Hello Everyone! So... are you all conditioned to winter with that cold stretch last week? I know I am. It is interesting when 20 degrees above zero is talked about as a "heat wave"... at least we got a bit of snow to cover things up... my backyard looks better with a blanket of the white stuff to hide all the things I didn't get taken care of this fall. Here's another thought for you... Winter doesn't officially start until December 21st, I think Mother Nature was out of the loop on that one.
Tidbits Question of the week: "Why do you publish a paper instead of just putting this on a website." - Harold from Watertown, SD
Well, I prefer the permanence of putting ink on paper. I have the very first issue that Lynette and I put out sitting right here. The information, jokes and puzzles are all still as viable as the day it came off the press over a year and a half ago. We also want Tidbits to be available for everyone to enjoy, young or old, rich or the rest of us. Once an issue is out there it entertains our readers and works for our advertisers without any other infrastructure, plans, services or devices.
Now... are we anti-technology? Not by a long shot. Modern technology is what gives us the ability to create a Tidbits paper each week and bring it to your town.
OK, back to the part of the question about a website... As many people know already, Tidbits of the Lake Area has a great website on which the paper is available to read on your computer, tablet or mobile device. You can also check area events, submit a joke, place a classified ad, read some jokes and quotes, enter the reader contest, click ads on our community pages to check out advertisers websites, read Publisher's Corner archived articles or drop us line if you have any questions or comments. We have worked hard to make www.LakeAreaTidbits.com an integral part of the Tidbits experience... all with no pop-ups, pop-overs, redirects and such... and every ad on our website is a local advertiser from right here in Northeast South Dakota and West Central Minnesota.
Push?
Last week I told you a camping story and I got so many comments I thought I'd tell another.
My wife Lynette and I just celebrated 20 years of marriage last October and this story goes all the way back to the early days... before the kids came along.
Right out of college, we had 3 part time jobs between us that fit into four work days so we had three days off in a row for that summer. This was out in Spearfish, SD in the beautiful Black Hills which we both loved. After some discussion we made the decision to camp for the summer in the National Forest. So we loaded up the car with everything we needed and worked our jobs, staying with friends for three nights and then we would head up into the forest, find some old logging roads and see how far our little Chevy Chevette would get. This was before the cell phones got popular, so we were really cutoff from everything.. sounds good, huh? Generally it was the most relaxing time I have ever spent, but occasionally we would get thrown a curve ball... like this one...
We had traveled down an old logging road until we came to a dugout in the road that the Forest Service used to keep off-roaders from going any further. There we set up camp and had awesome weather for three days. On the morning of the fourth day, which was the start of our work week, we got up early, packed the car jumped in and turned the key... nothing. The Chevette we had was a four speed, so with a dead battery we could push start it pretty easily, except for the fact that the road was all down hill to the dugout and mound so we couldn't go forward. Well, we started to talk over options and decided it was a long way to any road that might have traffic and we hadn't seen anyone for three days, so waiting for someone to come by was out. We quickly realized our only option was to push the car back up the road. As we all know, cars aren't light, so we took out everything that wasn't bolted down in the car and placed a log under the wheel and began to rock the little car until we got enough momentum to push it two or three feet then put the log under the wheel to hold it in place, catch our breath and repeat the procedure... for the better part of an hour! After working at it, we got pretty good and got it the top of the road. At this point, the cross road went left and right... uphill both ways. We looked at each and couldn't believe our only option was to roll the car down the same road we had just spent the last hour pushing the car up for one chance at it starting. So I hopped in and got ready, kind of like an airplane pre-flight... switch on - check. Second gear - check. Praying to God - check.... here we go! Got up enough speed, popped the clutch - she fired up - woo-hoo! At this point the dugout mound is coming at me fast, so I took it out of gear - still revving the engine to keep it running - and hit the brake with my left foot and came to a stop about six inches from the dirt mound. I think back now and wonder if it would have been like the Dukes of Hazard's General Lee if I didn't get it stopped! Yee-haw!
Anyhow, we loaded back up, made it to town - BOUGHT A NEW BATTERY - and went about our lives.
