TAKE BACK 12

In this weekend issue
Public Enemies
Horses
Foot in mouth disease
Beer Prices
Metrics
Round-a-bouts
Kidney stones and Hospitals


In case you missed it - Sunday at 10:30pm on PBS is a piece about Public Enemies and the state's new and now canceled 'film tax credit' and shows how idiotic the Wisconsin Department of Commerce.

This takes a while to load. - or maybe never hmmmmm




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We had homebrew club last night and I was talking to a friend that owns Cannery Wine and Spirits. She owns horses and was showing me a photo of a new one they had purchased. One thing led to another and the Midwest Horse Fair came up and I mentioned I was the judge for the photo contest. She perked up and asked how I got that gig and I said another friend of mine, Rhonda, was in charge of the fair and read my blog. WELL, it seems Kathy and Pat are good friends with Rhonda - too weird.

This horse stuff ties in with a foot in the mouth moment I had yesterday. My next door cube buddy at work is a Horse Whisperer of sorts and has a business Bodyworks for Horses and I mentioned the Columbus Sleigh Rally and she was interested. One thing leads to another and former Mayor Nancy O contacts me and says she hope's she meets Stefanie.

Well - Stefanie is very very German. Speaks with a very German accent and talks to friends in German which I think is very cool as I love that language and have never been around a German speaking person.

So as I'm typing to Nancy O "German" is on my mind and I say Stefanie is "very Germain but nice" . . . . . . . Of course that did not come out exactly as I had planned and I "LOL" it and brush it off as a typical Grinder language error. Then, I'm driving to Homebrew club and it hits me. Nancy O = Nancy Osterhaus!!!! Oh Man - Osterhaus all of a sudden sounds very German. I am so so screwed. I probably will not be allowed to go the the Sleigh Ride. Sorry sir - you have been banned from the II Bit Ranch.

Then with all this I have another friend on vacation in Maui and I get an email saying she is going to buy a horse and bring it back to Wisconsin (lucky horse, Maui to Wisconsin winter).

There is a whole lotta horse stuff going on.
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Hey - I fixed my website for non-flash people but the only person that I KNOW does not have Flash still can not get it working. If you do NOT have Flash because you have a work computer or something can you go to Melotte Photo Imagery? You will be directed to a non-flash site. I would LOVE to know if it works - if not I might get my $45 back. E email me if it does or does not work. Grinder12000@yahoo.com (I'll take that address off after hte weekend).
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Speaking of home brew - after the meeting we went next door to some bar I can not think of the name of but they have a great selection of craft beers. I forgot how much a GOOD craft beer costs in a bar. $4. OUCH!!! That means $24 for a 6 pack.

I hear the Madson Homebrew club is taking a road trip to The Kurth. I have The Story of the Kurth on this blog.

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brrrrr cold today - I drove to work and it was 0F, which is -17C to all of you goofy metric/Celsius people around the world. I mean really - base 10? When will the world switch to the more convenient and easier base 12 system.

I remember when America tried to switch from miles to kilometers and you might as well had us switch from miles to light years (1 light year = 5,880,000,000,000 miles) as it was just to hard to figure out how to count to 10. Yards to meters? Forget that. Making everything divisible by 10 is just to weird. Make it 12 and it is so much easier so I'm thinking that Obama has to try to talk the rest of the world into converting to OUR way of measuring. WE CAN'T CHANGE - IT'S UP TO YOU.

Get rid of that whole liter thing and go with gallons. Dump meters and go with yards (36 inches in a yard). I mean really - how hard is it to count to 36.

Look at the map of the world. Obviously the US customary system (in black) is gaining hold around the world. This system was first used by the British Empire but it seems when America became independent the British decided to pimp America and changed EVERYTHING to their crazy base 10 metric system.

And what's up with the gray people, they don't even have ANY way of measuring so it should be easy to convert. It's all like - go to the big tall tree that looks like a lion and go right towards the mountain that looks like an eagle. Or in Saudi Arabia it's go 5 wells past the oil slick.



IT'S TIME TO TAKE BACK 12 as the unit of measurement. Lets start a campaign to get the world to dump the Metric system for something Americans can handle.

OH and look at the red. Canada and Australians, you think you're so cool switching in 1980.
Next thing you know you will be talking about putting round-a-bouts on our streets. Already Americas are complaining that it's WAY to complicated. DON'T EVEN THINK about talking us into the Diverging Diamond interchanges. We can't even handle round-a-bouts.

A diverging diamond would be like suicide for more motorists. Remember - we can't handle counting to 10!


A diverging diamond interchange is a form interchange in which the two directions of traffic on the non-freeway road cross to the opposite side on both sides of the bridge at the freeway. It is unusual in that it requires traffic on the freeway overpass to briefly drive on the opposite side of the road from what they are accustomed.

WHAT could possibly go wrong!!!

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And lastly - a funny hospital story.

this comes up because a worker dude had a kidney stone.

When I was living with a dude friend I came home one night and he was realing on the floor in a fetal position in pain. Not really know what the cause was I immediately figure it was gas. What else could it be!!!

So for some reason I happened to have some activated charcoal pills (I'm not sure why I had them . . just go with it) so I thought they would be GREAT for gas. He took three but it did not help.

I was dating DJ at the time and called her and we took Chris to all the closed Urgent Care places we could find (three I think) and finally the hospital.

They admitted him and as he was bend over in pain with nurse hovering over him.

He vomited BLACK

The nurses saw this and started to back away waiting for his head to start spinning around or something. Once he regained his composer he explained the charcoal and all was good.
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Have a great weekend
Rod

It Be Cold.

You might dislike the cold but I think you can be happy this time. If we did not have a huge blocking high pressure dome over us we could have been inline for a massive major winter storm that will travel well south of Wisconsin.

The good news is that as of yesterday the average high temperature went from 25F (-3.8C) to 26 and for the next 6 months we will slowly climb to an average high of 82 (27.7C or 300 Kelvin). So - the long march to warmth has started. I suppose in Australia the opposite is happening and you start your long march towards winter (sucks to be you guys LOL).

The cold mass is still north of Wisconsin and should be going through us tonight and there will be a warming trend setting up with above average temps by Tuesday.

This is the wind chill chart from my weather site

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I am saving us so much money.

A few months ago I arrived home and our direct vent gas fireplace was SQUEALING. Never having a gas fireplace I didn't know what was going on but after a few hours and some online digging it was found to be the receiver for the remote control. It gives a warning screech when the batteries are going dead.

So I replace the batteries and then nothing works.

No instructions for this. I called FIVE fireplace companies and all of then were ignorant. DAA! I don't know, we don't carry Mendota fireplaces. The Mendota dealer was 40 miles away and said it would cost $100 just to come out and look at it, and I guess they could not comprehend WHAT the problem was even though I described it perfectly.

I KNEW it was not a hard fix. I needed some sort of code like all remotes need. BUT, every fireplace place I called HAD NO CLUE!!!! COME ON MAN!!! Aren't you guys the professionals? The ones in Columbus didn't even want to LOOK at it. Not a clue what it could be! "We don't carry Mendota's" (the GOOD fireplaces). They carry Lennox which I was told to by professional installers to stay away from "those cheap builder boxes".

So - back on point. DJ and I would physically plug in the fireplace to start it for the last few months.

ENOUGH! I did some searching, looking for a way to fix this since the Mendota people seemed clueless also!! I FOUND IT!!! Press a few buttons in the right combination and BINGO!!! WE HAVE FIRE.

SO - no road trip for the Fire Place folks - ching ching!! No plumber for our sink ching ching! Now if I can remodel our basement for free. (not really REmodel as it's not modeled in the first place). We're starting to look into this casually.

