Great googaly moogaly!!

Terry just emailed to tell me to check out the AccuHunch news and look at this story By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist:

Cold Winds, Chilly Showers, Hold the Snow Shovels

The strongest winds will be from the eastern Ohio Valley states to the central and southern Appalachians, where gusts may reach 40 mph at times through Saturday. Some of this wind will spill into the coastal mid-Atlantic Saturday night and Sunday.

If looking for snowflakes this weekend, your best bet will be to head high into the mountains of West Virginia, easternmost Tennessee, westernmost North Carolina and over the highest ridges in Pennsylvania and New York.[Emphasis mine.]

I am so not ready for this. 8-(

The wind is whipping out there tonight. And the temperatures will most definitely be dropping into the 40s tonight. But snow over the weekend? Sheesh!

Wife vs. Husband, Part 2

Another email over the transom today contained these bits:

WOMAN'S PERFECT BREAKFAST

She's sitting at the table with her gourmet coffee.

Her son is on the cover of the Wheaties box.

Her daughter is on the cover of Business Week.

Her boyfriend is on the cover of Playgirl.

And her husband is on the back of the milk carton.


WOMEN'S REVENGE

'Cash, check or charge?' I asked, after folding items the woman wished to purchase.

As she fumbled for her wallet, I noticed a remote control for a television set in her purse.

'So, do you always carry your TV remote?' I asked.

'No,' she replied, 'but my husband refused to come shopping with me, and I figured this was the most evil thing I could do to him legally.'


UNDERSTANDING WOMEN (A MAN'S PERSPECTIVE)

I know I'm not going to understand women.

I'll never understand how you can take boiling hot wax, pour it onto your upper thigh, rip the hair out by the root, and still be afraid of a spider.

Meh. More rain.

We only got 0.15 inches of rain in the last 24 hours. Makes it seem like a sunny day at the beach. We've now had about 13.45 inches of rain since the beginning of September without once being hit by a real hurricane...just two tropical storms (Irene and Lee). In truth, the sun DID come out...for about an hour yesterday afternoon and the same this morning. Not to worry, however, the forecasters at AccuHunch say we might get another 1/2 inch or so later this evening into tomorrow morning.

The temperatures did take a nose dive over night. Instead of being stuck on near 70 degrees night and day, the thermometer fell outside overnight to around 55 degrees. With a fairly strong breeze blowing it felt much, much cooler when I stepped out on the deck.

Blogspheric friend Marianne of Northview Dairy up on a hill overlooking the Mohawk River near Fonda, NY, reports her barnyard has become 1-a quagmire and 2-a raging torrent. The former is true of every flat surface while the latter describes any slope slightly greater than 10 degrees.
Oh, she also reports that the river is rising...again.

Hell of an end to summer.

Glub.... Glub.... Glub....

Terry emptied the rain gauge this morning about 10:30 AM. It held 0.95 inches of water. That's from around 4 PM Wednesday (yesterday). Seems like it should have been more because it really came down at times.

Oh, and it's still raining. This has been one of the wettest Septembers in memory.

Cooler though. About 62 degrees overnight and just a wee bit higher (64) at 11 AM. Wind has shifted so it's coming out of the west so it should be getting cooler in the coming days.

******

Terry's heading into New Jersey this afternoon to visit her Mom and our daughter. She'll be gone until Sunday afternoon.

Egads! That's a lot of water!

I emptied the rain gauge back on September 8 just before our abortive attempt to go to New Jersey. Abortive because we had just finished visits from two hurricanes/tropical storms (Irene and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Storm_Lee_%282011%29) that resulted in massive flooding in eastern Pennsylvania effectively blocking our path. The rain gauge had yielded 6" and 3.1" respectively from those two storms.

Since then I've been a bit lax in checking the amount of rain that has fallen. I know it rained. Terry took me to Corning three times after that (pre-op, op and post-op) and it rained each time. So I wasn't surprised when Terry emptied the rain gauge Tuesday morning and found 1.5" of water there. That was BEFORE the heavy rains fell Tuesday afternoon and much of the night. This morning I dumped 1.75" out of the gauge. it hasn't rained since, but the sky is threatening.

So let's tally it up, hey? Six, 3.1, 1.5, and 1.75 equals 12.35 inches. Over a foot. Yikes! And we didn't get hit the hardest by Irene or Lee. Those storms were worse to the east of here.

Meanwhile, the thermometer must be broken. Every time I've looked at it over the last two days it says it's 70 degrees outside and 70 degrees inside. (Or at least close enough so as not to matter.) Beats the 85 degrees we had on the sunny afternoon when I cut the grass Monday.

[UPDATE: Just 5 minutes after I posted the above at 4:15 PM: It's raining again/still. And there's another flood warning out. *sigh*]

College Football 2011, Preweek 5

Week 5 approaches with four games pitting Top 25 teams against each other. We’ll see #3 Alabama (4-0) vs #12 Florida (4-0), #7 Wisconsin (4-0) vs #8 Nebraska (4-0),# 11 Virginia Tech (4-0) vs #13 Clemson (4-0) and #14 Texas A&M (2-1) vs #18 Arkansas (3-1). Only the Clemson team seems ready to jump up the ranks by beating a higher ranked team—again. The others will be good games, but the higher ranked team should win.

Three teams have the week off: # 5 Oklahoma State (4-0), #9 Oregon (3-1), and #23 Florida State (2-2). Everyone else is playing. It starts Thursday night with #16 South Florida against Pittsburgh.

Here are this week’s match-ups for all the Top 25 college teams. The two rankings are the AP/Coaches' Polls.

1/2T LSU (4-0) The Tigers take on the Kentucky Wildcats (2-2) at home Saturday afternoon. The Tigers should easily win this one.

2/1 Oklahoma (3-0) The Sooners will be hosting the Ball State Cardinals (3-1) Saturday night. After struggling with Missouri last week, the Sooners should find the Cardinals a much easier opponent.

3/2T Alabama (4-0) The Tide rolls into Florida to play the #12 Gators (4-0) Saturday. ‘Bama has too strong a defense and more than enough on offense to prove victorious.

4/5 Boise State (3-0) The Broncos host the Nevada Wolf Pack (1-2) Saturday afternoon. This is not the Nevada team of a couple of years ago. Boise should win by a large margin. Especially on the blue carpet.

5/6 Oklahoma State (4-0) The Cowboys have the week off.

6/4 Stanford (3-0) The Cardinal host the UCLA Bruins (2-2) Saturday night. Luck is with the Cardinal. And he should have a big day against the Bruins.

7/7 Wisconsin (4-0) The Badgers will host the #8 Nebraska Cornhuskers (4-0) Saturday night. This too could be an interesting game, but the Badgers are too strong.

8/8 Nebraska (4-0) The Cornhuskers travel north to face the #7 Wisconsin Badgers (4-0). Badgers remain undefeated. Nebraska doesn’t.

9/11 Oregon (3-1) The Ducks have off until Thursday, October 6.

10/9 South Carolina (4-0) The Gamecocks will host the Auburn Tigers (3-1) on Saturday. South Carolina played sloppy offense last week. They shouldn’t do so this week.

11/10 Virginia Tech (4-0) The Hokies will host the #13 Clemson Tigers (4-0) Saturday evening. Clemson plays a ranked team for the third consecutive week. This one is on the road. It will be close, but I like the Tigers to pull it out.

12/12 Florida (4-0) The Gators host the #3 Crimson Tide of Alabama (4-0) Saturday. Tide continues to roll.

13/15 Clemson (4-0) The Tigers hit the road to play the #11 Hokies of Virginia Tech (4-0) Saturday evening. Tigers edge the Hokies.

14/13 Texas A&M (2-1) The Aggies host the #18 Arkansas Razorbacks (3-1) Saturday. With home field advantage on their side, look for the Aggies to corral the Razorbacks.

15/16 Baylor (3-0) The Bears head north to play Kansas State Wildcats (3-0) Saturday. Baylor highly potent offense should defeat the Wildcats.

16/14 South Florida (4-0) The Bulls will play at Pittsburgh against the Panthers (2-2) Thursday night. They may be on the road, but the Bulls can score any where any why.

17/17 Texas (3-0) The Longhorns go to Ames to play the Iowa State Cyclones (3-0). Two more undefeated teams. Only the Longhorns will continue to be so after the game.

