Saturday, May 2, 2009 - Neosho MO
< previous day | archives | next day >
Blooming Yucca, Valley of Fires, Carrizozo NM, April 28, 2009
This headwind is getting old
My gas mileage has been falling steadily and is now down to about 6-1/4 mpg from the long term average of about 8-3/4. At least gas prices are low - my last fill up was at $1.769.
There is Verizon Broadband access in Vinita OK
What a nice surprise. On my way to Neosho MO I stopped at the Wal-Mart in Vinita OK to punch down the bread and take advantage of the high speed Verizon EVDO connection I stumbled on there. If I hadn't been able to check Verizon's coverage map and confirm there is EVDO service in Neosho MO I would have called it a day and stayed in Vinita for the night.
This leak is getting old too
What an unpleasant surprise. Remenber my A Tale of Two Leaks last fall? This is the first time it's rained on the rig enough to test for leaks since my resealing of the Fantastic Fans and the air conditioner way back in December. Well, I found water under the desk today. Grumble.....
Night camp
Wal-Mart Supercenter in Neosho MO
Wal-Mart Supercenter Store #499, 5505 W Owen K. Garriott Rd, Enid, OK 73703 - (580) 237-7963
- Nice level parking
- Verizon cell phone service- Very good
- Verizon EVDO Broadband service - Good service
- Find other Wal-Marts in the area
- Check the weather here
Teosinte and the Improbability of Maize
The ancestors of wheat, rice, millet, and barley look like their domesticated descendants; because they are both edible and highly productive, one can easily imagine how the idea of planting them for food came up. Maize can't reproduce itself, because its kernals are securely wrapped in the husk, so Indians must have developed it from some other species. But there are no wild species that resemble maize. Its closest genetic relative is a mountain grass called teosinte that looks strikingly different - for one thing, it "ears" are smaller than baby corn served in Chinese restaurants. No one eats teosinte, because it produces too little grain to be worth harvesting. In creating modern maize from this unpromising plant, Indians performed a feat so improbable that archaeologists and biologists have argued for decades over how it was achieved. Coupled with squash, beans, and avocados, maize provided Mesoamerica with a balanced diet, one arguably more nutritious than its Middle Eastern or Asian equivalent.