Up here in the Northern Hemisphere, this is the shortest day of the year. Where I’m at, the sun will be up (if not out) for a mere 8h 59m 51s. But the winter solstice arrives at around 6:30 tonight, and tomorrow things begin to pick up, as we gain an entire second of daylight. Hey, it’s a start. By the time June 21 rolls around, we’ll be getting 15h 22m 08s of daylight up here in these parts. I, for one, am looking forward to having a little daylight when I get out of work. But who cares about that when there a re puppies in the news?

Yes, with typical Kraut efficiency, a Rhodesian Ridgeback in Ebereschenhof, Germany gave birth to 17 puppies, all of whom appear to be doing well. Makes Nadya Suleman seem pretty unimpressive, doesn’t it?

I feel bad about Steve Landesberg. I was always a big Barney Miller fan (as my dad used to say, the only one who wasn’t funny on that show was Barney), and I was really happy to see Landesberg show up unexpectedly on “Head Case” with George Snufalufagus’ wife. He was great in that, too. I never thought Abe Vigoda would outlast Steve. But then again, Jack Soo has been dead for years (esophageal cancer got him, which sucked), and that’s a surprise (I thought them people lived forever, what with eating all that fish and rice and whatnot).

Chalk another big win up for the Obama Administration, this time with Net Neutrality.

Late Monday, a majority of the FCC’s commissioners indicated that they’re going to vote with Chairman Julius Genachowski for a toothless Net Neutrality rule.

According to all reports, the rule, which will be voted on during tomorrow’s FCC meeting, falls drastically short of earlier pledges by President Obama and the FCC Chairman to protect the free and open Internet.

The rule is so riddled with loopholes that it’s become clear that this FCC chairman crafted it with the sole purpose of winning the endorsement of AT&T and cable lobbyists, and not defending the interests of the tens of millions of Internet users.
[…]
For the first time in history of telecommunications law the FCC has given its stamp of approval to online discrimination.

Instead of a rule to protect Internet users’ freedom to choose, the Commission has opened the door for broadband payola – letting phone and cable companies charge steep tolls to favor the content and services of a select group of corporate partners, relegating everyone else to the cyber-equivalent of a winding dirt road.

Obama falling short of his rhetoric and promises. Gee, how unusual. Well, he couldn’t get it passed through the Senate, I guess. Oh, wait. It didn’t have to pass the Senate. Well, I’m sure there’s some reason it isn’t Obama’s fault, and he did every gosh-darned thing he could. Right?

Internet users deserve far better, and we thought we were going to get it from a president who promised to “take a backseat to no one in my commitment to Net Neutrality.” Watch now as he and his FCC chairman try to spin tomorrow’s betrayal as another “mission accomplished.”

Don’t believe it. This bogus victory has become all too familiar to those watching the Obama administration and its appointees squander opportunities for real change. The reality is that reform is just a rhetorical front for industry compromises that reward the biggest players and K-Street lobbyists while giving the public nothing.

It’s not the FCC chairman’s job to seek consensus among the corporations that he was put into office to regulate. His duty is to protect Internet users.
[…]
Net Neutrality is the freedom of speech, freedom of choice issue of the 21st century. It’s the guarantee of a more open and democratic media system that was baked into the Internet at its founding.

On Tuesday, Obama’s FCC is going to sell that out.

Damn Nigerian mooslam commie librul bastid.

And yet another week begins. Yesterday was a pretty productive day. We went and got the pellet stove from the old house. It’s not an insert, but it it fits pretty OK (just need to close it in a bit when I get around to it), and, more importantly, it works. In fact, I’d venture to say that desptie the fact that it’s about half the BTUs, if works better. More heat, less pellet usage, much quieter, and way less ash buildup on the glass. It was awfully nice to have that fire going again.

Then there was the septic. I pulled the cleanout plug, and it was packed with, well, what that sort of thing gets packed with. So, I use a five foot piece of threaded rod to poke up in there, and got out a nice long, um, “pull,” and then a bunch of water. But the pipe still looked pretty impacted. So, whilst my friend John and I were over getting the old pellet stove, I grabbed a 40 foot “sewer rod” (essential a big wide fish tape), and once we got the pellet stove fired up, it was time to get down and dirty (and wet and stinky).

