The Riley Factor #120

The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
July 6, 2012, Issue No. 120
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Riley and the Littles -- Hot weather has both Riley and Gabby venturing into the pond more and more often.  Now, they have taken to wandering over to the lower swimming hole for a dip on their own, and wandering back, as if they never left the patio.  Although The Riley generally dries-off in an hour or two, it is an eight-hour marathon for Gabby.  They are both troupers in going for their 2-4 mile runs every day, regardless of heat or rain.

Plowing and Planting -- The last of the planting was done - the eclectic pairing of 700 tobacco plants with sweet potatoes and kohlrabi.  All in the ground in early June.  Mid-June brought haying season, which was not without its weather challenges.  Haying requires a minimum of three and preferably four consecutive days of warm, sunny weather, and an accurate weather forecast that reliably predicts same.  After one false start and one cut-short by early rain, we managed to get 898 bales of first-cutting hay into the barn - dense and aromatic.  It took a while to get the new baler adjusted - initial bales were 60-70 pounds - hard to lift.  As time tolled, we got the bales down to 35-40 pounds or so.  In some cases, the new kicker baler launched bales over the hay wagon and flying back onto the hay field.  No helmet required, but, just as in the NFL, one must keep his/her head on a swivel.  Back in 2009 and 2010, we planted our 14 acres of hay fields, and our resulting hay is a thick, mostly weed-free crop combination of timothy grass, rye grass, red clover and alfalfa.  This year, we had help baling and stacking from Annie and Barbara Kanagy, Chester King, Melvin Miller Jr., and three of the younger Kings, Stephen, Jacob and Elmer.  And we also baled hay from a half acre of Lloyd Vanalstine's back field.  The horses and cows love our hay, the greener the better, in their humble opinions.  But hay needs to be dry and mostly lacking in green before it can be baled without risk of molding or spontaneous combusting.

And They're Off -- June 14.  11pm.  This is the City.  Errr ... Country.  All settled-in and asleep for the night.  Suddenly, honking in the driveway.  An unfamiliar pick-up truck.  Some guy shouting something.  Oh - Oh.  "Your two horses are in the road."  We scramble into consciousness and then onto our feet.  We are now out in the driveway, in the black of night, looking for two horses - dark brown, Rio, and light chestnut, Blondie.  Like Sargent Schultz, we see nothing ... noth-ing.  Then, we decide, simply, to call Rio.  He arrives like a trouper, with Blondie in tow.  Snap a lead on each.  Tell them how bad they were and how good they are.  Then, back into the pasture.  The investigation is ongoing as to who left the main gate ajar and when the infraction occurred.  Separately, a few days later, we found one of Blondie's shoes laying in the pasture, and asked Chris King to stop-in and remove the other three, so she wouldn't spend her life walking in a circle.  Since our horses spend precious little time on paved roads, or running hard on the trails from Dodge City to Cheyenne, they do not need shoes.

The Herd of Four -- Eli, Lily, Abe and Ike are spending most days and nights out in the pasture.  On the hottest of days, they prefer spending day time in their stalls and overnights out in the cool night air.  Lily's July 22 due date is approaching fast - no telling how that delivery will go.  A calf can run anywhere from 40 to nearly 100 pounds at birth.  Jerseys are a fairly small breed, so we are guessing we should be near the low end of that range.  One never knows though, and cows occasionally bear twins.  About 9 in 10 bovine births go uneventful, requiring no human intervention.  Report to follow.

Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- Not much free time to prowl the woods, but we have begun stalking firewood for this coming winter.  The logging roads are mostly clear and dry, so travel in there is at its best, which for those of you who have traveled the journey, means you can still get lost or stuck if in the woods outside of the high-in-the-sky-sun hours of 10am-3pm.

Fowl Weather -- Turkeys everywhere.  We have 10 Standard Bronze, 7 Narragansett and 4 White American Broad-breasted.  As for the chickens, we have too many - could be 50 or so.  Soon to be 25 in the coop and 25 in the freezer.

Visitors -- Editor's Note: Inadvertently left out of our last edition's visitor report was young Matty, who traveled here with parents Daryl and Sally from Toronto, for the Memorial Day picnic.  And this month, just after the hay was in the barn, CJ traveled to Middle-of-Nowhere to spend a few days of his June vacation with us.
Blog -- The Riley Factor's official blog site is located at http://the-riley-factor.blogspot.com/.  It contains all issues to date.  (If you actually spend the time and search through our Internet site, you may need more help with your life than we are able offer....  But we digress.)

Quotes of the Month --
    
     The government doesn't do anything well.  You can't expect the Federal government to run any program right. -- Wayne Rogers

     The people spend their money much better than the government does. -- Chris Christie

     Who do you want to spend your money?  Studies show that a dollar spent by private industry adds much more to the economy than a dollar spent by the government.  The U.S. needs smaller government.  There is no demand for all these existing so-called government services.  We need to reduce the size of the government workforce. -- Gary B. Smith
    
     Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives. -- Ronald Reagan
    
     Obama has reportedly told Democrat donors that he will work on fixing his health care law in his next term.  What a great pitch to run on!  Barack Obama 2012: Elect me and I’ll spend the political capital of my second term fixing the unpopular, health care law that I wasted the political capital of my first term pushing through.  Then I’ll get to the issues that you care about with whatever diminished political capital I have left. -- Jamie Weinstein, The DC Daily Caller

     I teach high school.  I'm not in high school. -- Stevie Fuchs

Bumper Sticker of the Month --

     If you want to feel rich, just count all the gifts you have that money can't buy.

Facts of the Month --

     The IRS sends more notices annually than the number of taxpayers. -- American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

     Here's what really happens to your federal income tax dollars. >>> The top three counties in the U.S. in terms of median family income are in the Washington D.C. area.  And 10 or the wealthiest 15 counties in the U.S. are in that same Washington D.C. area.  A large portion of your federal tax dollars goes to pay the salaries of overpaid, underworked, ineffective Washington bureaucrats.

