The Banded Duck

This is our last day in Cheyenne. The wind is on the move again and trying to move us along as well! After being is Missoula for 4 months and having very little wind, this is almost a nice change of pace. No stagnate air and the clouds clear out quickly as well, not to mention that the sun shines at least for a few minutes everyday. The picture is one I pulled off the internet, but a close match to what you can find around Cheyenne and into Nebraska. How beautiful!

Last night my phone rang and my brother had recieved my duck band information. The duck was banded in Cassils, Alberta in August 2005. It hatched in 2004 or earlier. That is only about 300 miles Northeast of where I harvested the duck at.

I always like hearing about the band results and seeing where ducks go. Too bad the duck was just banded this year, if it would have been banded last year or earlier it might have been an interesting migration route to where it ended up. Oh well, the duck will make some delicious eatting. Until again

-=Nolan=-

Windy Cheyenne

Laura and I went geocaching this afternoon with her brother. We found five caches today, one was north of Cheyenne about ten miles, so we got some more car riding in. We really havn't done much around Cheyenne, it was mighty windy today, so that kept us from going outside. Last night we did go look at Christmas lights... That's always a good time. We might do that again tonight if we get bored...

I posted this already, but if you havn't joined my Frappr map, you can by clicking >>HERE<< and entering your information. I am a map freak, and I always like seeing where people are at. I think that's all I have for now. Until again

-=Nolan=-

Down The Road We Go!

Well, I didn't know if I would be able to get on the internet here in Cheyenne, but I have managed to do it! So, I continue to blog! We left yesterday morning from Missoula, MT at 7:30 a.m. the temperature was -5 and we were ready to warm the car up and get on the road. We did some geocaching on our way to Billings, where we picked up a friend who was flying in from Seattle. We picked him up, and went south to Cody, Wyoming where the three of us then met up with some of Laura's highschool friends. One of the girls was in the process of moving to Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband from Utah - they stopped in Cody to see her family for the holidays before continuing on. We also also met up with another one of Laura's friends with her boyfriend and we all went out to supper together. We arrived in Cody around 4:00 p.m. and then we did a little geocaching in Cody before getting gas and continuing on our way around 6:30. We drove onto Cheyenne last night - and arrived at 12:30 a.m. this morning. The roads were pretty good, only some snow to deal with, and the moon was bright to light our way as we went along! There are a lot of deer between Cody and Casper, so we were a little worried about that, but no problems.... EXCEPT for a poor jack rabbit that met it's fate at our bumper - but I swerved to miss it.. honest!

I am happy to be out of the mountains. Seeing the moon come up over the low horizon was great - havn't seen that in a long while and it was a much welcome sight to see. Hopefully the clouds will clear and we will see some beautiful sunrises and sunsets as well. That's about all for now. Until again

-=Nolan=-

Riding Through The Snow

We leave tomorrow for Wyoming and Nebraska! Good news no matter where we are... It is going to be around 12 hours to Cheyenne, and then another 4 hours onto Nebraska. That's why we are taking a few weeks to get where we are going - well, let me rephrase. We are going to Cheyenne tomorrow, staying for about a week, and going to Nebraska for about 10 days before returning to Cheyenne for a few days to return to Missoula. WHEW! We will be gone for about 3 weeks so I don't know how much I will be posting until after New Years. I will have our laptop along for the trip, but who knows how easy it will be to get things posted.

I don't have much time to write much now - like I had much to say anyway - we are getting things packed and have to leave dark and early in the morning. Until again

-=Nolan=-

A Plethora of Plants

The upstairs neighbors are moving next week, and they have decided the didn't want to take their plants along, so guess who has taken them in? Yes, ME! Eleven plants in all. I had to repot three of the plants and I thined out some of the plants that were too large, so hopefully they will survive. I thinned out the fern, and divided it into two seperate plants - I have never worked with ferns before, so I hope this was ok.. I need someone to help me identify a few of them - does anyone know what these are?I think the third plant is a fern - at least that it what I was told, and I replanted it in two seperate pots. We'll see how that goes. Nothing much happening right now. Until again

-=Nolan=-

Tuesday is Almost Over

Wow, I forgot to post this morning - I posted my Music Prescription but forgot to post here. What a fool. We got Laura's dad to the airport and then went geocaching for alittle while. We are eager to get the heck outta here, that's for sure.... As I sit here, I have a pop-tart in hand, while I wait for the chicken to cook. We are going to watch "That 70's Show" at 6:00 also.

I have been meaning to tell about the movie we watched on Sunday night. We watched Cinderella Man, the story about Jim Braddock - the boxer in the 1930's. I thought it was a good movie and very well done.
Other than that, I have nothing more to say, so.... Until again

-=Nolan=-

T- 5 days

The departure for Nebraska is down to less than a week! We are really starting to get excited about traveling and getting back to Wyoming and Nebraska... A place where you can see the sunrise and sunset and there are no mountains in the way! You can see twilight before dawn and dusk and the sun doesn't disappear behind mountains at 4:15 in the afternoon. It's dark by 5:30, and that's if we get a sunny day, on a cloudy day we have the lights on by 4:30. Not to mention the constant haze and fog that covers the valley below... Only a handful of times since Halloweeen have we been able to see a clear day where we can see across the valley to the mountains - and the stagnant air, which you know is full of pollution and smog, doesn't make the place look any better.

