USS Indianapolis and Gyros

 76 years ago today my FIL Mel Jacob was sleeping on the deck of the USS Indianapolis. He had switched places with a fellow Marine as it was over 110 down below decks.  The Indy was the flagship of the Pacific fleet, meaning it was the #1 most important ship in the Pacific.  

A torpedo from a japanese sub blew off the front of the Indy which continued to plow forward scooping up water into the ship. The Commander, Charles McVay had been assured there were no subs in the area even though a number of ships had contacted headquarters that they believed there was a rogue sub  in that quadrant.

The Indy went down in minutes and even though and SOS was sent AND received by other ships the Navy told them it was fake news and do not fall of it.  

For five days 800+ of the 2000+ sailors that made it off the ship literally swam in the ocean thinking they were about to be saved but the Navy said no - all is well, nobody could sink the Indy.   Of those 800 only 300+ survived the sharks and it was only a true literal miracle any were rescued at all.  

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When I was at a Madison Muskie game that was honoring veterans Mel was one of the honorees. We were sitting in the stands and a veteran of WWII, a navy dude, comes up and shook Mels hand.  He said MANY in the Navy yard KNEW something was wrong with the Indy.  He had tears in his eyes as he talked about how his fellow sailors were certain the Indy was not in radio silence as the Navy said she was.  The KNEW something was wrong. 

He had tears and I still have tears when I type this.  The Navy had a HUGE cover up of their ineptness. 

If you really want to read a fascinating book about the Indy pick up  In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors    It's a fast read you can't put down.  

Commander, Charles McVay was the only Commander in WWII to be court martialed in a kangaroo court for following directions.  They even had the Japanese sub commander there and he said there was nothing McVay could have done, it was pure luck the sub spotted the Indy. They threw out his testimony and deleted it from the record.  McVay committed suicide when he found hundreds of hate mails his late wife had been hiding.  

I have met the family of the sub commander and the survivors are great friends with the family of the sub commander as he spoke the truth.  

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Gyros - would you believe I had never ever had one until yesterday?  Not that I did not want one but I had never had the opportunity. Nobody ever said "Hey let's go get gyro".   

So yesterday DJ and I went the Athens Restaurant in Westport - WOW - do they have a unique variety of beers - but I digress. 

My opinion?  Yea - they are . . .fine.  Loved the flavor but my brain just couldn't get past lamb, the little baby lambs that gave their lives.  Seriously.  And I'm a carnivore through and through.  If it was all beef, no issues but little baby lambs??  It might as well had been a puppy in a cup! 

But I did love the flavor and they had some of the best fries I have had for a while (Chick-fil-A and Portelos have GREAT fries).  SO - I will gave Gyros again but it's not my go to. 

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Great weather coming up!  
    

 

     

TREE DOWN TREE DOWN

WELL - that was fun.  People complain about weather forecasts yet 24 hours before the storm hit last night NOAA forecast was perfect and they even had the shape of the storm when it hit right on. 

There were so many spinning waves last night it was hard to see which one the focus should be on.  Personally I was focusing on this one.  What you see is wind. Green wind is going one direction and red wind is going the other direction but seeing red wind surrounded by green signifies rotation, perhaps not on the ground but in the air.   

We wake up this morning to this.  I guess we can't hide the pop up any longer LOL 

The max wind speed was 45 mph but there could have been a stronger one. 

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OK the Rodgers presser.  yawn.  I liked it only because he actually said meaningful words, not yada yada yada I just love football blah blah blah.   It's as if you asked a co-worker what he thought of his company policies after 15 years . . . you won't hear accolades.  Everybody has a beef.   

SO - we shall see what happens when a QB that has had a QB rating of <60.1 four of the last six years does this year.   The Packers can dump him after this year if they want OR keep him if HE wants.   

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The Brewers traded for Eduardo Escobar - I'm not as excited as I was for Yelich and Adamas.  However - he is an Outstanding glove at 3B (REALLY good) and a spotty hitter.  There is a reason all it took was a couple minor leaguers BUT, he is 5th in HRs and 6th in RBIs this year (RBIs are a meaningless stat)  in the NL so . . . . . .  In Strat-o-matic terms on average he is a 3B 3e10, and can hold his own in the OF as a OF 4e4    

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For any of you crypto currency holders you noticed a large bump this week. Rumors of Amazon accepting Bitcoin, Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter, The Square and others saying they will accept bitcoin and $800 million in shorts from a short squeeze happened Monday. 

