Loony Tunes...

I guess it was inevitable, given his temperament, T-Rump's campaign would implode. The man makes used car salesmen look good. He is a grifter, charlatan, a snake oil salesman. 

I guess the best part, if there is a best part, is all the comments about him. Some of the funniest stuff is on Deadspin Sports. While not the best sports site, their commentary is certainly eclectic:

"He worked so hard to establish that he’s a dickhead and a buffoon, it’s insulting for him to presume he’s welcome (to speak for anyone else). That’s the mystery of this political campaign, that he feels like he can stand up there and tell people, “I am your voice,” like he’s doing them some honor."

"A mendacious, bloviating ex-reality show host who thinks he should be our next president."

"An evil, rude, over-ripe meat sculpture." (deadspin.com)

Postscript:  Well the faded orange hairpiece won.  It's not like I was ecstatic about either one (Hill and the Donald 5/21/16), but the lesser man won. Like they say, you should be careful what you wish for, it just might come true...

Snow's a' comin'...

After one of the driest early Octobers ever, we're finally getting our first measurable snow. Only about a 1/4 inch fell this afternoon, but we're supposed to get 1-2 inches overnight.

Big change from last fall when we got almost two feet of snow in September. But that all melted in the near record warmth that followed in October, so maybe this year it'll stick around longer.

When the duplicate stone henge disappears, then we'll have snow!

Last Ride #3...

Everything started off well for another last ride: Clear, blue sky, temperatures up near fifty, and the bikes all ready to go. No need for gas, I thought, cause we put some in last time. So off we went, heading for the Chena River. About a mile down the road, the 650 started to misfire. Uh oh,  I thought, guess I should've put in some gas. Tried to switch to reserve, but the petcocks are pretty stiff, so after fumbling a bit, the engine died. Coasted to a stop, but the shoulder there on the Hot Springs Road is pretty narrow, maybe three feet, with a steep drop down to the borrow ditch. Of course there was lots of traffic, why aren't all these people at work? So wound up pushing it maybe fifty yards to a driveway apron, where I could get away from traffic and sort it out. Surprisingly, this was the first time I'd run out of gas since I can't remember. Got the taps switched to reserve and after waiting a few minutes for the float bowls to refill, it fired right up. So we just rode up to the eight mile pull off, turned  around, and went home. I guess a short ride is better than none at all. At least Andy had a good laugh on me for bungling the ride.

Like my Gramma used to say, all dressed up and no place to go!

All holed up...

The younger dogs spend most of the summer digging holes. Tater's the worst, her yard looks like a pack of angry ground squirrels on steroids just passed through. Back in the day, I'd shovel in their holes, only to have them dug out again overnight. So now, just let'em dig as much as they want, their holes often reaching epic proportions. Then in the fall after a few hard frosts freeze the ground, we move them down to the lower dog yard, closer to the trail. Then bring in the back hoe and fill the holes with hydraulics. I've heard several comments about over kill, but they probably never spent all day shoveling compacted silt.

The chief culprit, she's already started a hole in her new spot.

Tater's old yard, lot's o' holes.

After backfilling; it's not pretty but there's no holes to trip and fall into in the dark.

Hydraulics rule!

Last Ride #2...

One of the blogs I read talked about having a number of last rides, I think they got up to number 5 one fall. Since I've been riding the 850 most of the summer, thought it'd be fun to ride the 650 at least once more. Other than switching the battery, it didn't take much to get it back on the road. So with the relative warm weather continuing this week, it looks we might get in a few more.

September's gone...

It doesn't seem right but it's already October. Here's the NWS Summary for September:

September 2016 was warmer and wetter than normal.

The average high temperature was 55.7 degrees, this is 1.1
degrees warmer than the normal value of 54.6 degrees, and ranks as the 41st warmest of 111 years on record. The average low temperature was 36.7 degrees, this is 1.6 degrees warmer than the normal value of 35.1 degrees, and ranks as the 30th warmest of 111 years on record. The mean temperature for the month was 46.2 degrees, this 1.3 degrees warmer than the normal value of 44.9 degrees, and is the 37th warmest of of 111 years on record.

The warmest day of September was 70 degrees on the 3rd. The 30th was the coldest day of the month with a low of 26 degrees. The first below freezing temperature of the fall occurred on the 8th of the month ending a stretch of 125 days with temperatures above freezing (the 12th longest stretch on record).

2.08 inches of rain fell during the month making 2016 the 14th wettest September of 103 years on record. The average rainfall for the month of September is 1.10 inches. Over half of the rainfall during the month of September fell over a span of only two days (the 5th and 6th).

A trace of snow fell in the month of September. The first snowfall of the season at the airport occurred on the 27th of the month (6 days later than the normal for the first nowfall event). The normal snowfall for the month of September is 1.8 inches.

Looking forward to the month of October, the permanent snowpack is almost always established at some point during the month. The average daily temperature falls from 45 degrees on the 1st  to 19 degrees on the 31st. The normal low temperature falls from 28 on the 1st to 4 on the 31st. The highest temperature ever recorded in the month of October in Fairbanks was 72 degrees (10/1/2003). The coldest temperature ever recorded in Fairbanks in the month of October was 28 degrees below zero (10/26/1935). Normal precipitation is 0.83 inches, much of it typically falls as snow (significant rainfall is rare after mid month). Normal snowfall for the month of October is 10.8 inches.

Available daylight decreases by over 6 minutes per day, from 11 hours 14 minutes on the 1st to 7 hours 53 minutes on the 31st.

The forecast for October from the Climate Prediction Center calls for above normal temperatures, and near normal precipitation.

Another sign of impending winter is the appearance of grouse. At this time of year, they apparently collect gravel for their gizzard from the road or driveway before it's frozen solid.

Last ride?

After a week of cool, rainy days, we finally got some reasonably decent weather. While it still gets down to near freezing at night, it's been sunny and upper fifties in the afternoon. So of course we had to fire up the bikes and go for a ride in the park (A Ride in the Park 7/8/16).

We pulled off at one of the trail heads in the park. Wanted to see what improvements the state had made for trail access since the last time we ran dogs there. And it appeared to be...not much.

While it didn't quite get to sixty, the bright sunshine made it seem warmer. Definitely was a good day for a ride in the park

Left the bike parked parked by the garage when we got back. Later on when I went to push it inside, the low angle sun made for an interesting photo. It's hard to believe the bike's over forty years old, it's still pretty much fun to ride.