The curtamous page
December 2005 Archived Notes
December 27, 2005 - Happy Tuesday everyone! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! I wasn't going to do an update today as I'm tired and crabby, but then I go an update from the SEC-W/M, and figured I better get it posted, so we'll start with that:
Hello all,
I hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas! Thank you to those of you that were
able to make it to mom's house to talk to on the phone. Nothing completes Christmas like family!! I definitely missed it!!
It is update time! Softball has been quiet here. We have a couple of weeks off which gives me time to lose some of that holiday weight. Three of us have been doing a considerable amount of fitness training down here. Hopefully I can be back at my playing weight soon!
Had a close call with our esteemed colleague from Crooked Lake this week. It turned out that the DHS girl's softball team was staying right down the road from the hotel that I stayed in on our mini vacation here. I didn't know this until we got back to Hastings. It would have been good to see a familiar face, but I think it would have made for a long ride home.
The vacation, oh yes, the vacation! We went to a Wisconsin Dells twin city called Rotorua. The place made Kaukauna smell like roses! No offense to any of you from there. Due to the thermal heat and thermal pools and mud baths, the town has a strong sulfur smell to it. Aside from the smell, the town was nice. Good scenery on the way home. Got to ride a luge down one of the hills there, I raced it down like I thought our Sec. of Transportation would. Rubbin is Racin.
A quiet week is expected here. Lots of training and then the new year. I wish all of you a fun and safe New Year! Get on those resolutions!!!!
Cheers
Ric
Just so you know, the phone call was at The Mayor's home at Midnight on Christmas Eve. A fine new tradition has been started! Instead of midnight mass, we have midnight happy hour with a call from the SEC-W/M! A great time was had by all!
Personally, I can't believe the SEC-W/M and the Ambassador didn't hook up! You'd think those two would have just gravitated to each other despite neither knowing the other was there... Oh well, here's Merry Christmas to
Ric!!!
Not sure why that seems so appropriate for him...
Lets see; The Holidays! Well, my beautiful bride managed to outspend her previous record, so I got that debt going for me... Christmas was nice, other than that... Probably the highlite, as it seems to be every year, was caroling on Pa and Charlotte's birthday. Pa turned 80 this year (and big sister just acts like it) so we had cake and ice cream by Ma/Pa's, and then hit the road... and the bottles... We did a great job, and had a lot of fun! On a sad note, the Barber brought his LAST bottle of Plum Wine. Best wine I have EVER had! Cheers to the maker who has gone on before us! You left a great legacy!
What else? Oh, I cooked up a load of shrimp for the holiday, and they turned out really good... except for stinking up the house, which I got chewed out for... kinda of a holiday theme at our house...
Oh YEAH!!! Big news!!! The President locates the definition for "WHARFELING"!!! The royal family called last week to inform me that "WHARFELING" was infact, NOT an incorrect reference to "wassailing", but instead a similar tradition involving singing to sailors as they set out to sea... on a
wharf... go figure...
Newsletter articles: GET THEM IN!!!
Well, I'm sure there's more, but all I have time for... But before I go, a few words of wisdom for our junior members:
"Consciousness: That annoying time between naps..." -- Unknown
Very true during the
holidays...
Until next time, take care...
As Red would say, “Keep your stick on the ice!”
curtamous
PS. Oh yeah, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
December
19, 2005 - Happy Monday everyone! Holy cow! I typed those three words in at 7:30, and its now 10:15... NOT A GOOD MORNING!!! Anyway, hope everyone's doing well. Freaking cold here! -8 this morning... The truck has a good heater, and it still took until I was half way to work before I stopped shivering. That's cold...
Lets see, what's new? Well, I think I failed to report on Zumbo's big hunt north of the border. In a short summary: Cold; No deer. It wasn't the most productive of
expeditions for our expert hunter, but a lot had to do with the timing of the trip. Post rut and cold weather resulted in bucks going dormant. Nice area though... Beyond that, you'll have to get details from the master personally...
