wrangler

A weekend of this, with mostly clear skies, light wind, and soft snow: And a bunch of good friends.

Glad to hear your bad (not worse) news.

Now I'm getting flashes of C.J. Cherryh. Lemme see -- where's that encoder off-switch again?

About time; I was beginning to think you missed that.

Apparently he was shot by one of the guys with PTSD that he volunteered to help. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-crime-sniperbre91202k-20130202,0,7924028.story

Thanks. I feel like I'm always the last one to get the Newspeak updates.

"celly"? I'm trying, but all I'm coming up with is cellmate.

Just humor him. . . and slowly back away.

Only for 3 days.

But there are a whole lot of folks out there that can't get past the "J", and use the hard "J" sound. Hopefully they do better pronouncing "Jukka".

For me, that belongs in The Sweet Spot.

With the start of the NHL season, I'll be stuck watching Carcillo and Bollig again.

I remember people at a Tennessee Ford dealer selling SUVs with the "Eddie Boyer" package.

They earned it.

Those are the ones that I remembered. http://www.modsquadhockey.com/forums/index.php?/topic/55458-dr-legend-sr-hockey-gloves/

Somebody here ought to remember the company (not one of the majors) that was making gloves in that color. There's a thread on here somewhere, could be a year or so ago.

They dumped Olsen, got Martz the tight end he wanted, and he did nothing with him; he didn't last any longer than Martz. Another target Cutler had was Bennett, a Vandy teammate. Someone sold Hester a bill of goods that he could be a receiver, though he couldn't remember plays consistently. It was such a good sales job he's been complaining that he wasn't able to showcase his talents properly. Hester has made some bad decisions in the return game, but I don't think the blocking there is as good as it was a few years ago. Davis has the tools, but is very inconsistent. I've seen catches where his hands were impressive. Local bouncing heads are predicting some turnover in the players. We can hope that a number of players are influenced by the prime motivation situation in sports -- the contract year. McCoy, Kyle Shanahan, Cowher, Gruden, are some quite different possibilities being mentioned. Emery wants to take some time, but there are so many teams in the fight he may need to be ready to strike very quickly. I hope he is. The Cardinals are good example of how fast this stuff can move.

Offensive line has been a problem, and they didn't find an offensive coordinator that worked, though they tried several. Martz was the worst, with his 7-step drops for Cutler, plays that took time to develop, leaving Cutler just waiting for a sack and another concussion. He just didn't seem to be able to learn that he didn't have the line for those plays. They can say all they want about the lack of production on offense, and it was a problem, but it's the lack of having a team that's competitive in the playoffs that sent Smith packing. I agree that they need coaches, across the board, that know how to work with the tools that they have. And a head coach that knows how to pick good assistants, then step back and let them do the job.

Little enough success that I question whether he was a pilot or a passenger. Yes, the Bears have played meaningful games in December. And lost. This season was a great example -- 7-1 to start, with an easier schedule, then 3-5 to finish, with a tougher schedule. One telling statistic they showed us here was his good career record against teams below .500, and his poor career record against teams .500 or better. Be careful what you wish for.

You're welcome to him. Among his weaknesses are indecision, poor game management, and fear. The Bears consistently played like a poorly coached team. His defenses, which seem to be what the bouncing heads credit him for, are not that good. Turnovers are a nice thing to add to a defense, but are no substitute for quality defense.

Bears finally dumped Lovie Smith.

I've heard that gas with ethanol can create a varnish in the carburetor that causes problems, if the fuel stands in there for a while. There are products you can add to the fuel if the machine will be down for a season.

Far be it from me to comment on your father's technique, but it does for me. If you don't do anything about the gas in the meantime, you can have problems.

So you learned to fire up the snow blower and make sure it's running well, in the fall, so you know it'll be good when the snow comes?