going, Going, GO...

Almost there! Let the riding commence!!




The Wisconsin Fishing opener is this Saturday, May 4. Some lakes may still have ice on them!

Spring is Here for Real This Time!

Last Sunday, I was thinking that if I repaired the snowblower it would force Mother Nature to change the season to spring. It didn't happen right away because that night, we got about 8 more inches of snow. It gave me a chance to test my repairs, and I'm happy to report that everything works fine.


On Monday, after the snow stopped, I went out to the middle of the front yard and measured... 21" of snow.




In the last couple of days the weather has turned around and been beautiful. The snow is rapidly disappearing. Today, I measured the snow in the front yard in the same spot as Monday and there's only 7.5" That's a loss of 13.5" of snow in 5 days!!



Nancy and I spent most of the day outside enjoying the sunshine. I changed the oil in my truck, while she cleaned out the inside of her car. I vacuumed out a winter's worth of sand from inside my truck and washed the floor mats.

I went for a ride around a couple of the local lakes. There were still people out ice fishing... look close..



There's still plenty of ice on the lakes and snow in the woods.


The bank clock says it all!


The last thing I did tonight was add a little something to the back window of my truck.

Happy Birthday Big Green Ninja...

Wow, how time flies. I was looking at some old pictures and notice the date stamp on a couple. It was 4 years ago today that I rode my '03 Goldwing out to Cities Edge Motorsports in Shakopee, MN. It was the last time I'd ride it, a bittersweet day.




The sadness was short lived as I rode home from the dealer on...




12 oil changes, 4 sets of tires, 38,716 miles later... we've been a lot of places together.

Sturgis 2009

Another trip to South Dakota, fall 2009

Sturgis 2010 with after trip to Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Idaho

South Dakota for the Sport-touring.net rally, with a trip after the rally to Nevada and California

Sturgis 2011 with an after trip to Idaho

iMBC 2012 in Oregon

Sturgis 2012 with a trip after that to New Mexico and Arizona.

My Turn, Mother Nature...

You know how it is... You're going on a long motorcycle trip and you have to rearrange things to make room for the rain gear. You know that if you pack it, you probably wont need it... But if you blow it off and leave it at home, the trip will be the wettest ride ever!

So what's the best way to be sure the snow is done for the season? I figured, if I fix the snowblower, I wont need it 'till next winter. .

The last few days have been hard on it. I must have hit something and snapped one of shear pins on the auger. The shoe-slides were worn paper thin too.

I wanted an immediate change in the weather, so that meant going to "town" to buy parts. If I had ordered them off of Amazon and saved a few bucks, the weather wouldn't change for a week or until the parts were delivered and installed.





I also changed the oil, now it's all set for more snow!

How did my plan work? Just after I finished changing the oil, it started raining!! I checked out the 10 day forecast on weather.com, looking good! 60's in the near future!!!



This bit of good news came just in time... I was almost ready for happy pills!







Almost, it was close hehehe

I Feel Like the Guy in this Story...

I'm sure most of you have seen this, or received it as an e-mail at some point. But I'm beginning to feel like the guy in the story. I'm wondering if Spring will ever come.... We are still getting snowed on. The sad thing is, I can't remember when it started. It seems like it's been snowing for more than 3 days straight. One day is just mind numbingly blending into the next. The sun was out for about 15 minutes today, then back to gray and snowy!!

All the pictures in this post were taken today, even if it looks like December!




December 8 - 6:00 PM
It started to snow.
The first snow of the season and the wife and I took our cocktails and sat for hours by the window watching the huge soft flakes drift down from heaven.
It looked like a Grandma Moses Print.
So romantic we felt like newlyweds again.
I love snow!

December 9
We woke to a beautiful blanket of crystal white snow covering every inch of the landscape.
What a fantastic sight!
Can there be a lovelier place in the whole world?
Moving here was the best idea I've ever had!
Shoveled for the first time in years and felt like a boy again.
I did both our driveway and the sidewalks.
This afternoon the snowplow came along and covered up the sidewalks and closed in the driveway, so I got to shovel again.
What a perfect life!



