Friday - OPPRESSIVE

Watch freaking out for Friday's weather. The high will be 92 but the dew point will be astronomically near 77 degrees.  Add all that at the heat index will be nearing 106 by late afternoon.  Saturday not as bad, only 99 before a cold front sweeps by with thunderstorms Saturday night. 

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This was a hand held shot from our driveway where a bunch of plants are waiting to be planted.  I was just seeing how still I could get with no tripod.  You are not seeing the failures LOL 

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SO - we have trees downtown. Now, where are the bike racks and benches that we set money aside for. We borrowed a crap load of cash and one of the things promised were trash cans, bike racks and benches   Let's not stop half done.  

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67% of Republicans believe America sets a good moral example (seriously?) while only 20% of Democrats believe America as a good moral compass (unless that is how you spell the mushroom and I will catch shit again).

In the Obama era it was  44% and 49%

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Don't look now but North Korea is upgrading their nuclear plants.  I hope we can give them more concessions to make them stop again.  The last ones didn't seem to stick.  The President thinks higher of North Korea then Harley-Davidson.   

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What ever happened to the iPhone X buzz.  I don't hear anybody really going out of their way to praise it.   I did not buy one because of the stupid FaceID thing.  Yea - because the fingerprint thing is 2000's? 

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Had my best round ever at Six Mile Creek.  sadly the last 4 holes I got lazy/tired and had issues off the tee. Still shot a 96 (45, 51).  Happy yet sad.  and THAT is what golf is all about.  No matter how good you shoot . . it's always disappointing. 

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It's all I got

TREES - they are here.

It takes 45 minutes to get from Columbus to UW Hospital/Clinics.  I got there and  checked in and they asked "do you know where to go" I said "no" and they said "it's simple - past the coffee, down the hall on your left"  simple right?

So I walk past the coffee shop and I see nothing that looks close to hearing or audio or anything else. I walk around looking and I see nothing.  I stop at some cancer place and they say - simple . up the hall on your right . . . I walk up the hall and see nothing recognizable.

I go into another room and ask - OH - THIS is it -  The Otolaryngologists clinic - HOW COULD I MISS THAT!!

Anyway - I didn't think I had an issue but my mom complained that her hearing was good but everybody else mumbled a lot.  I had noticed that loud bars all my 30 year old friends had no issues but MAN I could only hear half the words and on TV we would turn on the captions because it seem that sometimes actors just mumbled their lines. Kiefer Sutherland was one of them.

SO - why not get it checked every 4 decades.

Bottom line.  I'm fine.  The high middle range such as a woman's voices is a little soft but I can make that work for me.
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Just a weird photo I took.

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In other news - The trees are being planted downtown.  A windmill I have been chasing for 10 years  all the way back to being on the Main Street Committee is finally coming to fruition.

Alpha - with awesome cool car in background

Beta

   

Wetting Wilma - already named by citizens 

Of course the complaints are rolling in.  "Now we have to duck branches"  "It's going to tear up the sidewalk in 40 years" (a real comment) and what about the sewers pipes.  

Now businesses will be lined up waiting to open store fronts.  Of course the tree next to The Cage will last 2 weeks but . . . . hey.  it's a start.    I can feel the fresh air already standing next to them. 

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The price for a POUND of cannabis in Colorado is below $1000 for the first time.  In 2015 a pound was $2,007.  Prices continue to fall.  

I saw on the news Coors is looking to buy Cannabis from Canada to infuse into their beer.  The news said Wisconsin was one place they were thinking about brewing it.  WHAT?  Do they know Wisconsin ass backwards when it comes to cannabis? 

Yesterday Epidiolex became the first cannabis drug approved by the Food and Drug people to treat epilepsy.   

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There are some places in Utah where you can vote by mail.  There was a 7% increase in votes from younger people.  

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Ever since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and the GOP decided they no longer were worthy of saving , 135,000 residents have moved to Florida, Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts .

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There are 350 woman running for office that are Democrats and 118 woman running for the GOP. Meanwhile the number of woman in Congress that are Democrats has steadily grown the last 20 years, the number of Republican woman in Congress . . . . no real change. All older while males.

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TURN : Washington's Spies. EXCELLENT 40 episode docudrama about the Revolutionary war. I'm on to the last 10 episodes.  Benedict Arnold just defected (and failed)

A true story about the Culper gang.  All but the woman has been identified. She was the actual leader but historians still have not figured WHO she was.

https://youtu.be/udtna7djtsg


A MUST see TV on Netflix.

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Be careful this afternoon/evening.  A slight chance for some sever storms - probably closer to the border but there is some flooding potential as this VERY slow moving system could stall with torrential rain in some spots

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doesn't it seem weird that the right is so worried about socialism as they install a fascist government?

1. Disdain for Human Rights
2. Identification of scapegoats as a unifying Cause
3. Rampant Sexism
4. Control and disdain of Mass Media
5. Obsession with National Security
6. Religion and Government intertwined
7. Corporate Power is Protected above individual power
8. Labor Power is surpressed
9. Disdain for intellectuals and the arts
10. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
11. Rampant cronyism and corruption
12. Fraudulent Elections

carry on cronyism

WHAT? I don't need a hearing test. WHAT?

Hearing test day - WHAT?   I can't remember the last time I had a hearing test . . Junior high perhaps?  Gotta go all the way to UW Hospital for the sound prove room.   I hope I pass.

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Chillin out on the last weekend of our patio which seems to attract mosquitoes. 10+ years ago Elwood and I planted 13 cotoneasters which seemed like a good idea at the time but with the yearly Jap beetle issues and they have gottin so big and wind blocking mosquitoes love it.

So what are we doing?  tearing out 12 cotoneasters (one didn't make it) an entire butterfly garden and putting 52 new plants and shrubs/small trees in. Well - I'm not doing it. It would take me an entire summer.  A few of teh new plants will have to go elsewhere as one area is already under construction.    Before and after photos are a plan.   

