The Week of Breaking Down

Wall Street is not the only place where things are breaking down.  Morman Road, Oak Run Township, Madison County, Ohio is another.  But with luck, the worst should be over and hopefully we will get to just harvest soybeans next week.  The good news is the yield seems to be pretty good, based on the first 100 acres harvested.  As usual, time will tell.  On the other hand, the moisture content is much too low, 9% on the beans to the south and east of Morman Road.  Some rain would be a good thing.  But hold the rain until the wheat is planted!  It is so hard to please a farmer!

The problem Friday was a broken knife.  And that is a big problem as the knife is 25 feet long and a new one comes in 3 sections that takes a couple of hours to assemble and install along with a slew of wear plates that had to be replaced.  And no one could understand exactly how one of the guards was so bent out of shape that a torch had to be used to turn it cherry red to reform it.  It was a good thing that worked, or it would have taken even more time to replace that guard.

Harvest Starts Today

Monday was a false start as the combine broke down after 150 yards.  Not the most auspicious start!  But this will not be as good as last year.  Yields will be lower and the corn was mostly flattened by Ike.  It will be a slow year in the corn fields.  Since I start at 2, I did get one last bike ride in.  I finally did 14 miles in just over an hour, my best time this year!  Now my exercise will be mostly stair stepping up and down those big tractors!

Photography Workshop

I'll be heading to a workshop in West Virginia next month.  Click here for some samples of the workshop guy's work.

Fall is Coming Early

Last Rose of Summer

Perfect Line

We only had the Himacane Ike leftovers, but they caused havoc here in central Ohio.  Schools closed for at least 2 days and many such scenes as this one near our house.  From all appearances, there was little to no damage done to either house.  The tree will soon be firewood, however!

Emma Pic

This facial expression is new... but this is her usual method of sitting!

Eric Pictures/Text

Nephew Eric Emerges from his retreat.

Nephew Eric's Long Retreat Ended Today

I just check his darma center's web site, but there are no pictures posted yet.  The retreat lasted 3 years 6 months and 12 days in Mirik, India.  Those in the retreat chose the most auspicious day to end it.  This one lasted a bit longer than the nominal 3 years, 3 months and 3 days.  Welcome back, Eric!  I will post a picture or two when they become available.  Those in Mirik for this will return about the 23rd of this month.

There is Hope for Physics After All

I just spent most of an hour watching a show on the Science channel entitled What Is Wrong With Gravity?  Not once did they mention string theory.  Incredible!  There was one mention of hidden dimensions, an unavoidable part of string theory.  String theory has been choking the life out of theoretical physics for nigh onto 20 years now.  This is the first sign of some balance returning to physics theory... may that continue!

I also learned that after 40 years of searching, they have yet to find the first gravity wave.  THAT is discouraging.

Top Ten UK Delicacies

Notice that haggis is #3:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/sep/04/travelfoodanddrink.uk

A Different Universe...

From mine, at least!

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-09/ff_starcity

Bald Eagle Spotted on Deer Creek

The eagle was spotted this morning where Turkey Run empties into Deer Creek.  It stayed quite a while before flying south along the creek.  This image was taken at the Columbus zoo about a year ago.  I was not lucky enough to see the wild eagle today!