Problem Drivers

Have you ever wanted to say something downright mean? Well, tonight's one of those nights where I feel the need to rip on local drivers. I don't suppose a disclaimer would soften the glaring ridicule I am about to spew forth, but yes, I am aware that not ALL drivers in this region or in this town are inadequate. This rant is intended towards the GUILTY.

Just once, could you please get in the freakin' right lane instead of hogging the left lane with your 30mph driving in a 40mph zone!!!

Ever learn about signaling your intentions? You might want to get acquainted with that little plastic piece of machinery dangling from your steering column!

Maintaing lane discipline when executing turns? Just a common practice that you must have slept through during Driver's Ed.

And no, I'm not sorry I honked at you this afternoon. I do like steak, but that kind of T-bone is not what I'm looking for, and you should never repeat that delicious maneuver. Next time it might be a drunk, or worse yet, one of the aforementioned stellar drivers we all know and love.

Now it's time to rant on the stretch of road known as 32nd Ave. This little gem of a thoroughfare is sinking slowly into the depths of hell... it's an incident of road rage just WAITING to happen.

Picture of Molly

I wanted to post a picture of my dog, Molly...

Movie maker?

I've been thinking about crafting some short films using my digital camera. You can set it on 'movie' mode and record as though it were a camcorder, then download the video which is in Quicktime format. I took some short video of a hummingbird at my feeder. I'm considering developing a plot, screenplay, the whole works!

It was an explosive demolition

If Ramzi Yousef (sp?) can try to place a small bomb in the WTC in 1993, then why couldn't a well-funded terrorist cell place more powerful bombs under the towers 8 years later and try it again? No, instead we get served fantastic collapse theories that defy the laws of physics.

Rather and Jennings knew an explosion when THEY saw one. I just wish the media would stop with the phony baloney already.

You're the man, Dan!

“In addition to the two world trade center hit by an aircraft,...there were subsequent explosions--hard to know whether these were explosions planted in the buildings...”

Dan Rather, 9-11-01

Thank you, Peter!

“Now this is what it looked like moments ago. My gosh. The southern...tower...just collapsing on itself. This is a place where thousands of people work. We have no idea what caused this. Um...If you wish to bring ah...anybody who ever watched a building being demolished on purpose knows...that if you're going to do this you have to get at the...at the under infrastructure of a building and bring it down.”

Peter Jennings, 9-11-01

Cops on cell phones

I'd like to say this to the female cop driving north on Cherry St. this evening...
Driving while talking on the cell phone, I believe, sets a bad example, unless of course you don't care (or GF police don't care) about drivers using their cell phones.

Vacation

I just got back from a very long vacation. I traveled through Montana, Idaho, and Washington. I enjoyed the magnificent mountains and forests, as well as a trip through Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. It's too bad that North Dakota got the short end of the stick.

Slice it and Dice it

I gotta tell ya, the veggies from the garden taste awesome this year. Several jars of pickles are in progress. The rain keeps falling over areas other than Grand Forks this summer. Some severe weather in the region recently. Read the Grand Forks Herald

Did you know that I shot a 46 on the back nine of Kings Walk? I nearly ended the round with a birdie birdie, but I choked the birdie putt after losing my focus just a bit. I don't know how those pros do it!

Picture Perfect

This summer continues to be awesome. No bugs and warm, sunny days make going outside a pleasant experience. If I could bottle this weather up and hold it for this winter, I would. Well, I might throw in a little more rain.

Not Ready for Prime Time

So, there are several blogs going on in this town. The Herald has a blog and links to several local blogs. I have to admit, I snicker whenever I see "culture" and "Grand Forks" in the same sentence, but landing Cirque du Soleil is an impressive feat, that is, if they don't cancel! Anyway, my blog isn't ready for the big time, as I'm not mentioned anywhere other than by my coworker. It's not like I do much blogging, so I don't mind much. Also, I may be revising this blog, getting rid of irrelevant content and also putting more effort into it. Like, at least weekly entries would be good.

Hot Hot Hot... Dry Dry Dry

It's been hot and dry this summer. This is the hottest, dryest one in my five summers here. My garden is doing well. I've had to really water frequently to keep the plants from wilting in the heat. I've enjoyed the lack of mosquitoes. I've done some creative things around the house, too. I made an agility jump for Molly (my lab mix) to try. She likes it. I did Basic Agility with her over the winter. Next time, we'll try the Intermediate. It gives her a good workout.

So, the heat. Some people love it. The farmers would like some rain, and I wouldn't mind some myself.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

So why is it that John Rocker got 28 games and a $20,000 fine (later reduced to 14 games and $500) for offering his opinion concerning the diversity of the occupants of a New York subway but Ozzie Guillen only gets a fine for calling a sports journalist a perjorative name?

