Adrenaline

So now I'm sad.

DJ and I have been looking into travel trailers - mostly RPods 179s. And in our research we have been following a couple on Your Tube in a series called "Keep Your Daydreams".

This couple NEVER owned a trailer before and have been filming every adventure with tips, hints and so forth as you follow them around the US for 20,000 miles.  

Many tips such as the 4-ways you have for taking the lug nuts for your car is useless for trailers and that most trailers have tires NOT MEANT to carry the load of that trailer. 

Anyway - they have 63 videos of them and their 3 kids and dog Maddie traveling around the US> 

The sad thing is that Maddie passed away.  They made a video of some of the fun things Maddie did on their trips which is so heart warming even for people that do not know this family.

If you have ever owned a dog as a member of your family - this is such a nice video. 

https://youtu.be/J9y9uUzgvdU

    

I did not know that staying in WalMart parking lots for free is called "boondocking" and if you can get to a Cebelas  you can get water and electric hook-ups for like $5 or something.

Anyway - now we are looking into Rpods AND dogs (in the future).

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Columbus had 0.98 inches of rain last night and I guess it does not take a lot of rain to fill up a rain barrel. I'll have to figure out a way to get the overflow to run off . . . correctly.

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Don't get me started on the Presidents tax reform . . . memo.   One page, double spaced with big margins.  Absolutely no specifics on how anything (odd - TRUTH - I thought I typed "anything" but the word when I reread was "thievery" - seriously, that actually happened)  will be paid for except don't worry, your children will pay for the huge debt.

SO - no REAL tax reform, NAFTA is here to stay, Obamacare is not changing, infrastructure is no longer on the menu, China is fine and does not manipulate money, a war with North Korea is on the horizon or more chest pounding, the WALL idea has sort of been scrapped, and the government might be shut down this weekend because the party in power which has TOTAL power, can't get their act together.

Everything is running better then any other administration, in fact the best EVER.    

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Fox Fake News  (FNN) is ONCE AGAIN having issues as 11 present and former employees are suing the company over racial discrimination.

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In 2016 there were 373,807 jobs in the solar power industry, 398,225 in natural gas and 160,119 in coal.

In the very VERY good TV show "Designated Survivor" which stars Kiefer Sutherland and Natascha McElhone,  which, to me, is a cross between "The West Wing" and "Nikita" their was an episode where the President is having a town hall meeting.

A question was from a guy that had lost his job "How will you get my job back in the coal mines" (or whatever the default occupation was).  The President thought a while and said "I can't, your job won't EVER come back and if anybody says it will they are outright lying to you".

hmmmmmm.

I have found that I actually get an adrenaline rush when I watch Survivor. My mom got that same rush as she was a HUGE fan.  I understand why people do not like this show  IF,  they have not seen it from episode one of a season.  It's like watching any scripted series starting in episode 7. You have no idea of what is happening and why, no back story.

HOWEVER - I will guarantee if you that if you give Survivor a chance from the very beginning of a season you will see what it is all about. If you have ever played board games or any game that has strategy it will be an eye opener.  It's the greatest social experiment ever. You kick off people one by one knowing the same people you have eliminated are the ones that will vote WHO wins the million bucks.

Good guys win, bad guys don't.  And if you hear people saying reality shows are all make believe - that is BS.  90% are but Survivor is not. If you have a camera on you 24 hours a day for 30 days. Your real self will show.

Look at last year. The contestant was informed he was picked to be on the show WHILE his mom is dying of cancer.  They talked and he went on the show at her insistence. While on the show he kept saying he felt his mom was playing along with him and he only told one person.

Here is the kicker. His family said his mom was doing VERY well the entire time he was on the  island.  Once the show was over (but not broadcast yet) and no one knew who would win for another 4 months he got home and hugged his mom.  He said "mom I won" but not really knowing. She said "I know".  

A few hours later she passed away.

Four months later he found out he won.

John Cochran - a total 100% geek won a couple years ago.  Brilliant guy.  Or what about Tia who came in 3rd place but at the awards show someone in the audience came forward and gave him $20,000 for showing what an amazing humanitarian he was.  Good people normally win. Bad people lose.    

This year we had relatives from Texas up and we said the season premier Survivor was on.  The typical "saw it once, didn't like it" comments.  We watched it anyway - now their entire family is hooked.

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The GOP cronies that now run the Department of Education has rejected 2,400 low-income high-school students who applied for Upward Bound grants because of trivial formatting errors (not putting in a double space in a line).

