Stolen Again.

I stole this from Tai, who stole it from Kimber, who borrowed it from Vesper.

I Y'AM: What I Y'am.

- Popeye

I WANT: To make people laugh until they wet their pants!

I WISH: That everyone in the world should have guns. Citizens should have bazookas and rocket launchers too. I wish that all citizens should have their weapons of choice. However, I also wish that only I should have the ammunition. Because frankly, I wouldn't trust the rest of the goobers with anything more dangerous than string.

-Scott Adams

I HATE: Hate.

I MISS: Julie (too soon to say any more on that subject).

I FEAR: "Bad luck it is to speak about your fears, Makes em’ come true. Aaargh!!!" (spoken like a Pirate)

"Anyone ever finding out that I'm a.....................nah, nevermind!"

I HEAR: My lawn calling me...but I'm ignoring it.

I WONDER: Why if we’re speaking to God we’re said to be praying, but if God is speaking to us we’re said to be schizophrenic (also stolen).

I REGRET: Everything and nothing.

I AM NOT: “a monster, I am a man!"

-The Elephant Man.

I DANCE: Country Couples Dancing (but not for a long time).

I SING: Karaoke, mostly Louis Armstrong & Blue Oyster Cult (also not for a long time).

I CRY: Whenever I damn well feel like it.

I AM NOT ALWAYS: Easy to figure out (even for myself).

I MAKE: Ripples in the ocean of life.

I WRITE: The truth at that particular moment in time, from my particular point of view at that particular moment in blah blah blah…

I CONFUSE: everyone, including myself, and wouldn’t have it any other way.

I NEED: The impossible.

I SHOULD: Head out into the forest never to return.

I START: at the end.

I FINISH: at the beginning.

I TAG: The Gods…bring it!

Nothing much to do here?

I hear many people complain about the city we live in. They say, “There is nothing to do in Erie”. I think they really need to open their eyes a little wider. I say “There is everything to do here, or everything to do is not very far away”. My stepdaughter moved to Pittsburgh, for that very same reason. I would like to take a minute to argue that point and tell others who are not from around here about our fair city.

Within about a 150-mile radius from here you have the major cities of Buffalo to the east, Pittsburgh to the south, and Cleveland to the west. We are directly connected to all these major metropolitan areas by interstate highways, which gives us easy access to just about all of your hearts desires within about an hour and a half drive. If you don’t like driving, and I actually hear people complain about the traffic here, just talk to someone from Pittsburgh that has spent 45 minutes in rush hour traffic trying to cross one bridge. We do have an international airport, with four major carriers at the moment, though I’m told it only qualifies as an “international” airport due to one airplane that flies over Lake Erie to Canada once a week.

Lets Talk shopping, one of the major complaints I hear is that Erie doesn’t have enough good places to shop or that you can’t get everything here. All you have to do is sit up at the Millcreek Mall for a while and watch all the buses role in and out from Canada and New York State to know this isn’t exactly the whole truth. They come to Pennsylvania because we have no state tax on clothing and we just happen to have the closest large mall to either of those locations. Yes they come “here” to shop.

Are you into the great outdoors? Erie may be one of the best-kept secrets on the planet. Hunting is without a doubt the single largest sport in Pennsylvania. Last I heard we put about 3 million hunters in the woods on the first day of buck season, and the place I work at gives the first day of buck off as a paid holiday, since they wouldn’t have enough people there, on that day, to run the place anyways. I owned a bar at one time and just before deer season every year we would add a particular favorite beer of the Pittsburgh natives just because we knew they would come and ask for it. Just watch the movie “The Deer Hunter” and you will understand exactly what I mean. If you like fishing, our streams, lakes, lagoons and Great Lake provide all you could hope for. If boating is your thing, this time of year you would swear that Interstate 79 coming up from Pittsburgh was a river and not a highway with all the boats “sailing” up here. Go to any of our marinas and see just how many boats there are not registered out of Erie, yes the sportsmen of Pittsburgh know about Erie, and I understand that water skiing on the rivers in Pittsburgh isn’t quite as pleasant as our bay and lake. Lake Erie being the shallowest of the Great Lakes means it is also the warmest, with the water temperature reaching near 80 degrees F. during most summers. How about our peninsula “Presque Isle”? Do any of those larger cities have anything remotely resembling it? I’ve never heard of those wonderful Buffalo beaches, but they have heard about ours. I know that many Erie natives take Presque Isle for granted, and even forget about it being there, I am guilty of this as well. If you are from Erie and reading this let me ask you “when was the last time you were there?”

