Aerie Report, September 7, 2010

Gorgeous day here at the Aerie as the sun has been shining, a light breeze has been blowing and there's not a cloud in the sky. The humidity must be somewhere in the 20s too.

I left early this morning to go get the Tundra cared for. Not a problem in the world! She passed inspection with flying colors, got her oil changed and I treated her to a new set of windshield wipers. (I tried the Rain-X Gel spray to get bugs off the windshield and just rinsed it off with bottled water. Never. Again. The gel does not come off very easily--I had to fight the streaks it produced--and, I've heard from others and experienced it myself, it eats into the rubber of your wipers if you do not actually wash your car immediately after using it. Needs lots and lots of water to get it off. Credit where it is due: The stuff really does cut through the bug smears and they are gone, gone! GONE! when you are done. And the company does say on the back of the container that you should use it only if you are about to wash your vehicle. It just doesn't warn you about potential damage to rubber windshield wipers.

Anyway. Even after hauling a 7500 pound travel trailer all over North America for 12K plus miles over 75 plus days with just one oil change along the way, the Tundra was in great shape and needed no repairs beyond the usual 5K mile oil and filter change.

******

I shared the waiting room at the Toyota dealership with a woman who's husband was a professor at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks for 10 years starting in 1972. They still go back ever two years (when the pinks are running) and would have stayed there if it hadn't been for the health of her mother. "We don't regret coming back to the lower 48," she told me, "but we do regret leaving Alaska."

We talked about moose reports on the radio, the Iditarod and Rondie, Anchorage and Fairbanks. She said they had driven up when they were just starting The Pipeline and returned to the lower 48 when they finished it. During that time of boom, she said, "Valdez was one wild, wild place!" The Alcan Highway when they traveled it was mostly unpaved. I told her how paving had only reduced the mud and the dust and that frost heaves were/are much easier to repair if the road is dirt!

We visited for fifteen minutes before I decided I had to get on my way.

******

Don and Adam showed up while I was out and have nearly completed the stone work on the foundation. It really looks great!

Adam also pressure washed more of the log walls so they are ready to stain as soon as the stone work is finished. The weather (see above) has really cooperated on the work these guys are doing.

College Football: Week 1 Results

Week One is over and folks should be getting a better idea of what their teams are capable of. Nearly all the games went as expected. Some were tighter than they should have been, but there were only one or two real surprises.

(I may have used erroneous numbers from the CBSSports poll—that’s the third number. I’ll maintain that’s because they were slow to post their numbers. When I checked late Thursday I discovered quite a few differences.)

1/1/1 Alabama (1-0) rolled over San Jose State (0-1) Saturday night, 48-3.
With last year’s Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram sidelined by arthroscopic knee surgery, the Tide had an answer with back-up Trent Richardson. He only ran for 66 yards but had 2 TDs and another 46 yards on 3 catches. A.J. McCarron was 9 of 15 for 116 yards and Greg McElroy 13 of 15 for 218 yards as quarterbacks for the Crimson as the Tide rolled to a 48-3 opening day win over last year’s WAC Champions.

2/2/5 Ohio State (1-0) over Marshall (0-1) on Thursday, 45-7.
The Buckeyes whupped Marshall Thursday night by a score of 45-7. It was 35-7 at the half. Terrelle Pryor was 17 of 25 for 247 yards and three TDs including a 65 yarder to Dane Sanzenbacher. Brandon Saine scored two TDs as he ran for 103 yards on 9 carries (longest was a 45 yard scamper for a TD). Marshall’s only score came on a 61 yard return of a blocked field goal attempt by Ahmed Shakoor.

