Chazd's (Charles Dowdell's) News Burps

Soon it will be 2009. Aren't we supposed to be living on the moon by now, at least? I will be heading up to Rochester. I may be headed up to Canada to look at a firewood processor some guy has for sale too. I will be in Chicago the 9th through the 12th for work and then later in the month out in Ohio to pick up some new farm equipment. A neighbor had a house fire on Christmas. This guy is always doing something, from working on a boat to cars to outboards to minibikes. I would always check out his latest project as I drove by. Now he is busy sorting through and tearing down. I hope he replaces with something nicer looking than what he was living in. Either way it was clearly a tragedy for the family. I ran 5k yesterday in 23:30. That made me feel pretty good. I am on target for my fitness goal.

My truck can sure get dirty this time of year. In my neighborhood we used pulverized shale on the roads to aid traction. It really makes a mess.

Another Christmas has come and gone. I am looking for purpose. I cooked a 14 lb turkey in an old pressure cooker. What a way to go! Put your deep fryers away and get out the pressure cooker. It took an 1 hour and 15 minutes to absolutely cook the slightly frozen bird. The meat just fell off the bones. It was pretty unbelievable.

It is the day before the day before Christmas. I have my orange tree adorned nicely. Here is a great article about something that is basically mind-blowing for folks who don't work in nano-technology. We can see that there is a theme that these different technology trends really move fast without popular media noticing... up to a point. This one is one that will tip the scale of nano-technology becoming mainstream. It is genius on many levels, the technology itself, the metaphorical content, the extremes. The worlds smallest car. There are 60 carbon atoms per wheel! The Nanocar The turkeys took a walk by today.

I went to the Salvation Army the other night, both for donation and shopping. It was a refreshing experience around the holidays. It was illuminating seeing all the clothes and stuff that had been donated. There was a lot of stuff to be sure. It helped me remember and put in place all the excess of our society. People today get what they need not what they want. I know it doesn't always seem like that all the time, but the fact of the matter is that our society is very affluent and is excessive even at the Salvation Army. It was quite nice to see the efforts of folks trying to better themselves and the facilitation of goodwill without a single "Merry Christmas" or item of the commercial blitz that begets the normal holiday culture of which we are all immersed. Christmas in Antarctica helped me see the overload we are subjected to in our normal lives.

My website was down for a couple of days. My domain registration lapsed; Yikes! I had changed email addresses and I forgot I had a a different domain registrar than the hosting company and I didn't update my email address with the registrar. Well, after I got the name servers figured out it was back. It has been cold out. It got down to zero the other night. DJ and I went for walk in the full-moonlight the other evening. It was cold. We saw shooting stars. One looked like it was only a few thousand feet away! It looked more like fireworks than a shooting star. It was close! I guess shooting stars have to land somewhere; why not Berkshire? The flame went out before it hit the ground, but it wasn't that high up. Dress for the cold and it is a lot of fun outside this time of year. There is a lot to see and it helps keep you grounded on your natural environment. The mean rooster went for a ride recently. He was dubbed "Roto-Rooster". The idealic winter scene is the ...

Winter is here. It has been cold, windy and the days have been microscopically short. It is hard to be optimistic with shortening days, cold and holiday season pressure. It is what I do though. It has been said the difference between achievers and non-achievers is that the non-achievers see a setback as a permanent condition and the achiever has a much more optimistic outlook and believes the setback is temporary. I believe that fact to be true. If you were a wild animal and you had to choose between being an optimist and a pessimist which would you choose to increase your chances of survival? I turned in all the paperwork to become a Distinguished Toastmaster today. This is the highest level of achievement in the organization (well it used to be). Hopefully I can get up in the air this weekend. My last lesson was tough. I had a lot of wind shear and a nasty crosswind. It was bumpy and variable winds. I need to know how to fly in bad weather too. It helps understand why you don...

