You have to be careful out in the world wide web area.  I just looked up the dangers of eating snow.  Yes, plain old every day snow.  Snow that has just fallen and is nice and fluffy and nobody has made any attempts at making it yellow, or stepped in it or anything.  Just plain snow.

One web site went into great detail making me think twice about eating snow.  They site the Canada Safety Council and go into great lengths telling me how snow is formed.

The atmosphere is filled with nasty little dusty bacteria particles floating around and circling the globe.  Suddenly moisture in the same general area gets really cold and water molecules begin to freeze, but they have to find a host to freeze around..in come the bacteria, dirt and other undesirable things.  The molecules continue to form around this nasty host until it gets heavy enough for gravity to take hold of it and send it earthward.

Here I stand on earth with my face pointed upward and my tongue hanging out, my eyes focused on a potential snowflake descending to my position.  How lucky will I be to have it drop onto my tongue?  BUT WAIT!  That is not lucky…it’s lucky to have it MISS my tongue according to these guys!  Don’t eat it!  These CSC guys took 20 samples from all around the world and found loads and loads of bacteria crawling in the snow they sampled!  YUK!  Spit it out!

AND a direct quote from that article reads:  “The amount of bacteria in snow is comparable to the amount of bacteria children exposed to when they play in dirt”.   Read more: Is Eating Snow Safe? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5513100_eating-snow-safe.html#ixzz2IMiuOEqY

And so, they suggest you not eat snow, no way, no how.  But what if you were dieing of thirst and stranded somewhere away from help?  Would you take your chances?  Of course, but keep in mind, it would be better to melt it in a pot and let it boil for awhile if you have the capabilities to do that.

Now, as I continued to look on the web for the uglies of eating snow, I found a site that was completely the opposite.  And this site is one intended to teach kids about stuff.  The site is an answers web site named “http://answers.askkids.com/Weird_Science/can_you_eat_snow”

Here is the question and the answer:

angeleyez410, Answers Expert

So, what do you believe?  I think I’ll take my chances and try and catch another snow flake.  Can’t my body take care of one more little bacteria bug?  If not, I guess I’ll go under having caught that last snow flake and bathed in my own glory knowing I could do it!

Bears Butt

Jan. 19, 2013

Broken shock continued:  Those of you who have read my early post about breaking a second shock on my 2002, Yamaha Big Bear 400 in less than 6 months should be aware that Yamaha has not had too many complaints about this sort of thing happening.

I have a tough time believing that I am the only person around who bought a machine with two defective shocks.

I called and talked to Yamaha, America, located in Southern California and the person I talked to was the same guy I talked to back in May when the first shock broke.  He is concerned and so has asked that I contact the local dealer in Hyde Park to investigate my issue.  That I need to take both broken parts in for them to analyze and get with corporate headquarters for further investigation.

I know that Hunter has the same model of machine I have and I am also concerned that he might just roll his machine if his shocks break.  Luckily for me, I was going slow enough both times to only cause the machine to tip, but had I been going even 10 miles per hour I think it would have flipped over.  In that regard I feel very lucky.

So, take note people, YAMAHA BIG BEAR 400 MODELS IN 4×4, could have a problem with shocks that are not safe.

Bears Butt

Jan. 18, 2013

I just hate it when something that has been working for so long doing such a good job, suddenly stops working!  OOOOOOOOO!  I suppose it’s like that in real life too…if you know what I mean.  For you younger folks the saying “Use it or lose it” will pertain to you sooner or later.

Ya, my printer suddenly stopped printing!  Yesterday I was in a copying mode and putting out lots of copies.  I stopped to fold them and put them in envelopes and went back to do more copies…nutin!  No black ink would print.

Over to Hewlett Packer website for all the latest and greatest techniques to git-er-fixed and none of them have worked.  Bum deal on my side of the fence.  I even went to the printer’s own “fix it” in the setup department…nutin there either.  Put in a brand new black ink cartridge…nutin changed.

So now it looks like a junk heap is where that thing is headed.

Got any ideas for me to try?

