Vandals Won Again!

The Vandals of Idaho U. continued their winning ways this weekend by knocking off the Warriors of Hawaii by a score of 35-23. Idaho now has a record of 6-1...which is more games than they won the entire five years Rick was in attendance at IU. (A year with the Marines including six months in Iraq slowed his progress toward his degree.)

I believe their six wins makes them bowl eligible. If not, they have amble opportunity to become so. They are currently at #38 on the CBSSports.com rankings and climbing weekly. As I said before, the only team on remaining on their schedule with a winning record is Boise State. And, right now, I'm not so sure they couldn't take the Broncos.

Results of Week 7 in College Football

I’m at the Bolt Hole where there’s only the dial-up connection so things are a bit more compact in this week’s recap. (Takes too long to check out what happened in the games.) Add the trip to NJ and the Saturday wedding of my niece and I didn’t even get to watch much football. So, without much to do, here’s the results of Week 7’s competition for the Top 25 (more or less). The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those going into week 6.

Only #10 LSU and #13 Oregon were off this week and with lots of conference play as well as matches between ranked teams, there’s bound to be a whole lot of shakin’ goin’ on based upon the results below. Add that the first BCS rankings will appear and there will be plenty to discuss at the local watering hole.


1/1/1 (1/1/1) Florida (6-0) The Gators edged the Arkansas Razorbacks (3-3) with a late field goal, 23-20.

2/3/3 (3/3/3) Alabama (6-0) The Crimson Tide controlled #22 South Carolina (5-2) 20-6.

3/2/2 (2/2/2) Texas (6-0) The Longhorns knocked out Sam Bradford—again—but just managed to overcome the stubborn #20 Oklahoma (3-3) defense 16-13.

4/4/4 (5/5/7) Virginia Tech (5-2) The Hokies got stung by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (6-1) 28-23

5/6/6 (6/6/5) Boise State (6-0) The Broncos got all they could handle from Tulsa (4-2) on Wednesday night but managed to escape with a 28-21 win.

6/5/7 (7/7/8) Southern California (5-1) The Trojans managed to fend off a last moment push by #25 Notre Dame (4-2) and held on for a 34-27 victory.

7/7/5 (9/8/6) Ohio State (5-2) The Buckeyes lost to Purdue (2-5) 26-18.

8/9/10 (8/10/10) Cincinnati (6-0) The Bearcats enjoyed their trip to #21 South Florida (5-1) despite having their quarterback injured late in the first half. The final score: 34-17, Cincinnati.

9/11/11 (11/11/11) Miami (Fla.) (5-1) The Hurricanes blew into Orlando to face the UCF Knights (3-3) and came away with a 27-7 win.

10/10/13 (4/4/4) LSU (5-1) The Tigers are idle this week.

11/12/9 12/14/12) Iowa (7-0) The Hawkeyes doubled up on Wisconsin (5-2) 20-10.

12/8/8 (10/9/9) TCU (6-0) The Horned Frogs manhandled Colorado State (3-4) 44-6.

13/16/16 (13/17/18) Oregon (5-1) The Ducks have the weekend off.

14/13/14 (14/12/14) Penn State (5-1) The Lions had snow but it didn’t matter as the shutout Minnesota (4-2) in Happy Valley on Saturday, 20-0.

15/17/19 (21/22/23) Nebraska (4-2) The Cornhuskers got beat up by Texas Tech (5-2) 35-15.

16/14/15 (15/13/17) Oklahoma State (5-1) The Cowboys corralled the Missouri (4-2) Tigers, 33-17.

17/15/12 (16/15/13) Kansas (5-1) The Jayhawks were knocked out of the ranks of the unbeaten by Colorado (2-4), 34-30.

18/19/17 (18/20/19) Brigham Young (6-1) The Cougars beat the San Diego State Aztecs (2-4) 38-28.

19/20/20 (22/23/25) Georgia Tech (6-1) The Yellow Jackets stung #4 Virginia Tech (5-2), 28-23.

20/18/18 (19/21/21) Oklahoma (3-3) The Sooners dropped a close one—closer than it should have been, thanks to their defense--to #3 Texas (6-0) 16-13.

21/21/25 (23/24/NA) South Florida (5-1) The Bulls got beat by #8 Cincinnati (6-0) 34-17.

22/22/22 (25/NA/NA) South Carolina (5-2) The Gamecocks lost to #2 Alabama (7-0) 20-6.

23/23/21 (NA/NA/24) Houston (5-1) The Cougars beat up Tulane (2-4), 44-16.

24/NA/NA (NA/NA/NA) Utah (5-1) The Utes played with house money in Las Vegas as they beat UNLV (2-5) 35-15.

25/25/NA (NA/NA/NA) Notre Dame (4-2) The Irish scored frequently in the fourth quarter—just not enough—as they lost to #6 Southern California (5-1) 34-27.

NA/24 /NA (24/18/22) Missouri (4-2) The Tigers lost to #16 Oklahoma State (5-1) 33-17.

NA/NA/23 (20/16/15) Mississippi (5-2) The Rebels romped over the UAB Blazers (2-4), 48-13.

NA/NA/24 (17/19/16) Auburn (5-2) The Tigers lost to the Kentucky Wildcats (3-3) 21-14.

Snow...wedding gowns...Hey, They're both white!

The view from the front windows of the Aerie on the morning of October 16th.

First snow of the year: October 16.

Three to four inches of snow accumulated on the deck and the grassy areas. The driveway had about one inch. All snow was of the heavy wet variety that clung to the leaves on the trees and threatened to bring them down.

******

I drove down the thruway yesterday and, although there had been reports of snow in the Catskills, I saw nothing on the hills. Of course, by the time I was driving through that area it was well past 3 PM and the temperature was above 50 degrees.

Today's Newark Star Ledger has a front page photo of a teen in Sparta building a snowman from the 1-2 inches of snow they got in the northwest corner of New Jersey.

******

I arrived at the church in Dumont at 5:30 and Terry, coming from PA, arrived five minutes later. Even then, we were the first ones on the scene and the rehearsal would not be started until 7 PM.

When it did start, everything went smoothly. The Priest, Father Bob, was pleasant and gave directions clearly and plainly. Everything should go well today.

Afterward, we all went to a nice Italian restaurant on River Road for an excellent dinner.

Just for laughs

These came in an email from my younger sister. Not sure why she sent them to me, I'll have to ask her tonight. I thought I'd share them with you while I still remember to do so. Enjoy.

The Elderly:

The elderly gentleman went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor said, 'Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again.'

The gentleman replied, 'Oh, I haven't told my family yet.

I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've changed my will three times!'

******

Two elderly gentlemen from a retirement center were sitting on a bench under a tree when one turns to the other and says: 'Slim, I'm 83 years old now and I'm just full of aches and pains. I know you're about my age. How do you feel?'

Slim says, 'I feel just like a newborn baby.'

'Really!? Like a newborn baby!?'

'Yep. No hair, no teeth, and I think I just wet my pants.'

******

An elderly couple had dinner at another couple's house, and after eating, the wives left the table and went into the kitchen.

The two gentlemen were talking, and one said, 'Last night we went out to a new restaurant and it was really great.. I would recommend it very highly.'

The other man said, 'What is the name of the restaurant?'

The first man thought and thought and finally said, 'What is the name of that flower you give to someone you love?

You know..... The one that's red and has thorns.'

'Do you mean a rose?'

'Yes, that's the one,' replied the man. He then turned towards the kitchen and yelled, 'Rose, what's the name of that restaurant we went to last night?'

******

Hospital regulations require a wheel chair for patients being discharged. However, while working as a student nurse, I found one elderly gentleman already dressed and sitting on the bed with a suitcase at his feet, who insisted he didn't need my help to leave the hospital.

After a chat about rules being rules, he reluctantly let me wheel him to the elevator.

On the way down I asked him if his wife was meeting him.

'I don't know,' he said. 'She's still upstairs in the bathroom changing out of her hospital gown.'

******

Couple in their nineties are both having problems remembering things. During a checkup, the doctor tells them that they're physically okay, but they might want to start writing things down to help them remember ..

Later that night, while watching TV, the old man gets up from his chair. 'Want anything while I'm in the kitchen?' he asks.

'Will you get me a bowl of ice cream?'

'Sure..'

'Don't you think you should write it down so you can remember it?' she asks.

'No, I can remember it.'

'Well, I'd like some strawberries on top, too.. Maybe you should write it down, so as not to forget it?'

He says, 'I can remember that. You want a bowl of ice cream with strawberries.'

'I'd also like whipped cream. I'm certain you'll forget that, write it down?' she asks.

Irritated, he says, 'I don't need to write it down, I can remember it! Ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream - I got it, for goodness sake!'

Then he toddles into the kitchen. After about 20 minutes, The old man returns from the kitchen and hands his wife a plate of bacon and eggs.. She stares at the plate for a moment.

'Where's my toast ?'

******

A senior citizen said to his eighty-year old buddy:

'So I hear you're getting married?'

'Yep!'

'Do I know her?'

'Nope!'

'This woman, is she good looking?'

'Not really.'

'Is she a good cook?'

