Utah Fishing ReportsBeing the sneaky little Weasel that I am, I just had to post this…
Today is Bears Butt’s birthday! Show him some love, and wish him a happy birthday!
– His son, and favorite web guru “Weasel”
(Do you think he’ll delete this? I don’t)
August 6, 2012 a real day to remember!
National Wiggle Your Toes Day! YAAAAHOOOOO!
Now what on earth would you want to celebrate a day like that for? For one, just think about what your toes do for you! Think just for one minute.
Minute is up.
They help to keep you balanced when you are standing and just last week I saw a close up of one of the Olympians on a balance beam using her toes to keep her on the beam. She for one has a lot of reasons to celebrate August 6th!
If you ever wonder what your toes do for you, just stub one really good and you will find out real quick just what they do for you.
So, to celebrate this day, may I suggest taking those little toes of yours to a beach and wiggle them in the sand. Or pour some old paint out on the garage floor and slide around in it with bare feet. That really sounds fun huh?
Make yourself a portrait using just your feet painting on the canvas.
Try writing with your toes holding the pencil or pen or marker or whatever.
Try “flipping yourself off” with your toes! That one is fun. And if you are successful, take a picture of it because no body will believe you could do it. Post it up on here.
Tell a story to your kids or grandkids using your toes.
Squish a grape with your toes.
Try to put your toes into your mouth. A lot of people do this daily without even trying.
Paint your toe nails, put your feet up and relax, take pictures of your feet with something cool in the background. It’s National Wiggle your Toes Day for heavens sake! Give them a break!
Enjoy the day! I know I will!
Bears Butt
August 6, 2012
What a wonderful surprise I awoke to today. My good friend Dry Dog texted me (is texted a real word?) this morning to inform me as to what day it was today.
My response was “Bone’s Birthday”, which it is, August 5th…she turns old today.
He responded with another comment that his boss had just announced to the crew….”It’s International Beer Day”! YAAA HOOOO! I knew a day like this would come around and why not have it today?! So break out the Corona, Blatz, Kirin and Hefenvisin….Toss them in the cooler and load it up with ice! Partaaaa time!
If you really want to enjoy the actual festival of International Beer Day participating events click on this site and put in your information to find the event closest to where you are right now! Enjoy yourself, but drink responsibly. I say that because this is a family site.
http://www.internationalbeerday.com/celebrate/find-a-celebration-2012/
On a closer note, it is National (as opposed to International) Mustard Day. So to go along with your beer, you will probably want to crank up the BBQ and toss on some good old American Hot Dogs and burgers and pour a healthy dose of mustard on the buns! That actually sounds quite good to me right now and it isn’t even 9 a.m.
I thank you dearly Mr. Dry Dog for this news! And I hope you enjoy the day to its fullest!
Bears Butt
August 5, 2012
P.S.
Since this is the world wide web, I publicly wish Bones a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY and I hope the rest of the world joins me in wishing her the best for this day and every day for that matter! She is my sister afterall!
Ok, so this video just might help save your life someday. This guy actually starts a fire using an orange, a rock and a stick. Nothing special about any of it and he starts it very quickly. I’m going to buy an orange and see if it actually works for me.
I also think I will carry an orange with me every time I venture out into the woods from here on out.
Enjoy and learn. My life may be dependent on you starting a fire to help get me warm someday. I hope not, but you never know!
Bears Butt
Aug. 1, 2012
I was duped!
With further investigation about this fire using an orange I found it was all a fake! One of the people on a hoax busters show says to re look at the video and notice the camera actually pans up toward the guys face when he is explaining how he was going to rub the stick and all of a sudden he says it had started.
I looked again at the video and also noticed when they panned down into the orange and he pulled the stick up, the end of the stick was on fire. Hoax buster man says the color of the flame indicates it was an alcohol fire, which would also explain the small flame on the end of the stick.
So, I now have two oranges to eat.
Bears Butt
Later in the day August 1, 2012
While sitting and drinking our morning coffee and watching the hummingbirds just outside the window I questioned the life span of a hummingbird. Just how long do they live?
