General Discussion, Tuesday, March 14, 2017

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241 Responses to General Discussion, Tuesday, March 14, 2017

  1. MaryfromMarin says:

    Happy Tuesday! And until texan’s return–“once more unto the breach, dear friends…”:

    Liked by 9 people

  2. Wooly Phlox says:

    Liked by 3 people

  3. czarowniczy says:

    Re the picture: “And what is this Caturday of which you speak?”.

    Liked by 2 people

  4. joshua says:

    brrrrrr…it is SO cold in Dallas Texas tonight…down to 47 degrees…..fire up the heaters….brrrr

    lol

    TODAY IS Pi Day……as it is 3.1417 or Pi…..Whole Foods is celebrating with discounts on pizza Pie and cream pies for pi day.

    Happy Pi Day all you math junkies and others……

    Liked by 5 people

  5. patternpuzzler says:

    Some days the news is more interesting than others. This isn’t one of those days.

    The Day in (Mostly) American History: March 14

    1743: 1st American town meeting (Boston’s Faneuil Hall)
    1776: Alexander Hamilton is named captain of artillery company
    1812: Congress authorizes war bonds to finance War of 1812
    1864: Union troops occupy Fort de Russy, Louisiana
    1870: California legislature approves act making Golden Gate Park possible
    1900: US currency goes on gold standard after Congress passes the Currency Act
    1903: 1st national bird reservation established in Sebastian, FL

    1904: In a landmark case, Northern Securities Company v United States, the Supreme Court finds that the company has violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act; this is the first case that T. Roosevelt has undertaken in his ‘trust-busting’ campaign

    1907: By Presidential order, Japanese laborers are excluded from entering the USA
    1913: John D. Rockefeller gives $100 million to Rockefeller Foundation
    1918: 1st concrete ship to cross the Atlantic (Faith) is launched, SF
    1919: Max Brand publishes his first novel
    1923: German Supreme Court prohibits NSDAP (Nazi party)
    1923: US President Warren G. Harding becomes 1st president to pay taxes
    1931: 1st theater built for rear movie projection (NYC).

    1933: CCC founded. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families as part of the New Deal. It was a major part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal that provided unskilled manual labor jobs related to the conservation and development of natural resources in rural lands owned by federal, state and local governments.

    1936: Federal Register, 1st magazine of the US government, publishes 1st issue
    1937: Battle of the Century: Fred Allen & Jack Benny meet on radio
    1937: Pope Pius XI publishes anti-nazi-encyclical Mit brennender Sorge
    1941: Xavier Cugat & orchestra record “Babalu”
    1948: Freedom Train arrives in SF
    1950: FBI’s “10 Most Wanted Fugitives” program begins
    1953: KOLR TV channel 10 in Springfield, MO (CBS) begins broadcasting
    1954: Braves’ Henry Aaron homers in his 1st exhibition game
    1954: KDAL (now KDLH) TV channel 3 in Duluth-Superior, MN (CBS) begins
    1954: NBA Baltimore Bullets end a 32 game road losing streak
    1956: Satchel Paige signs with the Birmingham Black Barons (Negro League)
    1956: Ampex Corp demonstrates 1st commercial videotape recorder
    1958: RIAA certifies 1st gold record (Perry Como’s Catch A Falling Star)
    1958: Recording Industry Association of American created
    1958: US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
    1960: 14 die in a train crash in Bakersfield Calif
    1964: Dallas, Texas; Jack Ruby sentenced to death for Lee Harvey Oswald’s murder

    1965: Allies launch second wave of Rolling Thunder. This was the second set of raids in Operation Rolling Thunder and the first in which U.S. planes used napalm.

    1968: CBS TV suspends Radio Free Europe free advertising because RFE doesn’t make it clear it is sponsored by the CIA

    1969: Nixon discusses the possibility of U.S. troop withdrawals
    1969: Barbara Jo Rubin becomes 1st woman jockey to win at Aqueduct
    1983: OPEC cut oil prices for 1st time in 23 years
    1994: Timeline of Linux development: Linux kernel version 1.0.0 is released.
    2003: Start of the weekend of protests against war in Iraq that are attended by millions

    Liked by 6 people

  6. ZurichMike says:

    Gotta run to work, so will just leave this quick breakfast for y’all:

    Liked by 9 people

  7. The Tundra PA says:

    Late night update: Mitch Seavey is 5 miles outside of White Mountain and moving at the blistering pace of 10.5 miles per hour. After 900 miles of racing, that is truly amazing. Dallas Seavey and Nic Petit are battling it out for 2nd about 17 miles behind him, moving at the more normal speeds of 8.5 (Dallas) and 7.3 (Nic) MPH. Actually, 8.5 would be considered a hot pace at this point if Mitch weren’t out there ahead burning up the trail doing 10.5 (practically unheard of). Baring catastrophe, they have no hope of catching him. After a mandatory 8 hour rest in White Mountain, Mitch should pass under the burled arch in Nome about 3 pm tomorrow.

