Cold

Eight am on the twenty sixth of January and as I set down at my computer I can see that it is seventeen below zero. I think that is a record low for this date, if it’s not it should be. All in all it has been quite a winter here in beautify Big Rapids. We aren’t running water yet, but at least two places further north are.

Running water for those who don’t know the joys of cold weather is keeping a pencil thin stream of water running to keep the pipes from freezing.  It usually works although there have times they freeze anyway. That’s when you get the fun job of trying to thaw them out.

 There are two ways for your pipes to freeze. The first is all because of the frost. As the weather goes from warm to freezing the frost gets pushed deeper and deeper until it is wrapped around your pipes and they freeze. The other is for them to be poorly insulated or not heated properly.

If you can reach them and they aren’t plastic, you can use a torch to heat them. If they are in the ground you can hire a guy to hook up his welder and send an electric current through them to heat the water and melt the ice. Of course there is always the chance that when they thaw them they will be broken and flood your house.

If you can’t get the water running don’t worry. You can always melt snow; after all there is lots it around. Remember spring will come sometime and than the water will be on again. 

Can It Get Worse

It snowed in New Orleans yesterday and it shut down the area. It must be terrible to live someplace where it’s so rare to see snow. We are buried up to our knees right now with more on the way.

The Senate refused to give the auto makers a bailout, the Governor cut the budget for Human Services, unemployment is pushing thirteen percent in some parts of the state, and the cost to heat your home has gone up at least ten percent. Can things get much worse for Michigan? The answer is yes they will get a lot worse before they get better.

Every day on the news there is a story about someone’s house or business being robed, or someone embezzling from their employer. People are tight for cash and it must seem like easy money, but in the long run they do get caught.

There is a song that goes “if it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all”. Tighten your seat belts, keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times, and enjoy the ride.

Driving In The Snow

If you live in Michigan in the northern part of the state you have two things in the winter that are equal to any other part of the country. You have deep snow and rugged terrain. In lake effect country you can get twelve to thirteen inches of snow over night, and there are roads as steep as you will find anywhere.

I say this because I want you to realize that I grew up driving in deep snow. I had snow tires on my car, but like all Michiganders that is all I had. No one I know would let five or six inches stop them from driving. Sure I spent my share of time stuck in the snow, but that was just the price one paid for living in God’s country.

So I want to know is what's the big deal about a little snow on the road? Some parts of the country shut down at the sight of a snow flake and others won’t let you drive without tire chains. In Michigan you can have chains as long as they don’t make contact with the surface of the road. I can’t think of a single person that even owns a set of the things.

You put a shovel in the trunk along with a blanket and some kitty litter for traction and you’re good to go. If you get stuck to deep to dig out, well that’s why they make tow trucks. Only wimp wouldn't drive in the snow around here.

Big Three Bailout

How important do you need to be to get help? One after another we have watched little factories close their doors and lay off workers. They can not make a profit and they go out of business. Fifty or sixty workers here, a hundred there, and how many jobs does it take to be important? If the company is poorly run should someone bail them out by throwing good money after bad? No amount of money can help if they are not profitable.
The size of the company and the number of jobs involved should not make a difference. The big three auto makers or an investment bank it should not matter. If they can’t make it maybe they need to change the way they do business.



The following is from the column, Other People's Money, written by CNET's Declan McCullagh. For CBS News.

