Whatever...........soap opera?

[dustnchips]

That would be excessive. 748 is reasonable. Rediculous compared to speeding fines.

[berettabone]

Our road happens to be a non ATV road. There are tons of ATV roads around. Our area must have decided(I wasn't a part of the decision) that they don't want to listen to them all day long. My neighbor down the road has an ATV(he's 85) and he drives it around. He says if they want to fine him, go ahead. He keeps an eye on other people's properties which is fine with most. The problem being that these ATV owners have to go as fast as they can. I live on a dead end, and I have seen them hit my circle at probably close to 60 miles an hour, fast enough to go up on two wheels. If they don't make the turn, guess who's property they are going to tear up. Same with snowmobiles, not allowed, but once again, if they respect the area, because they are operating on other's private properties, no one makes a stink. They like to tear up other's properties, so, they get called in. The whole area is nothing but ATV and snowmobile heaven. They have multitudes of places to use both. Can't respect other's properties or cause dangerous situations, your going to get called in. Simple really. I wish they would raise the fines to a couple thousand. Would stop the crap in a minute.

[Bawanna]

Most cops and I assume this would apply nationwide, take in the circumstances. As in dustnchips case, he wasn't doing anything crazy, probably not going fast or damaging property, so no ticket, no hassle, off you go.
Stopping a guy going 60 or ripping up somebodies property, they get the citation and probably a verbal thrashing.

Years ago in my vertical days I tool my 400 Suzuki for a quick trip down the road, dirt bike, not legal, I only wanted to make sure it ran before I put it on the truck and went someplace to ride it. Course neighbors called the cops (probably democrats from California) and the cops actually showed up.
I only made one pass down and back and was done. Officer shows up and talks to them for a bit and then of course comes over to chat with me.
I told him what I had done and my reason for doing so. He was totally understanding. Told me to act like I was getting my arse chewed out, put my head down and act sorrowful. He pointed his finger like he was poking me in the chest all the while asking about reed valves on his mikuni carburetor on his Kawasaki.

Many towns around us are suddenly putting up for vote the idea of making riding ATV's on public roads legal. I'm not sure where it's coming from, haven't heard any talk about it or anybody even advocating it. Seems weird.

[Ed M]

Funny about the Suzuki dirt bike thing.

Many years ago (I was 15 yrs old), I crossed the road on my Suzuki 250 motocross bike sitting side saddle with the engine running, and in 1st gear. Just too lazy to walk it across.

A young pup LEO patrolling on his Harley saw me, and being full of piss and vinegar, he gave me a citation. I only crossed from our driveway to the private property directly across the street.

Didn't matter - he cut me no slack.

Fast forward 15 years, and I had become his Chief.

Karma.

[Bawanna]

I had a high speed pursuit with a county deputy on my Honda Mini Trail 70 when I was in the 13 or 14 age range. Was giving my sister a ride to her friends house. About a block on a main drag and then onto a side street. Deputy timed it just right and saw me on the main drag.
I got to the side street and opened her up but with my sister on the back we didn't have no get up and go. Told her to jump off and go between some houses into the woods and she could circle back home easy.
She wouldn't jump off, figured they would shoot me or something and I'd go down like Bonnie and Clyde. Still mad about that. I could have easily eluded if she would have got off.

Turns out they thought it was great fun, didn't give me a ticket or even chew me out, felt sorry for me that my sister wouldn't get off.
Just told me to ride on the green belt along the main road and they didn't care if I rode on the side street. Didn't give my sister no more rides after that.

[ltxi]

Me loves these stories!!

