A long day...but worth it.

I'm sitting here watching Monday Nite Football (GO SAINTS!) and icing my knee after one very long day.

Up at 5:30 Am this morning and out at 6:45 after breakfast and a hot cup of coffee. The rain started at 6:30 causing me to change my attire at the last minute. With long johns, first layer of pants and shirt, second layer of warm coat and hat, then a rain pants and coat layer topped by a camo-orange vest. I felt like the Michelin Tire Man. slow walk up the hill in the early twilight carrying a backpack, a stool and my .270 took nearly half an hour. (I have got to work out more!)

I sat down in the rain at 7:00 AM and spent the next hour watching the fog blow in from the northwest. Up the slope and in my face. The fog lifted just after 8 AM and the wind shifted slightly so as to come out of the northwest. Still in my face but now and an angle. The rain continued, however, so that there would be no help hearing any approaching deer.

At 8:30 AM I caught a movement to my right directly under the white pine where I had hung my bow stand last year. A buck! But he was moving fast down the hill--not running like a thoroughbred, more like a trotter. He was going down that hill as if he had a date with destiny. It wasn't with me! I tried to get my rifle up and made a bleating sound to stop his progress just as I've seen them do on the Outdoor Channel's hunting shows. It worked! He stopped--behind a clump of trees. And that was all she wrote. Once he started moving again, he had no desire to slow down--or come out in the open. Five minutes later, on the hillside across the way, there was a single BOOM! and that buck may have met his destiny.

My first thought was, "Oh no! Not again." Last year I let one walk because it was a young spike and you need at least three points on one side for a buck to be legal. Moments later: BOOM! Then I missed two shots on a larger buck at just 70 yards only to hear: BOOM! along his projected path a few minutes later.

My second thought was, "Shoot! I did get to see a couple of deer last year and it's only 8:30! Plenty of time." So I took out my clippers and cleared a few small beech trees to better clear my shooting lanes before sitting down to watch and wait.

At 9:30, in exactly the same spot, cam a deer that could have been the first ones twin except that it was slightly lighter in color milk chocolate to the others dark chocolate. It looked to have the required points...barely. I flipped off the safety, and removed the caps from my scope. Managed to find the deer in the scope and watched as he went behind the same clump of trees as the 8:30 buck. Only, instead of going directly down the slope and into the thickest brush, this one veered to his left and began to traverse the slope 40 yards below me. I settled the scope on his shoulder as he stepped into a clear spot--now easily available because of my earlier clipping--and then bleated to stop him. And it worked again! I squeezed the trigger. The deer arched his back which told me he was hit. Then he bolted down the hillside. As I watched, he took two, three bounds and went ass over antlers! I found him laying two yards off the ATV/skidway that leads back to the Aerie in about 300 yards.

I checked his horns and was relieved to see that there were, in deed, three points on his left side and a broken off nub on the right that would have made him a five point if it were still intact. I don't know what this deer had been rubbing his antlers on, but it must have been oak, hickory or ironwood. None of the tips were pointed and, as I said, one was broked off close to the main beam.

My second thought, after elation that he was legal, centered around the hard work now ahead of me. First I had to field dress the deer. Then it had to be dragged out to the Aerie's yard. I would then skin and bone out the meat. Finally, the boned meat would be cut into steaks, roasts, fillets, tenderloins, stew meat and chop meat. Oy! What have I gotten myself into?

My first PA deer. There are three points on the
right antler (the deer's left). Trust me on that.

I worked from 11:30 until 5:30 to complete the butchering job. (I really need to take a class or something.) Okay, I still have to grind up the chunks to be used for chop meat...if I can't talk Terry into doing it.

I've been told I can't go out and shoot a doe. There's no room in the freezer with all the blue berries and string beans in there. I might agree with that considering the amount of work involved to butcher the deer. Then again, there are several butchers in the area who will do the hard work for a modest fee.

BTW: Thanks for all those who were wishing me luck. It worked!

PA Deer Season

Monday is the opening of the firearms deer season here in PA. Local schools are closed in this clinger territory and all the hunting camps are filled. So, of course, the weather is iffy at sunrise. A little rain, a little snow. I'll be out early anyway. If need be I'll be out until after dark.

Did a bit of a walk about yesterday to pick the spot I will be sitting. (I didn't put the tree stand up--yet--and will sit on the ground on a stool as I did last year. My spot has a good view of the hillside as well as the driveway and logging skidway they created this summer. That path, the skidway, follows the path of the buck I had a shot at last year. Hopefully a buck or doe will use this easy trail tomorrow.

On my walk I did see a couple of fresh rubs. Two of them were directly beneath the white pine I used for my tree stand during last year's bow season. My knee (plus the porch rebuild and attempts for an Adirondack deer) prevented me from doing any bow hunting this year.

I'm still trying to decide if I shout take the .270 or the slug gun for an outing tomorrow. The slug gun will be chambered with Lightfield slugs. One-and-a-half ounces of lead that shoots relatively flat for 100-125 yards. It laughs at tiny twigs. And with the scope, I'm more than willing to give it a go. None of my shots should be more than 100 yards. The .270 failed me last year when the bullet clipped a beech branch but it is capable of reaching out a bit further.

A Scientific Experiment

Experiments

Step three of the Scientific Method is to perform an experiment to test your Hypothesis. That sounds easy but it is anything but. To have a valid test you must control all but one of the variables. In the laboratory and for a basic experiment that may be possible but once you’ve opened the door and gone into the real world it can get complicated very, very quickly.

Let’s say you wanted to test the Hypothesis: “Increased temperature will cause Joshua trees to grow more robustly as measured by the thickness of the rings in the trunk at chest height.”

First you must control for all the things that might affect the growth of the tree: water, amount of sunlight, gases in the air, nutrients in the ground, organisms in the ground, etc. In the lab you might be able to start with a closed cabinet in which you’ve placed a sterile loam soil. Controlled amounts of nutrients (fertilizer) could be provided. Controlled amount of water could be provided. The amount of “sunlight” can be controlled by artificial lights. The very air within the cabinet can be controlled by hermetically sealing the dang thing. Make ten or more of these cabinets all of them identical in content. Use genetically identical seeds or cuttings of the tree species to be tested. NOW you can vary the temperature in each of those cabinets so each is, say two degrees C different ranging from 0 degrees C on up to 20 degrees C. To ensure things are truly like the natural world, you turn all the temperatures down in all the cabinets to -5 degrees C for six months out of every twelve.

Oops, better do three of each--just in case.

So you’ve got 36 or so identical cabinets in which everything is identical except the temperature. There are three that are at 0 degrees C, three at 2 degrees C, three at 4 degrees C, etc., etc., up to three at 20 degrees C. Easy.

Now all you have to do is monitor your cabinets for a couple of years for your trees to grow several new rings. Then you take core samples from each tree (or cut them in half to take a disk out) at chest height and measure the thickness of those rings. Did the trees produce thicker rings (more growth) at higher temperatures?

Regardless of your results, you submit your paper describing your experiment and its results to a peer reviewed journal so others can examine your work and duplicated it if they so desire.

That’s the way it’s supposed to be.

Now, take your experiment outside. Can you control the numerous variables? Unlikely. The genetic variability in the trees alone is a problem. Add the variability of soils, sunlight, yearly differences in precipitation, disease and insect infestation, etc. and you’ve got one heck of a head ache.

Yet that is precisely what some of the scientists at the Climate Research Unit have tried to do in reverse. They are trying to say that increased growth in tree rings is indicative of higher temperatures. (Or, conversely, smaller growth rings are indicative of colder temperatures.) From this they have constructed a computer model to predict the future.

The problem is, as I understand it, they have used a small sample of trees from a limited number of very localized sites. A group of trees, it must be noted, that confirms their hypothesis when certain “corrections” have been made. (Larger samples were available and other researchers have used them to refute the hypothesis.) And they then produced a computer model that can’t account for recent past temperatures. Oops!

UPDATE: About those computer models: Climategate Computer Codes Are the Real Story

"I think there’s a good reason the CRU didn’t want to give their data to people trying to replicate their work.

It’s in such a mess that they can’t replicate their own results."

The Scientific Method

When I was teaching high school and middle school science we would introduce again and again the Scientific Method. This is the Bible of How To for anyone who would be a scientist. It consists of six steps:

1-Start with an observation that evokes a question.
2-Using logic and previous knowledge, state a possible answer, an “educated guess,” called a Hypothesis.
3-Perform an experiment or Test.
4-Then publish your findings in a peer-reviewed journal. Publication/sharing.
5-Other scientists read about your experiment and try to duplicate it. Verification or falsification.
6-In time, and if experiments continue to support your hypothesis, it becomes a Theory.

We drilled this into our students year after year.

What is so disturbing in the leaked emails and data of the AGW crowd working out of the Climate Research Unit at University of East Anglia is that they have ignored or subverted several of these basic steps.

They subverted step #3 with faked and cherry-picked data. They ignored data that didn’t fit their predetermined desired outcome.

While they published their results in peer-reviewed publications (#4), they worked to control who their peers were and actively worked to squash any editor who had the temerity to disagree with them or even publish opposing, critical works. They violated the law (Freedom of Information Act) by stonewalling those who wanted to examine the original data and methods.

Further, it has become impossible to duplicate the work of the CRU crowd because they now say they have “lost” or discarded the original data they used. (Steps #4 and #5.) Without these crucial steps, the premise of Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) remains an untested Hypothesis, that is, an educated guess, at best.

With these flaws in their methodology, we are asked to believe “the science is settled” and we “must act now.” We are asked to wreck an already staggering economy. We are asked by these jerks to just “trust us.”

Follow the money. Millions of dollars in grant money went down this wormhole. Much of it from organizations or governments that want to don the mantle of power and control. Saying AGW doesn't exist was not an option of these "scientists" want to keep raking in the dough. They sold their souls.


UPDATE 1: "...the worst scientific scandal of our generation"



UPDATE 2: Leaked e-mails suggest climate experts rigged data
"[Professor Phil] Jones, according to the disclosures, has collected about $22.6 million in research grants since 1990, a money pit that could -- and should -- dry up with the disclosure of the deception by him and his co-conspirators."

UPDATE 3: Why I think that Michael Mann, Phil Jones and Stefan Rahmstorf should be barred from the IPCC process
Eduardo Zorita, November 2009 "Short answer: because the scientific assessments in which they may take part are not credible anymore."

Week 13 Results

WOW! A lot of good food this last weekend and some unbelievable football. Auburn came t-h-i-s close to beating Alabama but the rest of the undefeated teams didn’t have a problem extending their unbeaten strings. The same cannot be said for those teams ranked #7 on down—21 teams in all. There were six big upsets. That’s a huge number when you consider how many teams didn’t play (7). (The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those going into week 13. Team records are those after week 13 play.)