The problem with flowers photographs - it's just so dang easy to take a pretty flower photo.

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The NYTimes has an article about Wisconsin and our failing economy now with Trumps trade war REALLY hurting our state.  The possibility of dumping milk in the fields as no one is buying our cheese overseas and now Harley Davidson moving some of the operations to the UK as it's too expensive to build bikes in Wisconsin ($3000 per bike raise in price).

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HEY - looking for a fun and different movie to watch?  DJ and I watched Thor :Ragnarok and she is NOT a super hero movie person. Both of us loved it!!  I have gottin so bored with super hero movies.  1/2 hour of plot and 1.5 hours of a CGI fight scene.

This one is VERY entertaining the entire movie.  It's funny, has a real plot that lasts the entire movie.  SADLY - it's not HD, No Dolby Atmos   sigh!!  disappointing - But it's a fun ride for the whole family.

https://youtu.be/ue80QwXMRHg



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TREES - in Melbourn the city planted a CRAP load of trees, I mean a LOT.   City officials came up with a way for residents to report tree issues via email.  Each tree is assigned a number or and email address and if there is an issue you can email that a certain trees is in harms way.

PROBLEM - residents are emailing the trees directly.

My dearest Ulmus,
As I was leaving St. Mary’s College today I was struck, not by a branch, but by your radiant beauty. You must get these messages all the time. You’re such an attractive tree.

Dear 1037148,
You deserve to be known by more than a number. I love you. Always and forever.

I suggest with the trees being planted downtown soon we should have a small plaque with an email address and a tree name (I would supply both) so people can complain, compliment or report issues.

Stupid?  Brilliant?  I'll be the nexus of operations. just putting it out there.  PLUS - free press!  I bet Madison Newspapers would love a feel good article from a small town.

Just putting it out there for reactions.

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My brother's son competing in the - First Elite level Spartan Race which led to an OCR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP qualifying time.  

SADLY a broken wrist canceled his plans to compete in the OCR. Seems wrists are an important thing.

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In a new poll by PEW Research 

81 percent of black respondents said President Trump has not too much or no respect at all for people like them. Other subgroups where majorities believe the president does not have respect for them include women (57 percent), Hispanic people (67 percent), women aged 18 to 49 (62 percent), people aged 18 to 29 (57 percent) men and women age 50 or higher (51 percent), Catholics (53 percent) and black protestants (81 percent). ​

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After today's day off the Brewers play 21 games in the next 20 days.  Got a double header with Pittsburgh (their one and only rain out so far).

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Here is a good one that I ALWAYS SEE - ever go clothes shopping and see a shirt but not one is YOUR size?

The average waist of an average American woman is 37.3 inches for a woman over 20 years old. A latest mindless study at The Mall of America of ALL jeans the average waste size was 30 inches.

Makes sense!

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off I go to the hear Dr

Cut off LOW is still sittin' and spinnin'

In response to Clark's comment yesterday about a bar owner.  I'm amazed it's so hard to take a liqueur license AWAY once it's been issued.   

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speaking of golf league . . we will not speak of golf league. 

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Bertoud Pass Colorado looking west.  I sprinkled some of my moms ashes on this look out.  She would have liked it.  As a bonus maybe some year some of those ashes will reach the Pacific Ocean, another dream of hers. 

Made flight reservations for Las Vegas.  First I forgot to pay the return fee for checking one bag.  At first I thought I could just sell all of my clothes and not have a bag on the return. . .but then I remember I was going to sell all my clothes anyway so I would have more room for all the money I would bring back.  

Then I saw that I did not pay for an actual SEAT on the return flight. Maybe I was in the standing room only area in the back of the plane?  The party room?  Of course I'm doing this all on my iPhone so everything I typed in reality had to be typed 3 or 4 times because of fat fingers. 

****************

I might have a couple less "friends" on Facebook.  I got into a scrum with a couple of christian woman who saw no problem with putting children in "chain linked walls"  . . . . . I disagreed.

There is no evidence that the Trump administration has moved to reunite children with their parents or even that it has any plans to do so.

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I'M GETTING MY HEARING TESTED MONDAY - Just for a baseline for when I get old.  After I made my appointment I got a reminder 6 hours later.  They think I'm old already

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I know everyone rushes home to watch the World Cup and you have noticed there have been zero 0-0 games so far.   In fact there have been 5 goals scores IN THE WRONG GOAL. The record is 6. 

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Yea - 18th hole at The Oaks.  My drive literally goes 10 yards.  My 2nd shot is sweet but not on the fairway. 200 yards to the layup area.  Not a problem and oddly confidence is high (the beer?).  I use my 3W and RIP the ball cleanly and for 1/2 second I'm giving myself a fist pump.  

Then the ball hits one limb of a tree and falls straight down into a deep deep bunker.  4th shot hits the lip of the bunker (it was eye level) and sticks.  5th shot is literally backwards,  6th shot is a nice 6I so  I have 140 to go which is over a forbidden area. 7th shot lands on the lip of a deep bunker so my 7th shot will have to be 20 yards straight up. 8th shot is on the other side of the green for a 40 foot downhill putt.  9th shot is 20 feet short still down hill.  10th shot I pick up the ball and throw it in the water.   

I will not speak of golf again.

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Canopy Growth - up 6.5% yesterday, another 2.5% this morning. ching ching!  No brainer!

Marijuana stocks are surging after Canada legalizes the drug

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In 26 States -  white people are dying faster then they are being born. Two years ago it was only 17 States.  At this rate white people will be the minority BEFORE 2045.  Not that that is a bad thing at all.  I think white people are the problem in America.  We need a wall. 

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Coherent Ladar Using Intra-Pixel Quadrature Detection = U.S. patent No. 10 million.

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Coors Brewing canning line.

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The only thing I hate more then a liar is Skim Milk.  Skim Milk is water lying that is it milk.