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This blog took a little longer then expected.  I was typing away when DJ says OMG - my appointment is in 25 minutes!!  We got to the Hospital 35 minutes later.  . . . . the DR was running late.

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Remember - these guys NEVER owned a trailer before. You see everything, good AND bad.

Welcome to Keep Your Daydream! Season 1 Trailer - RV Living Travel Vlog

The New Pornographers

Speaking of the Milwaukee Brewers and Thames (11 HRs now). Miller Park is BY FAR the easiest ball park in the Majors for a left handed hitter to hit home runs.  Right handed no so much.

another problem for the Brewers is the lack of left handed pitchers.

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I mentioned before that the GOP in Wisconsin got rid of those pesky regulations about where cell towers can be built.  Communities have ZERO say if a cell tower wants to be built 20 feet from a day care or elementary school.  They can build ANYWHERE and you can't do a damn thing about it.

The only thing a community can do is complain  . . .so we are.

This is being sent to our representatives who believe making money far out weighs the health and well being of it's citizens.

The scamming of America continues with the corrupt GOP. I think it's funny how our Governor is sitting in his high castle picking his nose on how to fill pot holes on Wisconsin Roads while Illinois prepares to make 500 million a year with legal cannabis.

Illinois literally has not passed a budget in 2 years. They pay lottery winners AND State employees in IOUs (no really they do).

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A few projects I've been working on at home.  Yesterday I put in a rain barrel.  Oddly the downspout stops ABOVE the barrel and gravity splash's the water into it (not how I had envisioned it but that is how it's done it seems).  I had to use a disc to move the water away from the house.  Temporary solution .  Also I don't have the nozzle in yet - it's a work in progress as I was in a hurry before the next 8 days of rain.

The The Jahnke Company, LLC came by last week and cut tree circles around all of our trees and while they were here I had them cut out some more areas and Elwood and I (mostly "I") have been working on filling in the blanks with Georgia Blue

Busy busy.

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OH - when I spoke of Kewaunee being a God forsaken frozen Tundra . . .only when it's 72 here and 45 there.  Otherwise it's really a nice little town.  We shall see what happens when my brother becomes an alderman  LOL

I remember vividly when we signed all the papers for moving to Columbus.  They last thing the real estate dude says was "I hope we see you guys around, don't be strangers".  And DJ said to my surprise "Oh, I'm sure you will see us around".

Speaking of that . . . my plate is filling up for the summer.  With 2 or 3 photography seminars/talks at the library and now a Public Enemy talk to a group from Portage.

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I know nobody every plays other peoples music finds but I gotta try.  This is a super group from the Vancouver music scene.  I call them  as a sophisticated B-52s and love All of the music I have heard from these guys.

Don't let the name fool you.  The New Pornographers

Writers strike? AGAIN? and NO TREES downtown?

If I sound a little irritated just bear (bare?) with me as . . . . .I'm a little irritated about the tree situation downtown, or lack of.

Several things are on my to do list as alderman and one of those were getting trees downtown. They soak up noise and they soak up pollution, they cool pavement and sidewalks and give the pedestrians comfort as they soften the cityscape. We all know that the key to a vibrant downtown is to make it pedestrian friendly which right now (and even before construction) - it was not.

WELL - seems, even with almost constant prodding trees might have been left off the final plans even though the City Council voted on having trees.  DON'T MAKE ME CHASE THAT WINDMILL - THIS ONE IS IMPORTANT.

sigh!

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Been busy doing morning crap lately and thus no blogs.  Had part deux of tooth augmentation last Thursday and nitrous oxide is my friend. TURN IT UP TO 11!!

Just a photo of DJ when I told her it would have to be the NFL and not MLB! 

Part duex was drilling a post into the cadaver plug they put in 6 months ago. OH - the cadaver part is gone, replaced by my real bone so who ever it was in my mouth thank you.

Then Friday DJ had a Dr appointment about her shoulder and a pain she has had forEVER.  She was going to get a steroid shot which would blow her chances to play major league baseball but still fine for the NFL or Professional Golf so we still have a hope for getting rich once she learns one of those trades.

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You know how wonderful it's been the last few days - well, yesterday we took a drive up to Kewaunee and CRIP - what is this god-forsaken frozen tundra.  72 in Columbus and 45 in Kawaunee!  WTF!

Well - expect NINE DAYS OF RAIN coming up.  Not continual but once that front goes through tonight 9 days of a good chance of rain each day.

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Don't you find it funny how the party in total power is talking about shutting down the government because they cannot pass their own budget?  It probably won't happen but the plan is to build a wall that nobody wants at the cost of Obamacare which has a MUCH higher approval rating that our dementia laced President and his corporate con man (who are getting RICH on YOUR money).

Speaking of Obamacare-ish.  24 States are in the process of EXPANDING contraceptive access (backwards Wisconsin is not one of them).

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Sounds like Illinois is fast tracking legal cannabis. Colorado broke a record in the  first 2 months of 2017 with $235 million in sales IN TWO MONTHS. This is up 30% from last year.  Price of cannabis has dropped significantly in the last year.

This sort of mirrors guns.  When Obama was President gun sales went through the roof as people were afraid Obama would take their guns. Now with a con-an in office gun sales are drying up. HOWEVER with the woman groping President with the onset of dementia people are buying cannabis like there is no tomorrow.

According to one report with cannabis prices lowering many who used to buy black market pot are switching to legal pot where they can get it.

Every year, a survey called Monitoring the Future polls over 40,000 high school students about their drug use.  Cannabis use dipped starting in 2008 but then started creeping up again. However in 2013 there has been a downward trend which oddly correlates to when Washington and Colorado became legal recreational cannabis markets.

So far their is no trend that shows legal cannabis leads to more smoking for teenagers.

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From the Melotte Photo Imagery Collection.  tee hee

The VIDA Statement Bag, featuring bold, vivid prints, complete with genuine cow-hide leather straps, leather base, and trims, is the most coveted VIDA accessory of the year. Accessorize with this bag for a statement look that turns heads and sparks conversations - around town or across the world.

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20% of the 395 member of congress do not live in the district they represent.

By the year 2025  the US will need 40% more oncologists. People are living much longer and because of this cancer is a bigger threat because people are not dying of "other stuff".  Of course it seems that many oncologists come from other countries (or used too before the GOP war on science started). So this is a pretty big problem.

The war with Canada has begun. The US placed a 20% tax on all soft lumber (for building homes) on Canadian lumber so new home prices to rise.  Buy AMERICAN.
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Seems 20,000 retired coal miners will lose their insurance unless the GOP does something in the next few days.  The GOP has helped the people who OWN the mines but are ignoring the workers (which is what the GOP does).  Help the rich, screw the poor.

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Brewers - Arcia is a VERY good fielding short stop.  In fact the brewers as a whole are fielding much better then last year.  The only big hole is Thames at 1st base but . . . .461 OB and 10 home runs will turn a blind eye to that LOL

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Remember the 2007 writers strike from many years ago.  The strike that ruined many good shows.  The Mole and Deadwood are two that come to mind.  Well Deadwood writers have submitted a script to HBO for a movie and ALL actors in teh show said they will LOVE to be in that movie.

WELL - here we go again - 96% of members of the Writers Guild of America have voted to go on strike against the production companies.  Its not looking good.







 

Switching directions

Have I mentioned that the movie USS Indianapolis Men of Courage is HORRIBLE?

The survivors gave it a thumbs down when the movie studio asked them for money to distribute the movie (never a good sign). It's on Netflix and I decided that while I'm on the stair master at Anytime Fitness I would watch it in 25 minute sections and MY GOD!!!

For instance.  When a sailor ask this jar head Marine why he joined the Marines the reply was "TO KILL JAPS" and every 5 minutes there is some inaccuracy.  Hiroshima was NEVER a primary target for the bomb.  The Enola Gay was named NOT a few weeks ahead of time but the night before.  The Indy was a  Portland-class heavy cruiser and did NOT have 16 inch guns.

The movie is loosely based on a book they never actually read.

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So here is something new.  I'm getting into the clothing industry.  Over the past year I have been contacted by a company to have my images put on clothing.  I had resisted but with my decision to not do as many art fairs* I'm looking for other outlets for artwork.

*art Fairs are extremely profitable but time consuming and physically demanding and stressful.

SO - when I saw that Trey Ratcliff, my photo guru, was involved I looked into it.  I receive a good commission when something sells and the producers in impoverished countries are paid well AND the company "provides literacy programs so the people doing the manual labor learn to read, write, and do basic math and build a better life for generations to come".

Seems like good quality as many of the clothing were seen at the Golden Globes.

I've done a good amount of due diligence to make sure it's legit.  If the Wall Street Journal had an article it can't be THAT bad right?

