WWIII

I was told last night that someone believes we are headed for WWIII. I believe it may have been Newt Gingerich who was expressing this view. Apparently he aslo mentioned that we could be witnessing the fulfillment of prophecy. He was basing his view on the current situation between Israel and Lebanon and the other middle east countries. I am wondering if you would agree with him. Also wonder if this scares you. I must be honest, it kinda scares me....

Druken Stupor

Jackson has been trying to improve his mobility in the upright position. He can maneuver on his feet for several yards before toppling over. When he is walking he looks like a man who has had a few to many alcoholic beverages...

Church Signs

I saw an interesting church sign today.

Our Sundays are better than Dairy Freeze. Come taste and see...
I thought that was pretty funny...

School Memory

I was asked tonight if I would share a school memory Sunday evening at church. I have a couple things rolling around in my mind. I want to know what you remember about school. How did your teachers impact your life? Is one their one memory that sticks in your mind? Of course we are talking about positive memories not negative ones.

Tool Eatery

We started cutting corn silage today. The start of the harvest season always brings a sense of anticipation and curiosity. I wonder what will break this year. We had our first self-inflicted break down this afternoon.
I was working on the chopper when Sonny showed up and we discovered I was working on something that didn't need to be fixed. (I thought a bolt had sheared when in reality a gathering chain had hopped off of the sprocket.) So I put my tools up on the chopper and while Sonny worked on the real probelm I ran home to get some lunch. When I got back to the field I noticed that Sonny had moved the machinery but was once again working on something. The tools I had carefully laid on top of the chopper he did not see and when he started chopping they fell into the chopper. Metal going through choppers is not a good thing. I told him what all I had left up their. Two half-inch wrenchs, two nine-sixteenth wrenchs, hammer, punch, and a pipewrench. What was left? One half-inch wrench, hammer and punch. We had to replace two knives and put half a dozen others back into the correct position. Such is life at Malfunction Junction...

Moustache

As I have mentioned before I tend to listen to ESPN radio on certain occasions. Today was one of those occasions. Colin Cowherd (I am not making his last name up) opened his show by talking about the moustache. He mentioned a very interesting fact. In the NFL there are 28 or so teams. Of these 28 teams nine of them are coached by men who wear a moustache. In college football you have roughly 200 division one football teams. Out of these 200 teams there are only 5 coaches who wear moustaches. So Colin wondered why. I think he made several very interesting points.
Point #1 Most parents would not want their children to be coached by a man who wears a moustache. Sounds crazy? Hold on a second before you blow his idea out of the water. Imagine you are on a recruiting mission and are asking some 16-17 year old kid to give you four years of his life would you as the parent be thrilled about the image of a guy sporting a moustache? I wonder...

Point #2 Coaches in the NFL wear moustaches because it portrays an image of power/dictatorship. (His words not mine.) Here is what really caught my attention. He started naming men who wore moustaches who were big time dictators. Stalin and Hitler are the only two I remember but he had four or five more national leaders on his list. Is this why men wear moustaches and not beards or goatees?

New Album

After recording we usually get a reference cd to take home with us so we can listen to it and find things that we want to change or get rid of. My reference copy has been hoarded by my oldest daughter. She has been playing it over and over. It almost makes me weary but I am honored that she wants to hear what I was doing last week. She usually doesn't like the new album when I bring it home because she doesn't know the songs. This hasn't been the case with this album. She loves it. In fact, she has been digging my music out and following along and singing. One of the songs on this album is One Thing I Ask. (This is a Jim Teel arrangement.) It is something to hear your daughter singing these lyrics even when she doesn't understand them. One thing I ask, one thing I seek. That I may dwell in your house O Lord. All of my days. All of my life. Hear me O Lord. Hear me when I cry. Lord do not hide your face from me. You have been my strength. You have been my shield. And You will lift me up.

Wal-Mart

Well, well, after many moons of wining, complaining and other assorted negative approaches Wal-Mart finally heard our plaintive cry and opened a new store. Okay, I never talked to them I just talked about them. Anyway, they opened this new store about 15-20 miles from our house in Altavista. We had been going to Lynchburg but that is 30-45 minutes away when the traffic is light. Tonight we went to check out this new store and several things that caught my attention. It is obvious this store is new. The aisles are much wider. I can now push a double stroller through the store without using my horn/flashers/or my reverse beeper. The other thing I noticed was how slow it was. The number of people shopping was very small so the amount of time we spent standing in the check out line was minimal. I am hoping this will continue to be our shopping experience but I have my doubts. Good things must always come to an end...

Pictures

If you are interested in seeing pictures from our recording session click

here.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and you will see a link to the Reunion Photo Album. If you click on that link you will find yourself viewing some very interesting photos.

Finally

Home again, how sweet it is... Our night at the hotel was not very pleasent. Aleya threw up about midnight and after that everything went down hill. Sierra and the boys took turns waking up and finally about five I decided we could all be awake in the van so we headed for home. I asked Rachel if she was sleeping well in the van and she said no. I told her I wasn't either. To bad you cannot drive and sleep at the same time. A few times I thought I was going to give it a try. I feel very sluggish at the moment and have no desire to work.