Did I mention its cold...?
Went to Ma and Pa's Christmas party at their new home yesterday. Wow, talk about great food! I was very impressed at the quality and
quantity. They really put on a nice spread...
Fixed my snowblower on Saturday. The leaky gas tank was getting to be too much of a pain, so I got a new one. Had a heck of a time getting the old one off, but saw where it had been patched before. Got a new, much bigger, plastic tank, and jury-rigged it into place. Of course, even though it was a 15 minute job, one bolt WOULD NOT come out, so it became a 2 hour job. That's OK though... Its always good to have a garage project...
Our thought of the week:
Why exactly is there a snow-globe with summer scenes?
I don't know, but I wouldn't mind being in one today...
Here's our weekly update from our SEC-W/M:
Happy Holidays all,
The weather up there appears to be perfect for Christmas in Wisconsin! Here it is the same ole thing, hot and sunny!!
Oh yeah, it did rain today.
On to the update! Tamatea repeats as champions of the Saturday league. We overcame a 2-0 deficit to win 4-2. Found out today that there is no news coverage due to the fact that the reporter is one of many on strike right now! So that is as good as the reporter from another small town paper that I know of!! I did manage to hit in the eventual winning run on an rbi fly out to center field. Good battle, our pitcher took a year low 3 strikeouts. Apparently he is sick of doing everything himself for our team! I wonder how he got the other 18 outs if we don't do anything.
Did some scuba diving on Tuesday. That was interesting. Only in a pool though. The whole breathing thing was a bit hard to get used to, but it was definitely a cool feeling to be under water like that. I would highly suggest it to anyone. Especially if they can get in the ocean and see more than a concrete wall.
Ready for another week. Have a blessed and safe Christmas everyone. I will miss the big feed and spending time with the family. Go Pack on Monday night!!
Merry Christmas
Ric
Hmm... Poor local sports coverage? I think I know the guy he's talking about... As far as his scuba diving, maybe his instructors were warned that he might mistake whales in the ocean for ex-girlfriends? That would explain confining him to a cement pond... Seriously, Ric, I hope you have a great Christmas from all of us!
Saw
The President earlier this week during the BIG SNOW! I was driving thru
town when I noticed a man trudging thru the snow. I pulled up to offer a
ride, and low and behold, ITS THE PRESIDENT!!! Well, being the man's man
that he is, he declined the offer for a ride. What a guy!
Denville B-Ball... not much going on there... Big wins over SouthDoor... Wins are always good... Oconto tomorrow, and then kind of a lull over the holidays...
The deadline for submission of newsletter articles has come and gone. I've
received 4 submissions (One is either blank or very short!), and requests for quite a few extensions. Lets get with it people! I hope to have time to work on it next week, and I need material!!!
Wanted to wish little Lynny congratulations on her graduation! A party was had in SP
yesterday... wish I had been there! Great job to you and the Big Guy too!!!
Well, that's it for this week, but before I go, a few words of wisdom for our junior
members:
"Why is Christmas just like a day at the office? You do all the work and the fat guy with the suit gets all the credit" -- Unknown
Funny... Too funny...
Until next time, take care...
As Red would say, “Keep your stick on the ice!”
curtamous
PS. Oh yeah, Merry Christmas!!!
PPS. Don't know about an update next week... if there is one, it'll be Tuesday...
December
12, 2005 - PACKERS WIN! PACKERS WIN! PACKERS WIN! Wow! Haven't been able to start off an update like that for a while... Good morning everyone! Welcome to Monday! Yeah, the Packers pulled one off last night, and I'm darn happy for 'em. You could say that the Liuns got robbed on that goal line/safety thing, but, you know what, the Packers probably got robbed a few times this year too, so it all evens out... But boy, the Packers are still a bad team... Hopefully next year they'll rebound...
What else is new? We moved Ma and Pa Nelson back to Denville this weekend, and that seems to have gone OK. So far they like their new surroundings, and it'll be handier for me (hopefully not TOO handy). Here's wishing them well...
