Saturday, February 14, 2004
01:33 a.m.
I got in through Spring Valley, Minnesota this week to see some family, visit with a couple of friends, and take a few hours off to rest.
Despite how hard the people of the town have worked to keep the town small and non-prosperous, it has now grown more in a year or two than it has in the past 20-years.
I ate out with my mom and my stepdad at the new pizza place. I drove by the new grocery store and the somewhat new Super 8 motel. There are a dozen or so other large buildings on the north and east ends of town, too.
It's good to see them, but the reality is that Spring Valley still needs some type of manufacturing facility, besides the cheese factory and the dog food plant (of which, some are uncertain which is which and whether either one is actually still operating).
While resting up, I was also reading on nearby Preston, Minnesota where it appears that the powers that be have thought up the bright idea of burning tires to generate electricity. They must have missed the brochures on wind or solar power. And they must have missed the news that most states are turning old tires into new road surfaces. "Let's just burn the stupid things. Maybe we can find a new way to pollute the one spot on this earth that is the most beautiful in the fall. We can turn all of the leaves that were red, yellow and orange and make them all turn to varying shades of grey and black."
Sunday, February 8, 2004
03:52 p.m.
My email has been goofy for the past few months, and it's a continual frustration. I'm receiving all of my email, but sending out is sporadic and I often have to send it over and over again in order to get a message through.
Add to that, half of the time I erase the message by accident and have to start all over again. Knowing my luck, I just called my friend Pete today to thank him for a Christmas card he sent. It was classic Pete and Kelly - a picture of him and his bride in a backdrop described only by saying "Minneapolis" and "Class."
Judging by the date on this blog entry, February 8th, and that they probably sent the card over two months ago, you can see how far behind I've become with my friends.
I had a busy month, and the cherry on top of this month's piece of pie was getting to go to the Superbowl. We had great clients, a great time, and a chance to see a lot of old colleagues. I'm very thankful for every opportunity, and being a part of such a huge event shows how lucky I am.
It was hard leaving Houston last month. It was so hard, that I dragged my feet a little, before heading back to a foot of snow in Kansas.
This week, I'm bouncing around the Omaha area, and I will probably get to the Indy area around Valentine's Day.
Saturday, January 24, 2004
09:37 p.m.
How did it get to be tax time again? Didn't we just do this a year ago? Good grief, next thing you know, it'll be my birthday, and I'll be another year older. And you know, of course, that I age in dog years. The only advantage to aging in dog years is that I should be getting checks from social security pretty soon.
If I could just manage to get all of my mail on time this week, I should be able to get a good start on my taxes, if not get them done completely. Otherwise, I will probably end up working on cutting wood again. I'm trying to get as much cut as possible right now, in part because it needs to dry. I also want to cut while I have a seemingly unlimited supply.
Kansas does not have an overabundance of wood, so right now I'm cutting on a couple of friends' properties. One of them could be sold in the next few years. And the land I've been cutting on most recently is actually being developed. It's a pretty sweet setup, in that the trees were bulldozed over anyway (which is actually a little bit of a shame, considering how they could have added to the old growth in the area. Now it's pretty barren.), but even though they are already laying over for easy cutting, the wood is still green, and tends to gum up the blade a little.
I've been using a portable, battery-powered dremel tool to sharpen and clean the blade. And it's the best $40-$50 bucks I've ever spent.
Normally, you have to use a handheld tool and spend almost an hour sharpening one chainsaw chain. You have to sharpen several chains, and then change chains while you are out cutting. But with this Dremel I can clean and sharpen a chain in about a minute.
I bought the chainsaw about six months ago, and it is by far the best chainsaw I've ever owned. It's a Husqvarna 350, and although I wanted a Husqvarna Rancher 55, but the biggest difference in the two is the wider bar. I may still buy a Rancher someday, but before then I will be putting a ton of hours on this beast. I'd also like to someday pick up a Jonsered, another Swedish-made chainsaw. I've heard that they are the best, but I'll have to buy an even bigger Jonsered to make this happen. The only problem is that Jonsered is harder to find and find parts for, unless you order it all by mail.
I also managed to get my tractor running again this week. Apparently the brakes are prone to locking up when it gets really cold and it's been sitting out in the cold. So at some point, I will either have to start putting it inside or I'll actually have to get off my butt and take it all apart and fix the brakes. I'd rather wait on doing all that, because it really does work well in warm weather.
