The 2012 Presidential election is over………My guy didn’t win……Did America win?    Time will tell.

We all know by now that Obama has four more years to do something and I sure as hell hope it’s in a positive way.

This morning is “the day after the election day”….so what has changed?  We awoke from our nights sleep.  Those who have jobs most likely went to take care of whatever they do, while we retired or unemployed sit in front of our computers and type or play games or surf or whatever.  I see no change from yesterday.

On a flip side, if you can show your voter registration and your “I voted” sticker, there is a restaurant offering you a FREE Dinner from 5 till 10 p.m. today, in Jacksonville, Florida.  You have to pay for your drinks from the bar however and the bar will remain open until the last customer leaves.  They have room for 200 people so get there early!

On a down side, the stock market opened very low this morning.  All my money is tied up in cash, so it doesn’t effect me.

Ok, now that it’s over, we don’t have all those political ads to contend with, only the signs stuck in the ground everywhere we go.  How long will it take those responsible for putting them all out to pick them all up?  What do they do with all those plastic signs anyway?

If you have some of those signs and want a place to dispose of them, bring them to me, I have an idea for a few of them.  I don’t want 20,000 of them just a few, like maybe 100.

What’s my idea?  For one, maybe I could make up some “deer crossing” signs and place them strategically in the Crawford Mountains for the upcoming hunt.  Perhaps cut out some duck silhouettes and paint them up all ducky looking and use them as decoys.  Maybe some of my famous (or not) cooler can saver dividers.  Or put them on the trapping shed like shingles…that would be cool.  Maybe I do need a few thousand of them afterall.

So, for you reading this, cheer up if your guy didn’t get in.  In four more years the “bad guy” will be gone and out of mind just like Bill Clinton is for most of us.  Stock up on some ammo and go buy yourself a remorse gift, like a new 45 auto and a leather holster.  I like that.

Bears Butt

November 7, 2012  Don’t forget to wish No Grimace a Happy Birthday today!

Many, many years ago this could have quite possibly been a reality holiday, but today it would be really hard to pull it off.

National Marooned Without A Compass Day.  Do they even make compass’ any more?  I have a small one that I was given a couple of years ago by my friend Gatlin, and he said as long as I have it close by I can still find my behind (of course that wasn’t exactly how he said it).

With all of today’s technology GPS units, phones with GPS, cell phones in general and towers on top of nearly every mountain.  How on earth would anyone be able to get far enough away from some land mark to even remotely get lost?

Oh, I just re-read the holiday…not lost…Marooned.

And so I went in search of the definition of “Marooned” and boy did I get an eye full.  Most definitions said to be stranded, abandoned or however you get there, alone on an island.  But there was another place that said you were considered Marooned if you took in too much of a good thing, either drink or smoke, and you were so “marooned” you could do nothing but sit there in your own little world until some of it wore off.

So, let’s get back to the holiday at hand.  National Marooned Without a Compass.  By most definitions you really wouldn’t have any problem, afterall how big is this island you are stuck on?  Does it really matter to you if you go North or South, East or West?  Pretty soon you are going to hit the beach and then you will have to go left or right or just sit down and dig it in your own little world.  The bottom line is you are stuck there and a compass would be of no value what so ever.

If you suddenly find yourself  “marooned” by the other definition, the use of a compass would again be of no value because you probably could not even focus on the compass, let alone tell which direction the little pointer was pointing and for sure you would not be able to get up and walk in any direction.

Well, besides being our day to vote for elected officials, let’s go one step farther with it and Maroon the Moron we know deserves to be Marooned!

Bears Butt

November 6, 2012

This one has been around for quite some time, but some of you, like me, may not have heard about it.  Again it is an emergency thing.

So, you find yourself without lights.  You can not locate any flashlights or candles, or you have exhausted the batteries or used up the candles and still the power is out.

Maybe you find yourself on a camping trip and the battery dies in your trailer.  Whatever the scene you do have a can of Crisco shortening, a string and some matches.  Thank God you have those things.

Tie a big knot in the end of the string.  Use a long stick and push the string down through the center of the can of Crisco (or other solid type cooking oil in a METAL can).  Push Crisco up against the string to keep it standing up.  Now light the string.

The string will burn down until it hits the Crisco and then the oil will begin to melt and soak into the string.  The hole you made with the stick will eventually fill with melted oil and the string will burn like that of a candle, mostly burning the oil and slowly burning the string.  This type of emergency candle is said to burn over 40 hours continuously.

Now, if you need a source of heat to cook with.  You can push several strings down into the Crisco and light them all.  Suspend your pan over the top of the fire and cook whatever you need to cook.

Unlike a wax candle the fire from the burning string will not emit black soot, but burns cleaner.  It is said that there is no odor from this burning machine at all and my sources say it is safe to use indoors.  I’m sure one would have to worry about using up all the oxygen in a small space using it, so be careful with that.