1/1/1 (1/1/1) Florida (12-0) hosts Florida State (6-6). Tim Tebow threw for three TDs and ran for another two as the Gators dominated the Seminoles 37-10. Next week pits #1 vs #2 in the SEC Championship Game.

2/3/3 (2/3/3) Alabama (12-0) at Auburn (7-5) on Friday afternoon. The Tigers nearly pulled off the unthinkable but their 21-20 lead disappeared when the Tide scored a TD with 1:24 remaining. Next up for the Tide is a date with Florida for the SEC title.

3/2/2 (3/2/2) Texas (12-0) at Texas A&M (6-6) on Thursday night. The Longhorns had all they could do to defeat the Aggies 49-39. Neither team seemed to have brought their defense. Next up for Colt McCoy and the Longhorns is the Big 12 Championship Game against Nebraska.

4/4/4 (4/4/4) TCU (12-0) hosts New Mexico (1-11). The Horned Toads stomped all over the Lobos 51-10 as Andy Dalton threw for four TDs. Now they sit back and watch the three teams ahead of them to see if they’ll get a chance at a national title.

5/5/5 (5/5/5) Cincinnati (11-0) host Illinois (3-8) on Friday afternoon. Tony Pike returned to action for the Bearcats and tossed six (6!) TD passes as Cincinnati scored 35 points in the first half on their way to a 49-36 win over Illinois. Mardy Gilyard scored three TDs, one on a 90-yard kickoff return and two on Pike passes, for the Bearcats. Juice Williams threw for 3 TDs and ran for another for the Illini. Defense? We don’t need no stinkin’ defense?

6/6/6 (6/6/6) Boise State (12-0, 7-0 in conf.) host high-scoring Nevada (8-4, 7-1 in conf.) Friday night in a game that will likely determine the WAC Champion. Playing in a heavy, cold rain on the blue rug of Boise, the Broncos jumped out to a massive early lead and held on to defeat the Wolfpack 44-33. Titus Young returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a Bronco TD and Kellen Moore threw for five (5) TDs for the Broncos. Three of those tosses went to stand-in fullback Dan Paul who had caught just one pass prior to this game. These were his only three catches of the night and totaled just 22 yards.

7/7/7 (7/7/7) Georgia Tech (10-2) hosts Georgia (7-5). UPSET! The Bulldogs ran and ran and ran over the Yellow Jackets 30-24. Freshman Washaun Ealey had 183 yards and Caleb King added 166 and two TDs as Georgia racked up 339 yards on the ground. Still, Georgia Tech will be playing next week in the ACC Championship against Clemson—which also lost on Saturday.

8/9/8 (8/9/8) Pittsburgh (9-2) at West Virginia (8-3) Friday night. UPSET! WVU pulled out the upset 19-16 with a last second field goal by their red shirt freshman place kicker, Tyler Bitancurt. Noel Devine had a TD run of 82 yards for the Mountaineers. Devine finished the night with 134 yards on 17 carries. Dion Lewis had 166 yards on the ground for the Panthers.
9/8/9 (9/8/9) Ohio State (10-2) DONE

10/10/10 (16/16/11) Oregon (9-2) BYE

11/12/13 (12/13/16) Oklahoma State (9-3) at Oklahoma (7-5). UPSET! 27-0. The Sooners fenced in the Cowboys permitting only 109 yards of offense by their in-state rivals.

12/11/12 (13/12/12) Penn State (10-2) DONE

13/13/11 (15/15/11) Iowa (10-2) DONE

14/14/18 (16/16/21) Virginia Tech (9-3) at Virginia (3-9). The Hokies trounced the Cavaliers 42-13. It was 14-13 in favor of VT at the half, but Tech scored 28 points in the final 21 minutes. Ryan Williams ran for 183 yards and four TDs giving him 20 for the year and setting a new ACC record for a freshman.

15/16/16 (18/19/19) Clemson (8-4) at South Carolina (7-5). UPSET! The Gamecocks beat their in-state Tigers 34-17 behind Stephen Garcia’s three TD passes. Still, Clemson will play Georgia Tech for the ACC Championship on Saturday.

16/18/20 (20/20/23) Oregon State (8-3) BYE

17/17/22 (10/10/14) LSU (9-3) hosts Arkansas (7-5). After screwing up their time management in last week’s loss to Mississippi, the Tigers got it right on Saturday night. They marched down the field and kicked a game tying field goal with seconds left. Then in over time they settled for another FG and stopped the Razorbacks cold as Alex Tejada missed a 36-yard field goal that could have forced a second OT. Tejada had already made FGs of 47, 35, and 40 yards. Josh Jasper kicked FG of 47, 47, 41 (the tier), and 36 yards for the Tigers.

18/15/15 (19/18/17) Brigham Young (10-2) host #22 Utah (9-3). The Cougars needed overtime to defeat the Utes 26-23 after Utah scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to tie the game. Joe Phillips kicked five FG for Utah including a 40-yard game tier with 29 seconds left.

19/21/19 (21/24/22) Miami (Fla.) (9-3) at South Florida (7-4). The Hurricane blew through the Bulls in a 37-10 rout.

20/25/21 (NA/NA/NA) Mississippi (9-4) at Mississippi State (5-7). UPSET! Anthony Dixon ran for 133 yards setting a school record while QB Chris Relf ran for 131 yards (scoring one TD) and threw for two TDs as the Bulldogs beat the Rebels 41-27.

21/NA/NA (NA/NA/NA) California (8-3) BYE

22/19/23 (23/23/NA) Utah (9-3) at #18 Brigham Young (10-2). The Utes came from way back in regulation only to lose to the Cougars in OT 26-23.

23/24/17 (NA/25/20) North Carolina (8-4) at North Carolina State (5-7). UPSET! The Wolfpack took down the Tar Heels in a 28-27 nail biter. A blocked field goal attempt with five minutes to play helped preserve the victory.

24/22/NA (22/21/NA) Southern California (8-3) host UCLA (6-6). The Trojans were winning 21-7 with 90 seconds to go and they took a knee to kill the clock. Only the Bruins wouldn’t let them. They called a time out. So USC threw for another TD making it 28-7 which is how it ended. It’s called a rivalry for a reason.

25/20/NA (24/22/NA) Houston (10-2) host Rice (2-10). The Cougars scored on each of its seven possessions in the first half and went into the locker room with a 59-0 advantage. The final was 73-14. Case Keenum completed 25 of 31 for 323 yards and two TDs. Keenum also ran for one before giving way to second stringer Cotton Turner at the start of the second half. Turner was 8 for 10 and 112 yards and one TD. Third-stringer Austin Elrod was 3 for 6 for 28 yards but no scores. Houston had 684 yards in offense while Rice racked up 377 yards. The three Rice INTs didn’t help. Houston will play Saturday against East Carolina in the Conference USA Championship game. The Pirates better bring cutlasses.

NA/23/24 (NA/NA/NA) Nebraska (9-3) at Colorado (3-9). The Buffaloes had 20 first downs to the Cornhuskers 14. The Buffs had 403 yards of offense to the Huskers 217. BUT (there’s always a “but”) the score board read Nebraska 28, Colorado 20 when the final whistle blew thanks to a punt return for a TD by the Huskers’ Niles Paul and an interception return for a TD by Husker Matt O’Hanlon.

NA/NA/25 (NA/NA/NA) Northwestern (8-4) DONE

Give it to me Straight!

Christmas is coming! (Ready or not!)



For your first day of Advent listening. Enjoy.

Gentlemen, gentlemen...tsk, tsk.

I've a bone to pick--okay, TWO bones to pick--with the ESPN announcers doing the WEst Virginia vs Pittsburgh game yesterday. They h=kept harping on the fact that Dion Lewis, freshman running back for Pitt, did not get many scholarship offers comming out of Blair Academy in New Jersey. They kept saying it was in "southern New Jersey." They also mentioned several times that he did not get an offer from Rutgers even after he hand delivered his highlights tape to the Scarlet Knights.

A note to the ESPN announcers/staff: Blair Academy (Dion Lewis’ Alma Mater) is NOT in “southern New Jersey.” It is, in fact, in the northwest corner of the state. You can check out their homepage here: Blair Academy. You might want to check out their map and directions. Oh, and look at their football competition while you're at it. They don’t exactly play any powerhouses which might be why Dion didn’t get many offers. Next time Google it. Okay?

Oh, and Rutgers, a team you mentioned as having turned down Lewis, has three (3!) excellent running backs who are either sophomores or freshman. Sophomore Joe Martinek holds the NJ high school records in yards and scoring (7,589 yards and 80 TDs).Red-shirt sophomore Jourdan Brooks out of Maryland. Freshman De’Antwan Williams from Virginia ran for 6,909 yards and 83 TDs in his high school career—6th best in Virginia history. All three have run for 100 yards in a game this year. And that does not include freshman Mohamed Sanu who is officially a WR but runs out of the wildcat. He gained over 100 yards on Friday. Where was Lewis going to fit?

That is all.

Say What?

I mentioned that one of our Thanksgiving guests (my nephew Brian) flew in from Calcutta, India where he had spent six weeks training people to do some of the necessary bookkeeping tasks his company does in Chicago. (He explained that the idea was that while one shift of folks could do work during daylight hours in Chicago, which is the CST time zone, and then leave messages for the folks in India, some 12 hours ahead, to pick up where they left off.)

Anyway, in our discussion of his time in India and while viewing his pictures, I learned that it is no longer "Calcutta" but is now "Kalkata." Sure enough. According to Wikipedia they changed the name back in 2001. Shoot. Why wasn't I informed?

At least this was a peaceful change and not one brought about by a tyrannical regime or anything. (See Burma vs Myanmar.)

Annoying Commercials

Any of the Direct TV commercials featuring the executive board meeting with the wise-assed-SOB. "look around people. One of us won't be here next week." Oh please, let's issue a permanent furlough for that jerk!

Any of the "Tailgate tested. Tailgate approved." Budweiser commercials. The mock TV marketeer and his asinine products. Especially the condiment commercials. Bring back the swamp lizards and frogs. Heck, lets see more of the Clydesdales in action.

Why do companies believe they can sell their products using commercials that insult the audience?

(What? Yeah, I payed attention during the last presidential election. Sure, I've heard of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" and all of Mike Moore's movies. What's your point?)