It has been a while. I must be slipping. I drove up to Rochester and back twice to ferry my Mom. Generally, the driving was terrible. I saw a few nasty accidents and I forgot to take photos. I am not sure what I was thinking. I had my camera. No excuses. I ran into my old friend Dave Schnsing at Wegmans and went out to visit his new farm in Macedon. They bought Maiers Mud Acres farm and we have software engineer turned farmer. They have apples, bakery, a road stand market and some nice fields. It looked like a lot of fun. It is definately something to keep your brain occupied. http://www.maiersmudacres.com/ Thanksgiving was quiet, nice and quiet. My flying occupies quite a bit of my thinking. It is such a positive activity. It is incredible to see the changes in myself. I see why people say, "it is the most fun you can have with your clothes on."

Sunday was a full day. I started off deer hunting and sending Greg and Sandy on their way (unfortunately we didn't get any deer). It was around zero degrees out there in the woods. It is very easy to get cold when you are sitting very still. Then it was off to my combination flying lesson. My mentor received instrument instruction doing VOR approaches (under the hood) to Oneonta and Sidney NY. I was in the back seat. In Sidney we gassed up the plane and I flew it back to Greene with my mentor in the back seat. It was a lot of fun and fellowship. Then I worked out and went shopping. The video is our soft field takeoff out of Greene. There was about 4 inches of snow on the runway.

I didn't get a deer yet. Greg and I went out Saturday and Sunday morning. We got a glimpse of a couple. We learn more everytime. Being out in the wood sis so nice at sunrise. It has been hovering around zero degrees out there both mornings. Staying warm while sitting perfectly still can be a challenge, but if you dress for it it can be done. I am very disappointed by the other deer hunter tracks we have found. There is absolutely no regard for the property being posted. Absolutely none. I am taking action, cool and collected. I will be making an example of these guys when I catch them. I will proscecute to the maximum level. Word will start getting around then. Just like most form projects, it is a multiyear effort. I sold my nice log. I only got 85 bucks for it. It was worth 60 as firewood. That was a disappointment too. I am thinking I am going to but the sawmill soon. I need beams for the addition. It is the think to do. I am looking for tire changers on ebay too. I am so ti...

No Deer. It was a bit of a disappointment. It was good to see Greg and Dennis. How about this Maple log? Nice huh? Need some boards 20 feet long? The holder tractor is really exceptional in getting logs out of the woods. It is so narrow and the articulated steering makes it perform extraordinarily well in the woods.

I bought a new jeep to replace the old jeep. It is a 1998 Grand Cherokee with only 160k Miles. The 1987 model I have has just short of 300k miles. Some of the parts will be compatible. I still have to figure out the future of parts the 87. Otherwise, it will be going to scrap $$. I put the new jeep on the trailer and towed it back from Rochester. My light duty truck did ok. I will be moving the ag tires to the new jeep this week. Deer season opens this weekend. Greg and Dennis are coming down. They are all excited.

DJ and I dug up the septic tank last weekend. It is working ok, but I thought I could move the sewer pipe coming out of the house to beneath the foundation in order to put a bathroom in the basement. I was wrong. Although my initial observations into the pipe from inside the house looked promising, there turned out not to be enough slope left in the pipe if it was moved to the underside of the foundation. Drat! This did give me an opportunity to get the tank pumped and now I know a lot more about the system. At least this project is done. Did you ever notice your own septic system smells kinda ok?

My instructor and I did some approaches at his house (Tunnel NY, International). He has landed the champ there a couple of times, not the Skyhawk though. He was flying when I was filming. Great lesson.

How's that for some perfect tomatoes?

It is a cool rainy Saturday morning. I need to be out splitting wood. It won't be doing much drying today but splitting is a step in the right direction. I probably have about 6 face cord put up, but I want to get some cushion. Next year's use is fine. I always go through a bit more than I plan. I guess it is like eating what is in the pot. If it is there you consume it. I got a promotion at work. I was getting pretty bored. It will be good to have some new challenges. My flight instructor gave me some kudos the other night. I did my best landing ever. A "greaser" is what you call it. The flying experience is really a great one. It pulls from all corners of the mind. It really makes you feel alive. We were commenting that it is a strange calling. It is stressful and enjoyable all at the same time. It was great the other night. We were using runway 7 which is unusual because of the prevailing winds. There is a road that crosses the grass runway on the runway 7 appr...

