Sunday, December 31, 2006


Happy New Year!!
As you can see, I have my bottle of champagne for the evening. Ahhh....here comes 2007 and we will be saying goodbye to 2006. For me, it was an interesting "ride" throughout 2006. In some cases literally as I scoured the countryside in Europe on a bike.
  • I saw Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein on a motorcycle and met some great people along the way.
  • I flew to Jamaica to witness Bling and Mrs. Bling tie the knot.
  • All in all I racked up approximately 92,000 flight miles. That's a lot of time in an airplane, airport bars, and wondering where the hell I am at the moment.
  • I read more books than I can remember.
  • I spent another year in Montana.
  • I learned how to fly fish and snowboard.
  • I had some very difficult times with work and being on the road all the time.
  • We've seen Saddam tried and executed for his atrocities.
  • The war in Iraq continues.
  • The house and senate have changed hands to the democrats.
  • Donald Rumsfeld resigned.
  • The Dallas Cowboys have fooked the entire city of Arlington.
  • I've met some great friends up in Mt.
  • We all saw Britney Spears hoochie - and it was free.
  • We are still dealing with the fallout of Katrina.
  • People seem to have forgotten about 9/11 - which is a damned shame.
  • James Brown, Gerald Ford, and Coretta Scott King all passed away.
  • Vice President Cheney accidentally shot one of his friends.
  • USA kicked ass in snowboarding at the winter Olympics.
  • Pluto was officially denounced as a planet.
  • I got to move back home to TX - and Rufus was happy to see me.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006


Finally Got a Vette I Could Drive!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!! Mine was pretty good. I got to spend it with my family. I got in a few days before Christmas, so it was a little hectic trying to get all the shopping done that I needed to. With the exception of a gift for my mom that is coming in late, I think I did fairly well.


To be honest, I'm still a little overwhelmed at being back home. There are so many things I want to do around here that it seems monumental to get the place back in order. Irregardless I managed to have a pretty good time on Christmas. And, as I said above I finally got a Corvette that I could drive. I've been asking for one every year since I was probably about 15. I usually get something with a Vette on it, but I can actually drive this one so that is mui cool. I figure if I keep working on it I'll have a real one by the time I am 60 or 70.


Here is my plan - be patient. I'll wait until some guy hits his midlife crisis, goes out and buys a nice Vette. Then, when he picks up the hot chickie-babe in it and cheats on his wife she'll eventualy find out and divorce 'em - taking everything he's got. The car will get sold off cheap since he doesn't want her to have it, and she'll hate it because it will represent the demise of their mariage. I'll be there waiting with my checkbook. That's the Vette I am going to buy.


I also went shopping yesterday for some much needed furntiture. Bling! and Mrs. Bling! all went along. They were looking for some choice items as well and since we were heading into N. Dallas it made since to all go at at the same time.


I HATE shopping. Hate it...Hate it...Hate it...Hate it...Hate it...Hate it...Hate it...Hate it...Hate it...Hate it.


We are shopping and it's just wearing me thin. I have expensive taste, am very picky and I'm a cheap bastard. This is not a good combination. Tack on that most of the places were pretty packed and you can see that I was not really enjoying the whole experience.


Terra Side Bar - Those of you in or near Bozeman still complaining about traffic - get over it. When I was at the mall the Saturday prior to Xmas there were more people there than in the entire VALLEY of Bozeman, Belgrade, etc. And that was just trying to get out of the mall area. I never would have gone, but my neice wanted me to take her ice skating.


Anyway, we were hitting the last few places and I finally found some bar-stool that I liked. I had to special order them and they came it at $318 each. I needed three, and may order a fourth. See, I have no dining room table. I have a foosball table. That means I have to eat at the bar, and without stools it's standing room only. For years I have been looking for something that I liked and didn't cost a fortune. These should work out great when they make it in.


But then I also saw a really cool coffee table. And since it was unique I had to get the end-table as well. That was more of an impulse buy, with the exception that I've wanted a new one for about four or five years now (maybe more). So I bought those as well.

Already whacked my knee into both the new coffee table (it's substantialy larger than the old one and much harder to see in the dark), and the old one since I moved it and forgot that I moved it.

All in all? That was a $2k endevor. Ugggh.....and I still have more to buy and things to do. Will it ever end?


Sunday, December 24, 2006


Merry Christmas!!

Just a quickie to say Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope y'all have a great one!

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Read the Numbers....

I caught wind of this through another forum I was reading. I live "close" to this hospital. Do you still not thinking we are paying for illegals? This pisses me off.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/parkland.asp

Friday, December 22, 2006

Racism....

Ok, let's get something straight. This all goes back to the whole political correct bullshit that so many people are fond of supporting.