Scarlet Knights are 8-3

Rutgers 34, Louisville 14

How the heck did RU lose 31-13 to the Orange of Syracuse last week? They totally dominated the first half today. Freshman Tom Savage was nearly perfect in the air during the first half as RU leaped out to a 28-7 lead. Freshman wide receiver Mohamed Sanu ran for 148 yards out of the wildcat formation and scored two TDs doing so. He is the fourth to run for more than 100 yards in a game for the Scarlet Knights this year. Sophomore Joe Martinek (one of the four) added 90 yards on the ground. Senior WR Tim Brown made seven catches for 124 yards and a TD which increases his school record TD number to 19. He has also reached 1,051 yards receiving giving him 1,000 yards for just the first time in his career and making him only the fourth receiver in RU history to surpass the 1,000-yard mark.

Okay, last week RU was held to just 130 yards total offense as the Orange crushed (sacked) Savage seven times.

(The RU story is here.)

The Knights play once more during the regular season on Saturday, December 5th against West Virginia in Rutgers Stadium. A win in that game would move RU into third place in the Big East behind Cincinnati (11-0, 6-0 with a win over Illinois today) and Pittsburgh (9-1,5-0 facing west Virginia tonight) and boost their position in the bowls. Pittsburgh faces off against WVU tonight (Friday). I'll be watching that game with great interest. Not just to see how those two teams fair, but to see how RU will stack up against WVU. (They have already lost to Pitt--and Cincinnati.) Then there's Cincinnati's final game at Pitt on December 5th. Should the Panthers beat the Mountaineers tonight, that December 5th game will be for a Big East title and a BCS Bowl appearance.

Aerie Report, November 27, 2009

Well, Thanksgiving has passed and things are back to the usual here at the Aerie. Brian, Vicky and Mom headed back to NJ yesterday afternoon making the trip safely and quite swiftly on relatively uncrowded roads. They have a date with the casinos in AC today. Mom and Brian went once already last week and had a good outing playing with house money the entire time while coming home with enough to more than pay for the gas money to come to PA. Here's hoping they are as successful on this outing.

All the dishes are cleaned and put away. The bird has been completely disassembled and leftovers of turkey, brisket and kielbasa are in the fridge for the weekend's meals. A slice or two of the pumpkin and pecan pies remain and there's a pot of turkey soup made from the carcass on the stove.

All is good.

******

There will be no Black Friday shopping by Terry or me. We are neither suicidal nor crazy for bargains.

******

It began raining after dark last night but switched to snow sometime after midnight. It was 30 degrees this morning and there was a light coating of the white stuff on the grass and trees above 1900 feet. You could see the snowline on the hillside across the way while the valley farms remained green/brown. The lack of wind means each tree branch has a white coat today. Certainly makes a lovely picture.

The forecast for the next day or two is more of the same. Rain and snow showers. There's not much accumulation of either mentioned, however, as the temperatures will bounce around the 30 to 40 degree range.

******

Guys who were up to their camps for the bear season the beginning of the week and who went home for their turkey fix are back to prepare for the deer season opener on Monday.

******

Tuesday night and again Wednesday night we saw a couple of the gas wells below us flaring off the first output form their drilling. word has it that the wells are only going down a few hundred feet (500 or so) to prove their intent. The real extraction will take place after the infrastructure (pipelines) for transporting the gas is in place. Still, it's nice to know that they have had success at even those shallow depths. They'll be going down much, much deeper--a mile or so--and employing directional drilling at those depths to tap into the bulk of the Marcellus Shale.

I will say that seeing the flares from the wells made me think we had either become Mordor or the Fire Swamp. I'd not be pleased with the former but if the latter means there will be a few ROUSes (Rodents Of Unusual Size, aka deer) on the move come Monday I could live with that.

Woof!

Turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, nibblet corn, string beans, cranberry sauce and pumpkin and pecan pies for dessert. Asti for toasts and white zin for dinner/dessert.

Man I am stuffed!

I hope you've had as good a meal as we did.

Aerie Report, November 25, 2009

Company from Chicago and New Jersey are here at the Aerie for Thanksgiving. Brian and Vicki flew into Newark, NJ, picked up the Mother-in-Law and drove out to PA yesterday. Brian's coming back from a six week stint in Calcutta, India where he was training some folks to do the night shift duties of his company. He actually came in from Germany to celebrate Thanksgiving here. Vicky, Brian's girlfriend and roommate, flew in from Chicago (their home).

While Brian and Vicky have come east, Rick and Sandy (son and daughter-in-law), who live in Portland, OR, drove down to the San Francisco area to have Thanksgiving with Brian's parents and family. From sea to shining sea--and beyond!

******

Today we drove up to Corning to visit the Glass Museum and the Rockwell Museum of Western Art.

Posting will be, therefore, somewhat on the light side.

******

Coming back from our trip to Corning we took a swing up the mountain to look at the windmill/gas well/gas pipeline construction. The road up was slick as ice with the wet clay. (It's been raining off and on for two days.) We were in the Jeep Compass and there were spots where things got a bit dicey. Then we reached the top of the hill to see a vehicle (another Jeep) off the side of the road, nosedived ass end over grill in the ditch. The vehicle lay on its roof with one rear tire sitting against a tree 10 yards away. The engine block was slightly warm but the muffler was cold to the touch. I don't recall seeing any footprints in the mud. But there didn't appear to be anyone inside.

Brian called 911 to report our findings to the State Troopers and we looked again and again to assure ourselves that no one was inside. Having so assured ourselves, and having informed the authorities, we went on our way trying to figure out how a jeep (with Ontario plates, BTW) could flip over like that, have not a piece of glass broken, have the air bags still intact, and the doors either locked or jammed closed.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the driver/passengers of this mystery vehicle. And we are thankful that it was not us.

******

The Hunter In Chief at the Northview Dairy has performed his duties having bagged both a doe and a buck during the last two days. Congratulations to Alan. Looks like the crew on the farm will be enjoying lots of venison. Threecollie has also posted some great photos of the Adirondacks on the same post and a previous one about Hoss' at Long Lake. Happy Thanksgiving to the folks at Northview. (And, yeah, I'm a bit jealous about those deer.)

******

The "climatologists" pushing AGW from the UK have run into a bit of trouble lately, in case you haven't heard. Bullying publishers of scientific papers, fudging data to fit their theories, and, well, promoting lie, after lie. All in the name of hiding the actual decline of world temperatures. "Climategate" or "climaquiddick" are the names attached to the unfolding debacle.

All this broke late last week when a packet of information (mostly emails) was leaked (or hacked) to the internet.

On the lighter side of this scientific debacle, we have had the NY Times saying it would not publish materials evidently not meant to be seen by the general public. Heelllloooo? Pentagon Papers anyone? That alone is comedy gold. Is it any wonder that the circulation is nose diving.

Then there is this piece which takes advantage of the "hide the decline" line.



With luck, this should put an end to the hoax AGW has become. It's definitely time to investigate the goings on of the charlatans pushing CO2 restrictions, carbon credits, and the like. Those in the center of the scams should be sharing jail space with Bernie Maddoff.

Post Week 12 BCS rankings.

The current BCS Standings boil down to the top three...and two of them will be playing in the SEC Championship Game. And TCU is closing in on Texas.

1 Florida 0.966

2 Alabama 0.961

3 Texas 0.926

4 TCU 0.87

5 Cincinnati 0.859

6 Boise State 0.783

7 Georgia Tech 0.776

8 Oregon 0.672

9 Pittsburgh 0.664

10 Ohio State 0.652

11 Iowa 0.524

12 Oklahoma State 0.513

13 Penn State 0.499

14 Virginia Tech 0.475

15 LSU 0.365

16 Oregon State 0.314

17 Miami (Fla.) 0.278

18 Clemson 0.263

19 Brigham Young 0.262

20 Southern California 0.259

21 Utah 0.235

22 California 0.203

23 Houston 0.146

24 North Carolina 0.144

25 Mississippi 0.084

Week 13 Top 25 (more or less) and who they're playing

We're coming down tot he end of the season. Some teams are done (PAC Ten, Big 10 for the most part) while others are in tight races for championships in their conference or have conference playoffs next week...if they can qualify. With out further ado: The Top 25 (more or less) for Week 13 and who's playing whom this week. (The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those going into week 12.)

1/1/1 (1/1/1) Florida (11-0) hosts Florida State (6-5).

2/3/3 (2/3/3) Alabama (11-0) at Auburn (7-4) on Friday afternoon.

3/2/2 (3/2/2) Texas (11-0) at Texas A&M (6-5) on Thursday night.

4/4/4 (4/4/4) TCU (11-0) hosts New Mexico (1-10).

5/5/5 (5/5/5) Cincinnati (10-0) host Illinois (3-7) on Friday afternoon.

6/6/6 (6/6/6) Boise State (11-0, 6-0 in conf.) host high-scoring Nevada (8-3, 7-0 in conf.) Friday night in a game that will likely determine the WAC Champion.

7/7/7 (7/7/7) Georgia Tech (10-1) hosts Georgia (6-5).

8/9/8 (8/9/8) Pittsburgh (9-1) at West Virginia (7-3) Friday night.

9/8/9 (9/8/9) Ohio State (10-2) DONE

10/10/10 (16/16/11) Oregon (9-2) BYE

11/12/13 (12/13/16) Oklahoma State (9-2) at Oklahoma (6-5).

12/11/12 (13/12/12) Penn State (10-2) DONE

13/13/11 (15/15/11) Iowa (10-2) DONE

14/14/18 (16/16/21) Virginia Tech (8-3) at Virginia (3-8).

15/16/16 (18/19/19) Clemson (8-3) at South Carolina (6-5).

16/18/20 (20/20/23) Oregon State (8-3) BYE

17/17/22 (10/10/14) LSU (8-3) hosts Arkansas (7-4).

18/15/15 (19/18/17) Brigham Young (9-2) host #22 Utah (9-2).

19/21/19 (21/24/22) Miami (Fla.) (8-3) at South Florida (7-3).

20/25/21 (NA/NA/NA) Mississippi (9-3) at Mississippi State (4-7).

21/NA/NA (NA/NA/NA) California (8-3) BYE

22/19/23 (23/23/NA) Utah (9-2) at #18 Brigham Young (9-2).

23/24/17 (NA/25/20) North Carolina (8-3) at North Carolina State (4-7).

24/22/NA (22/21/NA) Southern California (7-3) host UCLA (6-5).

25/20/NA (24/22/NA) Houston (9-2) host Rice (2-9).

NA/23/24 (NA/NA/NA) Nebraska (8-3) at Colorado (3-8).

