Saturday, November 07, 2015

ARE WE HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS ABOUT SELLING OUR ARIZONA HOUSE??

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OUR BACKYARD PATIO AREA

Been a few readers wondering if we have had second thoughts about selling our house here in Congress Arizona.  Short & truthful answer to that question is, ‘yes we have’ & now that we are here we are giving ourselves more time to think about all this before making any further decisions.

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KELLY ENJOYS HER AFTERNOON TEA ON THE FRONT PORCH

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Knew it was going to be a warm day when by 9 a.m. I had to ditch my T-shirt & flannel shirt for a short sleeve shirt while outside working away on our grounds clean-up.  I have most things trimmed up & the next phase will be a huge raking job for a day or two.  Luckily I enjoy this kind of stuff or else it would be a real PITA.  Working away on yard projects by oneself for me is a form of relaxation & it’s also a good time for leisurely thinking.  Call it therapeutic if you will & just like taking a nice long drive in the countryside…….it works for me.

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MY BRUSH PILE AT LEFT IS QUICKLY GROWING

By noon today it was getting warm enough for me to wrap up my yard work.  Raked up half a dozen Mesquite bean piles & dragged all my tree trimmings to a back corner of the property.   I’ll resume my raking in the morning & also get 3 Cactus plants planted Kelly brought home on her way back from the Post Office this morning.  I never tire of planting things.

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SUNDAY I’LL PLANT THESE 3 CACTUS PLANTS KELLY BROUGHT HOME TODAY

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THIS IS 1 OF 7 MESQUITE BEAN PILES i RAKED UP THIS MORNING

Guest in the Shout Box wondered if my header photo could possibly be the same location as seen in the movie Forrest Gump & I’d say that was very likely.  This view of Monument Valley taken west of Mexican Hat has appeared in many magazines over the years.  I took that photo from the driver’s seat through the rig’s windshield last October on our way to Congress.

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YEP, I INCLUDED MYSELF IN THIS PHOTO

Forgot to include these 2 photos below in Friday’s post about our Senior Moment with our Jeep’s 4-way flashers.

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I KEPT PRESSING THE BUTTON ATOP THE STEERING COLUMN WHERE YOU CAN SEE SOME WHITE LETTERS JUST UNDER THE GREEN SPEEDOMETER NUMBERS…..NOTICE THAT BUTTON WAY TO THE RIGHT BETWEEN THE VENTS, YUP THAT’S THE ‘FLASHER’ BUTTON ALRIGHT….DUH

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MY ATTENTION WAS SO FOCUSED ON THE FLASHING LIGHTS IN THE SPEEDOMETER CLUSTER THAT I DID NOT SEE THIS RATHER LARGE BUTTON FLASHING RIGHT THERE SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DASH

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THIS ROPE LIGHTING GIVES OUR FRONT PORCH A VERY WARM COZY FEELING AT NIGHT

GROANER’S CORNER:((

 meme20-min

Friday, November 06, 2015

A DESERT WALK, GROCERIES, A SENIOR MOMENT, & SOME NEW BIRD PHOTOS

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A CACTUS WREN HORIZONTALLY MAKES IT’S WAY AROUND THE TRUNK OF A MESQUITE TREE

Made it out to the desert for a quiet walk this morning & it was nice to see a favorite area again where we had first walked back in March of 2012.  The open desert here is only a block behind our house & it just goes for miles & miles & miles.  On the horizon jutted Vulture Peak near Wickenburg & there was Harquahala Mountain to the west bringing back memories of a rugged Jeep climb to it’s peak a couple years ago.  Nice to be back in the land of so many pleasant memories for us.