I was quite shocked this past week when I started pricing some outdoor wood furnaces. They START at about 4 to 5 thousand dollars! Of course, some of the best of these can be closed off enough from oxygen that the manufacturers claim they will burn wood for four or five days! This would be a huge cut to my propane bills each year, and I probably wouldn't need the propane except to backup the wood system, and maybe to heat water (which should cost me less than $100 per year).
I was also thinking that if I were to set up a water boiling system, I may also be able to set up my basement shower to draw off of this hot water system, and make it my primary shower in the wintertime, or any time I have the outdoor furnace lit.
My dad (and I helped a little) set up a boiler system like this, and the only problem we ran into was using an existing water heater. We found out that you have to buy another hot water heater as a holding tank, and you can't mix them until after the original water heater. The water heaters are apparently made to shut off if hot water comes through the cold intake.
It's gonna take forever to get it all done. Just running the water pipes will take a whole summer.
Sunday, January 18, 2004
10:53 a.m.
Ohhhhhh it's cold today. I'm being told it's 4 or 5 degrees, with windchills at minus 0.
The Gephardt rally is just packed today. They have James Hoffa Jr. here, and a packed house here at the local union.
Of course, a lot of the places have held three to four times the amount of people that organizers thought would show up.
It actually turns out to everyone's advantage, because a building full of people warms up pretty quick. And while the organizers here were first worried about us propping the doors open a little, after a while they may be opening them up a lot more.
After I'm finished here, I think I'll track down some lunch. I was told there's a good Vietnamese restaurant in town, and I drove by it last night... so I guess I'll have to check it out.
Friday, January 16, 2004
09:01 p.m.
It's been raining all day, and will probably rain all night. And that's O.K., because we are mostly working inside, and the farmers really need it here in Iowa.
I talked to both of my friends Derrick and John today. They were just calling to see how the caucus was going. Both of them worked with me here four years ago, and I'm betting that they both miss all the hoopla.
It just so happens that I'm parked next to Steve and Marj. We're both covering an Edwards event tonight. And with all of the candidates, and all of the locations around Iowa, It's a little surprising that we ran into each other this week.
Last night we covered an event with Carole King. She is very cool. I knew she was working with some politicians in Washington regarding something with the environment, but I hadn't heard much about it. Apparently she's trying to get logging companies to stop some of their practices in the Rocky Mountains. I believe in some logging, but I know what she was saying about clearcutting. I used to hunt some areas that were clearcut back in the 60's, and those hundreds of acres still haven't recovered from it.
When I get done tonight, I think I'm heading back to Des Moines again. We may have a couple of events tomorrow. It should be fun.
I also got the chance to meet a bunch of people I've wanted to meet for years. Everybody's working at a pretty hurried pace right now, and that means it will all look like mayhem in the next few days.
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
09:13 p.m.
There are five more days until the Iowa Caucus, and it's become pretty intense.
During the last three days, we've seen packed houses in not only Des Moines, but a lot of the cities holding town hall meetings in Elementary and Middle Schools.
And this week reminded me how great a person we have in many of our communities. I'm talking about the school custodian.
The janitor at our nation's schools must be the most unshakable person I've ever met. Their job is to make sure that the school gets used and abused, and then they make sure that it's clean by 6 a.m. the next morning.
You can even barf on the floor, in the middle of the cafeteria. And without even flinching, the janitor will quietly say, "I'll just throw some sawdust on that."
Believe it or not, I can relate. Part of my job is to be a custodian. I make sure the truck is clean, but more importantly that the people we work with can use the truck to its best abilities. Of course, I'm gonna freak if someone barfs on my floor.
Sunday, January 4, 2004
12:46 a.m.
Tonight is going great. We are in Indiana, where there's always a whole lotta sports goin' on.
This month is probably going to be a lot crazier than I previously thought. Maybe I should plan a little vacation in February, huh?
Here's my idea for a great vacation: I don't care where I am, or what I have planned during the day. All I really want is to wake up at six in the morning, make a pot of coffee and read the ENTIRE paper (Times, Post... you know... a really good, thick paper). In the late morning, or maybe even as late as noon, I just start to think about what I'll do the rest of the day.
