Thursday, January 28, 2010
In case you missed it, my Mom had her 'moment in the sun' with President Obama at the Elyria Town Hall meeting last Friday. She claims this is the last lap of an 'old political warhorse' but I am not so sure. There plenty of spirit left in those old bones.
I have compiled a web page with some of the highlights at Mom and the President.
Posted 8:25 AM by jeichenlaub (2) comments
Comments:
Post a Comment- Ok, I was hoping someone I knew got the chance to kiss the man. I expect nothing less from Robin Ruth's mother-in-law.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
"We are moving to an age where we won't have the senator from Arkansas or the congressman from North Carolina, but the senator from Wal-Mart and the congressman from Bank of America," said Melanie Sloan, director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
And we thought lobbyists already had too much power. Perish the thought. They've now gotten to the Supreme Court. Umm.. and uh, just in case someone from the government is monitoring this (hey, who knows these days?) I, for one, welcome our new masters.
Posted 5:32 PM by whatley (1) comments
Comments:
Post a Comment- Seriously, now we may have some clout.
What if we mounted a campaign to shop with the corporation who best represented our interests?
We got Coke Classic back. Maybe we can get health care now!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Dear Pat Robertson...
Posted 10:12 AM by whatley (2) comments
Comments:
- Thanks for putting that in perspective. It looks like the tyrannical 'GOD' of the Old Testament is alive and well.
Post a Comment- Perhaps Creationism is the reality. And the Creator is rethinking the original artwork and moving toward erasure and redo. I mean, hail, whirlwind, rain of frogs, earthquake: real Old Testament stuff. It works in impoverished and desperate places like Haiti. Now in the USA, we have Banks and Religion. Same result; rendering masses hungry, desperate and homeless. The eradication of the human parasite from the earth may be the end goal after all.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
And we'll have fun fun fun 'til our daddy takes our T-Bird away...
Posted 6:55 AM by whatley (0) comments
Comments:
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
"Sometimes it boggles my mind the kind of power we have."
How Don McLeroy and his ultraconservative buddies on the Texas State Board of Education will be re-writing the school books for the entire nation. And no, it's not just about evolution anymore. "Among other things, they aim to rehabilitate Joseph McCarthy, bring global-warming denial into science class, and downplay the contributions of the civil rights movement."
My mind boggles too.
Posted 7:30 AM by whatley (0) comments
Comments:
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Seasons greetings to everyone and I hope your Christmas went as you hoped. As for me, well, I got a bit of a scare yesterday.
My backyard is completely enclosed by a six foot wooden fence which makes it convenient to let Niki (my dog) out and gives her room to run a bit. There are two gates in the fence both of which can only be secured from the inside. Problem is that once or twice every year somebody climbs over the fence then lets themselves out through one of the gates leaving it open. I don't know why they do this. Maybe they're casing the house, maybe they're just taking a shortcut between streets. The result is that I let Niki out then ten or so minutes later realize that I don't seen her anymore. Show her an open gate and it's adios amigo. It happened again yesterday. Oh shit oh dear. Out I go in the wind and rain wearing my jammies and slippers calling and calling. No Niki. I live on a cul-de-sac but half a block away is Poplar Street which can be pretty high traffic. I run back in and get some shoes on then go back out and start heading toward Poplar fearful of what I might see when I get there. But no! One of my neighbors, also with a fenced backyard, comes out to tell me that Niki wandered into their yard then the wind blew their gate closed and she couldn't get back out. Yup, there she was. Whew! So in a way, getting her back, I guess I did get a Christmas present this year.
Posted 4:59 AM by whatley (2) comments
Comments:
- I'm glad you got Niki back. I know, I've been trying to spend all day in my jammies during break. I finally made it Saturday without putting pants on. WOW! It was a little cold getting the mail and filling the bird feeders, but worth it.
Happy New Year!!!
Post a Comment- Kind of a circle of life thing. Glad you got her back. The kid that cuts our lawn keeps leaving the gate open. Murphy the golden retriever just runs to whatever neighbor is out. Still, scares the crap out of me when it happens.
Ray, like your goal of no pants. Mine is no socks. Had to make a small allowance to knee high hose when we had a cold snap down here - got to 38 degrees. Yikes!!
Finally got to put my sandals back on today.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Your tax dollars at work: Senator Inhofe flies to Copenhagen.