3/5/2 Boise State (1-0) edged #10 Virginia Tech (0-1) on Monday night, 33-30.
Boise State always seems to have to prove itself despite having the winningest record in the last ten years. Monday the Kellen Moore led Broncos jumped out to a 17-0 lead over the #10 Hokies…at the end of the first quarter and it looked like all questions about their Top 5 ranking had been answered.
But then Virginia Tech started to chip away. Ryan Williams ran in from 1 yard out for a Hokie TD in the second quarter that the Broncos could only answer with a 47-yard field goal. Williams got two more TDs in the third quarter—one on a 12 pass from Tyrod Taylor another a second 1-yard run—to give Va-Tech a brief 21-20 lead. Boise quickly regained the lead when D.J. Harper sprinted into the end zone from 71 yards out on the next series of plays. The Hokies responded with a 28-yard TD pass from Taylor to Jarret Boykin—they missed on a 2-point attempt—and a 34-yard field goal. With less than two minutes remaining, the Hokies lead 30-26 and it looked like Boise’s 14 game winning streak had ended.
The two teams traded possessions with the Hokies failing to attain a first down and was forced to punt. *sigh* Boise got the ball, did a brief –and obviously positive—gut check. Mitch Burroughs broke off a 25-yard punt return and marched that set up the Broncos on their own 44 yard line with 1:47 left in the game. A few plays later, Kellen Moore hit Austin Pettis for a 13-yard TD and the final lead change of the game. Boise State wins 33-30.

4/3/3 Florida (1-0) beat Miami (Ohio) (0-1) on Saturday, 34-12.
The Gators proved victorious dumping on Miami of Ohio 34-12 despite fumbling eight (8) times and losing three of them. Each team had 212 yards of net offense and Miami actually had more first downs (16 vs 12) but the Gator defense held the Red Hawks to field goals (Trevor Cook made four of them of 33, 31, 31, and 33 yards), gave up just 4 yards on the ground, and made four interceptions to stave off embarrassment.

5/4/4 Texas (1-0) doubled up on Rice (0-1) Saturday afternoon, 34-17.
Tre’ Newton scored three rushing TDs for the Longhorns in a 34-17 win over Rice. Texas had 197 yards on the ground and 172 in the air in a balanced attack that saw Newton carry 18 times for 61 yards, Cody Johnson 15 times for 59 yards and Foswhitt Whittaker 9 times for 51 yards. Garrett Gilbert completed 14 of 23 for 172 yards.

6/7/6 The TCU Horned Frogs (1-0) defeated #24 Oregon State (0-1) Saturday night, 30-21.
TCU held off a tough Oregon State team emerging with a 30-21 W to their credit.

7/8/NR Oklahoma (1-0)edged Utah State (0-1) Saturday night, 31-24.
DeMarco Murray’s 218 yards and 2 TDs helped the Sooners hold off a surprising Utah State as Oklahoma escaped with a 31-24 victory.

8/9/16 Nebraska (1-0) whupped Western Kentucky (0-1) Saturday night, 49-10.
Taylor Martinez ran for 127 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 136 yards as he led the Cornhuskers over Western Kentucky 49-10.

9/10/8 Iowa (1-0) downed Eastern Illinois (0-1)on Saturday afternoon, 37-7.
The Hawkeyes opened a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and was never challenged as the downed the EIU Panthers 37-7. Adam Robinson carried the ball 24 times for 109 yards and three TDs for the Hawkeyes.

10/6/11 Virginia Tech (0-1) dropped a back and forth battle to Boise State (1-0) on Monday night by 33-30.

11/11/12 Oregon (1-0) waddled all over New Mexico(0-1) on Saturday, 72-0.
The Ducks racked up a school-record 720 yards in total offense on their way to a 72-0 drubbing of New Mexico. With 28 points in the first quarter and another 31 in the second, the Ducks were leading 59-0 at halftime. All this despite Oregon having last year’s freshman sensation LaMichael James suspended for the game and having a new QB in Darron Thomas. Last year, James rushed for a team-high 1,546 yards, setting a new record for freshmen in the PAC-10. Former starting QB Jeremiah Masoli was dismissed after the 2009 season and now plays for Mississippi. Not to worry. Thomas completed 13 of 23 attempts for 220 yards and 2 TDs. Kenjon Barner carried the ball 17 times for 147 yards and 4 rushing TDs. He got a fifth TD on a 60 yard pass play from…yep, Thomas. Oh, and Cliff Harris had punt returns of 61 and 64 yards for TDs. Eric Solis kicked 8 extra points and field goals of 24, 29 and 30 yards. (If he also did the kick offs he must have had one very tired leg by the end of the night!) And back-up QB Nate Costa was 10 of 14 for 131 yards.

12/12/14 Wisconsin (1-0) beat UNLV (0-1) late Saturday night, 41-21.
It was 17-14 at the half, but the Badgers tallied 24 points in the third quarter to salt away a 41-21 win over the Rebels of UNLV. Arron Henry (fumble return), John Clay and Montee Ball each scored during the third period. For both Clay and Ball it was their second TD of the game.

