Where's Hazel? Pet Hazel. Hazel shares her Meow Mix
with RingTail.
Christmas Eve to New Year's Eve
The ISS 20th ARISS event is over. Station here returned to
normal. All the cables, adapters, files stowed in their
proper places. Building a new special purpose antenna was
fun. All the confabulation of getting a TV preamp to work
was interesting. Took no time at all to tear down what took
nearly a week to assemble. Perhaps I will remember where all
the pieces are and how to connect them together for the next
event. In the course of listening for the transmissions from
the International Space Station [six days, 6 passes/day, 2-3
images/pass equals about 70-80 images recorded]. Most of the
images were partial, included fades, ended early, started
late. Eventually I managed to collect the entire 12
image set of “ARISS 20 Years of Amateur Radio Operations on
ISS” event. To see some other images received at The Cat
Drag'd Inn click on the image here and enter K1OIQ in
the search box.
 First
Battle of The 2nd American Revolution?
The First American Revolutionary War had the Boston Tea
Party as a precursor. Now we have the first blood spilt at
the Storming of The Capitol. What a way to celebrate 12th
Night, eh?
Downsizing, eh?
“Clutter is an external demonstration of our internal
storms,” says Star Hansen, a professional organizer. There
are times when a shelf of books is no longer a library. But
I really need to keep my backpack and Svea cooker; there is
no point in my keeping my tent if I don’t keep them. And my
ECW mittens, and crampons, and two pair of snowshoes. My
campfire robe I can at least use on my bed. But the clothes
I’ve not worn in twenty years (...prob’ly don’t fit no more
anyhow...) My head hurts just thinking about this stuff I
have to not use.
2021i21 Thursday 
Article in the current AARP magazine: The Night John Lennon
Died--40 years ago [when he was 40 years old]. Alice Cooper
wrote: That was the day the music died.
Coming soon this evening to a timepiece
near you: Today is the 21st hour of the 21st day of 21st
year of 21st century, enjoy it! Thanks for the reminder
Nita! Then Jan wrote: How did you miss telling everyone
that yesterday’s date was a palindrome!!! 1–2-1-2-1 Good
catch! I planned that just to see who was awake out there
in the ether. Thank you Jan for being the only one--at
least so far. And for that matter, today's date as well:
1-22-21. Two palindromic dates in a row. How cool is that?
Not to mention 12-2-21. And Happy Big Wind Day this year?
12-4-21. Or 21-4-12 depending on which way your wind
blows.
I lied, Jan; totally missed the
occasion. Thank you for showing me up. Good thing I'm not
perfect or that would have been an unrecoverable faux pas.
I'll shotgun your discovery around.
 Entropy:
Real Life Parkinson’s Law
"Work
expands so as to fill the time available for its
completion". —C Northcote Parkinson.
If you wait until the last minute, the task only takes a
minute to do. —Stock–Sanford corollary.
Applying that degree of indolence to the task of reversing
the entropy of getting anything done around here one will
always have the law on their side. Somehow or other
"Entropy" reminds me of 13
clocks. They are more than a distraction. A time-hole.
Only one I wind weekly. Sometimes weakly and then the time
stops before the weekly winding day. Others use batteries or
solar+battery. One watch is "self-winding" if worn on an
active limb, but I've not worn a watch in nearly an hundred
years. I tried to get Hurricane Hazel-Rah to wear a
watch-collar round her neck but she has no time for that so
the date never changes on that clock. The other windup--not
self-winding--watch, the one with the turquoise and silver
band, the band is broken so that clock hangs in the sunset
window alongside a turtle tile and a rainbow crystal.
 Thoughts
on One’s Second Childhood
One’s usual Childhood is a progression of discoveries: new
words, wider horizons, expansive abilities. Now I am
discovering the regression of some of those events:
selective amnesia, atrophied abilities, tunnel vision...
210128 The Calm Between the Storms
Finally we have a day conducive to outdoor photography.
Winter is waning. The breeze is balmy this afternoon so here
is a photo of my new banner in process of finding a home on
the flagstaff of The Cat Drag'd Inn. Along with this
addition to the pennants, The Cat Drag'd Inn has
recently been promoted to a four-calendar eatery. Things are
looking up. Now if I can just get the motor started and the
cat in we might go somewhere.
