fault!" And that goes on for hours or even days. 

Have to take the dog for a walk later. He has been anxious and whiny since we got back. I understand, we were gone and he was alone. Not like he missed out on much besides being mauled by a bear or crapping in the car. Having him along would have made the car problems and hotel issues much more difficult. 

Tomato plants are now producing. Fruit is all still green but they are growing. 

The cannabis plants exploded outward and upward while we were gone! The tallest was about 3-3.5 ft tall when we left. The tallest is now nearly 6 ft tall and most have bushed out massively! Cool!

I can take some cuttings from them now. Think I'll do that tonight.

Taking tonight just to relax. Tomorrow I have to get my resume together and start looking for a new job. With more hotel nights than planned plus car parts, I spent more money on this trip than I had budgeted. Not critical but set me back so I need to find a job sooner. I will check on whether some employers are okay with me being on the cannabis program. If not, I have to stop using that and deal with the side effects. Flush my system out. Get some home test kits so I know when I will pass the drug screen. 

Broke down

Daughter and I are in Wyoming, on our way to Yellowstone National Park. On our way out of town from Rock Springs, we got about 60 miles and started having car problems.
So, it turned out to be the alternator. Yes, I am making this short.
Luckily, I had packed an extra car battery. Call that paranoia if you like. Fact remains nobody stopped to offer assistance, there are no emergency phones and we saw no state police. Because the battery was different from the native car battery what I had to do was place the extra battery under the hood. I then connected that battery with jumper cables, tied the hood down and drive under the speed limit back to Rock Springs. It was unlikely any place further out would have an auto parts store with a decent inventory, if there were an auto parts store at all.
Got back to town, had the battery tested. It was good. Then checked the charging system. It was definitely the alternator.
Got a new alternator from Auto Zone. It was hot, after 2PM and we would not make it to the park by sunset. We got back to the hotel we used the night before and waited for the weather to cool slightly.
I took the old alternator out. Not easy. Had to be approached from the bottom. Which required jacking up the car, removing one tire and the wheel well cover.
Then I tried to install the new one. It did not fit. The electrical connectors are different. Called Auto Zone. They did not have the correct one in stock. Neither does any other place in town. So the right one is on order and will arrive tomorrow.
One good thing is, even if some call me paranoid, if I did not have that extra battery we would have been stuck 60 miles out in the high desert for who knows how long? Things like that are why I had the nickname of "McGyver" in the Army. Not many people would even think of using the arrangement I did with the jumper cables. I did try just the battery with cables but that failed.
Daughter has been awesome. Most kids or even adults would be whiny or bitchy under the circumstances but not her. She has remained calm, helpful and cheerful. Not one negative word. I have the most amazing kid on the planet!
Not much to do here. WY has a population for the entire state of a little over 500k people. Rock Springs itself is high desert. So, just hanging out in the hotel room, surfing the net and waiting for car parts.
Auto Zone was nice. They will deliver the new alternator to the hotel when it comes in. I can't get there because the car is in pieces. I could put it together enough to get there but that would mean assembling, driving there, getting the part, taking the car apart again and then reassembling. Then likely having to get the battery charged.

Getting ready

I'm getting ready for vacation for daughter and I. Lot of things to do around the house and yard.

Not posting when we're going. Just saying I have a lot to do before then. Get the garden fence back up, plant a few things, some wiring in the house and the car.

Of course, I went out to work on the car and the battery is dead. Might be completely shot. Oh, well. Leaving it on the charger for a while and then see if it starts. If not I have the spare battery from the other car. I can jump-start it, get it to Walmart and get a new battery. At least I have the money for it. Would much rather have the battery go out now than between here and Yellowstone. 

I am going to charge and pack the extra battery just for safety. 

The car has been acting like it lags when I turn on the fan or different things lately so if the battery is completely dead I am not surprised. 

Going to get my resume updated and out to a few places this week. 

Little later-

Okay, the battery held a charge. I will still be charging and packing the extra battery just in case. If I do not need a new battery, I am happy about that. While I can currently afford it, I'd rather not if I can avoid it.

It was really hot today and I did not feel like doing all that much most of the day, until it started cooling down. Then several things like the car messed up, so I got pretty much nothing done. That's okay. Took my medicine and getting to bed early for me. Get an early start tomorrow. 

I came to the realization that coming up clear on a urine drug screen may not matter much. The fact that I am on the medical cannabis program will probably come up on a background check. So, full disclosure is the route I have to take for now. Discuss it with some employers and decide which way to go from there. If I have to stop using cannabis, I may wind up on multiple other medications with worse side effects. Immunosuppressants, anti-spasmodics, appetite stimulators, prescription sleeping pills. 

I now have five cannabis plants, two of which are over 3 ft tall. One is almost 4 ft tall. The two largest are bushing out really well, also. I can take cuttings from those tomorrow. Try to expand the number of plants while they still have a long time to grow. If nothing else, they will provide leaves for juicing. 

