There is a time in the life of the grasses for optimal flower or seed formation which I guess depends on whether the feed is for horses or cows. In our case we make a call to the people with the tractor and equipment, they of course are cutting lots of fields and our job gets who knows what priority, but they do seem to get here soon after that call is made. The people we are selling our share of the baled hay to need to know in advance that the call to the cutters has been made and a time has been set. All the while we all keep a wary eye on those clouds. If the rain comes while the grass is on the ground it isn’t good, even worse is if the hay is baled and it gets rained on, it’ll spoil for sure.

So yeah, farming is like a game of cards, because the one outcome which we hope for is the least likely to occur. Fun fun fun. 

Great responses to the BMN yesterday, I love you guys. I so proud, I think I go back in time a little and pick up an old practice and post your letters. Why not? They are all praise of the BMN. I am proud, and you helped that feeling a lot, thanks.

Are they talking about me again? Dang I got to stop reading the comics while I work.

Truth be told I don’t get most comics, I know I shouldn’t be admitting this. I have had suspicions for years that most comics were geared for a different sense of humor than I possess. Often, like with the comic above the only reason I like it is because I’m surely misinterpreting it. Let’s see, she’s got something in her hand that looks like a MP3 player because it has a wire… I don’t know about that, indeed I don’t care for the trend today of people who plug in while among us. I did a wireless Internet installation for a guy in a mobile home the other day. All the time I worked, he sat in his gargantuan Ford pick truck which surely cost more than his house, but it was what he was doing which kind of weirded me out.

Being  a countrybumkin  my exposure to cell phone technology is mostly  what I read in the tech section of the news. This guys posture was slumped over and he had something in his hands. I assumed it was a cell phone and he was text messaging. Don’t worry text messaging and its cult like following doesn’t irritate me in any way, I am simply raising an eyebrow at the peculiar  behavior associated with it. I’m no different than anyone outside of a trend who doesn’t believe. I don’t get cell phone texting any more than I do that comic I posted above. I posted it because of the caption, "Your earlier material was funnier." That fits me just fine. What you won’t see is Brian hunkered over a  itsy-bitsy  device of any kind pushing tiny little buttons.

I have my keyboard connected to my Open Source Linux GUI OS with my full hand sized mouse for picking things out on this 20 inch screen that I want to do, and I’m happy as a clam with this technology. I never understood why anyone would want to type on a telephone. To each his own. I do think we will all need some serious therapy and pretty soon too. I’m having difficulties envisioning what the world is going to be like as technology continues to evolve. Oddly, I wonder if as the planet becomes more over-populated people will cling to devices that connect them to a select few. Perhaps selected isolation is how future generations will deal with the fact that life is wall to wall people.         

I suppose it is natural that at my age I am beginning to feel like happiness is a pitchfork and a shovel. Also I shouldn’t fret that the younger people would rather text message than plant a garden. Unless I live to be my fathers age, I won’t be around to see how the next generation deals with survival. I’m worrying it won’t be a utopia where everyone has enough to eat and life is spent on the telephone texting or whatever.   Who knows, maybe the future will be a utopia and everyone will benefit and prosper. In the meantime I’ll continue thinking the world will be what I make it.

How about some garden pictures? You should send in yours as well.

Platinum white corn, sweet pumkins, Scarlet Runner beans and  Chile peppers cohabitate in this section of our garden.

As you can see we are taking a all plants are good for something approach to gardening this year.

Above the yellow squash are doing well with tons of carrots planted everywhere in the river topsoil. Also we are finally getting beets to grow! Lettuce, and spinach which we are already munching upon, ummm good.

See ya in the bright and shiny future
Brian Rodgers

Letters, beautiful letters

Brian Rodgers wrote:

Find a locking rear diff.

4WD with standard diffs = 2WD (one wheel spinning front and back.)
2WD with locker or positrack=2WD (two wheels spinning in back.)

Lee
-- 

Lee 

If you would be unloved and forgotten, be reasonable. - Kurt Vonnegut

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True this Lee, so does it hold true as well that with four wheels in the back and limited slip differential that it is still two wheel drive? 
Brian
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Re: BMN Ponzi, Madoff, and now Stanford

http://www.michaelearth.com/michaels_blog.html
http://www.pedestrianvillages.com/index.htm
 In a sane world, he wouldn’t need to run for governor
Jim Bostrum

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Re: BMN Accidental metamorphosis, but I like it

i definitely want it to keep coming to my mailbox.
i don’t often have time to follow links and stuff, and if i had to do it to read the bmn, i wouldn’t.
after my morning emails arrive my minimal bandwidth is generally all tied up with usenet activity (and i do mean ALL tied up). i read the bmn and my other mail leisurely while newsgroup headers download. then i read n/g headers, start downloads, and that’s it for me on the ‘pooter, until it’s time to process the downloads.
so if it ain’t in my inbox, i won’t see it.
my 2 centavos, fwiw.
jc
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RE: BMN Diesel engine swaps, funny?

Dear Brian

Like I’ve said before we’ve done several 4bt swaps into F150 pickups.  They are heavy enough I can’t imagine putting a 6bt into one?  Every time I put my Dodge on my hoist it is a challenge trying to get it positioned because it is just so damned front heavy.  I don’t think there is a good way to put a 6bt into a F150 and besides it would tear it up and I’m not trying to be tough when saying that.  I literally think it would tear it up.  The 6bt is a workhorse engine and it does what you ask from it, the frame on a f150 just isn’t going to take it.  A 4bt in a f150 is a nice combination and like I’ve said before it is a good choice here because bread vans are about $2000 and if you get one with the right bell housing they bolt right up to a standard ford pickup transmission.  Just pull the front clip, slide it in, weld in the motor mounts, etc and it fits like a charm.  I don’t think a 6bt would even fit, you’d have to do some serious relocating.  It just is too much motor and believe me I’ve put 454’s in chevy luvs and vega’s when I was a kid but a 6bt will tear the shit out of a frame. 

Harvey Donley
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Thanks for the words of encouragement Harvey
I too was thinking the 6BT six banger was too big for the Ford, and I will continue to keep my eyes open for a bread tuck with the Ford bell housing, but I still need a transmission, and , and , and …
No, really the four cylinder diesel in the F-150 would be awesome, especially if she slid right in. super smiles
Brian
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 hey now,  BRIAN you just keep this here B.M.N. coming to my inbox,i have always liked it.I  like knowing whats happening there on the ranch,its a wondeful connection to the ranch and all the good folks that live /work /pass thru and what not there.i would truly miss it and all you folks there.    Dave The Wave

"if eye dont see you no more in this world, eye’ll see you in the next one and don’t be late" jimi hendrix

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You got it Dave. And thanks for everything. Whoops started that sentence with "And."
Brian
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you are welcome in my in box.
paul

Hmmm, all the funnies seem to be about texting, Is texting funny then?