The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
January 19, 2012, Issue No. 115
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)
Fort Plain, NY
January 19, 2012, Issue No. 115
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)
Riley and the Littles -- Snow finally arrived in Middle-of-Nowhere on January 12. Riley & Gabby love their daily runs in the snow. Three neighboring dogs sometimes join-in. AJ still regularly ventures outside, while the other three walking mouse-traps, Stryder, Arwen and Izzy, peek out the door, see the white, and run for cover on the couches. Our most recent addition, Izzy, the two-year-old daughter of Stryder and Arwen, formerly living at our house in Hopkinton, arrived here in Middle-of-Nowhere a couple of months ago, is now venturing beyond her upstairs suite and visits us in the kitchen and other rooms on a daily basis. She is still a bit leery of Riley, Gabby and AJ.
Plowing and Planting -- No plowing. No planting. No growing. Winter has arrived.
And They're Off -- As the snows continued to delay its arrival, both Rio and Lady increasingly roll-around in the pasture mud, generally looking as if they were earth sculptures by the end of each day. They love it, but it does require a bit of brushing and combing to get them back to their equine beauty states. Snow is like an automatic horse-washer. With the mid-January arrival of the white stuff, the pair resumed their running around and frolicking in the snow.
The Herd of Two -- Rio behaved perfectly on New Year's as niece Miranda became the third to ride Rio and his first bareback rider (she did use the reins). During the entire ride, I held Rio on a lead and Lady walked about two feet from his side, doing the occasional nose bump. And to complete the parade, Eli and Lily walked a foot behind Rio, apparently training to be proctologists. What fun. Other than that, the cattle do what cattle do ... moo, eat and poop, not necessarily in that order. Nancy has renamed Rio to 'Pig-Pen'. We have had a few days in January where the early morning temps have been below zero (worst day was temp of -9 with wind chill factor of -17), so the herds have remained in the barn for a few days.
Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- We have been heating the place with wood since October 1 or so, when we lit the wood boiler in the basement. We also use the wood stove in the corner of the kitchen/dining area on especially cold days. We began the season with about a dozen cords of wood split and stacked, which is about what we used last winter. So far, this winter has been warmer with much less snow. We have not yet had to plow the driveway and roads that connect the barns to one another.
Fowl Weather -- The birds have been spending most of the cold days in the coops. Turkeys have grown to good zize, about 20 pounds each now. As usual, they look bizarre and scary, but in actuality are very friendly. They love to be petted. We have one turkey that has never been able to walk, owing to a knee that bends in the wrong direction. She has to be separated from her turkey bretheren, and happily spends days and nights in her own private nesting box, about four feet off the ground. She spreads her wings out like arms to balance and in Susan's mind looks like the ubiquitous drunk on every bar's corner stool. Susan talks to her every day. And a white Alaskan Husky dog has been in and around the yard recently, on and off, generally running with Hunter, our neighbor's German Shepherd. (Middle-of-Nowhere is a No Leash Zone.) Both dogs are very friendly, but one day, near the garage, the husky caught one of our turkeys by the tail and wing, and ran around with the turkey in its mouth leaving white feathers all around the driveway, back yard and front yard. It took a while for us to apprehend the offender - must have been a couple of hundred large white feathers strewn everywhere. A bit of blood, but bird and dog were uninjured.
Visitors -- CJ spent the week before Christmas with us. And then Christmas Eve brought the annual Slate Family Christmas Party, held this year at Richie Crowley's house in Southwick. Beverly and daughter Miranda visited over New Year's. We managed to capture one instant without the three followers during Miranda's ride of Rio ... the picture worth a thousand words ...
And finally on the visitor front, Stevie and Scott dropped-in in early January, for Stevie's birthday weekend. Hard to believe that it was 29 years ago that Stevie graced our lives with her grand entrance, at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford.
Blog -- The Riley Factor's official blog site is located at http://the-riley-factor.
Quotes of the Month --
Winning is not a sometimes thing. It's an all-the-time thing. You show me a person who is OK with losing, and I'll show you a loser. -- Vince Lombardi
Confidence is a choice we make based on how we interpret the world around us. Maybe we can look at our circumstances with a little more optimism. -- Glenn Mangurian
No country can be spared from the recession coming in 2013 or 2014. -- Jim Rogers
People believe that which is easiest to understand. -- Ed Butowski, Chapwood Investments
You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. -- Ben Stein
If you can treat triumph and disaster the same, then you are a man. -- Rudyard Kipling
Facts of the Month --
Here are the facts on federal taxes ...
51% of American households pay zero federal income tax
75% of Americans have an effective federal tax rate of less than 15%
42% of Americans who work pay zero federal income tax
The average federal tax rate of taxpayers who pay federal income tax is 17%
Consumer spending makes up about 70% of our nation's economy.