December 12
The sun has melted all our lovely snow.
Such a disappointment!
My neighbor tells me not to worry- we'll definitely have a white Christmas.
No snow on Christmas would be awful!
Bob says we'll have so much snow by the end of winter, that I'll never want to see snow again
I don't think that's possible.
Bob is such a nice man, I'm glad he's our neighbor.

December 14
Snow, lovely snow! 8 inches last night.
The temperature dropped to -20.
The cold makes everything sparkle so.
The wind took my breath away, but I warmed up by shoveling the driveway and sidewalks.
This is the life!
The snowplow came back this afternoon and buried everything again.
I didn't realize I would have to do quite this much shoveling, but I'll certainly get back in shape this way.
I wish l wouldn't huff and puff so.



December 15
20 inches forecast.
Sold my van and bought a 4x4 Blazer.
Bought snow tires for the wife's car and 2 extra shovels.
Stocked the freezer.
The wife wants a wood stove in case the electricity goes out.
I think that's silly.
We aren't in Alaska, after all.

December 16
Ice storm this morning.
Fell on my ass on the ice in the driveway putting down salt.
Hurt like hell.
The wife laughed for an hour, which I think was very cruel.



December 17
Still way below freezing.
Roads are too icy to go anywhere.
Electricity was off for 5 hours.
I had to pile the blankets on to stay warm.
Nothing to do but stare at the wife and try not to irritate her.
Guess I should've bought a wood stove, but won't admit it to her.
God I hate it when she's right.
I can't believe I'm freezing to death in my own living room.

December 20
Electricity's back on, but had another 14 inches of the damn stuff last night.
More shoveling!
Took all day.
The damn snowplow came by twice.
Tried to find a neighbor kid to shovel, but they said they're too busy playing hockey.
I think they're lying.
Called the only hardware store around to see about buying a snow blower and they're out.
Might have another shipment in March.
I think they're lying.
Bob says I have to shovel or the city will have it done and bill me.
I think he's lying.



December 22
Bob was right about a white Christmas because 13 more inches of the white shit fell today, and it's so cold, it probably won't melt till August.
Took me 45 minutes to get all dressed up to go out to shovel and then I had to piss.
By the time I got undressed, pissed and dressed again. I was too tired to shovel.
Tried to hire Bob who has a plow on his truck for the rest of the winter, but he says he's too busy. I think the asshole is lying.

December 23
Only 2 inches of snow today
And it warmed up to 0.
The wife wanted me to decorate the front of the house this morning.
What is she, nuts?!!
Why didn't she tell me to do that a month ago?
She says she did but I think she's lying.



December 24
6 inches - Snow packed so hard by snowplow, l broke the shovel.
Thought I was having a heart attack.
If I ever catch the son of a bitch who drives that snow plow, I'll drag him through the snow by his balls and beat him to death with my broken shovel.
I know he hides around the corner and waits for me to finish shoveling and then he comes down the street at a 100 miles an hour and throws snow all over where I've just been!
Tonight the wife wanted me to sing Christmas carols with her and open our presents, but I was too busy watching for the damn snowplow.

December 25
Merry freaking Christmas!
20 more inches of the damn slop tonight -Snowed in.
The idea of shoveling makes my blood boil.
God, I hate the snow!
Then the snowplow driver came by asking for a donation and I hit him over the head with my shovel.
The wife says I have a bad attitude.
I think she's an idiot.
If I have to watch "It's A Wonderful Life" one more time, I'm going to stuff her into the microwave.



December 26
Still snowed in.
Why the hell did I ever move here?
It was all HER idea.
She's really getting on my nerves.

December 27
Temperature dropped to -30 and the pipes froze; plumber came after 14 hours of waiting for him, he only charged me $1,400 to replace all my pipes.

December 28
Warmed up to above -20.
Still snowed in.
The BITCH is driving me crazy!!!



December 29
10 more inches.
Bob says I have to shovel the roof or it could cave in.
That's the silliest thing I ever heard. How dumb does he think I am?

