I have often joked with the kids about only thinking about buying a single lottery ticket if the winnings climbed above 500 million. A bag of chips costs more, and if I traded a bag of chips for that ticket...........?
Anyway, I had some time today in the car, where I was just sitting for 40 minutes waiting for someone. I really had nothing to do, and one of the radio DJ's said something about more than half of Arkansas' population had purchased numbers. They also mentioned how big the winnings are ($640 million), and I got to thinking.....What would that be like for "normal people"? You know, not companies, or overpaid athletes, or "stars" who count their paychecks in 7, 8 and 9 digits. What would be "relateable" to us "simple folk"?
Well, small calculator handy, time to kill, so here are my "findings".
All of this assumes, for the sake of simplicity, that one is dealing with a lump sum, post tax "leftover" of 297 million. (which is what several of the talkshows and radio programs indicated would likely be the amount left after state and federal taxes, for a single winner). It also supposes no investments, no bank interest, no further income, just imagine a big pile of money dwindling down like in the movie "Brewster's Millions". Now we also assume a 10% tithe or the like. Leaves just at 267 million.
I thought about housing, food, braces, education, missions, jobs, cars, travel and pets, just to "keep it relatable".
Here we go: You could:
a. put 3700 students through 4 years of college (assuming $20 grand per year and only 4 years)
b. employ 200 people at $74 K per year, and guarantee that employment for 20 years! I guess if the group was smaller, you could guarantee a regular pay raise.
c. do the following for 330 people
1. a $500 thousand housing "allowance"
2. 2 nice cars
3. $ 12,000 for a vacation
4. $100 K cash, just to spend/invest/whatever
5. a 4 year college education (aforementioned assumptions, see "a")
d. feed over 4000 people for 20 years, assuming $200/month per person.!!! That's a lot, by the way!
e. put braces on 3300 kids every year, for 20 years!!!
f. randomly pay for 100 heart transplants/year, again for the next 20 years!
g. buy 11,000 gallons of gas PER DAY for 20 years, if the price averaged $4/gal !!!!!
Oh, and still have about 3 million to just "live off of".
Yikes!!! Maybe I should go scrounge some coins from under the car seats or in the drink holder!
Friday, March 30, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Double standards!
I just have to say something here about the latest flap over public offenses. As most have probably heard, one major, conservative radio talk show host said some derogatory things about a young lady pertaining to her part in the "big" contraception debate in national politics.
Nutshell version, in case anyone has missed it: White House wants to force "health care providers" to subsidize contraception, regardless of that organizations' religious opposition to contraception. ie. Catholic universities, hospitals and insurance providers would be "required" to provide payment for contraception, even though it violates their religious beliefs. Young woman speaks out in congressional hearings.
Back to double standard. Said radio host made some bad comments, got called to the carpet. Has issued an apology! Is it over? OH, NO! Not by a long shot!
You see, those who don't like this host are calling for him to be silenced, screaming for boycotts, asking advertisers to pull their ads (which many have done), etc. They say nothing about the number of times that absolutely vile things have been said to and about conservative women and women politicians on the conservative side. The leadership of the left has never, and will never, denounce vile, vicious and even threatening comments made against women who do not share their views, but they scream and throw a fit about a war against women when someone on the right messes up. (apology or not)
You should look up Louis CK , the headline "comedian" for the upcoming "Washington Correspondants' Banquet" or whatever it's called. His foul mouthed and salacious comments about Sarah Palin and her child with Down's syndrome should have any "honest" women's movement outraged, not to mention foundations and charity groups focused on Down's syndrome. He is a recently single dad, makes me wonder what his "woman" felt about his attitude towards women?
Yet he is the chosen entertainment for the media muckity-mucks who rub elbows with, (Oh fine, "fawn all over") our President and his left-wing cronies. Go figure. War on women? You better figure out who is really on what side.
Nutshell version, in case anyone has missed it: White House wants to force "health care providers" to subsidize contraception, regardless of that organizations' religious opposition to contraception. ie. Catholic universities, hospitals and insurance providers would be "required" to provide payment for contraception, even though it violates their religious beliefs. Young woman speaks out in congressional hearings.