So many gamblers bet Bitcoin would continue to fall and when it didn't these guys who borrowed $800,000,000 had to pay it all back. 

all in all - yawn.  If you are a hard core holder these price swings are meaningless.  

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Q: My child will not eat fish, what can I replace it with.

A: A cat. Cats love fish.

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Golf was not as fun last night as it was last week.  It was not BAD except for a couple holes. Hit three separate sand traps on one hole,  drive, approach, trap trap trap chip putt . . .  putt  :-(  

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SO - for all of you anti Qrumpers - his relevance is waning and he keeps losing over and over.  The House, The Senate the Presidency and 4 special elections.  The last one 2 Republican candidates in Texas with basically the same exact agenda but one was a Qrumper and one was not.  The Qrumper lost even with hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations and backing from the CheetoKing.

At a recent rally there was a non-scientific poll and while Qrumpers LOVE this guy - 80% said they would not vote for him again.  NOW - I'm sure some were lying (as they do) but he is a fading flower for his anti-vax-lemmings . . .I suppose since he will go back into office on August 13th . . . . . LOL    

OH what Qrump say about losing?  He literally said HE won!!  How is this possible you ask?  Because a Republican won . . . . yup - and they will say YES - Qrump won!  

And and remember when he threatened every Republican against voting for the infrastructure deal (that he failed in?)  well - it passed - 17 republicans gave him the finger.  

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In 2009 the Obama admin rolled out clean car standards where fuel economy would raise 5% a year  hitting 51 mpg by 2025.   of course Qrump squished that with making it 40.5mpg by 2026.  Now Biden is making it 55mpg by 2025.  YEA - that will happen  LOL  What are you smoking Joe.  OH WAIT - Joe is anti cannabis.

OH - bees and CBD - seems bees that are around hemp have much less stress and the worker bees seem to be healthier.  Unintended consequences.  

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Funny - the Texas deputy AG said Simone Biles is an embarrassment to the country!   Texas politics is an embarrassment to the country 

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I hate Power Aid (tastes metallic)  and I see Kwik Trip no longer stocks Gatorade - BUT they have Kwikade which is basically the same.  Just saying.     

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Have a wonderful day 

Facebook Jail - 13 days left / backgammon

 Seems Republicans DON'T back the badge at all.  They only say they do to pound their chests and look good to their fellow Q buddies.  What a bunch of buffoons.  And while they are not backing the badge let's ignore science at the same time and refuse to get vaccinated.  They pack weapons because they refuse to be afraid which shows me they are afraid ALL THE TIME. YET - won't get vaccinated because . . well . . . . the excuses are many and it's all they are, excuses. Assholes make excuses.

HOPEFULLY my Republican friends (the real ones not the fascist Qrump morons) are really looking at their candidates in shock.  The biggest fascist racist bozo of them all Ron Johnson is still saying the Jan 6 insurrectionists were just having a big party and they were Antifa anyway.   

Back the badge my ass.  

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MEANWHILE - watch out for HEAVY serious storms tonight - tornadoes and derechos are likely and we are in the bullseye tonight.  

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I took a month off from virtual golf and came back to the tours a few weeks ago.  Elwood and I still played Divot Derby in 2K21 and in the last 38 matches have one 17 times.  Divot Derby is a game that uses golf.  Everybody tee's off at once (up to 20 players) and it's like musical chairs.  The last few in the hole get eliminated.  It's pretty fun. 

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The Brewers are back as the #1 team in my 2 week power ratings.  Only Detroit has scored more modified  runs (modified - you can't give up or score more than 8 runs) with 5.1 runs per game and they have the best pitching giving up 2.9 runs per game.

Cincinnati has been 29th best for almost 2 weeks now. 

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  Hasbro announced magic the Gathering and D&D cards were up 118% last year 

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I've been playing backgammon lately - remember a few decades ago when EVERYBODY was playing?  I mean EVERYBODY.  It's really a fun easy game.  But while I was looking around I saw that it is 5000 years old but you won't see it played in Islam.  Forbidden . . . . it's because of the dice which are considered a haram (which is very different then a harem) . . . "Whoever plays with dice, it is as if he dipped his hand in the flesh and blood of a pig."

Well - that would make it a more interesting game for sure but I would not want to play it that way. 

And of course there is a betting aspect with the doubling cube. A story told to me is my friends balderdash, MadDog and the Blackcloud and the Forester were playing backgammon with a doubling cube and one guy ended up having to fork out $500 after a game (he could afford it). 