Can you believe Christmas is less than 2 weeks away? I really haven't done anything in the way of mass market
preparations for the holiday. I hope to get my shopping done in one massively painful trip to the mall and go from there. If it wasn't for all the crap this holiday has built up to, it would be a lot of fun... Gotta work on that...
How about a return of the "Thought of the Week"? Here goes:
How do they get the deer to cross at that yellow road sign?
That's one for the junior members... they'll be puzzling over that for days...
Got our weekly update from Down-Under:
Subject: Update from abroad
Happy Monday everyone! Well, Tuesday our time,
I see that the temperatures there are typical for this time of year back home. Brutally cold! Over here, it is still getting warmer each day. Still ranging around the 80 degree mark. We have been raining on and off lately.
Well, lets get into last week, shall we? Last week brought Tamatea a repeat of the Thursday night league championship. We get our name on the trophy, something like the Paul Bunyan Axe, but more native. We won 9-3. Great start to the game, it looked like we would be done in three innings, but we relaxed and let Dodgers Fastpitch play a full game. I guess we could use the extra work too! Tuesday night we beat Dodgers again, 1-0 on a bottom of the seventh home run by our fifteen year old phenom. I believe there was an article in the paper, check it out. I know there was no coverage of the championship though.
Sunday brought a Christmas celebration at the local pool. Rain dampened it, but still heaps of fun. Lots of rugby, water polo and cannon balls were had. The highlight, a member of the BBC played the role of Santa for the little kids. Apparently Santa has a kiwi accent here. Couldn't fool those wretched little kids. Oh well, fun for all.
I was able to see the end of the packer game, Yeah and Neah. If they keep winning, no Reggie Bush, on the other hand, it is always good to see a Packer victory.
That is all for this week, hopefully more championship news next update!!
Cheers
Ric
P.S. Thanks to everyone for the Thanksgiving card. It was great to get here!!!
First off, the subject immediately made me laugh... Was this a message from a new lady friend, and was she possibly describing her backside? Ah, no, just another update from the SEC-W/M. I like how he immediately rubs in all the weather problems he's having, but the question is, when he says "We have been raining on and off lately", does he mean him or the weather? Glad to hear softball is going well, but I wonder if a certain large probationary member has
transferred to the HBT considering the poor coverage they've had. As far as Santa is concerned, I would've told those tikes that Santa doesn't speak kiwi at the north pole...
Denville BBall continues on its average way... Frosh did well in pounding LC, but the varsity was unable to hold on in the 4th quarter and lost at the free throw line. I like it a lot better when Denville beats LC... They can make it up by beating them at away, or better yet, at regionals...
Got this pic sent to me quite a few times, but then I got it from Jack, and
suddenly realized what it was. The AG hung this up behind The President's abode trying to convince the neighbors he got another deer this year...
Well, newsletter assignments are out, and I am anxiously awaiting the first submission. Its actually quite a bit of work, but reading each article for the first time makes it all worth while. If I get one via email at work, I'll be sitting at my desk cracking up... No problem, everyone at work knows I'm a bit off anyway... So, BB members, get you submissions in!!!
Well, that's it for this week, but before I go, a few words of wisdom for our junior members, compliments of the FM:
"The greatest obstacle to your success is probably you." — Frank Tyger
Makes me think of the junior membership...
Until next time, take care...
As Red would say, “Keep your stick on the ice!”
curtamous
December
05, 2005 - Good morning and Happy Monday! Well, kinda happy... You know, the worse week of the year is the week AFTER Deer Camp. You realize
its 50 weeks until camp comes again, the holiday crap is in full swing, it starts to get REALLY cold, the days are short, blah, blah, blah... Well, at least we have Fish Camp to look forward to...