SO - I've been working on this little project. I'll have actual models wearing my "collection" in the near future once I get things more organized.  Art fairs and clothing collections are a different animal.

Do I have one "line" of 10 "like" items at a time?  or put all 50 out at once.  It's a different genre' so there is a learning curve I think.

We shall see.  I'm still working out how do do this but the eclectic collection so far can be seen here at VIDA.  














In other news I JUST got an email from a serviceman about an RC-26B aircraft I took photos of a few years ago at the National Guard.  It was so cool, they got their little truck out and hooked it up the plane so I could get photos of it just before they went on a mission that night.

Their is a camera on the front that can take photos from 20,000 feet that can spot my camera at night on the ground in darkness.   This guy flew it in Iraq and wants a copy.


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The MLB system didn't exactly call the Brewer game correctly did it.  Lost 1.37 virtual units overall on the 9 games. That was a big system loss of 1.93 units

Favs ROI 5.12% 102 games
Dogs ROI 16.26% 76 games

Tonight Cubs 3 Brewers 2

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Sapphire National Golf Club

As we all know I'm a huge Survivor fan and before I get into our vacation I have to show this Tribal Council that has been on the news

It's not often you get to see a TG individual outed to the world.  This was Zekes 2nd time on the show and this series is called Game Changers as they have All-Stars from the past 33 seasons who were big players.  NO ONE expected this.  The perp has been fired from his job.  It was a shocking episode.

What gets me was Sarah about the 9:45 mark who proclaims this was a BIG moment in HER life as well.  I was a very emotional show from the start.  Eating 1/4 cup of rice and a coconut a day for 18 days can wear on your and the Survivors were talking about how the show changes you and how they can not explain to non-players what it does to you.  Even Navy Seals have stated that it is MUCH harder then you think.

They say not not the physical but the constant 24/7 psychological game playing. You can not turn it off and you can not truly trust ANYBODY.     

https://youtu.be/5BXqrOSNKn0

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As for the vacation.

DJ and I started back from Cashiers NC at 7:00AM our time with the goal of getting to Indianapolis.  But 8 hours later I was fine driving so why not save a hundred bucks and drive all the way home.  Easy right?

Yea - it was - except for rain the last hour that made Wisconsin roads (truly the worse we had been on)  a downer.  Got home about 11:00PM

Herrin Knob - Smokey Mountains

The big news is my brother and I went golfing at the Sapphire National Golf Club and he did GREAT (for him).

Last year we golf together for the first time.  Typical new golfer with clubs that Ben Hogan probably used 50 years ago.  Non-forgiving clubs from 3 generations ago.

I handed him one of my clubs and on the 9th hole in Kewaunee he hit the ball a good 150 yards which was 100 yards farther then normal. WELL, that showed promise.

Over the winter he purchased a PING 5W with a senior shaft and then I gave him my Callaway irons since I have now ones.

Totally different golfer.

Obviously a work in progress but literally no need to play best ball.  The guy can "golf" with at least one club which is where it all starts. Get confidence that you can hit ONE club and then work on the next - perhaps a 6 or 7 iron next.

On the 8th hole we had this 162 yard carry over water.  "I can't possibly make that green" he proclaimed!

He hit the trap on the left.   Me?  See that flag pole way way on the right?  I was on the little island of grass the flag was on.

On another hole we had a 170 yard 50 feet down shot

Ralls hit it into the woods on the right twice before getting somewhere  . . ahead on the 3rd shot.  Me?

Well, I chinked the ball on one and landed near the red tees you see near the bottom.   I took out another ball for fun and

that is my ball farthest from the hole but still GREAT (if it was my 1st shot).

So that is the golf part of the vacation.  We did go to a driving range on Monday to stretch out the tendons but the range had a limit of 170 yards which was not REALLY a "driving" range at all.

So - nuff said on golfing. More next time.

BEAUTIFUL Course. Wide forgiving but hard fairways.  Not a lot of even landing areas.

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In other news - I had been working on baseball wagering for the 45th year of my life and completely failing the other 44 times.

So far this new system has a ROI of 11% after 169 attempts but if I only wager on Dogs the ROI is 20% after 69 games.  Need more data but at least it's looking good so far.

System says Brewers get shut out tonight 6-0 by the cubs

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Back feels great so working out today.

carry on  

Rainbow Falls (not gay it seems - not that that would be a bad thing)

So - it seems my brothers phone is like 2G or something, pre Blackberry I think so I'm just saying anybody at his work place . . . LET LOOSE . . .we can knock him off line just by making a phone call so his secret HD cameras he installed to monitor you are of no use. 

