You will recall I had a post on ice fishing on Eagle Nest Lake last week. Well, today’s paper has some safety tips on ice fishing. It takes 4 to 6 inches of clear ice to support you….When it melts and re-freezes it can be weakened….Don’t go out on ice near open waters…Ice should be 8 to 10 inches to support a vehicle..A good rule is not to take a vehicle on the ice unless other vehicles are there already….Now wait a cotton-picking minute, I can just see a parking lot full on a lake of 8 inch ice and you are saying “now its ok to go out there” but a while ago when there were only a couple it was kind of dangerous…Whoa, no sir, I’ll just wait ’til summer, thank you….

For the Birds, Bill Dyroff reports those little buggers are visiting around, not staying put. You remember the report last week, huh?…Well, Bosque Del Apache light geese is now 2693 down from 20,264 last week and Middle Rio Grande Valley’s sandhill crane are 24,019 up from 20,577 last week. Bitter Lake had 20,912 light geese…I am thinking maybe some of those guys are throwing parties, inviting the ladies from other locations and just having a big time while down here in New Mexico…Reckon?

On the contest at Eagle Nest Lake Ice Fishing  last week, those folks were not scared. Jon Courtnay of Santa Fe won the biggest trout prize of $576 with a 18.75 inch Rainbow. Biggest perch was won by Bill Dooley of South Fork, Colo, a prize of $336 for a 12 1/2 perch. The youth division was won by James Chaves, Jr. with a 9 3/4 inch yellow perch. There were 199 brave souls out on the ice, but they did not report the number of 4 x 4 and jeeps out there, which I would be curious to know. Apparently, no one fell through the ice…Whew, thank goodness….

The Boss was not too happy with Girlfriend so now I am going to try, “My Lady”. Now that’s a good name, ain’t it? Check back in next week for reports on black eyes or such…I’m kidding, she does not beat me….well, not yet anyway…Naw, she’s a good’un…good’er than gold…good’er than silver…good’er than a pile of chocolate candy…well, it almost rhymes..So, I’m taking My Lady out for Mexican food at Los Compadres today (if it stops snowing). It gonna be a good day, folks, a good day….

One of Girlfriends nephews ran across my web site the other day and sent me an e-mail. He was just surfing the web and came across our site. He made some nice comments on the e-mail that perked me up. So, I guess we are out there in cyberspace somewhere and that is good to know. I don’t really know how that works, but I can make a post about, say, Coal Fire, AL and someone, somehow picks that up and then when someone inquires about Coal Fire, AL, bingo, it becomes one of the entries…Nice huh…I’m glad I don’t have to understand all that for it to happen….It’s better for me to just think….Magic….

Glen Johnson and Liz Sidoti of the Associated Press article in the Albuquerque Journal this morning, Jan. 20, 2010, reports Scott Brown saying he was “ready to go to Washington” as the crowd chanted “seat him now”.  And further stating, The democrats indicated they would  (seat him now), deflating a budding controversy over whether they would try to block Brown long enough to complete congressional passage of the health care plan he has promised to oppose.

So, the voter of Massachusetts have gone from voting for “change” to voting for “return” and possibly giving us a brand new ball game in the senate, huh? I really know very little about politics and my democratic friends say “it shows”,  but I just like the way the Republicans vote a little better than I do the Democrats. About all I can really say is, “This change should help.”…and… “Thank you Jesus”…..Pete Hester  visit www.scottbrown.com/Bio.htm

You know Serena is still a little pissed at the foul call by the line judge and the ensuing 82,000 fine, which she has paid and is also donating to the relief efforts in Haiti. Also, she has to mind her manners, so to speak, for the next two years  at any Grand Slam event. She said, kinda’,  “Ya’ll know I’m gonna do some talking. I’ll still be human. I’m gonna make some mistakes.” And I imagine those line judges know she still has those balls she was gonna stuff in various body parts and I feel like they are not going to make any more mistakes, (ties go to Serena, huh)….I’ll bet on it

I often wonder how my web site stacks up against some of the other sites. I feel pretty good  at this month having well over 800 visits, so far. But when you think of the number of people that use the Internet and search the Internet daily the visits I get is very small amount…..I like to play the slots on AOL games…try it sometimes, lots of fun and you can play for free. I like the Black and White double jackpot machine myself…But anyway, back to my point, tonight when I signed on for another game there were 53,321 online players in AOL games and there were 1035 playing the slots…that’s a bunch of Internet folks…So that is what a busy site looks like…But I am certainly very thankful for the 800 plus folks who have come by for a visit and I hope you will continue coming back…..I’ll appreciate it…

Two people live under this roof and one of them makes the best peanut brittle around these parts, and it ain’t me…The other person said for me to stop calling her The Boss and apparently supervisor ain’t to good either….I’m thinking maybe Girlfriend will be the offical title for a while (I’ll let you know). Anyway, Girlfriend makes all this peanut brittle and because of my bulging waistline, she gives it away. Sometimes if I am quick enough I can get some crumbs from the pan if I am washing dishes, but I have to be quick cause Girlfriend will just dump, yes dump the dad-barn crumbs from the pan. Over Christmas I was able to “borrow” a piece or two from outbound gift packages. But today, she made another batch for a certain family member who is having a birthday soon and Girlfriend put a couple of pieces aside….She did not say they were for that other household member, but since she did not eat them…I think she left them out for that other person in the house….Man, it was good…Girlfriend is a real good cook, especially for peanut brittle ….and pecan pie…don’t want to forget that..oh, and biscuits and gravey, ummm…taco soup and green chile stew…chicken and dumplins..My dang waist line don’t stand a chance, huh?….

