July 22

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Hurricane Weather
And yet another storm. The Weather Dudes say this storm is going to take aim  at Southern Louisiana.
Oil Spill News
They say the leak has been stopped. 

Fire Season 
Red Flag Warnings, Lightning this week end - California

Home

On my way back to California, via Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas.... in New Mexico today. 

How many dudes does it take to run a weed-eater?

The BP Answer?   SIX !!!!!!!

EXPLANATION: First you start off with (1) Weed Eater Dude. He is dressed to the nines! Head to toe. A hard hat with a neck shroud, goggles, ear covers, Long sleeve shirt, a DOT Highway Safety Vest, Long Pants, Chaps covering those long pants, Steel Toed Boots, .... Oh yeah... Leather Gloves. This (1) dude runs the weed eater.

Now there are (3) Blocker Dudes. These (3) dudes are dressed to the nines as well. Refer to the previous paragraph for an explanation of the Blockers Dudes attire, as it is the same as the Weed Eater Dude.

Blocker Dudes stand in a semi-circle around the area where the Weed Eater Dude is weed eating. The Blocker Dudes job is stand in a semi-circle holding a 48" x 48" piece of ply-wood. The ply-wood is supposed to "block" any debris the Weed Eater Dudes weed eater may throw toward the road.

The total is up to (4).

The road these weed eating technicians are working along side of is lined with traffic cones and has a 10mph speed limit.

Due to the blazing speed of the 10mph traffic, they have placed (2) Flagger Dudes at the side of the road. The Flagger Dudes are not dressed up as much the Weed Eater Dudes. The Flagger Dudes do not wear chaps.... the rest of the Flagger Dudes suits are the same as rest of this elite weed eating team. The Flagger Dudes stand at the side of this high speed race-way.... flagging, so as to warn the race-way motorists of their weed eating operations.

The total? SIX!! (6)  !!!!! A six man team of elite weed eating techincians... one weed eater.

Maverick Says ... What??!!!!!

ps. Toaka says..... "Weed Eater nothing... Bring me a snack."

July 20

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Hurricane Weather
A new storm is brewing in the caribbean.  
Oil Spill News
They say the leak has been stopped.

Fire Season 
Red Flag Warning - California

Home

On my way back to California, via Alabama. 

My experience in Venice, Louisiana, was a real eye opener. One "camp" was still being built. They said it's taking so long because it is a "1000 man camp". Which means it is supposed to be capable of housing ... 1000 men (and women). I heard that and thought to myself... Do we not build 5000 man firecamps in a couple of days? What I witnessed was the biggest cluster F#%*!!! of a logistical response I have ever seen. Some folks knew what they were doing, but had no spending authority. Some folks didn't have clue what they were doing. The right hand speaketh not unto the left hand. I don't claim to have the skills or knowledge to do their job, but I am confident I could easily get the right people lined up to get the job done. Lets see.... day 80+.... and a 1000 man camp is still being designed. In 80 days, we have set and dismantled as much as 20 firecamps.

Safety seems to be a very important concept in the camps. I saw guys who did nothing but walk. Yep. Walk. They walked, one in front of a Bobcat Loader, one one the side, and one at the rear. The Bobcat dude would drive (walking speed) to a big pile of gravel and scoop some into his Bobcat Bucket. He would then turn around and head back to where he needed to dump his Bobcat Bucket. The Walker Dudes would... well... they would walk... carrying an orange flag (waving the flag). It looked like a parade of sorts. I found myself watching for a marching band. No such luck. These "walker dudes" would keep the Bobcat Dude to a walkers pace. If the walker dudes were not there, the Bobcat Dude could fill and dump his Bobcat Bucket many, many more times during the day. He could easily quadruple his number of Bobcat Bucket loads. Now... because of the walker pace the Bobcat Dude must adhere to, there was a need for several more Bobcat Dudes. There were three walker dudes to every one Bobcat Dude. There were Front end Loader Dudes...with walkers. There were Roller Dudes... with walkers. Add it all up..... there were a lot of dudes doing next to nothing....except walking.

I will tell you about the Weed Eater Dudes later. It gets even more confusing and complex.

Maverick Says Thanks!!!

ps. Toaka says..... "Oh Boy! Dad's on his way home."

June 17

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Hurricane Weather
All quiet 
Oil Spill News
They say the leak has been stopped.Fire Season 
Red Flag Warning - CaliforniaHome

Life in Venice is hot.

Maverick has done really well after his surgery. He had to have his spleen removed. The tumor was in his spleen....the size of a Nerf Football. The spleen actually ruptured during surgery. He received 2 units of blood during his ordeal. All in all, he is home and doing well. His Mom did an outstanding job driving to Reno twice a day. Thank you to Malcolm and Tiff for all the support. Thank you to Joyce for helping with the rest of the troops. Thank you to everybody else for the prayers and good thoughts.

Maverick Says Thanks!!!

ps. Toaka says..... "OK...Mavs gettin' better...give me a celebration snack."

July 11

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Hurricane Weather
All quiet 
Oil Spill News
Still leaking.
Fire Season 
Each day there are new starts. Fires are moving a little slow right now. As it dries out a bit more, fires will start moving faster. 
Home

I flew to New Orleans today. I am here doing some marketing and a little work. WOW! What a mess! I will do my best to sneak some pics for ya'll.

Today, our lovely boy Maverick had to go to the The Vet Dude. Maverick has a very large tumor on his spleen (18x24cm). His red blood cell count is alarmingly low. We are trying bring that up before attempting surgery. We ask that everybody send good thoughts and prayers to Mav.... he's gonna need all the help he can get.

ps. Toaka says..... "I'm too sad for snack."

