Category Archives: education

2024, education, gardening, Gatherings, holidays, Uncategorized

Puff

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Well, our bell choir played for the PEO sisterhood on Saturday. It all went fine, although dragging the tables, bell cases, and all the equipment we need from church was a lot of work. We played in a huge facility the public school district purchased from the Haliburton Oil company for middle school and high school technical education. Culinary arts students prepared the meal. They also teach building trades, health sciences, all sorts of practical technology training, large equipment operating, business methods and marketing, and agriculture training. The complex is almost brand new and is enormous, with multiple buildings. The facility and the training are amazing. It is located on the outskirts of town on the major road north to the oil fields.

We played in the lunchroom. Everyone was very appreciative, and we played well. I couldn’t help thinking, though, how silly Puff The Magic Dragon is. I thought it was silly when I was a child, too. To make the situation even sillier, Saturday was 4/20, National Marijuana day. Here we were, middle aged and older people playing a song long associated with marijuana use for a bunch of very prim and proper middle aged and older women. No one else in the bell choir realized the symbolism or association of the song with the day, and we all got a good laugh out of it when I reminded them after the performance. There is a push to legalize recreational cannabis use in our state. Who knows, maybe they will add training at the technical institute on how to grow and market recreational pot!

What was technical training like when you were in high school? What is the most ludicrous performance or presentation you ever were involved in?

2024, animals, education, Words

Laughing Matter

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Some days it’s all about laughing.

On Duolingo yesterday morning, I started a new section – with words such as lazy and messy.  Clean and dirty have come up before so it was nice to have a few more to go with them.  Then came “stinks”.

Several animals have made it into the lessons: cat, dog, bird, penguin, snake, duck, elephant (the very first lesson!).  But yesterday was the first appearance (after 3 years) of hamster.

Duolingo doesn’t just give you words, they put all the words together in sentences and stories for you.  After all these months, I should have seen this coming.

I tuoi criceti puzzano

This translates to “your hamsters stink”.  Not a euphemism for anything that I can find although it does remind me of the Holy Grail line “your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries”.

I can’t imagine that stinking hamsters comes into conversation too often in one’s lifetime.  My sister had hamsters and I don’t remember them stinking….

What pets did you have growing up?  Did they stink?

2024, education, Family, Farming Update, Travel, Weather

What Day is This?

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

I have been completely discombobulated since returning home from Seattle. The weather did hamper our Sunday return flight and because I had purchased my plane ticket separate from Kelly and daughter, Delta automatically rebooked me on a redeye from Seattle to Minneapolis, while leaving those two on their own. Eventually they were able to get on the same flight. We left Seattle at 12:30 AM Monday, arriving at MSP about 5:30 AM and back to RST about noon Monday. We were all exhausted and needed naps.

But the extra day in Seattle allowed me to see the ‘gum wall’.

It’s… something.  It’s kinda gross. Glad I didn’t have to pay for that.

The dogs were mildly excited to see us. They had good sitters while we were gone, and those people said they did their best to turn the dog’s loyalty. I think a few more days they could have done it. I laughed that all the dog treats were gone. No wonder the dogs liked them best.

I attended that workshop called “Psychology of Stupidity”. It was presented by a group called ‘Risky Business Resources’. The room was full, standing room only in fact, which I thanked the crowd for being that interested in safety, and kudos to the presenter for his title. If he had called it ‘Analysis of theater Safety’, it wouldn’t have been so full.

We discussed how people make decisions, and the factors that lead to people making mistakes. He had us play ‘rock paper scissors’ with our left hands, while thumb wrestling with our right. It can’t really be done. Some takeaways: Sleep debt and fatigue increase risk taking. Underestimating risk is a big one.

What stuck with me the most was discussing step ladders. We’ve all stood on that step second from the top. The one that says not to stand on. So why is that step even there?? Some ladder manufacturers have tried removing that step. People complained the ladders weren’t tall enough then. And there was nowhere to put the sticker saying not to use that step. It made the whole room laugh.

On the last day, I took part in a Kazoo parade.

It’s part of a fundraiser.

By Tuesday I was right back into things. A ceiling leak at one theater. Striking lights at another. Back to my set at the college.

I saw a killdeer! It’s nice they’ve returned.

I ordered some extra tough shoelaces off amazon. I got some that are fire and heat resistant. I could  see the need for that if I was a firefighter. But if I need shoelaces that are fire and heat resistant, I’m doing something wrong.

WHAT’S THE DUMBEST ATTRACTION YOU’VE SEEN?

2024, education, Family, Food, Kids, Technology, Travel

Where in the World is XDFBen?

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A rhetorical question really. The photos will give it away. But I hardly ever get to say this so couldn’t pass it up.