13/13/17 Miami (Fla.) (1-0) shutout Florida A & M (0-1) Thursday, 45-0.
The Hurricane Blew over A & M 45-0 on Thursday night. Jacory Harris completed 12 of 15 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns…in the first half leading the ‘Canes to a 35-0 lead at intermission. Their next game is on the 11th at Ohio State.

14/NR/21 Southern California (1-0) beat Hawaii (0-1) in a Thursday night game, 49-36.
USC showed plenty of offense on Thursday night in beating Hawaii 49-36 in Lane Kifflin’s coaching debut for the Trojans. QB Matt Barkley tied a school record with five TD passes as he 18 of 23 attempts for 257 yards. Ronald Johnson caught two of those TD passes and added a third TD on an 89 yard punt return. The QB corps for Hawaii was just as impressive. Bryant Moniz was 18 of 36 for 269 yards and one TD, Shane Austin completed 6 of 9 for 141 yards and two TDs, and Brent Rausch 3 of 4 for 49 yards. Warrior kicker Scott Enos connected on three field goals of 24, 40 and 18 yards. The Warriors won the yardage battle with 588 total yards to USC’s 524, but they came up short on the scoreboard.

15/15/15 Pittsburgh (0-1) lost in OT in Utah (1-0) Thursday night, 27-24.
First “upset” of the year as the Utes defeated the Panthers 27-24 in OT. (The quotes are because, despite the #15 ranking of Pittsburgh, the home team—Utah—was the bettors’ favorite in Vegas and Pitt was the underdog. Welcome to the whacky world of college football.) Pitt's Tino Sunser tossed an interception on the first play of OT and Utah made a short field goal on their following possession to seal the victory. Some might argue that OT shouldn’t have been needed—and they’d be right. Pitt clawed its way back from an 11 point deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game in regulation. Over all, the Utes out gained the Panthers 405 yards to 266. But Utah fumbled the ball away twice and tossed an interception of their own in regulation.

16/17/13 Georgia Tech (1-0) had an easy time beating South Carolina State(0-1) on Saturday, 41-10.
Josh Nesbitt was just 1 of 6 for 8 yards as a thrower, but he ran 16 times for 130 yards and three TDs in leading the Yellow Jackets to a 41-10 victory over South Carolina State. Asheton Jordan ran 18 times for 129 yards for the SCS Bulldogs.

17/19/NR Arkansas (1-0) drubbed Tennessee Tech (1-0) Saturday night, 44-3.
The Razorbacks routed Tennessee Tech 44-3 as Ryan Mallett completed 21 passes in 24 attempts for 301 yards and 3 TDs, two to Joe Adams (85 yards and 15 yards) who finished the game with 6 catches for 138 yards. Three different running backs (Dennis Johnson, Broderick Green, and Ronnie Wingo scored on the ground for the Hogs who had 519 yards of net offense—196 of them on the ground, 323 in the air.

18/18/NR North Carolina (0-1) lost a surprisingly tight contest to #21 LSU (1-0)Saturday night, 30-24.
Having nearly a dozen players suspended for their opening game should have spelled doom and gloom around Chapel Hill, but the remaining members of the squad tried to put the NCAA probe out of their mind for the night and gave it all they had as they roared back from a 30-10 halftime deficit to give #21 LSU one hell of a scare. Unfortunately, that’s all it was…a scare. The Tar Heels 14 fourth quarter points came up short as they lost 30-24. T.J. Yates was 28 of 46 for 412 yards and 3 TDs in the losing cause.

19/14/9 Penn State (1-0) downed Youngstown State (0-1) on Saturday, 44-14.
The Nittany Lions opened their season victoriously as they thumped Youngstown State 44-14 behind the play of true freshman QB Rob Bolden who went 20 of 29 for 239 with 1 interception and 2 TDs. The Nittany Lions also had a 100 yard kickoff return by Chaz Powell to start the second half.

20/20/NR Florida State (1-0) routed Samford (0-1) on Saturday, 59-6.
The Seminoles romped over Samford getting 42 points…in the first half. The final score was 59-6. Both FSU quarterbacks had similar lines. Christian Ponder played the first half and was 12 of 14 for 167 with 1 interception. He was followed by EJ Manuel who compiled a line of 10-13-129-1. Ponder did connect for four TDs and Manuel had none, but Manuel’s time came in the second half when the ‘Noles weren’t really looking to rub it in…much. Greg Reid had a 74 yard punt return for a TD and Ty Jones a 57 yard TD run for the ‘Noles.