I’ll spare you the details (I only wish I had video), but using a process of reaming out the pipe and flushing the toilets, we managed to get the pipe cleared as far as I could see. I don’t know if there’s still a problem. One toilet flush with the plug out seemed to more or less go in the right direction, but with the plug in and multiple toilet flushes, popping the plug out showed a lot of water in the line. I’ll give it a few days of normal use, and then see what we’ve got. My hope is to at least get along ’til the weather warms up. We’ll see.

We’re supposed to get a little more snow today. A mere couple of inches, which is fine and dandy. That, I can deal with. Yesterday morning was absolutely beautiful. It was sunny, and with the temperature down below 10°, all the tree branches were coated with ice and snow, and sparkling brilliantly. The snow on the ground sparkled as if it was loaded with diamonds. I can’t describe how gorgeous everything looked. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed the moon lately, but it’s been full and high in the sky, lighting up the snow at night. It’s why I love living where there are four seasons – especially out here in God’s country (God really likes snow, apparently).

I can appreciate the beauty of a big city with lots of lights and stuff, but I prefer nature’s holiday decorations and light show. Even if it means I have to deal with getting to work in some crappy weather once in a while.

Speaking of which, if you happen to be up late tonight, you can catch the first total lunar eclipse to happen on the winter solstice for the first time in over 450 years. It promises to be a pretty one. Totality comes at 2:40 AM Eastern time, so maybe the dog will have to get me up to go out.

Oh well, today begins as every work week ought to: with a trip to the dentist. Woo-hoo.

It’s stopped snowing here (more or less) but not before setting a new December snowfall record at about 71″ for the month so far, and last night was cold and clear – down to the single digits (like, about 3°). This is rather inconvenient, because my pellet insert (yes, brand new, and a pain in the ass from Day One) has, to use the technical term, shit the bed. Last week was kind of tough that way. As I arrived home Thursday evening, I was relatively happy because tomorrow was Friday, after all, the weather was supposed to be sunny, if not warm, and I had a whole bunch of simple little projects I was planning on crossing off my list. I wasn’t even out of the garage when I heard Granny making some rather loud exclamations to the effect of “oh no.” Turns out, she was doing laundry, and water was pouring out of the ceiling (which is not how it’s intended to work).

This was one of the symptoms we had back when the septic backed up, so I wasn’t terribly happy with the prospects of how things were looking. At any rate, I was in no mood to deal with it, and the toilets appeared to be working for the time being, so I resolved to deal with it over the weekend. Besides, I don’t do my laundry ’til Sunday.

Other than that, all seemed OK. We were getting a break from the snow, and things were all comfy-cozy by the glow of the pellet stove. The dog woke me up to go out at about midnight, which is no big deal (a dog’s gotta do what a dog’s gotta do, after all), and I noted that the stove was still running fine, but that the glass could use a cleaning. When I got up the next morning, though, the stove had kicked off on the low temp safety.

Well, not a huge deal. It’s done that before (though not when running on ‘3’ – out of 5), and I needed to clean it anyway. So, I gave it a pretty good cleaning and started it up. After a while, I noticed the burn pot was full of pellets, but not lighting. Sure enough, I’d put the pot in bass ackwards, so I shut it down, put it in the right way, and it lit with no problem. Except, as I soon noticed, the pellets weren’t feeding.

Well, that’s great. No time to deal with it that morning, so I figured I’d deal with it later.

So, to make a long story short, it sounded like the pellet feed motor (which turns the auger which makes the pellets go up and down the chute and crap into the burn pot) was turning, but no pellets. This would require some dis assembly (and pellet removal – I had dutifully filled the hopper when I cleaned it), so, again, another weekend project.

Yesterday morning, I took everything apart, found the auger motor laying on the bottom of the stove, the hollow end of the auger shaft (which, really, ought not to be hollow; this thing is a piece of shit) and the lower brass bushing both torn to shit, and the cotter pin that is supposed to hold the shaft to the motor (really shitty design) broken, but still in the motor shaft. It looks as if the pin got caught up in the auger, jammed everything, and it tore itself up.

Well, isn’t that special?

