[Dr.Tramp]

The almost daily exercise is definitely a positive health factor for everybody; the students and regular citizens that bicycle back and forth to work and school are healthier, there's less obesity and stress from dealing with car traffic every day, the elderly are generally more active even in their later years, and the ladies have such finely toned legs.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp.............

 

[Dr.Tramp]

Riding a bicycle or motorcycle in Wyoming can be like that some days.
Two of my favorite "sporting events" to watch in the Netherlands were Fierljeppen where folks would try to pole vault across canals and a city festival, I don't remember the name or location, where people would fly off a ramp in homemade watercraft, land in a canal, and try to make it to the other side.
Half of them didn't even make it down the launch ramp and a bunch of those that did came apart when they hit the water but it was fun to watch.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp................

 

[Dr.Tramp]

I live here ( Southern Cascades / Ultra Rural Eastern Shasta County ) and cant understand how Folks in Texas or Arkansas or Montana or Utah or Michigan will say F#*^ California , I wont spend a dollar there or ever set foot in that place . So Strange .

It's not the physical state; California has many interesting and beautiful places to check out, it's the attitude of many of the people there and the completely screwed up state government.
The same reasons so many people in your part of the state want to secede and form a separate state or join Oregon.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp...............

 

[Dr.Tramp]

Having a weakness for gingers though my absolute favorite Netherlands festival is the Roodharigendag in Breda.
Breda is great by itself but with all those redheads in one spot it's magnificent.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp............

 

[Dr.Tramp]

One winter when I lived in Belgium it got cold enough that people there and in the Netherlands were skating on the canals and the Royal Prince of the Netherlands competed in the Elfstedentocht.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp.............

 

[Dr.Tramp]

“Greater Idaho” movement or The State of Jefferson movement"
Knew there's been some serious organizing going on but didn't realize there were two separate movements. Separatist discussions and movements have been going on in the Pacific Northwest States' rural regions for quite some time. Pretty much since the gold rush days.
Understandable in several ways, the money and power, economic and political, are usually in the more populated and usually more liberal suburban and metropolitan areas.
This is also where the majority of laws and regulations for the entire state are thought up and created. Consequently the majority of those same rules&regs are only really pertinent and/or beneficial to those areas.
The rural people get left out of a lot of plans and decisions which still end up affecting them.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp...................

 

[Dr.Tramp]

As Royal families go the Netherlands has been lucky. In large part the House of Orange has produced some pretty good administrators, especially in the modern era starting with Queen Wilhelmina.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp.............

 

[Dr.Tramp]

"Alec Baldwin situation. We could probably start an entirely new thread about this"
There is a discussion in the off topic forum regarding the shooting if you want to check it out.
As might be expected it seems like it's faded from the public's interest.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp................

 

[Dr.Tramp]

When I was a kid most cops still carried revolvers and the most common and popular auto loader was the Colt 1911.
Western movies and TV shows were still a big thing so everybody, at least us kids and I suspect a lot of adults, were into quick drawing and shooting like Marshal Dillon and John Wayne so I'm sure we learned all manner of bad Hollyweird firearm handling.
On the other hand my father taught my brothers and I to shoot rifles and handguns using a combination of hunting techniques and classic military style stance and grip. He also taught us the basics of shotgun handling with his style of field shooting and then we adapted that to what felt comfortable for us.
But no matter what we were shooting safe firearm handling was the basis of how we shot. To forget or neglect this resulted in a quick, and usually painful, reminder from my father.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp..............

 

[Dr.Tramp]

"I kind of like the stabelizing effect of a royalty"
Well it depends "greatly" on the royalty. Like I said, the Netherlands has been lucky to have the House of Orange which has, generally speaking, produced some good rulers & administrators.
France, Germany, Spain, and several other European countries haven't been nearly as lucky with their royal families.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp....................

 

[Dr.Tramp]

"everybody thought they were Steve Macqueen!"
Any movies with hot rod driving, Bullitt, Smokey and the Bandit, The Blues Bothers, Two Lane Blacktop, had folks acting crazy after seeing them.
Drive-ins were just worse because people were already in their cars at the end of the movie.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp............

 

[Dr.Tramp]

I could do that, except for the running, quick maneuvering, bending and stooping.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp.............

 

[Dr.Tramp]

That's why there is Senior Class!

You mean like shooting slow from a stationary position? I could do that.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp..............

 

[Dr.Tramp]

Interesting chess move and not completely unexpected; just a long time coming IMO.
The Russians, Finns, and Swedes are hereditary frenemies and have been feuding, warring, and trading against and with each other since they were tribes, so this is definitely not going to go over well in Russia. Xin Loi Vladimir.
This will also give NATO and Western Europe (EU members) more power and leverage in the Arctic as it becomes more navigable.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp............

 

[Dr.Tramp]

"Don't feel bad. My body is pretty banged up. I don't think I'd be able to get into it for the competitive aspect myself"
My biggest problem, amongst a long list of problems, regarding this type of active shooting is two fused ankles which makes maneuvering across any surface slow and awkward.
The more uneven or un-level the surface the slower and more awkward my maneuvering becomes and at times can require a walking stick to act as an outrigger.
Put a definite kink in my ballet career.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp...............

 

[Dr.Tramp]

"Putin has been rattling his sabre and threatening with sanctions etc. but this shows that the only way to stand up to a bully is to show you are serious"
If NATO was really serious about challenging Putin they would have reacted forcefully when he annexed the Crimea instead of acting like Chamberlain with Hitler over the Sudetenland in 1938.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp...............

 

[Dr.Tramp]

Ukraine was not a NATO when Russia annexed Crimea ... technically there was little they could do. Ukraine applied to join in 2008, but in 2010 then President Yanukovych decided to remain neutral, and then the Russians came. They since have changed their mind but it hasn't been formalized yet. Article V of the NATO Treaty only applies for members.

It's like insurance, you have to have take it out before the house burns down ...

NATO's mandate, in theory, is not merely supporting resistance to aggression involving member states but to support resistance against aggression in all the world.
Admittedly they have a poor track record in fulfilling this obligation but it is the basis for the organization's existence.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp..................

 

[Dr.Tramp]

"It just needs to go boom when I want it to. I like stupid and simple"
Here you go. This is my single shot 22cal model 35 Stevens Offhand Target pistol. Put the hammer in the half cock position, push the button on the side, and it breaks open like a shotgun.
This particular model was made from 1907 to 1916 and is still very accurate as long as your eyes can focus on the small and extremely thin front sight blade.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp............