Saturday, September 20, 2003
04:17 p.m.
This week I managed to get my old tractor running. A few weeks before I bought a 1949 Farmall Cub (series f). I got it running, after replacing the petcock and sediment bowl, then found that the inside of the tank is pretty rusted. So what I really need to do is get the inside of the tank coated. There's a guy in Lawrence who said he has half a gallon of the stuff, so I'll have him do it for me after I get back from the road.
I also got a new seat for my Snapper Comet. That old lawnmower has come a long way, too.
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
10:20 p.m.
I have done a lot of driving this month. I could swear that I just got the truck's oil changed, and now I'm long due for another change.
I need some sleep tonight, like never before. It feels like I need to reboot my internal computer. It's as if too much info is coming in, and not enough is coming back out. And that's a weird feeling.
I saw snow today. They claim there was five inches in some places. I never thought I'd see snow in September.
Wednesday, September 3, 2003
12:18 a.m.
Letter to the good people of Davenport, Iowa
While shooting some video for The Weather Channel this last Monday, I stopped into your nice little town to take some pictures of the waterfront and the downtown.
I'm based in Kansas, but I travel a lot, and while going through cities here in the midwest, I try to gather pictures of different cities for clients like The Weather Channel, but also some of the other major networks, like ABC, CBS and NBC.
While on the public waterfront bike path, an officer (I believe his name was Seferino, but it may not be important in this story.) approached me and told me that I could not take pictures of the bridge.
Last I checked with the NPPA (National Press Photographers Association), news photographers like myself are allowed to shoot anywhere on any public property. There is plenty of legal precedence where this has been tested in courts. However, I simply told him that I didn't know that it wasn't allowed.
But he told me that this was an Army Bridge, and that this was marked from the road. That's fine, but I approached from the bike path where there is no sign. When I later walked up to check out the other sign, I found it read, "Persons are subject to search." Or something like that. It clearly said nothing about photography.
Officer Seferino called in backup and took my ID. I offered a business card with our company and my number.
When the two other officers arrived, the one asked why I didn't know that I couldn't take pictures of this bridge. He said they told local photographers that the bridge was off limits (which sounded like he just made it up). So I explained to him again, my story of why I was in town and why I happened across this old bridge.
In hindsight, after talking to a friend who goes to the Chiropractic school here in town, he told me the story about the bridge and how it goes to a plant that makes something for the army.
So if this is the case, I wonder why don't they mark the bridge better? Do they think it's enough to put up one or two little vague signs where hardly anyone can see them? And if security is that high, or there is a possible danger involved, why would you take this cargo through your downtown where people are walking?
While we stood there and waited for police dispatch to run my info through all of the local, state and national searches, one of the officers tried to make some small talk. He started asking me about Kansas City and baseball there.
I wondered for a moment if he was actually making small talk, or if this was part of his training. Was he supposed to ask me about how my "home team" was doing to see if I was American enough?
I started into a short history of Kansas City baseball. I told him about the new minor league team, the T-Bones who just built a stadium near my home in Kansas. He apparently became quickly bored and cut me off to call something in.
I heard the radio come back, "Does he appear hostile?" And he responded, "Negative on that." He mumbled something else as he looked me up and down again. What a sight I was, dressed in jean shorts and a cabana shirt and old tennis shoes.
The first officer, Seferino then told me that he would have to look at my tape.
This was now treading heavy on violating my rights of freedom of the press. Normally I would have argued this, if he was a security officer with nothing but a radio, but he had a gun.
Luckily I had enough battery power, so I rewound the tape so he could see the pictures I took of the bridge. After that, he then said he had to see the whole tape. Luckily I had only shot ten minutes of tape, or it would have taken an hour to rewind the tape and let him see everything.
At some point, either the heat got to them, or they decided that I wasn't worth the effort.
The third officer, the oldest of the bunch (who was smoking a cigarette upwind from me, which I thought was a bit rude), told me that I'd better think twice next time before I start taking pictures of this bridge.