Tiger Woods is not a robot. He can't just show up on the PGA tour after that long a layoff. Not only did he recently lose his father to cancer, the first event he plays is the US Open on the weekend of Father's Day. And in New York to boot.

Speaking of golf, I broke 100 this year. If I could avoid the disaster holes (quad-bogeys), I'll start doing it quite often.

My garden is doing okay so far. It's been very dry, so the soil is starting to dry out and harden. I guess I'll have to use my new hose a lot this summer. I just predicted a warm, dry July-September for my climate outlook today. Maybe that means that just the opposite will happen (HA HA!). You never know!

UND has decided to move to Division 1 athletics. I think this is a big mistake. I don't know if there's enough money to cover the cost of traveling. Only the hockey teams have been D1, and I don't see the baseball, swim or tennis teams EVER being anywhere close to competitive. But what do I know? I'm not from here so I probably don't "get it"... <----- SARCASM, in case you couldn't tell.

The US soccer team should just avoid Europe like the plague. No victories! How does freakin' Australia make it to the knockout round? All I can say is Group E was very tough. Certainly no freebies! I wish I could be in Deutschland right now and experience it. Oh well, maybe I can go to Europe one of these days.

Goldfinches

I had a male and a female today at the feeder. The male goldfinch was a glorious yellow.

Garden Work

Today, I planted most of my garden. I have 8 cucumbers (4 pickling) and 1 pumpkin in the front bed. I put a new Spruce tree seedling out front to replace the old one. It didn't look good after being buried in snow all winter.

I put 4 Early Girl tomato plants and 4 Sweet Million tomato plants (cherry size fruits) in the back with the strawberries. Also in the back are 8 corn plants that I planted from seed about 2 weeks ago and a Sugar Baby Watermelon. I still have 1 corn plant and 9 green bean plants in cups (from 2 weeks ago as well). I used my 4 planters for 4 more Sweet Million plants. The two geraniums (original and transplant) are blooming downstairs. The low this morning was 30 F, so my patience was rewarded this year. The front yard thermo reported a min of 28.6 F.

I'm not overly impressed with the Lawn Patch, but it is early. I should know this week if it will work or not.

Birds

It's been a while since I blogged about birds. Maybe that's because there haven't been any unusual birds this year. I've had a few crows. They like to make a mess of the birdbath. I often see a pair of mourning doves. For the most part, I get different types of sparrows and groups of grackles. No bluejay or woodpecker. I have a suet feeder now, but it's not getting any visits. I don't know why. It seems like there have been more robins in the yard this year. Maybe later this year I will get some new birds.

Michelle Wie is an idiot!

So, Michelle Wie is going to try to qualify for the men's US Open. I just don't understand why she wants to play against men when she can't even win an LPGA event! She should follow the path that Annika Sorenstam took. Annika has been dominant in the LPGA tour for years and tried to play in, I think, the Western Open on the PGA tour. She did well, but if I remember right, she missed the cut. Anyways, the point is, Michelle Wie should focus on winning tournaments rather than participating in publicity stunts.

Commentary, Part 2

It will be interesting to see how high the Red River crests this year. Our snowfall is about normal and the snow-water ratio isn't outrageous, but I'm betting it will be over 40 feet this year.

Commentary

Okay, I admit it. I don't write nearly enough to call this a "blog", but it's not like anyone reads this stuff anyway. So, I will comment on recent happenings.

Topic One - Team USA and the World Baseball Challenge

It drives me nuts that the media (newspaper, TV, etc.) comes from some sort of perspective that because it's Team USA, it automatically means we should expect a gold medal. It's as though nobody else plays baseball or that no other team can have a better day than ours. It's so egocentric and plain wrong. Just because you put a team of multiple all-star players together doesn't mean that team will win every time. It's a classic case of "Steinbrenner Syndrome". He thinks he can BUY a championship for New York. What few people acknowledge is that there is more to baseball than having the best "talent".

In baseball, you need to have the players string hits back-to-back in order to produce runs. Every guy in the lineup can go 1-for-3 on a given day, but if those hits aren't strung together or no homeruns are hit, there won't be any runs on the board. This wasn't entirely a group of underachieving prima donnas (like Team USA basketball, for example) either. You have to have timely hitting.

How cold is it?

SO, after a month of ridiculously warm weather, we hit rock bottom. Our high today will be our first sub-zero high of the winter. We usually get several days of subzero up here during a winter. Maybe this cold now means that planting season won't be ruined by late frosts.