18/18 Arkansas (3-1) The Razorbacks head west to play the #14 Texas A&M (2-1) Saturday. Aggies win.

19/19 Michigan (4-0) The Wolverines host the Golden Gophers of Minnesota (1-3) Saturday at noon. Minnesota’s Coach Hill had another seizure last weekend. Here’s wishing him a rapid recovery. Unfortunately his team will not fare well this weekend. Wolverines by two TDs or more.

20/20 TCU (3-1) The Horned Frogs host the Mustangs of SMU (3-1) Saturday afternoon. Frogs bead Mustangs by 10.

21/21 Georgia Tech (4-0) The Yellow Jackets head up the coast to play the North Carolina State Wolfpack (2-2) Saturday afternoon. NCS gets stung but as its at home, it will be close. GT by 3.

22/23 West Virginia (3-1) The Mountaineers host the Falcons of Bowling Green (3-1) Saturday afternoon. WVU is looking to bounce back after losing to LSU. And they should. Look for the Mountaineers to win by 14.

23/24 Florida State (2-2) The Seminoles have the weekend off.

24/22 Illinois (4-0) The Fighting Illini host the Northwestern Wildcats (2-1) Saturday at noon. The Illini were barely able to win last weekend. They should win in another close one.

25/NR Arizona State (3-1) The Sun Devils host the Oregon State Beavers (0-3) late Saturday night. The Devils will beat the heck out of the Beavers.

NR/25 Michigan State (3-1) The Spartans play the Buckeyes at Ohio State (3-1) Saturday afternoon. The Buckeyes are disorganized despite their record. MSU knocks them down another peg. Spartans by 10.

Aerie afternoon chore: Grass cutting

I went out this afternoon to cut the grass. I put the discharge chute in place knowing that if I tried to mulch the too tall grass it would clog the blade and cause the engine to stall. Similarly, putting the bag on the mower to catch the grass would have resulted in having to stop every 40-50 feet to empty the bag. Even with the side discharge chute in place, the mower clogged frequently necessitating lots of jiggling and even stopping to clear the portal. Then, of course, there was sufficient grass accumulation to warrant raking--which Terry did as I finished cutting behind the house (thinner grass, more moss) and the driveway. Together it took us just over two hours to get the job done.

The sun was shining brightly while we worked an the temperature rose to the mid 80s. Needless to say, this left me a little fatigued and limp.

Speaking of limp, the warmth softened up the garden hoses so I drained and coiled both hoses and put them away for the winter. Figure there's no need to water the garden any more.

******

The knees (plural) did not take kindly to the exercise. Something about working on a slope and for so dang long. They were sore when I finished so after I showered they both got ice treatments until I feared frost bite. At least they didn't signal their displeasure with any really sharp pains. Mostly it was just aches and some grinding. They are feeling better now but are still somewhat stiff.

Now, if you'll excuse me, the TV is calling. I hear there's another football game on tonight.

College Football 2011, Week 4 results

Week 4 is in the books.

#21 Clemson upset #11 Florida State, unranked Arizona State dominated #23 USC and everything else went pretty much as expected: #2 LSU beat another ranked team (#16 West Virginia), Kellen Moore threw for TDs, as did Baylor’s QB Robert Griffin III, and Oregon’s LaMichael James ran and ran and ran and….

Here are the results of this week’s match-ups for all the Top 25 college teams. The two rankings are the AP/Coaches' Polls.

1/1 Oklahoma (3-0) The Sooners fell behind 14-10 in the first quarter and then held off a late rally by the Missouri Tigers (2-2) 38-28 to remain undefeated. The Sooners’ Landry Jones threw for 448 yards and 3 TDs while scoring one on the ground.

2/3 LSU (4-0) The Tigers went on the road to face #16 West Virginia Mountaineers (3-1) Saturday. The Tiger defense proved to be too much for the Mountaineers and the offense was unstoppable as the Tigers mauled the Mountaineers 47-21. Playing from behind and forced to throw, WVA’s Geno Smith completed 38 of 65 attempts for 463 yards and 2 TDs. LSU’s Jarrett Lee was a more modest 16 of 28 for 180 yards but had 3 TDs. LSU also scored on a 99 yard kick return by Morris Claiborne.

3/2 Alabama (4-0) The Crimson Tide rolled over the #14 Arkansas Razorbacks (3-1) on Saturday 38-14. Tide’s Trent Richardson ran for 120 yards and caught a 61 yard TD pass but it was defense and special teams that highlighted the night. Marquis Mize returned a punt 83 yards for a score, DeQuan Menzie returned an interception 25 yards for another, and AJ McCarron (quarterback and holder on the kicking squad) tossed a TD pass off a fake field goal.

4/4 Boise State (3-0) Kellen Moore threw for “only” four TDs and “just” 279 yards as he led the Broncos over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (1-3) 41-21 on the Blue Carpet Saturday night. He also came out after tossing a 10 yard TD on the Broncos first possession of the second half, a score that resulted in a 34-0 lead. Oh, my.

5/5 Stanford (3-0) The Cardinal had this weekend off.

6/7 Wisconsin (4-0) The Badgers scored early and often in routing the South Dakota Coyotes (2-2) Saturday afternoon by a score of 59-10.

7/6 Oklahoma State (4-0) The Cowboys, traveling to Texas A&M to play the #8 Aggies (2-1) Saturday night, fell behind 20-3 at the half. They woke up in the second half to pull out the win 30-29.

8/8 Texas A& M (2-1) The Aggies jumped out to a 20-3 lead at the half over the #7 Oklahoma State Cowboys (4-0) Saturday night. The Aggies couldn’t hold on, however as the Cowboys rallied for a 30-29 victory.

9/9 Nebraska (4-0) The Cornhuskers were on the road to play the Wyoming Cowboys (3-1) Saturday night. Nebraska headed home with a 38-14 win.

10/13 Oregon (3-1) The Ducks cruised to a 56-31 win over the Arizona Wildcats (1-3). LaMichael James had a bunch of rushing yards (288 to be exact, a school record) and 2 TDs for the Ducks. He now has 43 career TDs, also a school record.

11/14 Florida State (2-2) The Seminoles moved up the coast to play the #21 Clemson Tigers (4-0) Saturday. Tal Boyd threw for 344 yards and 3 TDs for the Tigers while the Seminoles’ Clint Trickett, subbing for starting quarterback EJ Manuel, had a nearly identical performance with 336 yards and 3 TDs. But the Tigers came away with the 35-30 win.

12/10 South Carolina (4-0) The Gamecocks let the Vanderbilt Commodores (3-1) take a 3-0 lead into the second quarter Saturday night. Then the defense shut Vandy down for good. The D allowed Vandy just 77 yards in total offense and just 5 first downs. They also had six sacks and recovered two fumbles as the Gamecocks came away with a 21-3 win despite some sloppy offense.

13/11 Virginia Tech (4-0) The Hokies managed to corral the Thundering Herd of Marshall (1-3) 30-10 Saturday. The Hokies had a balanced attack amassing 444 net yards of offense; 215 on the ground, 229 through the air.

14/12 Arkansas (3-1) The Razorbacks played at #3 Alabama (4-0) Saturday. It was 'Bama big: 38-14 (See above for more.)

15/15 Florida (4-0) The Gators played the Kentucky Wildcats (2-2) on the road Saturday evening. It was Gators early and often in a 48-10 thrashing. It was the Gators’ 25th consecutive win in the series. Florida scored on a pass of 45 yards (John Brantley to Gerald Christian), runs of 84 yards (Jeff Demps) and 60 yards (Mike Gillislee) and a 20 yard fumble return (Jaye Howard). As I said, early and often…and quickly.

16/16 West Virginia (3-1) The Mountaineers got whipped by the #2 LSU Tigers (4-0) Saturday 47-21. See above for more detail.

17/19 Baylor (3-0) The Bears routed the Rice Owls (1-2) Saturday night 56-31. After three games, Baylor QB Robert Griffin III has more TD passes than incompletions. No. Really. He’s got 13 TD passes and 12 incompletions. He was 29 of 33 for 338 yards and 5 TDs in this one. Ran for 51 yards and a TD and even had a 39 yard punt on a quick kick (Baylor’s only punt of the game). And Griffin didn’t even play in the fourth quarter.