Maybe these gentlemen missed the class on violating civil liberties. Maybe they've lost some common sense, and replaced it with paranoia. Maybe the builders shouldn't have put such an important piece of our nation's defense through your downtown.
Whatever the case, I'm sorry that I happened across your little town. I was going to stop for lunch and maybe some ice cream, and put some spare change into some of your local businesses.
I guess you don't need any free national attention, highlighting all the hard work your people put into the beautiful waterfront and renovated downtown.
I guess you don't need any tourism money either. A lot of people watch these video pieces provided to networks by people like me. If they see how nice your town looks, they just might stop in for a while.
As we get closer to the Iowa Caucus, a lot of national media people will be descending on the Quad Cities from time-to-time.
And since I work with a lot of these people every day, I will be sure to pass along the info about where you will be harrassed by cops. The photographers or reporters just might decide to skip doing a story in the downtown all-together. It's not as if we can't do the same story in Dubuque.
During the conversation with the officers, I was calm, friendly and apologetic. Underneath it all I was pretty upset. When did I lose my rights to walk down the street in this country? When did our people lose their common sense?
Worse yet, did a small picture-taking opportunity turn into a situation where my name is now on record at the Davenport Police Department? When I come back to cover a story for the Today Show, Good Morning America or the Early Show will I be harrassed by somebody again?
And worst of all, should we start going through archives and start blotting out pictures of bridges, even if they happen to be in the background? My great-grandfathers who worked with the Army Corps of Engineers and the WPA (Works Progress Administration) wouldn't appreciate that you could no longer take pictures of the bridges they built.
The officers told me over and over during that half hour that everything has changed since 9-11. Unfortunately, I will have to be the one who eventually tells my friends how our country is changing. You see, they're overseas right now. And they're fighting for our freedom.
Sam Sinke
Tonganoxie, Kansas
Tuesday, August 11, 2003
09:00 a.m.
I need to be getting me some pancakes. I pulled up onsite here at Bears training camp, and fired up the truck. And the first thing I saw on the television monitor was a House of Pancakes commercial. That is not good. Especially when my only crutch this morning is a bagel. I can't make coffee yet because we will have to move the truck in a little while, and I don't want the coffee pot to tip over.
A few weeks ago I was going through the twin cities, and I stopped by to see my good friend John and his wife Christa and their darling little girl. It seems like just yesterday when John and Derrick and I were in-between covering hurricanes and a shuttle landing with John Glenn when John first found out he was going to be a father.
Without getting anyone else in trouble, I will only say about myself that I partied down that night. I remember taking a cruise around the harbor with Captain Morgain, and the next thing I knew John was waking us up to do a live shot at Kennedy Space Center.
How their little girl went from being unborn to four years old is beyond me. I remember seeing her once or twice between now and then, but it's still quite amazing. I must be getting old.
Derrick recently sent me some pictures of his trip to Northern California. Thanks! At least someone is getting some time off! I thought long and hard about going there this year. There are some people who I really want to go see. But ever since I bought my house, I've taken every spare moment I have to work on the house and the yard.
I got a nice couple of notes from Gary Holt, a friend and former coworker from Duluth, Minnesota. He has been working on the station's website www.wdio.com for a while, and has incorporated a lot of automated updates, like temperatures. He has also done some other work so others can update the site without his help.
Whether he knows it or not, Gary has a lot to do with why I decided to become an engineer. I was forever asking questions, and not once did he ever seem annoyed by this young kid photographer bothering him every day.
While many of the engineers at WDIO were also very helpful, it seemed like Gary knew how to do everything. He knew tape, rf and maintenance. And any question I had that he couldn't answer immediately, he would come back and answer a day or two later.
To simply understand NTSC (U.S. Television) standards is no small feat. And to know them even more in-depth than the average engineer is always impressive. The original standards filled more than 4,100 pages, and included more than a million words. And now we've added digital compression and transmission, with several formats to choose from. It's a little overwhelming to us all. And I was incredibly impressed to hear that Gary has added a lot more to his list of things to do by taking over the website. There, quite frankly, aren't enough hours in the day to keep any website current, fresh and new. He will be a very busy man.