NA/NA/25 (NA/NA/NA) Northwestern (8-4) DONE

Results from Week 12

Going into Week 12 I said, “…there appears to be only one game this week that could be considered a real tough one: Stanford vs California. (Well, maybe Oregon vs Arizona or LSU vs Mississippi or BYU vs Air Force or North Carolina vs Boston College.)” (Okay, so the last two weren’t that close…or surprising.) Here’s a look at this week’s results for the Top 25 (more or less). (The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those going into week 11.)

1/1/1 (1/1/1) Florida (11-0) The Gators remained perfect as they routed the Florida International Golden Panthers (3-8) 62-3.

2/3/3 (3/3/3) Alabama (11-0) The Tide rolled, indeed, over the Chattanooga Mocs (6-5 in the Southern Conference of the FCS) shutting them out 45-0.

3/2/2 (2/2/2) Texas (11-0) The Longhorns played while the Kansas Jayhawks (5-6) watched. 51-20 and it wasn’t that close.

4/4/4 (4/4/6) TCU (11-0) The Horned Frogs dominated the Wyoming Cowboys (5-6) 45-10.

5/5/5 (5/5/4) Cincinnati (10-0) BYE

6/6/6 (6/6/5) Boise State (11-0) The Broncos trounced Utah State Aggies (3-8) on Friday night, 52-21, to stay undefeated.

7/7/7 (7/7/7) Georgia Tech (10-1) BYE

8/9/8 (9/9/8) Pittsburgh (9-1) BYE

9/8/9 (8/8/13) Ohio State (10-2) The Buckeyes beat the Michigan Wolverines (5-7) 21-10.

10/10/14 (11/11/15) LSU (8-3) The Tigers were tamed by the Mississippi Rebels (9-3) in a close one 25-23.

11/11/10 (16/16/11) Oregon (9-2) The Ducks edged the Arizona Wildcats (6-4) 44-41 in two over times.

12/13/16 (18/18/19) Oklahoma State (9-2) The Cowboys beat the Colorado Buffaloes (3-8) on Thursday night 31-28. It took a third string QB to overcome an 11 point half time deficit.

13/12/12 (17/17/17) Penn State (10-2) The Nittany Lions rolled over the Michigan State Spartans (6-6) 42-14.

14/17/13 (NA/NA/NA) Stanford (7-4) The Cardinal got beat by the California Golden Bears (8-3) 34-28.

15/15/11 (13/13/10) Iowa (10-2) The Hawkeyes shut out the Minnesota Gophers (6-6) 12-0.

16/16/21 (21/21/22) Virginia Tech (8-3) The Hokies whupped the North Carolina State Wolfpack (4-7) 38-10.

17/14/15 (20/20/21) Wisconsin (8-3) The Badgers were edged by the Northwestern Wildcats (8-4) 33-31.

18/19/19 (NA/NA/25) Clemson (8-3) The Tigers beat the Virginia Cavaliers (3-8) 34-21.

19/18/17 (22/22/20) Brigham Young (9-2) The Cougars grounded the Air Force Falcons (7-5) 38-21.

20/20/23 (NA/NA/NA) Oregon State (8-3) The Beavers beat up on the Washington State Cougars (1-10) 42-10.

21/24/22 (15/15/9) Miami (Fla.) (8-3) The Hurricane trounced the Duke Blue Devils (5-6) 34-16.

22/21/NA (10/10/12) Southern California (7-3) BYE

23/23/NA (14/14/14) Utah (9-2) The Utes got out to a fast start and took the second half off against the San Diego State Aztecs (4-7). Still, the Utes triumphed 38-7.

24/22/NA (12/12/16) Houston (9-2) The Cougars crushed the Memphis Tigers (2-9) 55-14

25/NA/25 (NA/NA/NA) Rutgers (7-3) The Scarlet Knights started off slowly and stayed in that mode against the Syracuse Orange (4-7) which got its first Big east win with a 31-13 romp.

NA/25/20 (NA/NA/NA) North Carolina (8-3) The Tar Heels were quick out of the blocks against the Boston College Eagles (7-8) and finished with a 31-13 victory.

NA/25/NA (NA/NA/NA) Nebraska (8-3) The Cornhuskers dropped the Kansas State Wildcats (6-6) 17-3.

NA/NA/24 (19/19/18) Arizona (6-4) The Wildcats lost a tough one to the #11 Oregon Ducks (9-2) 44-41 in two over times.

Pepsi commercial

Ordinarily I wouldn't run anything showing a red, white, and blue logo in the shape of a wave inside a circle--if you know what I mean, but this is too cute to pass up. (Sent to me by much older cousins down in the Tampa area. No, they're not Italian either.)

This Pepsi commercial ran over two years ago. Ya gotta love it! (BTW, put your beverage down until the very end of the one minute spot. You can wait that long to save your keyboard. No?)



Such a sweet kid! What dimples!

Bolt Hole Report, November 21, 2009

I've not posted in a couple of days. Mostly because slow walking in the woods and sitting for a few hours each morning and afternoon in the fresh air has taken its toll. The walking has also put some strain on the knee causing sleepus interuptous during the night despite the liberal use of cold packs and ibuprofen.

And I haven't fired a shot. Of course all I've seen is one hunter walking through the back of my property and one buck who teased me briefly in the rear of the apple orchard when I didn't go out early on Friday due to a lingering rain shower. Dang thing must have beamed back up to the mother ship before I got around the corner of the cabin with my rifle.

Speaking briefly to the hunter who came upon me yesterday and he said his club hasn't been doing too well in the buck department either. They are located about 3/4 of a mile to my north in the deep woods. Why he was all the way down my me went undiscussed. Two other clubs a short distance up the trail from me to the east are reported to have taken four or five nice bucks while I was doing rehab on my knee. They regularly go several miles into the deep, deep woods to do their hunting in a "secret" spot. I can't ask them for any details because they've all gone home, probably with doe tags in hand to hunt the southern zone.

******

The weather has been warmer than usual in these parts. I caught a mention on one of the Utica TV stations that this is the latest they've gone without a 2" snowfall in, like, forever. The previous latest for a first snowfall was either November 13th or the 18th. (I wasn't paying that much attention, sorry.) They keep track of this stuff because every winter they sponsor a guessing contest in which a viewer guesses the first day there's a 2" snowfall and has a chance to win a snowblower if they get it correct. They're still advertising for entries. It now looks as though the viewers may have to go into December for a chance to win.

******

I'll be heading back to the Aerie Monday. I'll have more time to post then.

For The Hunter in Chief

Threecollie from over at Northview Dairy made a comment on an earlier post of mine:

Our hunter in chief is dropping out of fisheries and wildlife and switching into agricultural engineering because he simply can't stand the liberal and so often totally illogical, if not downright wrong, bias of his professors. Having to swallow global warming whole and spit out papers supporting the government lockstep viewpoint has proven to be too much for him. It makes so so sad...I will miss spending the whole evening milking time helping him learn his Latin names and talking about wildlife biology. I don't blame him a bit though.

I can't say I blame him for doing so since he's paying the tuition to have these professors cite bad science as gospel. However, I'd like him to know that there are many in the wildlife field who do not lean so far to the left that they are in danger of falling down. My freshman roommate (from way back in 1967-68) is currently a professor of wildlife biology at Iowa State and, while I can't vouch for all his politics, I can infer some due to his being an avid hunter and fisherman. (That's one of the reasons he got into the field...literally.) I know many other COs (Conservation Officers) who are also avid outdoors men and women.

Take a serious look at the professors fields of study. (I'll assume that even at the small school you attend, they have to do some research.) Are their research projects as biased as their teachings? If so, you've made the right decision to go in to agriculture. If their research projects are not but are, instead, "real" science then you might want to stick around and offer up well thought out and researched arguments to their proselytizing. Hey, you might even succeed in swaying them!

I got my Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Science just like my frosh roommate, but didn't have the foresight to go on to grad school like he did. (Besides, I was already in debt and in love. The dirty rat introduced me to my wife our senior year.) So I got a teaching certificate. When I tried to return to grad school for wildlife biology, I was limited as to my options since my wife had a pretty good job--with the USEPA--in NYC. Still, I got my Master's of Science (Ecology) but kept on teaching. I don't regret my decisions, but there were days when I wished I had gotten that degree that would have sent me to work with wildlife and not junior and senior high school students! Bears--even rattle snakes--might have been easier to handle.

What I'm saying is think it over long and hard. I can tell from threecollie's writing that you really enjoy both the farm and the woods. Which do you love more? Which will not be there for you in the future? Yeah, the road forks. There's no telling if they come back together later but they might not and you have to think of that as you make your plans.

Aerie Report, November 19, 2009

Sheesh! I managed to make it back to the Aerie a little after 2 PM yesterday after a lovely drive. No clouds, lots of sun and light traffic made it enjoyable. The only thing that stank was the $2.90 per gallon I paid for gasoline as I started out. Thank you President Spend and Print!

******

One good thing about driving between Noon and 3 PM is the talk radio. Yeah, I'm a bit of a ditto-head. Like to hear him pontificate, but finding more and more that he's a day or so behind the blogs that I frequent. (And which he often sites as sources.) And I find some of his callers to be just a tad, well, looney. I'll hut the radio off maybe five or six times just to regain my sanity as I listen.

******

Oh, and the other thing that ticked me off was the change in heart the weatherman apparently has had. Tuesday, the rains showers were supposed to happen on Friday. Yesterday they moved them up to Thursday afternoon and early Friday morning. And they bumped the odds from 40% up to 70%. Since the stuff is coming from the southwest, that means it will be raining at the Aerie earlier...perhaps as early as my departure after my PT.

It's currently foggy as all get out with the "ceiling" at around 1900 feet. Since the Aerie is at 2100 feet that means we're in the clouds. Sort of a Shangri-La moment, if you will. Who knows what's happening down in the valley below? IS there a valley below?

******

The Tiadaghton Audubon Society diner last night was a small affair. Only about 25 people were in attendance to hear one of the two men who work on endangered species within the PA Game Commission. I kept my mouth shut--mostly--and only challenged him a couple of times. Once after he harped on the fact that many raptors were shot in the 1800s and early 1900s because shooters didn't like them. (Hello?! Can you say bounty paid for by the state? Hard times? Loss of chickens, turkeys and other small critters that would have been either supplying breakfast or serving as dinner to hawks and owls?) And again when he started on our "destroying habitat". We don't destroy habitat. We change it. Sometimes this benefits a species, sometimes it doesn't. He mentioned the changes after around 1870 or so and I brought up the number of farms that went back to forest around that time as men either did not return from the Civil War or opted for 1) higher education 2) city/factory life. Coupled with the mechanization of farming practices, the old sloppy hedgerow disappeared either into the woods or under the plow. Either way, species who found the hedgerowed farm ideal habitat had to move on.

