Snowing in Northern Michigan...

It sounds like we may not get the bulk of what is headed into Michigan...but it IS snowing and is supposed to continue into tomorrow! Oh...I am back by the way. It has been a very busy two weeks trying to get everything done at work...and get everything ready to head out of town for a couple days.

So far we have received about 2 additional inches of snow today. I do not have any exact numbers since I have been out of town since last week...but I will hopefully get some totals for tomorrow. I DO know that around the hill it would be great snowmobiling on trails. Anywhere that does not have excess twigs or growth would be great riding. I will probably work on getting ours out on Wednesday this week. It looks like we will be having some pretty good lucky snow and temperature-wise too. For the rest of the evening and going into tomorrow we are supposed to see anywhere from 3 inches to 9 inches of new snow. Currently we are under a NWS issued Winter Storm Warning (I need to start indicating NWS because some local weather stations tend to accounce things on their own now days...maybe it was just a fluke but I need to be specific I guess.) that is going to continue into tomorrow around 4 PM. It looks like snow may pick back up again on Wednesday. Temperatures look to stay in the low 30s with lows generally into the low to mid 20s as we move through the week. This sure does look like some meteorologists are edging on being correct! The pattern is moving toward a general winter pattern. Whoo!

I spent Thanksgiving in Kentucky with the wife's family. It was a very quick trip but it was fun. We ate and hung out...and for once did not run all over creation while we were there. The weather was excellent while we were down there. It got into the high 50s and low 60s during the day and into the 30s at night. Perfect for sleeping! :P I am glad to be home though. On the way home we picked up a Christmas tree and a wreath from a local farm market. It was a weird first stop since we had not even been home...but atleast it was taken care of. The cat was causing a bit of trouble when we got home. It had been in the basement! Incriminating brown fur on white paws is always the giveaway. We put the tree up and got all the decor arranged perfectly. Now we are just sitting here listening to XM 36 and watching it snow. It will be very nice to sleep in my own bed this evening...

That is it for now...the blog entries should start becoming a bit more frequent...and regular...as the snowmobile trails open up. Legally they open TOMORROW December 1st. I do not know that they will be anywhere near ready though. Maybe in some areas south of here like Kalkaska and Mancelona they could open...but I would guess that it will be pretty thin riding. One sled with obnoxious paddles or studs will ruin it very quickly. Check out www.harborspringssnowmobileclub.com for updates of our local trails. I will also provide my unbiased trail reports as I ride them. I have absolutely nothing to gain by anyone else using the trails...except for occasionally waving or having to pull off for some moron that is driving too fast.

I encourge everyone to think about what they are doing before riding this season. Know the limitations of your ability...and just drive safe. Respect the trails so everyone else can enjoy them too. Try not to tear them up as you round corners. That just makes it more miserable for someone else to ride on. Remember you are not the only one riding.

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

More snow...

I woke up to very little going on weather-wise...but as the day progressed we saw more and more snow start to spit out of the sky.  I left work and it really started falling.  I had to shovel the porch twice tonight! :P  I would guess we have received in the range of two inches today.  Not a heck of a lot...but as far as first snows go...we are doing quite well.  We were under a winter advisory for freezing drizzle earlier, but I think that pushed down toward the south.  Right now a few flakes are falling...but nothing major in the way of accumulation.  NWS says the snow should stop by around 10 PM tonight.  16 more minutes.  Toward the weekend it looks like a little bit of a warm up is going to occur as winds come from the west and southwest.  If the air was going to stay cold...that is a perfect setup for the lake effect snow machine to kick on in our neck of the woods.  It does not look like we will be that lucky.  (I was hoping to get a ride in this weekend!)

I am wondering whether or not I ever finished my camping story from before.  I guess I will have to look back through the last couple months to see if I did.  I honestly do not remember finishing that story up.  Doh!  Too much going on in my world lately.

I am going to post my entire CPL experience sooner or later too.  That should be a single post...as long as time permits.  There really was not much to it...just a lot of little things that could be a nuisance for some people.

