Our girl Lucy is 24 years old. She’s been complaining that her rack is sagging, so we’re letting her have some surgery done.
Month: September 2011
Bates
They’re laying down new asphalt on Hwy 33 this week, and the waits are approaching 20 minutes. I have a job to do and a schedule to keep, so the heck with that!
There’s an alternative way to get between Driggs and Victor, that scoots along the Big Hole foothills through the farming community called Bates. It adds 10 minutes to the normal run, but my what beautiful country.
Especially as the second hay harvest bumps up against Fall…
SlideShow (Bates)
Video Animation
I’ve been beefing up my video tools lately. The main bad boy is MAGIX Movie Edit Pro 16 Plus. I’ve had this for a while, and it’s great. Over the weekend I upgraded one of my old standbys, Xara 3D. I was pleased to discover that it outputs text animations as a MAGIX .cfx file, which I can then process as video.
Here’s a short little clip that illustrates the concept. Possibilities, endless…
Click ↑ for Video
Here’s another…
Click ↑ for Video
The Hunter Cat
Piper has a great sense of smell. She uses her nose everywhere, especially outside.
I love this hunting cat! Here she is checking out the entrance to the underside of our porch, a known hangout for our winter rodents.
Huntsmans View
This is the way the Huntsman family (the rich Mormon guys down in Utah, one of them running for President) view our valley. They fly in here a lot with their private jets.
Teton Valley affords visitors some of the most scenic vistas in America. The Tetons seem to erupt from the earth, creating a striking juxtaposition between the mountains and the lowlands.
Immerse yourself in mornings where the sun sets the wheat colored grass ablaze in a flurry of vivid hues of orange and gold, wetlands that shimmer against the wine colored sky at sunset, and the subtle cries of wildlife ringing harmoniously through the valley—all welcoming you home.
Ahhh… It’s good to be home!
Coffee Pot Fix
Our coffee pot has been driving us crazy lately, by leaking on the counter while pouring. It was just a design flaw by a Chinese manufacturer.
To fix it, I used some Sugru. It’s like modeling clay when you take it from its packet, and when exposed to air, it cures to a cool silicone thing.
By molding it under the pouring spout, it catches the coffee that was leaking, and redirects it back into the stream. Works perfectly!
Idaho Fair, 2011
It’s actually the Eastern Idaho State Fair, in Blackfoot, Idaho. Today was opening day!
We hit Rexburg first this morning, to pick up a rack and pinion for the Mazda, and some Walmart supplies.
Then, on down through Idaho Falls and thirty more miles to Blackfoot. We beat the crowds, got good parking, ate a Pronto Pup Corn Dog (the stand is run by Steph’s bosses mom), had fun, and took great photos. (Hey! Just do the SlideShow at full screen…)
SlideShow (Idaho Fair, 2011)
My Tweets
I’ve been around the Internet, before it was the Internet. I actually wrote my first computer program in 1969, while attaining my Computer Science degree. I’ve seen every trend arrive in this business model of websites and email.
I saw Facebook when it was in college, I had an early Gmail account, and I’ve been an active Twitter user for some time now.
Below is a summary of my tweets, accumulated over the years…
My one follower? Steph, and she never uses Twitter :-)
Young Bison
Huntsman Springs also has a few even-toed ungulates behind their sales office. I swing by there occasionally to see if any have wondered over near the road.
Met this youngster yesterday…
Seven Flasks
Prior to the wedding, everyone wondering where the men were, the six flasks I found on the hill, filled with Jack, a toast to the bride & groom…
Photo taken from below, by Kjirsten. Kudos girl!
Primrose Playground
This is what you get when a rich development, comprised of million dollar homes, builds a playground. It’s right off of Primrose Lane in Huntsman Springs.
There’s another nice little subdivision in Driggs, right off of Easy Street, but compared to this place, it’s low income housing.
The last photo has our new courthouse in the distance. Back in 2008 the Huntsmans gave the county 3 acres of their land, valued at $1.2 million, along with a cash donation of $1.9 million, to build that courthouse.
In exchange, they got to build their expansive development, with a world class golf course, and a cool playground, with insignificant red tape. Good old boys rock!
SlideShow (Primrose Playground)
Destruction
The antonym for Construction. Or to put it in Teton Valley terms, the process of tearing up a perfectly good road, just to lay down another one.
This stupid process has been going on all summer. Federal stimulus taxpayer dollars at work. As one who makes his living driving here, I’m fed up!
The latest is at Creekside Meadows this morning. Twenty minute waits at rush hour equals people late for work and kids late for school. All along the drive to Victor I saw parents and kids standing on the side of the road wondering where the school bus was.
BTW, these vehicles were backed up all the way to what used to be the traffic light.