Do you like roller coasters and amusement parks? Lets talk “Darien Lake/Six Flags”, “Geauga Lake and Wildwater Kingdom”, “Kennywood” and of course “Cedar Point” (did I miss any?) According to the last “Discovery Channel” special that I saw on the top ten roller coasters in the world, I believe six of the top ten coasters were in these parks, including the highest and fastest, though those world records seem to change hands with every new coaster that is built. They don’t call “Cedar Point” the “Roller Coaster Capital” for nothing. All within an easy drive of here.

If you like Music, and your favorite artists don’t come to Erie’s Civic Center, they are sure to come to Pittsburgh, Buffalo or Cleveland. If you can’t get tickets or good seats at one, try the other. Don’t forget that Cleveland has the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”, and many bands either Kick off or end their world tours there.

Like professional sports? How about The world champion “Pittsburgh Steelers”, “Cleveland Browns”, “Buffalo Bills”, “Pittsburgh Pirates”, “Cleveland Indians”, “Cleveland Cavaliers”, “Pittsburgh Penguins”, “Buffalo Sabres” and don’t forget Erie’s minor league teams the “Seawolves” (baseball) and the “Otters” (hockey).

Like tall ships? We have the “Brig Niagara”, which is the Pennsylvania Flag Ship from the War of 1812, based right here out of Erie.

Gambling? The Seneca Casino and the Casino at Niagara Falls, not to mention Niagara Falls itself if you want to gamble with your life by going over it in a barrel (“Fearless Tai”, don’t even think about it!)

Like traveling? Canada is not far away. Most places here that fly an American Flag also fly a Canadian flag right beside it.

Don’t like our weather? Too much snow? The snowmobilers, skiers, and Ice fisherman would disagree with you.

Simply put, we have all the advantages of a major city, all the advantages of a small city, and few of the disadvantages of either. Nothing much to do here, Eh?!? I’m all worn out from writing about all the things we do have here, and I skipped over many of them. Time to go take a nap in the sunshine cuz it’s a simply gorgeous Erie day.

Sunsets Over Lake Erie.

These are some pictures I took tonight of the sunset over Lake Erie. This is from a campground that is about four blocks from my house. They have these swings made of logs set up on the cliffs above the lake, and as beautiful as it is there, I'm always surprised that on most nights, you can still get one of these swings. It's still kind of cold there, the Lake hasn't warmed up that much yet, but it is still quite a romantic spot. Even though it is a campground, it always seems so quiet and peaceful there. If you listen closely you can hear the sound of the waves gently washing up on the shore.

The Rules for being Human.

1. YOU WILL RECEIVE A BODY ­ You May like it or hate
it, but it will be yours for the entire period you're around.

2. YOU WILL LEARN LESSONS ­ You are  enrolled in a
fulltime informal school called life. Each day in this school
you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may
like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.

3. THERE ARE NO MISTAKES, ONLY LESSONS ­ growth
is a process of trial and error, experimentation. The
"Failed" experiments are as much a part of the process
as the experiment that ultimately "works".

4. A LESSON IS REPEATED UNTIL LEARNED ­ A lesson
will be presented to you in  various forms until you have
learned it. When you have learned it, you can  then go on
to the next lesson.

5. LEARNING LESSONS DOES NOT END ­ There is no
part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are
alive, there are lessons to be learned.

6. "THERE" IS NO BETTER THAN "HERE" ­ When
your "There" has become a "Here", you will simply obtain
another "There" that will, again, look better than "Here".

7. OTHERS ARE MERELY MIRRORS OF YOU ­ You cannot
love or hate something about another person unless it
reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.

8. WHAT YOU MAKE OF YOUR LIFE IS UP TO YOU ­
You have all the tools and resources you need. What
you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

9. YOUR ANSWERS LIE INSIDE YOU ­ The answers to
life's questions lie inside you. All you need to do is look,
listen and trust.

10. YOU WILL FORGET ALL THIS.

All Hail the Monday Tree...

