Hungarian Partridge, to the nines!

Had some luck hunting today. Pictured are myself and 2 of my brothers.

'Smoked Sunfish' by David E. Binsfeld

Here's a fun painting I tried. Watercolor and Sharpie on paper.
Max has given his critique...Thanks alot!

Hey Mike Rowe from the Dirty Jobs show on the Discovery channel!

20 years ago I worked for steel building/agricultural building company formerly known as Lester's located in Lester Prairie, MN.

So we would sell and build swine finishing buildings that incorporated slatted floors with an 8' to 10' collection pool below. If you're wondering what was collected in the pool...you guessed it, anything and everything that came out of the pigs.

Eventually the pool would be drained via a chain and bowling ball stopper at the bottom of the pool with an 8" diameter pipe that drained to large holding tank that ideally was at a lower elevation than the pool bottom. This product was either usable or sellable as fertilizer.

Here's where the dirty job comes in. When we started building these, we used a standard iron chain (fairly heavy gauge) and an old bowling ball. With all the acid from the swine urine, eventually (and unfortunately rather often), either the chain or the hook that was screwed into one of the bowling ball holes would rust and break. This left our farmer customers in a pickle as to how to loosen and unplug the rather full pool. As you can imagine, there would be a literal ton of pressure and suction.

So our masonry foreman came up with a viable solution. Luckily he was also willing to perform this dirty job.

He would rent a scuba diving outfit complete with oxygen tanks and surely a wet suit. You nguessed it, he dove in, wrestled the bowling ball off the drain hole and held on til the pool had drained. I believe we outfitted the system with all stainless steel parts from that point forward.

Well Mike Rowe on discovery channel....is the a dirty job you're willing to do?

Health insurance rant

I just received a short term (6 month)quote for health Insurance. They offer the plan at $297.00 per month, with 100% coinsurance and a $3,500 deductable.

Ummm let me see. 100% coinsurance means that once the deductable is exhausted then the plan kicks in 100%.

$297 per month plus $3,500 means that on a bad year we'll paying $589 per month. It's no wonder why the economy is dead in the water. When families are paying $7,068 annually for a lousy health insurance plan that is only available short term. I wonder how much more it's going to cost me for long term coverage!

Last year my family of 5 spent less than $2000 on all our medical and dental bills. We paid the dental out of pocket but were insured for the doctors visits. This year we're on a pace to spend half that (God willing) with a decision coming up on braces for crafty girl.

I'm not sure who's to blame but I'm just gonna pass it around here. Shame on you hospitals for charging me $20 dollars for a sterilized scissors which I don't even get to keep. Shame on you service company for charging $20 for cleaning the scissors. Shame on the CEO's of the health insurance companies for accepting a 53 million dollar bonus. Shame on the Welfare mothers and fathers who drag themselves and children to doctor for every sniffle and birth control prescription on the publics dime. Shame on me for going along with this ridiculous scheme for 29 years.

For the 1st time in 20 years we have a little extra money. It's not because I'm making more since I'm unemployed...It's because the money boat isn't sailing down the river with mine and my bosses health insurance premium every month.

Sure I'm scared that one of us is going to get cancer and then we'll lose the house. But If I try to pay for Health and Dental insurance on my own I'm going to lose it anyway.

Disney 2009, Opti says vs Pesci says

Our family did the Disney thing last week. We found it very affordable with the seasonal rates down and the fact that they threw in a free meal plan valued at over $600. Having our kids in home school meant we could take off during the 2nd week of school.

I found myself impressed in many ways but disappointed in many ways also. My positive comments will be given by character I call Opti. My negative comments given by another character I call Pesci.

Re: The Disney transportation system
Opti says: “How nice it was not to worry about driving”
Pesci says: “Are you kidding me…..I wait in the sun for 20 minutes for bus to arrive and someone in a wheel chair shows up and we wait another 8 minutes for them to load up before we can board the bus.” “Then you’re forced to listen to the never ending advertisement over the loud speakers on the bus about this great transportation system of theirs.”

Re: The Disney amusement parks
Opti says: “Compared to our local big amusement park Valley Fair….It’s like the Sun compared to a flashlight.” “Especially impressive was day 2 during Inkle mama and Guitarman having a slightly load discussion about what to do next….2 Disney employees were on us in a heartbeat with fast passes to the next ride…that we couldn’t find”
Pesci says: “Are you kidding me….mark you Restroom locations a little better! Yes we spent way too much time trying find restrooms.” “And shame on you for dumping me into a gift shop at the end of each and every ride”.