'Naw, she can't cook too well.'

'Does she have lots of money?'

'Nope! Poor as a church mouse.'

'Well, then, is she good in bed?'

'I don't know.'

'Why in the world do you want to marry her then?'

'Because she can still drive!'

******

Three old guys are out walking.

First one says, 'Windy, isn't it?'

Second one says, 'No, it's Thursday!'

Third one says, 'So am I. Let's go get a beer.'

******

A man was telling his neighbor, 'I just bought a new hearing aid. It cost me four thousand dollars, but it's state of the art.. It's perfect.'

'Really,' answered the neighbor . 'What kind is it?'

' Twelve thirty ..'

******

Morris , an 82 year-old man, went to the doctor to get a physical.

A few days later, the doctor saw Morris walking down the street with a gorgeous young woman on his arm.

A couple of days later, the doctor spoke to Morris and said, 'You're really doing great, aren't you?'

Morris replied, 'Just doing what you said, Doc: 'Get a hot mamma and be cheerful.''

The doctor said, 'I didn't say that.. I said, 'You've got a heart murmur; be careful.'

******

A little old man shuffled slowly into an ice cream parlor and pulled himself slowly, painfully, up onto a stool.. After catching his breath, he ordered a banana split.

The waitress asked kindly, 'Crushed nuts?'

'No,' he replied, 'Arthritis.'

*******

Grandpa had a ritual he looked forward to every Sunday morning.
He would take his 7-year old granddaughter out for a drive in the car for some bonding time - Just he and his little granddaughter.

On one particular Sunday, however, he had a very bad cold and didn't feel like getting out of bed at all. Luckily, his wife came to the rescue and said that she would take their granddaughter out. Upon their return, the little girl anxiously ran up stairs to see her grandfather. 'Well, did you enjoy your ride with grandma?' 'Oh, yes, Grandpa,' the girl replied, 'and do you know what? We didn't see one dumb bastard or stupid shithead anywhere we went today!'

Brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it?

Bolt Hole Report, October 16, 2009

I spent part of yesterday afternoon refamilarizing myself with my muzzle loader and .30-.30 carbine. Both have iron sights and getting the sight picture correct and ingrained into my thought process is a necessity before carrying either into the field. Suffice to say that I'm now comfortable with both and confident that I can hit anything I can see in the thick woods--which usually limits my view to 100 yards or less.

I've two more weapons I need to get out of their cases and onto the bench: the 12-gauge slug gun and the .270. Both of those have scopes and past experience tells me that neither shifts over time-especially since I'm the only one that's handled the cases. Shouldn't take more than a shot or three to ensure that they are still true.

******

Another part of yesterday was spent moving firewood from the open barn into the wood shed attached to the cabin. We've had some jerks stealing wood from the barn in the last couple of weeks and I need to protect it from further five finger reduction if I'm going to be here through the middle of November or come up at any time during the winter.

Someone also sabotaged two of our game cameras breaking the sensors on both. They were located on Mark's side of the road and one was a short iron shot from his cabin. Another camera was stolen off the tree on my side of the road.

I've got posted signs along the road but will be looking to get some to do the other three boundaries of the property. There have been too many instances where people are wandering through thinking they are on state land or coming in from the 400 acres piece to the west that's up for sale. (Apparently the realtor has been giving people permission to hunt that parcel.)

******

Terry reports that the Aerie received 3-4 inches of snow but the roads and driveways (packed clay and gravel in the immediate area) only had about 1 inch on them this morning. She's going to shovel off what snow is on the deck and put some more bird seed in the tray that's out there before packing the Jeep to head for NJ.

Here at the Bolt Hole, the temperature never got below 30 degrees overnight and, despite a falling barometer, we got nothing but frost. The sun is out now but that may change as it so often does here in the southern 'Dacks. We seem to be at the crossroads of many a weather system, some from the south, some from the north, some from the west, some from the east. We're at the southeastern limit of the snow belt from Lake Ontario (if the wind comes steadily out of the northwest we can really get socked!) and the innermost reaches of the nor'easters. Makes life interesting.

******

I've got to get myself packed up after lunch and head down to NJ for my niece's wedding. The rehearsal is tonight at 7 PM in Dumont. That's east of I-287...heck, it's east of the Parkway!... which is beyond my normal stomping ground. In fact, it's in the quadrant of the state that I view as my least favorite to visit so I'm not exactly looking forward to the trip. But I was asked to do a reading and agreed so I'll suck it up and head into those mean streets.

Tonight, I'll stay at my MIL's in Linden with Terry and we'll all go to the wedding on Saturday then the reception Saturday night. Sunday AM I'll be running back up the NYS Thruway to the Bolt Hole again.

And so it begins.

The official start of winter is December 21. Today is just the 15th of October. Still...



Have I mentioned that the Aerie is at 2100 feet?

With all the trees still having some leaves, if not all of them, this could wreak havoc in the Northern Tier. The forecast does seem to indicate the worst will be to the western side of Tioga County (the Aerie is on the east) and into the Allegheny National Forest.

******

Here at the Bolt Hole we saw the temperature go down to 25 degrees last night. Not nearly as bad as I thought it might get but even so, well below freezing. The snow will, it appears stay well to the south of the NYS Thruway so that's a plus.

Bolt Hole Report, October 14, 2009

I made the trip to the Bolt Hole without a problem. There were only a few sprinkles as I drove along the shores of Seneca Lake. I did not that many of the vineyards appear to have been hit by a hard frost. The leaves of the grape vines were blackened and withered. Hopefully, they were able to harvest the grapes before that happened. Other vineyards seemed not to have been hit at all so perhaps it was a matter of location or grape variety.

Mark left a nice roaring fire going before he headed off to work this morning and the cabin was almost too hot inside. He also had turned the water pump and water heater on, as well as put temporary blocks over the basement windows to cut off the air circulation. Tomorrow I'll put some more permanent foam panels in the openings and try to figure a way to block off the opening under the north sill which leads into the unheated wood shed. If there's a large piece of foam in the barn, I may be able to cut one to fit the irregularly shaped space.

The large sugar maple in front of the house has nearly shed all its leaves so I spent an hour raking most of them up and moving them into the field across the street. Only those leaves under the truck remain to be raked up. I cold have moved the truck and gotten them too, but I succumbed to laziness. Sue me.

I stopped at Wally World on the way up and picked up some groceries, enough to get me through the next few days and some for the larder. I'll pick up more when I come back from New Jersey on Sunday. I'm already making a list and at the very top is "coffee" and "bacon."

I also picked up a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer so as to take the guess work out of the morning readings. I put the outdoor sensor on the north side of the sugar maple which is about 10 yards away from the house. It's out of the direct sunlight and should not be affected by the house or the truck which is parked between it and the house. At 6 PM the sun is setting in the west and the thermometer already reads 33.9 degrees. It's overcast and threatening. The weather quacks are saying tonight will be into the 20s (probably the low 20s here) and tomorrow should be nice albeit chill but then things take a turn for the worse. There's a chance of snow showers for Thursday night and again on Friday. *sigh*

Well, that's about all for now.

Winds of November come early

Bringing an early winter...What the hell happened to Fall?

And with these recent winds, this comes to mind:

Cha- cha- cha- changes!

Man, I hate it when plan falls apart.

My niece is getting married on Saturday...in New Jersey. She asked me to do a reading at the wedding and I agreed. That means I need to be there for the rehearsal on Friday night. Terry got back from her sojourns to Indianapolis and Pittsburgh on Saturday and I, who had been babysitting the cats, was just starting to enjoy some meals cooked by her. I planned on traveling with her to NJ for the wedding and then back to PA and on up to the Bolt Hole for deer season. (NY muzzleloader starts this Saturday and rifle season is the Saturday after that.)

Then I got a phone call from my buddy Mark. Seems that the cold temperatures are hitting hard at the Bolt Hole. It was down to the high teens Monday night/Tuesday morning. He was going up and wanted to know if I wanted him to build a fire in the woodstove.

Now, when I left, I thought the temperatures would be a bit warmer in early October than they have been so I didn't drain the pipes. The place does seem to stay warmer than you'd expect but still, 16 or 17 degrees outside is going to cool things off considerably. I told him to go for it. Build that fire.

And then I looked at the weather forecast for the next couple of days and saw that the night time lows were going to be, if anything, even lower. That got me a bit worried as Mark's only going to be there for the one night. Soooo....

I packed my bags, rifles, ammo and all the rest of my hunting gear and will be putting it in the Tundra early this morning and heading north.

Just to keep the place warm.

It means I go back to eating my own cooking. Which is dull in comparison to what Terry does.

It also means I will be traveling down to NJ from the Bolt Hole on Friday while Terry drives in from PA. She'll be in the Jeep Compass because of a forecast for possible snow and sleet in the higher elevations on Friday. (Not north of the Catskills, however.)

I hate it when a plan just flat out falls apart.

I'm blaming Al Gore for this inconvenience.

Ups and Downs in College Football

Before this season started, CBSSports ranked all 120 FBS college football teams. Idaho University was ranked number 114 out of 120. Not terribly surprising as the Vandals have not had a winning season in forever. In 2008 they went 2 and 10.

But that was then.

With six games under their belt this year, the Vandals are 5-1 and lead the Western Athletic Conference with a 2-0 record—ahead of Boise State’s 1-0 record. The CBSSports 120 Poll currently lists them as #49.

They need just one more victory to ensure that they will NOT have another losing year. Two wins and it’s a winning year regardless of what the rest of the year is like. Can they get those wins? Hell yeah! Everyone remaining on their schedule has a losing record at the moment except Boise State (5-0). The Vandals could win their next four games and be 9-1 when they go down to Boise to play on the blue carpet against what should be a 9-0 Broncos team in a game that could determine the WAC champion.

Heady stuff for the Vandals, who have been flying beneath the radar so far. That won't last long if they keep winning.

******

Moving in the opposite direction is Ball State. They ended last year ranked #30, which was down from #21 after a 45-13 loss to Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl. The Cardinals are currently 0-6 and going nowhere fast. CBSSPorts ranks them at #117 this week, ahead of only Miami (Ohio), Eastern Michigan, and Western Kentucky. This is a team that was 12-0 in the regular season in 2008. Then they lost the MAC Championship game and the bowl game and all six games they’ve played this year. Talk about imploding!

Week 7 In the Big East

Three intra-conference match-ups this week including one between Top 25 teams means there’s going to be some hard, hard football being played. The winners will move on up the ladder toward bowl eligibility and the Big East title.

8/9/10 (8/10/10) Cincinnati (5-0) The Bearcats travel south to face #21 South Florida…on—da-da-da-daaa-- Thursday night. I can't believe I'll be rooting for the Bulls in this one.

The Louisville Cardinals (2-3) play at Connecticut (3-2) on Saturday. Mush, Huskies! Mush!

The Pittsburgh Panthers (5-1) play at Rutgers (4-1) on Friday night. It's at Rutgers and the Panthers looked a tad vulnerable--and lucky--last week against UConn. I'm rooting for my Scarlet Knights. (R U Rah! Rah!) For me the question is who will rush for 100 yards this week?

West Virginia (4-1) will host Marshall’s Thundering Herd (4-2) on Saturday. Look for the Mountaineers to dominate their instate rival from Conference USA.

Syracuse (2-4) will have the weekend off. They need it.

Week 7 Top 25 and their Opponents

After six weeks of play, there’s getting to be a pretty good feel for who’s got it and who hasn’t. The greatest amount of movement—as always—takes place near the bottom of the list where teams come and go or come in low and then shoot up the ranks after a successful week or two. Here’s this week’s rankings of the Top 25 (more or less) along with their opponents in Week 7 of competition. The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those going into week 6.

Only #10 LSU and #13 Oregon are off this week and with lots of conference play as well as matches between ranked teams, there’s bound to be a whole lot of shakin’ goin’ on.

1/1/1 (1/1/1) Florida (5-0) The Gators host the Arkansas Razorbacks (3-2)

2/3/3 (3/3/3) Alabama (6-0) The Crimson Tide host #22 South Carolina (5-1)

3/2/2 (2/2/2) Texas (5-0) The Longhorns host #20 Oklahoma (3-2)

4/4/4 (5/5/7) Virginia Tech (5-1) The Hokies travel south to face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (5-1)

5/6/6 (6/6/5) Boise State (5-0) The Broncos play at Tulsa (4-1) on Wednesday night.

6/5/7 (7/7/8) Southern California (4-1) The Trojans travel to #25 Notre Dame (4-1) on Saturday.

7/7/5 (9/8/6) Ohio State (5-1) The Buckeyes travel to West Lafayette to face a Purdue (1-5) team in search of some wins.

8/9/10 (8/10/10) Cincinnati (5-0) The Bearcats travel south to face Big East rival #21 South Florida…on—da-da-da-daaa-- Thursday night.

9/11/11 (11/11/11) Miami (Fla.) (4-1) The Hurricanes travel a very short distance up to Orlando to face the UCF Knights (3-2)

10/10/13 (4/4/4) LSU (5-1) The Tigers are idle this week.

11/12/9 12/14/12) Iowa (6-0) The Hawkeyes square off against Big Ten foe Wisconsin (5-1) in Madison.

12/8/8 (10/9/9) TCU (5-0) The Horned Frogs square off against Colorado State (3-3)

13/16/16 (13/17/18) Oregon (5-1) The Ducks have the weekend off.

14/13/14 (14/12/14) Penn State (5-1) The Lions welcome Big Ten foe Minnesota (4-2) into Happy Valley on Saturday.

15/17/19 (21/22/23) Nebraska (4-1) The Cornhuskers are at home for Texas Tech (4-2)

16/14/15 (15/13/17) Oklahoma State (4-1) The Cowboys will host Missouri (4-1)

17/15/12 (16/15/13) Kansas (5-0) The Jayhawks travel to Colorado (1-4).

18/19/17 (18/20/19) Brigham Young (5-1) The Cougars will face the San Diego State Aztecs (2-3)

19/20/20 (22/23/25) Georgia Tech (5-1) The Yellow Jackets will host #4 Virginia Tech (5-1).

20/18/18 (19/21/21) Oklahoma (3-2) The Sooners are at #3 Texas (5-0)

21/21/25 (23/24/NA) South Florida (5-0) The Bulls will host #8 Cincinnati (5-0)

22/22/22 (25/NA/NA) South Carolina (5-1) The Gamecocks play at #2 Alabama (6-0)

23/23/21 (NA/NA/24) Houston (4-1) The Cougars play at Tulane (2-3).

24/NA/NA (NA/NA/NA) Utah (4-1) The Utes will play at UNLV (2-4)

25/25/NA (NA/NA/NA) Notre Dame (4-1) The Irish will be hosting #6 Southern California (4-1) this weekend

NA/24 /NA (24/18/22) Missouri (4-1) The Tigers play at #16 Oklahoma State (4-1)

NA/NA/23 (20/16/15) Mississippi (4-2) The Rebels will play host to the UAB Blazers (2-3)

NA/NA/24 (17/19/16) Auburn (5-1) The Tigers host the Kentucky Wildcats (2-3)

Biting off more than you can chew?

Terry and I are planning a cross country trip next summer. We plan on taking the travel trailer out to Alaska with a group from the Good Sam Club.

I'm sure the Tundra will not have the difficulties demonstrated in the clip below despite having to haul a 27-foot long, 7,000 pound trailer over the Canadian Rockies and north to Alaska.



At least I hope it doesn't.

More weather reports from this weekend

Western MT cold breaks records

Missoula's official low temperature of 10 degrees Saturday broke a 36-year record. Kalispell was just 5 degrees, well below the previous record of 16 degrees set in October of 1987.
...
The winds are expected to blow up to 25 miles per hour, creating wind chill of up to 20 below for the Flathead and Mission valleys, and around 10 below in the Missoula Valley.

Cold temperatures threaten seed potato crop

Record-low temperatures in southwestern Idaho are threatening to destroy at least a portion of this season's crop of seed potatoes.

Spuds still in the ground could be saved by a layer of snow; a dusting had fallen on Bozeman and the surrounding region by Sunday.
...
Temperatures on Saturday evening dipped to 17 degrees; the last time it was this cold, this early, in southwestern Idaho was more than two decades ago, in 1985.

Going 'cold turkey' on Columbus Day

Sunday's very chilly 44-degree high was more typical of Thanksgiving than just before Columbus Day, and it followed fall's first widespread hard freeze that dropped Sunday morning lows into the middle and upper 20s except for areas very close to the lake. O'Hare International Airport's 29 degrees was the coldest since April 2, when it dropped to 28, and Rockford's 25-degree low broke a record dating back to 1987, when it was 26. The Chicago area, along with much of the Midwest and Plains, has been locked in a chilly pattern since late September with little prospect for warming in the short term. Snow covers much of the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest, and up to 5 more inches are expected Monday.

Rockies, fans feel the chill at Coors Field

Nearly four hours into the game, the weather had frosted even the most hot-blooded of fans. From the middle innings on, a steady stream of human icicles headed out through the exits.
...
All this bravado, though, does not mean Rockies fans took the cold lightly. This was, after all, a game with a first-pitch temperature of 35 degrees. A game so cold — it beat out the previous coldest postseason baseball game by at least 3 degrees, depending on whose reading you believe — it turned everyone, even the most die-hard Philadelphia Phillies fan, a little purple.

******

And this Columbus Day morning it's just 32 degrees at 7 AM here at the Aerie. Of course, it's colder down in the valley (cold air sinks) than it is here at 2100 feet. There is a light frost on the Tundra's and Jeep's windshields, however, and the house's heating system is pumping hot water through the pipes.

Weather.com says we should get up to around 53 today. The average high is 63 degrees.

Aerie Report, October 11, 2009

Terry came home yesterday from her travels to Indianapolis and Pittsburgh for the SAGA and EGA conventions. She came home with a much emptier Jeep. Boxes of magazines and other stuff belonging to SAGA went with her and stayed in Indianapolis or was sold to convention participants.

