August 11, 2010, 9:32am: Wow, it’s been more than a month since I’ve been on here. Time just flies, doesn’t it? Particularly the Summer months. In honor of one of our guests coming to the Windchill Memorial BBQ this weekend – with the help of Judi Ross who provided the pictures below we welcome a friend to everyone – Eilene W! Eilene has already checked in at the airport in Florida even though her flight doesn’t actually leave until tomorrow! So Come On Eilene…!
(you have to go to the Raindance site in order to listen to Eilene’s song)

Okay guys, for those that know JoAnn Paul you know how hard she’s worked to become a good rider – working for hours on end with Axel out in the pasture and now spending hours riding him up and down the driveway or out in the pen. I keep telling her she should talk about her experience. Her dedication has been amazing – cold winter days spent out in the pasture, harsh wind blowing – and there’s JoAnn leading Axel around. Rain, snow, winds, sun – it hasn’t mattered. So my hat’s tipped to the cowgirl named JoAnn. I’m going to see if I have some pix to post along with this – email her and tell her you’d love to read about her experience learning and training at the same time!

Jeff

Axel is an avid iPhone fan - JoAnn and Axel checking Facebook

Kathi and newborn foal in a gaited horse magazine

Here I am along with Dr. Ken Ripp being interviewed about our new organization – Integrity Health Network.
Almanac North June 2010 <

Almanac North #1832 from Almanac North on Vimeo.

Hey guys,

I think the rest of the Windchill story that was scheduled to post at the same times the original post – all went into drafts from the end of February through March. I did it while I was really tired at night this year – so it was sort of true to form to the original posts – unintentionally! Sorry if you had been following it and they suddenly cut off. I published them all two minutes ago so they’re not in order but sometimes technology isn’t our friend…

Jeff

The dictionary defines the term “meteorologist” as:
1. One who studies meteorology.
2. One who reports and forecasts weather conditions.

What it fails to include is item number 3: A scientific sounding name for being wrong nearly 100% of the time.

Case in point – for the past couple of days these esteemed fortune tellers of the weather have been warning us about the impending big storm. Road plow crews were placed on 12 hour shifts, people were told to hoard their children, gather food, burn their paneling and furniture, be ready to eat their pets, save bottles of air for when our communities lay buried under an avalache of snow, starting Friday night snow was to begin to falling in amounts tantamount to biblical proportions, by Saturday we were told up to a foot of snow will have befallen us – for those of us who lived to see it Saturday night would see a lull and Sunday it was all to begin again, with another half foot predicted. This morning as I look out at the slightly overcast sky and wondered if I should sweep the few flakes that had apparently gotten lost and fallen on porch, I wondered how much these people are getting paid.
What a perfect job. Paid to be right or wrong in percentages. How safe would you feel if you settled into your seat on the aircraft to hear “Ladies and gentlemen, we’d like to welcome you aboard Snafu Airlines Flight 911, I’m your Captain, Allis Lost. Today there’s a 10% chance we’ll be cruising at 35,000 feet, with 70% chance of arriving safely at our destination…” Or go to the dentist to be told there’s a “40% chance I’m about to drill into the correct tooth, with an 80% chance of success (and that remaining 20% chance of accidentally drilling through your jaw)…”

“Yes sir, and how would you like that done? Medium rare? Well there’s a 70% chance you’ll be able to survive eating it without salmonella or some other horrible fate befalling you, and what would you like to drink with that last meal?…”

Or in my job, wonder how long my board of directors would keep me employed if I told them there’s a 60% chance we’ll be in the black next week, or telling staff there’s a 40% chance they won’t have a job if I screw up some other percentage. A large part of my job is forecasting, sometimes up to 1, 2 and 3 years out. If I screw it up, people lose jobs so there’s not this little comfortable “30% chance”. I’d imagine you probably have a job that requires some degree of accuracy in what you do – are you able to come within 20% and call that accurate and keep your job? So why do we give these chronic liars a scientific sounding title like “meteorologist?” Why aren’t they called weather fortune tellers? Guess I’d better go sweep up the few flakes from the perfect storm and let the animals know they’re safe, I don’t need eat them today.

YES! I survived the week… Weekend plans include holding up behind locked doors, peeking out from behind closed blinds with a suspicious look at everyone that approaches and yelling obscenities at passing wildlife.

WOOHOO – I finally figured out what was wrong with the inside barn cam. Believe it or not even the engineers were having problems figuring it out, this has been like a major undertaking. After this if we have a problem with the barn cams it’ll be much easier for anyone wanting to view it to just drive out and come watch us at work in person – that way you can have a cigar and hot cocoa along with the pleasure of our company! Anyway, please use the new address for that cam in the link above. I’m having another cup of coffee in celebration!

DIVORCE AGREEMENT

THIS IS SO INCREDIBLY WELL PUT AND I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE IT’S BY A YOUNG PERSON!!! WHATEVER HE RUNS FOR, I’LL VOTE FOR HIM.

OUTSTANDING!

Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al:
We have stuck together since the late 1950′s, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has run its course. Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right so let’s just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.

Here is a model separation agreement:

Our two groups can equitably divide up this country by landmass each taking a portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effort lessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.

We don’t like redistributive taxes so you can keep them. You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU. Since you hate guns and war, we’ll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military. You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O’Donnell (You are, however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them).

We’ll keep the capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street.. You can have your beloved homeboys, hippies and illegal aliens. We’ll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO’s and rednecks. We’ll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood .

You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we’ll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us. You can have the peaceniks and war protesters.
When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we’ll help provide them secu rity.

We’ll keep our Judeo-Christian values.. You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism and Shirley McClain. You can also have the U.N.. but we will no longer be paying the bill.

We’ll keep the SUV s, pickup trucks and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Volkswagon you can find.

We’ll keep The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the National Anthem. I’m sure you’ll be happy to substitute Imagine, I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing, Kum Ba Ya or We Are the World.

We’ll practice trickle down economics and you can give trickle up poverty your best shot. Since it often so offends you, we’ll keep our history, our name and our flag.

Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like minded liberal and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I’ll bet you which one of us will need whose help in 15 years.

Sincerely,

John J. Wall
Law Student and an American

P.S. Also, please take Barbara Streisand & Jane Fonda with you!