A college sponsored vacation? Well, sure! At least for me. Kelly and daughter are the bonus on the trip.

Thirty four years ago we came here on our honeymoon. A year ago when I knew this event would be here, I said we couldn’t pass it up. And now I keep asking, do you recognize anything? Nope. Even the famous places, I know we were there, but not much recollection. And that’s ok. The weather was beautiful Sunday – Tuesday.  Wednesday was cloudy and Thursday It rained in the evening.

One day we took the ferry to Bainbridge Island. Standing on the deck watching the water, it was just beautiful. I tried to get that to be an indelible memory. I made a comment to Kelly that I thought it was pretty cool go back to an island we had been at 34 years ago and she pointed out we were on Whidbey Island, not Bainbridge Island. Damn. I don’t know where I got Bainbridge from. Well, I’m a writer, time to change the narrative! From now on, we went to Bainbridge Island as part of our Honeymoon. Wasn’t much to see there, it’s 55 minutes between returning ferries, and we were back to the dock in time to catch the next one returning to the mainland.  We all enjoyed the boat ride.

Tuesday we rode the Ferris wheel, we went to the aquarium, and we visited three used bookstores. Everything’s expensive here, but some of the food has really been good.

We hit some of the other tourist attractions, and got to watch them toss some fish.

Wednesday was the first day of the USITT conference, the United States Institute of Theatre Technology, and I am now a certified MEWP operator. Mobile Elevated Work Platform. Scissor lift, genie lift, all those big bucket things you see at construction sites or theaters. It was a good class.

Thursday I attended a soldering workshop and wired up a little LED strip,

got my hearing tested for free, saw a famous Broadway lighting designer and listened to her speak: Dawn Chiang.

Friday was a class on organizing your shop, which I’m hoping will be useful for home, as well as a class titled “the psychology of stupidity”. I’ll fill you in on that next week.

The convention Center: Two buildings, 6 floors. Getting my steps in. Not to mention how far UP HILL it is from the wharf to downtown. We were never lost, but I went the wrong direction multiple times. 

We rode the light rail and monorail, we met some friends here and had supper at their house, I made a couple new friends, and more surprising was the fact we three survived all being in one hotel room together for a week!

The people watching has been great!

March 21 is World Down Syndrome Day. 3,21, because down syndrome comes from the fact those kids have three copies of the 21st chromosome as opposed to two. That’s why it’s also called trisomy 21. Daughter is a pretty interesting kid. Lots of people will smile at her and make conversation with her, she says hello to a lot of people, and animals just love her. She’s kind of fun to hang out with.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE CERTIFIED IN?

2024, education, home, Mysteries, Uncategorized

Pajama Time

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Getting dressed is the official start of my day.  All the things I do before I get dressed (Connections, crossword, Wordle, Duolingo) don’t count.  This part of the day I am still in my jammies.  While there were a couple of times I never changed out of my pajamas for the entire day (working from home, no zoom meetings), those were complete anomalies.  Once I get dressed, I get on with my day.

Of course the problem is Wednesdays and my doughnut habit.  For some reason, all bets are off about going to the bakery early in the morning and there are a sizeable number of Wednesday that see me at the bakery in my nighttime garb.  Mind you, this is in colder weather when I can cover up with a sweatshirt or a winter coat – my summer nightgowns don’t lend themselves to early morning bakery forays.

This past Wednesday morning, I looked down as I was getting into the car and realized I was still wearing my slippers.  Long story as to why I still had my slippers on, involving having to let the dog out earlier and it being quite cold that morning.  I did sit for about 15 second debating whether to go back in the house to put on shoes and decided “what the heck”.  Really what’s the difference between my Birkenstock clogs and slippers anyway, except for the faux fuzz.

This made me think about fashion in general.  There aren’t really any rules about going out in slippers, are there?  For that matter, except for not going out naked, are there any rules at all?  Even the never wear white before Memorial Day or after Labor Day is just silly, right?  And what’s the difference between my jammie pants and overshirt and any other nylon/orlon pants and matching shirt?   In fact, why do we even HAVE pajamas?

Do you have a favorite pair of slippers?  Pajamas?

2024, education, Health, Medicine, Mysteries

At Least I’m Upright….

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I think I know why it takes so long to become a doctor. You have to learn a completely different language:

This accessory muscle is located posteromedially, originating from the fascia of the deep posterior compartment at a level posterior to the tibiotalar joint and talus and then extends inferiorly, deep to the flexor retinaculum, posterior and superficial to the traversing tibial nerve and posterior tibial artery within the tarsal tunnel, inserting distally upon the quadratus plantae muscle (axial series 2, Images 6-22, sagittal series 4, images 15-11 and coronal series 7, images 7-10.)

Even after Dr. Moser showed me the MRI images and “explained” it to me, I’m still not sure exactly what the issue is except that it seems to be related to my initial ankle sprain (20 years ago – a bad sprain that took several months to feel better). No pinched anything, no compressed anything, no torn anything and in what was clearly a surprise to the doctor, no arthritis. He did point out what he called some edema – that’s about it. Two co-pays and an MRI to get told my ankle hurts.

Sent home with a brace and a couple of physical therapy appointments. In the meantime, I suppose the fact that there isn’t any arthritis is the good news I’ll try to keep in mind.

Do you have a favorite tongue-twister from childhood?

2024, education, Family, Farming Update, Gatherings, Media, Theatre, Uncategorized

Genie In A Lift!

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Today’s Farming Update comes from Ben

This week has been about theater. It’s one of those periods where I have to get a show ready, plus class, plus the real job, plus the everyday household stuff and chickens and kids and dogs and, you know… “Any Idiot can handle a crisis, it’s the day to day living that wears you out”.

I’m lighting Hamlet this week. “A Reimagined Classic” is the marketing tagline. I don’t know my Shakespeare, so I don’t know which parts have been “reimagined”. I know the script jumps over scenes, and it ends with Act 7 and it’s still 2.5 hours long. I recognize many well-known lines. And there’s some funny stuff in the first half. It’s probably not a spoiler to say everyone dies at the end. Being reimagined, I can use some non-traditional lighting and some color washes on the backwall, as well as color on the actors. Here’s a picture from my tech table, just to give you an idea, with work lights still on.

Scenic design by Erica Zaffarano, directed by Merritt Olson.

Paper tech will be on Saturday evening, meaning the director and tech people go through the script and coordinate sound and lighting cues so the Stage Manager, who runs it all, has everything they need. Sunday evening will be a full run through with costumes, sound, and lights. Generally, Monday will be make up, wigs, plus all the other stuff. It’s really interesting, the show can be really humming along, and then you throw all the tech stuff in, and the show takes about 4 steps back. As an actor, it’s just a lot of stuff your brain is dealing with besides lines and blocking (movement).

We had our first meeting at our new Haverhill Township townhall on Wednesday. Bathrooms! Running water! HEAT! And AC!

Our old townhall was basically a one room school. A wonderful place with a lot of character, but it was 100 years old. With no running water, and an outhouse… The only State Insured Outhouse in Minnesota!

I went to 4H there, I did one act plays on that stage, and my mom and dad met as infants when their bassinettes were put behind the furnace by their respective moms during Mothers and Daughters Club. A lot of history in this building.

At the college, I’m working on the set model for The Curious Savage, by John Patrick, our spring play. I also got the genie lift out and tie a rope up at the ceiling for the physics demonstration show Saturday and, since I had the genie out, I changed some burned out fluorescent lamps. I keep a log of when I change lamps so I can change several at the same time if they’re all on the same timeline. Some of these 8’ fluorescents have been going since March 2, 2015! It isn’t unusual to get 6 or 7 years out of them. I’ve got one set in the shop that’s been going since January 25th of 2012!!

When I walk back from class on the other end of the campus on the first floor, I walk up 5 floors, to a roof access door, just to get steps in, then back to my office on the 2nd floor. Written on the wall by the roof access is some pretty wise graffiti: “you bleed just to know you’re alive” and next to it, “Don’t forget you can live without bleeding “
And these: “The quality of life is determined by the questions you ask” – WB 2017
“If you don’t ask the questions, you’re never going to know the answers” – SF 2018

WHERE OR HOW DID YOUR PARENTS MEET? OR YOU AND YOUR SPOUSE? ❤️

2023, animals, education, Family, Farming Update, Gatherings, Uncategorized, work

Heat!

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Today’s Farming Update post comes from Ben.

No snow this year. I’m kinda OK with that. I’m sure it’s coming yet…we got 2 or 3 months of winter to get through, so I’m hooking up the rear blade and I’ll keep watching the forecast and I’ll get the snow blower in the shed if I have too. We will need the moisture somehow, and the cold weather does help kill bugs, but these up and down temps are really hard on cattle. Pneumonia and respiratory issues are common with these temperature fluctuations.

The farm magazines are making predictions and they pretty much always say “stay the course”. Don’t make drastic changes in crop rotations or marketing plans. Yet. I’ve gotten pecuniary plans from the co-op for fertilizer and spraying for 2024 and things are actually down a little bit from 2023. A few thousand dollars here and a few thousand there and pretty soon I’m talking real money. But I’m not planning any more major projects for next year. Yet. I mean beyond getting the fourth wall in the shed. We may not do that next slab of concrete. Yet.

