Chazd's (Charles Dowdell's) News Burps

I have been asked why I am not living on the farm in NY given the pics I have recently shared. One of the reasons is I have a view like this when I get up in the morning here in Duluth GA.

"You want adventure. Every fiber of your being is screaming for it. Where do you find it? You find it in the voluntary adoption of responsibility." -- Jordan Peterson And some additional context to add is that the priorities for responsibility start with and for yourself. The deer in the neighborhood have become tame, quite tame. I think we are at the point where I can train them to eat from my hand. I dont feed them, but it is clear others in the neighborhood are feeding them. I am questioning whether it is right or wrong. It is not as simple as what you might initially think. We run through loops of listening to the mezmorizing David Attenborough as he anthropomorphizes wildlife. Or what you learned as you slammed into a deer with your car. It's not that clear. The deer are not running out in front of cars in the neighborhood. They act more like the neighborhood geese, having full reign of the lawns, driveways and streets. Years ago, we had a goose that demanded...

I rebuilt a wood stove I had in storage. The only textual items on the stove is "Made in West Germany". After puzzling about how to repair the broken leg (everything from welding with tungston rod to fabricating a splice), I found a similar replacement foot. It was similar, so I ended up buying two in order to make it look and set right. It was a fun "little" project. It cost me about $150 in materials and probably took me about 8 hours. I am looking forward to getting it fired up at some point. Since it is going back into storage I am wrapping it up with as much rust inhibitor as I can. I bought some VCI paper for the effort.

I get a kick out of hearing the term "Deep South" in 2026. It is a crazy incredibly outdated label. I think maybe I should start saying the "Deep Northeast". I am a Yankee. My family came over on the Mayflower and moved to Upstate NY via Connecticut. Terms used in the revolutionary and Civil war days are generally inappropriate. My family is all but totally out of NY State now. I find the term "deep south" to be of the same thinking that the movie "Heidi" is what contemporary Europe is like. Watching the fireworks in Rochester, NY from the back yard of a house in the city made it look like a real war zone. It is a long drive between Berkshire, NY and Duluth, GA. Most of the 35K miles on the truck were spent in between. I drove the truck about 3k miles in 2-1/2 weeks. It was great to spend time on the farm. It was good to make some progress on needed repairs and improvements. I also felt good about making some new friends up there. I will be...

I trailered a towable man lift (bucket lift) from Georgia to New York. The thing that made it eventful is that I had to drive my truck. My 2017 Chevy 3500 HD service truck (with only 31k miles) is not my Tesla. I have grown very accustomed to the Tesla self-driving, navigation and general hi-tech luxury. The truck, although I am very fond of my truck, is stressful and expensive to drive compared to the Tesla. Being on the farm alone has been an eye opener. I had forgotten how quiet and in-nature this place is. Very occasionaly a car or plane comes by and disrupts the void, but only occasionally. It has been very reflective. It is the first time I have been up here from Georgia without a specific date I must be back for... or so it seems. "All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone."-- Blaise Pasacal mid 1600s. I guess I am working on humanity's problems. It can take a lot out of you. I feel good about some of the pics I ha...

Angie and I took the sports car to one of the many parks in Gwinnett county to walk. We saw signs for "free food / Comida". Being that I am always up for a snack, I decided to see if I could get some. Sure enough, they are handing out Breakfast and Lunch kits. We got a "lunch" and ate it in the park. I was pleased that there was no political literature in the bag only the normal commercial stuff for the products and the company that assesmbled the kits. It was a weird expereince. I have no idea of who these meals were intended for. I entered the Humvee in the Duluth car show. That was fun. It actually won second place in the "pickup" category. Car shows are like that.. somewhat self-congratulating. We signed up for drone home delivery. Although it is very unlikely we will ever use it. This squirrel was particularly tenacious on the feeder. I am sure the birds saw it as a spectacle. The bobcat came in quite handy this week, both for some str...