21/16/18 LSU (1-0) edged #18 North Carolina (0-1) Saturday night, 30-24.
The Tigers lost 4 of 5 fumbles (NC lost 3 of 5) and managed just 11 first downs (to NC’s 20) but still managed to hold off a depleted Tar Hell’s squad to emerge with a 30-24 win.

22/23/NR Auburn (1-0) doubled up Arkansas State (0-1) Saturday night, 52-26.
It was Cam Newton’s first start at QB for the Tigers but if he was nervous, it sure didn’t show. Newton ran for 171 yards and two touchdowns and was 9 of 14 for 186 yards and three more scores as Auburn doubled up on Arkansas State 52-26.

23/21/NR Georgia (1-0) had an easy time defeating La.-Lafayette (0-1) Saturday afternoon, 55-7.
Aaron Murray threw for three TDs and ran for a fourth as he led the Bulldogs on a 55-7 romp over La.-Lafayette.

24/22/NR Oregon State (0-1) lost to #6 TCU (1-0) Saturday night, 30-21.
The Beavers dropped their opener against a tough #6 TCU team 30-21.

25/24/NR West Virginia (1-0) shutout Coastal Carolina (0-1) Saturday, 31-0.
The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers played tough in the first half, entering the locker room down just 10-0, but WVU kept pounding and eventually the dam broke in the second half and the Mountaineers pitched a shutout with a 31-0 victory. Noel Devine finished the day with 23 carries for 111 yards and 1 TD, and Geno Smith was 20 of 27 for 216 and 1 TD for WVU.

NR/24/19 Utah (1-0) downed the #15 Pitt Panthers (0-1) in OT Thursday, 27-24.
Utah wrapped up Dion Lewis of Pittsburgh forcing the Panthers to rely on their air game with new QB Tino Sunseri. And that worked out just fine for the Utes when Sunseri tossed his only interception of the game on the first play in over time. Utah then settled for a 30-yard field goal and the 27-24OT win. The Utes’ Jordan Wynn completed 21 of 36 attempts for 283 yards and three TDs. Utah has won 18 consecutive games.

NR/NR/7 Cincinnati (0-1) dropped its opener at Fresno State (1-0) late Saturday night, 28-14.
Cincinnati lead at 14-0 at one point in the second quarter but then Fresno State QB Ryan Colburn went to work completed 18 of 24 passes for 247 yards and 4 TD passes while the Bulldog’s defense shut out the Bearcats the rest of the way. The result was a 28-14 defeat for last year’s Big East Champions.

NR/NR/10 Brigham Young (1-0) downed Washington (0-1) on Saturday night, 23-17.
Trailing 17-13 at the half, the BYU defense stiffened and shut out the Huskies the remainder of the game as the Cougars rallied to win 23-17.

NR/NR/20 Central Michigan (1-0) shutout Hampton (0-1) on Thursday night, 33-0.
The Chippewas drubbed Hampton 33-0 Thursday night behind Ryan Radcliff who completed 20 of 34 tosses for 242 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score. Central Michigan’s defense scored an early safety, recorded three sacks, forced 11 punts, and held Hampton to just 49 yards on the ground.

NR/NR/22 Texas Tech (1-0) held off SMU (0-1) Sunday afternoon, 35-27.
The Red Raiders managed to hold on to win 35-27 as SMU scored the final 13 points of the game to make it close. The Red Raiders’ Taylor Potts was 34 of 53 for 359 yards and 4 TD tosses—3 of them to Lyle Leong (of 2, 4 and 6 yards) who finished the day with 11 catches for 142 yards.

NR/NR/23 Clemson (1-0) beat North Texas (0-1)on Saturday afternoon, 35-10.
The Tigers had little trouble defeating North Texas 35-10. On the second play from scrimmage, Andre Ellington ran 60 yards for a TD providing a 7-0 lead just 16 seconds into the game. He would add a 14-yard TD run in the third quarter. In the second quarter, Brandon Clear pulled in a Kyle Parker pass and found the end zone 70 yards later to make it 14-0. Parker would finish the game 9 of 17 for 170 yards and 2 TDs.