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ALWAYS A FAVORITE DESERT WALK OF MINE IN THE MORNING

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KELLY SITS ON A ROCK TO GET A STONE OUT OF HER SHOE

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WE WEREN'T ALONE IN THE SONORAN DESERT THIS MORNING

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IT IS A LAND OF GREEN CACTUS & BIG ROCKS

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A DESERT FLOWER >>>

Needed to make a grocery run so we were off to Wickenburg’s Safeway, Pheebs too.  When we had the Wrangler we couldn’t take Pheebs because there simply wasn’t enough room for her plus 300 bags of groceries.  So that’s why we bought the more roomier Liberty & now she can come with us:))

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NICE TO SEE OUR CARDINALS ARE STILL HERE

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YES I SEE YOU KEEPING AN EYE ON ME FROM BEHIND THAT BRANCH

I’ve always liked Wickenburg’s Safeway store & I do enjoy scooting around in there by myself gathering up my stuff.  Kelly’s a slow shopper with too many frequent stops reading labels on this & checking prices on that.  I’m like Speedy Gonzales, up one aisle & down another.  If an item doesn’t fit directly into my life or pocket book I do not stop & look at it.  None of this window shopping for this guy.  Grab & go, that’s me:))

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LOVE THE CHATTERING OF THESE CACTUS WRENS

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We did both have us a very Senior moment in Safeway’s Parking lot though.  While loading the groceries into the back of the Jeep I noticed our 4-way flashers were on.  What!!  Right away assuming the worst I grabbed the anchor & jumped right out of the sinking canoe again.  I thought because of the incident we had last week of dragging the Jeep for a few hundred feet that the 4-way flashers being on were a sure sign of damage inside our steering column.  With Kelly in the passenger seat & me in the drivers seat we tried everything to shut them off.  Kept pressing the button on top of the steering column, turning the Jeep off & on, turning the steering wheel back & forth, pressing the lock & un-lock buttons on the Fob but nothing would shut off those 4-way flashers.  Now what:((  We knew there was a Jeep dealer in the south end of Wickenburg & figured we would have to drive down there with our emergency flashers flashing all the way & people stopping to stare wondering what our emergency was.  The air was getting bluer & bluer in the Jeep when Kelly reached over & calmly ‘TURNED THE FLASHERS OFF’…..WHAT!!!!  And here’s where the Senior moment became quite embarrassingly apparent.  Our Jeep Liberty’s 4-way flasher button is not atop the steering column where the majority of flasher buttons are, our flasher is right in the middle of the dash & it’s a big button too.  I don’t know what the button on top of our steering column was I was pushing but it sure got a pounding work out.  Gonna have to get Libby’s manual out & see what the small ESP button means.  Oh, & what do we think the reason was for those 4-way flashers being turned on??  PHEEBE!!  We think she either hit that big 4-way flasher button with her nose or powerful wagging tail.  Say, you don’t suppose she did that on purpose do ya…………………………

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AND I LOVE THE SHARP ‘WOOT-WEET’ CALL OF THE YELLOW EYED CURVE BILL THRASHER

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HERE’S ‘CURVY BILL’ DOING A RUNNING TAKE-OFF

A quick stop at the TSE store just down the road for a big bag of birdseed that I nearly had to get a fork lift just to get it out to the Jeep.   Dogs are allowed in Wickenburg’s TSC store so Kelly took Pheebs in for a walk around & she even scored a treat from the cashier.  Bonus.

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MOVE OVER JUNIOR IT’S ME THE BIG COLORFUL PYRRHULOXIA BIRD

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Sarge, (John King) pulled in behind us when we got home.  We only had half our gate open which is lots of room for a smaller Jeep Liberty to drive through but not wide enough for a big full size Dodge pick-up truck.  In that encounter the score ended up one nothing for the gate as Sarge inspected a new scratch on the side of his truck.  Not to worry he said as I looked at few other encounters Sarge & his big full size Dodge have had here & there.  We had a ton of groceries to put away so Sarge didn’t want to hold us up.  “Welcome home” he said.  We’ll da Sarge later………

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A FEW SLIGHTLY BLURRY ACTION PHOTOS

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A BIT OF NORMAL CONGESTION AT THE BIRD FEEDER

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Turned out to be a low energy afternoon for both Kelly & I.  We figure it’s still the long journey catching up with us.  We certainly do not want to think it has anything to do with our age eh.  Spent an hour or more in my recliner waffling in & out of Dozeville while Kelly spent a couple hours or more in her room sleeping.  I had filled up our bird feeders earlier & noticed later we already had a whole herd of birds in the back yard so hauled a comfy gravity chair over to my favorite bird photos location & took a few pictures.  I can see by my results I’m a bit rusty so I’ll have to work on that.  What an enjoyable & sometimes challenging as well as a rewarding pastime this photography hobby is…….:))

