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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Just a little frosting on the the top

As the last of the clouds cleared off (and over) Mt. Jefferson, which overlooks the mine site, the sun was able to shine down of the first frosting of the season.

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First Flake of the Season

And no, the flake is not yours truly regardless of a vocal, but still minority opinion :) Woke up this morning to a few flakes floating through the quiet of a Sunday morning. Nothing sticking of course, but it won't be long.

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Anarchist Cookbook

Now that catchy title should get me some hits from Homeland Security :) Actually just got some decent wicks in from the "specialty" store so I was filling some jelly jars with soy based paraffin and a few different scents for candles. If this combination works well, I'll move into using some colorant too.

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Rural Runway Jet-setting

On a recent morning drive to work I saw activity at the small air strip next to the neighborhood where I, and most of the mine employees live. A small jet, the little white splotch, had landed to drop off visitors. The runway is exceedingly small---perhaps a narrow mile of unlit runway so the pilot must be braver than most to drop a jet onto the tarmac at dawn's early light.

Failure Mode

I've mentioned before about the hundreds of prisms lining the wall of the open pit. Each one is continuously tracked by scanners placed around the rim. This series of plots shows a particular area that had been scheduled to fail in the next week or so but has accelerated to the point where collapse is at anytime. All employees and equipment (except for the suicidal prisms) have been moved out of that area of the pit awaiting the all clear to return to work.

Dusty Rose

I've practiced a little with the Lumix the past week. I took this photo of a rose a bit past it's prime and "adjusted" some of the elements for the washed out effect.

Finally saw a Gators game in HD

Wildcats fans must be estactic with the play of their team against a flu striken Florida squad. Pay no attention to the score, the fans may take solace in that it was a moral victory---kind of like the one Tennessee prided themselves on last week :)

Had my cake and ate it too

A few kind souls kept track of a date this past week and dropped a cake off on my desk this past week. No candles but all things considered, we are a Safety First culture here :)

I, robot broken am I

The poor little guy is defintely not on par with WALL-E or his girl EVE but typically does his part to keep the floor spotless. After a recent run, he began going in small circles and a teardown ensued to discover the problem. Easy fix, bad left wheel module and he'll begin making his rounds again.

Go Green----Home Water Filtration

A companion blog demonstrated how they save some $ by filtering their own tap water instead of buying bottled water. I use a filter also for the same purpose---filling water bottles. Out here in the high desert you don't realize how much water you lose because perspiration evaporates so quickly due to low humidity. Also, the area is known to have some elevated arsenic levels in the water so just for peace of mind I use the filter. Rasputin I'm not!!