The Decompression of a Boomer

Goathead Encounter

June 25, 2016

A few nights ago David, Megan and I took a long walk after dinner. Whereas, on my walks I’ll typically circle the same route on neighborhood streets, David likes to explore. With him in the lead we’ll charge off through a field toward train tracks or some distant warehouse, hey let’s check it out! On this particular walk the warehouse turned out to be the Pepsi Distribution Center. The delivery trucks were all parked and abandoned for the day. The doors to the warehouse were open, and it was stacked to the ceiling with Pepsi products. Man that’s a lot of pop!

When we returned home I shed my shoes right inside the front door. Pooped, I just left them there.

Don’t leave your shoes in the front entry

Then about 5am the next morning the dog wanted out. I dragged myself up zombie-like to follow him down the stairs to the back door. (David and I take turns with the dog. It’s my turn.) I stumbled down the stairs behind the dog and then bumped into my shoes in the front entry. OW! OW! Hop. What the heck! I swear, one of my shoes bit me! I stood there in the dark while the dog was doing his business, rubbing an itchy wound on the inside of my foot by my ankle.

When I got up later to start my day, my first order of business was to pick up those shoes and put them by the back door where they belonged. I had an appointment I needed to race off to. Quick, get in the shower! I come racing downstairs wet and barefoot and suddenly – OUCH! Something impales my foot! I reach down and jerk out a large thorn lodged in the ball of my right foot. I leave a splotchy trial of blood on my way to the bathroom where I wash the wound, rub it with neosporin and slap a band-aid on it to stop the bleeding. Then I limp into a pair of flip-flops. Ow! That puncture wound really hurts. It throbs for the next hour.

So what the heck is it? I’d obviously picked that thorn up on our walk – through the field. It was still lodged in my shoe when it bit me at 5am. Then it fell out when I picked up my shoes to move them. And sat there in the front entry just waiting to impale its first victim …

Here I took a couple pictures of it:

‘goat’s head’

Then I did an internet search on plants with thorns. … and found it. It’s this weed that grows in rough patches of grass ‘Tribulus terrestris‘

Tribulus Terrestris

Looks innocent enough. Yeah, well within five days of blooming its dainty yellow 5-petal blossoms morph into a ‘fruit’ that easily falls apart into five nutlets. Nutlets? How about, burrs with 2-4 razor-sharp spines. These nutlets strikingly resemble goat’s heads. Thus, the name ‘goathead’. Other common names for this weed are devil’s thorn, devil’s weed, devil’s eyelashes, or ‘puncturevine’ (no kidding).

These devil’s horns are sharp enough to puncture bicycle and lawnmower tires. ‘Nature’s miniature version of a tire spike,’ is how one caption describes it. Why would such a vile creation of Nature exist? This is such a mystery that the Bible attempts to explain it. The Book of Genesis claims the creation of thorns as one of the punishments for the original sin of Adam and Eve, you know, alongside pain in childbirth.

Maybe give God credit for more noble intentions: The Scottish thistle became the national emblem of Scotland founded on the story of an invading Norse Army that was thwarted by an encounter with a thistle in the dark.

Obviously thorny plants and bushes strategically planted below your windows would be a good defense against burglars. This could help explain the knee to waist-high weeds sprouting up along houses in your neighborhood. These neighbors aren’t derelict, they’re smart! All the more reason for would-be burglars to target your house, with your pest-free, manicured, greenhouse gardens and lawns.

If, perchance, you have patches of goatheads or puncturevine sprouting in your lawn, not planted intentionally to keep wayward kids, cats, dogs, skunks, rabbits, marmots, and burglars off your property, don’t worry. For ways to cope with and/or eradicate this noxious punctureweed go to this website: Goatheads.com

If, for example, you have patches of devil’s eyelashes sprouting in your fenced yard where you keep your dog, then purchase their ‘Ouchless Faux-Paws dog shoes” to keep your pets’ paws safe from those loathed stickers. Though, since these thorns can puncture bike tires, you might want to get a written guarantee on those shoes … just sayin’.

Goathead gloves protect your hands when pulling puncturevine, but again, you might rather opt for extermination plans ‘b’ and ‘c’ offered on the same website: puncturevine-eating weevils, or … propane torch. Or maybe just sell your house and move … in the winter, when the goatheads are covered in snow, to hide the surprise for the new owner.

And you know, instead of building a wall along our southern border to staunch the flow of illegal immigrants (yeah, right, Frump-head), how about we just propagate puncturevine, goatheads, devils weed, Tribulus Terrestris, say, for the first 200 yards of terrain all along our southern border. That oughta do it. Yea.

And stop using Round-up! Although I suspect goatheads are resistant to it anyway.

Tags: devils thorn, goathead weed, puncturevine, Scottish thistle, tackweed, why do we have thorny plants?
Posted in Gardening, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Pocatello, Idaho

June 15, 2016

My car has been getting crappy gas mileage lately, at least five miles to the gallon less in town than it used to. Since I do all town driving, I thought maybe a trip on the freeway would blow some carbon out of the engine…

So one day recently, when we had a few free hours, David suggested we drive to Pocatello, a town 45 miles south of Idaho Falls on I-15. ‘Poky’ is about the same size as Idaho Falls, about 58,000 people. It’s a college town, home of Idaho State University. In fact, I attended ISU my freshman and sophomore years of college back in …. 1971-1973. Lived in an apartment in Pocatello just a few blocks from campus. I haven’t visited Poky in years. Yeah, Let’s go!

Poky here we come!

Our plan is to first visit Ross Park. David heard it has a climbing wall, and it’s large. Let’s get a good walk in at Ross Park before lunch. Yes! And then visit my old stompin’ grounds 40-plus years ago. See if we can find my old apartment …

I remembered walking to Ross Park back in college (since I didn’t own a car) but it doesn’t look the least bit familiar now. We step out of the car into a grassy area and immediately spot two marmots. Marmots. Rock chucks.

Now I know marmots are supposed to be common large rodents, but I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen a marmot (if you discount road kill). So I’m pretty excited. Get a photo! Dang, these critters are fast …

Fleeing marmot

No problem. We scare up two more marmots. “Get a photo David!” (He’s closer) One marmot ducks into a ledge of rocks and thinks he’s outwitted us, but, nope, not my hubby. David follows that marmot right to his hole:

Jeez, can’t a marmot have some privacy?

We must have seen six, maybe eight marmots at Ross Park. So, yeah, if anyone asks, you can tell them, Ross Park has marmots.

Now we’re walking toward the swimming pool/ water park with a huge snaking water slide. Wow. The pool’s stacked with families and people of all ages. “Check out this car.” David says. “Cop magnet.”

Party on! No, wait. Panty on. I say.

Yeah. David says. It’s Panty on, party off or Panty off, party on!

