Ipod Spunker

When I bought Boo his Imac laptop for graduation I got a free Itouch Ipod with it. It's pretty cool I guess. I had it for a few weeks before I even knew that it picked up wireless internet ( I'm a clever lad just not very bright sometimes ) I played with it a bit and used Boo for technical advice, so when I set it up on the computer it said to name the Ipod. I named it Spunker. Watch the last Dana Carvey HBO special if you want to know why. The neat thing is that now when I plug it in my laptop for updating or charging it says hilarious things like ' Ipod Spunker detected' and 'Ipod Spunker updated' Oh my what mirth, I laugh and laugh. But I have been accused of being quite juvenille so that might explain it.

Holidaze

Thanksgiving came up on me fast. I just spent 12 days in Elko Nevada working twelve and fourteen hour days doing a variety of incredibly important duties. Nights were spent at the Stockmans Casino playing an exceptional game of blackjack where I was able to spend hours at the card table and when I came home I was about even. The guy I was with lost over 2000 bucks playing Hold Em so you see my petty victory was significant.
It was great to get home, Lisa made a great T-day dinner, we had Tasha and Boo here and invited some friends over . I wanted to bring some bums in off the street but we didn't have any here in Hayden. Get ya next time boys.
I spent the long weekend doing traditional family holiday chores. Cutting a Christmas tree, fighting with the wife, chopping wood, eating myself into a turkey coma, etc.
The news out of the teevee was relentless. Horrible economy, war, scandal, Bush is a dork, Obama is the Messiah, job loss, financial collapse, terror, gloom-despair and agony on me.
But I was able to take stock of my blessings - a great wife, three kids who are my best friends, five brothers who got my back, parents that are always there for me. Lucky me.

My Day

I woke up at 5:oo a.m. in Winnemucca Nevada. I had breakfast in the hotel cafe and was on the road before six. I drove the 60 miles to the Midas mine on a clear cool beautiful morning watching the sun rise over the Ruby Mountains of Northern Nevada. The last 4o miles was dirt road but a nice smooth one with no one else on it. When I got to the mine I entered the gate with my 'badge' and drove to the Timberline Drilling lay down. No one was there. I needed to unload some drill rods and there was no fork lift. I tried getting someone of the radio but they were underground and couldn't hear me. I waited for an hour and finally left a note and was heading out when one of the guys shows up on the Sky Track fork lift and unloaded me.
I left for the Hollister Mine another 17 miles of dirt road. When I got there no one from Timberline was around. The mine site was very busy, this is a frantic operation that is chasing high grade gold ore and the people are quite pissy. I finally found our forklift and unloaded some more rods. I left and decided to take the back roads to Elko. This was a mixed blessing as the road was rough as hell but I didn't see a soul for two hours. I finally found my way out right into the middle of the huge Barrick and Gold Quarry Mines and the maze of haul roads huge pits and other bullcrap they have. I came out in Carlin Nevada and stopped at the Flying J for a quick bite to eat and a drink. I drove the 30 miles to Elko and talked to the boys at the Elko office that I hadn't seen for three weeks and hooked up a trailer and took it Les Schwab for some new tires. I loaded some empty rod racks for an early tomorrow morning run to the Leeville Mine to pick up junk rods that I will take to the recyclers in Spokane next week. Checked out the items I will load tomorrow and will head out late for Couer d'Alene. Checked into the hotel and took a shower then went to my favorite food joint the 'Monkey Sun' kinda like Panda Express except the real thing (no english here boy). Went back to my room and watched the incredible election bullshit on the news channels and called the skirt and I will be asleep by 9:30 I won't make it home tomorrow but I will be home the next day. That was my day.

Test Result - F

As part of my big whoopin physical I had recently they did some blood work. I was shocked, shocked I tell you to learn that in addition to high blood pressure I also have high cholesterol. Being the fine specimen of health that I am, this doesn't make sense. Triglycerides are 256, which would be a great bowling score but appartently aren't great for the arteries. Im not convinced of this because I saw the blood when it was being drawn and it looked really red and healthy. You have to be careful with junk science and not let it get you down. The beautiful thing about the physical was I was able to pull a good blood pressure reading just once that passed for the DOT physical so I could quit using the one I gave myself, hee hee. So the young Dr. called me in for some counseling about diet and exercise. So, I am going to loose 49 pounds or so and quit smoking dope and cut back to 2 alchoholic drinks per meal and see what happens. Im warning you though - I loose weight and get in shape and I will be too damn sexy for my shirt.