Anyway...that is enough for tonight.  I will try to squeeze in another post before the weekend...hopefully with some pictures of the snow.  It gets dark so early now that I keep missing my opportunities to take pictures! :P

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

Sticking around...

The snow that is!  We have had snow on the ground since early this morning.  It lasted all day without melting.  Right now we are under a Lake Effect Snow Advisory.  Unfortunately, that does not mean lots of snow for us.  I read up on the advisory and it says that areas south of M-68 will see the heavier snow of the advisory.  Other counties south of here may see up to a foot of snow!  That also stands for areas in the U.P.  John Dee should be getting mighty happy right about now. ;) 

It is a weird time of year I guess.  I want the snow to come so I can snowmobile...but I would like a bit more fall weather so we can enjoy the outdoors without having to get all bundled up.  Luckily we are heading to KY to see the wife's family during Thanksgiving week while my family inhabits the house.  That will give us one last taste of nice warm weather.  Hopefully anyway!  The day I get back to the house there can be as much snow as Mother Nature would like to provide.  I am hoping for a bunch of it!

My final chores around the house have been finished up.  I cleaned up the rest of the leaves and split the bulk of the rest of the wood yesterday.  I put all the implements off to the side and I am ready for winter.  Today we put plastic over the wood to keep it from getting wet and snowy.  I was a bit late doing that since the snow has been falling since last night. :P  BUT it is done now.  

I will put some more pictures up on Picasa in the next week or so.  As I mentioned before the upload time has increase dramatically since CenturyTel fixed our internet.  

The forecast for the remainder of the week calls for snow and below normal temps.  The Farmer's Alamanac (not the Old Farmer's) may be correct if this keeps up.  They are calling for far below average temps and average snowfall.  Whoo!  If we can actually get average snowfall...without a bunch of thaws...it will be like the old days!  Come on six foot snow banks! ;)

If anyone reading this knows someone with a 121" track for a 1997 Yamaha VMAX...I am searching for a newer used track for my sled.  I have a tear on the outside of my track...and it makes me a bit nervous going for a long ride.  I do not doubt that it would probably be fine for the better part of the winter...but it scares me a bit thinking that I might end up out in the middle of nowhere without a track.  (Especially since I usually ride alone.)

Anyway...I will try to write again in the first couple days of the week with some snowfall totals from the yard.  Right now I am guess we probably stand at about 1 1/2" to 2".  At 6" I will ride. :P

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

A whole week already?

I cannot believe it has already been over a week.  Time flies!  There really has not been anything new and exciting happening.  I did get my CPL...we have had a few light snows to keep us snow lovers happy (even though it has all melted now)...and everything has finally started to slow down a bit.  A little more wood splitting is optional, but certainly not necessary.  I think more than anything a couple days away from here would be the best thing that could happen.  I am tired, cranky, and ready for bed all the time. :P  A nice weekend of laying around doing nothing would be perfect. 

The purpose of my blog is not to talk about laying around though...so I will really quickly discuss the forecast over the next few days.  By really quickly I mean one word.  Rain.  It looks to rain into the weekend and possibly turn into a bit of snow.  Hopefully we could see a bit of lake effect snow this weekend too.  Temps are going to be just about average possibly a bit above over the next couple days as well.  Not very far off though.  I really need to get busy and post my predictions for the winter...it is quite late.  I do not remember when I posted it last year, but it was probably about this time.

That will do it for now...I have a bunch of pictures to upload but ever since CenturyTel "fixed" my DSL my upload speed got hacked in half.  Stay tuned for them though. :)  http://picasaweb.google.com/dallerding.

-Derek

I had a lot of thinking to do...

I woke up this morning, certain that I would vote Bob Barr and select each individual who was not a republican or democrat. However, as the day went by, my thoughts got a bit more rational. I know for a fact that Bob Barr stands no chance to be elected president. I support what he stands for and what it means to be a Libertarian. I have not, until recently, done any research on that part but I do believe it would be for the good of the USA to vote someone from that party into office. But, since I know that Barr stands no chance, I altered my voting decision and made a choice that I thought would be in the best interest of my country. I voted for John McCain.