A couple of calls told me I’d need to deal with the manufacturer – US Stoves – for warranty parts. They don’t work on weekends. Did I mention I have 4 tons of wood pellets coming on Monday? At this rate, they ought to last me quite a while.

OK, on to the laundry drain.

The way they’ve got this thing set up, it drains to a plastic sump bucket, then gets pumped up in the air, across the attic, and then down to the basement and into the drain (and the septic; bad move there). I have to redo that one of these days so it drains outside and not into the septic tank. But that’s for another day.

Up in the attic, they’ve got the drain line vented (not outside, though; just up to the attic), and there appears to be some restriction, because on the second tankful, it pukes out the drain. So we went down to the basement and cut the line down there, figuring it would be full. It wasn’t. In fact, it was dry as a bone. So somehow it’s plugged up in the attic (unfortunately, we cracked the cleanout plug to the main septic discharge line, and water came out of there, too – though the main drains weren’t full). Whether there remains a problem with the septic, I’m not sure. I’m kind of hoping that the tank and or the line just shifted a little, so that water sits in the discharge line, but will still drain into the tank. This may be wishful thinking, I dunno. We’ll see. We did dig out the tank cover and lift the lid. It looks full, but then I don’t rightly know how high it needs to get to drain out, and can’t really tell without, I suppose, jumping in and looking around. And that aint gonna happen.

But, anyway, that appears to have nothing to do with the laundry situation (I also have no idea how that could be plugged, either, unless the line froze in the attic and is restricted – which is a distinct possibility. It wasn’t exactly all down hill up there, so some water would have to sit in the line, which is very close to the soffit, and I can attest to the fact that it was really f*cking cold up there.

At any rate there’s a floor drain in the laundry area that was unused and plugged off, so I put the plug, and it appears to take water OK. Now the washer is piped to that drain, so hopefully I can do laundry. And if it plugs, at least it won’t come out of the ceiling. If the septic is preparing to back up, well, that would really suck, too. And the way things are going, I’d say it’s a distinct possibility.

My inclination is to go and buy a non-piece-o-shit pellet stove from a local dealer that will offer me service, and then save this one for the other fireplace. There’s one close by (a pellet stove place, not a fireplace, though there is actually one right on the other side of the one I’m using now), but that would run me about $2500. Unfortunately, I have $1,000 to pay for wood pellets come tomorrow evening ($936, actually, but who’s counting), County taxes in a couple of weeks (I think that’s $3,000 or more), ongoing dental bills (about $100 a visit – with another one tomorrow), a septic tank pump out (if I need one) would run me, or I dunno, a few hundred, I reckon, and then there’s all the normal bills (like, say, gas and electricity). So I dunno if there’s money for another new pellet stove.

Suffice it to say, there’ll be no Christmas goose for Tiny Tim this year.

On the bright side, I hooked up my new onboard diagnostic code reader to my van and got the code. It was “random misfire detected,” which is what I was hoping to see, what with me replacing the cap and rotor when it wouldn’t start. I cleared the code, and no more ‘Service Engine Soon’ light. So that’s good.

Oh well, I’m kind of scared to face the day here, but I suppose I’d better. I hope this coming week isn’t quite as shitty as last week was.

Sometimes it seems as if life just keep piling shit in your way. Not horrible shit like death and disease and stuff (though sometimes there’s that, too), but annoying shit that you have to keep dealing with, and as soon as you get some of that shit out of the way, and other big pile of shit lands right in front of you. This is how things seem to be around here these days. At least it’s Friday, I guess.

Oops, looks like I forgot to put something up this morning. That’s what happens when you get up at 4AM, I guess. The day just flies by.

Well, I survived the Christmas party, and other than having it duly noted many, many times, that I was not eating the pizza and wings and having to declare a like number of times that, no, I didn’t even want to have “just one,” I had a very nice time. Of course, I was looking at the near white-out conditions outside the whole time I was there, and wondering how quickly I could extricate myself and get home. Turned out, it took me until almost quarter to four (and then when scraping my car, I knocked the wiper blade off). But I made it home before traffic got too bad, and with a little bit of what I will call “daylight” (though there wasn’t much light – except for the snow) left.

