Chazd's (Charles Dowdell's) News Burps

It is going to be an exciting week. I continue to come to better terms with my Christian faith. Life is a great journey. Take it. I am spending some time in PA again this coming week. It was interesting protesting in Albany this past week and the discussions that followed. It takes quite a bit to get Calvinist conservative farmers to really speak out about injustice. There needs to be a significant weighting factor as compared to the professional protesters and what it takes to get these folks moving. I went to another aviation seminar this past week. This one was on the details regarding airframe icing. General aviation is a great place for someone like me who like to learn. There is no limit on the amount you can learn about flying. I worry about pilots who get the minimum ratings and take their rating privileges to the max. DJ's store is closer to opening. The Grand Opening is planned for Feb 20th! She has a lot of stuff to get done and I am proud of her and her business

I might be on the news tonight. I spent the day in Albany protesting. Notice the self-erecting crane over the gov mansion. I haven't seen one of those in NY state in a long time. And the one I do see here is working on a govt building. It is tough to watch this continued decline in business in NY. "Our Land, Our Rights, Our Future, Drill safely now! Yes Marcellus!" Get the facts. Don't fall for the lies that have been perpetuated by New York city extremists. Land owners do not want to damage their land. You can feel Woody Guthrie and many others right there. I get upset with folks who just complain about Government. Do something! WE ARE the government! Flooding in Maine NY today. This was Nanticoke Rd. about 8 miles from my house. This spring really may be terrible as far as flodding. The ground has been saturated. We will be lucky if we don't have severe flooding this spring.

"Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth." -- Katherine Mansfield

I appreciate the phone calls and emails I have received from folks lately. It is all good. It is Martin Luther King day. The following has taken without permission from http://www.adventistreview.org/2001-1541/story5.html "A few years before his death, King was asked about mistakes he had made. He replied, "Well, the most pervasive mistake I have made was in believing that because our cause was just, we could be sure that the white ministers of the South, once their Christian consciences were challenged, would rise to our aid. I felt that white ministers would take our cause to the white power structures. I ended up, of course, chastened and disillusioned. As our movement unfolded, and direct appeals were made to white ministers, most folded their hands-and some even took stands against us." http://www.toptenz.net/10-things-you-can-learn-from-martin-luther-king-jr.php I had to take a picture of the truck. It was so incredibly dirty. The equipment is in DJ's b

I am having a good Friday so far. It has been very refreshing talking technical publications and technical information strategy details with some large companies. There sure are a lot of NYS forms and agencies to fill out for the bakery. It would be unwise to consider that she has it all figured out at this point. It is hard to imagine what a "non-free country" is like compared to these bureaucratic side-steps and barriers to entry. Here is a current pic of the orange tree I started from an orange from my lunch in about 1998. I started eating the orange and discovered an enormous amount of seeds in it. I took some seeds from my mouth, placed the seeds in a coffee cup with paper towels and germinated them. I have lost count how many transplants and prunings it has gone through at this point. It needs another session. Behind the plant you can see Artemis hanging out in this delightfully warm weather (for a llama).

Wow. What a week. Things are good. DJ's store is looking a lot more like a store. The equipment is going in this week. She has not yet set a grand opening day yet. The advertising will start coming on line soon.

I no longer work for The Raymond Corporation. I am looking forward to getting back working at the leading edge of something. Current Animal Count: 1 Dog, 11 chickens, 2 cats, 4 llamas. Whenever I prepare for a journey I prepare as though for death. Should I never return, all is in order. --- Katherine Mansfield

Wow! What a way to start the new year! More news at 11:00

Happy NEW Year!! It is now 2010. Aren't we supposed to be living on the moon by now? Or at least figured out controlled fusion reactions? Man o' Man it is cold and nasty out. The llamas haven't been outside in a couple of days. You know when the temperature gets below zero the wind doesn't blow? Well the wind is blowing. We only got about 8 inches of snow but I have drifts a couple of feet deep. It is just plan nasty out. It is still a lot more humid than Antarctica, however. DJ's Bakery is coming along. The first part of the electric is done. The work I have done conjures my experiences working in old city property in Rochester. I guess I learned a lot. It all come back. Working with the crusty/burnt cloth insulated wiring and back-fed 2-wire circuits brings back a lot of memories. I guess the rule of thumb with old house wiring is that "if it works, do it." Working in the environment gets you nostalgic. Thinking about the guy who put the fixture o