Derek

My wood splitter broke!

Structurally it is fine...however the hydrolic fluid return hose popped off and it dumped all my fluid on the ground.  Doh!  So now I have to get some new and get rolling again.  Hopefully I will have that fixed by Wednesday so I can finally be finished with all of the wood.

We finished cleaning up the leaves today!  It is very exciting to see the grass again.  The lawn mower SHOULD be done for the rest of the season.

Anyway, short post since I am getting ready for bed.

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

The Colbert Report

I hope everyone gets a chance to check out The Colbert Report re-run today.  (From October 28th)  It is only a comedy show...but geez he does make a few good points about Barack Obama.  He questions whether Obama is a socialist...and toys around with the word communist. :)  I dig it!  And of course the joke.... "What does a communist put on his spaghetti?  Communist mani-pesto."  Good stuff.

I just found a link to the show itself.  If you missed it check it out.  Good episode.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/41357/the-colbert-report-tue-oct-28-2008

-Derek

Ruger P345 .45 ACP Review

I bought my P345 .45 a couple weeks ago now and just finally shot it for the first time today.  It is a beautiful gun.  You can see it at http://picasaweb.google.com/dallerding.  It is an easy firing gun with amazingly low kick.  Honestly, I compare the kick to my P95DC 9mm.  Anyway, to the review.

When opening the box you will see two eight round magazines, a lock, a magazine loader, two keys (for the DC), the gun, instructions, and the test fire case in a sealed envelope.  The same as any other Ruger I have purchased.  The P345 has a stainless slide and a polymer frame and grip.

When first picking up the gun I was amazed at how light it was.  For some reason, despite the very similar size, I expected it to weight more than the P95.  Handling side by side I cannot tell a difference.  The grip on the .45 is smaller and much more comfortable than the 9mm.  There is a chamber load indicator on the top of the slide.  If there is a bullet in the chamber this indicator pops up.  (I will upload some more pictures of these features as I get them taken.)  The .45 has an ambidextrous magazine release.  When I tried to put the magazine in the first couple times I could only get it in by pressing the release.  The guy at the store I purchased it from said that should not be the case...but I honestly could not get it to go in without pressing the release until I did it a few times and finally slammed it in.  Now it pops in just fine.  The de-cocker is a little less convenient than on the P95.  On the P345 you have to manually pull the DC back up after you have pressed it down.  This also acts as a safety.  You use the keys I mentioned earlier to lock the DC in place.  On the P95 it just pops back up...and there is no safety.  The .45 has 3-dot sights.  The barrel is four inches long.  The P345 sports a picatinny rail on the frame for attachments.

Now to the good stuff.  Firing the P345 was a pleasure.  I was incredibly impressed with the ease of firing.  It fires slightly different than the P95 in that the trigger pull is a little bit further on the double action.  I just have gotten used to the trigger on the P95 and it confused me just a little bit. :P  Once I got used to it everything was as it should be in the world.  A very strong shot with very little kick is what I got out of it.  Single handed it might be a bit more difficult...I shot with both.  I shot through eight rounds and loved each one of them.  My brother shot through the other eight rounds and had no trouble with it.  It was fairly easy to stay accurate at a distance of about 25 feet...even with a crappy target and never having shot the gun before.

Cleaning the gun was a breeze just like the P95.  I tore it down, cleaned it up, put it back together and put it away in about 10 minutes.  (A detailed cleaning.)  Everything went as it was supposed to.  Good stuff.

Overall, I will probably start shooting the .45 more than the 9mm.  The ammo is comparably priced.  I got 50 .45 rounds for $15 and 50 9mm rounds for I think $12.  It have not shopped around much at the different stores...maybe I can get to that tonight or tomorrow.  

If you have any specific questions about the P345 please do not hesitate to ask.  

-Derek

Oops!

I just realized I did not write a Happy Halloween post!!!  I cannot believe that.  There it was though...I hope it was not too late.  (My pumpkins are still outside and all my decorations are still up...so I think it is fine...)

-Derek