Bears Butt

Jan. 18, 2013

For nearly the last year I have had the good fortune to be associated with one of the greatest groups of guys and gals I think I have ever had the fortune of getting to know.  Trust me, I don’t know them all, but those I have had the pleasure of working with are super!   These people are extremely dedicated to their cause and they are passionate about “getting things right”.  They are very involved with Utah’s wildlife and how to improve upon a system that has had some bumps in the road lately.  Progress is being made!

I highly recommend you join this non-profit organization, it’s free and you won’t regret being a part of saving our wildlife opportunities in Utah.

http://unitedwildlifecooperative.org/_WELCOME.html

Just copy and paste, as they say!

They are also very much concerned that our youth are not getting the exposure to the outdoors as much as they should be.  After all, it’s our youth who are our replacements in the world of hunting, fishing, trapping and all the other outdoor things we enjoy.  With that, these people have singled out a couple of events to help get kids involved with the outdoors.  One of those events is a youth guided turkey hunt held in the Spring.  The other is an ice fishing event and designed around a group of children who may or may not have ever had the opportunity to enjoy such a sport as that.

On Saturday the 26 (this month) the Utah Boys and Girls Club has been invited and sponsored by the United Wildlife Cooperative Organization (UWC) to come up to Strawberry Reservoir and enjoy a day of outdoor activities!   These kids are in for a real treat.  First the UWC is busing them up for the event and “THE UPPER BEAR RIVER TROUT UNLIMITED” organization is going to give each one of them their very own fishing pole!  They are going to have the opportunity to ice fish and hopefully pull one up through the ice.  The very real possibility to be pulled on a sled behind an ATV, sponsored by the Big Boys Toys Company out of Harrisville, Utah.  The UWC will be providing free hot dogs, hamburgers, chili and hot and cold drinks for them as well.  The meat is being provided by KSL Radio/Television and Stone’s Meats.  The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is going to be at the event as well and will cut a large hole in the ice and give a demonstration on how to get out of a wet icy situation, as well as other safety on the ice information.  The good folks from Camp Chef are going to be on hand showing off their latest equipment and cooking prowess as well.  Fish Tech Outfitters is also planning on attending to offer ice fishing techniques to anyone willing to watch and listen.  And of course it just wouldn’t be such a great event without our local KSL Television hero Adam Eakle and his Utah Outdoors show filming the activities!

How on earth could there be more fun for a bunch of kids than that!?  But wait!  It’s for you and your kids too!  Come on up.  You might not get a free fishing pole, but everything else is there for you and your family!

There will be more sponsors than I have mentioned here and I sure hope you will come up and play.  It’s going to be a wonderful event…dress for the cold and remember it’s warmer up there than it is down here in the valley where the inversion has trapped the cold.

OH YA!  I almost forgot!  There are a TON of prizes that will be given away, and trust me some VERY BIG prizes, and LOTS of them!  Come on up and meet these terrific people I have told you about from the UWC.  Maybe even get your mug shot on the Utah Outdoors show!  But whatever else goes on, you WILL  have fun!

I suppose I should tell you where it will be held at, Strawberry Bay Marina at Strawberry Reservoir.  The big time activities begin around 8 a.m. and will continue until 2 p.m. or so.  Come on up!

Bears Butt

Jan. 17, 2013

Today we get a small piece of carpet laid in the bedroom.  The paint had to dry a few days before they could come and lay it.  Once we are able to put the bedroom back together, I can start painting in the rest of the house.  This deal is going to take a LOOOONNNNNGGGG time.  Right now the house is in such a state of disarray it’s hard to find anything.  But my sanity is being held together with this blog site.  I hope it is keeping your sanity together as well.  I will often tell stressed out people to visit this site and get away from reality for awhile.

So, did you know that the country store in Farr West called “Smith and Edwards” sells toilet paper?  Me either until the other day.  Sherry and I were down there and she said, Oh by the way, we need toilet paper.  I said, Ok then our next stop is Smiths.  She said, no I’ll go get some, they sell it here.  And off she went.

