Monday For messages about today's picture, see Cam Notes. This area is for other friendly conversation. Please read our Acceptable Use Policy.

Some other links of recent interest to Pasty Cam watchers:
• Ancestors 2007   • New Arrivals 2007
• Visit the Hut Inn Eight years ago on the Pasty Cam: 10/01/99 ^{Printed on Recycled Internet}

Secretary of State Candice Miller was visiting the Copper Country eight years ago, when the Pasty Cam stumbled upon this scene.

By the way, there was another downstate VIP visiting over the weekend in the Copper Country: Matt Roush, the technology editor for WWJ Radio in Detroit, stopped by the Hut for lunch on Saturday, and then did some sight-seeing up US-41. He got a close look at the Snow Thermometer near Phoenix.

congrats, Lori, on lovely Claire. Just saw you on 'new arrivals.'

Good Morning from Florida. It's only 72º right now but the humidity is still high so I still have the windows closed and the air on. I usually turn it off by today. :) I used to try not to turn on the Heat before Oct 1. My how things change.

Have reached a milestone, Precious drove herself to work today. Thought I would be able to sleep in but got up out of habit. Cloudy and cold here in Berkley this morning.

Good Morning, Everyone, from soon to be rainy mid-Michigan.

BTW, the state of Michigan is coming back to life this morning. The drawbridges in Bay City were starting to function again, shortly after 6:30 am. (They had been up all night for freighter traffic per Coast Guard regulations, while the government was in partial shutdown.) Better late than never!

Mikie, that's awesome that Precious drove to work this morning!

good morning! Mikie, that's great and being up early isn't so bad. I love the early morning hours.

Mikie, thats a big step for Precious! Happy to see she is feeling well enough. My neighbor finally put out his tree stand yesterday, has been in the back of his truck for 2 weeks. Tis the season to dodge deer!

FINNFEST 2007 OHIO;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N57kiXBAH54&mode=related&search=

You're right, Brooke. Four of them darted out in front of me the other night on my way home from St. Cloud. How come they're so stupid until the hunters are out looking for them?? LOL

The State of Michigan is back in business! Woo hoo! The lay off is over. Whew!!

I am soooo happy for you Cindy! I've been thinking about you all weekend long. I guess prayer helps, huh? Christmas is still on then??

That's awesome, Cindy! I have been thinking of you all weekend long, too. That whole impending shutdown deal was crazy, as was watching it all go down last night. I am just glad that you are back in business!

Brooke, speaking of putting up tree stands: one of the assistant principals at the high school here fell out of his tree stand last week. When he fell, he broke his back, and he is paralyzed from the waist down now. I have not heard if there is hope to regain function, or not. It is really sad, as he has young children, etc.

Anyway, y'all be careful with tree stands. That was almost the worst accident I have heard of. But, every year, guys near here fall out of their tree stands and break legs, ankles, arms, and you name it.

If man were meant to be in trees, he'd have claws and/or wings.......

Enough can not be said about the dangers deer can bring on to the driver. My husband's auto collision center is starting to over-flow with deer hits. The bodymen are all on comission and are really making the "big bucks." With farmers in full swing of harvesting, deer hiding grounds are being revealed and deer are running in panic, soon the rutting season will be here and more deer will be targets for drivers. If one can help not to be on the roads at either dawn or dusk that is a plus in your favor, but cannot always work that way with your daily schedule. Safe driving to all!

Mikie, That's fantastic to hear that Precious is able to drive herself to work now :)

Rainy and cool here on the southern shores of Lake Michigan.

I'll add my congrats also Mikie!

I'm sure my brother will be glad to be back to work today...although he may have enjoyed a day or two off! Nice to know the horse droppings won't be piling up on the Island!

Just to clarify...my brother doesn't work on the Island...he's an agent in the Commerce Department.

On deer & vehicles: it really does not matter what time of day it is: when the deer want to cross the road, they are going to cross the road, whenever. I have had several deer cross a city street here in the city of Midland right in front of me at high noon! When my husband hit one on the interstate in the state of Wyoming four years ago, it was at 5 pm in June! You have to be on the look out for deer at all times.

We really messed up our car last year hitting a deer after dark north of Baraga. There's not much you can do to prevent a car/deer collision if you have to be out after dark.

Marianne, I'm sorry to hear about the assistant principal's fall & his being paralyzed. Accidents can happen so suddenly anywhere & at anytime. I also feel sorry for his family. They may not be able to enjoy their father playing with them like an able bodied father can.

And I'm sorry for the negative reponse by Capt. Paul.

Congrats Mikie.

Saw twin fawns near Howell yesterday at dusk. They just stopped and looked at me and wandered off into a field. Adorable, and I hope they survive.

But I do believe in deer hunting. It's cruel to the deer to let them overpopulate.

Wasn't meant to be a negative comment about someone getting paralyzed; that would be unequitable. It was more a comment that people (men or women) shouldn't feel the need to climb a tree and hunt deer.

I get e-mail News from the DNR, they just sent one out saying the state parks were open and apologizing to those who were inconvenienced by the closures. Did they seriously kick people out last night who were camping?