Despite the crummy week (I was even on call at work, so it was REALLY bad), I did have a couple good runners. Friday was our annual ACN Day at work. Morning meetings, chicken and ribs for lunch, and off to the tavern. Had a good time, except I need to discontinue that tradition of martinis on ACN Day... Saturday night the SEC-HSS and his buddy had another 21st birthday party at a local establishment. Another good time with a good crown and good food... But I was a LITTLE tired on Sunday...
Zumbo was at the party Saturday fresh back from his Canadian hunting trip. The report was cold and no deer... If I remember right, it was 18 below when he left... THAT'S COLD! The cold weather and late season resulted in the deer sitting pretty tight, so he was a little disappointed. But, he'll probably go back...
While we're still on the topic of bad hunting, I found a little top ten list to close the season. Its kinda R rated for this site, but you'll live. (If the AG, FM-Junior, or Chief are reading this, or anyone else under the age of 17 for that matter, please close your eyes for
this part)
The top ten reasons hunting is better than sex:
10. Once you shoot your wad, its quick to reload.
9. You can pick the size of your gun.
8. Once you tag it, no one else can touch it.
7. You can tell it's legal by the size of the rack.
6. You clean the meat before you eat it.
5. Hunting lasts from sunrise to sundown.
4. Your gun will never go limp on you.
3. If you bag a big one, you can tell your friends.
2. You can always find good bush.
1. Your favorite piece can be mounted on your wall.
I like #3 the best. Reminds me of the SEC-W/M...
Speaking of the SEC-W/M, here's his weekly update from the other side of Earth:
Hello all,
I see the temps there are a bit on the chilly side! Here it is in the mid 70's or so, not sure how to convert that celsius to fahrenheit thing, but it is an educated guess. I am sure that it is warmer than back home.
Bad news on the softball front, Tamatea lost their first two games this weekend since we have arrived. One in extra innings and one to a pitcher for the New Zealand national team that was brought in just to win this tournament. It was kind of dirty, it was a local tournament and he was the only one brought in for it. They must have been sick of getting beat by us all of the time. Turmoil also struck this weekend, apparently two of our players think they make better coaches than the one that we have. It feels just like I am playing for The Bar again. Hopefully we fix it tomorrow night!
As far as the hunting front goes, a pig hunt is all but finalized. Remember, they don't believe in guns on pigs!!!
There is also talk of a deer hunt going on soon! Can't wait for that, hopefully it goes through. Fishing is also picking up, sounds like we are going to be making time for that as well before tournaments start.
Next weekend, I will be experiencing the New Zealand equal to booyah. It is called a honge. They get up early, stick some food in the ground and drink beer until it is done! Sounds like a good time!! Details in next weeks update.
Big games this week so keep an eye on www.hbtoday.co.nz.
Have a good week everyone and stay warm!!!
Cheers
Ric
Sounds like things are going well. No reports from the local emergency room, but it sounds like that will change after the Pig Hunt. (I hope its an actual hunt and not a blind date or something.) The "honge" sounds like a pretty good deal... he'll have to take notes so we can attempt it here...
Did I mention that the Packers suck? Enough said...
Picked up a new kerosene heater for the shop this weekend. I borrowed an old one from The President, but it just isn't big enough, so I got a 23K BTU model on sale. Works pretty good. Got it up to 60 during the game, and the new one doesn't smell of fuel at all. Once I get the insulation done it should be pretty
cozy...
On the Denville BB front, the frosh won but the varsity got smoked up in Door County... I think that may be a common theme... Hopefully not...
Zumbo's eldest daughter celebrated another birthday Saturday as well... If you're in
Colorado, stop by and wish her a happy one!
Well, its getting late, and I got work to do... Plus, I have to make time to get the newsletter assignments out to the crew... busy, busy, busy...
But before I go, a few words of wisdom for our junior members...
"Reality is an illusion created by lack of alcohol" -- Unknown
I need some of that illusion for a few days...
Until next time, take care...
As Red would say, “Keep your stick on the ice!”
curtamous
Last Updated: Friday, January 30, 2009
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