So, if you find your can of Crisco has gone rancid DON’T THROW IT AWAY, make a candle out of it and mark it accordingly for the emergency you hope never causes you to have to use it!

Bears Butt

Nov. 4, 2012

See you up to the Un-Turkey Shoot that starts today at 10 a.m. sharp!

Boy my luck in buying wading boots is terrible.  You no doubt read about my buying some VERY expensive (to me) heavy duty boots from a company back in the South East and they ended up leaking so I had to send them back.  They did finally send me a replacement pair but I have yet to try them out to see if they leak or not.

Anyway, I picked up a pair locally while I waited for the expensive ones to come back.  They saw me all the way through the trapping season and into and through the ditch digging time on the farm during the spring.

Now, when I want to go duck hunting they leak!  They have cracks all around where the top portion fits the bottom portion of the boot.  The area where they fold when you pull the tops of the boots down over the bottom of the boots about knee high.

February to November!  You would sure think a boot that cost over $70 would last at least one full year.

In my haste to make them ready for another duck hunt I smeared some “fixit” stuff on the cracks in hopes that they wont leak next trip out.  Then I looked up the warantee on the internet…I blew it…they have a one year full replacement warantee if I want to try replacing them at the store I bought them at, or sending them to the main company.

The Weasel has the same issue with a pair he bought at the same time.  I’m not sure of his brand of boot but his issue is even worse than mine.  His cracked down the entire front of the boot, on the lower section!  And his boots were fully opened and hanging out of the sun in his garage.

What is going on with our brand name companies here in America?

Frogg Toggs what is going on?

Bears Butt

November 3, 2012

MAJOR EDIT!

I just received an email from Frogg Toggs company in Alabama and they are going to authorize me to return the boots for a new pair.  Even though I have smeared fixit stuff on the cracks.

Good for them!

Bears Butt

November 5, 2012

For most of us outdoors types, we can look up at the sky and from the clouds we see decide if it’s going to rain or snow.  We may not be right all the time but we can pretty much decide if we need a warm dry coat or an umbrella or not.

However, when we are out for a considerable time and the weather has been favorable for what our outing has been so far, and we look up and see those streaking, high whispy clouds going overhead we might not totally understand what we are seeing.

Those type of clouds have always been known as “mares tails” to me.  Mother taught me about them and she said that in a couple of days we will see a change in the weather from usually fair weather to some sort of storm.  Rain in summer, snow in winter…and so far I must say she has been pretty much spot on.

Whenever I see mares tails streaking across the sky I say, a storm is going to happen within 24 hours.

I came across an old sailor saying about mares tails today:  “Mackerel Scales and Mares Tails, cause a sailor to lower his sails”.

Mackerel Scales was a new one to me and so of course I looked it up.  Clouds that are not totally collected together, but there are a whole lot of them bunched up individually like popcorn in a bowl overhead, if you will.  They said they resembled the scales on a mackerel fish.  I suppose if you had been out to sea long enough you could imagine that.  But being a “land lubber” all my life I am not sure I have ever seen such clouds over my head.

(The saying means that when a sailor see clouds like those, he best be lowering his main sail or his ship will tip over in the high winds that are about to hit his area).

On the other hand I’ve seen lots and lots of Mares Tails and both of these cloud types indicate a storm is very likely within 36 hours.  High winds force the clouds along and these clouds are way the dickens up in the air, like higher than a jet usually goes and the air is extremely cold there.  So what you are actually seeing is frozen water vapors being carried along.

So, when you are out and about during the winter and look up and see clouds like these you might just want to stock up on some firewood for the cabin, find your warmest coats and insulated boots and have them handy to grab.  Put some extra feed out for the animals and get your snow shovel ready.  You only have about 36 hours at the most…And mother said 24 hours.

Bears Butt

Oct. 30, 2012

86’d.  He is 86’d.  We are out of it, pick another menu item.  Take him 80 miles out of town and put him 6 feet under.  I’m sorry Captain, the depth is not 86 feet.  OH NO!  He jumped from the 86th floor!  Attention everyone, there is a raid about to come through the door on 86th Avenue, please vacate the premise.  No more booze for you fella, you are 86’d.  I don’t care if you did only drink 86 proof, you are just as much a problem to us now as that guy down the bar who has only drank 100 proof tonight…You are outa here!

Sherry and I were discussing the origin of the term 86 this morning and so I went on a search to find the origin.

All of the internet is saying the same things.  First off it started in America sometime in the 1930’s or 1940’s.  And all of them are speculative as to how the term started.

The prohibition days is most likely the beginning of it as the mobsters were ubiquitous (seeming everywhere at the same time).  Blasting anyone who appeared to be against whatever their cause was at the time.  And most of them were engaged in illegal activities in every category you can think of.  So, it seems like they are the most likely to have started it with the “take him 80 miles out of town and plant him 6 feet under”.