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I plan on having a relaxing day Saturday just puttering away on our yard clean-up.  No big plans, no place to be & nobody to see.  It’s the kinda day that works for me.  A bit of rhyming there in case you missed it……….:))

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WELL NOW THAT YOU ASKED, YES I AM QUITE PROUD OF MYSELF >>>>>

GROANER’S CORNER:((

An Englishman, a Scotsman, an Irishman, a Welshman, a Latvian, a Turk, a German, an Indian, several Americans (including an Hawaiian and an Alaskan), an Argentinean, a Dane, an Australian, a Slovak, an Egyptian, a Japanese, a Moroccan, a Frenchman, a New Zealander, a Spaniard, a Russian, a Guatemalan, a Colombian, a Pakistani, a Malaysian, a Croatian, a Uzbek, a Cypriot, a Pole, a Lithuanian, a Chinese, a Sri Lankan, a Lebanese, a Cayman Islander, a Ugandan, a Vietnamese, a Korean, a Uruguayan, a Czech, an Icelander, a Mexican, a Finn, a Honduran, a Panamanian, an Andorran, an Israeli, a Venezuelan, an Iranian, a Fijian, a Peruvian, an Estonian, a Syrian, a Brazilian, a Portuguese, a Liechtensteiner, a Mongolian, a Hungarian, a Canadian, a Moldovan, a Haitian, a Norfolk Islander, a Macedonian, a Bolivian, a Cook Islander, a Tajikistani, a Samoan, an Armenian, an Aruban, an Albanian, a Greenlander, a Micronesian, a Virgin Islander, a Georgian, a Bahamian, a Belarusian, a Cuban, a Tongan, a Cambodian, a Qatari, an Azerbaijani, a Romanian, a Chilean, a Jamaican, a Filipino, a Ukrainian, a Dutchman, a Ecuadorian, a Costa Rican, a Swede, a Bulgarian, a Serb, a Swiss, a Greek, a Belgian, a Singaporean, an Italian, a Norwegian and 2 Africans, walk into a very fine restaurant.

After scrutinizing the group, the Maitre D says, "I'm sorry...you can't come in here without a Thai."

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- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

Thursday, November 05, 2015

HAD OURSELVES A NICE BIG DOSE OF ARIZONA SUNSHINE TODAY:))

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SPENCER IS SOMETIMES A LITTLE SHY

Our day dawned crisp & clear with a fiery sunrise & we were soon under a good old sunny Arizona sky.  This is the South-west kind of weather we like so much & travel so far to be a part of.  When I had taken Pheebs out late Wednesday night I was encouraged by a clear star studded sky so slept all night with my fingers crossed those clear skies would remain.  They did:))

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HAPPY TO SEE MOST OF OUR CACTUS PLANTS DOING WELL

Our Critter cam did not pick up any activity around that hole burrowed under the front of our house.  Didn’t notice any paw prints in the moist soft earth leading out of the hole either.  Kelly said she got the whiff of a Skunk Wednesday morning but I have not smelled a thing.

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LES OUR GARDINER GUY DID A GREAT JOB KEEPING THE WEEDS DOWN OVER THE SUMMER

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Kelly busied herself with a lot of indoor cleaning today while I tackled the outside.  Shed clean-up is finished with everything all put back together again neat & tidy.  Also managed to get a lot of tree trimming done as well.  It’s amazing how fast those Palo Verde & Mesquite trees sprout new branches & just grow willy-nilly all over the place.  Of course the Jeep was a big mess from being towed behind the Motorhome so I managed to get that washed as well.  I’m in no hurry to tackle the big clean-up job on the rig yet & will give the Arizona Sun enough  time to totally re-charge my depleted traveling batteries before even thinking about washing the Motorhome.

