Chazd's (Charles Dowdell's) News Burps

I have seen another Christmas come and gone. We had the Kids here for the most part then went up to Brockport for Christmas dinner. I got Bonnie dance classes (with me). I must have gone through some weird ion cloud. I think never was the original time line specified for that type of project. I hope it doesn't kill me. I also purchased a very nice, however slightly used hose reel on ebay. It has a 110 VAC motor to make the rewind easy. It will be a nice addition and help in getting water to the animals in the winter. It is a luxury item. I am working on getting my blog archive working again. It is all time consuming.

This weekend was of reflection and socializing with new friends in their homes and environments. It is all good, food, culture, attitudes. Life is a buffet. Be in command, eat what you want, sample it all otherwise you will miss out. Since last blog we have had temps to 15 below zero. The llamas get concerned at these temperatures. Everything is ok. The llamaheater is functioning and we have had and are working to a plan. The kids are fine. I took the tractor out for a spin in the snow. Things are ok out in the woods. The heater and radio worked well in the tractor. The woods are especially beautiful in the winter. The pic is of my ham station (N2TYQ, November Two Tango Yankee Quebec) as of today. Things change, sometimes not visibly, but the shack changes. Sometime I may have to add callouts to this pic. Everything works. The keyboard is on my peddle generator handlebars. You cannot see it all, but I think you can get the idea. My Internet connection is via satellite (2 way, up...

It is cold this morning. I measured the bottom at 8 below zero. The llamas are out walking around, waiting for their breakfast, duh. They could be in their house with the heater. It is probably about 10 or so above in their house. The air is so still. When it gets like this there is such a beauty in the cold. It is so quiet you could hear something miles away if there was any noise made miles away. I have a combination coal and wood fire which is keeping the living room at 72 degrees. I will be finishing up my final today.

I am working on my final exam for "Value of Investments." In this class I learned some sophisticated means to analyze corporations to determine value. The models get complex, so complex; I think they teeter on chaos. I have learned a lot and can immediately apply what I have learned to work and home. I expect the final will take me between 24 and 32 hours to complete. The following pics are from a vacation we took in 2000. We went through New Orleans and then up the redneck Riviera in Biloxi and then to Florida and the Suwannee river. That is Franklin and Bonnie down by the old Suwannee. We rented a cabin on the shore. I was thinking that that area hit so hard with the hurricanes this past year will never be the same. Not that anything ever stays the same, but I you have to imagine the sudden change will be lasting.

I really have to get back to the homework... These are from a plane ride ride I went on with Richard Graumann a while back. The photo shows the Dowdell Farm. You can see a speck on a trail. That is Bonnie in the Jeep. The movie is on final in Greene grassstrip airport from the north. Looking at these makes me want to get back in the air. Click pic for video

When I was procrastinating about doing homework I found this town map which I have added the callout for our parcel. Boy, taxes sure are high for "Vacant." "Ok all you animals.. get out. This land is vacant."

I have been doing homework all weekend. I ended up in two classes for some bizzare reason. One of the classes is a no-credit research class. Every program has one. It does not matter how many times you have taken a similar class. Using academic databases online is still pretty much a pain that it always has been compared to using google. I have to go out and get some hay this afternoon then it it is a Christmas party for Bonnie's work. It is hovering in the low teens her on the farm. We are almost always colder than the published temps in the area. We are in an "outlying area." These pics are a little old but are from Maine NY which is the next town south of the farm. The way I understand it there were lands annexed by New England colonies in the formative years of New York state. In my area we have Berkshire, Maine, New Conn., all part of these annexes supposedly. I have been listening to my 1940 Philco AM radio console all weekend. It is astonishing how good that...