My new calendar is up and running. Hopefully this one will work better than the old one. You don't have to register to post stuff to it, so have at it! Add whatever you want. I have transferred all the info over from the old one. Thank you to everyone that posted on the old calendar and keep them coming.

The server that hosts my calendar is down again (Forumer). I'm working on a new one that will hopefully be more reliable. And the new one will allow guests to add events without registering at all! But first, the old one needs to come back online long enough for me to transfer the events to the new one. Argh! We'll see what happens.

AURORA WATCH: High-latitude sky watchers, be alert for auroras tonight. A solar wind stream is due to hit Earth on Aug. 31st and it could spark geomagnetic storms.

You'll never guess what I did today! I cut wood! See, I knew you'd never guess. Actually, it was much more exciting today. I used my spare saw! Wow. Hee hee.

It does the spare saw good to be run once in awhile. If the seals harden and crack in a 4-stroke engine, it might leak a little oil or gas. But the saw is a 2-stroke. If the seals harden in that, if it runs at all, it will probably run long enough to burn the engine up. Running the saw once in awhile keeps things lubricated and pliable.

The spare saw is actually newer than my favorite saw. They are both 026 Stihls, and look almost identical. But the newer spare saw doesn't have carb adjustments and always runs too rich. Drives me nuts. I run it with an old worn out air filter and threw the muffler screen away. It helped, but it's still just a hair too rich. All it needs is one little tweak on the high speed mixture, if it had a mixture screw!

Hey, my ATV dealer called today! I had almost forgot about the recall. Haven't had any problems with it, so out of sight out of mind. He says they have the parts, bring it in the 10th, and leave it a few days. A few days? Shouldn't take that long to replace the parts, but he said he wants me to leave it a few days. If that's what it takes, then that's what it takes. As long as I get it back ASAP. I'm certain I could fix it myself in less than one day, but........

Cut another couple loads of wood today. Was still kind of muggy. Where's the cooler and less humid weather? Sounds like in the 40s the next couple nights. Good. Hot I don't mind, but the humidity sucks. Makes the handle of my splitting maul all slippery! I got into some whole trees today that had tipped over. I can make firewood faster with whole trees than just tops like I usually cut. Although, the whole trees require more splitting than the tops.

Well, the barn swallows are gone and school starts in a few days. Won't be long now and I'll be burning more of that wood I cut!

I can see Forumer hasn't changed. They're the hosting company for my calendar (my old discussion board). It's down right now. Piece of crap. It had been running fairly trouble free (as trouble free as that buggy software gets) since I went through the html completely and repaired it enough to get the calendar up and running. This time it seems the crappy hosting server is completely down, and not just a problem with the crappy forum software. Not that it makes me feel any better, but it may be less work for me when/if it does come back online. I wouldn't even worry about it, but it seems that a community calendar is needed so badly. There are many calendars around the net, but most of those are specific to their own single topic. You have to look over a whole list of calendars to get an idea of what's going on in the area. And ATV-related event calendars are the most desperately neglected! It's not hard to create and maintain a stupid list of events. Come on.

Anyway, it's worth a try to give my viewers an idea of the area events. I don't pretend to know everything that's going on, which is why I have it set up so anyone can post events to my calendar (it requires a simple registration process, which I would eliminate if it was possible to, or use your old forum account if you have one). Post anything you want to the calendar. Wish someone a Happy Birthday, or post when the next eclipse will be. And if I, or someone else, already has an event posted and you have more detailed information, post the event again. I will delete the old posting and leave your new and detailed listing on the calendar.

Hopefully the buggy software continues to behave itself (once it comes back online of course). If not, it'll be removed, but regardless, please feel free to add whatever you want to it.

After my previous post, it clouded up more and I wasn't able to see the eclipse at all when I peeked out of the barn. Oh well. I've seen a lot of them, and have a lot of pictures of other eclipses. Guess I don't have to see every one. Here's a picture of the "Dreamy Red" May 2003 lunar eclipse (I tried to upload an animated slide show of it, but Blogger uses Google's stupid video feature which doesn't work right):




P.S.
Here's a link to the little slide show. Maybe it will work ok without using the stupid Blogger/Google thing: http://www.palacenet.net/Home/quads/lunar-eclipse.mpg

The eclipse is well underway now, and almost total. There's a thin layer of high clouds, but it's still visible through them. Time to head to the barn!

Two-Headed Calf

Workers at Hamstra Dairy in Tulare, California gathered in amazement Tuesday after the birth of a rare two-headed calf named Blinky (pictured). The Holstein heifer has four eyes (that blink at the same time), two noses and two mouths, but only one neck and two ears. More at Sky News.