July 9

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Hurricane Weather
All quiet 
Oil Spill News
Still leaking.
Fire Season 
More lightning yesterday. Scattered precipitation. A few scattered starts. 
Home

The Tractor Dude left one of his tractors in the drive-way. Today we are digging out a big patch of "foxtails". The dogs will be much happier once the foxtails are removed. 

ps. Toaka says..... "Foxtails are horrible! Too bad I can't eat them!"

July 8

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Weather
Tropical Depression 2 
Oil Spill News
Still leaking.
Fire Season 
Lots of lightning
Home

ps. Toaka says..... "Oooh! That lightning was close! How about a snack."

July 7

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Weather
A low pressure system is moving into the Gulf today. It should turn into Tropical Storm Bonnie later today, or tonight. It seems to be following the same path as Hurricane Alex. 
Oil Spill News
Still leaking.

Fire Season 
Over 100 downstrikes in the Tahoe area yesterday afternoon. It's still pretty moist in that area, so there are no signs of starts. More lightning is predicted for the Sierras today.
Home

Quiet day yesterday.

ps. Toaka says..... "What's the next holiday? I'm planning my next snack attack."

July 6

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Weather
There are a couple of areas slowly developing some organization. The first one is in the same location Hurricane Alex started. 
Oil Spill News
Tar balls in Texas! Tar balls were found near Galveston over the week-end.
Fire Season 
Several new starts over the week-end. Nothing developed. Things are heating up though. Dry lightning is in the forecast for later this week.
Home

It was very quiet this morning. Even the mosquitos got some decent sleep. The birds are at peace again. No chainsaws, no motorcycles, nobody whistling at the kids, not even a song bird (they slept in). July 4th is a time for celebration. I wish they could celebrate without vandalizing your property, without littering your property. 
OK OK OK! Enough! Have a great day!

ps. Toaka says..... "Let's check to see if the 4th of July campers left any snacks behind."

Elsa

This is "Elsa" . She was born 5 1/2 weeks ago.

July 5

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Weather
There are a couple of areas slowly developing some organization. The first one is in the same location Hurricane Alex started.
Oil Spill News
The Federal Government has taken over the deepwaterhorizon.com information website. It is now a .gov . Maybe it is a first step in taking over everything?
Fire Season 
Several new starts over the week-end. Nothing developed. Things are heating up though.
Home

Whew! The holiday week-end is almost over. The campers will be packing up this morning. The golfers will get in one more round. The sight see-ers will sight see just a little bit more. By tomorrow, most will have gone home. This morning at 0630, someone decided to cut up some firewood.... with a chainsaw! Now that's an alarm clock! Someone stopped him. The horrible noise only lasted about ten minutes. I chuckle when I close my eyes and visualize his wife clocking him with a skillet.... for waking her up.

ps. Toaka says..... "How about cooking one last hotdog?"

July 4th

Happy 4th of July!

July 3

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Weather
All quiet.
Oil Spill News
It's still pouring into the Gulf.
Fire Season 
Still waiting.
Home

The campgrounds are FULL... The traffic is HORRIBLE... The store is already out of Old Fashioned Hot Dogs... The people milling around look like ants on a log.... Today there will be Civil War re-eactments (celebrating Americas proudest moments in history),Tonight there will be fireworks!... Tomorrow there will an Independence Day Parade.... Somewhere in the mix, the Fire Department will serve a boat load of pancakes... Monday, the crowd will slowly pack up and leave.... Tuesday? Peace.
For the time being.... (Vrooom! The chase vehicle is fired up! and the chase is on!)!!!

ps. Toaka says..... "Maybe if I had one of those spiked collars, it would scare them into dropping a snack."

July 2

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Weather
All quiet.
Oil Spill News
It's still pouring into the Gulf.
Fire Season 
Still waiting.
Home

Oh my.... you should see how many people have flocked into Graeagle! It's like a viral plague oozing through the community. There are a handful of people who are polite and respectful. The remainder of the plague thinks they are the most important part of the holiday weekend. They walk right out in front of you when you drive by, they bump into you in the market (without saying excuse me) , they act like they can walk anywhere they like. Preparations have been made. The electric fence is complete. Signs have been posted. The 4x4 Yamaha "chase" vehicle is full of gas and ready. I'm sure the chase vehicle will come handy....at least once. Someone will walk into the meadow, with a cigarette in hand. Someone will carry soda cups onto the property, they will try to feed the horses, they will leave the soda cups on the ground. 
(Vrooom! The chase vehicle is fired up! and the chase is on!)!!!

ps. Toaka says..... "I'm gonna sit here and watch this....with a snack."

July 1

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Weather
Hurricane Alex slammed into Mexico yesterday.... Just south of Brownsville, Texas. Three deaths were reported in Mexico. Texas was mostly spared of any significant damage.
Oil Spill News
It's still pouring into the Gulf.
Fire Season 
Still waiting.
Home

July 4th activities have begun in Graeagle. There seems to be more people here this year. Every year it gets worse. It wouldn't be bad if people would just respect your property. Last year, I chased two boys away who were in the meadow chasing our horses. This year they will have an electric fence to climb through. Last year, fences were knocked down, people drove vehicles around the fences, damaging the roadway and the forest. This year, the fence has been repaired, big rocks are in the roadway.  

ps. Toaka says..... "I think I could use a nice big BBQ burger!"