Bleak House

Yes. That book. The one written by Charles Dickens. Over fifty years after it was assigned reading, I still have not read it.

Education after high school was going to be my responsibility. Those first college courses were taken at the University of Wisconsin -- Green Bay Extension. Affectionately referred to as Cardboard Tech, it was built for returning vets after WWII. The "temporary" building was still in use in 1961.

After five years of full and part time working and attending UW -- Green Bay Extension, I went to Madison to complete the last two years. In 1965 I received a BBA degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

During one of those semesters when I wasn't attending full time, I signed up for an English Lit(erature) correspondence course**. The hope was to alleviate some of those credit requirements to achieve that university diploma.

I don't recall what else may have been assigned reading for the English Lit course, but I do recall one book assigned was Bleak House. I have no recollection of how much of the book I may have read. I do recall sending in two or three of the course assignments before I decided to drop the course. Would American Lit have been a better choice.

Today it isn't correspondence courses via the US Postal Service, but courses via the internet of varying structure and participation. For me, I doubt that it would have made English Lit any easier.

When I ran short of reading about a year ago, I did read Dickens' Great Expectations (as an eBook). With the Pima County library for real books and eBooks, there is always another book that I have reserved that is waiting for me to pick up or download. Too much to read. Too little time.

Considering the number of books already on reserve at the library and the number of book titles waiting to be put on the list, I may never get around to reading Bleak House. And that's okay.

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** For those younger readers... Without an internet in fifty years ago, a correspondence course used the post office for communication between the instructor and the student.

I wonder if any of my readers had attended Cardboard Tech.

My Relationship With The Internet

Since my recent post Considering A Newspaper, I was reconsidering what I am doing on the internet.

I have a Twitter account. The intent was to share links on the internet that I found interesting. However, the number of Twitter followers is a fraction of those who follow my blog. Instead of Tweeting those URLs, I will save and post them in a "sharing" blog entry.

I will keep the Twitter account so I can follow those who link to articles informing of healthy living.

There have been several times that I had signed up on Facebook. After a few days of nagging emails of "you may know there people", I canceled the Facebook account.

Signing up for Google+ seemed a good idea. I am not sure why I did that. I never go there to check on those who are in my circles. Soon I will cancel Google+ and just use Blogger.

About a year ago, I had considered using WordPress as my blogging software. I was struggling to get the layout I wanted and I was learning how to do a lot of things I had already been doing without a thought on Blogger. A few days ago, I went back to that project and soon gave up when I realized I wasn't writing enough blog entries to justify the effort to learn WordPress.

In the recent past, there have been fewer blog posts. With my settled existence and without new interesting items, I find little to share. At least I don't believe there is anything to share regarding my local exploring. Or living. I would be repeating myself if I wrote about my every other day hikes. Without snakes or the unusual incident along the hike, there is nothing to blog.

There are some bloggers who write daily. They always have something to write about -- from the trite to the interesting to the informative. Some write several times a week. That would be a goal that would be more manageable, but what do I write about. A blogger who writes almost daily mentioned The Daily Post in several of his blog posts.

When I checked out the site, I found they were going to start a Blogging 101 "class" on September 15. Not sure if it was a good idea, but I registered. Okay. It was a good idea. There was always something to be learned from every technical, managing and sales classes that I took during my working career. I will learn something in the Blogging 101 course.

At the same time I will continue to work on my relationship with the internet.

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Registering for the blogging class reminds me of a English Lit correspondence course I attempted. That would certainly be material for a blog post.

Sharing

With no TV, I read books, do cross word puzzles or stare at the computer surfing the internet for news and entertainment. The following are some selected items I found interesting:


The Haves and The Have Nots

Nick Hanauer sends a message to his fellow one per-centers,   "The Pitchforks Are Coming… For Us Plutocrats"

Naturally, that message will get some comments. Here are two from Forbes:

• Nick Hanauer's Latest Near Insane Economic Plan
• The Nick Hanauer Debate: Trickledown, Trickle Dee, And Trickle Dumb

Eating

Since we all love to eat, check out 12 Graphs That Show Why People Get Fat



Closing on an upbeat note, check out this...