Posted 5:43 PM by whatley (5) comments
Comments:
- Just goes to show ignorance (and greed) know no limits. Heinlein said (through the voice of Lazarus Long), "The only unforgiveable sin is willful ignorance."
- A letter I sent to Sherrod Brown -
Senator Brown:
As a member of the Senate Ethics and Oversight Committee, please move to recover any public money spent by Senator Inhofe for his recent trip to Copenhagen, Denmark. I feel that his physical presence at the Climate Conference was neither necessary nor effective. Per existing reports, he delivered what amounted to a predictive guess and a unilateral declaration of futility to the 192 nations when he stated that the United States would "never pass a cap and trade." By not coordinating with US Chief Negotiator Todd Stern and by not acting in concert with the US House Delegation, he appeared to promote a personal agenda that is not in line with existing US Policy. While respecting his right to individual opinion, his personal message, whether text, audio or video, would have reached more people if delivered via electronic channels to world media outlets. His physical presence in Copenhagen was not required as a stage to release this statement. As such, please act to insure that the costs incurred by Senator Inhofe's trip to Copenhagen are covered by his personal finances and not paid from public funds.
- Oh come on now. He was tired and cold.
Maybe he can relate to some other tired and cold people now. . .
Post a Comment- Oh Andy, I just saw your post. To answer your question, beyond what I posted later on another thread regarding our 2.5 weeks of stupid cold, I am hanging in there.
Work has been a huuuuge headache. The republican bureaucrats on Tallahassee have been putting up barbed wire hurdles as I try to expand my program. I think the fact that Obama loves us is putting a target on our backs. Wish I were closer to retirement.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Laid off? Taken a salary cut? Benefits slashed? Well then, obviously, you're doing it wrong.
Bonus depressing factiod: Detroit once again leads the way and apparently the rest of the nation isn't far behind (Cleveland stats are about half way down). Our national leaders can't deal with this at the moment. That money is needed to fund infrastructure (and corruption) in Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention these important projects.
Posted 6:15 AM by whatley (1) comments
Comments:
Post a Comment- Now that the fat cats have re-stuffed their pockets they may have time, over their private country club dinners of course, to also consider these items: cancer screenings and hungry kids.
I'm on a bit of a rant here aren't I. Sorry. It just all seems so insane. I can't help but imagine what people a hundred years from now, after the U.S. has failed and broken up into smaller countries, will say about all this. "What the fuck? What were they thinking back then? Greed is greed, but damn!"
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Kiss Medicare and Social Security goodbye. Apparently we need those funds for Wall Street instead.
Posted 5:46 PM by whatley (3) comments
Comments:
- FYI: Social Security and Medicare are keeping me alive right now. Without those two programs I would be one dead motherfucker. No shit.
Post a Comment- OUTRAGEOUS !!! ABSURD !!!
I sent emails protesting his 'insanity' and offering alternative 'entitlements': eliminate corporate subsidies and close preferential corporate tax loopholes.
My 'email' list:
Rep. Tim Ryan (D, OH-13)
Sen. Geo. Voinovich (R, OH)
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D, OH)
Sen. Christopher Dodd (D, CT),Chair of the Committee
Sen. Richard Shelby (R, AL), Ranking member of the Committee
and, of course,
Pres. Obama.
This cannot be allow to stand.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Pennsylvania local governments spent $4 million in taxpayer dollars to lobby state and federal governments to give them more taxpayer dollars. Which they can use to lobby for more taxpayer dollars.
But... I mean how... This can't... Oh fuck it. I give up.
Posted 9:24 AM by whatley (0) comments
Comments:
Monday, November 23, 2009
Remember Leona Helmsley? She was a billionaire New York City hotel operator and real estate investor who's most famous quote may be "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes ..." Leona was eventually made to eat those words. Maybe her mistake was that she thought to small. Not like these guys:
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which got $10 billion and debt guarantees from the U.S. government in October, expects to pay $14 million in taxes worldwide for 2008 compared with $6 billion in 2007.
"This problem is larger than Goldman Sachs.... with the right hand out begging for bailout money, the left is hiding it offshore."
Posted 9:16 AM by whatley (1) comments
Comments:
Post a Comment- P.S. They're paying $10.9 billion to themselves in employee compensation (bonuses) and benefits for a job so obviously well done.