Odds & Ends

Why does the press turn everything that Mr. President does into a bad thing? I think it is very silly and doesn't make sense.
Well, we are on our last day here at the studio. Ben is currently working on a solo before we listen to things and make sure we have everything we need. Then I will be on my way to Breezewood to see my lovely bride and the family.

Technical Difficulties

We are currently having a glitch with the computer. Our engineer is trying to get this glitch fixed. Hopefully it will not take him long.
One quick joke to lighten your day.
We were discussing the need to drink coffee and one of the fellows was informing us that drinking coffee removes more water than you put in. (Eight ounces of coffee will remove, say, 15 ounces of water from your system.) Anyway, Robbie, the engineer, replied "That's why I drink two..." I thought that was a great comeback...

Day Two

Yesterday afternoon we worked on two more songs. The first was Rock Of Ages and the second was O For A Thousand Tounges.
Today we haven't done very much because seven time probowler Mr. Sonny Randall is recording his sport minute. I was able to sit in on this session and I actually contributed to the show. He was reading his script about college football and was talking about BCS berths. (Try saying BCS berths five times really fast!) He was having a difficult time saying those words so I suggested he say BCS bids. He thought that would work great. I can't believe I contributed to the Sonny Randal Sports Minute.

Day One

Currently we are finishing up our second song. The first song of the day was Blessed Be The Name Of Jesus. The second was No Not One. I don't know what the third will be... I will fill you in later...

Final Part II

We sang at Methodist church this morning. They have two services with the first service starting at 8:30. This is rather early to be singing and we were living proof that one shouldn't try to perform at this early hour. It was dreadful. Yes, most of the songs we sang sounded out of tune and had myriad of other issues. The second service started at 9:45. This service was a whole different ball game. The tuning was much better. It felt like we were singing with eachother. So, maybe there is hope for the coming week...

Final

WEll, tonight was our final run through for our Reunion album. Tommorow morning we are singing at a Methodist church in Lynchburg. In the evening some of us are heading to Harrisonburg for the night and then on Monday morning we will be in the studio singing.

Antique Power

Antique Power is a magazine full of very interesting articles about old tractors and last night I learned something new. How many of you know about The Ford Tractor? No, not that Ford, not Henry's Ford. This is a different Ford. The very first Ford Tractor was the brainchild of W. B. Ewing. This man, apparently, wanted to make big dollars by using the Ford name. (Henry Ford was still designing his tractor when The First Ford Tractor was built.) Mr. Ewing hired a man whose last name was Ford and was no obvious relative of Henry's. Mr. Ewing hired this man to justify using the Ford name. He then began to market his tractor. However, his tractor had some major flaws and never amounted to much of anything. It was very hard to start and was so heavy it could hardly move, let alone pull anything, sounds like me...
He sold a tractor to a fellow in Nebraska, Mr. Crozier. This man was very disappointed in the tractor. In fact he thought he was buying one of Henry's Fords. The tractor did such a poor job he decided to get a replacement from the wanna be Ford people. After much haggling he got one which in turn was less useable than its brother. A year later he was elected to the Nebraska Legislature and received an earful of complaints about this sorry excuse of a tractor and the dishonest manufacturers. This was the beginning of tractor testing. Mr. Crozier and Senator Charles Warner decided to put an end to this nonsense and put together what is now known as the Nebraska Tractor Test Law. This law is still in existence and is used to certify that tractors sold in Nebraska are actually what the salesman claims it is. Since 1919 every tractor model made in the US and 25 participating countries have its performance verified at the University of Nebraska Test Laboratory.
I am amazed that someone living in the early nineteen hundreds could be so wicked...
Anyway, this has been your history lesson for the century...
Thanks to Antique Power your knowledge of our nations past has become better-rounded

Experiment

Some of you may be aware of the fact that I am living in a state of aloneness. My wife and children are in OH and are planning to stay there until we finish recording. I have discovered over the years that when my wife and family are gone I don't sleep as well. I don't know why that is but it is the truth. Yesterday while I was working I had storm in my brain. The brain storming thought I had was this; "Try sleeping on the couch and see if you sleep any better." So, I did and I did sleep much better. Now why would that be? I don't know but I plan to sleep on the couch again tonight...

Your Pictorial

Whoever is milking is required to wear gloves. Gloves are worn to keep me from smelling like a iodine factory after milking. It is also suppose to help reduce the ability of spreading mastitus from one cow to another.

 

FIrst Glance

Here is the cow before I have done anything to her.

 

Predip/Foamed

We predip every cow. This is to kill the bacteria.

 

Prestrip

I prestrip every cow. This is done for two reasons. 1. Helps locate cows that may have mastitus. 2. Helps the cow let her milk down.

 

Towels

The towels we use to clean the cows are purchased at Sams Club. We wash them in a washing machine in the milk house.

