January 28, 2006   My Vote for Grassroots Reform
 
There's something definitely amiss with an administration that can get so many things so very wrong. This isn't a partisan comment, just an observation about how messed up our elected government can make our lives, and charge us tax dollars for doing it!
 
For example, this Medicare Part D plan.... is totally ill conceived, horribly implemented and overly confusing. It appears to cost those on the plan more money for reduced services, and has attempted to legislatively prohibit cheaper and viable alternatives that many seniors had found, the ultimate fubar. Put politicians in charge of health care and you can just guess how painful it'll be! Thanks, but I'd prefer to have a qualified, competent, english-speaking doctor administer my next colonoscopy... not a committee of politicians, judges and justices! 'Course it's getting more and more difficult to find a qualified, competent, english-speaking doctor. In fact, try a Google search for +qualified +competent +"english speaking" +doctor, and see what ya get! I didn't check them all, but the hits I found were NOT in the US!
 
Social Security and Medicare worked pretty darned well for many years. Not perfect, perhaps, but at least understandable. Then the politicians got to fiddling around with them, sucking out resources to fund their own pork barrel projects. George Dub-yah's recent unenlightened plans for Social Security "reform" (read "elimination") has fortunately fallen on it's ugly face, at least for now!
 
I think it's time that we came up with a strong third party. A real party, not one of those fringe special interest outfits. Nobody who has ever run for office under any other party could belong. Nobody with an IQ of less than 75 could run for office (OK, call me elitist, but we have far too many totally stupid people in office already). And anybody running on the party ticket would have to swear that they would immediately pass legislation to stop outsourcing precious US jobs, and to heavily fine companies who hire people in foreign countries for jobs that could be filled by qualified US citizens.
 
And, let's nullify foreign investment in US soil wherever such investment isn't reciprocal. Our leaders have sold our country out, and it's time that "We The People" get it back. Let's start with Hawaii which is heavily owned by offshore interests. But Japanese and other Asian countries prohibit or limit US ownership of their sovereign lands. Doesn't it sound reasonable that our laws be totally reciprocal? The fact is, these other countries enforce their laws and restriction to our limitation. We must be utterly stupid not to have a reciprocal plan in place.
 
When you really analyze the sellout of America, you must realize that the only winners are Big Business and special interest. US workers lose jobs while taxes climb for low and mid income folks.
 
I could go on, 'bout correcting the foreign deficit, improving education (like emphasizing foreign languages and cultural understanding, so that we can eradicate our Ugly American image and compete better internationally), and on, and on. Unfortunately, it's all just wishful thinking since the members of the existing 2-party system will fight tooth and nail against allowing a viable third party to exist.
 
So, it leaves us with one option. If we could get the bulk of our politicians and bureaucrats in Washington D.C. at the same time, then we could make a 'gift of Washington D.C. to Iran, Iraq, and any other 'hostile' countries (we might want to move the good stuff in the Smithsonian to...maybe Kansas before the formal exchange). I mean, if we REALLY want to fight terrorism, we oughta let our biggest terrorists (our politicians) help these countries 'develop'. Sounds like a plan to me!
 
Until later.....DKHT

 
January 20, 2006   The Trip Home
 
Made the run from Texas to N.Wisconsin last weekend. Drove back using GeoTruk's DeLorme GPS software Street Atlas USA 2006. It's the same software I used for the trip South as well as geocache routing this past year. By and large I really like using it. Except for the HUGE map database errors that occasionally creep in.
 
For example, much of mid to upper Missouri's I-44 is significantly offset from the actual GPS position, as are portions of US 51 in N. Wisconsin. This isn't a big problem if you know you're on a huge 4-lane with I-44 or US-51 signs frequently alongside, ya gotta figure that you are ok and the database is flaky. Yet if you're travelling with routing and voice options 'on', the continuous "off-route; recalculating route" messages will drive you up a wall. Yes, you can change (not on-the-fly) the distance before the off-route messages kick in , but you are then stuck with being blocks off-route in the cities before you're alerted about it.
 
