Chazd's (Charles Dowdell's) News Burps

Chisasibi - How We Got There...

I am planning a trip for the last weekend in July 2003. We are going to drive on the only road there is to James bay in Quebec. It should be exotic travel but relatively low cost.

Our chickens names are:

• Maude: Large oval eggs, dark color, often dark spots on the ends. Delicious eggs.
• Mavis: Our favorite, first layer and all around great chicken, just a pleasure to be around. Egg shaped eggs (weird) with a lighter smooth brown color. Delicious eggs.
• Mabel: The youngest, small eggs, lighter color. Delicious eggs.
• Mildred: Wicked. Disrupts the entire group with her nest rearrangements and bad attitude, occasional pecks at owners. Misses the rooster more than other chicks. Delicious eggs

eBay - The World's Online Marketplace

Let's see about getting photos in my Blogs.

Here is a pic of Bonnie and I driving the jeep out in the woods today. We made it up a really steep hill with at least 6 inches of snow on it. The jeep did start spinning its tires however.

What about movies? It looks like the best way for videos is to put a link in for movies.

I am getting four eggs a day now. We have omelets, pickled eggs, deviled eggs, Hardboiled, poached, fried and scrambled. I have discovered that 28 eggs a week is too many for two people. I will have to sell a few.

Here is a short video clip of three of my four chickens.

Chickens!!!

NYSEG: Welcome to NYSEG

We managed to get the car back. I asked the town folks if they could plow the road up to the car and then I could get a tow truck in there. They plowed, then stopped by the house to get the keys for the car. They got the car out of the ditch and delivered the car to the front door. I certainly needed help. At this point I wish I had photos... but at the time photos really didn't interest me. It turns out the damage is a couple of scratches to Bonnie's car.

As part of the overall effort I managed to put a dent in my truck's front bumper. The aftermarket price checks out to be $132.00 for a new one. All in all we were very luck not to have gotten hurt or killed.

My new policy is not to drive on Christmas eve. I have had some bad driving experiences on that day... and considering it is Christmas eve, why should I?

James and Mary should be off the Costa Rica today. They said they are going to visit some ex-pats and generally have a good tropical time. Sure hope they can stay out of trouble. I bet you can find lots o' trouble pretty fast in Costa Rica if you're looking.

The New York Times on the Web

Christmas eve was eventful again this year. We left to go to Rochester on Christmas eve and I again this year managed to damage Bonnie's car. Last year we hit some black ice on an overpass up in downtown Rochester. This year I went down a seasonal road that I thought was clear like all the regular roads. It was not. We hit the hardest, thickest, slipperiest ice I have ever seen on a road. I had to put the car in the ditch to avoid getting us killed. The car is still there. We moved it out of the first ditch and then after getting some chains made it down most of the hill.

This is the low stress version of the story

The chains slipped off at that point and it is back in the ditch. Of course, I can't even get a wrecker up on the road since it is seasonal road.

I will not drive on Christmas eve again, I doubt.

Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters

I asked my friend in Japan whjat christmas is like there. His Answer:

Generally very commercialized. But we do it at home like we always did in the States. Unfortunately, Dec. 25 is a working day here, so we will be celebrating this weekend. Having some friends over Saturday for our yearly drink-a-thon, then Sunday Motoko's family comes over for a turkey dinner, and we do present exchange, etc. There's a strip of road with nice shops in Harajuku which is lined on either side with trees, and for a few weeks this time of year they light up the entire street. HUGELY popular spot for young couples. I guess it's a crime (or it simply means I'm a pervert) for a man to be walking around the women's fashion floor of a department store over here. I always but Motoko gifts, often clothing. You should see the looks I get and the comments I hear... dayum... I think most fathers here think their single contribution to the family Christmas is a cake. Lazy bastards. We have a small artificial tree, and we hang garlands around the living room, very festive atmosphere. Our favorite season (though neither Eric nor Motoko like the cold as much as I do). What are you guys up to for the holidays? Going anywhere? NOST

The New York Times on the Web

I noticed a situation about perceptions and values between cultures.

"A city person calls it Shit or Crap. A suburbanite calls it Manure. A farmer understands it as valuable organic matter."

John is coming over this AM to bottle beer. I should be downstairs racking the fermenter into the keg as to make bottling easier.

I am also planning on hanging my new barn door today. It will look great. I spent a lot more effort and thought on that door than most would appreciate.

Kelley Blue Book - Used Car Bluebook Values and New Car Pricing

There is a pickup truck being auctioned off by the town of Berkshire. I like these sealed bid things. You can actually get a decent deal through these sometimes. I am going to ask my friend Jeff if he is interested. I think he is looking for a new truck.

We had an organizational restructure announced yesterday at work. It certainly appears that this will not open any doors for me personally or my career. I look at my career in a two-fold light; those items in my control (personal development and investments of time) and those items that are not in my control. The items I consider out of my control are fixed attitudes and values of senior management, history and what I call "winds aloft".

I was looking through my bookshelves of manuals the other night looking for the one a guy in Oregon wants to buy. While searching I ran into a manual that had "send off comments" in it from a place I resigned from a few years back. There was a theme in the comments that indicated that I was liked and respected. I felt good when I read them.

Although I was not denied a promotion or anything that grave I am often amazed at who gets promoted. Reverse engineering the decision tree really gets ugly.

http://www.woodmaster.com/

I am looking at better ways to heat our house. I have some initial ideas of building a large chimney that will have a fireplace and a flue for the coal stove. The coal stove will be in the basement and the fireplace will be in the living room. Bonnie brought me some excellent information on designing and building a chimnney and fireplace from the architect library where she works. So far that information is great.

Unlike many contemporaries, we will be putting the chimney structure inside the heated space of the home. Although you lose usable square footage, you gain a great deal of thermal mass. That means the house will be secondarily heated by the heat slowly given off from the masonry after the fire cools in the early morning hours.

A lot of chimney and fireplace design information is reverse-engineered information. Successful fireplace systems are measured and then those dimensions are recommended. I am looking forward to this project. I like masonry and building with stone so this looks like a lot of fun.

http://www.ovencrafters.com/

I am trying to figure out how I can incorpoarte the brick oven and the incinerator into the same project. It probably won't happen though. I am planning on building a combination incinerator and brickoven. The brickoven will be based on the designs offered by ovencrafters. The incinerator will be around the back of the oven with a separate flue. All masonry construction will be used or course.

"The Best Way to Predict the Future is to Invent It" Alan Kay

Google Search: llama footnotes

I feel rested today. I should ...I have been sleeping a lot lately. I feel that I am making up for lost sleep over the last couple of years. I guess I should be really happy that I am sleeping...'cause I was miserable when I wasn't.

We had a good Toastmasters meeting at work Tuesday. This club is off to a great start.

I did all my christmas shopping on ebay this year. Talk about convienience.. I was getting my shopping done in my bathrobe at 4:30 AM all from the comfort of my home.

I thought of an quote building on a famous quote.

There are no shortages of work. There are only shortages of money. Likewise, there are no shortages of opportunities to grow and learn without spending money.

SonyStyle USA

I am trying to get my digital camera repaired. My computer is giving me fits. I remember when I enjoyed figuring out what the problems were with the computer (a long time ago). Now I rely on the computer so much I really dislike the problems.

It was cold yeaterday. It was -7 degrees. That is very cold for December 9th. I have gone into hibernation mode for the most part and I go to bed early.

The Dowdell Farm, Berkshire N.Y.

I got a few things done yesterday, not much though. I got the substarte for the new barn door repaired.

John said he would come over and trade the rooster for a hen that he mistakenly sold me. Theat rooster is mean to me. When I go in looking for eggs he attacks me from behind as soon as I turn my back. The rooster doesn't attck Bonnie at all. We may have three layers at this point. We are unsure of where that last egg came from. We are hopeful that we will hae 4 laying hens soon.

I have to build the barn door. 7 foot 2 by 9 foot 6 is the size. I am using T&G pine and the doors will have 4 "X"s on the outside face for strenght and appearance.

MP3.com: THE destination for digital music.

I am on a "music search" tonight. The daring adventure that brings new emotional context to our emotional thoughts. Some wacko I used to know said stuff like that. I am drawn toward spanish and latin music for some reason.

I found a good quote on leadership when I was rummaging through my desktop

"Leadership remains the most baffling of arts ... as long as we do not know exactly what makes men get up out of a hole in the ground and go forward in the face of death at a word from another man, then leadership will remain one of the highest and most elusive of qualities. It will remain an art. -James L. Stokesbury

CNN.com I have a lot to do today. I still need to decide what my next big project will be. I also have to decide what I am doing for my high-performance leadership project. The chickens didn't freeze yesterday. The eggs did though I am sure. I don't think it hurts them.

I have to get the truck in to change the coolant.

CNN.com It is cold again this morning. The furnace has been running and running. We have made plans to put in a fireplace and a chimney. Of course that will take a while next winter most likely. We can fuel a stove or fireplace from wood off our wood lot. We won't have t buy any wood that is for sure. I will have to cut it though and get it to the house.

CNN.com - Spain: sub finds no Prestige leak - Dec. 3, 2002

I hava toastmaster's meeting at 7:15 at work this morning. It looks cold out there and from the sound of the furnace it probably is cold. I hope the chickens aren't frozen.

Area 11 News (December 1, 2002):

Well it is back to work today. It was nice having the past 4 days off. I probably should head out now so I can get to the concrete block place before work to take the pallet back that I have a deposit on.

I did get a lot done over that last 4 days. None of it was very strenuous which is unusual. I have most of my new electric service planned and priced. I was quoted $1700.00 by an electrician and he wasn't going to do any of the digging or pay the connect charges. I figure about $600 in materials. He was going to be ok for one day's work.

Other work I got done was doing some inventory work for some radios a guy out in Oregon wants to buy. I hung a lamp in the basement, made a heater for the chicken's water, painted some stuff, made turkey soup, sorted through the office stuff (uhgg).

The weather is kind of crappy today. It is snowy. It is also my anniversary.

I must concentrate on what next I will embark on... I have made it through many goals in the last two years. What should I do next for significant meaning? weather.com - Local Travel Page