Thank you, Cotton. The faculty is really worried about him and his family. I saw his small baby in March at Parent-Teacher Conferences; you are right, his children will really miss out on a lot if he can not recover at least some function.

I knew what you meant, Capt, and I smiled. :-)

According to the Detroit newspapers, the DNR threw people out of at least some of the state parks yesterday at 1 pm. Some of those people had had reservations apparently paid for since spring and were very upset. Silver City and Marine City were two of those mentioned in particular. Some of those people had planned to stay for most of the week. That was a huge debacle, to say the least. One of them apparently told people they could spend the night, but that the restrooms would be closed, electricity and water shut off at midnight, and they would have to leave this morning at the very latest, if the government shut down. That was not good for Michigan's tourism.

Cotton, it's good to see your pain must be getting better.

When I went to bed last night, the news said they were telling campers to pack up and leave. I can't imagine what that would be like, being told to end your vacation. And now finding out it wasn't necessary at all!

Was there a lay off????????

Marianne, if those deer would only cross at those deer crossing signs, we wouldn't have to watch so intently in other places!!

I often wonder what kind of a person uses a tree stand to hunt deer. Is he/she considered to be a better, more skillful hunter/sportsman than a person who doesn't use a tree stand? It seems to me that a deer hunter using a tree stand is much like what a sniper does during a war.

I'm not a hunter, so I don't know for sure. But, I think the tree stands are used during bow season, when you don't have much of a range. I don't know if they are even legal during gun season. I agree I don't think they should not be during gun season.

LOL, Paulwebbtroll! So true!

Maiji, congratulations on your Early Bird!

FJL, there was a layoff for a few hours overnight, because they closed 2 of the bridges in Bay City to vehicular traffic, so that freighters could get through, per Coast Guard regulations. It apparently lasted from 12:01 am until sometime this morning. The bridges were opened back up to vehicular traffic just after 6:30 am. I think Granholm finally signed the bills about 4:30 am, from what I heard and read.

If man hadn't already killed off all the wolves, the deer wouldn't ever overpopulate.

The lay off of state employees was in effect only from midnight last night until they came to a resolution this morning at about 4:00 a.m. We had to call in this morning at 6:00 a.m. to see if we were to report to work. We are here! Hallelujah!!

Matt K. Boy ,you got that right Matt. Bait em for a month then just wait!!!!!

Will be intresting to see what this means to the individual taxpayer............

Here in the tri-state area of Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio the hunter who takes a deer with a long-bow (and arrow) is held in higher regard as a sportsman than hunters who use rifles and shotguns (with slugs). Hunters who take a deer from their hunting cabin door or window (as the deer eat apples, corn, etc., put out as bait) are regarded as lazy, non-sportsmen. I hear that there are more than a few such hunters in the U.P. of Michigan.

Higher taxes and More taxes = less money in the pocket.

Maybe the Governer and her higher officals should take a pay cut for the rest of the yearand work for nothing. That might help with a little of our taxes! The richer ones won't have to pay like the little person does.

Lahelo, it is my understanding that that was proposed to her, and she flat out refused. In addition, it was proposed that she reduce her staff numbers (which I think also includes her husband) and their pay (which is high), but she also flat out refused to consider cutting any of that, either.

Mikie, so glad your wife is doing better so she can now drive and you can sleep in. Isn't that what 'retirement' is all about?

Tim in Oscoda - bet your brother is glad you made clear about your brothers job. :-)

Sounds to me like Michigan needs a charasmatic person right now to travel the state and point out a few things to the people about what the higher officials in Lansing (not you, Cindy ;-)are doing to the common person in Michigan. I almost believe a person that had a sensible message right now would be a shoe-in for the next Governor in 2010.

I've been thinking about running myself...First thing I'd do is make all monies coming into the State of Michigan public knowledge, then I (as governor) would take a minimum 15-25% pay cut. Then make sure Police and Fire personnel were set and get education rolling, then go out and start talking to the people. Just seems to me that politics need to be put to the side and the well- being of the State of Michigan should be priority no matter who comes up with the idea.

Marsha, I'm a little behind reading all of the postings today but did they say why they wanted the campers to leave?

Capt Paul, I hope that I'm not over doing the number of messages that I can post because I'm new to the postings on this site (I'm just now hearing about some of the 'rules') but having lived out of Michigan since '95' it's obvious about how the over taxation in Michigan is affecting the economy there. Michigan is just about at the top of the list for highest taxes and highest unemployment. Tennessee where I now live (Knoxville) is one of the lowest taxed states in the nation and 2 of the cities have the lowest unemployment percentages in the nation. In fact the state average is at or below the national average while Michigan is a full 2 percentage points higher.

Posting to much or to post things you could send in personal e-mail is a rule.However not inforced,unless a complaint is made.

I love Politics! Alot on here don't. But this is Michigan we are talking about.You go Gary,tell it as you see it. Michigan can learn alot from Tennessee.

Going on a mission, will have much to catch up on.My monitor is fizzing out on me, time for a new one.

I'm voting for (Mike)Upboundeh!! I think it's ridiculous that the Governor and her honchos were not subject to a pay cut. What a slap in the face for the regular civil servant who had nothing to do with the budget woes. We are merely the pawns in all this mess.