Man of Courage

For sale: SOLD!

2012-02-11T09:29:00.000-06:00

Hello all!

We have had another busy week around here, but I guess that's kind of normal... :-) A good bit of our activity came about through the excellent website www.bismanonline.com, which is THE online classified ad website for the entire ND area, and reaching into the neighboring states and Canada as well! Here is a brief overview of how it influenced our week:
Wednesday: I listed our 1985 Chevy Caprice Classic on BMO. About four hours later we received a phone call from somebody who wanted to buy it, if we could meet him in Bismarck. SOLD!
Thursday: I listed my 2001 Dodge Stratus on BMO. Got a call less than three hours later, the guy said he wanted it and was on his way to pick it up! SOLD! By the time he got here, I had already got two more calls on the car! I also spent part of the day working on a computer for a guy who found out about me through BMO... :-)
Friday: Dad and I drove to Minot to pick up another project car. Yes, I did find it on BMO... While on the road to Minot, I got a call from somebody interested in the '02 Dodge Intrepid I had listed on BMO, and wondering if I could meet him in Bismarck that evening. It worked out that Mom was able to bring the Intrepid to town, and then catch a ride home with us as we came back through Bismarck. SOLD! Friday morning, Cora hit a deer with her van on the way to work, so we will probably be selling that on BMO as well... :-)

So, we sold three cars in three days -- not bad, eh? I think that is our record for fastest sales though... :-) I guess I need to get another one running, as we are kind of short on vehicles now!

That's all for now!
Andrew B.

Where does time fly?

2012-02-04T16:10:00.000-06:00

Hello!
You might very well be wondering what has happened to me, due to my recent lack of blog posts... I assure you I have only been extremely busy, and haven't had the time to sit down and write what I have been up to. :-) So, I will take a little time now to give a brief update of the past couple of weeks:

The second weekend in January found our family at the Crystal Springs family camp, for the annual "Spring Fever Family Camp" hosted by some friends of ours, the S. family. We had a very enjoyable time visiting with friends,

making new ones,

playing Volleyball;

and ping-pong;

eating good food;

and listening to the excellent guest speaker, Kevin Swanson from "Generations With Vision"!

Thanks again for all of your hard work, S. family, and all of you who helped out too!

Dad, Jacob and I have spent several days over the last two weeks over near Spiritwood, where we were working on taking apart and removing two grain cleaners from an old elevator... It was a lot of work, but thankfully we have all of the pieces home now, so now we have to work on putting them back together... :-)

Last weekend, Dad and Mom went to Aberdeen SD. for the Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture Society's (NPSAS) annual Winter Conference. On Saturday, I went up to Minot to help out with an Appleseed shoot, which was a lot of fun! I am an Instructor In Training with the Appleseed program, so am working hard to learn what I need to know to advance towards being a full instructor... :-)

I have also been busy helping out with the Ron Paul 2012 campaign, attending our district reorganization meeting, making some phone calls to supporters, etc. We still have a long way to go, but it is a good cause!

In my spare time I have been working on a 2001 Dodge Stratus, which I picked up really cheap because the engine would not start. It really wasn't a serious problem; the water pump had gone bad, and caused the timing belt to break... I have it in running condition again, although there are a couple of things to work on yet. For instance; the back windows will not go up or down, there is a dent in the right rear door, and it needs a new battery... But at least it runs! ;-)

That's all for now,
Andrew B.

Plenty of projects, and very nice weather!

2012-01-11T22:12:00.000-06:00

Well, it appears like our beautiful weather is finally giving way to old man winter... The past couple of weeks have been exceptionally nice, with very little to no snow on the ground, and temps in the upper forties and mid fifties! Last night a cold front moved through, and brought a little bit of snow, a strong North-West wind, and temps in the single digits -- much more seasonal weather for this part of the country!

Yesterday we went and helped some friends of ours with working their calves. Mr. K. had got run over by a calf several weeks ago, and hurt one of his ribs, so was not able to do some of the harder work... Thankfully we had beautiful weather, and everything went pretty well.

My most recent car project is pretty much finished now, and I have been driving it around some... I took all of the old decals off myself, then went to a place in Bismarck and had them put "Charger" where the word "Sheriff" used to be:

I also got a wheel alignment, and my air conditioning recharged, so it's ready to roll! :-)

Here is something else new in our yard:

It's another grain cleaning unit, which Dad recently purchased. We are intending on removing one of the cleaners and puting a different one on, so we have plenty of work to keep us busy...

Here you can see it sitting next to dad's other cleaner:

Looks like we'll have another busy winter/spring!
Best get to bed,
Andrew B.

My Friends;

2012-01-08T09:13:00.001-06:00

That's right, it is time to stand up and be counted among those who are willing to defend our constitution, and the liberties it assures to all Americans. With the out of control spending in Washington, the Federal Reserve inflating our money supply at an unprecedented pace, the unnecessary and undeclared foreign wars, and the squashing of our personal freedoms, it is high time we as Americans stood up for our rights, and elect officials who will uphold the Constitution, and our rights!
First, if you are not completely sure who to support for President, I highly recommend taking a little time to study the Declaration of Independence, and the United States Constitution. The John Birch Society also has a lot of good information on the constitution and limited government, I would highly recommend getting in contact with your local JBS leader for more information... You can also check out their "Freedom Index" as a quick review of how YOUR legislators votes measure up to the constitution.
Now that you are an educated voter, you probably know that most of our elected officials have slid somewhat from the high ground of the constitution, which they swore to uphold. It is time to stand up for a candidate with a record of un-wavering support for the constitution: Dr. Ron Paul! Take a moment to check out his website, read his history, see where he stands on the issues important to you, then tell your friends. The most important thing we can do to win this election is to inform the public of the need for constitutional and limited government, and convince them to get involved. So, here is a list of things that you can do:

Get in touch with your State's Ron Paul campaign coordinators. They are more than willing to help you with any questions you may have, supply you with fliers to hand out to your friends, or signing you up as a volunteer. If you are not sure who your state coordinators are, you can get in touch with the national headquarters, and they will direct you to your local group.
Tell your friends! The more people you tell, the better!
Become a Delegate. This is a big step for most of us, (including me!) but it is one of the most important steps we can take to help Ron Paul win! Becoming a delegate requires time and effort: First you need to attend your GOP District conventions, where you can get elected to be a delegate. Once becoming a delegate, you will need to attend your State GOP convention, where you can cast your vote and make a difference. Yes, it will require time and effort, but it is a small sacrifice compared to those who gave their lives to give us the freedoms that we have now.