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Affordable homes are hard to come buy.  The article I read said it's because mortgage rates are at their highest level in 7 years , all the way up to 4.4%. Wait . . . . I had a real estate friend who was trying to sell homes in the 80s? when the rate was 16%.  Can you imagine applying for a 16% mortgage?

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Cut off LOW is still sittin' and spinnin' just southwest of Wisconsin.  I'm thinking Gus the Weather Dog might get his own Facebook page.

More showers later today and should be fine.  A passing shower late in the morning and again late in the afternoon - not enough to get WET.  Maybe damp  High of 68 tomorrow.

Weekend is look good Saturday cloudy and 75 Sunday Sunny and 80. Thunderstorms pretty much all next week - the pop up kind with highs in the mid 80s.

See ya

The sound of a babies crying is like waking up to a gentle rain for the alt-right.

I watched City Council last night from the peanut gallery - online. There was a record number of people watching, 35 was the highest I saw. 

It was all going well with people asking questions about procedure with valid answers and then a local bar owner showed up with nothing but complaints about how unfair everything is with a few insults about Columbus tossed in just for good measure. And everybody left. 

What a great addition to Columbus.

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Tonight the Columbus Public Library has a presentation called PLAY BALL.  (6:30)

Joyce Westerman, Wisconsin Women and the All American Girls Professional Baseball League: Play Ball! 

 Historian Bob Kann offers this talk celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, made famous by the movie "A League of Their Own."

 Hear stories of the league’s three Wisconsin teams – the Racine Belles, Kenosha Comets, and Milwaukee Chicks – and their players, women who grew up during the Great Depression and left families, homes, and jobs to follow their dreams and forever change perceptions about female athletes.

 Funded in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Humanities Council, with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the State of Wisconsin. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this project do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Wisconsin Humanities Council supports and creates programs that use history, culture, and discussion to strengthen community life for everyone in Wisconsin.

DAMN - I really wanted to go. Sadly it's golf league night!  DAMN IT!

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Last night we were watching the Brewer game and all of a sudden Gus is going CRAZY barking - like CRAZY angry!

And then this happened

OH - it will happen to YOU some night.  What a great watch dog. 

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Weather - we have a cut off low that is bothering Wisconsin.    The cold front went through and attached to the cold front were all of these little storms we have been getting - WELL, one LOW decided it liked the area and broke away.  Now the front as moved on and the LOW has nothing to move it so it sits and spins and for a while now we will have sputtering clouds and and cooler temps and showers.  At LEAST until Saturday.

BUT - I have seen these things sit for a week or more if there is no reason for it to leave.  Still - the weekend is looking good. The next real weather maker shows up Tuesday into Wednesday with storms.

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May was a great month for Comic Book sales at brick and mortar establishments.  Highest sales sine November 2016.  Comic books sales have been lagging the last few years.

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Dictator Trump - you know, the guy that is cozy with Russia and North Korea but is pissing off all of our REAL allies. The one putting children in cages . . or  . . sorry  FOX News calls them "chain link walls" . . not cages.  The guy that spent Americas Recession insurance (tax cuts) so when the recession hits  . . . and it WILL hit there is no Plan A.   The guy that defends woman gropers and hates gays. The one starting the REAL trade war that will make prices go up?

WELL -  . . . . . . . . I honestly can't think of where I was going with this . . . . hmmmmm

OH YEA - he claimed that since Germany started to accept migrants that crime in Germany has gone way way up. 

MORE LIES

In reality crime in Germany has gone WAY DOWN since they started accepting migrants.  10% to be exact. Their lowest lever since 1992.

Is there ANYTHING out of that guys mouth that is actually true?

And then there is Jeff Sessions - a homophobic, xenophobic, misogynistic, old, rich, white man, trying to hide behind the cover of religious fervor.  What a complete asshole of a human.  (did I go to far?)

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Starting in fall the NYC will stop arresting people for smoking cannabis in the City. A small ticket instead.  Seems 86% of the arrests were either black or Hispanic. White dudes don't smoke?

On that same flavor - Canada DID legalize recreational cannabis for adults.  Hope people have watched my stock zoom up 63% in the last 3 months (CGC - Canopy Growth not a $33.19).  I would not buy in now - seems overpriced.  The goal was to buy in before the law happened as it was a no brainer it would go up with the votes (an actual no brainer that worked LOL).

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Caseworkers are struggling to assist young migrant children who were separated from their parents, because the children are often too traumatized or too young to speak with them.  These children may actually be eligible for asylum and visa's except they are too traumatized to give necessary details.

The GOP is creating an new ISIS who hate Americans.  Teach them young right?   It's sickening how the alt-right cares nothing for children.   OH - Wal-Mart is not real happy with Trump - I wonder why!  LOL

The sound of a babies crying is like waking up to a gentle rain for the alt-right. 

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I have nothing else

Analyst Paralysis / Dew Points / Trumps March to the Sea

Just a photo

I was a systems analyst for the Health and Family Services for 25 years.  Every 6 or 7 years a shiny new business model was introduced that would make our lives easier and everything more wonderful.  It happened like clockwork.

The people in charge would get all excited because they were the ones that would make things more efficient.

So we would all stop pumping out reports and correcting issues and moving forward with computer programs and  would attend meetings and learn the new way of doing things.   Then, like clockwork everything would come to a stop as we would fill out redundant questioners attend more meetings and NOTHING WOULD GET DONE LITERALLY . . . . FOR YEARS!

We would analyse and analyse and analyse to make sure nothing would escape our grasp of knowledge and then TWO MORE YEARS of analyzing and charts and error checking would follow with not one speck of code being written.

By this time it would be too late to abandon the project as it would make the people that decided this was a good thing look bad.  Even though after 4 years the project still had not one line of code being processed.  It was only after the people in charge were given a raise and put into a higher position that  the new people would come in and scrap the idea.