    Aliy and her team of 12 dogs are resting at Koyuk, as are Pete Kaiser and his team of 10. It is looking like the best finish Aliy can hope for will be 7th. I’ll be happy if she is in the top 10. A 7th place finish is still worth substantial money: about $35,000. Not exactly shabby. The winner gets $70,000 plus a brand new Dodge pick up truck (total estimated value $110,000). IDITAROD involves serious money.

    One more team has scratched, leaving 67 teams mushing towards Nome. Good luck and safe travels to all the mushers and their teams of awesome dogs!

    Liked by 14 people

    • ZurichMike says:

      Thank you for the update! It is very exciting, even for us non-mushers!

      Liked by 6 people

    • Col.(R) Ken says:

      Thank you Tundra……can’t believe that pace….wow. I’ll take top 10.
      Go Aliy!!!!! Go Hounds!!!!!!

      Liked by 4 people

    • Wooly Phlox says:

      Is Mitch going to break records?

      Liked by 2 people

      • The Tundra PA says:

        Looks like it. He should finish in 8 days 4 hours or close. The current record of 8 days 11 hours was set by Dallas last year. That is a huge reduction in the record. Usually when the record is broken, it is by an hour or two. But then the course was incredibly easier this year, without the huge Alaska Range to climb over in the first third of the race.

        Liked by 3 people

    • lovely says:

      Go Aliy!

      10.5? Is he the one who gets off the sled and runs along with the dogs or is that his son? I want to know how how much weight he loses. Sweet on the prizes.

      A picture Mitch and a couple of his dogs 🙂

      Liked by 4 people

  8. WeeWeed says:

    Mornin’ y’all!

    Liked by 10 people

  9. Patriot1783 says:

    Whoa, just woke up (schools shut down yesterday) and looks like already close to 3 inches already! Batten down the hatches New England and stay safe.
    Stella’s Here 😄

    Liked by 6 people

  10. https://twitter.com/correctthemedia/status/841422933222395904

    Liked by 7 people

  11. nyetneetot says:

    Mornin’ stella! (Smiter of those that ought to be smote) 😎 🍸 (Long Island Iced Tea)
    Mornin’ WeeWeed! (Master Mixologist Extrodinare) 😎 🍸 (Old Fashioned)
    Mornin’ Menagerie! 😎 |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| (Jack Daniels – Single Barrel )
    Mornin’ Ad rem! (Queen Felis catus) 🐱 🍸 (Flaming Lamborghini)
    Mornin’ Sharon! 😎 🍸 🍸 (earthquake)
    Mornin’ ytz4mee! 😎 🍸 (cosmopolitan)
    Mornin’ waltzingmtilda! 🙂 🍸 (white wine and perrier)
    Mornin’ partyzantski! 🙂 |_| (Tom Collins)
    Mornin’ texan59! 🙂 |_| (Black & Tan)
    Mornin’ ZurichMike! 🙂 🍸 (fuzzy navel)
    Mornin’ Col.(R) Ken! (hand salute) 🙂 |_| (Boilermaker)
    Mornin’ Czarina! 🙂 🍸 (Lynchburg Lemonade)
    Mornin’ czarowniczy! 🙂 |_| (Wild Turkey Rare Breed)
    Mornin’ letjusticeprevail2014! 🙂 |_| (Irish Car Bomb)
    Mornin’ Patriot1783-ctdar! (aka “ctdar”) 🙂 🍸 (grasshopper)
    Mornin’ tessa50! 🙂 🍸 (flaming volcano)
    Mornin’ waltzingmtilda! 🙂 🍸 (sidecar)
    Mornin’ varsityward! 🙂 |_| (Godfather)
    Mornin’ MaryfromMarin! 😀 |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| (Mortlach)
    Mornin’ Wooly Phlox! (aka “taqiyyologist”) 🙂 |_| (Roy Rogers)
    Mornin’ Howie! (aka “doodahdaze”) 🙂 |_| (Classic Daiquiri)
    Mornin’ TwoLaine! 🙂 |_| (Gin & Tonic)
    Mornin’ Sha! 🙂 🍸 (Lemon Drop)
    Mornin’ BigMamaTEA! 🙂 🍸 (Harvey Wallbanger)
    Mornin’ cetera5! (aka “Cetera”) 🙂 |_| (Blackberry wine)
    Mornin’ The Tundra PA! 🙂 🍸 (Baileys Irish Cream on the rocks)
    Mornin’ lovely! 🙂 |_| (Backdraft)
    Mornin’ michellc! 🙂 🍸 (Salty dog)
    Mornin’ auscitizenmom! 🙂 🍸 (Kiss on the Lips)
    Mornin’ Margaret-Ann! 🙂 🍸 (White Russian)
    Mornin’ Auntie Lib! 🙂 🍸 (Tom and Jerry)
    Mornin’ holly100! 🙂 🍸 (Jack & Coke)
    Mornin’ Pam! 🙂 (Not even water)
    Mornin’ Ms.Tee! 🙂 🍸 (Mojito)
    Mornin’ koolkosherkitchen! 🙂 🍸 🍸 (Cuba Libre)
    Mornin’ ImpeachEmAll 🙂 |_| (Flaming Dr. Pepper)
    Mornin’ Monroe! 🙂 |_| (Stinger)
    Mornin’ Les! 🙂 |_| (Rusty Nail)
    Mornin’ shiloh1973! 🙂 |_| (Jack Daniels)
    Mornin’ TexasRanger! 🙂 |_| (Whiskey Smash)
    Mornin’ Ziiggii! 🙂 |_| (B52)
    Mornin’ oldiadguy! 🙂 |_| (Rum & Coke)
    Mornin’ smiley! (“stuck in spambucket”) 🙂 🍸 (Spanish coffee)
    Mornin’ derk! (“Stellars”) 🙂 🍸 (Kamikaze)
    Mornin’ Jacqueline Taylor Robson 🙂 🍸 (Shirley Temple)
    Mornin’ facebkwallflower! 🙂 |_| (Night Train Express)
    Mornin’ Ms. Cindy! (aka “Ms Cynlynn” aka “ms cynlynn”) 🙂 🍸 (1970 ducru beaucaillou)
    Mornin’ sandandsea2015! 🙂 🍸 (1961 Château Montrose)
    Mornin’ amwick! 🙂 🍸 (Blue motorcycle)
    Mornin’ hocuspocus13! 🙂 🍸 (1970 Chateau Latour)
    Mornin’ Sloth1963! 🙂 🍸 (1971 Moulin Touchais)
    Mornin’ MTeresa! (Ex-lurker) 🙂 |_| (Albanian Raki Moskat)
    Mornin’ Rhea Salacia Volans! 🙂 |_| (Hot Buttered Rum)
    Mornin’ joshua! 🙂 |_| (Mudslide)
    Mornin’ John Denney 🙂 |_| (RumChata)
    Mornin’ litenmaus 🙂 |_| (Stolichnaya elit, no ice)
    Mornin’ kinthenorthwest 🙂 🍸 (A Lonely Island Lost in the Middle of a Foggy Sea)
    Mornin’ TwoLaine 🙂 |_| (Smoking Bishop)
    Mornin’ patternpuzzler 🙂 🍸 (Old Lady)
    Mornin’ Senatssekretär FREISTAAT DANZIG 🙂 |_| (Red Russian)
    Mornin’ whiners and complainers! 😛 (No drink for you!)
    Mornin’ to people posting that I missed. 😳
    Mornin’ to all you lurkers! 😕

    Also just in case someday; mornin’ to Elvis Chupacabra, F.D.R. in Hell and sundance! :mrgreen:

    Breakfast!

    NEW and IMPROVED breakfast with extra bacon for ZurichMike!

    Doughnuts and coffee!