For those of you in North Dakota, here is the contact information for our Ron Paul state director:

Jared Hendrix
North Dakota State Director
Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign
Cell: 701-516-7593
Office: 701-751-4588
500 N. 3rd Street
Bismarck, ND 58501
http://www.ronpaul2012.com/
Email: jaredh (at) ronpaul2012 (dot) com
http://www.facebook.com/RP2012ND

Thank you for your time,
Andrew B.

Two milestones

2012-01-01T22:39:00.001-06:00

Today is a special day, in that it marks two milestones: the beginning of a new year, and my 200th blog post!
I would like to say thank you to all of my readers, for taking the time to read my ramblings, and for all of the wonderful comments you have left for me. It is always fun to hear from you, and many of you have provoked me to much thought.
May the Lord bless you all in the coming year, and may He guide you in His perfect paths for you!

"Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me!" 1 Chronicles 4:10

Your brother in Christ,
Andrew B.

Thanks BisManOnline! -- Prayer request

2011-12-31T11:40:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was another busy day, as Mom and I went to Bismarck to run a couple of errands, put up some posters for the upcoming JBS classes on the Constitution, and sell/deliver a couple of things we had sold on BisManOnline. (BisManOnline is the area's largest and most used online classified ad service, and the best part is that it is FREE! To give you some idea of how much stuff is sold on there, here is an interesting fact: Over $2,000,000,000 worth of goods were bought and sold on BMO last year alone!)
I also bought something that I found on BMO:

Yep, I decided to join the latest craze and buy a tablet... Now I just have to figure out how to use the thing... :-) So far, it's been a lot of fun!
Hope you all have a happy new year!
Andrew B.

PS. Please check out this post over at my sister's blog, and remember our dear friends in your prayers: Please join me in praying for this family...

It Rained!

2011-12-29T20:21:00.000-06:00

We have been having some very nice weather recently, even though it is almost January already... Today got up to the mid 30s again, and this afternoon it decided to RAIN! Usually if we get any precipitation this time of year, it comes in the form of snow... My boots even got muddy while I was doing chores tonight! Just for reference, here is a picture of what it looked like about this time last year:

This year it would be hard to find a patch of snow on the ground anywhere! It looks pretty brown and dead around here...
Andrew B.

A Christmas present to myself!

2011-12-26T12:45:00.000-06:00

Dad and I spent much of Christmas day working over in the shop, as our family doesn't do much for Christmas, and I was really wanting to get my car finished up and out of the shop... That goal was accomplished, as I was able to get the car out and drive it around a little bit. :-) I do need to work on a couple of minor things yet, but it is at least in drivable condition now! Here are a couple of pictures I took this morning:

Unfortunately I am going to have to have the Sheriff decaling removed, or else I might get in trouble for impersonating an officer... :-( Oh well, better safe than sorry...
Got to go,
Andrew B.

Happy (belated) Birthday Mother!

2011-12-26T12:27:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Mom! Hope you had a very special day! :-)

Thanks for being such a wonderful loving Mom... We all love you lots!

Andrew B.

Shop with indoor pool!

2011-12-24T09:33:00.000-06:00

I have been writing a lot about our shop, but have avoided mentioning the fact that we have an indoor pool...

... table!

Sorry, that was kind of misleading, but it has been a bit of a joke around here and I couldn't help sharing it with you. :-)

We actually got the table for free, as someone was giving it away over on www.bismanonline.com, and we happened to be the first to call about it... We have been having a lot of fun playing on it, and have already noted an improvement in our playing skill!

Want to come play a round with us? You are all more than welcome! :-)
Andrew B.

The sweet smell of success...

2011-12-21T22:08:00.001-06:00

Today, the sweet smell of success came in the very familiar, but quite nasty smell of exhaust from a gasoline engine... That's right, I got my Charger put back together far enough that I was able to start and run it for a minute or so. Hurrah! It is still in the shop, as I am waiting for a couple of parts yet, but I have proved that it will run... :-)
Best get to bed,
Andrew B.

What we have been doing in our shop...

2011-12-21T21:54:00.000-06:00

As promised, here is a quick update of what we have been doing in the shop. :-)

I started work on my Charger, taking out the engine and pretty much the whole front end... Here you can see a snapshot of the project just getting under way:

A day or two later:

Here you can see a few of the parts removed in the process:

After totally disassembling the engine, my suspicions were confirmed -- the main bearings and crankshaft were severely damaged, and a couple of the connecting rod bearings were so bad they had even spun... After checking around with several different places, I decided to buy a used motor from a junkyard, rather than trying to rebuild the old one. Here is a picture I took of the used engine I bought:

Dad has been working on one of our tractors, as there is a bearing that is literally falling apart somewhere in the transmission, we just haven't been able to find it yet!

More to come!

Andrew B.

Our New Shop!

2011-12-17T15:58:00.000-06:00

Last week and the week before found us pretty busy in the shop, not fixing something, but totally redoing the inside of the building! We built a wall about 2/3 of the way toward the back, to divide the front part where we will be working, from the back, which will just be cold storage...

We put a walk in door in the front...

...and we insulated the walls, put up plywood, and painted the whole inside white!

But best of all, we got our wood stove set up, so we can keep it warm in there! Looks like Mom likes the extra heat:

Coming soon: What we have been doing in our nice warm shop...

Enough reading for...

2011-12-01T21:09:00.000-06:00

... a year, at least! 'nough said...

So much to be thankful for...

2011-11-24T22:21:00.000-06:00

We have so much to be thankful for, why do we only have one day in the year designated for being thankful? I try to be thankful every day, not just one!
Today I am thankful for a loving God, and his forgiveness of our sins, and for a country in which we are free to worship Him as we see fit. I am thankful for a loving family...
I am thankful for very nice weather, as it has given us time to get a lot of outside work finished up before Winter... (We have been spending the past couple of days working in the shop, as we are building a wall and insulating the front half so we can keep it heated in the winter...)
I am thankful that the car I have been working on is almost done, and seams to be working well! I will be taking it for a drive tomorrow... :-)

There are so many things to be thankful for, how can anybody be a grouch? Mom and Dad are currently watching "Pollyanna", one of our favorite movies, and also probably the most appropriate Thanksgiving movie we have...