NR/NR/24 Mississippi (0-1) lost in double OT to Jacksonville State (1-0) on Saturday, 49-48.
Having fallen behind 31-13 to Ole Miss going into the fourth quarter, things did not look bright for Jacksonville State. The Gamecocks hadn’t beaten a BCS team since September of 2001 and Saturday looked to be another futile attempt. But then something happened. Jacksonville State scored three TDs in the fourth and held the Rebels to just a field goal. Regulation ended with a tie score of 34 all. With Ole Miss winning the toss—and electing to go on defense first—the teams matched TDs and extra points in the first overtime—41 all. Then Ole miss scored a TD to start the second OT and converted the PAT to gain a 48-41 lead. A desperation 30 yard pass on fourth down resulted in a Gamecock TD—48-47. A decision was made to go for two and…a shovel pass to Coty Blanchard gave the Gamecocks the 49-48 victory!

NR/NR/25 Navy (0-1) lost to Maryland (1-0)on Monday afternoon, 17-14.
The Terps jumped out to a 14 point first quarter lead. Then gave it back in the second and third periods. They then got a 24 yard field goal off the toe of Travis Baltz midway through the fourth quarter and held on for dear life, stopping Navy on the goal line to earn the victory. Navy held a huge margin in first downs (226-11), total yards (485-272), rushing yards (412-261), and time of possession (39:26-20:34) but they failed to gain an edge in the one category that matters: points scored (14-17)

East Carolina and Tulsa played what has to be called the “Can’t ANYONE Here Play Defense?” game of the week on Sunday afternoon in Greenville, NC. G.J. Kinne for Tulsa and Dominique Davis for ECU played pitch and catch with their receivers all game. Kinne finished 28 of 43 for 399 yards and tossed 5 touchdowns while his counterpart, Davis, was 27 of 46 for 385 and also had 5 TD tosses. The teams combined for 47 points in the fourth quarter as they marched up and down the field. It looked like Tulsa might have the game won when they scored with a minute and 22 seconds left but that was just enough time for Davis to march the Pirates down the field and, on a fourth-and-ten on the 33 yard line with just 5 ticks on the clock, toss his final TD pass of the game to cap a 9 play 66 yard drive and give ECU a 51-49 victory. As might be expected, pandemonium broke out and, since there was no time on the clock and no need for it, the extra point was never attempted.

Aerie Stone Work

When I got back to the Aerie this afternoon, I was impressed with the amount of stone work that Don and Adam have completed. They've been working just four days (Monday through Thursday). And Adam spent two of those days pressure washing two sides of the house preparing it for staining. (He would have done more, but our cistern was close to empty and the well is slow to recharge.) So we have Don doing most all of the work in putting the stainless steel mesh, the scratch coat and finally the stone in place.

Even so, there's only a small section of the large wall at the end of the basement that needs to be completed before the grout is applied to fill the cracks between stones. Then there's the short (height-wise) wall along the driveway leading up to the entrance and three small squares at the base of the garage pillars.

Right side of basement wall

Left side of basement wall

"Short" wall at entrance

Back to the Aerie

Snagged one more mouse last night just after dark and just after adding a third trap to the array. Then the little buggers cleaned all three overnight without setting one of them off. Maurice would tell me how intelligent rats can be...but mice too?

******

It got cool enough at the Bolt Hole that at 10 PM I lit a small fire comprised of one large log and two small ones in the big wood stove and it was just right. Kept me comfortable and there were still embers when I got up at 6:30 AM.

******

I turned my reading light off at 11 PM and within a few minutes I heard a "huff...huff...huff" outside near where I saw the deer two mornings ago. Could have been a deer upset about something, or it could have been the sow bear trying to keep her triplets in line as they came looking for ripe red apples. All the red apples in the tree across the road disappeared over Saturday night. Broken branches and paw prints in the soft earth beneath the tree point to an ursine thief...or four.

The huffing went on for almost 10 minutes and then all grew quiet. A few minutes latter there was a cacophony of sound from a pack of coyotes off in the distance. They were probably a half mile away but their vocalizations carried through the still air like voices over still lake water. Luckily they soon shut up and moved away so I could get some sleep.

