http://www.dumb.com/graphics/tickers/ticker4.html

All the grandkids and parents came over last evening to paint pumpkins.  We had a blast doing that and once done, Grandma cooked up a couple of pizzas and everyone ate.

After lunch, the youngest, age 3, Chase, went into the play room where his “cars” are all placed and began playing by himself.  This is a normal thing for him to do.  He spends hours and hours in there playing with his cars.  There are legos in there as well and he likes building things, especially air planes.  He obviously had built one to his specifications and was playing with it and the cars.

I was making my way down the hall when he came out and closed the door quickly behind him, looked up at me and said “Plane crash broke cars” and was on his way to the kitchen and the other kids.

I did not think much about what he said until later when I went to make sure the light in the room was turned off.  That is when I saw what he meant.

—————————————

Sirens were blasting in all the towers around the airport and nearby city.  Emergency crews were responding to all the 911 calls that were pouring into the dispatch offices all over the city and county offices.  Police, Firemen, CERT teams and volunteers everywhere erecting and readying temporary emergency facilities.  The whole scene was a mass of quick movement in every direction at the same time.

It was chaotic to look at from the outside, but very well orchestrated if you were a member of one of the emergency staff.

Everything had to be quickly put into place to accept the hundreds and hundreds of injured and/or deceased persons involved in the horrific accident that had come from a single large aircraft crashing into a parking garage filled with people hurrying about their daily business lives right at quitting time.

Bodies strewn in every corner of several blocks right in downtown city of origin.  Emergency and non-emergency people helping where they could to get help to those poor souls caught up in this terrible accident.  Luckily for all the area was not engulfed in flames.  Lord knows there was plenty of gasoline from the aircraft and the vehicles spilled everywhere in the streets.

And this is the scene as taken just after the accident was revealed.

How could anyone survive such an accident?

Bears Butt

Oct. 19, 2012

Just an update on my proposal to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources about making muzzleloader hunting for antelope a statewide hunt.

I sent my written proposal out to the 5 RAC committee members and also to each of the Wildlife Board members.

Yesterday I received an email from Ernie Perkins, the head of the Wildlife Board suggesting 3 different avenues that get results on proposals such as mine.

His number one suggestion is that I contact the Division and set up a meeting with them to discuss the proposal at length.  He suggests this because it is the one way that most suggestions either get approved and/or modified to approval of all the ways to get it accomplished.

I contacted him vie phone today, He did not answer and so I left a message for him to get back with me and that I wanted to know who I need to contact at the Division to set up a meeting to discuss this proposal.

If this proposal even has a ghost of a chance of being accepted it does not look like would  be implemented for 2013, but if it is approved it might go through in 2014.  However, there is an outside chance it may be approved before the application guidebook is printed for 2013.

Bears Butt

Oct. 18, 2012

Playing on the computer in our own ways last evening with rain and wind going on outside, suddenly, PARUNCK! (new word)  the power goes out!  I calmly turned the switch to my hard drive off and headed to the top of the stairs to make sure Sherry is alright down stairs…she is still on her computer as she has a battery backup, just no internet.  She shuts her system down and then we find ourselves sitting side by side on the couch discussing the days events.

This is a normal thing for us to do each evening, sitting there discussing what went on that day, what we were going to have for supper, what big plan we have for tomorrow and we watch the world go by outside our front windows and the shadows getting longer and longer as the daylight turns to dark.  What is not normal is the fact that the power is out.

We have a gas furnace in the house for heat, which is all well and good, unless the power is out and then the blower doesn’t work and so the furnace is worthless.  Such is the case this evening.  But, not to fear!  We have both a fireplace upstairs AND a wood burning stove in the basement!  We are good on wood and have all the necessary tools to build a nice fire if we need it.

What about food?  Supper?  We can cook hot dogs over the fire if need be.  OR we can cook whatever we want on the stove downstairs if we want and let’s not forget we have a camp trailer AND a motor home outside and both are equipped with full kitchens, including microwave, generator and battery lights.  Heck, we have it made in the shade.  OH YA, and the BBQ sitting on the patio.  Talk about made in the shade with bells on!

