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Machinery Infatuation

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I bought my first NEW piece of farm machinery. I am not sure if this is a failure or a success, but it is different. I picked up a NEW Rotary Cutter (bush hog, brush hog, mower, etc) from a dealer. It cost me almost as much as the tractor did with its bits of hardware and options. It seems to work well on the CNH Boomer 33. I planned on getting up to NY in the next couple of days, but Gracie has been sick.. she has been up and down. The steroid treatment and a change in diet seem to be helping at this point. Besides hauling the tractor and mower up to NY I have numerous events planned over the next month. I will be in Charlotte for a conference as well as Tucson Arizona and of course other events and activities. I started installing radio equipment in the Humvee. It now has a telescoping 30 foot antenna, a 24 volt to 12 volt converter, a removable SDR radio and some other stuff to be sure. I'd like to get it to the Stone Mountain Hamfest -- thats what i am shooting for. I thr...
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It is the weekend again. Time really moves fast when you travel 50% of the time. I suppose I don't have to travel nearly this much, but I do find it the most cost effective way to do my job. Being away from my apartment so much I have learned a few techniques. I buy a lot of freshies. What do you do with the freshies when you are leaving for two weeks? Also, I don't have a compost pile here, like on the farm. The organics need a purpose. So, what I do is take all my veggie scraps, you know the stump of lettuce, the stem of tomatoes, the pepper that would go to waste, and I freeze them. Then when I have a day or so here I take the frozen stuff out and make a wonderful vegetable stock. You make vegetable stock by getting a big ol' pot and dumping in all the frozen stuff, nothing putrefied, and adding lots and lots of water. You then slowly cook (not boil) over low-low heat for at least 12 hours, more is better. Do not add any salt. Strain the broth and freeze in baggies. ...
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As I blogged previously about Sudan's South being like NY's north, They are succeding. We need to do the same in NY! http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2011/0130/It-s-official-South-Sudan-set-to-secede-with-a-99.57-percent-vote
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I went to the pistol range Saturday with a bunch of pilots for something different. You can see where my first shots were with a rented gun.
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It has been a while since I blogged. It was one thing than another. My latest trip to Europe was a success. It is amazing how problems dissolve when you have people in the same room. I flew into Munich, took the train to Marktoberdorf. After 3 days in Marktoberdorf I hopped on a direct overnight train to Venice, Italy. Unfortunately, It was a night train so I didn't get the benefit of the scenery. It felt good to maneuver the trains and stations. I hardly screwed up at all. Since I was by myself, don't know any other language besides English, and it was the first time, I did ok. Venice was better than expected. I don't recommend going to Venice by yourself. Also, I was there in winter. I can imagine how busy it must get in season in the evenings. I would definitely avoid that. Exploring first thing in the morning in Venice was cool. There are no crowds and the images were very impressive. I think it is pretty hard to take a bad photo in Venice. I have so many pictures. ...
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I am in Bavaria. It is quite nice here. We have about three inches of snow on the ground. Of course, the food and beer is great. One of the things that I enjoy when I travel is the weirdness that is exposed about my own native language. I am traveling between about 10 or so different languages. I wish I could learn them all. The best I can hope for is to learn one or two to an intermediate or beginner level and grow my vocabulary a few words at every opportunity. Here is a selection on a coffee machine in Germany. I see similar things in every country. Truth is stranger than fiction.
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I had a quiet weekend in Duluth. Actually, too quiet. The ice is almost gone from the roads around here. It was quite a spectacle for me. One of the images that I remember vividly is that 4 days after the snow storm they showed a snow plow on the news ripping the ice off the interstate. The plow was going about 15 miles an hour. Can you imagine if the plows only went 15 miles an hour up North? That is where all that Northern aggression comes from, well kind of. I rented the DVD "Encounters At the End of the World" Directed by Werner Herzog. It was filmed when I was on the ice. I was disappointed. The story or message might have appealed to someone, but certainly not me. Most of it was downright boring and I knew and spent time with almost everyone who was interviewed. I guess the thing that bothered me the most was that this is a big name director, Werner Herzog, of "Grizzly Man" and "Rescue Dawn" fame. The camera work was even terrible, amateurism at be...
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My First Winter in the South Well the snow catastrophe continues in Atlanta. The situation is a curiosity to be sure. We had a snowstorm Sunday evening and by my accounts we received 4 or 5 inches of snow in Duluth. Now Atlanta does not have snow removal equipment or the means to deal with these things when it gets "this bad". So the snow stays on the road. It gets packed down and subsequently into mostly a 1-inch thick ice pack. Tuesday the temps today got slightly above freezing and dare I say I saw liquid water. I am not accustomed to seeing liquid water during a snow crisis. By the way, Atlanta Schools will probably be closed for a week. This whole thing is probably the biggest culture shock I have experienced in the last 6 months and over a dozen countries. I have been tending to business as I would up North. Monday they closed work when I was there. Tuesday they closed work as well. I wish I had a job on days like this that we could really call it a snow day and go...
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