Christmas Presents

Just wanted to post pictures of some of the presents I got this year. The light saber being held byt the plush toy is from Kim my wife and the Gold Finch bookmark and geocoin is a coin I got from a geocacher named Gold Finch. We were in a secret Santa circle together.

Dear Santa

Amen

Winter Solstice

This year winter solstice will come at

Winter Solstice 2007: Dec 22, 6:08 am Universal Time

Be sure to adjust for your time zone:
EST: Dec 22, 1:08 am
CST: Dec 22, 12:08 am
MST: Dec 21, 11:08 pm
PST: Dec 21, 10:08 pm

Solstice is a day that I always find interesting. It is the darkest day of the year. Some think that winter should start today just because that is when the sun is at its lowest. This year at least, winter has been a lot earlier than that. I get encouraged by the solstice by the fact that since it is the darkest day of the year, it means that the days will start getting longer. It will not be noticable at first but it will slowly lengthen and then pick up speed by the equinox.

Net Music

One video and one music link for your entertainment.



Daleks Christmas

What dino are you?

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I wan a hippo for Christmas

School Delays

Kinda weird but understandable that there are still school delays after the dump this weekend. We have not got any more snow but what we got made for such a huge job. Those school buses are hard enough to control but something that big and rear wheel drive has got to be a pain on slick county roads. The major roads were still slick yesterday morning so the secondary roads were still snow packed. Not good for buses. It is suppose to get either close to freezing or above so hopefully between the temperature and traffic, the roads will clean up and get dry. Got to get goins

Blizzard Aftermath

The snow stopped yesterday. The clean up continues due to size of the job and blowing snow. There are some school both closed and on delay due to the road conditions. At least we are not due for any more for now. If did not get anymore snow, there would be more than enough. At least we have nice neighbors who will help dig out. We did most of our driveway and one of our neighbors cleaned up the rest and got it all the way done. I better wind this up and get my butt going. There are holiday preparations to take care of and the clock is ticking.

What Harry Potter Character Are You

Which Harry Potter Character Are You?
	You are Ron. You're the typical sidekick. Sometimes you get jealous of your more popular friends, but that's only because you don't how much work it is to be in the spotlight.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

More Winter Weather

We got a foot of snow last night. Needless to say, several if not all the church services in the area were canceled. When at least two municipalities in the area had snow emergencies, then it is time to have church service at home. There are plenty of devotions and plenty of religious shows on radio and television to be able to get one that fits your needs. I am all for regular church attendance but let's get real, life gets in the way. (As long as that is not a reason to slack off and not go.) It's all about priorities balanced with being safe. Having an in home devotions when the roads are unsafe are a good option. It is during the exceptions of life when it is important to know what principals you live by instead of just trying to do the right thing. Principals tell you what to do when when there is a conflict between doing right things. I think I just got off track of my original topic.


We got a foot of snow last night. It was interesting listening to the scanner and hearing the plow crews during a coordination of what roads to do. The snow came a lot later than the weather forecasters were calling for. We also did not come close to the maximums they were calling for last night. I understand the need to warn the public so you can be prepared and make smart choices but to over warn can cause as much problems as not being warned. We went caroling yesterday with the kids from church. To listen to the weather people, we should not have even gone out the door at noon. As it was, it did not get slick to late afternoon and we still went out for pizza at 6pm last night. i was glad to get in when we did because it was getting to the point where it was not bad but it was time to start heading home and staying put for the night.

Anymore, if I hear that bad weather is coming, it just mean that I need to pay attention and do what I need to until the weather puts an end to that. I think those who participate in panic mongering about the weather should be slapped and publicly humiliated for stirring things up. In a demented sorta way its funny but it gets old in a hurry.

Anyway, we are dug out for now, I will be spending the next few days to get the driveway and sidewalks cleaned up better but they are functional now. It is suppose to be clear for the next couple of days and I am hoping but not counting that will also help with the snow clean up. That doesn't always work. that doesn't start working until March and then not always all the well.

Until later, keep warm and keep your stick on the ice.

The Fun They Had

I was reminded of the short story "The fun they had" by Isaac Asimov. I checked out memoware.com which has lots to read for your PDA. It amazes me that books on computer were science fiction when i was growing up and now I can put several books on my handheld PDA without threatening to fill it up. Just the SD card holds more than early computers. Amazing. It almost seams magical. Between a PDA and and a MP3 player, you can carry quit a bit of entertainment along with you in a small package. Going digital has some definately advantages.

I have also been checking out some mp3 shows. It is an interesting exercise. Quit a few of them have the feel of audio blogs with the quality control of blogs. Some stuff is quite good: others not so much. Yes, I am aware that goes against this blog as well. I hope this is interesting. I am sure there are some that see this as just another net monkey tapping away on a keyboard in cyberspace and someone should have ct the feed a long time ago. The internet has set forth a whole new ways of communication and it is not all good. The trick as with all media is getting a good signal to noise ratio. All medias are prone to carpiness. Some more than others.

The Off Season

My wife and I are going into the off season for our gps games. Between the colder and snowier weather and other pressing issues. The motivation for going to find is drifting off. It has been as active year for us. At least by our standards. One thing I am planning to do is do some planning for when it does become favorable to go gps hunting again. We don't have unlimited time and money to devote to the hobby and I want to spend that well. Looking for the best of game. I realize this is heresy to those who go out and will find anything but that does not appeal to me. I am not the fastest, greatest, best cacher. I don't even know on what scale that would be measured. I think it is more than stats can show but how do you measure it. For now, it is still the off season for geocaching and related fun and time to enjoy and do other things. Let's see what next spring will bring

Dr who quiz

What Kind Of Whovian Are You? Your Result: Classic series n00b You were recently compelled by the crackly black & whiteness to investigate further...but you don't really see what the fuss over the new series is. god bless you, young padawan...
New series n00b
Laddyfan
Good natured jumper wearer
Hard Living Demon Fan
Frothing fanboy
What Kind Of Whovian Are You? Make a Quiz

Star Trek Quiz

What kind of Star Trekkie are you? Your Result: Captain You are a captain of a great star ship. You are most known for your inovative tactics, and...erm excersions on the side. You brillience in odd sitiuations, has made you the youngest captain ever. Sit on that comfy captains chair... "Engage!"
You are a Vulcan or an android.
Omnipotent being
Klingon
Red shirt
What kind of Star Trekkie are you?

What kind of dog are you?

Who let you off the leash?67%

You are well-behaved, open to training, and a joy to those who know you. But you may have a bit of a hard time socializing and tend to be aggressive. You are either a German Shepard, Weimaraner or a Corgi.

What Kind of Canine Are You?
Make a Quiz

Wicked Weekend of Winter Weather

It has been a fun day or two of weather here in Indiana. We have been getting freezing rain. I would rather shovel the snow than travel on the slick ice of freezing rain. I was rather glad that it did not take any power out. We are set up to deal with it but it is still rather inconvenient The power crews around here are pretty kick butt for getting things done. That's a crappy job they do well. They earn every cent they get.

Some schools are on bus delays and others are just starting to call in that they are closed. The big problem is getting the secondary roads clear enough for the buses to safely go on. The reports say that the main roads are pretty much clear. In other words, pretty much normal for the average closing. If it is really bad, then all the roads are snafu'ed.

I have to feel sorry for Mike Schultz as WAWK. He is trying to deal with running the station, doing the school closings and taking the calls for the school closings all by himself. He is waiting for others to get in this morning. I have hear him apologize twice for dead air time because he had to take the call to get more updates.

Whisky Tango

Somehow I don't think this blog is that good.

Cash Advance Loans

What Cartoon Character are you?

I am so proud of this one. Scooby is the man or at least the dog. Sorry if I have been hitting the quizzes hard lately but hey, I have been enjoying them. I will try to get back to the normal nonsense that is posted around here.

What Cartoon Character are you? Your Result: Scooby from "Scooby Doo"   Nothing can explain how cowardly you are, I mean, Jesus, you are a serious sissy...well unless you are tempeted by food of course...them you become a fat pig who will do anything for a tiny fickle snack. Have fun with that, scooby.
Sandy from "SpongeBob Square Pants"
Billy from "The Grim adventures of billay and Mand
Meg from "Family Guy"
What Cartoon Character are you? Take More Quizzes

Accent

What American accent do you have? Your Result: North Central "North Central" is what professional linguists call the Minnesota accent. If you saw "Fargo" you probably didn't think the characters sounded very out of the ordinary. Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot.
The West
The Midland
Boston
The Inland North
The South
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

This speaks for itself.

Short and Sweet Cache II

Forgot to mention in the first post about this cache. We also got to see a deer on the way to the cache. Or should I say, Kim saw the deer and I only heard the deer and saw the very fresh tracks in the snow. It takes me by surprise to see deer in this park. It is a city park. However it is bordered by woods and farmer's field so it is perfect for attracting deer. It just takes me by surprise when it is town, town , town, town limit, DEER!

Christmas Elf Name

Christmas Elf Name


My Christmas Elf Name is







Get your Christmas Elf Name at JokesUnlimited.com

Short and Sweet Cache

We weren't really planning on going caching but one of our favorite cacher's put out a new cache. It was called Short and Sweet by Bluegillfisherman. It really rocked. Hit a few snags but we finally solved it and got to be First To Find in the process. Got a piranha geocoin in the process. It was only a single find but man was it a good day of caching. I would rather have one extra ordinary finds than many mediocre ones. Just my never to be humble opinion- your opinion may vary. It did not help us resist the find when BGF put the fake coordinates so close to our place. We almost did not get first to find. A second person found it and logged it before we could get home. They could not have been that far behind us. They probably also got help from our tracks in the snow.


