8/17/08 Captain Jack's Repossession Repo Cruise to PC thru TPC Part 17

[sk8ingmom]

And now for your Tuesday morning ponderance, I give you this:

Discuss...​

 

[jhryb]

Way to go Paula! I still have lots of reading to do because I am only at the78000 post, but I have been enjoying the pictures so far.

 

[yargrnhoj]

And now for your Tuesday morning ponderance, I give you this:​

Discuss...​

Where's the 8/10th of a moose?

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

And now for your Tuesday morning ponderance, I give you this:

Discuss...​

Would these be the famous Nunivak Island muskox in Alaska?
Alaska population was wiped out in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, but muskoxen have since been reintroduced to Alaska. The United States Fish & Wildlife introduced muskox onto the Nunivak Island in 1935 as a means for sustenance living.

 

[PBader]

Ooo... did I mention the $500 entry fee? Yanno... we gots a TOAL to finance here! <wink>

SO.... hoz it feel to be a victorious pirate wench tonite? We're having awards made up for each sprint winner yannoo?! Of course, they're NOT free... we're selin' them to finance our TOAL! <chuckles?>

OK... maybe not, maybe we'll just list them on ebay?

​

$500 each, you'll have the TOAL paid off before you know it

Hey, it felt pretty durn good getting that

 

[PBader]

Dang it missed another pirate run. Congrats to the winner !

I really should be in bed but I am taking Dante to a halloween contest tomorrow evening and I still need to work on his costume. Don'y worry pictures will follow.

My DD is sick but getting better. Hope all are safe in CA......... Couldn't believe it when I saw the pics on the news. My resume is done and I will be calling tomorrow.

I am getting better everyday but word on the street is they are axious for me to come in.

Tina I hope you DD gets to feeling better soon. Can't wait to see Dante in costume (sounds fun!)

She does not hold court anymore, but in Jan 2006, the White Witch greeted folks. She was great and totally stayed in character. Actually saw a few kids run away from her screaming.

Cool pics Monica

 

[PBader]

And now for your Tuesday morning ponderance, I give you this:

Discuss...​

Looks like it made the race come to a stop

 

[PBader]

Well I better head off to work.................catch all all later

 

[captaincrash]

And now for your Tuesday morning ponderance, I give you this:

Discuss...​

Oomingmak

Summer condition of coat showing Qiviut shedding.
Photo credit: Terry Parker ​

Travelling on the Tundra Rivers (Firth, Burnside, Coppermine and Horton) we frequently have the privilege of viewing muskoxen. Exotic from head to hoof is the only way to describe them. While they present a striking image, perhaps the most captivating feature that "glues" us to our binoculars are the adaptations that allow this creature to live in the arctic climate year 'round.

Northwest Territories Biologists tell us that approximately 90,000 years ago when the Bering Straits were dry land, muskoxen crossed into North America from Siberia. When the last glacier covered North America, muskoxen survived in ice-free areas or "glacial refugia" in the northern arctic islands and Greenland. As the ice retreated, they spread throughout northern Canada and Greenland, then westward into Alaska.

As the map shows, most of the approximately 80,000 - 90,000 muskoxen in Canada are found on the arctic islands, but significant numbers occupy the river valleys of the tundra rivers.

How can these large creatures find enough food in the tundra environment? Muskox food varies from season to season. In summer, muskoxen range river valleys, along lake shores and in seepage meadows for browse such as willow, sedge, rushes, grasses, willow herb, bladder campion, knot weed and fleabane.

This is good news for river travellers in search of photo opportunities! In winter, the herds spend more time on hilltops, slopes and plateaus where vegetation such as grasses,crowberry, bilberry and willow is exposed by arctic winds. Winter would seem to be a formidable challenge for survival.


Range of the Muskox in the NWT, Nunavut and Yukon

In truth, most winters, muskoxen are easily able to find enough browse on windblown hilltops, provided the weather is cold and the snow is not too deep. Trouble occurs if rain or sleet falls late in the year, or frequent thawing and freezing occurs, a crust of ice may form over the tundra, followed by deep snow. Under such circumstances, muskoxen have great difficulty in foraging beneath the ice and may die of starvation. Normally, if there is only a light crust of snow over the vegetation, muskoxen can break through by pawing. A stronger crust can be broken by the animal lifting its head and dropping its nose onto the surface. The muskox then paws in the crater, pushes away the broken ice and feeds on the exposed browse.