I'll think on this a bit more and perhaps start writing a few posts about what is wrong with our approach to wildlife management and the use of key phrases that are geared to stir up the pot but are too often misused.

******

I've my PT in a little over an hour. Then it will be a quick lunch and back to the Bolt Hole.

Bolt Hole Report, November 17, 2009

A glorious day here at the Bolt Hole. It was 20 degrees with not a breath of wind to disturb the few remaining leaves on the trees when I woke this morning at 5:30 AM. Everything was covered in a thick layer of frost. It was interesting to see the sun come up over the mountain to the east and melt that frost away. It started at the tops of the trees ad worked its way down to the lawn and then across the lawn from thee west to the east changing the white to green.

That's about all there was to watch. Nothing moved through the field behind the cabin. Even the birds seemed to have taken it on the lam. No blue jays, chickadees, juncos or even ravens. One lonely red squirrel complained about my sitting on the deck for a few moments before even it shut up and went about finding a warm spot. It didn't seem to be searching the pines for any remaining cones.

I did take a brief walk through the woods around noon when the temperature under the sun had risen to 40 degrees. Even with the rise in temperature, there was still frost in the shaded areas and ice heaved the earth in the really muddy zones. No signs of deer anywhere I walked, but I did kick up three grouse and get the attention of two ravens who came to investigate what I was doing.

The knee got quite the workout with my little walk. Slow motion walking puts a good bit of stress on the leg muscles. You may not get any cardio from taking one step every 5-10 seconds, but, believe me, your balance is tested as are the quads and hams. That balance puts your joints to the test. Ankle, knee, hip--they all take the strain. I avoided all the rocks and roots this time around and got back to the cabin after going just about half a mile in an hour and a half.

Nothing happening in the late afternoon either. There air was still as witnessed by the lazy moving smoke out of the chimney. And the sky still contained no clouds. Not even the contrails of jets could be found--and that is really unusual as the Bolt Hole seems to be on a regular hourly route to points west. (I've actually seen six or seven contrails at once formed by these flights. All hanging in the air like so many lines on a music score waiting for some ethereal hand to mark in the notes.)

With the still air and lack of clouds I expect tonight will be a cold one. It's already down to 26 degrees outside at 8 PM. It would be a two dog night for sure--if I had any dogs. Instead, I'll just have to stoke up the fires and make sure to stay under the comforters.

Early to bed and early to rise for tomorrow I'll be heading back to the Aerie for dinner with the Tiadaghton Audubon Society and then my PT/evaluation on Thursday morning. (At least this year the TAS won't have a speaker propagandizing Global Warming! The topic will be Endangered Species, instead.) I'll probably come back to the 'Dacks on Thursday afternoon just to be present over the weekend. There's a 40% chance of showers Friday according to weather.com. With any luck that might become snow at my slightly higher elevation (1800 feet). I don't know where they get their readings from, but we are usually 5 to 10 degrees cooler than they are. For example, they are currently saying the temp is 33 degrees while my digital thermometer says 26.6 degrees.

There's a weather underground station at a farm about 5 miles west of the cabin as the raven flies. It's station is under some trees 20-25 yards from the house and at just over 1400 feet in elevation and the temperature there is usually 3-5 degrees lower than here. (Currently 29.6 degrees there, 26.7 degrees here.) I like to check their info to see what's happening from time to time. Much more local and personal than the big guys.

Bolt Hole Report, November 16, 2009

Yeah, I'm back at the scene once more. Don't intend this to be a long stay. I just have to pick up some things I left behind and then it will be back to the Aerie. I've a dinner to attend on Wednesday evening and one more PT session on Thursday morning. Whether I return to the Hole for the weekend is yet to be determined.

I had a restless night sleeping. No, nothing to do with the knee just several things on my mind and lots of sinus pressure. The result was I woke at 4 AM and, since I couldn't get back to sleep, rolled out of the sack at 5 AM. I would have packed the Tundra and headed north then but Terry and I had some business to tend to at the bank so I had to hang around until they opened.

While drinking my morning coffee I checked my email to see that Mark had left a note saying that there was a fresh rub line in the apple orchard right behind the barn and that there were reports (and personal sightings) of bucks running all over as they seem to have finally gone into rut. He recommended I be sure to bring my rifle and said I should just sit on my deck from dark to dark. This report alone made me change what I was packing in the truck.

I finally got on the road at 11 AM and had an uneventful drive along the western shore of Seneca Lake and east on the NYS Thruway. Mostly sunshine and 45 degrees all the way. Little or no traffic to speak of. Even construction was at a minimum. They finally opened up the long stretch east of the Geneva where they had been resurfacing about 5 miles of the road. There are still a few spots where there's minor construction going on, but no more do you have to worry about shifting lanes and narrow roads with concrete barriers (Jersey barriers, they are called) hemming you in. Made one stop for lunch on the thruway and another at a Stewart's as I got closer to the cabin for some groceries before pulling into the yard at 3:00 PM.

The knee let me know what it thought of being folded in one position for all that time. Thankfully the kinks were nothing new. That's one of the other reasons for the stop on the thruway. Two hours or so in the truck and I have to get out for a bit of a walk about to stretch the legs. Besides, the cup of coffee I borrowed from the bank wanted to be released.

Unloaded the truck; turned on the water; built some fires in the stoves (only 51 degrees--inside--when I arrived); and then loaded the rifle to take a walk behind the barn for a look-see. Sure enough, a small apple tree not much more than an inch in diameter had a fresh rub on it. And, off to the west about forty yards there was a small hawthorne that had suffered the same fate. If the size of the rub is indicative of the size of the deer, well, he might feed a family of four--once.

I'll take a good long look off the deck in the morning and then maybe take a short walk along one of the trails around lunch. I actually don't have much hope of seeing anything, but, hey!, you never know!

Week 12 Top 25 (more or less) and their opposition

Going into Week 12 of the college football season and things are shaping up for the bowl season. There are still many conference championships to be determined, however and that alone will produce some movement in the weeks to come. That said, there appears to be only one game this week that could be considered a real tough one: Stanford vs California. (Well, maybe Oregon vs Arizona or LSU vs Mississippi or BYU vs Air Force or North Carolina vs Boston College.) Anyway, there are quite a few BYE weeks for members of the Top 25 (more or less) and quite a few games that can be considered mismatches (Alabama vs Chatanooga?). Here’s a look at this week’s rankings of the Top 25 (more or less) and who’s playing whom. (The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those going into week 10.)

1/1/1 (1/1/1) Florida (10-0) The Gators host Florida International Golden Panthers (3-7)

2/3/3 (3/3/3) Alabama (10-0) The Tide hosts the Chattanooga Mocs (6-4 in the Southern Conference of the FCS)

3/2/2 (2/2/2) Texas (10-0) The Longhorns play host to the Kansas Jayhawks (5-5)

4/4/4 (4/4/6) TCU (10-0) The Horned Frogs will be on the road against the Wyoming Cowboys (5-5)

5/5/5 (5/5/4) Cincinnati (10-0) BYE

6/6/6 (6/6/5) Boise State (10-0) The Broncos will play at Utah State Aggies (3-7) on Friday night.

7/7/7 (7/7/7) Georgia Tech (10-1) BYE

8/9/8 (9/9/8) Pittsburgh (9-1) BYE

9/8/9 (8/8/13) Ohio State (9-2) The Buckeyes play at Michigan Wolverines (5-6)

10/10/14 (11/11/15) LSU (8-2) The Tigers are on the road against the Mississippi Rebels (7-3)

11/11/10 (16/16/11) Oregon (8-1) The Ducks head south to face the Arizona Wildcats (6-3)

12/13/16 (18/18/19) Oklahoma State (8-2) The Cowboys host the Colorado Buffaloes (3-7) on Thursday night.

13/12/12 (17/17/17) Penn State (9-2) The Nittany Lions are on the road against the Michigan State Spartans (6-5)

14/17/13 (NA/NA/NA) Stanford (7-3) The Cardinal host the California Golden Bears (7-3)

15/15/11 (13/13/10) Iowa (9-2) The Hawkeyes host the Minnesota Gophers (6-5)

16/16/21 (21/21/22) Virginia Tech (7-3) The Hokies host the North Carolina State Wolfpack (4-6)

17/14/15 (20/20/21) Wisconsin (8-2) The Badgers play at the home of the Northwestern Wildcats (7-4)

18/19/19 (NA/NA/25) Clemson (7-3) The Tigers host the Virginia Cavaliers (3-7)

19/18/17 (22/22/20) Brigham Young (8-2) The Cougars host the Air Force Falcons (7-4)

20/20/23 (NA/NA/NA) Oregon State (7-3) The Beavers head north to play the Washington State Cougars (1-9)

21/24/22 (15/15/9) Miami (Fla.) (7-3) The Hurricane hosts the Duke Blue Devils (5-5)

22/21/NA (10/10/12) Southern California (7-3) BYE

23/23/NA (14/14/14) Utah (8-2) The Utes host the San Diego State Aztecs (4-6)

24/22/NA (12/12/16) Houston (8-2) The Cougars host the Memphis Tigers (2-8)

25/NA/25 (NA/NA/NA) Rutgers (7-2) The Scarlet Knights play at the Syracuse Orange (3-7)

NA/25/20 (NA/NA/NA) North Carolina (7-3) The Tar Heels are at the home of the Boston College Eagles (7-3)

NA/25/NA (NA/NA/NA) Nebraska (7-3) The Cornhuskers host Kansas State Wildcats (6-5)

NA/NA/24 (19/19/18) Arizona (6-3) The Wildcats host the #11 Oregon Ducks (8-2)

Post Week 11 BCS Rankings

As expected, there's been a shakeup in the rankings this week. The top 9 remain pretty much untouched but USC took a big hit after being dominated by Stanford last weekend. Right now, it's a three-way race for the championship game. However, the current numbers 1 & 2 must still meet to determine the SEC Champion so....

BCS Rank

1 Florida 0.983

2 Alabama 0.952

3 Texas 0.926

4 TCU 0.869

5 Cincinnati 0.854

6 Boise State 0.795

7 Georgia Tech 0.772

8 LSU 0.665

9 Pittsburgh 0.657

10 Ohio State 0.65

11 Oregon 0.626

12 Oklahoma State 0.471

13 Iowa 0.453

14 Penn State 0.413

15 Virginia Tech 0.404

16 Wisconsin 0.358

17 Stanford 0.341

18 Southern California 0.271

19 Oregon State 0.249

20 Miami (Fla.) 0.194

21 Utah 0.191

22 Brigham Young 0.187

23 Clemson 0.183

24 Houston 0.115

25 California 0.093

Week 11: Results

“Everyone is playing this week so there’s likely to be some shaking up of the standings.” Well, not in the top nine slots, but from #10 (Southern California) on down there should be cha-cha-changes galore. I count six (6) upsets and three (3) other games in which ranked teams lost to higher ranked teams. (The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those going into week 10.)