    Liked by 12 people

  12. amwick says:

    Gray morning here, ’bout the best thing I can say about it is we have no snow. None. Good luck to peeps up north ways…

    Liked by 3 people

  13. Liked by 6 people

    • Liked by 7 people

      • John Denney says:

        Back in the late 80’s I had implemented string numbers in our programming language, so that our customers could never get an arithmetic overflow error. If it detected an overflow, it would seamlessly switch to string math, working out the answer using strings of digits, similar to doing it by hand, keeping all significant digits.
        For one test, I implemented the Chudnovski brothers algorithm for calculating pi, which had just been published in Discover magazine.
        My friend and co-worker Robert assisted greatly in debugging the program because he had long ago memorized pi to 38 digits just for fun.
        My program would ask how many digits of pi you would like, scale up the calculations to avoid decimals, then place the decimal point when it printed the output.
        Years later I came across a web page that had pi to 10,000 digits, so I ran my program and compared its output to the web page. We agreed on all 10,000 digits. 🙂
        To my knowledge, the program is limited only by how much disk space you have, and how long you’re willing to wait for the answer.

        Liked by 8 people

        • You would get along great with my son-in-law! He’s got a PhD in math and he’s a programmer. We celebrate Pi Day in my family as it is also my DD’s birthday, so I’ll have to share your cool story with her. She’s a math girl. 🙂

          Liked by 2 people

          • John Denney says:

            To my knowledge, the program (I think I called it PI) still ships in the BP file in the SYSPROG account of the Reality flavor of the Pick operating system. Reality was developed in California, the company bought by McDonnell Douglas, then a UK saleman managed to do a leveraged by-out, so it was owned by the U.K.’s Northgate Information Systems, but is now owned by an American company again.
            I was sent to the UK headquarters in Hemel-Hempstead a few times, and learned to drive a right-hand steering wheel manual transmission car in the parking lot between the headquarters building and the Buncefield fuel depot next door.
            The Buncefield fuel depot exploded some years later, the biggest explosion in England since WWII, totally destroying Northgate’s headquarters. Fortunately, it was early Saturday morning, and no one was in the building. Google it for some amazing pictures and stories. Because it was the primary supply for Gatwick and Heathrow airports, it caused a fuel shortage, and for a while airplanes were given just enough fuel to make it to Scotland, I think, where they were topped off.
            The funny part is that I had been laid off just a few months before, and had left a file cabinet full of notes. Development had been moved to the UK, so management here asked if they wanted the file cabinet. They said yes, but no rush; sending it cheap on a slow boat would be fine. It arrived on a Wednesday afternoon, a developer I knew was notified Thursday that it had arrived, and he thought he’d look at the contents Monday morning, since he was taking Friday off because he was maxed out on vacation accrual. The explosion happened that Saturday, and the file cabinet was completely destroyed.

            Ironically, the company’s primary product focus at that time was, “Disaster Recovery”. 🙂

            Liked by 2 people

  14. shiloh1973 says:

    Well, my septic system is kind of working. The young man who put it in spent two hours here yesterday afternoon. I have a couple of issues we can’t fix until the ground dries out. We had a lot of snow and then 45 degree weather with rain. My whole property is water saturated. I have giant ponds and big puddles everywhere!
    He also grabbed a shovel while we were waiting for the septic pump to drain down affluent and dug some trenches for me, so the water would drain away from my shop and house.
    Funny, I called him a young man. He is in his late 40’s, early 50’s. I have know him for a very long time.
    I have to keep checking the fluid levels in the tank and in the drain field. Once the ground dries out he is going to come out and fix all of it. Not going to be cheap, but it needs to be done.
    Oh, by the way, he would not take any money from me even though he was here for two hours!

    Liked by 9 people

    • WeeWeed says:

      How are your wounds doing, Shiloh?

      Liked by 4 people

      • shiloh1973 says:

        Right hand is healing up quite well. Left hand not so good. The skin is healing great, but I think there is some nerve damage. My left thumb is twice the size of the right one. The doctor said to give it some time.

        Liked by 3 people

        • amwick says:

          Dh had serious surgery on one finger…They said that fingers are slow to heal, and that seems to be the case.. Not the actual cut, but the rest of it inside, the muscles and what not. He believes that he has some nerve damage too… They told him it could be more than a year… sorry…..

          Liked by 3 people

          • shiloh1973 says:

            Heck, half my fingers are partially numb from all the abuse I have done to them over the years. It will be fine. Just gives me an excuse when I drop stuff all the time.