Back to double standard. Said radio host made some bad comments, got called to the carpet. Has issued an apology! Is it over? OH, NO! Not by a long shot!
You see, those who don't like this host are calling for him to be silenced, screaming for boycotts, asking advertisers to pull their ads (which many have done), etc. They say nothing about the number of times that absolutely vile things have been said to and about conservative women and women politicians on the conservative side. The leadership of the left has never, and will never, denounce vile, vicious and even threatening comments made against women who do not share their views, but they scream and throw a fit about a war against women when someone on the right messes up. (apology or not)
You should look up Louis CK , the headline "comedian" for the upcoming "Washington Correspondants' Banquet" or whatever it's called. His foul mouthed and salacious comments about Sarah Palin and her child with Down's syndrome should have any "honest" women's movement outraged, not to mention foundations and charity groups focused on Down's syndrome. He is a recently single dad, makes me wonder what his "woman" felt about his attitude towards women?
Yet he is the chosen entertainment for the media muckity-mucks who rub elbows with, (Oh fine, "fawn all over") our President and his left-wing cronies. Go figure. War on women? You better figure out who is really on what side.
Exploring!
I am having a moment or two of rebellious procrastination, right now. I have a significant amount of reading to do for my UALR classes; I still have a few late papers to grade from my Conway students before grades are uploaded tomorrow morning; there are several things which need to be done in the chicken houses; and I don't feel lke starting, because then I will just plug through until I fall asleep, or until I am mentally "done". So I am spending a few moments doing something more relaxing.
I am still at my same weight, but I am feeling much better. Those last 2 weeks, I was not able to get out much to walk or hike or anything. Last saturday was looking like another "chickenhouse til dusk" kind of day, but that was contingent upon Bob having a couple of pieces of equipment and some specific supplies. He had not made those runs during the week, so I ended up with the afternoon free. YEAH
I took Kaylee and Ben, and we went to hike! ( Ian did not get to go, because he stepped on something "sharp" and spent the morning in the ER dealing with a puncture wound. He was still sore, so he did not feel like 2 hours of hiking would be much fun).
We started over at Sugarloaf mountain. I was dumb, and forgot to take a camera, but next week, I will take some pictures and see if I can't figure out how to upload them. Sugarloaf is one of the biggest "hills" around here. It is sort of a "stand-alone" left-over from the surrounding region of bluffs. Hard to describe, exactly. It doesn't tower over the surrounding hills, it actually juts up from a valley that is kind of like a big bowl, meaning it is about the same height as the surrounding hills, just isolated.
The trail up the "mountain" is only 1/3 mile, but it is fairly steep. We were breathing hard at the top, but decided it would be "fun" to climb through the rocks to the top. "Chimney's" is what the climbers who went up ahead of us called them. Very narrow, fairly steep, but "do-able" even without ropes or equipment. A few spots would have made me very nervous if we hadn't gone up behind some people who knew the climb. (oh, that, and the fact that they were helping a 3 year old up, which made me confident that I could probably make it.)
NICE VIEW! Nothing like the Rockies or the Alps, but for this part of Arkansas, very much worth the climb! (and not nearly so "scary" as looking off the edge of a 600-700 foot drop.) Then we hiked back down, and decided to go over to the trail by the dam. we hiked it "backwards", that is we started in such a direction that the long stairs at the far end of the loop were climbed, rather than coming down. Made for 2 solid hours of hiking. Good afternoon!
I could feel it in my legs the next morning, but nothing hurt! That is progress!
I am still at my same weight, but I am feeling much better. Those last 2 weeks, I was not able to get out much to walk or hike or anything. Last saturday was looking like another "chickenhouse til dusk" kind of day, but that was contingent upon Bob having a couple of pieces of equipment and some specific supplies. He had not made those runs during the week, so I ended up with the afternoon free. YEAH
I took Kaylee and Ben, and we went to hike! ( Ian did not get to go, because he stepped on something "sharp" and spent the morning in the ER dealing with a puncture wound. He was still sore, so he did not feel like 2 hours of hiking would be much fun).