We found the cache and got a lot of other things done for the day. What more can you ask for. Well, I could ask for the snow to melt so I can benchmark hunt on the way to doing errands tomorrow but that's for another day. It is cold and snowy and there are other things on our list of things to do. There is always goings. to be other things to hunt for in gps games. Alway

What Star wars Character are you?

Which Star Wars Character Are You? Your Result: Boba Fett You are a quiet loner who is not to be messed with. You are a serious person that likes to get down to business, that business often being death or disintegrations You are loyal to two things; yourself and money.
Darth Vader
Jabba the Hutt
Han Solo
Luke SkyWalker
Princess Leia
Jar Jar Binks
Yoda
Which Star Wars Character Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

Just call me Napolean

Are You Crazy Like Me? Your Result: One Of The Gang! You are the goofy kind of crazy! With a hint of Personality Disorder... you were the prime canditae for wedgies in highschool. I bet yousleep iwth bugs bunny sheets. Can you say Looney Tunes? Warner Brother's has nothing on you!
Chaos...
OCD
'I Know What You Did Last Summer'
Are You Crazy Like Me? Take More Quizzes

Zombie Survival Quiz

This quiz I tokk for laughs. Enjoy!

You have a 54% chance of surviving a zombie outbreak

You would do pretty well, maybe killing a zombie or two along the way, but you would end up doing something retarded and be a part of the living dead

Zombie Survival Test
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Bible Quiz

You know the Bible 100%!

Wow! You are awesome! You are a true Biblical scholar, not just a hearer but a personal reader! The books, the characters, the events, the verses - you know it all! You are fantastic!

Ultimate Bible Quiz
Create MySpace Quizzes

What kind of poetry am I?

I am heroic couplets; most precise And fond of order. Planned and structured. Nice. I know, of course, just what I want; I know, As well, what I will do to make it so. This doesn't mean that I attempt to shun Excitement, entertainment, pleasure, fun; But they must keep their place, like all the rest; They might be good, but ordered life is best. What Poetry Form Are You?

Silent Drill TEam

This is fair warning

To those who want a white Christmas,

Keep it to yourself. I HATE DEALING WITH SNOW. PERIOD. Until you white Christmas fanatics can figure out on how to keep it off the roads, sidewalks and driveways, keep your pieholes shut. I agree it's pretty and fun to play in. It is also extra hard work, and a hazard to me and mine while we are one the road. Please remember that we all don't have the luxury of staying in town over the holidays. While you are snuggled inside, all nice and warm, admiring the snow, remember that some of us need to travel hours to see family for the holidays. If the snow cancels it out, it is not a simple reschedule. That just ate up our chance to see family together for the holidays. Merry f-ing Christmas.

If you did not know it earlier, that's fine. No big. Now you are warned. I don't want to hear about unless you want to either hear a never ending chorus of this rant or come up with a solution to the snow trespassing on our raods, sidewalks and driveways. Thank you for your support.

Mr T Versus the World

This site is really funny and also a great way to waste some time online. Isn't that what the internet is for? (No avenue Q references in the comments please). Check it out here.

Winter Weather

I can sure tell winter is on its way. We already getting ice and snow mixes. Yuk! Either it is the unbearable heat or freeze your soul cold. We were going to slow done on the gps games anyway but the cold is going to reinforce that a bit. Kim is ticked at me anyway. There is one cache that I want to find. The It's a mystery cache really close to our house by one of our favorite hiders. I also have some info for finding some benchmarks while over in Canada. Have not found any there yet. Picked some ringers that we are pretty much guaranteed to find and find easy. I don't want to miss out on family time or give up finding at least one benchmark over there. Besides with the colder weather, I don't want to be looking for long with the chance of being goose egged. I have better things to do when visiting family. At least this is aimed at some sort of balance.

Two Movie Reviews

My wife and I actually went out to the movies two nights in a row. Kinda remarkable when you consider we can go for months without even thinking about going. We saw the movies Enchanted and Mr Magoriums Wonderful Emporium. Enchanted was the better movie. Enchanted was a decent/good spoof of Disney movies with imagery borrowed from a lot of other fantasy movies. Not necessarily from my a list of movies but you could do worse for a night out. That brings me around to Mr Magoriums Wonderful Emporium. The younger you are, the better this one is. Plot was sacrificed for being visually interesting. The best things about it was the credits, Dustin Hoffman's performance and the imagery in roughly that order. It almost seamed like they took a children's book series and not so successfully adapted it to the big screen. At least we had a free coupon for one of the nights which made it a cheap night.

Christmas is coming!