Drag your arse out of bed in the morning and watch the eclipse! I'll be milking, so will miss it, except for the occasional peek out of the barn door. timetable

Camp for those who see dead people

WONEWOC, Wisconsin -- They see dead people on Spook Hill.

They're walking around the grounds, sitting in the dining hall and in the pews at the abandoned church. Kids, heard by visitors but usually only seen by those trained to see into the spirit world, play outside the rustic and run-down cabins. Full Story

EERIE RED EYES: At 3:30 am Monday morning, the red planet Mars and the red giant star Aldebaran will rise in the east side-by-side like a pair of eerie red eyes in the sky. Set your alarm! [sky map] [full story]

LUNAR ECLIPSE: On Tuesday, Aug. 28th, the full Moon will slip into Earth's shadow for a two-hour total eclipse. People on the Pacific side of Earth including much of North America (map) will have the best view as the Moon turns a dreamy shade of sunset red.

I'm home now. That's so cool to be able to post to my blog while sitting on the side of the trail, listening to the water in the creek falling over the rocks! I don't know how important it is to be able to do that, but one thing is for sure - you know you're getting the freshest information on my site. On some paid-for-sites the info is so old it stinks.

I rode all the trails that Jackson County has to offer today - 115 miles. That's about as much as I have ever ridden in one day before (except maybe for the time I was lost in the dead of winter with the temp hovering around zero all day, didn't get back to the truck until 11:00 pm, and fumes for gas)! The trails were in such great shape that I just couldn't stop myself! They had recently been groomed, except for a very short stretch between Hatfield and BRF, and the groomer was parked right there ready to go on Monday. It appears as though the trails being closed due to heavy rain was not the reason. There has been no heavy rain up there. Actually has been very little rain by the looks of it. There was even less mud today than when I went on the Filter ride this Spring. I certainly didn't need my hot rubber boots, and never came close to making it worthwhile that I dragged the winch along.

I started in Millston, went across town (the way that many people always claim is closed, but really it isn't), and headed up the longer way. I stopped at my favorite creek crossing, where I posted from this morning. Saw some strange trees, which I'll have to remember to look up in my book.

From there, over the interstate and to BRF. Shot on up to Hatfield, where I got a squirt of gas, then sat on top of a hill on the way back out of town to eat my sandwich and grapes (the red ones are the best).

Continuing on, I flew past the turnoff to Pray. Then I thought, what the hell, I've got a full tank of gas and nothing better to do. I turned back and headed on over to Pray. They've changed the trail in one spot since I last was over that way. They've eliminated yet another hill. Now all the cool hills are gone, victim to the ongoing quest to take the off-road out of off-road riding. Sissies that can't ride over a hill once in awhile ruined it.

From Pray I headed back and looked over the play area by Crawford Hills. Waved at the warden again after the motorcycle park. He was having a good day. Both times he smiled and waved me by while writing tickets for the lawbreakers.

Back on down to BRF and then towards the Wildcat Loop. Here is where I encountered the most likely reason for the trail closure. It looked like there had been a pretty good downburst in one of the recent thunderstorms. Quite a few trees down, but they had the trail cleaned up. I suspect that to be the real reason for the trail closure earlier this week and not rain.

And that was it! A good day's worth of riding to say the least! It helped that the trails were about as smooth as a baby's bottom. Can't beat that and the excellent ride of the Hawkeye.

I took many, many pictures today, some of which I will upload to the usual spots tonight or tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a few:

Some people waiting at the porcupine crossing. On a similar note, I saw two nice bucks. One was fair size, but the other was huge! I took a picture of the huge one while he was watching me from the brush. Didn't turn out. Camera couldn't see him as good as I could:

JR you should have come along and brought your little trailer! Nice firewood here and much of it already blocked up:

You saw it here first folks - Fall is on the way:

One hell of a bridge over a trickle so small it could barely be called a creek. I remember years ago when there was no bridge over this spot and you only tickled the tires a little with moisture on the way through. Just one more step towards taking the off-road out of off-road. No wonder the registration fee had to more than double:

Flooded Trail is wishful thinking. I'm still not sure why this sign was there. Nothing even resembling a flooded trail anywhere today:

This was a big snake that I almost ran over. I stopped quick, whipped out the camera, and got this picture just as he was heading off into the woods. I'll have to look him up in my book too. Bull Snake maybe? I saw another one just like it a little ways after this, but not as big:

Yep, the Hawkeye isn't new anymore! Flipped over it's first 1000 miles today. Maybe I will grease it and change the break-in oil one of these days (I'm not kidding, I haven't touched it yet):

Posting from jackson trail. No mud. Dusty even. What the hell? Trail closed
for rain false alarm? Trail beautiful. Post more when home.