18/17 South Florida (4-0) The Bulls demolished the UTEP Miners (2-2) 52-24 in a Saturday night game. The Bulls’ B.J. Daniels threw for 202 yards and 2 TDs. He also ran for 130 more including a 71 yard TD run on the team’s second offensive play. Later in the second quarter, Victor Marc had a 67 yard run for a TD.

19/18 Texas (3-0) The Longhorns had the weekend free.

20/20 TCU (3-1) The Horned Frogs, like a good host, spotted the Portland State Vikings (2-1) a 3-0 lead after one quarter Saturday afternoon, then they hopped all over the Vikings. A 24-3 half time lead became a 55-13 victory for TCU. A 66 yard TD pass (Casey Pachall to Josh Boyce), a 26 yard Interception return for a TD (Tank Carder) and a 44 yard punt return by Skye Dawson setting up a 10 yard TD pass (Pachall to Dawson), a 65 yard Waymon James TD run, a Waymon James 82 yard kick return…. Well, you get the picture. The only scoring play missed was a safety.

21/22 Clemson (4-0) The Tigers hosted the #11 Florida State Seminoles (2-2) Saturday. Tigers carried the day in a 35-30 upset over injured FSU. See above for details.

22/21 Michigan (4-0) The Wolverines entertained the San Diego State Aztecs (3-1) in Ann Arbor Saturday at noon. The Wolverines treated the Aztecs…poorly. QB Denard Robinson ran for three TDs in the first half as he led Michigan to a 28-7 victory.

23/NR Southern California (3-1) The Trojans got whipped by the Sun Devils at Arizona State (3-1) Saturday night. Cameron Marshall for 141 yards and 3 TDs as Arizona State ended an 11-game losing streak to USC with a 43-22 win. The Trojans trailed 21-9 at the half but took an early second half lead of 22-21 before the Sun Devils shut them down and responded with two of Marshall’s TDs and a 41 yard INT return for a TD by Shelly Lyons.

24/NR Illinois (4-0) The Fighting Illini trailed the Western Michigan Broncos (2-2)13-10 at the half, scored 10 unanswered points in the third to lead 20-13, saw WM tie it up at 20 all, and finally pulled it out 23-20 on a Derek Dimke 21 yard FG with 8:14 remaining. The Illini held on in those closing minutes. Alex Carder was 30 of 48 for 306 and 2 TDs for the Broncos in the loss.

25/24 Georgia Tech (4-0) The Yellow Jackets knocked the North Carolina Tar Heels (3-1) out of the ranks of the undefeated Saturday, but it wasn’t easy. Sure, the Yellow jackets jumped out to a 17-7 halftime lead and a 28-14 third quarter advantage, but NC scored twice to knot the game in the fourth. GT’s Tevin Washington ran the ball in with 5:20 left to put the Jackets up for good 35-28.

NR/23 Michigan State (3-1) The Spartans routed the Central Michigan Chippewas (1-3) Saturday at noon 45-7. Le'Veon Bell ran for 81 yards and 3 TDs…in the first half and Isaiah Lewis had a 37 yard interception return for a TD to lead the Spartans to a 31-0 half time lead from which Central Michigan never recovered.

NR/25 North Carolina The Tar Heels (3-1) lost a tough one to #25 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (4-0) Saturday. See above for details.

Random thoughts from the Aerie, September 26, 2011

I think I'm beginning to OD on football. Seriously. I've taken this couch potato thing too far. Thursday and Friday nights, Saturday noon to 11 (I just can't stay up long enough to watch the west coast game, sorry), Sunday from 1 until 11, Monday night.... Doesn't mean I'll stop watching/listening, however.

******

The knee is getting there. The right knee, the one subjected to surgery, is still swollen a bit and tight but I've been stretching the muscles and working on strengthening them by lifting weights attached to the ankle and going up and down stairs. If/when I can get out to cut the grass, the walking about the lawn will certainly help.

******

The folks who staged the Fabulous 1890s Weekend in Mansfield lucked out. After the showers on Friday, things cleared up pretty nicely. Both Saturday and Sunday mornings were foggy as heck, but that soon burned off to produce two beautiful days. Even the wind cooperated for the hot air balloons they had as part of the activities. Most of those were tethered flights but there were a few early morning free flights that went up.

The Mansfield U. sprint football team managed to whoop the Princeton team 40-2. They set a few team records along the way. (Not hard for a relatively young squad, but still impressive.) Full story here.

We can see the fireworks from the Aerie when they have them down in town, but it's a wee bit disjointed to see the burst of color and then hear the muffled "BOOM" a few seconds later. Still looks pretty.

******

Speaking of the weather...It's been pretty boring the last three days. The low at night has been between 67 and 70 degrees and the high has been around 80 when the afternoon sun comes out. There's been little breeze over night and barely enough to rattle the leaves during the day. Most of that has been due to convection currents on the hill side: "cold" air sinking during the evening/night and "warm" air rising during the sunny parts of the day. There's so much fog and dew in the early morning that the grass never really dries out. If the breeze would only blow a wee bit harder....

******

Regardless of what happens weatherwise today, I will get out there this afternoon to cut at least part of the lawn. It's more than ankle deep now and really, really needs to be cut. Besides, I need the exercise.

The plants in the garden need to be pulled too. Terry did pick a bunch of string beans yesterday, but the zucchini and cucumbers are done. I'll pull them all and add the greens to the compost pile. The only plants we're waiting on are the carrots and they should/could be pulled any day now.

Random thoughts from the Aerie, September 23, 2011

Let's see now...

First day of fall.

Rain is falling in the northeast...again. (Or perhaps continually?)

Oh yeah, almost forgot, a huge satellite is falling to earth sometime tonight.

The Autumnal Equinox has occurred and the Northern Hemisphere has officially swung into the season known as Fall because it is a time for deciduous trees to drop their leaves and the thermometer to begin falling from the Summer warmth.

We had a brief harbinger of Fall a week or so ago. The overnight lows flirted with the 30s and the daytime temps didn't break 60 for a stretch. If it hadn't been for the rain that was falling at the time, those days would have been crisp and invigorating. Instead they were sorta soggy.

******

Today's temperatures are a bit more moderate, the winds having been coming up from the south for several days, but the air is still water logged. Scattered clouds and showers moved in yesterday as we drove up to Corning and then Elmira. We got hit by a few of those showers but also drove in some sunshine through areas where the roads were dry or, in some cases, recently rained upon. I've a feeling that with radar mounted on the Jeep and more roads to choose from, we might have been able to avoid any rain at all. (Terry commented, "Of course it's raining, we were going to the doctor's." And, as I recall, I've now made four trips up there--initial visit, pre-op, op, and post-op--and it has indeed rained Every. Single. Time. All were on Thursdays, too. Go figure.)

Until night fall. That's when the clouds gathered together and it suddenly poured down in buckets. Since then it's continued to be overcast and misting, or overcast and showering, or overcast and...well...overcast. Temp's around 70 though so the weather's got that going for it.

I'm happy it's not too cool yet. I'd prefer not to be forced to turn the heat on in the Aerie until mid October or later. No desire or need to burn propane or firewood...yet, and the longer we delay the inevitable, the better. See, we'll need a delivery of propane soon if the heat goes on and the checkbook is a wee bit depleted right now. But the Tundra's last payment is due in November and that will free up some $$$ to pay for the heat.

More rain is not what folks in the process of recovering from two tropical storms and the attendant flooding need. This is also a bad weekend for rain from the standpoint of the folks down in Mansfield. This is The Fabulous 1890s Weekend celebrating the first night college football game ever played. There are all sorts of activities going on from craft fair, MU soccer game, reenactment of that first game, and a sprint football game pitting MU against Princeton. (Sprint football is like regular football but with a weight limit of 172 pounds.) Folks will have a good time anyway. They usually do.

******

As for the satellite, the forecast is for it to fall sometime between 10 PM and 2 AM Friday night/Saturday morning in the South Pacific ... or maybe not. They aren't quite sure when or where. Six and a half tons of space junk is currently on it's way down, down, down. Most of it will break up and burn in the atmosphere but several largish chunks adding up to about half a ton of metal will make it to the surface. Don't sweat it though the odds of any one person being struck are astronomical. (Just don't call it a million-to-one shot, cause those always seem to happen!)

[UPDATE: It's down. "...somewhere over the vast Pacific Ocean....between 11:23 p.m. EDT and 1:09 a.m. EDT. NASA said it didn't know the precise time or location yet."]

A little humor

Terry passed this one off to me by forwarding an email from one of her friends.