I can tell that Christmas is getting close. Not only is Thanksgiving over with all the unbridled commercialization but the local radio stations are starting their playing of Christmas music. As least my favorite station isn't doing it constantly yet and has a mix of funny stuff thrown in so you are not totally turned off when the week of Christmas really gets here. I think my favorites are the Twelve days of Christmas by either the muppets or The MacKenzie brothers. Brian Seltzer also does a good mix of non traditional music.

I am not sorry to say I despise a traditional Christmas. Unless you can guarantee a an easy drive, I want a green Christmas. Play the holiday music 24/7 at your house. I don't mind sum but nothing but is going to tick me off. Don't even start with planning the perfect holiday meal with family all getting along. I have not seen it yet. It might require a 911 call but show me one family gathering where someone isn't getting annoyed or one part of the meal doesn't turn out quit right. Shoot for close enough. Call me jaded. I don't mind. Just pass the eggnog.

Web Radio and Memories

I got an FM transmitter for Christmas so I could all radios in the house slaved to one audio device so I could hear cd's, mp3's or the computer throughout the house. On e thing I wanted to do was to listen to radio stations via the internet in case propagation really tanked. In my search for links to listen to stations, an idea to look for Edmonton radio stations came to mind since I went to college there. Little did I know it would be a time machine. Time and space just warped again.

I think I am now on a quest. It might result in another blog. I think I want to start net surfing to listen to as many web radio broadcasts as I can. Since I really can't QSL them then maybe doing a blog post about them will do.

Somebody help, I am being sucked into a cyber existence. Just call me Tron.

Van Wert Reprise

N 40° 52.282 W 084° 36.448


I think with this post, I will be done with our visit to Van Wert, Ohio. We found this one while looking for a geocache in Woodland Cemetery. I am so glad that I am in the groove of looking around instead of just looking at the task at hand. It was placed by the Scott Relief Corp on July 4, 1901. I think it is interesting that there are some Civil was soldiers moved nearby from a mausoleum. It's a neat spot. I am so glad we stopped by. This is one of those spots where it is not about the numbers and all about seeing something I would not have seen otherwise. Ok, I will get off my soapbox now.

Family is an F Word

Thanksgiving has come and gone and once again I got reminded that family is most certainly an f word. The people that are the closed to you and love you the most are also the ones that have the ability to annoy and hurt you the most. They have had to most time to map out everyone of your button sand know exactly the how and when to get the most out of every button pushed. It is not even always deliberate. What they think is a stone riot, you are left thinking "when are you going to grow up?". I often think we spend more time trying to give a good impression to complete strangers than we do to those we love or should love the most. Familiarity definately breeds contempt.

I wish I had the solution to this. For some people, I have lost my patience for.. That leads to hurting even more people because of family ties. If it wasn't for family ties, I would have written them off a long time ago. It really sucks that the best I can do is insulate myself from their bad behavior and walk away from people I want to visit with and things I want to do just because some can't be arsed to grow up. Some of it is not even that what they are doing but the level. I don't a mind a comment during a TV show but the constant chatter and commentary is very annoying. I am tired of asking to shut up. Where do you draw the line for amount of chatter during a show when you are doing some of it? All I know is I am tired of being patient.

Van Wert, Ohio again

some more of the waymarks we found this day. It was really neat looking around and seeing Wan Wert. Funny things is, is that i Have been using the Thanksgiving holiday to catch up. I am still not all the way caught up them. I don't think I will ever be. BalyEasts had some really good food. The courthouse and cannon were neat. I do not think I will ever be cauaght up on waymarks. There will always be more ideas and submissions. The more wew do this, the more there are possibilities. I am tired and want to rest for a while.

Van Wert, Ohio

WE got to see some neat things while in Van Wert. One was a garden in the middle of the business section of town. Their library was actually the first County Library in the United States. There is also a water tower that has been there since 1929 and actually has a sign on it to testify to the fact. The water tower is also a benchmark. Really neat town with some really old buildings. It also has a very yummy mom and pop restaurant in the downtown. I will trying to waymark that sometime in my cyber catch up from the weekend. I have all the logging for waymark and cache visits and discovered logs for all the trackables but the waymarking submissions by their nature is going to take longer. If I don't get it done before Thanksgiving then maybe I can do some catch up over Thanksgiving weekend. It all depends on how much I get done and how the visit goes. I also need to get going on a D&D character. One good thing about the inclement weather is I won't be waymarking as much and maybe I could get caught up on some other things. ( My fault for paying too muchattention to one hobby.) We will see how things go.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is here and they are collecting thank you postcards. It's free and easy and does not take a long time. They are away from their families as we gather with our families. The least we can do is give them a word of thanks.

N o Tresspassing on Roof

I was off geocaching in Van Wert, Ohio when I saw this sign. I was stunned into laughter. I realize it is a low roof and kids and skateboarders are wanting to do their tricks off this but lets get real, respect other people's property. It is definitely one of those cases where I had to laugh that you had to be told to stay off the roof. Well, DUH! It had to be an issue or they would not have gone to the trouble of putting it there.