GeoTruk's Dell Inspiron 2650 laptop requires a finger span of a pro basketball player to be able to hit the 'Fn' and sound mute keys simultaneously. Mousing to turn the voice off via touchpad while doing 70+ mph in traffic doesn't seem a wise option. I now use a headset with a noise cancelling microphone to issue commands to the software. The microphone and headphones plug into separate jacks on the Inspiron. I'll typically use the headset only in congested areas, and I can partly unplug the headset jack to listen to voice instructions over the laptop speakers for normal travel. When I want to 'quiet' the "off-route" messages, I just plug the headset back in.
 
I'd intended to run the newest ALK CoPilot 9 software on the return trip north.I received the upgrade a few days before I was due to leave Wichita Falls, and installed it on the Inspiron. (I have version 7 already on the laptop, but returned last year's version 8 because of far too many problems and far too little technical support). I figured I'd give ALK another shot. However, setting up the return trip to avoid the standard routing through and around St. Louis, I encountered the same problems that I found flaws with back in version 7...the alternate routing seems far too cumbersome and not intuitive. Since I had too many things to cram into the short time I had before I left, I decided to return on software that I was familiar with. I will do a thorough test on the CoPilot product as soon as possible.
 
DeLorme is noted for their maps. A 1/32 or 1/64 inch error in a paper map will not get somebody lost. A much higher accuracy must be applied when a company sells a GPS database-driven package. Even ALK has problems keeping up with changes and relocations, and many features in GPS programming can be expected to be 5 to 15 years behind the times. If I had the 'ear' of the development teams for these products, I'd tell them to make their first priority obtaining the most accurate information available for municipal interchanges. These are the places where high speeds, confusing alternatives and heavy traffic can cause significant accidents. Two years ago I was driving through Oklahoma City and the next direction that came up on the screen was "On ramp" and nothing else! .... And there were 4 ramps going in different directions, confusing signage, and tons of traffic. The typical disclaimers basically put ultimate responsibility on the traveller, but if the maps and the GPS systems are inaccurate, it's tough to make the right calls when you're trying to avoid other locals in congested, high speed areas.
 
Fortunately the snow wasn't too deep in the drive so I was able to pull in and unload. Several inches of new snow the following morning welcomed me "home". The old Ford 8n fired right up and I finished plowing in a couple of hours.
 
Unfortunately, the house was in a total mess. Actually, it's just like I left it...I was in such a hurry when I left that only the mandatory items were completed, and the rest was, well, left in chaos. Everytime I leave, it's pretty much the same story. Everytime I return I hope that a bunch of elves have come in and have miraculously cleaned the place. Everytime I return I have less faith in the existence of benevolent elves.
 
Until later.....DKHT

 
January 13, 2006   Don't Mess With Texas!
 
My last full day for this trip to Texas. I guess I really needed the break from the months of tediom of the WI cabin's remodel. I know that work is still waiting for me, but I feel ready to tackle it again with entusiasm.
 
Although the main purpose of this trip was to help my mom out, getting together with family and exploring the Texas countryside has been great. Meetings with attorneys, estate planners and financial planners not withstanding, It's been a very productive trip on all levels.
 
I'd hoped to write a few specialty pieces for the site in my "spare" time down here (even brought some research along), but I managed to find excuses in geocaching and looking for rural property that left no time to spare.
 
But I'm glad things worked out the way they have; I've seen lots of interesting things and know there's a lot more... for the next trip!
 
So GeoTruk and DonKeyHoeTee are headed North tomorrow, back to snow country (wonder what my driveway looks like after 4 weeks of not being plowed?). If you see a dark grey GMC 4x4 pickup with a few antennas and Wisconsin plates heading up I-44, I-55 or I-39, wave or honk. Honking is good. It keeps me awake! It also reminds me to occasionally look away from the GPS gear and at least glance at the highway.
 