We started over at Sugarloaf mountain. I was dumb, and forgot to take a camera, but next week, I will take some pictures and see if I can't figure out how to upload them. Sugarloaf is one of the biggest "hills" around here. It is sort of a "stand-alone" left-over from the surrounding region of bluffs. Hard to describe, exactly. It doesn't tower over the surrounding hills, it actually juts up from a valley that is kind of like a big bowl, meaning it is about the same height as the surrounding hills, just isolated.
The trail up the "mountain" is only 1/3 mile, but it is fairly steep. We were breathing hard at the top, but decided it would be "fun" to climb through the rocks to the top. "Chimney's" is what the climbers who went up ahead of us called them. Very narrow, fairly steep, but "do-able" even without ropes or equipment. A few spots would have made me very nervous if we hadn't gone up behind some people who knew the climb. (oh, that, and the fact that they were helping a 3 year old up, which made me confident that I could probably make it.)
NICE VIEW! Nothing like the Rockies or the Alps, but for this part of Arkansas, very much worth the climb! (and not nearly so "scary" as looking off the edge of a 600-700 foot drop.) Then we hiked back down, and decided to go over to the trail by the dam. we hiked it "backwards", that is we started in such a direction that the long stairs at the far end of the loop were climbed, rather than coming down. Made for 2 solid hours of hiking. Good afternoon!
I could feel it in my legs the next morning, but nothing hurt! That is progress!
Friday, February 10, 2012
Progress report
Well, this has been a week! I was feeling pretty good about it when I posted last time. I had survived a practice hike, had been watching my diet, and started a good week.
I hit a spot on either Tuesday or Wednesday ( Sometimes busy weeks blend, and I don't remember well which event took place on which days) where my weight was actually down 3 pounds. I know that is not really enough to be very excited over, because it is probably just "water weight", but still. I drink a lot of water, and I had been eating more carefully, and I'll take 3 pounds.
I am even trying to add more movement to my normal days. At school, I take the longest way to and from the office, without getting ridiculous. I only have so much time, but I try to add multiple trips up and down stairs between my room and the other places in the building. We actually have 9 staircases in the building......, no wait, i left out 3 I never use! we have 12. If I alternate going up and down, I can get a pretty good walk in between my class and the office by using the 4 different stairs. If I really want to walk (rarely have time), I have a map of alternating the stairs and hallways that allows me to make 3 trips through the entire school before I move down any given hallway section going the same direction as the last time I passed. What that means is anybody seeing me would just think I was going to and from someplace, unless they look at the security cams.
Also, at UALR, for my evening classes, I park in the highest level of the parking garage, and then, after class, I climb the stairs, then walk down trhough the entire garage, back up, and then do the stairs twice. Parking on the 6th level, this really gets me breathing hard by the time I am done. It is about a 30 minute workout. I hope I will see some more weight loss because of it, being 2 times a week. It definitely will help my strength and stamina. Those last 2 flights were tough last night. My legs felt like jello.
I hit a spot on either Tuesday or Wednesday ( Sometimes busy weeks blend, and I don't remember well which event took place on which days) where my weight was actually down 3 pounds. I know that is not really enough to be very excited over, because it is probably just "water weight", but still. I drink a lot of water, and I had been eating more carefully, and I'll take 3 pounds.
I am even trying to add more movement to my normal days. At school, I take the longest way to and from the office, without getting ridiculous. I only have so much time, but I try to add multiple trips up and down stairs between my room and the other places in the building. We actually have 9 staircases in the building......, no wait, i left out 3 I never use! we have 12. If I alternate going up and down, I can get a pretty good walk in between my class and the office by using the 4 different stairs. If I really want to walk (rarely have time), I have a map of alternating the stairs and hallways that allows me to make 3 trips through the entire school before I move down any given hallway section going the same direction as the last time I passed. What that means is anybody seeing me would just think I was going to and from someplace, unless they look at the security cams.