With all the rain lately, the ATV trails shouldn't be too dusty! I'll bet they're real muddy. Sounds like fun.

Since the Castle Rock Family ATV Club weekend in Clark County had to be canceled, and I don't have to milk the cows tomorrow (I could milk them if I wanted to - not), I'm still going riding. At first I thought I would drive up to Hatfield and bomb around the trails from there north. But, I checked Jackson's web site (they do a good job on their web site with the latest information) and they are opening the trails back up today. In that case, I think I'll go to good old Millston instead. Maybe ride up to Hatfield and back. I've got the whole day to have fun, so why not?

I am going to take my winch though. I'll be alone, and even though the Hawkeye is lighter, it would probably still be a bitch to get out of the mud by myself. I don't mind riding alone, I used to do it a lot over a decade ago when I was one of the few around here that had an ATV, but I do like to be prepared just in case. Usually I take way more stuff than I need, although in recent years I've been trying to curb that habit. You just never know when you might need something. Hmm, now where is my defibrillator? Ha ha! Don't think I could use it on myself anyway!

FRIENDSHIP, Wis. -- Court documents said the driver of a semitrailer that struck a school bus, killing one student and injuring others, was looking away when the crash happened 17 months ago.An Adams County criminal complaint charged Barry Jacobson, 46, of Wisconsin Rapids, with homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle and six other crimes.Jacobson drove the semitrailer truck that struck the back of the bus on state Highway 73 outside Plainfield in March of 2006. The students were from the Tri-County School District.An accident reconstruction expert said the driver's injuries showed he was not sitting properly in the driver's seat at the time of the crash and was peering to the right and rear.The complaint said Jacobson told investigators he never saw the bus. It also said he was speeding.Jacobson appears in court on Sept. 24.

Updated 8/24/07

TRAILS IN JACKSON COUNTY WILL BE OPEN EFFECTIVE 12:00PM ON AUGUST 24, 2007.

http://www.co.jackson.wi.us/html/forestry/atv.htm

*CANCELED* The Castle Rock Family ATV Club camping and ride this weekend in Clark County has been canceled.

The power went out again today. Only for an hour or two this time, and only for everything on our local transformer. Master was running the air compressor in his shop and it appears as though the underground wire between the barn and there has failed and shorted out, blowing the fuse on the transformer and putting all of us out of power. The electric company disconnected the line going to his shop, so there will be power to everywhere else and the barn.

Whew, when will this humidity go away?! Sounds like cooler tomorrow and less humid for the weekend. Fingers crossed!

Will they come, or will they not? That is the question.

On Sept. 1, 2007, a flurry of bright and oddly-colored meteors might—emphasis on might--come streaming out of the constellation Auriga, putting on a beautiful early morning show for sky watchers in western North America.

The source of the putative shower is Comet Kiess (C/1911 N1), a mysterious "long-period comet" that has visited the inner solar system only twice in the past two thousand years. In 83 BC, give or take a few centuries, Comet Kiess swung by the sun and laid down a trail of dusty debris that has been drifting toward Earth's orbit ever since. On Sept. 1, 2007, the dusty trail and Earth will meet.

But will a shower actually materialize? The answer lies in the unknown contents of the debris stream. Full Story

http://www.co.clark.wi.us/ClarkCounty/Departments/forestryparks/RecTrails/ATV.asp

Date: 8/22/07
All Clark County Summer ATV trails that are found in our ATV Brochure/Map are open at this time!

Kerpow! Booom! Here's a couple pictures of a tree struck by lightning. It's a good size black oak, about 14 inches in diameter. The lightning even blew a hole in the ground at the bottom, which it usually does for some reason. The spot in the woods that this tree is in gets hit by lightning quite often. Just off the top of my head, I can think of a half dozen times in the last few years. Right now there's no less than three trees in the same area surviving with lightning scars from previous years. The others that come to mind were either blown to smithereens or died shortly after. This latest victim is ripped up pretty bad, so may not survive.

Two more inches of rain last night. It seemed like more than what we got this weekend because it came 48 times faster! Last night's rain came in about an hour, as opposed to the 48 hours for the previous rain. Still no puddles around here. Ground soaked it right up. The only place it's bad is in the barnyard, because the shit is so deep to begin with. The cows drag their bellies and tits through it when they come to the barn and then I get to goosh it between my fingers when I milk them. Yeehaw! Like a little kid playing with finger paint.

I cut another pile of wood today. Don't I have an exciting life? It was even more humid today. I don't think I'll be cutting wood for a few days. It's good exercise for the old flab though.