Do us all a faor, when you go to Van Wert, don't trespass on the roofs.

Winter is starting to knock

Late fall weather is showing itself. With Thanksgiving so close, the winter weather can not be far behind. The only thing I can complain about is the cold and wet. It sinks in worse than dryer and colder and makes everything ache. As Mark Twain said, every one complains about the weather but nobody does anything about it. There are windows of perfect weather for everyone but unfortunately it is not the same window for everyone. I guess we will be doing the cold weather slow done for caching soon enough.

Benchmark Along the Tracks

Kim and I were looking for benchmarks again. This one was fun. I am use to just easily or fairly easily walking up to the benchmark. This one I had to climb for. The arrow on the first picture shows where it is. Benchmarks are very similar but there is always something enough different to keep the hunt alive.

Lest We Forget

I want to thank ATmouse for drawing my attention to this. Now hereit is.

Let us remember not just our US veterans today, but the for a moment, recall the sacrifices of not just our military folk, but our allies - especially our brothers and sisters to our North, for today is Remembrance Day there.

This song was written about WWI by an Irish folk artist, back in 1975. It's one of my favorites. I found this verson by John Mc Dermott on youtube, too.


Green Fields of France
Well how do you do, Private William McBride
Do you mind if I sit here down by your grave side?
And I'll rest for awhile in the warm summer sun,
I've been walking all day and I'm nearly done.
I see by your gravestone you were only 19
When you joined the glorious fallen in 1916.
Well I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean
Or, Willie McBride, was it slow and obscene?

Chorus:
Did they beat the drum slowly?
Did they sound the fife lowly?
Did the rifles fire o'er ye as they lowered you down?
Did the bugles sing 'The Last Post' in chorus?
Did the pipes play 'The Flowers o' the Forest'?

And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind?
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined
And though you died back in 1916
To that loyal heart are you always 19?
Or are you a stranger without even a name
Forever enshrined behind some glass-pane
In an old photograph torn and tattered and stained
And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame?

Chorus

Well the sun's shining now on these green fields of France,
The warm wind blows gently and the red poppies dance.
The trenches are vanished long under the plough
No gas, and no barbed wire, no guns firing now.
But here in this graveyard it's still No Man's Land
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand.
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man
And a whole generation who were butchered and damned.

Chorus

And I can't help but wonder now Willie McBride
Do all those who lie here know why they died?
Did you really believe them when they told you the cause?
You really believed that this war would end war?
But the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame -
The killing and dying - it was all done in vain.
For Willie McBride, it's all happened again
And again, and again, and again, and again.

Chorus


John Mc Dermott's version on youtube

Geo-Historian

I am really starting to think that waymarking is making me a bit of a geo-historian. What I mean by this is that I am putting the local history I find down to a set of coordinates. It's linking the history with the geography. I am learning a lot in the process. It's forcing me to research and look for things both in print and in the world.

One thing I learned is that the cannon at the DeKalb county Courthouse was actually mounted in its present position before the courthouse was in place and was put in place in 1909. I have that cannon numerous times and did not know the history. I have to read more of the local history books I have. There is just so much neat local history.

The weird thing is that I love local history. Anyone's local history. The History channel and textbooks cover the global events. What you don't always see is what was happening on the local level. I have read local histories for a couple of places am getting a flavor for an era and how localities are similar and different.

Election Results

Boo, we get four more years of our "beloved" mayor. Dave Wiant. Someone one must like him even if he did only win by 40 some votes. I think Tonya Hoeffel did a good show considering how deeply democrat Garrett is. It's very blue collar around here. The democrats around here are the moderate and conservative democrats.

I have to feel sorry for Fort Wayne Mayoral Candidate Matt Kelty. He lost and lost big. The finance scandal plagued his campaign from the primary. Tom Henry was a good candidate which did not help Kelty either. Just a crappy way to lose. It will really irritate me if the charges against him all have nothing to it. I would rather see him lose on the issues rather than some trumped up charges. I don't know if they are but the timing of them makes me think they stink. I could be wrong but right here, right now it does not smell right.

Waymarking and Benchmarking

While visiting friends down in Lebanon, Indiana. We did some caching, waymarking and benchmark hunting. I think the neatest benchmark was an incinerator chimney for an old milk factory. The aging and distress in the chimney was very easy to see and can be seen in the above picture. We finally got the disc at the Boone County Courthouse. We got the benchmark that is the courthouse dome but missed the disc on the pillar because we didn't look at the info sheet close enough. Oh well, it's not like they are going anywhere.

NSFW

Nothing about this is safe for work or kids so don't even start to get offended. You have been warned.