I took some pictures of birds in the backyard. We don't see the number of song birds here like there are in Nebraska either. Very few small birds at all, and when this large flock of birds invaded out backyard it was an interesting sight. I am not sure what type of birds these are, but they were in the hundreds, and we havn't seen them since.

Yesterday we took a drive up the Lolo Pass where Lewis and Clark ventured out of the Bitterroot Valley in September of 1805. We also drove down the Bitterroot Valley to Metcalf Refuge near Stevensville, MT. We did some geocaching on the trip also, and we now have 429 caches as of this morning.

That's it for now, we have been busy. Until again

-=Nolan=-

A day above 0

Well, yesterday we finally pulled out of the -0 temperatures and reached nearly 10 degrees F!! We ran this morning at 2 F and thought we were having a warm spell. The weather forcast is calling for temperatures around 20 today, so that will truely be warmer than we can handle! Laura's dad will be here this afternoon until Wednesday to enjoy the warming temperatures with us.

We also have finished taking care of the dogs, and yes they all survived and were in good shape. Montana, the little puppy, gained 4 pounds while he was under my care - I guess that can be attributed to all the treats I gave them!

Like I said before, we went running this morning. We are on our 4 mile distance now, which is actually starting to feel like a run once again! I checked my weight this morning too - right around 187 - so I am beginning to lose that second wave now... Interesting how quickly the weight can go back up so quickly... If anything I have been maintaining my weight between 185 -190, which is always better than seeing that 197 mark! WHOA!.

I don't have any pictures to post, so I will post a cool picture of the sun taken by NASA. Fair enough?Until again

-=Nolan=-

The days of running revisited

Last night I was a little bored. With my main computer down and all, I have been a little lost of what I am doing on the internet. So, out of boredom, I went to UNK's athletic webpage and started checking out old running articles and pictures from a few years ago. Check out one of my most favorite pictures of me from last year. I always have to laugh when I see pictures of myself running, I think I look like a goofball, but I guess it gets the job done. Take a look at that arm too! WHOA man! I can't make my arms do that if I try - trust me, I have been trying lately! Not much news to report today. I have been entertaining myself and the dogs for the last several days so you know that can only be so newsworthy. Until again

-=Nolan=-

AURG!

Well, just when things are starting to pick up and I don't want any more to do than I need... Well, perhaps I should start by saying Murphy's Law has bitten me on the back side when I wasn't expecting it! Unless you know a few things about computers you won't care much about the first part of my post today - but feel free in enlighten yourself if you don't know... Perhaps you will learn a thing or two - LIKE IT DIDN'T!

So here is the proplem. See that little box with the wires sticking out of it? Well, if you have ever taken the case off of your computer tower then you know exactly what it is. It's the power supply for the computer. Without it the computer is just an expensive door stop. That's right, no electricity = no computer. So heres the nitty gritty of the problem...

I bought my computer in May 2002 - it wasn't top of the line then, but it was good enough for what was happening. It came with one hard drive (where you store the files on your computer) and one CD-ROM (pop out coffee holder for some) and one stick of 2100DDR RAM. So my 250 watt power supply was fine with such equipment.. In the English language, I just said my computer was fairly empty... Well since 2002, I have added to the computer: RAID PCI Card, TV Tuner PCI card, 2x 120GB Hard drives, 32X CD-Burner, DVD-ROM, and 3x 256 MB RAM... In other words, my computer is now FULL! Not to mention I added a few extra fans for cooling.

Well, I knew it would happen sooner or later, and it finally came to later - my power supply has bit the dust. That many components inside a computer with only 250 Watts is like trying to power a household lightbulb with a 9V battery - it might work for a short time, but that's too much work for such little power... So I have gone to e-bay for my next power supply - I ordered it this evening, and I will let you know how things go once it arrives.. Until then, I will feel lost without my 'super' computer running.. I have 3 other computers I can work at, but they are 'el-cheapo' compared to my computer that I have spent so much time and work on to be JUST how I want it...

I will let go until my power supply arrives... I got out of the house today, even though it was only 15 degrees and went duck hunting. I actually didn't use duck decoys, I sat out goose shells because there was ice where I would usually put duck decoys, and it was better than 4 inches thick! I had two chances to shoot some ducks, but let them go thinking they would circle again and land. No problem, that means I don't have to clean any ducks tonight. I thought I would have some luck with geese sinse I was using my goose decoys, and I even had a single goose fly over, but didn't have much interest in my friendly geese sitting on the ice.. I also had a muskrat visit me while I stood in the blind - I sat near a warm water creek so he was able to swim around - but it was only about 6 feet wide and 2 feet deep - nothing to interest ducks when there are other spots around...