Yes, I see. Thanks for enlightening us, honey. The car is confusing. So, for them I guess it’s ‘party off’…

(We have such intellectual conversations)

We’re alongside a parked train now, on the tracks that border one end of the park.

Huh, this is interesting… “Do not hammer on car” Now, who would do that, exactly how … and, why?

Do not arouse car

‘Do not apply vibrators to any part of car body.’

Uh, let me guess. The car has a G-spot? If you had thought to bring your vibrator with you to Ross Park, just remember to get the car loaded first. If you do everything right, you might see the car explode.

Well then, now look at these adorable little ducklings. Oh how cute! The mom is up on top quacking furiously, while several new-born chicks are making a run for…

See mother duck top left

Oh no!! ROAR! GROWWWWWL” I SCREAM at them and scare them back up to mommy.

Find mommy!

To keep them out of that disgusting pond:

What’s green and looks like anti-freeze?

Okay, time for lunch. Which brings me to my next topic: ‘Space burgers’. Now, I have to tell you, I may know of the only spot on planet Earth, and likely the whole Universe, that sells

Space burgers. They are to die for. Or at least, that’s how I remembered them from my college days. I would set aside a special Saturday to walk the several miles (3?) from my apartment to ‘Tastee Treat’ near Ross Park after cramming for an exam or something,

Space zombie after so much studying

Fortify myself with a couple of incredibly edible Space burgers.

David you must try a Space burger. Yes! There it is, Tastee Treat – Home of the Space Burger. It’s still there! Look! Aren’t you hungry? Pull IN!

We’re inside now. Check out the walls:

Dig that space border

70’s retro!

Check out the menu:

Uh, check out that girl in front of us

She can’t make up her mind. (Simple. Space burgers!) Gives us plenty of time to intellectualize about her outfit. Like, where does her body end and dress begin? How do you plan for such an outfit? Do you buy the dress and tattoo the body to match the dress; do you tattoo and then shop endlessly for the perfect dress, do you do both at once? Is she even wearing a dress??? i.e.:

At this point we’re just irritated after waiting so anxiously in line to order our Space burgers:

The counter at Tastee Treat

“Two Space burgers please.” Wow. Good price @ $2.39 each.

We head outdoors to a picnic table with our Space burgers.

But of course, you have to fly them first.

With ‘Star Wars’ sound effects.

Then, as a precaution, pray over them:

Take a first big bite:

Hmmmm. Not as spicy as I remember.

Gut bomb:

Let’s take it home as leftovers. You know, if we’re desperately hungry later…

Oh how convenient. A massive graveyard right across the street…

Drop dead of cardiac arrest eating your Space burger and they transport you directly across the street to the Mausoleum

Warning to Meredith from the Universe:

Do not eat at Tastee Treat!

Okay, well we drive past the University … and my old favorite breakfast place, Elmer’s

Hey, is that a vulture?

We drive around the various side streets near the University where I thought I might spot my old apartment. Nope. None of it looks the least bit familiar…

Let’s keep driving, maybe we’ll run into old town…

Well, we don’t.

We talked to my brother, Eric, a few days later. “Hey, we made a trip to Pocatello.”

“Oh! Did you visit my Antique Store? It’s in old town, which is really quite charming.”

“No, we didn’t Eric. We drove around, but we didn’t find old town.”

“How could you not? It’s easy – just off of Clark Street exit!”

“Yeah but we took 5th Street exit. We tried to find it, Eric. Drove all the way across Pocatello back to the first exit ‘Pocatello Creek Road’ to get back on the freeway home.

“And you didn’t find old town?”

“Nope.”

Though we did pass another point of interest:

‘PCP’ Mad ink, Sojourn, Twisted’

PCP. Yep. That sure resonates. Remember Angel Dust, a recreational drug of the 70’s? Psychedelic. Far Out! Helps explain why the 60’s and 70’s were so … Groovy. (This hallucinogenic drug laced in the 70’s with tobacco and marijuana has long since been banned and fizzled out.)

Well that about puts a wrap on our trip to Pocatello. Hmmm. Might need a do-over, you know, to visit Old Town, the University, Eric’s Antique Shop …

Check out those marmots again! Plus, my car still gets crappy gas mileage.

Tags: 70's, Marmots, PCP's, Pocatello, Ross Park, Space Burgers
Posted in Drugs, Idaho, travel | 4 Comments »

Quake Lake, West Yellowstone, and ‘Snaggletooth’ – Part 3

June 11, 2016

On our way to Virginia City from Idaho Falls this past Memorial Day weekend, we stopped at the Quake Lake Visitors Center. It’s on Highway 287 about 44 miles south of Ennis, in southwestern Montana. The center sits at the site where, near midnight on August 17th, 1959, an earthquake near the Madison River triggered a massive landslide. The slide moved at 100 mph and in less than 1 minute, over 80 million tons of rock crashed into the narrow canyon, blocking the Madison River and forming Earthquake Lake.

This earth-changing event, known as the Hebgen Lake Earthquake, measured 7.5 on the Richter scale. At the time it was the second largest earthquake to occur in the lower 48 states in the 20th century. Twenty-eight people were killed, mostly campers along Hebgen Lake. In the Visitors Center you can read personal accounts of the event from survivors. Children who lost siblings and parents, wives or husbands who lost their spouses and children. A large boulder fell on a tent, killing a whole family, but their car parked next to the tent was untouched. Here is an arial photo of the landslide I found on the internet:

According to this wikipedia link, Hebgen Dam, built in 1917, sustained severe damage but continued to hold. The landslide, which occurred downstream from the dam, blocked almost all the flow of the Madison River. In less than a month, the waters had created what is now known as Quake Lake. Before the new landslide was breached by the quickly rising waters, a spillway was constructed to ensure erosion and minimize potential failure of the natural dam.

Eric led us on a detour off of 287 to visit two other Lakes, Cliff and Wade lakes, and coming back I shot my own distant photo of the landslide in the Madison River Canyon:

Landslide in Madison River Canyon

I captured these photos of Quake Lake:

Quake Lake

Today, Quake Lake is 190 feet deep and 6 miles long.

Continuing on 287 toward West Yellowstone, we’re now driving past Hebgen Lake:

The town of West Yellowstone, at the west entrance to Yellowstone Park, has a Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center. The Center houses a Grizzly Bear Habitat and three wolf habitats. The Grizzlies have been rescued from the wild or otherwise might have been put down due to their encounters with people. Kabuki and Nakina were out in the Habitat for us to see. (They have 8 bears they bring out at different times.) Here’s my photo of Nakina, who was the more active of the two:

Nakina, the Grizzly

Kabul and Nakina, brother and sister, were orphaned as cubs in 1998 after a landowner killed their mother and brother in Delta Junction, Alaska.