Friday, October 23, 2009
I have a new hero, in Washington of all places. It's Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard law professor who serves as the chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the TARP program. Here are three clips from an interview she did with Michael Moore than didn't make the cut in his latest film (a Huffington Post link, which I don't usually do but this is just so choice I couldn't resist).
What do you wanna bet that there exists now a whole room full of big money lobbyists tasked with nothing else but destroying this woman professionally and personally.
Posted 5:30 AM by whatley (3) comments
Friday, October 02, 2009
Dear Health Insurance Industry,
Please be advised that The Red Brick Times may be willing to officially support abandoning any and all health care reform. Your talking points, no matter how ridiculous, could be repeated here ad nauseum. All that is required is a tiny piece of what these guys get.
Much like your pocketbook the possibilities are endless. Cash only please, plain brown wrapper, etc.
Yours Truly,
tRBT Editorial Staff
Posted 5:04 AM by whatley (2) comments
Comments:
- Like everyone else, I'm totally in favor of up-heaving the entire compost heap of rotting regulations and actuary-driven quarterly profits as long as I don't have to be discomfited or have to pay more or have to wait in line at the doctor's office.
Battle lines may be forming.
The business side is rich, powerful, lobbyist-heavy, loud, stentorian and rapacious. The lines of snuffling, aching, whining miserable wretches huddled in plastic seats under fluorescent glare at midnight being herded by vacant-eyed sleep-deprived would-be servants of health care are powerless to resist the administrative dehumanization visited upon each of them.
It feels like the underpinnings of the French Revolution here, with a trickle of benefit leaking past the vault doors, just enough to keep the downtrodden hopeful for the medical lottery to spin their way.
Struggle to get the "right" language on the claim form so your particular travail is "covered".
Pick the right times to visit, the right place to go so the "out of pocket" is minimized.
Choose the correct cheap and maybe ineffectual drug to match the "formulary" written in sanskrit and legal precedent.
Put the ball down and see if it comes up red or black when the wheel stops spinning. Let them eat the caked residue scraped from the inside of the oven chimneys once the fires are out and all the wheat grains have been gleaned from the barren fields in mid-winter.
I have seen those I presumed to be intelligent posting pictures of a grinning, buffoonish George W. waving gaily at the camera with the caption: "Miss me yet?" Not on your best day, bucko. The battle is not yet begun.
Post a Comment- At least one voice in the medical community is ready to call Congress to task.
From 9/22/2009 NPR interview by Linda Wertheimer with Denis Cortese, Pres./CEO Mayo Clinic:
[excerpt]
WERTHEIMER: Dr. Cortese, as you look at the various plans for revamping health care systems that the Congress is struggling with, I understand that one of your concerns was having some sort of public option.
Dr. CORTESE: Well, we are not fighting the issue so much from the insurance side. We just think everybody should have insurance. When people start talking about the public plan, it wasn't clear what kind of public plan we were talking about. And if a public plan looks like Medicare, I think the country would go broke almost overnight because Medicare is already proposed to go broke by 2015 to 2017.
If what they meant by a government-run public plan was the federal employees' health benefit plan - well, that one's quite good. That is one that could be used to insure people. So we want people to be focused and end up with our citizens insured and that we're starting to pay for value in the near term.
[/excerpt]
Full interview transcript
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Man, armed with microphone and camera, wanders through Taxpayer March On Washington, interviewing crowd members on different issues. So cringe worthy, you'll dislocate your shoulders.
Posted 8:43 AM by whatley (3) comments
Comments:
Post a Comment- Preamble to the Constitution:
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Five goals:
1) Establish Justice
2) Insure domestic Tranquility
3) Provide for the common defense
4) Promote the general Welfare
5) Secure the Blessing of Liberty
Universal unbiased Fairness, Peace at Home, Security and Sovereignty, Shared Prosperity, Freedom from Tyranny. Simple wishes that are complex to support.
What troubles me is the rejection of the 4th tenet. But worse the ignorance among so many that the committment is embedded in our foundation.
"We, the people ..." has become distorted to "Me first, to hell with the rest".