 From
Under the Ironwood:
Why is it that people move to the desert for the wide-open
spaces and to admire the beautiful stars? Then they
put up pole lights and leave unshielded porch lights
on? Some people think lights make them safer; if
anything lights are an attraction. Someone running
around in the desert up to no good, and you are
screaming “I have something of value”. Without all
your lights on most wouldn’t even know you are there.
Thieves need lights also. A better solution is motion
sensors. They don’t cost as much to operate and the
first time the sensor equipped light comes on the intruders
are not sure you turned it on or it is a motion
sensor. It will also tell you something is out there,
could be a coyote or someone up to no good. If you
MUST have a light to help the thieves move in, at least
shield it so that the light shines only in your yard.
It does no good to shine it under my tree! There is
NOTHING exciting to see here except an old fart
sleeping. --from.under.the.ironwood@gmail.com
 Ground
Hog Day
A leisurely stroll to Bell
Rock. One of the Geocaches I maintain for the
entertainment of other Geocachers. Bellstone
is a form of basalt which rings like a bell when it is
struck. This place rocks! Here is the music of the Bell
Rock Band. TobySue’s truck made the stroll shorter
than TinyTruck could; higher clearance and 4WD drove through
a wash that TinyTruck is afraid of. Even at that we walked
up hill for two miles and then down hill for another two
miles. The downhill miles were longer, took nearly twice
longer.
Covid Creativity
Home School Home Work...
I am amazed by this outpouring of creativity. Family's
lockdown adaptation of Les Misérables song
For
the Longest Time... The
Swan Project Cellos...
19 Febter—Covid Cocktail Adventure
 Quite the same as the "I Voted" stickers we
gave out at the polls back in November these stickers
required a great deal of arduous participation to earn.
There must have been a million orange traffic cones from
MCDOT defining the entry, lanes, and holding zone, and
perhaps three score volunteers and professionals involved
with directing, identifying, inspecting, injecting, and
leaving everything else untouched. Several signs at the
entry advised "No Cameras--No Selfies" so the only photo I
have is of this sticker.
Perhaps the most interesting and interactive part of the
entire adventure took place upon arrival in the holding
area. After you get your shot they have you park for 15
minutes to wait out the period of maximum reaction. By the
time I got the brake set and the motor off the time had come
for my first afternoon pee. When the man arrived to affix a
departure time sticker to my wind screen I asked about a
urination station.
I think I have never before seen a Handicap Accessible
Porta-Potty. They are huge! Loading ramp leads up to
Double-Wide door. Room inside to turn a semi. No lock on the
door. And you have to be escorted to and from. They are
concerned to the utmost that you might have a reaction to
your injection so your escort waits outside until you have
completed the paperwork and then sees your safe return to
your car. Finally time came to leave for the long drive back
to The Cat Drag'd Inn and a nice long nap. My
appointment for the second dose is three weeks away, to the
minute.
 Rain
Forecast
As much as we need some and as much as I would enjoy a
nice day of slow steady rain, right now I have a large
stained glass window project laid out to be leaded and
framed. Last thing I need is having to pack all that away to
make way for some rain.
 (Old) Nudes in a Tunick October 3 2009
First I’ve seen of this. 700 volunteers pose nude in a human
installation in a vineyard in the south of Burgundy. This
human art installation was created by artist Spencer
Tunick - to warn about the dangers of global warming.
The impacts of climate change are already being felt all
around the world. In France, they are affecting the wines
and the vineyards. These installations are an intense
illustration of the vulnerability of humankind and its
culture to climate change.
(New) Nudes from Tonopah
Crews from several different fire departments were called
out to a huge
fire at Hickman's Family Farm in Arlington early
Saturday afternoon. Arlington is about 50 minutes west of
Phoenix, next door to Tonopah. According to a Hickman's
Family Farm spokesperson, about 165,000 egg-laying hens died
when two of the 10-lane barns burned. Scrambled? Or over
easy?
Happy MarIO Day
 I nearly missed out. MarIO Day...
