The Great Ocean of Truth

Occasionally, we stumble upon quotes that resonate with us.  I stumbled on this one today, so snatched it up and planted it on top of  one my own photos taken on the shores of Lake Superior.  

Fruit Tree Bloom 2025

Cherry and peach trees are blooming in unison this year and looking really good.  The peach tree is just finishing up, the Bing is in full bloom, and Montmerency just beginning to light up. This is year 5 for all of them, so we should see some sort of harvest.

Branson Butterflies

A lack of plans for the day left things to occur as random as they possibly could have been, and improvisation, the call of the day.

Somehow or another, the decision was made to investigate the Butterfly Palace.  While this was definitely not the usual effort, my comrade simply adores the lepidopterans.  The irony of this particular reverence is that most other six-legged critters in the same class are held in utter contempt.

Butterflies were not the only point of interest at this location though.  A carefully manicured collection of a few of their natural enemies also lived in the palace.  However, they were neatly segregated to the lower floor of the establishment.

Prior to engaging with the ruling species, we were offered a brief documentary enlightening us on the life cycle of their Monarch.  Attendance was not required but seemed a reasonable request, and we learned a little from that 3D adventure.  After, we were immediately ushered into presence chamber area.  It was quite balmy, though the air seemed not quite as saturated with moisture as winged metamorphic beasts flitting in every direction.  Special lures were provided to attract them, though it hardly seemed necessary.  It proved nearly impossible to avoid them.

Reflecting on the excursion later, it stood as one of the more enjoyable moments of the journey in the last few days.  The cost seemed a little excessive, though that is the general standard for all attractions in the world of Branson.  If one were not overcharged, they might feel compelled to protest. 

Branson Hillbilly Conservation

Lacking any sort of plan for the morning and looking to get out in the sunshine a little, a trip out of the melee known as Branson led to a trip across a nearby glade.

It had been noted the previous day, having stopped at the overlook for a moment, to gaze out across this 1,534-acre establishment of oak and hickory.  Further research uncovered a few trails of interest, in particular a 3 km jaunt across associated glades, down into the dry bed of Roark Creek and back again.

The hike across the glade is relatively easy but could become quite hot in the summer months, with little cover beyond that offered down in the creek bed.  This spring morning it warmed up considerably, even though temperatures were only around 15 °C.  A return trip later in the evening found similar temperatures along a paved path leading to the lookout. 

The glades and other features within the Ruth and Paul Henning Conservation Area are forever preserved in literature through the Harold Wright book, "Shepherd of the Hills."  However, American TV producer and screenwriter Paul Henning and his wife Ruth took things a step further, ensuring preservation for all those that came after, establishing this conservation area just on the outskirts of Branson.  His creation, the Beverly Hillbillies, and associated work on Green Acres, and Petticoat Junction likely inspired the effort too.

The Branson Wilderness

Spring cooled down only a little over Branson, offering up some of the best weather for a hiking.  It is unusual to find a remote spot like Lakeside Forest Wilderness Area buried in the middle of any town.  This is especially true in this weird little anomaly standing at the crossroads of entertainment district and carnival.

The 140 acres associated with this space offers escape for those less interested in the uproar occurring on and around Missouri Highway 76. Approximately 8 kilometers of trails pass through the surrounding bluff that doubles as a sound barrier, down next to Lake Taneycomo and adjacent bottomlands.

An array of colors splash across an otherwise empty hardwood landscape, prior to its filling in with foliage for the season.  Conversely, in the depths of late summer into fall, it is likely a poison ivy laden brothel for ticks and other similar enemies of the state.

While generally an easy hike, it is important to understand that if 315 steps of the stone staircase is not addressed immediately, they wait patiently for the end of any journey.  The only option is return 3 kilometers back along the path accessing this point.

This little stroll through the forest is only occasionally disrupted by refuge marking the passage of less considerate humans.  That is to be expected this close to the parade route.  Intersecting a few minor caves, a waterfall that was bone dry on this date, the trail eventually leads to a resurrected 1934 homestead built with some of the same fieldstones as the staircase.  Apparently, they had more than enough.