An IMAX theater is adjacent to the the Bear and Wolf Discovery Center, and across the street is another museum Eric made sure we didn’t miss, the Yellowstone Historical Center. (Here’s a link with a photo of the Historical Center and to learn more about the town of West Yellowstone, population < 1200 people.)

Inside the museum now, looking at freight wagons. Prior to 1915, almost all goods that reached the West were bounced across a trail or dirt road via freight wagons, piled high with goods such as food, building materials, feed for horses, and an infinite variety of other necessities, to stagecoach companies, camping companies and hotels in Yellowstone.

Freight Wagons

These wagons were used all over the American West.

Then you have the Sinter, an 8-passenger coach early travelers rode through Yellowstone Park:

The Sinter

A typical trip took five days over the grand loop. Transportation through the park in the summer evolved to the coach preferable to modern man, on display out in front of the museum:

Modern coaches through Yellowstone, okay, now we’re talkin’

But the real reason Eric dragged us all across the street to the Historical Museum was to see ‘Snaggletooth’. Standing nearly 8 feet tall and weighing 800-1000 pounds, this giant grizzly ‘reigned as monarch’ in Yellowstone Park. His name came from a tooth which protruded from his lower jaw. Except, his favorite hangout happened to be the West Yellowstone city dump. Two poachers from Idaho shot and killed him there in May, 1970. Here’s a link to the newspaper article about Snaggletooth’s death.

Meet Snaggletooth! Megan posed first:

Then Ben and Rhonda:

Lastly, Eric:

Yeah. Be doubly afraid, Eric.

Whereas Snaggletooth is poised, in one stroke, to rip off the top of your head, are you also aware of that razor-sharp-clawed beast on your chest about to tear your left hand to shreds?

Well, that about wraps up our Memorial Day Weekend trip to Virginia City.

Uh, unless I think of something …

Don’t feed or otherwise, leave garbage accessible to bears!

Tags: Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center, Hebgen Lake, Quake Lake, Snaggletooth, West Yellowstone, Yellowstone Historic Center
Posted in Montana, travel | 1 Comment »

Virginia City, Nevada City and Crystal Park (Part 2)

June 6, 2016

To continue the story of our trip to Virginia City, MT, Eric ran into an old friend, Roger, at the Bale of Hay Saloon Sunday evening. David snapped a photo of them:

Roger and Eric reconnecting at the Bale of Hay Saloon

Eric has known Roger for over 20 years, through his travels and antique dealings. They met up again the next morning on the front porch of the Fairweather Inn.

Roger and Eric chewing the fat on the front porch of Fairweather Inn

Roger and Eric chewing the fat at the Fairweather Inn

Roger is a very interesting fellow, a local. His family’s roots in Virgina City hail back to his great-grandfather who came over the hill into Virginia City back in 1862. Roger’s mother was born in the building that is now the Bale of Hay Saloon.

Roger worked in mining. He had also worked for Charles Bovey restoring the buildings in Virginia City. He now works for the state which bought the town buildings from the Bovey’s.

According to Roger, many music and other old machines were ruined by water damage in a major fire in 1983. However, a preserved fortune teller machine sits in the Gypsy Arcade, one of three in existence and the only one on public display. Roger states that David Copperfield offered to buy this machine for 2 million dollars, but the town turned him down. Here is a photo of it:

Your Fortune Told by the Human Voice!

So of course, you have to step into the the Gypsy Arcade, across the street from Fairweather Inn to check it out! (along with the other machines mentioned in my previous blog).

About a mile west of Virginia City is another ghost town, Nevada City.

Nevada City got its start the same time as Virginia City, when gold was discovered in Alder Gulch in 1863. Numerous other mining camps sprouted out along the gulch, becoming what became known as ‘Fourteen-mile City.’

You can stay at the Nevada City Hotel/cabins:

There’s Eric sleuthing it out

Star Bakery next door dishes up a fabulous breakfast.

Star Bakery

We ate there both mornings. Behind these buildings is an open-air mining town museum. Old miners’ cabins have been moved here and preserved.

A train runs between Virginia City and Nevada City.

Okay, not the original train. Eric found out from Roger that the original Steam Engine is stored in Nevada City. To get it up and running to specs would cost 150,000. Eric spots the building:

We peeked in at the magnificent shiny-as-new train steam engine. And a steam engine tractor and other old equipment. Maybe one day these items will be on display. Anyone want to donate 150K to get the real steam engine train running this year for summer tourists?

Eric’s inner gopher (yes, Eric, you’re the only one with an inner gopher) has us itching to dig for crystals, so on Sunday we pile into two vehicles for the 100-mile drive west to Crystal Park. We stop in Bannack, the first Territorial Capital of Montana, where gold was first discovered (as mentioned in my previous blog.) Bannack is a well-preserved ghost town now. The last people left in the 1970’s. We wandered up the winding staircase of the Meade Hotel:

Bannock’s Meade Hotel and neighboring saloon

And posed out front:

Megan, Jody and David

Ben and Rhonda get thrown in the town jail

Earthen roof and floor, open bars on windows, a ghastly place. Would they throw you in there in the winter?

Pulling into Crystal Park now, about 1:00 pm.

My vision at the get-go of this activity was of our whole group digging together like one big happy gopher family, in a big hole, or maybe two or three adjacent holes, chiseling crystalline treasures out of the dirt, sharing our finds, “Look at this one!” “Fantastic!” One digging, one sifting, passing our crystal finds hand to hand… great family bonding activity. And that’s how I thought we started out. With Eric heading up the trail in the lead, followed by Ben and Rhonda, then Scott, David, Megan and me. Maybe we were a little slow bringing up the rear with a gopher in the lead. I dunno. All I remember is going along happily, meanwhile coming upon a wiry middle-aged man emerging from a deep hole just six feet from the path, “Hey, find anything?” Scott, David, Megan and I pause to inquire…

He reaches into his pocket pulls out his find. “Look at this!”

Wow. That’s really gorgeous! “Can I take a photo of it???” I ask. “Sure….”

A Yuuuuge chunk of amethyst. Holy shit, you’re kidding.

We chat with him a bit. ‘Jack.” He lived 100 miles away to the west. Had risen at 3:30 am to get here and had been digging since 6:30 am. Hadn’t found much in his first two holes but had been lucky in this hole in the past so decided to dig here again. He comes about twice a year – late spring and early fall, and digs from sunrise to sunset. His wife makes and sells jewelry, and she will be thrilled with his find!

“Nice visiting with you, Jack! Thanks for sharing!” Hey, where’s the rest of the group? Eric, Ben and Rhonda have disappeared. No worry we’ll find them, just follow the path up and around and keep an eye out for them. We hike up, and with no sign of them we literally start yelling for Eric. We’ve made it to the top now. Oh well, I’ll capture the view:

Crystal Park Summit view

Megan and I park ourselves on a bench, while David and Scott wander further, calling for the others. Finally David comes back. “Scott’s going to keep looking …” Megan protests. “I don’t want to dig! I want to go back to the car!”