Well, on another note, the Empire State Building has an elevator that only goes to the 86th floor and everyone must get off at that point, unless of course they are going down.  It is also the floor where most suicide people would jump from.  So to 86 yourself meant you were going to fall a pretty good distance before becoming jello on the street below.

There is one story about a famous restaurant in New York City that served up a pretty good steak and everyone that went in there seemed to order it.  Of course it was the 86th item on the menu.  But they could only get so many of that type and tender of a steak and so they often ran out.  When they did the waitress’ were told to tell the customer that it was 86’d and they would have to order something else off the menu.

During the wars, the Navy would often bury their dead soldiers at sea, but someone had the brilliant idea that the depth of the water had to be at least 86 feet (there is a fathom number, but I can’t remember it) deep in order for the body to sink to the bottom and not come back up or be washed ashore.  Bin Laden is at or deeper than that as I write this…Thank you U.S. Navy for that!

Well, you pretty much have the story behind that.  I’m certain there are other ideas and heck, make up some yourself.  How about it started in the old Western days…I’ll say it took a quick draw guy one 86th of a second to remove his pistol from the holster and fire at his opponent and if you could not do that or faster, you would be 86’d.

I’ll kindly 86 myself out of here!

Bears Butt

Oct. 27, 2012

There is a “Duck Street” in Randolph, Utah!

Looking to purchase some bulk raw peanuts in the shell to feed the jay birds this winter.  Since this year has been such a successful year to grow peanuts all over the U.S. I figured I could go on line and find some for less cost than buying from the local bird food place.  Well I can’t.

So, we will be heading down to Layton to buy some soon.

But in my surfing, I came across boiled peanuts and a recipe for them.  5 pounds of so of raw shelled peanuts, 3 quarts of water, and 3 cups of salt.  Boil it up and keep boiling for 3 hours.  Once boiled you eat the peanuts by shelling the soft shells and eating the nuts inside.  These are commonly referred to as “Goober Peas”!  Did you know that?  All the Southern folks do as that is where the whole thing started.

It is rumored that during the Civil War (is there such a thing as a “Civil” war?) the Southern troops had a tough time getting food and so they resorted to boiling up peanuts.  A batch of boiled peanuts would last up to 7 days in the ruck sack and provided quite a bit of protein for the troops.  At least they had something to eat.

At any rate, they were pretty good and so they kept eating them after the war and still to this day you can find road side stands that sell the boiled peanuts.  I’ve eaten some and they are quite tasty.

So, while you enjoy yourself some Goober Peas you might just enjoy this song written about them.

Bears Butt

Oct. 23, 2012

As most of you know I like Olympia beer, it is by far my favorite adult beverage and I have enjoyed it since the early mid 1970’s (1973 I believe).

Olympia looked as if it was about to die on the vine a few years back, but do to a total change by the companies officials it has a new look.  But looks aren’t everything.

The company was taken over by the makers of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer some time back and they remarketed the Olympia without the “made in Tumwater” on the can.  So obviously it’s being made somewhere else.

Olympia Beer!  MMMMMM!

Here is one old time consumers report on Olympia that I found in a very discreet place on the internet.

=============

Anther CAN from Chaz who deserves a nice return package from me for the gem that he shipped out! Someone recently inquired as to whether I am holding on to my spent CANs and the answer is generally “No” with some exceptions, especially those with cool graphics, like this one.

I have a distinct fondness for Oly, dating back to the mid-1980’s when I was a young, (usually) broke punk sailor who loved to frequent Annie Newsome’s El ‘n’ Gee Club in New London, CT. The best night was Oly Night, when CANs were on the cheap, the music was loud and I was having a rockin’ good time. I know that it is no longer brewed in Tumwater (I spent a lot of time staring at the label back inna day), but the mere logo speaks volumes to me. I like that they are willing to tweak the recipe to bring something even slightly different to the table. Yeah, I could be a smartass about what CANstitutes the other 5%, but its Oly and it gets a pass from this aging rocker. Anybody know what became of Circe? Was that The Reducers that just took the stage?!?

A nice example of the Crack & Glug resulted in two-plus fingers of thick, rocky bone-white head that held in like a champ, finally falling into nothingness. Color was a deep golden-yellow with NE-quality clarity. Dang, I wish that I had poured this into a schooner glass, as was the standard. I may have been hallucinating, but I could have sworn that I smelled Saaz hops on the nose. Hey, it’s my story and I’m sticking with it. Mouthfeel was medium and the taste was maltier than many AALs to which I have subjected myself, but it was not completely unadulterated, either. I got some cereal flavors in there, but still … better than the standard. Finish was semi-dry, not sweet at all as that grain bill might suggest. The lacing was phenomenal for the style. I would put some in the cooler for both nostalgia purposes as well as the aesthetics of a cool looking CAN.

Serving type: can

Reviewed on: 06-14-2011 00:01:04 | More by woodychandler

Thank you Woody!

Bears Butt

Oct. 22, 2012

Plan on voting this November 6th!

Bears Butt

Oct. 21, 2012