I have been watching

the St Marys fire. There are few things as unstoppable as a fire like this. It grew 2800% Saturday. It rolls through the old growth timber like a freight train with a drunk conductor with a death wish.
Look at the webcam pictures. I have watched it coming over the mountains, and it is on the last one.
Nothing of any intrest going on in my life. I actually made some money last week, which was nice. but very hot. Our friends call and invite us over, and we look at each other and decline. We are air conditioning snobs. And quite comfortable with that fact.

The girl is off in her room pouting cuz I am a mean mommie. I kicked her off the computer. Actually, she got off on her own, I just didn't realize how short term her removal was. She has hit the argueing with everything stage. I am not pleased. I don't like this stage, make it go away.

But, it is enevitably time to do dishes, and laundry, and other assorted mundane tasks. Sneak up on the pouting child and scare the attitude out of her? It could work!

Egads

it's hot. Working outside sucks. Central air rocks.

Very nice opinion about fireworks in yesterdays paper by Jeff Thill. I agree with alot of what he says.

Still waiting to see if I got my antelope permit. Evidently someone on the news said they did the drawing, but the only ones I have heard about are elk permits.

No fishing news to report. It is too hot to go fishing. The poor boat languishes in the back, wondering if we have forgotten her. The Other Half is getting antsy. Holter next weekend though, for sure.

Hey, you guys remember a while back, when I told you I got a digital camera? Guess what. I need a new camera.
I just got paid for a job, and I was going to get a camera, but a new fishing rod and reel just jumped in front of me and I had no choice! I tried to fight it, but as soon as I walked into the store, I lost all control, and I just watched as my hand wrote the check, then lovingly caressed the new Mitchell 300, attached to 6’6” of graphite and cork.
Must. Go. Fishing.

Visiting around the ‘sphere, I ran into an old blues song. And I just sat here listening to it on my crappy speakers, (that have been suffering through Oops, I did it Again on the Barbie website over and over) and it took me back in time to when I last heard that song. Live, at Caseys Golden Pheasant, in Billings Montana. Playing pool, listening to one of the early incarnations of a band called All Night Diner. Dark, smoky bar, quiet conversations and the sweet soul of blues music pouring over me. I like a lot of music, but nothing else can pull me out on the dance floor and really feel the music like a good blues band.

So I'm looking

for a good merlot. You see, I drank this wine at my aunt's house in NY. (That's her over there under Art.) It was really good. Very rich, almost fruity. No vinegary taste. I expect it was fairly costly. Now, I did not take note of the bottle, which I admit would have been a very good detective move. I do know it was Australian. Kinda thinkin' there might have been some kind of little critter on it. Another good move would be to ask the aunt, but I forget to, and time has passed, so I just drink wine and remember the ones I have tried. Beringer Stone Cellars is about the closest I have run into. A Black Swan merlot tastes like it started to turn and they got it into the bottle as quick as they could. I'm going to try the one with the psycadelic kangaroo on it next. (Hey Justin, shut up, you drink Rainer!) Speaking of bad beer, I remember when you could buy a case of Rainer stubby bottles for $7.00 at M & H. and get a buck back for the empties. And you could buy two liter bottles of wine coolers. Ahh, and the infamous Coors Light Party Ball. The good old days. When I was young enough not to care what I drank. The reason I will never again drink Jim Beam.

How hard did they look?

Watching the news (channel 5) the other night, there was this story on a home health care worker who stole money from one of her clients. The reporter reported, gave facts and information, and then noted the news station had been unable to locate the business this person worked for. Huh? I recognised to name immediately. The business has been around for several years. They do not appear to have an ad in the phone book, but they do have a bus bench on the corner of 3rd st and 1st ave N. They are licensed by the state I would think. They have a sign at the business. Which doesn't do much good if you don't know where the business is. So I called directory assistance. And they gave me a number. Just like that. I need to become a reporter, this is just too easy.

10 Things you didn’t know about me.

1. I am much more outgoing and likely to state my opinions here than I am in real life.

2. I enjoy taking long road trips just for the drive.

3. I love animated movies, and went to the theater to watch them before I had kids.

4. I have a very low tolerance for people who think they are smarter than they really are. ( I don’t have many real friends)

5. I have problems with authority, but usually repress my feelings ‘till finally I blow up – and then I am really in hot water.

6. Boston Legal is one of my favorite TV shows ever.

7. I love old muscle cars.

8. I love my parents and sisters, but I can go for weeks without talking to them.

9. I get bored rather easily, and do not really like talking about myself.

10. See # 9

Frog? or Horse?

Well, I should be working right now. But I am not. I got a cold from some un-named person, and it is a miserable one. But I shall perservere.

On to a political type bit. I see a local businessman feels the Mayor should not vote on an issue relating to (brace yourself for the bad word) Casino's. Or, more politically correct, gaming. Because some of them supported her. Now does he also feel she should not vote on any issues relating to say lawyers? I think some of them supported her. How about construction work? I think one of her supporters has a lumber yard! Oh, the horror! Actually, a majority of the citizens of this town seem to have supported her, so should she recuse herself from every vote, so that the people that supported her do not have a voice in our community? Actually, wouldn't that make our entire body of elected officials pretty worthless? Yeah, maybe I am exagerating just a bit, but think about it. We elect these people, with the expectation they will do what is best for us, and then quibble about which issues they get to participate in? However the Mayor seems to have fought the Gaming Mafia and voted for what she believes, despite the risk of being blacklisted by the hordes of people who are clamoring at the doors of the gaming industry.

By the way, don't you just love those colored palm trees the Hi-Ho put up? Way better than the word CASINO!

Hey, to those who know something about computers-why does my qwest IP address show as Saint Louis Missouri? It is better than California like the last one, but is there any way to make it identify me as from around here?

I can post pictures now!

Current code states:

A sign that no longer advertises a bona fide business product or service must be removed within one hundred and eighty days. Responsibility lies with the owner of the sign or the owner, agent, or person upon whose premises the sign is located. If the sign owner or agent fails to remove the sign, the Community Development Director or designee is authorized to remove the sign and assess the costs against the property.

In April, 2005 I e-mailed the city with this question: Why are there abandoned/moribund signs still up? This was part of the old code, Not Enforced, and I have seen no action by the city on this issue.

The city's reply: Abandoned signs still remain that were not removed under the existing sign code. We have hired a Sign Code Enforcement Officer who will see to removal of all abandoned signs.

Another question I asked you might like-

Please define Idealogical signs

Answer: Examples could include the anti-abortion signs, peace signs, ban the bomb, anything guaranteed as freedom of speech by the US constitution.

At http://www.sba.gov/starting/signage/signamendments.html It states "a local governments sign code must comply with the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of expression because signs, including a business sign that does nothing more than identify a business or advertise a product, are a constitutionally protected form of expression.

Umm the code also states all signs must be properly maintained.

All painted surfaces must be free of rust, worn, loose or peeling paint.

Just saying.

(Cuz Geeguy called me chicken. And no I am not putting the rest up right now. )

Well, It is my policy

not to clean fish. Unless I helped catch them. And I caught lots of fish yesterday. I just finished cleaning them and they now reside in a big bowl in my fridge, gently soaking in a bit of lemon juice, waiting for me to procure steaks, and cook them for dinner.
It was a rather warm day on the lake, with almost no breeze, the mountains of the Front a perfect frame for the cloudless sky. But the perch bite best when it is really hot, and when they are biting you hardly notice the heat. Like you hardly notice your butt going numb from the unpadded boat seat you are sitting on, the ache in your shoulders, the tips of your ears slowly crisping, etc.
Fish on!
Is it big enough to need the net?
And the first few you catch, you must gauge what the size of todays keepers are going to be, are we going for quantity or quality? Do we throw the borderline keepers back in the hopes of cathing some big ones later, at the risk of not catching enough for dinner?
Fish on!
Of all the slimers we caught none made it into the boat. No time for them today.
We happily fished the day away, watched the sun go down behind the mountains, caught a few crawdads as darkness fell, regretted not bringing the tent. Drove home in the peaceful night, with the moon our silvery companion.

Oh, I was sitting here Monday, my O. H. out fishing without me (again!) with varied little psycho's-Um, I meant kids- running hither and yon in the heat and excitement of another day with no school, and one of them asked for a drink of water.
I told him to get his own damn water and leave me alone, in the nicest possible way, which he proceded to do, keeping one eye on the crazy mom type lady (who earlier had been instructing kids in the proper way to snap a dishtowel) and I hear running water-downstairs, where no water should be running, ever. So I proceeded to investigate.
After a pitched battle with spiders and dustbunnies I claimed the field, and deduced, from the water running out of the big ass hole in the drain pipe, that I was in need of a plumber type person. Hey, I have one of those! Shit, no, I don't he is fishing till Tuesday afternoon! (without me) The drain line is only for the kitchen sink and dishwasher at that point, which means-I don't gotta do dishes till he fixes it! Ha, Ha, Ha!!!
So I tell the kids not to use the kitchen sink, and the daughter asks why-I have now sucessfully convinced my four year old that the spiders downstairs got thirsty and chewed a hole in the pipes! When, with a concerned countenance, she questioned her returned Daddy on the subject, she learned - those were some Big Spiders to chew through that big heavy pipe!!
Kids are so much fun!