I remember carrying a backgammon set with me in my backpack and Elwood would have tournaments with 20 players at his apartment about Amy's cafe off state street.  Was this in the late 70s early 80s?  

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Koch Industries CEO Charles Koch (the far right conservative that HATED Scott Walker AND the fascist Trump - he actually used his brains ) spoke about his support for marijuana legalization and drug policy reform.  

Sorry sorry - I'm a little irritated with the so called Qservatives.  

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Olympics 

So sad.  The lack of crowds are really killing this iteration of the Olympics.  Like the 2019 NBA and the Bucks.  These athletes need crowds to get them elevated. No crowds it's just a boring exhibition.   NBC is getting killed down 34% from regular programming after the first 3 days. 

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Did I mention I'm on Twitter more now?   @RodMelotte  Since I can't post random comments on FB I needed an outlet. Normally sports related. 

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OH OH  Quartz is trying to contact me  - I reamed them a new asshole a few days ago with their BS blaming Medicare for them not paying my shingles shot BUT paying DJs shingle shot at the same place.  I told them I didn't care about their BS excuse and we were looking for different healthcare.  I said WHAT!  you didn't have the cash to pay my $800 but did for DJ?  I pay YOU for insurance and you screwed me. PERIOD.  

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OK - nuff random drivel.

Cheers  

  

This and that for a Monday

T - minus 15 on Facebook Jail. 

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I received a special certificate from NOAA a few weeks ago for my 2500th report on rain/snow/hail in Columbus.  WKOW has used my rain totals for Columbus for a couple years now and I was WISC use them a few times.    And of course my photo from Columbus was discussed on The Weather Channel a few years back. OH!  I'm somebody!  :-)  

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I got a Coinbase card that is linked to my BitCoin and have been testing it out the last week.  I'm still not sure if its scammy or not.  It costs 2% to use it but I get 4% back on EVERYTHING a different Crypto coin .. Steller Lumens (XLM)  another cryptocurrency that I can use.  I have 85 shares already which shows you how expensive  Steller Lumens are  LOL  While Bitcoin is $38,000 a share XLM is way way up to $0.26 a share. 

BUT - I do get 4% back in gas and groceries which my credit card does not give me.  But now with Bitcoin surging because Amazon might accept Bitcoin I don't want to use it as its up 10% today. 

I had to buy Elwood a new air conditioner because his all of a sudden did not work. The guy is a complete failure when if comes to anything mechanical.  I used Bitcoin to pay for it.  The good thing was Menards had zero AC units for sale most of this year.  There was a container ship full of them but there were no truck drivers to get them to Wisconsin.  Monday they arrived.  I was so surprised when I went there and they were 100% stocked. I bought the first one. 

HOWEVER - I get to Elwoods and take his out.   OH!  the filter was 100% blocked.  sigh!  And you wonder why the moto died.   

He grew up without a dad and had 5 sisters.  That's his excuse.    

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OK - maybe everybody knows this but for DJ and I our Iphones won't ring if we have the Bluetooth on and nothing is listening.  Problem solved. 

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Seems the FICO credit score is becoming a thing of the past - Capitol One and Synchrony are discontinuing looking at it for loans and several other large lending institutions are slowly getting rid of it. 

THANK GOODNESS I can stop paying on time now.  Seems 53 million Americans have never borrowed and have no score.   Raid Isaac Corp gets 99% of its profits from FICO scores.  sucks to be them. 

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Carjackings of UBER drivers and other "like" companies are way up with  124 so far this year. 

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Arkansas has raised 368 million in Medical Cannabis sales since it began last year.   Meanwhile Maine sold $6.5 million in June.   Wisconsin continues to be racist with not allowing ANY cannabis sales.  I say racist as cannabis became illegal because of Herbert Hoover believed black jazz musicians smoked cannabis.  Then white people started liking jazz and thus liked cannabis and thus the two races were intermingling - can't have that!  

Did you know Hoover never admitted there was such a thing as organized crime?  Maybe I mentioned this last time - sorry.  The whole anti cannabis thing has its roots in racism and it was an excuse for police to arrest more black people.  

MAN the 60s  were so corrupt. Every politician (including Kennedy) was being paid in some form by organized crime (woman for JFK).  Joe Kennedy made a $1,000,000 bet on JFK to win so it would look like he was the favorite  LOL  

But I digress

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Snoop Dog and Martha Stewart - what an odd pair but so funny together. You KNOW they gotta be stoned on their cooking show

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I'm enjoying Big Brother.  a bunch of really nice people in the cast this year.  It's Survivor in a house.  Sunday, Wednesdays and Thursdays

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  OH - BTW - We are JUST coffee fans for several reasons - one is that roast really good coffee.  2. They are are ACTUAL fair trade coffee buyers - not the fake Fair trade you see on packages.  Fair Trade really only means the buys pay more then 1 cent more then the market price. 