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Where were you at 10:38 23 years ago today. I was in an accounting classing when a student came in and said the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded.

On this date in 1922 the Green Bay Packers were expelled from the American Professional Football Association (APFA) for using three Notre Dame players, under assumed names, in a non-league game against Racine the previous December.

Fifty years ago today Vince Lombadri was hired by the Packers. The Packers were 1-10-1 the previous season. The first year under Vince 7-5, 2nd year they lost the championship game.

In 1967 Lombardi retired and just as others seem to do two years later he unretired (it's the Packer way) to became the coach of the Washington Redskins and for the first time in 14 years the 'Skins had a winning record. He died of intestinal cancer at the age of 57.

Home brew club tonight - stay off the roads around 9:00.

OH - I forgot my photo. I'll get to that in a bit.

Here is my first attempt with a photo in my DIY Lightbox. Nothing real exciting - just seeing what I have to fix and tweak. This was sort of a test photo.

Looks like the glass is crooked a little. In case you are wondering a light box is used to eliminate harsh shadows for macro photography and a seamless background. I think I need a front light here also.


Have a good Thursday!
Rod

Olfactory Sensation. mmmmmm

And YET another dire warning from the 60s and 70s has been proven false. Along with the "jogging will ruin your knees as you get older" myth it has been found that joggers actually have BETTER knees then non-joggers. And now the "loud rock and roll music will make you deaf" is being proven false as findings show people in their 50's have BETTER hearing then their parents at "like" ages.

In another finding it was found that running, walking and so forth with special shoes is WORSE then doing the same barefoot.

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ANYWAY - I'm super busy at work with two supervisors and both have me doing top priority crap so a short blog today.

Kitchen drain is fixed. I tried to go "green" about the clog but I fell short and it was either a plumber which would make green come out of my pocket or Liquid Plumber which worked like a charm.

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As for the weather - it's gonna get cold but it's January so . . .what do you expect! OH - There are people in New Zealand complaining that their homebrew is fermenting too hot because it's so warm. boo hoo on you! We should be back into the 30s by late next week.

There is a big snow storm developing in Missouri, ILL and Iowa just south of Wisconsin. I LOVE this time of year. Very cold and we no longer have REAL snow but gray chunks of cigarette butt laden ice flows. Awesome.

Golf index is - 0 Very Poor.


Tomorrow you will see your first photo from my new light box I made last night for macro photography. My goal was to make a light box for a photo of my vintage ale I'm going to consume this weekend. Even buying a special glass. A tulip glass not only helps trap the aroma, but also aids in maintaining large heads and creating a visual and olfactory sensation (olfactory sensation - sounds sort of sexy doesn't it).

OK - gott run

mmmmm Liqued Plummer!

So I'm sitting here wondering about YOU guys! How can I make this an interesting blog not only to all of my Wisconsin friends but you people in California and looking even farther the lonely dude in New Zealand and Brazil and Pakistan and Germany (I sit next to a woman from Dusseldorf, ever have a Uerige beer?) and of course all the United Kingdom people (I LOVE Fullers ESB and have started collecting Fullers Vintage ale) . . . as I was saying how can I make my birthday adventures interesting.

Let's see now. Last night was SO exciting. Our kitchen drain clogged and being a double sink we just can't bring out Mr. Plunger (we name all of our inanimate objects) so Josh came over and tried to unclog and failed and then Left Hand Louie tried with his unique tools (a really cool hose thing that expands into the pipe and blasts water . . .didn't work) so now we will look at other options.

During all this DJ and I are eating an entire birthday cake she made which sounds bad but honestly, if we took the cake (and when I saw we I mean "I") and squeezed it into a ball it would be like the size of a teaspoon of cake essence.

THAT is how exciting my birthday was. Of course there was gift or two. One that was interesting was a large bottle of Rejewvenator. It is classified by Beer Advocate as an American Strong Ale and it gets pretty high ratings. Half Dopplebock and half Belgiam style Dubble.


Then to cap off the night I found this show on TV called American Pickers which was REALLY interesting. Two guys rummage through other peoples barns, backyards and basements looking for hidden treasures. What I found so interesting was looking at the stuff I would have skipped over like rusty door hinges. It almost reminds me of looking through the Columbus Antique Mall which to me is other peoples garbage (well almost).

Anyway - check it out on Monday nights (10:00).
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As a TV and radio announcer you try to stay inside your little emotional box as you broadcast the game . . . .but sometimes, particularly if you are a Minnesota Viking announcer . . it just ain't gonna happen.

Viking announcer sound byte. I like the guy at the very end. LOL

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HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!!! On January 26th 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip guided a fleet of 11 British ships carrying convicts to the colony of New South Wales, effectively founding Australia.

I've always wanted to go to Australia. What a beautiful country. We watched "1000 Places to Visit Before you Die" and Australia was one that DJ and I really wanted to visit. However I think we will wait for the continental drift to bring the island closer to us as it is SO FREAKING far away. Plus you have that whole LOST thing going on so . . . . .

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OH - thanks for all the automatic birthday notifications. Along with Facebook I also had a couple car companies, forums, and a few websites I had never heard of - I love the internet!

Rod

Favre Retires Signs with Bears

In a surprise announcement Brett Favre announced his retirement and hours later signed with the Chicago Bears. In other league news, The Minnesota Vikings have acquired Matt Fling from the Packers who will step in to fill Favre's shoes.
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As a coworker said to me

"Minnesota now has the whole Favre experience" . . . . . but wait . . . . . I see on MSNBC the headlines "Favre decision could be months away".

I guess they have not had the WHOLE Favre experience yet.

A few thoughts on the game on a groggy morning (how much alcohol is IN my new stout anyway??). Favre had a GREAT game, the guy is good but . . . yesterday showed another reason why Thompson wanted to go with Rodgers. Brett tries to do too much. If you noticed that final fling of destiny it was a wounded duck wobbling to the wrong team. With what I presume to be four cracked ribs and a broken ankle Brett sprinted to his right and threw across the field putting all his weight on the broken barely attached ankle and stressing his costal cartilage, and an unattached clavicle and whatever else was floating around trying to win the game.

Packer fans, all together now, been there, done that!

One thing I have issues with is with the talking heads in interviews when they mention that Brett also holds many interception records. Bogus stat. When you throw as much as Favre, of course you will have numerous interceptions. But how does his percentage compare with others great QBs?

Favre 3.2%
Rodgers 1.8%

Moreno 3.0%
Unitas 4.9%
Tarkenton 4.1%
Montana 2.6%
Young 2.6%
Brady 2.3%
Starr 4.4%
Staubach 3.9%
Bradshaw 5.4%

Better then some not as good as others. What stands out is Rodgers. However, for Aaron it's only been two years and he has not had a BAD year yet as all quarterbacks have. Still if you compare Rodgers to Farve at "like" stages in their careers Favre was at 3.9%

nuff said, I've always been a New Orleans fan (maybe not a FAN but I've always liked New Orleans) and am happy for them.
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Before I move on here is another horse photo/portrait. Not sure why it looks so small, I hope when you click on it it gets larger.

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The Columbus Survey stats are leaking out and it's pretty interesting. I'll list some of them and it's co-survey the Grinder Research Labs findings from the 1,137 surveys are as follows:

89% say the roads in Columbus are Fair to poor meaning 11% say the roads are in good shape.

97% say roadway maintenance should be the priority for that transportation department (as opposed to what else? a heliport?)

Of those 97%, 74% would not be opposed to higher taxes to fix the roads meaning 26% want better roads but do not want to pay for them.

55% say the sidewalks are in fair to poor condition. 45% say the sidewalks are in great condition.

78% say sidewalk improvements should be the #1 transportation priority . . . . . . I thought it was roadway maintenance as the #1. And of course of that 78%, 50% feel they should not have to pay for fixing the sidewalks.

74% think the bike trails are in fair to poor condition. 56% want new bike trails and 67% want new bike trails for free. 26% think the bike trails are in great condition. In a related survey 26% of the residents have never ridden on a bike trail.

74% say Columbus has too few retail shops and 96% want a new supermarket while 25% think the City Council, Mayor, City Administrator and the Economic Development/Energy Sustainability Director actually own a supermarket but do not want to move it to Columbus.

On a side note , of the above 74% who want more retail shops, 65% say they would not actually shop at the new stores anyway because Walmart and Menard's are only 10 miles away.

60% think the Mayor should have a vote on the City Council and 40% thought he already voted on the city council.

74% oppose changing city council terms from 2 to 4 years while 75% thought getting a new Mayor every 2 years was automatic.

0.1% think Columbus should be covered with a dome while and on a coincidence 0.1% think Columbus should have a Space Port. However 100% of that 0.1% do not think they should have to pay for it.

18% think there are too many non-Columbus people living in Columbus and wish they would all move away with their crazy new ideas for improvements.

18% think that taxes are too high.

18% think Columbus should adopt the slogan "Columbus, we like it just the way it is!"

The survey cost the city taxpayers $5.650 which would have given every person in Columbus a little over a $1 in tax free spending money so I'm wondering if this money was wasted as I was short a dollar the other night. More stats when they become available.
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COMING SOON - MAMA MIA's Homemade Italian Food Paste and Sandwiches - opening where Pizza Shaq was, 920-763-2525 Tuesday - Sunday 11zm to 8pm.

©MAMA MIA THAT'S GOOD! (I just made that up but will try to sell it to the restaurant for $100,000).

Oh! the Columbus Mama Mia is not to be confused with the famous Mama Mia Ristorante Italiano or the movie.

Have a great Monday

Anyone else ALREADY think it's been a long week?

Rod

Thawing out a caveman.

OK - so just as I washed my hands of corporate American politics the conservative and by coincidence Republican biased Supreme Court makes a ruling 5 to 4 (5 conservatives vs. 4 liberals) saying that Corporations (meaning Health Insurance corporations and special interest groups) can now contribute UNLIMITED amounts of money towards . . . .ANYONE running for ANY political office. We could have a billion dollar Columbus Mayoral Campaign LOL

This is a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks and health insurance companies.

So I better not hear ANY conservative republican complain about the amount of political ad's on TV. Some say there will be four times as many ad's. If you thought it was bad before, you ain't seen nothing yet. And this is why the Supreme Court pissed me off. They did something that directly effects me - they screwed up my TV watching.

I think we will have people running like John "Fed-Ex" McCain vs Barrack "Tostitos" Obama, and Hillery "Little Caesars" Rodham Clinton, Sonia "Chick-fil-A" Sotomeyer and Scott "Pacific Life" Brown.

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In other news (DJ say's I've been grumpy this week . . .have I? hmmmmmm) there was a big white pick-up tailgating me as I left Columbus today. I slowed down a little with my classic passive aggressive road rage move and then happily a Deans Semi truck pulled out in front of me and I smiled on the inside.

I let the pick-up pass me and he was then tailgating the semi as it turned onto the entrance road for Hwy 151. He tail gated the semi and then near the end of the on ramp whipped out onto the hwy way passing the semi. There was another car in the lane that he pushed to the left lane and then there was a small fight for the right lane between the semi and pick up as the semi now had nowhere to go. Horns blared and the stupid ass pick-up finds a hole and zooms on.

sigh.

MAN - this world would be a better place if people knew how to drive. So after watching that little incident I put down my newspaper because my oatmeal had spilled on my leg and I had to put in the coordinates on my Tom Tom anyway so I really did not have time to fret about stupid bad drivers.

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Back to being grumpy - maybe it's because we are in the armpit of winter. In a few days the average high temperature will increase from 25 to 26 and we will be on our way towards what I hope is a warmer summer.

I did grill out last weekend. My buddy Elweed and I went on a shopping adventure. He is like a caveman that I just thawed out when it comes to big things like shopping and technology. Since he has been dirt poor for the last 40 years he passes on buying spices and just the most common things. I have to talk him into buy a whole "pound" (1 pound = 12 oz which he thought was odd) of coffee and other things.

One thing people with cars forget about is how heavy groceries are. Try carrying all that you buy and walking a mile with them. You will buy much less heavy things like milk and juice.

Luckily he has Badger Care now so he gets $140 a month in food and his health insurance in Wisconsin is taken care of and no longer do tax payers have to pay for his hospital visits. You are saying that Wisconsin taxpayers have to pay but in reality hospitals jack up their prices for normal patients and insurance pays for him. So really people with insurance would actually have to pay for his visits (like a hole in his lung 3 years ago which Columbus hospital paid for and oddly his life turned around for the better) He is always talking about how the Columbus Hospital changed his life. He was in a pretty dark place before he was admitted and all but one nurse was very nice and things really did turned around.

Of course if we had real health care as opposed to the mess we have now we would not only have BETTER health care but cheaper also.

Don't get me started.

Have a wet and soggy weekend.

Rod

OH yea baby - I'm BAD TO THE BONE

Oh the poor poor Democrats wringing their hands and mopping around, all is lost all is lost, they only have a 59-41 advantage in Senate seats and as we all know that is not a majority!

GEEZ - I think a few years ago they might be a little more upbeat with a 59-41 lead but . . . . . no, not today. All is lost! They just can't ram crap through like they thought they would. I've become a 3rd party person. no no - all 3rd party candidates are really lame! hmmmm Well - I'll just cross my fingers and hope for the best.

But in other bigger news, no more beer pong in Huntington Beach Restaurants. In Wisconsin you can no longer text people while driving, HOWEVER, there is nothing in the new laws saying you can't play beer pong while driving.

Do you really think having a law against texting will STOP people from texting? OH REALLY TEXTING IS DANGEROUS? I'LL STOP! A few officers I know think it's ridiculous. There is already a law on the books that cover this, it's called INATTENTIVE DRIVING. The guys I know say the real problem is that no one really wants to tackle lowering the alcohol limit and actually getting tough on drinking and driving. THAT is the #1 cause of deaths.

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Speaking of being bad.

I was "called on the carpet" twice in this past week. OH, I'm bad, I'm one of those bad boys that mothers tell their daughters to stay away from.

It happened the other morning when I got to work and had an email that stated there was an "unannounced inspection" and my cell was in violation. It seems my yucca or palm or whatever it is (I call it Robert Plant) is . . . . . too tall. YEA - too tall. If someone was going to jump out my window they could poke their eye out of something. It's a menace.

"Plants must not be larger then three feet tall"

Why? It says I should trim back my yucca. Ever see what happens to a 7 foot yucca that is trimmed to 3 feet? It ain't pretty.

So I spend all day hiding from authority planning my next move and when I arrive home I have a yellow thingy hanging on my front door saying if I do not shovel my 7 feet of sidewalk I will be charged by the city for having THEM come out and shovel it.

OK OK, it had drifted over and I THOUGHT it would all melt. It didn't. But then what gets me is that in our area it's like every other house as a sidewalk. They are not even connected at times. It's not like people USE the sidewalks. You walk 5 houses and BAM 3 house's have no sidewalk so you go in the street. I live on a circle, there is like 5 cars a day that drive on it.!

OK OK - if you want to get snippy, what is up with the Columbus salt trucks. This morning it's like they have never salted before. The salt is in big piles. 10 feet of 3 inch salt, then bare road for 1 block, then 10 feet of 3 inch salt. It's like salt speed bumps! My thought was that they are trying to entice deer onto the roads so they can run over them.

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If you have not watched "V" you should the next time it comes on. Great SciFi show. Also a new one that I really like is Human Target. Sort of 24ish, James Bondish with a little humor.

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In 1959 on this day Alfalfa from the "Our Gang" was shot in a brawl over $50.

After a night of drinking, Alfalfa and friend Jack Piott went to collect money from Bud Stiltz on the evening of January 21, 1959, by pounding on his door posing as the police and forcing their way into his house late at night while he and his wife & children were sleeping.

OK - so far I see nothing wrong here.

This was actually the 2nd time Alfalfa had been shot, a year earlier he had been shot in front of a bar.

To ME - the guy just looks to young to be hanging out in bars and getting shot at.

In 1935 on this date five kids were busted in Janesville for a string of thefts which included cigarettes, whisky and blankets. While in the police station they were busted again for trying to crack the safe in the chief's office. Yet another gene pool to be stopped.

And on on this date in 1945 the Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously to Sgt. Truman C. Olson of Cambridge, for single-handedly stopping a German counterattack on the beachhead in Anzio, Italy, on January 30, 1944. Twice wounded, Olson nevertheless manned his machine-gun for 36 hours. He killed 20 Germans and wounded many others.

There are not many WWII vets left and they really were a generation which changed the world. If you see a vet buy him a drink (well . . . .use your best judgment on that one) and thank him.

And finally - I have been working on this one for a while now and printing it to see what it looks like on paper with mixed results. But here it is again.

BTW - did you know that - ON AVERAGE - it takes a person seven times seeing a fine art piece before he will purchase it.

This is #5 I believe - oh - I'm a bad bad boy.

hmmmmm - anyone else just see a black square when they click on this?


And finally - the air was so dry over our area that any REAL freezing rain never made it to the ground.


Looks like a cold front will move through Monday dropping us to AVERAGE Highs (like 25ish). Rain on Saturday and into Sunday.


Have a Thursday

Rod

It's all about local politics

OK - I'm just going to say it. The new Chinese Immersion School in Verona Wisconsin is called . . . . STONER PRAIRIE Elementary School? Come on man? What were they thinking. Stoner Prairie? I can see them sitting around thinking of a good name for a new school and the best they could come up with was Stoner Prairie? sigh! Let's all vote, pass the bong, raise your hands if you like Stoner Prairie!!
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OK OK - perhaps I failed to mention that the Western Wallop storms are all going to head straight east and hit little ol' Wisconsin. Today we have storm #1, this weekend the big event will be storm #2 with copious amounts of rain and perhaps a thunderstorm or two. Oh, and the total number of storms on this train track can now be counted on BOTH hands!

You see #1 on the map heading towards Wisco and #2 is hitting the mountains, #3 is hitting the west coast and sunny southern California is getting crushed with over a foot of rain in places and Los Angeles County is evacuating hillside residents, even Disneyland is closed.

So while I laugh at sunny California, when this is all over they will be sunny and warm and we will still be cloudy and cold.


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Another horse photo

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This is where I alienate everyone.

The Massachusetts election results. WHO REALLY CARES. I'm done with big politics as both sides are really pretty stupid. As long as the President is not a total ignorant bozo like we had in the last 8 years I'm good.

The Democrats were ignorant in thinking that they did not really have to work on an election, the Republicans are ignorant for just by being anti-democrat just because they are the enemy. The people that voted for Obama and are now voting Republican because they are disappointed in Obama are ignorant because even though they all said "it will take time to fix the Bush/Cheney mess" and nothing is fixed yet. WELL - IT HAS NOT EVEN BEEN ONE YEAR!!! It took 8 years for the Republicans to totally f*ck up America (and when I say Republicans I really mean the neo-cons and the Fox Entertainment News Network).

All I know about the election is that Health Care Stocks went zooming up because they know they will get a ton of income and can continue to overcharge the American lemmings for drugs and make HUGE profits. The election puts the stop to reforming health care (so Americans will continue to have one of the worst health care programs of all developed countries) and puts a stop to healing the climate as new climate change laws on the table will be stopped.

BUT - - - - I don't care, not gonna get stressed, nothing I can do.

Whatever happened to common sense, why not work together. Perhaps it's ALWAYS been this way and that is why in MY perfect world we would always have one side be President and the other side own the House and Senate. Give and take, checks and balances, let's work like a team. But . . . . . .that is not the American way which is pointing fingers and making up facts.

SO - I wash my hands of National politics as it takes way way to much energy and just makes people stressed out and in reality, it's the local politics that have more effect on you and I think our Mayor is doing a fine job.

For you and me it's all about co-mingeling recyclables, the Udey Dam, downtown improvements, snow removal, grocery stores, and the Library Building Project. Those are the things that we should be concerned with.

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SO - Leno wins and Conon loses. Well, did Conon REALLY lose? I don't think so unless you call getting 40 million dollars and the best advertising EVER a loss. I am not sad for Conon.

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OK - gotta run

Have a great Wednesday
Rod

Tuesday the 19th - how's that for a title.

Only 39 days until Full Squad practice for the Brewers. Spring is . . . so so far a way.

And yes - I am so laughing at the West Coast as they have major storms all lined up to hit them in the next week or so. I believe 5 storms, BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM. Finally we get the good weather (if you call highs NEAR 30 good, still 5 degrees above average).

Here is the current weather map.

The fog (yellow) over our area shows where the snow cover is as the warm air over the snow is creating fog.



A couple of new blogs are listed on the left - one is from a new friend Tony Bynum who contacted me Monday and we talked for about an hour about photography. He lives in Glacier Natl Park and is a very big time professional (Natl Geo, Field and Stream and nature mags plus his own gallery and so forth) Glacier Park Photographer .

The other one is Josh's new blog A Firefighters Tale which focuses on Josh's new Firefighting adventure. He got his first REAL call to duty last night!

In other photo news I'm looking into printing on Aluminum. From what my new friend Tony says, it's like the first time you saw HD TV, the aluminum is an amazing thing to print photos on as it brings out colors and depth you have never ever seen on paper. ALTHOUGH - it's a little more expensive LOL

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Friday I was at a Home Brewers meeting, also called the Future Alcoholics of America group and we were talking about Brandy Old Fashions and Wisconsins love affair with brandy. So I thought I would get the the facts. According to Korbel the #1 Brandy producer only 33% of all Brandy produced comes to Wisconsin. HOWEVER, the District of Columbia and Minnesota per capita out drink Wisconsin boozers.

Brandy was actually accidentally invented during the 16th century by Dutch traders who found they could ship more wine by removing most of the liquid.

If you want to hear something hilarious check out this bit by Louis Black - BE WARNED - he will use the F-Bomb like it's going out of style but it's pretty funny about Wisconsin! hhhhhh


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February 6th is the First Columbus Carriage Classic on Ice, also called The Columbus Sleigh Rally. More on that when we get closer and I have something I can cut and paste.

OH - for all the readers that have been unable to get to my photo site I now have a mirror non-flash site. Try out http://melottephotoimagery.com/ you should be redirected to the non-flash site. Let me know how that goes as I have flash and can not see it.

Rod

Limbough, Palin, Favre, Bush

Thank you Bret Favre for ruining football. Where normally I could enjoy watching the Cowboys vs. Vikings but now just seeing he who shall not be named in Vikings uniform sickens me and I turned the game off at half time. If the Vikings get into the Super Bowl I honestly doubt I will watch the game.

He ruined football. He is a traitor and never cared about the fans of Wisconsin and every time he wins he gives all of us the finger and Minnesota fans laugh in our faces. Thank you Brent.
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The overall weather patten is making a huge change. The jets stream has become a zonal flow meaning that for the time being it has spread out and is like a large meandering river rather then a fast moving stream and all weather is now coming to us from the Pacific. There are no hidden cold masses around the corner. However - if you are on the West Coast you are in for a miserable cold, wet week with major flooding, major snow in the mountains, major wind and all this will work its way east slowly.

We will stay 5-10 degrees above normal for a while now. Normal High is 24 (or 25 I can't recall - almost the same though)


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Can Rush Limbough, Sarah Palin and Fox news be more of an ass? They are telling Americans NOT to give to help Haiti because that is what our income taxes already do and the only reason Obama is helping Haiti is to stick it to Bush? Are they insane? Palin then says that she would not trust sending any money to the White House to help Haiti because she does not trust that he will use it to help Haiti (more for re-election I guess). And Fox is an ass just for having those two clowns on their network and calling it news.

I like Palin as a person but her politics are just ignorant.

If you REALLY want to help Haiti (and you really should) The U.S. State Department set up fund through the American Red Cross. Text ‘HAITI’ to 90999. Texting “HAITI” to the number will donate $10 to the American Red Cross, and will appear as a charge on your wireless bill. DJ and I have. (we now own seven Haitian children it seems).
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A few more horse photos from the other day. Of course I just realized no one will read this because no one is at work.
And another one.

OH - want to see Cadence's first solid food - it's pretty funny. I love the look she is giving Josh and Jenny at the beginning.



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Josh has become the newest member of the Columbus Fire Department and has a new blog

http://networkedblogs.com/p24667593

Of course it does not contain the excitement of his first call like running down stairs with excitement. Running out the door and falling on his back from ice, running to the fire station (only one block away) and then finding out that he is the first person NOT to get on the truck as it is full. He literally ran around the corner with his fireman's stuff on as the truck pulls out of the station. That is one smoke alarm that will not get HIS attention. Better luck next time Josh.

Have a great day off,

Rod

Madison Mounted Police

First it's a trip into the Attorney Generals Office and now it's the Madison Mounted Police. Why why why are the law enforcement agencies always gravitating towards me.

I had a furlough day yesterday (as opposed to a vacation day today . . or is it the other way around . .whatever) and I was south of Madison in a little town of Brooklyn (which I never saw) and was taking photos of the Madison Mounted Police and their horses at The Horse First Farm which is an amazing place. Horses are there to live, free of walls and in the woods, O'natural.

I got this gig because the new person that sits in the cube next to me (I'm not a free range office worker) is not completely whacko like the last 4 people that have worked there . . seriously . . there has been a string of odd, scary and just abnormal people in that cube . . .maybe they were normal and it's "I" that is odd, scary,abnormal . . whatever.

Although she is what I would called a German Horse Whisperer (and Oxen whisperer) so I guess she is not your normal default penned in computer programmer which is a good thing. It's nice to have someone I'm not afraid of next to me.

BODYWORK FOR HORSES

So I drove down for a class the MMP were having and she was teaching a rider-training clinic.

I have only been on a horse once and it was a bad experience (I was like 7 or something, more on that in a bit) but I love horses. I've even read a book written by a horse. Traveller by Richard Adams (Watership Down) the American Civil War as told to you by General Robert E. Lee's horse. It's a really good book with a non-sad ending.

Before I forget - FLASHBACK - my family was on a vacation to the Rocky Mountains and we were at some place with a bunch of horses and you could ride them. I was lifted up onto an Appaloosa and handed the reins and we just followed all the other horses around. However, at one point while the other horses went one way my horse went another way. Well, since I did not really know how to steer a horse because and the only steering I had ever seen was either my dad steering a car or The Lone Ranger (insert echo) steering his horse, so my life (as I thought when I was 7) was now in the horses hands and I wanted to get off this 30 foot high beast before we went into the mountains and I never got to see my family again.

FLASH FORWARD - I'm at The Horse First Farm and it's a huge place with a riding stable (reminded me of one the the final scenes on Patton when he is riding his horse).

Stefanie and the reporter arrive and things get going and I take a number of portraits.
I learn a few things like, there are NO drug sniffing horses. Damn it - why didn't I know that 30 years ago. They are only curious. Also - if you go to the Madison halloween party on State Street and are going to cause havoc, do not dress up as a large green ball or you will be kicked just for practice.

So with formal photos out of the way I was cast off like a used carrot to wander around the very poopy woods and fields where the horses make their home.

My goal was to capture horses frolicking and "horsing around" and as I approached the area I saw that IN REAL LIFE, horses stand around eating, pooping and doing all sorts of very non-exciting things like staring off in the distance.

hmmmmmmmm There goes the horses crossing the stream on a cattle drive shot I was hoping to get. Or two horses standing on hind legs howling at the sun (it was a cloudy day - more bad luck) or even the horses playing poker photos I had envisioned. So I had to switch gears and go for some other shots.

Here are two of the seven (??) good ones I captured.

click to view larger/better

This nameless guy (or girl, I could not bring myself to look) was very curious of me and we talked for a while and I rubbed his nose and he sniffed my camera. I showed him the photos I took of him but I'm not sure he (or she) understood. All I know was he/she was not camera shy and loved posing for me.

Another one was a little more shy but was not angry that I was taking photos. I told him to just stand there and he followed my instructions (yea - they seem to understand instructions like "stay".)

And then I went home. I hope I'll get back to the Horse First Farm this summer for more photos. I'll be posting may more photos next week.

Have a great weekend and play in the slush - don't forget to add windshield wiper fluid AND AND wipe off you front headlights as they will get all dirty and shine MUCH dimmer.

Peace Out
rod

NO NO Not the Arctic Oscillation

A lot of people have been asking - what ever happened to El Nino.

Well - two words - Arctic Oscillation

El Nino is still happening but there has been another factor and in the States it all has to do with that very first Blizzard that hit the plains and midwest and you can blame the Arctic.

Because it's dark in the Arctic 24/7, very very cold air builds up. Normally the Polar Jet stream acts like a wall keeping the Arctic air in the Arctic. But from time to time the jet stream weakens letting Arctic air flow south. It's what happens in your typical cold wave. The Polar Jet leaks a little and an Arctic air mass descends on the U.S. The is called an Arctic Oscillation. Typically this Oscillation will last days to weeks and is a normal part of winter. HOWEVER - This one began is different and started to travel south about December 1st.

What normally happens is the air mass will flow south and as it goes over the comparably warmer earth it will gradually warm. But this time what happened is that about December 8th a massive snow storm covered a very very large part of the U.S. The air mass did not warm up but like a down hill train kept rolling south not cooling.

This is the strongest Arctic Oscillation in 60 years. So strong it WAS off the charts. Now we're about to get the bounce back. Four days ago, for the 1st time since December 7th, the needle is not buried but is heading up for a warm up.

NOAA has, as of yesterday, come out saying that because so much arctic air has already flowed south they are predicting a warmer then normal next three months for northern states and colder for southern states. Your normal El Nino effects.

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My view on the Public enemies DVD. I'm disappointed. The movie is good as we all know but the extras lacked imagination and I feel was just a cookie cutter additions and Micheal Mann was lazy. You would think that a movie that was one of the very very few to do everything on location that they would have given some thought to showing crowds, towns, excitement of the locations and so forth. Nothing! When you have something about "The Making of" you have to think that there would be SOMETHING about what happens to a town of 5000 when a major motion picture is being filmed on it's main street. But there was nothing but the normal cookie cutter attempt to add content. Disappointed!

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DJ's very hard Pot Roast Recipe

Pot Roast yummy

3 lbs chuck roast

Cut up an onion and put in bottom of crock pot.

Season the roast with garlic powder, seasoning salt or whatever you like

Brown the roast in olive oil

Put roast in crock pot on top of onions

Add a few shakes of worstersheer-shire sauce :)

Pour two cans of Campbell ’s golden mushroom soup over the roast

Add a little water to the bottom of the crock pot….maybe ½ a cup or so

Cook on low…mine cooked for 10 1/2hours while at work. Then sat on warm for another hour.. Roast should come out very tender. Makes a really good gravy. Just skim the fat off the top with a spoon before you stir or take the roast out and you will be all set. Eat it with mashed potatoes or whatever.

Tip from Rod - you can use bread to soak up the fat on top, like a sponge. We talked and are thinking of adding more mushrooms next time. The gravy was outstanding.
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In photography - I found a place that will print images on metal sheets!!! SWEET. I've seen this but never knew where or how. hmmmmmm

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The problem at the moment with Columbus us that there are no controversy!

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have a great Thursday
Rod

Brain Hurt.

First I want to pay my respects to Haiti and I pray that Betty's kids are all right. Betty if you get any news let us know.

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The cold that the south as been experiencing is not all bad news. If you are a peach farmer you are loving the freezing temperatures because peach's absolutely love cold snaps and while the orange crops are taking a hit you can expect a fantastic peach crop this year with extra flavor.

Peach's need chill hours, the count of how many hours a peach will spend below 45 degrees. In 2007 there were about 425 chill hours, in 2008 they had 540 and already this year they are in the middle 650s. YUMMO!!!!

Oddly on the other side of the world Australia is worrying about a 70% drop in production of fruit because of a heat wave as many areas have been in the 105F range. So don't go looking for any Australian grapes.

I wonder how the wine country is doing down under.

The U.S. southern cold is also affecting peppers, cucumbers, green beans and tomatoes. Of course in Wisconsin tomatoes seem to never ever be a problem as people can't give them a away typically. There is always a wealth of free tomatoes.

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All My Children fans. There is a Leven Rambin sighting in the USA Today today. You remember Lily right? She has landed a gig on Grays Anatomy as Sloan Riley, Dr, Mark Sloans 18 year old kid. Of course if you watched Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles you saw she was a regular on the show. Nice to see another cast member doing well. Other actors that have made it big recently is Eva La Rue who plays (I love this name) Natalia Boa Vista on CSI Miami.

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CUTE BABY PHOTO #2
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Tomorrow I'm taking photos for "The Country Today" (the only newspaper dedicated to every facet of rural life in Wisconsin and Minnesota) of the Madison Mounted Police at the Horse First Farm in Brooklyn. However - I think they are confused on what a horse actually is! I'd like to see John Wayne on that baby on a cattle drive! Yee Haa giddy up!

I wonder if this photo should be on the rabbit page.

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Being a meat and potato's kind of guy I have always like pot roast. My mom made it and DJ has made it a large number of times. It's not real hard and always tastes great.

However yesterday DJ made it a different way and I tell ya - it was the best pot roast I have EVER had. It was like crack (not that I actually know what that would be like but you get the idea), I could not stop eating it. I almost exploded (a lot of that going around in our house lately). For the recipe contact DJ.

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Way to go Conan O'Brien. I have new respect for you. NBC are a bunch of idiots.

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I guess I have to rout for the Dallas Cowboys. Seems weird. Any true Packer fan can't rout for the Vikings, that's just crazy.
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Popcorn wagon on a rainy day in Madison.

Hey - throw enough spaghetti against the wall and something is bound to stick, although DJ is not to fond of the idea. Best viewed larger.
I made a small fundamental change in my strategy for Art Fairs last night as I came to the realization that canvas works not only costs me money but are expensive for a lot of people to buy. Plus seeing how my posters are coming out and how much easier it would be to sell a 20x30 poster for $40 then a 12x18 $100 canvas print . . . . . . Although with a 20x30 frame it comes to $100 but a purchaser will have $40 more often then $100 at a fair . . .yada yada yada. So I'll have less canvas and more BIG images.

I can't turn my brain off on this adventure. What to print, what will sell ??? brain hurt.

Steroids? Steroids!

I'm having some problems with a new brew. I can not think of a label. It's an Indian Brown that is GREAT so you would think it would not be a major brain cramp but . . . . .

My next brew will be a Karankawa Pale Ale which is aggressively hopped with 5 oz of Sorachi ace, Cluster, and Sterling hops and I'll put some aside for aduba. Karankawa is/was a cannibalistic Indian tribe located in Texas. But, but, I feel cannibalism has really gotten a bad rap over the years. its not like they ate ALL people. Only the people they conquered and it was suppose to be an honor to be eaten by them.

So this Pale Ale is an in your face hoppy beer with Sorachi ace, Cluster, and Sterling hops. At least in theory it'll be hoppy.

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Cute baby alert.

Here is a photo from Jenny of Caydence with her first pony tails.
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Break out the sweaters it's gonna get warm. In fact the Weather Channel has us going from "0 Very Poor" golf weather up to "3 Poor" on Thursday. The average low for the next 10 days will be ABOVE our typical average High. SWEET!! The last time we were above freezing was Christmas Day. BRING IT!!
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January 12, 1888 - the great School Children Blizzard occurred in Nebraska as 235 children were caught in the blizzard with some accounts saying the temperature dropped 100 degrees from the 60's to -40 in one day. Reports were that some people, even only 90 yards from a safe building could not make it and became lost.

In Great Plains, South Dakota, the children were rescued. Two men tied a rope to the closest house, and headed for the school. There, they tied off the other end of the rope, and led the children to safety.

The storm is still considered one of the worst blizzards in the history of the area.
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Mark McGwire - Steroids? Steroids! Who knew!! I remember trading all of my Canseco baseball cards to some kid for Mark McGwire cards. Then I traded all of those card for a ton of Ken Griffy Jr. cards.

That kid is probably 6'8 340 pounds now and angry!!

Have a great day.

Rod

Exploding Boobs!

WOW - Why didn't one of the most accurate field goal kickers in the NFL just put us out of our misery. Why didn't Rogers under throw that ball in overtime, why didn't the refs call a face mask penalty on the last play of the game (there is a photo of Rogers in the USA Today being grabbed my the mask and fumbling). WHY WHY.

ANYWAY - it was an awesome game. I guess when you have the 31st easiest schedule in the league and have been burned by every good QB in the league (except for Romo) you know it would be fireworks (I won the "over 47 points" bet). The only team with an easier schedule was Arizona. Minnesota had the 30th easiest schedule.

Packers were 1-4 against the Top 10 QBs this year. I tell ya - I would have gone for a 2 point conversion in regulation on that last TD. Here is my reasoning. The percentage for being successful on a 2 point conversin is 51.2 % for the NFL. You figure if you miss - you lose, if you hit, the other team HAS to at least kick a FG. If they Kick a FG they win anyway - if they miss you win. If it goes into OT it's a 50% chance of winning so . . . . . take a shot.

On a funny note - Josh and Jenny were at our house watching the game and as many of you know Caydence (Little Miss Smiley) is still on milk. When the Cards missed the Field Goal we're all jumping up and down and Jenny is clutching her breasts and screaming "OH MY GOD MY BOOBS ARE GOING TO EXPLODE"!

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C C C C old

It's the weather channels fault. Ever since their ill fated "Guaranteed White Christmas" contest went to a family in the Florida keys and they shipped 20 tons of snow to Summerland Key the south has been freezing.

There has never been a recorded snow fall in the Keys but . . . look what happened. The coldest day in 132 years (when they started to keep records) occurred when the thermometer dropped to 47 and a record Low High hit 50. BECAUSE OF THE WEATHER CHANNEL BRINGING SNOW.













And now for something completely different for the people that need a little music in their lives.


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One of my News Years resolutions has been to shoot more horses . . . . hmmmm . . that sounds sort of bad, take photos of more horses.

This big GUY (and I say that on all sorts for fronts and I had to think a lot of manly thoughts after I took the photos as he was happy to see me) is a huge horse we pass every time I go see my mom in Fort Atkinson. He lives between the Big Sky outdoor on the corner of Hwy 89 and County J.

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I know you are all waiting for Celebrity Apprentice aren't you. This year our good buddy Rod Blagojevich (who announced that he is actually blacker then Barrick Obama yesterday) will be on the show!

Who could have predicted Jey Leno would get ax'ed from his prime time slot!!! WHO KNEW!!!

OH - listen for Owls. This is the time of year they start tp sing to each other with their mating songs! Last year our neighbor had a Great Horned Owl on his roof singing ( Hoot Hoot hoot hooooo) to another owl in a distant tree.

Have a nice Monday

Rod

Gray is the new gray

Not that I'm a super big fan of Wal-Mart in the first place but I find it detestable (man does that word look messed up) that they not only throw out unsold cloths but they slash the clothes so no one else can wear them if they are rummaging through the trash bins. Geez - why not donate the clothes to people that can not afford Wal-Mart?
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Total storm tot's were 7.5 inches and be prepared to the Arctic Express. The sun will bring cold and as the wind scrapes away the clouds today it will usher in cold. HOWEVER - relative warmth is on the way. We COULD hit 30 by the end of next week - WHOO HOO!!!

In case you are wondering the golfing conditions are "0 Very Poor". So put away the clubs for another week. Just be glad you are not in Maui because it is going to get COLD there and drop to 79 for a high late next week, I would NOT want to be there!.
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There is a woman here that is driving me NUTS. She laughs like she is going to seriously pee her pants. No! really!, grab your stomach tears coming out the eyes laughing. Should I slap her? Maybe she is having a stroke or something. Everyday it happens. I want to taze her, could I get in trouble?

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In 1970 a rookie pitcher pitching for the Minnesota Twins by the name of Burt Blyleven pitched his first game and after the game I told my mom to remember his name because he was going to be voted into the hall of fame at some point.

Year after year he has missed getting into the Hall of Fame. He is like the Susan Lucci of baseball. He has been nominated 13 times but has never won. This year he received 400 votes, 405 are needed. COME ON MAN!!! I promised my mom!

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I've been told that some people do not like the idea of tree's in the main street area of Columbus because they are so ugly in the winter. I flat out totally 100% disagreed but came short of saying that was the dumbest thing I have ever heard (being a politically correct sort of guy).

I say this because driving home last night the trees were so amazing. I really wanted to take a walk in golf course and shoot some photos but the snow was pretty deep. It would be nice to have show shoes but man, $170 for cheap ones? Do they sell used show shoes? I do need them to get to my bird feeder now. And I could have used them when out Sat Dish filled up with snow and I had to take my special made broom out to wipe it off.

We have been letting Blake out the front door for his poopy and pee times (poop really flies when it is scooped up in a snow blower) and last night we let him out and I look out the window 5 minutes later and there he is walking up the hill in the street taking himself for a walk-a-bout. hmmmm - we'll have to try to out think yet another animal.

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Thanks Todd for the good read Favre vs. Rogers from a Favre fan.

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I have to ask - it seemed like such a good idea at the time. How did everybody like the pap smear for Christmas idea. Did it go over well?

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1 hour later.

I got side tracked with Color Management problems between LCD computers and printers so the blog came to an abrupt end. Color Management was so easy in the OLD days with film. Now digital you have web color, multiple printer colors, LCD color, and 50 ways to fix things for each one. grrrrrrrr

OK - work

have a weekend - GO PACKERS!!!

Rod

Mr. Jensen, Tear Down Those Walls

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If you have 5 minutes you MUST watch this. If you have less time watch the 1st 10 seconds and then starting at the 3:30 mark - AMAZING
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But first - the weather. No no - we know all about what is happening here. What is making me chuckle in an evil way is what is happening south of us. For instance, Springfield Missouri will have a High tomorrow of 5. Their record LOW is -7. So tomorrow we will be warmer then Missouri.

Europe is in the middle of a weather standstill and Britain is paralyzed. The temp dropped to -42 in parts of Scandinavia.

For me it was a long long ride to work. 151 was not to bad with the normal speed of 50mph unless you were a pick-up then it was 65 or a nervous nelly riding the brakes which slowed everyone down to 35. But the real weird thing was getting to Madison. We never actually came to a stop but for 5 miles I swear the speedometer never actually registered we were moving. I was thinking that perhaps the car was standing still but the earth was rotating below us but of course I doubt that was happening as then we would be moving at 1000 mph down East Washington.

Have a fun snow day.
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But the news we all have been waiting for.

We the people of Columbus, welcome change and openness; for we believe that glass and cardboard should go together, that the advance of recycle-dom can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Public Works Department can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom, peace and garbage collection. Director of Public Works Dan Jensen, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity and ease of tossing out our beloved garbage for Columbus and possibly Fall River and maybe a small part of Dodge County, if you seek liberalization, come here to this dump, Mr. Jensen, open this barrel, Mr. Jensen, tear down those walls!

That's right ladies and germs, the day is finally here, the day the aluminum can has been waiting for all it's life, when finally it can frolic with the glass and plastic and cardboard as one.

FLASH . .-.. . - / - .... . / -.-. --- -....- -- .. -. --. .-.. .. -. --. / -... . --. .. -.

Effective January 1, 2010 - The City of Columbus will be switching to a single stream recycling program. This means all recyclables should be co-mingled into one container. City of Columbus residents will no longer need to separate plastic, aluminum, glass, cardboard, or paper. The container should be either a recyclable clear bag or a container of 35 gallons or less. Badger Disposal will be picking up the co-mingled recyclables on the same day as garbage is picked up. Please remember that recyclable waste cannot be mixed with regular garbage. If you have any questions, please call Badger Disposal at (920)623-4766 or the Department of Public Works at (920)623-5908.
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I've been forgetting to talk about the Survivor All-Star cast. I've know the cast for like a month and it's been "out there" since November.

Anyway it's Hero's vs. Villains and it is an OUTSTANDING group of people.

HERO's

And oddly here is a very good analysis from a very very gay site (no really, I did not understand why the advertisement photos on this site were so . . . . . . ummmm . . . well . . . .the site is called homo-razzi (which I JUST now noticed - YIKES, that explains so much!).

What an interesting group. This tribe is all about the men. You’ve definitely got more male bravado than you can shake a stick at. Tom, Colby, J.T., James and Rupert all dominated in the physical challenges. They all like to be providers. And, they’re all insanely competitive. The girls on this tribe could have it easy when it comes to having a bunch of butch hunter/gatherers providing food. Amanda, Stephenie and Candice will be able to hold their own in challenges and hopefully fend off a power play from the boys. Because you know those guys won’t take well to an emotionally needy play like Sugar or a smart social player like Cirie. I’m worried for Cirie. Her reputation as a brilliant strategist could put her in early trouble among a group of physical dynamos.