     The U.S. is the engine of global economic growth.  We are the only nation that buys/imports goods in significant quantities from other countries.  Not Brazil.  Not Russia.  Not India.  Not China.  Not Europe.  Without significant economic performance and growth in America, the world economy stagnates.  Or worse.
     More high school students currently smoke marijuana than smoke cigarettes.  In a May 2012 survey, 23% of high school students said that they recently smoked marijuana while, 18% admitted to having recently smoked a cigarette.

     For March, the Country's unemployment rate was 8.2% and New York State's unemployment rate was 8.7%.  Here in Montgomery County, the rate was 10.9%, up 0.2% from a year ago.
 
Commentary of the Month --

I AM A HUMAN BEING

I am not just some tissue.

I am not just an issue.

I am not merely a choice.

I'm a child without a voice.

You can speak for me,  

But you won't.

You can defend me,   

But you don't.

If not you, then who?

If not now, then when?

I am not a fish.  

I am not a cat.  

I want to be born.  

What's wrong with that?

The child after birth, you protect.  

The child before birth, you neglect.

Why, except for his age and size,  

Should one live while the other dies?

I am not only voiceless,  

I am voteless, too.  

So, remember in November  

That I shall have much need of you.

                           Richard Carey 

 

And then there's this --
    

     Jane Fonda is being honored as one of the '100 Women of the Century.'

BARBARA WALTERS WRITES:
Unfortunately, many have forgotten and still countless others have never known how Ms. Fonda betrayed not only the idea of our country, but specific men who served and sacrificed during the Vietnam War.
The first part of this is from an F-4E pilot. The pilot's name is Jerry Driscoll, a River Rat. In 1968, the former Commandant of the USAF Survival School was a POW in Ho Lo Prison the ' Hanoi Hilton.' Dragged from a stinking cesspit of a cell, cleaned, fed, and dressed in clean PJ's, he was ordered to describe for a visiting American 'Peace Activist' the 'lenient and humane treatment' he'd received. He spat at Ms. Fonda, was clubbed, and was dragged away. During the subsequent beating, he fell forward on to the camp Commandant 's feet, which sent that officer berserk. In 1978, the Air Force Colonel still suffered from double vision (which permanently ended his flying career) from the Commandant's frenzied application of a wooden baton.

From 1963-65, Col. Larry Carrigan was in the 47FW/DO (F-4E's). He spent 6 years in the ' Hanoi Hilton'...the first three of which his family only knew he was 'missing in action'. His wife lived on faith that he was still alive. His group, too, got the cleaned-up, fed and clothed routine in preparation for a 'peace delegation' visit. They, however, had time and devised a plan to get word to the world that they were alive and still survived. Each man secreted a tiny piece of paper, with his Social Security Number on it, in the palm of his hand. When paraded before Ms. Fonda and a cameraman, she walked the line, shaking each man's hand and asking little encouraging snippets like: 'Aren't you sorry you bombed babies?' and 'Are you grateful for the humane treatment from your benevolent captors?' Believing this HAD to be an act, they each palmed her their sliver of paper.

She took them all without missing a beat.. At the end of the line and once the camera stopped rolling, to the shocked disbelief of the POWs, she turned to the officer in charge and handed him all the little pieces of paper. Three men died from the subsequent beatings. Colonel Carrigan was almost number four but he survived, which is the only reason we know of her actions that day.

I was a civilian economic development advisor in Vietnam , and was captured by the North Vietnamese communists in South Vietnam in 1968, and held prisoner for over 5 years. I spent 27 months in solitary confinement; one year in a cage in Cambodia ; and one year in a 'black box' in Hanoi . My North Vietnamese captors deliberately poisoned and murdered a female missionary, a nurse in a leprosarium in Banme Thuot, South Vietnam, whom I buried in the jungle near the Cambodian border. At one time, I weighed only about 90 lbs. (My normal weight is 170 lbs). 

We were Jane Fonda's 'war criminals....' When Jane Fonda was in Hanoi , I was asked by the camp communist political officer if I would be willing to meet with her. I said yes, for I wanted to tell her about the real treatment we POWs received... and how different it was from the treatment purported by the North Vietnamese, and parroted by her as 'humane and lenient.' Because of this, I spent three days on a rocky floor on my knees, with my arms outstretched with a large steel weight placed on my hands, and beaten with a bamboo cane.

I had the opportunity to meet with Jane Fonda soon after I was released. I asked her if she would be willing to debate me on TV. She never did answer me.

These first-hand experiences do not exemplify someone who should be honored as part of '100 Years of Great Women.' Lest we forget....' 100 Years of Great Women' should never include a traitor whose hands are covered with the blood of so many patriots. There are few things I have strong visceral reactions to, but Hanoi Jane's participation in blatant treason, is one of them. She needs to know that we will never forget.

RONALD D. SAMPSON, CMSgt,
USAF 716 Maintenance Squadron,
Chief of Maintenance DSN: 875-6431 COMM: 883-6343

The Riley Factor #119

The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
June 5, 2012, Issue No. 119
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Riley and the Littles -- The Golden Boy and Gabby rule the roost with iron paws.  Well, actually, they are both pretty sedate as long as they get-in their 2-3 mile run every day.  The four (I know, a ridiculous number) cats, AJ, Stryder, Arwen and Izzy, alternately sleep, hunt, demand petting, and snarl at one another.  Typical family.

Plowing and Planting -- Fast and furious this year.  Grains, potatoes and sweet potatoes were in the ground in March.  Corn and all sorts of vegetables were added in April and May, mostly transplants from the greenhouse.  Top crops are tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplant, several types of squash, asparagus, onions, garlic, cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts.  The herb garden was replanted and expanded.  We also picked-up some bushes and flowers at a couple of spring auctions, and wedged-in some long-needed landscaping to the yard.