On Miss Carnivorous' blog site I am trying to have an intelligent disagreement with a guy called Zontar The Good. He called me a racist because I made a disparaging remark about inner city black and Hispanics and their behavior.

I'd like to point out a few definitions of "racism"

  • or racialism is a form of discrimination based on race, especially the belief that one race is superior to another. Racism may be expressed individually and consciously, through explicit thoughts, feelings, or acts, or socially and unconsciously, through institutions that promote inequality between races.www.kids.net.au/encyclopedia-wiki/ra/Racism
  • The doctrine that race is the basic determinant of human abilities and that, therefore, the various racial groups constitute a hierarchy in which one group is properly regarded as superior to others. Racism has also been defined using the following formula: Power+Prejudice=Racism. Racism has also been defined as a "system of advantage based on race."www.unk.edu/offices/aaeo/index.php

Now there are other definitions which all closely match these two, but I think you get the point. It is NOT racist to point out a fact about any group or ethnic group of people. Get over it.

If anything the freaking liberal left are the most racist people I know. Look at all the special treatment ethnic groups receive because of the color of their skin, their sexual preference, or their religion. If you haven't gotten it, re-read the above definitions. "....through institutions that promote inequality between races." That pretty clearly defines it for me. If you don't treat everyone on an equal basis that makes you a racist. I don't give a rats ass what color your skin is, what your religion is, or if you like riding the high hard one and you are a guy. I give everyone the same amount of respect until they give me a reason to either revoke it, or give them more.

That is not being racist.....and I am sick of the libs taking away our freedom of speech by suing, firing, or subjugating anyone that speaks out negatively about a group of people. It's fine if you offend a white-Anglo-straight-christian, but you should lose your job and be chastised if you point out something negative about another group.

Blow me.....(that's for you uneducated folks)
And the Argument Continues....

Woe to those that have to endure the mall this time of year. I had to. Not only did I have to shop, but my niece really wanted to go ice skating. Her dad and I took her and she did pretty good.

But get this, as I was walking into the mall....not even there two minutes (and I am not exaggerating) a girl walks past wearing a shirt that reads "Life is much better with my rich boyfriend."

If you aren't following this, try the two previous posts:

Part 1
and
Part 2
The Rape of Europe

This was forwarded to me by a friend of mine that still lives in the land of snow and ice (no, not Montana). For those not aware of what is going on in the world, the Muslims are trying to take over. Not just in the U.S., but everywhere. For some odd reason, the Europeans seem to be allowing this to happen. What am I saying? For some odd reason, indeed. The liberals here in the U.S. want to allow it to happen as well. I digress.....

*The Rape of Europe*

*By Paul Belien*

The German author Henryk M. Broder recently told the Dutch newspaper "De Volkskrant" (12 October) that young Europeans who love freedom, better emigrate. Europe as we know it will no longer exist 20 years from now. Whilst sitting on a terrace in Berlin, Broder pointed to the other customers and the passersby and said melancholically: "We are watching the world of yesterday."

Europe is turning Muslim. As Broder is sixty years old he is not going to emigrate himself. "I am too old," he said. However, he urged young people to get out and "move to Australia or New Zealand. That is the only option they have if they want to avoid the plagues that will turn the old continent uninhabitable."

Many Germans and Dutch, apparently, did not wait for Broder's advice. The number of emigrants leaving the Netherlands and Germany has already surpassed the number of immigrants moving in. One does not have to be prophetic to predict, like Henryk Broder, that Europe is becoming Islamic. Just consider the demographics. The number of Muslims in contemporary Europe is estimated to be 50 million. It is expected to double in twenty years. By 2025, one-third of all European children will be born to Muslim families. Today Mohammed is already the most popular name for newborn boys in Brussels, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and other major European cities.

Broder is convinced that the Europeans are not willing to oppose Islamization. "The dominant ethos," he told De Volkskrant, "is perfectly voiced by the stupid blonde woman author with whom I recently debated. She said that it is sometimes better to let yourself be raped than to risk serious injuries while resisting. She said it is sometimes better to avoid fighting than run the risk of death."

In a recent op-ed piece in the Brussels newspaper De Standaard (23 October) the Dutch (gay and self-declared "humanist") author Oscar Van den Boogaard refers to Broder's interview. Van den Boogaard says that to him coping with the Islamization of Europe is like "a process of mourning." He is overwhelmed by a "feeling of sadness." "I am not a warrior," he says, "but who is? I have never learned to fight for my freedom. I was only good at enjoying it."

As Tom Bethell wrote in this month's American Spectator: "Just at the most basic level of demography the secular-humanist option is not working." But there is more to it than the fact that non-religious people tend not to have as many children as religious people, because many of them prefer to "enjoy" freedom rather than renounce it for the sake of children. Secularists, it seems to me, are also less keen on fighting. Since they do not believe in an afterlife, this life is the only thing they have to lose. Hence they will rather accept submission than fight. Like the German feminist Broder referred to, they prefer to be raped than to resist.