While I was in the Twin Cities last week I was able to catch up a little with some more former coworkers, Steve Bolstad, Jeremy Karl and Mark Romick. Each were freelancing for different companies while covering the Episcopal Bishop story.
They are all former Conus engineers, and are all still looking for their career again. It's an awful waste of talent to have them, and some of the others still looking for television or satellite jobs to be in limbo right now. But these three specifically were the last to go, because they were asked to stay back while the entire building was being dismantled.
My boss Randy and I went over to the Conus "garage sale" a few months ago. Most of the good stuff had been taken apart or whittled away to other affiliate stations owned by Conus management. And it was obvious that was going to happen. But I was suprised by how many "diamonds in the rough" there was still left on the shelves. Of course, I really had no immediate use for most of it myself. Nor did I have any space to put it. Had I been in my new house already, I would have easily loaded up a large van full of stuff and brought it back home to Kansas. Of course, I already have too many things to work on right now, so I will just pretend like it didn't all pass me by.
Just as I say that, I am reminded of five things that have completely slipped my mind, i.e. my "back burner" projects that have been simmering on the pages of my notepads, in the files of my laptop and in some chemical stew in the back of my brain. It's time to get to work on that stuff, so I can get it done and go fishing.
Speaking of fishing, I made it over to one of my favorite stores, Cabelas, this weekend. It was on the end of a long journey of errands I wanted to fit in yesterday. After all this work, I wanted to buy myself something, so I bought myself some more fly-tying equipment for those days in the far future when I retire and spend the rest of my days fly-fishing.
Sunday, August 10, 2003
09:22 p.m.
This has been an unreal summer. Right now I'm heading off to Illinois. I had a job yesterday in Kansas City, and before that I was up in Minnesota covering the gay bishop story.
I've been pretty worried about my little brother. He has apparently come down with mono (again) and had to go to the hospital. With everything out there it could have been (lyme disease, encephalitis, west nile) it's easy to see why they had so much trouble figuring out what it was. And tests don't always come back that quickly.
He couldn't have gotten sick at a worse time. I had just left town, Rachel was gone on vacation. About every family member who would have normally been available was gone up north. Had he gone, he could have potentially spread it to others up at the cabin. But then again, he may not have contracted it again in the first place.
I'll never forget how sick I was when I got mono in high school. There are things that are worse, but you sure feel like you can't do anything. And in truth, you really can't do anything.
It's time for me to hit the road again. I almost got a full 24-hours at my new home again. Oh well, maybe next week.
Sunday, August 10, 2003
09:20 p.m.
Class Reunion Synopsis from Betsy (Jahn) Zimmerman:
For those who couldn't make the reunion, I just wanted to send out a quick recap. I counted up 37 classmates as well as 3 teachers who stopped by throughout the night. We had some categories for people to vote on, below are a few of the winners. Sorry Sam.. at least you got a
free drink for the prize! Most of the party stayed right until bar
close thanks to Sam and his DJ talents.
Most kids: Jody (Sanford) Kubista [5]
Most pets: Charlie Hebig
Oldest car: Eric Reiland
Least amount of Hair: Sam Sinke
Traveled the furthest: Philip Reineke
Most Changed: Charlie Hebig
Least Changed: Josh Johnson
Person least expected to be at the 10 year reunion: Theresa Temple
It was decided at that we will be having a 15 year reunion, and Missy
(Reichstadt), Rachel (Osterhus), Nancy (Jones) were kind enough to
volunteer to plan it. I got a lot of requests to see everyone's email
addresses. Attached is my most updated list. If you (or others you
know) change email or move in the next 5 years I'd love it if you'd keep
me informed.
It was great to see everyone, and if you missed this one we'll hope to
see you in 2008!
Betsy (Jahn) Zimmerman
Class Reunion Synopsis from Jodi (Sanford) Kubista:
Hey all!