Just sayin'  wink wink. 

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Just thinking out loud here - the good thing about our President being basically illiterate, in that he literally can not read more then 2 sentences at a time (his briefings have a lot of illustrations, he once said "explain it to me like I was a six year old"  NO NO maybe that last part is stretching it). Back on topic  I can say anything I want about him and I know I've lost him already!!

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We arrived at Sapphire late Sunday in the dark and the roads are sort of like the roads on St John USCI.  up down around.  I swear there is one corner that is a 400 degree turn. Plus there was a steady moon crater effect with BLAST ZONE signs.  Lets just say it was a dark adventure.  OH OH once we get off the highway from hell we see that they close at 6:00 and we have to call security. But the security number is "not available".  It's like we are on a freaking island. There is more tot the story but those are the highlights.  I also believe the electricity here is only 211 and not 212.  Takes forever to charge our phones and then just sitting there they lose power in 2 hours.

Not many "far away" tourists.  Local, SC, NC Kentucky. Nobody from more then a few hundred miles.  HUGE HUGE homes on top of the ridges. I'll have to get some photos.

The four of us went to Gorges State Park home of a bunch of water falls. Water falls are everywhere.  This area gets 92 inchs of rain per year (45ish for WI and ILL) so there is a lot of water.

We took one short hike to Bear Wallow falls, rather unspectacular but it was a test which Rall's shoes
failed.  DJ and I just got back from a 4 mile "strenuous"  hike to see Rainbow Falls and some other falls which was well worth the grunting.  Was not so "strenuous" on the way down.   

Spray all over my lens and I'll have to wait to get back home on a real computer to work on some images.  My iPhone has some nice ones but mailing them to myself is proving a hassle at 1 meg per hour (it feels like)

We wanted to go to these falls on Tuesday but got to the parking lot and it was packed with people so we decided to wait until the next morning when no one was there.  BINGO.  Had the place all to ourselves.

As I type this Ralls is making a pot roast . . . I literally have never had a pot roast on vacation.  (Note - it was GREAT).

While I wait for images to download (zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz) here is a new one

I mention this as there is a retailer that contacted me about putting some of my image on clothing like scarves and shirts. Once I saw that Trey Ratcliff also was involved (my guru) I was sort of sold.  For instance:

that could be one of my photos.

So I get 10% of the sales and the people actually producing the product are provided literacy programs. They learn to read, write, and do basic math and build a better life for generations to come (at least that is what I have been told).

And since I've decided to not do as many art fairs I need to expand my horizons.  Look for galleries and other venues.

WOOP - another photo downloaded - this is where we had a little picnic. 

  
Outside our . . . . .apartment??  I'm not sure what to call it . . was this tree.

After consulting with people on Facebook it seem to be woodpeckers and not bears.  

SO today ended with Ralls, Stacey, DJ and myself playing billiards, Ping-Pong, mini golf, air hockey and some bowling game.  Drinking beer, wine and milk.  

Land Between the Lakes

We have this free stay at a Wyndham Resort that my brother purchased, so, we're taking advantage of it and are on a road trip with said brother who we really have never spent more then a few days together for oh, maybe 50 years (no really about 50).

Our first stay was at a friends of his "cabin" that used to be a forest rangers cabin . . . except this "cabin" has 4 large bedrooms on the first floor and up stairs 4 kings size and a half a dozen cots so . . . .it's rather a nice cabin in the woods . . if it does not blow over in the wind (long story, remember he's a historic restoration architect  and he was stumped at how it remains standing).

ANYWAY - the cabin is basically a 4 bedroom house with a 3000 foot loft.

SADLY it's in this amazing beautiful area that the locals refuse to like and take advantage of  . .and with good reason.

I really want to do more research on this when I get back (remind me).

The Land Between the Lakes National Park is hated.  It's like the Three Gorges Dam in China.  JFK

was so concerned with how poor this area was he decided to make this into an amazing beautiful National Park by flooding the Cumberland and Tennessee River with a dam and create two beautiful and huge lakes. The poor would have construction jobs with cement and tourism would run rampant.

The collateral damage was having to relocate 3 entire towns and thousands of farmers who's families had lived and farmed on their land since the early 1700s. The government did an emanate domain thing for 320 square miles.  As you might expect this was rather controversial and there are still bad feelings. People refused to move and many went to work one day and came home to see their house underwater.