These guys were hippies that went to Mexico and discovered awesome growers that were getting totally ripped off (probably looking for cannabis fields at the time) and became amazing coffee roasters .. . . .ANYWAY . . . 

We buy Skate Perk or Bike Fuel normally but every summer they get Dais Del Sol a Light roast which is Sunshine in a Cup.  LOVE it. The cool thing is every package has a code and if you go to their website you can see EVERYTHING about the coffee.  The entire history of purchases, routing, prices. Complete 100% transparency.  

     

    

Madeline Island 2

 Couple things before I finish Madeline Island.  Knowitall will like this (I try to please everybody) 

I still have 2 more weeks in Facebook jailed for my hate speech

So I have not been able to comment on The Bucks and for anybody that knows me I have been a Giannis fan since the very beginning.  Never ever a doubt he would be a super star. 

Did you know that only one other player in NBA history has done this 

Win the league MVP, Defensive Player of the year, Finals MVP AND All-Star Game MVP in one year.

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Yesterday after taking about a month off of golf I had my best round ever with a -9 for handicap and an 84 at Kestrel Ridge.  I did not know I was doing so well as I never ever look at my cumulative score during a round.  REALLY consistent with gold approach shots.  But weirdly a guy I was golfing with

 ( he had an 81) said after yet another approach shot.  "You have such an easy swing"   WHAT?  DUDE - I'm swinging as hard as I can  LOL

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lastly - I'm reading Killing the Mob and now understand the whole Jimmy Hoffa thing and Bobby Kennedy and Frank Sinatra and when Castro took over in Cuba one of the very first things he did was basically evict the mob by burning down every casino.  OH and Hoover never ever admitted there was such a thing as organized crime. It was all a myth. 

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Madeline Island is known as Moningwauakauning (I did not just have a stroke) by the Ojibway tribe and it has an interesting history.   

In 1693 a French soldier built a post there.  In 1718 a Fort was erected which was France's main fur  trading post on Lake Superior.   In 1793 Michel Cadotte established a trading post and began a permanent settlement.   When the daughter of Chief White Crane named Equaysayway,   fell in love with Cadotte and married, she was given the Christian name "Madeleine".  This pleased White  Crane so much he decided to name the Island in her honor. 

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The Island

SO! Day two. We awoke to strange sounding birds, made coffee and built a small fire.  DJ sent a runner (me) to the other campsite to say I was making a big breakfast of pancakes and bacon and coffee and the gang showed up.  

After that hmmmm what to do. The days all blurs together but since dogs are not really allowed to do anything in Big Bay State Park there is a amazing beach at Big Bay Town Park so we drove over there and stuck are feet in the sand and Gus went right to the water.  

Needless to say sand was in our lives for the rest of the trip.  Gus LOVES swimming with his little web feet and has zero fear of being over his head. When on land he has this game he plays with himself - he does this in snow also.  It's like backwards soccer.  With his front paws he will shove the ball under his belly behind him digging a trench for 5 yards backing up. This is fun to watch UNLESS you are facing his behind and then he kicks sand in our face. 

 Meanwhile Ralls and Stacy had an inflatable kayak and they went kayaking just behind the beach while we watched Gus and their two dogs (one blind AND deaf) 

It was a hot day but as normal people lined up to pet Gus and throw the ball in the water for him.  Once done DJ, Gus and I took off to find the airport (just a runway near their DPW) as it was the only place where there was a dump station for gray water.  

We got back to La Point and stopped at the food truck for some hot dogs.  The MAIN COURSE were gyros  . . . in fact gyros is a big big thing in those parts. So many places advertise gyros.  BUT - we did not trust food truck gyros so we had tasteless hot dogs instead.  

this seems to be the main place locals get food and while we waited for our dogs I bet at least 10 gyros were sold.  Note - Ralls had 2 gyros and loved them. 

We also ate outside at Grampa Tony's but the flies were irritating outside on a hot day.  

On day 3 we saw the Beach Club was open.  It looks rather rundown and dirty.  But I went inside and OMG - what a beautiful place.  TOTALLY different then the outside.  They had a lot of craft beer and good food and we sat outside looking at the harbor.  