And for those of you that were unable to attend the class reunion, I want to clarify NOT ALL 5 CHILDREN ARE MINE!! I inherited two of them when I remarried -I had two, he had two and now we have one together and the machine has been permanetly disconnected!!! This will be a title I will gladly be passing on to Amanda (Shackelton) Miner at the 15 year re-union. She is well on her way!!! Ha Ha Amanda - Although I think you are out of your mind... I love ya anyway!!!
To those of you who couldn't make it you were very much missed. It was a wonderful time and everyone looked great! A special tribute was made to Christine (Himle) Schlee by having her picture displayed with a candle. She was a dear and treasured member of the Class of 1993 family and will always be remembered, never forgotten.
Thanks to Betsy and Kara for all their efforts on putting together a great evening for all who attended and for compiling this e-mail list - I look forward to using it and hearing from all of you. If anyone has Amy Heyer's e-mail, please forward.
Class Reunion Synopsis by Sam Sinke:
The class reunion was a blast! Most of the time was spent catching up, and the last hour or so we finally got a bunch of people out dancing. For the longest time, I just couldn't figure out what kind of music it would take to get a bunch of people out there on the floor. Let's face it, we're not a class full of dancers.
I tried '80s. I tried '60s. I even tried rap and dipped back into my '60s surf music. There was nothing. Country music got a few people dancing, maybe for a song or two. Chad Ascheman reminded some of us of his old breakdancing moves as I dipped into classics like "Funky Cold Medina" and "Baby Got Back." And after he took a header off of a table, he reminded us why we don't breakdance anymore. Chad - let me know if you need a good Chiropractor. That looked like it really hurt.
Finally, by about midnight, I figured "what the heck" and I put on some disco. The dance floor exploded! And it stayed hopping until almost 1:30. Who knew?
When most of the people were there, around 8p.m., we had a little program, and set aside time for a moment of silence for Christine Himli. And while I certainly can't say that I knew her nearly as well as everyone else, I can say that hearing the news of her passing stopped me in my tracks. No more could we see her spectacular smile, or hear her laugh. And it just seems cruel, to be looking for someone you know can never be there.
We raised a toast to all of our friends at war overseas: Matt Richter, John Blanick and Brian Scrabeck. (If I missed somebody, I'm truely sorry...) I wish those guys could have seen us raising our glasses. From the front of the room it was a breathtaking sight. And I hope you all make it back safe so we can toast each of you at our fifteenth and our twentieth. We are all thinking about you, and we are all obviously very proud of you.
Rachel and Dan Horstman will be hosting our next one at their home near Stewartville in five years. They must be saints. This one was starting to get crazy by the end of the night. Maybe they want to rethink this one, and hold it at their neighbor's house? I'm just kidding. I can't wait to be there, and I've already taken the time off at work. (And yes, we do schedule events five years in advance!)
I don't know if it's harder to say who made it or who didn't, but I figure somebody in our class might have traced down this page, and wanted more details, so I'll try to remember as much of the night as I can. It's not that I was plowed, I was stone-cold sober because I had to drive for work early the next morning. I may have trouble remembering because I was and am so tired from work. But I digress. Here's the synopsis:
Chad Ascheman stopped in at my parents house on Saturday morning. It was perfect timing, because I could use help setting up the music part of the reunion, and we were going to start setting up at about 11 in the morning.
We drove over to the VFW. It was locked. The back door was luckily unlocked. We finally figured out that the reunion was being set up in the old dime store, next door and now attached to the VFW. We walked in the door and saw Betsy and her husband, Kara and Jeff Cooper and Christy (Root) Schubert. We all hugged and talked, and went back to setting up, decorating and discussing who we talked to, who might make it, and who wasn't going to make it to the reunion that night.
On the night before, my mom brought out a big Xerox box of pictures and newspaper clippings from our years in school. There were church pictures and cub scout pictures. There were articles about basketball camps and articles about school projects and plays.