A lonely widow, age 70, decided that it was time to get married again.

She put an ad in the local paper that read:
HUSBAND WANTED: MUST BE IN MY AGE GROUP (70's), MUST NOT BEAT ME, RUN AROUND ON ME, AND MUST STILL BE GOOD IN BED! ALL APPLICANTS PLEASE APPLY IN PERSON.

On the second day, she heard the doorbell. Much to her dismay, she opened the door to see a grey-haired gentleman sitting in a wheelchair. He had no arms or legs.

The old woman said, 'You're not really asking me to consider you, are you? Just look at you...you have no legs!

The old man smiled, 'Therefore, I cannot run around on you!'

She snorted. 'You don't have any arms either!'

Again, the old man smiled, 'Therefore, I can never beat you!'

She raised an eyebrow and asked intently, 'Are you still good in bed???'

The old man leaned back, beamed a big smile and said, 'I rang the doorbell, didn't I?'

Aerie Report, September 22, 2011

Terry drove me up to the Guthrie Medical Group in Corning to have my staples pulled out and the healing process examined.

BP 172/72 and pulse rate of 49. Not bad for an old fart.

The staples came out easily enough and the surgical wound didn't gape open and spout any blood or gore so that's good. Actually, the amount of healing that's taken place in a week is amazing. The Doc said I could start using my leg normally any time I desired. The only precaution she gave me was to not go swimming or laze around in the tub for a week or so until the wound is completely sealed up. Showers are okay but try to remember to pat the area dry and not rub down with a coarse towel. No problemo!

She told me that the object the surgeon took out of my thigh was disc shaped, about 5 cm (that's 2 inches in English) across and 1 to 1.5 cm thick in the middle. (Think of the shape of a flying saucer.) The THING was merely a calcified lump of stuff that was between my quad muscles. It was not a cyst or a tumor just a calcified BLOB. It should not return.

On the negative side, the Doc said that while the surgeon was poking around in my knee joint removing debris and whatnot, he noticed there was no cartilage in the rear portion of the joint and pretty little in the front. He scores joint arthritic conditions on a sliding scale from 1 to 4; with 1 being plenty of cartilage and no arthritis and 4 being bone-on-bone and knee replacement right around the corner. My right knee is a 3 in front and 4 in the back. Should I experience pain in a month or so (after full healing has taken place) then shots may be required. After that, should I not find relief from the shots, the surgeon recommends knee replacement. So it looks like titanium and plastic knees may be in my future. *sigh*

******

After our visit to the Medical Group, Terry and I drove over to Horseheads and had lunch at Chili's. As part of their 2 for $20 promotion, we split a half order of Texas Cheese Fries as a appetizer before Terry had a Quesadilla Explosion Salad (half of which came home for her dinner) and I had the Margarita Grilled Chicken on beans and rice. Tall mugs of iced tea helped wash the food down.

Then it was off to Barnes and Noble to walk a little and browse the shelves. Terry picked out a romance novel. (I was surprised she could find one she hadn't read yet, but those things seem to propagate when they turn the store lights off.) I found a Jim Butcher Dresden Files book in paperback that I hadn't read yet (Changes), the newest Larry Correia (Monster Hunter Alpha) also in paperback and a Neil Gaimen I hadn't read (American Gods). Guess I'm set for a couple of weeks...well, maybe one week if I stop doing crosswords and surfing the net 8 hours a day.

Still, there's a new Terry Pratchett Disc World novel (Snuff) coming out soon (October 23rd?) so I better get reading.

On the way back to the Aerie, we stopped at Kuntry Kruller in Elmira. THis is the closest thing to a real bakery we have around here. It's not large but it's got some delectable goodies in the form of scones, fritters, danish, turnovers, real bagels and, yes, even "krullers"--but they only have those on Friday. We stocked up for the weekend anyway and headed on down the road. There we stopped at Bohlayer’s Orchards in Troy to purchase a half bushel of Cortland apples. Guess I'll be making some apple sauce over the weekend.

******

Tonight I'll be kicking back in the recliner and watching some college football on ESPN. The Cincinnati Bearcats (2-1) got beat up by Tennessee (3-0) a couple of weeks ago by a score of 45-23. That loss was sandwiched between routs of Austin Peay 72-10 and a fairly decent Akron team 59-14. Tonight they host North Carolina State (2-1).

The Wolfpack have wins over Liberty (43-21) and South Alabama (35-13) and a loss to Wake Forest (27-34) on their record. This will be a good test of each teams ability and an indication of their prospects for the year.

As a little added incentive, Cincinnati is celebrating Homecoming this weekend and just saw the Big East get dissed by Pitt and Syracuse moving to the ACC. NC State is part of that ACC. Could be some harsh feelings here.

College Football 2011, Preweek 4

There are still a lot of 2-0 and 3-0 teams out there. This week should see some reduction however as Week 4 has some stiff competition between ranked teams:

• #2 LSU vs #16 West Virginia,
• #3 Alabama vs #14 Arkansas,
• #7 Oklahoma State vs #8 Texas A&M,
• #11 Florida State vs #21 Clemson, and
• #25 Georgia Tech faces North Carolina—a team knocking on the door.

Everyone of those teams is undefeated--so far. Half of them won't be on Sunday.

Only #5 Stanford and #19 Texas have the weekend off.

Let's just hope the weather stays out of the picture this week. One game played after midnight (Oklahoma State vs Tulsa), and another stopped in the third quarter due to rain, lightning and tornado watches (Baylor vs Stephen F. Austin) put a damper on tailgating last weekend. And I don't care how badly the Texas-Oklahoma area needed the rain. Going for thunder, lightning and tornadoes was a step too far.

Here are this week’s match-ups for all the Top 25 college teams. The two rankings are the AP/Coaches' Polls.

1/1 Oklahoma (2-0) The Sooners will host the Missouri Tigers (2-1) Saturday night. The Tigers will be road kill ‘neath the Sooners’ wagon.

2/3 LSU (3-0) The Tigers go on the road to face #16 West Virginia Mountaineers (3-0) Saturday. The Tiger defense could prove too much for the Mountaineers. Look for a close game with LSU prevailing 27-24.

3/2 Alabama (3-0) The Crimson Tide hosts the #14 Arkansas Razorbacks (3-0) on Saturday. Roll Tide! By at least 14 points.

4/4 Boise State (2-0) The Broncos will have the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (1-2) on the Blue Carpet Saturday night. Will Tulsa be awake for this game after last Saturday/Sunday night’s 3 AM finish? Will Keller throw for another five TDs? Don’t know about the former but the latter is likely—after all he’s already done so five times. His “W” line will increase this week once more.

5/5 Stanford (3-0) The Cardinal will have this weekend off.

6/7 Wisconsin (3-0) The Badgers host the South Dakota Coyotes (2-1) Saturday afternoon. Badgers will romp by 24 or more.

7/6 Oklahoma State (3-0) The Cowboys travel to Texas A& M to play the #8 Aggies (2-0) Saturday night. Could be THE game to go into overtime—just what the Cowboys don’t need but they will win it nonetheless. OSU 31, A&M 24

8/8 Texas A&M (2-0) The Aggies host the #7 Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-0) Saturday night. Aggies get beat in a close one.

9/9 Nebraska (3-0) The Cornhuskers are on the road to play the Wyoming Cowboys (3-0) Saturday night. Nebraska comes away with a 10 point win.

10/13 Oregon (2-1) The Ducks play at the home of the Arizona Wildcats (1-2). The Ducks continue to paddle their opponents trouncing the Wildcats by more than 21.

11/14 Florida State (2-1) The Seminoles move up the coast to play the #21 Clemson Tigers (3-0) Saturday. With their starting QB beat up from last week’s game, the Seminoles will fall to high powered Clemson and it won’t even be close.

12/10 South Carolina (3-0) The Gamecocks will host the Vanderbilt Commodores (3-0) Saturday night. Someone has to lose and it will be the Commodores. Gamecocks by 17 as it's Lattimore right, Lattimore left and Lattimore up the middle.

13/11 Virginia Tech (3-0) The Hokies are on the road to face the Thundering Herd of Marshall (1-2) Saturday. Not a good year to be member of the Thundering Herd. Hokies score twice on special teams in a rout.

14/12 Arkansas (3-0) The Razorbacks play at #3 Alabama (3-0) Saturday. 'Bama big.