Right now, it seems the snow gods have given us a reprieve at my house, as the lake effect bands have shifted north and east. Hopefully I won’t have the foot (or more) of snow I had yesterday morning (way more than I estimated). Since I know you care, I’ll report that, officially, after 10 inches of snow yesterday by about 10PM, and with what we’ve gotten overnight, this is the second snowiest December in Syracuse history with about 67″ and counting. Another three and a half (give or take) and we’ll set a new record.

With half a month to go, I think we’ve got that one in the bag (the real question is, will we break it by the end of the day today; oh, I think so). They also say it’s a new “pre-winter” snowfall record. So, naturally, the Good Morning America weather dude will be broadcasting live from here this morning because, um, well, I dunno why exactly. For the same reason they send these idiots out in the hurricane so you can watch them get rained on and blown around, I guess.

But where’s Al Roker? He should be here. After all, he went to school at Oswego and was the lo-cal weather dude here for quite a while. He was “Big Al” Roker back then.

So the House passed a repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (again), and now the Senate needs to pass it (and the new SALT, and a bunch of other things), except there’s no time because Harry Reid hates both Jesus and Christmas. Or something. He wants the Senate to go back to work after Christmas, but Jon Kyl and Jim Demint say that’s an attack on Christmas and Christians, and that Xmas is the most important holiday on the Christian calendar.

Apparently, they’ve never heard of Easter, and, by the way, I have to go to work the week after Christmas (in fact, I get screwed this year, ‘cuz Christmas – and New Year’s; funny how that works – is on a Saturday, so I’m off anyway – though I do earn a day to use later). So unless you’re proposing that nobody should have to work (which would be bad for the economy, as we all know), then shut up and do the people’s business. Hypocrite bastards.

Anyhow, as for DADT, it’s apparently one vote away from passage in the Senate, as Olympia Snowe (who is the Paris Hilton of the Senate – willing to do anything to get some attention, but, fercrissakes, please no three-way sex tapes with Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins) says she’ll vote for it. We’ll see.

Oh well, I reckon it’s getting to be about time to bundle up and see just how much snow we got last night.

Hey, seen a picture of Dick Cheney lately? He’s really starting to look like Mr. Burns (their personalities have always been a close match, except Burns is much more likable). Speaking of serial killers, I was sad to hear that Dexter and his sister/wife (Michael C Hall and Jennifer Carpenter) have filed for divorce. Why was I sad? I don’t know. I don’t even get Showtime anymore (pained me greatly to not be able to see the rest of this most recent season, but such is life). But I’ve always liked him, ever since Six Feet Under, and she just fascinates me; she looks the result of a breeding experiment between extraterrestrial life and an ironing board. You have to wonder why these showbiz types bother to get married in the first place (or, in his case at least, in the second place). Seems like a lot of trouble to go through if you’re not gonna stick to it.

Fun Fact. This day in history:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

— The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution, ratified by the Virginia General Assembly on December 15, 1791

Then they all sat around and said, “we hopeth that this shall not unleash upon our fair nation a war upon Christmas (nor the abolition of slavery).”

Speaking of slavery and Xmas, today’s the big office Christmas party. My inclination is to blow it off (not that hangin’ around talkin’ shop isn’t thrilling or anything), but that would be politically bad, so instead I’ll go and justify my reasons for not drinking beer and eating pizza (why, oh why, do some people care enough about what other people ingest that they not only keep track but feel obliged to inquire as to why you’re not meeting the dietary expectations they’ve set forth for you?), and then hopefully sneak out very quickly. Not that I don’t appreciate the sentiment, of course, but I have snow to plow.

Yes, it snowed yesterday and last night and is snowing right now. Not as much as last week, but I’d guess I had, oh maybe six to eight inches in the driveway last night when I got home, and it looks like at least another eight to ten out there since then. More on the way – last I heard, tonight is supposed to be the heaviest stuff. Since I know you care (come on, admit it, you do), for the record, Syracuse gets an average of about 120 inches of snow a year (the average at this time of December is about 20 inches). So far, in about half a month, it’s gotten, like, 55 inches (and that was as of last night). I say “it” because I now live where it snows a lot more than that. We’re supposed to get another 9 inches today, and a foot or more tonight. Anyhow, at this rate, if my math is right, Syracuse is on pace for 238 inches of snow, which would be a record. But no doubt this will peter out and slow down. At least, I hope so. We’re all looking a little haggard around here (we’re not supposed to feel like this ’til late January or so).