And They're Off -- May 19 was arrival day for our new horse, Blondie.  She is a 10-year-old mare, light chestnut in color, with blonde mane and tail.  A very pretty horse, and well-trained to ride and drive.  We got Blondie at an auction.  She was really unknown to the auction house - arrived the night before from Pennsylvania, dropped-off by her owner.  Her name is/was unknown, so we have named her Blondie.  She is a Halflinger breed, also referred to as Avelignese, a breed developed in the middle ages in Austria and Northern Italy, for use in mountainous terrain, and is energetic, well muscled and shorter than other breeds.  Rio and the cattle are getting along well with their new pasture mate.  She stands several inches smaller than Rio.

The Herd of Four -- Eli, Lily, Abe and Ike are all coexisting well in the barn.  The two little ones, two months old now, have yet to venture out into the pasture, but are healthy and growing well.  Lily is beginning to 'blossom', as her July 22 due-date approaches.

Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- Weather has been good and we have gotten out early this year to clear and mow the trails and roads in the woods.  We have seen a few ducks and geese in the ponds, and the blue heron and egrets have returned.

Fowl Weather -- More turkey and chicken chicks arrive.  We now have two separate pens complete with heat lamps for the 27 chicken chicks and the 17 turkey chicks.  After nine of the first shipment of turkey chicks died in transport or shortly thereafter, the turkey supplier shipped another shipment of 10, waiting for warmer weather to hit the send button.  So this year, we actually have three different breeds of turkey ... domestic broad-breasted American whites, which are the most popular breed in the U.S., representing about 90% of all turkeys grown here, and standard bronze and Narragansetts. both heritage breeds.  Should be fun.  We also added four French Guinea Fowl to the mix, since our lone Keet has been flying solo around the place for over a year, having lost her 15 brothers and sisters to traffic and predators.  Now, our five Keets patrol the yard and fields in a group, and eat mainly ticks, along with other insects.

Visitors -- CJ and friend Rebecca dropped-in for a long weekend over Mother's Day.  Mark, Carolee, Zachary and Hunter Hannah visited from their Atlanta home for the Memorial Day picnic.  Also joining-in were Linda Cogswell from Western Mass, and her son Daryl and wife Sally and cousin Tanya, all from Toronto.
Blog -- The Riley Factor's official blog site is located at http://the-riley-factor.blogspot.com/.  It contains all issues to date.  (If you actually spend the time and search through our Internet site, you may need more help with your life than we are able offer....  But we digress.)

Quotes of the Month --
    
     Luck is for the unprepared. -- Donald 'Ducky' Mallard, NCIS
     What the wise man does in the beginning, the fool does in the end. -- an old proverb
     Not to speak is to speak.  Not to act is to act. -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, theologian

     A large percentage of the American electorate is currently comprised of people who do not want to work, and who expect the government to provide them with everything.  Obama caters to these people. -- Ben Stein

     I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of protecting them. -- Thomas Jefferson

     Sometimes nature guards her secrets with the unbreakable grip of physical law.  Sometimes the true nature of reality beckons from just beyond the horizon. -- Brian Greene

     Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.  Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote. -- Benjamin Franklin

     Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. -- Hebrews 13:2

     Women and men are equally trainable, and we are all paid for the choices we make. -- Nicole Petallides

     It is easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled. -- Mark Twain

     IPO stands for 'It's Probably Overpriced.' -- Chuck Jaffe, MarketWatch
Definition of the Month --

     INEPTOCRACY - A system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least able of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed are rewarded with goods and services paid for by confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

 
Commentary of the Month --

I'm 76 and  Tired

I'm 76.  Except for brief  period in the 50's when I was doing my  National
Service, I've worked hard  since I was 17. Except for some  serious
health challenges, I put in 50-hour weeks,  and didn't call in sick in nearly
40 years. I made  a reasonable salary, but I didn't inherit my job or  my
income, and I worked to get where I am. Given  the economy, it looks as
though retirement was a  bad idea, and I'm tired. Very tired.  
I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who
don't  have my work ethic.  I'm tired of being told the  government will take
the money I earned, by force  if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.    I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day  I
can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing  their sisters, wives and
daughters for their family  "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some  slight
offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and  Jews because they aren't
"believers"; of Muslims  burning schools for girls; of Muslims  stoning
teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the
genitals of  little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the  Qur'an and
Shari'a law tells them to.  I'm tired of being told that  out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must  let
Saudi Arabia and  other Arab countries use our oil money to fund  mosques
and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate  in Australia, New  Zealand,
UK, America and Canada, while no one from  these countries are allowed to
fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia or any other
Arab country to teach love and tolerance..    
I'm tired of being told I  must lower my living standard to fight  global
warming, which no one is allowed to  debate.

I'm  tired of being told that  drug addicts have a disease, and I must  help
support and treat them, and pay for the damage  they do.  Did a giant germ
rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses
or stick a needle in their arm while they tried to fight it off?
  I'm tired of hearing wealthy  athletes, entertainers and politicians of  all
parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid  mistakes or youthful
mistakes, when we all know  they think their only mistake was getting
caught.  I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich  or poor.

I'm really tired  of people who don't  take responsibility for their lives and
actions.  I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination
or big-whatever for their problems.

I'm also tired and fed up with seeing young  men and women in their teens and
early 20's be-deck themselves in tattoos and face studs, thereby making
themselves unemployable and claiming money from the Government.
Yes, I'm damn tired. But  I'm also glad to be 76.. Because, mostly, I'm  not
going to have to see the world these people are  making. I'm just sorry for
my  granddaughter and her children.  Thank God  I'm on the way out and not
on the way in. 