MO
NDAY
SUCKSM
ONDAYSUC
KSMONDAYSU
CKSMONDAYSUC
KSMONDAYSUCKSM
ONDAYSUCKSMONDAY
SUCKSMONDAYSUCKSMO
NDAYSUCKSMONDAYSUCKS
MONDAYSUCKSMONDAYSUCK
SMONDAYSUCKSMONDAYSUCKS
MONDAYSUCKSMONDAYSUCKSMO
NDAYSUCKSMONDAYSUCKSMONDAY
SUCKSMONDAYSUCKSMONDAYSUCKSM
ONDAYSUCKSMONDAYSUCKSMONDAYSUC
MONDAYSUCKSMONDAYSUCKSMONDAYSUCK
MONDAYSUCKSMONDAYSUCKSMONDAYSUCKSM
ONDAYSUCKSMONDAYSUCKSMONDAYSUCKSMOND
AYSUCKSMONDAYSUCKSMONDAYSUCKSMONDAUSUC
KSMONDAYSUCKSMONDAYSUCKSMONDAYSUCKSMOND
AYSUCKSMONDAYSUCKMONDAYSUCKSMONDAYSUCKSMO
NDA
YSU
CKS
ALL HAIL THE MONDAY TREE

Symphony of the Sky Dwellers

This morning was the first morning that I was able to sit out on my newly “unwrapped” back porch and listen to the "Symphony of the Sky Dwellers". They were Magnificent, with untold numbers of various types of birds joining in the song.

The last two years I have spent living in apartments after the breakup of my second marriage. The apartment I lived in last year was in the city, surrounded by pavement and concrete, there were no trees nearby and though it was a nice apartment, it still was the kind of place that starves the soul of a person like myself. The year before I lived above the bar we owned, in a barely habitable apartment I affectionately call “The Crack House” due to all the cracks and holes in the plaster walls. It also boasted a lath board ceiling that I eventually covered up with Styrofoam insulation sheets, which made it look a little better. I do miss the bat that inhabited the place with me. It was a very large apartment with 13-foot high ceilings, and the “pet” bat I named “Waldo” would come out in the evenings and swoop all around the apartment (good times!?!).

Last year my ex asked me if I would be interested in taking over “our” house, as she could no longer make the house payments. She and her girlfriend had rented a house near the bar, which was about forty minutes from the house, it’s hard to drive that far in the winter here, and the house had been left empty for nearly a year. Though the house was larger than I needed and had a larger house payment than I needed, I took it over mostly so I could have that back porch again.

I purposefully get up much earlier than I have to just so I can sit out there and listen to the beautiful “music” our friendly sky dwellers make. This morning one “blackbird” of note landed on the railing of the deck surrounding the pool, she then dove down to the ground and snatched up a stick with a leaf on it and returned with it to the railing. Examining the stick she threw it to the ground and let out a chirp, which I took to mean “that won’t do for my nest”. She then flew back to the ground, picked up another stick and returned to the railing. Seeing that this stick was much better, (I agreed with her), she flew off in great haste, returning to her nest with the treasure she had found.

Some would say I had wasted two hours this morning just drinking coffee and listening to birds sing, but I can’t really say there is anything I enjoy doing more. Some people “stop and smell the roses”, I “stop and listen to the sky dwellers”, and some people never stop at all. Sing on my friends…

The life you save...

How does that Chinese saying go? Something like "if you save someone’s life you have to take care of him forever". Well that seems to be the situation I have gotten myself into. A couple of years ago we put in a swimming pool and one day I got up in the morning to see something swimming around in my pool. I went out to the deck and found a tiny red squirrel swimming around in the water. He was swimming around in a circle, around the edge of the pool trying to find a way out but having little luck at it, as the water was about 6 inches down from the top and then there was the lip of the pool to deal with. He was obviously growing quite exhausted, and I felt sorry for the "little fella", so I got out the leaf scooper on the big 12 foot telescopic pole and flipped his scrawny, little but out of the water. Soaked "but not too worse for wear" he scampered off. As I remember this happened two more times that summer before the little guy figured out that getting a drink of water that way really wasn't a very good idea. Apparently he decided I was the friendly type because I've seen him here every year since, fighting with the big gray squirrels or avoiding the hawks, and he really does seem fond of the big black walnut tree in my backyard and this comes to the crux of the problem. He decided to move into my shed, I really don't mind. I don't even mind that he chewed his own doorway around the backside of the shed up under the eves; it's not a big hole after all since he's not a big squirrel. But does he have to bring every single walnut from that walnut tree inside the shed and leave the empty shells discarded everywhere! There are empty shells on the shelves, there are empty shells all over the floor, and even my lawn mower is covered in them! You would think he would take a little pride in himself and try to clean up his new home, but no, I had to get stuck with "Oscar" the messiest red squirrel on the planet. I swept all these shells out of the shed about two months ago and the place is completely full again, there has to be a thousand empty shells out there (where was he hiding them anyways?). I suppose I have to look on the bright side, He's not too much of a trouble maker (though not very neat), he's quieter than the neighbor's dogs, and I don't run over as many walnuts out in the yard with my lawnmower, nor do I have to rake them up anymore, just sweep out the shed every two months. And all this because I had to play lifeguard…