[berettabone]

Got back from up nort yesterday. Not a lot of snow, so no snow removal needed. Good for me. Problem was, we basically had to huddle in the homestead, because the thermometer never got above 9 degrees, and the 23rd through the time we left, never got above 2 degrees. With the wind chill, it was around -23 degrees for 3 days..........................................They 're basically done cutting trees behind us, and just have a few huge piles of roots to get rid of. I saw the well drilling equipment on site a few weeks ago, but I believe that this weather made them forget about it until next year. They did drag in the huge sprayer on wheels............................................ .....With all of those trees gone, we get a lot more light and sun, which a a double edged sword. Good in the winter, not as good in the summer. We still have a lot of trees and bush, so it's not like it's bare of trees, it just used to be better. We see more of the sunset, and hear the trains, which have become a bit louder...................Our mutt Maggie has been frustrated because of the cold. She doesn't get the usual walks, and can't spend much time outside. This kind of weather freezes pup's paws. I refuse to buy her booties, I don't even have booties. I see people walking their dog's for too long in this weather. I realize that their paws can take a lot more than say our feet, but when it's this cold out, it's dangerous for man and beast. I honestly don't know how the animals survive these cold snaps. It's paws and beaks, and ears freezing time.............................................. .My nearest neighbor to the northwest is a Vietnam vet. The reason I mention this is, the wife was walking the dog and bumped into him on the way back, when he was out shoveling. I don't have the exact story, and the wife said she was trying to be polite at -20 below, and just wanted to get back in the house. Apparently, my neighbor had fathered a child while serving his country, and serving something else. It wasn't that uncommon of an occurrence. Since my neighbor is 70 yrs. old, I am assuming that his son is a fully grown man. That was confirmed when the wife said that the son had children. From what we can determine so far, apparently the son found out where his father was. Now, he says he's going to bring them all over here, to live with him. He said that he's going to have to figure out how to put an addition on a log house. With the weather getting to be like it is now, it would have to be a well insulated addition...............................if this does happen, the wife and I feel for them. They are going to have nothing but difficulties with the people, the language, getting employment, etc. I don't know how much longer my neighbor will be with the living, but if they don't get accustomed real fast, they could be left in the dark. At least in that area, they will have a very tough time of it. Unfortunately, there are many who would wish that they would stay in their own country. Who knows, they may be having just as hard a time in their own country. We'll see what happens................We'll be heading up again next week. It doesn't look like there is much snow in the forecast, but the temp looks like it's going to stay cold for a while....................................until later.

[ltxi]

Not as bad, but it turned single digit/teens cold here, also. Right at the solstice. I 've had to dig out my winter shorts.

[berettabone]

Got back from up nort today. Actually, nothing too eventful. Quiet, ice cold until Sun. when it hit 29. The dog was a bit disappointed because of the cold, she didn't get enough walking in. The neighbors had really nice decorations this year. Down the road was my 86 yr. old neighbor with his 4 or 5 3D rigs in the yard. My neighbor to the east had some nice ones also. I kinda still like my closest neighbors decoration the best. One lone blue tree in the woods back behind his cabin...................Had some damn fine soup. If there's one thing the wife CAN cook, it's soup. We both like soups a lot. Could be the perfect food??? With some good bread??? Cabbage soup, pepper soup, chicken soup, tomato soup, cauliflower soup, pork soup, vegetable soup, you name it, we can make a soup out of it. This last trip was leftover cabbage beef soup, and cauliflower soup. No, surprisingly, there isn't a "fog" hanging in the house. We cook the "$#!t out of it. I can read minds................until next time.

[PattayaPistol]

I feel for you all with your cold winter. We had our coldest winter in quite a few years. The temperature dropped to about 18°C, or 64°F in your units. Brrrr. I had to rug up to go out sailing hahaha

Life is good.
John

[berettabone]

Got back from up nort yesterday...............................crazy weather for winter. It poured rain all of Sunday night in to Monday, and had lakes of water/ice everywhere. We had to put a heater in the well pump house to try to keep it somewhat dry, in case the temp was going to drop. Fortunately, we have some warmer weather and sun for the next week, so hopefully, things dry out. The garage door froze to the cement, and there was ice everywhere. Had to tiptoe around to keep from falling down. This has been the weirdest weather since we've owned the place. We were right on the weather cusp. We got the rain/ice, and north of us got 14" of snow. I don't know which is worse.........Pretty boring football games on Sunday. The Patriots game was the most interesting I guess......................Found some interesting footprints on the property which shouldn't have been there. They went across the driveway and ended at the opposite edge of the property right before the woods. I've been wanting to get a trail cam for quite some time, and have been waiting for a sale. No sense getting a cheap one, because the optics just aren't that good. There is no good reason for anyone to be snooping around. They were smaller prints, more from a woman than a man, or someone younger........................ I had to snow blow for the first time this year. It wasn't too bad. I'm glad I did. I could have waited for the warmer weather and rain to melt it, but the lakes would have been larger....................It looks like the neighbors actually brought their boat back and put it in the new garage. Saw tire tracks in the snow. It was quiet and I didn't see any of the neighbors so I didn't get any info/gossip............................until next time...........