******

This morning I closed up the cabin for a short leave as it was time to return to the Aerie in PA. The truck has an appointment for some TLC early Tuesday and I didn't relish the idea of traveling the NYS Thruway late on a holiday. As it was, the road was only congested in the two construction zones between Syracuse and Seneca Falls so I made real good time even at speeds just above the legal limit. (At 67-70 mph I was getting passed like I was standing still. I could only catch up to and pass the occasional 18-wheeler.) When I filled up at the Seneca Falls exit, the on-board computer told me the Tundra made 18 mpg while maintaining those speeds so I was pretty happy.

******

I just realized that this will be the first time I've slept in the bed at the Aerie since around June 1st. I hope I remember how! All summer I've either been in the trailer or the Bolt Hole where I slept on the "passenger" side of the bed. Tonight I'll be on the "drivers" side for the first time in three months. If I roll the wrong way...I might just fall out of bed! (Don't laugh! I've done it before after an extended stay at the Bolt Hole.)

Bolt Hole Firewood

I mentioned that mark and I spent several hours in the woods cutting some logs into splitting lengths so we would have some firewood this winter. While we worked, Mark had a game camera set up to test it's reliability. It was reliable all right. It took a picture every five minutes or so whether we were moving about in range or not. That will use up a memory card and a set of batteries right quick!

Any how, here's a shot showing some of the results of our labor.



There are two more stacks like this behind the one on the right plus a pile of stuff I didn't stack as neatly. All told, we probably have around 5 face cords of firewood.

The maple you see here wasn't as seasoned as we though and was, therefore, much heavier than expected. We thought, since the trees had no leaves this year that they had finally given up the ghost last fall/winter, but there's still considerable moisture there. They will cure a little more once they get split but, even as they are, they will burn if placed in a fire. Getting them started on their own may be a different story.

eMail of the Day

Okay, first the disclaimer:

This came to me from Terry who got it in an email. Not wanting to step on anyone's toes I did a Google search to see if I could find the original at the Washington Post. (The results of that search are HERE.) I found instead that there is no Mensa Invitational contest at the Post but that they do have a weekly contest called The Style Invitational which is quite fun to peruse in and of itself.

This blog post at Webslung titled "The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational" and from February 10, 2010, contains many of the words below but has a tell tale comment from the "Empress of the Style Invitational", Pat Myers, that gives the game away.

So with that caveat in place I present some very clever word play that is falsely labeled as the results of the Washington Post's Mensa Invitational:

******
The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational again asked readers to take any
word from the dictionary, alter it by adding/subtracting/changing one
letter, and supply a new definition. The winners are:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

2. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

3. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

6. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

7. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

8. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

9. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

10. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.

11. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease.

12. Karmageddon: It's when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, and then the Earth explodes, and it's a serious bummer.

13. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you

14. Glibido: All talk and no action.

15. Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

16. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

17. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

18. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

Part II

The Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to its
yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings
for common words. And the winners are:

1. coffee, n. the person upon whom one coughs.

2. flabbergasted, adj. appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.

3. abdicate, v. to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. esplanade, v. to attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. willy-nilly, adj. impotent.

6. negligent, adj. absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.

7. lymph, v. to walk with a lisp.

8. gargoyle, n. olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. flatulence, n. emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller.

10. balderdash, n. a rapidly receding hairline.

11. testicle, n. a humorous question on an exam.

12. rectitude, n. the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

13. pokemon, n. a Rastafarian proctologist.

14. oyster, n. a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddish isms.

15. Frisbeetarianism, n. the belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

16. circumvent, n. an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

I hates meeses to pieces!

I mentioned that the mice really enjoyed their free range in the Bolt Hole while we were away. The failure of and spillage from the refrigerator provided them with an abundance of free goodies to munch upon while not having to expose themselves to outdoor predators.

I hadn't heard a squeek from them the first two nights I was here but last night, while Mark and I were sitting here checking our emails a few of the bold rascals proceeded to tap dance upon the tins on the shelf. I excused myself and set two traps baited with peanut butter. Within minutes I had two dead mice. Moments after Mark left the traps simultaneously snapped again and I had two more dead critters. And, while emptying the traps, another little mouse showed up on the shelf to investigate. I grabbed that one and killed it in hand-to-hand combat, so to speak. Five dead mice in about an hour. This morning the two traps were filled again bringing the total to seven.