Currently, one-third of Americans, over 100 million individuals, are considered 'poor'. -- U.S. Census Bureau, as reported in the NY Times
It is estimated that 70 percent of the U.S. agricultural labor work force could not pass the existing E-verify employment eligibility screening (i.e., 70% of agricultural workers in the U.S. are illegal immigrants). -- U.S. Apple Association
Commentaries of the Month --
Amherst named top college town in North America
UMass Amherst students have known it for years: Amherst is the top college town in North America, offering the perfect blend of New England natural beauty and cosmopolitan culture and energy. In a story featured on MSN.com, Katherine L. Cohen, founder and CEO of two college counseling firms, ranked Amherst number one, ahead of Berkeley, Calif., Montreal, Washington, D.C., and Boston. “These are towns where college students love to live and learn,” wrote Cohen. U.S. News and World Report also includes Amherst among its 10 Great College Towns.
Bumper Stickers of the Month --
YOU WANT 4 MORE YEARS OF THIS ?
OMG is no longer what you think.
OMG - Obama Must Go
September 8 ... Green Bay Packers 42, New Orleans Saints 34 / Patriots 38, Dolphins 24
18 ... Green Bay Packers 30, Carolina Panthers 23 / Patriots 35, Chargers 21
25 ... Green Bay Packers 27, Da Bears 17 / Bills 34, Patriots 31
October 2 ... Green Bay Packers 49, Denver Broncos 23 / Patriots 31, Raiders 19
9 ... Green Bay Packers 25, Atlanta Falcons 14 / Patriots 30, Jets 21
16 ... Green Bay Packers 24, St. Louis Rams 3 / Patriots 20, Cowboys 16
(And then there was one)
23 ... Green Bay Packers 33, Minnesota Vikings 27 / Patriots (bye week)
30 ... Green Bay Packers (bye week) / Steelers 25, Patriots 17
November 6 ... Green Bay Packers 45, San Diego Chargers 38 / Giants 24, Patriots 20
13 ... Green Bay Packers 45, Vikings 7 / Patriots 37, Jets 16
20 ... Green Bay Packers 35, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26 / Patriots 34, Chiefs 3
24 ... Green Bay Packers 27, Detroit Lions 15 / Patriots 38, Eagles 20
December 4 ... Green Bay Packers 38, New York Giants 35 / Patriots 31, Colts 24
(Packers clinch NFL North Division Championship)
11 ... Green Bay Packers 46, Oakland Raiders 16 / Patriots 34, Redskins 27
18 ... Kansas City Chiefs 19, Green Bay Packers 14 / Patriots 41, Broncos 23
(oops)
24 ... Green Bay Packers 35, Bears 21 / Patriots 27, Dolphins 24
January 1 ... Green Bay Packers 45, Lions 41 / Patriots 49, Bills 21
8 ... Green Bay Packers (bye) / New England Patriots (bye)
15 ... Giants 37, Green Bay Packers 20 / Patriots 45, Broncos 10
And then there's this --
30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself
1. Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you. You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot. Never, ever insist yourself to someone who continuously overlooks your worth. And remember, it’s not the people that stand by your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your true friends.
2. Stop running from your problems. – Face them head on. No, it won’t be easy. There is no person in the world capable of flawlessly handling every punch thrown at them. We aren’t supposed to be able to instantly solve problems. That’s not how we’re made. In fact, we’re made to get upset, sad, hurt, stumble and fall. Because that’s the whole purpose of living – to face problems, learn, adapt, and solve them over the course of time. This is what ultimately molds us into the person we become.
3. Stop lying to yourself. – You can lie to anyone else in the world, but you can’t lie to yourself. Our lives improve only when we take chances, and the first and most difficult chance we can take is to be honest with ourselves. Read The Road Less Traveled .
4. Stop putting your own needs on the back burner. – The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too. Yes, help others; but help yourself too. If there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do something that matters to you, that moment is now.
5. Stop trying to be someone you’re not. – One of the greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make you likeeveryone else. Someone will always be prettier, someone will always be smarter, someone will always be younger, but they will never be you. Don’t change so people will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love the real you.
6. Stop trying to hold onto the past. – You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.
7. Stop being scared to make a mistake. – Doing something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing nothing. Every success has a trail of failures behind it, and every failure is leading towards success. You end up regretting the things you did NOT do far more than the things you did.
8. Stop berating yourself for old mistakes. – We may love the wrong person and cry about the wrong things, but no matter how things go wrong, one thing is for sure, mistakes help us find the person and things that are right for us. We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future. Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.
