Picto Diary - 16 October 2019 - Yellow Creek Road
Above: Duc at Needles Stage Coach Station. Yellow Creek Road, UT/WY. 16 October 2019.
Out and about on the Duc.
Third or fourth time up this road this year. Its the obscurity that attracts. I ride thirty miles without encountering one vehicle.
I love this spot if only for the reason that explorer Richard Burton commented on it while passing through via state coach to visit Brigham Young in 1868.
Above: Valley Pivot. Yellow Creek Road. Uinta County, Wyoming. 16 October 2019.
Out and about on the Duc.
Since learning about Pivots in Southeast Washington four years ago, I've become obsessed with them. They derive from American innovation to facilitate irrigation of crop lands not otherwise susceptible to agriculture. They make the desert bloom like a rose and are one reason for America's mammoth food production capacity. These Valley Units, are manufactured in farm centric Nebraska. The LDS Church is industry leading Valley's largest customer. For better or for worse, 90% of the water in Utah goes to agriculture. Most of Utah ag is for hay and alfalfa. A large share of Utah's hay is shipped to China. So, in a sense, the Chinese may be using more of Utah's water than are Utahns. Just sayin'.
Above: Bishop, Jill and Jack. Bear River State Park Greenway. Evanston, WY. 16 October 2019.
I met Jack and Jill while getting my steps in on the Greenway along the Bear River. We discovered we had a mutual interest in local geography and history. Jill was raised nearby and is a retired school teacher. Jack is from Louisiana. He had a career as a roustabout and worked in such far flung spots as Antarctica (for four years!) and Kashmir. It was from Jack and Jill that I learned where to spot the actual breastworks on Echo Cliffs and about the location of the stone dam erected by Lot Smith's Mormon Militia to thwart, with an artificial lake in the Echo Canyon narrows, Albert Sidney Johnston's 2000 federal troops set to get Brigham Young under control in 1858.
Above: UP. Eastbound. Echo Canyon, Utah. 16 October 2019.
Out and about on the Duc.
Above:Deer. Coalville, UT. 16 October 2019.
Out and about on the Duc. In the foreground AND up in the brown grass as well. There were five or six deer out of the picture to the right.
Addendum:
Busy busy.
Brand Man,
Ventura, CA
That is very unfortunate last week with Zions Bank someone took my check that I wrote to the local Oxnard government and fraudulently changed it from $106 to 1060 they said don’t worry will have the bat money back to you in three months -I will be patient for another seven days and then you can bet I will be talking to Scott Anderson - Steve; they probably know you are a spy from Citicorp you have finally been found out traffic book 👻 Life is certainly a Cabaret-how is the diet?? Could be time for a motorcycle ride 🥃
Mr Z3,
Oxnard, CA
Haven't had good luck with this bank. Not orientated towards concern for the customer. Rather, seems more orientated towards regulatory compliance. Thinking back, my ATM problem likely derived from a failed ATM transaction in Park City the week before. The driveup ATM at Zions Park City would not allow me to enter the numbers for the amount that I wanted, so I cancelled the transaction and received the card back. I tried the procedure again... same result. The cash machine probably recorded my two failed tries as a potential fraud. I went over to Key Bank for cash immediately after and the machine rejected my card. "Card not valid," or some such. My next attempt at the Zions ATM at City Creek in SLC was the one cited in my last diary ie. the machine spit out a receipt that I had my money, but, then kept my money. I tried the card yesterday at a Wells Fargo ATM and the card was rejected as invalid. So, a faulty Park City Zions machine screwed up my card. A later Salt Lake City Zions machine took me through the entire process with everything working except distributing to me my cash. I'll call my bank, I guess, and get another card issued. Note: A day or two after the fail at the Park City Zions ATM TIMDT and Mwah (sic) drove up to the machine to try again. There were workers there waving us away. They had the machine taken apart. I surmised that the problem faced by me a day or two previously had affected other customers and that the machine was down for repairs.
I had a HELOC with Zions for ten years. The HELOC was first position and 15% loan to value. I probably drew it entirely down and paid it entirely back five or six times during the ten year period. In other words, I was a model customer, using the line for liquidity management, just as is intended by the product. After ten years, circa 2015, Zions said the loan agreement had expired. They would re-underwrite me for a new HELOC. I went along with the renewal process. They sent an appraiser out to appraise my home. The appraiser said to me, "what the heck are they sending me to do an appraisal for? Your home is worth more than it was when they made the previous loan agreement. And, they're in first position with only 15% loan to value. This loan is a no brainer." Then, the loan application bogged down as the underwriter started asking for 1099's, K1s, even to the point of wanting to talk directly to the issuers. What? You're underwriter wants to talk to Founders Fund? It was clear that the underwriter was unqualified for this job. No. This is ridiculous. The underwriter had my tax return showing income well in excess of levels required to service the loan when fully drawn... and income at that level sustained over several years. Anyway, the loan app bogged down... they never had the courtesy to call me and reject the loan. It just died! I didn't need the money. Bishop advises, use Zions Bank at your peril.
The loan application dying plus the very unprofessional way their customer service treated me after their ATM "lied" saying it gave me money when it didn't, suggest to me that all is not working well at Zions Bank. I remember that the esteemed Gordon O. once warned me never to use this bank.
Amazing how l don't run into you two more often, especially at MY Sugarhouse B&N. Call me next time you are there and we will link up to visit.
Academy Theater,
Salt Lake City, UT