Re: The Disney amusement park rides.
Opti says: “Awesome! The wait lines were short and when we did have to wait you gave us shade and some interesting things to look at. Especially great was the safari ride at Animal Kingdom that lasted over 20 minutes. We also enjoyed the mission space flight where we experienced up to 5 G’s.
Pesci says: “Some of these attractions as you call them were only slightly longer (ride time) than those at our local abusement park”.

Re: The Food choices
Opti says: “Excellent food and service”
Pesci says: “Thank God we had the Disney dining plan. 4 of our sit meals were well over $100 for the 4 of us. 2 of the meals were near or over $150. The Tip that we had to pay out of pocket on these meals was hefty.” “Also… if I’m spending $40 on a quick service meal, give a place to sit in the shade.”

Re: the Disney lodging
Opti says: “Very nice….Central air, comfy room with perfect television picture. Especially nice were the 2 pools. And you let me use your towels….note to self…don’t pack towels next time down. Also, I really enjoyed the movies by the pool @ 9:00 every evening.
Pesci says: The 7 minute walk from our room to the food court and bus stop was a little much!

Overall Disney observations
Opti: “Nicest amusement park I’ve ever been to.
Pesci: “it’s still just an abusement park”

Labor day weekend - My 1st Goose, Tom Knapp and more!

Spent the weekend at my brother's cabin which is located in Minnesota near the North Dakota border.
Tom Knapp put on a shooting exhibition in Dalton Minnesota. We all enjoyed the show very much. He could dust a pill with a 22 caliber rifle from the hip. One thing he said was there are currently 100 million gun owners in the US but only 4 million members of the NRA (National Rifle Organization). I'm going to look into membership.
Inkle Mama watching the Tom Knapp program.
Lego Lad and his garter snake.
Crafty girl and second cousin.

At the young age of 49 I shot my 1st goose. It was a 15+ pound (guess) adult Canada goose. Of course big brother shot a 16# goose.

Look what just showed up in my culvert! 2008 Minnesota Senate election ballot!

Can anyone tell me why a valid 2008 MN senate ballot would show up in my culvert after a heavy rain 9 months after the contested election.

I can't believe our garbage handlers would have been that careless. I can't believe there were that many extra ballots printed since 85 percent of the voting public got out to vote!

Even so... aren't there disposal rules for getting rid of these things?

Am I on the verge of a conspiracy theory Here?

And yes I'll be down there after the next rain storm to see what else shows up! Maybe Jimmy Hoffa!

Breaking news... new government program.... `Stash for Shacks'

Let's face it. The Building industry is struggling with no forseeable relief. We've overbuilt for the last 20 years and with the banks afraid to sign off on any type of construction loan....obviously some drastic measures need to be taken.

Here's how it will work. the US government will pay for half the cost of your new office, warehouse or residential building. You only need to meet a few of our cherry picked requirements.

1. The building must be at least 25 years old.
2. You agree to have the old building torn down within 3 months after moving into your new Stash for Shacks building.
3. Your new building must have Geo Thermal heating an cooling.
4. Your new building must utilize wind power for 50 percent of it's electrical needs.
5. Your new building requires that only 10 percent of it's occupants can park their vehicles on site. The rest must come in by Public transportation.
6. The parking area in your new building must be under the structure. We don't want Urban sprawl.
7. Any company cars must be Flex fuel, or alternate fuel vehicles that get at least 40 MPG combined city/hwy driving.
8. Your new building must have R40 insulation value in all walls and roof.
9. Your new building must have a designated area for bicycle parking.
10. Your new building is to incorporate natural prairie grass incorporated into the roof design.

I think I can stop there. You get the picture I'm sure. As Crazy as this may sound, mark my word, something to this extent is coming.

Any ideas for catchier name are welcome.

"The tomb of the golden bird" by .Elizabeth Peters. A chick book?....I say no

I know, I know. It's a chick book, written by an American woman author about an English family whom are Egyptologists in the 1910 era. And the main character and narrator is a woman. And it's 548 pages long. Did I mention I started on book #20 (the final book in the series!).

The hardest part was trying to keep up with all the names. 5 pages of them. the book had humor, interesting characters, intrigue, romance. I know alot more about The subject of Egyptology now, and yes it is a word.

The nice thing about starting on book 20 of the series is I feel I can pass on the 1st 19 now. Maybe I'll read the 7th Harry Potter book, now that Inkle Mama's done with it.