I'm so glad she saved all of that stuff. I've moved a couple dozen times since I was little, and I've lost so much. I'm also glad that she made it to the reunion. She had to correct almost everyone, because she has been Carole Helgerson for twelve years. Since our class had her as a teacher twice (fourth and sixth grade), old habits are hard to break, and she was very forgiving. My mom has told me on several occasions that our class was the toughest, most challenging class. But, she notes as a sidebar, that we were also, quite possibly, the most rewarding. Many of you were very supporting of my mom when she was going through Chemo Therapy treatments at Mayo (she has been in remission from breast cancer for a year now). And my family and I will be ever-thankful for your kindness. To this day, my mom continues to work out each morning with Shelly Reichstadt. And Shelly continues to be a great motivator. She thinks Shelly is just the best. Of course, our class already knows she's the best.
In addition to my mom, we were also visited by Rita and Joe Bezdicheck. I thanked Joe for being there in spirit every time I go to work on my house. I told him that I still remember to "think three times, measure twice, and cut once." Of course, this does not tend to happen when I'm cutting with a chainsaw, but I digress...
Buster Johnson stopped in, partly to pick up the equipment used to cater the event, and partly to stop in a say "hi" to a few people. Not only was the food spectacular (very reminiscent of being home - roast beef, potato salad, beans, punch), but it was just great to see Buster. How many dances did Buster and Annette chaperone? How many plays, football, basketball, vollyball and baseball games did they attend? It seemed like every one. They seemed to me as much a part of our school and our community as the gym or the football field. I thanked Buster for catering our event. But I didn't thank him and Annette for being such outstanding members of society. As I continue to settle in to my nearby towns (Tonganoxie and McClouth, Kansas), I only hope that someday I can return so much to my community. I don't know about chaperoning dances, but we'll see what develops.
Back to setting up for the reunion... Once Chad and I finished up setting up the music, we locked up and headed off for lunch. I hadn't eaten at the A&W for about five years. Nothing had changed. The food is still greasy, the benches are uncomfortable. You gotta love it.
Just before the reunion started, a bunch of us met up at the VFW bar. Rachel (Osterhuus) Horstman and her husband Dan were there. Duey was there with his better half. Chad was there, Betsy and her husband stopped in early.
By seven o'clock, there was a steady stream of people coming in the door.
Tim Eichoff and his wife Rachel... Christy (Root) and her husband... Lori and Christy Deatsch and their boyfriend/husband... Amanda (Shackleton) Miner... Jodi (Sanford) Kubista and her husband... Eric Reiland and his wife... Kara and Jeff Cooper... Shannon (Groth) Nielson and her husband John... Josh Johnson and his wife... Sandi (Mangan) Nesbit and her husband... Nikki Rohe and her date... Charlie Hebig and his wife Christine... Melissa Christianson...Melissa Howard...Rebecca (Mensink) Fontanello and her husband... Phil Reineke and his wife... Theresa Temple... Brad Vreeman and his wife... Nancy (Jones) and her husband...
A lot of people left by eight, nine and ten o'clock. And they unfortunately missed a bunch of the late arrivals: Jarett Ruud and his better half... Ryan (Ruesink) Ness and his wife... Brenda (Mix) Musel and her husband... Missy (Reichstadt) Sweeney and Shelly Reichstadt... Jill Rolli... Tracy Ebmeyer... Tim Rath...
There were a few people scheduled to attend, but had work or other pressing matters: Willy was down in Missouri working on cell towers. Gabe Jorgenson wasn't able to make it at the last minute. Matt Ramaker was slated to make it, but was unable.
I tried to talk Gary Ronken into attending. He apparently got the invitation and just threw it away. His excuse was that he doesn't like "organized events." He is living in the Harmony area with his commonlaw wife and their son Finn. I asked if it was spelled like "Huckleberry Finn," and he said no, he named him after his grandpa Finley. "Oh," I said. "So it's spelled with one 'n'?" No, he said that there are two "n's." So I said, "So it IS spelled like "Huck Finn." "No," he said. "I named him after my grandpa.
