Yesterday it was 62 and sunny. Tonight we expect low single digits on the temperature readers. Old Man Winter was right on time this year.
Fuck the NFL and their Stupid Rules
So here we have Jessie James making the catch, and a football move to score. At WORST he recovers his own fumble in the end zone. What a bunch of cocksuckers those refs were.
There are at least two more of these inane rules that do nothing but ruin the game: Pass interference and the pylon fumble nonsense. The NFL needs to fix this crap. Now. Pittsburgh led the league in Pro Bowl Selections this year for good reason. They also beat the Patriots last Sunday, the record just does not show it.
Hello Russian Blog Readers!
So I just noticed 25% of my subscribers are from Russia(?) – at least based on their email domains. Hope you guys are enjoying the blog, but you might consider finding something else to do if fishing for Trump clues, connections or anything else to do with the U.S. government. This site is not associated with the current POTUS and political activity or information is not a very hot topic.
Inactive accounts get deleted on a regular basis. Just FYI. 
More Fish Pics
Sometimes I just can’t resist taking a few more morning sunlit aquarium shots:
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That last one is the shrimp tank. You can see the little reddish cherry shrimp if you look real close at full resolution. Goldfish finally got some new buddies. Four new little ones brings their count back up to ten – where they started almost five years ago. The guppy tank did not make this cut because those little forkers have refused to spawn for the past few months. I will try getting some more females in there and see what happens…
Pittsburgh Steelers are (in actual fact) #1 !!
Don’t take my word for it:
Many impressive statistics piled up during last Sunday’s big win over Baltimore to clinch the AFC North division once again. Regardless of your NFL team opinions, one number, statistic, and cold, hard fact stands out to me: 23. The Steelers have taken the division title 23 times since the 1970 merger – more than any other team in the league. They are unquestionably the class of the division, if not the conference and the whole league right now. Showdown time with the Patriots for #1 seed this season comes up this week. Here’s a few reasons for why New England is VERY worried after last Sunday’s Baltimore beat-down :
Here's Some More of what Happened…
…Maybe even a big part of it. I posted a little editorial back in May on my view of the Russian election meddling and related issues titled “What Happened to My Internet?” I’ve been warning about this for many years, and it’s starting to look like I’ve been right on target all along. Another formerly big player from Facebook has come out against the social media frenzy presently gripping the world:
He went on to describe an incident in India where hoax messages about kidnappings shared on WhatsApp led to the lynching of seven innocent people.
I remember being fascinated by electronic technology of all kinds, even as a child. That is probably what led me into the high tech fields early in the era before the Internet as we know it today even existed. One common theme I’ve seen all along is technology’s very sharp double-edged sword nature. Whether attributed to Voltaire, Spiderman or the many others who used it over the years, the old adage rings true: “With great power comes great responsibility.”
Killer B's did it on MNF!
Many outstanding plays in this brutal slugfest at Paul Brown stadium last night. Unfortunately Ryan Shazier went to the hospital with a back injury in the 1st quarter. Pundits today are saying this game was the ugliest ever, with record a number of penalties and players on both sides receiving suspensions following illegal hits. Seems like the AFC North is the last real NFL holdout for old school smash-mouth football.
Tis the Season!
…to decorate the house with xmas lights! And once again, Michelle did a great job, despite receiving my assistance with only the wiring. Our humble little display is a nice touch, but really pales in comparison to some of the neighbors.
The folks in the house across the creek just north of here have always had a pretty intense xmas display thing going on. Until this year it had a soundtrack, but now they’ve updated it with some sort of timing device that feels like it wants to give me an epileptic seizure. I’m gonna take another shot at this if we ever get some snow…
CTD Interior Project
The long road to restoring the 91 Dodge Cummins after thieves trashed it over 2 years ago is finally nearing an end. A replacement door has been reconditioned and the interior is pretty well gutted. At first glance it looks like the new bucket seats I found for it have room to recline a bit and will certainly be far more comfortable than the stock bench. Come to think of it, that was probably about the only thing I did not like about this truck. Next task will involve a fair amount of time and effort fabricating seat brackets. A new subwoofer to also serve as the center armrest remains the one part left to buy, but it will also be one of the last steps to finishing it, hopefully by next summer.
Steelers are Back!