December 30
Roof caved in.
I beat up the snow plow driver, and now he is suing me for a million dollars, not only the beating I gave him, but also for trying to shove the broken snow shovel up his ass.
The wife went home to her mother.
Nine more inches predicted.

December 31
I set fire to what's left of the house.
No more shoveling.



January 8
Feel so good.
I just love those little white pills they keep giving me.
Why am I tied to the bed?




This is the view from the window of the "Man Cave"..... Snow a foot up the window!!

More G@% &*)( #!@*&^% Snow!

I feel like Clark W. Griswold in Christmas Vacation, when he rants about his boss, Mr. Shirley, after he realizes there will be no Christmas bonus that year!
It occurs just a few seconds later in this scene...



That was my reaction today when I noticed it was snowing, again! And today had started out so nice, the sun was shining... I was happy... But that all changed this afternoon.


As a celebration of how nice it was, I made us a pizza for lunch...
We usually use a pre-made, frozen crust from an Italian specialty store in St. Paul, MN, called Cossetta's. We try and swing by there when we go down to "the cities". I was at the local market and found something similar, so I thought I'd give them a try.


I minced 2 cloves of garlic and put them in a small dish with some olive oil. I heated it in the microwave for 30 seconds and set it aside while I cut up some green peppers and onions.




I brushed the garlic infused olive oil on the crust, sprinkled on some Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, topped it with the peppers and onions, added a little mozzarella cheese and a few shakes of parmesan... 9 minuets and 425º later... It's Lunch!! The crust turned out to be pretty good, it was crisp and almost cracker like!


Tonight, it's a little comfort food... home made Chicken Pot Pies! If I can't get out and ride, I can at least enjoy the food!!

Winter is Still not Done!

Six days ago, I posted that we got some snow. Well, that melted in the sun a day or so later. It snowed most of yesterday. I was out in the driveway this morning and stuck the ruler in the snow. We picked up another 4" of the darn white stuff!



John warned me that the riding season this far north was a month or so shorter than "down in the cities", I guess you were right!

I measured the snow depth in the front yard, being careful to stay away from any snow blower throwings. It varied between 11" to 16".


I have things I want to do in the woods behind the house, but I don't know if the snow will ever go away. I'm hoping that it starts to warm up soon. My fire wood piles are disappearing quickly. It wasn't long ago and the garage racks were full!

NOW...


12-4-12


This is gone...


And so is the pile on the right!


Martha has been posting about her frustration with the 24 page guide to garbage that the city of Madison had provided. She posted a link to an on-line copy of it. I read it and found it to be a mind numbing, complex, treatise of what you can and can't do with garbage... So I thought I'd post a little about rural life waste disposal.

We have no curbside service here. If you want to dispose of something, you have to take it to the dump. Actually, the township refers to it as their "recycling center", I guess that sounds better than "dump". As you can see, it's only open a few hours on 2 days of the week.



Here's an aerial view of the place, thanks Google Maps!



It's on a small section of land, fenced off from the rest of the county's sand pits and equipment storage areas. The attending employee usually sits in the little shed by the driveway. The township charges $3.50 for each bag of garbage and no fees for recycles. They also sell very large and heavy duty bags at $2.00 for 10. There are 3 large containers for garbage and a long row of smaller containers for single stream recycling. Next to the shed is a small container for aluminum cans. They ask that you please separate the aluminum from the rest of the recycles. Off to the side, by the fence is a large 30 yard roll off container for dropping off steel and other metal items. I've rescued a few things from there, like my old pieces of tin roofing that I use to cover my outdoor wood piles. They accept old TV and such, for a fee, and don't charge you to drop off tree trimmings.

Martha, one thing we get at our "dump" that you probably don't have to worry about, is Bears. The containers are secured when the recycling center is not open, but the smells still attract them. The woman that usually runs the place has scared off more than a few! Pretty easy and laid back... not all up-tight and complex like Dane County/Madison!!

Recycle...


Garbage...