It is what saddens me most.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Excerpt for an interesting New Republic article:
Banking was once a dangerous profession. In Britain, for instance, bankers faced "unlimited liability"--that is, if you ran a bank, and the bank couldn't repay depositors or other creditors, those people had the right to confiscate all your personal assets and income until you repaid. It wasn't until the second half of the nineteenth century that Britain established limited liability for bank owners. From that point on, British bankers no longer assumed much financial risk themselves.
In the United States, there was great experimentation with banking during the 1800s, but those involved in the enterprise typically made a substantial commitment of their own capital. For example, there was a well-established tradition of "double liability," in which stockholders were responsible for twice the original value of their shares in a bank. This encouraged stockholders to carefully monitor bank executives and employees. And, in turn, it placed a lot of pressure on those who managed banks. If they fared poorly, they typically faced personal and professional ruin. The idea that a bank executive would retain wealth and social status in the event of a self-induced calamity would have struck everyone--including bank executives themselves--as ludicrous.
Read the whole thing here.
Posted 5:49 PM by whatley (5) comments
Comments:
- Here ! Here !
Balanced rationality is the key.
Risk without reward is saintly but not something you will find in the hyper-materialistic culture we live in. Risk without ENFORCED personal consequence is the balancing weight that is missing in the financial sectors.
Lack of consequence is akin to 'insanity' defense in the law. We seem to be conceding that the banking sector is, but definition, insane and therefore cannot be held responsible.
One point the article did not address and I feel is relevant as well is the status of a corporation as a entity, an entity without morals, ethics or intelligence yet possessing the powers and rights of a real person to enter into contracts, accrue benefits, seek protection under the law. Yet a corporation is not explicitly a real person, it is a legalistic definition of a conspiracy to make a profit while limiting the loss consequences to whatever assets are directly committed to the corporation's officers to manage. The contributors are shielded because they have to NO DIRECT role in the management and use of the contributed assets. Sounds reasonable but who is responsible?
Shouldn't then the officers, acting as the moral, ethical and intelligence actors behind the facade bear the consequences of their failures? Or are they not responsible because they are 'insane' because they cannot distinguish between right and wrong?
Perhaps the remedy for corporate officers who act recklessly, irresponsibly, carelessly and without prudence should be the same as for an individual declared 'not guilty by reason of insanity'. Perhaps we should commit them to psychiatric hospitals where they can get the needed therapy to return them to rationality.
Post a Comment- Bonuses are paid either employment agreements. For the highest executives this is managed by the Board of Directors Compensation Committee. A bit lower down the food chain it is included in the performance evaluation processes for an individual, division, or overall profitability taken from the corporate financial statements.
Which leads me back to my point, the BoD are acting in a direct management role determining the distribution of assets. They are responsible for forming the agreements that 'separate' performance reward and performance penalties from the realities of fiscal operations. It is they who have allowed 'insane' agreements to exist.
We, the investors, have only one opportunity to influence who is on a BoD: the annual stockholders meeting. But 'votes' are tied to the number of shares owned and large stakeholders can and do easily overwhelm the vote of small stakeholders unless and until the small stakeholders form a coalition voting block.
In short, it is a stacked game favoring the large stakeholders who are more and more frequently the very executive being awarded bonuses and other corporations who hold large block of shares, like mutual funds, investment banks, etc.
While it seems reasonable to tie executive compensation to share ownership (stock options) in order to incentivize them to build share equity, it creates an suspicious, if not untenable, conflict of interest.
At heart of this mess is many of the issues raised by Ralph Nader in his campaigns against the legal hegemony of artifical entities.
Monday, September 07, 2009
Labor Day 2009
* Ohio's unemployment rate was 11.2 percent in July, up slightly from 11.1 percent in June, according to data released this morning by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Ohio's non-farm wage and salary employment increased 9,800 over the month, from 5,113,100 in June to 5,122,900 in July.
"Ohio's labor market remained relatively unchanged in July," ODJFS Director Douglas Lumpkin said. "Job gains in service-providing industries were partially offset by job losses in goods-producing sectors."
The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in July was 664,000, up from 663,000 in June. The number of unemployed has increased by 265,000 in the past 12 months from 399,000. The July unemployment rate for Ohio was up from 6.7 percent in July 2008.
The U.S. unemployment rate for July was 9.4 percent, about unchanged from 9.5 percent in June.
Where is the cause for celebration? We have 'rescued' the banks and insurance companies with trillions but where is the 'rescue' of the working stiff?