For those of you who may be wondering what those pictures at the end of my last post were, here is another picture that should pretty well explain it:

Kind of a long story, but I will try to shorten it as much as possible:   I was at the junkyard in Mandan the other day, getting some parts for my Dodge Intrepid, and saw this car sitting out front. I asked how much they wanted for it, but didn't really think about it too much as I had other things on my mind... The next day or two I just couldn't get it out of the back of my mind, so I decided to go up and take another look at it, and ended up bringing it back home with me...
It's an '08 Dodge Charger, that used to belong to the McHenry county sheriff's department, until one of the officers ran over some large obstacle while following a suspect in some less than desirable driving conditions...   The car consequently needs a new engine, engine mounting frame, radiator, radiator mounting brackets, A/C condenser, and I'm not even sure what all else...   I haven't really had time to tear into it too much, as I have spent all of my spare time fixing up the Intrepid. :-)

That's all for now -- Remember to be thankful!
     Andrew B.

A party, beer, a hot car, and the police!

2011-11-19T12:00:00.001-06:00

Hello all,
If you read the title of this post, you might think I was in some sort of trouble... Rest assured, I am not! Keep reading for an explanation of all of the above... But first, an update on my project I posted about in my last post:

"Look Ma, no headlights!"

I have been working on the Intrepid quite a bit, and believe I am nearing completion... I just need a special tool to get the camshaft timing set correctly -- I ordered one online, but it hasn't arrived yet... Here are a couple of pictures of the current state of affairs:

Here you can see the engine, mostly put back together...

The remaining parts!

Anybody need a good car? :-) I did get my other Intrepid (the silver one) sold a week and a half ago, for which I am very thankful! I will need to sell this one too, as soon as I get it working properly, as I need some money for my next project, which is a -- WAIT! That is supposed to be a surprise! More on that later... ;-)

Last Saturday was my 21st Birthday! Wow, where does time fly? It's hard to believe I can be that old already, it seams not that long ago that I was a little kid... We had a fun day; playing games, watching good movies, and opening presents... My brother Jacob's birthday is one week before mine, so we usually have a combined birthday party -- or a whole week long one! :-) This year the party ended up being on my Birthday, as Mom and I went to Fargo on Jacob's birthday... That's another story...

Some of the presents my wonderful family gave me:

An expansion to one of my favorite games, "Agricola" Thanks Cora!

A very nice Bible cover, and a new bible to go in it!

A "Courageous" movie T-shirt! Thanks Mom!

A lighted hockey puck! Thanks Jacob! I am sure we will have a lot of fun with that!

What better gift for a 21 year old, than a six pack of beer? A six pack of ROOT BEER! (Thanks Dad, both for the gift, and for your good example!)

A magnetic parts\tool tray... Thanks Dad!

And a very nice tie! Thanks Mom!

We had fun playing the board game "Automobile", watching a new movie Cora gave me, and other things... It was a good day!

I think I will cut this here, and start another post so this doesn't get so long... In the mean time you can all guess what these might mean:

Andrew B.

The consequences of carelessness...

2011-11-10T21:17:00.000-06:00

Dear readers,
Today I came across a good example of the consequences of carelessness, and thought I would share the lesson with all of you... :-)
As you may well know, I have been making a little business of buying cars in need of repair, fixing them up, and then reselling them for a profit... I really enjoy working in the shop, and the joy of making something work again is almost as good as the extra money it brings in... :-) My latest project is a 2002 Dodge Intrepid, which I just picked up last Sunday. The previous owner had done some work to the engine, as it had had a broken rocker arm, which then ruined the camshaft. While it did run when I bought it, it still had some engine problems, including what sounded like noisy lifters, and it wouldn't idle smoothly...
After changing the oil, and checking the oil pressure with a gauge, (because the oil pressure light on the dash was flickering,) I came to the conclusion that the only thing wrong was the lifter noise, which might go away on it's own... That was until I checked the dipstick again, and found that there was coolant getting into the crankcase -- NOT GOOD...
I got some time to work on the engine this afternoon, and got it torn down far enough to find the problem. Apparently, when the previous owner replaced the camshaft, (which requires removal of the head,) he was not very careful while putting the head back on, and messed up the head gasket:

The offending corner:

Yes, that is supposed to be flat!

Now, simply because of the carelessness of the last person to work on this car, I had to tear the engine all apart again, and will have the fun job of trying to clean all of the watery, oily goo out of the engine... Ugh! Hopefully it didn't do any permanent damage in the mean time...

So, the lesson for the day: "Whatever you do, do it to the best of your ability"

Andrew B.

Almost done...

2011-11-01T20:51:00.001-05:00

Hello all,
I have been quite busy helping out another farmer with his corn and sunflower harvest. My job has mostly been to drive the grain cart, first alongside the combine to pick up a load of grain, then to the end of the field to dump into the waiting trucks...
We are done with the corn now, and getting close to done with the sunflowers... We should be finished by late Wednesday or early Thursday afternoon. :-)
I am actually writing this on my iPod as I am waiting for the combine to get full... Unfortunately, the sunflowers are not yielding as good as could be expected, so I get a little extra time once in a while. ;-)
Got to go,
Andrew B.

Busy with work...

2011-10-13T22:37:00.000-05:00

Hello all,
Sorry I haven't been keeping up with this blog, but I have been quite busy again... Between keeping the cows in the fence, working on the semi-truck, working on one of my cars, etc. there just hasn't been much time to write here... Now I am helping a nearby farmer with his corn harvest, so I will be quite busy for the next couple of weeks over there... I am grateful for the chance to make a little extra money though... :-)
I don't remember if I have posted a picture of my latest project, so I will post one here:

It's a 2002 Dodge Intrepid, which had a number of problems when I purchased it, although the most serious one was a problem with the transmission... I ended up replacing a part in the transmission, which seams to have fixed the problem... So now I have another working car... :-)

Best get to bed,

Andrew B.

Excelsior: Ever Higher

2011-10-03T21:42:00.001-05:00

Hello again! I have once again been quite busy with the Fall field work, and haven't taken the time to post here, but I guess you have probably noticed that. :-)

Today I just wanted to do a little promotional for "Excelsior!", a recently released Christian short film produced by two families who are both friends of mine... :-) I actually haven't seen the full film yet, but the trailer looks interesting:

They are also hosting a DVD giveaway over at the Official Excelsior Blog, be sure to check it out! Thanks for looking!

Andrew B.

Pictures from the Threshing Bee!

2011-09-17T12:22:00.000-05:00

I am back again, after a week long absence... :-)

We had a good time at the threshing bee again, as I always enjoy looking at the old equipment and machines... This year there was the new addition of an old fashioned Blacksmith shop:

This year's featured tractor, the 1923 SAMSON Model M:

Jacob really enjoyed looking at this nicely restored Chevrolet Impala:

One of the classic Rumely Oil Pull tractors:

Who could that be driving the early 30's Unstyled B? :-)

A really nice 1925 Model T Ford:

After the parade, I helped out with the Corn husking demonstration:

Here is a compilation of several video clips from the Threshing Bee:

Hope you enjoy all of the pictures!
Andrew B.

