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Showing posts from April 23, 2006

Back to the "Deep South" in Duluth GA

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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 It is a crazy incredibly outdated label.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...
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We continue to be amazed at the number and variety of rainbows we have seen on the farm and in recent times. We have seen more rainbows in the last couple of years than we have our whole lives. When we visited Bryce Canyon we saw a great rainbow on the way into the park (near the airport) and when we left (the next day) we saw another one at the exit to the park. That experience freaked us out a little bit. I saw and filmed sundogs, and other absolutely great rainbows. (most available on this server). This rainbow pic was this evening while the seven chickens were walking around the yard getting bugs, the llamas were grooving on the scene and the big orange cat "Tioga" was on the barn roof surveying all the work he had to do.
I am relaxing today. Saturday was a long day (Following a long Friday afternoon and evening). Being the co-chair for the Toastmasters conference took quite a bit out of me. I was running from 6:00 AM past 10:00 at night all with a suit on in a social gathering/public speaking setting. I emceed the award ceremony luncheon for the deputy mayor of Binghamton; it went well, I was speaking and leading all day and all night. The hotel bill indicated that the 150 Toastmasters must have had a good time as well. It all adds up, dinners, lunches, breakfasts, snacks, speech contests, educational presentations, and all the other stuff. We spent more than we originally planned, but we made more as well. We have to finish paying the bills, reporting the finances and basically cleaning up. They gave me a nice plaque for my efforts. I was glad it rained all day Saturday; I didn't mind being stuck inside all day. Overall it was a good experience and good project management training. Most people avo...