Note - EVERY establishment on the island has dog bowls of water.  As we were drinking and relaxing (something we did a lot of) and beautiful Chris Craft came in. 

I talked to the owner and told him I really appreciated his boat and mentioned I did posters for the Madison Antique and Wooden Boat Show for a few years.  

The weather changed for the better and cooler and we ate supper at my brothers place. As we walked to our campsite a HUGE RV had come in with 4 SCREAMING kids - SCREAMING and yelling with glee and crying and so forth.  

They settled down about 10:00PM. 

That next morning instead of being awaken by strange birds we were woke up at 6:30 by screaming kids catching Monarch butterflies (there are a LOT of them) and their dad not yelling for them to be quiet but just yelling replies.  One kid got stung by a bee (we laughed quietly) and it was pretty much chaos. 

They all piled in to their truck to go swimming and they were all asleep my 6:00PM.  NOTE - they are STILL there.  10 days.  WOW - there is no way I would spend 10 days on that island with 4 kids and really very little to do but relax . . . . and drink.

Three days was perfect.  We will go again but will budget for crossing the ferry to explore the NOT Island part of that area.  Lot's of towns we wanted to see but $50 to cross the ferry you need to have one entire day to explore. 

All in All a success and a great place to camp. Not really a touristy place but GREAT for camping.  

The trip home was uneventful although we did go through Minocqua which looks like the Dells.  It's about 6 hours.  

and that is my story - probably more random photos coming soon. 

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OH - BTW - Random thing -  I did take some senior photos for a long time friend last week - gotta post this one. 

  

  Have a GREAT weekend and stay cool!  

     

 

           

 

 

Madeline Island first day.

 Before I get into "Madeline Island first day"  A few interesting things.

CARS

The average price for a new car in June was $39,948.  The average price for a 1 year old USED car was $39,868.  ONLY an $80 difference.  Typically there is a $5000 difference and once a new car is driven off the lot it loses 7% in value.   Rough market for buyers but it seems sensible.  Remember, cars are basically big computers attached to an elaborate group of metal things.

 SHAMPOO

120 billion plastic bottles of shampoo are purchased every year and less then 10% are recycled and really, shampoo is basically water with some goo in it so transportation is a logistic nightmare with weight and so forth.  Totally inefficient.  The solution is to make shampoo into a bar form.  Unwrapped Life makes bar shampoo which has 8% the carbon footprint. 

On that same note - the whole "get rid of plastic grocery bags" thing,  Paper bags have a HUGE carbon footprint compared to plastic bags.  There is no free lunch. 

TOYOTA - the Olympics are so unpopular in Japan that Toyota has pulled all of its ads.

CANNABIS - a study of states that have legal cannabis as seen increased home values and cities that have dispensaries has driven property valuations up even more.  

Meanwhile in Colorado regulators published a report  showing youth cannabis use has not significantly changed since legalization. 

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OK where were we. 

We arrived at the ferry in Bayfield which holds a spot in my brain. I have always wanted to go there.  

When I was a wee lad of 10ish I would listen every day to public radio and their weather wrap up in Wisconsin and Baaaaayfield was always one of the reports.  It sounded so exotic way way up there.

So we are coming into Bayfield and it is crowded. The idea was to get some groceries and so forth before the island but we drove all around the small town and there was zero parking anywhere for a camper.  Nada.   It LOOKED like a really fun town . . from the car dodging humans and small streets.  Buy groceries in washburn about 20 miles back.  

We decide to just go to the ferry.  The attendants are amazing as they fit the puzzle of cars, campers, huge RVs and semi's onto the platform.  The ride is about 15 minutes and we exit the ferry into La Point.  A pretty small working town with a couple of places for tourists but not that much. 

I talked to an art shop owner on why the Island was not ripe with touristy things and why are so many places closed.  He said it is a problem.  It's all about being on an island.  Do you want to work a low paying job that costs you $25 a day just to GET to your job?  The 300 full time residents on the island are older and don't want change (sounds like Columbus).  

So we travel to Big Bay State Park and it's hot.  86 degrees  WTF!!!    When I made reservations last year I wrongly assumed it would be like Door County and cooler being an island and all that. NOPE.

The difference is that in Door County the southerly winds had traveled 300 miles over 55 degree water.  On Madeline Island the southerly winds have gone over hundreds of miles of forests.  

We set up in blazing sun with no wind.  Takes about an hour to set up into our campsite which turned out to be WAY better than we expected. 

