April 18th, 2020 at 11:07 AM ^
I'll be shoveling my damn driveway.
daddy-daughter-duathlon, my usual on TThS mornings during the shutdown. sunny and gorgeous up north.
will have older sons split wood that we bucked earlier this week. might make a football highlight tape out of that for the 2021 son who is getting some interest from D-1 programs. perfect day to do that.
I’m going to need you to elaborate on the details of this duathlon.
around and on the farm are good mountain bike areas. i guess you could call some of them trails but some of it is just in the woods and finding a way. its nice that nobody lives out here other than, you know, wolverines (see last night's post...). so we'll mountain bike for anywhere from 6-10 miles in the hills, mud, snow, ice, etc and end up back at the farm. then jump off the bikes and start a run. the runs are anywhere from 3-6 miles. i am somewhat limited in my running right now because my achilles is not in good shape.
i know those are hardly warm-up distances for serious racer like you, but we're making due and of course i am getting to spend time with the daughters which is even more important.
how has your training been going? what'll you do on a day like today?
April 18th, 2020 at 11:46 AM ^
Mountain biking is no joke and not really about distance. Take it off of standard trails and couple it with a run; it sounds like a pretty tough workout.
Training is going well. Staying at home has made it really easy to do two a day workouts and I’ve made some big gains on the bike. I live in Salem, MA so we are getting the weather SE Michigan had a day or two ago. I’m planning on doing a easy run down by the ocean probably 3-5 miles because it’s supposed to be a rest day.
April 18th, 2020 at 12:04 PM ^
your run sounds great, and glad you are using the time to get gains in training. good for you.
we do/did spruce up the run with push-ups, sprints, carry-yoka, burpees, etc. my achilles is not overly pleased with me right now, but such is life.
April 18th, 2020 at 10:29 AM ^
So when son #2 is busy with college ball , you and daughter #2 will have to do a pre Big House mtb ride with me ( on a bye week for the free safety to be of course j.
April 18th, 2020 at 12:26 PM ^
sounds good.
still can't believe how easily you picked out the tire treads out of that one picture. you are a pro.
Being sad I guess
Especially considering how great the weather is today.
both of you go outside right now. in your michigan gear. run around a little. throw a football. will help with sadness.
I’m going outside to cut some trees down. Does that count?
Does count. What kind of saw?
been dying to have a TCT: talking chainsaws Tuesday, but didn't think that would broad appeal to the board.
Stihl.
i know it will be difficult to list (all 5) models and bar lengths, but i'd be curious to know if you don't mind sharing.
i have what i consider a really good husqvarna that i've had for almost 25 years. i have cut literally thousands of trees with it - living in the UP we did a lot of that. but i have nevertheless been thinking of adding a new saw. i did look at some stihls the other day. the other brand i'd consider is jonsered, but its tough to find a dealer.
Tractor Supply sells Jonesred machines, if you have one of those close by. Jonesred itself is a company owned by Husqvarna, but the machines they make are different. The off-brand that Husqvarna makes is Poulan - they share a lot of parts, mainly (and most importantly) the engine.
April 18th, 2020 at 10:33 AM ^
Not familiar with that brand. I use Stihl for everything. I only cut about 30 trees a year so I’m only up to about 400. Way behind.
April 18th, 2020 at 12:49 PM ^
stihl is a very good brand. they are dependable, and like husqvarna and jonsereds have good power-to-weight ratios.
no big deal how many trees you cut, that was just a normal part of living in 'da UP'.
be safe in the woods.
Stihl.
Stihl.
Stihl.
Dammit. Apparently I have five Stihl saws now!
You really like Stihl saws!
I must. I buy three or four at a time.
Can I steal one?
My 18" saw is a Poulan. Yes, I know cheap box-store brand, but did you know??? Poulan is owned by Husqvarna, and is actually a Husqvarna machine in different wrapping paper. I love Husqvarna, I have their backpack leaf blower, and gas trimmer, and the saw - and they all just keep running! They also start on the 4th pull, every time.
The key to using a 'cheaper' (ie: less expensive) saw is to put a 2-inch smaller bar on it. If you cut a lot of wood, and feel you need a 20-in machine, buying a less-expensive one and putting an 18" bar on it will provide you a machine with more power than any 20" job! And even with the cost of a new bar and chain (usually packaged together), it will be less than professional models of most brands.