She had a great time at both conventions and passed the presidential gavel to the next in line. She says the feeling of relief was palpable. Currently, she has no official position in any capacity in the Smocking Arts Guild of America, not so in the Embroiderers' Guild of America. She's been asked to become the president of one of the local chapters (Treasured Stitchery) in December and is another chapter's (Corning) representative to the mid-east region for which she will become secretary next April. And to think, one of her cabinet asked her in Indianapolis if, now that she is no longer national president, she would be bored!

On a side note, she reports the Jeep Compass was exceptionally comfortable and got around 28 mpg when it was carrying a load of magazines and scissors. Once those were gone, it improved to 30+ mpg.

******

It was just 39 degrees at the Aerie this morning when we got up. Terry says she saw frost in the valley when she went to church. There's not much of a breeze blowing and the sky is mostly clear. The weather quacks say we are in for a very cold night and the temperatures may even drop into the 20s by Monday morning.

******

We took a ride this afternoon out west of Wellsboro for lunch and then to PA's Grand Canyon at Leonard Harris SP for a little leaf peeping.

My Lord! The park was packed! I guess we should have expected it. After all, it's a three day weekend, the weather is great--if chilly, and the leave color is closing in on the absolute peak.

We managed to find a parking space for the Tundra and walked in to the observation area. There were tables selling maple products (fried dough, ice cream, syrup, etc.) and hot dogs and hamburgers (a Girl Scout fund raiser) set up on either side of the entry.

The Pine Creek Gorge (The Grand Canyon of PA) looking north
from the observation area at Leonard Harris SP

I was a little disappointed with the colors. Many trees down in the gorge had already lost their leaves in the winds and heavy rains last week and the pines and hemlocks are so abundant that there was an awful lot of green still present on the hills.

The view west from the observation area.

Perhaps I was disappointed because on the way over, we had seen some hills with much more color. Heck, those hills I can view from the Aerie's deck seem to have more color.

The view to the west from the Aerie's deck.

******

We got back to the Aerie around 3:30 PM and I tuned in the Giants vs Oakland football game--if you can call a 44-7 shellacking a game. Eli played less than one half and left having helped the G-men put 28 points on the board and to a 5-0 record. It's good to see he was able to play with the bad foot. But then again, it was Oakland.

I was also able to pick up the end of the Dallas vs KC game. It was 13-13 when I tuned in but then it was 20-13 Dallas with just 2:12 left. Then 20-20 with just seconds on the clock. In OT it went back and forth until some guy named Miles Austin made a catch on the sidelines and sprinted 60 yards for a Dallas TD. (Heck of a name for a WR playing for Dallas, BTW...Miles Austin.) Austin had 10 catches for 250 yards. Not a bad afternoon. But I was hoping the Chiefs could have pulled this one out.

Week 6 Results in the Big East

#8 Cincinnati (5-0) is idle

The UConn Huskies (3-2) played the Pittsburgh Panthers (5-1) in a well fought match that went down to the final seconds. Unfortunately, Pitt had the ball at that time and a field goal as the clock ran out meant a 24-21 victory for the Panthers.

In another close contest, the Louisville Cardinals (2-3) got a field goal with 30 seconds left to edge Southern Mississippi (3-3) by a score of 25-23.

Pittsburgh (5-1) The Panthers beat Connecticut (3-2) 24-21.

Rutgers (4-1) shut out Texas Southern (1-4) 42-0. This is the fourth year in a row that the Scarlet Knights have posted a shutout. Only Boise State can match that record in the last four years. Freshman De'Antwan Williams carried the ball 19 times for 132 yards—all in the second half--including a 44-yard TD run, thus becoming the fourth RU running back to crack the century mark this season. The RU defense “allowed” minus 25 yards rushing and returned one interception for a TD courtesy of sophomore cornerback David Rowe’s 56-yard romp. Over the previous three games, Rutgers has allowed 45 rushing yards combined. This was the second RU game against a FCS team—Howard was the first--and the BCS allows only one to count toward bowl eligibility. Still, it was the 600th win in school history.

#23 South Florida (5-0) is idle.

It was all Mountaineers in the first half as West Virginia (4-1) out manned Syracuse (2-4) 34-13.

West Virginia (4-1) The Mountaineers beat up Syracuse (2-4) 34-13.

Week 6 Results Top 25

The Top 25 (more or less) will see very little shuffling about after this week’s games. Oh, there will be some movement due to loses but, except for #17 Auburn’s humiliation by Arkansas, there were no major surprises, no huge upsets. And lots of teams were inactive in any case.

The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are from week 5. All records include this week's results.

1/1/1 (1/1/1) Florida (5-0) The Gators beat #4 LSU (5-1) 13-3.
The Gators scored the only TD on a Tim Tebow pass that should have been called back. Replays showed the receiver tugging on the defenders jersey and throwing him off balance before breaking free for the catch. The cameras caught it. The announcers saw it. But the SEC officials missed the call. Again.

2/2/2 (2/2/2) Texas (4-0) The Longhorns came back strong in the second half to defeat the Colorado Buffaloes (1-4) 38-14. It was Colorado 14-10 at the half.

3/3/3 (3/3/3) Alabama (6-0) The Tide dominated #20 Mississippi (4-2) 22-3.

4/4/4 (4/4/5) LSU (5-1) The Tigers lost to #1 Florida (5-0) 13-3 in a defense dominated game.

5/5/7 (6/6/8) Virginia Tech (5-1) The Hokies routed Boston College (4-2) 48-14.

6/6/5 (5/5/4) Boise State (5-0) The Broncos are idle this week.

7/7/8 (7/7/10) Southern California (4-1) The Trojans are idle this week.

8/10/10 (10/11/12) Cincinnati (5-0) The Bearcats are idle this week.

9/8/6 (9/9/6) Ohio State (5-1) The Buckeyes knocked off the Wisconsin Badgers (5-1) 31-13

10/9/9 (11/10/9) TCU (5-0) The Horned Frogs remained undefeated beating Air Force (3-3) in a close contest 20-17.

11/11/11 (17/21/25) Miami (Fla.) (4-1) The Hurricanes blew through Florida A & M (4-1) 48-16.

12/14/12 (13/17/13) Iowa (6-0) The Hawkeyes edged Michigan (4-2) 30-28. Iowa has won three home games by a total of six points but they forced five Wolverine turnovers this day.

13/17/18 (16/25/21) Oregon (5-1) The Ducks downed UCLA (3-2) 24-10.

14/12/14 (15/13/14) Penn State (5-1) The Nittany Lions drubbed Eastern Illinois (4-2) 52-3.

15/13/17 (14/12/17) Oklahoma State (4-1) The Cowboys won a close one at Texas A & M (3-2) as they held off the Aggies 36-31

16/15/13 (18/16/15) Kansas (5-0) The Jayhawks outscored Iowa State (3-3) 36-31 to survive a shootout. Todd Reesing threw for a career-high 442 yards and four touchdowns while the Cyclone’s Austen Arnaud hit 25 of 40 for 293 yards and two TDs plus he ran for another.

17/19/16 (NA/NA/NA) Auburn (5-1) The Tigers dropped from the ranks of the unbeaten as Arkansas (3-2) dominated 44-23.

18/20/19 (20/21/23) Brigham Young (5-1) The Cougars enjoyed their visit to Las Vegas. Beating UNLV (2-4) 59-21.

19/21/21 (8/8/7) Oklahoma (3-2) The Sooners beat Baylor (3-2) 33-7.

20/16/15 (21/18/16) Mississippi (4-2) The Rebels got rolled by #3 Alabama (6-0) 22-3.

21/22/23 (23/24/NA) Nebraska (4-1) The Cornhuskers playing in heavy rain on Thursday night at #24 Missouri (4-1) got 27 points in the fourth quarter (20 of them in about 3 ½ minutes thanks to two INT) to beat the Tigers 27-12.

22/23/25 (25/NA/NA) Georgia Tech (5-1) The Yellow Jackets’ Josh Nesbitt ran for three touchdowns and threw for one more as he lead his team to a 49-44 victory over Florida State (2-4). The ‘Noles’ Christian Ponder, who completed 26 of 38 passes for a career best 359 yards and five touchdowns but it wasn’t enough.

23/24/NA (NA/NA/NA) South Florida (5-0) The Bulls are idle this week.

24/18/22 (NA/23/24) Missouri (4-1) The Tigers proved to me no mudders as they lost to #21 Nebraska (4-1) Thursday night 27-12 in a torrential rain.

25/NA/NA (NA/NA/NA) South Carolina (5-1) The Gamecocks edged Kentucky (2-3) 28-26 when sophomore quarterback threw for three touchdowns, rushed for another with minutes left.

NA/25/20 (NA/NA/NA) Wisconsin (5-1) The Badgers were over powered 31-13 by #9 Ohio State (5-1)

NA/NA/24 (12/15/11) Houston (4-1) The Cougars’ Case Keenum over came two INT early on and threw four touchdown passes to help Houston rebound from last week’s loss with a 31-24 victory over the Bulldogs of Mississippi State (2-4)

The Gore Effect

The Wisconsin State Journal reports: Gore upbeat on climate bill

Former Vice President Al Gore shared his optimism about the "shifting momentum" of the climate change debate with about 500 environmental journalists Friday in Madison.

