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Summer Starting to End on the Farm

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It has been good spending time on the farm. I really had forgotten how quiet and dark it is here. It can actually be a bit unnerving. The leaf doodle bug was put to work in the forest. However, it looks like the car will be going back on the road. We can say it failed field trials,but that would only be partially true. The better utility value at this point is more suited to getting a teenager back and forth from high school. The mycological aspects of the farm did not disappoint. The pics of these shrooms are not photoshopped. The coal stove (very heavy) is loaded on the truck. It will be rebuilt in Georgia if I can save it. Coal stoves are increasingly out of production. When they are gone they are gone. The small wood stove is now in its place. The pic of the red sky in morning was indeed a warning of weather. We had strong storms and tornados in Upstate NY. Although I was travelling much that day in the area, I missed the worst of it.
My home net access has been flakey. I am blogging at work. There was some internet distruption based on "shooting up" some fiber near cleveland. I suspect terrorism. They knew what they were shooting at. It is probably a test to see how the network reacted. How many simultaneous strikes like this will functionally bring the net down? It is also interesting at the lack of news coverage on this story. If it were a pipeline damaged it would be all over the news. Be aware. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/082107-gunplay-blamed-for-internet.html You may have to do a search on "gunplay" to find the article. We have two new cats! They are nice kitties for sure. One is smoke gray and the other is yellow. They get along great and they have already proved their mousing ability. I will get some pics posted soon.
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I have been finishing up the front of the barn. Jeff helped me hang the upper door. I got my low voltage remote switching relay in the mail yesterday for the light. It is coming together. Bonnie made a fall wreath to hang on the upper door. It opens in so we can easily change the wreath depending on the season. The llamas are well. Current animal count is five llamas, six chickens and that's it. We will be interviewing cats this week. "So what are your plans say 4 years from now? Do you think catching mice will be interesting to you?" I sold my old honda Motorcycle. I hadn't started it in about 6 years. It was a 1971 model. The phone has been ringing off the hook. I must have priced it too low at 100 bucks. The satellite internet access at home has been up and down at home. It is really getting on my nerves. The POP3 service hasn't worked in a week. I have been keeping in touch with friends from Antarctica and I am involved in a couple of projects with the...
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It is Summer. It sure is nice outside. I was planning on running in the Corporate Challenge 5K race last week, but with it 95 degrees out I decided it may be bad for my health. I understand someone did collapse and had to be taken to the hospital. I am working on the barn and basically puttering around. I still have not got my radios installed in my new truck. Maybe this weekend. I sold the red truck to a guy in Utica. The bird was out at Chautauqua lake. The deer was in the yard before work.
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We are off to Chautaqua lake a for a few days. I am fishing for walleyes. The rabbits and birds really enjoy not having Tioga the cat around. We don't hear all the danger shrills from the birds and the bunnies are pretty much coming to the back door. I haven't really looked at cats yet. I am thinking a Maine Coon cat or two this time. We know we want a big cat. I have gotten serious about losing the 10 pounds I put on in Antarctica. Food is always on my mind. I am running the 5k running race next Thursday for the corporate challenge. Every pound I don't have to carry with me helps. I will run it about 25 minutes. The Subaru has been in the shop. It blew a head gasket and it is getting a new catalytic convertor, brakes, tires, and I am sure a few other things by the time it passes inspection. I have had a couple of great flying lessons. My last lesson was the usual mix of good and bad, pride and shame, and other elements of learning. The exciting part was on one of m...
Here is a video of Condition 1 weather at McMurdo. This was in the dorm next to mine. The video was taken by the winter comms tech.
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Tioga is gone. He was in and out of a coma. He did wake up and knew we were there and he purred and purred even though he was so sick. Then he slipped into his coma and we put him to sleep. I looked at hundreds of different cats before picking him. We have no inside pets now. I am not sure how long we are going to be catless. I miss having them around already.
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Well, we have made the decision to put Tioga down. He was a great cat. We will be going to the Vet in a little while so we can be there and bring his body back to be buried next to Resses, Fawna, Junior, and Rosey. I have a lot of photos of Tioga. He was such a great cat. RIP Tioga.