"One of the best reasons why Detroit automakers should not receive a bailout can be found in a General Motors "Jobs Bank" program that, bizarrely, pays employees not to work. A beneficiary of that program was someone named Jerry Mellon, who worked for GM until his division merged with another in 2000 and he was no longer needed. Except for a brief period in 2001, Mellon received his full salary for not working, which reached $64,500 a year by 2006. Include benefits, and the annual cost to GM exceeds $100,000. To earn his pay, Mellon was given the formidable task of showing up in a windowless shed, sitting at a table, and doing nothing for eight hours a day for six years, according to a profile in the Wall Street Journal. Jobs Bank employees have the option of attending classes teaching such important manufacturing skills as dealing blackjack and poker. Mellon spent part of his time reading Reader's Digest, learning how to play Trivial Pursuit, napping on a makeshift bed of chairs pushed together, or simply staring at the wall for hours at a time. During those six years, Toyota surpassed GM as the world's largest car manufacturer, thanks to innovations like the fuel-sipping Prius. Nissan developed the GT-R, a technological marvel with a 0 to 60 time of 3.2 seconds and a lower sticker price than the Corvette ZR1. Honda kept its focus on smaller cars such as the Civic and Accord, and saw its sales continue to increase this summer while GM, Ford, and Chrysler have slid. The United Auto Workers union and Detroit executives concocted the Jobs Bank idea in the early 1980s. Now these same economic whizzes are lobbying for handouts in the form of your tax dollars."



I know these companies represent hundreds of thousands of workers and that their loss would have a devastating effect on the economy. I just don’t feel right about using our tax dollars to help them out. The underlying problems are still there and must be fixed. They should change the way they do business before they come asking for tax dollars to fix their problems.

Winter is here.

All those wonderful words are back snow and cold, lake effect, system snow, blowing and drifting. It’s time to turn on the TV and check for school closings and delays. Winter has returned to northern Michigan. The ski resorts have fired up their snow guns and are talking about the earliest start to the season in years. It’s true we get snow this early in the season; it’s just that it usually does not stay. When it comes this early it will be gone in two or three days.

Not this year. This time it feels different. This time it feels like it could stay. Still it does not matter, if it stays or not we have to live with it. Slippery roads put cars in the ditch and most of us just aren’t ready. We’ve lost our hat and gloves and there isn’t a scraper in the car. There is no ice melt for the walk and the snow blower won’t start. Snow may be fun to play in, but as a rule it’s a pain in the butt.
Maybe if I close the curtains and ignore, it will go away. I think bears have the right idea when they sleep through the winter. I think I’ll go back to bed.

Winter Fun

In Benzonia, Michigan behind the elementary school there is a hill. A road ran down that hill and in the winter it would be closed to traffic. The Village kept it plowed and maintained a tow rope there. On weekends we would go there to slide.
Someone would build a bonfire at the top of the hill so we could get warm and we would spend the day riding our bobsleds, toboggans, and two runner sleds down to the bottom. Snowboards had yet to be invented so we used bump jumpers. These were basically a ski with a seat that you road using your feet for balance.
If you got tired of this, there was an ice rink across from the school. It was made by flattening the snow and spraying it with water.
All this was maintained by the Village of Benzonia and was enjoyed by all. The cost to use it? Nothing! It was just there to give us something to do.

No one supervised us. Our folks knew where we were. They also knew that if we got hurt someone would see that we got home.
No one worried about strangers, liability, or suing the Village if something happened. All that mattered was having a good time and getting home in time for supper.

Box Stores, Do We Need Them?

There is an old joke. "Where does a 600lb guerrilla sleep? Anywhere he wants." Big box stores have become the 600 lb guerilla in the world of small town shopping. The little stores can't compete with them. In town after town when the big guys move in the local stores disappear.

This may be great for shopping and getting a bargain; but all too soon the shopper finds they have no choice left. Computation is about more than price. The shops that disappear often provided services the big guys didn't.

When some corporate genius decides to stop carrying a certain product or size, you may no longer be able to get those items locally. In small towns that can mean a long drive to find what you need. The choice becomes driving over an hour or settling for something you didn't want in the first place. We have sacrificed the service and convinance of the corner store for a long drive to save a buck.

Snow on the Roads.

It could be a long winter. The word on the streets is that all the road departments are cutting back. When the storm hits nothing will happen till it is over.
M.D.O.T. has told the county road departments to cut back.

