catching up on the zzz's

 the furs are pretty accommodating to my needs.  of course, Tusker likes to spread out and he is pretty long i find.  sometimes i wake up because i have been moved into a tiny area of the bed...or i have become trapped between dogs.

 Miss Breezy Chatterbug seems to find a comfy spot between us all.

 finished 3 nights of work.  CICU, ICU and then back to CICU.  CICU is never one of my favorites...the co-workers are nice enough, just all those post cath patients.  i think it's leftover PTSD from so many situations from the past.  reminders this week that my paranoia is not really merited.  cath lab groin sites of yesterday have been improved greatly so much better outcomes, much less time required to hold added pressure at the sites.  just seems i used to always get the sites that bled. 

 recall speaking to nurses who told me that when they were first starting these heart attacks would just be waiting to die.  we had little we could do other than supportive cares.  now with the steady improvements in cath lab procedures people get a cath, stents and are out the door and back to life so quickly.  the only downside i think to these improvements if that many do not really realize the seriousness of what just happened to them so they make no real life changes. 

 there have been some dramatic changes in medicine in our days.  folks are living that would have died or been severely disabled in years past.  strokes have seen dramatic changes as well.  sepsis too....but still working ICU i am around death and dying.  medicine still has limits...people do die.  we do not live forever.  not sure how this earth would cope though if we all did live forever. the old circle of life gets us all eventually.

 sunsets are happening later and later.  caught a glimpse of this one the other day from my patients room  so i took a quick snap and moved on. 

 have just hit the dog park this week through work.  still seem to be doing dog park and Campbell Airstrip.  do need to branch out a bit more i guess. this time of year trails can be sketch and as far as photography...well, not always lots to take photo's of...but I'm sure i could find stuff.

 i think I've had some added laziness post kitchen remodel.  perhaps i just have enjoyed a break from doing for a bit.  these are the last of October 2018.  tend to use these down times to catch up on photo's from months where i got behind.

 this place just changes so quickly and so dramatically.  every week you could return to the same trails and see new stuff.  these edge times, before the snow really hits and break up...are a bit brown. still i see some signs of life.  old bulbs planted are starting to sprout under it all.  soon this place will burst forth with new life.  buds on trees, baby animals.  the cycle of life continues over and over with each season. Alaska is just always a buzz with change and drama. 

 i would be fine never leaving again really.  not much draw to leaving for me at this point.  I'm a soul lost to the beauty of this place.  not sure I'm really capable of returning to the world of the lower 48 at this point even if i wanted  to.  i am awkward down south.  i do feel it when i return there for a visit.  my hermit days have impacted me.  I'm most comfortable when i am here, walking with my dogs i guess or friends. 

 i know all the should do's of life, but i don't often push myself to do the should do's. 

 yesterday was beautiful.  i just hit the dog park after some sleep. then i chilled in my papason in the yard and read.  finished the book while throwing the tennis ball back and forth...it's not possible to just read if i am in the yard...the dogs insist on the tennis ball being in motion.  Huey, Blossom they were the same.  i used to take walks down to the beach in Ketchikan with Huey, the plan was to sit on the beach and read...but as soon as i attempted to read there were sticks being dropped at my feet.  you get used to it i guess.  so i finished the book and took it out to the little free library out front for the next person to read. 

 the books do seem to come and go out there.  happy i put that out there.  i slip other books in there.  books that collect in the house.  some books you enjoyed so much it's hard to get rid of them, but the reality is i won't read them again, so many other good books to explore.  so best to let them go and let others reap the reward of their contents.

 we all have too much stuff anyway.  every book i share is one less that is collecting dust in the house.

 was looking up places in Alaska yet to explore.  haven't been on the bigger trips for a few years it seems...time to make that list and start planning to check off a few.  my brother sent a link to Brooks in Katmai.  haven't checked that one off the list and have always wanted to check out the valley of 10,000 smokes.  may have to put that on the list for next year. 

 some the parks look great but are super remote...would want to find a way to see them with a guide perhaps.  not sure I'm adventurous enough to be dropped on the north slope. we were also looking at mosquito swarm photo/videos the other day.  saw a pretty major one of those myself out of Nome once.  looked like a dust storm ahead but as i got closer i realized it was millions of mosquito's.

 Adak is another one that is still on the list to do. 

 i do have a pet sitter lined up for a paddle in a few weeks so my adventure days are not over. 

 lots of road trips, some repeated over and over but you always find something new and different.  that is just how this place is.  a never ending cycle of surprise and awe. 

 have wanted to drive this road in the Yukon Territory. haven't been over towards Kluane in a bit and haven't taken the drive down to Haines. 

 St George in the news.  someone is speaking of starting a reindeer plant.  we went to the Pribilofs years ago.  we walked across the island and ran into the reindeer herd.  the herd was put out there as a food source for the few humans that live there.  less than 100 folks.  it is remote.  beautiful but very remote. not sure how feasible a reindeer plant would be in that remote a location...how cost effective is it to transport the meat.  they don't have a deep water port, just a more shallow small boat harbor. 

 swans out in the fall. the birds are returning up here.  this morning i lay in bed listening to shorebirds in Baxter Bog by my house.  have also spotted lots of Canadian Geese these past weeks.  swans returning, have heard of sandhill cranes also making their entrance. 

 all just signs of the changes that will soon be upon us. 

 to impeach or not to impeach...that seems to be the question.  further hearings a must. the public is not sold on impeachment and for sure the right in DC aren't.  Nixon was popular before the hearings, he was re-elected despite ongoing investigations.  this iitoo is not popular...except with his base, who mostly seem happy with what he's done but less thrilled with who he is at times. they choose to look away from all his many flaws, racism, constant lies, history of groping and fraud.  funny to me how easy it is for them to look away from this when not that long ago they were completely flipped out over a guy having sex in the oval office...so flipped they spent millions to impeach him  it didn't remove him from office. I'm not sure it even really damaged the history of his Presidency.  i think mostly history shows it as a blemish of partisan politics.

 that they hated the guy so much and his policy that the only way they could find to attempt to destroy him was to nail him for oral sex.  it really seems pathetic i guess.  ego and Presidency go hand in hand.  no doubt many before him have used their power to get sexual favors...it's not right and it is time to call it out.  his biggest screw up was the whole "i did not have sexual relations with that woman" speech...one which he still seems to be unable to just admit, yes i did and it wasn't appropriate. what makes it pathetic today is how clear it is that they could really care less about his sex life or his lack of morals...it was all just a smear campaign, a way to get their way.  this is more and more obvious each day that they blindly support this womanizing, lying twit. the veil is completely lifted really.  the complete farce that is the GOP and has been for years.  all those years spent pretending to be the party of morals and ethics.  they are no better than anyone else, yet still many buy into the bull. 

 it's all about money, power and getting your way. 

 we, the people, no longer matter really.  we are just a source of revenue. 

 keep us fighting each other and they can all just keep collecting our tax dollars.  everything old is new again.  the right has welcomed the racists in and the racist agenda...just enough to keep the nation boiling.  can they balance it to prevent it from boiling over...clearly not or we would not be having the increase of hate crimes and shootings.  once you let the racism and hatred out of the bag it's hard to pack it in without bloodshed.  they are straddling that line of hate in an attempt to grab power.  they need the racists to win elections, they also seem to now need the Russians. 

 lay with the devil though...can't be good outcome down the road for anyone.  hard to see beyond today for many though.  for them the good outweighs the bad and in truth the bad of it doesn't impact their lives directly so it's easy to look away i suspect.  pretend that the negative elements aren't really that big of a deal. 