So the three of us wander back down the trail – there are lots of folks digging in holes, but none that we recognize. We make it back to the truck. David says he’ll stay with Megan. “I’ll just dig next to Jack!” I say.

So, I find a hole sandwiched between Jack and another boisterous family, doing exactly what I had pictured for our family. Dad, mom, mom’s sister, with two kids, all digging in a big hole, sharing the duties, and the joy, “Found another one!” “Oh, here, I’ll rinse it off!” “Wow, look at this large smokey crystal!” I started hopping out of my hole to witness their finds. After a half hour, I do find a little quartz crystal, about 3/4 inch long, the width of a colored pencil. Keep digging! Jack is digging like a maniac just below me, conspicuously quiet. I’m thinking that at least I’m digging just a few feet from the hiking path, surely the others will miss me and come looking for me!

Not. I’ll show them! I’ll find a big hunk like Jack’s and then they’ll wish they had found me! I dig by myself for the next 2 HOURS, finding little bits to keep me hopeful, listening to the exuberant yelps of the family in their big hole just feet away. Maybe they hear my groans, because at some point the dad comes over to me and drops a nice quartz crystal in my hand. “You can have this.” “Are you sure? Thanks!!” No problem, they have plenty. I check out their spoils … a large amethyst cluster, and about 20 other clusters and large crystals.

Eventually I hear Scott coming down the trail, whistling. “Scott! Did you find the others?” No. Scott ended up in his own hole digging by himself. Then Eric wanders out. “Is it time to go?” What the heck, Eric? Where were you?

Eric had started out digging with Ben and Rhonda, but then they had wandered off and Eric too had been digging by himself the past two hours. We had all dug alone, and none of us had found much. We were still waiting on Ben and Rhonda, so Eric finds a hole about 10 feet away from where I’m digging. His inner gopher gets to work. “Here’s a nice one!” The first crystal he finds is bigger than any of mine. “Oh, found another one!” A good-sized amethyst cluster. Jeez, Eric! Ben and Rhonda show up – they hadn’t found much but isn’t it time to go? It’s going on 6 PM. Yes. Megan and David show up – time to go!

Meanwhile Eric keeps uncovering crystals. We gotta go Eric! We’re all standing over him watching every scoop of dirt he lifts out of the inner crevices of his hole. Dump, sift … there, another one! You’re kidding! Over the last fifteen minutes Eric found about 10 crystals. Crystal whisperer, where were you?

In the parking lot Eric gives his amethyst crystal to Scott. Gives another crystal to Ben and Rhonda. Later I found out, he gave all his crystals away.

Here’s my spoils after my 2-plus hours of solitary digging, notice the fattest one at the bottom:

Thats the crystal gifted to me from the family digging in the hole next to me. Here you see a closeup:

Scott sent me a photo of his spoils, with the large amethyst cluster Eric dug up as his centerpiece:

Driving back to Virginia City all dirty and exhausted. I snap photos of the back seat:

Rhonda and Ben

Megan, you were so patient waiting for us all those hours, letting us discover our inner gophers.

Thank you, Megan! You’re tired too.

Thank you, David, for driving!

I caught this weird abstract photo of the front driver’s side seat where I was sitting.

Put a wrap on it, Jody. You don’t have to post every photo!

Okay. Crap! And I haven’t told you about Quake Lake and the Grizzly Bear … one more blog???

Oh, and when we got back Eric shared a photo of his crystal collection:

Eric’s crystal collection

That rascal. No wonder he gave all his crystals away.

Next time we go I’m digging with Eric, and whoever else goes along – in one big happy group. I want that gopher family digging bonding experience.

Yeah, with the crystal whisperer.

Tags: Bale of Hay Saloon, Crystal park Montana, Gypsy Arcade, Nevada City, Virginia city montana
Posted in Montana, travel | Leave a Comment »

Virginia City, Territorial Capital of Montana

June 2, 2016

This past Memorial Day weekend we traveled to Virginia City, Montana. It’s 168 miles from Idaho Falls, about a three hour drive. We hit the the road late Saturday morning, May 28, on Highway 20 north toward Island Park. But hey, we have to check out Mesa Falls on the way! So an hour into our drive, at Ashton, we hang a right onto Highway 32. Here we are now at Upper Mesa Falls. Beautiful!

Upper Mesa Falls

Especially with the spring run-off.

We pose for a family photo:

Jody, Eric, Megan, David, Ben, Rhonda

Our son, Ben, and girlfriend Rhonda flew up from Boulder, CO, to be with us (David, Megan and I). Plus my brother Eric, a.k.a. ‘Cuddles Cutes,’ and his friend Scott came along too. (Scott took the family photo…)

We just can’t do a trip without inviting Eric along. He plans the itinerary and knows every lake, fishing hole, historical site, ghost town, mountain peak, hike, hot springs, dirt road, campground, monument, and antique store within every 250-mile radius of Idaho Falls.

Plus his t-shirts are great conversation starters …

Lunch at the Trout Slayer in Island Park.

As in, “Where in the freak did you get that shirt, Eric?” or “So, uh, exactly what’s the scene with that cat on your shirt?”

Grey tabby cat riding a Bengal tiger with x-ray vision handling a two-headed axe leaping away from a raging forest fire under snow covered peaks …. Wuh?

We have arrived in Virginia City. Checked into five rooms at the Fairweather Inn.

David’s truck adds so much charm and authenticity to the photo

That’s us hanging out on the front porch.

Check out this link for some history of Virginia City. Also this wikipedia link on Virginia City.

Perched high in the Rocky Mountains in a bowl along Alder Gulch, Virginia City got its start when gold was discovered in Alder Gulch in 1863.

We drove to the spot where gold was initially discovered – about 1/4 mile from Virginia City Center:

On May 26, 1863, Bill Fairweather and Henry Edgar discovered gold near Alder Creek.

They wanted to keep their discovery secret. However, when they traveled 60 miles southwest to Bannack to purchase supplies, sharp-eyed prospectors spotted their bags of gold. 200 prospectors followed them back to Alder Gulch. News spread quickly and before long the area was flooded with prospectors living in makeshift shacks, tents, caves, or simply sleeping beneath the trees. Within a year, some 10,000 people were living in a number of mining camps lining the gulch.

In 1864 Congress created the new territory of Montana, separating it from Idaho Territory. Bannack, the site of the first gold strike in the area, became the territory’s first capital. However, just a year later, because of its bustling prosperity, the territorial capital was moved to Virginia City. Virginia City remained the capital for about ten years, until April 19, 1875, when it moved to Helena, Montana (Montana’s current capital). Virginia City was home to Montana’s first public school, newspaper, and telegraph.