Missing from the report is any mention of the weather in Madison this weekend. Saturday, according to weather.com they had a high of 41 degrees (average for October 10th is 63) and a low of 29 degrees (average is 41). To repeat: The high was the average low. This morning, at 7:45 AM local, it's 29 degrees in Madison.

The man is doubling down in his push for cap and trade.

The man is an idiot.

And let us not forget that it was a record 17 degrees in Denver on Saturday. The old record low for October 10th was 25 degrees. They didn't just break the record, they shattered it.

This is soooo wrong:

According to Politico, President Obama, in a statement about the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to him, said:

“I will accept this award as a call to action, a call to all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st Century.”

He will not listen to the majority of his own constituents when it comes to bailouts for auto makers, health care, cap and trade, or any of the other issues we face here in the United States but he'll take the award "as a call to action" from those sitting on the selection panel in Norway?

How's the oath of office go again? Something about "protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" I believe. Nothing about massive nanny state or global government in there that I recall. But then again, he is the constitutional scholar, not I perhaps he has read something in there I've missed.

I've also seen news articles and post titles about how "humbling" this award is to the President. "Humbling"? Are they taking about the right person?

Aerie Report, October 9, 2009

here's a photo of the new shed doors I installed yesterday.

New doors on old shed.

The shed was the only building left standing on the property when we purchased it back in 2005. The former owner had a trailer on a loose concrete block foundation at one time. It was serviced by a drilled, but shallow, well; a septic system; and electric power that ran through the property. The doors of the shed were hanging loosely by their hinges thanks to either someone breaking in, large animals, or strong winds. The rest of the shed was remarkably sound (except for that little bit of trim in the lower left that needs to be refastened). We reattached the old doors and put a padlock on them while using it for storage during construction.

******

The rains arrived as predicted but the heaviest seems to be a little to the west of here at the moment. It's even stopped for the time being. I'm sure that's only going to last an hour or two before we get socked again, but in these hills you can never tell. Air flow around and over the Northern Tier can be a wee bit unpredictable which is sort of amazing to me as the mountains are all less than 3000 feet in elevation.

I'm currently looking at winds swirling around the Aerie but predominantly out of the southwest and the clouds have dropped so that, looking out the window, I'm actually looking down at their bottoms.

*****

When I wrote that I was reading Butcher's Dresden Files yesterday, I mentioned I was on the last one, Turn Coat. Well, it seems I was wrong. There's a new one coming out in 2010. Only the title is currently known according to Wikipedia: Changes. It will be #12 in the series started back in 2000. The man is prolific!

******

Speaking of prolific.... While I'm waiting for Changes to come out, I can always go buy Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett. I can't believe that it's been out for a month and I haven't picked a copy up already. Guess I'm just too far from the nearest B & N. Which is often a good thing!

Say WHAT?

Jeeze! I knew they were having as difficult time finding someone who deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, but this selection is just plain ludicrous:

Barack Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

President Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Friday for his work to improve international diplomacy and rid the world of nuclear weapons -- a stunning decision to celebrate a figure virtually unknown in the world before he launched his campaign for the White House nearly three years ago.

And what, exactly has he accomplished along those lines? I mean besides signaling the world that he hates the USA? He and his followers have spent the US into indenturedness to the Chinese. He's angered our friends AND foes alike. He's watched on the sidelines (so far) as North Korea and now Iran developed nuclear weapons.

Other than that he has talked...and talked...and talked...

Oh, wait. He did all those things AFTER he took office. Perhaps they don't count since there's this little tidbit:

Though Obama's name surfaced early among contenders, the announcement stunned observers -- and drew gasps from the audience in Oslo -- in part because Obama assumed office less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 deadline for nominations.

(The emphasis is mine.)

Read that again: "Obama assumed office less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 deadline for nominations."

Meaning 1) He was nominated for the Peace Prize because of his rhetoric on the campaign trail and not any real accomplishments because he had no venue from which to accomplish a damn thing until he was installed in office. Or 2) So hard up for candidates was the committee that they chose to ignore their own rules and select someone who at least didn't murder anyone recently.

The Nobel Prizes in the hard sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Medicine, etc.) are quite prestigious. Those in the arts and political sphere are more often than not a joke. And this one is a big, fat flop.

Hey, maybe now he can help out his half brother in Kenya, or keep his promise to the village over there to help with their school. $1.4 million would go a long way.

Aerie Report, October 8, 2009

Not much to report on today. The winds that howled around here yesterday died down overnight to a virtual dead calm by daybreak. The temperature dropped but not below 43 degrees. It didn't rise much during the day, however, and failed to get above 55 this afternoon.

We had a lot of high level cumulus clouds obscuring the sun for much of the day. They were headed southeast which is strange considering our next weather maker is coming up from the southwest. It's stretching from western PA all the way down to northeaster Texas right now and some places along that line may get 6 inches of rain. We're not supposed to be one of them. Accuhunch says we'll get between 1 and 1.5 inches between tonight and Saturday with a bit more on Monday. Just what we need. I poured 0.15 inches of water out of the rain gauge yesterday after the quick, heavy shower of Tuesday night.

Heh. Could be worse. At least one town in Idaho had to close their schools last Monday because of snow. They're forecasting a snow event tomorrow along the northern Rockies that will reach down into Nebraska. The mountains of Idaho, western Montana and Colorado could get up to 6 inches of white stuff. And that storm will move east bringing snow to Chicago on Sunday.

******

I should have taken advantage of the weather to cut the grass...again. Instead I took the old doors off the shed that was here when we bought the property and hung the new ones I built last winter. They've been sitting in the garage and awaiting my get-up-and-do-it which finally got here this afternoon. Of course, those new doors still need to be stained but, hey!, at least they're hanging in the right place now. Naturally, I forgot to take a picture before it got too dark and with the rain starting tonight.... Well, maybe I can get one tomorrow.

******

I finished the last of the Jim Butcher Harry Dresden books (Small Favor) I bought a month ago. And promptly read the little novelette called Backup written from the viewpoint of Harry's older half brother, the vampire Thomas. After that I started to read Turn Coat which is #11 in the Dresden Files series. I borrowed the last two from the library over in Wellsboro while I was over there for an Audubon meeting on Tuesday. I don't believe either is out in paperback yet but when Turn Coat is available in that form, I'll probably buy it.

I would have picked up some of Butcher's Codex Alera series, but the library shelf only held books 3, 4 and 5 of the series. And I refuse to jump into the middle. It would be like reading The Two Towers without first reading The Fellowship Of the Ring.

Okay, why buy a book I've borrowed from the library and all ready read? Because, my dear fellow, I enjoyed and appreciate Mr. Butcher's work in writing the thing and he deserves compensation. I have found all his books extremely entertaining, and I'll probably read it again...and again. Having all of the series on hand, I do not have to worry about whether the library will have a copy when I want to read it.

Oops!

Somali pirate error ends with 5 in French brig

Somali pirates in two skiffs fired on a French navy vessel early Wednesday after apparently mistaking it for a commercial boat, the French military said. The French ship gave chase and captured five suspected pirates.

Doesn't qualify them for the Darwin Awards, however. They were merely captured and not killed.

UPDATE: And then there's this story from the Daily Mail Online:

Thugs attack two transvestites... who turn out to be cage fighters wearing fancy dress

Two thugs who attacked what they thought were a pair of transvestites picked on the wrong men - when their intended victims turned out to be cage fighters on a night out in fancy dress.

Dean Gardener, 19, and Jason Fender, 22, singled out the two men walking along a street in wigs, short skirts and high heels.

Bare-chested Gardener was caught on CCTV confronting one of the men in a pink wig, black skirt and boob tube - then seen swinging a punch, a court heard.

But the other cage fighter, wearing a sparkling black dress and matching long wig, sprang to his friend's help, delivering two lightning-quick punches to the two stunned yobs.

The cage fighters were then seen teetering away in their high heels, stopping only to pick up a clutch bag they dropped during the melee.

Gardener and Fender were left dazed and seen staggering to their feet after their failed attack.

Two questions:

1) What made the fools think transvestites might be easy targets? (Especially since they themselves were rip roaring drunk.)

2) Just why were these two cage fighters dressed up as women? The article gives no clue.
[UPDATE: Read somewhere...Ace of Spades?...that they were going to a stag party at which all participants were to dress in drag.]

Then there's this part of their sentence:

The pair were sentenced to a four-month community order, were electronically tagged and placed under a curfew between 7pm to 7am.

Friggin tag -and-release!

Workshop Progress Report

Yesterday I finished putting the frame pieces on the quilt square leaving it in the clamps overnight. This morning it was time to touch up the sanding, patch a tiny hole created by the router in an oak and apply some spray Verathane. It's not perfect, but I think it looks pretty nice.

Finished quilt square.

Wall hangings in the White House

Allegedly, this is one of the pieces of art from the National Gallery that the Obama's chose to hang in the White House:


Perhaps Sear's should contact the President and see if he'd like to star along side Bret Favre in those indecision commercials they've been making lately. (Hey! That might make a good skit for SNL!)