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YOU CAN SEE ALL THE PALO VERDE TREE BRANCHES I HAVE HAD TO TRIM JUST TO MAKE THIS AREA PASSABLE

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JEEP’S LOOKING SHINY AGAIN

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HAD I NOT TRIMMED THESE BRANCHES WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO PUT OUR LIVING ROOM SLIDE OUT

Although our air is still cool today’s Sun did give me the warm feeling that ‘yes’ we were really back in good old Arizona.  The F-16 fighter jocks are over our house dogfighting each day, neighborhood dogs are barking, chickens & roosters are clucking & crowing right on cue & how nice to see & hear the Gambles Quails in our backyard again.  And oh how I love the sounds of those Curved Bill Thrashers & Cactus Wrens.  Yes indeed it sure is nice to be back again.  In the morning we are off to Wickenburg for a few groceries & as soon as my legs recuperate from last week’s long journey I’ll be out for a long awaited & much anticipated desert walk…………………….

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SO NICE TO SEE THIS VIEW RIGHT OUTSIDE MY BEDROOM WINDOW AGAIN

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A Few One-Liners tonight:

- "Jim, why is that sheep purple?" "Because I herded it through the grapevine!"

- What do you call a knight who is afraid to fight? Sir Render!

- An Auto Club tow truck stopped beside me at a street light today and the driver was sobbing uncontrollably. I thought to myself, "that guy's headed for a breakdown!"

- I used to have a fear of hurdles, but I got over it.

- What did the grape say when it got stepped on? Nothing - but it did let out a little whine.

- My dad worked repairing roads for the city for twenty years before he got fired for stealing!  At first I didn't believe it...but when I got home all the signs were there!

- I changed my iPod's name to Titanic. It's syncing now.

- When chemists die, do they barium?

Wednesday, November 04, 2015

I’M BETTING IT WAS WARMER IN BAYFIELD ONTARIO THAN IT WAS IN CONGRESS ARIZONA THIS MORNING:((

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HAD OURSELVES A COLD RAINY DAY COMPLETE WITH SOME SLEET THIS AFTERNOON:((

How nice to now step outside our door to clear skies above whether they be filled with sunshine or starlight.  That is something I will continue to enjoy for the next 5 months no matter where we are here in the South-west.

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YEP, WE GOT US SOME CRITTERS UNDER THE HOUSE AGAIN

Due to internet connection problems a couple days ago I was unable to post my photos of the cattle drive we found ourselves in last Saturday morning so have put together a short Live Writer album.  We first encountered the cattle coming our way down the highway.  Made our way through them then drove to Torrey.  An hour later heading back to our campsite we once again came across the cattle drive from the rear & had to make our way through again……A fun experience:))

Am feeling much, much, better today than the past few days so am looking forward to getting the yard cleaned up which will entail a fair bit of raking.  Lots of Mesquite beans on the ground this year.  I enjoy yard work so am looking forward to that.  As mentioned before the Pack Rats have made quite a mess in the shed so that will keep me busy for awhile cleaning that up.  Will hang up the bird feeders again & look forward to seeing & hearing all my feathered friends in the back yard once more.  I enjoy yard work so it’s not a chore for me.

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LOTS OF MESQUITE BEANS TO RAKE UP IN THE COMING DAYS

Because we were under partially sunny skies first thing this morning I was optimistic & started my list of things to do with a big load of laundry.  Half an hour after I had it hung out to dry…..it rained.  Not only that but we had to trot out our heaters, plug em in & get some warm air going in the house.  On & off showers with sleet this afternoon kept us mainly inside.  Heard Flagstaff had 5 inches of snow overnight.  Glad we didn’t get caught in that Tuesday.  Predictions are for a cool wet winter here in Arizona with a warmer winter predicted in Bayfield.  Think it’s 70F up there right now.  Nuts!!

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THIS IS THE MESS THE PACK RAT’S MADE

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THIS IS ONE OF 3 LARGE MESQUITE BEAN STASHES THEY HAD SQUIRRELED AWAY

Kelly got all her stuff out of the rig & I moved it into it’s spot at the south end of the house.  Big, big, cleaning job coming up on it for sure.  Lots of red Utah muddy clay to remove.  Had to trim back a couple Palo Verde trees to get the Motorhome parked as well.  And I did make a start in on the Pack Rat mess in our shed.

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WORKING ON THE CLEAN-UP

Critters (probably Skunks) didn’t get in the hole at the back of the house I blocked up last winter so they just went around the front of the house & dug another hole under the northeast corner of our living room.  Gotta get the Critter Cam set up tonight to see what we are dealing with.  We’ve noticed what appears to be Coyote Scat around the yard & despite walking our fence line looking for a breach we can’t figure out where they are getting in.  They are probably after our cactus eating Rabbits.