A Glade Top Diversion

Blue skies dominated cooler temperatures than had been experienced in the last several days the first day out on the road today.  The main goal would take as long to reach as it would to travel straight through to the final destination for the evening.  However, it offered an infinitely more interesting view of the world.

Very little has changed on the Glade Top Trail National Forest Scenic Byway since the Civilian Conservation Corp constructed this gravel road back in the 1930s. Tracing ridge tops as high 150 meters above the Mark Twain National Forest, it offers up some spectacular views of southern Missouri.

Previous journeys passed by the western most terminus of this trail several times, continuously building interest in traversing said route.  There never seemed to be time to make the 37-meter trek though, or the transport was not well-suited to the occasion.  All seemed well-planned for in this particular investigation, excepting a faulty camera mount.  That one point proved sufficient to completely foil the attempt to capture an uninterrupted view of the route.

It did not stand sufficient to disrupt the intent of this diversion though. Monster trucks hauling their payload through the route almost achieved that goal.  However, peace and a little walkabout at Wolf Junction set things in perspective.  The remainder of the journey unfolded without incident, ending abruptly at the trailhead where we first met.

Neighborhood Distribution Center

The latest line of nonsense from our lawncare service neighbor, their using the property for materials distribution.  Four truckloads of gravel were delivered yesterday, most of which was hauled off to another location, likely one client or another.  

Back to the Snow

Out and wandering about the woods again today with the old camera.  It seems to take much better photos than the phone, even though they are technically the very same megapixel.  It just not the same.  Photos on the phone always seem to lack a certain clarity.

That was not the goal today though.  The primary objective was to simply get out and crunch through the fresh snow, listen to it and the ice crunch underfoot.  Included in that, a little slogging through the mud.  Even that was ok.  Above is the only evidence of the adventure.

Getting a Little Personal

I wonder how many others feel that questions such as this are bordering on being just a little too personal.  Seriously.  This question essentially asks, "How do you like your sex?"

The Development Process

Have always found this interestingly true to reality.

One Drive Simplified (sort of)

OneDrive WHAT? 

OneDrive is where all of your documents are stored. 

You thought they were on your computer, didn’t you? 

Well, they are there too, but are backed up continuously, so that you never lose them.  

It also enables you to do a lot of cool things, such as ... 

• Share your documents with others, without attaching a new copy every time 
• Collaborate with others on your documents without sending them back and forth a hundred times 
• Collaborate in REAL TIME!  You can actually see when others add things or check back and see what they added. 
• Restore your own documents 
• Roll your documents back to another version. 
• Access your documents from anywhere, any time, on any device. 

To do these things, you must have OneDrive turned on though. 

Check and see if it is on and working. 

Go to the lower right corner of your screen and see if you have a little blue cloud.  

Click on it, and it will show you a list of the most recent things that it backed up.   

Here is a screenshot of what mine looks like right now. 

• If you do not see the little blue cloud, click that little up arrow to the left to see if it is in there. 
• If you do not have a little blue cloud, contact Technology and get one for yourself. 

If your backup window is empty, you may not have changed anything recently, or it may not be configured correctly.  You may need to reach out to Technology. 

OR ... if you have a little more confidence than the average bear,  

1. Click the little gear 
2. Click Settings 
3. Click Manage Backup 
4. Flip the switches 

Warning!!!!! Whatever is set to off, will NOT be backed up and you could lose the files in those folders forever. 

Warning!!!!! Files stored in the Downloads folder are never backed up!  Ever. Never.  Unless you move them to the Documents folder. 

If you are already backing up everything, good for you!   

There are some icons that appear over that little blue cloud every so often that tell you what is going on in there, otherwise known as your “Synch Status.” 

What do those little cloud icons mean? 

Chasing Arrows = Currently Synching 

Yellow Triangle = We have a problem, Houston!  Click to find out what it is. 

Blue with Pause = Synching is paused 

Gray Cloud = You are not logged in or setup is incomplete (you may not be backing everything up that you should). 