    Once that was all set up and my brother Ralls and Stacy were not here yet we took showers and decided to go into "town" to see what was there.

NOT MUCH!  Two "grocery" stores. One with 2 aisles of which 1 was all liquor, and the main store which was 3 aisles with 2 liquor.  

OK then.  So since Tom's Burned Out Cafe (no food) was right there we had to stop in.  

EVERYBODY crowded around Gus and we ordered $11 drinks and in a bit Gus saddled up to the bar and was a happy camper.   We talked to the locals about where to eat . . . . . basically there was no place to eat.  Most places were closed and even the food cart was closed for a Doctor appointment.   WELL - OK THEN.  

We did find Grampa Tony's open but the grill was closed 3:00 to 4:30.   We wandered around for a while letting people pet Gus and then as we are walking past the ferry Ralls is exiting the boat.  We wave and they stop blocking traffic and move on and we will see you later.  NOTE - this would be the start of a "Where's Ralls Now" comedy watch. 

OH - Did I mention there is ZERO cell service or Internet. 

About an hour later we swing by his campsite and I help out getting his 20 year old pop up up in the heat.  It's about 6:00 and him and I go into "town" to get ice.  NOPE - there is no ice on the island after 6:00  Everything is closed.  No gas stations on the island, no actual bars, no grocery stores.

I happen to have extra ice so I give him a bag.

It cools off and we all celebrate with some drinks and so forth but no fire. They are early sleepers and early risers.  We're normally up until 11:00.  

We get to our site and build a fire and Gus settled do in his spot.  He is so awesome. Somehow he has learned that when we set up or when we are packing to leave he will sit in his car bed and watch and not be in the way.  Never told him to do that.  

When we are in between and just doing things around the site, without us bribing him to sit somewhere he will just jump up in the camp chair and chill. 

 What we did not see when we were setting up was how great this campground is.  This is what we looked at as the sun was setting.  180+ degrees of wilderness. No other campers in view 

     

I would say 50% tent campers, 30% pop ups and 20% large RVs in the park.  

And that was day one. We went to bed and slept soundly in the quiet dark campsite. 

Tomorrow (the next day) we would see what is up with this place. 

 

     

What's Up with Madeline Island - Part Uno

 We went on an adventure to The Apostle Island and Madeline Island to be exact.  Never been there, don't know anybody who has been there and not a lot of information about what is actually there . . . . except it's always seems to be a place to go.  

So DJ, Gus and I jumped in Rocky and Bullwinkle (Rocky is the camper a Rockwood 1910 ) and took off. 

We decided to take the west route as we thought it would have more 4 lane roads as it was going to be a long drive.  But after a few beers (weeks before) and talking about logistics we decided to make a stop in Hayward first. Then it's only 1.5 hours to the ferry to get to Madeline Island and then a couple hours getting situated at the campsite. So we did not want to drive 6 hours and then have to set up. 

Easy drive to Hayward the home of the Lumberjack World Championships, the American Birkebeiner and just a crap load of fishing.  The town has a population of 2000 with 8 gas stations.  Spent a night there and on the way out there is a HUGE fish at the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame.   

WELL - I had to get a photo but NOOOOOO, I have to pay $8.50 for entry.  I told them I did not fish and only wanted to get a photo to help advertise the place . . . . . still $8.50.  So we drove around and crawling through some ferns and shrubs to a fence I leaned over and took a shot. 

HEY - it's the best I could do. 

Beautiful highway to Bayfield which LOOKS like a pretty cool town but super crazy busy with zero parking for a vehicle and camper.  Nada!  If you want to shop before going to the Island shop in Washburn 20 miles before.    So!  no place to park we got in line for the ferry. 

The ferry costs us $100 for a two way trip and takes  . . .15 minutes?   There is a ferry every half hour.

We arrive in La Point with 29 more vehicles, 20 or 30 pedestrians and maybe 10 bicycles!  What do we see?   Not much actually.  To put it in terms I understand.  La Point is like Door County's  Baileys Harbor BUT, 50 years ago.    

However - the one redeeming "building" is Tom's Burns Out Cafe.   When doing some research this was the only establishment that was ever mentioned more then once. To put it bluntly -  If The Grateful Dead decided to open a dive bar with only what their concert goers left behind - you got it. 

IT WAS AWESOME! 

  ALTHOUGH - not for everybody! 