The Montana gold mining days lasted from 1863 to 1935. The buildings were abandoned and people were dismantling them for firewood. In the 1940s, Charles and Sue Bovey began buying the town, putting much needed maintenance into failing structures. The ghost town of Virginia City began to be restored for tourism in the 1950s.

The population of Virginia City today is about 200 people, by definition, a ghost town. Most of the city is now owned by the state government and is a National Historic Landmark operated as an open-air museum. Of the nearly three hundred structures in town, almost half were built prior to 1900.

We ate dinner across the street from the Fairweather Inn at the Wells Fargo Restaurant.

The food was delicious. Great atmosphere. Eric appreciated the ceiling tin:

Ceiling and crown moulding made of tin

While Scott (in light blue shirt) hammed it up with a complete stranger on the piano:

Scott plays the blues

Virginia City is hoppin’ with afternoon and evening entertainment. Check out the live music at the Bale of Hay Saloon! The Opera House, with the Virginia City Players, offers the longest continuously operating live summer theater company in the western United States. Also, all summer long the Brewery Follies offer 2 hilarious adult live comedy shows a day. (We attended the 8PM show Saturday night.) We also heard during our visit that the Rock musician Dave Walker (a singer and guitarist for a number of bands; notably Savoy Brown and Fleetwood Mac) will be playing at the Wells Fargo Restaurant on Friday nights through this summer.

Here are my photos of town, which consists of about 2 blocks:

We explored the Gypsy Arcade across the street from our motel.

The Gypsy Arcade contains all kinds of crazy old machines – fortune teller machines, music machines, adult flip movie machines…

For a quarter you can find out your fortune by the color of your eyes!

Get a palm reading!

Watch a movie for 5 cents! A double row of flip movie machines were stationed in the center of the arcade:

Adult entertainment at its best!

I put my nickel in to watch an adult flip movie, OMG! The women exposed their petticoats, calves and ANKLES!

Music: The other Non-addictive, Mood-altering Non-substance … (sign hanging by the music machines)

Ask your Doctor if music is right for you.

I inserted a quarter into this music machine:

Took a video of the musical performance from beginning to end. Almost 2 minutes! You can watch the whole thing for free! Are you ready??? Here goes: (you’ve just put your quarter in…)

Waltz, anyone?

And to think you have to pay i-tunes a full 99 cents to download a song!

Well, crap. I still have lots more to tell you about our trip this past weekend. We also visited Bannack, the first territorial capital of Montana. We dug for crystals at Crystal Park. Then there’s Quake Lake … and the Grizzly Bear…

Uh, Part 2? ….

Tags: Brewery Follies, Montana, Montana gold rush, Montana History, Upper Mesa Falls, Virginia City, Virginia City Players, Wells Fargo Restaurant
Posted in Montana, travel | Leave a Comment »

Ketchum and ‘Antique Alley’

May 14, 2016

The first weekend in May we drove over to Ketchum, Idaho – David, Megan and I with my brother Eric. It’s about a 3-hour drive straight west from Idaho Falls. We invite Eric, you know, for his general entertainment value (he can’t help it) and plus he’s an absolute nature maniac – he’ll lead us on a hike or something …

We always make really good time with David at the wheel. Here we are flying past the Big Southern Butte about 45 minutes into the drive:

Big Southern Butte

We stop at the Craters of the Moon National Monument along the way, you know, to hike. To the top of Big Cinder Butte. Admittedly, not the most scenic hike you’ll ever do.

Where’s the spring foliage?

The top of the butte is out of view – goes well beyond what you see from the bottom. I learned this the one time I hiked up. David likes to jog up in a t-shirt in cold weather, exerting himself four times as much as your average sane man. He got Eric to go along this time, while Megan and I went up far enough for me to capture this photo of the Lost River Range in the distance:

Lost River Range as seen from Big Cinder Butte

I zoom in to take a photo of David and Eric coming down

… while listening to every word of their conversation, for real. From way up there I could hear every word that came out of their mouths, like they were talking in an echo chamber – I wanted to alert them lest I become privy to some sordid illicit tale, or something… But no worry.

We’ve arrived! In Ketchum. It’s “shoulder” season. What? Our favorite restaurant, The Pioneer Saloon, is closed for remodeling?

Where’s all the tourists?

The town’s dead. No worry. Eric suggests we visit an antique store, owned by a friend of his, one block off the main drag:

‘Antique Alley, open for business!’

Whoopee! The shelves are crammed with crazy retro collectibles and odd stuff. I face off eye-to-eye with a 15-inch sized Homer Simpson, set on a shelf, his chubby legs dangling over the edge. I could buy it for our son, Aaron! No. (You immediately start thinking of every person you could buy something for in a place like this.) Oh! I’ll buy this wooden duck pull toy (!!) – for our new grandson, Franklin! (Aaron’s son). The precious wooden pull toy quacks and waddles when you pull it!

Too adorable!

I did buy it. (Do today’s toddlers get off their i-pads long enough to play with such novel and precious toys? No?? ) It’s made in Germany.

I could spend hours in this shop!

“Megan and I will take a walk around town while you shop,” David says.

“That’s fine.” (Doesn’t deter Eric and me one bit.) I spot this retro 60’s record player.

Hey, I had one just like this! Back in grade school! Like, 1964 or something? (Ouch) “Eric! Let’s plug it in and see if it works!” Eric fiddles with it and gets it going. It works!

I’ll buy it!

Eric decides to be helpful by taking the record player off the shelf and over to the counter by the register. He has to move stuff out of the way to close the lid on the player.

“Oops! Dammit! I knocked over Mother Mary and broke her!”

“What?”

“This Mother Mary candelabra – it’s top heavy and it fell off the shelf, hit the floor, and broke! – oh, jeepers – and it’s $39.00!”

Eric’s friend, the shop owner, of course, is not around. Her substitute sales clerk is now alternating her stare, first at us and then down at the busted Mother Mary sitting on the counter. “This is the first time I’ve run this shop, Eric, and I don’t know what to do about this Mother Mary candelabra you broke.”

Jeez, (I’m thinking…) Eric, if you had to break something, did it have to be Mother Mary? … “I’ll just pay for it – no big deal,” I say. “Hey Eric, come through this door into this other room and take a look at this thing hanging in here.” We check it out…

Meanwhile, I get a text from David:

Got to pee. Time to go.

To which I reply:

We’re buying a cow. We need you. Come in.

I wait for David to enter the store. Which, he doesn’t.

I go out to the curb. There he is in the truck, hands on the wheel, with the engine running. Megan is in the back, all strapped in and ready to go.

“Honey, please read my last text message!”

He lifts his phone and looks at the message.

“What?”