More rain coming tonight, by the sound of the forecast. We can never have enough rain here in the Central Sands, but they sure don't need it in the hills. Their soil doesn't soak it up like ours does, and there isn't any hills here for it to run off of either. About all 16 inches of rain would do here is bring Patrick's Lake up by about an inch maybe. Since Saturday we've got about 4 and a half inches and barely a puddle anywhere. It sure is funny seeing everything so green though. Normally this time of year everything is scorched and brown.

http://www.co.jackson.wi.us/html/forestry/atv.htm

Updated 8/20/07

DUE TO RECENT HEAVY RAINFALL ALL TRAILS IN JACKSON COUNTY ARE CLOSED.

I cut another nice jag of firewood today. It was cooler than the other day, but damp. I wish the leaves would start falling off the raspberry vines. They're so thick where the tornado went through, it's hard to see where the logs are hiding. I have to sweep the prickly damn things with my saw, like a weed whacker. Once I get them chewed up and knocked down a little then I can see better to cut the log. The birds and other critters really enjoy the berries though!

*CANCELED* Clark County for the Castle Rock Family ATV Club ride/camping this weekend.

What a nice rain we've been having for a change! It rained rather gentle all day yesterday and steady through the night. It picked up some during the night, and is raining fairly hard now. I dumped my gauge this morning because it only goes up to 5 inches and it had 3.2 in it. The way it's raining yet, there is a good chance that it could have overflowed. My electronic gauge is in need of repair again. It started to read less and less rain until it finally stopped altogether, which it has done many times before. I know exactly what the problem is, and is a fairly easy fix, but I have found the old-fashioned glass tube gauge to be more accurate than the electronic ones anyway. So I'm in no hurry to fix it. Besides, when it begins to get out of whack the change is so gradual that it's hard to notice. I always found myself comparing it to the glass one from the Dollar Store because I didn't trust it. Might as well just read the accurate one and not worry about the other.

It's been fairly cool too. All day yesterday it hit 60 degrees once, for a short time, then was in the 50s the rest of the day. Still in the 50s now. Combined with the dampness of the rainy day and the fact that we're conditioned to heat and humidity, it felt cold. I started a little fire in the stove. It's warm glow sure felt good. Even after all night with one small piece of wood, it's still warm and cozy. Money saving aspect aside, I really do enjoy wood heat. It warms the body and the soul both. And it's what I'm used to because I grew up with it. The ten years in between that I was without it, just didn't feel right. Crappy old forced air heat sucks.

I picked up the phone to call the septic service yesterday morning after milking and no dial tone! Argh! What next? I had a dial tone at the box outside, so knew the problem was between there and the phone jack. There is a splice under the deck out back that I've had trouble with before. So shinny under there, yank on the wires a few times, and success - dial tone!

The sewage sucking service came right over and did the nasty business, plugging their hose so bad one time that they had to reverse the flow of the pump on their truck. The young guy holding the end of the hose said "I hate this part" as the poop began spraying and splattering out of the hose, now unclogged! I'm not sure it was worth the $90 I paid them, but at that moment it probably seemed to him like not enough. It was certainly cheaper than the $600 LP gas bill we paid off yesterday. Fortunately we won't need either one of those things again until at least next summer.

Betty and Barney were returning home from an extended weekend vacation in Niagara Falls and Canada. They had planned to spend the night in Montreal, but as they were searching for a motel on the outskirts of the city, Barney decided to drive on to New Hampshire. At some point along the route they heard that a hurricane was coming up the coast so they felt it was important to arrive home before the hurricane hit. This meant that Barney would have to drive during the night. But they agreed that if he became tired they would stop at a motel.

He’d had a good night’s sleep the previous night and a pleasant day in Montreal. Because he felt refreshed and energetic he continued to drive on through New Hampshire’s Wilderness and White Mountain regions. In the Groveton/Lancaster area Betty spotted what, at first glance, appeared to be a satellite or a shooting star, only it shot upward. As she watched it, the perplexing light increased in size and seemed to slowly descend in her direction. Finally, she told Barney about her observation and requested that he stop the car for a closer look.

Just south of Twin Mountain, through binoculars, she observed its unconventional appearance as it passed in front of the moon flashing long points of multicolored light. When Barney viewed it through binoculars, it reminded him of a large aircraft coming in for a landing, only it was silent. Returning to their vehicle they traveled on through the 10 miles, or so, of Franconia Notch, a narrow cut through the mountains. Over the next several minutes, the object descended to a position just above the mountain tops; and sometimes it dropped down in front of the mountain peaks.

