Atta boy

The lows at night have been anywhere from like -15 to -bajillion degrees. In an effort to stay warm I was looking through fishing highlights from the past. Here's Scott puttin' the smack down on a big Snake River Cutt up at the ranch.

Heather and I have been talking about where we want to live when we move back to St. Louis. We both want a nice house but I really wanna be near water and at least SOME fishing. It's gonna be sad for me to be away from the beautiful rivers of the west. We've talked about and have actually looked at some houses with pools. I think I may have found a compromise. There's gotta be some secluded cove-like areas on the Mississippi or the Missouri. Hell...I'd even settle on the Meramec. I'm not sure how I'd feel about a lake or pond. I kinda have a thing for moving water.


Now this is nice with the wood shingle siding and the deck and who could overlook ample trash containers. French doors are always a bonus to let that morning air/sun in. It's got centrally mounted air.


In all seriousness...I actually would live on this. I think it would be really sweet in some place like Seattle or maybe Oregon. For years now we've talked about getting a group of people and their kids together and renting a big houseboat somewhere and hanging out for a week. If I owned one it'd be like one big party all the time. I see hardly any flaws in this plan.


Maybe if this doesn't work out we'll still be able to look at speed boats. I just think it's a waste of time to look at any of them that don't have a V8.

Bravo

A Federal Judge in St. Louis just sentenced the four men involved in the dog fighting ring. Based on federal guidelines, attorney's for the men were expecting anywhere from just probation to 6 months of jail time. The Judge, however, thought differently. She gave 2 of the men one year and a day and the other 2 got 18 months. I believe all will be in a federal prison. Although it wont bring back the dogs that the men killed or that the Humane society had to euthanize, it's a start. Hopefully they'll get some more consequences on the inside.

This is a test.

Just trying something new over here.
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How bout these chowderheads in rural Missouri that just got busted for a huge dog fighting ring? This annoys me to no end. 180 dogs euthanized because of their wounds and/or malnourished state? Sentencing is today and they face up to 5 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000? Not nearly enough in my opinion.

When I worked in residential facilities, I always noticed that there was usually one type of student that presented more of a challenge for staff than others. For some staff it was working with sexual perpetrators, or students that did intriguing things with their bodies or feces. I always had to be aware and check my emotions at the door when dealing with my students that tortured animals.

Snow and COLD!!!!

It's so cold it should be illegal. For the last few days it's been arctic up here. Now...I likes me some cold weather but this is downright uncomfortable. Last night I sat on the hearth of the fireplace. My wife needed to be at work early this morning so I decided I'd treat myself to a bit of Ron Burgundy. I went out to wake him up and he was on strike. I ended up hoofing it to work in negative digit temps. Good news is there was no shortage of snotsicles. My ass cheeks were frozen until about 0830. I'm not too fat in the ass and today, I was definitely wishing for some junk in the trunk. I tried to start him up when I got home tonight so I could pull him in the garage and I finally was able to persuade him but then I got out and noticed gas underneath it. I quickly got him into the bay and then found a loose fuel hoser at one of the injectors. I don't even wanna know what the insurance company would offer to give up if he went down in flames.
We're currently under a blizzard warning until sometime tomorrow. That means we'll probably get anywhere from 2 to 27" of snow. I personally think it's too darn cold to snow but we'll see. In the meantime Heather and I are going to play rock, paper, scissors to see who's taking the dogs out.

This picture was taken right by the intersection of 24 and I25. There is a creek called Fountain Creek that runs along 24 as you come down the mountain towards Colorado Springs. Monument Creek runs along the I25 corridor. The 2 meet right at this intersection. Over the last year the area along this creek has become heavily populated by homeless people. Most are probably drug addicts and alcoholics but there are some folks down there that have lost their jobs and homes in this terrible economy. It's developing into an interesting situation for sure. The city has been talking about issuing a "no camping" policy where this would be illegal. While I do think it's an eyesore these people just don't have anywhere to go (literally). Recent estimates have the number of campers to easily be in the hundreds along this creek alone. There's no way the police could arrest that many people and even if they would, many of them would be glad to go to a place where they could get a warm bed and 3 squares. The other talk has been about creating a fenced in camp with porta showers and toilets for them to use.