15/15 Florida (3-0) The Gators play the Kentucky Wildcats (2-1) on the road Saturday evening. Gators in Kentucky? Oh, yeah! By at least 17.

16/16 West Virginia (3-0) The Mountaineers will host the #2 LSU Tigers (3-0) Saturday. Tigers will be too much.

17/19 Baylor (2-0) The Bears host the Rice Owls (1-1) Saturday night. Bears eat the Owls for dinner.

18/17 South Florida (3-0) The Bulls host the UTEP Miners (2-1) in a Saturday night game. The Bulls will rout the Miners.

19/18 Texas (3-0) The Longhorns have the weekend free.

20/20 TCU (2-1) The Horned Frogs play host to the Portland State Vikings (2-0) Saturday afternoon. Portland State? Really? Frogs by a bunch.

21/22 Clemson (3-0) The Tigers host the #11 Florida State Seminoles (2-1) Saturday. Tigers carry the day in an upset over injured FSU.

22/21 Michigan (3-0) The Wolverines are at home to entertain the San Diego State Aztecs (3-0) Saturday at noon. The Wolverines will treat the Aztecs…poorly.

23/NR Southern California (3-0) The Trojans play the Sun Devils at Arizona State (2-1) Saturday night. Ain’t no sunshine for the Devils in this one. USC by 14.

24/NR Illinois (3-0) The Fighting Illini host the Western Michigan Broncos (2-1) Saturday afternoon. Illini tame the Broncos in a stomping.

25/24 Georgia Tech (3-0) The Yellow Jackets will host the North Carolina Tar Heels (3-0) at noon on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets' high powered offense should score often enough to keep their team undefeated.

NR/23 Michigan State (2-1) The Spartans will host the Central Michigan Chippewas (1-2) Saturday at noon. The Spartans pound the Chippewas.

NR/25 North Carolina The Tar Heels (3-0) will play on the road against the #25 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (3-0) at noon Saturday. Tar Heels won't stop the Jackets, especially in Georgia.

Yep. Got that right.

see more dog and puppy pictures

College Football 2011, Week 3 results

Every one of the Top 25 teams saw action this week. Only two contests will pitted ranked teams against one another: #1 Oklahoma @ #5 Florida State and #3 LSU @ #25 Mississippi State. In both cases, the higher ranked team won.

There were a couple of upsets further down the list. Number 15 Michigan State was in the wrong place at the wrong time as Notre Dame woke up from its early season malaise. Number 17 Ohio State looked bad against unranked Miami. (What else is new?)
Still undefeated Clemson took it to #21 Auburn. And finally, number 22 Arizona State got beat by the Fighting Illini of Illinois. All these should result in considerable reshaping of the Top 25 list later this week.
Here are this week’s match-ups for all the Top 25 college teams. The two rankings are the AP/Coaches'.

1/1 Oklahoma (2-0) The Sooners played the #5 Florida State Seminoles (2-1) on the road and emerged with a 23-13 victory. The ‘Noles had tied it in the fourth quarter at 13 all on a Rashad Greene 56 yard TD pass from back-up QB Clint Trickett but couldn’t muster enough to pull it out.

2/2 Alabama (3-0) The Crimson Tide tamed the Mean Green of North Texas (0-3) with a 41-0 shutout. On offense it was the Richardson and Lacy show. Trent Richardson had 167 yards and 3 TDs on 11 carries (TDs were of 4, 58 and 71 yards), while Eddie Lacy had 161 yards and 2 TDs on just 9 carries (TDs were of 43 and 67 yards). First time Alabama ever had two runners surpass the 150 yard mark in the same game.

3/3 LSU (3-0) The Tigers went on the road Thursday night to play the #25 Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-2). The LSU defense helped whip the puppies 19-6.

4/4 Boise State (2-0) The Broncos played on the road against the Toledo Rockets (1-3) on Friday night. Boise State came away with a rather easy 40-15 win when Kellen Moore tossed for 455 yards and 5 TD passes—again.

5/5 Florida State (2-1) The Seminoles lost to #1 Oklahoma (2-0) on the national stage Saturday night 23-13.
6/6 Stanford (3-0) The Cardinal tamed the Arizona Wildcats (1-2) 37-10. Andrew Luck had 325 yards and two TDs passing. Stepfan Taylor rushed for 153 yards on 22 carries for the Cardinal.

7/8 Wisconsin (3-0) The Badgers easily defeated the Huskies of Northern Illinois (1-2). Badgers scored 14 points in each of the first three quarters on their way to a 49-7 victory. Russell Wilson completed 23 of 32 attempts for 347 yards and 3 TDs as the badgers had over 600 yards of offense.

8/7 Oklahoma State (3-0) The Cowboys proved to be too much for Tulsa’s Golden Hurricane (1-2) Saturday night/Sunday morning. It was a wild and wooly affair that didn’t get started until after midnight and ended around 3:30 AM with a 59-33 final score. The weather –thunder, lightning and tornado warnings—was definitely a factor. The Cowboys’ Joseph Randle ran for 128 yards and 3 TDs while QB Brandon Weeden three for 369 yards and 2 TDs. Tulsa’s Ja’Terian Douglas rushed for 173 yards and 2 TDs on 12 carries and Trey Watts had 159 yards on 23 carries.

9/9 Texas A&M (2-0) The Aggies went up to Moscow, Idaho to face the Vandals of IU (1-2) Saturday night. They put 37 points on the board before the Vandals could answer—in the fourth quarter. Final 37-7.

10/11 South Carolina (3-0) The Gamecocks hosted the Midshipmen of Navy (2-1) Saturday evening. The Midshipmen forced the Gamecocks to come from behind in the fourth quarter to earn a 24-21 victory.

11/10 Nebraska (3-0) The Cornhuskers hosted the Washington Huskies (2-1) in a high scoring affair that saw Nebraska emerge with a 51-38 win.

12/14 Oregon (2-1) The Ducks routed the Missouri State Bears (0-3) 56-7. LaMichael James had TD runs of 1, 90 and 50 yards as he accumulated 204 yards on just 12 carries for the Ducks.

13/12 Virginia Tech (3-0) The Hokies defeated the Arkansas State Red Wolves (1-2) Saturday afternoon 26-7.

14/13 Arkansas (3-0) The Razorbacks beat the Troy Trojans (0-2) 38-28 Saturday afternoon. The Trojans didn’t make it easy for Arkansas as they amassed 457 yards in offense to the Razorbacks’ 454. Add Ladarrius Madden’s 53 yard interception return in the third quarter and Troy gave Auburn all it could handle.

15/15 Michigan State (2-1) The Spartans traveled to South Bend, IN to face the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (1-2). The Irish finally got things going right for them in a stunning 31-13 rout of the Spartans. Nothing spectacular from the Irish (well, except for George Atkinson’s 89 yd kickoff return) just steady offense and defense.

16/17 Florida (3-0) The Gators hosted the Tennessee Volunteers (2-1) Saturday afternoon. The Volunteers got off to a slow start and could not catch up to the Gators who triumphed 33-23.

17/16 Ohio State (2-1) The Buckeyes traveled south to Miami to face the Hurricanes (1-1) Saturday night. Miami looked disorganized two weeks ago but found all the right fixes as the upset the Buckeyes 24-6.

18/20 West Virginia (3-0) The Mountaineers went on the road to play the Maryland Terrapins (1-1) Saturday afternoon. The Terps fell behind early (27-10 at the half) and then made the Mountaineers sweat in at the end. Still, WVA came out on top 37-31. Geno Smith completed 36 of 49 for 388 (a career best). Terence Garvin had a 37 yard interception return for a TD in the first quarter for WVA. Eain Smith stopped the Maryland comeback threat with an interception with 1:13 remaining in the fourth quarter.

19/24 Baylor (2-0) The Bears had an easy time with the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (1-2) Both offense and defense showed up in this 48-0 shutout. Robert Griffin completed 20 of 22 attempts for 265 yards and 3 TDs. But most of the fans were thankful for the rain that caused the game to be halted in the third quarter.

20/22 South Florida (3-0) The Bulls scored early and often against the Florida A&M Rattlers (1-2) Saturday night. The Bulls won 70-17. B.J. Daniels was 21 of 31 for 382 yards and 4 TDs. Oh, and he ran for one, too. Teammate Darrell Scott ran for 146 yards and 3 TDs on 12 carries. He got a fourth TD on an 84 yard catch and run from Daniels.