     Bill Cosby


And then there's this --
    
      Every great leader I've known had one quality in common: a strong propensity to give credit to others when things go right and take personal responsibility when things go wrong.  Yet by that standard, Obama is no leader at all.  Nearly four years into his term, he still blames high unemployment and the state of the economy on his predecessor. He blames his trillion-dollar-plus deficit on the intransigence of his political opponents, even though his own party can't even propose a budget.  He insists that middle class Americans are suffering because “the one percent” – the folks who take risks, create jobs and experience economic success – are somehow denying opportunity to the rest of us.  -- Alexander Green

The Rley Factor #118

The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
April 28, 2012, Issue No. 118
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Riley and the Littles -- It is tick season, and we have had to pluck a few of the little critters off of The Riley.  Apparently, cats only rarely get ticks, and Gabby's thick fur must keep most of them away.  So Riley is the current most popular victim.  Newest cat Izzy, the youngest (and smallest) of our lot at about three, has been here since last fall and has easily made the adjustment from suburbia to rurality (editor's note: made-up word).  And she is one of those rare cats that generally comes when called.  As bedtime approaches, Izzy follows Nancy around like it's her job.

Plowing and Planting -- Unseasonably warm March and early April weather got us off to an early start with the 2012 planting.  We put-in two acres each of wheat, oats, rye and barley, and a quarter acre of potatoes.  In addition, plants in the greenhouse are flourishing, and we have even gotten a few of the cold-loving varieties (peas, cabbage) in the ground in the garden.  Inside the greenhouse, Susan has some tomato plants already bearing fruits and a few cucumbers over six inches long.  There are also a couple dozen each of eggplants, peppers and zucchini growing strong, along with some butternut squash, Australian butter squash, coffee bushes, tobacco plants, herbs, flowers and a few hundred onions.

And They're Off -- In early April, Lady and Rio were running around the pasture like it was time for the feature at Santa Anita.  One day, I saw Lady approach a car-sized hay pile at full speed and leap it in a single bound, like Superhorse.  Another day, I was hand-feeding Lady and Rio some left-over hay from the back of the pick-up, and I noticed that Lady eats hay in much larger bites and twice as fast as Rio.  Yet she still maintains her 1,500+ pound girlish figure.  Rio is more the slow-and-easy-wins-the-race type.  Alack and alas, as time tolled, we decided that Lady was simply too tall a horse for Susan to ride.  So we sold her to Chris King, who plans to use her as a carriage horse.  She is now just four years old and only now coming into her prime.  On April 13, we loaded Lady into a horse trailer and she headed for her new home on Clark Road in Danube, about 10-12 miles from Rock Creek Farm.

In Lady's place, we expect to soon acquire Hokey, a 7-year-old Hackney Pony (think small horse, rather than pony) -- just the right height for riding.  Formerly known as Wilson Pony breed, the Hackney Pony was first bred in Great Britain in 1866 to pull carriages, as an animal that possessed the characteristics of a horse but more the smaller size of a pony.  The Hackney Pony is a bit of a cross-breed of the Hackney Horse, Fell Pony and the Welsh Pony.  Hackney Ponies range in height between 12 and 14 hands (48 to 56 inches) at the withers.  It has a reputation for being tenacious and fearless, qualities that are seen in top-tier show ponies.  Hackney Ponies are very brave, alert, and active, and possess great stamina.  Generally, they have pony character, with a reputation for being friendly toward humans.  Hokey has spent the last few years owned by our friend Bradley Chadwick, and has spent summer seasons lent out to a local Amish man for exercise and use in pulling a carriage.

Extra, Extra ... The Herd of Two Becomes Herd of Four -- On April 20, we added a pair of Jersey bull calves to the herd, two and three weeks old.  About 50-75 pounds each, one dark brown and the other a light fawn-colored brown, Abraham and Isaac are the latest residents in the barn.  They have been deemed "extremely cute" by Susan and Nancy, and have already adjusted well to their new surroundings.  Abraham, the youngest and largest of the two, enjoys escaping from his stall and dancing in the center aisle.  And the elders, Eli and Lily, are now fast friends and can usually be seen standing or lying within a few feet of one-another.  When the horses are busily running in circles and counter circles, the two big bovines will pick a corner of the pasture and lie and bask in the sun.  No sweat are they about to break, without a reason.  And finally, late afternoon, April 15, a knock at the door.  Strange Lady there says to me, "Do you have a brown cow standing in the middle of the road?"  Oops.  After 15 minutes of chasing Lily around like a clown circus, sobriety was restored to all.  Lily had squeezed under the pasture fence where Rock Creek passes under it and thereby tasted freedom.  (Fence since repaired).

Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- The 43rd Annual Mohawk Valley Machinery Consignment Auction, conducted on the Fort Plain/Canajoharie town line, was held on April 28.  A several-acre lot about a mile from Rock Creek Farm fills with hundreds of pieces of farm and construction equipment, old pick-up trucks and auction lots of tools, carts, ATVs, sheds, trappings and just plain junk, all sold to the highest bidder, with no reserves, by Armistead Auctions.  This spring, we privately purchased some needed equipment (kicker baler, hay tedder, hay rake, manure spreader, middle buster, hiller, two hay wagons) from our friend Bradley, who is selling his farm and moving back downstate to Westchester County, where his children and grandchildren live, after spending 25 years farming here.  (His girlfriend of 22 years died this past January).  So we did mostly selling at the auction, getting rid of several pieces of equipment we no longer need (22-ton log splitter, hay tedder, hay bar mower, flat-bed trailer, 60" rototiller, walk-behind rototiller and a couple of ATVs).  We also picked-up a small garden tractor at the recent annual Springfield Tractor spring auction.  The exchange should free-up some garage and barn space, and make easier work of haying, potato planting and corn planting.  We'll see.  For sure, it will give our farm mechanic (me) more to keep up with.