So, with no fear about the food issue, I pop myself another cold drink of choice and we relax and continue to watch the world outside as the natural light dims.  Sherry decides that perhaps since we can still see with the light from the outside that perhaps we should get some candles lit and maybe even open up a Christmas present of touch lights and place them around the house in case the power stays off for a couple of hours during the dark times before bed.

We are quick to find out that those wonderfully smelling candles that sit atop the heating elements of candle warmers don’t have wicks sticking up anymore.  Lots of those baby’s sitting in the pantry, and all worthless as far as candles go.  But there is one she was saving for Thanksgiving that smells like Sugared Pecan pie.  It is quickly lit and set on the window seal over the sink in the kitchen.  MMMMM smells yummy.  Another is salvaged from the candle warmer that has been heating all day and we were able to get the wick to stand up before the wax solidified.  There, two candles are lit and we are good to go.

Too bad we can’t watch the presidential debate on tv, oh well, we have better things to do, like watch the world go by outside and cuddle a bit closer as the temperature in the house begins to cool.  I’d rather not put on a sweater or coat.

There goes a Dominos car….somebody is having pizza tonight!  As for us, I will start a fire in the fireplace.

That feels nice and toasty!  I’ll get myself another beverage.

We discuss our unpreparedness and a 72 hour kit.  We have something down stairs that is called an emergency kit, but I don’t recall even opening the box.  We don’t have any water stored but we have a lot of food on the pantry shelves.  Beans, bottled fruit and tomatoes, a couple cans of Kipper snacks, more beans, some tuna…enough that we could make do for longer than 72 hours if need be.  We could even invite the neighborhood over to help us if they didn’t have enough.

So, in the end, we decide we need to have a 72 hour kit, but not have it all stored in the basement.  What if the emergency was a flood, we would not have anything because the basement would be filled with water and mud.  So we need to make our 72 hour kit and have it stored upstairs someplace.  We need some good candles, matches, flashlights, batteries, radio that runs on batteries, a battery operated clock, food upstairs enough for 72 hours and yes, water.

We could always walk down to the field and fetch water if we absolutely needed to.  Then boil it up before drinking, but it would be much easier if we has some stored to use.

Hey, look outside, there are some dark figures walking down the road.  That looks like a good thing to do on a night the power is out.  I wonder if they were the ones that had the pizza?  Is it time I broke out the hot dog sticks?  The fire is really nice right now.  Na, too early, I’ll get another beverage of choice.

I made a comment to Sherry, when the power comes back on, all this ambiance will be gone in a flash, we better enjoy it while we can.  But then, we will be able to watch the presidential debate if it’s still on.  I’ll go get some more wood for the fire.

And so, there you have what we did during the power outage last night.  I think it came back on just a bit before 9 p.m., so we were able to fix our supper of chili dogs and watch the news before retiring to bed.  What a wonderful evening.  I hope yours was just as nice.

Bears Butt

Oct. 17, 2012

As we approach winter we are likely to be seeing more wild game animals crossing the roads.  Please be mindful of the signs posted along the roadways…they are there for a reason, just check this site out:

http://now.msn.com/fargo-woman-complains-about-deer-crossing-signs

Only in North Dakota folks!

Bears Butt

Oct. 16, 2012

I was doing a little research for one of my supporters for the muzzleload antelope hunting proposal and found that the latest record of economic data about hunting and fishin in Utah is as old as 2006.  That is the latest info available on line.

In this day and age it’s amazing we don’t have 2011 information available.  I don’t get it.

Anyway, for all of Utah hunters of big game, and this data includes out of state hunters as well (another thing that boggles me is why can’t they show residents in one column and non-residents in another?) we spend an average of $1,099 each for hunting  big game.

That number includes Food and lodging/Transportation/Equipment and Other trip costs.