21/19 Auburn (2-1) The Auburn Tigers jumped out to an early lead on the road against the Clemson Tigers (3-0) Saturday afternoon. Clemson, however, was having none of that as the stormed back to a convincing win 38-24.

22/18 Arizona State (2-1) The Sun Devils went on the road to play the Fighting Illini of Illinois (3-0) Saturday evening. The Devils came up short in a close 17-14 contest.

23T/21 Texas (3-0) The Longhorns headed west to play the UCLA Bruins (1-3) Texas romped 49-20. Case McCoy was solid in his first start as the Longhorn QB.

23T/23 TCU (2-1) The Horned Frogs fell behind the Warhawks of Louisiana-Monroe (1-2) 17-14 at the end of the first quarter but then woke up. Frogs won 38-17. Greg McCoy returned the second half opening kickoff 94 yards for a TD to put the Frogs on the winning track.

25/25 Mississippi State (1-2) The Bulldogs hosted the #3 LSU Tigers (3-0). Treated them real nice, too. The Tigers won 19-6. Could be the last time we see the MSU Bulldogs in the Top 25 this year.

It's Sunday. Let's go for a little drive...

...in a Ford Fiesta, no less:



(First seen at Phil's Phun site.)

HACKED!

My email account got hacked during the night. Some louse from Canada sending out spam to every address in my address book using my email. Not sure where I picked up the hitchhiker, or what I can do about it. I try not to open questionable attachments or visit sites that might leave a worm. Yet, somehow, something got past my protection (Norton's and Webroot) to do its dirty deed in the wee hours of the morning.

I knew something was up when I had 67 emails this morning after having 0 at 11 PM last night. Lots were from MAILER-DEAMON saying they couldn't deliver the message. Others were auto responses from folks who will get to the message as soon as they return to work on Monday.

*sigh*

Heck of a way to start off my birthday.

If you were the recipient of one of those pieces of trash, I apologize.

Wasn't me. Really.

Jazz for Cows!

Could be a new way to get them down from the back fields.

(First seen at Phil's Phun site.)

Gun Safety PSA from "Plaxico Burress"

Plaxico Burress was a wide receiver with the Giants when he accidentally shot himself with a pistol stuffed in the waistband of his pants. He spent 18 months in prison for having an unlicensed gun in NYC (not for stupidity). He's now a receiver for the Jets. Part of his sentence was doing safety talks and public service announcements on gun safety.

This is not one of them. But it is one funny spoof of what his PSA might be like. (Language may not be safe for work or little kids.)

Starring Derek Brantley. Written by The Landline. Music: Kevin MacLeod

Wife vs. Husband

Bruce just passed this email along to me:

WIFE VS. HUSBAND


A couple drove down a country road for several miles, not saying a word.

An earlier discussion had led to an argument and neither of them wanted to concede their position.

As they passed a barnyard of mules, goats, and pigs, the husband asked sarcastically, "Relatives of yours?"

"Yep," the wife replied, "in-laws."



W O R D S

A husband read an article to his wife about how many words women use a day... 30,000 to a man's 15,000.

The wife replied, "The reason has to be because we have to repeat everything to men..."

The husband then turned to his wife and asked, "What?"



CREATION

A man said to his wife one day, "I don't know how you can be so stupid and so beautiful all at the same time."

The wife responded, "Allow me to explain. God made me beautiful so you would be attracted to me; God made me stupid so I would be attracted to you!



WHO DOES WHAT

A man and his wife were having an argument about who should brew the coffee each morning.

The wife said, "You should do it, because you get up first, and then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee."

The husband said, " You are in charge of cooking around here and you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee."

Wife replies, "No, you should do it, and besides, it is in the Bible that the man should do the coffee."

Husband replies, "I can't believe that, show me."

So she fetched the Bible, and opened the New Testament and showed him at the top of several pages, that it indeed says.........."HEBREWS"


The Silent Treatment

A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment. Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight.

Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper, "Please wake me at 5:00 AM." He left it where he knew she would find it.

The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't wakened him, when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed. The paper said, "It is 5:00 AM. Wake up."

Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests.

God may have created man before woman, but there is always a rough draft before the masterpiece.

Mid September? Global Warming?

Jeez! Who turned the heat off?

What? Al Gore's doing "24 Hours of Reality" the Climate Reality Project trying to push his failing agenda...again?

Well, that might explain why the temperature at the Aerie was a mere 48 degrees AT 4 PM when we got back from the hospital.
(FULL DISCLOSURE: It HAS warmed up since the clouds cleared away. All the way to 52 degrees. But those clear skies mean temperatures in the mid 30s tonight with scattered FROST a possibility.)

It might also explain this:

Snow in forecast for mountains around Aspen
HA! you say. "That's at high elevations! Sure it snows at the tops of really tall mountains and some of these are, as the story notes well over a mile high!"

Well, that's true, but what about this:
Snow dampens BWCA fire, but respite likely to be brief ("BWCA" = Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota/southern Canada)

And from Watts Up With That we find:

This week, Sea Ice News: Arctic sea ice “may” have turned the corner Ice coverage of the Arctic is once again increasing...just as it does every fall.

If you're wondering why Albert has stopped mentioning the snow loss on Mt Kilimanjaro as a harbinger of DOOM!, well, maybe it's because that loss? It seems to have reversed: Snow slowly building on Mount Kilimanjaro

Speaking of Africa:
Mr. Watts has a report on flooddraughts The 4th IPCC report--the one that won the Nobel Prize--predicted more severe droughts in the Sahara and substantial increases in rainfall in the eastern Horn of Africa. Ain't happening. In fact, the southern Sahara, the Sahel, is becoming GREENER as it becomes more moist. As for the super increase in rain in the Horn region? Surely you jest: From the BBC: The drought and famine that is devastating the Horn of Africa is affecting more than 12 million people.

Injury/surgery report.

Back home after "Ambulatory Surgery" at Corning Hospital.

I went in to have a loose, calcified body removed from the muscular tissues directly above the right knee. That procedure was successful and easily accomplished. The lump ("I think it's a Titleists," said the doctor.) was not wedged in the muscle and popped right out.

I complained enough about the stabbing pain on the inside lower portion of the knee so that the doctor decided to do some arthroscopic exploration while I was under. He discovered a meniscal tear and some additonal loose bodies in that area and took action to clean things up and take out the trash. He also found there was some degenerative arthritis with some bone-on-bone contact in the rear of the knee. When we meet again on the 22nd, he'll be talking injections (Cortisone?) and future knee replacement, I guess.

Toughest part was trying to convince the anesthesiologist that my pulse (44 bpm) was a normal thing for me. He too asked if I was an exercise/running kind of guy. HA! Seriously, do I look like a jogger/marathoner? (Oh, and my BP was 147/77. Considered normal under the circumstances.)

I'm back home at the Aerie with orders to stay off the leg as much as possible, Keep it elevated for 24 hours--with ice, continue my pain meds, go for my scheduled follow-up on the 22nd, yadda, yadda, yadda.

College Football 2011, Preweek 3

Every one of the Top 25 teams will see action this week. Only two contests will pit ranked teams against one another: #1 Oklahoma @ #5 Florida State and #3 LSU @ #25 Mississippi State. The former could get interesting if the Sooners stumble early. The latter should be another victory for LSU.

As for the rest of the schedule, don’t look for many surprises this week.
Here are this week’s match-ups for all the Top 25 college teams. The two rankings are the AP/Coaches'. (CBSSports is slow in posting—again. Their Top 120 page says to come back October 3^rd for the rest of the teams. Maybe they’re playing that game with the Top 25 as well, although, they DID update for the first two weeks of the season. IF they get it posted tonight, I'll upgrade to all three polls on Wednesday sometime.)

1/1 Oklahoma (1-0) After a week of rest, the Sooners will be on the road to play the #5 Florida State Seminoles (2-0) at 8 PM (EDT) Saturday night.

2/2 Alabama (2-0) The Crimson Tide will host the Mean Green of North Texas (0-2) Saturday night. Will the Tide break 60?

3/3 LSU (2-0) The Tigers go on the road Thursday night to play the #25 Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-1) who are looking to bounce back after a 41-34 loss to Auburn last week.

4/4 Boise State (1-0) The Broncos are back in action this week. They play on the road against the Toledo Rockets (1-1) on Friday night. Toledo could surprise, but they will only keep it closer than expected.