"If faith collapses, civilization goes with it," says Bethell. That is the real cause of the closing of civilization in Europe. Islamization is simply the consequence. The very word Islam means "submission" and the secularists have submitted already. Many Europeans have already become Muslims, though they do not realize it or do not want to admit it.

Some of the people I meet in the U.S. are particularly worried about the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe. They are correct when they fear that anti-Semitism is also on the rise among nonimmigrant Europeans. The latter hate people with a fighting spirit. Contemporary anti-Semitism in Europe (at least when coming from native Europeans) is related to anti-Americanism. People who are not prepared to resist and are eager to submit, hate others who do not want to submit and are prepared to fight. They hate them because they are afraid that the latter will endanger their lives as well. In their view everyone must submit.

This is why they have come to hate Israel and America so much, and the small band of European "islamophobes" who dare to talk about what they see happening around them. West Europeans have to choose between submission (Islam) or death. I fear, like Broder, that they have chosen submission - just like in former days when they preferred to be red rather than dead.

Europeans apparently never read John Stuart Mill:

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

- John Stuart Mill

Thursday, December 21, 2006



The Grizwalds Are Alive and Well

....and apparently living right across the street from me. Nice to know my neighbor still hasn't lost his touch for putting way too much crap in the yard.

I got in early last night, but after not eating all day long I was pretty beat. They don't serve food on the flights anymore and since all of my flights were delayed I was pretty much scrambling to make the next flight and couldn't stop to get a real meal. Crackers, soda, juice and some Jack doesn't make for a good diet for the day.
Now I am just trying to figure out what to do first. The task seems kind of overwhelming. I have a PILE of bills and financial stuff to go over. Another pile of things that are arriving from Montana to deal with. And, of course, it's almost XMas and I have to deal with that, too.

BTW - here is a pic for Bling! I'm sure he'll appreciate it. It's the valley in Bozeman as we were climbing outbound on the flight.



Monday, December 18, 2006

Medicare and Illegal Aliens....
I got this email forwarded to me from a friend of mine. It certainly seems pretty horrible when you look at it from the perspective of the email.

This is TOO good!
5 million of our older Americans have not signed up yet for their Medicare Part D drug plan ------ they are old and confused. We are NOT going to grant them an extension. However, 12 million illegal aliens are in our country and we are going to allow them to stay, protest, procreate, receive support monies, attend schools, avoid paying income taxes, have our teachers take 300 hours of ESL (English as a Second Language) training at our expense, etc.

WE MUST REALLY DISLIKE OUR OLD PEOPLE...... OR WE MUST REALLY LOVE LAWBREAKERS!!

If it ticks you off, pass it on!! Don't forget to pay your taxes. 12 million illegal aliens are depending on you!


I tried to verify this through Snopes and was unable to find enough information on it. But I did Google some of the medicare plan d stuff. Obviously I was not up on all the medicare stuff. My father probably is and could comment on it. However, this plan had a deadline of May 15th, 2006. That was FIVE months ago!! So why is this just now being circulated?

From what I can tell it became a huge and heated political debate with the typical he said / she said crap between the dems and the reps.

What does irk me is that for the most part the gist of the email is spot-on. I got into a bit of a discussion with one of my friends up here. I was arguing that there was, indeed, some socialized medicine in the U.S. - we just don't call it that. You don't believe me? Do you have any idea of how many destitute people are treated for all kinds of illnesses every year? Who pays for it? Joe Taxpayer, and those of us fortunate to have jobs and insurance. Is that not the very definition of a socialized system?

And what about the 12+ million illegal immigrants? The email focuses on Mexicans, but there are a lot of illegal aliens here. Personally I say we should spend the money and deport ALL of them. Cost more to do that than to allow them to suck the system dry? Perhaps initially, but not in the long run.

I'm not against immigration to the U.S. I AM against people breaking the law to do it. And yet, we are still considering granting them amnesty and giving them rights. What a load of crap.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Something Funny....

OK, I know I don't normally post this stuff but it totally cracked me up. It's a time elapsed video of a guy that is passed out and his friends have some fun. What sent me over the edge is the very end of the video...

SFW (Safe For Work)
http://media.skoopy.com/vids/vid_01306.wmv
Going Away Party....
Just a quick post to say thanks to everyone for throwing me a surprise going away party. I think everyone had a great time and with the exception of a few hangovers and one sprained ankle most people came out unscathed.

Here are a few pics, but click the link to see all of the ones I have online!



I'll even forgive Dusty for wearing a Colorado Avalanche "sweater" to the party.....

Finally Some Snow!


Dusty and I headed up to Moonlight Basin for their opening day. We got there fairly late due to a number of reasons that were all based around partying too much last night (wait for another post on that one).


In any case, we got up there and had heard they had a got a good snow dump the night before. Unfortunately, the conditions were horrible. I honestly can't believe they even opened. I've never skied or boarded on such terrible conditions. What little snow there was had become either ice or hard-pack. That's if you could find it while trying to avoid all the rocks, sticks, and dirt. I've got several new gouges in my board, and that was from just one run.


We both gave up after one run, had a beer and left. Unless there is massive dump it doesn't look like I'll be going back up before going home. Oh well....

Friday, December 15, 2006

Politically Out Of It and Disconnected

Every since the dems took over everything I haven't paid much attention to exactly what has been happening. I figure part of it is the "transitional phase" and more to the point is that I haven't really watched any TV (news), or read any newspapers.

For the most part, people keep asking me what I think about this or that (even if it is not related to politics) and i just don't have a clue. I'm not sure if it's complete apathy or because of everything else I have been doing. Maybe a bit of both.

About the only thing I have heard on the radio is that we are getting real serious about pulling out of Iraq. I have mixed feelings about it. I don't think a complete withdrawal is going to do anything except incite the Muslim's to try harder.

We now have some serious socialists in major positions of political power. It's amazing to me that anyone who cherishes living in the USA would ever vote these people into any office. My father thinks that some of the younger dems that are not socialists will help keep them at bay. I guess time will tell.

I think we are on the verge of a civil war and another global war. Things are really heating up on all levels. The United States cannot stand to be internally at war and divided for much longer before something will happen. If you don't think there is an internal struggle in the U.S. you should really open your eyes. There is an entire group of people that hate the U.S. and they are living right here and working their political agendas.

Thursday, December 14, 2006


Wear Leather....
It actually should be entitled "Enjoy the Ride" or something like that, but this is a contribution from my friend, Danielle.....
PS - with little exception, I didn't fix the grammer so don't blame me on this one!!



Parody of "Wear Sunscreen"

Enjoy!

If I could offer you only one tip for improving your life, wearing leather would be it.


The long term benefits of leather have been proved by serious bikers over many highways and many years, whereas wearing something unreliable like shorts and flip-flops means you will experience a trip to the emergency room.There, uncaring nurses will scrub gravel out of your wounds, and doctor swill dispense ineffective painkillers and meaningless advice ... like telling you to trade that "murdercycle" in for a Camry.

Bull(shoot). I will dispense some real advice right now:

Enjoy the power and beauty of your ride; If you don't already; you can Fully enjoy it by doing block-long smokey burnouts in the parking lot at the Local drive-in. Pass slower bikers on the right inside of the uphill curve when they will not let you pass to the left.

Trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at the photos of you and your pals on your bikes and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much fun you had and how fabulous you really looked hauling (donkey hole) down the highway dressed in leather.

Leather is as sexy as you imagine.

Don't worry about what your Mom thinks; or worry about what others think.Know that worrying about what other people think is as effective as Trying to scratch your nose in a blinding hailstorm at 80 m.p.h. with a full-Face helmet and winter gloves on. The real troubles in your life are apt to be Volvo station wagons, driven by some dipstick talking into his cellphone or doing her makeup; the kind that blindside you at 4 PM on some urban roadway and then claim you crashed into THEM.

Do one thing everyday that scares other drivers... Lanesplit.

Ladies, learn to ride and then ride often. Nothing is more of an Equalizer than a woman, dressed in leather, astride her own machine. Gentlemen, respect the ladies who ride, for they could very well have been the Rider that waxed your fanny in the mountain curves you just came through.

Sing into your helmet. Use mouthwash first. Keep mints handy.

Don't be reckless with other people's bikes, especially if you don't Have insurance. Don't put up with people who mess with yours.... in fact,Beat them with a chain.

Ride Fast.

Don't waste your money on chrome, or fancy paint jobs; spend it on racing or partying. Sometimes you're fast, sometimes you're slow. Sometimes you're hungover. The ride is long, and in the end, a cold beer tastes pretty damn good.

Remember the good rides you've had, forget the cuts and bruises.

Watch cage drivers to not signal before pulling into your lane. Be alert for brainless cage drivers to pull an opposing left turn in front of you.May the fool on four wheels in front of you have working brake lights.

Try to wear out the sides of your tires before the middle.... if you Succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your oil changed, throw away old traffic citations.

Enjoy your bike, use it every way you can...don't be afraid of it, or What other people think of it, it's the greatest instrument of pleasure you'll ever own, not counting porn sites and a fast modem.

Take chances.