Dog video

Husky plays in the leaves

Donating Pennies

"A penny saved is a penny earned." -- Ben Franklin

I was out of balance. I was listing and staggering to the right when I walked. I also felt a tugging sensation at the belt line on the right side. Turns out there was a coin build up in that pocket. There were about 20 pennies along with nickels, dimes and quarters. That would be a lot of tip money for this miser.

All those coins is a sure way to put holes in the pocket. The real accumulation is the pennies. That extra weight on the right side caused me to walk funny. Okay. So I do walk funny. But those coins in the pocket is my excuse and I am sticking to it.

When I know I am going to get pennies at the check out lines, I can't seem to restrain myself. Soon I am editorializing on why the US may be the last Western country to continue the penny in circulation.

Since this one man battle to rid the US of the penny is going no where, I've decided to take a positive approach. I am going to take up philanthropy. All future pennies received in change will be donated to charity. Yes, I know. That is pretty generous of me. But I will feel good about it.

Usually, I don't have to search far for a charity looking for donations. Whatever charity container is at the checkout line will get the pennies. Soon the charities will be clambering to get my excess pennies. I will make a difference.

The positive is that donating those excess coins should deter an ice bucket threat.

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No doubt Ben Franklin would support stopping the production of the penny and earning millions of dollars for the US.

I've been griping about the penny in circulation for over a decade including some entries on this blog.  One entry: No Pennies -- Not Cheaper

Before the US does anything about coinage, the loss of 105 million making pennies and nickels will be studied. This cynic is sure nothing will change.

Canada phases the penny out of circulation.

Considering a Newspaper

The downside of the internet are the speeds available for downloading data. Most of that data is graphics, video, podcasts, movies and annoying ads in the side bars. And a few words. Then there are a few sites where a voice starts chatting or music starts playing when landing on the site. For those developers there is special place in hell.

The internet has become my source for news. I have several news apps on the iPad. One of those was the USA Today app. It is now gone. Why does every story have to have a video attached. Occasionally it is simply a photo. It was rare when there wasn't some graphic associated with the article.

I remember the days when words were the way to communicate via the internet. I understand the occasional need for photos and graphics, but most times words will relate the news -- or the information.

I am considering going back to reading a real newspaper rather than getting the news online. The positive about reading a newspaper is that the ads don't get my attention. On the internet sites, the ads pop up and interfere with my reading. I have no idea what the pop up ad is telling me that I need. I just search for the cancel/close button so I can continue to read the story.

I want words. I don't want pictures. Perhaps the direction of video and graphics is symptomatic of the education crisis that is bemoaned by many people. Could the advertisers and sellers be appealing to the intelligence and education of the audience. Might they be addressing an elementary school educated audience. In those early grades it was picture books with few words. Just saying.

Then there are the up or down icons to click if the reader likes/dislikes the internet article. The "clicker" doesn't have to think about their click. If they had to put their thoughts into words (less than 140 characters), they might not be so sure about their decision to like or not like. Or is it even worth the time typing a few words.

Enough of this ranting. I am off to find a newspaper.

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Regarding who uses the internet bandwidth. According a CNET article Bots now running the Internet with 61 percent of Web traffic.

Back Home

Once settled in a stick home in Tucson last January, I began plans for a summer escape. Considering several destinations, I opted for a three month stay in Prescott Valley of Arizona. The reservation was made for mid June to mid September.

After making the reservation, my imagination created and fantasized how I would spend that time in Prescott away from my Tucson home. Planning is one thing. Execution is another.

I did enjoy the stay and hiked frequently as a solo hiker or with one of the area hiking groups. The group choices were from short and casual to "race hiking" for eight to ten miles averaging two miles an hour. I have no problem with an eight mile hike. However, I would like to stop and enjoy the natural world once in a while. Three times of "race hiking" was enough. There were other hiking alternatives.

On the days when I wasn't hiking, I managed to find other exploring to satisfy the curiosity that drives me. There were museums and libraries to learn more about Prescott. The Saturday Farmers Market was a frequent visit. There were  thrift store visits to search for a Hawaiian shirt to add to my wardrobe. And more.

After six weeks of Prescott, I was ready to move on. There was no single issue. Just the whole experience. Perhaps it was that Wandrin Star under which I was born. It was just last year that I was still traveling as a nomad in my truck and fifth wheel. It seems I am still getting comfortable with the idea of a settled existence.