Moon River Redux

Winter Is Here

 For me at least, winter started on Tuesday.   I got a call that one of our drills that was drilling in the mountains south of Butte Montana was done.  They had over 30 inches of snow fall in 24 hours and were buried.  The pulled the plug on it for the winter and now we had to get it down the mountain and all the other equipment with it.  All kinds of fun.  By the time I got there the bulldozer had plowed the road into the drill site but everything was buried.  We started loading up and after a few hours that guy that was the foreman got on his cell phone for a minute and turned and said "I'm done take me into town I have a new job in West Virginia"  Chickenshit punk, two others quit and that left me and one hillbilly from Tenessee.  We got a load off and drove the five hours to Coeur d'Alene.  Going back tomorrow for another crack at it.  I heard it's snowing again.  

Bottom Ten Percenters

  So here we are in the last month of the presidential elections.  Once again it's a close race.  The country remains divided down the middle as it has been for the last 8 years.  Obama supporters are quite vocal and devoted,  McCain has his share of the vote.  What it comes down to is the ten percent of Americans who are undecided.  

  That is amazing to me.  The candidates are so different in their policies, philosophies and records that it is day and night in what they stand for.  If you seriously at this point don't know who you are voting for then you are dumber than a box of rocks.  I am not knocking the people who support their candidate for whatever reasons but I am condemning the incredible mental deficiency of those who haven't been able to come to a decision at this point.  The primaries dragged on for a year,  the last months have been all about the conventions and the candidates, we know all too much about both of them.

  So the fate of a nation rests with the bottom ten percent, the future belongs to the dopes, our hopes and dreams abide with the dunces.  This group of  crafty smartypantses is swayed easily by the media and pop culture so this one is probably in the bag for Obama whom they love dearly.  Power to the dumbbums.  Hallelujah pass the tylenol.

A Mine By Any Other Name

 I spend a lot of time at different mines in my job.  Mostly gold mines in Nevada but also silver mines up here in North Idaho.  I find the names of the mines to be interesting.  A good one is Midas a gold mine near Winnemuca, great name for a gold mine, the Midas touch.  Others down there are Rosebud, Jerritt Canyon, McCoy Rawhide, Barrick, Rain, Turquoise Ridge, Steer, Gold Strike, Getchell and Aurora.

 Up here the Silver mines are Lucky Friday, Crescent, Star, Bunker Hill, The Galena and The Sunshine Mine.  The Sunshine is probably the least well named of the bunch.  Seventy six miners died there in the late 70's during a mine fire.  If I ever get to name a mine I will call it the Clair Bear and let people wonder what the hell that is all about.

Fall

 It's raining here in Hayden Lake, there is a chill in the air and the leaves are falling with every breeze.  I love fall it is a beautiful time of year but this one seems a bit too soon.  We had a harsh winter last year and cold spring.  The summer was incredibly nice but just not long enough.

  When I lived in Southern Utah I couldn't wait for fall after the heat blast of summer there.  But here there is no rush for cold weather.  Also, my job depending on what I'm doing can be downright nasty in winter.  Oh well,  can't stop the seasons just for my whims. 

   I have two fires going tonight one upstairs in the big brick fireplace and one downstairs in the wood stove.  Very cozy and nice.  Unfortunately my wife isn't here to enjoy the ambiance she is in St. George helping her mother who has been in the hospital.  Lisa loves Coeur d'Alene as much as I do but would prefer to spend the winters in Southern Utah which we might do someday.  North Idaho in the summer and St. George in the winter, not bad at all.

Cougar

I was in front of the garage messing with my truck when I heard some hissing and snarling. Sounded like a first class cat fight so I looked around the side of the garage and saw a couple of cats up a pine tree about 30 yards away. The first cat was a big fluffy house cat and the bottom one was a mountain lion with its claws in the ass of the aforementioned pussycat. At first I thought it was a bobcat as it was kind of scrunched up but after a real pisser of a battle with the housecat which actually got loose and went clear to the top of the tree, I saw that it was a cougar and it didn't act liked it felt real comfortable going up any further. It looked down and I got a good look at it's head and saw that it definetely was a mountain lion. Not a big one, but not a cub either. It slowly inched it's way down and walked around the tree several times looking up then it vanished like a ghost. Wish I could have got a picture. Told the neighbors who freaked a bit and quit letting their little dog run around outside. Never did find out who owns the tough little pussycat that came home with a sore ass. Freedom of the wild baby, it's cool here.

Puttin In The Wood

Putting in the wood. It's time. Wood is good, hard wood is best. Gettin cold, need lots of wood. Red Fir Wood is hottest. Need lots of Red Fir Wood, that would be good. I asked the skirt if she thought that a lot of hard Red Fir Wood would be good. She thought that it would.