[berettabone]

It's been a while.......................................I was going to head up nort this week, but we're supposed to get up to 10-12 inches of snow up dere..........................so, we were up a couple of weeks ago. Almost all of the snow was melted, and it almost looked like spring. I went over to the neighbor's house, because I had seen him working outside. He has built a small wooden workshop on skids, I guess to avoid taxes on another building? Very nice with windows and insulation, and a nice small wood burner. It was a kit, and I guess, about $6000 denaro. I was then invited in, to see his house for the first time. I had seen pictures of it on line, but it just didn't do it justice. I don't know why he decided to show me his house(inside) for the first time that day, but I went with it. Log cabin, all wood outside and inside. The last owner was basically a slob, but the place cleaned up great. He did a lot of hard work on the place, and it looks nice. I guess that his son and wife and 2 children will be arriving from Vietnam in May. He has the whole basement made up nice for them, and the pellet stove is right there. He has no idea what they can and cannot do. He's going to stay upstairs, they will stay downstairs, and the main floor is for one and all. He seems very excited about the whole thing, I think he likes people around. I guess that his son can have a job immediately at the cranberry bogs. This is cranberry country up here and Ocean Spray and many others are up here.........................................he takes me up stairs and it was the best part. A nice loft bedroom, and sitting area taking up the whole upstairs, but that wasn't the good part. I can see rifles hanging on the walls. Not just one, but many, and many of them were gifts made to him. He would never spend that much of his own money on all those rifles. They were all in mint condition. Because of how they were mounted, you couldn't see all of them from just one angle, so I didn't see all of them. I am no rifle expert, so I didn't know exactly what I was looking at, but they were beautiful guns. It looked like a couple of large bore lever actions rifles, and a few smaller bore lever actions. The one that caught my eye was on the opposite wall. Short rifle, octagonal barrel, dark wood with horizontal striations of a lighter wood. Tiger maple???????? A spark and bang. I remember him telling me a bit of a story about how he got it from a woman DNR person. It was her husbands, who got it from some other relative. She gave it to my neighbor, apparently liking him a lot. I didn't get the whole story, or any other stories about the other rifles. I didn't want to overstay my welcome. Maybe next time, I'll hit em up on some rifles again. If I had to guess, I'd say that the rifle was from as early as the late 1700's but most likely from early to middle of the 1800's. It was in such beautiful condition, it looked new. I asked if it had ever been redone, and my neighbor said that her husband would have never owned a redone firearm. I remember talking about how it was the perfect size for the woods and on a horse. I believe the caliber was in the 30's.........................he told me that the neighbors were pissed because they still had to pay for storage for their boat this year, because the guy that built their garage took too long in to the season. My neighbor went over and asked them how much they had paid for the garage, but they wouldn't tell him. He said it looks nice and I agreed. Then it got fuzzy...........................he said that it ought to look nice, they're contractors. I said, "What". He said, "yeah, they're contractors". Why??????????? I said that I know them as Dan and Bob. They're relatives of someone who owns a famous bar up nort. Dan is an engineer, and Bob used to work in the steel mills, but now works in a spring factory. My neighbor looked dumbfounded. I said " Who's zoomin who?"............................................. ..............we're hoping that the snow melts up nort, before our next trip. Gotta ask some more about those rifles. I knew that he deer hunted, and carried a 44 mag when in the woods, but these.................................till next time............

[AJBert]

Sounds like a good neighbor! I'd love to take a look at the rifles myself. Before the avalanche my long guns out numbered my side arms probably 4 to 1.

[ltxi]

About damn time we got an update. Neighbor sounds great.

[kenemoore]

Almost makes me want to move up Nort.....Nay, no way.. but keep the saga going.