 

Cleanliness

 

Most Importantly

The most critical part of the milking process is in the cleanliness of the teats. Notice how I am using my thumb to get the teat ends as clean as possible. Whatever dirt is on the end of the teat will end up in the cows udder and this will cause them to mastitus. Which is something we want to avoid...

 

Milker Attachment

When I attach the milker I try to have as little "air suction" as possible.

 

Post Dipping

 

Post Dip

The post dip is too eliminate or reduce the amount of bacteria she will pick up in the barn.

 

Thank-You

I thank the lass, Moly, for her giving spirit...
Notice the nasty fly on the pole....

 

Amish Boats?!?!

When we arrived back at my Father-In-Law's house Sunday evening, I noticed his amish neighbor had a boat. I asked my wife "How does an amishman power his boat? Does he use horses?" She did not have an answer which sorely disappointed me. I figured people who have lived in the Nappanee/Goshen Ind. area would know the answers to lifes perplexing questions. Anyway, now I am asking you the same question.

Miles

Does anyone care to guess how many miles I put on the van this past weekend? Something that may help you out is this: Traveled from VA to OH to MI to OH to VA. Whew...

Alternative Medicine

What is your opinion of alternative medicine? Is it okay to use herbs, essential oils, or other forms of natural/alternative medicine? What determines when something is on the verge of becoming evil? Is their really a difference between having lots of faith in science and lots of faith in other forms of medicine? Can a person have too much faith in scientific medicine? Is one form of alternative medicine more acceptable than another? For example, is using a chiropractor any more acceptable than using reliv, herbs, or essential oils, regardless of who is marketing the product?

Odds & Ends

We arrived in the Lake Odessa MI area yesterday evening around 5:30. I would guess their are roughly 60 some people here. I really have no idea. It is possible that there are 60 grand/greatgrandchildren present. Last evening for supper we had stew that was cooked in a cast iron pot over a fire. Very good stuff.... I believe we are having grilled chicken at some point but I don't really know. The order of the day is to drink lots of coffee and sit around discussing lots of different topics. I just discovered one of Rachel's uncles has his pilots license and also owns a plane. The plane is a Cessna four seater. I believe he said it is a 172 but I cannot remember. I love flying....
I haven't been to MI for roughly five years so lots of things have changed. Time never stops and people continue to change.
Back to flying....
How many of you endure flying? How many of you have a pilots license? How many of wish you had one? If I could do life over I would get my pilots license.

DSL

My inlaws now have DSL which is incredibly swift. None of the dial up or waiting. It is so nice and I am quickly becoming incredibly spoiled. How many of you have dial up connetions?

Travels

I saw a rather interesting thing today, several in fact. One of which was a gentleman driving with a DOG in his LAP. I sped past him at a rather rapid pace.....
There are lots of interesting vanity tags out their. One I noticed today was GRRR. This was located on an infinity which was being driven by a man aho appeared to be in his sixties.
The most interesting thing I saw was the back windsheild of an SUV which had a large sighn on it readong America Bless God. I have been trying to figure out what that means. Are they being sarcastic? Or, is it possible they were very poor english students, like me.....
Of course, they could believe that America can/is blessing God. Which I think our country could if they changed their hearts.
What do you think? What is your initial reaction to the statement America Bless God?

Thunder

Last night we had a thunderstorm pass through our neighborhood. We needed the rain badly. However, their is a downside to thunderstorms at night. The one that comes to mind at the moment is fright!!! Aleya woke up scared nigh unto death, or so I was told. My wife spent an hour or so with Aleya in Aleya's bed. She said, "Aleya was shaking like a leaf." So, I am wondering how many of you were or are scared of thunder? I don't remember ever being scared of thunder but I probably was. Isn't it funny how we are scared of something that can't hurt us? I have never heard of a case were someone was killed by thunder. Lightining may be a different story.....

Should I???

I am pondering doing a pictorial, a post on the proper way to prep. a cow for milking. Should I or shouldn't I?

Children

How do you find time for them? How do you find energy for them? I am busy pecking away on the keyboard and one of my daughters will arrive and want to be held. I always pick them up because I am afraid if I don't I will be ruining them for life and I don't want that to happen. I feel guilty, I guess? So maybe this means I do not make my children a high enough priority. I can find energy to rip walls out of the house and make numerous treks to the landfill but I don't have enrgy to play outside with my children. Surely their is a balance somewhere..... Do you know what it is?

It's A Crazy Month

Here is my fairly concrete schedule for the month of July.
July 1 All day VOP practice.
July 2 VOP Program AM and PM
July 6 Leave for OH
July 7 Leave for MI
July 9 Return to OH
July10 I leave my family in OH and return to VA
July 15 All day VOP practice.
July 16 VOP pragram's AM and PM
July 17-21/22 Recording In Harrisunburg, VA
July 22/23 Drive from Harrisunburg to Breezewood PA to pick up my family.
July 22/23 Drive from Breezewood to home...
July 24 start cutting corn (hopefully).
It's a crazy month.....