Don't feel guilty if you ride faster than the posted limit ...the most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 how to ride conservatively,all the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of saddle time.

Be kind to your passengers, you'll miss them if they fall off.

Maybe you'll crash, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have surgery, maybe You won't, maybe you'll ride a cruiser off a cliff doing 40, maybe you'll get a new motocrosser for your 75th birthday ...whatever you ride, don't congratulate yourself too much - your choices are 90% foreign, 10%domestic; so are everyone else's.

Wrench... even if you have nowhere to do it but in your hotel room.

Do not read American motorcycle magazines, they will only make you wish you'd bought a British one instead. Read British motorcycle magazine stand laugh at how the brits laugh at Americans. Stay away from German motorcycle magazines, they are too serious and difficult to read.

Read the owner's manual, even though you won't remember any of it.

Get to know your brake pads, you never know when they'll be gone for good. Remember, brake pads let you stop. Be nice to your tires; they are your link to the pavement and the things most likely to save your butt from a nasty high side.

Understand that mechanics comes and mechanics go, but for a precious talented few you should pay them well and buy them six packs. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older your bike gets, the more you'll need the mechanic who worked on it when it was young and still not paid off.

Ride in New York City once, but leave before you get killed; ride in Northern California whenever possible, but leave a plausible excuse When calling in sick for work. Ride in the Ozarks and learn the trick of the curve. Ride the Blue Ridge Parkway and learn to be smooth. Ride through Deals Gap and live to tell others about it. Stop and watch others ride through Deals Gap and applaud when others do it well.

Do lurid wheelies.

Accept certain inalienable truths: prices will rise, traffic will get worse, you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young, gasoline was cheap, the highway patrol couldn't catch you, and Harley owners weren't all yuppies.

Respect your rev-limiter.

Don't expect anyone else to see your bike unless it has really loud pipes.

Maybe your bike has a big gas tank, maybe a smaller one; but remember,either way you'll have to make bathroom stops.

Stop and offer help to the stranded motorcyclist along the open road,For the next you come along could very well be yourself.Don't mess too much with your carburetors, or by the time your done,you'll be walking home and your pipes will be blue.

Be careful whose advice you buy, and save your receipts. Don't take Advice from those who supply it for free, especially if they own a Brit bike.

Motorcycle restoration is a form of self-torture. Doing it is a way of pulling the past from the dustbin, degreasing it, painting over the rusty parts and dumping way more money into it than it's worth. Indian restoration is a truly refined ailment that is only cured by death or an unlimited bank account.

But trust me on the leather...

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

The Female Equation Explained

Bling! has provided us with the female equation. He actualy posted this in a comment from a previous entry, but I felt it was good enough to give it its own entry. Thanks Bling!

Fem Number: a fictional value at which a woman will assign herself to any given male. Fem equation (emperically derived):
Vfem = (Mg + Lg + 20Pg)/Afem
Where Mg is the monetary worth of the guy, ie how much money can he can spend on a girl or things to accessorize a girl, like cars and jewelry
And Lg is the physical attractiveness of the male. The exact value is dependent upon the female, but this is an interpolated value between stunning handsome and 3 coyote ugly.
And Pg is the charm and personality of the guy. This is a negligable value and normally ignored.

Finally, Afem is the attractiveness of the female based her own perception of attractiveness. NOTE: this does not nomally correspond to reality.

Using this value, the average female will evaluate each male she meets until she arrives at an assement of his value, ie "what kind of car do you drive, what do you do for a living?". Any male with a Vfem above the current female requirement will be pursued. if a female is already occupied, then the required Fem number is simply increased until to a level high enough to initiate movement to a new male.

Bling!

Sorry Girls, it's the truth. Really I am.
Pardon Me While I Whinge a Bit

I don't know what I did in a past life, but obviously I have wronged someone, somewhere, at some point. I mean, I'm a fairly nice guy. Sure I am assertive enough that I can be a real jerk at times, but over-all I definitely fall into the "nice-guy" category. Don't get me started.

So why won't it snow? We've had snow in the forecast for days and nothing. If it doesn't snow there isn't any good snow boarding. If there isn't any good snowboarding then bRad's are wasting their vacation. If bRads are wasting their vacation then they are unhappy. People around here are saying it's one of the worst winters they remember in years.....not because it's cold and snowy, but because it's NOT cold and snowy.

I even asked Ben if he'd take me up on a flight so I could at least shoot some aerial photos of the valley and mountains. He said no problem and offered to do it for a ridiculously low price. I was really looking forward to getting some good shots, but there are too many clouds to do it!!! Yes, you read that right it's too cloudy to go up in a plane and shoot photos but it will not freaking snow!!

It's so totally not fair....not fair....not fair...