I was talking to a cousin in Alabama the other day and the topic of cable television came up. He mentioned that he had enough trouble being a Christian without all the stuff that comes in over cable television into his house and invading his mind, so he only had what was available over the antenna. That put me to wondering, while I do not have the premium channels, other than NFL Network and The Mountain, I have enough of the other stuff myself on the balance of the channels. I can appreciate what my cousin is doing. It would probably be much better for me to follow in his footsteps…..well, maybe after basketball season….for a couple of months….maybe…I don’t know….gee, I will have to think on this a good bit…

Bill does a good job on his fishing line articles. Today I would like to discuss a couple of things, but only one from the Fishing Line. He also writes “For The Birds”, so I will discuss that briefly also. I am not going to quote the complete article: Annual Eagle Nest Ice Fishing Tournament: Dos Amigos Anglers and the Eagle Nest Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the Eagle Nest Lake State Park and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, will host the Sixth Annual  Eagle Nest Lake Ice Fishing Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 16. Further, he states you can register between 7 am and 10 am. Fishing begins at 7 and must stop at 2 pm. $10 entry fee per person. Prizes for the Biggest Trout (length) and Biggest Perch (length). Contestants can enter both contests. Only trout, kokanee salmon and yellow perch will be considered for prizes. Then he goes on about drilling the holes in the ice, starting at 7am and keep 10 yards between contestants. First angler to the spot has it. Ice shelters and electronic fish-finding gear is ok. Motorized vehicles allowed pursuant to State Park regulations. Now, this is me talking….I don’t know how many people gonna be on that lake, drilling holes every 10 yards, bringing out their shelters and electronic gear, pulled by their Ram 4 x 4’s. I don’t know Bill, do they allow slant drilling of holes on Eagle Nest? Ain’t no way I am gonna get out on that stuff, no sir, not me….I really do wish you people all the luck in the world…Only thing I could catch up there would be a cold….But thanks for the info, Bill, good job.

Now Bill Dyroff also writes “For The Birds” stating  the latest counts of migrating birds. I want to give one example of the count, from down south of Albuquerque a few miles:

Bosque Del Apache: As of Jan 8, Light Geese, 20,264: Canada geese, 245: Sandhill cranes, 4,261; ducks, 38,781; bald and golden eagles, 6; swans, 1; white pelicans, none.  Over in the Middle Rio Grande Valley as of the first week of January they have 43,550 light geese and 20,577 sandhill cranes. Now, this is me talking again. I feed birds in my backyard and in the summer I have a drove of dove, another sprinkling of sparrows, a host of hummers, and a really lot of robins…..No, way can I count those guys…The more feed I put out the higher the count…But, to my point, how, I repeat how in the world do you count 43,550 light geese without losing count with them little buggers moving around so…Well, Bill, I know you use the states numbers, but did you ever wonder about that? Keep up the good work Bill, I do read you every week and enjoy your work….. Mark Vandi of Los Lunas picture holding his 26 inch, 10 pound trout caught in Jicarilla Lake is nice.Landing that guy had to be work…..

You know, in thinking about the coaches changing jobs so much does create some problems. They recruit players to a college and then the coach desert them for another program. The kids have to sit out one year if they change schools. Lets discuss having coaches sit out a year or so it they leave before their contract is up. Would that be fair?  Or give the recruited kid the opportunity to go with the coach to his new school.  Something should be done about the coaches merry go round we are seeing…Seems like any more schools are about athletic programs and not about education, sometimes paying thousands of dollars getting out from under coaches contracts, etc. A while back, The Albuquerque Journal did an article on the Vice Presidents for the University of New Mexico and their salaries. You could not get a coach to work that cheaply, at least not at a major college. But, on the other hand, do they bring the money into the school like the coaches can? No, they don’t, but that said, are schools about education or football programs? Or basketball programs? I heard a statement a while back where a student wanted to go to a certain college because they had an excellent music school. Wow… But, if one comes down on any school sports program  you are in for a fight. I love sports as you can see by most of my writings…but sometimes I do wonder if sports are what colleges are about….And maybe you can also tell that by my writings as well….Oh, well…

Now let me see….Just when I think I know the coaches and the school they are coaching for, well, they change their minds….It gets kind of confusing at times, but I think I got it down:

Pete Carroll goes from USC to Seattle so then Kiffin leaves Tennessee to go to USC and Tennessee is still looking to pull someone from another school..surely McNutt won’t go, huh?

Kelly goes from Cinninnati to Notre Dame, then Butch Jones leaves Central Michigan for Cincinnati, and I have not heard about Central Michigan yet.

Troy’s offensive coordinator leaves heading over to help Tuberville at Texas Tech……Being a coach’s kid is almost like being a military brat, huh….I been every where man, I been every where, been to California, Washington, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Alabama, Texas and back and forth and to and fro……I been    every       where….and it ain’t over folks….Pete   Ps….South Florida is looking at Coach Leach…