It appears in their daily efforts to drink up all the sugar water Sherry puts out they spend a whole lot of time flying back and forth from where ever they go in such a hurry, back to the feeder and then off again. Constantly battling other hummingbirds for the feeder spots. They are moving so fast it is a wonder they live longer than a few days.
Well, I went in search of my answer and there are quite a few different takes on the subject. The first site I visited said that most hummingbirds don’t make it to see their first birthday, but that if they do, then their chance for surviving another two or three years is pretty good.
Other sites say the average life of a hummingbird is 3 to 4 years, while another says 6 years. It looks like some additional study needs to be done on this subject. But I can see a problem with banding and monitoring the little buggers. After all, they weigh only about the weight of two penny’s, and how could you put a band on their leg that carries all the information you need to know about where, when, what time, how much it weighed and all the other stuff you need to know about banding a bird and monitoring it’s flight patterns etc. The band would weigh more than the bird. Well, someone will figure it out.
So, in my search I also found out that most hummingbirds don’t travel a whole lot of distance from their winter haven to their summer haven except of course the ones we have around northern Utah. They have to travel to the warmer climates of Arizona and Mexico. But along with that, the same type of hummingbirds we have here are also found in Alaska. And those little guys have to winter in the same places as our little guys do. So their flight takes them over 2,000 miles, one way! That’s a lot of sugar water to have to drink.
Mom always told me that hummingbirds migrated by tucking themselves in under a gooses wing and would ride along. I went searching for this and found that the “true myth” is that hummingbirds would ride on the backs of geese. They disproved that theory quite well and of course anyone should be able to see through that one. First off, there aren’t enough feathers deep enough for a hummingbird to locate itself on a gooses back for it to nestle into for the flight. Secondly, hummingbirds like to see where they are going and riding high on a gooses back would not offer them a very good look of the ground directly below. Hummingbirds like to see the ground directly below. So, I’m thinking mother was right. Hummingbirds cuddle up close to the gooses body right where the wing attaches to the body. There are a substantial amount of feathers right there to nestle into. The view is wonderful from that position and when the goose decides to land on the water the “arm pit” never gets wet. A perfect place for a hummingbird to ride.
I also found this site and it has a whole lot of information on it about hummingbirds.
http://www.worldofhummingbirds.com/facts.php
So, you might want to go to that link and read up on the little hummingbirds. Pretty interesting stuff when you think about it.
Bears Butt
July 31, 2012
I usually don’t write serious stuff on this site, but today I feel I need to. Why? There must be at least one couple out there wondering how some couples stay together when it’s so very easy to step out on your spouse. And now, after 38 years of marriage, I think I can tell you what has kept our marriage together. I’m not a psychologist or marriage counselor or trained in any way shape or form on the subject of people staying together, but I do observe and see what works and what does not work.
Growing up, I noticed how my parents always spent time at the kitchen table “every night” having a cup of coffee and talking about their day. Mom had a job at a military establishment and her job included making sure shipments of supplies were readied and sent on time for the soldiers over seas. In an office environment like that the men in the office always had the higher paying jobs, and they would flirt with the women and in general, do nothing all day. In the meantime, mom would work twice as hard as the next woman making sure all the “i”s were dotted and “t”s were crossed. I heard it every night and it was always the same. She did the work and the shapely broad in the corner showing her legs to the boss got the promotions. Go figure.
Dad worked construction and it was very hard labor he did. He too did the work of several men everyday and I have to believe him. Later in my life, after high school, I got to work on one of his crews with him and I must say, for an older man, he did work very much harder than the younger guys on the crew.
So, the point being is “my parents talked”! Every night, they talked. It did not matter what the discussion was, it was the fact that they got together and talked.
My younger brother had a very close friend in high school and I too liked the guy. We would go to his house quite often to hang out and more often than not his home became the “staging area” for our nightly carousing around. His mother liked to cook and was a really good cook. She was cool to be around too, because she laughed and made jokes and kidded us young boys. His dad was a hard working guy who operated heavy equipment like cranes and such. And every night he would stop by the liquor store and buy a pint of “Sunny Brook” whiskey and take it home. Many, many times I would enter their home and there he was, crouched backwards on a chair with a high back, his arms crossed over the back of the chair, pint in hand talking with his wife about the days events. She was busy cooking the supper for the day talking about her day at the hospital. She cooked for the patients.
Again it did not matter what the discussion was, it was the fact that they were hanging out together talking. He wasn’t in the bar with the guys and she was not out with the girls playing bridge or whatever. They were together talking.
My wife and I began our marriage the same way. She worked hard as a waitress and I as a bar tender, while both of us were going to college. When we had the time together we talked. Both of us had Sundays and Wednesdays off and after school on Wednesday, we would do stuff together. Sundays were days to sleep in and read the paper in bed and drink coffee and talk.
Our neighborhood was made up of fairly new couples, all of whom had children the same age as our two boys. And mostly boys made up the children around the blocks. One day one of the young men came to the house to visit with our boys and he made himself comfortable in the living room where Sherry and I were sitting talking and he said, “Every time I come here I see the two of you sitting side by side talking, what do you guys talk about anyway”?
We found that quite an unusual question but we answered it as honestly as we could. We just talk.
So we have gotten into the habit of sitting every morning drinking coffee and looking out the front window and talking about what our plans are for the day ahead. And then again in the evening, you will find the two of us sitting in the same places talking and having a drink of some sort. Twice a day, we sit and talk. What about? It doesn’t matter. Like I said about my parents and my friends parents, we are together talking and that is all that matters.
We know each others business. We share everything. It’s “our life” and after 38 years I like it and I have to say I think she would say the same.
I ask my sons about what their wives are doing and in a lot of cases the answer is “I’m not sure”, or “I don’t really know where she is”. To us, that is not acceptable, but it’s their lives.
As a bartender, many moons ago, I often saw the spouse come in for a drink and you know what would happen. At first it was innocent but then it became a habit and whammo….divorce and a broken family. It did not matter whether the male or the female came into the place, it happens and it could have been prevented if the two of them would have sat down at home and talked. But when one or the other doesn’t come home on a regular basis, the other one feels they need to “get out of the house” for awhile and that is when the shizza hits the fan.
I’ll get off my soap box and put my thinking cap on for another humorous type of story next time. Right now, I have to go fix some breakfast and get ready to enjoy it with my significant other.
Bears Butt
July 29, 2012
Today is going to be a “go for it” day with tons of things to do to catch up with the yard and other stuff. The weeds have really g0tten a root hold since most of my efforts of late have been in the hay, so they have to be pulled and sprayed.
Then to help us celebrate our anniversary we have decided to use a two night stay with extras at a fairly local gambling hot spot to get away from anything that is real and we will be gone tomorrow and the next day. So, don’t count on any Bears Butt dot com updates for at least a day or two.
But, the reason I’m writing is because of the National holidays that are on us::
Today, July 25 is National Threading the Needle Day! Tomorrow, July 26 is National All or Nothing Day and July 27 is National Take Your Pants for a Walk Day!
Now it all makes perfect sense to me, let me explain:
National Threading the Needle Day. A day to make sure all your ends are tied up. Like I explained before. Those weeds have gotten way out of hand and need gathering and pulled. Arrangements have to be made for a dog tender. The lawn has to be adequately watered. The potted plants too have to be tended to. The garden has to be picked and the close relatives notified of our absence for the next couple of days. That should take care of National Threading the Needle day for us.
Tomorrow is National All or Nothing Day. That’s right. When you go to a gambling place you are not there to expect to win but more to have a great time be entertained by those little beasts that back themselves into a corner or up against the wall and challenge the world! Come on they say, I dare you try and milk me out of the money I have stored inside! Or the gaming tables with the “hoovers” waiting to suck your last dollar from your wallet without saying a thing. They just put the cards out in front of you and know that you are going to double down on a pair of sixes hoping for a nine to come up.
Of course we all know that there isn’t a casino in the world that is going to allow a player to double down on two sixes, right? It’s just a saying. Double down on sixes! I like it. You know you are feeling very lucky if you have a pair of sixes in front of you and you double your bet!
So it’s All or Nothing tomorrow! A man’s gotta dream you know and this is for sure a dreaming kind of day! And around midnight, if one is still awake, the day changes to National Take your Pants for a walk!
What that says to me is that you might lose your shirt on the 26th, but be mindful not to lose your pants too, you are going to need them on the 27th if you are going to take them for a walk. Wearing a barrel will not do on a day like National Take your Pants for a Walk.
And there you have the wrap for the next few days! Enjoy these dog days of summer!
Bears Butt
July 25, 2012
Talking with the Weasel yesterday we got to thinking that just maybe the old Bears Butt could put together an album. He doesn’t know any song all the way through so the album would be a very short one and he only knows parts of about six songs that he regularly belches out at rendezvous and other Willow Creak Free Trapper events.
Songs like: Ice Today Lady, She Broke My Hort, Plastic Jesus, The Pickle Song, Drunkin Skinner and Alueta.
Thinking even more out of the box, how about making these one in a lifetime songs into a ringtone for you own phone? Oh Ya Baby!
It just might come to be, so stick around for that great day!
Bears Butt
July 23, 2012
When money is at its tightest that is when something totally out of the ordinary is going to happen and it’s then you wonder why on earth you didn’t have a reserve of funds sitting in a savings account.
Last week, while working feverishly trying to beat the rain and get the hay put up and either sold and on trailers or stacked high in the barn, my daughter in law calls and says the clothes washer in the laundry room was flooding out all over the floor!
Oh my heck, I don’t need this right now! I’m in the hay! Why is this happening? I drop everything and head over to see what was up. She was trying to get the wash done in order for their family to go on a camping trip for the weekend and she was frantically getting things done. She did not need a flood in the laundry room either.
I turned off the water at the water source taps and then began looking for where the water was coming from. There was water on the floor, but not an over bearing amount. She had turned off the washer when she noticed the water. I thanked her for doing that. The washer had just started its agitation mode when the water began coming out, that was her observation. So, I turned on the agitation again and sure enough out comes water from the bottom of the washer.
I turned off the washer and began looking for a way to take off a panel in order to see what was going on inside around the tub. I could not see any way possible to pull off a panel. No screws or twist head locks, nothing. It looked to be a one piece covering on the entire washer.
Without being able to get in to see what was going on, I told her I would have to look into it after the hay was done and that the best we could do right now was to drain the water and have her use our washer to do her laundry and get ready to go camping. She was alright with that and so we put the washer into spin mode and spun out the water. No additional leakage was seen at that point. And I headed for the hay fields.
Two days later, the hay is all put up and life is going to get back to normal for me. She and family all headed for the camping area and had a great time. Normality is once again about to come knocking. But then I realize I have to try and fix a washer I know nothing about. I can’t afford to have a repairman come what with $100 visit, $75 per hour labor, parts that cost me twice what they cost him…I might as well go buy another new washer, right?
So my mentality says, try to fix it yourself and then if you break it beyond repair, go buy another new one on credit. After all, I don’t have enough money in my pocket for a 12 pack of beer, yet alone a new clothes washer.
I call up and talk to them about me coming over on Monday to take a look at the washer and hopefully fix it. Sherry and I talk about “what ifs” on part costs etc. and decide our plan is to hopefully have enough money to pay for the part(s), if not, the banks will be closed for the state holiday tomorrow, I am to write a check, which won’t be cashed until Wednesday and by then we will have money in the account. Things are looking up, sort of.
I take one last look at the computer for the parts diagram for our model of washer and one last look at how to get the front panel off the washer. A simple flat blade screwdriver pushed in between the front panel and the top on a line straight with the edges of the lid and pop, bingo, the front panel comes right off. I am feeling like a tried and true repairman at this point.
I can see the entire workings of the washer and so with my flashlight I study all the parts. The agitator drum, motor, drive belt, electronic sensors, hoses, mounting brackets and other assorted do-hickies that make the thing work.
AH HA! I see water in the bottom of the pan, under all the stuff that makes it work. I grab a towel from her laundry basket and mop up the water. All the water that I can reach that is and I make a mental note as to where the water is that I can’t reach. That information could come in handy when I turn back on the water at the source and begin to fill the agitator basket. I will be focused on looking at hose connections, the bottom of the basket and all around looking for leaks. I really am feeling like the Maytag man right about this time.
Well, Bears Butt, let’s take a minute and go back home and take another look at the breakdown schematic and parts listings so we know what we are looking at and we will be able to call the part by its real name and not “this thingy here”.
Back home, the computer writeup I am using says to start with the very most simple things and work your way into the more serious stuff. One item at a time. There is a smallish hose that comes from somewhere near the top of the agitator tub and runs down and plugs into a little plastic box on the outside of the agitator tub. It says that sometimes little stuff can plug up that hose and cause a sensor someplace to miss read the water depth and suddenly water will pour out onto the floor. HMMMMM, could this be the problem? I need to remember to take some fine wire with me to push up into this tube and clean it out.
Next is a “flood hose” and one way “flood valve” both mounted at the top of the agitator tub and of course away and behind everything so I can’t see anything but the “flood hose” coming down the outside of the agitator tub. OOOO, there is a bad feeling coming over me about this “flood hose”. After all, we did have a mini-flood the other day. The “flood valve” could have malfunctioned sending a flood of water down the “flood hose” and sprayed all over the bottom of the washer causing the flood in the utility room. How will I get to the “flood valve” to replace it? Do I have to take the entire agitator tub out in order to get to it? Is it an integral part of the agitator tub? Knowing my luck it is and I will be forced to go buy another washer, because for me to get the agitator tub out I will destroy any likely hood of ever getting it put back together.
I look more closely at the diagrams and then decide it’s time I went back over and turned on the water and set the dial to begin filling.
I remembered the wire and when I got there I cleaned a smallish bit of “whatever” out of the little tube on the side of the tub. Then reattached it to the little plastic box.
Another quick glance with the flashlight beamed on an intense focused beam under the workings and at what little water still rested in the base of the washer. I reached up and set the setting on “small load” and turned it on. Water began immediately pouring into the agitator tub. My focus was again underneath the workings looking for dripping water. Nothing yet. Maybe it needs more water depth and the pressure will send a stream squirting out from the culprit defective part. Still nothing. the tub is half full and then it starts to agitate. Still no water dripping out. I let it go awhile and continue to stand on my head until all the blood in my body is settled there, still no drips. I decide I need to set it on “Large Load” are really pour the water into the tub for maximum pressure. I spun out the water and reset to the large load.
It seemed like I was going to drain Willards’ holding tanks before it finally kicked into agitate mode and still I had not seen one drop of water come out of any of the hose fittings, tub seal, itty bitty hoses or anything. Maytag man began to think deeply about things at this point.
The other day when it was leaking the tub was very full of clothes and the water was right up to the tip top of the agitator tub when I looked in from the top. That’s it! What’s it?
In her hurry to get the washing done in order to go camping she over filled the tub with too many clothing items and then when she put it on “large load” it over filled causing water to jettison out the one way “flood valve” and into the “flood hose” and cascade out onto the base of the washer until it became over full and had to spill out onto the floor of the laundry room! Yep! That’s what this Maytag man is saying. And so, with it agitating I called her into the room and told her what I had done and that no leaks were present and that I surmised the overfilled tub and subsequent spillage onto the floor. She said she probably did over fill it because there is no “do not fill above this line” on the inside of the agitator tub. She will be more careful in the future. I thanked her and she thanked me back.
Both of us had a feeling of this whole ordeal being a “blessing” and it certainly is. No out of pocket expenses and my not having a story to post on bearsbutt dot com just got done.
Maytag man Out!
Bears Butt
July 20, 2012