River travellers observe that muskoxen are gregarious animals and live in loosely organized herds. Herd size and composition vary with season, range conditions and the number of bulls in the population. An average herd is about 15 animals. After the rut in July and August, the herds increase as bulls and/or mixed groups join together. The presence of wolves may cause an increase in herd size in response to harassment. Some groups of muskoxen may merge together for feeding, while in severe winters large herds may fragment as a result of limited forage.

The large heard members stand side by side with formidable horns facing outwards. While effective against wolves, the strategy is suicidal when used against hunters with rifles. Eco-travellers are best advised to keep "binocular distance" away from the creatures. The large animals can "charge" at surprisingly high speed. When feeling threatened, the animal will often first rub glands in the nose region with a paw. This is a last resort signal to back off and give them some space.

Unlike caribou, muskoxen do not undertake long migrations, but in some areas, such as near Coppermine, winter and summer ranges are distinct and as much as 160 km apart. On treks between ranges, a dominant bull or cow leads the group.

The economic potential of the muskox's inner wool or "qiviut" is slowly being explored in the Northwest Territories. This wool is of exceptional quality, having the weight and warmth of cashmere. In Alaska, a muskox domestication project has been established for the purpose of developing a cottage industry that specializes in woven or knitted articles.

 

[Downrivermama]

Good Morning! Hope everyone is doing well. Hope those of you in California are safe.


I see that Crash did a great job of posting the Pre-Cruise Secret Mickey. Crash what is "girt?"


This should be fun.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Yes I do hope everyone in the LA area are fine, there was a UK mum on our TV today and she just missed it when the wind changed looked very bad.

Part of our reports.

California has evacuated a quarter of a million people as fierce winds fan wildfires in the Los Angeles region, stretching south to the Mexican border.
At least one person has died and thousands of homes are at risk in seven counties, where fires have scorched some 240,000 acres (97,000 hectares).

Firefighters warn that the fires, which are being fanned by hot winds, will get worse in the days ahead.

Hotter temperatures and high winds are forecast for Tuesday.

At least 655 homes have been destroyed, including at least 133 homes in one mountain resort community. Thousands more homes are threatened across the region.

Fom pictures and maps here I thought it was north of LA, above Hollywood area, but reports now say down to Mexico? 9 large ones?


1. Harris fire: 22,000 acres consumed, 5% contained.
2. Rice fire: 1,500 acres burned in San Diego county, 50 houses destroyed
3. Witch fire: 145,000 acres in San Diego County. Some 500 houses and 100 businesses destroyed. 36,000 residents in Ramona evacuated
4. Buckweed fire: 35,000 acres. Mandatory evacuation order of 15,000 local residents in place.
5. Magic fire: 1,200 acres burned, moving towards Ventura but not currently threatening any structures.
6. Ranch fire: 41,000 acres burned, 10% contained. Local evacuation orders in place.
7. Canyon fire: 3,800 acres consumed. 600 houses threatened, some 1,700 firefighters deployed.
8. Slide fire: 1,500 acres burned, 20 houses destroyed and 400 threatened.
9. Santiago fire: 15,200 acres burned, 30% contained. Some 3,000 houses threatened in local area.

 

[micmse2003]

I saw the news last night for the first time in days. Please everyone in California stay safe. Saw lots of pictures and did not realize how bad the fires really are. I know Roger, Tom, Laura,Sara, and Chris are out there. Please take care. We are all praying you,your family and your homes to stay safe and out of harms way. Anybody else I forgot I am sorry but take care.:hug

 

[Verandah Man]

Keeping all those in CA in our thoughts and prayers as well!!!

 

[Verandah Man]

After three trips to the post office in the town next to us, our Pirate Mickey Christmas Tree ornament finally arrived. The company put the wrong zip code on the package and the package kept getting sent back to the regional post office.

Instead of using the ornament for the tree, we are going to leave it sit on our entertainment center next to the Captain Mickey figurine we received a few months ago.

 

[micmse2003]

No rolling on the floor alllowed!!! These were pictures taken at my DGD 3rd Birthday party Saturday.

This is a picture of my DGD but she even looks beautiful with black hair.You can see her blonde hair peeking under the wig.

 

[Verandah Man]

No rolling on the floor alllowed!!! These were pictures taken at my DGD 3rd Birthday party Saturday.