WELL, the area is fantastic but no one goes here. Sort of like the Dells area without "The Dells".  On the 4th of July the place is dead.  Kentuckians refuse to go here.  Only tourists.  

Shot from the front porch

ANYWAY, our place was right next to a hotel that was built in the late 1700s and abandoned 100 years ago. The town of Canton was a huge destination for river boats. George Washington was here, Jesse James traveled here along with all sorts of high class, high profile people.  The most famouse was Jenny Lind who was the very biggest star in the world in the 1840s (furniture is named after her, everything she touched was GOLD, she was The Beatles of her time).  She dated Chopan and traveled the world singing in Operas and was on a tour in America. Seems she sang from the balcony.  There are zero recordings of her but she was is considered the number 1 vocalists in the 19th century.

Then trains were invented and BAM, the town died as the trains bypassed Canton. The town came back to life and BAM in the 1960s they flooded everything and it dies once again with only Boyds Hotel at Boyds Landing with Boyds Bar intack (which is a tiny cave like area in the basement).  A couple purchased it and is bringing it back to life. They understand they are just the latest owners in a hopefully long line caretakers to occupy the building.

BTW - all the way down here the highways are lined with flowering red buds. Amazing.

Last night we played a rousing (not arousing) game of Merchants of Europe, a variant of Settler of Catan.  No longer in a cabin but a resort.  There is a bath tub with mirrors on each side which reflect to infinity on both sides.  Disconcerting to say the least. 

Today we're going waterfall hunting - suppose to be 26 of those buggers around here.

Nuff said - carry on

Just checking in

Just a quick update from North Carolina / Kentucky- I WILL have a blog at some point. Had internet issues here in the mountains. but I THINK that is all fixed now.. Anyway - one quicky photo

Brokmire / Joe Buck / Trump

WOW - what a day yesterday.

First the Government stopped supporting civil war reenactors by pulling all funding for the artillery. This basically puts all civil war reenactors out of work unless they have a LOT of money.  No artillery and it pretty much stops reeanactments.

I found this out when a local group got a message saying no more financial help for artillery upkeep and transportation.  History is to be ignored.   Budget and of course terrorism issues.  What if ISIS got a hold of a smooth bore 6-pounder.

THEN the President said Bill O'Reilly, who has paid off woman at the tune of $13 million to keep quiet about sexual harassment and now with 44 advertisers pulling advertising, said O'Reilly is fine and has done nothing wrong in his view.  Of course the guy that has no problem groping woman and bragging bout it see's nothing wrong.

THEN Putin says Assad is not as bad as people think. Syrians try to flee being killed by a not so bad person but Trump bans Syrians who are trying to not be killed because they are Muslim.  Assad then gasses men, woman and children and Trump blames Obama for it (but will do nothing).

THEN Trump holds a rally and talks for 20 minutes about how his electoral victory was a record and how amazing it is.

THEN Amtrak said it will stop service to Columbus and Wisconsin along with 23 States because the Federal Government is cutting a $499 million grant for improving rail service.

And what will be historians take on Mitch McConell be when he changes the rules for a president who lost the popular vote, has a 35% approval rating, and is under FBI investigation for his ties to Russia.

Making America GREAT again?  really?

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We watched the first 2 episodes of Brockmire in IFC (333?) on DIRECT and it was a darkish comedy about a sportscaster gone bad and is back with a minor league team.  It is pretty good and dare I say . .raunchy.  Very different then most comedy's and well worth a look.   Wednesday nights at 9:00

And yes Hank Azaria is the voice of many Simpson characters.  The show was picked up for a second season even before the first episode was aired.   My ONLY rant was after working in the Minor Leagues for a few years - - it's not really like what they have shown so far.

https://youtu.be/dW4NtIjPzwo

 
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Bullpenning and a new Mayor.

JUST IN - STEVE BANNON REMOVED FROM NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL

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Columbus has a new Mayor and my prediction has come true.  During my first year of being an alderman I commented that I felt alderman Thom would be, SOMEDAY,  Mayor.  He is anal enough and controlling enough to become Mayor and I say that as a compliment (no really it is). You really need to be those two things.

I really liked Kelly as Mayor and feel he did a GREAT job and Columbus is way better off now then it was 4 years ago.  I will miss his dry humor and problem solving and there were some really tough situations that he found a way around.  Bravo! 

