Monday, June 29, 2009
Up And Running
It's almost a month that our wind turbine has been in operation. I will have a more extensive post within a week or two with photos.
It sits behind our house and can be seen from the kitchen window (I like to look at it while doing the dishes), and it is the first thing I see when I awaken in the morning and look out the bedroom window.
This week will be a busy one for us and I will try to post during the week if something of significance happens. We will be going to the Kutztown Folk Festival one day (yes, there will be photos), and of course a big racing weekend is looming on the horizon with activities starting Thursday at Daytona.
Dale Jr. will be in the Nationwide race as well as the Sprint Cup race. He and his team have gained a lot of strength and things are starting to look good for him. It was getting to the point with me that I didn't want to watch the races for how poorly he was running. At this juncture, any sane Dale Jr. fan realizes he won't make the Chase, but there are races to be won. I think before the season is over (we're coming up on half way), he will be in Victory Lane.
Did someone ask me whatI thought of Danica Patrick coming over to NASCAR? No? No one asked? Well, I will give you my thoughts about that subject anyway. I'm all for females running with the boys; however, I truly do not think Danica has the stamina, or the patience, to run a season with 36 races starting in early February and ending in late November. And she has to "earn" her way into the Cup races via some ARCA/ReMax races and then at least a year of Nationwide races. To just stick her in a Sprint Cup car would be insane. And that's all I'm going to say about that.
posted by Cheyenne at 3:34 PM comment(s) made:
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Saturday, June 27, 2009
Crazy Weather Is Everywhere
Here are two pictures taken on the same day. First we had hail. Lots of hail. Please pardon my blurry photo; it was taken through a window. And please pardon our deck; it needs to be power washed and stained. It's a long story as to why it hasn't been done yet but I promise you, it will get done before the snow flies.
Later in the day, due to the fast and furious downfall of rain, flooding occurred all around our community. Actually, it's listed as a village. And the village has grown since we moved here 23 years ago. But I digress...
Across the street from our house is a cornfield. Because we have had so much rain that has left the ground saturated, this rainfall had no place to go. So it formed pools in the fields and poured out into the street. This particular overflow ran down the street which has a slight downgrade, and formed another pool in the street. What a mess. Just look at that wicked sky. (The For Sale sign is for a trailer blonging to a neighbor and we allowed him to put it in our yard. It was sold and is no longer there.)
It's another race weekend. They are in Loudon, New Hampshire, this week. And Friday it rained. Qualifying for the Cup race was canceled as were both Cup and Nationwide practices. Bummer. I love Fridays because of SPEED TV and the racing shows that take up most of the day. But this dadgum rain is enough to drive me nuts. Just about every race weekend so far this year has been plagued with rain at least one day out of the three.
Rain rain go away...and stay the hell away till I am ready to take you back. Don't call me, I'll call you. OK? Thank you.
posted by Cheyenne at 12:34 AM comment(s) made:
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009
My Daughter Keeps Me In Stitches
I am seriously thinking of buying her one of these:
There have been a lot of times in my daughter's life where something happens and she reacts to situations a lot different than I would react. Let's take yesterday as an example.
She and her male friend, Jeff, had been at our house earlier. They left here and went home and I soon got a phone call from her. She was excited and agitated. They had no power in the house whatsoever. Her first thought was that the power company shut them off. Why she would think that is beyond me. She said they have paid their power bill on time ever since they moved to the new place.
I asked her if she called Jeff's mom who lives right down the street from them to see if she had power. No, she didn't think to do that. Instead she hit the panic button. And called me. Par for the course.
And it doesn't take much for her to hit that old panic button either. I guess she inherited that trait from her father because I do not panic. I get upset, I get mad, I want to punch someone, but I do not panic.
Eventually she learned that around 55 other people were also without power. They were told they would be back in business within two hours. Obviously they have a different power company than we do. Ours took over seven hours.
posted by Cheyenne at 12:30 AM comment(s) made:
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Sunday, June 21, 2009
I'm Running Away From Home
Why? I'm in search of dry land and no rain for a few weeks. This rain every day is getting to the point of ridiculousness. Is that a word? If not, it is now. Actually, yesterday was a nice day. And I'm glad it was because we went to the annual festival at a local church. We aren't members; we aren't even of the same faith. We go for the ethnic food. And I always end up eating more than I should. Then again, had it rained I wouldn't have gone and therefore I wouldn't have eaten so much food. Did I hear someone ask what kind of food it is? Ukrainian. My husband's half Russian. Don't ask which half because I haven't figured that out yet.
Not much to write about these days since my brain is saturated from all the rain. And since my driver is at the bottom of the barrel, I can't even brag on him. I can only imagine how badly he feels and until his car starts getting better, he will be kicking himself from here to there. No wonder he is down in the dumps most of the time. I'm right down there with him.
Something weird has been going on with my blog. I keep tabs of how many hits I get in a 24 hour period by using the counter figures. Normally I would get 15 to 20 hits some days during the week and maybe 8 to 10 on weekends. For the past ten days, my daily hits have jumped to 50 and beyond including weekends. I have no idea why they are so high (well, 50 plus is high to me). Checking further it seems most of them come via Google. Makes me really wonder just what the heck they are Googling to find their way to my blog. The only thing I can think of is it must be the rain. No? Anyone have any ideas? What frustrates me the most is if I actually have that many hits, why isn't anyone leaving comments?
So today is Fathers Day. Happy Fathers Day to all you fathers out there. My father is gone. My husband's father is gone. We don't celebrate the day anymore. My husband will be with his son and grandson most of the day. Grandson is going to camp. I will stay home for a little quiet and solitude. That's a weird sentence. Hey, it's 1:15 AM and I am not responsible for what I write this time of the night.
Have a good day and I will talk to you later!
posted by Cheyenne at 1:00 AM comment(s) made:
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Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Why Do We Do This?
I'm a collector. At least I used to be a collector. And when I collect something, I usually go way overboard. Sort of like an addiction I suppose.
There are four things in particular that I concentrated on collecting over the years, and for the most part they were collected simultaneously.
My addiction to collecting NASCAR diecast began with Dale Jr.'s career. It was an absolute must that I own the majority of his 1:24 cars from the time he started racing in the 90's. That enormous task has been accomplished, despite the fact that it took a lot of money and a lot of time tracking them down. When he signed on with Hendrick Motorsports, I bought four different 2008 cars. And then I stopped. I also own a boatload of Bill Elliott cars. And then there are the Dale Earnhardt Sr. cars that I bought for my husband which includes almost every one of his cars over his career.
I can't remember when I started collecting Beanie Babies. I concentrated solely on the bears due to my love for teddy bears. For those I turned to the local pharmacy that would call me whenever new ones were released. They would set all the bears aside and I would pick them up. I also found a great deal of the international bears on eBay. And those were not cheap by any means. I cut myself off from buying anymore in June 2005. I haven't bought any since. I lost count of how many I have.
And then there are these sweet things: Cherished Teddies. I have a small curio cabinet full of them. I stopped collecting these when I ran out of room in that cabinet. Otherwise I'd probably still be going strong because they are small and not as expensive.
Porcelain dolls. What can I say? This was my worst addiction. When I started collecting artist dolls the market was at its height. And every doll I saw was cuter than the one I had just ordered. Remember those cards in all the magazines for dolls? I got a lot that way. And QVC of course was another source. I couldn't wait till another doll show was on. The only doll shows they have now are the occasional one with Marie Osmond. I bought her first doll which she named after her mother. At one time it was valued at $800. It may have gone higher, but I stopped checking on it. I have no idea what it is worth today. Probably a lot less than $800.
I eventually put a stop to collecting the dolls many years ago. My plans for their usage didn't work out, and so they sit in their boxes, some never opened, piled up in one of the rooms. I lost count and even if I knew how many I have I probably wouldn't share that number with anyone. I would be too embarrassed to do so.
Now that I no longer collect any of these items, I ask myself why did I do it in the first place? Why not just a few of this and a few of that? Why did I go overboard? I don't know the answer to those questions. I do know, had I not spent my money on those things, that I would probably have spent it on something else.
What I am getting at is so many of us do the same thing over our lifetimes. Just about everyone collects something. And then we reach a time in our lives and wonder why we did it. I am at that place now. I don't think I'll ever know the answer. But I will say this: a lot of the time the thrill of the hunt was most exhilarating.
posted by Cheyenne at 12:05 AM comment(s) made:
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Sunday, June 14, 2009
I Guess I Spoke Too Soon
In regard to my previous post, I think I used up all my luck Saturday.
Junior finished 14th in today's race. Not bad, but not good either.
The Yankees spanked my Mets beating them 15-0. I guess they were pissed off that the Mets beat them Saturday in their own brand new stadium.
The Phillies won their game. Anything gained by the Mets on Saturday were lost today. You win some, you lose some.
Ah, but I did have some good luck: KYLE BUSCH DIDN'T WIN THE CUP RACE TODAY. That more than makes up for all the other bad luck. Now I have a clear conscience.
posted by Cheyenne at 7:20 PM comment(s) made:
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Saturday Was A Good Day
Kyle Busch didn't win the truck race.
Kyle Busch didn't win the Nationwide race.
The Mets beat the Yankees. The Phillies lost (and the Mets gained on them.)
Now, let's see what Dale Jr. can do in Sunday's race to make this a good weekend.
Not much else to talk about. My plate was very full Saturday and I am very satisfied with the results.
posted by Cheyenne at 12:20 AM comment(s) made:
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Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Kyle Busch ~ Out Of Control
After beating and banging on Dale Earnhardt, Jr., on the track and off (making snide remarks about him) for a year and a half, Kyle now says he never had any issues with Dale Jr. As a matter of fact, his issues, so he says, were with Casey Mears. So why is it that we never heard about those issues? Why is it we never saw any on-track incidents involving Casey Mears? Why is it we never hear Kyle bad-mouthing Casey Mears? I guess Casey was just as surprised at that allocation as the rest of us were.
On Saturday, June 6th, at the Nashville Speedway, Kyle Busch won the Nationwide race. The trophy is a one-of-a-kind, hand-painted by Sam Bass, Gibson Les Paul guitar. It is valued at $25-30,000. It is a trophy any driver would be proud to win.
So why did Kyle Busch take that trophy and proceed to smash it in Victory Lane? Why? He says he wanted to give a piece of it to each of his crew members. He lied on national TV saying it was OK with Sam Bass, OK with the speedway, OK with whomever else he thought in his pea-brain had said it was a cool thing to do. He said he felt like a rock star, that he was only a driver showing raw emotion after winning a race. Hello? This is far from his first race win. He has won far too any races to start showing raw emotion now. I don't buy it. Besides, what the hell does a rock star have to do with winning a NASCAR race?
Rock star? I believe he has rocks in his head and that NASCAR needs to order a CT scan stat. He also needs a good ass whooping...something his parents were obviously unable to do. I say, it's never too late for that either. I'll be standing first in line.
The fact of the matter is, Kyle Busch has no class. I only wish all his sponsors would see the damage he is doing. I also wish his fellow drivers would circle around him and tell him what he is doing is certainly not funny and then proceed to knock the $hit out of him. He thinks the smashed guitar incident can be glossed over by commissioning Sam Bass to make two more trophies, one for himself and one for his crew chief. All I can say to that is, if Sam Bass does do that? then he is a fool. If someone slaps me in the face? do you think I would then turn around and kiss their feet? I'm a Christian, but I have to draw the line somewhere.
Bottom line is, this latest shenanigan by young Busch will be swept by the wayside in another week or so. People have taken both sides: some are outraged, as I was and still am, while others think it was cool. And, yes, I understand once he received the trophy it was his to do with as he wished. I also say that if he wanted to give a piece to each of his crew members, then the responsible thing to have done was accept the trophy like a normal person would and cut it up later for the crew. That is not something you do on national TV when all those impressionable young children are watching.
Kyle...grow up, will you? Stop being such an ass.
posted by Cheyenne at 3:20 PM comment(s) made:
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Monday, June 08, 2009
I Hate When This Happens
A few weeks ago at approximately 11 pm on a Friday night we settled in to watch the news. I normally never make it through the entire news but I wanted to catch Jay Leno's last night of the Tonight Show.
So there we both sat, taking in the lead-off news story, when everything suddenly went black. Not just dark...pitch black. I could not see just a few inches in front of me.
We grabbed our mini flashlights and investigated. Looking out the windows told us nothing, so I fed the cats (they have a routine). I had one window that I hadn't checked and that is when I saw some red lights flashing up the street. There are a lot of accidents at that particular area and someone is forever knocking down the road signs. That's a T intersection and when they get to the end of the road, they just keep going, crossing our road, and driving into the field after plowing through all the road signs. That happens quite routinely so we're used to seeing them laying over all the time.
Meanwhile, my husband called the utility company to see what the problem was and to try to find out how long we would be without power. My one and only worriment was the 14 cu.ft. freezer in the basement full of food. We were told someone hit a telephone pole, sheared it off, and that all the wires were down. The woman didn't know where it happened or when the power would come back on. Wonderful. Just what I needed. So I went to bed.
The power was off almost eight hours. Eight hours, people! That's a long time. Luckily the food in the freezer stayed frozen because it is packed almost full. We didn't open the refrigerator until well after the power came back on.
I know this isn't the greatest story. But the cause for the power outage is. You see, it was a 21-year-old boy/man who was quite drunk. When he pulled out of the side road he was on, he never straightened out his wheel and went up an embankment and got acquainted with the telephone pole. He totalled his car. This is the fifth car he has totalled. Whether he was drunk each time we don't know. And to make matters worse, his parents (who we know) own the country inn right down the street from us. Perhaps that is where he learned to drink so well.
posted by Cheyenne at 12:09 AM comment(s) made:
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Thursday, June 04, 2009
My Kids
In two short months my babies will be three already. Good grief, where does the time go?
This is Dakota Sioux. My aloof little princess. She does not crave attention, but when she wants some she will come to me and talk. It's not easy learning cat speak, but I am catching on.
And this is Junior. He's afraid of his own shadow. All he wants is my attention when he is awake. He doesn't talk much, but he has so much love to give and I take as much as I can when I'm not busy.
For those of you who have cats I'm sure you know what I mean when they come and sit at your feet and give you the stare. It is very unnerving. Especially when I don't know what they want. Sometimes I have to get up and walk away. And sometimes it just takes me a little while to figure out just exactly why they are staring at me. I'm not too smart for a human you know, but I'm learning.
posted by Cheyenne at 1:43 AM comment(s) made:
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Monday, June 01, 2009
What A Dear (Deer)
We've lived in this house over twenty years. This is a rural area which is why we are here and not in the city or suburbs. I am a country girl, happy and content where I am. Every passing year there are less wild animals in this area, a very sad fact. However, we are still treated to an occasional deer or a family of deer way off in the fields. And I have to get my binoculars out to be able to see them.
I've never seen deer around these parts any closer than in the field far away. Our previous neighbor said he saw lots of them over the years right in his back yard. So why were they being elusive to my eyes? Whenever I watch the cats and kittens on our deck my eyes wander to those fields, searching, always searching.
Recently though I was treated to something far better. I had just given our two inside cats their treats when I decided to check the ones outside. This time I didn't have to search that field. Movement caught my eye to the left of our deck. This is what I saw:
This is the field I mean when I say they are far away. See where the field ends and the tree line starts? That's where they usually are, unless there is corn in front of the tree line, then they come down that far, which isn't all that close either.
I snapped the above three pictures as it crossed our back yard. And then it stopped, turned, and looked directly at me as if it knew exactly what I wanted. And then it continued on behind our shed. That's when I went outside to see if I could get a better shot of it (and not through a window) , but it spied me and ran back into the field where it had come from.
These aren't the best of pictures, but it gives you a general idea of what I witnessed. And all shots were taken through the glass door so they aren't that sharp. I would love to have the new Nikon Coolpix P90 but for now it's just a thought.
I hope I don't have to wait another twenty years for the next sighting in our back yard, but maybe I will have a better camera by then too.
posted by Cheyenne at 6:40 PM comment(s) made:
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