Split and stacked 2 cords of wood this past weekend. Probably won't be enough. Still have some time to get more wood in. We have two wood fireplaces in the house and one in the man room. We need a lot of wood.

The Big Time In Elko

Well I'm in Elko Nevada again, as usual. But today was a little different, Obama came to town. I shit you not. He spoke today in the city park right next to my motel. I was out at one the mines when he was here but I did see his entourage of jets (six of them) take off from the tiny airport as I was getting back into town.

I would have liked to have seen the speech. I'm not a big fan or anything but he is an amazing figure in America today, I would like to see what all the fuss is about. With a fifty fifty chance of the being the next prez it would have been worth it.

Having grown up in Utah and now living in Idaho I have never seen any presidential candidate on the stump. Both states are always in the bag for the GOP so they don't really spend anytime there. Especially in a small town. (Elko is 5,000 residents not even in the same league as Wasilia AK) Hillary was here during the primaries. Of course this shows how important the swing states are in this election and Nevada is one of them. I missed the Messiah but it should be interesting from here on out. If you don't vote don't bitch.

Man Room Update

  I have acquired a pool table for the man room.  It's pretty cool I guess, good enough for now.  Notice the steer skull on the wall, got that on my last trip to Mexico.  Es Muy Bueno.

Trike Skills

Laredo

Took a road trip to Laredo Texas again. I was in a pickup pulling a trailer with a drill on it that was going into Mexico. 5,500 miles and 8 days later I was home again. I went through Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
When I dropped the drill of at customs I wanted to go over the border into Nuevo Laredo. I asked several people in Laredo about it and they were all horrified at the thought and said they never went because it was too dangerous. (and they were Mexican) So I decided not to go but then changed my mind and went anyway. I went during the day and it was very bad over there. Nuevo Laredo is in the midst of a drug cartel war and the local police are all corrupt, the Mexican goverment sent in the federales last year and they were gun battles in the streets with the police. There were over 500 murders there last year (small town that it is) and 19 Americans went missing while there. So yea, I thought it would be fun to do the tourist thing there. I made it back in one piece and began the long drive home.
I did get to stop in St. George and Ty and his family who put me up for the night in their beautiful home. Sloan fed me a couple of home cooked meals that were just what I needed. Johnny and Jett were a blast to play with. I also managed a quick stop in Midway and Ma and Pa threw together a great little barbeque and Adam and Adalee were there too. Then on to Elko and the next day home sweet home.

The Fam Damily Reunion

I give all credit to Dr. Nick, he came up with the plan last Christmas to have a 'family reunion' the first real one in the Lowell Larsen clan. So we made plans all year to spend the 4th of July in Midway Utah and it turned out to be a lot of fun. (despite the 1600 miles we drove to get there and back, see Tasha's blog for details of the merriment) Andrew was on a fishing boat in the Bering Sea so we knew he couldn't make it, but everybody in the lower 48 except Gordons family was there.

The Fourth in Midway is small town, old school, good clean family, patriotic fun. It started early with the dynamite blasts that I heard all the way up at the Zermatt Resort. We went to the early morning patriotic music, speech and flag ceremony where Grandma Larsen played the piano for the Swiss Chorus. Fun at Grandpa's place a big barbeque and fireworks rounded out the day. It was great to see everyone. Grandma and Grandpa Larsen made a huge effort and the place looked great and the food was great too. I was proud of all my kids who all made a big effort to be there, thanks Ty & Sloan, Tasha who took a lot time off work and the Boo.

There was some crazy talk of having it in Coeur d'Alene next year but I'll believe that when I see it. (you would think I lived in Winnemucca Nevada or something the way I get family visits)

"Family is all you got, everyone else is just strangers" - Wyatt Earp

Why I Sat Here

The scene is the Coeur d'Alene High School Gymnasium, the event - Boo's graduation. It is too small for the amount of people that want to attend so tickets are required and the sheep start lining up 2 hours beforehand. I stall Lisa for awhile but we still get there an hour and a half before kickoff. I drop her off and go park hoping to delay my own entrance by a half hour or so. But she calls me and is waiting at the door with my ticket, damn, a tactical error on my part.

We go in and her parents are there saving some seats that I immediately don't like. Second row of the bleachers, not an aisle seat for me. And worst of all right in front of us a four generation white trash family straight from the Jerry Springer Show. I'm sure they are decent people and I don't think I'm better than anyone else per se but I am not spending the next three hours in that spot.