 not sure the GOP can control the hate they are releasing out there though.  militia's at the border recently, shootings and increased hate crimes.  i do hope the decent folks rise up and say no more to those with a racist agenda working to divide our nation.  i still believe there are more good people than bad.  the bad folks get more media attention.  sadly, there is always a good percentage of any population that aren't good or bad really but just aren't involved, they ignore the signs and hope for the best.  sometimes silence is dangerous.  silence eventually loudly states acceptance.  when you do not speak out you send the message that you support it all.  the good and the bad. 

 the best thing would be for him to be beat at the polls.  not sure he would accept that though.  even in the last election he was repeatedly pushing the narrative that if he lost it would be due to voter fraud.  he even claimed voter fraud despite winning.  he was and remains upset that he didn't win every state, every electoral vote, that he lost the popular vote.  he is weak and he is fragile, his ego may not be able to accept a loss.  then where will we be.  we have had stable transfer of power for generations...will this guy be the one who ceases to accept this? 

 impeachment is dead on the Senate floor at this point...that doesn't mean that they shouldn't follow through on the investigation path left by the Mueller report. there are still many investigations out there.  still many unanswered questions about emoluments and fraud.  they are working too hard to hide stuff.  sex in the oval office got investigated ad nauseum but a POTUS using his office to gain favors from foreign adversaries is no big deal.  it just doesn't make sense. the iitoo continues to add new obstruction to any and all investigations into him. taxes, witnesses blocked.  if he is innocent on all then release and prove it. 

 but we all know he isn't.  many don't want the truth to come out because i suspect they prefer to believe a different truth since that truth means they are getting the agenda they have been hoping for.  this iitoo has lived on the bitter edge of legal for decades.  he's been one lucky guy i guess...proof that money can hide you from responsibility.

 Kim and Put had a meeting together.  what was discussed.  state secrets that the iitoo gave to put in that 2 hour meeting?  he is a fool, easy to play on his ego to get information no doubt.  Put is loving his new power over the US. 

 even this iitoo own appointee's have stated that immigrants are not a crisis, but we are in danger of another attack on our elections by Put.  we are at risk of a building relationship between Rus and China. 

 watched a few minutes of a program last night.  the host was speaking with leaders of a few of these mega churches.  these were in Texas.  Dallas area.  so much money in these churches these days.  the church tax exempt status is being misused.  it was doubtful this was the intention of these laws. non-profit groups are required to keep an accounting of where the money goes...of what percentage actually goes towards their stated goals.

 churches are not.  I'm pretty sure that most of their congregants have no clue about the details of all the money they donate either.  they leave that up to their pastors.  they trust them with all of that cash.  i highly doubt it was the intent of Jesus for pastors to be living so well off the backs of their congregants.  one smaller pastor took a twist on that "what would Jesus do?" thing and says it should be "what did Jesus do?". 

 many of these churches are more political than religion, more show than church. 

 false Gods.  seems a thing that was warned about repeatedly in the scriptures. 

 money and power can turn many into lost souls.  easy to lose sight of the basic messages as the coffers fill Sunday after Sunday.  stages and cameras have turned many of these churches into nothing more than entertainment used to gain profits and control the masses...turn the tide of politics over delivering a message of Love. 

 looks cloudy out there.  may try for a few more hours sleep before i really start the day.  wouldn't mind a few days of rain over the next three nights i work.  i head back tomorrow. i like rain, especially this time of year.

 i did pull out the hose the other day in between shifts..the pups love that.  they go nuts flying all over, chasing the water.  cracks me up

 pretty sunset last fall.  these are down by Oceanview Bluff park. 

 pups on the tracks. 

 enough rambling for the morning. 

grateful for: A improvements in medicine.  B.  resolving headache  C. the adventures that still remain

got my Walrus on...

 we had our lecture and i think it all went quite well.  we were a bit disorganized in the speaker area but we all pulled it together and i think the chill lectures were appreciated overall. folks seemed comfortable asking questions.  hoping we planted a seed in a few to make the trek out there.  at least to remember we have the refuge and speak out for it from time to time.  JM actually took this shot of our cookie..thanks Speedy...and JM for the photo.  i have one that looks almost the same, but i was just too lazy to get it on the computer. 

 part of our goals is just to educate folks that this place exists and needs our attention. 

 late one night in the RCU my co-workers began expressing how much they hate all these non-profit groups that claim they "raise awareness".  they felt this was ridiculous.  so i chimed in....wanted to let them know that i run a small non-profit before they went off on non-profits.  this of course brought on several questions.  a discussion about Walrus and the Walrus Islands Sanctuary and what it was ensued.  after some time and an informative conversation i mentioned that it did appear that i had raised their awareness on the subject of walrus in Alaska and the Sanctuary.  we all got a good laugh. indeed i had.

 these are shots from the fall.  walked today, with LS out at Campbell Airstrip.  break up is not the greatest time for photography overall.  i know i could make some road trips.  i could test out some other trails. but in the end.  often i end up back to the ones i know won't cause me to post hole. 

 these are Lake Hood. Tusker has been a bed hog mood of late. that dog is long and he can really stretch out.  i wake up contorted in a corner.  we all tend to be fairly accommodating when we sleep. 

 yes, i have been reading more of the Mueller report.  many connections between Rus and folks in the iitoo's team. seems many attempts made to connect the iitoo and put.  they did get their 1:1 after he was elected in Helsinki obviously.  it is funny that he is so angry over all of this and seems to fear it all leads to him being an illegitimate POTUS...all the deceit around it is what makes him appear illegitimate though.  if they had been more transparent from the get go, folks wouldn't be doing all the digging.  when you act so so guilty...well, you dig your own hole.

 he's going ape at this time it seems.  more twitter madness than usual, if that is possible.  the Dems seem to be going the Nixon route.  attempt to get these folks before congress and let the public see the truth...especially since so many refuse to read what Mueller wrote.  the right seems to be counting on blind obedience to their messaging to keep his base on the path of the straight and narrow.  hold on to the iron rod....the more you read the more you see that all those things that the mainstream media was uncovering were more true than not and all the stuff the right media was hiding behind with one conspiracy theory after another were lies. 

 Mueller couldn't gather enough to seal the deal, but that in no way means that the iitoo and his crew were squeaky clean. 2 Corinthians 11:14  'and no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light'.  i think of think of these passages as those raving lunatics who are the radical evangelicals spout their crap about the iitoo being sent by God.  the great deceiver....

 Revelation 19:20 'and the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped it's image'.  gotta love Revelations. 

 many followers of religious leaders do not feel the need to read the books fully that they claim to believe...they leave that to others.  that had proven to be foolish for many.  suspect that is the case with many of those who have radicalized in any religion. they allow others to do the interpretation for them.  easy to be led astray when you allow others to do your thinking for you. 

 Trump Tower Moscow was being worked on in the years before he won the primary and then for some time after this.  it seems to have been more nefarious than this though there is no direct links as i said.  in Nov 2015 an exchange between Sater and Cohen is a bit chilling..."Buddy our boy can become President of the USA and we can engineer it. i will get all of Putins team to buy in on this, i will manage this process...Micheal, Putin gets on stage with Donald for a ribbon cutting for Trump Moscow, and Donald owns the republican nomination.  And possibly beats Hillary and our boy is in...We will manage this process better than anyone. You and I will get Donald and Vladimir on stage together very shortly.  that  the game changer".

 this is not fake news, this is researched information with data to back it.  of course, many will refuse to buy in, preferring the right wing media version...spin that is.  they have been proven to be the spin masters through this report thus far. 

 more of Sater to Cohen during that exchange, "i think i can get Putin to say that at the Trump Moscow Press conference.  if he says it we own this election.  Americas most difficult adversary agreeing that Donald is a good guy to negotiate....We can own this election.  Micheal  my next steps are very sensitive with Putins very very close people, we can pull this off.  Michael lets go.  2 boys from Brooklyn getting a USA president elected.  this is good really good" Cohen denies that he was thinking of the politics of the deal, but no doubt Put and his crew were.  often it just appears that the Rus were totally hoodwinking the fools in the trump circles. 

 they reached out to Ivanka as well. the footnotes are interesting as well, you can't skip those when you read.  an email to Ivanka from a Russian who gave a false name from what i can tell. "if you ask anyone who nkows Russian to google my husband Dmitry Klokov, you'll see who he is close to and that he has done Putins political campaigns".  following all of these contacts did not bring Muellers team to direct evidence, but there sure is a hell of a lot of smoke.  Russia was really making a play for these folks and really don't see that any of them so far have put the brakes to it.  they for sure did not report it to anyone in the US. 

 it was over the moscow trump project that Cohen got caught lying..well i doubt it was only one lie, but he gave the impression the talks had stalled, but in the end they went on through at least June 2016. Mueller did not delve into finances as that was not on his list.  he did pass much along to others in other states. who did trump owe, what financial deals leave him vulnerable to being manipulated. 

 still cracks me up that those on the left freak out over sex in the oval office and even lost emails but could care less if our potus has financial ties to Russia, China, Saudi Arabia or others.  if he has business interests there or owes vast sums of money these things could be used to manipulate him or to use him to obtain things that are of their interest and his but not in the interest of our nation.  not sure why this is so difficult to grasp. that one does not want a potus with such ties...of course, they did care about potential ties with HRC and they wrapped themselves in conspiracy theories about this...but they seem to have let those fears disappear when it comes to the iitoo. 

 so it really comes down to hate and agenda.  nobody gave a crap that bill got his blow job, nobody cared about those emails. they just hated the Clintons and wanted their own agenda to be the one that succeeded. 

 these are at Conners Bog.

 as the project plans progressed plans were being made for a visit to Russia for trump and cohen.  sater was sending emails.  asking for copies of their passports, "please call me i have Evgeney (Dvoskin) on the other line.  he needs a copy of your and Donalds passports they need a scan of every page of the passports. invitations &Visas will be issued this week byVTB Bank to discuss financing for Trump Tower Moscow.  Politically neither Putins office nor  Ministry of Foreign Affairs cannot issue invite, so they are inviting commercially/ business. VTB is Russia's 2 biggest bank and VTB Bank CEO Andrey Kostin, will be at all meetings with Putin so that it is a business meeting not political.  We will be invited to Russian consulate this week to recieve invite & have visa issued. "  Cohen did sent image of his passport and later acquired trumps passport.  there is confirmation of numbers and emails.  no confirmation that trumps passport was delivered as requested.  that seems a bit chilling to me as well.

 the meeting in Russia was looking to take place after the RNC convention.  things go busy and the meeting never took place.

 dogs were romping in the water out there that day. 

 love to watch them play in the water.  total joy. dogs are easy to keep happy really. was chatting with my brother today.  they just adopted a year old cocker spaniel.  they have had it for just under a week but say it seems like the dog has been there forever.  they are super happy already. 

 dogs are just great i think.  i am happy to share my life with them.

 I'm obviously a fan of walrus too. 

 last night i wore my walrus earrings, walrus necklace and walrus leggings.  2/3 of those were gifts.  once you start running a walrus advocacy group you start to collect walrus related gifts.  I'm cool with that.  being a crazy walrus lady is a bit more interesting that being a crazy cat lady I'd guess. 

 embrace the crazy. 

 this is Baxter Bog by my place.

