Beautiful Fall Day on Leech Lake

The leaves are turning, the air is crisp, the sky is blue, and so is the lake. I can't believe I left this early to go to a work event...




Great year at Leech. Summer is officially over. Can't wait until next opener.

2009 Minnesota Youth Waterfowl Day

Last week marked the opening of the duck season with the Youth Waterfowl Day hunt. In an effort to stem the significant loss of hunters, the state offers a one-day hunt for youth, prior to the regular duck opener, to get out there and have fun. This is a youth-only hunt, meaning adults can supervise, place decoys, call ducks, etc. but may not shoot.

This is a huge controversy in Minnesota, as old-time duck hunters feel the kids "make the birds go away" by scaring them off. This is a load of crap:

• Very few kids really participate
• Minnesota holds scant amount of birds to begin with. Our habitat is atrocious.
• With our late opener, we'll see at least one cold front that will move off many of our teal and wood ducks before our season starts. This is almost guaranteed. It's no the kids - it's mother nature

The bottom line is that if we don't get more kids involved in hunting, it will go away. And quickly. Duck hunter ranks are falling off the table, and our average age is now in the mid to late 40's. If nobody does it, then nobody cares. If nobody cares, goodbye habitat (what little remains), goodbye legislative support against anti-hunting groups, goodbye hunting.

So our little team consisted of four kids (3 girls!), 3 adults, and two yellow dogs. It was a warm morning, but the kids were successful, bagging one blue winged teal and one drake wood duck. Deuce made the retrieves, and had a great time as well.

Here's the yellow dog herself - or should I say not-so-yellow-dog...

If you really care about our way of life, get a kid hooked on hunting. Without the support of their generation, we're doomed.

OK, This is Creeping Me Out

I was first creeped out by this:



But, hey, it's California, right? This is just an outlier. A bunch of Calis on a Sunday morning, conducting their equivalent of going to church. Not a big deal.

Now this:



I don't care who your president is - politics, color, sex - kids should not be made to sing about him like he's some kind of deity.

Seriously. Isn't anyone else creeped out by this?

The Daily Puntometer - The Pennant Race Version

With AL MVP candidate Justin Morneau lost for the remainder of the season, the only prayer the Twins have is to step things up and assume the load that the big man was previously carrying. And who is doing his share? None other than the worst regular-season player in Twins' history.

Nicky Punto has his average up to .229 - he was north of .230, but a traditional Punto 0 for 4 last night pushed him down.

I have to admit that this team has a lot more guts than I would have expected. The loss of Morneau should have been catastrophic, yet guys like Kubel, and notably Cuddyer, have closed the gap on the Tigers.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but thanks to these guys, we have ourselves a pennant race. 11 games to play, 4 against the leader, and 2 1/2 games back - it could be a fun couple of weeks.

I can't believe I'm saying this either, but "GO NICKY!"

Jimmy Carter Thinks I'm a Racist

Unbelievable.

To former President Carter and others that honestly believe that "an overwhelming portion" of opposition to Obama policies are driven by basic racism:

• What form of opposition would be allowed and not described as racism? I want very specific examples. Or perhaps there are none, and we must therefore blindly and subserviently follow the President to ensure that racism truly does not exist. Seriously, I want an answer.
• If simple demonstration against something as benign as fiscal policy is considered racism, how in the world will we ever get beyond race in this country? Likewise, with racism being the constant "cry wolf," won't true episodes of actual and meaningful racism ultimately be downplayed?

I felt with the election of Obama that we could move forward as a country with regard to race. Unfortunately, the specter of racism is too valuable of a tool to be dropped by the left. The fact of the matter is we've not moved forward, and some might even argue that we've actually moved backward.

The flippant and specious claims of racism by the left are some of the most repugnant behavior I've seen in politics in my life. Again, unbelievable.

An Island View Yahoo!

Having over 55 miles one-way to commute to my job has its challenges. Case in point: Now that road construction has come to one segment, my commute has increased from one hour to, at times, nearly an hour and a half. That's up to three hours of window time a day.

Given this, I'm lucky enough to work from home every Friday, and many Wednesdays. It does wonders for my productivity - both at work, and at home.

One of the benefits of this is that some days when I work from home I'm able to get the first tee time off at Island View. If I use a cart and am first off, I can get a round completed in about an hour and a half, and be back in my home office by 8:00.

Since the days are getting shorter, I'm no longer able to do this for the remainder of the season, but I was able to get out last Friday for one last pre-work round. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the result:
This marks my best score, ever. I'm an 18 handicap, and this was a real treat.

The numbers blow my score allow me to track my performance with regard to breaking 90 - a goal I have every round. Usually that number is in the plus range, and sometimes way up there.

It was a nice way to cap my best year of golf, ever, and hopefully something of which I can take advantage of next year.

We Lost Another Good One

I had the pleasure to work with Rosemarie Montroy of Direct Media during my three year stint at my previous employer, and we really hit it off well. Her and her team did great work with our group as we resumed prospecting of the re-launched business, and the results helped give the fledgling company a firm foundation. She honored me by inviting me to speak at one of their client conferences on leveraging the web for new customer acquisition. Over this period we shared numerous meetings, laughs, drinks, and dinners, as well as a great partnership.

Unfortunately, that all came to an end with my firing.

Upon notification of the bad news, I immediately penned a note to all of my contacts and asked for their help in keeping their ears open for any opportunities.

Exactly one hour after I sent my message, I receive this reply from Rosemarie:

Mike, this is sorry news indeed but I am a firm believer that everything in the universe has a time, place and reason and there is a lot of positive energy around you, kiddo.

I'll keep my eyes and ears open and, with your permission, pass this information along to my associates here at DMI. Let me know if that's ok.

Best regards ... I'll be in touch.

Note the close. Not "keep in touch." Not "good luck." It was a firm "I'll be in touch."

And she was.

Two days later she had two opportunities, and signed off with "Keep the faith!"

A day later another opportunity, with another "I'll be in touch."

A day later, yet another opportunity.

It turns out one of those contacts is now my current occupation.

I am neither the direct response marketer, nor the business leader, nor the person I am today without the direct influence of Rosemarie. Unfortunately, I have found out that she has passed away recently after a very quick illness due to lung cancer at the young age of 64.

The picture of her above on the back of the ATV is one I took from her Facebook page, and is one that truly embodies her infectious spirit and love of life.

Rest in peace, Rosemarie. And thank you. Thank you for everything.

Dad's Ashes

It is all over.

Yesterday, on a beautiful (albeit warm) September Saturday morning, I spread the small amount of dad's remaining ashes on end of the point at our duck camp.

This seems a fitting spot, as it is one that dad definitely would have wanted. But it is also fitting in that the point itself was built out of remembrance: Back in the early part of the last century, the gentleman that owned this land pined for a way to easily make it across the lake to the family graveyard in which his wife was buried. He set upon building a land bridge to cross the lake and make his daily visits easier.

He never finished - it sounds like he took ill, and ultimately took his own place in the family graveyard. He did make it a couple of hundred yards, and it still stands as a testament to his love and remembrance.

It has also developed into a really great place to hunt ducks, where many hours have been spent with friends from all walks of life; some two legged, some four. The memories there run deep, and are far, far too many to mention.

I said a little something, flung dad's remaining ashes at the end of the point, and was painfully reminded of how very much I miss him.

Rest in peace, dad.