Bernie and Polly

Tom's daily blog has turned into Tom's monthly blog lately.  Work, work, work is what life consists of right now and, as I was driving home wondering if all this work is worth it when there is a big world to see out there, I run across Bernie Harberts.

I met this guy today as he was cruising down the road near my home.  His name is Bernie Harberts and he cruises the US with his mule and wagon.  From just the few minutes I talked to the guy I found him to be wonderful and gracious.  He gave me a card to his website so I came home and did a little Googling (Googleing?).  Turns out he sailed around the world in the late 90's then he came home and hit the road with mule and wagon.  Ended up traveling from here (Oriental, NC on the coast) to San Diego, CA, a 3500 mile trip by mule then they travelled from Mexico to Canada.  He also spent last year exploring Nova Scotia by mule and wagon.  Somewhere in all of that he also bicycled around Tasmania.  I would love to sit down and talk to him more some day about his adventures and the differences between solo ocean voyaging with its isolation vs. his travels by mule/wagon with interested people coming up to him all the time.  He has a book and video on his website that I just ordered.  Check him out at www.riverearth.com

Frosty

We went from record highs near 80 early in January down to near 20 the last few days and now it is supposed to be back in the mid 70's the next 2 days.  This is a picture of frost on the windshield of my Jeep a couple of days ago when it was so cold.  I have seldom seen frost form beautiful patterns like this out in this area.  I think it takes really cold weather to get more than our usual plain coating of smooth ice on windshields.

Life for me is starting to smooth out.  I am getting through the initial steep learning curve in my new job position and I look forward to having a life around the homestead again.  Spring is right around the corner so there will be a lot to do around here.

The World

US Government

To me, this picture represents the current state of the United States Government.

Merry Christmas to All!

Humpty Dumpty

The heart of the matter is that our Humpty Dumpty culture has taken a great fall.  Like an iceberg, we only periodically see the psychotic manifestation, the tip of our shattered culture, but what lies just beneath the surface is a gigantic cultural cancer that is rotting America from within. The ugly and dangerous truth is that we live in an embarrassing, politically correct culture that exalts and rejoices in the bizarre; aggressively promotes an “anything goes” value system; and vilifies, condemns and mocks traditional societal values and customs at every opportunity. We’ve embraced a culture of contempt that attacks the very institutions that make for a healthy and strong society, and then we’re shocked when it spirals out of control. The only thing I’m shocked about is that anybody is shocked.

---Ted Nugent

Samsung Galaxy Note 2

I got my Christmas present a little early.  It is a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 smartphone and I absolutely love it.  1.6GHz quad core processor, 2GB RAM, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and a beautiful 5.5 inch AMOLED screen.  This thing has the same power as my laptop.  It has a small blue missed call or notification light on the top which is something I have sorely missed since my Blackberry days.  The thing is lightning fast and has every feature I could possibly want or think of.  It is big but for me it is great.  It is too big to carry in a pocket but I have never done that anyway.  I value screen real estate and this device is, to me, the perfect compromise between the larger size of a tablet and the smaller portability of a phone.  In the past I would travel with an IPad or Google Nexus, a smartphone and an e-book.  Now I will feel comfortable traveling with just this phone.  The screen is big enough to comfortably browse the web and the extended battery life (much better than any smartphone I have used before) will make the device fine for reading e-books.  Now a one device travel world for me.  I can't say enough about the Samsung products.  As a former IPhone user it is my opinion that Samsung has left them in the dust and Android is a well tuned system as far as I have experienced.  I have never had one problem, hangup, reset, etc, with my use of Android and the integration with my Google account is perfect.

The first pic is the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, the Samsung Galaxy S2 and the IPhone 4S.

The second pic are my devices stacked.  From the bottom up are the IPad, Google Nexus 7, Kindle Paperwhite, Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and Samsung Galaxy S2.

(the quality of the pictures is lousy.  Sorry about that but I was in a hurry)

7 Day Forecast

Damn!  I just got a new promotion, a new phone, some new clothes and now I see this weeks forecast.  Friday looks bad but Saturday looks worse.  I forgot all about the end of the world.  I don't know why I got the oil changed in the Jeep this week.

Where in the World is Tom?

Wow, over a month since I last posted.  Life has been hectic/stressful.  I got swept up in a job promotion and after three grueling interviews I was given the green light.  I can't believe I have gone from a voluntary jobless state where I could concentrate on 'homesteading' around here, to working a few days a month, to working full time and now to a management position.  I DON'T like the fact that I have had little time to devote to my home and plans for this place to be more or less self sufficient.  I also DON'T like that I have not had the time or state of mind for my photography.  Oh well, just a temporary suspension of activities.   

Liberty

And most people think the Statue of Liberty is sitting out in the water somewhere.

Don't Jump

If you jump from the Golden Gate Bridge you are serious about ending it.

Ahhh!

Badger Custom Grip

Time Change

Don't forget it's that time of year.  The time changes tonight so be sure to adjust your clocks back one hour.  Unfortunately I work tonight so I will have to work 13 hours instead of my usual 12 which is a bummer.

Surveillance

I like the message that this guy is trying to get across.  That similar intrusions of privacy by CCTV cameras slip by every day without any negative reaction from most people yet walk up with a camera and people freak.  Surveillance cameras are everywhere now, both inside and outside, in government offices and in private businesses.  It is rare now days where you will go anywhere where at some point in your trip you will not be recorded on camera somewhere.

Sweet Potatoes

This is the local sweet potato hangout.

Fall Colors

This is a beautiful time of year.  The air is cool and dry.  The mosquitoes are gone and there are colors other than green in the trees.

Happy 27th Birthday Cathy!

Hurricane Sandy

This is out the back door this morning as we get more Hurricane Sandy winds.  It's slowly been getting worse throughout the night.  I'm still waiting for the water to rise.

Hard Boiled

I'm just sitting here listening to the rain and wind and worrying about whether the water is going to rise as far as the chicken coop.  We are having sustained winds of 30 - 40mpg out of the north right now from Hurricane Sandy and it is supposed to increase and last through the night and tomorrow.  North winds pile water up into the end of the bay where we are so I will be watching closely.  I'm not worrying about the house flooding like last year but it could easily get up into the chicken coop.

What do you do when you can't eat all the eggs that your chickens are giving you?  You hard boil them, chop them up, then feed them back to the chickens.  They love them.