UPDATE: Another choice from Ann Althouse can be seen here.

Windy Aerie

I woke during the night to the sound of a freight train rushing through the yard. It wasn't a freight train, of course, but the wind and rain. The rain didn't last long--the gauge held just 0.15 inches this morning, but the wind lingers on. This was on the weather.com site at 9:45 AM

Issued by The National Weather Service
State College, PA
4:13 am EDT, Wed., Oct. 7, 2009

A WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING.

A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL CROSS THE REGION THIS MORNING. WESTERLY WINDS IN THE WAKE OF THE FRONT WILL INCREASE TO BETWEEN 20 AND 30 MPH... WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 50 MPH THROUGHOUT THE DAY... ESPECIALLY OVER THE RIDGE TOPS.

Now, the Aerie is not at the ridge TOP (approximately 2360 feet), but it's pretty damn close to the top (2100 feet) and I can attest to the fact that the winds are howling!

Not too shabby for an old manVikings 30- Packers 23

Well, the old dude didn't do so badly. Favre, who turns 40 on Saturday, completed 24 of 31 for 272 yards and three TDs in leading the Vikings over the Packers. (One question comes to mind: What the heck happened in the second half of last season, dude?)

He got a lot of help from the linemen, however. On offense, he could have been sitting in a rocking chair knitting and never have been touched. Probably would have finished the sweater, too. On defense, Jared Allen was a one man wrecking crew with 4 1/2 sacks including one for a safety. (And that was a weird challenge! The ball popped loose as Green Bay QB Rogers tried to get out of the endzone and it seemed the Vikings recovered on the one-foot line. Green Bay challenged the call of a fumble and won. The result was a safety --just 2 points--and the Vikes got the ball on a free kick instead of the one foot line--a sure 6 points. So Green Bay challenged, won and gave up 2 points instead of 6. Weird.) As for the sacks...the rest of the Vikings D did all right too. In total, Rogers was sacked eight (8!) times.

Still Rogers found plenty of holes in the Vikings defensive backfield as he completed 26 of 37 attempts for 384 yards (a career best) and two TDs. The final TD kept the Packers in the game with minutes to go.

The Packers schedule for the next month: BYE, Detroit, @ Cleveland, and then Minnesota again. They should be 4-2 on November 1st.

Th Vikings have it a bit tougher: @ St Louis, Baltimore, @ Pittsburgh, and then @ Green Bay. The Baltimore and Pittsburgh games are going to be key. If they split them (losing to the Steelers on the road) then they should be 6-1 on November 1st.

It will be interesting to see how the Green Bay crowd reacts to that Favre fellow showing up in purple.

******

I've gotten a kick out of the Sear's commercials that feature Brett Favre trying to decide whether to purchase a big flat screen TV. The first one had the salesmen talking about people who just can't seem to make a decision and Favre saying how he hates those kind of folks. He then declares he'll take the TV and immediately shakes his head and changes his mind. "I don't know."

Well, last night I saw a new one for the first time. Farve is still standing in front of the TV trying to decide as the sales clerk goes off to conduct business elsewhere, goes to lunch, dinner, and finally offers Favre a ride hope as the store is closing for the day. It ends with Favre still standing there rubbing his chin as the clean-up crew vacuums the store with nearly all the lights and all the TVs turned off.

Cracked me up.

******

Speaking of "old guys"... Do any of you remember George Blanda? Hell of a QB and kicker back in the day. Even when he played for the Oakland Raiders (*spit*) when they were really good and dirty, I would have to root for the old man. (Except when they played my Jets.) Now there was a guy who seemed willing to play forever...and damn near did. "Oldest person to play in an NFL game: &0000000000000048.00000048 years, &0000000000000109.000000109 days" according to the Wiki page linked above. "He is the placekicker on the All-Time All-AFL Team, and was one of only 20 players to play all ten years of the AFL, as well as one of only three who were in every AFL game their teams played. Blanda was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981, his first year of eligibility."

Favre has a long, long way to go to match that longevity. And, not being a place kicker, is unlikely to do so. One thing Favre might do that no one else has ever done is win a playoff game while over the age of 40. Maybe this December.

I always had doubts about that saying.

see more dog and puppy pictures

Aerie Report, October 5, 2009

A beautiful, if chilly and deer free, day here at the Aerie. The thermometer says the low was a mere 40 degrees soon after sunrise at 7:30 AM. The "high" at 4:30 PM was just 53 degrees despite the sun's rays shining between the scattered clouds. The wind blew steadily out of the north-northwest all day and would have had those windmills atop the ridge spinning happily if they had been up and online. If the clouds stay widely scattered, we could be in for a cold--not chilly, COLD--night.

******

Not seeing hide nor hair of any white tails, I spent some time in the workshop again today. I managed to cut the final pieces for the square and dry fit everything together satisfactorily. Oh, it took a little tweaking here and there, a little sanding of edges, and a little "there, that doesn't look so bad" but it got put together. Once I was satisfied, I glued everything to the backboard. Piece by piece. There are the eight large diamonds; 32 small diamonds, 16 small squares, and 16 small triangles for the corners; four larger triangles along the edges; and 16 angled pieces for the interior trim. That's 88 pieces all together. And there's still eight more to from the frame. But those are a piece of cake to cut and install.

Dry fitted pieces on the backboard.

Sorry about the poor picture, but, for obvious reasons, I couldn't tilt the board for a better angle without having to play pick-up-pieces. Maybe tomorrow after I get the frame on it I can tilt the bloody thing without having everything slide off. The wood looks exceptionally pale here but when it gets a coat of spry-on Verathane on it it will change appearance. The walnut in particular will darken considerably.

******

Well, the Giants won, and the Jets lost. The outcomes were pretty much as I expected, but who could have predicted that it would be the New Orleans DEFENSE that would beat the Jets? Come on! An interception returned 99 yards for one TD and a Jets' fumble recovered in the endzone for another. That's ridiculous when you think about it. Two plays of 99 yards and zero yards produced two TDs, while the NO offense produced just 10 points--the same as the Jets' offense. *sigh*

Okay, time to go watch some old guy in a purple jersey try to throw the football around. He's 40-freakin years old? How good can he be with that wet noodle dangling from his shirt sleeve. What? His team is 3-0? he won last week's game with a hail Mary on the final play? No way! That guy retired at least twice...didn't he?

Later.

A report from Terry

Terry reports that she has handed over the gavel as President of the Smocking Arts Guild of America (SAGA) and is now a former President. They managed to get through their national convention in Indianapolis without any major snafus.

She left Indy mid-morning to drive east. Of course, there was a football game there this afternoon. The Colts beat Seattle to go to 4-0.

She's now in Pittsburgh for the national convention of the Embroiderer's Guild of America (EGA). Where Sunday Night Football is being played.

She joked about the wacky place Pittsburgh is with the Sunday night football game between the Steelers and the Chargers being played there tonight. She said every one was walking around in black and yellow. The Steelers, winners of last year's Super Bowl, are 1-2 and need a win against San Diego.

Personally, I think the ladies should have raffled off tickets to the football games. After all, it's National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the players are wearing pink shoes, gloves and arm bands in recognition.

Week 6 for The Big East Coming Up

This week’s Big East Schedule is another abbreviated one. Both #8 Cincinnati (5-0) and #23 South Florida (5-0) are idle. Two games match conference teams against each other and will go a long way toward setting up the Big East standings.

#8 Cincinnati (5-0) is idle

Connecticut (3-1) The Huskies will play at Pittsburgh (4-1). Pitt should win easily.

Louisville (1-3) The Cardinals host Southern Mississippi (3-2). This will make or break the Cardinals' season. It's all ready a long one for the Louisville squad but another loss here and it will become a real gut check.

Pittsburgh (4-1) The Panthers host Connecticut (3-1). As I said above, Pitt by at least 14.

Rutgers (3-1) hosts Texas Southern (1-3). The Knights play another FCS team (Howard was the other) and it will serve as a learning session for freshman QB Tom Savage who should be ready to go after suffering a head injury at Maryland.

#23 South Florida (5-0) is idle.

Syracuse (2-3) The Orange will host West Virginia (3-1). Does Syracuse have the defense to hold the Mountaineers in check? No. Do they have the offense to outscore them? No. The question is how big the margin will be.

West Virginia (3-1) The Mountaineers play at Syracuse (2-3). As long as they play like they did this week, they should score whenever they want.

Pre Week 6 College Football Rankings and Opponents.

There was a tiny bit of shuffling in the Top 25 (more or less)this week. The three real upsets--#8 Oklahoma dropped a real close contest to #17 Miami, #12 Houston lost a high scoring affair to Texas El-Paso, and #22 Michigan lost to Michigan State--caused the largest movement, but there were other, smaller shifts along the way also.

We can be pretty sure of some major moves after this week is done. We've got #1 vs. #4, #3 vs. #20, and #21 vs. #24. And then there's the Wisconsin Badgers (NA/25/20) going against #9 Ohio State.

Here are the rankings going into week six as well as the opponents in this week's contests. The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those heading into week 5.