Looking at my own list:  Food = $52, Lodging = $100 (est. tax and registration and wear and tear), Transportation = $150, Equipment = $20 (replenishing powder, ball and caps mostly) and Other trip costs = $80 (5 cases of cheap beer and some Halloween candy).  $402 total.

Now add in the $10 application fee, $30 combination hunting license, $ 35 deer tag and the grand total is $477.

Looks like I need to get a part time job to off set my set wage.

Bears Butt

Oct. 16, 2012

Felix Baumgartner…the name in the news…For those of you who don’t know who this guy is, he is the crazy guy that jumped out of a capsule from nearly 24 miles in the air.  He had 5 different records he wanted to break yesterday (Oct. 14, 2012), but he only broke  some of them.  It’s not his fault that he didn’t break all of his record attempts, but he sure did something that no other person on earth has ever done.

Me…I get really dizzy when I stand too close to the edge of a cliff that doesn’t have a railing to keep me from falling off.  I inherited it from my mother I guess, as she used to say her feet would get really cramped when she was riding close to the edge of a road that had a drop off on her side.  She said it was like a bird clinging to a tree branch.  Well, I know exactly how she felt, because my feet do the same thing.

So, here is Felix Baumgartner, standing on a small platform, 24 miles above the earth and he is going to fall forward off of that platform  and dive headlong toward the ground.

The space guys said he would not have any control over his plummeting for several thousand feet because it was like being in a vacuum up there and no matter what he tried to do he would have no wind resistance or anything that would help him recover from tumbling or turning or anything.  That sure is a comforting thought.

He trained to fall forward in such a way that he would just go straight down, head first and not twist or turn or tumble or any of the ugly things that would cause him not to go straight down headfirst.  This was not his first jump from a very high distance.

Why would a man who seems to have a lot of things going for him want to do such a thing?  REDBULL!  I’m certain he has nothing to worry about financially the rest of his life and neither does his wife and family.  He secured every need they may have in the future when he put his head down and let go of the handles of the craft he was riding in.

One of his goals was to be the first man to break the sound barrier and not be sitting in an aircraft…..how do we know if he did it?  Well, I’m not any sort of scientist, but from my research, if the temperature outside is 60 degrees Fahrenheit and you went 720 mph you would break the sound barrier.  And at minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit you would break it at 680 mph.

As I watched the tv and his balloon was taking him ever so much higher, the reporters gave us outside temperatures etc.  At about 70,o0o feet the outside temperature was hovering around minus 90 degrees Fahrenheit and at 120,000 or so feet it was about 20 degrees Fahrenheit, warmer up higher than lower…Weird huh?

So, Felix jumped from the capsule and plummeted headfirst through many tens of thousands of feet of distance and at some point in his descent he reached 840 mph.!.!.!.5, 280 ft in one mile X 840 mph = 4,435,200 ft per hour / 60 min in one hour = 73920 ft. per minute / 60 seconds in one minute = 1,232 ft per second….That my friends is faster than a bb can travel out of my Redrider bb gun!  In fact, that is traveling at a speed of 4.1 football fields per second!  Correct me if I’m wrong, but without a helmet and a facemask on, his face would have looked much like No Grimaces face smashed up against the window of the trailer during a muzz hunt.

So, with your head down rocketing toward the ground at 4.1 football fields per second how do you get yourself slowed down in order to pull the ripcord of your parachute and safely come down to earth?  If you are going 4.1 football fields fast and pull the rip cord, you are going to be watching the lower half of your body falling away from your upper half in about 3/10ths of a second.  Well, I saw him go into some sort of twisting and tumbling act.  I guess that would help break up any aerodynamics that you would have created with your hands stretched down along your sides and your toes pointed toward the safety of  the vessel you just jumped out of.  Anyway, that is something he did and then he acted as if he was a flying squirrel and held his arms out and spread his legs and let the space suit he was in spread out like a sheet and he glided along looking rather cool, in my opinion.  Now here is a guy who has just fallen over 120,000 feet at break neck speed and suddenly he wants to have his forward motion come to a near halt, so at about the 8,000 foot above earth, he deployed his parachute and glided and guided himself to the safety of the good old earth on which we all need to keep our feet firmly planted.