Remember Canada We Luv Ya!!!….;-)

In 1967 the Canadian Government published a collection of backwoods recipes from native and non-native peoples in the nations far north, It’s now out-of-print, but here are a few highlights. And if ever you find a copy of The Northern Cookbook, grab it – it’s a classic.

Muskrat Tails

“Cut off the tails and dip them into very hot water, Pull off the fur. Either cook them on top of the stove, turning them after a few minutes, or boil them. (This is the same method as for beaver tails. Both are very sticky to eat.)”

Stuffed Muskrat

“Clean the rats well and put them in a roaster with bread stuffing on top. Roast until the muskrats are soft.”

Boiled Porcupine

“Make a fire outside and put the porcupine in it to burn off the quills. Wash and clean well. Cut up and boil until done,”

Grizzly Bear Steaks

“Cut up meat as for frying and fry in deep grease in frying pan”

Bear Fat Pastry

“1-1/2 cups flour, ½ tsp. Salt, 1/3 cup bear fat (from a little black bear that was eating berries). Makes rich white pastry.”

Muktuk (meat inside skin and fat of a whale)

“After taken from whale, leave 2 days hanging up to dry. Cut into 6” x 6” pieces. Cook until tender. After cooked, keep in a cool place in a 45-gallon drum of oil, in order to have muktuk all year.”

Oven-roasted Lynx

“Wash and clean the hind legs of the lynx and roast it with lard and a little water.”

Boiled Lynx

“Cut up the lynx and boil it until it is soft and well cooked. Good to eat with Muktuk.”

Steamed Muskrat Legs

“Cut off the muskrats leg, dip in a bowl of flower with salt, pepper, and other strong seasoning. Put grease into a large frying pan. Put in the muskrat legs. Cover and cook for a long time, as they take long to become tender. The strong seasoning takes away the actual taste of the muskrat.

Boiled Reindeer Head

“Skin and wash the head well. Then chop it in quarters, splitting it between the eyes with an axe. Cover with cold water and boil until soft. One can also roast in an open pan in an oven very slowly.”

Boiled Reindeer or Caribou Hoofs

“Put hoofs (skin still on them) in a large pot. Cover and boil for a couple of hours. The skin will peel off easily. The muscles are soft and very good to eat. The toe nails also have some soft sweet meat inside them.”

Boiled Smoked Beaver

“Smoke the beaver for a day or so. Cut up the meat and boil it with salted water until done.”

Frozen Fish Eggs

“Take fish eggs out and freeze them. They are good to eat like this.”

Boiled Bone Grease

“Boil whatever bones are left after all the meat has been cut off. Boil them all in a big pot for two hours. Then let the grease get cold in the pot. It is easy to pick the grease off. Keep the grease to eat with dry meat or add to pounded meat.”

Boiled Reindeer Tongues

“Boil tongues until thoroughly cooked. Potatoes and vegetables are good with this.”

Dry Fish Pudding

“Pound up 5 to 6 dry fish. Throw away the skin. Add sugar, a little grease, and cranberries”

Jellied Moose Nose

“Cut the upper jaw bone of the moose just below the eyes. Boil in a large kettle for 45 minutes. Remove and chill. Pull out all the hairs (like plucking a duck) and wash until none remain. Place nose in a kettle and cover with fresh water. Add onion, garlic, spices, and vinegar. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until meat is tender. Let cool overnight. When cool, discard the bones and cartilage. You will have white meat from the bulb of the nose and dark meat from the bones and jowls. Slice thinly and alternate layers of white and dark meat in a loaf pan. Let cool until jelly has set. Slice and serve cold.”

