CDL

Last fall after harvest, I enjoyed tilling about 3000 acres for a local farmer.  My work schedule allows for some free time occasionally and so whenever obligations at the office were complete, I'd take off for the field.  It worked out well for both parties.  Kamela spent some time with me in the tractor one of those beautiful autumn days last October and wrote about it HERE.

Meanwhile, I've thought for some time having a CDL could potentially be useful.  Not that I intended to get into the trucking industry but with all the farmers in our area you never know when one of them might need a driver for a day here and there.  And since I have a free day here and there...

A few weeks ago I passed the written portion of the test.  Today was the driving portion which went well.

As it turns out, I've a few free days next week.  I'd be glad to haul your corn wherever you need.  Call me for a quote!   HaHa.

Media & Children

Perhaps I find this so interesting partly because Brenda tells me frequently that she and fellow teachers
often comment about the large percentage of young children who cannot sit still, have no attention span, don't know how to listen,etc.  More and more students seem to have learning disabilities and/or behavior issues.  I suspect it would be hard to find a teacher who doesn't think it's a growing concern.

For those who have raised children without a TV and a plethora of entertainment type videos and feel that was proper because of a certain value or standard you were/are trying to instill, it is wonderful to know that you may also have provided a great assist in the mental development of your child by avoiding such.

The information contained in this video is research-based, not someone's theory, and is quite intriguing.

Media & Children  is about 15 minutes long.

Igloo Time

 As she did last year, Brenda had students save plastic gallon jugs over the holiday season and then bring them to school in January.  With the collection of over 200 jugs, we spent a couple hours one evening creating this igloo.  The kids love it as you might imagine and they each are given time inside the igloo to read over the month or so it stays in place. 

Suggested reading

I remember quite distinctly several surprises which have occurred over the years.

Surprises about a particular skill or ability possessed by someone I knew.  That is, I knew the person but didn't know about the talent.

An uncle who had the ability to have played the guitar professionally, but I never knew until I was late teens.  A friend who over 30 years ago shocked me by sitting at the piano and playing beautifully.  I still recall it vividly.  Another acquaintance who despite his short and somewhat stocky build astounded me on the basketball court with skills that belied his physique and I never would have guessed.

Recently I added another to my, "I never would have guessed" list.

If you are so inclined, MY BLOG LIST on the right side of this page shows one blog entitled, From Under My Hat.

I highly suggest you scroll down the page about 1/2 way and read a couple of these:

The Woodshed    story begins with "The evening air.."
The Eagle      begins "Grandad, are you awake?"
A few nights before Christmas    begins "It's very quiet..."

If you enjoy these writings only 1/2 as much as I, it will be worth your time.

Floor and roof

Kirk is busy placing shingles while I grab a few photos.  I found out throwing a bundle of shingles over my shoulder and climbing a ladder isn't as easy as it once was! 

The floor is ready for the concrete truck to arrive.  Unfortunately, I had an appointment and was away when this job was completed.  I wasn't any help nor did I get any photos taken of that process.

A few days later we removed the old door and wall so the old entryway now is part of the new addition.

I had thought we'd have to do some major sawing to get the blocks out and could only imagine concrete dust everywhere.  Fortunately, the sawing was minimal and we knocked out the blocks almost entirely with a hammer.

Destruction desists; Construction continues.

The old porch was left in place to have something over our heads at the front door for the time being while the concrete work was taking place.  Each part of the project takes place when ever the opportunity presents itself so we never know if the next step will be tomorrow or a week from tomorrow. 

So this is the day it's coming down and the framing starts.

And as usual, the yard is a mess.  Of course it gets cleaned up later in the day. 

 I think each day of this project we have worked in close company with the drizzle.  With mud sticking to the boots everywhere we go, the end of the day cleanup includes spraying down sidewalks, tools and even some of the wood with water.

We can still get to the front door throughout thanks to the old concrete pad.

The "box" starts to take shape.

Almost ready to place the sheeting on the roof.

Blocks

A couple courses of block are needed on the to get to floor level.

It's a windy, raw day but above freezing so we're OK. 

While I've been a do-it-yourselfer for most of my remodel projects, it was really nice to have

Rocke Brothers Inc. on this job.  They were done before I could have made a trip to town to buy the supplies!

Ready for the next step which will be to tear down the old porch - in the next blog.