Change

This is what happened to my old computer screen

This past week I got my new computer. I needed a new one as my old one was dying fast. However, I liked my old computer. But changing technology - and expensive repairs - has made it impossible to keep. My son recommended a model based on my needs, I ordered it, and the UPS truck delivered it on Wednesday. 

Getting a new computer is like having a wrecking ball demolish your house and you have to reconstruct it from the ruins. I'm slowing transferring files, photos, and music from the old to the new, as well as installing software that I use on a regular basis. What is most frustrating to me is the junk that now comes loaded on computers. It's like buying a magazine and realizing that it is at least 50% advertising, except with the magazine you can just turn the page. On a computer, you have to determine what is essential and what isn't.

I have spent a good deal of time removing the seemingly "helpful" programs that tell me I need to remove spyware or corrupted files or to update my drivers. All of this on a brand new computer. And then the "helpful" program opens a page on your browser that tells you to purchase the program, at a discount of course. So in reality, there is nothing wrong with the computer; it's just software that is trying to sell you something.

While I am grateful for the technology that makes it possible for me to communicate with people around the world, to go to the library without driving, to search for and save useful information, and to perform thousands of other small tasks that make life easier, it can be really frustrating when I have to make changes. It's especially bad when I have to clean up things I didn't want in the first place. But I'm slowly getting there. And it will be nice to have a fully functioning computer again.

Farm Friday

The season and weather have made it a quiet week on the farm. I had planned to drive to Greensboro to do some "big city" shopping, mainly at the health food store. As I left our house, a few snowflakes were falling but I decided it wasn't anything to worry about. However, when I got on the main highway, the snow was coming down good and sticking, plus the surface of the road was icy white in spots. As soon as I was able to turn around, I did and I stopped at our post office on the way. Good thing I had turned around because the postmaster told me that the roads in Greensboro were a "mess." However, when I got to our house, there was no snow at all. Apparently, the snow storm was to the south of us.

I decided to reschedule my trip for Thursday. This is what happened in the wee hours of Thursday morning:

Bill has planned to take the last two pigs to the processor on Wednesday. One of the girls went into heat, so he couldn't take them. The other one is now in heat, too, so he's postponing it until next week.

Although I'm a warm weather person, I've learned to appreciate winter. It's season of rest and recovery. As long as you don't have to get to job or school, staying home after a snow storm can be nice. But I do miss my flip flops.

Have a great week!

Rethinking Our Current System

Source

Earlier this month I blogged about our society's dependence on centralized systems for food, energy, and other necessities, as well as for non-essentials. You can read about it here. Little did I know a good (if that's the right word) example was right around the corner.

The Eco-Grandma recently brought to my attention the issue at the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach (and other west coast ports) where the dock workers and shipping companies have a dispute that is causing huge delays in the distribution of goods, including food. (You can read her story here.) According to the first video, about $1 billion of goods go through that port every day. And now they're just sitting, which is especially bad when it's food that ends up rotting. The second video points out that 70% of our goods from Asia come through the west coast ports. If you look at labels of products in stores, you'll note that the majority come from Asia.

We should use this as a lesson on how dangerous our current system is. However, no one seems to be thinking in those terms. The focus is on money, money, money. Yet our lack of a domestic source for the things we need should be of great concern. We hear talk about security yet we do nothing to ensure that we can feed and clothe ourselves in case of some type of shutdown. 

Why the lack of discussion? I assume it's partly because small businesses are of no concern to the government. We don't have the deep pockets to support political campaigns and, individually, we don't contribute big numbers to government spread sheets and other means of keeping track of "success." 

But the bigger they are, the harder they fall, and it looks like there's a lot of crashing going on right now. Speaking from the food angle, if communities depended on local and regional sources for food (and supported community canneries where people could preserve the bounty from the growing season) instead of far off places, a shutdown at a port on the west coast would not affect people on the east coast or the mid-west or anywhere else. 

Not only is our system unsustainable (and crazy), it's dangerous. I can't imagine what future generations are going to think about us. Perhaps we won't have to worry about this being our legacy. Maybe a few people reading a few posts like this will have the connections to start making some changes.

