Thoughts On A Sunday

Morning greeted us with yet more snow, something that is beginning to seem never ending. We've received about a foot over the past week with another 8 inches forecast to fall by this evening.

It isn't that I'm tired of moving snow. That doesn't bother me. It's the problems associated with the all of the snow.

One problem: BeezleBub and I are running out of places to put the snow. We're limited to blowing it onto the side of the hill in front of The Manse, which makes it more difficult to clear the driveway and the area in front of the garage.

Another problem: one of the town plow crews are becoming more reckless. During this past storm this particular plow crew took out our mailbox. They didn't hit it, but with the speed they were coming down the hill the force of the snow they were plowing was such that it broke the post upon which the mailbox was mounted. The 4” X 4” post broke off just above ground level, giving you an idea of the force of all that flying snow. On the storm previous to the last one they damn near killed me in the same fashion, their plow throwing snow 25 feet past the snow bank and almost burying me in my own driveway.

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We did a little shopping yesterday, looking for a new woodstove for The Manse. It's not that our present one isn't any good, only that it's inadequate for our purposes. We made the decision to do a little remodeling inside The Manse once we're past the heating season, which will allow us to use a more traditional woodstove rather than the fireplace insert we're using now. The new woodstove will heat better than the present one and won't require as much wood for the amount of heat it will throw.

That works for me.

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The Winnipesaukee Ice Fishing Derby came to an end today, and at the time I'm writing this the biggest catch so far has been a 10.5 pound lake trout.

The winner of the Derby gets a new fishing boat and trailer. Not bad for a weekend's worth of fishing.

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This weekend also saw another derby taking place here in the Lakes Region.

The annual Laconia Sled Dog Derby started Friday, bring sled dog teams from all over the US and Canada.

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It's a good thing criminals are so dumb.

Thomas Dipirro's 1994 Ford F-250 pickup truck was stolen in Haverhill, Massachusetts, just over the border from his home town of Plaistow, New Hampshire.

Two days later he spots a truck that looked a lot like his driving down Rte 125 in Plaistow. A closer look at the license plate showed Dipirro it was his stolen truck. He didn't have a cell phone so he couldn't call the police. So he did the only thing he could do:

He confronted the driver of his stolen truck when they both stopped at a traffic light.

Dipirro asked the man behind the wheel, later identified as Angel Valle, 49, why he was driving his truck.

The two then got into a scuffle in the middle of the intersection, prompting several calls from passersby who thought they were having a fight after an accident, police said.

The police did arrest Valle after he fled on foot.

The lesson to be learned? Don't drive a stolen vehicle in the hometown of the owner unless you want to get caught.

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Are the Clintons planning to steal the Democratic nomination? It certainly appears that way.

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It's been a long time since I've linked to Ben Kepple's blog. It's also been a long time since I checked it out, so the fault is entirely mine.

So I click on the link to check it out and what do I find? One of my favorite Ben Kepple features:

Your Search Engine Queries Answered!

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The NFL Pro-Bowl was played today. Frankly, I had no interest at all. After the disappointing loss of the Super Bowl by the Patriots I have no desire to watch football again until next season.

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Is it any surprise that the so-called “anti-war” Democrats were anything but? Instead they hijacked the anti-war movement in order to ensure the election of Republicans. But now their duplicity is out in the open. Could it be that there will be another change in the make-up of Congress after elections in November?

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Is Hugo Chavez in trouble?

(H/T Instapundit)

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where winter continues, the ice fishing is great, and where thoughts of summer boating are starting to intrude.