There’s another big group of these birds on Highway 1806 just south of Mandan. A friend of mine flies helicopters for the army, and says it’s bizarre when they fly the Missouri River bottoms at night with their night vision goggles, and the trees are FULL of turkeys. Sounds like a South Park episode I saw once…
Wake up, people! You’re putting a picture of someone URINATING on your vehicle for all to see. Hasn’t that occurred to you? Are you really too crass to care? How do you suppose the world sees you? It makes me wonder what kind of person would put something like this on their car. Does it just not sink in? Do they think this kind of humor is funny? Do they show their own kids and laugh?
I couldn’t agree more with this guy’s sentiment towards Fords. But there’s such a thing as common decency, and I think a depiction of someone peeing is far over the line as far as decency’s concerned.
You can get bird feeders cheap at Wal Mart and big bags of bulk seed there or at GTA on east Broadway avenue. I’m considering some sort of heated water dish for them in my backyard, too. Together we can make a difference.
A quick email to my friend Kevin Lawrence over at KFYR got this picture on the news at 10pm. Mighty gracious of him. I guess that makes me a Sky Spy™! I know he likes cool cloud formations so if you get some neat weather-related photos, send them to him. They have an updated website at kfyrtv.com with a section where you can upload your photos.
One disappointment about going to the top of the capitol building these days is that the elevators have been “updated.” You see, in each elevator there used to be an actual guy with a little bench who operated the elevator with a big brass handle. Then they “modernized.” For a while there was one elevator left with an actual human who operated it, but I guess those days are gone for good. I’m guessing the fella who did it retired, then they got rid of those controls altogether. It’s really too bad. That was a neat part of visiting this building.
So what about Senator Conrad? At least he cast North Dakota’s vote when it came to confirming Judge Alito, but would that have happened in 2004 or 2005? I think it was an election year vote. The biggest thing about politics is being there…whether you’re a Republicrat or a Demican. So I trust all Congressmen to vote in one way: whatever lengthens their stay.
Back to the point of this post: Check out this picture. Supposedly our Senators Conrad and Dorgan inhabit these two meager little 8-unit apartments paired up in North Bismarck. It’s not exactly prime real estate. They’re not even security buildings. I lived here once…I wonder if the Senators and their wives have the same 70s-throwback olive green carpeting and appliances I did?
Hardly the kind of digs you’d expect for United States Senators, unless only their names live there. I’ve never seen them there. I haven’t lived there in years, but their names were on the mailboxes when I got there in the mid-90s and it’s still there today. So, I guess that makes them North Dakota residents…technically. Unless it’s some random schmucks with the same name (and living with a Lucy Calautti and Kim Dorgan. It can happen…right?)
I recently looked up who owned these buildings, and they’re owned by GKC Apartments, LLC. It appears to be a partnership set up by Kent Conrad, and I don’t know who else is involved. When I lived here the lady managing the property told me that the Senator’s brother owned them; I originally thought that would be Dorgan’s brother, but a little further investigation showed that “Conrad Brothers” was listed in the county records. In 2004 a quit-claim deed was filed to transfer the property to GKC Apartments. I assume GKC stands for Gaylord Kent Conrad, which is Kent’s real full name.
Anyway, it’s good to see that our two Senators get along so well that they decided to be neighbors. After all, that will help them coordinate their efforts to bring all those federal dollars home. Maybe then we won’t care if they sell our state’s soul to the devil and Nancy Pelosi.
Note: I promised (see the upper right panel) that this isn’t going to be a political blog, although I might be prone to a rant infrequently. Chalk this one up. Now it’ll be a while until you see another.
Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to hang around and talk to the owner/creator of this beast. I think the conversation would have been insightful. I recognize the S-10 running gear because of the skidplates (I have a set on my truck, they’re standard) and the tastefully applied “Vortec” sticker on the front quarter.
What I’d really like to know is: is this the same fella who has a 4×4 Cadillac Fleetwood, presumably on a Chevy Suburban chassis, complete with nerf bars? Or the 4×4 Mercedes SL sedan? Inquiring minds want to know. They’d also probably like to know what possesses a man to do such a thing…wrong or right, these vehicles sure do stand out. Especially during a winter snow emergency.
I just got a copy of an email showing an albino deer with a touching story about it nearly getting hit by a car near Stanley. It was rescued and turned over to a game warden. Well, the first thing I do when I find something in my email is verify it. Turns out that this cute little guy is all over the net. He’s been found in Texas, Michigan, parts unknown, and now North Dakota! Always by the same loving family, although they seem to change their names slightly here and there. Shifty characters.
You can go to either snopes.com or just Google it to find out the truth.
So…the next time you find out about a million dollar offer from Bill Gates, or hear about a tax on emails, or get an inbox full of pictures too good to be true…check them out. Especially before forwarding them to your entire address book. Time spent checking your facts instead is a lot better than time spent trying to get your credibility back. Ask the New York Times.
Stunning is the contrast between the bleak colorless ground and the vibrant cloud-streaked sky. Of course, if we were playing by the rules, those dead stalks and leaves would be covered under a pillowy blanket of white. But not today.
My friend Tony, who’s traveled all over the world and to pretty much every state, still claims North Dakota sunsets as his favorite. He’s in Alaska with his new wife now, so that’s quite a complement to our state. We might not have Alaska’s mountains (or bears) but we sure do know how to put on a good show when it comes to sunsets and thunderstorms!