“Yes, I am buying a cow and I need your help with it …”

More on that later…. suffice it to say I bought several things and just had the rattled clerk add the 39 bucks to my tab for the busted Mother Mary candelabra. We gathered her up, pieces and all, placed her inside a plastic grocery bag, tied it all up and shoved her into the back of David’s truck. ‘We’ll deal with her when we get home.’

Eric did lead us on a hike the next day. Up Corral Creek. I’ve no idea where the trail head is. Not much of a drive from Ketchum. We had not gone far when Eric discovered some elk antlers. One antler. And of course, where there is one antler, there is another antler, so he he was scouting around for the other antler. And had us scouting around the area too. It was literally like finding a needle in a haystack, but try to convince Eric of this. I finally found what I thought was a perfectly great facsimile to the other antler. Here Eric, try them on!!

Good enough Eric, now give it a rest!

Although, admittedly, the cat on Eric’s shirt appears unimpressed with Eric’s set of antlers.

Hiking back now. I snapped a photo of David and Megan ahead of me,

with Pioneer Mountain peaks as a backdrop.

Then we took a drive toward the snow peaked Boulder Mountains sprawled out in front of us:

Boulder Mountains

Eric then convinces us to go morel mushroom hunting – he knows of a spot near Bellevue, along the the Big Wood River. We drive several miles, hang a right, another right, then a left, circle through a residential area … “There it is!” says Eric, pointing to the parking area by the trail head. He leads us on our morel mushroom hunt – “I’ll look on this side, you branch out to the left …”

Eric, in a state of ecstasy, hunting for morels

Megan and David head back to the truck. None of us find morels. Not a one. Eric and I hear this ‘peck-peck-pecking.’ and spot a gargantuan red-headed woodpecker, if, indeed, it is a woodpecker, since it’s the size of a crow. We watch it for a couple of minutes and I zoom in and capture a photo:

Pileated woodpecker

Sure enough, it is called a Pileated woodpecker – a large woodpecker native to North America – the largest woodpecker in the US. It normally inhabits deciduous forests in eastern North America, the Great Lakes, and the boreal forests of Canada. Check out this Wiki-link! A map shows the areas of North America where these birds inhabit – and this part of Idaho is barely included!

I took a couple photos of the river:

the Big Wood River

Well, we’re back on the highway headed for home now – with views of the magnificent Lemhi Mountain Range carved against the crystal blue sky.

Saddle Mountain is the far left peak:

Home now. Time to unpack the car, unload the treasures I purchased at Antique Alley! The 60’s record player. The wooden, quacking, waddling duck. The cow. The cow? You know … the cow, the one where David had to turn off his truck, come back into the shop, and help me with? A flying cow, to be exact, tethered to the ceiling in Antique Alley. I wanted to buy it along with all the other stuff, but we couldn’t reach the hook to get it down. David was the only person around tall enough, standing on a stool, to untether the cow from the ceiling so I could buy it.

Hey, it goes great in our downstairs bathroom.

Yes, that’s a flying cow

You can pull on it when you’re sitting on the throne. Entertainment while you pee. Here, I took a video:

A suitable companion to another precious member of our family, a large gull with a 40-inch wing span, that flies over the washer and dryer in our back entry:

As for the bulging plastic tied up grocery bag that’s been sitting by the the back door since we got home …

Today I gingerly carried the bag into the kitchen, untied it, lifted out the busted Mother Mary and her missing pieces for close examination. Nope. There’s no fixing her. Here, I took a photo:

Strange. Those lights are eerie. It’s almost as if she’s still holding two lit candles.

What to do with her? I can’t just throw her in the trash bin. I just can’t do that to Mother Mary. Shove her upright in the garden deep enough so she looks whole? What’s she even doing at our house? Eric’s the one who knocked her off in the first place and busted her. He even treated our whole family to breakfast to compensate us for buying her.

Think I’ll just wrap her up and gift her back to Eric for his birthday.

Tags: Antique Alley, corral creek hike, East fork of Wood River, German pull toys, ID, Ketchum, Pileated woodpecker, Shoulder season in Ketchum, wooden flying cow, wooden flying sea gull
Posted in Idaho, travel | 3 Comments »

Hoary Winter, Omega Spring!

April 29, 2016

I took a bunch of photos this past winter, it being so cold, snowy, and, well, hoary. For several weeks through mid-January into February, southeast Idaho experienced a persistent weather phenomenon known in meteorology as a “temperature inversion.” Colder air gets trapped over the valleys under a cap of warmer air, which settles over the higher elevations. For a while, it was warmer in West Yellowstone than here. We’d wake up in a cold fog, which froze like baklava in layers over tree branches.

Magnificent hoar frost! Also known as ‘rime.’

I’d step outside as if through a wardrobe, into Narnia.

I had to admit, it was beautiful.

It seemed we were always shoveling. We don’t own a snowblower, but most of our neighbors do.

I developed a severe case of snowblower envy, watching our neighbor through our dining room window, whizzing through snow drifts, blowing the snow sky high in great arches that settled into huge crusty ridges along his walks and driveway. He’d be backing his truck out at full speed before we could fully contemplate our own laborious snow removal plan.

Who’s going to shovel?

Simple. David shoveled. Or in our case, scooped.

First the front walks and driveway:

Then the back deck:

While I … took photos.

But then a few hours later we (myself, eventually, out of guilt) would be out there shoveling again. Three inches of fresh snow at a time was about the max either one of us cared to deal with.

We shoveled paths in the snow for Rudy to navigate so he could take care of business –

“Rudy, go potty!”

Don’t pussy-foot around with David

Alas, like the meltdown in Narnia, the inversion lifted, warmer temps settled in and the snow melted away.

March 3. 2016

Check out the back yard. Hey – look! Pine cones?

Those aren’t pine cones

NO! DOG TURDS! EWWWW! You’d think at least some of them would have dissolved in the snow pack. But Noooo. Every single turd dropped over the past 4 months is perfectly intact. I plucked them out of the grass one by one.

Rudy, you messy dog!! You must have left us 600 “twerds” to pick up in the back yard! (‘Turd’ with a French accent since he’s a poodle.)

Making a mess in the house too

Oh boy, now you’re destuffing Lambchop.

March winter squalls … Not so welcome. We want to put the shovels away!

March 9

Several spring storms blow through – bringing hail, snow, and sleet, sometimes simultaneously…

March 14

But then, bird nest sightings!

Robins appear. Some are fat with eggs

My photo is pretty lame, but let me tell you, that was one fat robin I spotted from our kitchen window.

Then, in April, we experienced another extended weather phenomenon known to meteorologists as an “Omega weather pattern.” We were shown a Satellite/radar visual of it about every night on our local news – I finally took a picture of the ‘Omega Pattern.’ Here you can see:

A giant ‘high’ settled square over Idaho and the west, which locked in a persistent ‘low’ over, uh, the mid west and Texas. The Omega pattern hung over us for 8 days or something, bringing sunny temps 10-15 degrees above normal, while Texas and other areas east of the Omega rim got pelted, soaked, deluged and flooded out. (Sorry, Houston.) I think it is still raining there. The Omega pattern shifted slightly east, then flipped upside down or something, still locking Texas and the lower mid west in a low.