Also, at UALR, for my evening classes, I park in the highest level of the parking garage, and then, after class, I climb the stairs, then walk down trhough the entire garage, back up, and then do the stairs twice. Parking on the 6th level, this really gets me breathing hard by the time I am done. It is about a 30 minute workout. I hope I will see some more weight loss because of it, being 2 times a week. It definitely will help my strength and stamina. Those last 2 flights were tough last night. My legs felt like jello.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Practice hike 1
Well, I might make it! Today, saturday Feb 4th, I took all the kids, and we went and hiked a trail over by Greer's Ferry dam. The trail is probably up to 2 miles, and has some pretty steep spots, and one LOOONG staircase, because the trail would be treacherus at that point otherwise.
I was honestly worried if the pain in my knees this week was from somethiing other than "muscle" soreness, but I figured this little hike would give me a good indicator. I could still feel the "tenderness" in my knees, but they never did hurt. YaaY!
The trail is really pretty. It snakes along the edge of the canyon below the dam. The top of the trail is blacktop, designed to give wheelchair access to a couple of overlooks. Then, the long stairs drop you off the face of the wall, and down to a trail level well below the rim, but still high enough to give nice views down the canyon. The Little Red River is prime fishing, and we could watch some of the fly fishermen working the river as we hiked. The rock formations and walls were striking! And there are a few run-off streams that work down the side of the canyon towards the river. Overall, a very pleasant hike. And one that will become familiar. The boys and I will hike this at least once a week until Philmont, just to help stay in shape!
I will try to figure out how to add some pictures to this blog, because I want all of you not living in Arkansas to see just how pretty it is here!
I was honestly worried if the pain in my knees this week was from somethiing other than "muscle" soreness, but I figured this little hike would give me a good indicator. I could still feel the "tenderness" in my knees, but they never did hurt. YaaY!
The trail is really pretty. It snakes along the edge of the canyon below the dam. The top of the trail is blacktop, designed to give wheelchair access to a couple of overlooks. Then, the long stairs drop you off the face of the wall, and down to a trail level well below the rim, but still high enough to give nice views down the canyon. The Little Red River is prime fishing, and we could watch some of the fly fishermen working the river as we hiked. The rock formations and walls were striking! And there are a few run-off streams that work down the side of the canyon towards the river. Overall, a very pleasant hike. And one that will become familiar. The boys and I will hike this at least once a week until Philmont, just to help stay in shape!
I will try to figure out how to add some pictures to this blog, because I want all of you not living in Arkansas to see just how pretty it is here!
Friday, February 3, 2012
Work to do!
This may be short, but if you've read my posts before, you also know how long winded I can become. (sorry?)
Wow! Am I middle aged? is life catching up to me, or maybe even about to run me over? I have got some work to do! For those who don't know, I am "doing" Scouts with Ian and Ben, and I have joined the ranks as an assistant scout master for troop 200, in Heber Springs. The troop is sponsored by the Methodist Church, but has quite a mix of boys and leaders from various community churches.
We don't have a troop in the Batesville branch, because for many years, the only boys interested have been ours, and adult male leadership was (ans still is) sparse. Troop 200 is very active, and Ian really wants to get his Eagle rank. He will have to work hard, but this troop is making that a real possibility.
Well, I got excited, and volunteered to be one of the adult leaders to go with the boys to Philmont Scout Ranch this summer. That is in New Mexico, and is a great experience. Then, I got "voluntold" that I was needed as a crew chief (or whatever title), because we were going to need 2 crews, and I had been there before. Yeah, as a 16 year old Scout! and not in bad shape at the time, I might add. Working out with our top ranked high school basketball team really helped my stamina.
well now I am......older than 16...... and I have just seen the writing on the wall. Last weekend, we did a practice hike down at Petit Jean mountain. It is a nice plateau, with some great trails. Significant up and down, absolutely gorgeous. The total hike was about 12 miles. I did great for the first 6. I was not huffing and puffing, inspite of some pretty steep climbs, and I thought I would make it without major mishap. I expected my legs would be really sore in the days to follow, but that's no big! One long (easy?) downhill stretch ended that confidence.