Thom won with a whopping 96% of the vote.  !!!  It was a blow out

Trina Reid was the big winner though as she won with an almost perfect 99.09% of the vote (2 people did not like her), we are looking into who these individuals are. 

Cindy Damm and Kelly Crombie won the School Board.

There were 755 votes cast in Columbus (I was sure someone had a higher number then that)  

After voting we celebrated with a walk downtown (amazing with no trucks - so quiet) and then a beer.  I had to take a photo as it was a new been - gotta register it. 

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Purchased a book from Sharrows.  I actually have an image in the book.  It's a GREAT book for images of old Columbus and stories.  A must have for anybody that loves Columbus. $22

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Next week I will be in the Nantahala National Forest for a week. Home of the Cullasaja River Gorge (home of 23 water falls) . If anyone has been in that area and knows  . . .things . . let me know!  I'm bringing my camera.

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Remember Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz pulling ad's from FOX fake News because of sex scandals and FOX dolling out $13 million to keep woman quiet? Well, 19 more advertisers have now pulled their funding for sex abuse from FOX, the family values network for covering up sex for keeping your job.

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A new Gallop poll says 55% of Americans like the AHC. It's the highest numbers yet.  Yea - get rid of it for sure.

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Anybody watching the Brewers play the Rockies will notice how many times the Rockies bullpen is being used.   Colorado is one of, if not the most progressive bullpen management schemes in the Majors.

First was Boston when they hired Bill James to work on a bullpen management scheme and it was a disaster.  The problem was not HOW he did it but the fact that they tried to do things different with HORRIBLE pitchers.

The current way is to have roles.  Middle men, set up men and of course the closer which is really a dumb way to do it.

A closer, supposedly your best relief pitcher will often times coming into the game in the 9th inning with no one on base and no stress. Not even the most important moment in a game.  For instance, 7th inning and you are winning 4-3 with runners on 1st and 2nd.  I would say right NOW is a pretty important time in the game right? Why wait!

And this whole "Starting pitcher thing" is old school also.  The inning with the most amount of runs being scored is the 1st inning.  More runs are scored in the 1st then any other inning (hmmm, that seems redundant).  The team control who is at bat in the 1st and a starting pitcher knows he is in for 6 innings so will not throw is BEST stuff yet and many other reasons.

Why not start the game with a reliever that will pitch all out for 2 innings. The two innings where most runs are scored.  Then if you have too put in your "starter" for the next 5 or 6 innings".  Use your "closer" when the game is on the line, WHENEVER that happens.

By doing this you also add to your offense as you are pinch hitting much more and not letting your pitcher bat as much.  The OPS (OB pct plus SLG pct) for a pitcher is .306 and the OPS for an average NL position player is .694.

Just more things for old school baseball people to complain about along with a players AVG being pretty meaningless, WINS and SAVES for pitchers being meaningless and ERA is really dependent on the players behind you are fielding your hit pitches.  Ask Wily Peralta, a ground ball pitcher for the Brewers and how he enjoys having no range fielders behind him.

BTW - last night the Brewers announcers were  complaining about how many CLOSE line drives plays the Brewers fielders were missing.  Ummmm . . . that is called range.

The Rockie 3B is rated as a 1e13.  Means he gets EVERYTHING hit his way and in 162 games will have 13 errors.  Errors are really an afterthought on looking at fielders. 13 errors is nothing if you never ever get your glove on the ball.  It's all about range.

Travis Shaw the Brewer 3B is rated as a 3e27.  3 is below average so the few balls Shaw gets a glove on there is a good change he will make an error. Shaw is a really good fielding 1B and a pretty bad 3B.        

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58% of power in Scotland is powered by wind.  1.3 million megawatts worth.

The Big Breakfast

The last two days I pitted two Columbus restaurants against each other by ordering the exact same thing from both.

The Columbus Family Restaurant (CFR) vs. The Apple Tree (TAT).  I chose The Big Breakfast, the only thing I can eat at McDonalds as my testing meal since in a different point in my life I was a breakfast cook so I know a thing or two about eggs. So let's look at the components of the meal.

I asked for over medium eggs which should be cooked all the way through but still have a runny yolk.

CFR eggs were more "over easy" and a little runny while TAT eggs were literally perfectly done.  AT wins the EGGS.  Both were large eggs.

Hashbrowns - both places had the default tasteless corporate hashbrowns with zero seasoning. I liked TATs better as they were a little more crispy on the outside but it was basically a draw out of boredom.