Whatever the reason for leaving Prescott early, I now know a little more about who I am. Not really. However, I do know that future extended travel stays will be a maximum of one month.

When I returned home on August 23rd, the Tucson day time temperatures were still over 100 degrees. That was okay. It's nice to be home.

Imagine

Regarding the daily news and the numbers of people killed:

"Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace..."

Imagine, Lyrics by John Lennon

A Desert Early Morning

To beat the heat of the day, hiking is first thing in the morning. When I arrive at the trailhead, the sun is rising over the Rincon Mountains in the east.

When I last hiked these trails in mid June the saguaros were nearing the end of their blossoming. There are always a few exceptions at the end of August as I noted a very few with buds and blossoms. While I was away at Prescott, the saguaro fruit had ripened and was harvested by birds and man.

With the recent monsoon rains, the desert is green. The ocotillo sticks are fully leafed out. Even the cactus looks greener. The moisture also provided an environment for bothersome insects. They would be gone by the middle of the day as it warmed up. Of course, I would also be gone.

A hazard with walking the trails at dawn is the over night migrations of spiders on their threads across the path. Threads at knee level are okay. Ptui is my reaction when they are at the level of my face. Then there was the very ambitious web built right across the trail. Not sure what that spider expected to catch, but I was too strong to be stopped.

This is the time of year for the barrel cactus bloom. The red halo of blossoms atop the barrel provides a striking contrast to the desert green.

The prickly pear fruit is ripe and ready to harvest. The few spines on the fruit keeps me from attempting a taste test. No doubt there is a way to deal with those spines since prickly pear jam is available for purchase.

After an early morning hike I found myself on my way home in the midst of commuter traffic.

Oy! The memories.

Constellation Trails Hike

Today's hike was the last before leaving Prescott on Saturday. This was a solo hike to enjoy the scenery and take photos. It was a good day. With the frequent monsoon rains, there was water and mud on the trails. That water also provided a very verdant ground cover compared to that first hike I took over two months ago. At that time it was dry and dusty and I managed to kick up lots of rocks into my shoes. That wasn't the case today.

Constellation Trails is a web of trails in the granite outcroppings north of Willow Lakes.

There was lots of flora and fauna along the trails that I meandered. First spotting was this curve billed thrasher.

A bit further along the trail was one of several very noisy western scrub jays.

Blue is my favorite color and the morning glories were in full bloom.

Then something caught my eye that caused me to stop suddenly. The brain is attuned to a world of the unusual in the landscape and that is what it saw. A snake! Sure looked like one. Fortunately, it was just a harmless stick.

With the rains, there was a variety of mushrooms. There is some discussion that the mushroom are more fauna than flora.

Rather than grouping in one or the other, some scientists give them their own group called -- Mushrooms.

Without a degree in mycology and no ability to identify the mushrooms, here are some specimens that I spotted along the trails.

Then there was this oddball. As this mushroom developed, I think some genes didn't get the message about the location of the gill structure. The gills are supposed to be under the mushroom cap. Gill side down!

It was a great day to be out and about enjoying the results of the recent rains.

Favored Color Is Blue

Yesterday was a gray day with frequent rains. Fortunately I am not prone to depression. If that were a health problem, the gray skies would have been a contributor to a really bad day.

Last evening near sunset there was a fleeting moment of blue sky seen through the clouds.

Over night, Nature moved those clouds east and this morning the sky was my favorite color. Blue. Beautiful.

More of the same is predicted for tomorrow. Off for a solo hike tomorrow morning.

That gray, overcast and cool day was a warning of cooler days to come. Last night's low was 57 degrees. Being a warm weather type guy, it is time to get a jump on the snowbird traffic heading south. :-))

Saturday morning I will pack up and head home to Tucson. With one or two stops (one in Phoenix) to stretch my legs along the way I will be back home by early afternoon.

With blue skies predicted for Saturday, it will be a good drive.

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Note: If I happen to wake to a rainy day on Saturday, I will delay my journey awaiting blue skies. I don't drive long distances on rainy days. That was an established habit when I was towing a trailer around the country. There is no change in that habit.