You gotta see it to believe it. Reminds me of the 60's only more fun.  dennis e

We really enjoyed this bar. It was fun, friendly, and cute with history. P7504VLamandaw

 The inside is a dump. What a mess! We walked in and someone was getting their head shaved on the patio. Inside, be careful where you step. Uneven floors held together with license plates, crappy, old carpet, odd gross garbage picked chairs that make your skin crawl when you sit on them. They were going for the “let’s be really funky and weird” look, but all it really looks like is a garbage picked, “we wanted a bar but have no money to spend on furniture and decor” mess. - pinecone759

Obviously they voted for the loser President.  OH - it's great.  Drinks are $11 and most have a dash of soda in them (wink wink hubba hubba) and it's very dog friendly, Gus loved it and they loved Gus. 

I gotta give a few sentences on Gus.  WOW!  He is a "comfort retriever".  Literally every 10-15 minutes someone was hugging him and wishing they had there dog with them and little kids would get on their knees and give big bear hugs him and speak softly to him lovingly.  Store owners would go across the street to give him a treat and he had his first deep fried cheese curd in Tom's Burned Out when he sat and shook a customers hand.   

I have to believe that people are just stressed out enough on being out of their comfort zone that they see this smiling tail wagging fur ball and for a few minutes their unknown to them stress level falls.  Even in Hayward a big burly dude with three off road four wheelers and mud everywhere was all lovey over Gus. 

MUCH more about Madeline Island coming.

End Part Uno.   

   

    
  

 

 

GoodBye Maple :-( The Day of the Dead

 https://youtu.be/UQ7ssU1u1yc

There is a show on PBS called Wonders of Mexico and it is outstanding.  We all know about all the Aztecs stuff and so forth but seeing what the REST of the country looks like is AMAZING!! 

There is a mountain range with canyons larger than the Grand Canyon.  There is a tribe that has been around for a thousand years that can run 200 miles without stopping - it's their thing.  The holiday Day of the Dead is something I wish Americans did - it brought tears to my eyes.

On The Day of the Dead all Mexicans celebrate by going to their cemetery, lighting candles next to their loved ones and having a party. The entire graveyards are full of people celebrating their loved ones. Death is not the end for Mexicans, it's just a transition in a spirits journey.  

The show is on Wednesdays.  What a beautiful and wonderful country.  It's too bad Trump and his zealots demonized the citizens to gain votes and spread hatred for these amazing people. 

Did you know there are 20 active volcanoes in Mexico? 

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Remember Orlando Arias?   I spent some good virtual cash on him as a Free Agent as my SOM team needed a Shortstop and he was the only one with 400+ ABs.   Then the Brewers dumped him to Atlanta who put him in the minors.  WELL - I picked up a player as the 240th pick that plays for Arizona who is doing GREAT, Josh Rojas every day SS.  But now Arias is back in the MLB and playing LF which is great because I have zero outfielders next year.  

OH - one last baseball nugget.  The Yankees are getting REALLY hurt with the anti-sticky stuff rule.  Seems a few of their REALLY high priced pitchers cannot throw without a banned substance.  Gerret Cole and Chapman are literally useless if they cannot put sticky stuff on their fingers. 

Cole ($326 million contract) has a 5.01 ERA since the ban and was around 2.00 before.   Aroldis Chapman has pitched 6 innings since the ban and has given up 15 runs.  Both have spin rates that have dropped significantly. 

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OK - Big Brother.  Basically Survivor but locked in a house.  People love or hate this pure strategy show,  It's almost like the board game Diplomacy.  I was at the clinic and picked up a New Yorker out of boredum and a guy watched the series and said he was dumbfounded, said it's actually the smartest non-scripted show on TV and the IQ of its audience is on the high end.  The problem is with CBS advertising which makes it look TOTALLY stupid. 

Take 16 normal people.  Put them in a house and each week have a competition on a new "head of household".  You get your own room and at some point you have to nominate 2 people of which one will be voted out.  Then spend a 4 days as people beg and make deals and new alliances form.   

The power changes every week and alliances are tested. That is the key. You can make "friends" and promise they are safe but every week everything changes.  This is not like the old Big Brother which was stupid and just a flirt fest. People know the game now and they understand that showmances get kicked out fast. 

If you watch ONE episode you will not understand it and think it's stupid and boring.  But like Survivor once you get to know individuals and their strategies it becomes really fascinating. These guys  are all pretty darn smart and know how to play. 

A few years ago an undercover cop won because he slowly started talking and dressing like the people he would manipulate. Then he would get OTHERS to kick out his enemies!  It was artwork.  He would describe exactly what he was going to do and they - BAM - it would happen.  