1/1/1 (1/1/1) Florida (10-0) The Gators beat South Carolina (6-5) 24-14.

2/2/2 (2/2/2) Texas (10-0) The Longhorns routed Baylor (4-6) 47-14.

3/3/3 (3/3/3) Alabama (10-0) The Tide rolled over Mississippi State (4-6) 31-3.

4/4/6 (6/4/8) TCU (10-0) The Horned Frogs creamed #14 Utah (8-2) 55-28.

5/5/4 (4/7/4) Cincinnati (10-0) The Bearcats held off # 23 West Virginia Mountaineers (7-3) on Friday night 24-21.

6/6/5 (5/5/6) Boise State (10-0) The Broncos destroyed the Idaho Vandals (7-4) 63-25.

7/7/7 (10/11/11) Georgia Tech (10-1) The Yellow Jackets manhandled Duke (5-5) 49-10 clinching a spot in the ACC playoff game.

8/8/13 (15/12/13) Ohio State (9-2) The Buckeyes squeaked past #13 Iowa (9-2) in overtime 27-24 earning themselves a trip to the Rose Bowl.

9/9/8 (14/14/15) Pittsburgh (9-1) The Panthers held off a late surge by Notre Dame (6-4) 27-22. Time for ND to look for a new coach?

10/10/12 (12/13/12) Southern California (7-3) The Trojans were the latest in the PAC 10 to fall to the Stanford Cardinal (7-3) 55-21. Yeah, that’s 55-21.

11/11/15 (9/9/9) LSU (8-2) The Tigers had a surprisingly tough time overcoming Louisiana Tech (3-7) 24-16.

12/12/16 (13/15/16) Houston (8-2) The Cougars fell to Central Florida (6-4) 37-32.

13/13/10 (8/6/5) Iowa (9-2) The Hawkeyes dropped a lackluster game to #8 Ohio State (9-2) in overtime 27-24.

14/14/14 (17/16/17) Utah (8-2) The Utes got creamed by #4 TCU (10-0) 55-28.

15/15/9 (16/17/14) Miami (Fla.) (7-3) The Hurricanes got beat by North Carolina (7-3) 33-24.

16/16/11 (7/8/7) Oregon (8-1) The Ducks quacked all over Arizona State (4-6) 44-21.

17/17/17 (11/10/10) Penn State (9-2) The Nittany Lions managed to come from behind to beat Indiana (4-7) 31-20.

18/18/19 (18/18/21) Oklahoma State (8-2) The Cowboys edged Texas Tech (6-4) 24-17.

19/19/18 (21/19/18) Arizona (6-3) The Wildcats got tamed by California (7-3) 24-16.

20/20/21 (24/22/23) Wisconsin (8-2) The Badgers beat the snot out of Michigan (5-6) 45-24. Is it time for Michigan to look for a new coach?

21/21/22 (22/24/24) Virginia Tech (7-3) The Hokies routed Maryland (2-8) 35-9.

22/22/20 (25/25/22) Brigham Young (8-2) The Cougars had a surprisingly tough time with New Mexico (0-10) but prevailed 24-19 in the end.

23/23/NA (NA/NA/NA) West Virginia (7-3) The Mountaineers fell to #5 Cincinnati (10-0) in a close one on Friday night 24-21.

24/24/23 (NA/NA/25) South Florida (6-3) The Bulls got dominated by Rutgers (7-2)
31-0 on Thursday night.

25/25/24 (NA/NA/NA) Auburn (7-4) The Tigers got tamed by Georgia (6-4) 31-24.

NA/NA/25 (NA/NA/NA) Clemson (7-3) These Tigers roared North Carolina State (4-6) 43-23.

Aerie Report, November 15, 2009

While points east of use, meaning the coast, have been buffeted by the remnants of Id and folks out in the Rockies are facing a significant snow storm, we here in north-central PA have enjoyed an extended Indian Summer. The sun has been shining and the temperatures will soar into the high 60s today. Interestingly, it's almost 10 degrees cooler down in the valley. There hasn't been much of a breeze for the last three days which translates into dense fog along all the water ways below us. The hills have looked like islands in a white sea each of the last few mornings.

While the temperatures will return to normal starting tomorrow, the prospects of precipitation remain minuscule until Friday. Even then it's a 50-50 shot right now according to weather.com. they say there's a better chance of precip next Monday and Tuesday (the 23rd and 24th)--which is to be expected as those are the first two days of bear season. *sigh*

******

On the personal injury front: My left knee feels about as good as it did before the slip and fall. That means it still hurts a bit but I'd feel comfortable going back into the woods. The therapist gave me some exercises to do at home to strengthen that leg and they seem to be having a positive affect. I may have to start doing the same for my right leg soon or I'll be lopsided.

******

I'll be heading up to the Bolt Hole for an overnight visit. There were some things that I left behind when I had to bug out after the injury. I don't intend to do any hunting while there. Talking with Mark, it would be futile to look for any whitetails. He did a walk about after there was a bit of snow on the ground last week and saw only coyote tracks on his side of the road and not even that on my side. He's up there for a day or two as I type. Of course, should he call tonight and say he saw something interesting, I might throw my gear in the truck after all.

A Long Way to Go (and a short time to get there)

As Rev. Paul says, the 300 mile round trip to Cabela's IS a long way to go to do some shopping. But what are you going to do when the discount cards can only be used in store? If it was up to me, I'd let UPS do the driving but....

I got to thinking this morning about that 300 miles and try to put it in comparison with other silly things I've done. To wit:

I would, when I was still working, on occasion drive the 250 miles from NJ to the Bolt Hole, cut the grass (a 2-3 hour job) and then drive back to NJ all in one day. A 500-mile round trip with 2-3 hours of pushing a mower in between.

When we traveled to Colorado Springs with the travel trailer, Terry and I would do make the 2250 mile trip in four days. That's a lot of hauling!

It took us just two and a half days to get to Spokane, WA when Rick returned from his tour of duty in Iraq.

Going out to Eugene, OR for Rick and Sandy's wedding, we made the trip (sans trailer) in just three days.

Terry and I once drove nonstop from the Denver area to NJ when we decided we had had enough vacation. That was 36 hours straight. (We did stop at the original Cabela's in Sidney, NE for a couple of hours, though.)

When we go fishing in Quebec, we leave the Bolt Hole around 9 PM, drive until sunrise, rest an hour or two and then drive another two hours on the "good" dirt road to get to the float plane launch site. Then reverse the process when the trip is over.

What can I say? I enjoy driving.

Looking over the itinerary for the Good Sam's Club Caraventure this summer, Not one day (after we leave Dawson Creek with the caravan) is more than 200-220 miles. It's going to seem like a real vacation! Of course, getting TO Dawson Creek and then back to the Bolt Hole may be another story.

Now all we have to do is find someone to babysit the three cats. They get car sick after just 5 minutes.

He's heading in the wrong direction but the idea is sound:


And, although I can't play a lick, this is one of my favorite traveling songs:

Aerie Report, November 12, 2009

We had a successful day at Cabela's. Picked up the ThermaCELL (package of two linked to yesterday) with two sets of replacements and Christmas presents (clothes) for several people on our list. Terry found a nice blouse she liked and that fit her. She usually has trouble at Cabela's finding clothes to fit her, but this was a Woolrich product. I got myself a new set of heavy duty insulated long johns for those cold days on stand, a new rifle sling (since I only have one and have to switch when I change the rifle I carry), a three-legged stool for sitting in a ground blind, and a few other odds and ends. I looked at some of the bows and a couple of firearms but decided to pass on those right now. We dropped some change to help boost the economy, but between a rebate card for Cabela's, a rebate card from Cooper Tires, accumulated points from use of a Cabela's Club VISA card, and a $20 off coupon...well, it didn't take a lot of green out of the wallet.

******

I keep forgetting just how far it is from the Aerie (on the northern edge of PA) to Cabela's (in Hamburg on I-78 on the very southern edge of the state). From door to door it was 150 miles. It took us 3-1/2 hours going down (Rt. 15 to Rt. 61) and just 3 hours to return. Two hours shopping and it was a long day.

******

Sitting here now watching Rutgers dismantle South Florida. The game just ended and RU won 31-0 over the #24 Bulls. And the Scarlet Knights should have lead by more having settled for FG attempts instead of TDs on several long drives in the first half. The offense may have struggled in the opening half, but the defense! My goodness did the defense dominate in this game.

The win makes RU bowl eligible with a record of 7-2, 2-2. Three games remain on the schedule for Terry and my alma mater: @ Syracuse, @ Louisville, and West Virginia at home.

******

Speaking of the Big East.... There are three teams in the hunt for the Big East title: Cincinnati at 9-0, 5-0 in conference, are on top being chased by Pittsburgh (8-1, and also 5-0 in conference) and West Virginia (7-2, 3-1). Each of these teams have yet to play the other two. Each has a one home and one away game against the other two.

Tomorrow night, West Virginia plays at Cincinnati. The Bearcats have to figure out which of their excellent quaterbacks should start. The Mountaineers have a more troubling problem. RB Noel Devine may have to sit the game out due to an ankle injury. That will put the WVa squad at a disadvantage.

Meanwhile, Pitt squares off against Notre Dame on Saturday.

Aerie Report, November 11, 2009

A quiet and swiftly passing day here at the Aerie. The sky was overcast much of the day giving it a somber aspect. The temperatures have returned to normal for November and there are no signs of their rising much in the next two weeks. No precipitation is being forecast until the middle of next week. All the rain from Ida seems to be destined to pass to our southeast.

Sunset from the Aerie's deck.

I really like this shot in the context of fighting Global Warming. In this one view there are three things at work to lower the earth's temperatures. 1- The "green" technology of the windmills. 2- The photosynthesis of the trees removing "evil" CO2 from the atmosphere. 3- The sun is setting...which is probably the strongest of the three in the short term. There will be frost in the morning!

******

I attended a meeting of the Grand Canyon Photography Club last evening over in Wellsboro. Just something to get me out of the house a little more and get to learn how I should be taking and editing my pictures. My birding bud, Gary, is a member--although he wasn't there last night, as is another occasional birder and professor at Mansfield U. so it's not like I'm walking into a group of strangers.