Ahh, the fun begins.

We have no sign inspector. The deadline for Grandfathering signs has come. I wait with baited breath. What will happen now? I have several defunct, morbid monstrosities in mind, I have checked with everyone I know about the legalities of their continued existence, and now I wait. Not very confident in the system. I watched an unlicensed sign installer spend several hours erecting a sign in our city center last week. I assume he had a permit. Wonder how he got it, under whose name.

Thinking about the City pools.
Numbers over at Aarons are not adding up. Maintenance is pretty standard for most things isn’t it? Give your house a new coat of paint every few years, change the oil and rotate the tires on your car, etc. But not the neighborhood pools.
Not to raise anyones ire, but I would like to see the advertising budget for Mitchell Pool. I just noticed a billboard up off Central West and I find myself questioning both the need for this type of advertising, and the location of the ad, from that location most people coming in from out of town will probably drive by the water park any way.
Oh, wait, the billboard doesn’t tell you where the water park is. Never mind, I was thinking it might be to help out of towners find the place, but no. But at least the city put it on a locally owned billboard.
Oh, wait, I think that one is owned by and probably printed by Lamar Advertising. At least they have a local office.
I know, now I am being petty.

I think my ISP knows I am ditching it. In the last few days it has gotten worse. Or maybe I have just tried to spend more time on the internet.

Its always been the Soldier

It is the soldier

not the President who gives us democracy.

It is the soldier

not the Congress who takes care of us.

It is the soldier

not the Reporter who has given us Freedom of Press.

It is the soldier

not the Poet who has given us Freedom of Speech.

It is the soldier

not the campus organizer who has given us the Freedom to Demonstrate.

It is the soldier

who salutes the flag;

who serves beneath the flag,

and whose coffin is draped by the flag,

that allows the protester to burn the flag.

Ahh, the 4th of July Parade

I take the kids every year. Hot. sweaty. Till the studly firemen come by and hose us down.

Explaining to my kids who the Veterans of Foreign Wars are brought a tear to my eye. Both my grandfathers were veterans, and both have passed away. But old men, standing proud in old uniforms, a living legacy of a bygone era, make me proud.

The single car bearing a survivor of Pearl Harbor made me choke up.

I go to the parade every year to teach my children, show them some of the people who spend their lives defending this day and everything it means.

I had some complaints about the parade, but now, sitting here, they don't mean much. The Sparkettes, wilted and tired, twirled to the end. The Boy Scouts, feet dragging, held the colors high and steady. The Marines never missed a step, The Mayor never stopped waving, so who am I to complain, I who just stood on the corner. I know I will be back next year, clapping for the men and women in uniform, cheering for the firemen, and always thankful we have this day to celebrate.

You know those lines painted on the highway....

there may be a logical meaning for them. (kinda like those signs that say don't jump off the bridge, you might drown!) Like, maybe they are there to help guide you down the road to a longer life. Try staying between them. I get kinda antsy when I don't know which side of the road your gonna be on. And maybe they give you clues, so you don't pull out to pass when you can't see the semi about to top that hill! And those big signs, ya know, the ones with the numbers, those might be a hint about what speed you may want to average. This is Montana, the highway speed limit hasn't been 50 in about, oh NEVER! and IF you insist on skipping along at 50 until you hit a passing zone and then kick it up to 70 for a couple miles, that line of cars behind you is gonna get really pissed!
Damn. People.

On a lazy Sunday afternoon I am watching golf.
Its speed and excitement level match mine. I want to go play that stupid game. Not today, it’s too damn hot. But someday soon.
I haven’t posted much lately, and I blame it all on my internet. That will change soon, and I will have to find something else to blame.
I see some of you are still perusing that photo down there. This post is going to push it off the edge, into the cold, murky depths of the archives where all old posts inevitably end up, longing for some one to stop by and give them just a moments attention.
Almost time to go blow stuff up! My Other Half says I have an obsession. A compulsion. An addiction. I love fireworks. Hey, Justin, can I borrow a plane? Lets pack it full of fireworks and send it up. Might need to modify some fuses, to gain enough altitude. That could be cool. I have glow in the dark vinyl, we could add some graphics, to track it more easily - until the payload blows it into tiny little bits! Yeah, lets do it!