Monday Morning Amusement

This picture made me smile:

Seen on Pinterest

Quote for the Day

"Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all."

~George Washington

Farm Update

RIP Pearl

Last night, after I posted Farm Friday, I'm sorry to say we lost little Pearl. She was fine when I gave her lunch around 1:00 and then later, when Bill was doing chores, she was her usual spunky self. However, when we went to the barn for the night feeding, the bottle babies heard me approaching and called out as usual, but something wasn't right. Neo was waiting at one of the stall doors, eager to be let out for his bottle. I kept hearing Pearl (I called her my St. Pearly Girl after the beer brand) but I didn't see her which was unusual as she was always waiting with Neo. We finally realized she was laying down in a corner of one of the stalls but wasn't getting up nor did she want her bottle. We ended up bringing her in the house to make her comfortable and to see what might be wrong. About 90 minutes later, she was gone. 

In some ways, losing Pearl wasn't a surprise. We have never raised a rejected baby to maturity. Never. And their deaths are always sudden. However, mother goats know best; they know when there is something wrong with a kid and will not waste energy on a baby that will not survive. Sad, but the reality of nature. It still hurts. We'll miss our little girl.

Farm Friday

This week in review:

We've had a few inches of snow and have been experiencing well-below normal temperatures here. Some fellow farmers have lost some of their animals, as a result. We've been fortunate that ours are doing well. Yesterday, before we were expecting below 0 temps overnight, we made sure our animals would be as warm as possible. The goats have their stalls, the pigs have a run-in shelter, the chickens have coops; so everyone had a place to get out of the weather. I put cardboard over some openings on our portable chicken coop, just in case. Our bottle babies, Neo and Pearl, have no problem escaping the pasture to run through our iced over, snow covered back yard. They still love their bottles!

Georgia, our scarecrow, didn't get new clothes in time for Mardi Gras. Good thing as they might have been ruined in all this weather, plus she really wasn't able to get out to celebrate, She'll have her new clothes in time for our open house at the end of April.

We had a plumbing issue at our farmhouse. Bill heard the smoke detector sounding its alarm when we were walking near it. I went home to get the key. When I returned and unlocked the door, I was greeted by a couple of inches of water covering the kitchen. The pipe between the hot water faucet and the cut off valve in the powder room had separated and was the source of the flood. I was able to get the water turned off and everything cleaned up. Hopefully, we caught it in time and won't have any damage. When it warms a bit, I'll check everything to make sure. So far this year we've experienced fire, flood, and snow. May this be the end of it.

I'm finally replacing my computer. This morning after multiple times trying to get it up and running, without success, I ordered a new one. Of course, after I ordered the new one I was able to get my old one going. However, that is a wake up call for me to get it done before I truly don't have a computer. I had a long list of things I wanted to do today and almost all of them required my computer. 

We attended a presentation to our county's board of supervisors by a consulting firm that was supposed to do a feasibility study on a poultry processing complex locating in our county. The findings were "positive" and there were "really no negatives." In reading through the report, I noticed how they slanted much of the language and how they selectively reported information from surveys collected at two meetings I attended. What was amazing is that, based on 25 surveys from "the public," they determined the project had 75% support by the community. Really? Hopefully, our county officials will see there are huge negatives that were not addressed or minimalized and that such a facility, along with the required 500 chicken houses (containing 20,000 birds each), would be a bad thing for our community. Research shows how this industry has negatively impacted communities in the past.

The Don Cesar

On a personal note, Bill and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary! It's hard to believe it has been that long. It seems like yesterday that we had our quick ceremony in a lovely little chapel and then headed to the beach to spend the night at the beautiful Don Cesar Hotel, aka "The Pink Palace." (With the weather we've been having here, it's hard to even remember enjoying the beach in February!)

Still having fun after 27 years!

I've also started brushing up on my French again. When I'll use it, I have no idea. But I've always liked studying French, probably because it's such a challenge, so I decided to do it for no reason at all. I've found a great language app for my smart phone called Duolingo that I really like. It sends me reminders to do my lesson for the day, plus I can set the level of engagement I want - from "casual" to "insane." I've chosen the first option.

Have a great week!