1/1/1 (1/1/1) Florida (4-0) The Gators will play at #4 LSU (5-0)

2/2/2 (2/2/2) Texas (3-0) The Longhorns host Colorado (1-3)

3/3/3 (3/3/3) Alabama (5-0) The Tide play at #20 Mississippi (4-1)

4/4/4 (4/4/5) LSU (5-0) The Tigers host #1 Florida (4-0)

5/5/7 (6/6/8) Virginia Tech (4-1) The Hokies host Boston College (4-1)

6/6/5 (5/5/4) Boise State (5-0) The Broncos are idle this week.

7/7/8 (7/7/10) Southern California (4-1) The Trojans are idle this week.

8/10/10 (10/11/12) Cincinnati (5-0) The Bearcats are idle this week.

9/8/6 (9/9/6) Ohio State (4-1) The Buckeyes host the Wisconsin Badgers (5-0)

10/9/9 (11/10/9) TCU (4-0) The Horned Frogs will be at Air Force (3-2)

11/11/11 (17/21/25) Miami (Fla.) (3-1) The Hurricanes host Florida A & M (4-0)

12/14/12 (13/17/13) Iowa (5-0) The Hawkeyes host Michigan (4-1)

13/17/18 (16/25/21) Oregon (4-1) The Ducks travel down to UCLA (3-1)

14/12/14 (15/13/14) Penn State (4-1) The Nittany Lions Eastern Illinois (4-1)

15/13/17 (14/12/17) Oklahoma State (3-1) The Cowboys will play at Texas A & M (3-1)

16/15/13 (18/16/15) Kansas (4-0) The Jayhawks host Iowa State (3-2)

17/19/16 (NA/NA/NA) Auburn (5-0) The Tigers play at Arkansas.

18/20/19 (20/21/23) Brigham Young (4-1) The Cougars play at UNLV (2-3)

19/21/21 (8/8/7) Oklahoma (2-2) The Sooners host Baylor (3-1)

20/16/15 (21/18/16) Mississippi (4-1) The Rebels host #3 Alabama (5-0)

21/22/23 (23/24/NA) Nebraska (3-1) The Cornhuskers play at #24 Missouri (4-0) Thursday night.

22/23/25 (25/NA/NA) Georgia Tech (4-1) The Yellow Jackets play at Florida State (2-3)

23/24/NA (NA/NA/NA) South Florida (5-0) The Bulls are idle this week.

24/18/22 (NA/23/24) Missouri (4-0) The Tigers host #21 Nebraska (3-1) Thursday night.

25/NA/NA (NA/NA/NA) South Carolina (4-1) The Gamecocks will host Kentucky (2-2)

NA/25/20 (NA/NA/NA) Wisconsin (5-0) The Badgers play at #9 Ohio State (4-1)

NA/NA/24 (12/15/11) Houston (3-1) The Cougars will play at Mississippi State (2-3)

Week 5 Reults in the Big East

There’s nothing surprising about the results in the Big East this week. Teams that should have won did. Teams that should have lost did. Both Connecticut and Rutgers are idle.

#10 Cincinnati (5-0) beat Miami (Ohio) (0-5) 37-13.
Connecticut (3-1) idle.

Pittsburgh (4-1) pounded Louisville (1-3) 35-10 Friday night.

Rutgers (3-1) idle.

South Florida (5-0) beat Syracuse (2-3) 34-20 taking advantage of five (5) interceptions thrown by Gregg Paulus and two lost fumbles by the Orange.

West Virginia (3-1) had some Devine (220 yards rushing) help in defeating the Buffaloes of Colorado (1-3) 35-24 on Thursday night.

Week 5 College Football Results

The Top 25 (more or less) remained pretty static this week. There were only three real upsets over the weekend. #8 Oklahoma dropped a real close contest to #17 Miami, #12 Houston lost a high scoring affair to Texas El-Paso, and #22 Michigan lost to Michigan State. As a result, there is likely to be little movement in the ranks.

Here are the rankings and results of the week five contests. The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are from week 4. I'll post the new rankings later today or tomorrow.

1/1/1 (1/1/1) Florida (4-0) Idle

2/2/2 (2/2/2) Texas (3-0) Idle

3/3/3 (3/3/3) Alabama’s Crimson Tide improved to 5-0 as they rolled over the Kentucky (2-2) 38-20.

4/4/5 (7/7/8) LSU The Tigers (5-0) got a little help from the refs with a questionable “celebration” call and two late TDs in overcoming #18 Georgia (3-2) 20-13.

5/5/4 (8/8/5) The Boise State Broncos are now 5-0 after beating UC Davis (1-3) by a score of 34-16.

6/6/8 (11/12/14) The Hokies of Virginia Tech (4-1) beat the Duke Blue Devils (2-3) 34-26.

7/7/10 (12/10/12) The Southern California Trojans (4-1) walloped #24 California (3-2) 30-3.

8/8/7 (10/9/10) The Oklahoma Sooners (2-2) were edged by the #17 Hurricanes of Miami (Fla.) (3-1) by the narrowest of margins, 21-20.

9/9/6 (13/11/9) The Ohio State Buckeyes (4-1) beat up on Indiana (3-2) 33-14.

10/11/12 (14/15/16) The Cincinnati Bearcats (5-0) routed Miami (Ohio) (0-5) 37-13.

11/10/9 (15/14/13) TCU (4-0) had their way with Southern Methodist (2-2) 39-14.

12/15/11 (17/23/15) The Houston Cougars (3-1) dropped a high scoring affair to the Miners of Texas-El Paso (2-3). Case Keenan had a career day going 51-76 for 536 yards and 5 TDs but the Miners’ Donald Buckman ran for 262 yards and 4 TDs as UTEP scored 41 second half points. Heck, EACH team had 21 points in the fourth quarter on the way to the final score of 58-41.

13/17/13 (NA/NA/NA) The Iowa Hawkeyes (5-0) edged Arkansas State (1-3) 24-21.

14/12/17 (16/16/17) Oklahoma State (3-1) Idle

15/13/14 (5/4/4) The Penn State Nittany Lions (4-1) squeezed Illinois (1-3) 35-17.

16/25/21 (NA/NA/NA) The Oregon Ducks (4-1) scored 42 points in the first half as they coasted past Washington State (1-4) 52-6.

17/21/25 (9/13/11) Miami (Fla.) (3-1) The Hurricanes edged the #8 Sooners (2-2) 21-20.

18/16/15 (20/19/19) Kansas (4-0) Idle

18/14/18 (21/17/18) Georgia (3-2) The Bulldogs lost to #4 LSU (5-0) 20-13.

20/21/23 (19/20/21) Brigham Young (4-1) beat up Utah State (1-3) 35-17

21/18/16 (4/5/6) The Mississippi Rebels (3-1) beat the Vanderbilt Commodores (2-3) 23-7.

22/20/19 (23/22/20) The Michigan Wolverines (4-1) caught the Michigan State Spartans (2-3) during the final minutes of regulation, but were intercepted in OT while the Spartans got a TD to win 26-20.

23/24/NA (25/24/NL) Nebraska (3-1) Idle

24/19/22 (6/6/7) The California Golden Bears (3-2) were trounced by the Trojans of # 7 Southern California (4-1) 30-3.

25/NA/NA (NA/NA/NA) The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (4-1) out scored Mississippi State (2-3) 42-31.

NA/23/24 (NL/21/NL) Missouri (4-0) Idle

Aerie Report, October 3, 2009

Today was the opening day of the archery season for deer here in PA. With the rains of the last few days, I never did get a chance to set up my tree stand--if I could find out where the deer have been traveling. I took a walk around the property during a lull in the weather a week ago and saw very little to indicate any deer were strolling though the property. Today I repeated the process and still could find no deer sign.

It might be that the logging, the gas drilling, the pipeline laying and the wind mill construction have all played a part in changing the patterns of the deer and sending them into the deepest woods they can find. A very good crop of acorns from the oaks has probably encouraged them to stay in the deep woods, too.

There's no Sunday hunting and the weather (after the 40% chance of showers this evening) promises to be good again tomorrow, so I'll probably take another walk about to check out some corners of the acreage that I didn't visit today. I'm not real optimistic, however.

******

Speaking of the weather. Today was just gorgeous! The sun came out, it didn't rain, and the temperature rose to 64 degrees. I went out and checked the rain gauge and found 0.53 inches of rain since yesterday morning. Looking at the widely scattered rain in Michigan during today's game, we may get some tonight. Then there's the snow out in Wyoming and South Dakota. Hopefully that snow will change to rain showers, as predicted, before they get here later in the week.

******

I made the adjustments to the diamonds in the woodshop today and dry fit them together. I also dry fit a couple of the corner squares which are composed of eight little diamonds, four squares and four triangles. TO get them to fit neatly into a square shape may require the judicious use of some fine sand paper, but fit they will. Then there are some border and framing pieces yet to be cut. I might be able to begin gluing things to the backboard tomorrow.

Amazing Comeback

There were a couple of remarkable comebacks during today's (LSU over GA--with a little help from the zebras, Washington tying ND only to lose in OD, Michigan coming back to tie Michigan State but also losing in OD)but nothing compares to this comeback in a high school game in Texas back in 1994. Be sure to watch to the very end.