Barney halted the car momentarily from time to time to get a better look at the enigmatic craft, and once, pulled to the side of the road for an unencumbered observation. It was then that he was able to notice the stair-step flight pattern—the rotation—the blue-white lights—and the fact that it was completely silent, although it descended to approximately 1000 feet. Betty’s description was identical to Barney’s, allowing for individual differences in phraseology.

Then, only three miles south of the Franconia Notch, the object suddenly stopped spinning and shifted ahead of Betty and Barney. Barney stopped the car directly in the middle of the road and jumped out to look at the craft. The elliptical object was now hovering only 80-100 feet above the car and a red right parted from each side of it. Almost immediately, it left its position and in a gliding motion, it shifted to an adjacent field. Fascinated, Barney walked toward it and through his binoculars he observed 8-11 humanoid figures peering down at him.

Suddenly, with military precision, all but one moved toward what Barney thought was a control panel. Next, short bat-like wings began to slide out from each side of the craft and something dropped down its bottom. At that moment the figure in the window communicated a frightening message to Barney to stay there and just keep looking. He seemed to be losing the ability to carry out self initiated action and this loss of control frightened him immensely. But he managed to pull the binoculars down from his eyes, breaking the strap in the process, and flee toward his vehicle, where Betty awaited his return. As the object shifted overhead, the couple heard a series of code-like buzzing or electrical beeping sounds that caused the car to vibrate.

Betty craned her neck upward through the open passenger seat window in an attempt to locate the craft, but all she saw was blackness. The stars were blotted out and the bright sky had suddenly grown dark. Reasoning that she would see the lighted UFO if it were overhead, she informed Barney that it had disappeared. Relieved that they were no longer in danger, Barney drove south on U.S. Route 3.

Near Plymouth, NH, the couple saw a fiery red-orange ball that Betty reasoned was the setting moon. Then, near Ashland, they heard a second series of buzzing/beeping sounds. Betty turned to Barney and asked, “Now do you believe in flying saucers?” He replied, “Don’t be ridiculous.” Barney stopped the car, and then, maneuvered it erratically in a futile attempt to recreate the peculiar sound.

Betty and Barney were surprised to see that dawn was streaking the sky when they arrived home in Portsmouth, NH. Their watches had stopped, but they noted that their arrival time was later than anticipated, even allowing for slow driving and three observational stops.

Timetable for lunar eclipse coming up:

Damn it, septic tank trouble tonight. I think I fixed it, but I had to dig it up and open the tank to do it. Talk about a nasty job. Oh well, my life story. As long as I have the lid dug up, I think I'll have it pumped. It could really use it again. I have a pump that does a fair job of it, but I think this time I'll have a pro come and give it the big suck. My pump doesn't get the solids out too easily. Geez, you just never know what I'm going to talk about next! Yuck.

I was mowing the lawn today, and I had just got done, put the mower away, and I discovered somebody coonin' my sweetcorn! Damn JR was fillin' his pockets in my corn patch! Ha ha! Almost got himself shot. Just kidding. His daughter's birthday is this weekend and he's going to fix a batch of corn. Mine is ripening so fast that it's going to waste. And the raccoons are slowly filling their little bellies with it. So I told JR he better get some while he can!

I cut a couple loads of wood today. I didn't know if I'd remember how. I guess it's like riding a bike. Only I think even a little more fun than riding a bike and certainly more exercise. It felt good to run a saw again. It really wasn't too bad, except for a little while when the sun peeked out. Then it was kind of warmish!

Like a broken record, I was impressed with my little Hawkeye. One of the loads I hauled was big enough that it would have also impressed the old Sportsman. As far as clutching and gearing, I felt that the Hawkeye might have pulled it a bit better than the Sportsman. With the old clutch design, you could always feel that little bit of belt slip when first taking off under a load, even in low range. It just felt like the belt was straining at those times. With the new clutch, there is no such feeling. The belt feels solidly engaged right from idle on up. No slipping sensation whatsoever.

The power was more than adequate. Didn't really notice a difference between this 300 and the old 500. Most likely the 500 would have pulled the load faster at top speed, but if you have ever seen some of the loads I pull, you'd know that top speed is the last thing I worry about!

Since the Hawkeye is lighter, I did have the feeling that the front wheels were in the air! But, it went where I steered it so they must have been touching the ground a little. And for the same reason, the big load pushed it around a little. Not bad enough to be scary, just enough to let you know the load was there.