On her return I noticed the packaging of the toilet paper looked rather odd.  Not a real flashy package at all, more dull and rather plain.  I thought no more about it.

Yesterday morning, I was “doing my thing” and reached for the toilet paper…it was some of theirs.  A very dull grey paper roll hung on the bracket.  And where I usually see a nice clean squared off end, hung a jagged torn end with a second ply of paper hanging at least 3 inches below torn in the opposite direction.  HMMMM, I thought and proceeded to pull some paper off the roll.

I don’t usually think too much about this sort of event, but I was intrigued this time.  The paper rolled off just fine, but when I went to tear it on a perforation, the paper ignored the fact that it was perforated and tore  where ever it wanted.  In addition to that, the top layer of the two plys tore opposite the lower ply…take it from me, it does that every time!

Well, to change the subject “some”, Sherry and I were in Smiths the other day and cruising down the home products aisle when I noticed a very neat and orderly “new” display of “green” items.  I could not help but notice how the store management was making it very obvious that all the products in this section was “green” in some way or another…Including, of all things, “recycled toilet paper”!!!!

I pointed this out to Sherry and she looked at me and said, “That doesn’t paint a very good picture in my mind”!  I had to agree.

I told her too, that Bears Butt just might have to investigate that.

And so I have.  And if you too type in a search for “recycled toilet paper” you will find the top choice to be “Seventh Generation” recycled toilet paper.  Why have I not heard of this before?  Seven generations have been recycling their toilet paper and it has gotten by me until just recently.

There is even one in “forest green” color for you outdoorsy types!  Please don’t litter and make sure your paper is camouflaged with the surrounding area.  As for me, I would rather like to know someone “went there” so I didn’t step in it.  The next thing you know they will come out with “chameleon” toilet paper, a paper that will change color to match its surroundings.  Nuff said!

Bears Butt

Jan. 15, 2013

I keep reading about how cold it is outside….heck you have not seen anything.  Ya, I step outside without my coat and gloves and sure…it’s cold, but then I didn’t wear the right stuff to be out in it.  My bad, my fault.

If I was ice fishing I would have all the right stuff on and then I would not even feel the cold at all.  Plus I would be busy pulling in fish and it would take a heap of cold to make me feel it.

Heck I was on a dream hunt a few years back where the outside temp was MINUS 20 with a slight breeze blowing.  The kind of cold that caused you to put your open beer inside the ring of rocks when you were sitting around the fire to keep it from freezing.  When the temp rose to ZERO we were taking off our coats.  And forget about wiping your nose, you just reached up and broke off whatever was hanging down.

So, sure the temp right now outside my house reads 12 degrees..and the dog hurries out and right back in, but what the heck, it’s January for heck sakes and we need ice up at Bear Lake for the Cisco run right?

So, to help you feel a little better about your current outside environment I did a bit of research.  First off a bit of background.  I worked very closely with the US Geological Survey people and they spend a LOT of time down at Antarctica, they even brag about how they don’t need coolers down there to keep their drinks cold.  My closest associate said it was so cold, he couldn’t even “think about going out” without getting frost bitten…give me a break….sounds like a beer drinking story to me.

So here is what I found.  The highest recorded HOT temperature in the WORLD was 136.4 degrees Fahrenheit.  That is hot enough to cook a turkey in a closed dutch oven right there!  I’ll guarantee you I would not like to be in that hot of a place.  Lybia as it turned out.

But we are talking about cold here.  I’ve already told your about my experience of how the temperature rose 20 degrees and how warm it actually seemed to us, even though it was still quite cold.  The COLDEST temperature of anywhere in the world turned out to be in, where else?…Antarctica…MINUS 129 degrees!

Can you believe it?  What would it be like to step out to get the paper in 129 degree below zero temperature?  Even the dog would freeze up “thinking about going out” in that.  So, with a temperature that low, warming up to say Zero, you would be taking all your clothes off and jumping in the snow to try and get cool.

So, don’t talk to me any more about being cold.

Enjoy this global warming we have going on!

EDIT

And so that was where this story was going to end, but there is more that developed just after I posted this.