Election Day

It's election day and it looks like this years local mayoral elections are more interesting than the upcoming presidential elections. There are some local happenings that are causing a stir. The other problem is that I have not seen one good presidential candidate yet. No wonder people are not going to the polls. The people who don't vote are probably the ones that squawk the loudest about government. Get involved or shut up people. I had to laugh this morning. They were talking about how the colder weather would drop turnout. It's not that bad out. I think the weather is an excuse. I have seen people go out in the worst weather when they want something. People are out fighting and dying so the people back home can be free and vote. Don't let them down because the weather isn't perfect. Get off your butts and vote.

Halloween II

Only in a small town would there be a hayride pulled by a tractor in town. Only in a small town would the police and firefighters be passing out candy from their vehicles. I like it: I like it alot.


Needless to say, Kai is being an ablsolute butt and barking at everyone.

Happy Halloween

Halloween was always one of my favorite holidays growing. A time of make believe and shameless begging for and eating of candy. I must have been a unholy horror all jacked up on sugar. I don't remember being one but I do remember having fun and enjoying the collection of sugar rich treasure. My neighbor's homemade candy apples were the absolute best. I still misss them when this time of year comes around. Now that I am supposed;y grown up, I understand why adults continue this tradition. It is a hoot to see the kids come by. The most memorable kid that came by our place was when we were still living in Michigan. A three year old was out for the first Halloween. He was old enough to barely know the routine but forgot everyone when he saw our dog Lobo. The Father was heard to say, "Don't kiss the ... awwwdang." Too late. Neveer work with kids or animals and we were dealing with both. Have a happy and safe Halloween.

Here's a video just for fun.

Rock Anthems

The Good Ole Hockey Game

I got to see Saturday's game live. Nothing better than being at mid ice and high enough to see both ends clearly. The Komets won 3-1 over Bloomington and the shut was almost taken. Lost it in the last three minutes. Great end to end hockey. Looks like it is going to be a good season. I noticed that the high emotions from the previous game carried over to this one. With so few teams in the league and there being a lot of playing teams back to back, I am wondering how high emotinos are going to run during the season. That's not always a bad thing. It can make for some exciting hockey as long as it does not get out of hand. Should be an interesting season indeed.

Last Night's Game

The komets got down to the record of 1-1-0 last night. They lost their game. They are playing bloomington again tonight in Fort Wayne and I get to see the game from the nose bleed seats. Cheapest way to go at $9 a game. Hopefully the outcome will be better at home.

The best thing about last night is that Kim and got to seethe latest Harry Potter movie for a dollar total. Not too shabby. It was pouring down buckets of rain but it was a good movie and listened to the last half to the hockey game. It was really close to the middle of the second period when we tuned in.

the cat came back

WAymarking over the weekend.

I had to laugh at myself over the weekend. We were going inot Albion for dinner and I wanted to check out we could find for waymarking or caching. Winds up the Noble county Courthouse that we had already waymarked is also a benchmark. I guesss I should have check the area out more the last time. It just seams like there is so much out there to find. We wer also able to get the water tower benchmark while we were out.

Komet opening Game

I got to hear the opening game of the season last night. Hooray! Komets won 4-0. It was a closer game than it shows. It was only a 1 goal game for the first2 and a half periods when the Komets exploded.

The Komets are now in the IHL again. They were in the IHL for most of their franchise life when it dissolved. Then then went to the UHL which was formally the colonial league. The UHL was renamed for this season to the IHL. It was more than just a name change. Rules were changed so the game flows better. hockey is going through the tension of having good clean hard playing games and still keeping the cheap career ending moves eliminated. There is also only six teams this year and all in the midwest. They want to have a regional league to make travelling easier on the playeres and tlo also help with travel expenses. With the cost of gas, who can blame them?

Weird weather

It is still about 20 degreed above normal. The gppd thing is that normal has colled down enought so that it is not that bad to be that much too warm. I am still hoping we get some good mild fall weather instead of warm staright to winter cold. We alredy skipped spring. I swear the weather has benn exceptional abnormal for the lat year, year and a half. A mild dry year would be nice for a change. Time will tell.

the zombie blog.

found this blog on waymarking.com. thought it was an absolute hoot. hope you enjoy.

waymark page


video from blog

coke and mentos

i'm gonna be

yes more music I like

go figure

Profil Picture

Finally got this silly picture on my profile. Once again this blog serves as computer and internet lesson.

This Weekend

This was a great fall weekend. It finally feels like fall.

Our church finally decided to go with the new hymnal. About time. I should not complain too lud. We had to go slow. The last synodical hymnal was presented with the feeling of being pushed through which was good for nobody. It became about how it was presented and not about the hymnal. The hymanl was well put together and well presented which made it alot easier to adopt. The biggest challenge is that nobody likes to change. The other challenge was money. I am so glad it went through without the usual rankor and dragging of feet. Unfortunately, when two or three are gathered, ther will be politics. (and that applies to more than just the church.) Sometimes it amazes me that God gets anything done with the church despite what he has to work with. (that includes me).

