The Riley Factor #91

The Riley Factor Fort Plain, NY
January, 2011
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Happy New Year

Christmas and New Year in Middle-of-Nowhere -- As usual, the Rock Creek Farm Christmas tree went up right after Thanksgiving.  The annual Christmas Eve Slate Family Party was at Richie Crowley's in Southwick - again an excellent affair.  And CJ, Stevie & Scott stopped-in to visit us in NY for a few days over the holidays.  Stevie and Scott were here three times between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  During the Christmas visit, they ventured further west to just past Utica and picked-up a new addition to their family, a 12-week old male puppy, a mix: Beagle, Black Lab & Bluetick Coonhound.  Named 'Bruin', he is all black and extremely cute, 15 pounds now, and should grow to about 40 pounds when mature - both his parents are that size.  Bruin is half the size of the 12-week-old version of The Riley.  Between Christmas and New Years, Susan spent few days back in Hopkinton.  She and Stevie got into the time machine and went to one of CJ's indoor soccer games (Susan was the only mother in the audience) and she and Stevie also visited Scott at his office at Fidelity in Smithfield, RI.

The Snows -- So far, a benign winter.  Although it snows almost nightly in Middle-of-Nowhere, it is generally lake-effect snow that amounts to less than a half-inch per day - just enough to keep everything white.  While the Christmas weekend storm piled 18 inches of snow on Albany, 60 miles to the east of Middle-of-Nowhere, and piled 20 inches in New York City, 150 miles to the south, the snow blew past us completely, with barely a trace of the white stuff.  Blew past at high speed, with 25-40 mph winds and below-zero wind chill factors.  The horses and steer stay in the barn with wind chills that low, which makes them a bit restless but keeps them warm, as they self-heat the first floor of the barn to about 30 degrees - animal cozy.  Unfortunately, animal through-put does not diminish when they are held captive indoors.

Solar Project -- Batteries and roof rails were delivered just before Christmas.  Empire Solar was here scrambling around the barn roof the weeks afterward installing the rails and Photo-Voltaic panels on the roof, facing the true solar south.  A complex computer calculation and monitoring of the sky establishes a solar score for a given solar application -- perfect score is 120 and our site scored a 115, which means that as little as two hours of full sun will fully charge the batteries.  Even on a dark, cloudy, snowy mid-winter day, with 20-30% available light, the solar panels get enough solar input from the sky in a day to fully serve our house and barn electrical needs plus fully charge the batteries.  In addition, we are installing two wind turbines, which produce up to a kilowatt of power per hour for use or charging day or night, when the wind is blowing.  Of course, nothing is actually functioning yet, as batteries, inverters, transformers, switches, wiring et al are all in various states of in-process.

Planting and Plowing -- Ground is frozen solid.  There'll be no plowing here for a while.  But the ATVs run fast over the frozen tundra.  We did just put manure and hay around each of the 80 fruit trees and 30 grape vines.

Riley -- The Golden Boy has taken renewed interest in torturing the three cats at every opportunity.  Stryder, Arwen and AJ, each have a love/hate relationship with their favorite member of the canine world.  Although the cats sometimes actually nap with the dog, Riley still can't resist pouncing on them and licking them to within an inch or two of their nine lives.  He has also been known to try to pick them up by their spines and carry them around the place.  Cats do not like this.

Horses -- Rio and Lady are doing well.  Lady is still the challenge, and prefers to keep prancing and dancing around the stall, barn, pasture; wherever she finds herself; a typical female.  While Rio is much more the calm, sensible one; a typical male.  Both love their grain, and also apples, carrots and the famous molasses-flavored horse treats (which The Riley also readily gobbles when he is in the area).  The horses are not averse to chasing the steer around in order to steal their hay or grain.  The steer push back, but their hearts are not in it.  By day's end though, everyone has had enough feed to maintain their girlish 1,000-pound-plus figures.

The Herd of Three -- Surprisingly, the steer have easily adjusted to their new herd size, at 60% of their former numbers.  With the dominant one, Gabe, no longer in the mix, each member of the remaining herd of three has begun to flex their type A personalities.  There is no doubt that each of the steer is (or, technically, was) male  (Susan would say 'bossy and pushy'.  I would say 'manly and comfortably aggressive'.).

Fowl Weather -- As long as they don't freeze solid, thankfully a rare occurrence, the cold-blooded fowl don't mind winter.  Most days, both turkeys and chickens stay inside in their coops doing bird things and laying the occasional egg.  Chicken egg production falls from an egg per day each in spring, summer and fall to about an egg every other day in the winter.  The Jersey Giants have finally calmed to the point where they can be approached and picked-up.  Their feathers are so soft, Susan grabs one or two by the legs and uses them to dust the feed & tack room.

Mowings, Musings and The Woods -- Still hear a gun shot or two on a daily basis from the woods - rifles and shotguns.  Does not appear to relate to any hunting season that actually may be in season.  We are keeping orange and low.

Quotes of the Week --

     The difference between good and great is effort. -- on locker room walls everywhere

     Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. -- Hebrews 11:1
 
     Obama's biggest accomplishment in his first two-years of office?  He has spent more money that we don't have in less time than any other president in history.  Obama has achieved little, other than to promote volumes of onerous, burdensome regulatory legislation.  -- FOX News, 12/24/2010 (Merry Christmas)

     Who we are ... people who demonstrate integrity, respect and teaming.   People with energy, enthusiasm and the courage to lead.  People who build relationships based on doing the right thing. -- Ernst & Young

     Nobody is smarter than the market. -- Eugene Farmer

     A responsible, affordable, intelligent government is always better than the Nanny State. -- Mary Matalin, former Republican adviser

     If everybody had a gun, there would be less crime. -- Charles Payne, FOX Business

     Everyone is beginning to realize that unions are basically ruining America. -- Charles Payne

     It is a fundamental economic principle: you can have prosperity or equality, but not both. -- Anne Coulter, Author

     Only an idle man doesn't know enough to enjoy rest. -- Paladin, Have Gun - Will Travel

     Not a quote, but a fact and a thought: The combined federal and state income tax rate on corporations in the U.S. is 40%.  With Japan's recent national corporate tax rate cut from 25% to 20%, the U.S. now has the highest corporate tax rate in the world.  On average throughout the world, the corporate tax rate averages 20%.  We also have the world's highest regulatory burden.  Why would any company choose to locate in the U.S. if it has other international alternatives?

                   NFL Playoff Recap

        NFC & Seeds                              AFC & Seeds
#1 Atlanta Falcons (13-3)            #1 New England Patriots (14-2)
#2 Chicago Bears (11-5)              #2 Pittsburgh Steelers (12=4)
#3 Philadelphia Eagles (10-6)       #3 Indianapolis Colts (10-6)
#4 Seattle Seahawks (7-9)           #4 Kansas City Chiefs (10-6)
#5 New Orleans Saints (11-5)       #5 Baltimore Ravens (12-4)
#6 Green Bay Packers (10-6)       #6 New York Jets (11-5)

This Weekend's Playoff Games:
  Saints @ Seahawks, Sat. Jan. 8, 4:30PM, NBC, Saints favored by 10.5 points
  Jets @ Colts, Sat.,Jan. 8, 8PM, NBC, Colts favored by 2.5 points
  Ravens @ Chiefs, Sun., Jan. 9, 1PM, CBS, Ravens favored by 2.5 points
  Packers @ Eagles, Sun. Jan. 9, 4:30PM, FOX, Eagles favored by 1.5 points