Michigan Department of Transportation tells counties to cut back on snow plowing, salting of roads
by Associated Press
Wednesday November 12, 2008, 7:53 AM
LANSING -- The Michigan Department of Transportation has directed county road commissions to cut back on snow plowing and salting of secondary roads as part of a cost-cutting effort.
The Detroit News reports Wednesday that the directive means road commissions would give high priority to freeways, but would limit less-traveled secondary roads to a single plowing and salting.
MDOT spokesman Bill Shreck says it's basically an effort to reduce overtime as officials also face high salt and fuel prices. He says if a storm is severe, crews will be sent out on overtime to ensure safety.

Winter snow plow priorities shifting?
MDOT tells counties, municipalities to watch their OT
Ludington Daily News
Steve Begnoche - Managing Editor
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Travelers on certain routes in Michigan could see less clear pavement this winter following a change in priorities established by the Michigan Department of Transportation.
Among routes now declared priority 2 — for which the state will limit how much overtime it pays contracting counties and municipalities to clear — are U.S. 10 east of Scottville, M-37, M-55, M-22 and U.S. 10 west of U.S. 10-31, including Ludington Avenue, Lakeshore Drive and South James Street. (A related story is in today's Daily News.)
The state is telling its contracting agencies that overtime should be used only during a storm or following a storm, “with a goal of providing a pavement surface generally bare of ice and snow; wide enough for one-wheel track in each direction.”
Any clearing of snow or ice beyond that level should be done only without working overtime, according to the MDOT’s winter level of service definitions.
Mason County Road Commission Managing Director Gary Dittmer said travelers east of Scottville may see a difference this winter, depending on when and if snow falls.
“They will see the center of the road opened up,” he said. “They won’t see bare pavement.”
He noted many east-west routes in northern Michigan are affected based on an MDOT traffic study that shows most traffic is flowing north-south in Michigan in winter.
What it means is we will need to be very careful driving this winter. Secondary roads won’t get done as well as in the past, and places like subdivisions may be very low on the list.

Get out safety gear; Put a box in the car with blankets, food, and a flashlight. Put a shovel in the trunk and make sure you have a working cell phone with you. Always drive carefully. The life you save could be your own.

A Michigan Day Trip

Just a thought. Do you realize that when we talk driving distance in Michigan we often look at trips of four to six hours or longer. In some parts of the U.S. the same distance would take you through two or three states.
Still no matter where you live in Michigan there are places to visit that are worth the drive to go see.
Here in the central part of the state we are within a couple of hours of great skiing and snowmobiling in the winter and wonderful fishing and camping areas in the summer. Out of all the great places to go, if you have never been there, you must get to the Island. That's with a capital "I" because it is a proper name just like the Bridge.

I am talking about Mackinac Island and the Mackinac Bridge. The spelling is right, Mackinaw City is spelt with an aw, the others are ac. It's a Michigan thing having to do with the early French and English settlers. It is located in the Straits of Mackinac and can only be reached by boat or small plane.once a gathering place for native Americans, the British built Fort Mackinac there in 1781 when Fort Michilimackinac on the mainland was no longer considered safe.
The area was once central to the fur trade and played an important part in the early history of our country. Except for a brief time during the war of 1812 the U.S. maintained the fort through the American Civil War, using it house prisoners of war. In 1875 it became the second national park. In 1895 the fort was closed and the park became a state park.

An important part of history and a beautiful place to visit. It is surprising how many Michiganders have never been there. With excellent hotels and campgrounds in the area it is a perfect place for a day trip or extended stay. Mackinac Island is a pleasant step back in time where cars are band and everyone gets around with bikes or horse drawn carriages.

Deer Season In Michigan

Today is the twelfth, opening day of deer season in Michigan is the Saturday the fifteenth. The beginning of fifteen days of tradition here in the heartland of the state. From Kent County to "The Bridge" and everywhere in the U.P., this is more then just a time to hunt deer. In many families it is a right of passage.
Sure there is bow season before and after, but it is rifle season that marks the bonding of parent and child in the rite of deer hunting. It is a time so important that many factories close for "Deer Day" and schools call it safety day and shut their doors.