Fowl Weather -- Turkeys, chickens and the lone French Guinea Fowl are all doing fine.  With the warm weather, the chickens are back to laying about an egg a day each, which gives us a couple of dozen eggs per day to sell, use or give away.  25 Red Star chicken (hybrid cross of RI Red rooster with a Delaware White hen) chicks (24 hens, one rooster) and 16 Bronze Standard Turkey chicks arrived in mid April.  It always amazes me when the Post Office call comes in, and we go to Beautiful Downtown Fort Plain to pick-up a box with holes and peeping chickens or turkeys in it.  The USPS routinely mails these live squigglers across the country without incident.  All arrived safe and sound.

Visitors -- All fairly quiet here in Middle Earth.  School vacation week in mid-April saw Stevie and Scott visit for a few days.  Trails were bone dry and we spent much of Friday riding around the bush and woods.
Blog -- The Riley Factor's official blog site is located at http://the-riley-factor.blogspot.com/.  It contains all issues to date.  (If you actually spend the time and search through our Internet site, you may need more help with your life than we are able offer....  But we digress.)

Quotes of the Month --
    

     This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. -- The Bible, Psalm 118:24

      If you're happy and you know it, share your meds. -- Unknown

     No matter how smart you are, or how much you study, you will never figure out how a watch works until you look inside. -- Albert Einstein

     Investors should try to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful. -- Warren Buffett

     A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool. -- Unknown

     In the game of life, lawyers are the only ones who read the inside of the box. -- Jerry Seinfeld    

     What we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down. -- Mary Pickford
 
     Americans cannot let worries over future deficits and debt interfere with investment in government programs that help those in need. -- Timothy Geithner, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury

     The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it. -- Albert Einstein  
     If you want to be somebody, if you want to go somewhere, then wake up and pay attention. -- Sister Mary Clarence (Correction of quote in issue no. 117; error pointed-out by one Stevie Fuchs Bentley) ...


Facts of the Month --

     The average American will pay more this year in taxes than he or she will spend on housing, food and clothing combined.  The average worker will work 70 days this year just to pay his or her tax bill.

 
Commentary of the Month --      The United States Congress has not passed a financial budget since Obama has been president.  Annually, Obama has proposed a budget.  As have the Republicans.  As has the House of Representatives.  Yet Congress has not gotten together to actually agree on and pass budget legislation to guide the Country's finances, and all the programs, regulation and governance that goes along with it.  My simple and very effective solution -- no budget, no pay for the President or Congress.


And then there's this --

     It was about five years ago when The Fabulous Beekman Boys first encountered and quickly fell in love with the ghostly beauty and rolling farmland of Schoharie County’s Sharon Springs, about 50 miles west of Albany, and next door to Fort Plain and Canajoharie.  And they soon bought a weekend house in Sharon Springs — an 1802 Federal-Georgian home, known as the Beekman Mansion, on 60 acres.  Since then, their farm and television show have blossomed, this year switching from the Planet Green Network to the Cooking Channel.  If you'd like to read more ...

     http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/realestate/residential/springs_awakening_1ayHUiI3lMZaA6UUVdZagP

The Riley Factor #117

The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
March 30, 2012, Issue No. 117
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Riley and the Littles -- At the end of February, Riley showed-up with an open wound on a rear leg, so he limped around for a few days with an orange horse bandage wrapped around it.  He is not the easiest of patients, beginning each new day with the bandage chewed-off and requiring a new application.  All is now well.  This week, I took the old Jeep to pick-up a couple of Amish teenagers hired to clean-out our stables.  Riley accompanied me.  When I got to the Amish house, there were actually three kids to retrieve, so Riley had to ride home sitting in the center seat in the back, with an Amish lad on each side.  Riley would have fit-in unnoticed if we put a straw hat on him, although the boys all wore their usual black outfits, while Riley sat proudly wearing his golden fur coat.

Plowing and Planting -- Warm weather in most of March led to the early spring planting of our wheat (semolina), oats, barley and rye - 2 acres of each.  We had two and a half weeks of temps in the 65-80 range with no rain.  And the greenhouse seed germination and transplantation project is underway, with newly sprouted plants ... tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants and peppers, along with some sweet potato slips.  Sunny days result in mid-day temps in the greenhouse of about 120 degrees, unless the doors are opened for ventilation.  Water and power was turned on and the greenhouse opened for planting on March 11.  The average date of last hard frost here in Middle-of-Nowhere is May 20, so it will be a while before vegetable plants actually get outside in the ground.  This year's plan is to put the potatoes and corn in the half-acre field nearest to the house, growing quite a bit more of each than last year - that field has been plowed, but awaits further action for more energy and initiative on the parts of the farmers.

And They're Off -- On March 26, Rio and Lady had their hooves clipped by farrier Chris King.  He is the horse trainer that trained Lady a year ago.  (Chris is 22-23 and a huge hockey fan.  He still plays pond hockey, which is a favorite past time of Amish boys and men.  We invited Chris over to watch an upcoming Bruins Stanley Cup playoff game - we'll have to see how that works out.)  His younger brothers, Amos, Stephen and David, ages 17, 15 and 12, stopped-in the next day and gave our 8 stalls their annual cleaning.  They did a great job - nothing competes with the Amish work ethic.

The Herd of Two -- Eli and Lily have gotten very friendly, and can almost always be seen side-by-side in the pasture.  Bradley Chadwick, the man from whom we acquired Lily, stopped-in one day to see her, and I told him that Eli and Lily were fast friends.  As if on cue, we walked around the barn and the two bovines were lying next to each other.  While we watched, a red chicken hopped-up on Lily's back and groomed her.  Where is Norman Rockwell when you need him?  (I know, I know, he's been dead for over 30 years).

Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- The war, dry March has left the woods drier than usual for this time of year.  Mud is at a minimum, which suits us perfectly.  We still have a half dozen large chestnut trees that we felled last fall, lying in the woods, all cut to 18-inch lengths, just waiting to be brought down to civilization and split into firewood.

Fowl Weather -- The pond ice melted away on March 13, and the goldfish surfaced en masse.  A pair of ducks stopped-in for a visit a day or two later.  (Although Riley and Gabby chased them back into the skies).  We have been feeding the fish daily since their return to surface waters.

Visitors -- All fairly quiet here in Middle Earth.  In early March, Barbara, Teddy, Simone and Ahna visited for several days.
Blog -- The Riley Factor's official blog site is located at http://the-riley-factor.blogspot.com/.  It contains all issues to date.  (If you actually spend the time and search through our Internet site, you may need more help with your life than we are able offer....  But we digress.)

Quotes of the Month --

     The days are long, but the years are short. -- Gretchen Rubin
     Free people ought ... to be armed. -- George Washington

    The Democrat Party's message is simple ... 'Eat the rich.' -- Andrea Tantaros

     It is better to be roughly right than precisely wrong. -- John Maynard Keynes

     If you want to go somewhere, if you want to be somebody, then wake up and pay attention. -- Sister Mary Clarence
    
     There ain't a horse that can't be rode, and there ain't a man that can't be throwed. -- Matt Dillon

     You are what your record is. -- Bill Parcells

     The first half of life consists of the capacity to enjoy without the chance; the last half consists of the chance without the capacity. --  Mark Twain

"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.

You cannot lift the wage-earner up by pulling the wage-payer down.

You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.

You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.

You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves."
                                                                                                                                                                             -- Abraham Lincoln

Facts of the Month --
     Zero funds from the U.S. government or U.S. taxpayers are given to oil companies.  Zero.  There are no oil company subsidies, no loans to oil companies, no funding for oil companies.  Period.  Anything heard or seen to the contrary is simply politics, spin or lies, or a combination thereof.

     Apple Inc. (you know, the Macintosh Computer company, the I-phone company, the I-pad company, I-tunes, I-etc.) is currently worth more than the entire country of Poland.  And Apple has enough actual cash to buy every professional sports franchise in the United States - the entire NFL, all 32 teams, all the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball teams - all of the teams, and still have cash left over.

     Every single day, one million people world-wide catch a sexually transmitted disease for the first time.  Also, it is estimated that world-wide one-half of all pregnancies are unplanned. -- World Health Organization

     Deep Vein Thrombosis, DVT, kills more Americans annually than breast cancer and AIDS combined.  And it is virtually 100% preventable.  Symptoms vary, but include legs that are painful, red, swollen and warm.  Leg and foot pulse may also be weak.  DVT is caused by blood clots forming in the legs, which can break free and travel to the lungs, creating a pulmonary embolism.  Main causes are aging, inactivity, heavy smoking, obesity.  Best preventative measure is regular walking.  Ankle roll exercises also help.  DVT is considered a medical emergency, as are all unexplained swollen limbs, and untreated lower extremity DVT has a 3%  mortality rate.
     Can you guess the most recognized word in human language?  That word is ...            'Titanic'.

    
Commentary of the Month --
There are four types of employees ...
  1.  The employee who does as little as possible, scraping by with minimum effort, needing constant oversight and supervision, doing the bare minimum.
  2.  The employee who does exactly as instructed, nothing more, nothing less, completing tasks as outlined. 
  3.  The employee who does the job, completing responsibilities, and looks to identify additional opportunities and what else might be accomplished.
  4.  The employee that does everything asked, completes the job, sees what else needs to be done, and does it.
It is those type-four employees that add value to the world, succeed, are rewarded, and move upward to grander and better opportunities. -- Unknown
      They keep telling us how good things are, but if you look at other things which you cannot jiggle, such as the amount of electricity being used in America, it’s going down.  America has got a population which is rising and the recovery, we are told, and yet electricity usage is going down.  Energy usage is going down, and there’s something wrong with all these numbers. -- Jim Rogers

     We frequently hear how hedge funds are running and ruining Wall Street.  Well, consider this.  As of December 31, 2011, all hedge funds together had assets totaling $1.9 trillion dollars, worldwide.  Yet, the U.S. national debt is nearly $16 trillion and Obama's proposed 2012 budget alone has expenses exceeding revenue by $1.3 trillion ... just for the one year. -- CF


And Here's an Example of Your Hard-Earned Tax Dollars at Work ... Producing Statistics ...
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch, February 29, 2012) - The U.S. economy grew 3% in the fourth quarter, faster than originally reported, mainly because of increased commercial construction and consumer spending and lower imports, the government reported Wednesday. Projected GDP growth was revised down to 2.7% from an initial reading of 2.8%. Real final sales in the U.S., which exclude imports and inventories, rose 1.1% instead of 0.9% as originally reported. Inventories, a major source of fourth-quarter growth, totaled $54.3 billion instead of $56 billion as initially reported. Inflation as measured by the consumer PCE index rose 1.2% in the fourth quarter, or by 1.3% on a "core" basis if food and energy are excluded. Real disposable income climbed 1.4% in the fourth quarter, compared with an earlier reading of 0.8%. The personal savings rate was 4.5%, up from an initial estimate of 3.7%. I have an idea ... Fire everyone employed in and dissolve the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Energy, and Agriculture, and for good measure also toss out the EPA, NLRB and Depts. of Education and Transportation.  The vast majority of what the federal government does is totally without any redeeming value.