I truly think this is the smartest non-scripted show on the networks. We have a former contestants and All-Star sister that lives in Columbus.   

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So long Autumn Blaze Maple :-(  so sad.  We tried to save our friend that we planted 16 years ago but the expert said don't spend anymore money on it.   We need Josh to cut it down so we can plant another.   I feel sad. 

It was an amazing tree for awhile but now it starts to turn red late June . . and only half the tree.  sounds like the roots are just going in a circle and strangling it.  

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Cannabis - A study concluded that "decision-making is not impaired when cannabis is used in moderation" and found "no evidence to support the presumption that cannabis consumption leads to a decline in neurocognitive ability." 

            

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A poll found that an all-time high in Americans saying they are "thriving".  By far the highest in the 13 years of the poll. 

Have a great thursday 

 

       

SOMEBODY wanted to give the middle finger to Columbus residents

 OK - who's brilliant (dumb ass) idea was it to bring Chris Columbus that xenophobic native hatchet man who had nothing to do with America out of his "secret" location to display him in an Independence Parade that celebrates freedom (for white people only if you were Columbus).  

What IDIOT gave the OK for this to embarrass Columbus and piss people off. 

NOTE - seems its owned by the Knights of Columbus 

Can we now rent out the statue for our xenophobia parties?  Maybe we can get a Hitler statue for next years parade to display proudly.   sigh!   I say SOMEBODY wanted to give the middle finger to a large group of people in Columbus and I blame the city for allowing this to happen.

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OK - got that off my chest.  (morons)

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Here is the latest in Grinders Power ratings.  I've been using my power ratings for the last month betting ON the top 5 teams and AGAINST the bottom 5 teams.  So far averaging about .55 units win a day.

Betting AGAINST has been more fruitful as I get to play more dogs.  The Brewers are +210 today against the NYMets.    So far so good with this experiment.  A lot of games each day and I get juiced pretty bad but still winning.

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Aaron Rodgers is on TV tonight with his golf thing.  TNT TBS and streaming somewhere - do people REALLY still think he does not want to play in Green Bay?  He owns part of the Bucks and renewed his membership in a Green Bay Country Club.   

Basically a publicity stunt I say and both parties know it. 

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Bucks - sigh - without Giannis.  Didn't the bucks lose 13 years in a row in Phoenix?  confidence is NOT high!  at the moment the Bucks are +6 underdogs 

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What is up in san Francisco - 30 walgreens have closed because of a REALLY dumb "rule".  A shoplifter will not be charged unless he steals $300 or more in merchandise.  So basically you can steal in plan site of a police officer and just walk out.  I've seen footage as security just watch a dude take things off shelves - and nothing.  WTF?

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In the last couple weeks I have had 2 oil changes.  One at Take 5 in Sun Prairie where you get water, your dog gets treats and you sit in the car as 4 people in military fashion check everything while you sit in your car.  The place is spotless clean and everyone is super friendly.  I LOVE that place.  

One friend went after hearing me rave  and said "I have never enjoyed an oil change before". 

THEN - I took my Honda to the Honda dealership as I get free oil changes for a year. Was told to make an appointment - I called - they asked when I wanted to come in I said where is there an opening and they said it's my choice. 

I said 30 minutes - up there is an opening.  I drive in and - there is no REAL appointment at all.  I'm in line with everybody else.   One and a half hours later I have my free oil change.  SEEMS - the "appointment" only tells them I'm coming in.   It's STILL first in first served.  WELL MAYBE - I would not have come in at 11:30 if I would have known that!! 

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We watched Godzilla vs. Kong yesterday and I noticed a plot hole.  I also just could not get a real handel on Godzillas inner demons and why he was so angry.  Was he hungry?  And My Gosh the human toll was incredible. They glossed over that part.  

It's almost like I had to suspend my believes for realism.  HOWEVER - it was a fun flick to watch but what about the back stories.  The kid and his father for instance. 

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In cannabis news - A study found that "a cohort of human patients previously taking CBD had significantly lower SARS-CoV-2 infection incidence of up to an order of magnitude relative to matched pairs or the general population." 

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Remember the Ever Given - the container ship that screwed up world shipping in the Suez Canal?  It's FINALLY gotten permission to leave the port.  $1 BILLION in merchandise can now be delivered.  Of course a problem in the U.S. is that there are thousands of ships stacked up at harbors because there are no truckers to deliver the goods.

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Nuff said