This is a picture of my DGD but she even looks beautiful with black hair.You can see her blonde hair peeking under the wig.

Love the pics Cheryl, Love the pics!!!!!

 

[captaincrash]

Yes I do hope everyone in the LA area are fine, there was a UK mum on our TV today and she just missed it when the wind changed looked very bad.

Part of our reports.

California has evacuated a quarter of a million people as fierce winds fan wildfires in the Los Angeles region, stretching south to the Mexican border.
At least one person has died and thousands of homes are at risk in seven counties, where fires have scorched some 240,000 acres (97,000 hectares).

Firefighters warn that the fires, which are being fanned by hot winds, will get worse in the days ahead.

Hotter temperatures and high winds are forecast for Tuesday.

At least 655 homes have been destroyed, including at least 133 homes in one mountain resort community. Thousands more homes are threatened across the region.

Fom pictures and maps here I thought it was north of LA, above Hollywood area, but reports now say down to Mexico? 9 large ones?


1. Harris fire: 22,000 acres consumed, 5% contained.
2. Rice fire: 1,500 acres burned in San Diego county, 50 houses destroyed
3. Witch fire: 145,000 acres in San Diego County. Some 500 houses and 100 businesses destroyed. 36,000 residents in Ramona evacuated
4. Buckweed fire: 35,000 acres. Mandatory evacuation order of 15,000 local residents in place.
5. Magic fire: 1,200 acres burned, moving towards Ventura but not currently threatening any structures.
6. Ranch fire: 41,000 acres burned, 10% contained. Local evacuation orders in place.
7. Canyon fire: 3,800 acres consumed. 600 houses threatened, some 1,700 firefighters deployed.
8. Slide fire: 1,500 acres burned, 20 houses destroyed and 400 threatened.
9. Santiago fire: 15,200 acres burned, 30% contained. Some 3,000 houses threatened in local area.

No mention of the 160 homes lost in Lake Arrowhead?

Plus I had not heard about the 500 plus homes lost in San Diego!

Here are a couple of quotes from MSN news this morning:

.... State officials warned that the total estimate of evacuees in the region could rise, because officials were still working to determine how many people had fled. San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said that 274,000 homes and at least 300,000 residents were asked to clear out in San Diego county alone......

..... As the fires spread, most out of control, smaller blazes were merging into larger, more fearsome ones. Evacuations were being announced in one community after another as firefighters found themselves overwhelmed by gale-force Santa Ana winds, some gusting to 70 mph.

As dawn broke, authorities issued a new round of mandatory evacuations to residents in parts of San Diego County. About 3,800 homes were told to evacuate in Wildcat Canyon and Multh Valley, and another 1,800 in North Jamul and Indian Springs.

Frankly, I know we are lucky to face little threat now given the type of winds we've had. And today is forecast to bejust as windy but with temperatures rising towards 100 in some parts according to what Alicia told me. I've not seen much news yet - just the MSN article - but Alicia saw something that warned of higher temps.

As of yesterday at 4:30PM the school districts in neighboring Simi Valley, Moorpark, Malibu had closed thier school districts today. Plus the more distant but the neighboring region of the San Fernando Valley (spanning a couple million folks) had closed about half its' schools.

Yesterday when I read of Governor Schwarzenegger was cited as committing $5 million (+$5500 per hour operated) to secure exclusive use of the 2 DC-10 jet water bombers I paused to think... do we really need to have that? And now - it is obvious that this expense is nothing if not a BARGAIN compared to the loss of property and potential loss of life that could be occurring if we did NOT have these aircraft. Add to that the risk of loss these pilots face by flying low through the fires in trecherous wind conditions with cris crossing fire fighting aircraft and it sounds even more extreme to me. I recently saw "Always" for the first time - even though it's an older movie - and I was amazed by the dramatic depicition of fire fighting pilots flying through the fires. Now I can see certain aspects of the hazards are real - while other aspects may be dramatized.

At any rate - our local school district had been threatening to close today (or tomorrow) as well since we were litterially being sandwiched by school districts closing. So why don't we close too - as they were closing due to active fire threat (Malibu) and evacuation - or simply due to the horrible air conditions (Simi Valley & Moorpark) due to the neighboring regions with huge fires (Valencia & Lake Castaic).