And then there's this --

     In a recent Gallup poll a random sample of 1,029 adults in the United States were asked the open-ended question: What one country anywhere in the world do you consider to be the United States’ greatest enemy today?   The majority of respondents, 32%, picked Iran — followed by China at 23%, North Korea at 10%, Afghanistan at 7%, Iraq at 5%, and Russia and Pakistan each at 2%.  One percent of respondents said the United States was its own worst enemy.  Americans most frequently mentioned Iraq as the United States’ greatest enemy in 2001 and in 2005, when it tied North Korea. Iran has topped the list in each of the five surveys since.  In the most recent survey, China was mentioned as an enemy more often than any other time, likely because of its growing global economic influence.

The Riley Factor #116

The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
February 23, 2012, Issue No. 116
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Riley and the Littles -- Our newest feline addition, Izzy (two-year old daughter of Stryder and Arwen), who arrived here last fall, has finally taken-up her role as a member of the Rock Creek Cat Club.  She now eats with the other three, is no longer afraid of Riley and Gabby, and has taken her first step outdoors (which lasted about three seconds, after which she pulled a u-turn and ran back inside to the warmth of the wood stove).  Riley and Gabby are getting-in their daily 1-2 mile runs and spend days contently napping on one floor or another.

Plowing and Planting -- No plowing.  No planting.  No growing.  Winter has arrived.  We did pick-up the coming year's oats, rye and barley seed.  And Susan started her annual indoor seed starting endeavor, planting pots of seeds for tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce and eggplant, all under indoor grow-lighting.  This year, Nancy and Susan may run a small vegetable stand to sell our excess harvests.

And They're Off -- After a few days in a row of being cooped-up in their stalls due first to frigid weather and then to muddy pasture from rapid thawing, Rio and Lady finally got back outside on January 31.  They rolled over and over in the few inches of fresh snow.  Later in the day, the dynamic duo escaped the pasture through an unlatched gate and munched grass in the back yard until we found them, as a result of the dogs barking, calmly grazing in a patch of green near the fire pit.

The Herd of Two -- Eli and Lily are large and content.  Lilly's pregnancy is coming along and she has begun to blossom.  Due date July 22 or so.  Our one deformed turkey who cannot walk (since birth) nests in the stall next to Lily and has taken-up a friendship with her.  In the evenings, the bird rests with one wing up on the lower bar of the stall gate and Lily holds her head low, as if the two are discussing the day's trials and tribulations at the bar.  The only things missing are a couple of glasses and Sam the bartender.

Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- Not much going-on here on the farm/ranch.  We have had only 13 inches of snow all winter, and there hasn't been any white stuff on the ground for weeks.  I have not yet had to plow the driveway, roads or trails all winter.  We even had a week of temps in the 50s.  After a day of 20s and then 35, the rest of the mid-February week was in the high 40s, with overnight lows in the mid 30s.  Almost summer.  One day, I did the annual pruning of the entire orchard - about 80 trees, including the final 2 old, tall trees that had not been pruned in 30 years.  I climbed those and cut the top off of each, reducing the height and branch structure by about 50%.  Susan was brave enough to hold onto the tall ladder while I swayed to-and-fro on it, saw in hand.  After a year of recovery (this coming year), the heavily pruned pair should produce all their apples, probably 200 or so each, within 8 feet of the ground - easy to pick.  We have 5 other old trees in the orchard and back yard that we topped and hard-pruned in 2009.  After a bleak 2010, they all produced bushels of tennis-ball and baseball-sized apples in 2011.  We even had enough to give away some bushels.  The others we ate, made some cider, made apple crisp, and fed to the horses and steers, who all love apples and are not fussy about dents, bruises, scabs, holes and even the occasional small rotten spot, so they take care of all the less-than-perfect fruit.

Fowl Weather -- Our lone remaining French Guinea Hen has taken the role of Queen of the Chickens.  Daily, she leads the group of 10-30 chickens around the yard and pasture, serving as primary guard and lookout for the flock of the day.  Occasionally, she will fly up onto something higher (fence, picnic table, vehicle, etc.) and survey the birds and yard from a superior lookout point.  One day, she stood at the door calmly tapping on the glass to be let in the house.  Sorry, no solicitors.  Our five white American Broad-breasted turkeys, each now over 20 pounds, do not participate in this folly, and gaze-on in disbelief.  The chickens, however, love it, and run for the coop whenever a dog or some wildlife appears and the Queen sounds the alarm.  When the Queen believes the day has ended and it is time for dinner in the coop, she walks up to one of our windows and sounds the reminder that there are 50 birds waiting to be fed and locked-up for the night.  The chickens are now laying about 20-25 eggs per day, up from their mid-winter low of six or so.

Visitors -- All quiet here in Middle Earth.  Stevie stopped-in for a few days visit during winter vacation in February.  One afternoon, we traveled to our friend Bradley Chadwick's farm to observe his daily feeding of the deer.  Every day around dusk, a couple dozen deer cross Bradley's hay fields and walk up to Bradley's back barn, where he feeds them corn.  The day we were there, 15 deer crossed the fields and approached.  Four deer walked right up to within 20-30 feet of Bradley.  Another dozen deer wandered on to the front and side hay fields within a couple hundred yards of his house.  An amazing sight.



Blog -- The Riley Factor's official blog site is located at http://the-riley-factor.blogspot.com/.  It contains all issues to date.  (If you actually spend the time and search through our Internet site, you may need more help with your life than we are able offer....  But we digress.)