 
Until later.....DKHT

 
January 8, 2006   Problem Solving and Geocaching Southern Style
 
My mom's Texas house is new. It's a brick-clad, low-maintenance, energy efficient single story-on-a-slab (They don't do basements down here!) Of course, when the rest of the family moved in for the holidays, mom's electric bill quadrupled... tons more hot water for washing and bathing, heat in the evenings and AC during the days. This time of year in WI GeoTruk's heater would be perpetually on. Down here, GeoTruk's AC is usually on!
 
But back to the house. Mom moved in in April of 2005. From that time, she hasn't been able to use the side gate area to access her back yard because it was a slime pit of wet, oozing North Texas red clay (euphemistically called Texas dirt down here). We thought that the proplem was remedied with some regrading done last summer. However, when I arrived, the situation was even worse than it'd been on my visit last April. I called the city departments... the water department had a crew out within 2 hours, and the city sewer guys followed closely thereafter. These guys were great and quite thorough, but ultimately it was determined that no city services were accountable for the water.
 
Finally, with the city vindicated, a call to the builder, Rowland & Donnell Homes swiftly brought out a crew, comprised of Bill and Bobby Rowland representing the builders, their plumbing contractor (Glen) and a couple of fellas who subcontract the dirt/grade work for final excavation. We determined that the water problem was not due to a leak from my mom's house or irrigation system, nor from the side neighbor. However, a large amount of standing water was observed in the back neighbor's yard (I was too short to see it over the high wooden fence). The Rowlands had built that house as well, and knew the owner. They inspected his yard and found a malfunctioning sprinkler line, which was leaking continuously. Add to this the fact that the neighbor was also saturating his back yard with his daily watering routine obviously provided the source of our mom's 'bog'.
 
The leak is scheduled to be fixed tommorow, and the neighbor is reducing his watering regimen, at least for the rest of the winter. Thanks goes to the Rowland & Donnell company for their prompt response. To their credit, they weren't aware that the problem persisted after the summer regrading.
 
The times I get out to geocache with GeoTruk have been ton's-o-fun. Of course, I've always loved history and historical insight regarding landmarks and locations, and the local cache placers deserve my accolades for both creatively finding semi-urban places to hide caches, as well as associating many with local historical events.
 
One such trip took me to the Wichita Falls Historic District, where I discovered the "Littlest Skyscraper". Legend has it that during the oil boom some con men sold investors on constructing a skyscraper office building down by the train depot and across from the hotel. The investors weren't aware that the plans they had been shown were scaled in inches rather than feet. It "soars" all of 4 stories, and is roughly 12 ft wide at the front and maybe 24 ft deep. Reputed to be a $200,000 scam, the prepetrators got "clean away"!
 

 
Nearby is the Wichita Falls Railroad Museum. There are several locomotives and cars on the property, as well as a few trucks and equipment of the period. My favorite is the Fort Worth & Denver 2-8-0 steamer #304.

 
Not far away is the bronze statue commemorating the reason that the Wichita River and Wichita Falls are thusly named. When an early group of Indians came to the river, the woman went out to determine it's depth. Her husband asked how deep it was and she replied "Wee-Chi-Tah", or "waist deep".
 
The statue is quite remarkable, with wonderful landscaping and running water. The woman is wading in the 'river' as the child and two horseback braves are on shore. Further back is yet another bronze mare and her colt.
 
The statue is situated in a very nice park with lots of rock placed to add to the effect. Water grasses have been planted in the shallows of the 'river'and mini waterfalls set the mood.
 

 
I've put over 600 miles on GeoTruk just exploring, looking for properties and doing some geocaching since I arrived here three weeks ago. It's been a blast, and after a few more meetings with laywers and other formal-type dudes, I'l probably put on a few more hundred miles before heading home this coming weekend.
 

 
Until later.....DKHT