Leading from home

Seems like a lot of my writing has gained no small amount of attention with true Liberals.

I did not start out with the intention but it seems I have a following. Just because I keep posting my writings and observations. Pretty sure my writing has been seen by several hundred thousand people by now, collectively. 

This Tue, two days ago, Hillary Clinton won most of the remaining states primaries. Nearly every state she has won is being contested at some level and there have been signs of very obvious voter suppression and election fraud. 

Today, Bernie Sanders met with the President, then made the announcement he is not dropping out. He will remain in the race to the Democratic convention! Yay!!

First thing to note is that HRC is still under investigation and she may well be indicted before the convention. I do not see any way in which she could not be indicted. We have seven weeks until the convention.

One thing I wrote and posted today may get attention even from her own supporters. The early warning signs of fascism. Right this minute we are in the intermediate stages of existing fascism. Current signs are:

Fraudulent elections
Powerful and continuing nationalism
Identification of enemies (internal and external) as a unifying cause
Corporate power protected
Labor power oppressed
Controlled mass media
Disdain for human rights
Obsession with national security
Disdain for intellectuals and the arts (which would include climate science denial and promotion of fracking)
Obsession with crime and punishment (which would include refusal to legalize cannabis and making prisons profitable)
Rampant cronyism and corruption (HRC's email server, anyone?)
Religion and government intertwined

Some would say rampant sexism exists but I find that one to be the most optional on the list.
All of this means the only thing missing from that list is supremacy of the military. Then the list is complete.

The next step in establishing fascism is armed military on the streets of our cities. I fully expect that to happen during the Democratic convention in July. Some may think it will be in Philadelphia only but I expect it to be in a lot more cities than that. It may happen before the convention. What I expect to see happen in Philly is an armed military presence either on the grounds of the convention or in the street between the arena and the established area across the street for protesters. Complete with riot gear, tear gas, pepper spray, water cannons and snipers. 

It does not matter whether one would choose Trump or Clinton. If either one is elected it will signal the crossing over of this country to complete fascism. 

Failure

So, I have tried to quit smoking this week, both cigarettes and cannabis and failed on both counts. 

The cigarettes just because it's difficult.

The cannabis I tried to quit last night. Then I had insomnia really badly and muscle spasms (mostly restless leg syndrome) which kept me awake until about 3 AM or later. 

So, I have to get some medication again for my restless leg syndrome. Go get that later this evening and try again. 

Of course, I feel like crap because I did not sleep well. 

Oh, well. I still need to get out, pass out fliers for Bernie this afternoon and work on the car. Then get some other things done. 

Write more later after I actually get something done.

It's several days later. Just never got back to finishing this.

I did get the fliers passed out. Worked on the car but haven't figured out the problem yet. Either a bad wire or a control. Not sure. Fan works when I ran jumpers to it. A/C clutch works when I run a jumper to that. 

Going to try replacing one component or take it to a shop. Interesting, the A/C and radiator fan are on separate but connected and interdependent circuits. Nearly as many controls for the A/C and fan together as there are for the engine. 

Got the front yard irrigation system up and running today. Slightly late for that but not too late. At least 4-5 months of growing season left here. 

I am slowly getting the house in order. Better than it has been since moving in. Still a lot to do but I am happier with how it's progressing. Maybe one of these days I can finally get it in condition where the only thing I need to do is keep it clean. 

Daughter has hit her teen years. Spending a lot of time in her room. Though she doesn't seem to feel all that great. Took a nap last night for several hours. Got up late in the evening, went back to bed after a couple of hours. Said she woke up several times during the night. Slept until nearly 1 PM. Then been laying down in her room now and then. Complaining of a slight headache. No other signs of illness.  Keeping an eye on her and hoping it passes.

Quitting cannabis

So, tonight I am quitting using cannabis. Not that I want to. Just the fact that I have to stop before seeking a new job. As a nurse I am subject to urine drug screens. Politics are questionable. I may or may not find an employer who accepts it with a prescription. Just cannot take the chance right now.

I have several weeks supply still on hand. Several plants growing and looking pretty good. My first plant from cutting is doing pretty good. Just hoping I can find an employer who accepts it.

Not sure how well I am going to be able to sleep.

Went and got some materials to pass out for Bernie today. The people at the campaign office are really nice. I got mostly Spanish materials because so many people around here speak Spanish. Going to walk around tomorrow and put them in mailboxes, so people have the weekend before election day to read them. 

Checked the relays in the car today for the A/C. They seem to be okay. Could not get the connector off the fan to see if that's the problem. Have to remove the entire fan. Do that tomorrow. That seems to be the problem from what I can tell right now. From the wiring diagram it would seem if the fan does not work, neither will the A/C. 

Cleaned out the Mazda and cleaned up daughter's old bike. Take pictures and post them on CL tomorrow for sale.