Driver license Renewal. Long storey. Short tale: I passed
the eye test and changed the colour of my hair from red to
white. The rest of the storey will take another day to
compose. Then with a paper copy of my new license in hand
Mike and I went to Tin Top for MarIO Day Pizza and left a
ten dollar tip. The first two of the Ajo Lily plants in the
back yard are putting up starter leaves.
MarIO Day Orts
Before this debacle fades into the distance... Already the
facts are getting confused with the fallacy. Originally my
AridZona Driver License (AZDL) had an expiration date of
2020 April 3 and back then, a year ago, I’d already spent
some hours plodding through the arcanum of AZMVD’s website
to effect a renewal—everything can be done online these
days, eh—except when you are a Senior and then you must find
your way to one of their AZDL offices to do an eye test and
have a new photo taken. I think part of the renewal process,
to see if you are fit to be on the roads, is just finding
your way there, even with the help of your GPS.
 When this Covid shit hit the fan
last year the AZGOV extended a blanket AZDL expiry extension
in an effort to spread out the lines and thin the waiting
room crowds. Then in an effort to counteract that they
closed some of the smaller offices that had small waiting
rooms, such as the very convenient one in Buckeye, just up
the road from the Food Bank. Somewhere along the way, before
or after Covid, AZMVD also privatised parts of the License
and Registration process and the contractor(s) built a state
of the art system complete with a fancy website and lots of
Convenience Stations (Similar to the places where you take
your trash that used to be called Town Dumps.) where they
tack on a Convenience Fee which is sometimes greater than
the DMV Fee to begin with.
Last month something reminded me that my AZDL was about to
expire again. Prob’ly when I went for my first Covid Vaccine
and needed to present an ID. So I set about wasting another
few precious hours trying to wheedle my way through the
online renewal. First obstacle was “Your Login is Invalid”.
And everything is two-layered security now as well. So you
not only need a name and password but then “they” send you a
secret code TXT that opens the next layer that tells me
“Someone with the same Credentials is Already Logged In”.
How can that be? Isn’t one of me enough?
 And I simply refuse to call their
“Help” line. I’ve got better things to do than listen to
“All Of Our Agents Are Busy With Other Customers. Your Call
Is Very Important To Us, Please Stay On The Line And Your
Call Will Be Answered In The Order It Was Received”
interspersed with bouts of raucous “music” on hold which has
been carefully programmed and presented so as to drive you
crazy and make you hang up.
But! Finally an idea that works and has actually been
implemented by many businesses too strapped to hire adequate
help: “Or Press One Now To Leave Your Number And We Will
Call You Back When You Get To The Head Of The Line.” So you
leave your number and put your phone on charge. Now two
things happen. Your number begins to climb the ladder to the
top of the call-back queue and at the same time your number
is recorded in a database available to hackers who will sell
the digits to spammers who will shortly begin to call you
incessantly with offers to buy your house.
 Eventually I got logged in and went
round the block filling in the forms with all the
information they already have on file so they can display
the form back to me and say “Is This You?” And finally I
find out that I am one of those Seniors who must attend to
an eye test and a new photo. To do that one must make an
appointment. That process in on another website. Somewhere
in all this rigamarole I was shown to a map dotted with DMV
offices. Except of course for the one in Buckeye. The next
closest was in Avondale. Click there and a dropdown drops
down to present a list of days. Pick today and the next
dialogue tells me “There are no appointments available for
that date. Pick another date.” Click the dropdown again,
pick tomorrow: same result. Pick the day after... Why cannot
the asinine programme just tell me when the next available
appointment IS available. I went through a week and then
found there is no choice to pick another location. You have
to START OVER from square two. At least I didn’t have to go
all the way back to log in.
Finally get an appointment for 14:50 Wenzday afternoon at
the next office further east.
 March
Is A Five-Holiday Month
Mar1O Day; Friday 12th, Second Pfizer Covid Shot; π
Day; Feast
Day of Saint Patrick (Food Bank Day); Spring
Equinox. Saint Pat’s at the food bank and I can get to my
AZDL appointment after clocking out. Ms Garmin leads me to
the southeast corner of a certain traffic light intersection
in Avondale where a large building, sufficiently large to be
a supermarket or an AZDMV office sits empty as Ms Garmin is
saying “You have arrived.”