5/5 Florida State (2-0) The Seminoles will play host to #1 Oklahoma Saturday night.

6/6 Stanford (2-0) The Cardinal will be on the road this week playing the Arizona Wildcats (1-1) Saturday afternoon. Another game with potential to be close, but the Cardinal still have Luck on their side.

7/8 Wisconsin (2-0) The Badgers go on the road Saturday afternoon to face the Huskies of Northern Illinois (1-1). Badgers can rip a careless dog to shreds.

8/7 Oklahoma State (2-0) The Cowboys play on the road at Tulsa as they face the Golden Hurricane (1-1) Saturday night. Should be another W for OSU even on the road. (“Road” ? yeah, right!)

9/9 Texas A&M (1-0) The Aggies are back in action up in Moscow, Idaho as they face the Vandals of IU (1-1) Saturday night. Another ranked team on the road. The Aggies should have little trouble with the Vandals.

10/11 South Carolina (2-0) The Gamecocks host the Midshipmen of Navy (2-0) Saturday evening. This will be an interesting game. If Navy plays error free (turnovers, penalties) and prevents the huge play, they could pull the upset.

11/10 Nebraska (2-0) The Cornhuskers will host the Washington Huskies (2-0) Saturday afternoon. Close game, but the Huskies get husked.

12/14 Oregon (1-1) The Ducks will play host to the Missouri State Bears (0-2) Saturday afternoon. Ducks by as many as they want/can get before time runs out.

13/12 Virginia Tech (2-0) The Hokies will host the Arkansas State Red Wolves (1-1) Saturday afternoon. Should be Hokies by a bunch. If they get careless, it will still be Hokies by a smaller bunch.

14/13 Arkansas (2-0) The Razorbacks will host the Troy Trojans (0-1) Saturday afternoon. Arkansas looking to make a statement. The Trojans get…well, beat.

15/15 Michigan State (2-0) The Spartans travel to South Bend, IN to face the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (0-2) Saturday afternoon. Who does the scheduling for the Irish? HE should get fired! Spartans by 14.

16/17 Florida (2-0) The Gators will host the Tennessee Volunteers (2-0) Saturday afternoon. Could be a close game if Tennessee remembers to bring their ear plugs.

17/16 Ohio State (2-0) The Buckeyes will travel south to Miami to face the Hurricanes (0-1) Saturday night. Miami looked very disorganized two weeks ago. Even a little unorganized will get the crowd booing and the Buckeyes drooling.

18/20 West Virginia (2-0) The Mountaineers will be on the road to play the Maryland Terrapins (1-0) Saturday afternoon. I hope WVA remembers their sunglasses. More than Maryland’s uniforms are offensive. This will be a test for WVA, but the mountaineers should prevail.

19/24 Baylor (1-0) The Bears host the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (1-1) Saturday night. Remember how Baylor scored a ton of points against TCU two weeks ago? They should do so again against the Lumberjacks. And their defense should show up this time too.

20/22 South Florida (2-0) The Bulls host the Florida A&M Rattlers (1-1) Saturday night. Bulls will stomp the Rattlers.

21/19 Auburn (2-0) The Auburn Tigers play on the road against the Clemson Tigers (2-0) Saturday afternoon. The Tigers should win this one. (Okay, the AUBURN Tigers.) But it will be close.

22/18 Arizona State (2-0) The Sun Devils are on the road to play the Fighting Illini of Illinois (2-0) Saturday evening. The Devils will win in a close contest.

23T/21 Texas (2-0) The Longhorns head west to play the UCLA Bruins (1-1) Saturday afternoon. Longhorns will gore the Bruins. Not even close.

23T/23 TCU (1-1) The Horned Frogs host the Warhawks of Louisiana-Monroe (1-1) Saturday afternoon. Frogs will win in a romp.

25/25 Mississippi State (1-1) The Bulldogs will host the #3 LSU Tigers (2-0) Thursday night. Could be the last time we see the MSU Bulldogs in the Top 25 this year. Geaux Tigers!

Aerie Report, September 12, 2011

Hey! The J-E-T-S JETS! JETS! JETS! pulled on out last night. The Cowboys had never lost a game where they led by 14 points in the fourth quarter...until last night. Blocked punt, fumble recovery on the 2 yard line (keeping Dallas out of the end zone), an interception, and a 50 yard field goal with 26-27 seconds left and the J-E-T-S JETS! JETS! JETS! come away with a 27-24 victory in week one.

******

Terry was out all afternoon so I entertained my self by peeling, slicing and canning 26 pints of peaches. SHE can carry the things downstairs! (Along with the 7 quarts of tomato sauce.)

With blueberry jam, strawberry jam, tomato sauce, and now peaches, all that remains is to find a source of apples for some applesauce.

******

Terry did go out late this afternoon to pick from the garden and reports that the string beans seem to have finally given up the ghost. (Perhaps they drowned?) The zucchini, too, are no longer producing. Might be time to pull both the string beans and zucchini plants and put them on the compost heap.

Freezer is packed with string beans, zucchini bread and grated zucchini, and blueberries. What's missing is meat. Which is sorta okay since there's no room in the freezer for it at the moment.

******

A most unusual day here at the Aerie: No rain. But, hey! The day ain't over yet!

Aerie Report, September 11, 2011

I spent the day in reflection...as many of you, no doubt.

And, yeah. I remember. And I'm still mad as hell.

******

When not thinking about the changes that have happened since 9/11, I spent time doing the normal things in life: watching football, surfing the net, canning tomato sauce...that sort of thing.

******

With all the stress on security at airports, one has to wonder why we still have a porous southern border and why ICE is kept on such a short leash with respect to illegal aliens.

******

Today, we had a few showers but nothing terrible and that is a relief. Temperature was in the mid 70s this afternoon after starting out in the high 50s this morning. More of the same is forecast for Monday.

******

I've got to get the grass cut again. IF it dries out and IF I can walk that much. I've also got to stack the firewood I split months ago. It needs to dry out.

******

I got seven quarts of tomato sauce out of the box of tomatoes Terry and I picked up the other day. Since we got 14 quarts out of two boxes two weeks ago, that yield is exactly what I expected. There's just enough left over to make tomorrow's dinner: sausage and peppers.

Tomorrow I tackle the box of peaches. Slices in pint jars with 60% syrup to cover. I should get 14 to 16 pints out of the one box.

******

My thoughts are with our friend Bruce up in Massachusetts. he's going under the knife tomorrow for prostate cancer. The doctors believe they caught it very early and that surgery to remove the bad boy C-cells should be about all that's needed.

******

I'm looking forward to my surgery on Thursday. This calcified lump needs to be gone so I'll get back to normal muscle action in the right thigh. Once that's done, I'll be better able to analyze the sharp pains I'm getting just below the knee. The MRI may have shown no tears, but it sure feels like one.

******

Knee problems (and lack of any photos of deer) may force my hand vis-a-vis the New York hunting season. I'm inclined to save my $300 bucks and shrug off this year up north. I still have to get up there to drain the water system, however. (Mark says that everything is A-OK. Irene and Lee have caused some erosion on the road beyond camp, but one of the folks up there has been spreading a couple of truck loads of crushed stone in the washouts.)

******

Rutgers football got robbed when the replay officials apparently didn't look at the TWO goal line plays where the the Scarlet Knights scored but were ruled out of the end zone. Coach Schiano should have called for a review even if it cost a TO. And an on-field official missed a blatant pass interference at the end of the game that cost a chance at a field goal. (North Carolina won 24-22.)

The RU defense gave up two long touchdown plays of over 60 yards (one pass and one run), but had 5 takeaways.

The Giants just stunk up the place as they lost to the Redskins today.

The Jets aren't looking that great, either. (Currently 17-7 midway in the third quarter.)

College Football 2011, Week 2 results

Two of the Top 25 teams lost to unranked opponents this week (#16 Mississippi State to Auburn and #21 Missouri to Arizona State) and another fell to a higher ranked team (#@3 Penn State to #3 Alabama) so there will be some realignment in the polls. While some games were closer than expected, most were ho-hum affairs.

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Here’s this week’s results for all the Top 25 college teams. The three rankings are, in order, the AP/Coaches'/CBSSports.

1/1/1 Oklahoma (1-0) The Sooners had the week off.

2/3/3 LSU (2-0) The Tigers feasted on the Northwestern State (1-1) Demons 49-3.