On farmland and in woodlots around the region legions of orange covered hunters will be counting down the seconds till sunrise and official start of the season.
For most of them it isn't just killing a deer. People around here really eat the meat, and getting a deer means food on the table this winter. The season also means money. Down state and out of state hunters bring much needed dollars into the area. Bars, restaurants, motels, gas stations, and grocery stores all see extra business at this time. What they spend now will help keep the heat on in allot of homes this winter.
In short deer season means hunters mean money spent and that means jobs for a lot of people who would otherwise be laid off.

While I do not hunt, I understand the importance of these fifteen days on the economy of the state. I must admit I also like the taste of a nice venison roast. Hopefully one of my hunting friends will be willing to share.

The Great Lakes, Gift And Responsblity

I realized how blessed I am to live in a state that's surrounded by water. Michigan is home to many beautiful lakes both large and small, there are rivers and streams everywhere you go, the Upper Peninsula is home to numerous waterfalls, and it all is part of the great lakes basin. We have more freshwater coastline than any other state.
With that fact comes responsibility. We have it and they don't. Others want it and we must guard it for those who will come after us.

It is not fiction to realize a pipeline could be built to move water hundreds of miles to areas that lack it.Nor is it out of the question that a tanker ship could sail in and fill up with hundreds of gallons of our water.
In our area we already have had to deal with the idea of the water being bottled and sold around the country, a problem that goes much further than one company. There many others taking the water out of wells and selling it.

If you look at the history of water in this country you will find many lakes and rivers that are or will soon be dried up. It may seem that a lake like Lake Michigan would not be hurt by a few hundred gallons lost, but it would soon be hundreds of thousands.
This must never be allowed to happen. We must wake up and realize that in the end water is for fighting for not just drinking.

Changing Seasons

The yard is full of leaves. It seems only a short while ago that they were bright , green , and on the trees. Than they were full of color painting the landscape in reed and gold. Now they are laying in my yard waiting for me to clean them up.

Time was you could smell burning leaves in the fall, but now they won't let you burn them. Now you mulch them, compost them, or in town rake them out to the street for the city crew to collect. Now they are just a reminder that winter will be here all to soon.

Even without the leaves you know its coming. You see geese flying south and the squirrels have been looking for acorns in the yard. They know it will soon become a cold white landscape. The type of thing that leaves you all to happy to curl up with good book and a cup of hot chocolate. The only good thing about winter is that spring won't be far behind.

By the way when geese fly in a V formation why is one side always longer than the other? Because there are more geese on that side.

Last One To Leave Turn Out The Lights

Everyone knows that the economy is bad, but here in Michigan it's really bad. Every day there is another story on the news about a factory closing or laying off workers.

In a small town it's not just fifty or sixty jobs lost, it's a dozen other jobs that depend on those people to spend money in the area.

Sure part of it is the fact that a lot of those factories make things for the auto industry,but part of it is the fact that we live in a big state that's made up of two peninsulas. The simple fact is that the further north you go in the state the more it's going to cost you to ship your raw materials and finished products. Why keep making things up north if you have another plant where it's cheaper to do business? As a result we depend on the tourist trade to keep our economy alive, and if people don't have the money to spend they aren't going to travel.

True the price of gas is coming down, but if people don't have the extra cash they are going to cut back on those trips up north to ski, snowmobile, ice fish, etc... and without them the restaurants, bars, motels, and everyone else that does business with them will have to lay off people because they can't afford to pay them.

It has gotten to the point that other states are coming here to recruit workers because they know we have the work force and they are looking for jobs.

Things will get better but before they do they will undoubtedly get worse. So like I said in the title "last one to leave turn out the lights".