2011 Braddock Threshing Bee

2011-09-10T10:06:00.000-05:00

Hello all!
Yep, it's that time of year again. The 37th Annual South Central Thresher Association's Threshing Bee and Antique Show is this weekend, in the little town of Braddock, ND. And once again, Jacob and I will be helping out our neighbor, Allan, with one of the demonstrations. :-) Here are a couple of pictures from past years:

Here is a video I put up of last year's Antique Tractor Parade:

Here you can read the local newspaper's artical on the Threshing Bee:

Remember you can click on a picture to bring it up bigger!

More pictures to come after today/tomorrow!
Andrew B.

A long overdue update... :-)

2011-09-03T23:06:00.001-05:00

Hello all!
We have had a lot of things going on around here once again, and I have unfortunately been neglecting keeping up with them here on my blog... So I will try to give a quick rundown of the highlights of the past couple of weeks:

On Wednesday the 24th, my Great-Uncle and Aunt R. and my second-cousin Hristiyan arrived after a long drive from Waukesha, Wisconsin. After a short visit over supper, they (My Great-Uncle and Aunt) continued on their journey to Bismarck, leaving Hristiyan here with us for a nearly week-long vacation! I won't go into too much detail here, as Hristiyan has posted a good synopsis of his time here over at his blog "Man of Camo" Cora has also posted a number of pictures over at her blog as well... Suffice it to say that we enjoyed his visit immensely, and look forward to seeing him again! Here are a couple of quick pictures I took of him when we were over in the hay field:

"Hey, don't take my picture!"

"OK, I guess one won't hurt..." :-)

And here you can see Hristiyan proudly standing on the bed of the "White Truck", which he was happily driving for us when we were stacking bales. Thanks for the help Hristiyan!

We also spent a couple of mornings working on getting the old grain cleaner out of the Kintyre elevator, as the elevator will be closing down, and so we were able to purchase their old screen cleaner. This project was made a little more complex by the fact that the cleaner had to come out of the North side of the elevator, which happens to be right by the railroad tracks... Here you can see Dad hooking the straps onto the cleaner so we can pull it out of the elevator a little bit:

(Several hours later...) It's getting late, so I will have to make this short. :-) We got the grain cleaner home, and into the shop where we can work on it a little, as it was sorely neglected in it's previous location... ;-)

Of course we have been busy with the usual farm work as well, trying to get the second cutting of alfalfa put up amidst all of the cool, rainy weather... We are also getting close to starting our small grain harvest; we already have most of the wheat swathed down, so as soon as we get the combines all fixed up again, we should be able to go... :-) Your prayers for dry weather would be greatly appreciated!

Best get to bed,

Andrew B.

Success!

2011-08-17T21:20:00.000-05:00

Hello all,
After a week and a half of waiting for the last part for my car, I finally contacted the company I had ordered from, only to find that the part was on backorder, and they had no clue when they might get one in... So I promptly canceled my order with them and ordered the part, a bearing race, from somewhere else. It arived today, and after a couple hours of putting everything back together, I was able to take it out and drive it around! SUCCESS!!!
It was really dusty/dirty from sitting around in the shop, so I gave it a bit of a washing:

Here it sits; another addition to our long lineup of vehicles:

I took Mom out for a spin after chores, and she took the following picture of me before we left:

Here's hoping that it works well for many miles to come! I am still not sure if I am going to keep it, or try to sell it again for a profit... Either way I will be driving it around for a little while to make sure everything is working properly. :-) Anybody need a good car? ;-)

Andrew B.

Rain, rain and more RAIN!

2011-08-16T21:44:00.000-05:00

Question: How do you make hay when it won't stop raining for more than three days in a row?
Answer: You don't!

We have been having a lot of wild weather this year, which has made it quite difficult to make hay... We got another round of thunderstorms last night, which dumped about 1.1" of rain here at the farm, and several inches over by our other fields... We have a lot of water standing in the ditches, and some places where the roads are under water again... It will be several days before we can hay again.

In the mean time, we have been working on several projects, including getting the swather fixed up and ready to go, working on a few things on the combines, etc. This morning on our way over to our field by Hazelton, we were driving our old field pickup, when suddenly we herd a clanking noise of some sort, saw a little steam, and knew something was wrong... After a short inspection, we discovered that the old block heater had somehow managed to blow out of the engine block, which then allowed all of the coolant to blow out as well... Thankfully we were only a couple of miles from home, so we had Cora and Jacob bring out my pickup and the van; Dad and I took my pickup over to Hazelton, and Cora and Jacob came back with the van. We were able to get a new block heater this afternoon, and have it all put back together already.

That's all for now!
Andrew B.

HELP! My computer is getting slow!

2011-08-10T22:05:00.000-05:00

Does this sound familiar to you? You may be thinking "I need a new computer." STOP! You most likely do NOT need a new computer -- you just need to do a bit of Spring Cleaning, so to speak...
It is an established fact that computers collect all kinds of unwanted stuff over time, which has the combined effect of slowing your once-quick computer to a crawl... But how can I get rid of all that stuff? Thankfully it is really pretty easy:

Clean up your hard drive. Windows has a nice little utility to help you get rid of all of those old unnecessary files that are taking up extra space on your hard drive. To find it, open your start menu, and point to "All Programs" then "Accessories", then in "System Tools" click on "Disk Cleanup". Alternately, you can just type "cleanmgr" into the search/run box and hit "Enter" The computer may then prompt you to confirm which disk you want to clean up, (If you have multiple hard drives) simply click "Ok" to continue... The computer will then prompt you to confirm what you want to delete, (it is safe to select any or all of the check boxes, it will not delete any of your personal files.) And click "Ok" to finish. You're done!
Defragment your hard drive. When your computer saves a file to the hard drive, it pretty much just plunks it down in the most convenient place... Imagine if you were to throw all of your clothes into one dresser drawer, without any kind of folding or sorting whatsoever. While it is true that all of your clothes would be in your dresser, it would probably take a long time to find a pair of socks... This is the same problem your computer has: while all of the files are there, they are all just thrown together in some random way, and the computer takes a long time to find the pair of socks it is looking for... Thus the process called Defragmentation, where your computer simply rearranges all of the files into a nice little stack. :-) IMPORTANT NOTE: Windows Vista and Windows 7 automatically run the defragmentor on a schedule, so if you are running either of those Operating Systems, rest easy, your computer is a step ahead of you! :-) For those of you who are running XP or earlier, you will find the disk defragmentor in the same directory as "Disk Cleanup" in section one above...
Clean up your computer's Registry. The computer's registry is much like an inventory sheet, it is where the computer looks when it wants to know where to find something. The registry keeps an active list of all of the installed programs, as well as many settings and a whole lot of other information. The problem is that over time the registry ends up collecting a lot of unneeded information, which does nobody any good, and only serves to confuse the computer... Unfortunately, Windows still doesn't come with a registry cleaner, so for this step you will need a good 3rd party software: I use CCleaner from Piriform. If you need help using CCleaner, check out this quick tutorial.
Use a good Anti-Virus program. This is an important step in protecting your computer from malicious software, viruses and malware. Although there are many good programs out on the market these days, most of them require you to purchase some software or a subscription to the service. Seeing as I am a notorious cheapskate, my favorite program is AVG AntiVirus Free. Yup, absolutely FREE! I can unreservedly endorse their software, as I have been using it for severely years now on multiple computers with absolutely NO problems! You can pick up a copy here: AVG AntiVirus FREE NOTE: The above four suggestions are mostly pretty easy, and can be done by anybody. The remaining suggestions are a little more risky, and should only be attempted by those who are familiar with their computers, and who know what I am talking about... CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Uninstall un-needed, un-necessary, and un-used programs. If you know you are never going to use a program again, you can uninstall it and regain the wasted hard drive space, and often also free up computer resources. To uninstall a program, open your start menu, then click "Control Panel". Once in the control panel, click on "Add or Remove Programs" (Windows XP) or "Uninstall a program" (Windows Vista/7) This will bring up a list of installed programs on your computer, which you can go through, and then decide if you want to get rid of any of them...
Disable startup tasks/services. WARNING! Disabling system services may cause your computer to become irresponsive, to act strangely, or otherwise cause undesirable results. THIS IS NOT FOR BEGINNERS! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK! This is an advanced process, although one which is completely reversible. If you are really wanting to increase your startup time, or to decrease the amount of active threads, you can disable some unnecessary startup tasks... You can access the System Configuration window by typing "msconfig" into the run/search box and hit "Enter". From the following window, you can enable or disable startup programs and services under the respective tabs... For more information on this subject you may want to check out the following site: Computer Tips Free

Well, I hope that helps you all to get your computers running faster, and more productively. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments, and I will do my best to answer them.
Andrew B.

A lesson in HD...

2011-08-08T22:13:00.000-05:00

I was just looking at my blog, and realized I should really take down that old poll question... Then I thought "Why don't I do a post on what HD is, and some of the advantages and disadvantages thereof." So thus the following post:

For those of you who do not know what HD is, it is most often referring to the term High Definition. What is High Definition? It simply means that the image displayed has a high number of Pixels, a term meaning very tiny individual dots of color that make up the image.
Now, for many years the standard image size for videos was 640 x 480, meaning 640 pixels wide, by 480 pixels high. This is known as Standard Definition. A normal DVD is almost always recorded in Standard Definition, so most of you are probably familiar with SD content. I should note here that SD content that is also Widescreen is sometimes recorded with a 720 x 480 pixel ratio, but is still considered Standard Definition...

A quick aside on Aspect Ratio: I am sure all of my readers still remember the old TV sets and computer monitors, the ones that were about as deep as they were wide, and weighed nearly a ton... Many of you probably still own one. :-) These old screens all have a Aspect Ratio of 4:3, meaning they are 4 units of measurement wide, to 3 units of measurement high. In the case of the TVs, where they are displaying SD content, the unit of measurement is 160 pixels, which just happens to come out to 640 x 480... In the case of the computer monitors the resolution is usually a bit higher, quite often 1280 x 1024 pixels...
I am sure you all have also seen a screen that is "Widescreen" -- simply meaning that the image is significantly wider than on a "Standard" screen. Most common in HDTVs and laptop computer screens, these widescreens quite often have a pixel aspect ratio of 16:9, similarly meaning there are 16 units of width to 9 units of height. Common resolutions in this category are 1920 x 1080, 1280 x 720, and 1440 x 900*. (*Not true 16:9, but very common in laptop screens...)

Now back to our discussion of HD video... There are actually several different HD standards, but the most popular are 720p, and 1080i. These are simply short for 1280 x 720 Progressive, and 1920 x 1080 Interlaced.   I know I am getting more and more confusing, but stick with me...   Progressive means that the entire image that is being displayed is changed/refreshed at the same time, whereas Interlaced means that the image is changed/refreshed in two separate steps: first the odd numbered horizontal rows, then the even numbered ones. Progressive video usually looks a little bit smoother than Interlaced video, but there really isn't much difference. Back to our main discussion... :-)

So now that you all know what the technical terms mean, the questions remain: What does this all really mean? Is HD really better than SD? Should I go HD? The answers aren't all that simple...
Basically, a HD video will look clearer or less blurry than a SD video, most of the time. It is possible for a well done SD video to actually look better than a poorly done HD video, so HD is not necessarily "Better"... However, HD is the way of the future, and there are many inexpensive camcorders now on the market that will allow you to preserve your family memories in the clearest possible format: HD.   HD is still in it's infancy though, and unless you are willing to spend ~$100 for a BlueRay disk burner, you are stuck with keeping all of that beautiful footage on your camcorder or computer, or actually converting the video down to SD in order to put it on a standard DVD, which kind of defeats the purpose of having a HD camcorder...

So is HD better? Maybe. Is it going to be around for a long time? Definitely. Should I make the leap and go HD? That depends on you, your tastes, and your wallet... :-) Is SD going to be around in 20 years? Probably, but much like VHS tapes, it is the way of the past.

Hopefully that gave some of you a little bit clearer idea of what HD is, although there are probably much better explanations elsewhere, like over at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_video

Best get to bed,
    Andrew B.

First cutting of Alfalfa, DONE!

2011-07-28T22:43:00.000-05:00

Hello all,
It has been quite a while since I have taken the time to post here, mostly because I have been really busy with making hay... And in my spare time, I have been working on my car. :-) I have been making good progress with that project, although there is still a lot more to be done... More on that later...

Today we finally finished up with our first cutting of Alfalfa! We would have been done a couple of days ago, except a large wind blew around all of the windrows on our last 100 acres, so we had to spend a lot of time raking it all up again... Thankfully we were able to salvage most of the hay. Now that we are done with the Alfalfa, we have to work on haying the ditches, then it will be time to start on the second cutting of Alfalfa again... Never a dull moment while working on a farm!

Here are a couple of pictures of my car project:

Hmm, looks a little bit sad...

Whoa! What happened to the wheels!

Oh, there it is!

Wow! What a mess:

Transmission parts!

CAUTION: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!
(At least not without a good service manual...)

Feel dizzy?

Apparently there was a bearing that went out in the transmission, which then took out several other bearings, a couple of bushings, and essentially the entire planetary gear system... If you look closely in the following picture, you can see the smashed teeth on the gear:

One of the many bad bearings:

I have got the transmission pretty much all back together now, although I am still waiting for a bearing and a couple of special spacers that I ordered... I also have to replace a couple of seals in the differential part of the transaxle as well... But it is coming along quite well!

Best get to bed now,

Andrew B.

New wheels! Episode 5...

2011-07-10T23:14:00.000-05:00

(Introduction: .... La ta ta ta ta DAH!...) "Welcome back for the 5th episode of 'New Wheels', your local auto show featuring everything from fix-um-ups to the latest in style and design. This week we will be checking out the newest addition around the studios, a 2000 model Chrysler Cirrus!"

Well, that might be a good introduction for a radio show, but maybe not for a blog post... :-) I never would have guessed this morning that I would own a car tonight... It is amazing how fast life can change! Here is a picture (or a couple):

I have been looking for a good deal on a nice little car for a while, and when I came in for lunch today I had a couple extra minutes so I looked at http://www.bismanonline.com/, (our local FREE online classifieds,) and saw this car listed for $475! Why so low? Well, the transmission is bad... And it has 165,000 miles on it, but what do you get for less than $500 anymore? Sooooooooo, seeing as I know that good deals don't last very long on BisManOnline, I gave the seller a call, and we ended up going up and picking it up this afternoon. Now I just need a lot of time to take it all apart and rebuild the transmission... :-) There are a couple other minor problems, as in the front bumper and grill are in a little tough shape, and the radio has been removed...

I am just about done with my 4-wheeler project, which is turning out quite well! I have the motor all put back together and in the quad now, and have actually had it running for a couple of minutes. I am stuck waiting for a couple of little covers that I ordered, or it would be all the way back together by now... :-) It seems to run quite well though, PTL!

Best get to bed now,
Andrew B.

A couple more videos and a new poll...

2011-07-09T17:08:00.000-05:00

Hello all,
Just a quick post to put up a couple more videos of the Garrison Dam, and also to inform you of the new poll here on my blog. I would appreciate your feedback!

Here is a video of the Garrison Dam spillway:

And one of the powerhouse/regulatory outlets:

Enjoy!

Prairie Days 2011: Saturday continued...

2011-07-06T20:29:00.000-05:00

Hello all,
I am finally getting around to posting some more video clips from this years prairie days... Here we go!

First we have a video of my Mom singing one of her favorite songs, "You're the only Jesus":

Next up is a compilation of several different clips of a new feature of Prairie Days, the "Guess Who?" See if you can figure out who these people are supposed to be:

Here is a short clip of a couple of my friends playing with a Bull Whip:

And last but not least we have the entire first talk by George Washington! Enjoy!

~More to come soon~
Andrew B.

A week ago... (WARNING: Long Picture Post!)

2011-07-02T17:59:00.000-05:00

... we went up to the Garrison Dam to see the record setting water levels, and all of the consequential flooding. On the way there we stopped at the park in Wilton in order to have a picnic! I had my camcorder along, and took a bunch of photos, so I will make my way through the day with photos:

The Wilton Centennial Park:

Had to laugh at this sign:

A nice spot for a picnic!

I liked this lamp post, thought it would make a good picture...

And the trees too! :-)

Another sign on the other side of the pond:

My beautifull sister:

The neat old bridge:

And the water fountian:

After lunch we continued on our way to the dam... Here you can see the Missouri river as we were driving across a bridge:

We finally got to the dam, and after finding a place to park, we walked around for a while and looked at all of the water... Here you can see the spillway structure, and how high the water is:

On the other side of the spillway, you can see all of the water pouring out:

Here you can read a little history of the spillway:

This year has been increadably wet, and with the above average snowfall in Montana, the water in Garrison Dam is the highest it has ever been. In fact, this is the first time since the dam was built that they have had to let water out of the spillway! When we were there, they were letting out about 61,000 gallons of water per SECOND!

Here you can read a little history of the Garrison Dam:

And a little about the powerhouse:

And a picture of the powerhouse, and a lot of water!

The next couple of pictures are on the full side of the dam, showing the intake for the power plant:

There sure is a lot of water around there! I am glad we aren't anywhere near all of that water...
Andrew B.

Back to work...

2011-07-02T13:34:00.001-05:00

This has been a busy week, but I guess that is normal... :-)

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday found us going to Bismarck for an agricultural class, which was very interesting...

Thursday morning we worked on getting the corn cultivator and the hay cutters ready to go in the field, then after lunch Jacob and I cut hay, while Dad started cultivating corn... We were able to get two fields of alfalfa cut down, and Dad got quite a bit of corn cultivated too!

Friday morning we got a sprinkle of rain again, so there wasn't much field work that could be done... Mom and I went to Bismarck to run some errands, pick up a couple of things, and I had to deliver a computer that I sold... I ended up spending about two hours running around town trying to find a specific bolt I was looking for, but finally did find one. ;-)

Now for a couple of pictures of my latest project:

I don't recall if I posted this or not, but I sold my other four-wheeler a couple of weeks ago... I found another one in need of repair, which I picked up pretty cheap. So now I am working on repairing this one. :-) Here is a picture of what was wrong with it:

Apparently what happened is the piston seized in the jug, which caused the bottom of the piston to break out, then the connecting rod/wrist pin smashed into the side of the cylinder a couple of times, breaking out a piece of the cylinder wall and bending the connecting rod... It also managed to push the piston high enough that it hit the valves, causing them to bend as well...

I bought a used crankshaft and cylinder/piston off of eBay, so I have been working on putting things back together. I am still waiting for the valves, gaskets, and some other parts I ordered, but then I should be able to get it all back together. :-)

Here you can see about half of the engine put back together with the new (used) crankshaft already installed:

Here is the other half of the main crankcase assembly:

And a couple of pictures of assorted engine parts that need to be put on yet:

I hope to get it running next week sometime, but it might not happen if the weather is nice and we can be in the fields... :-) I am sure there will be more pictures of it here in the future...

Andrew B.

Prairie Days 2011: Saturday!