It will be interesting to see how long guys like Tom, Colby and J.T. can work together… if at all. Throw Stephenie in the mix and there could be trouble. They all played alpha male/female before, but there can only be one alpha.

Villains

Where to start with this group? Holy shit! First of all, what the hell is Sandra doing on the Villains tribe? Is it because she beat America’s Sweetheart Rupert in Pearl Islands? With all the massive characters in this tribe she could once again take the under the radar strategy all the way to the title! Then there are Jerry, Randy and Courtney… three of the bitchiest and grumpiest people ever to play the game. How will they get along with each other or anyone else! How will Boston Rob, Parvati and Russell view each other? All three have shown they can be in complete control of the game and their alliances. Danielle is a total wild card in this. She would be smart to stick to Sandra and lay low. Two people that won’t lay low are Coach and Tyson. Both of them are crazy and both of them make a natural alliance. Those two things could make them early targets for smart players like Russell, Rob, Parvati and Sandra.

So far, I’m giving the competitive physical challenge edge to the Heroes. But the social scheming smarts of the Villains could prove unstoppable if they get numbers at the merge.

Remember to stretch before shoveling.

Rod

News and stuff

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I suppose you can call me Mr. Grumpy Pants today. To many football games. Last night I was all excited because Iowa was National Champions and then found out this bowl game was not only NOT the last game it was not the 2nd to last game. WHEN WILL THEY END!!! (you can see how much I pay attention)

Tonight is yet another bowl game. This one between Central Michigan and Troy. I believe it's the Depends - Sleep Like a Baby Bowl. The FINAL bowl game is the Capitol One - What's In Your Wallet Bowl and is Thursday between two teams I could care less about but one will be champ.
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DJ was grumpy last night (and when I s@y grumpy I re@lly me@n frustr@ted) because Milo had ripped the "A" off her laptop a week ago and she ordered another "A" from Laptopkey.com (serious - it's a real place) but once the key was installed the A" did not work a all. So, now she has to use a "@" in place of an "A" until we order a new keyboard.

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Way to go Susan Boyle and Sandra Bullock. Boyle for having the 2nd largest sales of any CD in 2009 (Taylor Swift's Fearless was #1) along with achieving something only 3 other CD/Albums have ever done and sell 500,000 copies for 4 weeks in a row. Bullock for having the first movie ever with a female lead, gross $200 million.

Did you know that the largest selling CD of the decade was Bob Segers Greatest hits 2? How weird is that!

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I'm reading a book called "Encounter with Tiber" by Buzz Aldren and it's really interesting, the behind the scenes problems at NASA, particularly in the 90s. With politics, the loss of the shuttle, the space station and so forth. But what is really fun is all of the technical problems such as the size of the molecules of the fuel used in the aging space shuttle fleet and the tricky pound/mass situations. Since fuel will not only burn off at liftoff and lose weight, that weight of the mass changes as the rocket gets higher and higher.

Measuring the mass of the fuel is easy but the weight of that mass is a moving target. Let's say you have a 50 pound ball on earth. It's heavy but you can pick it up and you can roll it. On the moon that ball can be picked up with ease but on Jupiter there is no way you could even come close to picking it up. HOWEVER, the same exact force to roll the ball is constant on all three planets and to stop the rolling ball the force is the same.

I call this squiggle math and it makes my head hurt.

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3D TV is on the way - two channels will be on the air this year. ESPN and Discovery will have new 3D channels. I have not seen anything 3D yet. My buddy Elweed has one eye that is lazy so I'm not sure 3D would do much for him. I think he see's everything in 1D anyway.

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SNOW - they are now saying 4-6 inches and I feel it'll be more near the 6 then the 4. East/West roads will be impacted with 30 mph winds tomorrow. My feeling is that the storm is slowing and thus the totals keep getting larger. I believe it'll start tomorrow morning and get worse during the day.

BTW - yea - it's been cold but just normal winter cold around here. International Falls was at -39F degrees last night so our -5 to +5F lows have not really been a big deal. Next week we should be at or above average in temps. Right now the average high is 25F.

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Also - I'm trying to confirm the recycle secret.It was mentioned on the Columbus Cable channel but not updated on the Public Works website. I have a call in to Public Works but they have not contacted me (NO COMMENT - LOL).

NOTE - it has now been confirmed and I'll post it tomorrow. Co-mingle as you please. it';s like the recycle Berlin wall has come down.

Have a great hump day.

Hump day is the third day of the week. This day is between Tuesday and Thursday. According to the Thai solar calendar, the color associated with Wednesday is green. The name Wednesday comes from the Middle English Wednes dei, which is from Old English Wōdnesdæg, meaning the day of the English god Woden, the Head god in Anglo-Saxon paganism. Woden is prominent in both English and Continental folklore as the leader of the Wild Hunt. Some believe he is a precursor of Father Christmas.

THERE.

cheers
Rod

The Columbus Canning Company

Columbus - you may now co-mingle your recyclables as long as the container is 35 gallons or less!!
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For some reason I've been noticing that a lot of people say "yea, no" a lot which is basically a spin off of the "no, no, yea". "yea,no" and it's brother "no, no, yea" means "I agree with what you're saying." Sometimes you can have the word "totally" at the end.

In one example

Human #1 "All I'm saying is that it was a big mistake for the american people..."

Human #2 "no, no, yea... of course it was... totally"

So I'm wondering if human nature has taken the normal "no, no, yea" and just shortened it to the "yea, no".

hmmmmmmmmmm
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I was messing with the below photo (best seen large) and got a phone call last night from a stranger.

He had seen my postcards at Julie's Java House and was so impressed he called and we talked about the history of Columbus and all sorts of things about photography and why I was still employed by the man when I could be raking in a fortune with postcards. I had some suggestions which included a huge sign from The Columbus Canning Company.

I did not know that Columbus had the largest Canning operation in the nation at one time. The Columbus Canning Company. I then started to look for more information about Columbus Canning Compan and found very very little. I know it was purchased or merged with Stokely Canning in 1946 which brings up a copyright question. If I take a photo of something from 1920 from The Columbus Canning Company is there any copyright infringement with Stokely? I see that Stokely closed in 1998 so did someone buy them??? hmmmmm

The Columbus Canning Company turned into the Columbus Food Corporation with canneries all over the mid-west which included The Columbus Canning Company of Ohio (just to make things confusing).

The book "The Story of Wisconsin's Great Canning Industry" has a complete history of the company (if you can find it) and was written in 1949.

I did fine a book called "The History of the Canning Industry by it's most Prominent Men" by Arthur Ignatius Judge (you never see kids named Ignatius any more). But the problem was it was written in 1914 so a few of the current years are missing.

It does mention Columbus though.

The Columbus Canning Company of Columbus Wisconsin was organized in 1900, being a promoted factory, with nearly 100 stockholders, who subscribed largely because of public spirit and a desire to start a canning factory in their community. It was first capitalized at $30,000 ($767,000 in today's money) and for the first year or two had the usual experience of a new concern. Realizing that a business of this character must have a settled policy, the present directors increased the capital stock to $300,000 with new stockholders and gradually absorbed the stock of the old stockholders, and by so doing gained control of teh company. The officers now are the same as they were in the beginning with Mr. W.C. Leitsch as president.

The company is doing a very successful business, and puts up the product of over 2000 acres of green peas, in addition to 1000 acres of see peas annually. Mr. Leitsch is now vice-president and one of the executive committee of the National Canners' Association and will probably be the next president of that association.

Fascinating.

So at one point Columbus had the nations largest canning company AND the nations largest brewery and malt house.

CHEERS to Columbus Wisconsin.

Rod