"independent reviews" -- ha!

Is there even one website out there that reviews international phone cards and is NOT a shill for a specific card? The claims that the reviews are independent and unbiased are such blatant lies it's laughable.

sense always takes over, doesn't it

A friend had gotten a new tiercel HH, but due to a knee injury was no longer able to train him. I asked around and found someone. Since I was seeing my mom for the Thanksgiving holiday and my friend lived in the area, I figured I'd make it convenient for everyone and pick up the bird.

He's the progeny of my sponsor's HH, a nice gamey bird. In this eyas I could see a bit of her, too. He was a bit feisty and very quick. I haven't had a young HH in at least 10 years, so it was a pleasure to see his curiosity and focus. His siblings, I was told, are catching bunnies already. You could tell was so ready to go out and fly and catch something!A little sentimentality and a fat dose of sensed potential got me on the phone to the recipient. I told him I was interested in the bird and I wanted to hang onto it, at least for a little while. He seemed okay with that.

Sense reminded me I had only one bunny field within an hour's drive of me -- and that was on private property, escort required. Even jackrabbits are harder to find. There's so few wild, unfenced places left here. Sense told me although crow is certainly a good skill for a young hawk to have, I did not want to create another crow hawk. A crow hawking cast sounds cool but I don't think it's do-able, especially with a partner like Mr P.

I phoned the recipient the next day and said I'd changed my mind. He came by and picked up the tiercel that evening. I wish them both well...

horror on Midway Atoll

This is simply awful. Albatross parents mistake brightly colored bottle caps and bits of plastic for food, and feed it to their chicks... who die...

overboard

I like Obama, and wanted him for president since the idea started being suggested. I think he's done more for this country in 6 months than the previous administration did in 8 years.

But the Nobel Peace Prize? Come ON folks.

Having a far more approachable global attitude is great. Stating a commitment to reducing nuclear weaponry is wonderful. Guiding my country through avoiding depression, and to the beginnings of economic recovery, is a relief.

But none of it is really Prize-worthy. The Nobel Institute says it is for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." Obama has done some, but not a LOT, not on the scale of Carter, let's say. He has been primarily a speaker, an inspirer, a motivator -- and there's a lot of value in that. But results are a different matter and remain to be seen.

I'm skeptical of the Institute's motivations. It only creates more pressure on the man with the biggest plateful of pressures since Roosevelt.

speak of the devil..

And my falconry license has arrived today.

where o where?

Earlier I had wondered when I was going to get my falconry license. I phoned Portland and it turns out the fed has set up Region 8, a new office in Sacramento. We used to send everything to Portland, now Portland's sent everything back down to Sac. They gave me a number to call, and I left a message there.

Falconers generally don't consider phone calls from USFWS to be delightful, but a very nice young lady called me at 7pm on a Friday evening to tell me that she had my check and my paperwork. Region 8 had been open just over a month, so undoubtedly there will be a long delay in actually getting the license. But at least I know they have it.

so far so good

In two days, I will have not smoked for four weeks. There's been maybe 3 slips where I smoked a quarter of a cigarette, but overall it's good and I am pretty determined to stay quit.

smoke emotions

Something I've often said is that cigarettes are the wonder drug. You're tired, you smoke and perk up. You're tense, you smoke and relax. Cigarettes are whatever you want them to be and that's a huge part of why they're so addictive.

Recently, I talked with someone who had quit 14 years ago, and he said "cigarettes are entirely emotional." Being a bit Spockish it took me 2 weeks to figure out what he was saying and apply it to quitting.

It's all about association. Cigarettes are whatever you want them to be. They're all about affecting how you're feeling. But the thing to understand is the emotions you had were there to begin with, and the emotions you have after the cigarette are YOUR emotions.

The cigarette does nothing.

Example: You're tense, and you step outside and light up. What you're doing walking away physically, mentally, or both. You take a break -- you get away from the problem -- you pause for reflection. That's what relaxes you, NOT THE CIGARETTE. Associating the relaxation with the cig is the error.

If you're happy, the cigarette does not make you happier. If you're hungry, the cigarette may put a flavor on your tongue but you can do the same thing with anything else. Tense, bored, needing relaxation or a break -- you can do it just as well without.

Disassociate the emotion from the cigarette and you will lose another (possibly large) reason to smoke.