I just gave up. It just wasn't worth it.
As for Chase Ptacek, I hear he is living near Preston and was married last year. Unfortunately, that's the only info I had. I missed seeing his wedding when I came through town one weekend afterwards. Had I hit it on the right date I would have surely crashed his wedding. I sure hope he is doing well. I will have to stop in to see his parents Tony and Marcia one of these days.
Back to the reunion, it seemed like everyone was really mixing it up. I think I made it around to talk to everyone except for two people. (and that wasn't on purpose, I'm very sorry and I don't know why it happened that way) I didn't get a chance to speak to Jennifer (Erickson) O'Connor and Brian. I also didn't get a chance to speak with Rebecca (Mensink) Fontanello and her husband. I am truely sorry I missed you this time around. I hope you are all doing great. Just like everyone else at the reunion, you look awesome. If you should happen across this page, please email me. I'd love to hear from you.
That brings me to my next point: Why does everyone look the same, while I look twenty years older!? I mean, come on... I even won the "least amount of hair" award! When Ryan (Ruesink) Ness came in, fifteen minutes after I won the award, I told him that we really looked like an even match and should have shared the award. I felt bad for him not winning something, and I gave him my drink ticket.
Ryan should have also won an award for something like, "least likely to have a maiden name." I kid Ryan. But seriously, just how in the hell are we supposed to find you in the phone book!?
I sure would have felt a lot better for winning a "best ass" or even "most likely to show up without a date AGAIN at the fifteenth." But O.K., fine... I'll take a "least amount of hair award." It's not as if I've been pulling it out... It's an award I can happily share with my dad (my late grandfather and my late great-grandfather) who gave me hair loss genetics so strong that they overcome the "it comes from your mother's side" B.S. they try to sell you in high school Biology. And don't give me that, "you should have tried Rogaine." It doesn't work, people. I guess I'm destined to look like Patrick Stewart or Captain Stubing of the Love Boat. Oh well, at least haircuts are getting cheaper and faster.
I have to hand it to Phil Reineke and his wife for coming from so far away. I came more than 600 miles, and they came from twice as far! There was no doubt in any of our minds that Phil would be a success. He's living in a very exciting area, and D.C. has so much to offer, it will probably keep him busy just trying to take in the sights. His wife is very cool. She was telling me that she's from the Deadwood/Lead area of South Dakota. And I've been there often these past few years for work. We were talking about some of the cool events to see out there each year. One is on July 3rd - it's the largest fireworks display west of the Mississippi, held at Mt. Rushmore. The other is the last Monday of September at Custer State Park. They round up 1500 Bison at the park. Cowboys from several different states take part in the roundup. And there are usually about 5,000 people watching. We both agree that both of these are "must see events" if you should ever be in the area at those times.
I talked to Lori Deatsch for a while. She is teaching Kindergarten at Kasson, and it seems to have brought her about, 180-degrees. In that, I mean that she used to be so shy and quiet it was hard to get more than a few words from her back in high school. Now I see a confident, incredibly well-spoken, not to mention incredibly patient person who must be a saint or crazy for taking on large groups of 5- and 6-year-olds!
I don't know how you do it Lori, but I definitely salute you!
One of the things Betsy forgot to mention, in the line of awards, was that Tim Eickhoff won for the strangest jobs. I can't even begin to explain what he does, but I know it has something to do with waste disposal. He continues to be a fun person to be around (we go all the way back to the cub scout days), and he has a very charming wife. You can catch up with Tim in the Zumbrota area. And while you're there, don't forget to flush twice and throw a lot of stuff away. (job security)
I spoke with Shannon (Groth) Nielson and her husband for a while. They continue to live in the Decorah, IA area where Shannon gets to see Kara and Jeff Cooper once in a while. She also bumps into my little sister, her husband, and my niece in town.
While Josh Johnson won the "least changed" award, I'd have to say that Eric Reiland brought a very close second. Josh worried that it didn't sound like a very good thing to win. I'd say, Josh! You look great! You're like Dick Clark... you never age!