9. Stop trying to buy happiness. – Many of the things we desire are expensive. But the truth is, the things that really satisfy us are totally free – love, laughter and working on our passions.
10. Stop exclusively looking to others for happiness. – If you’re not happy with who you are on the inside, you won’t be happy in a long-term relationship with anyone else either. You have to create stability in your own life first before you can share it with someone else. Read Stumbling on Happiness .
11. Stop being idle. – Don’t think too much or you’ll create a problem that wasn’t even there in the first place. Evaluate situations and take decisive action. You cannot change what you refuse to confront. Making progress involves risk. Period! You can’t make it to second base with your foot on first.
12. Stop thinking you’re not ready. – Nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first.
13. Stop getting involved in relationships for the wrong reasons. – Relationships must be chosen wisely. It’s better to be alone than to be in bad company. There’s no need to rush. If something is meant to be, it will happen – in the right time, with the right person, and for the best reason. Fall in love when you’re ready, not when you’re lonely.
14. Stop rejecting new relationships just because old ones didn’t work. – In life you’ll realize that there is a purpose for everyone you meet. Some will test you, some will use you and some will teach you. But most importantly, some will bring out the best in you.
15. Stop trying to compete against everyone else. – Don’t worry about what others doing better than you. Concentrate on beating your own records every day. Success is a battle between YOU and YOURSELF only.
16. Stop being jealous of others. – Jealousy is the art of counting someone else’s blessings instead of your own. Ask yourself this: “What’s something I have that everyone wants?”
17. Stop complaining and feeling sorry for yourself. – Life’s curveballs are thrown for a reason – to shift your path in a direction that is meant for you. You may not see or understand everything the moment it happens, and it may be tough. But reflect back on those negative curveballs thrown at you in the past. You’ll often see that eventually they led you to a better place, person, state of mind, or situation. So smile! Let everyone know that today you are a lot stronger than you were yesterday, and you will be.
18. Stop holding grudges. – Don’t live your life with hate in your heart. You will end up hurting yourself more than the people you hate. Forgiveness is not saying, “What you did to me is okay.” It is saying, “I’m not going to let what you did to me ruin my happiness forever.” Forgiveness is the answer… let go, find peace, liberate yourself! And remember, forgiveness is not just for other people, it’s for you too. If you must, forgive yourself, move on and try to do better next time.
19. Stop letting others bring you down to their level. – Refuse to lower your standards to accommodate those who refuse to raise theirs.
20. Stop wasting time explaining yourself to others. – Your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe it anyway. Just do what you know in your heart is right.
21. Stop doing the same things over and over without taking a break. – The time to take a deep breath is when you don’t have time for it. If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting. Sometimes you need to distance yourself to see things clearly.
22. Stop overlooking the beauty of small moments. – Enjoy the little things, because one day you may look back and discover they were the big things. The best portion of your life will be the small, nameless moments you spend smiling with someone who matters to you.
23. Stop trying to make things perfect. – The real world doesn’t reward perfectionists, it rewards people who get things done. Read Getting Things Done .
24. Stop following the path of least resistance. – Life is not easy, especially when you plan on achieving something worthwhile. Don’t take the easy way out. Do something extraordinary.
25. Stop acting like everything is fine if it isn’t. – It’s okay to fall apart for a little while. You don’t always have to pretend to be strong, and there is no need to constantly prove that everything is going well. You shouldn’t be concerned with what other people are thinking either – cry if you need to – it’s healthy to shed your tears. The sooner you do, the sooner you will be able to smile again.
26. Stop blaming others for your troubles. – The extent to which you can achieve your dreams depends on the extent to which you take responsibility for your life. When you blame others for what you’re going through, you deny responsibility – you give others power over that part of your life.
27. Stop trying to be everything to everyone. – Doing so is impossible, and trying will only burn you out. But making one person smile CAN change the world. Maybe not the whole world, but their world. So narrow your focus.
28. Stop worrying so much. – Worry will not strip tomorrow of its burdens, it will strip today of its joy. One way to check if something is worth mulling over is to ask yourself this question: “Will this matter in one year’s time? Three years? Five years?” If not, then it’s not worth worrying about.
29. Stop focusing on what you don’t want to happen. – Focus on what you do want to happen. Positive thinking is at the forefront of every great success story. If you awake every morning with the thought that something wonderful will happen in your life today, and you pay close attention, you’ll often find that you’re right.
30. Stop being ungrateful. – No matter how good or bad you have it, wake up each day thankful for your life. Someone somewhere else is desperately fighting for theirs. Instead of thinking about what you’re missing, try thinking about what you have that everyone else is missing.
And Recently at Lambeau Field in Green Bay ...