I feel this is what the School Board and School System is doing. They are so afraid of making a mistake that nothing is getting done on what REALLY matters.

I did not attend the latest public school board meeting because it seemed to me it would be a waste of time.  From the sound of it . . it was.   Analyst  Paralysis persists.

*****

Trumps March to the Sea.

I can see what Trump is doing.  It is like Sherman's March to the Sea.  In the 2nd American Civil War (the first was the Revolutionary War) Sherman burned EVERYTHING he could see in his wake.  He wanted to make war a living hell so the south would never ever think about war again.

This is what Trump is doing.  He is taking children from mothers and fathers so that Mexicans will not even think about coming to the US (they are nothing but rapists anyway you know).

Immigration has been on a yo-yo.  With the GOP is in charge immigration slows and when DNC is in charge immigration grows.  This time it is different.  It's cruel, inhumane and the punishment does not fit the crime.  We are a nation of immigrants. Our own family's came to America to flee the old world for many reasons.

F*ck You Trump and all your racist groupies. I respect REAL Republicans, I might not agree with many of  their ideals but I respected them.  I have no respect for Trump and his followers as they hide their heads in the sand listening to Fox Fake News.

The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. 

It was their final, most essential command 

---- George Orwell  1984 

90% of Democrat's, 70% of Independents are against separating children  but, 58% of Republicans are all for separating families from the children.  They are only children you know, who cares. 

You do know SuperMax prisoners have a larger room then the children in cages , oh sorry, officially they are "pens".  But the children do get 2 hours of outside time a day.
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America is actually 11 separate nations all with totally different cultures.

"We" are in Yankeedom -  "Residents in these states, founded by Puritans, are more comfortable with government regulation than people in other regions. They also value education, citizen participation in government, and the assimilation of outsiders "

Yankeedom has, since the outset, put great emphasis on perfecting earthly civilization through social engineering, denial of self for the common good, and assimilation of outsiders,"

YUP.

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OK - let's talk dew points!   Last night a talking head on TV said Janesville had a dew point of 79 degrees. This is UNHEARD of high and he said this literally could have been one of the highest dew points on earth at that time.  WRONG!!

Moorhead Minnesota actually holds the record dew point America, June 19 2011 they hit and AMAZING dew point of 88 degrees.  HOLE SHIT!!   Remember - oppressive begins in the 67 range.  ALTHOUGH the highest unsubstantiated recorded dew point is from Appleton WI at 90 degrees July 13 1995

Oddly the upper Midwest has the worst dew points in america. You would think southern states would have the worst. It truly IS a question that is still unanswered. One theory is that torrid dew points typically occur after heavy rain storms when the ground is saturated and that happens up here!

BUT wait - what is the WORST in the world?  July 8th 2003.  Dhahran 95 degrees. The heat index that day?  178  (One hundred seventy eight).

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In a few days X-Men Kitty Pryde and Colossus will tie the knot.  In a quick review of the latest 50,000 back issues of comics 2 out of every 3 weddings are attacked by adversaries or aliens and 50% of the weddings never made it to the reception.    I'm not going to attend.

+++++

New York City comptroller estimates if New York legalized cannabis it would put 400 million into the coffers in the first year.

+++++++++++++++++




 

Running a city like a business - NO!!

Lets get the weather out of the way first thing.  As Gus the Weather Dog said on Facebook says.

What happens when a strong cold front meets a heat wave that contains an "off the charts" amount of precipitatable water?  Strong storms with a LOT of rain.

Precipitable water is in the 2-2.5 inch range with standard deviations nearing the 3 and 4 inch range for today and tonight. Flood warnings will go up later.  Heavy hail and strong winds are a worry starting about 2ish.

Tomorrow the high will by near 69 with lingering showers.   Middle 70s Wednesday and Thursday and then Friday rain and a highs around 66.  MAYBE 70 on the weekend and nice next week.

OH - today - 83ish with thunderstorms beginning in the afternoon-  heat index about 90 - the talking heads on TV are just making crap up I think when they say temps in the uppers 80s?  No! 

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In other news I hope y'all have a chance to drive by the water tower as the ground cover is blooming that Elwood and I put in with the help of 2 pay loads of dirt provided by Columbus Water and Light.

This is self sustaining and a weed minimizer.  Actually if you like them feel free to pick some sprigs and plant them.  Lay the sprig down horizontal, break off the bottom leaves and cover with dirt. DON'T poke a hole and plant them, lay and cover the bottom.

Perhaps when Darvin comments to me "What the hell have you ever done for the city" I can point to getting 16 people to paint the inside of the train station for free AND planting the water tower rocks.

Although - I think most people drive by the tower and never even notice.

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When Mexico's “Chucky” Lozano scored  (you know that country full of rapists and illegal's) a goal yesterday the celebration was actually registered on Richter scales.  Seems they were happy.

++++

While baseball attendance is down 6.6% this year do to weather and the lack of competitive balance (6 teams might not win 65 games this year and Baltimore might not win 50) the box office is UP 5.9%.  Also rising are comedy club attendance which is up 25% in the last few years.

++++

The National Institute of Health (NIH) has canceled a 10 year study on drinking alcohol when it was discovered that the $100 million study was basically funded by the alcohol industry that put in $67 million and who basically designed the study. 

++++++++++++++

Starting in 1826 the Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling contest is NOT - I REPEAT NOT on my bucket list.   It involves rolling a 9 pound piece of cheese ( Double Gloucester cheese) down a very very steep hill.  The cheese can reach a speed of 70 mph and YOUR goal is to be the first to touch it.

GO!!

https://youtu.be/gNj67kwWBoQ




I think this is something Columbus needs to look into for ANYTHING young adults can do.  It seems the rec department does everything for children with play grounds and so forth and ignores middle school and high school students.   

I think we found something.  All we need is a hill and a big piece of cheese.