Tuesday, December 12, 2006



For a very long time now I have been into a band by the name of Dream Theater. If you have been reading this blog for a long time you have probably noticed that I have posted about them before and have often made references to them.
I'd say that the two most influential bands to me have been Kiss and Dream Theater. Kiss for their sheer propensity to write what I call "fun" music. It picks me up, it puts me in a good mood. It's just good rock & roll to have a good time with. Dream Theater because they are one of the best progressive bands out there. Period.
In fact, I think that for a long time Mrs. Bling! never even came over to my house in which there wasn't something by Dream Theater on the stereo. She probably thought I didn't listen to anything else.

However, they aren't for everyone. They don't fit radio format due to their sometimes operetta length songs (Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence clocks in at 42:02!!!) and because their music is complicated and constantly progressing which generally requires much more attention than the average sheeple like to invest in their music.
Anyway, to drag out a long point I looked them up on Wikipedia and was quite impressed at the write up. Go give it a quick read and especially check out the section entitled "Concert Reputation."


Money Grubbing Whores

Last night I was having a chat conversation with a friend of mine regarding the stereotypical roles that women and men fall into. Namely, society furthering the emasculation of men and giving that power to the women. Why? Apparently because there is a large percentage of women that believe that they have something magical between their legs that entitles them to pretty much do whatever they want and have the men pay for it all.
But, it's not just the women's fault. As men, we have allowed this to happen. We fully allow women to take this role and allow ourselves to be subjugated to their rules. But here is the best part. These are the same women that can't figure out why their husband dumps them for a new materialistic-money-grubbing-whore when their face and body don't match up to the standards that materialistic-money-grubbing-whores must sustain.
Talk about a viscous circle!!! And, of course I realize that not ALL women are like this, nor are ALL men like this. My friend says she just doesn't see many women like that whereas I seem to find them all the time. I'm willing to be a lot of my male friends would agree.
The best part? Her and I are chatting about this and my roommate is telling my other roommate how he got a ride home from a hot chick that was a runner-up in the Mrs. Montana pageant. The kicker was that she was asking him what he drove and what he did for a living before she even got to know him. Typical....
Weathermen Suck...

Weatherchicks suck, too....there has been snow in the forecast for days and we aren't getting any. Big Sky got 2 inches and that was it. Clear skies, sunny, warm-ish.... it sucks. I want a freaking blizzard to descend upon us and dump snow up in the mountains.

Right now, there is no way Moonlight will open during the week and it's looking bleak for the weekend. Bridge Bowl is also closed. Big Sky has 20% of the mountain open and I hear that the employees are shaking snow off the trees to cover the rocks.

So let's look further away.....Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee are both open with NO new snow since last weekend.

Banff Canada has had a whopping 1 inch in the last 48 hours and would cost me about $500 just to drive up there and back. No thanks.

This is soooooo not fair.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Still Praying for Snow!

I was going to head down to Red Lodge over the weekend and get some snowboarding in, but they just aren’t getting any snow. It does, however, look like Big Sky is getting some and they have now opened up about 20% of the mountain. BTW – Big Sky really is BIG, so 20% is not bad.

I’m keeping my eye on the weather, but if you feel like it please pray to the snow gods for me!!
Weekend Trip

This weekend some friends of mine rented a cabin. The cabin was in Yellowstone up in the sticks a bit. It was in the snow, and in the cold. No heater, no electricity, no running water and no bathroom. A fairly nice outhouse was situated outside the cabin about 100 feet away. As you can probably guess there wasn’t any light or heat in there either. Brrrr…..

We also had to break into the cabin because we didn’t bring the combination for the padlock on the back door. No problem though, the cabin was built in 1929 and you can probably imagine that security of the cabin wasn’t that serious.

The cabin had a wood burning stove in one room. It was actually colder in the cabin than it was outside. Amy got that sucker fired up and some of the guys proceeded to take turns chopping and splitting wood. The national forestry was kind enough to stack up sections of trees they had cut down for us to chop. I say sections because they were approximately 1.5 ~ 2 feet in diameter and 1.5 ~ 2 feet thick. I hadn’t chopped wood in a long time so I was a bit rusty, but we got quite a bit cut before the light finally ran out.

There were 13 people there and everyone brought something to share. I brought jambalaya, another guy made some tasty fried chicken right on the front porch. Others brought salads of varying types or booze (way more booze than we could all drink!). We even did a white-elephant Xmas and I scored some sweet picture cards of Yellowstone wildlife which I plan to frame later on.

After dinner the liquor started to flow and we played some games including “I never” and “Taboo.” We had a few folks get hosed. One doesn’t remember playing Taboo. It was quite an interesting evening and if I ever get a hold of some of the pics I will post them up to share. My camera had a dead battery and since there wasn’t any electricity I couldn’t charge it up.