I've got to throw some kudos out to a few of you. You didn't win, because we could all swear you look YOUNGER than when we were in high school. Christy (Deatsch) Mensink, Jill Rolli and Shelly Reichstadt have apparently found the fountain of youth. I don't know what they've done... do you sleep in a hyperbolic chamber?... are you taking large amounts of vitamins?... are you running marathons?
If you have secrets you'd like to share, then I'm all ears.
As a sidenote, if anyone wants to know why I look "so good," I guess I would have to attribute it to a steady diet of whiskey and doughnuts. I also delve into large amounts of biscuits and gravy whenever I'm home in Kansas. I figure, there are so many things we eat that "could" harm you. Why not eat stuff you "know" will harm you. Screw the doctors, I'm having a bacon sandwich for lunch! (Sorry Dr. Mitzi, I wasn't talking about you, personally... by the way, we missed you too!)
Shelly Reichstadt helped me to fill in the blanks by bringing in some of her own CDs. Thanks from all of us!
We also didn't give enough thanks to Josh Johnson and his wife. While Buster may have done a bunch of the work, it was Josh and his wife that helped put it all together and did a lot of the cleaning up. Thank you, very much, from all of us.
I talked to Josh for a little while, and I had bumped into him and his wife just before they were married a few years ago. Josh seems to be enjoying his line of work, setting up landscaping and all kinds of housing developments in the Rochester area. He certainly has no shortage of work in that area. There are very few places growing faster than Rochester. The twin cities may be the only place growing faster, and in a few years they will probably be one big area.
Rachel (Osterhus) and Dan Horstman are just a trip. Kudos to them for taking on the next reunion. They are good people.
Monday, July 14, 2003
05:36 a.m.
The class reunion went awesome. I'm writing up how it all went, who made it, and our plans for future reunions. However, since I'm heading off to cover the AllStar game here in Chicago, I will be extremely pressed for time for the next few days. The lack of sleep is starting to get to me, but I'll muddle through it all.
Sunday, July 6, 2003
09:26 p.m.
This was a pretty great weekend. Today I was able to see my niece and nephews, my sisters and brother and my brothers-in-law. We went to the children's museum and then back to my sister's house to eat.
Next weekend I'm heading to my class reunion. And I've been looking forward to that for quite a while. After that I will head to Iowa for the ramping up of politics, and then after that I will head to the AllStar game. This has been a pretty amazing past few months, since I got to cover the Indy 500 and the NBA finals. I love doing the large events and covering sports. However, keeping up with it all can be tricky. It's hard enough to follow one field of racing, for example. But then there is so much more than just that one. There's IRL, Cart, AMA, Drag, NASCAR. There are even several levels to each of those racing, and tons of different divisions of drag racing.
I have some major downloading to do. I think I'll set it all up and go to bed. Hopefully it will be done in the morning.
Saturday, June 28, 2003
01:11 a.m.
This has been a pretty incredible week. On the homefront, I still feel overwhelmed by all of the projects I need to finish. I'm trying my best to find some moments in a week to relax, but it's not as easy as it sounds.
I've been taking on thistles this week. Just today I was able to gather about an acre's worth. The heads are in the burn barrel, the stems are laid out to dry in the sun. Soon they will be burned with a large amount of diesel.
Thistle is an insidious weed. It's thorns keep people away. The seeds are the lightest and carry on the wind better than any other seed. The thistle root goes down deep, so deep that if you can see six feet of stem on top of the soil, you can almost guess there is at least half as much under the soil
.
Luckily here in Kansas there is very little soil for the thistle to tap. Under the thin layer of soil are large layers of clay or rock, which leaves thistle like mine sitting right on top. There is a good chance that I'm taking up all of the root if I hit it with a spade.
I can't believe all of the different ways there are to kill thistle seed. The first person I talked to said I needed to pop the heads off and place them in a clear plastic bag, and leave them in the sun. As the head was heated up, it will ferment and kill the seed.