Well... having just been outside to take one daughter to school - I can say it looks somewhat calm in the air - a stiff breeze - but blue skies free of smoke for the moment. Which means the damage has been done in neighboring Malibu - aqnd nothing more has poped up over the mountians between there and here. So - for the moment it seems Rodger and I are safe in our region.

I do understand how quickly that can change with the dangerous conditions forecast. Driving to school this morning several huge trees and many large tree branches had been felled the over nite winds.

TTFN....

Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sought help from other states as wind-fueled fires burned more than 283,000 acres (115,000 hectares) across Southern California, consuming hundreds of homes and uprooting a quarter of a million people.

Nearly 5,000 firefighters backed by helicopters, bulldozers and water-laden aircraft are battling 15 wildfires in seven counties, from San Diego to Malibu, Tonya Hoover, a spokeswoman for the State Joint Information Center, said this morning.

About 700 homes and 100 businesses have been destroyed, and almost 15,000 additional buildings are threatened, Hoover said. Some 200 National Guardsmen have begun assisting evacuees.

``The winds are being erratic and changing direction, so it is very challenging for our firefighters,'' Hoover said in a telephone interview. ``We are pooling resources throughout the western United States.''

In San Diego, an estimated 250,000 people were evacuated, jamming roads and freeways. Two major freeways that connect the city to the rest of Southern California, Interstates 15 and 5, were closed yesterday.

At least one person was killed and four injured. San Diego officials said they were so overwhelmed by the size and number of fires that they initially couldn't get an accurate count of how many homes have been destroyed. They fear the fires may be worse than a 2003 blaze that caused $1.1 billion in damage, destroying 4,847 structures.

 

[DisneyVegas1]

Not sure of the exact area of Valencia that is in danger, but maybe this is the answer to Six Flags prayers?? They've been trying to figure out what to do with Magic Mountain. Tried to sell it a few times. So now if it burns down, then they don't have to worry about it anymore.


sorry....just trying to find some levity in a tense situation

Six Flaggs cant burn , I love that place have ...the coasters are the best ...just wish the crowd was better ...

 

[Disney Sweetie]

No rolling on the floor alllowed!!! These were pictures taken at my DGD 3rd Birthday party Saturday.

This is a picture of my DGD but she even looks beautiful with black hair.You can see her blonde hair peeking under the wig.

Cheryl your pics are so cute.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

No mention of the 160 homes lost in Lake Arrowhead?

Plus I had not heard about the 500 plus homes lost in San Diego!

Here are a couple of quotes from MSN news this morning:

Frankly, I know we are lucky to face little threat now given the type of winds we've had. And today is forecast to bejust as windy but with temperatures rising towards 100 in some parts according to what Alicia told me. I've not seen much news yet - just the MSN article - but Alicia saw something that warned of higher temps.

As of yesterday at 4:30PM the school districts in neighboring Simi Valley, Moorpark, Malibu had closed thier school districts today. Plus the more distant but the neighboring region of the San Fernando Valley (spanning a couple million folks) had closed about half its' schools.

Yesterday when I read of Governor Schwarzenegger was cited as committing 41 million $ to secure exclusive use of the 2 DC-10 jet water bombers I paused to think... do we really need to have that? And now - it is obvious that this expense is nothing compared to the loss of property and potential loss of life that could be occurring if we did NOT have these aircraft. Add to that the risk of loss these pilots face by flying low through the fires in trecherous wind conditions with cris crossing fire fighting aircraft and it sounds even more extreme to me. I recently saw "Always" for the first time - even though it's an older movie - and I was amazed by the dramatic depicition of fire fighting pilots flying through the fires. Now I can see certain aspects of the hazards are real - while other aspects may be dramatized.

At any rate - our local school district had been threatening to close today (or tomorrow) as well since we were litterially being sandwiched by school districts closing. So why don't we close too - as they were closing due to active fire threat (Malibu) and evacuation - or simply due to the horrible air conditions (Simi Valley & Moorpark) due to the neighboring regions with huge fires (Valencia & Lake Castaic).

Well... having just been outside to take one daughter to school - I can say it looks somewhat calm in the air - a stiff breeze - but blue skies free of smoke for the moment. Which means the damage has been done in neighboring Malibu - aqnd nothing more has poped up over the mountians between there and here. So - for the moment it seems Rodger and I are safe in our region.

I do understand how quickly that can change with the dangerous conditions forecast. Driving to school this morning several huge trees and many large tree branches had been felled the over nite winds.

TTFN....

We wish everyone all the best there.