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When I was on council I felt every member of the group had a forte'  I thought it was a GREAT set of members that all had their expertise.  My forte' was to bring more beauty to Columbus. I was a Council Member lite.  There is no arts council and the city sort of ignores beauty and puts money into roads and infrastructure, which is fine.  But beauty is part of infrastructure.

If Columbus can always spend a LITTLE more on making the town presentable it's not a waste. That was why I was constantly pushing for trees and bike racks and benches downtown and flowers for the Police Department - ANYTHING.     

OH - I have been asking about trees since I STILL see no trees or bike racks downtown. I was told they are still coming and I won't let it go.

BTW - Editorial comment. 

ONCE AGAIN - a LOT of complaining about downtown and how it SEEMS to be ignored by the city.

There are SIX people on City Council and the Mayor.  Those SIX are in charge of running Columbus.  I stress . . SIX.  Not like Madison that has like 40 or something and many other towns that have more. Columbus? it's SIX,  (Kewaunee population 2,900 has eight)

In the last few years those SIX have been inundated with working on the amazing transformation of the new TIF district which is almost full. A great success nobody talks about.  Meetings after meetings and issues on top of issues taking up time.

NOW - you might say - screw the TIF district - concentrate on downtown and YES - that would be great right?  But do you tell a companies that will deliver 60 $50,000 a year jobs to look elsewhere? We're busy go to Stoughton?

After being IN City Council for 4+ years the real problem is you have to play the cards you are being dealt. We would ALL have love to concentrate on downtown (seriously) but it seems to me there is always something to take time away.  What is REALLY needed is a Beautify Columbus Task  Force that will meet and inform the City what is needed.  Have plans for bike racks, plans for benches.

The six elected officials really have no time to "get things done" as they have so many other committees to attend.  There were so many things I WANTED to do on council but geez with 6 meetings a month on various committees and many of them taking an entire night and then add in personal clubs and meetings and family . . . . . See where I'm going?

The members of City Council are not full time employees (not employees at all actually).  Like MOST people they work and have 4 hours of private time each work night.

Just sayin'

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Hand held image of rock wall sedum

RUNNING GOVERNMENT LIKE A BUSINESS

In the private sector, we need people who are willing to take great risks, to run the chance of failure in a competitive effort to grow. That benefits us all. In the public sector, we need people who are obsessed with stability, who shun risk with the recognition that local government is a platform for people to do good things, that the role of the city isn’t to grow but to provide the stability necessary for prosperity to emerge.

If a private sector business fails, the ecosystem of businesses becomes stronger and society becomes more prosperous. If a local government fails, people suffer and society becomes less prosperous. There is no symmetry between those two kinds of failure.

OK - there ya go!

Wear a helmet this afternoon - hail

Summer is Coming.

FUN FACT - The Chicago Cubs lead the league in slugging . . .with no one on base.  But are 10th with runners on base.

There has been a lot of talk in media AND social media and especially dumb ass Mike Heller on sports talk radio the last few days about Craig Council refusing to bunt with a man on 2B and no out and needing ONE run.   Statistics all say 1 out man on 3rd (66.0%) is better then no outs man on 2nd (61.4%) for scoring ONE run.

BUT WAIT - there is a factor nobody seems to talk about - The player at the plate and his ability to bunt the ball in the first place.  I looked at Strat-o-matic cards which have bunting ratings and the Brewers are totally pathetic bunters. Seriously - a bunch of bunting hacks.  I think every pitcher is a better bunter then almost every batters.   Zach Davies is the best bunter on the Brewers (he is REALLY good). Sogard is good and Arcia is good. The rest?  blah.  They are rated "D" bunters.

HOWEVER - the average TOTAL runs scored goes down. That 1 extra out decreases the chances of scoring multiple runs. 0 out man on 2nd the average is 1.1 runs,  1 out man on 3rd = 0.95.

Mike Heller pisses me off so often with false stats.  He was interviewing a Chicago sports writer and he said all of Wisconsin believes Joe Madden the manager of the Cubs is a God.  WHAT?  where did he make up that garbage?   Seriously?  The Chicago sports guy said in Chicago they really dislike Madden and he would not be the manager if the Cubs lost the world series.

In fact he said he was amazed at how Cub fans turned on him even after the WS victories.  The guy is a blundering fool (he did not say that - I did).   He also said the Cubs really get UP for playing the Brewers but seem to go back into a shell when playing other teams and yea, the Brewers REALLY have their attention for being the real deal.

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In another gripe - the far left is turning into the far right with fake news.  All of those images of children being taken away and put behind fences?  Totally fake.

People need to realize that Obama started it. This image is from 2014 when the Obama administration detained children.

HOWEVER - Trump has tightened the screws a little more and is detaining children AFTER ripping them from their families.  Just sayin' and keeping it honest.

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I have a new lens, a NIKKOR 105mm Micro 2.8   Expect some close up photography to start popping up.  Nikon has the best glass in the world!  Canon has the best camera, Nikon has the best glass.

Took this from about 15 feet away

Too bad it's a black and white lens and not a color one.  :-)

This was hand held from about 6 feet with the wrong settings.  Just taking snap shots!

I had a Macro lens (I think they call them Micro now) lens 4 years ago and was taking photos in the garden with a tripod.  I finished and folded everything up and went inside. The unfolded the tripod with camera attached and set it down.

BAM CRASH - one leg was shorter then the other and the camera fell RIGHT in the lens head first with a sickening sound!  Lens was ruined.  I was so so sad.   Finally have a new much better one.

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Then there is Rudy Giuliani who's week went for being very bad to finding out he has been fornicating with his 2nd cousin for 14 years!  WHO KNEW - I guess he didn't.

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Big Martian dust storm on Mars covering 14 million square miles.  The rover Opportunity is in power fault mode but might not survive.  It's been a good run.  For a rover was scheduled to live 90 days and it's nearing the 15 year mark!!   COME ON OPPORTUNITY YOU CAN DO IT.  Channel your inner raccoon (hopefully every knows what that means).