It was an old service road, winding down the hill for maybe 1-1.5 miles, to a point where we had to cross a stream. One knee started hurting because of the jarring motion from hiking downhill. On the other side of the creek was a long climb. Not too painful going up, but the first downhill stretch after that, and I knew finishing the hike would be very hard. Both knees were "screaming" at every step, especially any going down. The tendons, muscles, and joints were just done. I managed to finish about 9 miles of the hike, but when the last three included some of the toughest up and down canyon walls trails in the entire hike, I knew I would only become a problem. Fortunately, this trail system is intertwined with sevice roads and highways ( it is a state park with great camping and recreation) so Jim, our injured scoutmaster, was able to get a pick-up vehicle to my location. Needless to say, I was not happy with that performance.
I have hobbled round all week, particularly taking stairs at school with great care. My legs are feeling much better today, but now the real work begins. I have to get in shape! That's it! I have about 40 pounds to lose, and even as important, I have to get this bod, particularly these legs, ready to spend two weeks hiking up and down mountains with a loaded backpack! I felt fine in terms of breathing and strength, but there is always room for improvement. The real issue will be, are my joints and muscles going to take the "beating" without complaint? I'll keep you posted.
Wow! Am I middle aged? is life catching up to me, or maybe even about to run me over? I have got some work to do! For those who don't know, I am "doing" Scouts with Ian and Ben, and I have joined the ranks as an assistant scout master for troop 200, in Heber Springs. The troop is sponsored by the Methodist Church, but has quite a mix of boys and leaders from various community churches.
We don't have a troop in the Batesville branch, because for many years, the only boys interested have been ours, and adult male leadership was (ans still is) sparse. Troop 200 is very active, and Ian really wants to get his Eagle rank. He will have to work hard, but this troop is making that a real possibility.
Well, I got excited, and volunteered to be one of the adult leaders to go with the boys to Philmont Scout Ranch this summer. That is in New Mexico, and is a great experience. Then, I got "voluntold" that I was needed as a crew chief (or whatever title), because we were going to need 2 crews, and I had been there before. Yeah, as a 16 year old Scout! and not in bad shape at the time, I might add. Working out with our top ranked high school basketball team really helped my stamina.
well now I am......older than 16...... and I have just seen the writing on the wall. Last weekend, we did a practice hike down at Petit Jean mountain. It is a nice plateau, with some great trails. Significant up and down, absolutely gorgeous. The total hike was about 12 miles. I did great for the first 6. I was not huffing and puffing, inspite of some pretty steep climbs, and I thought I would make it without major mishap. I expected my legs would be really sore in the days to follow, but that's no big! One long (easy?) downhill stretch ended that confidence.
It was an old service road, winding down the hill for maybe 1-1.5 miles, to a point where we had to cross a stream. One knee started hurting because of the jarring motion from hiking downhill. On the other side of the creek was a long climb. Not too painful going up, but the first downhill stretch after that, and I knew finishing the hike would be very hard. Both knees were "screaming" at every step, especially any going down. The tendons, muscles, and joints were just done. I managed to finish about 9 miles of the hike, but when the last three included some of the toughest up and down canyon walls trails in the entire hike, I knew I would only become a problem. Fortunately, this trail system is intertwined with sevice roads and highways ( it is a state park with great camping and recreation) so Jim, our injured scoutmaster, was able to get a pick-up vehicle to my location. Needless to say, I was not happy with that performance.
I have hobbled round all week, particularly taking stairs at school with great care. My legs are feeling much better today, but now the real work begins. I have to get in shape! That's it! I have about 40 pounds to lose, and even as important, I have to get this bod, particularly these legs, ready to spend two weeks hiking up and down mountains with a loaded backpack! I felt fine in terms of breathing and strength, but there is always room for improvement. The real issue will be, are my joints and muscles going to take the "beating" without complaint? I'll keep you posted.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Happy New Year! Hope it's not the last :)
OK, I do not believe that the world will end in 2012, but you can't ignore the irony of how many get caught up in the speculation. My Christian upbringing teaches that we must be prepared at all times, but it also states very clearly in the scriptures that "no man knoweth..." the time, not even Christ Himself. To me, this simply means it WON'T happen on 12/21/12. Maybe earlier? Maybe later! Life goes on until the time comes, right?
I figured I may not get into much better practice to post even short ones, if I don't start early in the year. I will be taking 6 credit hours again this term, as well as continuing my efforts to keep Conway HS German program growing. The farm will continue to be the farm, but my Church calling has changed, somewhat. I was released as the Branch President back in November, but called the same morning to be the Elder's Quorum president.
For any of my readers who are not familiar with our Church organization, Branch President is essentially the same as "minister" in a baptist congregation. He is the spiritual leader for that congregation ("branch" is smaller than a "ward", whose leader is called a "bishop"). Elder's Qurorum refers to a group of men who hold the office of "elder" in the Priesthood organization. The president is largely responsible to assist the Branch president or Bishop take care of the material needs of the congregation, by organizing home visits, teaching and training the men in priesthood responsibilities, and organizing service and welfare projects as needed. So I am still very involved in the "inner workings" of the Branch, just no longer responsible for the specific spiritual needs and struggles of the members.
A few updates:
Justin is now home from his mission. His original call to Guadalajara, Mexico was great for him, but not for his diabetes. The 15-20 miles a day, and a different diet led to health problems. He came home for a week, and then was able to serve temporarily in our own mission. He was then re-assigned to Tempe AZ. He served faithfully over 26 months, in 3 missions, with 4 mission presidents, 2 countries, 6 states, had 23 missionary companions, and was blessed to be involved in baptisms for 20 converts.
It is wonderful to have him back home.
Liz is doing well at BYU. She came home for Christmas, and we were so glad to have all of the family home, that we completely forgot to get a picture together. Liz went back yesterday, sad face/happy for her. She is enjoying her time at the university.
School starts in earnest tomorrow, (sad face?) and I will feel ready sometime in March. New semester, projects, AP audit, AP practice tests, and the AP German test, to see what changes I need to make to my program. Never a dull moment.
Gotta go. Time to "put chickens to bed", and then get in bed myself, so that my 5 am start won't seem too terribly harsh.
Again, Happy New Year! Hope it is a blessed year for all of you!
I figured I may not get into much better practice to post even short ones, if I don't start early in the year. I will be taking 6 credit hours again this term, as well as continuing my efforts to keep Conway HS German program growing. The farm will continue to be the farm, but my Church calling has changed, somewhat. I was released as the Branch President back in November, but called the same morning to be the Elder's Quorum president.
For any of my readers who are not familiar with our Church organization, Branch President is essentially the same as "minister" in a baptist congregation. He is the spiritual leader for that congregation ("branch" is smaller than a "ward", whose leader is called a "bishop"). Elder's Qurorum refers to a group of men who hold the office of "elder" in the Priesthood organization. The president is largely responsible to assist the Branch president or Bishop take care of the material needs of the congregation, by organizing home visits, teaching and training the men in priesthood responsibilities, and organizing service and welfare projects as needed. So I am still very involved in the "inner workings" of the Branch, just no longer responsible for the specific spiritual needs and struggles of the members.
A few updates:
Justin is now home from his mission. His original call to Guadalajara, Mexico was great for him, but not for his diabetes. The 15-20 miles a day, and a different diet led to health problems. He came home for a week, and then was able to serve temporarily in our own mission. He was then re-assigned to Tempe AZ. He served faithfully over 26 months, in 3 missions, with 4 mission presidents, 2 countries, 6 states, had 23 missionary companions, and was blessed to be involved in baptisms for 20 converts.
It is wonderful to have him back home.