Sherry and I were enjoying each others company like we do every night, when suddenly from the direction of the garage a huge POP was heard.  What was that?  She asked.  I don’t know, but I’ll check…said I.  And out the garage door I went.

I didn’t see anything at first but then I looked down at a piece of old carpet that I removed last week while painting the bedroom….there was something that wasn’t there the last time I looked.  And then the story started to develop.

We have some soda cartons sitting out there in case the kids want a cold drink.  Usually they get cold enough to drink but never freeze…tonight one of them cans had had just about enough of the super cold it faced and exploded inside the carton!  The lid blew out the side of the box and frozen soda went flying.

Of course our little dog, MaPas enjoyed helping with the cleanup.

A closer look at the carton shows you clearly the devastating power of a POed frozen pop….

Notice the type of soda it was.  The Squirts and the Sprites can handle the cold, but not the Diet Coke…wimpy?….Or perhaps the others have more “Fat” to keep them warmer?

That was a pretty good little explosion.  I’m real glad it doesn’t happen to my kind of drinks.

I brought all of the cartons inside so the mess will be contained better.  It’s pretty cold outside folks!

Bears Butt

Jan. 13, 2013

I have been asked by the United Wildlife Cooperative (a non profit organization) to head up the volunteers at the UWC/UDWR/KSL Outdoors ice fishing day at Strawberry Reservoir on January 26 of this year.

I need volunteers who are willing to help show kids who may or may not have ever fished in their lives, how to catch a fish through the ice.

Volunteers need to have the necessary ice fishing equipment and be willing to share a pole or two with a couple of kids.

The UWC is working on getting kids through local Boys and Girls Clubs to be in attendance.

Last year we had a very good time and I believe there were about 30 kids that came to play.

There are a ton of give-a-way prizes for everyone.  There will be free food and demonstrations by the Utah DWR on ice safety and other things.

Please contact me and become a volunteer!

Thanks!

Bears Butt

Jan. 13, 2013

Yesterday was a full day of riding the toy and moving snow.  I got it all done and was making a few passes along the roadway back to the wood shed, just in case we need to drive back there.  One pass was remaining to get done when I heard the snow plow hit the ground with a thud!

What was that?  I climbed off the toy and could see the blade resting solidly against the ground and the handle was in the up position.  What the heck?  I climbed back on the machine and by pushing back real hard against the lift lever I was able to get the blade somewhat off the ground.  Enough so to allow me to drive slowly around and into the garage for a lookysee.

In the garage I could not see anything that could stop the blade from being raised enough to clear the ground.  I figured the cable must have stretched and so I removed the blade from the toy.  I detached an adjustment arm and gave it a couple of tightening cranks and then put it back together.

Back on the toy the blade would raise about an inch higher than it did before.  I shrugged my shoulders and headed for the barn with the toy and blade.  As I attempted to turn so I could back into the wood shed, the blade hit the grass and I was stopped immediately.  Dang it!

I did a 59 point turn and got turned around to head back to the garage.  Then I noticed a feeling in the steering that something wasn’t right with one of my tires.  I dismounted and took a look under the fender…..The right shock had busted off at the bottom mount and was resting against the inside of the tire!

For those of you following my posts for the past several months, this same thing happened to the left front shock back in May!  What’s with these Yamaha shocks?

Back inside the house I called the closest Yamaha toy dealer and they informed me that shocks never break and so they don’t carry them in stock.  But they could order a pair at $115 each!  Nevermind!  I’ll look on ebay.  Ebay was where I bought the one for the left side.  Surely that same seller still has the one for the right side…especially since “Shocks never break”!

Well, he didn’t have it, so someone else must have broken a shock.  I did finally find a Pair of shocks for $59, used, but the picture makes them look pretty good and since shocks never break, I should not have a problem with them when I put them on next week.

So, if any of you are on my “give me time, I’ll get to your snow as soon as I can” list, sorry!  I’m out of business for at least a week.  Hope it doesn’t snow.

Bears Butt

Jan. 12, 2013