Kim and I also went to the Garrett fire fighter chicken and noodle dinner. I really like supporting the fire fighters this way rather just doing a blanket tax hike. Taxes are necessary but the questions is how of the taxes collected are truly needed and can we get the same thing cheaper and easier and better somehow else. It is also about wheather if it is someonthing a few sholuld do or someting that more people need to get in on. Why invovle the state or the federal government when the city or the citizens can do it?

Blogger Action Day

I am not going to pretend I have the answers to the environment. I don't think Al Gore has the answers either. I question his position especially when his house uses so much more energy than the average American. He exploains it away by saying he buys carbon credits.

Instead of giving you answers, I would rather challenge you to research the enviroment as an issue and find ways that you pesonally can make a difference. Hrping on others and big business won't make a difference. Each individual making smart choices and showing ther can be enjoybalbe green lifestyles will.

Check out groups like ducks unlimited and leave no trace to get ideas. Better yet, go beyond what i say and do your pown research, Make this your own issue instead of blindly listening to others. Get away from the computer sand tv and make a difference. The internet is a great place to exchange ideas but without walking away and doing something, all the talk on blogs means nothing.

Go and do and quit listening to my ravings.

Have a good day.

Komets Play First Exhibition Game

The Komets lost their first exhibition game of the season. Not really a surprise. Beginning of the season and the game is more to get their game legs back. Onnly about 4 or 5 faces are familar from last year. It will be interesting to see how they pull the team together.

LOTR Gone Wrong

This link may not be appropriate for everyone.


Link.

Nerd Test

Blogs

I have been checking out blogs via waymarking lately. (Like anyone who as been reading this blog would miss it) It's been an interesting potporri of topics and quality. (I have my moments with this blog but let's face it, it is just another blog with better and worse posts). It is interesting to see the different types of blogs. Topical, news, thoughtful, fan blogs annd one on photos. They all give ideas on what to do and what I don't think will fit this blog. There are also times I wonder if I should split this blog into moe than one blog. It might be a good thing to have my blog more themed on one thing but I don't want to be running 2 or 3 partial blogs. I will just keeep on using the labels to help sort the topics and people can use that to read the topics. Funny that I have been doing this blog for a couple of months now and still am debating format and scope. For now i will keep reading and posting and see where this ends up.

This blog is for the birds

This blog is another one I found on waymarking.com. It's about the birds of Illinois. Seeing birds while I geocache, waymark or just out and around always makes the day great. This blog is enjoyable and educational. Cool.

Blog Action Day

i came across this and had mixed emotions. I love nature. I want a clean world and don't want pollution to mess it up. I don't torture cute little pandas for fun. I have reservations about it for two reasons. One is that I have met too many knee jerk tree huggers get in my face about saving the planet but can not see the errors of their own actions. The second is that there are different perspectives on being enviromental caring. Do we hunt or not? Same for fishing? Should we do controled burns so we do not have run away fires ir are those necessary as well. Do we cut down a tree to have a biodegradable paper bag or do we take a plastic one. Is a reuseable cloyhe bag best? Do you use disposable diapers which don't degrade or put a further load on the water supply by washing diapers?

As far as this promotes a discussion that informs and helps people make better choices, I am in favor of this. If it is to promote a single viewpoint of being green, forget it. I am in favor of ethical hunting. I only hunt what i uuse and use all that I can from what I hunt. Don't overhunt or fish anything. It's the future's inheritance.

I guess I will get off the soap box now.

Badger, badger

These three vids are classics and are often referenced.

footy

badger

pie

Hike Tinian Blog Spot

I found another neat blog on waymarking. It's Hike Tinian Blog Spot I enjoy hiking and seeing new places so this was a treat. This one seams to be done in the same vain as why I like caching and waymarking. Going out and enjoying hiking in nature. I hope to pop back in to see other hikes.

Komet Hockey

Komet Hockey is almost here again. The first exhibition game is October 10 the first game is October 20. I am hoping buy mpt counting on hearing the exhibition games on the radio. I know the NHL has already started but I don't get the coverage here I want so i follow the minor league with better coverage. The problem with me is that i love hockey. On any level. There is too much to follow so I have to limit myself somehow.

Komets website.

Vietnam Memorial Vandlzed

I am suprised I ahave not seen this earlier.

Link

Video 1

Video 2

Whil Wheaton's Blog

I am going to show my geekiness by showing the waymark that links to Will's blog and gc profile.

I knew he had a gc profile but kept forgeting what it was.

Odd weather

It is suppose to get up to the mid to upper 80s for the next couple of days. That is not right . I might actually pot the ac on in october.

stringfever

Honda Ad

cows with guns

Just had to link to this video.

Soldeirs

For all those who serve.