            Liked by 3 people

            • amwick says:

              He gets frustrated playing the guitar… but he keeps trying… 🙂

              Liked by 3 people

              • Wooly Phlox says:

                I understand. I haven’t been able to play mine for about 5 years now. Scrubbing dishes for 10 years straight, full time, has made it impossible to finger chords on a steel-string, since I have no skin on my fingertips, and nerve damage in more than one.

                I switched to piano, and my git-fiddle collects dust. Now I just live vicariously through Joe Bonamassa, Steve Vai, and Stevie Ray.

                Liked by 1 person

    • Wooly Phlox says:

      That was a young mensch. Not just a young man.

      Love to shake his hand.

      Liked by 3 people

    • czarowniczy says:

      Ahhhh…let’s bond over septic.
      Spray system on my aerobic septic broke…we wanted to relocate it anyway. Ground’s too saturated to dig in so we can’t lay new pipes, gotta pump that final tank out to the drain field using one of our 3″ pumps. Trees and grass love it, grass is green and many leaves are out here already but the ones in the concentrated drain area are more greenerer and more leafierer.
      Amazing the things you have to do for yourself out in the sticks, things that you used to have to pay a plumber for or call the city and wait an eternity for the Shovel Leaners to show up. Oh well, SSDD.

      Liked by 2 people

      • shiloh1973 says:

        We did throw quite a few sh^* jokes around the septic tank. There are two 6 inch clean outs on each end of the drain field. Inside those are 1 inch blow off caps. We pulled the caps and let her rip! Seems to be working ok for now. I have lived here for 10 years and have never seen this much standing water. Heck I sink in when I walk in the lawn! We have another rain storm coming in tonight! Yikes.

        Liked by 1 person

    • It’s wonderful that you have this gentleman to help you. You have blessed each other’s lives.

      I somehow missed that you had injured your hands. I’m glad you are healing, Shiloh.

      Liked by 2 people

  15. Wooly Phlox says:

    I was going to buy an album on Amazon a bit ago.

    They advertised their prepaid credit card to me, and I bit that hook.

    Then I went through their forms and fields to fill out.

    After the fourth field I said F this. All that alliteration aside, Amazon wants to know EVERYTHING about you. Nope, I’m good. Don’t need your card.

    Liked by 3 people

  16. Reposting this from earlier this week and from next door
    —–

    The 15th is this week! Be ready to send President Trump a postcard.

    “March 15, everyone mail a post card to Trump that publicly expresses our support to him.

    He’s standing for America while all around him, including, it seems from the leaks, some of the closest insiders are trying to derail him. This is unprecedented, truly unprecedented, in American history. We, in vast numbers from all corners of the world, will overwhelm the President with our support and belief in him. We will show the media and the politicians that we are standing with him!

    Tell him thank you for taking on the job of making America great again. And most importantly, we will bury the White House post office with complete support that even the media cannot deny. All we have to do, every one of us, is write a post card to the President expressing your support in him and his decisions.

    Mail it on MARCH 15, 2017, everyone all on the same day.

    Imagine the impact this will have. Do the math: there will be millions. Post this on your FB account, Twitter, Gab or other social media accounts.

    Here’s how to get them to Trump:

    President Donald J Trump
    1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
    Washington, DC 20500

    POSTCARDS ONLY. NO ENVELOPES. They would have to go through Secret Service for inspection. Remember, March 15. Put it on your calendar and send some post cards on 15 March.

    https://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2017/03/08/send-a-postcard-to-president-trump-on-march-15/

    IMPORTANT!
    IMPORTANT!
    IMPORTANT!

    While I was Googling info on this event, it seems that Libs have decided they want to send Trump pink slips on the 15th, so we all need to be ready with postcards to counteract that. We spoke on election day, and we better keep talking if we don’t want the Left to drown us out.

    If you can’t find a postcard, there’s one on the site that I linked that you can print out and mail.

    Please share this with everyone you know. If you can’t repost it somewhere like FB because of liberal friends and family who would whine about it, cross-post this to another Conservative website.

    Liked by 5 people

  17. stella says:

    I lived in this community up until age 9, and then again in my 20’s. How things change.

    Christian refugees fire back against Obama-mosque deal in Michigan

    Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2017/03/christian-refugees-fire-back-against-obama-mosque-deal-in-michigan/#u35dUIFVq2My0MrV.99

    Liked by 3 people

    • Wooly Phlox says:

      I hope they don’t discover the SW Lake Michigan coast, and move west.