Labels: jobs, labor, unemployment
Posted 11:40 AM by jeichenlaub (1) comments
Comments:
Post a Comment- Looks like the banks are going to "rescue" (wink wink) us. You know the "payday" loans that Ohio just voted to make illegal? Apparently that only applies to state chartered institutions so the nationally chartered banks are stepping in to fill the void. I guess the billions of tax dollars we gave them only served to whet their appetites.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Since digital television came to full flower I haven't been able to see "Legend of the Seeker" that Mike H's niece stars in. Has the story been picked up for a continuing season? Will they continue to Seek? Can we all be extras in an upcoming episode entitled "Land of the aging idealists lost?"
Posted 5:09 AM by Andy (1) comments
Comments:
Thursday, August 06, 2009
"Incredibly, President George W. Bush told French President Jacques Chirac in early 2003 that Iraq must be invaded to thwart Gog and Magog, the Bible's satanic agents of the Apocalypse."
"Honest. This isn't a joke."
Posted 4:51 PM by whatley (1) comments
Comments:
Post a Comment- Well, so far we have survived the rabid anti-Asian propaganda of WWII, the anti-Communist hysteria of the 1950's, deeply entrenched racist hatreds, anti Jewish religious bigotry from the past several thousand years, several anti-Islam religious pogroms in previous "Dark" ages, and road rage. One brain-damaged zealot with limited functionality (Bush, not Reagan) merely added another century or three of angry memories that governments and religious leaders of the Middle East can keep alive to drive their own hatreds and prejudices. To every thing, churn churn churn...
When the company I was working for went belly up back in 2007 one of the first things I did was to place my updated resume on several national (CareerBuilder, Monster) and local (Cleveland Plain Dealer among others) "job sites". I NEVER received a legitimate contact from any of them. Instead, at least three times a week (some weeks much more often), I received spams, scams and general bullshit. The prevailing scam was an email that mentioned a potential job and quoted a starting salary. A very good starting salary. Though right off the bat this made me suspicious for the first few I went to the "human resources" link in the email to try to see what was what. They were all more or less professional looking sites with good graphics but had one thing in common; the questions they wanted you to fill out. Where have you applied for continuing education loans? Who is your cell provider? Obvious spam bait. I never felt that these job sites were properly called to task for what they were knowingly enabling or that people, mostly desperate job seekers, were warned about what was going on. At long last todays NYT has an article about some of the prevailing con games run by operators who get all their potential victims by trolling "job sites". 'Bout time.
Posted 5:34 AM by whatley (0) comments
Comments:
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
My computer is about to take out a restraining order on me. Would somebody, please, take this mouse out of my hand.
Until that happens, here are a few pictures of our blog host that have been moldering away on my computer.
Posted 8:56 AM by Ray (2) comments
Comments:
Post a Comment- A waterfall of whatley.
I noticed Ray used Picasa (A Google app) to post these. If you want to see the originals larger and higher def (and let's face it - who wouldn't?) go here.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
A general "security warning" about Skype (an internet "telephone" software) was sent out at work. While warning everyone that it was "Not Approved" and "Disciplinary Measures Will Be Taken" for those using it, it did reveal a bit about how Skype , distributed network programs (i.e.: BitTorrent) and other Peer-to-Peer (P2P) programs work. Note that this is from the doom-and-gloom people who stand at the virtual doors waving their arms, invoking spells and weilding +3 hit statistical weaponry. Your results may vary. Contents may have settled during shipment. If you let unknown data streams into your computer, you may see bad things happen.
"Information Security has been made aware of the presence of a number of Skype users in the Company network for both business and personal use. Because of the nature of Skype, this activity poses a significant risk to the exposure of intellectual property and the security of the network in general. We have reviewed Skype and have identified the following risks associated with Skype:
1. Skype’s privacy policy states that they collect video and sound recordings and may share that and other information with third parties.
o This could lead to the disclosure of sensitive and confidential information to unauthorized people.
o Skype creates exposure for the Company with the potential of communications to fall out of Company control. Corporate Legal supports this evaluation.
2. Skype uses peer-to-peer connection to establish communication, which allows it to bypass Company security controls.
o Peer-to-peer allows Skype to be a source of data leakage, and external attacks to the Company network.