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Mediterranean Diet?  Fake.  Seems the study was not very scientific and results were skewed.

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National Polls.  I will say it again. The National polls were correct.  They said Hillary would win by 5% and she sort of won by a little less.   Trumps approval rating is slipping again. While his disapproval rating is steady his approval ratings are slipping in the last few weeks.

The BIG movement has been in the Generic Polls which have been right on for a few decades.  Right now Democrats have a 47.1% chance of taking Congress while the Republicans have a 39.4% chance but ever since early May this has been a constant widening.

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And then there is California and IHOB.

In California they are considering splitting into 3 separate states.  No really they are. But only 17% of Californians think this is a good idea.  With that said Walker is thinking about splitting Wisconsin into two States.  Dane County would be one state, Danesconsin, and the rest of the state fould be Walkersconson.

and IHOB - Really? The International House of BURGERS?  REALLY?  But reports are saying their burgers are really very good.  hmmmmmm - Five Guys or IHOB.

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A Harvard economist and biostatistician published a paper saying the new EPA policy's will cause 80,000 America deaths in the next decade.

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In the last three days four new houses in the Kestrel Ridge area have begun to be built. That leaves I lot left untouched. We were the 7th house to build here.

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and now the bad news - WEATHER

We're still good today but about 5 tomorrow morning humidity will begin to rear it's ugly head and dew points will be nearing 70.  I still don't think heat index will reach 100 but 98 should feel just as bad.

We start to cool off Monday and next week should be fantastic. about 82 degrees with low dew points.

Cheerio!

Hedy and Cain

On this day in history in 1970 Doc Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched a no-hitter while tripping on LSD.  Oh the 70's were so much fun!

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In case you missed one of the all time best running the bases play in history (well sort of).   Seems nobody has ever seen this before.  Both announcers and post game announcers had never seen it and Council said it was brilliant.

On this play if Cain touches 2B Yelich is out.   What you don't see in this video is Heyword running in from CF pointing at first base yelling nobody is there.  ummmmm  instead of POINTING - maybe run there?

and of course the next batter drives both in.



In strat-o-matic they rank base running and stealing bases separately.  Base running they look at every play when a player is on base and if he advances or not and so forth.  Cain is rated as a 1-17 base runner.  I have never seen a 1-18 so basically Cain is one of the best base runners in the Majors.  It showed last night.

Yelich (1-16) actually made the mistake by taking off too early.  If he plays correctly the end result is he is on 2B and Cain is out at first. 

The Brewers this year are ranked #1 in the NL for base running. Cubs are #2. 

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The democrat's lost in the Districh 42 race because of gerrymandering.   If you look at the district Columbus is cut out of the square.  Columbus is the most liberal city in the area and SHOULD be in District 42. 

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This whole Trump North Korea thing.  First of all I loath the racist bigoted woman groper but have had zero issues with his taunting and threatening nuclear war with the other crazy dictator. Does Crazy + Crazy = Sane?  This is not a zero sum win or lose situation.  If we can take one step backward from nuclear annihilation is this a bad thing?

However. The US gave a lot away for a weak promise and a bullet point agreement with no timeline and absolutely zero specifics.  Only 389 meaningless words so far. Sort of like signing the infrastructure package (how is that one coming along).  More empty promises. But in this case I hope child President pulls it off. 

Still . so far nothing but a photo op for both sides and SO FAR Kim is winning.  He got want he wanted without giving "us" anything.  We shall see.

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Canada produces 60% of all newsprint and America raised the tariffs on newsprint from 6.2% to 22% in March which has led to layoffs in the newspaper industry.

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Hedy Lamarr - there is a new NETFLIX documentary called "Bombshell".  She completely

took apart a music box and reassembled it when she was five.  Her dad would constantly explain how things worked.

Her problem in life was she was what most people called the most beautiful woman in the world at the time.

In the movie Ecstasy - she had the first on screen simulated orgasm and she did love posing nude.  She would work on a movie for 16 hours getting pumped with speed (as all actors did back then) and then go home and invent things.

When the world was losing to the Germans she quit acting to invent something that would help win the war,  What did she invent?

You are using it right now.  WiFi, Blutooth, GPS and frequency hopping so submarines could not jam our torpedo.

THEY NEVER USED IT - she was a woman and the military took her amazing invention and stored it away to used 20 years later.  Instead the Military told her instead of "inventing" things America would be better served to sell war bonds. Se sold something like $40 million.

She never received a penny for her invention. She also reinvented plastic surgery.  Instead of cutting here and here cut here and do this which is still used today.  There were dozens of things that made life easier for America that came out of Lamarr's brain.

Her life was a mess because Dr. Feelgood (a real person) was pumping her full of meth to shoot movies.  In fact most movies you see the actors are speeding. Charlton Heston was cranking pretty good in the Ten Commandants!

Aspen Ski Resort was Hedy's invention.  She build it out of nothing.   Anyway - I have always thought she was awesome but did not know The Rest of the Story.



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OK - gotta mow the lawn today. It's already Wednesday and it's been 2 days since the last mow.  Its going to get HOT HOT HOT this weekend.  Heat index nearing 100 Saturday and Sunday.

The humidity starts ramping up Friday. Today and tomorrow are GREAT but Friday the heat index hits 91 with 99 on Saturday and 98 on Sunday. Monday will be like Friday with some scattered T-Storms and a beautiful week after that. 

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I'm channeling my inner Ansel Adams

 Nuff for today - gotta mow.

Rod

HOME and stuff

Could not blog Monday morning - the grass was taking seed and I needed to get a handle on it before it was too late, I might have to torch it and start over otherwise.

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So back in Denver where the forecast is a record 96 although 96 in Denver feels like maybe 87. No humidity.

When you eat outside  you never see waitresses waste water. It always gets dumped onto the ground or flower pots or whatever, never back to the kitchen. 

