I weathered the Holidays with an empty refrigerator and freezer. The pantry was also empty, at least empty of things I wanted to eat. I put off grocery shopping due to the christmas crowds until, well, I was starving!

Today I went grocery shopping. I have heard of merchants reducing prices, virtually giving things away. At least that is what thhe alarmist talking heads on TV say.

But woe is me. The grocery stores are surely having a harvest of our purses! Gotta eat, you know, so what ever the traffic will bear…

As usual, on this trip I over extended my list. My shopping lists are intended as guides for things I must have, or at least kinda must.

But still, I was shoocked at the register. Aftering saving about $60.00 by my prudent product selection, I still had to fork up $350.00. And that “$60.00 savings”? One would have to spend a lot of time selecting product to avoid the approximately 75% of the produsct that is “reduced” on their super special “discount card”!

Current plans are to go to Yuma BLM area soon. Previous visitors Gordon and Marlene are near there.

From there perhaps I will go North to Quartzsite. Fellow traveler Steve O’ will be there mid january. He can help me with my satellite and TV connections if I hhave trouble getting them operating after being shut down for over a year. There are RV shows at Quartzsite in that time period.

Rumor has it that the US EPA, as well as many other countries, are planning to tax dairy farmers for methane release of the herd. Of course this tax could easily be extended to pork and beef feedlots.

It isn’t clear how the raised funds would benefit the environment. But that concern long ago became a retorical question. It appears that the real objective is for liberals to control the price of meat and dairy products. Are you ready to be forced into vegetarianism?

A better plan would be for the Renewable Energy Commission to encourage and harness this methane production. and combine it with methane collected from land fills. My home is heated with propane, and I would have no objection to conversion to methane from a renewable energy source.

I guess I am old fashioned, and I am likely to become more so. I ran into an article on the web about words that have been dropped from the Oxford University Press Junior Dictionary. I know that dictionaries are periodically adjusted, with words added as well as words deleted. And I realize that the mentioned dictionary is not unabridged.

It is rather obvious why words are added, most being slang and technowords (is that a word?).No problem there. But it has always baffled me as to why words are deleted. Once widely used and recognized, any word is a valid word. It is sometime fun to use old words. Reviewing the words removed from the dictionary this year demonstrates a disturbing trend.

Does the removal of any of the following words concern you? The removal list::

Dwarf, elf, goblin

Abbey, aisle, altar, bishop, chapel, christen, disciple, minister, monastery, monk, nun, nunnery, parish, pew, psalm, pulpit, saint, sin, devil, vicar

Coronation, duchess, duke, emperor, empire, monarch, decade

Adder, ass, beaver, boar, budgerigar, bullock, cheetah, colt, corgi, cygnet, doe, drake, ferret, gerbil, goldfish, guinea pig, hamster, heron, herring, kingfisher, lark, leopard, lobster, magpie, minnow, mussel, newt, otter, ox, oyster, panther, pelican, piglet, plaice, poodle, porcupine, porpoise, raven, spaniel, starling, stoat, stork, terrapin, thrush, weasel, wren.

Acorn, allotment, almond, apricot, ash, bacon, beech, beetroot, blackberry, blacksmith, bloom, bluebell, bramble, bran, bray, bridle, brook, buttercup, canary, canter, carnation, catkin, cauliflower, chestnut, clover, conker, county, cowslip, crocus, dandelion, diesel, fern, fungus, gooseberry, gorse, hazel, hazelnut, heather, holly, horse chestnut, ivy, lavender, leek, liquorice, manger, marzipan, melon, minnow, mint, nectar, nectarine, oats, pansy, parsnip, pasture, poppy, porridge, poultry, primrose, prune, radish, rhubarb, sheaf, spinach, sycamore, tulip, turnip, vine, violet, walnut, willow