.

(h/t to The Enlightened Redneck)

Devine intervention

Chester and I watched the West Virginia-Colorado football game last night. WVU won 35-24 but it wasn't--and should not have been--that close. The Mountaineers had a case of the turnovers in the first half and kept handing the ball over to the Buffaloes Luckily for WVU: 1) the Buffs failed to do anything with the ball in that first half missing two field goals within the 40 and just not advancing much on the goal line and 2) WVU had Noel Devine.

Devine ran for a personal best 220 yards on 22 carries and got a good chunk of the yardage in the first half which included a 77-yard TD run and another 56-yard run from scrimmage. In the fourth quarter, he carried nine times on one drive alone before WVU's red-shirt freshman running back Ryan Clarke scored on a one-yard play.

Take out those two big runs--77 yards and 56 yards--and Devine gained just 87 yards on his other 20 carries or a little over 4 yards a carry. The same thing happened last week against Auburn. Devine had 128 yards on 15 carries but 71 of them came on one play meaning he had just 57 yards on his other 14 carries. Again, that's about 4 yards per carry. Nothing to sneeze at but stoppable. Just DO NOT let him get passed the linebackers!

Devine's quick and he's fast, and when he's on his game, he's tough to stop. But that was against Colorado's defense. A defense that seemed to be pretty tough on the pass but very soft (or slow) on the run.

On defense, the Mountaineers had their problems but did a lot of bending without breaking. Except for a 36 yard run by Colorado's Rodney Stewart (who finished the night with 105 yards on 21 carries) and a 29-yard TD pass from Cody Hawkins to Scotty McKnight to make the score 21-17 WVU, the Mountaineers allowed little until the final drive of the game. Still, the stats show the Buffaloes ran 84 plays for 392 yards, 292 of which were through the air. I'd say they are vulnerable.

It will be interesting to see how WVU fares against Cincinnati and Southern Florida. They play at Rutgers in their final game of the regular season on December 5.

Tonight it'll be Pittsburgh vs. Louisville. I just hope Chester lets me have more of the love seat tonight. Did I mention he fell asleep last night with his head draped over my arm? What's worse is he snores--almost as loudly as he purrs.

Aerie Weather and Workshop ReportOctober 2, 2009

Another day in which the thermometer conserved its energy and never rose above 50 degrees. (Strike that. The temperature cracked the 50 degree mark at 5 PM and is heading UP! But he high for the day is suppose d to be only 52, so I expect it won't go much higher.) And, to add insult to injury, it's been overcast and showering all day to boot. Makes me glad that I turned the heat on yesterday. I didn't want to build another fire as they can become habit forming what with their production not only of heat but the warm, flickering, orange glow seen through the glass door. I figured if the cats wanted to build a fire, they knew where the firewood was. (I may give in later this evening, however.)

******

I spent a few hours in the workshop this afternoon trying to figure out if I did things correctly this time. Turns out I have produced something I can use even if it's not perfect. The problem is, as I've said before, that you're gluing up narrow strips (7/8" wide), cutting the glued up panels n a 45 degree angle, and then gluing the resultant strips together to make a diamond pattern. If even one of your original strips is off by 1/16" that error multiplies throughout the process. If two of them are off, you can forget about trying to make everything fit together. I seem to have one or more strips that are not exactly 7/8" wide but I'll be able to fit everything together with the judicious use of the belt sander once the diamonds are glued up.

Diagram of finished square.

The darkest wood in the diagram is walnut. The lighter woods are oak and cherry. The boards are supposed to be milled to 1/4 inch thickness but the oak seems to be a hair thicker than that.

You start by cutting long strips from the boards--as well as small diamonds, triangles and squares for the inserts. Once you have the strips, you glue them edge to edge in particular patters. (The one below shows oak, cherry, oak and walnut from left to right.)

Gluing up the initial strips.

I built a small clamp out of 3/8" bolts and some scrap wood to keep the panel from buckling when I applied pressure from the edges with the quick release clamps. That little wooden clamp also ensures that the strips' bottoms are all on the same plane.

Three sets of strips (out of 5)

These panels of glued-up strips were then cut at a 45 degree angle to yield 8 pieces which would then be glued in a mix to produce the diamonds.

Strips of strips become patterned diamonds.

Yeah, the workshop has become quite the strip joint.

Okay, back to the project. Cutting all these little triangles and 45 degree angles of thin (1/4") wood on a table saw can be daunting. Wanting to safe my finger tips and have better control over the small pieces, I built this small cutting sled to which I attached wooden blocks with 45 degree angles to the blade. Seems to work fine.

Cutting sled.

After all the cutting was done--and before I glued up any diamonds--I started to dry fit the pieces on the backboard.Just to see if, you know, they would actually fit.
Dry fitting pieces for the diamonds.

They did not fit exactly, but they came pretty damn close. So I started gluing up the diamonds. That will take a bit of time unless I get some more clamps.

Gluing up the diamonds.

With all the angles involved, I need a block on each side of the strips and a longer clamp than the little ones in the earlier photo. Still, I can manage to do three (out of eight) at one time. And it only takes an hour or so for the glue to set up enough that I'm willing to take the assembly out of the clamps.

Tommorrow: With all the diamonds assembled, I'll work to "fine tune" the fit. I might even be able to start gluing everything to the backboard.

Okay, this one cracked me up!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Aerie Report, October 1, 2009

I had to turn the heat on this evening. After building a fire this morning (and putting another log on it at noon) the house temperature did get up to 68 degrees, but the outside temperature today never got to 46 degrees (48.6 was the highest at 4 PM). Tonight's low is supposed to be in the 30s--again--although, perhaps, five or six degrees colder than the 39 we had this morning.

Weather.com says the average high for 1 October is around 67 degrees. They have also posted another Frost Advisory for tonight. Since the winds have pretty much died, they could be right this time.

******

The clouds stayed around all day today with a few short, heavy showers and a few little mizzling ones. Just enough precipitation to make going outside undesirable. So, I went to the workshop, instead.

Measuring three and four times as I set up the table saw, I tried to make absolutely sure I cut my 1/4" thick oak, walnut and cherry into the correct dimensions. Last time I goofed and ended up with pieces that could not be cobbled together to form the square I wanted. Once everything was cut to my satisfaction, I ran the strips through the router to put a 1/8" round over on the long sides and glued up three of the diamonds together. Other pieces got cut into small squares and triangles. Tomorrow I'll glue up the other two diamond structures and do more router work. (I'll also try to remember to take some photos!)

Speaking of Legislation that needs to die...

There's Cap and Tax, Son of Stimulus and, of course, Obamacare.

I heard this Paul Shanklin parody on the Rush Limbaugh show a couple of weeks ago while driving to/from the Bolt Hole. It had me tapping on the steering wheel and singing along. The Day Obamacare Died.



Shanklin's work reminds me of the TV show That Was The Week That Was. Begun on BBC, an American version ran on NBC but only ran from January 1964 through May of 1965. I don't know if they could take the political heat or stand the rapid pace (often calling fro rewriting as the show was being aired) but I watched most of the episodes and found them, well, interesting. A very different way of learning current events.

(h/t to Don Suber for reminding me of the song and linking to the YouTUbe production.

Well, there's still death...

Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit) links to TAXPROF's post that 47% of the population will pay no income tax in 2009.

This might explain in part why 53% of the voters went for the Democratic candidate in 2008.

I agree with Glenn: "See, I think that’s wrong. Everyone who votes should pay something — and that something should rise when spending does. Skin in the game...."

Cold, wet morning (again!) at the Aerie

Frost warning? We didn't need no steenkin' frost warning!

Thinning clouds didn't happen either. As a result, the heat didn't escape as much as it could have. Yeah, it was only 39 when I came down stairs at 7 AM but that's not nearly cold enough for a frost. And with the constant breeze that blew all night there's little chance it got much colder in the valley.

Oh, and it rained over night, too. Not likely to have a frost if it's raining. I awoke at 5 AM thinking, "Did I turn the heat on?" See, I heard water running through some pipe and thought it might be the baseboard heat in the bedroom, but it wasn't. What it was was water streaming through the gutters and down spouts. Another one of those quick, but heavy, passing rain clouds. The total rainfall didn't amount to much (the gauge only held 0.15 inches from yesterday morning), but it certainly made enough noise to wake me up.

Another fire in the fire place this morning, but this time I'll get to enjoy it as well as the cats. Might go into the workshop to have another go at the wood quilt design, but I'll not be going outside again today.

******

I've noticed that the trucks of the pipeline, gas drillers and windmill construction crews have been going up the hill a little more slowly these last few days. Not that there's any fewer trucks, mind you, but they seem a little more reluctant to get started on these cold, wet mornings. Or maybe it's just that they are having a little more difficulty traveling the wet clay road that can be as slippery as a snowfall. I can't imagine what sort of quagmire exists at the top of the mountain where they have been putting in the pipeline.

I have also noticed that no matter what the original color of the trucks, they are all reddish brown with clay from the top of the bed on down. Since many were originally white, this makes me smile for some reason.