I did run into one problem today. Well, almost a problem. The hitch on the Hawkeye is a receiver hitch. For those of you that may not know what a receiver hitch is, there is a hitch pin that holds the ball mount in the receiver on the ATV. Then there is a hitch pin clip that holds the hitch pin from working it's way out of the receiver/ball mount. Well, I don't really care for such setups because I'm always afraid I will lose the pin clip and then the pin will work out and I'll lose the trailer! Well, that's almost exactly what happened. I didn't even notice it until I put the ATV away. I was walking by it, heading for the house, and I happened to glance at the hitch for some reason. And there it was (or wasn't). The pin clip was gone! A stick must have caught it just right. Fortunately the pin stayed in. I have spare clips, and from now on I will keep a closer eye on it and I'll carry a spare with me.

I have resurrected the calendar from my old discussion board. I figured since the old board hadn't been deleted like their policy states, I might as well use the calendar if it still works. I had to go through a lot of the html, because it's been a long time since I've even looked at it and it's "full of bugs" software. Even so, many things may not work properly and may change from day to day, which is why it's on a trial basis. If it pisses me off too much, I'll get rid of it again.

Have at it and feel free to add events to it yourself! http://quads.2.forumer.com/index.php?act=calendar

No severe weather here last night. About a half inch of rain and lots of lightning. Several close strikes. The electricity went on and off about half a dozen times. It's supposed to do it again tonight and tomorrow and then be cooler the rest of the week. A lot cooler by the sound of it. That's ok though, because I've been getting the itch to run my saws. Won't be long now (by the end of the month) and the barn swallows will be gone. That's always a sign that it's firewood cutting time.

We saw quite a few meteors during the night. A couple really big, bright ones. One was bright enough that it cast light on us. I tried to capture a couple pictures of them on my camera, but my shutter speed isn't long enough so it would have been just pure luck. All I got was stars.

Sounds like we might get rough weather again tonight. A moderate risk of severe weather, which is higher than the risk we were under the other night when we got the strong storms. Doesn't necessarily mean we will get it though. Wait and see.

METEOR NIGHT: The Perseid meteor shower peaks tonight. No matter where you live, the show begins on Sunday, Aug. 12th, around 10 pm local time when the constellation Perseus rises in the northeast. Expect to see a meteor every five minutes. The rate will surge as the night unfolds, increasing to one or two meteors per minute before dawn on Monday, Aug. 13th.

The electricity is back on! After 10 hours. Really not that long this time. When most people's electric goes out, I hear them talking about how it was off for 30 minutes, or maybe an hour, but not here. We normally measure the length of our outages in days! Fits right in with everything else. (By the way, they still didn't finish painting that third line on the road! And I never did get my dollar back from the parks dept.)

Anyway, I haven't been out in the woods yet, but there is no damage in my yard. Not even a limb down. One lawn chair upside down. I had the old tent set up because the girls were saying they wanted to camp in the yard (which they never did) and that looks to be in great shape too. I could hear the wind howling, but it sounded like it was way overhead and not reaching the ground. It was windy, but not severe.

Sure is nice to have water again! That's what I miss the most when the power is out. I hate pooping in the poison ivy. Tracie, watch your step! Hee hee.

Here I set, no electricity, no water, my ISP finally just came back to life, and my battery is almost dead. Sounds like Adams got hit pretty hard, but haven't heard much for news since the local radio station is off the air (but they're off the air quite a bit, storm or not). I know the fire dept. and hwy dept. have been busy all night on the scanner. Also on the scanner, sounds like our electricity problem is due to a transmission line being down. Uh oh, bye battery.

Watch video footage of UFOs purportedly shot over Haiti on the evening of August 6, 2007.

Speaking of old pictures, here's some slides dad took of the Necedah Ranger Station around 50 years ago. The young man is my dad's brother, who worked there at that time. The little boy is my oldest brother.

Want to see some really cool astronomy wallpapers? http://hubblesite.org/gallery/wallpaper/

There's been a lot of talk about deck truss bridges lately, for obvious reasons. In the state of Wisconsin is 16 bridges that were built this way. One is west of Sparta, but the only one that is really close to our area is the Hwy 82 bridge over the Wisconsin River. Here are a couple slides that my dad took of the Hwy 82 bridge when it was still under construction in the 1950's:

And no flood! Not even a tenth of an inch of rain.

Here's the scenario: The National Weather Service issues a flash flood watch 12-18 hours before the event is expected to begin. That's great, plenty of warning. This was at 3:30 in the morning. I have a weather radio with alert (as I'm sure everyone does nowadays). It sets on the head of my bed so I'm sure to hear any severe weather alerts in the middle of the night (see where this is going?). 3:30 in the morning the alert goes off for a flash flood watch that doesn't go into effect until 18 hours later. Hmmm. Not the first time. If it had been 4:30, I would have been up and going by then. But not usually at 3:30. And once I'm awake, I'm up. Come on weather service, how about we wait until daylight or so for non-emergency broadcasts?

