kmkat and her kneedles

Bibs and bobs.

 

How well do you know the keyboard in front of you? Take the quiz. (I got 80%).

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A few random facts from Mental Floss:

In 2009, U.S. airlines collected $2.7 billion in baggage fees. Another $2.4 billion came from reservation change fees

Cheerios were originally called 'Cheerioats.'

The space between your pointer finger and thumb is called the purlicue. (!!!)

The long-running State Farm jingle ("Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there!") was written by Barry Manilow.

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Stormtroopers in the Subway.

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My sweetie basking at Many Glacier lodge in eastern Glacier NP.

The Knit Princess reads my blog!

That is the only explanation for the similarity between this and this (scroll down to the photo of Chris and Chaos). It simply could not be that cats everywhere do the same tricks with our knitting paraphernalia.

Vacation, part 2: Bears.

First of all, we did not see bears in the campground or roaming the heights in the mountains. To make up for this shocking lack of ursine visibility, we went to this place just a couple of miles from our campground near West Glacier, MT:

Yeah, it was a roadside attraction but Damn! we wanted to see bears. So we paid our $8 each and drove in.

The bears roam throughout a couple acres of wooded land; visitors drive though -- with windows closed -- on narrow paved trails. In the distance we could see some concrete bunkers that were probably the bears winter *dens*. I cannot testify to the bears' treatment, but I saw no obvious evidence of neglect or abuse.

Except for the rain.

Bears seem to have such a thick coat that the rain did not bother them.

We stayed in the van, of course, but I did roll my window down a few times to get a better photo. This shot, taken out of my open window, gives you a pretty good idea of how far away -- alternatively, how close! -- the bear was.

Using the magic of a 6X zoom and iPhoto cropping, let me show you that bear up close and personal.

Bear looking fierce.

That was about as fierce as any of the bear looked while we were there.

That was quite fierce enough for me.

One of the employees was working in the enclosure; not sure what she was doing, but I suspect it was NOT distributing bear chow. That is a job where the distributor should be well out of reach of the distributee. No matter; it was not a job I would want. Even if the wires visible in the photo were electrified, given how dense a bear's coat is, an ordinary electric fence would not slow it down much.

 

Bear Our Senior Dog never saw any of her namesakes; she is too old to climb up onto a seat or the bed to look out the window. She may have smelled them, as her sense of smell is undiminished, but mostly she slept through the whole adventure.

Lucy The Junior Dog was pretty excited by the bear park, though. I neglected to get a photo of her dancing in her seat and whining excitedly for us to let her out so she could play with her New Best (Bear) Friend!

Suffice to say, she did not resemble this photo in any way.

The park was small, there were only a few bears, and it didn't take us long to see everything and everyone there several times over. And so we took our leave.

Bye, bye, bears! We may come back to see you again someday!

How much do you know about current events? I got 11 of 11 (much to my surprise).

http://pewresearch.org/politicalquiz/quiz/index.php

Ten on Tuesday.

This week's topic is ten things to do instead of watch TV. Since I rarely watch TV -- no cable, no satellite -- I feel imminently qualified for this one. (Just as I felt like an expert on last week's ten things to bring along on a camping trip -- I generally feel qualified to offer my opinion on just about anything.)

Ten Things to Do Instead of Watch TV

1. Read knitting blogs. Duh.
2. Read the news online. I recommend the New York Times Skimmer. I also skim the headlines in my Google Reader from The Morning News and NPR Topics.
3. Catch up on other social networking stuff -- Ravelry, Facebook, Twitter, whatevs.
4. Read a book.
5. Listen to an audiobook (or music or a podcast) and knit.
6. Talk to your spouse / significant other / kids / housemate / roommate.
7. Call your mother / father / son / daughter / friend you haven't talked to in awhile.
8. Take a nap.
9. Go for a walk.
10. Clear up that annoying pile of paperwork that has accumulated on the kitchen counter.

Personally, I do #1 - 6 regularly and #10 occasionally. I never call anyone or take a walk, and my naps tend to be earlier in the day than prime time.

Coming next year to a television near you.

From today's Wall Street Journal (I don't know if the link will work if you are not a subscriber):

Next year HBO will launch "Game of Thrones," a series based on George R. R. Martin's novels about power struggles in a fictional land inspired by medieval Europe.

From the HBO website:

Yee haw! That series is one of my favorite bunch of books EVAH! We don't have cable or satellite, let alone HBO, so I won't be able to watch the series until it comes out in DVD and I can get it from the library ::le sigh::

I write like.

Who do YOU write like?

Disclaimer: I tried this several times. Got the above result twice, but also got these, once each.

Clearly, my writing is schizophrenic...

Ten on Tuesday.

This week's topic is ten things to bring on a camping trip. Having recently returned from a month-long camping trip, I feel exquisitely qualified for this one. We never camp in a tent, though, only in a camping trailer or (now) a mini-mini-motorhome, so my list may not be applicable for everyone.

1. If camping in the mountains, or anywhere during spring or autumn, bring sweats and heavy socks and hoodie for sleeping. Misery is being cold in your sleeping bag at 3 am; ask me how I know.

2. A jar of salycilic acid pads, aka acne pads. In the absence of showers, these can keep the camper from smelling like s/he has been camping without showers.

3. Lots of knitting and books. This is a gimme.

4. Other amusements, both solitary and communal. There is never enough time at home for these, so vacation is the perfect time to get really, really good at Scrabble.

5. A comfortable chair. I get crabby if I cannot sit comfortably, hot or cold beverage within reach, and knit/read/do crossword puzzles.

6. iPod loaded with music and audio books. This of course combines admirably with #5.

7. Screen house in which to place comfortable chair. Smokey bought one at a dollar store on the fifth day of our vacation. It was great and amazingly easy to set up and take down.

8. Generator. Preferably a small, quiet one with a 100-foot extension cord so you can put it far enough away -- assuming you get the campsite at the end of the row -- so as not to bother anyone. Having a generator makes it possible to enjoy one's iPod or laptop or electric waffle iron. Remember, I never claimed that we roughed it when we went camping.

9. Dogs. Dogs love to be outdoors, particularly if there is possibility of wildlife wandering by. They are also handy for those cold nights mentioned in #1.

10. Flashlights. Two words: flashlight fights.

Not a whistling swan, not an elk, but a...

Columbian ground squirrel. Despite the ringed tail, the resemblance (and the fact that two different commenters told me it was a CGS) is conclusive.

My guy on the left, a photo from the web on the right.

 

Thanks to Erika and that other reader who also identified my rodent as a Columbian ground squirrel. (I can't remember her name and her comment seems to have disappeared, but she is a former MT resident so knows whereof she spoke wrote)

Vacation, part 1: wildlife.

We saw moose.

 

Yeah, you have already seen that one, but it is too good not to use again.

We saw antelope.

That is suburban Buffalo, WY in the far background.

Hey, lady, whatchew lookin' at?

We saw mule deer.

 

This one was grazing in the Big Horn mountains a couple miles above our campground. They are hilarious when they run -- their legs turn into springs and they bounce, stiff-legged, over the ground.

We saw buffalo.

 

Oops. That one was in the Many Glacier lodge.

We saw live buffalo:

 

This was just a small part -- around 500 - 600 -- of the entire herd of 2,500. The rest were in another valley not accessible to us.

See this guy?

 

He was headed toward us. He -- or his identical twin brother -- was shortly thereafter was observed approaching the little road we were on. After we reached the end of the road a few minutes later, turned around, and were driving back, we looked for him again. This time, he was so close we could have reached out of the car and touched him.

But we didn't.

We kept driving and I didn't even get a photo. He was so close we didn't want to alarm him -- he could have done major damage to us if he so chose.

Here is where we saw the buffalo:
 

Can't read the sign? Try this:

 

The buffalo are on Ted Turner's gazillion-acre ranch. We were spending the day with my cousin and wife, who retired near Bozeman, MT. Their property abuts the ranch.

 

But we were not trespassing; we were on the public road that leads to a public campground. Because the latter is on the ranch, Ted has to let the public use the road.

Ted Turner anecdote related to us by my cousin: TT has a lovely house on the ranch but was unhappy with the view; he couldn't see the mountains well enough. So he had the top of a low ridge removed. All better now.

We saw ground animals.

 

Four or five of these were grazing on the lawn at Many Glacier lodge. Anybody want to educate me as to what they were? Prairie dogs*? Whistler swans? Elk?

We saw more unidentified animals outside Many Glacier lodge.

 

Well, upon closer inspection we can probably agree the lower part of the left one is a bear and the right one is a raptor. But in person I was too blown away by the visual even to attempt identification.

* None of the prairie dogs in Wikipedia have stripes on their tails like these.

Ten on Tuesday.

I joined Carole and her posse in the Ten on Tuesday movement. This week you get ten things I like about where I live.

1. I live on a lake. It is the cleanest lake in the county. ::smug::
2. In the woods.
3. Duh.
4. We designed the remodel of the house ourselves so, as much as was possible, it suits us. (Except that if we had it to do over we would make it a bit smaller. Hindsight, 20/20, etc.)
5. Wildlife: deer, bear, otters, raccoons, porcupines, loons, turtles, eagles, hummingbirds. Also skunks and turkey vultures.
6. Mosquitoes and deerflies and ticks. Yes, they suck (heh, I crack myself up) but they are way better than chiggers or rattlesnakes or hurricanes or earthquakes or tsunamis. Or oil spills. And it is highly unlikely that a tornado -- the only really awful thing to which the upper Midwest is susceptible -- will ever find its way down onto our property; they prefer flat land.
7. This is Wisconsin, folks. Not Mississippi (the fattest state) or Texas (home of W) or Florida (never saw a developer it didn't like) or California (bankrupt, crowded, smoggy, and full of Californians (Cookie and Carrie K. and Crazy Aunt Purl, you are okay; the rest are nuts)). Great schools, one of the best library systems on the planet, (relatively) honest politics, a world-class university extension system, and a beautiful and bounteous landscape.
8. There is a substantial tree hugging, friendly-to-the-earth, locavore, pro-sustainability, yeah-we're-old-hippies-get-over-it population here in Polk County. There are also a not-insignificant number of those from the other end of the spectrum, but diversity is what makes horse races, right?
9. Seasons. Yeah, we cuss the snow and cold in the winter and the heat and bugs in the summer, but [see #7]. Could be a lot worse.
10. This is the United States. I live in one of the richest countries ever, and because I am white, middle-class, [relatively] healthy, financially stable, and intelligent, there are practically no barriers to my enjoyment. Would that everyone could be so lucky.

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We are home from vacation. Soon I will upload all the photos from my camera to my computer; then I shall be able to regale you with Tales from the Road and Campground. Until then, I will be occupied with unpacking the mini-mini-motorhome, putting away a mountain of crappe, laundry (at the laundromat), washing dishes (by hand; dishwasher broken, just like washing machine), attending to my duties at the county (financing, 2011 budget, new windows, hiring new department head, 2011 budget, wrangling, 2011 budget; did I mention that the budget cycle is starting again?), and general mischief.