And Antonio Brown made his bid for what will most likely turn out to be the catch of the year, in a 40-17 drubbing of the Titans last night:
An all-PA Super Bowl is looking like a real possibility this year…
IT Infrastructure
It’s been a couple years since the periodic network diagram update. This is sort of a holdover practice I established from creating many of these type documents for the Air Force and Lockheed over the years. It helps to review things as they change over time and keep it fresh, for reference purposes. Evolution through the years as seen by older versions on this page offers an interesting perspective.
5-Year Mark
The numbers are in, and guess what? Things are changing for the better, despite ongoing Federal Government stupidity on the topic…
…while ushering in the beginning of the end of a costly, massively corrupt, and wholly counterproductive war on a largely beneficial plant.
Goldfish are In for the Winter
I waited to move the goldfish into their basement aquarium winter home until the last possible day this year. The pond was doing so well I was reluctant to move them. Water was cold (45F), weather is going bad/cold here for the next few days, and they appeared to be dipping into hibernation, so it was time to get it done. A few of them attempted to hide by slithering into the leaves on the bottom while I was trying to net them. Some pond-fish people let their Koi and Goldfish hibernate over the winter, but I’m reluctant to try that. It’s liable to get very cold at times, so the waterfall will surely freeze and cause related problems. We lost one to predators I assume, sometime in just the past month. I counted 7 before leaving for New Hampshire, but there were only 6 yesterday. Maybe I’ll get them a few new friends in the spring.
Road Trip Pics
Finished sorting and posting photos from the trip this morning. See this page for all the details. Pictures from the Woodstock Museum in Bethel NY are at the bottom. I captured literally the entire place, inside and out, so this is probably the best you’ll ever see of it, unless you go there yourself. You can see Francie (#25 in white) making a nice strike during one of their games on homecoming day early in this little clip:
They split 1-1 for the 2 matches that day, but won the conference match, so it was a win for the day. Here’s the link to their schedule again, for anyone wanting to watch the games on live stream – only 4 to go this season…
Early Winter in CO
Apparently I made it back to the hood just in time to start winter prep. Got the sprinklers cleared yesterday, and we have a hard freeze (~25F) coming tonight. There’s already an inch accumulating on the grassy areas here at 06:00, with 3-5 expected for the day. At least it’s been warm enough to keep the roads relatively safe for the time being.
Fall Road Trip
Arrived back in Frederick at 18:22 Yesterday, after a quick blast through Kansas and Colorado on I-70. The drive east on I-80 2 weeks ago was a bit less than satisfying, due to road construction and congestion, but I-70 coming back was fine, with only the one $3 toll out of Kansas City, to boot. I was surprised at the apparently optional speed limit yesterday. I flew right by the Kansas State patrol at 83 in the posted 75 zones twice. Then people started passing me in Colorado. So I bumped it up to 88 for the rest of the cruise all the way into Denver and STILL got passed a couple of times! Only drawback was the expected hard hit to fuel mileage, which seems to drop precipitously holding it anything over 80mph. The sweet spot for fuel mileage is around 70, where the BMW M57 inline 6 3L diesel returns an amazing 42.5 MPG in this car.
Francie seems to be doing great out in Plymouth. No doubt we will be hearing more about the good things she is doing in school there. The school, town and community all seem really nice. It’s a resort/tourist area for the most part, with little to none of the big city trappings I would worry about for a young lady starting out on her own. She was only last week chosen to be one of the “Faces of Plymouth” for this year’s recruiting campaign, so it looks like they like her, too. Didn’t spend much time at the White Oak Hotel, about 15 minutes east of Plymouth, except to sleep. It was OK for a cheap motel, clean, but a bit pricey for a somewhat dilapidated old place, even in this rural tourist trap. Nevertheless, a very nice location, by the lake.
I stopped at the Bethel Center for the Performing Arts on my way from Plymouth to Pittsburgh, since it was right along the way. They have a very nice museum and outdoor concert venue at the old Woodstock Festival site there. It seemed appropriate and timely to me, having more than once recently remarked how it seems like we are back in the 60’s these days with all the war and civil strife going on. Stand by for a big load of pics to be posted as I get more time to do that in the upcoming days.
Mom, Dad and Sis all seem good, as well. The only issue I saw back in the “old ‘hood” was my growing concern for Mom living alone. So we will continue urging her to move in with Duke up in Beaver at the earliest opportunity. Got a little computer work done for Dad, so I was able to make myself useful there. Ron is talking about retirement, and Carolyn starts chemo therapy soon, so the jury is still out on how well she’s doing. Weather was great the whole time, except for some rain on the way home, so overall – mission accomplished!