2011-06-25T22:32:00.000-05:00

Hello! I am finally getting around to posting a couple of the promised pictures and video clips from last Saturday... Please excuse my negligence...

Saturday morning started out early with a rain shower, but thankfully our tent didn't leak! After a short stop at the campfire, which had already been started by James B, I spent some time visiting with some friends. It didn't take too long to get to the table after the call rang out; "Fresh Pancakes for Breakfast!" One of the many traditions that has started at prairie days is that of making fresh pancakes over the campfire, and I have to say it is one of my favorites! ☺

Shortly after breakfast there were several demonstrations going on, as well as things for people to participate in. Isaac K, from over at Green Pastures Farm, did a demonstration on trapping, Mr. and Mrs. D. staged a Spelling Bee, and there were archery lessons for anybody who wanted them...

I started this post this morning, but never got the time to finish it up... Now it's bed time, so I will quick post a couple of video clips from Saturday, and maybe I can post a better description of our day another time... :-)

First, a video of a skit that Jacob and I did:

And another skit, this time with my Mom's cousin's family as well:

And I mustn't forget our special guest, George Washington! More about him later...

That's all for now, Goodnight!
Andrew B.

It Works!

2011-06-23T21:13:00.001-05:00

We finally got around to finishing up with our transmission overhaul project today! I don't remember if I mentioned it before or not, but we have been working on the transmission on our old '85 Chevy C10 pickup.

We had tried working on the transmission one other time, but weren't able to get it working... So this time we took it completely apart, and essentially rebuilt the whole thing. That was our first time rebuilding an automatic transmission, so were a little bit nervous about it working correctly. But after we got it all together, and got enough oil put back in, we took it out for a little drive and it appears to be working correctly! :-) Now we will just have to wait and see how long it lasts... Hopefully as long as we have it!
It probably would have cost between $1,500 and $2,000 to have it fixed at a repair shop, but we really only stuck in about $150 in parts, so by doing the work ourselves, we probably saved around $1,500!

That's all for now,
Andrew B.

Prairie Days 2011: Friday

2011-06-21T22:07:00.000-05:00

Hello All!

I will start off my official review of the 9th Annual "Prairie Days" with a photo of the welcoming sign posted at the entrance to "The Park":

Once again, our family had a very enjoyable time at Prairie Days, both being with old friends, and meeting new ones. This year we had the opportunity to meet some fellow bloggers, the K. family from Minnesota, so that was a lot of fun! Be sure to check out their blog "Green Pastures Farm"

Prairie Days started out on Friday this year, with the special addition of an Appleseed shoot! If you are not familiar with the Project Appleseed program, be sure to check it out at http://www.appleseedinfo.org/. It is basically a marksmanship class, with the special addition of some history of the American Revolution... Very interesting, and also very helpful! My good friend Jonathan, (From "High on a Mountain") is the ND coordinator for the Appleseed project, and also a "Shoot Boss" -- the head instructor for an Appleseed event. Seeing as there were quite a few people registered to attend, and none of the other instructors were able to come, he asked me to be a "Range Safety Officer." Basically I made sure that all of the guns were unloaded and safe, and helped with some of the demonstrations... It was a lot of fun! Here you can see me in the official Appleseed sweatshirt and cap:

I also like this photo of Jonathan and I:

Here is a photo of the shooting line:

And everybody down at the end of the range examining their targets:

Here you can see everybody in the house for lunch, and a quick history lesson:

We actually arrived at Prairie Days on Thursday evening, in order to be there right away Friday morning. Here are a couple of pictures of us boys setting up our tent:

Thankfully we didn't have any really bad weather, although it did rain some... Glad our tent didn't leak!

That's about all I have to say for Friday, but check back soon for the rest of my review!

Andrew B.

Back to normal...

2011-06-20T22:57:00.000-05:00

Just a short post to let you all know that we got home from Prairie Days yesterday evening, and our company left this morning, so we are all trying to get back to "Normal" life again... :-) Check back soon for lots of pictures and video clips!
~Goodnight~
Andrew B.

One Week Till Prairie Days!

2011-06-10T20:20:00.000-05:00

Dear readers,
I would like to take a couple of minutes to extend a special invitation to each and every one of you to join us at our good friends, the Dagley's, for their 9th Annual "Prairie Days". I know many of you can't come, but I am sure you will get to see many pictures and video clips in the upcoming weeks... :-) If you would like to read more about Prairie Days, check out the official Prairie Days website at www.wix.com/prairiedays/2011

This year has the special addition of a one day Appleseed Shoot, so bring your rifles and learn how to shoot like the great founders of our country! For more information about the Appleseed program, check out the website at http://appleseedinfo.org

Looking forward to seeing many of my friends next week!

Andrew B.

Project MPG: An introduction and first steps...

2011-06-07T23:19:00.000-05:00

Today I finally got around to starting a project that will most likely last me the rest of the summer, and perhaps even the next couple of years... What could possibly take so long? Well, its a long story that began about 5 years ago when I first got interested in alternative energy... But that is a story for another day. :-) For now, we will stick with what this project is about:

The goal of this project is to improve the fuel efficiency of my pickup. A lot. Here is a run down of the specs as of this morning:

Year: 1998
Make: Dodge
Model: Ram 1500 Sport, 4X4
Engine: 5.9 Liter V8, Fuel Injected.
Transmission: 4 speed Automatic
Mileage: About 135,000
Current MPG at last check: 14.6 MPG (Mostly highway)

That should give you a pretty good idea of what I am starting with... I really can't complain as to the mileage I have been getting with it; I have actually gotten as high as 16.4 MPG on a long road trip, but it usually averages around 15. Now for a few things I would like to point out, that may be affecting the fuel efficiency:

That visor/light bar looks really cool, but I am sure that it causes a little bit extra drag... (Bad)

LT 245/75R16 tires instead of P 245/75R16s. LT stands for Light Truck, which is a heavier duty tire than Passenger... I run these at 55PSI. Higher tire pressures mean less rolling resistance... (Good) While we are in the tire section, I would like to also point out that this is 4 wheel drive, which usually means decreased fuel efficiency vs. 2 wheel drive, because of the extra weight and mechanism to turn...

Here you can see an aftermarket throttle body spacer. This was installed on it when I bought the pickup, so I really don't know how much of a difference that makes. I was also told when I bought the pickup that the engine has a performance cam in it. Weather or not this is true, i really don't know...