Gray with red minus sign = Account Blocked 

Blue with red X = Some files or folders cannot be synched.  Click to find out which ones and fix them.  PS ... certain folder names cannot be used (like “Forms). 

How does this look on my computer? 

Start by accessing File Explorer or your documents folder.   

You should have a folder with a little blue cloud with your name on it.This is where all of your backed up documents are.  Your Desktop, Documents, and Pictures are all here. 

If you do not see a little blue cloud with your name, you need to get in touch with Technology. 

If you expand any of those, you will see a “Status” for each file or folder. 

What do those little status icons mean? 

Blue Cloud = File is currently only online, but you can still open it, if you are “connected” 

Green Check Mark Circled = You opened the file and it is on your computer, but also backed up 

File Name with little blue marks next to it = This is a new file 

Blue cloud with a head next to it = The file or folder is shared 

LOCK = The file or folder has setting that do not permit it to be backed up 

Green circle with white check mark = You have chosen to always keep this file on your computer, but it is backed up 

So ... how do you get to your all of your files, anywhere, any time? 

That part is easy. 

Go to Microsoft 365 and login. 

Look for the OneDrive icon on the left 

I think you can figure it out from there.   

The column on the left will get you everything you need. 

The waffle icon on the left will also get you to ALL your favorite applications to hate like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Power BI.   

Happy OneDriving! 

Crosstrek Airflow Frost Bomb

The first few times I drove the Subaru Crosstrek in extremely cold weather, I noticed a peculiar side effect, though I had no idea what was causing it.

Rounding a corner, after having driven about a kilometer, I was immediately assaulted by a bomb of cold air inside the car.

Wondering about this for a few days, I started paying attention to the details surrounding this intrusion, discovering that it occurred under the same conditions nearly every time.

I had been working my way through the Quick Start Guide, one piece at a time, when I ran across the statement below.  It explains the cause perfectly and is easily reproduced.

7 - All Airflow On/Off Button: If only a driver is detected, airflow will come out of the driver vents only. Press this button to override this feature and direct airflow through all vents.

While I appreciate the effort, this feature makes very little sense in a car as small as this.  Indeed, it can cause things to be occasionally uncomfortable for the driver.  I wish there were a way to just turn it on "All" permanently.

It is a little amusing though, that it could be that identifiable.

Regional Car Buying

 

The road to discovering a solid replacement vehicle for the 2015 Ford Focus has been long, arduous, and included a few lessons. 

It started by considering simply replacing it with one of the same, moving to considering a newer used vehicle, to finally deciding to purchase new.  The plan was to wait until the first of the year though, and purchase what was left over from the previous model year.

It was time to have a vehicle that could offroad a little though.  For those that know, the aforementioned Focus was often subjected to conditions beyond its expertise.  It always performed well, or maybe it was the driver.  It made it through some sketchy dirt and gravel roads, straddling deep ruts without getting stuck, without a scratch, and with only front wheel drive and just under 6 inches of ground clearance.   Gunner Pool Road to Steele Falls Trailhead in Arkansas or north of Cotopaxi in Colorado or Evans Mountain Road down in Arkansas just to name a few.

After a thorough review of potential replacement vehicles, the list narrowed to what was perceived to be the best candidates; a Jeep Compass Trailhawk, Subaru Outback, or Subaru Crosstrek.   An afternoon of test driving revealed the best candidate to be the Crosstrek.  What trim level, though?

The Wilderness edition seemed a good fit, because of slightly higher ground clearance (about 7/10 inch) and a heavier frame that enabled a higher towing capacity (3500 lbs. versus 1500). The unfortunate part, gas mileage drops almost 5 mpg, and that is a selling point.

That narrowed it down to Base, Premium, Sport or Limited.  A test drive of the 2.0L versus the 2.5L narrowed things further to the Sport or Limited.  To get most of the options available on the Limited brought the Sport up to almost the same price, so the decision was made to just go with the Limited.  While the yellow highlights on the car are nice, the interior is not all that, and leather seemed a nice choice.  The only thing left to do was decide on color, map out availability, and wait for day one of the new year.