It's unlikely that that's all the mice I've got int he cabin, but I have to believe--or, rather, hope--it put a dent in the resident population.

Maybe I should invest in a free range ferret? Even a wild weasel would be nice.

"Lake Effect Rain"

I never heard the term used before watching yesterday's weather on the local TV station, but I'm living it at the moment. There's currently a plume of rain coming off Lake Ontario and being carried through the town of Mexico eastward south of Boonville and into the southwest corner of the Adirondack Park.

Lake Effect Rain

The Bolt Hole is at the eastern edge of that plume and has been getting intermittent showers since around nine last night. Looks like it may continue through at least noon today. Not a good morning to be trying to work in the woods. Might be time to go to Plan B which includes either a nap...or more coffee and internet surfing.

UPDATE 1 PM:
Noon has come and gone but not so the Lake Effect Rains. The map still looks pretty much the same with only a slight deterioration here at the tail end of the rain plume. Leaves one guessing as to when and if the rain will fall, but fall it will. At least the temperatures have pretty much leveled off to the fall settings. Low last night was just above 40 degrees and, unless the sun miraculously makes an appearance, the high today should be right about where it is now: 58 degrees. Still no need for a fire in the cabin where it is in the low 60s, but maybe later tonight....

Bolt Hole Report, September 4, 2010

I woke up this morning to the sound of apples being munched. Rolled over and sat up to see three deer in the reclaimed apple orchard behind the cabin. One spike, one doe, and one fawn--who has nearly gained the size of its mom. They heard the bed springs squeak and--while not alarmed--decided to head back to their hidey hole for the day. I managed to see them as the crossed the lawn and split with the young buck headed across the road toward Mark's and the doe and fawn heading west into the woods.

These are the only three deer Mark has been seeing all summer. Could be a long, fruitless hunting season since we have sworn that we will not shoot the doe or her fawn even in bow season. (She's protected during the rifle season when it's bucks only around here.)

******

After breakfast and a cup of coffee, I decided to see if the chainsaw would fire up so I could go out and cut some firewood. There are a few maple and cherry blowdowns that lifted their rootballs out of the ground a few years ago. Until this year they still produced leaves. Mark and I decided this would be the time to cut them into rounds for later transport and splitting at the barn.

Damn it! The chainsaw (a Homelite) fired up after just a few pulls so it was off to work.

The wood was in the forest to the west of the house about 300-400 yards away and had come down right on an old skid way. The three big maples (around 18" in diameter at breast height when they were upright) were about 40' long but still had their topmost branches attached. I tackled those first trying to reduce things to just three logs. I was at it for just thirty minutes or so when Mark showed up with his Husqvrana. We made the woods sing fro a few hours as we cut and stacked the future firewood. We probably have 5 or 6 face cords of wood. That should be more than enough but if we need more, there are other trails and other blowdowns that need cutting.

Like I said, we stacked the rounds we cut and then started looking around for more to cut. There was no shortage of blowdowns. Most were fir and hemlock and they really obscured our view through the woods. ZIP! ZIP! ZIP! We brought as many to the ground as we could and then cut the branches off piling them in to hollows and weighting them down with the larger pieces. Most were well on their way toward rottendom and a few winters covered with snow will soon have them turned into so much soil duff.

All told we put in around five hours working in the woods. Tomorrow we'll go back to clear the old skid trails so we can get the ATV down there to pick up the wood. The skid way the maples were on is blocked for ATV use by some frost heaved boulders that a skidder would laugh at but which would have the transmission off the ATV ripped out in no time. Shouldn't be too hard to open up another path now that we've removed some of the fir tree blowdowns. We looked around when we finished cutting today and saw a likely route that will require removing only a few 1-3" diameter hemlocks.

******

The weather has certainly turned here at the Bolt Hole. Yesterday was near 90 degrees in the afternoon without a bit of breeze blowing. Today, close to noon, the wind kicked up and blew out of the west northwest. The temperature dropped while we were working from just a little over 70 to closer to 55 degrees. If it continues to drop, I may have to think about using some of the firewood tonight!

******

Now all I need is to recover from today's labors enough to be able to pick up 1) my chainsaw, 2)my arms, and 3)my legs. My back aches. My right shoulder aches. My left middle finger aches from jamming it somewhere. Suffice to say, I'm going to sleep well tonight!