We crashed out and I was lucky enough to score a top bunk, but it wasn’t in the main room so it was a tad chilly. Early in the morning my bladder reminded me that I needed to go take a leak, but I wasn’t about to climb out of bed and get dressed to go into a freezing outhouse.

After a nice breakfast we all chipped in to clean the cabin up (it was a wreck at this point) and put everything back in order. We left the cabin and headed into Yellowstone National Park to hit the boiling river. The boiling river is a spot where two rivers come together. One river is ice cold, and the other is fed from natural hot springs and is literally boiling hot. You hang out in the pools where the two currents come together and get a pretty good mixture of cold, cool, warm, or hot water depending on where you are. The really cool thing is that every time someone moved it changed the currents and it would alter your temperature as well. The worse part was getting out in the cold and having to get changed / dressed. I’m sure Bling! would have been cussing up a storm. Scratch that, he’d have never gone in the first place. One look at the water and snow and he’d have gone back to the car to turn the heater on.

From there we all headed back towards Bozeman and stopped off at this tasty Mexican food place where we all proceeded to scarf down on some very good grub. I got back into Bozeman about 6:30 and promptly sacked out until this morning. I didn’t realize how tired I was.

All in all, it was a lot of fun!!!
Pics of the trip can be seen here!

Friday, December 08, 2006

Sucky Vacation?

Well, today starts my vacation. I could have gone home.... but I didn't. I thought the ski areas would be kicking by now, but they all suck. Some of them aren't even open. Not enough snow. We got a huge dump in October, best on record apparently, then it warmed up and melted it all off and pretty much hasn't dumped since.

Now I am going to be stuck in MT without anything to freaking do! I could online shop for gifts but my family won't tell me what they want, or what anyone else wants or anything.

What to do?

Tuesday, December 05, 2006


One More at Targhee...

I had to add just one more photo. This is actually a series of photos that I stitched together to give you a good idea of what I was looking at as I rested in a powder bank. Amazing what nature can show us, isn't it?

Monday, December 04, 2006


You're Crazy, but I'll Follow You!

Famous last words as I followed my friend Dusty through a boundary gate into uncharted territory.

Unfortunately we haven't been getting the snow we need up here in Bozeman to open up the ski areas. Dusty and I were getting the itch so we made a last minute trip into Jackson, WY to board at Jackson Hole. We drove down there at night through a snowstorm. I say "we" but really it was Dusty that drove it, and he did a damned fine job. At some points we couldn't make out the road due to all the snow. We had to use the markers on the side of the road to navigate. Then we hit the pass into Jackson and it was pretty sketchy. Only later did we learn that the plows stop after 9:00pm....we were arriving about 11:00pm!! It was pretty slow going, but we made it.

The next day we got up and checked the snow report. Only 2 lifts and 11 runs open at Jackson, or we could hit Grand Targhee - about 75% of the mountain open and only one lift not operating. You can guess the decision that we made from there. And of course, it was back over the pass.



At least there was light and the plows had been running. It wasn't too bad, but you just had to take your time and drive slow. We were on our way to our first day of boarding!!!
Interestingly enough we both noted that there were a TON of back country enthusiasts and ski trails all over the place. If you are into back country skiing this is the place to go!



After making it to the ski area we were a little disappointed with how many people there were hanging around and only one major lift heading up. One guy behind us was telling us that the conditions weren't that good so we weren't looking forward to much. We both agreed that since it was our first day boarding we'd take it easy and just get some good runs in. Little did we know that the powder was incredible!!! We warmed up with a green road / groomer and only briefly got off into the powder a bit. Then we did a quick tweak of our equipment, got some liquid courage and headed back up!
This time we hit some blues. Unlike other ski areas that I had been to the runs weren't very well defined and that made for wide open boarding / skiing. It was great for carving all over the place and going through tree lines. Powder was easily 3 ~ 4 foot deep everywhere we went. I guess the guy that said the conditions were bad was another crack-smoking wondering idiot of the great North West. Here is a shot of Dusty playing in the snow while on a run.