Liz is doing well at BYU. She came home for Christmas, and we were so glad to have all of the family home, that we completely forgot to get a picture together. Liz went back yesterday, sad face/happy for her. She is enjoying her time at the university.
School starts in earnest tomorrow, (sad face?) and I will feel ready sometime in March. New semester, projects, AP audit, AP practice tests, and the AP German test, to see what changes I need to make to my program. Never a dull moment.
Gotta go. Time to "put chickens to bed", and then get in bed myself, so that my 5 am start won't seem too terribly harsh.
Again, Happy New Year! Hope it is a blessed year for all of you!
Another 2011 make up post, just in case you thought my life got boring.
Update January 4, 2011
Wow! Time sure flies by when you need 36 hours in a day! I think I survived my classes. I am not sure yet. I had some severe tech issues since the last post. OK, since I wrote the last post, even though they are probably showing up together.
As we were winding down the semester with major written assignments and research projects, I was having issues. The day after I submitted a “major” paper, the laptop I was using crashed. I should back up slightly......... This little netbook, that has saved my life in so many ways, has one significant drawback. It does not have Microsoft Office installed. Powerpoint and Microsoft word are heavy needs for my online class. And for some reason, the major paper (sent earlier), didn't go through correctly. (probably because it is not WORD). OK, I had been using my school laptop to re-write that paper and make up powerpoint presentations. So the major paper was on my school laptop, pretty well done, and so I just finished it on a weekend. Failed to bring home the flashdrive, but figured it would be OK until Monday. Wrong!!
I sent it, planning on backing it up to flash drive the next morning at school. Something about the best laid plans.........
At school the next morning, I didn't have time to back up the paper before my classes started, and I was using the computer for class. As I'm sitting there at my school desktop doing grades (during my 2nd period planning), the laptop starts making weird sounds, and when I went over to check it, it was showing a black screen with the line “checking for hard-drive....hard-drive not found”
I would have screamed, but I think it might have disturbed my classroom neighbors.
A couple of days later, I got an email from that professor, that they could see I had resubmitted something, but it still wasn't coming through, would I please send it as an email attachment?
By the time I got that re-done, I have typed that paper 3 times. During the time that laptop was down, I still had powerpoint and written docs to deal with, so I had borrowed the FL dept. laptop for the Microsoft office.
I was in the middle of the biggest presentation I had to produce this year, had only saved about three pages of the 15 as a draft, but had not backed up all my notes, outlines, bibliographies, etc., and that computer went into a fatal loop error. (trying for days to “configure [the last] update”). I even pulled the battery, because it would restart itself back into that loop in the carry case. Startled me out of my sleep one night. After 2 days without power it started right back into that loop. Had to be wiped, and have everything re-installed. Again, I wanted to scream. Got to start that project over as well.
I think I have turned in all the critical stuff, but I have yet to hear back from the professors in question, because the next term doesn't start until the 18th of January, and I am sure they are not back “in school”, yet. At this point, I can only hope that everything went through OK, and try to keep Michelle at ease until we actually know what grade I have for the online class. (while that class shows an incomplete, I am on grade probation, and Michelle is really on edge.) I got a “B” in the other class, so I need at least a “B” for the online class as well. Crossing my fingers.
Next issue: Things on the farm are likely to get interesting. We are raising one house using methods that were in practice over 30 years ago. Not quite “organic”, but “natural”. Natural lights, as close to natural ventilation as can be had, and still keep chickens alive, no medications, smaller flock sizes for more space/bird, etc. People on the Coasts want to believe their chicken had a happy life before it was butchered and sent to their table. It is almost laughable. All a chicken cares about is food, water, lack of predators, and a temperature that is “comfortable”. The company (companies?) involved have actually talked about putting “toys” in the houses. ??!!?? But hey, word has it people on the coasts are paying $9 + per pound for “happy chicken”. YIKES!! We'll call ALL our chickens “happy” if the pay goes to that level!