The Turner's Michigan Marvels

Friends of mine, Wade, Rose Mary and Luke Turner went to Michigna about the smae time I did and enjoyed their time there. Don't blame them. They got to enjoy Lake Michigan and got even more time to enjoy Lake Superior. They told about how scary the Mackinaw bridge waas. Been there. It is. Some of the lanes are grated and you can see all the way down to the water. If this was not enought, there is the wind to contend with. Needless to say, they are state police available to drive you acros if it is too muc for you to handle. Wade handled it well enough to do it himself. He also got to enjoy the local dish of pasties. It's always neat to try the local food especially if you know the right place to buy.

I envy the time they had on Lake Superior but then agan no matter how much time I get around the big lakes and no matter how much I drink in its beuty. It is never enough. Thanks for the pictures Wade. I wil look at these and dream until I am on the shores once again to enjoy them for real.

Dekalb Free Fair

It is definitely fall. THe Auburn Fall Fair was this week. A tractor pull, agriculture nad Four H displays and all the fair rides and fair food you can take. Even though I am miles and years from my childhood, it is the same type of country fair i grew up with. One booth called chapel chili has the best small town church lady pie in the world. I love going to the merchant tent. Worker's world in butler has a booth with the best deals on work clothes. For more details see Link.

Spider Pig

For Piglet, you know who you are.







I just found out about spider pig. Let's face it. I live in a pop culture back water on purpose but this was funny.

The Point

When I was young, Harry Nilsson did a sotry album that was also made for tv. I really liked it. It was a kid born without a point on his head in a land where everyone did. He was banished to the pointless forest where everything had a piont so he returns figuring he also has a point. The following are clips from the cartoon.













It's not all of it and it is chopped up and out of order but it should give you a weird taste of what I liked as a kid.

Geocoins

Geocoins are a neat part of caching. Some are about benchmarks or personal coins or group coins or even state parks. The variety and creativity of these are endless. As with anything else collectable, there are more and less coveted coins. I just like the geo bling. Just one more dimension to the geocaching game. Sometimes I feel like Smaug the dragon with his geocoin treasure but really, at the end of the day, it is just all about fun. I enjoy the social factor of sharing a common interest of geocoins with the cachers I meet. Some are hardcore, some like to log, some just to look and some are just not into the coins. There is room enough for all.

I can tell that geocoins are moving on. a similar product called pathtags are becoming the new hotness. They are cool too. I have not gotten into those as much yet but given enough time I might. I can't see that soon. I have a nice pile of bling. Time will tell.

Shooting Stars

This is too funny.

Blogs

There's a category on waymarking for blogs. Neat way to see other blogs. Since we are waymarkers, most of the caches have waymarking or caching as either its focus or at least some of the posts deal with them. I enjoy reading others impressions and adventures doing the same hobby.

What got me annoyed was that one blog was anitwar and its coordinates placed it in Iraq. I realize there is disagreement about the war and I dont want someone censoring my blog but this one was too focused on a single message. They can express their viewpoint but I just did not care for the way they did it. Any geocaching soldier who is serving in Iraq can see this easy by chec king out waymarking because it is the only waymaark in town. It's message is not good for troop moral.

I am not against free speech but there is better and worse ways toengage in deba te. The cool thing is things like blogs give us a cyber forum to express our views. The down size is that everyone can and how do you wade through the noise to get to the good stuff. That is true for every media. Take time to think and do not believe everything you hear ot read. That includes this blog. I will not purposely put up false info but lets face it, being human, I am fallable and can be subject to buying bad info like everyone else. Use your brain and do the effort of fact checking.

Time to get off my soapbox.

I can't drive 55

Budweiser

I am not a fan of Budweiser but this ad I like.

3rd Annual Pokagon Cacher's Campout

Kim and I went to another cache event , this weekend. The weather was perfect and it went well. I think it is funny that it is the third event cache we got a new geocoin at. That's not really fair. Geobash was a special case where we traded for a bunch. We did win geocoins at the next two. Funniest thing is that we got a bitten by the geocoin bug coin today. Someone was offering them to those who asked on gc.com with no promises. Fortunately, our name was put on the list.

Getting back to the event. the was a guy from Leave No Trace and he had a great lecture on leaving no or minimum empact on nature. I appreciated it. I don't agree with all the enviromentalists but this guy was good. He was trying to show how to limit your impact while enjoying nature. i don't agree with those people who think we should never ever go out and touch nature ever again. I beieive in the stewardship and caretaker position instead of the hands of position. I truly beieive there is a way of harvseting the animals of the field just like the crops we raise that is good for the enviroment. I know bambi is cute and some people do not want to eat deer for whatever reason, that is their choice. If they are against hunting and still eat meat, then what is more moral, eating an animal raised to eat or one that has a chance to get away.

Sorry, I am getting away from the main topic.

It wasw a fun day. Hung out with torry. Saw a lot of faces both familar and new. It was the perfect weather for being outside. There was also a lot of seaplanes coming into the park that was really neat to see. Ended the day around a camp fire and enjoying some home made beer.

Good time all round.