With that said - we stayed at The Maven in Denver - an upscale yuppyish hotel in the LoDo District of Denver - a block from Coors Field and I tell ya, the shower was the biggest I have ever seen.

Literally 4 feet wide and when I say literally I mean maybe a foot?) and very strong.  INSTANT WET! 
The faucets in the bathroom were like a hose. No fine bubbles, just pure water.

Attached to The Maven is The Dairy Block which opened June 1st and has 16 restaurants. Like a REALLY nice food court, a few bars, hamburger places that the meat is ground 5 seconds before it's put on the grill (pretty fresh),  And of course there was a sweet looking fancy pick-up bar.  DJ and I walked through it a couple times and, yea, we were the hot ones. Everybody was staring.

Everywhere you go in Denver it seems people were selling water which is a good thing as it was record breaking temps the entire time we were there.  It's a common thing, every few blocks $1 vendor.

We picked up a case of sour beer for my home brew buddies. Denver seems to be the nexus of the best sour beer in the world.  I carried a case and a couple bombers 6 blocks back to the hotel. It was not pleasant. Then we stopped at Coors Field to get tickets. We picked up the cheapest tickets we could (not really but more on that in a bit) and went back to the hotel to chill.

Coors looks amazingly like Miller Park . . . .  up to a point.  Less security then Miller and much faster.

Our tickets were sort of standing room only on the "roof top". Sounds weird but WOW - It's an entire different world up there.  LOVED IT.  $6 beer. $5 hot dogs.  Lounges,  no waiting restrooms and when you get tired of standing there are plenty of seats to hang out in PLUS you have free access to the Party deck up one floor. HUBBA HUBBA!

 
DJ was obsessed with checking out the party deck  . . . . which is where I got into it with a Philly fan.  It was hilarious.

We're in this walkway and a Cub fan approach's me and said "I HATE THE BREWERS" (but smiling) and I said "I HATE the Cubs" and then we hugged it out laughing. Then we talked a while about how we could be related to each other (NOT) and he pointed at his friends were were NOT Cub fans and we talked about mutual respect  . . . . except for the Phillies.

WELL - At that point he pointed to a friend and said "THAT, is a Phillie fan" and the 25 year old (or whatever) turns around and says "YEA WHAT OF IT!" and everybody starts laughing. I gave him some shit, and he gave it right back.  Both laughing - but we're sort of loud and maybe people are getting worried?  At that point DJ starts to back away and head downstairs and Phillie says as I'm leaving  "WHAT DOES MILWAUKEE HAVE ANYWAY - NOTHING! - JUST A BUNCH OF BREWERIES"  and I believe he knew as soon as it came out of his mouth I had him.  My response?

 "WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED" and did the "drop the mic" turn and walked away.   POINT GRINDER!  As I walked down the stairs I could hear laughter.

That was the thing at Coors.  What a freaking happy bunch of people.  At Miller Park there are REALLY drunk, loud people. It's much more relaxed, laid back and not as drunk at Coors.  And a LOT younger crowd.

Here is a pano view from our standing room only "seats".  When you get tired of standing and drinking on the rood top (on the right) you can sit down.

 
HOWEVER - the CHEAP seats are in center field called The Rock Pile.  Metal bench's, literally bleachers. 60 and older, $1 otherwise $4. You can only get tickets 2 hours before the game.

The Rock Pile is upper dead straight away. The Roof Top is the first group of people standing on the right side and the Party Deck is above them. 

So - I go for some hot dogs (no secret sauce there) and come back, sit down and there is a bunch of commotion just 7 seats away. I look over and . . .

WTF?  A guy is answering trivia 7 seats away AND WINS . . . . our row all win free haircuts at Sports Cuts - YIPPEE!!!

OH OH - before I forget.

The Brit Floyd - seems this concert will be broadcast as part of a PBS pledge drive so stay tuned.   I tried my own "Facebook Live"  - after I realized the camera was facing the wrong way it gets better.  HEY - I'm not an expert. Just a guy with an iPhone.

We were a lot closer but the camera made it look farther away.  Plus no horizontal - perfect weather, 80s and a little breezy. AMAZING acoustics!

Don't be afraid - that is the last second of the video 



So back at Coors Field,  we watch the Rockies get creamed by Arizona who are the like the Cubs to Rockies fans.

The game finishes and it literally took like 5 minutes to get out of the Stadium. The place was pretty full but there are so many stairways it's never crowded and we literally only saw ONE escalator in the entire place.

Again - no overly loud drunks even coming from the Party deck.  No wiffs of weed, everybody VERY polite and friendly.

Sadly - the next day we had to drive home.  As luck would have it Saturday was our 22 wedding anniversary and we celebrated it in Nebraska.  On the drive my sinuses decided it was time to let loose as we dropped in elevation and humidity took hold.  I'll have to figure out that little issue for next time.

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In other news - let me say once again - I've never dissed Trump and how he is handling Kim.  However - so far The US has caved in to Kim and all we have a promise.   Now of course now we can bomb the crap out of them if they break a promise.  But let's remember the infrastructure promise that Trump signed last year.

Actions speak louder then words and vague pieces of paper with bullet points.

A Japanese poll has America as the greatest threat to world peace by 52% of respondents, China by  34% and North Korea by 30%.  Yea - seems about right to me.

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Seems honey bees understand the meaning of 0. Something only dolphins, birds and primates were thought to know. A study took two cards with a number of symbols on them  and placed sugar water under the one with the fewest symbols. Bees could consistently locate the sugar water, and that skill continued when there was one symbol and zero symbols.

The understand 2 circles vs. 3 circles and 4 triangle vs. 1 triangle. But what surprised many were when they had one symbol vs. a blank card.  The bees understood that the blank card was less then the card with one symbol.

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In 2002 there were 30 million active golfers in The US.  In 2016 there were 20.9 million.  The average golf course is about 150 acres and we will need much less of them in the future it seems.

