Monday, April 28, 2008

An Early Start

I did something quite unusual (for me) today: I set my alarm clock. Well, that’s not quite true since I no longer own an alarm clock. I set my cell phone, same diff. I had to get up early, as today was The Annual Feeding of the Vampires, courtesy of the Cannon AFB hospital clinic. At 0830 hrs. Which, as you know, Gentle Reader, is as close to the crack o’ dawn as it gets these days, unless I watch the sun come up from the wrong side of the bed. But I was a good boy last evening, retiring sometime just after midnite and sleeping fitfully until the cell phone went off at 0600. I also set the timer on the coffee pot last evening before I hit the sack, so all I had to do this morning was roll out, get the half and half out of the fridge, and pour that first cup: no waiting required.
Nice, that. I’d do it more often… if I kept regular hours.
So…I’m back from the base, the vampires are fed, and the car has been fed, too. At $3.73/gallon (premium). About which: Aiiieee! The Green Hornet took a lil over eight gallons this morning, for a total of slightly less than $32.00. I’d damned sure hate to fill up El Casa Móvil De Pennington at these prices…
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Well, this guy might know a lil something about the Rangers, but it’s clear he don’t know sh!t about Deetroit:
I never liked the Avalanche. Still don't. But, rooting interests aside, I have to give them the edge over Detroit.
Right from the get-go, I never endorsed Mike Babcock having ancient Dom Hasek in goal. Sure, Chris Osgood has been an effective pinch-goalie, but Jose Theodore has been out of his mind all year. In goal, it's no-contest.
Colorado's defense hardly impresses me, while Detroit's -- thanks to Nik Lidstrom -- does. But what I can't feel strongly about is the Red Wings' offense delivering in the clutch.
Nashville proved that the Wings are vulnerable, and I expect that Colorado will be more invasive than the talent-short Predators. Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Ryan Smyth and Paul Stastny comprise a formidable quartet. They should drive Hasek or Osgood nuts, and either replacement will have migraines.
THE MAVEN PICKS: COLORADO IN FIVE
Heh. Need some picanté sauce with them words?
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So… there was this interesting link in Site Meter this morning and I chased it up to find…

Buck Pennington: Docked in Portales


Monday, Apr 28 2008, 6:00 am
If you Google "Portales" you will soon find this Web log:
Buck Pennington describes himself as a "retired guy who lives in a motor home, currently docked in Portales, NM."
That’s in the Clovis News-Journal’s Editor’s Blog. Other breaking news: the opera is coming to Tucumcari, just in case you wanted to know.
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I need to finish making the rounds now. I may be back later with more interesting stuff, depending on what I find…

10 comments:

  1. Good for you on the blood-letting; more congrats on the Wings; and it's nice to be noticed, eh? I get a big kick any time somebody else gives me the love about my blog, but especially when the actual print media does it.

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  2. Thanks for the kind words, Jim. But I think there's just a lil bit of difference in you being noticed by Boston.com and me getting linky-love in the Clovis News-Journal, eh?

    But we takes what we gets...

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  3. Fuel is OUTRAGEOUS! Actually, that's an understatement, and it's probably going to get worse. Last time I took the pickup to town it cost $140 to fill her up. I have also limited my trips to town to no more than twice a week (and that means ditching alot of church).

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  4. Wow, that's great Buck. Congratulations.

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  5. Someone's famous.

    I always get a kick out of the news stories that describe how to get better fuel economy, acting like driving less aggressively and staying in higher gear at low RPMs is some sort of secret.

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  6. Jenny sez: Fuel is OUTRAGEOUS!

    You run diesel in that pick-up, Jenny? If so... I most definitely sympathize!!

    Morgan sez: Wow, that's great Buck. Congratulations.

    Just to keep things in perspective: It IS the CNJ we're talking about here. And nothing about the blog itself...just "if you google "Portales..." Makes me thn=ink of the "damned with faint praise..." saying. 'Cept for the fact there wasn't even any faint praise.

    Mike sez: I always get a kick out of the news stories that describe how to get better fuel economy, acting like driving less aggressively and staying in higher gear at low RPMs is some sort of secret.

    Ya, that stuff makes me laugh, too. It's like the writers assume NO one ever took Drivers Ed, or something...

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  7. Regarding the gas prices, try 4.13 over here where the fruits & nuts run everything.

    Yes, I have some strong opinions about the benefits of premium fuel. I figure it's one of the few areas of my verifiable expertise. But right now I have to pay for having that expertise, as in through the nose. Getting a gallon for less-than-four would be a dream come true out here.

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  8. Morgan sez: Yes, I have some strong opinions about the benefits of premium fuel.

    Strong positives...or negatives? I'd like to run regular or mid-range in the Miata, but with a 10.5:1 compression ratio she pings on anything less than premium, and always has... since Day One. I've tried lower octane fuel without good results.

    I hear ya about Kally-forhn-ee-ya gas prices, and have never quite understood exactly WHY the prices are as high as they are. I mean... what about all those refineries up around Vallejo? It's not like ya gotta send all that gas in from elsewhere... Or is it?

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  9. Buck, I have two diesel pickups (Jeff's work truck and my pickup that I only use these days when I need a pickup or to go camping), a semi-truck, two large tractors and a swather that all run on diesel. My new SUV (the Expedition EL) runs on gasoline, and we have another pickup for feeding the cows that runs on propane.

    We had 2,500 gallons of farm diesel delivered the other day (it's slightly cheaper than highway diesel, but you aren't SUPPOSED to put it in the trucks, just the tractors). Bill for that should be around $10,000. Hopefully it will get us thru the year. When we bought the big tank for this fuel back in 2000, farm fuel was .54/gallon. We probably paid $3.60 or so for that load the other day.

    Fuel prices are going to kill truckers and farmers.

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  10. Jenny sez: When we bought the big tank for this fuel back in 2000, farm fuel was .54/gallon. We probably paid $3.60 or so for that load the other day.

    Fuel prices are going to kill truckers and farmers.


    Dang. There was some action on the part of truckers last month but it was sort of a bust due to lack of organization. That appears to have changed now, if one believes this. "Big Oil" appears to be the scapegoat, though, and that's not a good thing. I'm VERY close to a major digression here, so I'll stop.

    But I sure feel for you and yours, Jenny... no matter who's "at fault."

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.