Last night they had a presentation on HDR (High Density Resolution) photography and the use of a program called Photomatix. Essentially it's merging 3 to 5 differently exposed shots of the same image. Got me to try a few things today with my Sony Alpha 350. Like reading the entire manual!

(The photo above was not accomplished using HDR technology. I did use Picasa 3 to remove some power cables that ran across the foreground, however. And to crop the edges a bit.)

******

Another day of PT for me tomorrow. The sold me on some fixed arch supports to help prevent my ankle from rolling which, in turn, helps align my knee. The supports and the exercises to strengthen the leg muscles (something I though would be superfluous) seem to have helped a great deal. I've tried NOT to go up and down the steps too much since yesterday's workout, but when I do the pain in the knee is much, much less than it was on Monday.

******

I've got some refund/rebate cards burning a hole in my pocket so tomorrow, after PT, I'll be taking Terry down to Cabela's. she's always complaining about getting bug bites when she goes outside for any length of time. She's a natural mosquito magnet so I want to get her one of those ThermaCELL bug repellers. It doesn't do much if you're walking around, but it's supposed to clear an area around where you're sitting if the wind isn't too strong. If they work, she just might be able to enjoy the Aerie's deck even when there isn't a gale force wind blowing.

I might be able to find something for myself, too.

Veterans' Day

Just a word to wish the best to all our veterans out there today and a heartfelt thanks for the years of service many of you gave to keep our country free and to liberate those who were under the rule of dictators and despots around the world.



A special thanks to the men, women and families who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Thank you.

We need more backhoe control laws!

Minn. man allegedly assaults worker with backhoe

Prosecutors charged the co-owner of a Hermantown construction company with allegedly assaulting a construction worker with a backhoe. The criminal complaint said a 48-year-old man told investigators he wanted to "nudge" the victim, but didn't want to hurt him. He also said it was a stupid thing to do.
...
Hermantown police Sgt. Mark Gunderson said it appeared the suspect didn't think the construction worker in the trench was doing his job right, so he hit him with the backhoe.

An obvious misuse of the dreaded assault backhoe!

But it was right here when I left!

Irishman wins euro46,000 after island home disappears

[61-year-old Neville] Presho successfully sued developer and hotelier Patrick Doohan after he returned from New Zealand to find no trace of his six-bedroom property beside the island's harbor. In its place stood a septic tank and parking lot for Doohan's newly built 12-room hotel, which remains the only one today on Tory.
...
Presho spoke wistfully Tuesday of his lost island retreat, where he could sit on his front doorstep watching the fishermen come and go in the harbor and the panorama beyond of the wild Atlantic and Donegal mainland.

But Presho said he doesn't expect to live there again. Even if he does receive his court-ordered euro46,000, that's less than a fifth of the average house price in Ireland.

"You could build a really nice chicken coop with that sort of money," he quipped, "but you'd have no money left over to buy the chickens."

You can't blame him for not wanting to live there again. Everyone on the island--170 people in all--pulled a Sgt. Schultz during the investigation. "I know nothink!" they all proclaimed.

"The Turtle Moves"

I wonder if it knows a fella named Burtha?

Villagers confine rare turtle, offer prayers

Hundreds of poor Hindu villagers in eastern India have refused to hand over a rare turtle to authorities, saying it is an incarnation of God....
...adamant villagers have refused to give up the reptile, saying the turtle bears holy symbols on its back and is an incarnation of Lord Jagannath, a popular Hindu deity.

Aerie Report, November 9, 2009

We've enjoyed two lovely Indian Summer days here at the Aerie. It got up to 71 in yesterday's bright sunshine but only made it to 63 during today's overcast. No problem though. At least we did not have any precipitation. Tomorrow and the rest of the week it will be around the 50 degree mark with just a slight chance of some shower activity late Tuesday.

******

What the heck happened to the NY Giants? They were cruising along at 5-0 when they met New Orleans and WHAM! Suddenly they've lost four in a row. Something's not right in their secondary, that's for sure.

******

Monday Nite Football features the Steelers and the the Broncos. I'll be rooting for the Black and Gold to tame the ponies.

******

Despite taking it easy on the left knee the last two days, I've noticed a bit of a relapse. There's a pretty sharp pain on the inside of that knee when I go up or down stairs or even walk on a slope. I'll have to discuss this development with the Physical Therapist tomorrow. I'm scheduled for two sessions (Tuesday and Thursday) this week. Wish me luck.

We Was Robbed!

No, I'm not talking about any stick-up or break in at the Aerie. I'm talking about a free loader having its way with our bird feeders--again.

Last evening as I was caught up with NFL debacle known as the NY Giants, I waited until half time and after dinner to go out on the deck to bring in the hanging bird feeder. By then, of course, it was well past dark. Upon stepping out on the deck, I discovered I was not alone so I grabbed my camera to catch the perp in the act. By the time I was armed, it had given up on the hanging feeder and already moved down the rail to lay claim to the tray which I never bring in the house.

The Masked Bandit is caught in the act.

It was reluctant to leave and hissed at the flash going off but eventually made its way to the corner of the deck and shimmied down the corner post to the ground. This was not the first time this season it had made its way to the feeders and it won't be the last.

BCS Standings Post Week 10

1 Florida 0.984
2 Alabama 0.952
3 Texas 0.923
4 TCU 0.862
5 Cincinnati 0.858
6 Boise State 0.813
7 Georgia Tech 0.755
8 LSU 0.614
9 Southern California 0.592
10 Iowa 0.575
11 Ohio State 0.573
12 Pittsburgh 0.563
13 Oregon 0.532
14 Miami (Fla.) 0.471
15 Houston 0.469
16 Utah 0.4
17 Arizona 0.336
18 Penn State 0.335
19 Oklahoma State 0.291
20 Wisconsin 0.233
21 Virginia Tech 0.233
22 Brigham Young 0.124
23 Oregon State 0.123
24 South Florida 0.108
25 West Virginia 0.065

Week 11:Top 25 (More or less) and their Opponents

Everyone is playing this week so there’s likely to be some shaking up of the standings. Especially since we have #4 TCU vs #14 Utah, #5 Cincinnati vs #23 WVU. and #8 Ohio State vs #13 Iowa on the slate. (The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those going into week 10.)

1/1/1 (1/1/1) Florida (9-0) The Gators will play at South Carolina (6-4).

2/2/2 (2/2/2) Texas (9-0) The Longhorns play at Baylor (4-5).

3/3/3 (3/3/3) Alabama (9-0) The Tide rolls into Mississippi State (4-5).

4/4/6 (6/4/8) TCU (9-0) The Horned Frogs will host #14 Utah (8-1).

5/5/4 (4/7/4) Cincinnati (9-0) The Bearcats will host the # 23 West Virginia Mountaineers (7-2) on Friday night.

6/6/5 (5/5/6) Boise State (9-0) The Broncos will host Idaho (7-3).

7/7/7 (10/11/11) Georgia Tech (9-1) The Yellow Jackets will play at Duke (5-4).

8/8/13 (15/12/13) Ohio State (8-2) The Buckeyes host #13 Iowa (9-1).

9/9/8 (14/14/15) Pittsburgh (8-1) The Panthers will host Notre Dame (6-3).

10/10/12 (12/13/12) Southern California (7-2) The Trojans host Stanford (6-3).

11/11/15 (9/9/9) LSU (7-2) The Tigers will host Louisiana Tech (3-6).

12/12/16 (13/15/16) Houston (8-1) The Cougars will play at Central Florida (5-4).

13/13/10 (8/6/5) Iowa (9-1) The Hawkeyes play at #8 Ohio State (8-2).

14/14/14 (17/16/17) Utah (8-1) The Utes will play at #4 TCU (9-0).

15/15/9 (16/17/14) Miami (Fla.) (7-2) The Hurricanes will play at North Carolina (6-3).

16/16/11 (7/8/7) Oregon (7-1) The Ducks will host the Arizona State (4-5).

17/17/17 (11/10/10) Penn State (8-2) The Nittany Lions host Indiana (4-6).

18/18/19 (18/18/21) Oklahoma State (7-2) The Cowboys will host Texas Tech (6-3).

19/19/18 (21/19/18) Arizona (6-2) The Wildcats play at California (6-3).

20/20/21 (24/22/23) Wisconsin (7-2) The Badgers will host Michigan (5-5).

21/21/22 (22/24/24) Virginia Tech (6-3) The Hokies play at Maryland (2-7).

22/22/20 (25/25/22) Brigham Young (7-2) The Cougars play at New Mexico (0-9).

23/23/NA (NA/NA/NA) West Virginia (7-2) The Mountaineers will play at #5 Cincinnati (9-0) on Friday night.

24/24/23 (NA/NA/25) South Florida (6-2) The Bulls will be playing at Rutgers (6-2) on Thursday night.

25/25/24 (NA/NA/NA) Auburn (7-3) The Tigers will play at Georgia (5-4).

NA/NA/25 (NA/NA/NA) Clemson (6-3) These Tigers play at North Carolina State (4-5).

Results from Week 10

Week 10 saw Iowa’s luck run out as they lost their first to drop out of the ranks of the FBS’ undefeated. (On the other end,: New Mexico (0-9), Rice (0-9), Eastern Michigan (0-9) and Western Kentucky (0-9) are four teams still looking for their first win.) Lots of other upsets in the top 25 as well. Expect lots of shakeup from #5 on down in this week’s new rankings. (The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those going into week 9)


1/1/1 (1/1/2) Florida (9-0) The Gators beat the Commodores of Vanderbilt (2-8) 27-3.

2/2/2 (3/3/3) Texas (9-0) The Longhorns beat the UCF Knights (4-4) 35-3.

3/3/3 (2/2/1) Alabama (9-0) The Tide triumphed over the #9 LSU Tigers (7-2) 24-15.

4/7/4 (5/7/5) Cincinnati (9-0) The Bearcats edged the Connecticut Huskies (4-5) 47-45 behind their backup QB, Sophomore Zach Collaros who threw for 480 yards and ran for another 75. It was enough—barely—to stave off the Huskies who scored 35 points in the second half.

5/5/6 (6/5/8) Boise State (9-0) The Broncos held off the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (3-6) on Friday night 45-35.

6/4/8 (8/6/6) TCU (9-0) The Horned Frogs romped over the San Diego State Aztecs (4-5) 55-12.

7/8/7 (10/12/11) Oregon (7-2) The Ducks floundered on the road against the Stanford Cardinal (6-3) 51-42. Cardinal Toby Gerhart ran for a school record 223 yards.