I voice my objections to the skirt and she flips out, muttering threats and insults at my lack of enthusiasm. I try real hard to be a good boy but I can't. The patriarch of the hillbilly bunch is right in front of me, real close. The aromas that waft gently in the stale gym air are of Brylcream, Brut aftershave, stale cig smoke and Jack Daniels, all together are quite powerful as well as revolting,

I look for an escape, but quite frankly all the seats look like hell to me, but up in the balcony I spot some seats against the wall on the aisle with a hand rail in front. Protection and a degree of isolation call to me. I tell Tasha who is ready to bolt also, I feel I have nothing much more to fear from the skirt as she is already mad at me anyway, of course this will make her furious but I weigh the consequences against my own sanity and plot my escape. It came sooner than I thought as the aforementioned gentleman in front of me commenced farting before actual commencement started. I bolted for the cheap seats and never looked back. It was great up there and we enjoyed the proceedings from a lofty perch. Tasha was able to tell me when Boo walked in, as I couldn't see that far, but all in all a good thing. Of course I got the occasional text message from the missus with more veiled threats and instructions on going down to get a pic of Boo getting his sheepskin (which I did) And that's why I sat where I did.

Boo Done Graduated

Well our baby has graduated from Coeur d'Alene High School so I am officially done parenting. I will now board a Winnebago and go to Mexico for the rest of my life. Its been real and its been fun but it hasn't always been real fun. Everybody keep on keepin on. Send postcards (and money) thanks.

Bryant & The Beast

Boo's latest play is amazing. Beauty and The Beast is awesome, performed at the beautiful Bing Crosby Theater in Spokane this is Bry's best one yet. He is the Beast (and prince) and plays the part perfectly. His singing has pretty much blown everyone away. Hidden talent and a lot of hard work.

Opening night was special and since I am one of the few people in the world that hadn't seen the Disney movie I didn't even know the story. So when Bry is transformed from the Beast to the Prince at the end it really hit me. Seeing this tall handsome prince emerge from the fog I couldn't believe it was him. It seems like just the other day he was a chubby little kid running around the house keeping us entertained. Now he is this accomplished young man who everybody loves because he is not only likeable but a genuinely good person. We are proud of you Boo, your future is bright.

Mi Casa Es Kickassa

We moved again. Nothing new there, we've moved more times than you can shake your stick at in our 26 plus years together. But this time was a good one. Its a home on five acres, lots of trees - privacy and a river runs through it. Ok its a small stream but you can grasp the gravity of the symbolism here. Also there is a seperate building that looks like a shed but inside is an awesome room with wood walls and a wood burning stove. My 'man room' that holds all my fly fishing gear, guns, desk, fridge and soon a pool table. From my desk the view is of my drift boat with the stream behind it. Yea baby. The house is remodeled with lots of granite, tile, wood floors etc. and an incredible wine cellar with rock walls and wood shelves (it can hold about two thousand bottles so send what you got I need to stock up). The snag is we are leasing it and it is not for sale. I have been studying squatter rights and have no plans on leaving, ever. Come visit if you want. Were living the freaking North Idaho dream here.

Hypertension My Ass

So I had to go for another DOT physical the other day. I hate the damn things and I just had one last year. They only gave me one year instead of two because of high blood pressure. Well after the humilating ball grabbing and other bullcrap they tell me my blood pressure is too high again. I'm not really sold on the importance of this little test so I don't care too much. But they only give me a three month card after which I have to pass the test or not drive.
The place is a McDoctor office with drive thru service. The young doctor who looks like a cross between Howdy Doody and Dwight Shrute asks me who my primary care physician is. I tell him it is Dr. Gordon Larsen and secondary is a certain Dr. Nick of Cheyenne. I blame both of them for this as it happened on their watch.
The magic number which means very little to me is 134 over 98. Apparently the first number is ok and the second sucks it up. So he goes over the stuff I shouldn't do, smoke, drink, eat, have fun etc. So I will try and loose some weight and maybe take some medication and see what happens. I guess this stuff runs in the family.
Looking at the average fat ass truck driver out there with a cigarette in one hand and bean burrito in the other and being told I'm not fit to join their ranks is a little disturbing. In fact it really pisses me off which as I'm told doesn't help the situation at all.

Drilled Again

I am going to be a driller. I am leaving tomorrow for 20 days in Nevada where I will train to run a core drill. All in all a good thing I guess. The other job was getting me home more often but I was only making about half what I will make going on a drill. Also I get to kinda skip the whole 'helper' gig which is great. Usually you have to be a helper which is a shitty job for a year before you get on the controls but I guess I have paid my dues in other ways.
I am definetely not looking forward to the 20 day hitch with 12 hours days with the last ten days on night shift. But it should open up some other opportunities and I will make more money so I decided to give it a whirl.
I will be in Battle Mountain Nevada if you need me. We are drilling on surface at a pretty nice location on a mountainside only about 10 miles out of town. Could be worse. I will let you know how it goes.
Peace.