A closed golf course can hold about 600 homes. If recent history is any indicator locals who live around the course will fight such housing initiatives tooth-and-nail.

Dead Golf Courses Are the New NIMBY Battlefield

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Oceans 8 beat expectations by pulling in $53 million world wide - 69% of tickets were purchased by woman.

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That is it for the moment.

Nuff said.

     

Denver - small blog - Red Rocks

Short blog today - got back from Red Rocks about 12:30 last night after a 3 hour AMAZING concert.   Going to go to the Baseball Stadium Museum which is literally a block away today and then a Rocky game which is literally a block and a half away. 

 

We arrived at Red Rocks 3 hours before the concert and prepared for the hike UP.  From the front of the stage to the top row is 10 stories.  The hike to get to the front of the stage is about 1200 feet up from the lower parking lots.  There are resting areas and you are encouraged to bring water for the hike up.  CRAZY!!! 

I don't think the Andre Rieu  crowd can make it.  The musicians ALSO have to take that hike.  There is no secret back door.

Just a few photos for today. More in the coming week.  OH - The Maven Hotel in The Dairy Block in Denver - SWEET - 16 restaurants in this building.   

I have a video that I'll try to get onto Youtube at some point.    

Needless to say DJ loved the concert.

Getting out is very easy and very well organized (only 1 road out for 8000 people).

Lots of photos for the future. 

REALLY? heading home tomorrow which is also our 22 anniversary. Celebrating by driving through Nebraska.  SWEET!!!  

Talk at ya later. 

Winter Park Tres Day 5-6

The last full day in Winter Park and we're getting sad.   We went to The Ditch tonight to get the last awesome dinner on our trip (no dinners in Denver).  BUT NOOOOOOOO!  They are closed until Friday for a employee rafting outing.  I'm thinking Mullins should have a employee rafting party down the Crawfish . . . . . might not be the same I suppose.

This was the last chance for days off here as school is out Wednesday and Ride the Rockies is next week.  Even in my long distance biking stage I NEVER contemplated Ride the Rockies. 
Tuesday we went to breakfast at Sharky's to fill up as we would forgo lunch for a bigger dinner.  When we're traveling it seems when we have a bigger lunch we're sort of full for a big dinner. So it's a choice  . . sometimes.

The 2nd breakfast was just as good as #1.  THE goto breakfast place.

We drive up to Grand Lake, Colorado's largest natural lake also called Spirit Lake by the American Indians.  The town of Grand Lake has a population of a little under 500 and was a outfitting and supply spot for mining communities in the mountains.

FUN FACT - The growing season in Grand Lake is 49 days. 

There is just a lot of STUFF here - touristy but not expensive at all.  We purchased this candle holder carved from dead Aspen . . .$24.

The town is all boardwalk and old westy. I gotta think the place is PACKED in the summer but there is still school so this is really the season between seasons. I feel we are the vanguard for the coming hordes.  And it seems we are doing our best to help the economy. 

   The lake itself was formed 30,000 years ago (give or take 3 years) from glaciers. It's the headwaters of the Colorado river with a depth of 265 feet.

 
You really can't see the mansions on the other side. They are HUGE but little spec against that hill.

Before you get to Grand Lake you come to Granby. The town was formed by pioneers who received the land in the Homestead Act of  1862 (called immigrants now).  Largest town in the county at about 1,500 in population.  Back then they felt a growing population helped the economy.  Now the government feels making America SMALLER will help the economy.

FUN FACT - in 2004  DMarvin Heemeyer took a modified bulldozer and bulldozed the bank, a hardware store, a concrete company, a utility service center, the town hall, the police department, and a former mayor's home.  He was pissed off at the city council over a zoning deal.  7 million dollars in damage.

Granby also has a great lake.  It's weird seeing cars pulling boats up into the mountains.

Peak Brewery

Got home, went to the Peak for the BEST big Pizza and a couple beers and called it a night.                                                                        Today was golf day at The Pole Creek Golf Club.  Winner of many awards (except for the food . . at least what we had).   DJ was a ride along and we teamed up with 2 other guys.

I only played 9 holes on the Ranch course. Wanted to play the Ridge but that was the next 9 holes and I wanted to see what the course was like before I forked out THAT much money.

The greens were in spring condition - like 3 weeks ago with sand so putting was odd.  Putting downhill and the ball slows down.

That ball track (below) is mine.  Drive of 212 with 278 to go.  80 yards out of the trap and from 190 I  hit AND held the green.  I got lucky as I JUST got over a greens side trap.  Ended with a 48 on this unique thinking mans course. 

Chilled out and did laundry and so forth as tomorrow (today) is get away day as we move operations to downtown Denver two blocks from Coors Field. 

As I said we TRIED to go to The Ditch but NOOOOOO  so we went to a pizza/pasta place right near by.  The interesting thing about this is that the entire building, inside, is covered with money. 

There is going to be a whole lot of people going to jail for damaging Federal Property.  But if they launder the money it you can get out of jail for free with a pardon . . if they know any reality stars or Fox News Propaganda Machine.

That is it for now - Brit Floyd tomorrow night and the Rocky Game Friday.  Denver has had two record highs the last 2 days and it should be warm again.  

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I don't know what is going on in Wisconsin but the big news here is the FBI guy that accidentally shot a guy in a nightclub in Denver.  Never do a back flip with a loaded gun.  Probably was sick that day for that lesson. 

There is HUGE storm in the Eastern Plains tonight. They are showing photos of PALM size hail.  Seriously?  

And TV?  LITERALLY (I mean really!) 70% of all advertisements are political.  Have I said that in a previous blog?  hmmmm  Well, it's crazy, in your face, no holds barred.  Mostly about how to pay for schools and immigrants.  

AND I see Columbus is getting a Wood Fired Pizza place, opening in August.  

That's it 

See ya