      I really wouldn’t want the rape rate to rise here.

      My town has no mosque, nor Islamic Cultural Center or any of that.

      I Thank God every day for that.

      Liked by 3 people

  18. John Denney says:

    Rush was talking about “intersectionality” this morning. It’s a new religion on campuses regarding racism, feminism, xenophobia, and homophobia, which he says states that if you are guilty of one, you are guilty of all.

    Made me think of James 2:10: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

    Maybe instead of calling someone a racist or a leftist, just call ’em a sinner. 🙂

    Liked by 5 people

    • nyetneetot says:

      Nice, so crossing against the light merits burning for witchcraft now

      Liked by 1 person

      • Wooly Phlox says:

        If you’re referring to the Book of James, you need context, not just that verse.

        But Rush is right. For the Left today, if you don’t believe EVERY POINT in their list of points that you MUST believe, then it is as if you reject all of them. Todays left are purists, Puritanical, and quite fascistic about it all.

        Liked by 1 person

      • czarowniczy says:

        Guess it depends on if you’re the pedestrian or the driver.

        It’s college, kids getting to play at being adults without having to worry about the whole pack of adult responsibilities coming back to bite ’em in the assets if they screw up.

        Liked by 1 person

  19. amwick says:

    Soooo, just now, the phone rang, and it was our friend that had open heart surgery, last week… He is home, and finally feels well enough to talk to people…. thank goodness. He and Dh were shooting/hunting friends and we have kept in touch since moving…

    BTW, Dh has an appointment with an actual neurologist.. They said the first open slot was June (this is typical) but he explained about his history with Guillian Barre, so they are squeezing him in tomorrow.
    All in all, great news… 🙂

    Liked by 6 people

  20. The Tundra PA says:

    (Almost) Midday update on IDITAROD. Mitch Seavey left White Mountain this morning, and Dallas and Nic left about 2 hours later. Mitch’s team is still moving at faster than 10 MPH. Joe Runyan published a great account of Mitch’s accomplishment this morning. Joe was the 1989 Iditarod champ who beat Susan Butcher by an hour and ended her string of 5 wins in a row (Susan won in ’86, ’87, ’88, and ’90; unprecedented at the time). He has been an Iditarod commentator for the last 10 years or so. Here’s what he wrote:

    March 14 8:36am Mitch Seavey departs Wht. Mtn with ELEVEN on the Tow Line

    Joe Runyan

    Mitch Seavey first on the trail to Nome with eleven in Harness

    Mitch Seavey quietly booted his team of eleven and then manavuered them to the main trail on the Fish River. The checker informed him he had a minute before allowed to go on the final 77 mile leg to Nome and the finish. “You are free to go, it’s 8:36am.” The team summarily and uniformly broke into a slow lope and gradually disappeared into the very gray dusk. Once again, the power and speed was on display as he and team disappeared into a big bend on the river. The temperature was 2F but felt colder with a breeze on the river.

    The trail will follow the Fish River, then portage over a notorious steep and vulnerable coastal mountain called Top Kok, descend quickly to a shelter cabin at the foot of the descent, and then follow the BEring sea coast , encounter several blow holes, areas known to receive fierce winds that come through the coastal mountains like a venturi, to Nome. Weather today is forecast benign and the mushers should have good passage. The trail is known, however, to be difficult. In places, the trail is marked with angle iron steel tripods for good reason—-the wind blows out timber tripods and obliterates temporary markers. No one takes this section of trail for granted.

    My phone rings several times from true race fans. Dean Osmar, the 1982 Champ wants to know the real story, and I tell him that the team of MItch Seavey has solidified into an incredible trail hardened machine. Thinking about it, the only way one could experience the feeling of animals in such a physiological state is do the unthinkable and drive them for a 1000 miles, provide them 10,000 cal day, and witness the magic as they physically transform. Few know or understand this state of physicality. Personally, I was happy for Mitch, and tried to imagine the experience of driving such a team on the Fish River. The team are wise veterans, experienced and know the finish is NOme and will drive hard once he turns off the river to ascend Top Kok. The descent to the Bering Sea Coast will be controlled chaos, Mitch standing on the brake to control speed. He will snack the team, feed the biological furnace, every hour and a half, and feel the leaders surge to go even faster.. He is driving the fastest, strongest team of sled dogs in the world, and must feel, I imagine, a certain relunctance to conclude the race. The rhythm of the team, the quiet, the feeling of power, are reserved for the few.