The big plus for us is that for now, Townsend will pay us by the day, not by the pound. It should mean a higher pay-out for the flock, regardless of mortality, weight, etc. More to come as that develops.
Late (make-up) post from 2011, sorry!
I don't know yet if I am going to post this, but I am sitting in the downstairs hallway, monitoring doors at school, killing time, so I figure it gives me something to do.
We have just come off a 3 day weekend, coming off a 3 day school week. Last Sunday/Monday we got snow. The storm was somewhat odd, in that it hammered to the South. Places like Atlanta, and even down into Florida had snow and icy conditions that are rare. We, on the other hand, got a measly 3 inches. It was super fine, soft powder, what I call “powdered sugar snow”. Conway and Little Rock ranged between 4 and 7 inches. The southern/central part of the state got the worst of it, but it was enough trouble on the highways that nearly every school in the state shut down Monday, and many stayed closed on Tuesday. Conway closed both days, but I was already in Heber Springs before they called it in on Tuesday. I was still glad to turn around and go get some more sleep.
I used the day to help with laundry, we baked large amounts of bread, and I was able to get some firewood cut. We have used most of the pile I had cut a few years back, and the thought of a major snow or ice storm leaves me anxious. I have lots of downed trees, from the ice storm(s) of the last few years, I just need to tromp out into the woods and actually cut it up. Fortunately, the weather on Tuesday was great for outdoor activities.
This weekend (Martin Luther King jr.), I am getting ready to sell chickens. They go out today from one house, and the other three go tomorrow. I am taking a personal day to be around to help. Bob does not do well in the chicken houses anymore, and he really doesn't like Michelle to have to run the show on a catch. The water lines and doors are a big enough job, he will try to help if I am not there, and his breathing can not handle that. I should add that he also has concerns about Michelle being the only one up there with the catching crews. All men, most not english speakers, some a bit “rough around the edges”. I actually agree with him on that reason.
I'll update this one, rather than starting a new one. I am having trouble cutting/pasting these word documents into my blog, so I will try to add just a few things, and hope I can post it without having to rewrite the whole thing.
We had some great weather at the end of January. Last weekend was up in the low 70's, so I spent a good amount of time cutting trees. I am feeling it now (one week later), because my back has not worked like that for awhile. I cut some trees that were nearly 18 inches across when they fell. Mostly Oak and hickory, so it will be great for fires.
Then, just to make me feel better about the back pains, this week started with the potential for a massive storm across more than half the country. The one that was all over the news, arctic blast, record snowfalls, ice and sleet, etc. Well, it missed us. We got just the edge of the snow here in our region. Northwest Arkansas got slammed, but we got a lot of rain, followed by just enough sunshine and wind to dry the roads before the temperature bottomed out. Snow flurries did happen, but they left less than an inch of really fine dry stuff on the ground, and cars moving were enough to blow that off the roads. Nuts, isn't it?! We went from 70's on the weekend to 50's on Monday, rain and low 50's again on Tuesday, to a Tuesday afternoon that dropped below freezing! Thankfully, the roads had been mostly dry before the temp hit 32. It was 19 in Greer's Ferry the next morning going to work. It stayed cold, and today the temp read 11 as I came through GF. BTW, “today” is Thursday, February 3rd (2011). The weather is supposed to get “iffy” again tomorrow, I guess.
(Friday morning update) The roads were clear, dry and beautiful today, but apparently this new wave is supposed to drop anywhere from 1-5 inches of snow and/or sleet, some possible ice, depending on your location in the state. Concord called off school, rather than risk the bussing issues later, as have all of the Little Rock area schools, and many others around the state. Conway, of course, is always a hold out when it comes to school closures. Hopefully I will be able to make the drive home when that time comes. I would hate to get stuck here on a weekend. If it's going to be nasty, and driving is impossible, I would much rather be stuck at home.
If I could stay home and read or work around the house, or even “fight” computer issues for my classes, Fun! Otherwise, I am ready to be done with the cold weather. Conway called off school, and ran busses at 12 noon. I “raced” home on slushy but usable roads.
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