Cabelas purchases

I lost my pocket knife and comb at a metal detector. I took them out to get past it and left them sit there. I ran across a Cabelas gift card not long ago that I got in a gift card exchange at work a few years ago and mislaid. So last Saturday (1/22) I checked out the bargain cave on the Cabelas web site and selected a pocket knife and some wool socks. With tax and shipping it was $32 and change. A bit over the $25 value of the gift card. I really hate not having a pocket knife on me. They come in handy a lot. I did get a replacement comb from the motel I stayed at the other day, so I will soon be up to snuff again.

The socks were $10 and the knife was $15. The rest was shipping and handling.

The package came Wednesday (1/26). The knife is a little bigger than I am used to and is very sharp. I was able to shave hair off my arm with it. Can't say I have used it for much else other than opening up my paycheck.

I have been wearing the socks. They are billed as medium weight, and I think that is a fair billing. They are comfy and warm. Four pairs for $10 is not a bad deal for wool socks. 20% wool/65% acrylic/15% stretch nylon according to their web site.

The knife is a Kershaw Vapor.

1-30-11 Rock Cut State Park

The beagle and I went hiking today.

We started on the Willow Creek bike path at the trail head near the dam heading west. We took a little detour through the forest, but headed pretty much west along the bike path.

The we headed southwest along some bike trails and ended up near the SW corner of the park, headed east roughly paralleling Harlem Road. Then north back to the bike path on the old main park road past the abandoned picnic shelter.

I had my new GPS my wife bought me for Xmas with me. Don't have any maps loaded yet but did have the trip computer turned on. It said we went 3.27 miles. 1:29 moving, and 1:00 stopped. I believe the 3.27 miles part, and the total time. The cell phone pedometer counted 9654 steps, and in the snow they are shorter steps. Normally I get about 2500-2600 steps per mile, at least per the cell phone pedometer, and the number of steps always goes up when it is snowy and icey out. I never realized how much time Wilma and I are stopped. Wilma likes to stop and sniff a lot, and I stop to look and take pictures and video.



Some ducks in a creek.

The route we took. I think all the trails we took were actually on the map, or at least close to what is shown on the map.

Bob's rant for today

Major rant.

Thursday I was driving to Hammond. I was listening to the radio on the way in. The state of NJ had an ad they were playing inviting IL businesses to move to NJ. NJ? Its bad enough that every neighboring state has a better business climate than IL, but NJ? It's pathetic that our once great state has sunk so low that NJ thinks it can poach businesses currently located here.

Minor rant.

It’s interesting to note that the the Bears may well have missed a trip to the Super Bowl due to the decision to make a washed up QB (who never was all that good in the first place) the #2 QB instead of the very promising kid.

Never did understand that thinking. At least they had the sense to pull Collins when it became clear he was not going to do much for them.

Jay Cutler did not have a very good day at all. I don’t know if he just wilted under the pressure or what. Hanie came in and did pretty good, although in fairness, the Packers probably did no preparation to face him. Who is going to worry about the third string QB in the NFC championship game?

I have to wonder how well he would have performed if he had the same amount of game and practice experience this season as the #2 QB got. The Bears might well be Super Bowl bound.

NRA Drop point handicap system

NRA Drop Point Spreadsheet

January 2011 walking around pictures

1-4-11 Wilma exploring a snow hill in a parking lot at a local supermarket. This was taken about 6:00 am.

[added 1-12-11]Wilma exploring the same snow hill again on 1-12-11. It is about 10 feet high at one end and maybe 4-5 feet at the other. About 5:50 am. I wish I had gotten video of her climbing up the side of the hill.

This part of the snow hill is just below eye level.


[1-17-11] The same snow hill.


[1-20-11] Sign inside the North Suburban Woman's Club.

[1-21-11] The thermometer on my front porch this morning. Minus 16F is down right chilly.

[1-24-11] Wilma on the snow hill again. About 6:10 am.


[1-26-11]About 6 am. Wilma on her favorite snow hill Too bad the leash was not a couple feet longer so she could make it all the way to the top.


[1-27-11] A snowy and foggy day when I got to Hammond today.

Micro Fleece Long Johns from King Size Direct

Not much to say. Brand = King Size Direct. 95% polyester fleece. Warm and comfy. Got them as a Xmas present. Have worn them maybe half a dozen times since then. A couple times I did some minor sweating in them and they did a nice job of wicking the moisture away from my skin and keeping me warm. I have not tried them when it is super cold as I stay inside if it gets much below 5 or 10 degrees.

Farm and Fleet Winter Wear Update

update to

I am well into the second season of this gear. So thought it would be a good time to update my reviews.

Start with the hat. No problems, warm and comfy.

The clip on light failed, as one of the clips broke off. I had a second one and switched to it. I suspect it will also eventually fail. The plastic clip is just not the sturdiest of things. But, they have served well while they lasted, and made for a very convenient light. Maybe I can find some kind of clip to glue on in place of the broken one.

Next the gloves. They have also held up well, and are still warm and comfy. Maybe not quite as warm as last year, although that might well be my imagination. They are not waterproof though they are fairly water resistant. I was out snow blowing a couple weeks ago and had to clear the blower of slushy wet snow a number of times and used my gloved hands to do so. The gloves got pretty wet. Even wet though, they still were reasonably warm, although it was only about 30 degrees at the time. I had to drive somewhere after snowblowing and I set them up over the defroster to dry. It only took about a half hour for them to dry in the hot air of the defroster.

Last but not least, the Ranger boots. They have held up OK, except for the insoles that failed. I am a heavy guy so I guess that should not be a huge surprise that they failed. The boots themselves seem fine.

I replaced the factory insoles with the Dr. Scholls insoles I bought for the Chinese jungle boots that failed. They seem to work fine.

I also took the extra set of booties that came with the ICW boots I bought and started using them with these boots. It seems to work pretty good.

I have been wearing both these and the ICW boots. Both seem about as warm, especially with the booties in the Ranger boots. The ICW boots have a big edge in foot and ankle support though. Even on ice and snow. I have tried the ICW boots while walking around the neighborhood streets and they seem to do OK on ice. They seem to slip more than the Ranger boots, but also seem to catch better when I do slip a little. Maybe it is the extra ankle and foot support.

The Ranger boots are much easier to get on and off though, since they have a side zipper, so they tend to get used when that is an issue such as when I am going to visit someone.