relo to the mountains, paw update, gizzards

temps rise - planning an escape to higher elevation

My plan has been to stealth camp in the city until temps rose, then evacuate to the surrounding mountains. By Wednesday temps in the city will be >75F consistently so the weather is moving me along.

My first move will be lateral, elevation-wise. Not much higher but being away from the concrete heatsink may help. Then gradually moving higher as temps increase. I’ll return to town every 14d to reprovision and shower, doing it in early morning when temps are mildest.

One issue will be dirt road passability during the summer monsoon (June 15 - September 30). If I stick to open rather than forested areas I think the roads will dry up better in between storms. On average this area a max of about 2.4in in the heaviest monsoon month, where Flagstaff is 3.5in.

By September I might be able to come back down to the city for the month, then start working south again as temps decrease. Looks like overnights start to freeze in October.

paw

Muffin’s paw healed up a few days after the limp started. I could never nail it down with certainty but I think there was a paw pad split that was being pulled apart aton some uneven surfaces. No blood or obvious trauma. I had used superglue on heel splits to good effect and did that with her pad. The limp was 90% reduced and went away over the next few days.

off-leash park

I don’t mean a fenced in dog area – this is a 140 acre open place for dogs to run and play. Unfortunately, Muffin is a habitual runaway and so had to stay on leash while we hiked.

Japanese internment monument

On one of the paths is a monument describing how Japanese Americans were imprisoned during WW2 in the area. The plaque notes that

no person of Japanese ancestry in the U.S. was ever charged or convicted of espionage throughout the course of the war. Many of the internees had relatives that served with distinction in the American Armed Forces in Europe and in the Pacific.

The internment was set in motion by Executive Order 9066 and upheld by SCOTUS in Korematsu v. United_States. For shame. I’m glad George Takei is spending so much of his remaining time talking about it.

The broader wiki article notes

The scale of the incarceration in proportion to the size of the Japanese American population far surpassed similar measures undertaken against German and Italian Americans who numbered in the millions and of whom some thousands were interned, most of these non-citizens.

How about we don’t imprison anyone without proof of criminality? I know, I won’t shut up about that quaint Constitution thingy our polity is supposed based on. IMO it shouldn’t be brushed aside for expedience, war footing, or the authoritarian leanings of crowds.

gizzards

I like dredged/fried gizzards but they are hard to find in the SW, and messy to cook. I recently read a thread on /r/InstantPot where a fellow mentioned he pressure cooked gizzards and hearts. Hmmm.

The local grocery had gizzards/hearts for $1.75/lb so I grabbed some. I put in 0.75 cup of water, then potatoes, gizzards, onion, and bacon. Pressure cooked for 30 minutes.

Turned out nicely. Obviously fried is tastier but the gizzards and hearts were more tender than if fried. Inexpensive protein. :-)

I just reheated the remainder for lunch: 7mins at pressure.

new Visible router report

I have finally heard a report of success putting the new Visible SIM in a router. Will likely try that once I get emplaced on the hill.

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