The camera showed him come to a full stop and then he knelt down on both knees and kissed the ground.  Without knowing the whole story I’m certain he said a prayer thanking God for safely returning him to earth and then wished he could get out of that stinking space suit he was wearing.  I’m sure it was filled with bodily fluids of every sort.

Here is a link to the final few minutes of his flight…you can put your own spin on it all, you just read mine.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/video/2012/oct/14/felix-baumgartner-skydive-space-video

Bears Butt

Oct. 15, 2012

Today, Weasel, Conner and I attended this event and even though it rained some and was cold and windy we still had a blast!  Thanks to the ones who pulled this event off, you guys do alot for the young shooters and hunters in the Northern part of the state!  Thanks!

Let me tell you what I learned:

We were asked to go on a safety trail hunt.  We were given a gun and shells and all the things one would take on a hunt of this nature.  We were even given a four wheel drive atv machine to ride.  Our game animals included turkey, bear, big horn sheep and deer.  During the course my guide kept score on what I did correctly and incorrectly while we hiked along.  I was allowed to ask as many questions as I wanted during the course.  The total score for the course if you came through with a perfect score would have been 150 points.  My score…65.

65!  Why so low?  It was explained after all three of us were back at the beginning of the course.

First off, I removed the gun from the front seat of the pickup while the barrel was pointing in my direction.  Of course I sidestepped the barrel and lifted it high up before I removed it…but I started with minus points right from the get go.

Secondly, we were on a hunt where other hunters were hunting and I was required to wear blaze orange, which I did not have, but I could have borrowed a vest from the guide.  I didn’t ask…therefore more minus points.  And we haven’t even left the truck yet!

At the trail head, read a sign, “hunting by permission only” and a phone number which I told myself I need to write down for future hunting on this land.  Behind the sign was an atv.  My guide told me I could load the gun before we entered into the trail head, which I did.  When we got to the ATV, he said we were going to take the wheeler on our hunt and to prepare for the ride.  I unloaded the gun, strapped it to the wheeler in the gun carrier and put on my helmet.  I was feeling pretty good at this point, but then I did not know about the minus points I had accrued at that time.

Oh, ya, and since I did not ask my guide if we had permission to hunt on this property, I lost more points when I crossed that sign…UGH!

Later, we saw a turkey and I asked if I had a turkey license, my guide said I did and then was this a shot I could take.  I said no, because I could not identify the bird as a male and so we went on.  Later I learned I got plus points on my decision.

I was told after the walk, I had passed on picking up some trash that was laying alongside the trail from the hunter ahead of me.  Minus points.

A bear presented itself.  I had a license and I shot the bear!  My guide skinned it and all was well.  Plus points for a good shot and everything was safe.

20 yards later I was standing on Interstate 80 and up the road was a very nice big horn sheep…I passed on the shot because the animal was in the road….heck I was in the road…plus points.

Soon I saw a very big buck standing just on the other side of the fence.  Pass on the shot because the truck was just on the other side of the buck..plus points.  And so we crossed the fence and went to the beginning point.  Yes I unloaded the gun, and handed it across to my guide who had crossed the fence just ahead of me…plus points.

And so, 65 was my score.  Always remember to handle guns from the butt end and not the muzzle, wear blaze orange when required, make sure you have written permission to hunt property that does not belong to you, pick up others trash that you find along the way.  Oh, and it does not hurt to know how to judge how far away the animals are…I lost several points do to my inaccurate judging of distances, which I was asked at each sighting of game.

A fun time shooting shotguns and 22’s for me.  And the Weasel and Conner stayed to shoot muzzleloaders and Bows.

A great organization to support and it’s all for the youth we are all counting on to carry on our hunting and shooting sports!

Good work guys!

Bears Butt

Oct. 13, 2012