Working with Van Subaru in the test drives, in spite of everything heard in the past about them, it seemed prudent to give them a chance to prove themselves.  They were close and they had the stock.  Cash was king. They did not have much room to be a jerk.

Cory, the first salesman, was super nice, and laid back.  However, he left their employment to pursue other adventures.  In reality, they probably fired him for being too helpful or he left because they were too rude.  The salesman that took over for him was also kind and only pushed a little.  

There is nothing worse than a pushy salesman.  No means no.  No does not mean maybe, and it certainly does not mean hustle, badger, or insult.  

Further visits and encounters with other salesman in my investigations at Van Subaru began to witness exactly that sort of behavior.  Snotty little remarks about interests, choices, and timeline were definitely unwelcome.

Spending some time on the Subaru web site, building out a car, and finding every vehicle available within a 200-mile radius uncovered that the car could be purchased anywhere.  It did not need to be at Van Subaru, from a group of folks with no manners. Logging all of this into a spreadsheet, breaking things down by cost, options, available discounts, etc., the obvious path opened further.

The first of the year came and contacting the salesman Van Subaru by phone turned into a fiasco. He was not available, so his "Sales Director" hijacked the deal.  This probably would not have been so bad except he was a completely different character.

This guy was the stereotypical car salesman, pushy and annoying.  Making matters worse, he constantly interrupted and tried to gaslight over the phone, abruptly ending the call without so much as a good-bye.  

The conversation uncovered the car was not "in stock," but was in "inventory." Either way, because it was not in stock, it did not qualify for the $4000 off they were offering on all 2024 Subaru Crosstreks.  That made no sense.  Seemed like a little "bait and switch."  Either the car is in stock, or it is not. Semantics are little more than game really, especially for salesman.

Calling back a few minutes later, this Sales Director said that he thought there was nothing else to discuss.  Explaining there were a few more questions, stunned silence lingered for a few seconds.  He might have known that already had he not decided all by himself that the conversation was over.  

It turned out the car was in a shared inventory with Reliable Subaru in Springfield.  He could make a deal but would have to charge another $700 to have it delivered.  Suggesting the car could be picked up, he said they could not allow that.  Working with Reliable seemed the only option left, which he welcomed, and hung up abruptly again.  Through the entire conversation, his attitude seemed to be that somehow this purchase was a personal favor to the dealership. 

Calling Reliable Subaru, discovered quickly he got to them first. Their price for the same vehicle was miraculously $700 higher.

These are only a few highlights from the review left on Google Maps, which received a "Response from the owner," to give them a call to for "the opportunity to turn [the] experience around."   

Doing exactly that, the person was to have called me back.  They did not. Instead, the "Sales Director" emailed with no better response than to try to justify himself and his actions.  This only served as further evidence of shady dealings, when paired with the evidence in the spreadsheet.  They were the only dealership continually manipulating their prices up and down throughout the two months of research.

They were not the only game in town, or rather, the region.  Purchasing from them would never be an option, much less taking a car for service there.  

After talking with a few other dealers, a deal landed with Baxter Subaru in La Vista, Nebraska.  The salesman was super nice through all interactions online and the phone. He was conscientious, courteous, helpful and already had the car priced perfectly.  At no point was he pushy, and there was no feeling of being hustled.  These guys will never know how that is appreciated, or perhaps they already do.

A three-hour road trip retrieved the new car.  All of the folks at the dealership were friendly and accommodating, getting us back on the road quickly for a 530 appointment at birthday party that evening.  This is definitely how car buying should be; collaborative and cooperative.

The only problem now is ongoing maintenance.  That seems mostly resolved though, learning that Olathe Subaru is owned by the same folks.  With a little luck, they will turn out to be an equitable choice.

Gifts I Care About

It seems that a few folks got a little upset this holiday season, believe that I somehow cherished something given to me more than anything else.    That could not be farther from the truth.  There are very few material things that I value, so I went around the house and took a few photos of them.  None of them are expensive gifts, but they are the things I care most about.