My friend Dennis took these great pics of a screech owl in his wood duck house in Williamson, NY. I heard one of these guys out in my woods a couple weeks back. These things are loud. The first time you hear one you really can't figure out what it is, a mammal, human, bird?

The weather was great this weekend. It was cool, ok cold in the morning, but it was truly great Fall weather. I skidded more trees, cut and chopped. I cut the log out of the beautiful maple that blew over. It will go to the mill this week, hopefully. I have a lot of work to do. This weekend it didn't seem as important as it often does. I snapped this pic of a red tail hawk over Owasco lake Saturday.

A lot got done this weekend. The firewood is in a lot better shape. The pile of roofing is finally buried. The spreader is on the tractor and a whole bunch more. I ran into this machine at the local restaurant. Rednecks feel the pinch on gas prices just like everybody else. This trike has tool boxes and clearance lights just like the pickup.

What a couple of days. Yesterday was really something. After a good day a work, I ran down to knock off half a dozen landings at the Greene Airport, then over to the gym to run 3 miles in 21 minutes (while watching educational tv and studying my chinese language book). It was a very urbane while at the same time I was enjoying the country settings. Life is good.

Firewood. Hey, I didn't break anything!

I managed to spend most of the weekend outside. That is always a good thing especially this time of year. We have had three killing frosts so far this Fall. We are expecting another tonight. It is time to relinquish the outdoors to nature for the duration. I am taking Tuesday off. The to-do list is still long. Adding to it is that I have a really nice maple that fell down out back. It looks like lumber to me ($). There is a sub-species of hard maple that only grows in this area. The veneer grade logs are the most valuable timber around. Let's see how it goes. Besides the lumber I have tractor work, firewood and getting the solar system installed among my list of unfinished Summer projects. Jeff (Squid), DJ and I worked on DJ's pole barn moving four of the posts to their proper location. DJ gets to run her backhoe. I get to lift stuff and use the shovel.

What a rainy weekend it was. Dad and I went to the Elmira hamfest. It was pretty much a total wash out. Today I had to cancel my flight lesson because of weather and we are looking for a high in the 50s this Friday. The weather is closing in.

I have been thinking a bit about the differences and simularities between self-respect and self-esteem. It seems like the individual has more control over self-respect. Treat yourself with respect. Be your own Mother.

I practiced emergency engine-out procedures with my instructor last evening. That was a first. It was a lot like using flight simulator with the unusual attitudes and low altitudes outside of the traffic pattern. It was a great experience. Flying can get pretty addictive. This pic is of the instrument panel almost exactly like the plane I fly.

The blogger was broke. I had to delete some unrelated files on my server. It is back. Dennis and Greg came down for the weekend. We put up two tree stands. Dennis is mentoring Greg and I for the upcoming season. We had a lot of fun. We tried grilled pigeon. It was pretty good. We zeroed in some sights on some guns and generally had fun.

The conference is going well. I will be flying back to NY on Thursday. Santa Fe is nice. It turns out the solar panel can get damaged by not having water in it when it exposed to the sun. It gets that hot. "Hot-Liquid Solar" energy is here. It is everywhere else in the world, why not the US? Energy is energy. I saw this moose sculpture getting loaded onto a truck this morning. I was a bit jealous. I have hauled some weird stuff with my truck over the years, but nothing quite like what this guy was towing with his truck.

I am in Santa Fe New Mexico for most of this week for the Center for Information Development (CIDM) conference. This is where I hob nob with all the Technical Information Development movers and shakers from large corporations. The conference is always good. I was reflecting on what has changed in the last five years in this area and it is quite staggering. 5 years ago most participants were musing about information component management systems. Now everyone has one. It is a way of life today, DITA, XML. Then there is the emergence of new problems of integration with SOA, content ownership, and communications between collaborators. It is nice to have respect from large intrepid businesses in the area on content development management.

The solar system is coming together. I have all the major components. I still need to get some PEX pipe, insulation, pressure relief valve, expansion tank and some valves & fittings. I ended up getting an evacuated tube collector instead of my using my homebrew system. I hooked up with two Chinese PhDs and we are collaborating. You never really know how things turn sometimes, bizarre sometimes. When I was taking the collector off the truck I took the cardboard off because it got wet in rain. It was out sitting exposed to the cloudy-rainy sky for about an hour before I could get it off the truck. Surprisingly, when I grabbed the water outlet it was hot. I don't mean warm. I mean hot. And it was raining out. This thing really works. Cool. Well, Hot. The complete system costs are not tallied yet. I will be doing that for sure, but it is easy to justify the system with it costing $800 to fill the oil tank. This has been one of the more satisfying projects this summer, err Fall. ...