PERSEID FIREFLY: The Perseid meteor shower is underway. Don't panic, the peak doesn't occur until August 12th and 13th, but already five or six shooting stars per hour may be seen during the dark hours before dawn.

"The Perseids are definitely intensifying," says Brian Emfinger of Ozark, Arkansas, who caught this meteor in flight early Tuesday morning:

The Perseid isn't the only thing flying through the frame. "There's also a lightning bug blinking through," he points out. The bug and the meteor crossed during a 25-second exposure at ISO 800. Emfinger used a Canon Digital Rebel XT.

More Perseids are coming. Get the full story from Science@NASA.

Bloggers Eye Union Membership
Unionizing Could Gain Insurance, Standards For Bloggers


Miners, steel workers and auto workers have them. Why not bloggers?

Bloggers say they work hard, even though their work is not intensely physical. So some left-leaning bloggers are thinking about unionizing, hoping to get health insurance, collective bargaining and even professional standards out of it.

One blogger said the work is very intense. He said: "You're constantly scanning for news. Your arm and neck and shoulder are wearing out because you're constantly using a mouse."

And the National Writers Union, part of the UAW, is trying to develop strategies to reach bloggers and encourage them to join.

There's decidedly less support for a union movement among conservative bloggers.

http://www.channel3000.com/money/13828005/detail.html?rss=c3k&psp=irresistible

It really sucked milking the cows today. Not so much the heat, but the humidity. I had a dew point of around 80 all day. I've rarely, if ever, seen it so high. The barn floor was sweating and slippery. And cows' body temps are normally something like 102 as it is. Plus, tonight I had to test the cows so it took all the longer.

I fixed the heifer fence out behind the barn this morning after milking, and that was a sweaty project too. Master had 7 of the calves locked in the tin shed out back and they were wallowing in shit up to their bellies! I couldn't stand it anymore and fixed it myself. I get sick of the broken promises all the time. Those calves were sure happy to be out of there! And I feel a lot better knowing that they aren't cooped up in there. Now if I could just pry some money out of his tight fist to fix many of the other condition problems.

AURORA WATCH: A high-speed solar wind stream hit Earth on August 6th sparking a moderate geomagnetic storm and auroras bright enough to pierce the twilight in Valkeakoski, Finland:

Photo details: Nikon D200, ISO 200, 2 second exposure.

"The 2007 autumn aurora season has finally begun," says photographer Tom Eklund.

Earth is still inside the solar wind stream, but the storm is subsiding. Bright auroras are unlikely tonight. August 9th is the next night to be alert; that's when another solar wind stream is due to arrive.

more images: from Gilles Boutin of St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec, Canada

Ouch! The worst kicking cow got me this morning. Took some hide off my arm. Rather unexpectedly too, because she had been behaving fairly well lately. But, I was gone for the weekend and I suppose her bag is kind of sore from the weekend crew's amateurish milking. This is the same cow that Master says he is going sell every couple months for years now.

This is Fair week! Yippee! Not interested. I guess the girls are going, and I'll probably be at the museum off and on, but I won't be blowing any of my money at the stupid fair. Rich people's amusement.

Wow, the skip on the TV this morning is amazing! Rather unusual for it to be way up on the UHF channels too. If it's clear at night, might be a good idea to look for Northern Lights. I haven't heard of any, but this much skip is usually a good sign.

When Hansen and her husband came over the brow of the hill that night, the bottom of the valley ahead was out of sight.

She still dreams of being able to peek down that valley a little further. What they did see was the whole valley bathed in a bright white light.

It was like someone had flicked a switch, but the light was brighter than the brightest sunlight.

The car stalled and the couple sat there stunned.

On either side of the valley she could see virtually every tree lit up so brightly they had a silvery white colour.

Initially, Hansen and her husband were panicking and yelling at each other. Then they started whispering.

Her husband tried to reassure her it was probably caused by possum shooters with a spotlight. Hansen knew that was rubbish.

They sat staring fearfully.

She suggested driving back to Gisborne.

Anything to avoid going towards the light.

Hansen began to notice her arms and legs were feeling numb and tingly.

She heard a deep buzzing sound and felt dizzy and faint.

She tried to talk to her husband to ask him if he felt the same, but she couldn't speak.

Her next recollection is sitting next to him in the dark, both of them staring out the front window of the car.

She grabbed her handkerchief and wiped away condensation from the inside of the windscreen.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4143268a10.html

Storm e-mail worm evolves as it wreaks havoc on Net


Like a summer cyclone gathering force, the Storm e-mail worm is casting an expanding shadow on the Internet.