Quotes of the Month --

     Detached reflection cannot be demanded in the presence of an uplifted knife. -- Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
     Barack Obama thinks that life begins when it can sign-up for entitlements. -- Dennis Miller
     I wouldn't let Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi organize a two-car funeral. -- Chris Christie

     You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. -- Bob Dylan (correction herein acknowledged; previously wrongly attributed to Ben Stein (who was quoting Dylan); error pointed-out by faithful reader, Jimmy Saliba)
     Four more years of Obama would virtually bankrupt America. -- Stuart Varney, FOX Business Channel
     The people are just plain stupid if they are willing to accept a president or dictator telling them what is 'fair'.  Fair is an inexact term, taken within the bounds of established rules. -- Wayne Rogers

     Here, we have a two party system.  The Democrats are the party of no ideas and the Republicans are the party of bad ideas.  You'd be better off if your Congressman just walked up to your front door and pissed on your feet. -- Lewis Black
     Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, take your message ... and get the hell out of America. -- Allen West, U.S. Congressman (R-FL), and Lt. Col., U.S. Army (ret.)
     While democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint. -- Alexis de Tocqueville
     My reading of history convinces me that most bad government arises from too much government. -- Thomas Jefferson

     The closer psychologists look at the careers of the gifted, the smaller the role innate talent seems to play and the bigger the role preparation seems to play. -- Malcolm Gladwell, in Outliers: The Story of Success
     California is doing the same thing as Obama is doing, taxing and spending its way to zero growth, following the Jimmy Carter School of Prosperity. -- David Asman, FOX Business Channel

     Liberalism is a mental disorder. -- Michael Savage


Facts of the Month --
     When Japan attacked the U.S. at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the U.S. armed forces were the 17th largest in the world, right behind no. 16, Romania.  At that time, there was a total of 500,000 members of the U.S. armed forces.  By the time WWII reached its height, there were 16 million Americans enlisted across the various branches of our military.

     Today, the country in the world with the most English speaking residents ... that's right ... China.
     Private sector unionization in America as a percentage of private sector workforce ...
               1981     18.7%                    2001     8.9%                    2011     6.7%
     The 2010 U.S. Census recognizes six official races in the U.S.  Following is a breakdown by race/ethnicity of the 309 million people living in the U.S., according to the 2010 Census.
          White (includes Hispanic and Non-hispanic Latino)       80% (of which 15% are Hispanic or Latino)
          Black or African American                                                      12%
          Asian                                                                                              4%
          People of two or more races                                                   2%
          American Indian and Alaska Native                                       1%
          Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders                      0.1%
         
Commentary of the Month --

12 Reasons to Vote Democrat

 1. I voted Democrat because I believe oil companies' profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene, but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 43% isn't.

 

 2. I voted Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.

 

 3. I voted Democrat because Freedom of Speech is fine, as long as nobody is offended by it.

 

 4. I voted Democrat because I'm way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves.

 

 5. I voted Democrat because I believe that people who can't tell us if it will rain on Friday can tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in 10 years if I don't start driving a Prius.

 

 6. I voted Democrat because I'm not concerned about millions of babies being aborted, so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.

 

 7. I voted Democrat because I think illegal aliens have a right to free health care, education and Social Security benefits.

 

 8. I voted Democrat because I believe that business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as the Democrats see fit.

 

 9. I voted Democrat because I believe liberal judges need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some fringe groups who would never get their agendas past the voters.

 

 10. I voted Democrat because I think that it's better to pay billions to people who hate us for their oil, but not drill our own because it might upset some endangered beetle or gopher.

 

 11. I voted Democrat because while we live in the greatest, most wonderful country in the world, I was promised "HOPE AND CHANGE".

 

 12. I voted Democrat because my head is so firmly planted up my ass, it's unlikely that I'll ever see the light of day or have another point of view.

NFL --

     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
                              

            (It has been a year since the Packers last lost a game)
                         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
                                          (Playoffs?  Playoffs?  You want to talk Playoffs?  I just hope we can win a game.)
                           8 ... Green Bay Packers (bye) / New England Patriots (bye)
                         15 ... Giants 37, Green Bay Packers 20 / Patriots 45,  Broncos 10
                         22 ... Patriots 23, Baltimore Ravens 20
        February    5 ... Super Bowl -- Giants 21, Patriots 17


And then there's this --

The Generations Pass

1970: Long hair
2010: Longing for hair

1970: KEG
2010: EKG

1970: Acid rock
2010: Acid reflux

1970: Moving to California because it's cool
2010: Moving to Arizona because it's warm

1970: Trying to look like Marlon Brando or Liz Taylor
2010: Trying NOT to look like Marlon Brando or Liz Taylor

1970: Seeds and stems
2010: Roughage

1970: Hoping for a BMW
2010: Hoping for a BM

1970: Going to a new, hip joint
2010: Receiving a new hip joint

1970: Rolling Stones
2010: Kidney Stones

1970: Screw the system
2010: Upgrade the system

1970: Disco
2010: Costco

1970: Parents begging you to get your hair cut
2010: Children begging you to get their heads shaved

1970: Passing the drivers' test
2010: Passing the vision test

1970: Whatever
2010: Depends

And finally, each year the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin puts together a list to try to give the faculty a sense of the mindset of this year's incoming freshmen. Here's this year's list:

The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1992.
They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.
Their lifetime has always included AIDS.

Bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic.
The CD was introduced 2 years before they were born.
They have always had an answering machine.
They have always had cable.
They cannot fathom not having a remote control..
Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show.

Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.

They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.
They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.
They don't know who Mork was or where he was from.
They never heard: "Where's the Beef?", "I'd walk a mile for a Camel", or "de plane, Boss, de plane.."
They do not care who shot J. R. and have no idea who J. R. even is..
McDonald's food never came in styrofoam containers.
They don't have a clue how to use a typewriter.

The Riley Factor #115

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.)

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.blogspot.com/.  It contains all issues to date.  (If you actually spend the time and search through our Internet site, you may need more help with your life than we are able offer....  But we digress.)


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

NFL --

     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
                              

            (It has been a year since the Packers last lost a game)
                         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
                                          (Playoffs?  Playoffs?  You want to talk Playoffs?  I just hope we can win a game.)
                           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 ...