Mt. Shoshone and the Moon Watching the Sun Set

After a crisp cloudless day, the sun blazes the tops of the mountains to the east in ruddy colors just before dipping down below Arc Dome and his friends in the Toiyabe mountain range.

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Grand Prize in B&W

Everyone won a little something, but the Grand Prize drawing was won by the little woman whose phonetically misspelled name ironically means "me ok"---and yes she is :)

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Time to Retire this Zebra

While leading 24-10 in the 4th quarter, this fumble into the end zone that would have resulted in a touchback for the Dolphins was called as a touchdown for the Saints....and an instant replay challenge backed it up!? Hard to fathom.....

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Punching a Hole in the Sky

Most rockets can punch a hole in the sky.....Ares makes it's own hole. Actually, anything that passes through mach 1 will make some sort of visual shock wave of compressed water vapor in moisture laden air, but with the expanded portion of Ares forward of the solid rocket powered first stage, the design lends itself to going through the sound barrier in style.

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King of the Heap Leach

Taken from the 400 foot level on the western heap leach, this photo shows the community of Hadley nestled in Smoky valley. The canyon directly behind Hadley is Pablo Canyon with Jett Canyon to the north (right) and Wall Canyon to the south. The heap leach begins with a 300-400 foot elevation over Hadley with an additional 400 feet from the mound itself.

Frosted Mini

Weather has been a bit different lately and this morning was no exception. Between one and two inches of light snow in some drifts and some icy patches on the roads. After driving through some of the ice and snow storms in the Ozarks I believe Mini and I will be just fine...

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First Born Posting

Posted with a father's pride (and the ensuing boasting conversations with fellow employees) is the first born with her peers in the "30 Club". Circled with a heart in the photo, most people tell me that she looks just like her dad---fortunately for her, they are being to kind me because other than the brown eyes and a certain stubbornesss tenacity, she's nothing like dad :)

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Dawn of a New Age

As a young boy growing up and witnessing Saturn V moonshots firsthand, the Ares 1-X is familar ground. The shuttle is very cool, but there is something about a "real" rocket punching a hole in the sky :)

Go Ares!!!!!!

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Mini don't lose that number......

Me and Mini ran to the closest DMV office to get registered before her plates expired. About a 45 minute jaunt through wide mountain plains to Tonopah, the home of stealth----or so the plaque on the firehouse says....From the cost of the new tag I can say with a very high confidence that Nevada does not charge by the weight of a car!!!!

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Beauty and the Beast.....and a High School Junior

The Crown Prince and littlest Princess stand next to a CAT 785, a "medium-sized" haul truck. The center hub on the tire rim is about 6 feet off the ground. These Cats typically haul around 200 tons of rocks in a single load. Fuel capacity varies but is typically around 800 gallons and the fuel mileage is better calculated in gallons per mile or tons per gallon.

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We're not in Kansas anymore Toto.....

Note the clouds rolling down the eastern faces of the mountain range. At least the weather in Tennessee is similar to my home state of Florida. Here in the high country when a front "blows through", it means you can go out and taste it. Something tells me that this winter the weather will be more interesting than usual.

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The Team at the Overlook

Here is the Team standing at the southern overlook to the mine pit. The far side is over a mile away and the pit is several thousand feet deep from the upper rim. The "little" stairs are 35 feet high but vary in width depending on the ore body.

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Bon Appetit!!!

The results of my laboring over a hot stove all day :) Looks like I know what is for leftovers this week!

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Fire Dragon Chili--Just in Time for Fall

Have to start with a few beans.......

Then chop up an onion or two....

Let's not forget to add some heat!!!

Brown some good ground beef and saute in the onions and peppers...

Add in some diced tomatoes and simmer for a few hours

I'll add to the beans and let you know how it turns out :)

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Simulated Drinking and Driving Simulator

At the recent Health Fair, a driving simulator had delayed inputs that simulated driving in various stages of inebriation. No one came out unscathed.

This one might be trouble as she observes the pedestrians

He was very focused and recently got his Driver's License to prove it.

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Escape to Wall Canyon

Typical race positions for the day, though mom did start giving the littlest princess a run for her money as she got comfortable.

Coming back out of the canyon

And of course practicing on a four wheeler allows teenagers to pass their driving tests easily :)

Note the mine and Mt Jefferson in the background.....

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Office Gremlins

Had a couple of Office Gremlins graffiti my precious white board this past week. One, with a rather flamboyant cursive style in the trademark purple.......the other, more subtle gremlin, used various magnets to make his mark.

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Rubber Tree Forest

The mine tour included a trip through the famed rubber tree forest where our trio is posed in front of one of the larger specimens-----genus Michelin maximus

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Pink Power Ranger Tames a Grizzly

The Pink Power Ranger (aka The Littlest Princess) is shown getting ready to boogie into the canyon ahead for a picnic lunch. 650cc of Grizzily power proved no match for the Gurl Power to tame :)

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Tennessee Superhero Helps in Replacing a Tranny

Standing in front of the largest of the wheeled loaders is "H-Man". The Komatsu loader had a bad transmission---the replacement came from Ripley, TN where they are rebuilt/remanufactured and is being installed this weekend.

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Outfitted and ready

Safety comes first when visiting this mine and getting the correct PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) for the job at hand is critical. Shown here is "The Team" ready to tour the mine site and see the Heavy Metal moving rock.

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Fresh from the oven

The General Store here was out of their locally made, all natural bread loaves so I whipped up a couple for myself. No sure of the cost effectiveness but it sure made the house smell good :)

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Teeth of the Storm

While as impressive as this snowfall looks in the distance (about 3 miles) it really just looks like this on the inside of the maelstrom........

Normally this view has mountains in the background. Looking closely you can see specks of snow coming down as Mini and I enjoy the weather :)

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