Gas Pains

Is the continuing Favre drama giving you fits?

More of the spectacle raising your blood pressure?

If you have a Packer-related medical emergency all you need to do is call this guy...

I am sure he'll administer whatever Packer-recommended life-saving measures are necessary - including a refreshing adult beverage...

Tom

The primary nesting season is coming to a close so Girlfriend and I went for a walk in the meadow with little chance of the dog disrupting any ground nesting birds.

Holy Silphium Perfoliatum Batman!

The wildflowers have exploded all over the place!

Click on picture to enlarge

See any favorites?

Tom

Last weekend I set out on an annual summer pilgrimage - my 16th consecutive one - riding the Scenic Shore 150 on behalf of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Wisconsin.  This is a two-day bike trek from Mequon to Sturgeon Bay that raises funds for blood related cancer research and patient services.

940 riders this year - a far cry from barely a hundred riders at the first event 15 years ago.  With a fund-raising goal of $550,000 - there is $525,000 already in the bank and more checks rolling-in daily.  These funds stay in Wisconsin.

Saturday dawned with rain.  Followed by more rain. I had to turn-on my strobe so traffic could see me in the fog.  My buddies and I kept thinking that with the equivalent of a cup of water in each shoe we stood a reasonable chance of getting trench foot.

Spend a day in wet bike shorts and you might contract a bad case of monkey butt.

Speaking of rashes - rain has a tendency to work all of the sharp debris out of the tarmac leading to a rash of flat tires, low visibility, diminished brake performance and road rash from riders dumping their bikes.

Anyway - I'm tooling down the road and some guy passes me.  He's wearing a Cranky Al's jersey. 

I ask - Hey, are you from Tosa?

He turns to me and says - Yeah.

I think - I know this guy from somewhere.

I say - Hey, you're Krol.  Jim Krol, the Alderman.

Small world.

Alderman Krol is one tough hombre.  He rode an additional 25 miles earning bragging rights for riding 100 miles the first day followed by 75 more the second. 

Conditions were drier by the time we reached Sheboygan.

Big party at the overnight camp at UW Manitowoc.  A couple of live bands, pasta dinner and Sprecher beer.  (Free beer)

And the usual silliness.

Sunday morning it was back on the road with a glorious July day busting-up the fog.

A finish at Potawatomi State Park with a BBQ and corn roast cookout, live music, more Sprecher beer and a massage. 

The beer was free - not the massage. 

More coverage courtesy of Fox 11 News.

A big thanks to the 125 volunteers who supported the ride.  Managing the logistics of this event is mind-boggling. 

If any of you want to join in the fun next year as a rider or volunteer just see me - Captain - Team Swill.

Tom

Oh - by the way - no flats, crash or rash (for me anyway).

I stopped at City Hall on the way to the day job this morning and obtained copies of the latest Mayoral Campaign Finance Reports.

Copying costs were less than the price of a gallon of petrol and you don't even have to make a trip to City Hall.

Here you go:

Didier 07.21.08.pdf          Stepaniak 07.21.08.pdf

Tom

I found this in the mailbag today.

I love the Pack. 

But this nonsense has got to end.

Tom

The replacement tomato plants added following the post-Memorial Day frosts are doing well.  We have blossoms and some green tomatoes on the larger plants that survived.

Almost all of the sweet corn, beets, lettuce, cukes, pickles, cantaloupe and green beans had to be replanted following the monsoons.  They are behind schedule and making a recovery - some better than others. 

Carrots, onions, parsnips, acorn squash, pumpkins, peas, red potatoes and the gourd patch were unfazed and are going strong.  The acorn squash and green beans began to set blossoms last weekend.

I've been picking and sowing radishes and my lovely wife has been cutting rhubarb.

The Brussels sprouts are toast.  Nowhere to be found.

It was only last month that we finally finished last year's potatoes.  We're down to the last few packages of frozen green beans and the last jars of canned tomatoes, tomato sauce and pickled beets. 

Replacements are on the way.

Tom

Wauwatosa's current local paper is WauwatosaNOW and is delivered - free-for-nothing - with your JournalSentinel every Thursday. 

Who can name the old-fashioned, print edition, Wauwatosa newspaper that was in circulation at the close of 1976?

I'll publish your responses in a couple of days.

Tom

I'd bet one of the first thoughts through your head was:  

Whoa, Tom!  Aren't you getting ahead of yourself?

It is true that we've only just put the Independence Day festivities behind us.  Yet it is never too early to begin thinking about deer and deer hunting.

We've got a healthy herd of deer - a bit too healthy for my tastes - considering the thousands of dollars worth of damage they've caused munching on our trees.

With good nutrition and cover (yes, that would be our trees they are eating and hiding amongst) whitetail deer can reproduce at prolific rates.

Like this:

A doe in good physical condition will be bred at 6 to 9 months of age.  Translation:  A significant number of the female fawns born this spring will be pregnant by year-end. 

Wisconsin's bow season opens September 13th. 

That would be exactly 68 days from now.

Shoot straight and hunt safe. 

Tom

Girlfriend and I made the rounds this morning and found this. 

It is never a good sign to find a box askew with bird parts on the lid.

The box was empty.  My guess - raccoon. 

This was the late batch of hatchlings that has been featured in the last two posts.  A meal for a predator.

(No - the dog isn't pushing on the box.)

The second broods of the season are already underway.

Life goes on....

Tom