So…spring popped! All of a sudden everything is in bloom. You want to see those same snowy shots of our front yard I took in January? Can you picture my neighbor with his snowblower?

That’s a giant May tree. Here you see the blossoms up close

Remember Narnia?

Our big ‘ol giant Maple is about out

Flowering crab and plums adorn about every street

Then there’s the tulips! Bunches of perky yellow tulips bloomed on the west side of the house:

In our back center garden:

They just started blooming this week in front of our house, facing north

Turn on the sprinklers!!

Oh joy. Never fails. A busted sprinkler head.

David has already mowed once. Dig out the dandelions! Pull weeds! What flowers to plant this year?? …

“Uh, Where’s Rudy?”

WUh?

“You stay out of the gardens!!”

Tags: April 2016 floods in Houston, Hoar frost, omega weather pattern, Temperature inversion, winter 2016
Posted in Gardening, pets, Robins, Spring | 1 Comment »

‘Hello Kitty’ goes Gluten-Free

April 16, 2016

Recently I was in line at a music and video store to check out some movies. Of course your eyes wander to all the literal ‘eye candy’ and stuff you would buy on impulse… at adult eye level you see batteries, lighters, playing cards, gossip celebrity news and other rag mags. On the lower shelves, boxes of small toys for kids that they can grab even before you’ve secured your position in line. And of course, candy.

A particular bag of candy, hanging at shoulder level, caught my eye while waiting in line, Hello Kitty gummies! Now, I’m not a Hello Kitty fan, but I could just picture myself in line with my 5-8 year-old daughter, granddaughter, niece, or any female friend of theirs, who might love anything and everything Hello Kitty. They might have a ‘Hello Kitty’ themed bedroom. I wondered how long the ‘Hello Kitty’ brand had been around, so I did a little research – here’s a Google link with her biography.

Hello Kitty was born in London in 1974 ‘for the pre-teen girl in every girl’ – invented by the designer Ikuko Shimizu by the Japanese company Sanrio. The original idea was to create a new character that could be decorated on a plastic coin purse.

‘Hello Kitty’ turned 30 in 2004. She has been around for over 40 years! More research on Hello Kitty revealed how ubiquitous the brand really is. Sephora sells Hello Kitty makeup. Someone in an online chat mentioned you can even take a ‘Hello Kitty’ themed flight. Could this be true? Yes. Boeing 777 Planes are now flying the Hello Kitty skies. Check out this link! for photos of the Hello Kitty flight experience. Houston is now the seventh North American destination for EVA, joining Los Angeles, New York JFK, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver.

I also read comments such as, “I know a 50-year-old woman with Hello Kitty stuff. She is my Pinterest friend. I had to block her Hello Kitty page on Pinterest, it was driving me crazy.” Another comment read, “Judging by the girls on my son’s (high school) math team, Hello Kitty is plenty popular at that age.’ – also, “In Japan newborn and up, definitely girls into their 20’s, even older.” Another: “My 48-year-old friend has a Hello Kitty toaster.” There appears to be no age (or product?) limit on ‘Hello Kitty.’

By the way, according to her bio, Hello Kitty’s favorite things include ‘candy, stars and goldfish.’

Back to the ‘Hello Kitty’ candy beckoning the shopper in the check-out line, here, I took a photo:

Hmmm. They have the candy down to a science! Uh, the marketing of the candy that is. Your daughter spots the candy, looks at you longingly, “Oh, buy it, Mom, please!” It’s not enough that so many pre-teen girls in every girl already love anything and everything Hello Kitty. Lets let it be known scientifically, it’s a healthy food choice!

99% Fat Free! Gluten Free! Vegetarian! Vegetarian? Seriously? Here’s the ingredients listed on the back…

The first four ingredients are wheat syrup, sugar, maltodextrin, and corn syrup. (Sugar, sugar, artificial sugar, sugar). How can wheat syrup be gluten free? Well, as another form of high fructose syrup, it is so highly processed and purified so as to eliminate any trace of gluten. Maltodextrin is an artificial sugar, also known as a polysaccharide.

Oh, but the candy also contains potato protein and hydrolysed pea protein! (Guess that’s the ‘vegetarian’ part?)

So how to explain the proliferation and enduring popularity of “Hello Kitty?’ It’s a very, very well-marketed brand.

Other brands are in tune and up-to-date with their health conscious marketing strategies. Later that same day we were eating at a local bar/restaurant when I spotted this sign:

And I cheered and my heart jumped out of my chest! I can finally get a drink with gluten free vodka! Come on!!! Is there a vodka out there that isn’t gluten-free? I Googled it to make sure and confirmed, “all distilled spirits are gluten-free unless it is added after distillation.” (Yeah, let’s add gluten to this vodka just to mess with celiac sufferers!)

Check out this article about vodka marketed as gluten free, from Scientific American. It states:

“After a 2012 Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) interim ruling, gluten-free labeled vodkas hit the market this year, including National Basketball Association legend Shaquille O’Neal’s gluten-free “Luv Shaq.”

“But that guarantee is not necessary,” according to Steve Taylor, one of the country’s leading gluten testers. Taylor calls gluten-free vodka a “silly thing. … All vodka is gluten-free unless there is some flavored vodka out there where someone adds a gluten-containing ingredient. I know that many celiac sufferers are extra-cautious. That is their privilege. But their [vodka] concerns are usually not science-based.”

In other (my) words, vodka is a pure healthy choice, all by itself, even if you adhere to a gluten-free diet.

“… It’s not just alcohol, of course. The new FDA label guidelines allow bottled water, vegetables and fruits to be labeled gluten-free even though these products do not naturally contain gluten.”

“The new labeling has created a marketing frenzy that may become a $6.2-billion gluten-free product industry by 2018…”

Yeah, I’ll be growing some gluten free tomatoes in my garden this summer. But we’re passing on those Hello Kitty gummies or whatever that ‘food’ is. Of course, there’s no urges at our house to pacify a pre-teen girl (inside of us or otherwise) with any and all things ‘Hello Kitty.’

Tags: gluten free industry, gluten free marketing gimmick, gluten free vodka, Hello Kitty
Posted in Diets, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Idaho for Bernie!

March 23, 2016

Last night, March 22, Idaho held its Democratic Presidential caucus. As one of the most conservative states in the nation, Idaho has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Any Democrat running for local or state office holds a very slim chance of winning.

Idaho already held their Republican presidential primary on Tuesday, March 8, supporting Ted Cruz as the Republican candidate for President.