3. Skype creates a file in the temp directory which is capable of reading all BIOS data from a PC.
o Once this file is compromised, an attacker could leverage Skype to have access to all BIOS data which could be used to bypass or adjust BIOS level security controls.
4. There are bandwidth issues of the way Skype routes packets on the Company network. Attempt to get the fastest path to the other caller the Skype client leverages other machines on the Network or Internet. Skype will send the packets through other computers running Skype.
o This setup may allow users to intercept other user’s communications.
are acting as a Skype gateway. "
Look up Skype and P2P in Wikipedia for an overall view of the protocols involved. Since Wikipedia is the result of peer-to-peer input, the bad things that may happen are not delineated, since some of the peers WANT to be able to get into your virtual drawers.
Posted 10:47 AM by Andy (0) comments
Comments:
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Matt Lawrence (Rick & Chris' son) got married yesterday. They were nice enough to invite me so, social butterfly that I am, I went. The ceremony was at First Congregational in Elyria, a beautiful church, and included something I'd never heard/seen before; a handbell choir. There were 15 (or so) people playing some fairly intricate music and I loved it. How cool. I sat next to Ralph (I warned him that if he started crying I was gonna move) and his Mom and Sis. Another cool thing, it being July 4th and all, they passed out sparklers instead of rice for the exit. Good casual outdoors reception near the newlyweds house south of town and a fine time for all.
Posted 8:45 AM by whatley (1) comments
Comments:
Post a Comment- That must have been a lovely sound. What kind of arrangements were played?
Sparklers! What a great idea! As I have no plans for yet another marriage, I will have to suggest that to my children as they wed.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Mary Weyburne has passed away.
An obituary.
Posted 4:39 PM by whatley (5) comments
Comments:
- I went to the funeral home this evening since I am working tomorrow. Hordes of people, parking lot filled, so many lives she touched and impressed. Not knowing anyone, I sat in the corner awash in the energy and complex tangle of all these stories interwoven. A fitting legacy for this kind and gentle woman. The ripples of her life continue to spread.
Post a Comment- I went to the service. Well, to be more precise, the calling hour at the church just prior to the service. Jim and Peg were there but I didn't know anybody else. A big crowd and they all seemed to know each other really well. I was gonna stay for the service but felt out of place somehow so just signed the book, looked at the displayed snapshots, thought my thoughts, then took my leave.
I saw Mary so rarely since the schoolhouse days. A few solstices and a FOWL picnic or two. That was it. This will sound strange but to me knowing Mary was kind of like living close to Lake Erie. I don't go there much but I'm so happy it's near by. Just knowing it's within reach makes me feel good. In the same way maybe I didn't see that big smile of hers too often anymore but I knew it was out there. I can still see it. Always will.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
The Huron River is a most serene place. The exception is when you go under the railroad bridge or the turnpike bridge. The wildlife is very nice. Russ claims that he saw a fox scramble on the bank. By the time he said something, it was gone. Eagles, Herons, Kingfishers and other fish-lovers are not uncommon.
FOWL is sponsoring a River Paddle on Saturday June 27 beginning at 11:00 am. You can come to paddle or just sit at the lovely picnic site to see us return with sunburn. High summer and water are a paradise to savor. For details contact me or see the FOWL Paddle page.
Posted 6:31 PM by Ray (0) comments
Comments:
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Ray and I went kayaking on the Huron River yesterday. We put in by Mason Rd. and went upriver to just short of the turnpike bridge. There was almost no visible current but I figure, "hey, goin' up river has to be more effort than goin' down, so we can paddle 'til we're pooped then coast back". Wrong. I didn't really notice it but the wind was at our backs at first giving us a push. Going back into it required a lot more paddling. I'd never realized how much a kayak is affected by even a small (but steady) breeze.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day and, freckle faced boys that we are, we both got cooked. Sunscreen? We don't need no stinkin' sunscreen! Yeah, right. I had some with me too but didn't think of it until we were on the river (it was in the car). Fish were spawning like crazy on both banks and it was fun to be so close to them while they splashed like that.
For the most part the Huron River is farmland for as far as the eye can see. We were deep onto a friend's farm property so when we got back Niki got the walk of her dreams. There are so few places I can let her go off leash around here that, when I can let her romp that way, it always makes me feel good.
Posted 4:58 AM by whatley (0) comments
Comments:
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