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SHEDS FINALLY STARTING TO LOOK A BIT BETTER

Now to set the record straight about a couple ‘comments’ that came in regarding something I wrote a couple days ago.  Kelly suggested I just ignore these comments but I take exception to personal affronts when accused of something totally incorrect………First, Craig McKenna in part left this comment……. “Jeep gas tanks generally don't hold more than 20 gallons. At 6.3 pounds/gallon, the weight of the gasoline in your toad's tank would be no more than 126 pounds, Why do you make such a fuss about burning the gas in the tank before towing it?  Making a fuss Craig? Really!!  Mr. McKenna is no doubt correct with his number crunching but may I remind him he has a diesel engine in his coach & not a gas engine.  But of the 2 comments, I take greatest issue with this one when Ed Frey replied to Craig McKenna’s comment saying, “  Craig, I have posted Comments much like yours in the past. This aversion to driving in mountains with a full tank of gas is just a foible of Al's. Or, maybe he just does it and writes about it to drive people like you and me crazy. He is not going to change this habit in the face of the logic that you have expressed so we need to read it, laugh and move on.  What you did not point out was that the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) for the 2003 Commander Triple E is 22,000 pounds with a 75 gallon gas tank. So the TOTAL added weight if BOTH the Triple E and the Jeep tanks were FULL would be less than 600#. But that is just something to read, laugh and move on”………… I met Ed Frey a number of years ago in Elfrida Arizona & if I remember correctly he drives a Class C which is definitely smaller & lighter than our 37 foot Class A & in that Class C is likely a 10 cylinder engine & here’s the kicker, Ed Frey does not tow a vehicle behind him.  At least he didn’t when I met him.  Your numbers don’t mean a thing Mr. McKenna & Mr. Frey & until either one of you has driven a 37 foot gas powered Class A Motorhome through the mountainous grades we have I strongly suggest both of you think hard before making the types of comments you did.  My greatest disappointment comes with you Ed, referring to Craig’s comment as ‘logic.’ What!!  But saying “This aversion to driving in mountains with a full tank of gas is just a foible of Al's” & inferring that I write about this gas & weight problem just to drive people crazy is a personal insult & your comment crossed the line.  You’re a smart guy Ed…..what happened??  You have followed our travels since I began posting years ago.  Could this be a case of that old saying, ‘Familiarity Breeds Contempt’ I hope not…………..Now having got that off my chest I would like to thank the 3 following commenters who obviously do ‘know what they are talking about’!!  I will let their comments speak for themselves…….

George YatesTuesday, November 03, 2015

We know about the gasser (ours is 36 feet), in the mountains, another reason why we have not travelled that route and like you said every pound makes a difference. We have disconnected our car a few times, but its still a hard climb.

EdTuesday, November 03, 2015

We passed thru this exact area about a month ago, returning to So-Cal from Colorado. Our 32' Bounder gasser was fine as long as our Liberty was detached. Your experiences when hitched are the same as the rest of us "gassers". I often wonder if a Banks turbo setup would make a big difference. BTW, the road crew was there a month ago as well.

RuthTuesday, November 03, 2015

Know exactly what you mean. We were down that neck of the woods a few years ago when we had our 37 foot Fleetwood gasser. We did the same thing, unhooked the car and gave the rig a break. Still struggled up some of those grades. Could have walked faster I think. It's just awesome down there, so beautiful. So glad though that we have the 5th wheel with the big diesel F350. Diesel really does make a huge difference. Drive safe. 

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FORECAST IS CALLING FOR SUNNY DAYS & WARM TEMPERATURES STARTING THURSDAY:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( King Ozymandias of Assyria was running low on cash after years of war with the Hittites. His last great possession was the Star of the Euphrates, the most valuable diamond in the ancient world. Desperate, he went to Croesus, the pawnbroker, to ask for a loan.  Croesus said, "I'll give you 100,000 dinars for it."  "But I paid a million dinars for it," the King protested. "Don't you know who I am? I am the king!"  Croesus replied, "When you wish to pawn a Star, makes no difference who you are."