Of course, we have our basketball team to keep us warm on the inside (I feel the need to hurry up and mention them while they’re still undefeated and ranked #5 in the country – that aint gonna last), as well as the unexpected bonus of the Pinstripe Bowl (not exactly the Rose Bowl, but, hey, we’ve got over four feet of snow and 10% unemployment, so don’t begrudge us a little fun, OK?).

Speaking of fun, time for another cup of coffee and then out to plow. Can anybody recommend a good brand of heated socks?

So, if you’re like me, yesterday you asked yourself, “do I have an account on any of the Gawker media websites,” and then you asked yourself, “what they hell are the Gawker media sites?” Turns out, Gizmodo is one, and, yes, I apparently did have an account on it. I have no idea what the password was, but I went in and reset it this morning. And then I found that I’d been banned and had 41 comments in the past 48 hours or something. So I guess mine was one that they grabbed and shared with the world. Oh well. Hopefully it wasn’t one I used anywhere else. However, when I was looking around their website, I found a story about the judge who ruled the HC law is unconstitutional, and I know you’ll be as shocked as I was to hear this:

Henry E. Hudson, the federal judge in Virginia who just ruled health care reform unconstitutional, owns between $15,000 and $50,000 in a GOP political consulting firm that worked against health care reform. You don’t say!

Now, I’m no lawyer, but I’ve watched an awful lot of teevee in my half century, and I thought there was some sort of “conflict of interest” or even an appearance thereof that was supposed to get judges to recuse themselves from making rulings on shit where their impartiality might be (or might appear to be) in question.

I guess that’s just one of those teevee things (like moms always wear dresses and jewelry to clean the house, and female NYC police detectives – except maybe the Lieutenants – and assistant DAs are gorgeous).

Dick Holbrooke died. It was clearly murder, and a conspiracy of the highest order.

It was 11 degrees when I got up this morning (10 degrees and falling out there at the moment). Wind chill at or below zero. But I don’t think we’ve gotten the 8 inches they predicted over night (I’ll know more when I hit the tractor seat). That reminds me of a lady (and I use the term loosely – she was great) I used to work with back when I was a move guy. I was a manager/projectionist and in my mid to late twenties, she was old (in fact, she was the age I am right now), and working there a few nights a week to supplement her income.

I inherited her, and she was kind of intimidating at first (I mean, here I was, a kid, telling this grownup what to do).

To make things more interesting, there was a girl who worked also worked there, who was really a pretty annoying kid (but she was reliable, so whattya gonna do), and also happened to be the daughter of the woman that this lady’s ex-husband was currently married to (they’d been fooling around before the divorce – the guy and the woman, not the kid, as far as I know), and they despised each other. Well, the older lady despised the kid. I don’t know as the kid really cared. Oh, hilarity often ensued when they were scheduled together (which I tried not to do if at all possible).

Anyhow, what was the point here? Oh, yeah, when there was snow in the forecast, the old broad would say things like, “all the women are gonna be happy tonight. We’re supposed to get eight inches.” Arh. Well, maybe that doesn’t seem too hilarious right now, but it was pretty funny coming from what I thought was an old lady, back when I was 27.

It was an interesting ride home for a lot of folks yesterday (not me, as I saw the news and opted for a different route home). Somebody decided it would be funny to duct tape a “suitcase-sized package” to a guardrail on the median of a highway. One report I read said a “military-style” package, so I’m thinking a good-sized ammo can or something. Anyhow, while the odds of a terrorist attack on a highway up here in the Great White North aren’t real high, what are they gonna do? Everything was shut down for hours as they got the bomb squad out there and x-rayed the thing, and found that it was apparently a prank. They aren’t saying what was inside, but they say it was “inert.”

Well, time to steal another half-cup of coffee and then maybe get out there and see what shape the driveway is in.

Is it Friday yet?

