Ride Delaware ?

I just like seeing something I've planted and nurtured finally paying off after all my hard work. I prefer it to video blogging in terms of hobbies, but I really wish you would bring yours back GSS...

Blueberry crop is about done and is almost ready for the post fruiting fertilizer. Best haul yet this year. We brought in about 5-6 pints, which doesn't sound like much, but after just 1 pint last year, is a significant step up. Expecting big things for next year.

This was my best crop year yet for blueberries. I added some new plants, but they didn't produce. I probably netted 3 quarts this year, which is far less than I should be getting, but is about 10 times what I got last year. I'm expecting double that next year since I am going to be much more aggressive with my fertilizing and watering during this growth season.

That's just so much of a hassle...

Going with the landing strip?

I have some pretty sweet cross country lines staked out on some of my property...

If you are clear cutting, you need permits. But if you are trimming, then you don't have to. In Delaware we can timber full properties with no permits.

It's legal as long as it's on private property. No, you can't do it on National Forest Land.

Anybody cut any of their own glades? I'm thinking of giving it a shot. Chutes vs open area? Anybody got any tips? Please delete one of these. Double posted.

Anybody cut any of their own glades? I'm thinking of giving it a shot. Chutes vs open area? Anybody got any tips?

Sometimes I fly out of our regional airport in Salisbury (45 minutes away), but only US Air runs through there. Depending on cost, sometimes out of BWI or PHL. Both are about the same distance. Frontier was doing flights out of New Castle, DE (1.5 hours away) direct to Denver, and I did do that once. The price was good, and the parking was free, but the old terminal (60s style brick) was just not set up for commercial flights. You picked up your luggage while walking inside, and it wasn't a rotating carousel, just flat metal chutes. So everyone had to wait in a line 3 deep as people walked up and down 100' to see their bags. They couldn't put new bags on until the old were taken off, so it took forever.

I mean, money can buy you anything. For us peons, 18 minutes is pretty good for a real airport (I'm not talking regional puddle jumpers). I had to fly home from SR to take care of some business.

Best airport experience I've ever had is in Portland, ME. One terminal with 13 gates. From car storage ($5 a day) to check in (not online) to the terminal in 18 minutes...

I'm going to need more info than that... Why does social media play into early opening? Did you go with the Peak Resorts pass adding Hunter?

Sorry to hear that Ridge. I hope everything is healing up well. I've had to readjust to new norms since I stopped patrolling full time. Both of those years I posted 114 days. The past three have been 65, 77, and 60. The bad conditions just didn't force me to make the drive, and I didn't have the expendable cash to get out west. I should remedy that this season. I was still able to make the best of it and hang out with my friends at the mountain a lot. I can't wait to get back out there next year. Here's to hoping for 300" plus in the Green's.

I had a buddy who went over to Wisp during the great blizzard, and he said it was stellar. Unfortunately, the snow came too far south and I had to work the storm... I made the most of it, but I definitely wasn't as driven as I have been the past couple years...

Now that Killington has shut down the lifts for the season, the Northeast ski season has come to a close. It was not a good east coast year. I'm expecting that those who went west this year had a much better snow condition year. For me, it was the worst season I have had since 10/11. I posted only 60 days, all of which were at Sugarbush/Mount Ellen. I wasn't able to get in the trees at all this season. Posted a volunteer career high of 40 patrol days (really wasn't worth free skiing alone). Didn't get an October or May Day in this year. The bad conditions put it all in perspective. Really wasn't as bummed out as I expected to be. How was everyone else's year?

Tropical storms and depressions already? Could be an active storm season. It's been incredibly wet down here. This weekend was the first nice weekend, and what a shit show it was.

Not necessarily a good thing, but the risk they take by striking for an extended period of time. Unions can be both a blessing and a curse. I am all for collective bargaining to obtain fair wages and benefits, but OutCold is currently at a convention where they can't even plug in their displays without a unionized electrician to plug the cord into the wall. That seems a little extreme to me.

The taxes on the arena were $3.2 million. That is a tough pill for a minor league hockey team to swallow. The whole point of those redevelopment zones are the tax breaks to help offset development costs. Otherwise, they would go elsewhere for those tax breaks. It's a necessary evil. Those breaks will end at some point down the road once they are locked in and before their lease is up. Has absolutely nothing to do with the weather, but I agree. Breaking strikes by hiring scabs has always been part of the process. It proves that people are willing to work those jobs at a lower wage. If the Verizon workers hold out too long and those scabs become fully trained, they may very well lose their jobs.

My understanding is that the Saddleback lift and the Jay Tram are completely different. Jay supposedly had the $$$ set aside for the repairs they knew needed to be done. Quiros then used those funds on some other frivolous personal expenditure and hoped that EB-5 money could be generated to cover that (even though it is not an acceptable expense under the terms of the EB-5 program). The tram supposedly needs these fixes in order to pass inspection. On the flip side, Saddlebacks lift was inspected and was ready to go. Despite its age, the lift had a complete overhaul relatively recently and could have operated into the future. Unfortunately, the Berry family was tired of pouring their own money into the resort and didn't feel it could make a profit without increased lift capacity. They wanted to find financing instead of using their own money, but due to the financial facts, couldn't justify the loan. They tried to force the hand of the government for a guaranteed loan by saying they wouldn't open and the economy would struggle, but the government didn't bite. Saddleback sat idle with a perfectly operational lift and the economy (both ski and snowmobile related) struggled.

I have no idea. I'm sure he is salaried, but to what degree his income is remains a mystery. Considering that his grandfather was a founding member of Merrill Lynch and he was executive VP, I can't imagine that he is struggling.

Isn't that on indefinite hiatus?

I thought that the oil in the Dakotas was in the oil sands which made it far higher in price to extract. I wasn't aware it was through fracking. Isn't fracking mostly used for natural gas?

I don't think our zones are too much different regardless of growing season. On average, you will get berries starting in year two. However, the crop is usually small and it is worth it to pluck the flowers and allow the plant to put the energy into new growth. You will have a decent crop in year three. However, I recently bought plants from Dimeo Farms in NJ, and you can buy 3 year plants for $10 (absolute steal). They come flowering, but once you plant them you'll probably want to pluck the flowers so that the root structure can adapt to its new home. Those will produce well in year 2. Unfortunately, blueberries do require a PH from 4.5-5. If the PH is above that, then the roots basically stop sucking up nutrients and starve the plant. We have a fairly neutral sandy ish soil down here, so I am able to remedy that problem by using Holly Tone acidic fertilizer a couple times a year and pine bark mulch to lower the PH enough to help the plant grow. I have also had to treat my water with vinegar to lower the PH immediately. My plants don't thrive, but I get decent growth and they are large enough to produce a decent crop.