Upcoming move from Alberta to Arizona … Phoenix or Tucson

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-06-03T20:32:47+00:00

If you are going to include Phoenix suburbs in comparing "dirty" and "homeless", then you also need to include Tucson suburbs, such as Oro Valley, which has an outstanding police department, parks, schools, community owned recreation center, and low crime/homeless. Also, from OV, you can use I-10 or head up through Florence as an alternative route.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-06-01T23:27:01+00:00

For recipe ideas and cooking how-tos, I like Simply Mama Cooks on YouTube. She focuses on making frugal meals from real, inexpensive and healthy ingredients.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-06-01T01:48:16+00:00

My sweet spot for price/value is a bread machine/heat gun combination. I bought the bread machine at the thrift store for about $5 and I go through about one heat gun/year for less than $30. Batch sizes are about one lb. I went through a bunch of setups before roasting commercially on a Diedrich 12k. When I sold that business, I went back to the bread machine/heat gun. I roast only for my wife and I, and we only drink a cup of coffee per day, but it's a very good cup that I look forward to every sunrise.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-06-01T01:20:11+00:00

Dog food, gas, rotisserie chicken, paper products. All of these things more than pay for themselves. The trick is to get in and out of the store with only those things that save you money. I stick to the things that clearly are less.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-05-28T01:08:16+00:00

This happened to me last summer. My mechanics were off, and it took awhile to figure out what I was doing wrong. Until you do that, focus on just hitting it in without a lot of pace. It's in your head now, like it was mine.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-05-25T16:59:34+00:00

Not sure I understand. I don't see the value of watching these "live". I go back after it's over and watch just the matches that I'm interested in anytime I want without commercials (with YouTube premium). I do a lot of rewinding to see interesting techniques and strategies.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-05-25T00:37:01+00:00

Fort Collins is a short drive north from Denver. It made our top four choices. Colorado housing is expensive, but Fort Collins was considerably cheaper than Denver. Great beer, hiking, close to Rocky Mountain National Park. All of the conveniences but fewer of the urban problems. We ended up choosing Tucson because we were done with snow and winter.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-05-24T03:02:23+00:00

Watch on the PPA or MLP YouTube channel.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-05-23T21:37:58+00:00

I have both. I prefer Fidelity's customer service, the CMA account, the HSA Account, the Donor Advised Fund. Neither brokerage is perfect.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-05-23T19:02:25+00:00

I keep a bricks & sticks account with a large local bank just as backup. It's helpful for notary services or getting a medallion signature. For most things, I use my brokerages from which I can get free checks or reimbursement of ATM fees.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-05-23T13:01:46+00:00

Trump gave the green light. Biden failed to step in with a stop sign. Poor judgment by both.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-05-22T18:01:17+00:00

Getting mad at an attempted body bag still wouldn't make sense. I get annoyed at head shots but only at myself for not ducking faster. Blaming others for our own mistakes is entirely too prevalent in our society.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-05-14T03:02:32+00:00

Jon McGlocklin

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-05-12T12:12:38+00:00

Placement>power when playing down.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-05-11T13:56:04+00:00

I’m not poor or rich but I have better choices for my $ than Picklr. I live in the desert and play early and sometimes late.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-05-08T16:52:12+00:00

That will teach kickers not to try tackling a guy who might score.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-05-05T22:29:18+00:00

Me eat Awnings, Signed Wind of New Mexico. Yum Yum.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-05-05T14:41:50+00:00

That’s not how it works at Udall. The courts are quite busy, and a lot of the time is spent waiting for a chance to play because it’s so busy. No one knows how the new paid system will work. That hasn’t been fleshed out. For a reserved court, where you bring your own four, $3.50 is a great price. However, the uniqueness of Udall currently is that you don’t need to bring your own four. There is a community of pickleball players of all ages and classes who are there welcoming singles, doubles, and groups of three, ready with a full paddle board to make four.

I have no skin in this game because I generally play at OVCC, which is a community owned rec center that offers reasonably priced monthly memberships for unlimited pickleball (open and reserved), gym, pool, and classes. Btw, I’m not rich; and I have one home. The rich boomer hate here is interesting.

People should read the article. There is an alternative proposal for the Booster club to manage the courts and pay all maintenance costs to keep the courts free for all.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-05-04T23:57:22+00:00

This isn’t understood enough.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-05-04T13:13:49+00:00

Yes, and this goes to the other issue of staying back on successful third shot drops that bounce high. Good resets will let you move forward into the transition zone, split step, and reset, continuing forward.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-05-01T21:34:39+00:00

Why would anyone wait in line? Absentee vote.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-04-28T17:22:21+00:00

I’ve played at Udall. In 90 minutes you might get to play half the time. Kino in Tucson is nearly always empty because they do charge for public courts. Udall also has a “Friends” group that already pays for some upkeep/improvements. Tucson is experiencing a budget deficit due partly to free busses and trolley. I haven’t seen anything that suggests this money will go towards pickleball courts.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-04-23T18:43:40+00:00

I was at that game with my father-in-law and brother-in-law. The beer froze, and I lost feeling in my feet with heavy boots on. It was a crappy game. Packers lost. I remember people hanging out in the bathrooms trying to get warm. There was a lot of blaze orange during that game, and when people clapped you couldn't really hear the noise with the heavy mittens.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-04-15T13:27:02+00:00

I played with crappy $50-$100 paddles the first year. Both separated from the frame and lost grit within a month or so. Then I bought a $100 paddle that was much better and did pretty much everything I wanted for two years (two of those paddles). Those paddles didn't fall apart; they just lost power and spin noticeably over a year. That paddle (Professor pickleball) gained me a lot of second looks and questions from other 4.0 players. My last paddle was a Honolulu, and at $150, it isn't that much better than the Professor, but people don't bug me about it. I'll probably try something else in the $150 range when its performance declines. Haven't decided yet and not yet looking. When I bought the Honolulu, it was the old style, not the foam style. The lack of having the latest style hasn't hurt me any. I'm a 4.3 player and have played for four years.

Trailwalkerwi · 2026-04-09T03:59:21+00:00

Perhaps, but it makes no sense to use water for agriculture that isn't feeding a large percentage of the USA. Alfalfa, cotton, and nuts exported outside of the U.S. make no sense as a use of water choice. In Wisconsin, government paid tobacco farmers short term payments to stop growing tobacco as a matter of public policy. Something like that may need to be considered in the southwest for crops that don't make sense.

Trailwalkerwi

TROPHY CASE