The gas leases here in Upstate NY are really getting everyone's attention. The Marcellus shale that runs through the north Appalachians squarely runs though this area. You get thinking with that great value-filtering scenario that we should all live our lives with ... What would you be doing if you had a million dollars? It does help to think in those terms. What would you do if you could spend your time totally as you please? Your true values come out.

Fall is falling on us. It is that time of year when the inevitability of a coming Winter is becoming just a bit more than a future state of mind. I was thinking about self-discipline. It occurred to me that it is a double edged sword as most things are. Self-discipline allows you to change in ways that put you where you want to be, what you want to do, where you see yourself belonging. On the other hand, self-discipline moves you away from where you are naturally and comfortable. Is comfort and nature where you need to be? I had to take a picture of Jim Morrison in the trash. It looked like real art in its context. I am getting about 6 eggs a day now. There are three roosters getting me up in the morning. That number will come down to 1. There is a brood hen sitting on a clutch up in the corn crib. Maybe there will be little chicks. The hay wagon is coming along. It is painted and I have the lumber. I need to finish sand blasting the wheels and get them painted and get the plat...

Well Labor Day is pretty much history. It was a good weekend. I did a mix of work and play. I went to a BBQ in downtown Killawog NY (the next town over) put on by the largest business around, the precast concrete producer in the area. They has one hell of a fireworks show especially for a clambake. It was fun and an unusual experience for me. In case I kept you hanging on the D6 dozer. It is is running after 30 years of not being started. Jay is putting a pond in with it. Notice the lack of smoke. It is running very well indeed. So, if you have an old cat tractor around taht hasn't run in 30 years, there is hope. Took an early morning hike over to Greenwood park this morning. It was very nice before all the Labor day crowds arrived.

The llamas haven't been on the blog too much lately. Professor is looking smart. Aries is showing his fine taste in latin subject matter art. He is quite discriminating and astute. Amy the cat is on mouse patrol.

The llamas are all washed and nice. They were getting grungy. The cold water slowed them down a bit. They were all pretty well behaved. I got some hay from my neighbors and talked quite a bit about farming. I learn quite a bit every time I have the opportunity. Here is a fascinating link that shows the future I suspect, four-dimensional space. I suspect when we start working and playing in the "matrix" we will have plenty of opportunity for maneuvering around four-plus dimensional space. http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/35740/title/Seeing_in_four_dimensions

Wow. What a summer. It has been surprisingly wet as far as summers go. The lawn keeps growing green. The hay has been tough to get in because of the lack of consecutive drying days. This is the time of year when some of my friends are getting ready to head back to Antarctica. I will be with some of them as some sort of spiritual stowaway. There are always stories from the ice. I feel connected still. I was reflecting how peaceful it is on the ice with a friend. He agreed. It is a great escape from reality. That is why he goes back every year. I went to a party last weekend up in Canadaigua, It was good. I made some solar energy contacts. I have almost all the components for my domestic hot water system. I know that one ad in the paper and I would be instantly booked and committed for installs. It is all about planning. Just like flying. My mentor and I finally made it on the circuit from Greene, Cortland, Norwich, Sidney, Greene (4N7-N03-OIC-N23-4N7). My flight planning went prett...

I went to a party last weekend. It was casual and good. Summer sure is nice around here. It is off to another party today. I took friday off again to try and get stuff done. The bobcat, jeep, and all three chainsaws are fixed. I had a welder come up to the farm and get the fork attachment done for the bobcat. It was expensive, but it is done. It is a critical weld job. His welds are a thing of beauty. The plane was at the party at McKinney field. It is a highly modified Tri-pacer. It is classified as an experimental. I am planning a cross coutry with my mentor Monday night. Greene to Cortland to Norwich to Sidney to Greene. That will be fun.