Storm first spread to e-mail in-boxes in Europe and the USA in January — enticing recipients to click on a link for a fake news story about a deadly storm or other dramatic event. Clicking on the link turned the PC over to Storm's controller.

As security companies began blocking such e-mail, Storm instead started sending out links to tainted e-cards purportedly from family or friends. Full Story

Another great ride with the Castle Rock Family ATV Club! We rode all over our routes in Northern Juneau County while competing in the Cutler Fire Department's poker run. It started out really dusty and dry in the morning, but by noon or so it had begun to rain. And the rain steadily increased throughout the day. That settled the dust. They really needed the rain too. The Yellow River doesn't have any water in it!

I had stuff with me to wear in case of rain. My rain pants that I bought at Wal-mart (or one of the places like that) worked great. Never got a drop through them. My $1.29 poncho from Farm and Fleet did ok, but gradually disintegrated as the day wore on. By the time I got back to the truck, it was more screen than poncho! I guess maybe I'll have to start carrying my rain jacket instead. My shirt still wasn't too wet, just a little damp in places, but if I had rode another mile I would have been completely poncho-less!

Wisconsin's deck truss bridges are:

• 
  
State Highway 32/Main Street crossing Fox River in Brown County.
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State Highway 35 crossing the St. Croix River in Burnett County.
• 
  
State Highway 82 crossing Winneshiek Slough in Crawford County.
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State Highway 82 crossing the Mississippi River in Crawford County.
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Interstate 94 West crossing the Red Cedar River in Dunn County.
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Interstate 94 East crossing the Red Cedar River in Dunn County.
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County Highway BB crossing Tainter Lake in Dunn County.
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State Highway 27 crossing the Eau Claire River in Eau Claire County.
• 
  
State Highway 82 crossing the Wisconsin River in Juneau County.
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State Highway 16 East crossing the La Crosse River in La Crosse County.
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U.S. Highway 14/U.S. Highway 61 and State Highway 16 crossing the Mississippi River in La Crosse County.
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State Highway 16/State Highway 71/Wisconsin Avenue crossing the Soo Line Railroad in Monroe County.
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Wisconsin Highway 243 crossing the St. Croix River in Polk County.
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U.S. Highway 51 crossing the Rock River in Rock County.
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St. Croix/Main Street in Somerset crossing the Apple River in St. Croix County.
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U.S. Highway 53/Main Street crossing Beaver Creek in Trempealeau County.

DREAMY LUNAR ECLIPSE: Mark your calendar: On Tuesday, August 28th, there's going to be a dreamy, colorful, total eclipse of the Moon: full story.

It drives me nuts when people don't finish things, and/or they do a half-assed cobble job. Some days it seems like I'm surrounded by it. Mrs. Reverend says I expect too much from people. That they aren't perfect. Well, I agree with her to a point, but I never expect anybody to be perfect. I do expect them to try. I also expect them to learn from their mistakes so that they don't make the same ones over again.

For example, the county highway department started to paint the lines on our road over two weeks ago. That day they did the yellow line and one white line. Then they never came back! We have a nice-looking new yellow line, and one nice-looking white line, and one shitty-looking old white line. I guess it really wouldn't bother me, mostly because it fits right in with everything else around here, but I walk back and forth across the road many times a day and I have to laugh and shake my head! And it wouldn't surprise me one bit if they leave it that way and never finish painting the last line. I will be more surprised if they do come back and finish it.

And don't get me started on County Highway F where they build a brand new road but don't put new culverts in, then come back a few years later, tear the new road up to put new culverts in, then never pave back over where they put them in! Ha ha ha ha! I never admit that I'm from Adams County.

Not to seem like I'm just picking on the highway department either. It's everywhere. You can even see it on the Internet. Look at how old and out of date the information is on a lot of web sites, half of which barely even work. Not saying I know what the hell I'm doing, but at least I try to put different words on here once in awhile! And maybe even a picture or two.

Adams County Authorities Seek Stolen Radioactive Device

Authorities caution that anyone coming in close contact with the device runs a serious health risk. If the radioactive source is removed from its metal container, it's extremely dangerous. The device is described as a coffee-can size, aluminum container with a handle on the top. http://www.channel3000.com/news/13796936/detail.html

It's going to be a hot one today. I'll be working on a tin roof! I'm going up to the antique museum to put some hours in with the Old Farmers Antique Club. We're always working on the roof. I doubt there will be too many of the old farts working there today. I won't be there long, if it gets really hot. After all, non-recreational stuff in a recreational club isn't very much fun anyway, as we all know. Right?