I don’t run these trucks in the winter because jetting ’em just rich enough to not melt their engines down is a constant vigil. The colder the air, the leaner the mixture. Now that it’s nice out, however, I can keep them right on the ragged edge between performance and catastrophe. And I have a spare engine in the toolbox just in case I goof.
I got the idea of photographing the moon during the day when my two year old pointed out the moon to his daddy. I was able to get out the long lens and my tripod to get this shot with the deep blue of the afternoon sky instead of the black of the night. I like the daytime moon much better, actually. It’s also easier to get an even exposure, since I don’t fight the contrast between a black sky and a brilliant moon.
If you keep track of the current moon phase, then you know that this isn’t a recent photo. It was taken a few weeks ago, actually…I just forgot to post it. Lots of people mind the phase of the moon; I’m told that avid fishermen do. When I lived up in the Rockies, I always knew when the full moon was coming because I’d go snowboarding at night. At 8,000 feet you can see pretty well in the moonlight! As a stargazer, I also watch out for the “new moon” phase as it provides the best opportunity to see the other objects in the night sky without interference from the moon’s bright reflected light.
Hopefully by electronically enabling you to hear this man’s words, which moved me as I struggle to be a good daddy and provide my little boys with blessed memories, I can pass along some of that consolation he was talking about.
One thing that brightened my countenance was some garage time, tinkering on the motorcycles. Mostly spring readiness stuff, which doesn’t entail much; I put my bikes away properly and they’re plugged into trickle chargers all winter long. Once I had a nice polish on my big sportbike, I decided to go for some fresh air. It felt pretty good and helped clear my head a bit. It sure was nice to feel 150hp pushing a 375 pound bike around…wheeeeeeee! If only my truck would lift the front wheel under acceleration with only moderate throttle…
I used to be one of those guys who had to ride all the time. I rode every month of the year, including ice racing. Nowadays I’m busy being husband and Daddy as well as having hobby overload. Besides, the roads right now are absolutely AWFUL. There’s still lots of sand and gravel out there, and the potholes & cracks are everywhere. Because of this I’m satisfied to wait before ramping up the riding season.
I don’t mean to imply that the city isn’t taking care of the roads to the best of their ability; after all, they’re only finishing up the aftermath of the flood fight…this after a record winter. The weather has subjected the roads in our area to abnormal stresses and it’s going to be a while before crews can give the roads the attention they require. Add to the fact that the problems are everywhere and you have a long, drawn out repair season.
I have seen a lot of motorcycles out, especially young guys on the sportbikes. I understand the itch to ride ’em. This seasoned sportbiker, however, has put in enough years as a gung-ho kid to know when it’s time to hold off a bit to avoid bending wheels or sandblasting the bottom of the bike. I’ll be out with my dirt bikes or my camera for a while instead.
I didn’t get any earth-shattering photos of this, but there were people lined up along the ditch beside 66th Street, fishing the high water in the ditch. Carp up to three feet long were everywhere! One of the ladies in our office came back to work after her lunch break, saying they were spearing carp “as big as me!” over at the golf course. Amazing.
My hope is that this will be a good year for the wetlands of the Prairie Pothole region. I suspect it’ll take more than spring flooding to accomplish that, however. We’ll have to wait and see!
No photos here, just ponderings. With the news that someone has driven into the ER entrance of St. Alexius tonight, it bears mention that this isn’t the first time someone parked a vehicle inside the east entrance of one of Bismarck’s hospitals. An elderly lady turned Medcenter One’s coffee shop into a drive-thru a couple of years ago. Coincidence? You be the judge.
One interesting note: according to the Bismarck Tribune story, the driver of the vehicle lodged in the ER of St. Alexius was “arrested for driving under the influence of prescription drugs and taken to Medcenter One…” Apparently St. A’s must have been too busy dealing with a black S-10 in their emergency room to treat the guy.
Life sure is interesting, ain’t it? It’s going to be rather unpleasant in a few hours too, for this guy at least. I’ve stayed up way too late reading the last 176 pages of a Ted Bell novel and nursing a sore throat with medication and chicken soup. Not a good way to prepare for an early morning Thursday. I’d better get some rest, so I don’t doze off and drive into a building or something. We don’t have any untouched hospitals now, so perhaps I’d have to settle for a clinic…
The dragline is from the Falkirk Mine, whose tour video I edited. In the middle is a wind farm, taken at sunrise north of Bismarck on a photo shoot for the Department of Energy and Reuters. And finally we have transmission lines, which are great for our power grid but sometimes a nuisance for a landscape photographer. Thankfully they can be photoshopped out when unwanted, and make a pretty neat subject when tried.
I’ve got some other ideas for thematic banners, and plenty of photos with which to go to work. Now all I need is more time, which grows more elusive each day…
This sign has been held on the wall by a piece of clear shipping tape for at least a solid YEAR now, and maybe two. I took this pic at a funky angle so the reflection on the clear tape would show you where it’s applied. Beautiful, ain’t it?
This is exactly the kind of thing you can expect whenever government promises to “fix” something. Right now I bet Chrysler feels like they’ve got a big ol’ piece of government tape strapping them to a wall too, don’t you think? General Motors can’t be far behind. So does the first power plant to find out that Obama was serious about bankrupting the coal industry, an industry that provides a lot of prosperity for North Dakota. And heaven forbid…our health care system after that.
Hope™! Change™!
This reminds me of a post from a long time ago, when I had an R2-D2 sighting in downtown Bismarck.