View of Our Mobile Office in the White Mountains of Arizona

NE Arizona, 9000 feet elevation

Good Day Sunshine

Today was a beautiful day in El Malpais (the badlands). Sunny, not too windy, not too hot. We had to stay at the campsite because my electric assist bike had to be charged and I needed to do some cooking.
The solar panels really got a workout, but come the end of the day my bike, my computer, my tablet, my MiFi, my phone (and extra battery), my rechargeable light, my bluetooth transmitter were all fully charged. In addition they powered my refrigerator and I made coffee, a half dozen mugs of tea, and a batch of vegetable curry stew that would feed six.

I love my solar panels. They keep life simple and inexpensive. Most people on the road use propane to run their refrigerator and cook. Propane refrigerators are picky about being level and open flames can start fires. I need something simple and safe so I use a DC refrigerator designed for solar applications and an electric induction cooktop. Not only is this simpler and safer, but people who use propane to cook with are incredibly jealous of how fast I can boil water and cook on the induction cooktop. Even at low settings it’s much faster than propane.Another thing the panels allow me to avoid is having a generator and having to deal with gasoline for the generator.

Unlike many people on the road, I don't plug into an electrical hookup at campsites, I run an electric cord from my vehicle out to the campsite (see pics).

For more pictures of our campsite at El Malpais, see: https://picasaweb.google.com/114144636190633757417/ElMalpaisNM?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Cliff Dwellers Hike

Maeve and Joanne in one of the Cliff Dweller's caves

Maeve with Cliff Dweller caves in the background

What Has Six Legs, Two Wheels, and is Really Green?

No, it’s not a grasshopper on a dogcart . . . .

It’s a girl and her service dog biking to a hike! (the girl is taking the picture)

The new addition to the Maevemobile is an electric-assist bike. This allows me to move fast enough to satisfy Maeve and cuts down on the number of times we start the Maevemobile when we're parked. At Gila Cliff Dwellings, we biked a couple of miles round trip to the visitor's center and back, took a rest and then biked 2 miles to the trailhead leading to the cliff dwellers site, hiked up to the site, and biked back to our campsite.

We'll write about our encounter with the rattlesnake in another post. Yikes!!!!

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View of Our Mobile Office Near Safford AZ

Soaking in a Hot Lithium Spa with a Gila Monster

We’re back on the road again after a longer-than-expected holiday hiatus. New Mexico is where I expected to be by now, but a kind gentleman at our first night’s stop in Arizona’s Coronado National Forest near Safford told me about this spot outside the same town.  I figured I’d spend a night, but I’ve been here for two and expect to stay for at least another two nights.

This place looks like the dunes at Cape Cod (if you squint a little so you don’t see that at the top of the dunes are desert plants or that a gila monster is walking through them and if you don’t look at the mountain to the northwest). The wind and heat here also make me think of summer at the beach. The only thing missing is the ocean.

Unhappy Valentines Day? One Easy Step to True Love

Perhaps you've been looking for love in all the wrong places.  I can tell you how to find a true love -- one who will love you until death do you part. I can tell you how to find a love who will always be happy to see you, even when you are in a foul mood. I can tell you how to find a love who will happily give you more attention and affection than you give them.  I can tell you how to do this in one simple step .  . . .





ADOPT A PET FROM A SHELTER!

May you and your new love have many happy Valentine's Days in the coming years!

Love,

Joanne (and Maeve)

Pros and Cons of Cats

Cats: Is it advisable to have a cat? I answered this question tonight on Quora.
Cats are terrific bang-for-the-buck pets. They are graceful, playful, wonderful to touch, and beautiful. You can get truly beautiful cats of any age at any shelter in the United States. Free kittens are frequently offered by private parties who have neglected to neuter their cat or who have rescued an abandoned litter.

Cats are cheaper to feed than dogs, and, if neutered, vaccinated, and kept indoors, usually require little veterinary care. Cats are social, but not nearly as susceptible to separation anxiety as dogs (separation anxiety is usually the cause of incessant barking, garbage strewing, incontinence, etc., that can happen when a dog is left home alone). Cats can be left alone for a weekend if given access to sufficient dry food and water. Being left home during work hours, even long work hours, is not usually a source of great distress to cats if they are well cared for and given attention before and after work. Cats can happily live indoors in a small space and so are very well suited for apartment living.

As Letrisa Miller mentioned, there are multiple studies showing the mental and physical health benefits of pets, including cats. You could read about this in the American Psychological Assocation's The Truth About Cats and Dogs: Pets Are Good for Mental Health of ‘Everyday People’ and read the opinion of the U.S. Center for Disease Control at Health Benefits of Pets. I have an Emotional Support Animal who is a cat. You can read about how she helps me deal with bipolar disorder at How an Untrained Cat Can be an Assistance Animal.

Another thing Letrisa Miller mentioned is allergies. While some people are allergic to cats, one should also consider the studies that indicate that children with pets are less likely to develop all sorts of allergies.

The downside of cats is scratching furniture (not all do it, but it's often an issue, especially with young cats), problems with urine marking (again, not all do it and usually it's a temporary problem if you keep the litter clean and identify and remedy the stressor that is causing the problem), and cleaning the litter box. The latter requires some care because in addition to rabies (for which you of course will have the cat vaccinated) there is another disease of note that one can catch from a cat. It's called toxoplasmosis and it's usually contracted by the person who cleans the litter box. It can cause problems with a fetus, so pregnant women should have someone else clean their cat's litter box. You're more likely to get this disease from your food than from your cat, however:

While many people think handling cats and their litter boxes are the primary ways pregnant women are infected, a new European study on how to prevent the devastating disease . . . shows that up to 60% of all transmissions can be prevented by limiting exposure to inadequately cooked or cured meat

(see Take These Precautions to Prevent Toxoplasmosis During Pregnancy)

View from our mobile office in AZ

Makes us think of home, friends, and family (CT was struck by a blizzard yesterday). Maeve would prefer the amount of snow in CT, butI think I'll be able to live with no more snow than this.

How An Untrained Cat Can be an Assistance Animal

Cats are sleep specialists

Emotional support animals (pets who help people with disabilities without having special training) can reduce the need for drugs and other medical treatment, especially for people with pain or psychiatric disabilities. The U.S. government recognizes their value and requires they be allowed, without deposits or fees, in nearly all housing units in the country. 

Sleep is so challenging for someone with bipolar and so important in managing bipolar disorder that John McManamy, a science writer and bipolar sufferer, has called bipolar disorder "a sleep disorder with mood symptoms." When I can't sleep properly my moods starts spiraling up into hypomania and when I'm suffering from hypomania I can't sleep properly. Due to past reactions to antidepressants, my hypomanic moods are usually combined with depression -- what are called mixed episodes in which suicide is a distinct danger. I avoid tranquilizers or sleeping pills, so what do I do when I can't sleep? 

Share Your Burden With a Beast

Emotional support animals (ESAs) can lighten the burden of mental illness and anyone in the U.S. who has a psychiatric disability (including children) is guaranteed the right to have such animals live with them in all but a very small percentage of dwellings by the Fair Housing Act (FHA). Every U.S. apartment complex, condo, and co-op is included and the rights are not just for renters; owners' associations also must allow ESAs. One cannot be charged pet deposits or fees for ESAs. The best part of all is that this right is cheap and easy to exercise: millions of potential ESAs can be found in animals shelters across the nation, no special training is necessary, and no lawyer is necessary.

What's the difference between a pet and emotional support animal? Nothing except that the owner is a person with a pain or psychiatric disability and uses the animal for "emotional support," that is to say the animal helps them enjoy their life in the home and makes it easier to live with their disability. Six-week old kittens and puppies too young to be housebroken can be emotional support animals. Iguanas and bunnies can be emotional support animals. 