3/2/2 Alabama (2-0) ‘Bama found Happy Valley a pleasant place to visit as the Tide rolled over the #23 Nittany Lions of Penn State (1-1) 27-11.

4/5/7 Boise State (1-0) The Broncos had the week off.

5/4/6 Florida State (2-0) The ‘Noles had no trouble against the Charleston Southern Buccaneers (0-2) as they came away with a 62-10 win Saturday evening.

6/6/9 Stanford (2-0) The Cardinal enjoyed their trip east as they thumped the Duke Blue Devils (0-2) 44-14.

7/8/10 Texas A&M (1-0) The Aggies had the weekend off.

8/9/5 Wisconsin (2-0) The Badgers trounced the Oregon State Beavers (0-2) 35-0.

9/7/12 Oklahoma State (2-0) The Cowboys enjoyed and easy time against the Arizona Wildcats (1-1) Thursday night as they rolled to a 37-14 victory.

10/10/11 Nebraska (2-0) The Cornhuskers fell behind 17-14 at the half to the Bulldogs of Fresno State (0-2) but locker room corrections obviously worked as Nebraska won 42-29.

11/11/8 Virginia Tech (2-0) The Hokies edged the East Carolina Pirates (0-2) 17-10 as the VT defense held the Pirates at bay all game.

12/12/16 South Carolina (2-0) The Gamecocks managed to edge the Georgia Bulldogs (0-2) in a high scoring affair 45-42.

13/14/4 Oregon (1-1) The Ducks bounced back after a week 1 loss by routing the Nevada Wolf Pack (0-1) 69-20.

14/13/17 Arkansas (2-0) The Razorbacks whipped the New Mexico Lobos (0-2) 52-3.

15/15/14 Ohio State (2-0) The Buckeyes held off an upset minded Toledo Rockets (1-1) 27-22.

16/17/22 Mississippi State (1-1) The Bulldogs stood toe-to-toe against the Auburn Tigers (2-0) only to come up short 41-34.

17/16/15 Michigan State (2-0) The Spartans shut out the Owls of Florida Atlantic (0-2) Saturday afternoon 44-0.

18/18/25 Florida (2-0) The Gators shut out the UAB Blazers (0-1) 39-0.

19/24/18 West Virginia (2-0) The Mountaineers struggled in the first half as the Norfolk State Spartans (1-1) held a 12-10 lead at half time. That changed in the second half as WVU pounded the Spartans for a 55-12 rout.

20/NR/NR Baylor (1-0) The Bears enjoyed a week off.

21/19/24 Missouri (1-1) The Tigers were upset at home by the Arizona State Sun Devils (2-0) Friday evening. The game went into overtime with Arizona State coming away with the 37-30 win.

22/NR/NR South Florida (2-0) The Bulls routed the Ball State Cardinals (1-1) 37-7.

23/20/23 Penn State (1-1) The Nittany Lions fell to the #3 Crimson Tide of Alabama (2-0) 27-11.

24/21/NR Texas (2-0) The Longhorns came back from a 13-3 halftime deficit to edge the BYU Cougars (1-1) 17-16.

25/25/13 TCU (1-1) The Horned Frogs rebounded from a week 1 loss as they romped over Air Force (1-1) 35-19.

NR/22/19 Auburn (2-0) The Tigers beat the #16 Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-1) Saturday afternoon. 41-34. Look for Auburn to return to the Top 25 this week while the Bulldogs drop down.

NR/23/NR Arizona State (2-0) The Wildcats beat the #21Missouri Tigers (1-1) on the road 37-30. The teams are likely to trade places in the polls.

NR/NR/21 Notre Dame (0-2) The Irish were edged in the closing minute on the road by the Michigan Wolverines (2-0) 35-31. The Irish led 24-7 after three quarters but Wolverines scored 28 points in the fourth quarter.

Older Couples

Just got these over the transom from a friend:

A Police STOP at 2 AM


An elderly man is stopped by the police around 2 a.m. and is asked where he is going at this time of night.

The man replies, "I am on my way to a lecture about alcohol abuse and the effects it has on the human body, as well as smoking and staying out late."

The officer then asks, "Really? Who is giving that lecture at this time of night?"

The man replies, "That would be my wife."

And another from the other side of the aisle...

An elderly lady was invited to an old friends home for dinner one evening. She was impressed by the way her lady friend preceded every request to her husband with endearing terms such as: My Love, Darling, Sweetheart, etc The couple had been married almost 70 years and, clearly, they were still very much in love.

While the husband was in the living room, her lady friend leaned over to her hostess to say, 'I think it's wonderful that, after all these years, you still call your husband all those loving names. The elderly lady hung her head and said,'I have to tell you the truth, his name slipped my mind about 10 years ago, and I'm scared to death to ask the cranky old asshole what his name is.

THAT IS ABOUT RIGHT!

Friday afternoon/evening at the Aeire

Since we were unable to attend the wedding being held this afternoon in New Jersey, Terry and I decided to head over to Wellsboro and the Gemeiner Arts & Cultural Center where she had helped put together a show of the works of the Embroiderers of the Twin Tiers. Ladies from New York's Southern Tier and Pennsylvania's Northern Tier had contributed various pieces of their stitching arts for a marvelous display that will run through the end of the month.

After, we drove over to the Pago-Mar Farms Market, a fruits and vegetable market on Route 287, to pick up a box of tomatoes for more sauce and a box of peaches to be canned. They also had some acorn and butternut squash we will be enjoying in the near future. (A man can only take so many zucchini dishes!)

Then we headed south on Route 15 to the town of Liberty and The Landing Strip Restaurant for their Friday Fish Fry Special. Fried flounder, shrimp and bay scallops with home made cole slaw, French fries and baked biscuit for under $9 and worth much more.

Now it's a relaxing evening at home. Without any rain. For now.

Flooding Foto

Harrisburg, PA is home to the Washington Nationals' minor league team. They were supposed to host the playoffs against Richmond. That's no longer likely.

Minor league stadium under water

Now a swim meet....

Now there's something you don't see every day!

Drunk Swedish elk found in apple tree near Gothenburg
(Elk = Moose in Sweden)

(h/t Theo)

The best laid plans...

We tried. We really, really tried.

We left he Aerie at 10:30 AM with the best of intentions of going to New Jersey. I consulted Penn DOT's 511 web site and Terry had been watching the news on TV. All said the roads were passable except for a stretch of I-80 near Bloomsburg but they were setting up detours around that spot. Heading east on Route 6 was out of the question as a large swath of that was closed. We didn't check Route 17 but that too is close to the Susquehanna and has no levees to protect it. South and east seemed our best bet.

[UPDATE: Terry just found (5:00 PM) that a section of Route 17 was closed near Waverly, NY and covered by water near Binghamton, NY.]

Before we left, I emptied the rain gauge. There were 3.1 inches of water in it since Wednesday at around 3 PM when I had dumped 6 inches out. Make it a little over 9 inches of rain since last Thursday.

Well... We went down Route 15 to I-180 at Williamsport. The rivers there were very, very high but not breaching the the levees...yet. A little further past Williamsport the town of Montoursville was under three or four feet of water but I-180 was okay. When we got to the interchange with I-80 though we were not allowed on the interstate. We tried heading northeast on the back roads only to find many of them were also closed. We attempted several routes only to find ourselves heading toward Wilkes Barre where, according to the radio, there were multiple closures. At that point we decided to head home. Even that was troublesome. There was a time when we weren't sure we'd even be able to get home.

In total we spent over 5 hours, traveled 210 miles and ended up seeing parts of Pennsylvania we hadn't seen before only to end up back at the Aerie. We are not pleased.

It would have been nice to attend Danielle and Alex's wedding, but...

The radio out of Bloomsburg was saying this flooding will be the worst in 40 years. In August of 1972 Hurricane Agnes came up the Chesapeake and stalled over the upper reaches of the Susquehanna watershed. The river crested at 30.2 feet in Bloomsburg. They expect the river to reach 30.8 feet sometime tomorrow. Flooding is already extensive in areas where levees were not constructed after Agnes.

Terry and I were married in New Jersey the weekend after Agnes (we still had strong winds on that Saturday) and relatives from the Wilkes Barre area couldn't make it. Now the situation is reversed: we are in PA and can't get to NJ for a wedding. C'est la vie. What goes around comes around.

More on the flooding here.