 Papadopoulos, Lewandowski....the report goes through all their connections with Rus.  just seems like the big goal for Rus was to get Put and Trump together.  like i said, after he was elected that did happen. with nobody else in the room.  it should have never happened that way. it was foolish on the part of the GOP.  they have no control over the trump.  their little dictator wanna be is their responsibility though.  all of them.  they have allowed him to bring chaos and madness to the position.  they have allowed him to bring foolishness and idiocy to the position...all to get their agenda through.  be careful what you ask for...often when we get our way, it comes at a price.  i love that line in a country song, i think it's Garth Brooks.  "sometimes i thank God, for unanswered prayers"  "some of Gods greatest gifts, are unanswered prayers"

 beautiful pink clouds out there right now

 i head back to work again tomorrow.  the run begins.  the education is done for a bit though, bills paid. lecture over. 

 a kingfisher was spotted.

 they are cool looking birds. generally super fast though, so hard to get photos of for me anyway.

 not sure but this may now be University Lake...these are from October.

 considering how trump is involved in every aspect of his business it seems far fetched that he was in the dark about these rus contacts.  however, no direct links were found that i have noted so far. many refused to talk, forgot things conveniently, took the 5th...Mueller could only work with what they could obtain. not always easy on a multifaceted international investigation such as this i would think.  so many contacts with Rus.

 page 95, on to Carter Page....

 page had many rus contacts over the years so he was already on Rus radar.  so it sounds like when he joined the campaign, he was contacted by the rus.  no coordination noted in  any attempt to interfere in the election with him. 

 sounds like page had been used by Rus as a potential source.  Podobnyy and two other rus officers were charged with conspiracy to act as unregistered agents of a foreign government" stated he"let page on by feeding him empty promises" "his method of recruiting foreign sources was to promise them favors and then discard them once he obtained relevant information from them". so page seems more like a foolish patsy...trying to get some place but too foolish to be of use to anyone really. 

 sadly, this administration and before that the campaign never bothered to vet anyone appropriately.  they still just throw folks in positions with little thought to their ability to do the job or their past that may make them inappropriate for the job.  with page on the campaign, there was a renewed interest in him by rus.  of course, the goal again seemed to be to get trump with put.  page was invited to speak in rus, he tried to switch it up so that trump would go speak instead.  Lewandowski responded to page that if he spoke in rus it would be solo and not with the blessing of the campaign and that trump would not be speaking.

 U-lake i remember all these leaves piling up on the rock by the bridge.

 saw some beaver activity yesterday.  small beavers

 page attempted to get a job in the administration transition team... will give them credit for staying away from him after they screwed up hiring him to begin with.  they at least knew to distance from him, especially since he was already being looked at for previous dubious contacts. 

 page 103...well look at that Nixon's name appears in the report.  that does seem a bit ironic.  CNI, Washington based non-profit that grew out of a center founded by Nixon.  haha. Sessions honorary board member and of course, the CEO is a Russian.  emigrated to US in the 1970's.  so this is about the meeting at the mayflower.  Jared and Kislyak attended, as did sessions and trump as well. 

 the report does not find any clear meetings that occurred between sessions or trump or Jared at this event with Kislyak.

 the next section goes into the trump tower meeting. i will save that for another day.  this is pretty interesting stuff though.  far more interesting than a report on Clinton's sex life would be...seems pretty funny that a bunch of supposed moral religious right guys wrote a report on Clinton based on his sex life...pretty pathetic all around.  the GOP were determined to find some way to bring him down...all they could find in the end was sex and ego.  the fool should have just said, yes i had sex with that woman.  Hillary would have clobbered him but politically, he would have been free.  ego's get people though.  always amazing that these folks who live such public lives believe they can get away with crap...and no doubt they get away with more than they get caught for.

 i think further investigation following the Nixon impeachment path seems merited.  open testimony and more damming information that will no doubt continue to come forth will help turn those who have decency and common sense from their trump induced haze. 

 summer is ahead of me.  need to arrange a few pet sitters for at least one paddle, maybe two.  need the dates for the other one.  also possibly a trek to Sitka.  a long weekend. would be great to get down to Southeast AK again.  always love it down there and miss it. 

 i better go claim the bed before Tusker does.  Ivy is much more generous with bed sharing. that is Tusker though.  he always takes the most comfortable spots for himself.  takes the best toys...Ivy relents. 

thankful for:  A  silly TV shows to take your mind off things  B. melting snow  C.  farting..we'd sure be miserable without them.  haha.