Drive around in a circle and there, through the trees, on
the northeast corner I spy another large building: "Arizona
Auto License Services". The carpark is not quite full. Lots
of people standing around outside the middle door. The doors
to either end of this edifice have signs: “Use Other Door →”
and “Use Other Door ←” so I zig-zag through the crowd to the
middle door and inside is a touch screen inviting name and
phone number and instructions to sign in and go wait in your
car: "We will send you a text when you are at the top of the
list.” By this time my veneer of respectability is wearing
thin. I still have an hour and a half to my appointment so
there is time to meditate, walk around the block, find a
place to pee. Egad! So I kicked a can around the carpark for
an hour until the text called me inside to “Window 7” where
I was credentialed again and told to take a seat. Another
chapter of Time Enough For Love later and I was
called to Window 6 and "What can we do for you?" I have an
appointment... and showed my receipt with the Q-Code. "Oh!"
she said, you want to be across the street at the Avondale
Motor Vehicle Division and she pointed through the window to
another large building under an AridZona flag and partly
obscured by a Food Distribution Center.
Over there, and still time enough for my appointment,
another greeter, another credentialling, and finally I am in
the right place. Phew! Stand over there and read the eye
chart. Stand over here and remove your hat. Sign here and go
stand in “Line A”. “Line A” zigged and zagged to Window 14
where the clerk suggested my my hair colour should be
changed from red to white and a few pounds added to my
weight. Ten dollars please and we don’t take AMEX. Your new
license will be in the mail in about ten days.
12 March: Another Drive-By Shooting:
Second Pfizer Covid Shot. A replay to the minute of my first
shot three weeks ago. One month to Happy Big Wind Day!
π
Day
3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592307
81640628620899862803482534211706............. (Thanks
Jon) I'm making an apple π. A Male
Apple π of course. What are
your plans? π Day ranks right up
there with Mad Hatter Day in the List of Good Reasons to
Have a Party, right after Solstice and Equinox and just
before Birthdays. "π Day is an annual
celebration commemorating the mathematical constant π.
Pi Day is observed on March 14 (or 3/14 in the U.S.
month/day date format), since 3, 1, and 4 are the three most
significant digits of π in the decimal form. In 2009, the
United States House of Representatives supported the
designation of Pi Day. “In the year
2015, Pi Day had extra special significance: On 3/14/15 at
9:26:53.58, with the date and time (including 1/100
seconds) representing the first 12 digits of pi."
 20
March: Spring Equinox and Food Pantry
Twice a month we have this party at the TVHS where folks
drive through and are loaded with grub from Saint Mary’s
Food Bank. Volunteers, high school students to
grand-students, move the product from pallet to boot and
clean up after. For me this event is in addition to the four
hours every Wenzday I work at the Buckeye Food Bank where
some weeks there is even a case of kitty kibbles for
Hurricane Hazel-Rah.
Fast Ten Days
My shiny new AZMVD White Haired Driver License
arrived. At least I still have hair.
Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Years. At the South Pole one
can walk “around the world”, through all 24 Time Zones and
360 degrees of longitude, in 80 seconds easily. At the
equator the circumference of the world is about 24,901miles.
Driving 312 miles per day in a straight line at the equator
would get you around in 80 days. But a lot more miles, and a
lot more days, if you were driving with all the zigging and
zagging and roundabouts. Driving at 60 miles/hour once
around would take 415 hours or about 17 days as long as you
didn’t stop to eat, sleep, fuel, or get any flat tyres. If
one were to walk 15 miles a day, every day, a
circumwalkbulation at the equator would take 1660 days.
That’s four and a half years of walking and several pairs of
boots. But of course there are oceans of water that get in
the way. The International Space Station makes the trip in
about 90 minutes. Taking one’s time to stagger from country
by plane or ship or train, visiting friends, waiting on
airport queues and customs, working between times to earn
money, getting all the way around could easily take 80 years
especially if you had to wait to get started until you were
old enough to travel on your own. There’s
A Cat Licking My Birthday π
|
2021 Spring Equinox —
Greetings Virtual Travellers and Pen Friends: 