Bacon - CFR had 2 strips of crisp bacon compared to 3 strips at AT.  Both were good. TAT wins by a strip.

White toast.  CFR had regular white toast which was buttered from side to side while TAT had thicker bread BUT only the center was buttered.  This is a big demerit point for me as toast should be buttered from side to side, not a dollop in the middle.  Point CFR.

Orange Juice - CFR had a small class for $1.75 which TAT had a larger glass. Both were generic bland OJ-ish substance . . . more like Tang.

So - The Apple Tree wins AND it was cheaper.  The price of both meals were in the same range as McDonalds if you did not tip.

HOWEVER - the best breakfast so far?  The Jet Room at Wisconsin Aviation.  Even Elwood said "that was the most perfectly prepared breakfast I have ever had"

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Last night in City Council we had a presentation by a citizen who felt that blustering, threatening, yelling, stomping and acting like a 6 year old was the way to get your point across.  Yet, I believe what he was asking for was not outlandish at all and most on council agreed.  But he felt like acting like a little baby was the adult way to go.  He was asked to leave the premises. Some people need anger management counseling.  I guess he is mad at the City because people drive poorly and do not stop at STOP signs.  OUR FAULT, we need better STOP signs. (Did you know LED Stop signs cost about $2000 each?)

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There will be a spring garbage clean-up the week of May 15th (probably). Bring out your garbage you can't get rid of for curb side pick-up.

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I was watching the LA Angels vs. the Oakland A's and I could not believe I was listening to ignorance.

One of the announcers was whining about defensive shifts and if they were:  1. legal and 2. if it was legal perhaps shifting should be made illegal because it was ruining the game.

WHAT?  Maybe we should get rid of bunting and hitting home runs as they were frowned upon also at one time.

The thing is there are no rules on where a player can stand on defense. He can be whereever he wants.  The only reason fielders stand where they do is because that is where they have ALWAYS stood.  Now with "computers" we see that perhaps where they default stand is NOT the best place to stand.

This was once again an old school announcer not understanding the game he is broadcasting (like way way too many)

Then there is the Brewer game.  One horrific bad inning for Villar.  The Brewers young and not very good second base option.  At some point I'm going to go over each player on the Brewers once SOM Baseball Daily comes out (today?).  But Villar, while being a very very good offense player (62 SBs and 19 HRs last year with a .826 OPS (OPS = on base pct + slugging pct) but pretty bad defense and it showed in one inning as he gave the Rockies 2 free runs.

The Brewer starter who was a 31 year old career minor leaguer (and taken one pick before I tried to draft him) is now on the NEW 10 day DL list (used to be 15 day) that MLB has.  He should be there longer then 10 days though.  We shall see who the Brewers get to fill his hole. Tough break pulling a muscle bunting.  I know about pulled muscles.

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Trumps approval rating hit a new low today.

There are 3,814 doctors in the US that are non-US citizens. They studied abroad and obtained medical residencies in the United States. A program to provide them the necessary Visas was suspended Monday and many are now faced with either never leaving the country or if they do they leave not being able to come back.  And we will no longer allow those kind of people into our country.

We don't need Doctors anyway.

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Both Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz have pulled advertising from “The O’Reilly Factor” because of a continuing FOX News sex scandal.  It seems that FOX does not really treat woman as equals but more like sex objects.  Probably why Trump likes FOX so much, his kind of people. You are allowed to grope woman at your will. And if they complain they get fired.  Trumps America.

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Madison Bumgarner, a pitcher for the SF Giants hit 2 home runs on opening day.  He has 14 home runs since 2014.  On a per at bat level, there are only 16 position players in MLB that have more HRs per at bat the Bumgarner

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For the first time in . . .many years . . the US military had ZERO amputations in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past year. Down from 22 a month in 2011.

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there are 21,000 pieces of garbage floating around in space that NASA keeps track of. a new piece floated away a few days ago as Peggy Whitson and Shane Kimbrough were working on repairing a debris shield - OOPS . . it floated away.  Must have been the wind.

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Because Trump is cutting a LOT of funding to the IRS, the US will lose about $8 BILLION in uncollected taxes this year.  Good for you if you are cheating, bad for America.

OH - Consumer Spending was weak the first 3 months of this year - not a good sign. Imports from China fell a record amount and exports for China and Mexico dropped significantly.

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OH - this involves a Columbus resident

“It’s overwhelming!” Staffing shortage prompts 911 call and walkout at troubled assisted living center

OK - nuff said