When I talked to my grandma, she said they got rid of them by cutting them off with a mower, and then by putting a couple of tablespoons of used motor oil into the hollow stem. This would kill the thistle, without killing the other plants around it.
A lot of the locals have suggested that I spray them. The county apparently sells spray, but I'm afraid that spraying the thistle will kill some of the surrounding weeds. If I should get a pond going here on the property, I'm sure that the spray would eventually get down there, and could kill anything I put down in there. If I had ten or more acres, I would have considered this alternative. But since I am working on five acres, I'm going to go after them myself, and try to do what I can by hand.
One problem I can already see is with my neighbors. They have large patches of thistle right across the fence. So what if I cut all of mine down, if they are sending millions of seeds over the fence. The other problem I have is with my schedule. I may do a great job at attacking the worst of the thistle, only to find three weeks later that they've come back with a vengeance and decided to take over my yard and my brome hay.
The schedule is another reason I couldn't consider one of my alternatives. When I was referred to the Farmer's Alminac, it said to "cut thistle by the dark of the moon." I found the Pink Floyd album and I fired it up in my portable CD player, but I was having trouble finding the stems in the dark. When I did, I started feeling woosie from all of the bloodloss.
Thistles often also have what is called a "creeping root." This means that every spring, they can develop new shoots from only a fragment of their root.
You see this if you should ever try to mow a big thistle down with a mower. What often happens is the big stem is merely pushed over. While on the ground it pushes out half a dozen more shoots while laying on the ground. The root also pushes out a few more shoots, just in case the other stems don't make it.
Another problem the thistle creates is that it takes in a lot of water, and sucks water away from everything in the area where you need the water to go.
Experts claim that there is a very small chance of getting a good seedling, and a root that really taps into the soil. Unfortunately, one never knows until they have left a large crater, and then waited a year to see if anything comes back. Meanwhile, the neighbors' thistle is blowing seed at you like a young child blowing dandelions in the wind.
And that brings me to my next point about thistle. We can trace the roots of the American dandelion directly to an English chap. Believe it or not, he brought the dandelion over to the U.S. from Britain. He apparently "missed them" and thought they were "pretty." What a jerk.
I heard the same thing can trace the Russian thistle. This one was apparently brought over by a Russian woman. But I don't know why she needed this awful thing. It is neither pretty, or useful. Maybe it tastes good, or is the primary ingredient in Borsht. Whatever the reason, there are a lot of farmers cursing her name.
Thistles can be contained by grazing. Cattle will eat thistle, either fresh or cut. When thistle is cut and dried, it often needs to be mixed with some other things to get them to eat it.
One other saving grace here in Kansas is that there is such a fierce competition with other weeds and grasses. The weeds are so interwoven, it sometimes takes a lot of work to simply get to the regular soil.
With the exception of a few clueless or lazy landowners, thistle is a hated weed and gets attacked in a lot of different ways. I intend to attack this weed by attacking it often, deep and with a vengeance. If my neighbors allow it, I intend to attack the thistles' cousins on the other side of the fence. If the neighbors don't allow it, then they will get the spray from the county shop on a calm, windless day.
Thursday, June 5, 2003
09:33 p.m.
It was another hot day here in San Antonio, but for once I got to sleep in while in the air conditioning.
This afternoon I toured the Alamo and a little bit of the downtown, checked into the hotel early, and I'm planning to get to bed early for once.
Last night I went out with some people on our crew, and some others working from another crew. It's always cool to ask a lot of questions and get a few answers about a different culture. It always helps to know all of the great places to go, not only for while I am here, but if I come back to the area. And at some point, I'm hoping that I can come back down here.
I heard some good news about my Aunt Pat. The tumor in her brain has stopped growing, and that's the best news we've heard all year. I know all of us have been thinking about her, and trying to stop in to see her and wish her the best these past few months. You just never know how the human body will react to treatments, or illnesses. And no matter how much we think we know, we haven't even started to understand.