    Dallas and Nic Petit

    The two are separated by 13 minutes and will depart in the first light of arctic morning around 9:30am. Both are nursing injuries of their own—-Dallas with painful tendonitis in his wrist and forearm and Petit hobbling with an ankle sprain.

    At 11:45 am, Mitch is less than 40 miles from Nome.

    Liked by 6 people

  21. czarowniczy says:

    Had to go into town so I stopped by the drugstore to buy so e stuff. Guy in line ahead of me was checking out with Easter candy, a 12-pack of beer and a paternity test. Must be a sign that life’s just passing me by.

    Liked by 5 people

  22. The Tundra PA says:

    Mitch Seavey has just won IDITAROD!

    Liked by 5 people

    • lovely says:

      Did he break the record?

      Liked by 1 person

      • The Tundra PA says:

        Bigly! Finished in 8 days 3 hours 40 minutes. Previous record, set by Dallas last year, was 8 days 11 hours 20 minutes. That’s YUUUUGE!

        Liked by 5 people

      • Col.(R) Ken says:

        Aliy??????

        Liked by 3 people

        • lovely says:

          Tundra said ALiy was fighting for 7th which still comes with a nice purse 🙂 I don’t know when she is expected to finish but maybe Tundra will stop in 🙂

          Liked by 2 people

        • The Tundra PA says:

          Aliy is currently in White Mountain on her 8 hour rest. She was 9th arriving there, and can leave at 12:39 am. Pete Kaiser managed to squeak past her by 1 minute! If her dogs are strong, she can recapture 8th position from him. Not likely that either Pete or Aliy can reel in the guy in 7th who has almost an hour on them. It is 77 miles from White Mountain to the finish, about an 8 hour run. Aliy should finish the race tomorrow morning between 8 and 9 am. I hope she and the team are getting a good rest before the last sprint. She looked pretty ragged in the last video interview from Shaktoolik.

          Jessie Royer will be the first woman to finish, and she will be in 5th place. She will also be the first musher EVER to finish in the top 5 with all 16 dogs in harness! That is a truly phenomenal feat. The other musher who is still running 16 dogs is in 55th position.

          The back end of the race consists of 11 teams that are between the Yukon River at Kaltag and the Bering Sea at Unalakleet. Another team scratched today, so 66 teams total, of which 3 have finished.

          Dallas managed to beat Nic Petit for 2nd place by 5 minutes, arriving in Nome almost 3 hours behind his dad.

          Go Aliy! Go dogs! Either 8th or 9th, she’ll have a top 10 finish this year.

          Liked by 1 person

  23. lovely says:

    Hmmm… Did President Trump sign a release form that permitted Maddow to obtain his tax returns or she announcing that she has committed an illegal act?

    Liked by 1 person

  24. Wooly Phlox says:

    https://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2017/03/obamas-third-term-is-here.html

    There is now a President and an Anti-President. A government and a shadow government. The anti-President controls more of the government through his shadow government than the real President.

    The Obama network is an illegal shadow government. Even its “light side” as an opposition group is very legally dubious. Its “shadow side” is not only illegal, but a criminal attack on our democracy.

    The whole thing is true.

    Liked by 2 people

  25. auscitizenmom says:

    lilbirdee12’s prayer:

    Our Heavenly Father, Your children come to you tonight to ask for healing and peace throughout our country so that we may return to being One Nation Under God. Guide us to be leaders in Your Kingdom, spreading Your Love and Salvation to all. Forgive us our sins and deliver us from evil.

    Lord, we ask for a blanket of protection over all our troops and law enforcement who serve to defend and protect us. Bless our representatives with the strength and wisdom they need to achieve the path You have chosen for us.

    Please place Your Guardian Angels of Protection around Donald Trump and Mike Pence and their families as they seek to lead America back to You.

    Grant us patience, Lord, as the evil ones try to anger us and cause us to fall.
    Spread blessings over Israel and Netanyahu.

    We humbly ask that You please comfort those who are grieving and in pain.
    Thank you Father, for Your Love and the gift of Life.

    In Jesus name, we pray. Amen

    Liked by 3 people

  26. stella says:

    Liked by 2 people

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