Anyone who voted in the Republican Primary could not participate in the Democratic Caucus. So large numbers were not expected to caucus last night for the Democratic Presidential candidate.

Except Bernie Sanders came to Idaho just before the caucus. He held a rally at Skyline High School in Idaho Falls this past Friday, March 18. The crowd of about 3000 filled the school gym to capacity. People were turned away. Here is a photo of the Saturday headlines from our local paper:

‘Feel the Bern!’

Bernie also rallied in Boise on Monday, March 21, and drew a crowd of about 7000 people. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, never visited Idaho. Okay, so winning our state only netted 27 convention delegates …

My brother Eric, and I caucused for Bernie Sanders in Bonnevillle County, a county with about 100,000 residents. The caucus was held at Skyline High School, in the same gym where Bernie held his rally. The doors closed at 7PM. We got there about 6:30. Wow! No parking left! We had pre-registered and stood in line to fill out pledge cards. Hillary supporters were directed to one side of the gym, Bernie supporters to the opposite side. We found seats near the top of the upper bleachers on Bernie’s side. I took a photo from my seat:

We’re settled in

It took a good half hour for everyone to settle after the doors closed. Here’s a picture of Hillary’s side, across the gym from where I’m sitting:

I climbed out of my seat and walked to the side of the gym to capture the ‘Bernie’ side – to my left …

Just below you see the ‘Undecided’ and again, to the right, the Hillary supporters:

Meanwhile the pledge cards were counted, tallying up the exact numbers of supporters for each candidate:

Bernie – 947
Hillary – 209
Undecided- 82

Then we filled out the first ballots – pink ballots. These ballots were your first vote, but not your official vote. The Democratic party vounteers had made ballot packets except, they were a couple hundred short! The folks on the row behind us got their packets, we, in the row in front of them, had to wait…

Finally all the pink ballots are distributed. Then collected….

Hey, wait for mine!

The Hillary side chanted cheers for Hillary and stomped their feet. Followed by a roar and stomping on our side for Bernie.

Meanwhile, the volunteers had to count those first pink ballots, over 1200 of them, one by one … Sitting around a table on the gym floor below us. That took a while…

People got antsy and thirsty and got up out of their seats looking for restrooms. Parents with infants, filed toward the exits (diaper changing table anywhere?)…

Eric, I’ll take your photo!

Then we heard speeches – three total, one for each candidate and one for the Undecided. Bernie’s speaker was a Cuban immigrant, passionate but difficult to understand. They were all a bit difficult to understand over the din of the crowd…

The Undecideds had to decide which candidate to swing to. The majority appeared to go to Hillary. That side of the gym would break out in cheers as the Undecideds filtered in, four at a time. Bernie won some too, but we were already a raucous horde.

Second ballot, blue. This was your official vote. You know, maybe you changed your mind. Blue ballots were distibuted.

Filled out with pencil, and collected. There was a third ballot, maybe to elect the delegates, but we were ready to go. The crowd had already thinned greatly by the time we got our blue ballots in.

Home again by 9:45 (since it’s about an 8-minute drive from my house to Skyline High School).

I caucused for Bernie!

Bernie Sanders won Idaho by 78%. According to the Idaho Statesman, statewide results gave Bernie 18,640 votes (78%) to Hillary’s 5,065 votes (21%). The enormous turnout in Boise delayed the start of their caucus by two hours. At one point the line stretched more than four blocks with waits of three hours to enter. Over 9000 votes were cast in Boise, making it the largest caucus in U.S. history.

I’m proud to have participated in the political process!

One among the 10% of voters registered as Democrats in ultra-conservative Idaho.

Tags: 2016 Idaho Democratic caucus, Bernie wins Idaho caucus March 22 - 2016, Boise caucus - the largest caucus in U.S. history, Bonnevile county Caucus 2016
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Word problems, Red Lobster and Schizophrenics

March 20, 2016

Part 2 – (‘Siderodromophobia’ and Other Word Problem Woes)

Okay, dear reader, I hate to keep you in suspense any longer as to the solution to the word problem I blogged about in my previous blog….

My hubby, David, solved it. I had also sent the problem out to my kids – all grown, via text on their phones. The discussion went like this:

Solve the word problem

“Can you solve this word problem? I
couldn’t. But your dad did. That
second sentence is the foggiest of
any sentence I’ve seen in my 62 1/2 years”

Meredith, our daughter-in-law, answered back within 5 minutes …

“30.333333 for her, 60.333333
for him….?”

Me: “‘A’ for speedy response.
He must have robbed the cradle
for sure..”

Meredith: “Sugar Daddy.
I think my decimals are off tho…
Math gives me question marks.
Oh, duh, 30.5 and 60.5
Wait, no, that’s not it either. I’m
bowing out and leaving it to the scientists”

Me: “I hear you Meredith. I’m into
pulling numbers out of a hat
here and seeing if they fit. Yet,
more inclined to think about this
relationship, why they are
together in the first place and
assuming money is a factor”

Then son, Ben pipes in:

“He is 52 and she is 39.
Pretty simple system of
equations.” (Ben has a Physics degree)

Meredith: “LOL, Jody. I guess we’ll just have
to stick to sparkling narratives”

Ben: “Kind of crazy that they were
born on the same date, and
today is their birthday.” (HUH?)

Meredith: “Maybe that’s what brought them
together … they met at a Red
Lobster where they were both
getting a stupid birthday song
with their all-you-can-eat shrimp.”

Son, Adam (married to Meredith) joins the conversation:

“Nice try, Ben, but it’s a trick
question. He’s actually a
schizophrenic and there is no wife!”

Meredith: “Hahahahaha”
“Oh I love you”

Ben: “LOL”

Okay, so here’s the solution, the set of equations that describe the word problem, per my husband, David, the physicist:

“If you add the age of a man to the age of his wife, the result is 91”

x (his age) + y (her age) = 91

“He is now twice as old as she was when he was as old as she is now” (HUH?)

Okay, since the difference in their ages is a constant, (x-y), when he was her age, y, she was (x-y) years younger.

So mathematically that statement is written as:

x (his age now ) = 2 [y-(x-y)]

To solve:
x = 2(y-x+y)
x = 2(2y-x)
x = 4y-2x
3x = 4y
x = 4y/3

Substitute into the first equation: x+y = 91 (where x = 4y/3)

4y/3 + y = 91
4y + 3y = 273
7y = 273
y= 273 / 7
y = 39

So, …. x + 39 = 91

x = 91-39

x = 52

So he is 52 and she is 39. (Yes, he did rob the cradle.)

And now, somehow, when I think about this problem I can’t get beyond the vision in my head of me at Red Lobster, smelling shrimp, with a bunch of employees around my head singing “Happy Birthday”, surrounded by schizophrenics.

Tags: Algebra word problems, Red Lobster, schizophrenics
Posted in travel, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »