Say it aint' so........

Thanks for the calories: NYC's Carnegie Deli says goodbye

First time I went there was with my wife to be Cary, in '66. This hayseed from Bend Oregon, on his first trip to NYC, had never seen anything like these sandwiches. 

The last time was in 2010, with the youngest, Emily, after seeing Rent on Broadway. 

Frankly, there are better delis in the city, but Carnegie's was an institution one had to pay homage at; a pastrami on rye, chocolate egg cream, and a slice of cheesecake.  

How's this look? For a comparison to your habitat....

Butte, Montana, Weather Forecasts -  Metric Units

Fri
Dec 30

30°F

Sat
Dec 31

21°F

Sun
Jan 1

10°F

Mon
Jan 2

3°F

Tue
Jan 3

-15°F

Wed
Jan 4

0°F

Thu
Jan 5

3°F

-6°F

0°F

-9°F

-40°F

-27°F

-29°F

-8°F

WNW 9 MPH
Precip 50%

WSW 6 MPH
 

NNE 18 MPH
Precip 80%

NE 19 MPH
Precip 30%

SSE 3 MPH
Precip 20%

WNW 4 MPH
Precip 20%

WSW 5 MPH
Precip 30%

Dinner

Night after Christmas, not sure what the traditional meal is, but it's a ragu with meat sauce tonight, linguine, with a tomato based meat sauce, with ground pork and beef .

Had both leftover ground pork and ground beef in the freezer, out it came. Then combinations of various open packages of linguine, some of them might remember the administrations of GWB, in the very back of the cupboard. I rarely venture back there, who knows what might be hibernating here in the Rockies?

Anyway, saute onion, garlic, add the rest of the sauce,  Oh. I add a chopped frozen thai chili from the Montagnard farmers, One. Diameter of a thin pencil, maybe 3 inches long....it'll make it's mark of this.

Drain the pasta, Mix in the pan with the sauce, Cut the baguette from the oven, pour a glass of wine, and find some trash on netflix to watch.

r

And what did you have tonight?

I suppose you could call it a white christmas.....

8am this morning

About 4" since then. Still snowing lightly. 10 degrees. 

A Jackson Browne Evening

It's snowing lightly, not that there was any worries about a white Christmas, what with a foot and a half on the ground and my street never seen a plow.

I think I've put this one on a few years in a row, but it's still my favorite Christmas song.

Happy Holidays all, and may you have an interesting New Year

A Bluebird Day, just before Christmas

We refer to them as 'bluebird days', I don't know why. This is the last place a bluebird would want to be at this time of year.

It's nippy, some would actually call it cold. It was minus 10 this morning, got up to near 20 above, a 30 degree delta.

It was clear all day, the blue sky here is like no other; little pollution, less sodium arc light at night. The blue comes through, sometimes late in the day almost indigo. At night, the stars...........the milky way, the way you remember it as a kid. If you are my age.

As you can see we're in a broad valley, the beginning of the Columbia River, one of a couple. The main one is in British Columbia, this is the headwaters of the East Fork of the Columbia. Silver Bow Creek. 

The last few days have been a 'regression to the mean', it went from a minus 38, kinda nippy I can tell you, to a plus 34 yesterday. that's near 80 degrees. Match that. 

Might get a bit of snow tonight, normal temps. Wish we were the norm for the nation, in terms of our collective self. 

Book Ideas for Kids, esp. Girls

From a NY Times review

The last few days

It's warmed up considerably, a balmy 22f outside at the moment.  that's over 50 degrees warmer than a couple days ago.

My friend L. is visiting from LA, she seems to withstand the cold just fine.

Here's a couple pictures from the last few days, around Butte and out to the river.

Hope everyone is well and prospering. 

What's wrong with this?

Barrow, Alaska
Current temp: 17f


Butte MT
Current temp: -12f

Holiday Tradition in my little town

It's -3 as I write at near 3pm, the low tonight is forecast to be around -28. Not unusual for this time of year. As you've from recent pictures it's been snowing. Around 8" in the last day. It continues, that fine, almost powder sugar kind that skiiers love.

So what could be more natural for a community to do than carve ice sculptures?  All over the uptown area, several to the block, are these statues.

They usually last a month or so, and are displayed in front of the businesses that sponsor the sculptor. 

Reminder of where I live

It's 10 on the back porch, tomorrow is scheduled to hit -28. It started snowing during the night and continues as of 1:30pm.

I've given up on the notion of shoveling. 

Damn near funny

Back when he was running for president in the primaries, one of the candidates was asked what he'd do about cutting back on government. His answer:

PERRY: I will tell you, it is three agencies of government when I get there that are gone. Commerce, Education, and the — What’s the third one there? Let’s see.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: Five.

PERRY: Five. Okay. Commerce, Education, and the —

[UNKNOWN]: EPA?

PERRY: EPA. There you go.

Q: Seriously — is EPA one you are talking about?

PERRY: No, sir, no, sir. We are talking about the — agencies of government — EPA needs to be rebuilt.

Q: You can’t — you can’t name the third one?

PERRY: The third agency of government I would — I would do away with Education, the —

Q: Commerce.

PERRY: Commerce and, let’s see. I can’t. The third one, I can’t. Sorry. Oops.

About 15 minutes later in the debate, Perry said he meant to say that the Department of Energy is the third agency he wanted to eliminate.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present The Clown's new Secretary of Energy:

 Rick Perry

If Ever There was Reason for it: This is It

And no, I'm not necessarily recommending the illlegal removal of some one from office, I'm just not clear that 'Buffoon' and 'Idiot' and 'Deliberate Asshole' fit in the catagory. Of those who can't be recommended for such a removal.

Trump Explains Why He Rejects Daily Intelligence Briefings: “I’m, Like, a Smart Person”

Ok. 

Well, what about: 

Trump Says “Nobody Really Knows” if Climate Change is Real

Fine, ok. But...

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that he did not believe American intelligence assessments that Russia had intervened to help his candidacy, casting blame for the reports on Democrats, who he said were embarrassed about losing to him.

“I think it’s ridiculous. I think it’s just another excuse,” Mr. Trump said in the interview, on “Fox News Sunday.” “I don’t believe it.”

He also indicated that as president, he would not take the daily intelligence briefing that President Obama and his predecessors have received. Mr. Trump, who has received the briefing sparingly as president-elect, said that it was often repetitive and that he would take it “when I need it.” He said his vice president, Mike Pence, would receive the daily briefing.

(me again)

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present you with your next President of the United States.  Positions occupied by Washington, Lincoln, FDR, JFK, and now the likes of this.....

Congratulations, you 59 some millions of voters that selected him. You got what you choose. 

"Oh geez, this isn't what we thought would happen." you may well be saying in the months and years to come" Yeah, well more of that process of 'thought' should have factored, eh? Your town,neighborhood, our world, is more complex and less unified than you think, probably. 

I wish I could say I wish you the best, but I don't. You have put a racist demogogue, a man who's interest in what's best for the country probably third or fourth in his list, in charge. You got him, live with him. 

As a gauge of what he's telling you that is true, check in 6 months, see how things are. Witness the chaos that is going to happen. 

We have an actuall clown as president of our county. Lets see how we like it.

Mike

Early December evening

Dinner, on a thursday night.....

My neighbors to the south, from Salt Lake City are here for the cold weekend, I think it might have made it up to 6 or so, are having a potluck tonight.

I'm bringing one of the main courses.....served with a baguette from Elliot's "Underground Bakery" here.

Local and delicious, brats:

Have a good weekend,

Mike

Just a picture I liked, or throwback Friday

On the left, the Rock of Gibraltar, less recognizable from this angle and if one enlarges the picture...Tangiers, Africa 18 miles away. Ah. Would I be there now.....

My Buddy, Steve. Again.

Here is a post, a broadcast if you will, from the republican Senator from Montana. I reprint it in it's entirety.

Dear Mike, We face a new frontier. One that disregards process, neglects the American people, and compromises the civil liberties that are fundamental to our foundation as Americans. We enter a world where the government has expanded power to hack our personal devices and conduct surveillance. Click on the video below to hear my statement on protecting civil liberty on the Senate floor yesterday: Starting today, the federal government has the power to hack millions of Americans’ computers with one single search warrant. And the government isn’t even required to ensure those subject to a computer search are notified. How did this drastic change in policy occur? Through changes to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. These changes were sought through an opaque process conducted by a little known judicial conference. We know that in today’s world, law enforcement need tools that reflect 21st century realities. But instead of engaging in a deliberative process that involves the American people, the Department of Justice decided to circumvent Congress and seek this rule change behind closed doors. Over the past several months, my colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives and in the U.S. Senate have introduced bipartisan legislation to put a stop to this unprecedented expansion of government hacking power. Our efforts have been resisted by those who claim changes to Rule 41 are simply a venue issue, and do not implicate our civil liberties. It is frankly alarming that proponents of this rule insist the changes go into effect immediately. Why not give Congress the time it needs to deliberate this policy and conduct this debate in a way that is transparent to the American people? This unilateral erosion of our civil liberties is unacceptable and I will continue fighting in the Senate to protect the privacy rights of all Americans. As always, I encourage you to contact my office to express your concerns or opinions on policy issues important to you. And if we’re not already connected on social media, I invite you to follow my daily updates on Facebook and Twitter. It’s my number one priority in Congress to represent the values and interests of the people of Montana, and your input is very helpful. I also invite you to visit my website, www.daines.senate.gov, so we can stay in touch. Best Wishes, Steve Daines United States Senate

OFFICE LOCATIONS Washington, D.C. 320 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 p: (202) 224-2651 Billings 222 N. 32nd Street, Ste. 100 Billings, MT 59101 p: (406) 245-6822 Great Falls 104 4th Street North, Ste. 302 Great Falls, MT 59401 p: (406) 453-0148 Helena 30 West 14th Street, Ste. 206 Helena, MT 59601 p: (406) 443-3189 Bozeman 13 South Wilson Avenue, Ste. 8 Bozeman, MT 59715 p: (406) 587-3446 Missoula 218 East Front Street, Ste. 103 Missoula, MT 59802 p: (406) 549-8198 Kalispell 40 2nd St East, Suite 211 (KM Building) Kalispell, MT 59901 p: (406) 257-3765 Sidney 609 S. Central Ave. Suite #4 (Central Plaza Buidling) Sidney, MT 59270 p: (406) 482-9010 Hardin  310 N Center Hardin, MT 59034 p: (406) 665-4126 My Response: You should have thought of this before, eh? Before you and your party put the demagogue Trump on the thone.  Good lord, Steve. (staffer, don't take this personalty)  You are a .22 in a .44 magnum world, to put it in Montana terms. You're a hack, and remain in office because of your campaign funding from the GOP big donors, who don't care about you except it puts a GOP person in the state.  You might try used truck franchise, might work in MT.  Mike Mulligan Oh yeah, like all of my emails, this goes to my blog at: http://memoirsofacardiopulmonaryguy.blogspot.com/

Addendum, last post, geese:

In a release today, the paper and in an earlier memo, the EPA, existence doubtful, said all the snow geese that landed on the Berkeley Pit are dead. Some flew off, one can only imagine what happened to them. One wonders about the hunter, south of here, who went home to the family, held up the goose and said "Guess what we're having for dinner tomorrow!"  "Yay!"  the kids clapped, "We love goose!"  (this may be far-fetched now, when I was a kid I loved goose.)

One wonders about the effects.....high mercury, lead levels in the meat. The effect on the consumers, how long will that take.

How many geese got off in flight? Thousands landed, they said. They can't count the dead because of problems with getting out on the water. Maybe a few hundred, or maybe a thousand flew off after 24 plus hours drinking and exposure to the super contaminated water. Where or where did they go?

Yeah, we don't need the EPA, do we?