Yeah, that would be great.
Saturday, January 3, 2004
02:57 p.m.
I just wanted to get on here and wish everyone a Happy New Year. It's always a shock to find out that friends and family have been reading my blog, so I wanted to at least leave that for you.
We are gearing up for what will be the biggest political season EVER. While it doesn't immediately appear that I will be working every day this month, I won't be at all surprised if I am working or driving every day. I've been getting in a "cat-nap" here and there to be sure that I'm always awake.
Starting tomorrow, all of us professional drivers have to supposedly abide by new "hours of service" regulations. And there's no other way of putting it: The new rules suck, and we should abolish the Commercial Truck D.O.T. (Department of Transportation) forever.
Basically, we now have to drive 11-hours per day, instead of ten hours. We can only work (non-driving) less than four hours per day, and we are forced into a 10-hour downtime between shifts. Even if I work one hour in a day, then according to the D.O.T., I'm not supposed to work for another 10-hours, or I will completely lose the ability to work in 15 hours.
Sure, that doesn't make any sense to anyone, especially as you read it right now. But imagine doing your best to understand the sketchy rules, only to run into a despicable excuse for a human who's got a commercial D.O.T. Badge. (sure, there are nice ones out there, but I never seem to run into them when I'm having a bad day)
I've run into a select group of these guys. And they've picked over every piece of paper and my whole truck until they could find something wrong. If they found something, they'd give me a fine or a written warning that goes on my driving record. If they couldn't find anything, then they'd make something up and give me a fine or a written warning. And there's nothing I could ever do about it, except to avoid that scale or wait until after midnight when they often close the scales.
Truck drivers have gotten a pretty bad rap for a long time. A select few deserve it, because they really are scumbags. But I've met quite a few good people out there, just putting in their time until they can find something better.
With their size and power comes a lot of responsibility. Since a large truck can neither accelerate quickly or stop quickly, it's up to the professional driver to keep the traffic going at an even, steady pace.
Anyone who has driven for any length of time knows that slowdowns and accidents tend to happen because of someone who doesn't know how to merge, doesn't know how to slow down or stop, or doesn't know how to be courteous (darts in and out of traffic, making others slam on their brakes).
If you come up on a big rig who pulls in front of you, it's often because they are trying to make a hill, or slow you down from something up ahead (a cop), or even to hold back traffic for an upcoming construction site or large lane merge. (remember, many use CB radios and know what's coming up ahead)
There's an unwritten rule, too. I've heard it most often referred to as, "One Life for Ten."
Any good commercial driver knows that with all that weight, going out of control can kill a lot of people. And I feel that even though no police record can, or ever will reflect it, there are many drivers out there who have taken out a car or pickup or even taken their own life in order to avoid hitting a bus full of kids or a van with a family inside.
That means very little when we write the laws in this country. Maybe part of that is because too many of our politicians sit on their fat cans in offices out east.
Maybe part of it is that our local representatives don't speak up enough, or feel their vote or voice will means anything. Maybe they've just plain lost all their common sense.
Whatever the case, it stinks.
I made it home to Spring Valley, Minnesota for a couple of days, just after Christmas. I caught up with my mom and my stepdad. And one of the days, I went with my nephew Donovan and my mom to see the movie, "Elf." It was just plain hilarious. I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time.
I'd still like to get out to see the third in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy while it's still in the theaters. Hopefully I can steal a few hours away from my backlog of work.
Saturday, December 13, 2003
05:15 p.m.
Let's try this again. Maybe this time I will have time to send more than one paragraph.
Steve and I both spent some time covering the story on the North Dakota college student who disappeared.
Sad just doesn't even begin to describe this story. I don't think I've ever covered any story that was so obvious, so cut-and-dried, than this story.
But until they find anything, this guy remains guilty until proven guilty. Whether or not they find her, they've found enough. I just hope that they keep him behind bars this time.
It was awful cold up there in the Dakotas. It stayed in the teens and twenties, and in North Dakota it was often below zero. A lot of the crew members made their way over to Cabella's to buy snowmobile suits, long winter underwear, and goofy looking hats, scarves and gloves.