Can I take my ESA to places other than my housing where pets are not allowed? Generally speaking, no. There are some exceptions, e.g., for flights on airlines where you have a note from your doctor stating you are disabled and require the animal either on the flight or at your destination. There are psychiatric service dogs who can be trained to assist you and accompany you in public, but unlike ESAs they must be dogs and they are required to be specifically trained for public access and to assist you. They are wonderful too and those of us who use them often credit them with keeping us alive.

Where can I find out more about ESAs and psychiatric service dogs? Go to www.servicepoodle.com for more information. Note: everything on this site is free and there is no advertising. There is even a page

Working at the Beach in Oregon

Maeve and I are really enjoying our time on the Oregon coast. We've been hanging out at Cape Kiwanda in Pacific City, Oregon, most of this week working and playing. For the first time Maeve is truly enjoying the beach. She's loving the freedom of playing fetch, running, and playing with other dogs. I'm loving the walks on the beach and watching the surf (and the surfers) while I finish up my handouts for our presentation next week and plan our trip down to southern California following the conference in Portland. My cat, Sibol, is enjoying my company in the van while I work and the respite from travelling so much. This is the perfect way to recover from a long cross-country trip and get ready for the conference. Thank you John McManamy for suggesting it!

View of Mount Hood from our mobile office

View from our mobile office at Cape Lookout in Oregon

View from our mobile office outside Riverton Wyoming

View from our mobile office in Badlands National Park, South Dakota

View from our mobile office in Michigan?

Sometimes my GPS exhibits a whimsical streak. We ended up unexpectedly in Michigan today. That was okay and we just kept going. Until this scene brought me up short. I had to get a location check as well as a reality check. Yes, we were still in Michigan, in Horton Michigan to be precise. I wonder if Dr.Seuss named his elephant after this place. Seems like he'd be comfortable here.

Driving Through Pennsylvania

We left Maeve's ancestral home in Selinsgrove, PA and set the GPS to take us to Des Moines, Iowa via the most economical route. I set the GPS for this not only to save money on gas (my biggest expense), but also because it usually gives us a route that includes some country highways (speeds of 45-55 miles per hour give you better mpg than 65-75 expressway speeds do).

Maeve hates the high-speed interstates and I don't much like them.  Yesterday's drive through Pennsylvania was great. Even though the weather was bad (downpouring rain much of the time), the scenery was spectacular.  We followed a horse and buggy down a country highway for a while, we drove through picturesque small towns with amazing old buildings, and mostly we drove through gorgeous rolling farmland. This is the kind of farmland I like; where there's a real farmhouse that probably contains the family that owns the farm -- not miles of acreage farmed by giant mechanical beetles and devoid of humanity.

My friend Kathy insists that part of why travel suits me is that seeing new things all the time is mood stabilizing. I can't say she's wrong about that.   

View from our mobile office

Lake Hammond, PA

When Did You Last See the Bitch Who Whelped You?

Maeve and I went to Loco Meadows* in Selinsgrove PA to see Maeve's canine and human moms. Maeve's canine mom had just had a new litter of pups and was too irritable about other dogs being near her babies for Maeve to visit (this could be the origin of the word bitchy), but Maeve's human mom, Connie Hackenberg, was thrilled to see her. 

Maeve showed off for Connie all day long. She started by exhibiting her Frisbee and jumping skills. Next we went out to breakfast and Connie got to see how so many people smile at Maeve as she waltzes through the parking lot and into a restaurant. As we were seated Maeve scooted into her place under the table and began her prize-winning impression of a stuffed animal. On the way out of the restaurant Maeve switched into her public interaction role and facilitated a conversation with strangers about service dogs and emotional support animals. She performed variations on these themes as we did errands around town. 

This was Connie's first experience out in public with a working service dog, but she is no