Rutgers 31, Norfolk State 0

Rutgers Scarlet Knight got off to a slow start Thursday night and lead Norfolk State just 6-0 at the half on two San San Te field goals (31 and 20 yards—he had missed two others). Tom Savage had already been sacked three times and things were not looking good for the boys on the banks of the old Raritan. Then the second half started.

Joe Martinek ran 6 yards for a TD. Joe Lefeged returned a blocked punt 3 yards for a TD. Tom Savage connected with Mohamed Sanu for 10 yard TD. (Sanu also ran for a 2-point conversion after Martinek’s TD.) San San Te finished the scoring with a 27 yard field goal.

Martinek ended the night with 20 carries and 109 yards De’Antwan Williams carried 6 times for 69 yards and Jordan Thomas had 13 carries gaining 47 yards. In all, RU gained 268 yards on 50 carries while holding Norfolk State to just 25 yards on 24 carries. Savage finished the night completing 10 of 19 passes for 148 yards and the one TD.

The 1-0 Knights will travel south to play Florida International on Saturday, September 11th at 8 PM. It will be the Golden Panthers first game of the year.

Thursday night at the Bolt Hole

I'm sitting in the kitchen of the Bolt Hole this evening following the Rutgers game against Norfolk State on the computer. (RU just scored a rushing TD and a 2-point conversion to go ahead 14-0 midway through the third quarter. Not great but not bad either.)

Terry came over to the campground this morning to help me prepare the trailer to depart for Alpin Haus in Amsterdam. It took us about 15 minutes to get things squared away and hitched up. She took the last of the things that just had to go to the Aerie (including the dirty laundry and bed linens) and I took the few things that I knew could not stay in the trailer while it sat int he yard awaiting the replacement of the slide out motor. We then emptied the tanks as best we could at the dump station at the campground and I headed north while she went back to tending the cats and watching Don and Adam apply stone to the exterior walls.

The ride north was totally uneventful. I had t stop once to refuel in Seneca Falls and then once more to eat my lunch--a left over Subway sandwich from our workday meal on Wednesday.

When I got to Alpin Haus I was surprised to be told that they may actually get to the work early. Joey, the gal at the service desk, said she had information that the parts were on their way and, in fact, should have been in house already. Hopefully, she said they will be there in a day or two. Originally she had told me that they would schedule the work for September 10th, but now she said they would get to it as soon as the parts arrive. I left her the keys and a note about the braces I had put in to keep the slide out from...well..sliding out, gave her my telephone number and bid adieu as I headed for the Bolt Hole.

Mark is here and showed me the devastation a power failure had produced vis-a-vis the refrigerator. Not only did we lose nearly all the food contained therein, but the mice had a field day with what spilled out the door. They carried on with the toilet paper, towels and various other things they normally leave alone. (How's that saying go again? Oh yeah: "While the cat's away....") He also showed me what may have caused the problem: moisture condensing on the electrical box in the basement. Then he pointed out the corrections he made down there to dry the place out.

He also showed me the new high-speed wireless internet connection he had installed in my kitchen while I was away. (I had to give a verbal okay to the folks at the phone company that he had permission to act on my behalf. I think I was in Alaska at the time.) Thing works like a charm although the modem does create a little buzzing sound in the background when I'm on the phone. Much faster than dial up.

Then we took a walk about the yard. The number of apples in the trees is astounding. Trees that are whip-like in nature being only a couple of inches in diameter at breast height and running 20 to 25 feet tall are bend nearly double with the weight of apples. The apples themselves are pretty poor quality being only a few inches in diameter and tart as vinegar, but they are abundant. Mark thinks the type of apple was chosen because it is so prolific--when the spring frost allows--and because they were grown for the applejack they could produce. They are certainly not eating apples by any means. If they were, the bears would have torn many more limbs down to get to them. The few deer that are around have nibbled at the tips of the branches and have also nibbled the drops, but there are still some apples within reach that they haven't touched. Even so, I'd have to say the apple orchard reclamation project Mark began about four years ago seems to have begun to pay off.

Then it was time to go grocery shopping to replace some essentials, like coffee and toilet paper!

Now, I'm "watching" the Scarlet Knights game on the internet via CBSSports.com.

If Earl remains to the east, I may have to go out and start cutting firewood tomorrow. At least, the circulation about the storm will draw cooler air south from Canada. Today it was near 90 degrees--again.