Unbeknownst to us at the time, we actually ended up on a black run and played through some treelines until we hit the road again. Talk about a fat bastard!! I felt completely out of shape as the high altitude and working the board were taxing me a lot more than I remember from last year. So we rested for a moment and then Dusty says we should go through this boundary gate as there is a ton of powder down there. I then noted that there weren't ANY tracks and it didn't appear as if anyone else was going that way. That is when I uttered the statement that I thought he was crazy but I'd follow him in.
Dusty is a far better boarder than I am but he's patient with me which is why I like to go with him. He pushes me and then he's nice enough to wait for me while I figure out how to navigate something. So off we went into the really deep stuff. I'm not as good in real deep powder, but I am learning. I wiped out a couple of times and it really hard to get back up when you can't push off of anything because your hand sinks in to the snow up to your shoulder. Dusty calls out to me telling me not to come this way, to stay high and avoid it, but it's too late. I have to go that way and unfortunately I didn't have the speed to carry me through a fairly flat section. Imagine, if you will, a narrow V with very little room for moving and 30 ~ 45 foot walls of snow, rock and trees on both sides of you. That's what we were now stuck in. I had to unstrap my board and hike through the flat spot. No trick angles or trick photography here. I am literally up to my crotch in snow and fighting to get to a downhill spot so can get my board back on.
We got our wish!! Only, it was more of the same narrow, twisting, very difficult "trail" with which we had to navigate. I kept thinking it couldn't be too much further to get out, but it just kept getting worse and worse. We probably should have hiked up the incline when we had the chance, but it was too late now and we had to keep going.


The best part? How about the cliff we had to jump off of?? Yeah, sweet. Some kid yelled to tell us there was a cliff ahead, but it was only "six feet." Does this look like a six foot cliff to you? The sad part is that while we were trying to figure out how to navigate it the ski team school came by. A bunch of little kids with an instructor and they went off of it one-by-one like it was no big deal. Finally Dusty takes the plunge. He goes over the edge and disappears out of site. We all heard this loud "WHUMP!", but no Dusty. So we were all looking at each other and someone said "that didn't sound too good." But as it turns out he was fine and was able to get this pic of me getting ready to take the plunge.




And was it over? No, not by a long stretch. But we finally made it out and onto the road. I have no idea how long it took us to make that run. Probably a good hour and a half or more. Naturally, we had to make it back to the bar and have drinks after that run. I looked it up on the trail map. We started on a blue, hit one of two blacks, across the road, and then into an unmarked "out of bounds" trail to bring it all home. So much for taking it easy the first day out. I managed to only hit two trees and three rocks.
We ended the day with a couple of more runs through some deep powder blues and tree-lines until we literally couldn't control our boards anymore from being so fatigued. It was just an awesome day out there. Next stop? Back over the pass to Jackson where we were staying for some Apre Ski beverages and dinner. We tried to hit Teeton Thai, but it was closed until Dec. 20th so we had to head off elsewhere for din-din. If you ever go there, I would suggest NOT going to the Snakeriver Brewery for dinner. It was OK, but it didn't really do it for me after a hard day of boarding.


We hit a few bars afterwards and then I found a breath analyzer machine that I thought would be fun to try out before we headed back to the hotel. Little did we know that it wasn't working. So we are there and there a bunch of guys checking the whole scene out. Dusty goes first and he's blowing into the little straw and nothing is happening. So we all encourage him to blow harder. Poor guy, I thought he was going to pass out from blowing so hard and then a chick walks by and tells us that it's broke and not to waste our time. Oh well.


The next day we drove back to Bozeman. Fortunately the sun was out and the roads were much better than they had been. We even got to stop at the Wolf Pack Brewery and sample the suds and grub. Every time I have ever been through there they have been closed so it was nice to finally stop in and check it out.

All in all it was a great trip. Nobody got hurt and we didn't end up stuck in a ditch. The only bad thing is that now we get to compare the rest of the season to what we just experienced. Somehow, I don't think it will stack up.
BTW - if you want to check out more pics, click HERE. There are some good snow / scene shots!
My Tax Dollars at Work

I read a post by Miss Carnivorous on her blog about helping out needy families during the holiday season. I started to reply to it, and then I got really worked up thinking about it. So I decided to write about it on my own site (Sorry Miss C). Click here to read the original post.

I do not give people cash handouts. I will buy you a gallon of gas. I'll buy you a sandwich. I'll give you a ride, but don't ask for money because I am not going to give it to you.

I'm in a 28% federal tax bracket. That doesn't account for any other local taxes which I pay. Effectively a fairly significant amount of my money goes to taxes. A large portion of that goes towards some type of welfare program. It pays for the soup-kitchen, the homeless shelters, and the illegal alien to reap the benefits of our civil services and medical benefits. I could go on, but I think you get my point.

I don't feel a need to give even more of my money away to people that have chosen to only be a part of the system in that they are a leach sucking the financial life out of people....and amazingly the democrats seem to support this, but I digress.

I do, however, participate in several programs for kids. I always take part in the toys-for-tots programs. I also go to the "angel tree" every year and buy about four or five things for kids that would otherwise not get presents. I also try to buy scout cookies, or participate in other charitable events that go towards children.

But do NOT ask me for money. You already get it.
Screw NASCAR!!!

If your idea of racing is a bunch of guys in cars with 30-year-old technology going around to the left, check out this video. MotoGP is where it's at!