Thanks for reading and don't forget to check out www.LakeAreaTidbits.com. Have a great week and don't be the crazy driver out there we all talk about - slow down and get there!!
Tidbits Question of the week: "Why do you publish a paper instead of just putting this on a website." - Harold from Watertown, SD
Well, I prefer the permanence of putting ink on paper. I have the very first issue that Lynette and I put out sitting right here. The information, jokes and puzzles are all still as viable as the day it came off the press over a year and a half ago. We also want Tidbits to be available for everyone to enjoy, young or old, rich or the rest of us. Once an issue is out there it entertains our readers and works for our advertisers without any other infrastructure, plans, services or devices.
Now... are we anti-technology? Not by a long shot. Modern technology is what gives us the ability to create a Tidbits paper each week and bring it to your town.
OK, back to the part of the question about a website... As many people know already, Tidbits of the Lake Area has a great website on which the paper is available to read on your computer, tablet or mobile device. You can also check area events, submit a joke, place a classified ad, read some jokes and quotes, enter the reader contest, click ads on our community pages to check out advertisers websites, read Publisher's Corner archived articles or drop us line if you have any questions or comments. We have worked hard to make www.LakeAreaTidbits.com an integral part of the Tidbits experience... all with no pop-ups, pop-overs, redirects and such... and every ad on our website is a local advertiser from right here in Northeast South Dakota and West Central Minnesota.
Push?
Last week I told you a camping story and I got so many comments I thought I'd tell another.
My wife Lynette and I just celebrated 20 years of marriage last October and this story goes all the way back to the early days... before the kids came along.
Right out of college, we had 3 part time jobs between us that fit into four work days so we had three days off in a row for that summer. This was out in Spearfish, SD in the beautiful Black Hills which we both loved. After some discussion we made the decision to camp for the summer in the National Forest. So we loaded up the car with everything we needed and worked our jobs, staying with friends for three nights and then we would head up into the forest, find some old logging roads and see how far our little Chevy Chevette would get. This was before the cell phones got popular, so we were really cutoff from everything.. sounds good, huh? Generally it was the most relaxing time I have ever spent, but occasionally we would get thrown a curve ball... like this one...
We had traveled down an old logging road until we came to a dugout in the road that the Forest Service used to keep off-roaders from going any further. There we set up camp and had awesome weather for three days. On the morning of the fourth day, which was the start of our work week, we got up early, packed the car jumped in and turned the key... nothing. The Chevette we had was a four speed, so with a dead battery we could push start it pretty easily, except for the fact that the road was all down hill to the dugout and mound so we couldn't go forward. Well, we started to talk over options and decided it was a long way to any road that might have traffic and we hadn't seen anyone for three days, so waiting for someone to come by was out. We quickly realized our only option was to push the car back up the road. As we all know, cars aren't light, so we took out everything that wasn't bolted down in the car and placed a log under the wheel and began to rock the little car until we got enough momentum to push it two or three feet then put the log under the wheel to hold it in place, catch our breath and repeat the procedure... for the better part of an hour! After working at it, we got pretty good and got it the top of the road. At this point, the cross road went left and right... uphill both ways. We looked at each and couldn't believe our only option was to roll the car down the same road we had just spent the last hour pushing the car up for one chance at it starting. So I hopped in and got ready, kind of like an airplane pre-flight... switch on - check. Second gear - check. Praying to God - check.... here we go! Got up enough speed, popped the clutch - she fired up - woo-hoo! At this point the dugout mound is coming at me fast, so I took it out of gear - still revving the engine to keep it running - and hit the brake with my left foot and came to a stop about six inches from the dirt mound. I think back now and wonder if it would have been like the Dukes of Hazard's General Lee if I didn't get it stopped! Yee-haw!
Anyhow, we loaded back up, made it to town - BOUGHT A NEW BATTERY - and went about our lives.
Thanks for reading and don't forget to check out www.LakeAreaTidbits.com. Have a great week and don't be the crazy driver out there we all talk about - slow down and get there!!
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