Well, it was mighty interesting watching the Metrodome in Minneapolis collapse. Good thing nobody was on the 20 yard line when it happened. We have the same design here, and when we we get snow, they pump super hot air between the two layers and open up the drains. In a few rare instances of extreme snow, they’ve deflated it so that it’s down to the support cables and let them support it while the snow melts and drains. Of course, we’re offering them our help – including inflation/deflation expertise and spare roof panels. According to wikipepedia, the Twin Cities only average about 45 inches of snow a year, so I guess it’s understandable that they don’t know how to deal with it. Hopefully everybody out there is OK.

Here, it rained yesterday. Not constantly, though, which was good. As the snow receded, some poor guy’s body popped up. He was only wearing pants and shoes (I highly recommend at least a shirt from about November ’til June). There remains enough snow to leave footprints, though, which was bad news for a freshman on the SU Football team. Well, formerly on the team. I guess he was doing some sort of reverse Santa thing, liberating flat screen TVs and whatnot from other students’ apartments. Unfortunately for him, he left footprints in the snow tracing back to his abode, where he was found with the purloined products.

So, now he’s in jail, charged with a string of burglaries, and is no longer on the team (totally expunged from the SU Athletics website in a matter of hours – very efficient; they must have that O’Brien guy from 1984 working for them). Goodbye, free education (not to mention no Pinstripe Bowl). That’s the problem when they recruit kids from Long Island – they just don’t take into account the whole snow factor.

And it was warm enough to work on the van and get it running (thanks once again to my friend John, who was willing to stick a screwdriver in the coil wire to check for spark while I turned it over; ever since I accidentally shorted a wrench across a pair of battery terminals, I’ve been a little gun shy when it comes to automotive electrical shit; not enough space to work and too much metal – especially when you’re standing in the snow, but to get to the distributor in the van, you have to break in through the inside), although the “service engine soon” light is still on, and the belt – while totally unrelated to anything we did – is pretty squeaky now). So I have a way to get plywood and lumber and pipe and whatnot again, so, for that reason alone, it was a happy and productive weekend.

I also got the garage very cleared out, and should have plenty of room for 4 tons of pellets. I took my existing stock and piled it in front of the front door that we covered with plastic last week (kind of a wood pellet snadbag system, designed to hold back the flood of heat to the outside), and built a platform for my tractor carryall, which I used to haul all kinds of shit out to the sheds.

Congratulations to the Akron Zips on their first-ever National Championship. Seems awfully late in the year for soccer, and I’m glad they weren’t playing the match in the Metrodome.

It’s still pretty warm out this morning, and it looks like there’s a little bit of drizzle. They’re promising us that that will change for the ride home from work tonight, though. Temperatures will fall throughout the day today (should make everything nice and icy), and then the snow starts up again. Oh boy. They can’t say how much we’ll get (or exactly who will get it), so we wait.

The obligatory Christmas stories are making the rounds on the news. Right now, the “don’t get all sloppy drunk at the office holiday party” one is running. Our party is on Wednesday, in fact, and if I can figure out how to avoid it entirely, I will. Not that it isn’t enjoyable (last year, I watched the “Jawhorse” infomercial, which led me to decide that I absolutely needed one – and it was one of my better tool purchases. Yes, I am willing to make the Jawhorse the official sponsor of this blog. Are the folks at Rockwell listening?), but, well, I’m not drinking (have to drive home, so even if I was drinking, I wouldn’t be drinking – managed to escape death during my misbegotten youth, and have long since learned my lesson), I’m not eating pizza and wings these days (a miserable existence, I admit), and I don’t really want to talk about work. Personally, if I’m not gonna be working, I’d just as soon go home.

I guess I’m just not festive.

Whether due to spite, corruption, ignorance, or just plain assholiness, Governor Blinky yesterday vetoed a 5-month moratorium on hydrofracking that had been passed by both houses of the NY State Legislature (which, I suppose, it would have had to be, otherwise it wouldn’t have been up for his signature). Trying to have it both ways, Blinky issued an executive order prohibiting horizontal drilling until July. No word on how much Blinky was paid by the oil and gas industry, but I reckon since he’ll be out of a job in a little over two weeks, he needs the money.

“Unlike the moratorium bill, the executive order does not protect against the dangers of all fracking wells, but allows so-called vertical wells — exactly the kind of wells that were responsible for ruining nine square miles of aquifer and poisoning the drinking water of more than a dozen families in Dimock, Pennsylvania, along with many other pollution incidents in Pennsylvania — to move forward,” said a joint statement from several environmental groups, which was released by Environmental Advocates of New York.

“This loophole still leaves New Yorkers at risk and gas corporations are already threatening to exploit it.”

Hopefully this will be the last thing this idiot has a chance to f*ck up (at least as Governor). I’d be quite happy if his water winds up poisoned (and flammable) so that Haliburton can make a profit.

In other news, it was a big day for the Orange yesterday. No, not the mens basketball team, which kicked the crap out of Colgate, 100-43, but for the Orange women, who beat #6 Ohio State to remain undefeated on the season. Next up is #2 Baylor, led by 6’8″ center Brittney Griner (who, excuse me for noticing, has an Adam’s Apple and no lady lumps – and throws a less-than-impressive right hook).

I saw that 17″ of snow fell in Minneapolis yesterday and last night, and they’re all shook up over it. If they get another 2-3 feet, then I’ll be impressed. Fortunately, it’s supposed to be another warm day for us here today. So warm that the morning sleet and freezing rain is expected to turn to all rain later on. Things cool off a bit tomorrow, and then get really friggin’ cold after that (the only question is just how much new snow we get). By Tuesday night, it’s supposed to be down into the single digits.

Might have to ignite our tap water to keep warm.

Thanks to OKat for sharing that Nightline report. Since I am pretty doggedly avoiding the news (never mind that I’m in hibernation mode and rarely stay awake late enough to watch anything I don’t record), I’d have never seen it. And thanks of course to Mike and Carlos for going over there and bringing these stories back for us to see. I still think you’re both f*cking nuts, though. I mean, I wouldn’t want to be known as a “Gaylord” either, but I think I’d prefer teaching there to running around at 9,000 feet getting shot at.

To tell you the truth, after about two minutes of running up the side of that damn mountain, I’d probably hope somebody would just go ahead and shoot me before my heart exploded. I’m not quite as – how shall I put it? – mature as Mike, but he puts me to shame (not that I set a particularly high bar when it comes to physical fitness). Of course, if Mike wasn’t the kind of nut willing to go to places like El Salvador, Beirut, Iraq, and Afghanistan, then nobody would want to take a class from him. Still, I think he ought to come back here and teach at Newhouse. He’d be a fine addition, and we could use a liberal lawyer who knows her way around a tractor up here. As long as y’all don’t mind a little snow.

So, anybody got a remedy for a dog who’s gone insane? My older fella used to love his squeaky toys, but somewhere along the line has become afraid of stuff that squeaks. Our new pellet insert has an agitator that turns and, since it just kinda sits there, metal on metal, it squeaks when it turns more often than not. I finally tried some Never Seez on it last night (even ordered some copper-based stuff that’s supposed to be good for up to 1,800 degrees) – which works pretty good, though how long it’ll last, I dunno – but he’s now gotten so freaked out, he’s terrified at any high pitched noise (which there seem to be an awful lot of, when you start to pay attention, especially on the teevee – doors squeak, tea kettles whine, birds chirp). I not only feel bad for him, but it’s gotten pretty annoying. He gets all worked up and shakes like a leaf, to the point where I have to go lock him in another room with the radio on to calm him down. I can’t holler at him, ‘cuz yelling at a dog who’s already terrified is pretty unproductive.

So, anyway, I need drugs. And then I need something for the dog. I’d love to try something homeopathic and natural and organic and all that. But that shit never works. I just want some doggy happy pills. Or some pot to put in his food. Something I don’t need to go to a vet for would be good.

So, my original plan for today (before the week-o-snow) was to redo my laundry drain. But the death of my van has changed things, so I reckon I’ll see if I can’t get that to start today (with the help of my friend John). First step, try and get it into the garage. And then hopefully get it back out again; I need to play musical garage bays. Who’d have thought a 3-car garage would be too small? Especially with four tons of wood pellets coming in nine days.

Oh well, I guess I better go and drink up all the coffee before granny gets up.