I did this with an older 18" I have, which is now 16". Its (slightly) lighter and much easier to handle when de-limbing a fallen tree. I prefer Oregon bars, also - they don't warp so easily against hardwood.
April 18th, 2020 at 11:10 AM ^
I sawed logs like a professional last night. No Stihl, no Husqvarna, no Poulan. Just me and my Pure Comfort. zzzzzzzzzzzzz
April 18th, 2020 at 10:32 AM ^
Quit harassing your neighbors Blue Eyes...I know they piss you off but you can’t just cut down their trees.
April 18th, 2020 at 12:29 PM ^
dude is talented, the neighbors are in fear....
Considering how close that tree was to the house, it should have been cut down 30 years ago.
Or not built the house right snug against the damn tree.
no house, just a fence. and the sawyer did a fine job felling it. its one thing to get a tree to fall in a certain direction, but that precision is pretty impressive.
That’s an amazing cut drop. Do you think he is getting help on the rope or is that a fixed anchor?
The rope stays taught, so some help there. But maybe not as much as you think because the rope was so low and relatively small compared to that tree. If it were me I would've had it secured up higher and probably a quarter rap around on a nearby tree if available so I could tension it while being a bit more out of the way. Maybe not needed but I usually at least look for that if I'm trying to direct the fall of a larger tree to avoid damaging something, or far more likely, I don't want it to hang up on other trees. Hangers drive me nuts.
April 19th, 2020 at 12:32 PM ^
"its one thing to get a tree to fall in a certain direction, but that precision is pretty impressive."
No doubt.
One of my favorite Youtube categories is "Idiot who cuts down a tree that takes out his front porch/truck/deck/cabin/himself/etc."
Upon further review (UFR), it's clear that the saw being used in the video is indeed a Stihl.
It obviously follows then, that this is MGoUser Go Blue Eyes.
Thanks. I can can make them fall pretty close to where I want them to go but I’m nowhere near that good.
one quintuple post and one double post today. Time to start drinking some Scotch and really get going.
April 18th, 2020 at 10:17 AM ^
Gotta do some work today :( I'll take a break when it hits 50 outside.
Same thing I do every spring game: something else. That sounds more catty than it is meant to. I just don’t really think about football until fall. It’s great if it works for you though.
I need to make some bread but it will more likely be bagels.
April 18th, 2020 at 11:50 AM ^
The spring game is great when you have young kids. Plenty of room for them to muck about and leaving early isn't a problem.
I'm replacing the burners on my grill today. Maybe going to HD to buy a chainsaw and lumber to start building a bigger garden.
And if I don't finish the kitchen floor today Mrs. Hatter may just murder me in my sleep.
Thinking about how we are going to beat OSU with all the 3 star players we got.
I plan to give thanks for being alive, healthy and not being Maizen.
If the weather's half decent I might go outside. If not, maybe I'll spend a few hours overanalyzing the roster, plotting potential position changes and watching middle school tape on various three star recruits.
go for a run and have some beers
April 18th, 2020 at 11:21 AM ^
Beats the reverse.
It looks to be a lovely Spring day out here on the Kansas prairie. I will mow the lawn and plant, at least, tomato (20) and pepper (12) plants. This morning looks to be the last frost of the Spring so I will go ahead and plant green bean, zucchini, cucumber, cantaloupe and watermelon seeds.
April 18th, 2020 at 11:56 AM ^
Planting tomatoes in Lower MI doesn't start until at least the middle of May, annually and that's pushing it. We had 2-3" of snow yesterday and temps were well down in the 20s at sunrise today.
Washing the car and truck. ?
Really, bummed out. It’s an annual thing for us. I don’t care if it’s a “game” or a “glorified practice” or whatever anyone wants to call it. We just love being in The Big House. Any time of year.
Sheltering in place, updating my list of enemies and plotting my revenge.
Wasn’t gonna go anyways since it was that dumb open practice shit. Michigan Softball was going to be playing osu this weekend and M Gym was gonna win the National Championship later tonight at a Crisler since we hosted and were ranked #2 in the country.
However, id go watch Michigan Football do workouts on a live stream if I could right now. I will take nothing for granted anymore after this.
Im about to get a very special package in the mail. Had it shipped next day air that’s how important and expensive it was. The holy grail of any Michigan thing I own in my memorabilia room. Can’t wait to share it with you.