Freya Hoffmeister completes Australia circumnavigation by kayak

For nearly a year now, I have been following the journey of a woman by the name of Freya Hoffmeister as she worked to become the second person ever to circumnavigate Australia in a kayak. January 18th of 2009, she departed Queenscliff, Australia and headed counterclockwise around the continent. She blogged her journey by way of satellite phone messages, allowing the world to share the experience.

Today, she finished. She arrived back at Queenscliff around noon today, Aussie time.

Her journey took 332 days, which is 29 days faster than it was done by Paul Caffyn in 1982.
Follow the below link to her blog to skim the highlights of her journey around a country where Great White sharks and saltwater crocodiles hunt the waters and beaches hoping to make a snack of a lone kayaker.
http://qajaqunderground.com/2009/12/14/circumnavigation-finish-at-queenscliff/

Congradulations Freya. It's been an inspiration to kayakers around the world.

Bumper Sticker

Perhaps we have been told so often that violence is not the solution to everything, that we have come to incorrectly believe that it is the solution to nothing.

What country did I wake up in?

NEW YORK — Former New York Giant Plaxico Burress pleaded guilty Thursday to a weapons charge and agreed to a two-year prison term for accidentally shooting himself at a Manhattan nightclub.

This morning's headlines show the story of a person that many people may know. Plaxico Burress won the winning touchdown for the NY Giants in the 2008 superbowl.
He is going to prison for two years for carrying a firearm that he legally purchased.
The reason he was found to be carrying the handgun is because he shot himself in the leg trying to prevent the gun from sliding down his pant leg at a nightclub.

He has already been released from his football team.

What happened to the US Constitution? Last time I read it, I could have sworn that it mentioned "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed".
Let's break that down... It says "Right of the PEOPLE".. not "Power of the State". Afterall, the bill of rights, if you read them, each deal with rights that individuals of this country are entitled to, that is the purpose of the bill of rights. Can the freedom of speech be negated because you live in New York?
Can the right to a fair trial by jury be thrown away because one lives in the California? If you are a citizen of this country, then the bill of rights should protect you no matter where you live in this country.

Now, "keep and bear", perhaps some politicians need to pull out their trusty webster dictionaries, "BEAR" means to carry. If I come "bearing" gifts, that doesn't mean I left a gift for you back at my house in the nightstand, it means I am carrying it. If I offer to help you "bear" your load, that doesn't mean I'll let you drop it off in my gun safe, it means I will help you carry it.
Keep and Bear= own and carry.

Lastly, "shall not be infringed", one would think this was easy enough to interpret without a dictionary, but evidentally not. It means undermined, weakened, limited, diminished.

We have a man going to prison for two years of his life for excersising a right that is guaranteed by the constitution of the United States. He harmed no one except himself. He didn't brandish the firearm. He didn't shoot anyone (except himself). He wasn't committing a robbery. And yet, he is getting a slightly longer sentence than another NFL player got for torturing dogs to death. WTF is wrong with the politicians up there? Did the Mayor lose big $$ on a superbowl bet because of Burress?

Set this man free... and someone sell him a good holster so he doesn't have to tuck his gun in his waist band like a dummy.

Florida Python INVASION

The whole country is discussing the python invasion in florida. The talk has increased greatly this week due to the death of a toddler last week in central florida that was killed by the family's unlicensed pet python.

This week, a senator from florida is selling himself on the news, capitalizing on the python mania, by announcing he is going python hunting in the everglades. Politicians and media are feeding the frenzy and cashing in one of the most common phobias in the world...Ophidaphobia... the fear of snakes.

The news is full of statistics about how over a dozen people have been killed by pet pythons since 1985 in the US. So, in the interest fairness, I have a few statistics for your amusement.

Every 40 seconds, someone in the US seeks medical treatment for a dog bite.
Since 1985, nearly 400 people have been killed by dogs in the US.

Dogs kill as many people every year as pet pythons have killed in 25 years combined.

Now, here is an even bigger eye-opener... every year, more than 200 people are killed by HORSES!