County property tax adjuster was here this week. The permit for my shed remodeling project came in and he was following up. I know the guy from our township business with the county, and we talked for half an hour. Five minutes of that had to do with the shed remodeling.

Yesterday I got a 100 gallon propane tank placed so I can have temporary heat in the shed this winter. The deliver guy joked I was going to use a lot of propane trying to heat the whole shed. Yep. I better get the temp wall up. That’s my plan for these couple warm days. So far I’m not making much progress.

While I’m making plans for shed heat, back on Sunday night it was 8° and the well house thermometer was showing 35° and I am a gambling man and I hate to pay for electricity I don’t really need to use, but it’s also worth hedging your bets and I went out and turned on the well house heater. It was 18° the next morning but I slept soundly knowing I didn’t have to worry about that.
Myself, and I know other people, use that phrase: I may do something that seems extreme, but, “I will be able to sleep at night”.

Got my final dividend check from AMPI, the co-op to whom I sold milk. They are on a 20 year dividend payout and this was my last one. Whopping $2.19 cents. Twenty years since I milked a cow and did all those chores seems like a lifetime ago. Seems like a whole DIFFERENT life. And it really was. I wouldn’t of missed it for anything. I still miss the cows’ personalities, and the situations they gave me and the people I met as a result.

Our kids daycare having a barn and farm tour.


Our bulk tank was a “Zero” brand. Kind of an oddball as the company had a unique design that didn’t work the way most dairy pipelines did. It was the first pipeline we installed in 1983 replacing the Surge brand buckets. Surge buckets were revolutionary when they came out in the 1920’s. (See this website for a lot of interesting information. “Interesting” if you’re into that sort of thing. https://www.surgemilker.com/history.html

The zero pipeline had some really unique features, but it also had a couple pretty serious drawbacks that affected the cows health. Too complicated to get into here. I replaced the pipeline, (keeping the Zero tank) in the mid 1990s with a Delaval system; a much more traditional system that was easier to service and cheaper parts. I sold the bulk tank a few years after we sold the milk cows. I saw a video online the other day of the same brand of tank and it brought back some nostalgic memories.

This photo was the milk house. The bulk tank is on the left. 600 gallons. Note the step stool to reach the lid for cleaning or samples. The four milker units are hanging, for washing, on the right. Wow, looking at this photo myself gives me so many memories. So many things I fixed over the years and so much time spent in there. The milkhouse was remodeled when we did the pipeline in 1983, but before that it was still the milkhouse and I remember washing the old bulk tank and surge milkers in there and my folks would say, “How did you get so wet??”. Well, I was washing stuff. Shrug. My history.


This photo was the ‘receiver jar’. You can see the milk came into that, and when it was about 2/3rds full, it pumped over to the bulk tank. I really loved having that jar. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but that was my favorite part of dairy farming: watching the milk rush into that and pump out. I’d watch that jar for hours.


Everybody travel safe if you are.
Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays!

HAVE YOU EVER HAD TO DO SOMETHING SO YOU COULD SLEEP?  WHERE WERE YOU IN 2003?

2023, education, Family, Food, Uncategorized

Treats

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Husband has been the secretary on the board of directors for our local food pantry for the past three years. He has to type the minutes for the monthly meetings, a thankless task. His term is up this month. He typed his last minutes on Saturday.

Husband said he got the motivation for finishing the minutes by promising himself that he could bake some rye bread when he was done. He loves baking rye bread so much he considers it a treat. The bread was really good.

I had a dear friend who was a philosophy professor who would reward himself with a small glass of cognac and a good cigar after grading every twenty essays and papers. I always wondered if his grading of the first papers was somewhat different from the grading of the last papers. Freshman philosophy essays must have been pretty tedious to read year after year.

What motivates you to finish a tedious job? Ever had to write up meeting minutes? Did you ever take a philosophy class?

2023, Automotive, education, Family, Technology

Turning….

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Over the weekend I was driving in the left lane on 66th when a white car pulled in front of me.  I was started to grumble my usual sarcastic “Thanks for signaling” when I noticed the driver had his left arm sticking straight out of his window.  After a bit I thought maybe he was signaling his turn but that seemed so ancient of a gesture that I was sure I was wrong.  Then he signaled again with his arm when he moved over into the left-turn lane. 

His brake lights were working fine so I don’t know if his turn lights don’t or if he just likes the breeze on his arm on a lovely day.  What I do know is that using your arm for a turn signal, while it was taught routinely when I was a kid, is not taught now.  YA had no idea what I was talking about when I asked her.

Do you have air-conditioning in your car?  Or do you prefer opening the windows to get the breeze?