I also spent some time with the dogs, the little guy is getting some sharp teeth - as is evident from the scratches all over my hands! He likes to bite hands, which I don't understand because I am trying to pet him or give him a chew toy - which he apparently believes to be my hand! YIKES!

Well, I see I have created quite a chapter in the book, so I will give it a rest. Until again

-=Nolan=-

I love maps!

Yes, it's true... The first step to recovery is being honest, and this case I am deathly ill!! I like maps, and I like studying maps. Jestjuggle, fellow geocacher, has created a map using Frappr (fra-per) to show locations of people who read the blog! I thought that was a great idea, so have done the same. If you want to add yourself to my map then PLEASE DO! I like seeing where people are! You can click >>HERE<< to go to my map.

Another mapping tool I have been using is Google Earth. If you have a broadband connection then you can download and use this tool, based on the Google maps. I am impressed with the features and I download all my geocaching locations into it and get a good idea of what is out there. I have included an image of Hoover Dam, taken from Google Earth - be amazed - this is amazing stuff!

As far as life goes.... The dogs have kept me busy while Laura is at school. They like to jump around, expecially on me! I took them for a walk up the mountain yesterday, in hopes that they would tire from the walk, but I think it just got them more excited for the rest of the day... I am debating a hunting trip this afternoon, the temperature is around 12 F and I don't know if any water will be open to hunt on - other than the river, which I don't particularly like. That's about all for now. Until again

-=Nolan=-

23 years + 1 day

I had a great birthday yesterday. Laura and I spent some time geocaching and enjoying the day. We had pizza for my birthday meal, and returned home to listen to the UNK Loper volleyball team play in the national championships. On a down note, they didn't win, but it was still exciting to know that they were playing for a national championship.

Today we started d0g-sitting the neighbors dogs. They are still puppies - only 10 & 4 months old - so they are still a little wild. We took them on our 3 mile run this morning and they have been a little more calm since then. We are planning on taking them geocaching this afternoon and that will help them burn off some energy as well. I think they will like a car ride and walking around in new places. We will be taking care of them until Thursday, so it will be quite a fun time - plus the neighbors said we were welome to watch their satallite tv and check out their stuff - since they will be moving in 2 weeks and don't want to take veyr much of it with them.!! So we may be getting a few more things for the apartment, which will be nice, it's just a matter of finding a place to put it all!

Check out the dogs - Missoula is the larger one and Montana is the little guy, they are pretty funny and like to jump around and make a mess! We have already had to clean up a few things they have destroyed, but nothing major yet.

My morning weight was 186! Until again

-=Nolan=-

A good day of hunting

Over the night we recieved nearly 6-8 inches of snow, we have a nice pile of snow forming now. I got up this morning and scooped the driveway until Laura was ready to walk to the bus stop. I went with her down to the bus and then returned to finish scooping the driveway... Laura had to be at the school until 6 pm so I decided that I would go for an afternoon hunt. I arrived at my spot to be greated with low flying geese - things looked promising right off the bat. It was around 1:30 by the time I got set up and ready to go.. Long story short, I ended the day with three ducks, one of which had a leg band. This was my second band I have ever gotten, and it was exciting to get another. I reported the information to the USGS and they will be sending me information in the mail about the duck. That has been the story of my day - not much happening, but enough to be news worthy... My morning weight was 189. Until again

-=Nolan=-

P.S. The title of my post today says 'A good day of hunting' but remember, a BAD day of hunting is better than a good day of work or anything related to it...

No Prescription Needed

My newest undertaking in the cyber world will be the creation of another blogspot - this one will deal with music... I like lots of music, I like all types of music, I like listening to music, I like understanding music, I just plain like music. With that, I direct your attention to:

Musix Good 4 Ya Ears

The website it http://musicprescription.blogspot.com/ I thought this was a catchy name. With todays world always needing prescriptions and such, thinking drugs and medications are the solution to everything I thought up a fun idea... If your ears hurt you don't need anything other than something soothing, what better than some prescription music? See where I am going with this? I thought so - you are smart people! Feel free to check it out and comment your thoughts or whatever...

It snowed again last night, another inch or so on the ground - just after the streets had melted most of the snow away, we have ourselves some more snow to scoop.. No trouble, I took care of it and returned indoors to clean some dishes and keep the apartment looking nice. With the snow on the streets again, Laura and I are going to try and run in the valley this evening and run along the river trail - it is pavement and crushed rock so it makes for a nice run in the snow, plus we don't have to worry about vehicles. Plus I need to run, I weighed in at 191 this morning!! WHOA buddy, I didn't think I gained 5 pounds back that quick, but I can understand why. We missed running the other day, and I have been drinking liquids like it's my job, just to keep from getting sick - so I have more than enough water weight to carry around for a few days.. That's fine, I didn't expect to see 190 until right before Christmas, so when I hit 186 I nearly flipped!

That's enough for now. Until again

-=Nolan=-