8/6/5 (7/8/4) Iowa (9-1) The Hawkeyes lost their starting QB to injury and then dropped their first to the Northwestern Wildcats (6-4) 17-10.

9/9/9 (9/9/9) LSU (7-2) The Tigers lead the #3 Alabama Crimson Tide (9-0) 7-3 at half time. Unfortunately they lost the second half 21-8—and the game24-15.

10/11/11 (11/11/13) Georgia Tech (9-1) The Yellow Jackets edged the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest (4-6) in overtime 30-27 as they eschewed the FG to tie and went on fourth and goal to win.

11/10/10 (12/10/10) Penn State (8-2) The Nittany Lions were beat by the #15 Ohio State Buckeyes (8-2) 24-7.

12/13/12 (4/4/7) Southern California (7-2) The Trojans edged the Arizona State Sun Devils (4-5) 14-9 on the strength of a 55-yard interception return for a TD by Will Harris.

13/15/16 (15/16/18) Houston (8-1) The Cougars survived against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (4-5) 46-45. But it took a Case Keenum TD pass with 21 seconds left (Keenum then got sacked on the 2-point conversion), a recovered onsides kick, and a 51-yard field goal as time ran out. Keenum threw for 520 (40 for 60 and 3 TDs) yards in the victory.

14/14/15 (16/17/17) Pittsburgh (8-1) The Panthers beat the Syracuse Orange (3-6) 37-10.

15/12/13 (17/15/15) Ohio State (8-2) The Buckeyes beat the #11 Penn State Nittany Lions (8-2) 24-7.

16/17/14 (18/18/16) Miami (Fla.) (7-2) The Hurricanes drubbed the Virginia Cavaliers (3-6) 55-17.

17/16/17 (19/19/19) Utah (8-1) The Utes romped over the New Mexico Lobos (0-9) 45-14.

18/18/21 (13/13/12) Oklahoma State (7-2) The Cowboys defeated the Iowa State Cyclones (5-5) 34-8.

19/21/20 (25/25/NA) Notre Dame (6-3) The Irish dropped a close one to the Midshipmen of Navy (7-3) 23-21.

20/20/19 (22/23/24) Oklahoma (5-4) The Sooners lost a defensive struggle to the Cornhuskers of Nebraska (6-3) 10-3.

21/19/18 (23/24/23) Arizona (6-2) The Wildcats routed the Washington State Cougars (1-8) 48-7.

22/24/24 (14/14/14) Virginia Tech (6-3) The Hokies beat the East Carolina Pirates (5-4) 16-3 Thursday night.

23/23/NA (NA/NA/NA) California (6-3) The Golden Bears got rolled by the Oregon State Beavers (6-3) 31-14.

24/22/23 (NA/NA/NA) Wisconsin (7-2) The Badgers held off the Indiana Hoosiers (4-6) 31-28.

25/25/22 (NA/NA/NA) Brigham Young (7-2) The Cougars shut out the Cowboys of Wyoming (4-5) 52-0.

NA/NA/25 (NA/NA/NA) South Florida (6-2) The Bulls will be idle this week.

Forget RED October, This last one was sorta blue.

As in cold. I thought it was a bit chilly.

NCDC has compiled the October temperatures and it ended up the 3rd coldest in 115 years. As we have shown it was cold over almost all the lower 48. Indeed only Florida came in above normal.

Only 1925 and 1976 had colder Octobers. And it wasn't just the US.

Also the University of Alabama global temperature is out and it is down this month. Hadley came in late for September but it was down. The trends since 2002 continue down for both even as CO2 rise.

(More at October 2009 3rd Coldest for US in 115 Years at What's Up With That.)

And, WUWT also points out that it's just not the Fall that's been chill, Spring in the Southern Hemisphere has also been cold: Chilled Kiwi’s: Coldest October since 1945

Aerie Report, November 6, 2009

Went through my PT this morning without a hitch and very, very little pain. Which is good, BTW. Everything seems to be getting back to normal--or at least what passes for normal--on my left knee. With two more sessions on the calender for next week, I might even surpass the range of motion I had before I slipped on that $(#*%^(*^ rock or root. I may have been compensating for a bum right ankle from years and years ago and tightening up my left ankle's tendons as well as those in the knee. Oh, I'm not ready to climb Mt. Washington--or even Katahdin, but things are definitely looking up.

******

With the bird feeding season underway, I got my digiscoping equipment out for the first time in months only to discover that the battery in the Nikon Coolpix P1 that I have mounted to the scope had died. No fear! I had a spare. I popped the spare in and the camera fired right up but needed to have all the settings for date, time, etc. redone. Bummer. Took me a bit to get that all done and remount the camera on the scorpe but it's ready to use now.

Except for one little problem.... The dead battery. I went looking for the recharger for that battery, a recharger that was put in a very safe place several months ago, but Can. Not. Find. IT! I spent several hours opening every single door and cabinet in the living area, looking in every basket and bag, searching the basement desk and boxes that have been moved from the living room to the basement. No luck. So I did it all again. Still no luck.

Finally, I went on line and found someone still selling that particular recharger at a reasonable price and who was willing to ship for free. It will take a week to 10 days to get here, but as soon as it does, I know for sure I will find the one that was put away oh so safely.

Happens all the freakin' time.

******

Speaking of rechargers.... Why is it that every single electrical device, be it mobile phone, camera (and each brand/model of camera at that), walkie talkie, flashlight, etc., that has a rechargeable battery either takes a different style of battery or has a different recharger it needs to be plugged into? Why can't there be some standardization in batteries and rechargers? In my search I must have come across five or six different rechargers that we need to use on devices we currently own PLUS two or three for devices we no longer possess. AND NONE OF THEM ARE INTERCHANGEABLE, every single one is unique to a particular device/battery. Madness!

******

We had a dusting of snow on the ground this morning with a temperature of just 28 degrees for the second straight day. It did warm to just over 45 degrees in the warm, beautiful sunshine of this afternoon but with the sky absolutely clear, the temp will drop like a stone tonight. They are promising a gorgeous weekend with the daytime highs reaching the 60s on Sunday and again on Monday before they fall back to the 40s for a spell. Only a tiny chance of precip in the forecast for Tuesday but the rest of the 10-day is sunny, sunny, sunny.

Jungle Trader Packs Up His Tent

Going through my Favorites links the last few days and I note that the Jungle Trader has pulled up stakes and moved on. Always a source of links to the weird and unusual, his reports on our wacky, wild world will be missed.

Where will I go now fro news on lions, tigers, bears, elephants, and pirates?

He's actually going to be starting up TWO new business ventures! Either he knows something or he's a brave, brave soul...and based upon his little sidebar statement of his past, it might seem the latter is more probable.

New Apple Products (?)

Got it via email:

Apple announced today that it has developed a breast implant that can store and play music. The iTit will cost from $499 to $699, depending on cup and speaker size.

This is considered a major social breakthrough, because women are always complaining about men staring at their breasts and not listening to them.

Some Guys are Born Lucky

I got an email from my son, Rick, in Portland telling me of the hunting adventures of his co-worker...

So my Co-worker Tim (He's my mentor I spend a lot of time in the truck with him) is a bow hunter, and a smoker. A menthol light smoker. He's had a number of deer over the years but he's never shot an elk. The General Manager, Ray, would constantly make fun of Tim calling him a butt-hacker and telling Tim that he would never get an elk, they will be able to smell him from miles away.

During elk season Tim took a week off and went with his buddies into the cascades. They set up camp in the corner of a farm and planned on mountain biking down the closed logging roads to were they would hunt. When they set up camp the farmer pointed across the road to a little creak and said, "You should try over there. I see elk over there all the time."

Tim and his buddies proceed to spend the next few days biking miles out of camp into the mountains in their search for elk. Nothing. On the fourth or so day they were all exhausted of hunting (and biking) and decided to have a camp day.

So there they were playing cards and drinking beer. All. Day. Long. When they heard a noise from across the road.

"I'm gonna go check that out" says Tim, grabbed his bow and meandered nosily to the other side of the road.

And lo and behold he came back 15 minutes later and told his crew he was going to need help. Tim got his first cow elk. At camp. With a bow. While drunk. Right were the farmer said to look.

Rick

What can you say. Sometimes the critters around a farm are really, really stupid.

I'm Well Rested This Morn.

Got a lot of sleep last night. Started early to bed and stayed there well past 7 AM. Thanks, Matsui!

Yanks win 7-3 and Matsui has 6 RBI? And Matsui, with just 13 plate appearances, becomes the Series MVP? God, I hate the designated hitter!

Seriously though, congratulations to Hideki Matsui on being selected as the MVP. He's been one of the few in the last couple of years who has gone out and done his job on the field and been a real professional off the field as well. And he's done this since June 15, 2005 on a pair of bad knees that keep him from playing in the outfield. Without the DH, he would have been forced out of the game. I still don't like that particular rule (the DH), but it has certainly preserved the careers of many pure hitters.

Talkin' Baseball

Tonight I sit back and watch at least the first six orr seven innings of THE game. Although, if Pedro and the Phillies fall more than three runs behind early on, I'll probably chug my beer and head for bed with a book in hand.

It's not that I'm a Phillies Phan, anything but. No, I'm a die hard anti-Yankees Fan. I thought Damn Yankees was a documentary. I discovered baseball fandom in 1962 when the Mets were born. Prior to that date, I didn't have a baseball team. Born in 1949, I could have been a Dodgers or Giants fan, but those teams had left NYC in 1957, about the time would have been getting into baseball. Living in northern New Jersey, the only team on radio or TV and in the newspapers day in and day out from 1958 through 1961 were those damn, insufferable, Yankees.

Oh, individual Yankee players were fine. I liked Yogi (really, who didn't!) and enjoyed the M & M boys (Maris and Mantle for those who need to ask) and their great year of 1961. Elston Howard, Whitey Ford, Boyer...each was an excellent player and had tremendous skills that were, well, admirable. It was the Yankee TEAM that I couldn't stand. Never did like bullies and that's what they seemed to be to me. They beat everyone!

They still do. What is it up to now? Forty (40) American League titles, 26 World Series Championships? Something like that. Pretty obscene for a team that came to NYC in 1903 as the Highlanders. (The name was changed to Yankees in 1913.) One hundred six years and they've got nearly 40% of the American League titles. Between 1949 and 1964 the freakin' Yankees were in the World Series 14 times! That's 14 times in 16 years! AND they won five in a row between 1949 and 1954.

It still gets my goat that so much was made of the Yankees return to the World Series after an absence of nine years. Cry me a freakin' river!

I still hate the Phillies. But for tonight--and hopefully tomorrow night, I'll be rooting for them like crazy.