But wait.. there's more...
Another argument for the python frenzy is the threat to native wildlife.
A snake eats one meal every week or two... larger pythons eat even less often.
Cats kill several times per day.

The feral cat population in the US is estimated to be over 60 million.
15 million is the estimated population of feral cats in Florida.
It is estimated that stray cats kill around 270 million small animals and 68 million birds in Florida EVERY YEAR.

So, I ask everyone to look at the real numbers and ask yourself what is the real threat? Shouldn't we be outlawing Dogs, Cats, and Horses?

Nah.. that wouldn't sell newspapers or votes now would it?

Pooh's snakebite --part2

The next morning, the swelling was much worse. His head looked like a fuzzy watermelon. Swelling had moved down the front of his neck, to his chest. He was still bleeding quite a bit from his mouth.



He couldn't eat anything, but was drinking lots of water.
It was a scary day, because he looked so much worse, I didn't think he would make it.
But, by evening, he had decided to try some food and was treated to a baked chicken breast or four.

DAY 3-
By Saturday morning, he still looked like hell, but it seemed obvious to me that the swelling was going down. He was also much more alert and walked without staggering.


We started him on Benedryl, because in theory it should help with the swelling. We gave him three doses during the day Saturday. By evening he looked almost like his old self!



Day 4-
By this morning (Sunday), his swelling is way down. He is eating quite a bit and drinking lots. He seems very alert and pretty active. He is going outside and peeing and pooping just fine. The puncture wounds where the fangs hit are developing into sores and will have to be watched for signs of infection, but it looks like the big oaf is gonna make it.

Pooh's Moccasin bite- part1

It started thursday afternoon, may 14th. I was at work, on the phone with Michelle who was home on her day off. She was calling the dogs into the house when she that something is wrong with Poohbear.. he is standing funny and won't eat the bologna treat she is offering him. Pooh never refuses people food. She says that she thinks maybe he has had a stoke, because his face is also hanging funny. I ask her to check his stomach to see if it is bloated..thinking he may have eaten something poisoned. Nope, she says that's fine. So I ask her to check his mouth for foam to see if maybe he tried to eat a toad. Nope. But she notices a bloody puncture on the end of his nose. "I think he may have been bitten by a snake" she says. Damn.. maybe it is just a wasp or bee sting? "well, there are two punctures and it is starting to swell up" Damn... look around for a snake, it may be wounded, be careful.. "I see it!, it's a moccasin" Kill it. "I'll call you back" click.

A few minutes later she calls me back to inform me that the moccasin has been finished off, although it's head was barely attached when she found it. It is about 3 feet long. Should we take him in for antivenon treatment? I begin making phone calls while she hangs up and tends to Pooh. After notifying Lynn, I call several vets and discover that antivenon for dogs is not an option around here. It is just too expensive for them to stock. They treat with fluids, antibiotics, and Benedryl.
Well, Michelle can do IV's if necessary, and we have plenty of Benedryl. So, I head home, as does Lynn, and we begin the Pooh watch.

When I arrive home, approximately an hour and a half after the bite, his heart is racing, his breathing is extremely rapid, and his face is swelling bad on the right side. Blood is dripping from his mouth in long stringy ropes. So begins the drama.





Here is the dead offender. Anyone who knows me, knows that I don't normally kill snakes, and probably wouldn't even have wanted this one killed if it wasn't already wounded severly.

Day 2

Pooh is improving! yaayyyy!
Yesterday brought a slight decrease in swelling after some Benedryl was administered. By lunchtime, he was able to carry his big melon head over to the fridge and mooch a chicken breast from Michelle while she was getting herself some lunch.. so her and Lynn cooked up another package of them for him. By bed time, his bleeding had nearly stopped (he had been bleeding pretty bad from the gums)and he had eaten two cans of soft dog food as well.

This morning, his head resembled a dog's head, instead of a giant mishapen fuzzy melon. He seemed more alert this morning also and ate breakfast and got some more benedryl. I think the big oaf is gonna make it.