Baked Skunk

“Clean, skin, wash. Bake in oven with salt and pepper. Tastes like rabbit (no smell).”

Taken from “Uncle John’s Slightly Irregular Bathroom Reader”.

I swear I was trying to think of something to post when I opened this book that was sitting on my counter and opening it randomly to the middle right to the page with this on it. As recently I have been reading some wonderful blogs written by some canadien friends I felt this must be providence and had to be shared. I hope this is taken with the love it was intended.

Let the sunshine in...

I spent most of the day cleaning up and opening up the back porch. This house has a really lovely, covered back porch and every winter I put up plywood panels that I made to keep the snow out. Since I didn't live here last year, in fact the house was left empty for a year, those panels had been left up since before the previous winter. There sure was a lot of junk out there that needed cleaned up, but now it's all open and makes the house so much brighter inside. I spent most of my time this three day weekend on my computer, at least I got some good work accomplished today. After I got all the junk cleared out, and the panels down, I swept off the outdoor carpeting on the porch until my sweeper gave out, I think the filters need cleaned. It sure looks a whole lot nicer out there even though there is still a lot of other outside work to be done this year. I felt bad about all the time I spent on my pc this weekend but I feel a lot better after today.

Enough already...

Well day two in code land, I didn't mean to spend the whole day coding again...but I did. After awhile though I realized I hadn't eaten a lot in two days (ya kinda get involved in this stuff) so I did stop long enough to slap together the biggest freakin pan of lasagna I've ever made...mmmmm!!!...I can smell it now. I think Ill stop now, shut off the computer (that's the only way I won't be drawn back to it, to do one more thing), Get a huge plate of lasagna and kick back to watch the hockey game. Tonight the Penguins are playing the Islanders, my two fav teams, So I'll be happy no matter who win's.......P.S. Thanks Spider Girl...

All coded out

Ok so it's a bonus day off of work! Yea for three day weekends. Working in an engineering department I pretty much spend all of my time in front of a pc. So what do I do on my extra day off? I spend it at home in front of my pc, today was learning XHTML. There has been a couple of upgrades in HTML since the last time I put up a website so I figured I better brush up on my code. Looking at some code on some other websites (including the code in this blog template) I realized that mine was way outdated. Twelve hours in code/cyber space is enough for one day. It rained here most of the day anyways, so why not put it to some good use. Not that there wasn't other things that I could have accomplished but they wouldn't have been near as much fun. I think that there are a lot of people that would call learning dry code anything but fun... To each their own...

Flight of the Intruder

This morning I was driving to work, down a back road, past some grape vineyards when something hit me in the side of the head. It was warm so I had my window open about a hand width and a bird managed to hit that exact spot. She hit the frame of the window, bounced off of the side of my head and I heard her hit into some stuff in the back of my van. I thought about pulling over but surely the bird had to be dead, I was doing over 50 mph added to the speed the bird was flying had to kill her, so I continued onto work. When I got to work I opened the side door of my van and found feathers all over the floor. I looked around and could see her lying on a duffle bag near the back, so I opened the back door, but when I went to grab her she moved her head. I was amazed that she was still alive. I could see that her leg was broken but other than that didn't look to bad. When I would get close she would stand up on her one good leg. I went around to the front of the van hoping she would fly out, but she just laid back down seeming pretty content to stay where she was. I called over two co-workers who were just showing up for work and asked them what they thought I should do about this bird after all I couldn't leave this bird in the back of my van. So "E" reached in and gave the bird a little push and it flew out of the van about ten feet and landed in the middle of the parking lot. We got the idea of picking it up and moving it off into the grass but when I got near it, it kept circling around to face me, apparently not wanting me to grab it. So "E" came up behind it and grabbed it while I had it distracted and moved it over into the grass. I came out at lunch figuring it would be gone or dead but it was still hanging out right where we had set it down. At the end of the day I came out with another co-worker who is a bird watcher, but I guess she finally recovered and flew away as she wasn't there. I described it to my friend who said he thought it was a "Flicker" which is a form of woodpecker and when I got home I looked it up on the net and it really looked like the pictures the sites had except it had a yellow beak which was much thicker at the base and shorter. I hope it survived, I know I probably wouldn't have survived the same impact.