Size Matters

I've kept trying larger tires to get more ground clearance. James advised against the 235s though, saying they were made for a 9" wide wheel and mine is 5 and a half.

I'd finally had to put on the spare when the Trailer Kings wouldn't hold a plug in the sidewall. I was then running three different sizes. It was time to bite the bullet. $590.00 later...

Goodyear Wrangler

They feel like they might hold a plug. But, you know, it's planet earth so there're, like, No Guarantees.


Thanks James. It's great to find someone who knows their stuff!

 Discount Tire on N Vision Way a couple of miles south of New River, Arizona on interstate 17.

Malia Miles's Blog

The quote below from Jung was in Malia's Miles' 19, August, 2018 blogpost which, since sometime after her death, is no longer on the internet,

“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” ~ Carl Jung

I wisht pinchin' muhse'f workt; hits shore a damn-site easier.
(I've alwayz liked ol' Carl...and Hillman, and Carotenuto.)

Malia died in Oregon about this time with the aid of a physician. She had a terminal illness and moved to Oregon to take advantage of their assisted-death law.

Before her death Malia completed a book that is available on Amazon.

Update on obtaining GULP Machine components at:

https://newmexnomad.blogspot.com/2018/10/right-to-die-gulp-peaceful-pill-handbook.html?m=1

Piddling Southward

Tires have become an issue; the sidewalls keep succumbing. I tried 10-ply trailer tires but they turned out to be no better.

Piddling southward from Cottonwood, Arizona, the weather and countryside are darn near perfect.

Diverse vegetation and interesting rocks.

Cooper Discoverers AT3 had to be ordered but are expected to arrive today.

12/27 -- Cooper Discoverers don't fit. Reordered due tomorrow.

12/28 - 4:03 p.m. Awaiting tire install. Weather tolerable for end of December. Sunshing and temp near 60 F.

Marie and the Aortic Aneurysm

We met online a decade or more ago. Our conversations were always fun, but after a while we'd drift on. But we kept bumping into each other here and there.

Last summer I stopped in for a visit. We grilled steaks and, both of us being of low-stamina, an hour and a half was enough.

In October, anticipating being near,  she let me mail some books to her house. Whim had its way and it wasn't 'til this past weekend we got together.

We share an appreciation of art and clouds and went to see the sky and galleries in Jerome (Arizona). On our way down the hill some deer stepped in front of the car. We stopped, but the guy behind us didn't.

X-rays indicated no mechanical damage, but there, clear to see, was an abdominal aneurysm on the aorta (in me, not her). In 2013, when Wiki last checked, aortic aneurysms accounted for 150,000 deaths, mostly guys. It's only 3 cm (size matters) and may never be a problem.

But it's funny, Kenn Louie lost some of his (right) leg over the last month; the cancer's taking him bit by bit. (If you look closely at the image in the link above, you'll see his left leg is all wires...a prosthesis.) But he's indomitable and annoyed at being bed-ridden; while waiting to heal from the surgery he can't work.

I, on the other hand, had started to worry (too much free time) about how I was gonna get outa here. It was a heated debate:  Revolver's handy; nahhh, a shotgun's for sure. Either way quick, but oy vey, such a mess!

Now I can relax. Of course there're (I know, I SHOULD say there's...to be up with the times.) no guarantees, but at least I now know I have a decent chance. I just hope it doesn't happen while I'm driving. Hmmm, a chauffeurette?

Livin' The Fream

We're Livin' the dream.

Hope yer Solstice

includes 

lots of good.

Merry Solstice!!

It's interesting, isn't it, what the season evokes?

Just back from Japan and soon to leave for Germany, we went to Chicago to visit relatives. Up until then I'd known naught but classical. These two *still*  haunt.

Christmas Hippo

The Bismarck

It's a full moon. And at Cottonwood, Arizona it's about 2 degrees South from directly overhead. Wha'sitlooklike whereyouare? Prolly round...like cheese.

             🎄   Merry Solstice   🎄  

To Awaken Quite Alone

In perusing a list of notable quotes (link no longer active), my attention was caught by Dame Freya Stark's: To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the most pleasant sensations in the world.

I just ordered her biography by Jane Fletcher Geniesse, so can't yet commend it. But isn't it interesting that the first overlander to the Mideast was a woman?

Born in 1893, she died in 1993....an even hunnert years!