The crew I was working with was a lot of fun. And between them and the other network crews, it was like a "Who's Who" of television crews. There were crews from Minneapolis and Chicago, St. Louis and the Dakotas. I was almost expecting to see some Kansas City folk, too. But when you think of Grand Forks, you don't often think of K.C.
Being in the cold like that reminds me of the old days at my alma mater in Duluth. While I was finishing college, I spent three years working at WDIO-TV where we covered cold weather stories. And when I'm talking cold, I'm talking below freezing.
We had 45 days without sun. We had 60 below Farenheit (not windchill, but actual temperature). We had camera heads freeze while they were operating. Lake Superior froze over two years in a row, the first year was the first time it had frozen over completely in 30-years.
There were guys who spent the night outside in their sleeping bags. Some people went outside to start their cars every four hours... for a week straight. Others just kept their cars running (there's an environmentally save game to play). I took my battery out, put it in my apartment, and walked to work.
If you cover up correctly, it actually isn't that bad. And while I'd admit that it looks a little strange to have every part of your body covered (face mask and ski goggles are a must), if you completely cover, you will be fine.
I'll never forget seeing all of the people on my cold walk to work struggling with their cars. Those who actually got them running knew they had to take it easy on their vehicles. The tires would crunch along on the bitter asphalt. The wheel bearings and stuts would crunch along, seemingly on the verge of being crunched into dust.
There's something about that cold air. Sure, it freezes your face. It freezes in your lungs and throat and makes you gag. But there is little polution allowed in cold, dry air. Once you adapt to it, you seemingly feel better and think clearly. You often think about a vacation to the South Pacific, but that thought quickly passes.
When I spent time in Florida, I also find that I could tolerate some pretty high temperatures and high humidity. It got so bad on most summer days in Tallahassee that you had to carry a towel around to wipe the sweat off of your forehead. If you didn't, the salty sweat from the top of your head would flow down into your eyes so you couldn't see.
When you worked outside with others, they often did the same. Everyone who works outside in Florida is pretty used to seeing each other with sweat stains around the neckline and the armpits. It's just as normal as seeing somebody in a crazy hat, oversized gloves and jacket up in Northern Minnesota.
I may change my mind when I get older, but I'd still say that I'd rather have the cold. Primarily, I like the seasons. But I also don't like the bugs. You can't get anything done with bugs swarming around your head all the time.
Speaking of bugs, I need to get back to my old laptop. It's so full of viruses it's almost completely worthless. I got copies of all of my important info, and now I'm going to reformat the hard drive. I know, that sounds like a heck of a lot of fun. Well, you're probably right.
Tuesday, December 9, 2003
06:23 p.m.
I'd sure have to say this has been a busy month. You couldn't pack enough satellite trucks, photographers, producers and reporters into South Dakota or North Dakota to cover the stories going on there.
Monday, December 1, 2003
05:52 p.m.
My schedule turned out just right last week. I had a job on the day before and on the day after, but on Thanksgiving Day I somehow made it over the river and through the woods (which now days is more like around the construction and through the backed-up traffic... but I digress) and I landed at grandma's house.
My Aunt Pat had a good day. And my grandma made it around like a champ on her broken leg. We were all worried about both of them, but they came out and fooled everybody last week.
The family continues to grow. Some of my cousins have added to their families in recent years, so the gathering slowly gets larger again. I certainly haven't been helping, and my grandmother and aunts have been wondering when I will be bringing a girlfriend home with me. My mom doesn't even ask anymore.
My Uncle Joel is headed for a warmer climate soon... at least temporarily. He is flying to Hawaii to perform a wedding, I believe next month. I can't think of a better time to leave the cold of a Minnesota winter than in the month of December. That was a well-planned wedding.
When I get home I have a pretty big laundry list of things to get done. But I'm thinking to myself that I'd better be a little proactive and try to get my tractor running, with a new implement. If I can get it set up right, I should be able to plow my driveway. And I sure don't want to get caught in a snowstorm and unable to get in or out of my own driveway.
Down in Kansas, we sure don't tend to get much snow. But we do get ice. And we do get snow that turns to ice. And we do get a big mess if we don't stay ahead of the little bit that falls.
I'm most worried about what the county does/doesn't do with the 1/4 mile of road leading to the main highway. That might be bad, too. And I may be the last one they decide to plow out... or they could leave a big pile in front of my driveway.