Weaver Water

The bottled water craze has got thinking about how much things have changed. Watching Boo walking around here with a bottle of water in his hand, sipping out the side of his mouth (which I find infuriating) is much different than my own experience. While walking around here picking up half empty bottles and plastic caps that he enjoys throwing all over the place I can recall a simpler time when I drank from the damn garden hose.

Back in the day we had no bottled water at all, didn't exist. The only thing you were supposed to know about drinking the water was that you weren't supposed to drink from the outside taps that were irrigation water. 'Weaver Water' we called it, although I think it was actually Weber Irrigation Water. You find a hose to get a drink and some smart ass would scream "Weaver Water!' and you had to look elsewhere to slake your thirst. The Weaver faucets had these little removable handles that we briefly made a hobby of stealing until we had a box of hundreds of them and then me and Andy got caught snagging one by an old disgruntled man who had been a multiple victim. He slapped us both silly and we lost our zest for the sport. But I digress. The removable handles were made so that nobody mistook the water as potable and that kids wouldn't drink it.

After 40 years I will let you in on a dirty little secret I drank Weaver water all the damn time. You turned on the hose it looked great, cool and wet. What's the problem? Why go in the house? Fact of the matter is it never hurt me, in fact I think it made my guts stronger. I have never had Giardia or other water borne bugs bother me at all. I once took a hearty draught of Deep Creek water and then walked 50 feet upstream to view the putrified and gelatin like remains of a big fat sheep oozing into small globs that were drifting downstream. Other than some hyper gagging I was fine. From desert water holes to Mexico and back I can drink the water.

So while the next generation pussyfoots its way through a sterile world of Perrier and Aquafina I am ready for the Appocolypse when a dirty jug of Weaver Water is all you can get. I'll chug a lug that shit no problem.

For The Love of Spuds

I grew up with five brothers. Food was vitally important, we attacked the food supply with abandon. I was hungry for 17 years. I ate whenever I could and ate as much as I could as fast as I could. This has left me with a few lingering bad habits including eating too fast and eating until the food is gone. Leftovers were non-existent growing up. Never heard the word, didn't comprehend it.
When I first got married Lisa fixed me dinner and made a gigantic bowl of mashed potatoes that could have fed ten people. As was my custom I ate until it was gone. Never heard of anyone foundering themselves on potatoes until that day, and it wasn't pretty.
I remember Sunday dinners as a youngster. Pot roast, corn and mashed potatoes, mmm can still smell it. And every Sunday it was the same, mom would sit down and say the words I dreaded more than any other. "Take it easy on the potatoes" It was liked getting kicked in the junk. So the first brother to scoop spuds was watched intently by ten crazed eyeballs. If you took too much the words "pig, hog, sow" said in quick run together fashion was thrown about by everyone. After the meager portion of mashed spuds were gone it was time for Plan B which included taking a piece of bread breaking it up sacrament style and pouring gravy over it. This continued until the gravy gave out which was a sad moment indeed.
Ironically when I got older and found out how cheap potatoes were I was furious. I thought the damn things were precious, pricey, imported and hard to come by. I think my mom was limited in the cooking by too small of a cooking pot. She should have procured the biggest kettle on the market kept it boiling continuously and dumped the spuds in by the gunny sack and let us little buggers eat until we keeled over with protruding bellies and glazed over eyes.
As it is I still love potatoes especially mashed. I may still eat too much but haven't foundered myself in 20 years.

Birthaday Day

Well another b-day has came and went. Lisa told me she was giving me a couples massage. I thought that meant a couple of women would massage me but turns out she was getting a massage at the same time. Oh well, no chance of a happy finish but we had a good time. Bodie and Jett called me, it was a great phone call with Jett clearly telling me happy birthday and Bodie cracking me up with his funny stuff. I had just got back from 16 days in Nevada so I didn't want to eat out so Lisa made me a great dinner and Tasha came over and we had a fun night just hanging out at home.
Another year older, what the hell I can still move like a cat and look fantastic naked so I'm good.

Half-Assed My Way To 45

Ode To Larsen

If you haven't seen it......you need to. Bryant's Ode to Larsen is great. Click on the link to his blog on the link on right of this page. With Beards of Fire I tell ya.


or click here what the hell I'll make it easy

Technology We Can Use

Bio Diesel Fuel that we have pleny of .....Fat

To power a speed boat. Brilliant.

The Holidays Are Over

Thank The Dear Lord