Ok, now on to what I did today:

Here you can see it in the shop where I am working on it. :-)

First thing I did was to replace the thermostat, as I believe the old one was faulty... The engine seemed like it took a long time to warm up, and maybe even ran a bit too cool, so I decided to go ahead and change it out... Here is a picture of the old thermostat sitting on the box from the new one:

Next on the list was the Oxygen sensor, as the "Check Engine" light had come on a couple of days ago, and the code that the engine showed was related to the Oxygen sensor... I was going to pick up a new sensor when I was in town the other day, but then I found out that there are actually two of them, and I didn't know which one was bad... After a little checking, I found I needed the front one, so Dad picked up one for me in town today. Here is a picture of the old O2 sensor:

Now that the routine things were out of the way, I could get on to the actual modifications! The first thing I am going to try is a new set of spark plugs. But not just any plugs, these are called "Pulse Plugs", so named for the unique way they store the incoming electrical energy in a capacitor, then dump that energy across the spark gap in a much more powerful "Pulse." This is supposed to ignite the fuel/air mixture more completely, thus causing a more efficient burn... You can read more about Pulse Plugs at the manufacturer's website: http://www.pulstar.com/ You can also check out this page over at FreeEnergyNews: http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Pulstar_Pulse_Plug

I am really expecting to see an improvement in horsepower and efficiency, partially because of the technology in the Pulse Plugs, and partially because the old plugs were in pretty bad shape. Here you can see one of the old plugs, which is pretty much corroded off!

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the Pulse Plugs before I put them in, but here you can see the plastic cases they came in (I just put the old plugs in them as I switched them around):

You can also see a better picture of the ones I ordered over at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Pulstar-be1i-Iridium-Pulse-Spark/dp/B003MOA25O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1307506316&sr=1-1

That is all that I have done as of today. I have a couple of other things I would like to try as I get time and money, but I also would like to do things step by step in order to evaluate their effectiveness... I will be reporting back with my results from time to time, so check back often! I thought about starting a blog dedicated to this topic, but thought I would get more exposure by just writing on here... What do you think?

Best get to bed,

Andrew B.

Pictures!

2011-06-07T21:22:00.001-05:00

I finally have a little time to post some pictures of the damage caused by the thunderstorm that came through last Friday:

I got to looking through these pictures and thought of the words to the old hymn "... His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form, and spreadeth His might on the wings of the storm." To see the damage that a simple storm can do, really makes you realize how small and insignificant you really are:

These pictures were all taken in and around the small town of Kintyre, ND, which is only a mile and a half away from our farm... Here is a picture of what used to be a grain bin at the local elevator:

The wind also destroyed the front door:

Needless to say, we are very thankfull we didn't get very much damage from that storm! It did however loosen up a little tin on one of our pole barns, which flipped up in a little squall we had this afternoon:

Here is a quick picture of my garden tractor, all put back together and ready to mow lawn!

Check out my next post to see what project I started today!

Andrew B.

Projects, and the results of a large wind.

2011-06-05T10:41:00.000-05:00

Hi all,
We have been busy around here, but I guess that's nothing new!

Wednesday morning we got all of the cows and calves into the corral, then after allowing the cows to go back out of the pens, we tagged all of the calves that we hadn't got tagged earlier. After letting the bigger calves back out with the cows, and putting the small ones in a trailer, we opened the fence and started walking the herd up to the pasture. First the cows thought they had to stop in the alfalfa field and have their breakfast, but we did manage to get them moving after a couple of minutes... We did get them up to the pasture without too much trouble, except for getting three different "vehicles" stuck... (One of the four wheelers, Jacob's dirt bike, and some friends who were helping us got their Polaris Ranger stuck too...) Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures, as we were too busy chasing cows to take time to take pictures...

We have also recently gotten around to bagging up some of our wheat for sale, both in 50 Lb bags, and in 10 Lb bags...

Now I need to work on updating our farm's website, www.seedsofhonor.com to reflect the availability of our wheat. Anybody need some wheat?

Here is a picture of another of my recent projects:

The engine finally went out on my John Deere garden tractor sometime last fall, so I decided to put in a remanufactured engine. Here you can see me working up the garden with it:

I am still working on breaking in the engine, so haven't put the hood back on yet. :-)

Here is a picture of me and a lamp that was given to us because it wasn't working... Dad and I took it apart, and I was able to get it working again. It only needed a little bit of soldering on a circuit board inside, as one of the solder connections was bad...

I was going to post some pictures of the damage after a large thunderstorm/windstorm that came tearing through the Kintyre area early Friday morning, but I guess that will have to wait till I get more time. Right now I need to go help dad work on an old plow that we are going to use to plant a bunch of potatoes in the field this afternoon...

Andrew B.

Finally a little time to slow down...

2011-05-28T22:02:00.000-05:00

Yes, that's right! We are essentially done with this years spring tillage/planting, so things are slowing down a little bit. The past week and a half I spent working for an organic farming friend of ours, helping him get his crops in the ground. That left Jacob to pick up a lot of the work I would have normally done around the farm, but I heard he was enjoying driving the tractors around. :-) You can find some pictures my sister took over on her blog....

Today Jacob and I went up to Mandan for the Dakota Thunder R/C club's first race of the summer. I didn't take any pictures this time, but if you would like to get an idea of what was all going on, you can check out my post from last year, "Workin' hard, Playin' hard" We didn't do so well in the races today, as we both had trouble with our trucks... Oh well, we had fun, and that's what we went up for! :-)

That's all for now,
Andrew B.

Mid May already!

2011-05-14T12:04:00.000-05:00

Where does the time always go? It seems like it flies by when you are busy...
Dad and I have been very busy with grain cleaning, and thankfully we are pretty much done now. Now on to our own farming! We haven't actually got anything planted yet, as the weather hasn't been cooperating very well... It is raining again today, so I don't know if we will get out in the fields tomorrow or not.
We spent most of the day yesterday working on the corn planter, trying to get all of the seed sensors working... For those of you who may not know what I am talking about, most corn planters have a monitoring system which shows you lots of information, like how many acres you have planted, how many seeds per acre you are planting, and most importantly it will alert you if one of the seeder units stops planting. Last year when we were seeding with it, a couple of the sensors were not working, and it so happened that the drive chain ran off of one of the planter units, and so we ended up with a missing row of corn in the field... Not good! We did eventually get it all working yesterday, after a trip to the John Deere dealer for some new sensors... :-)
My younger brother, Jacob, and I have also been working on hauling compost out from our cattle lot onto the nearby fields... Not the most pleasant job, but one which needs to be done! Jacob has been driving the big tractor and spreader, while I have been driving our older and much smaller John Deere 4020... I know that seems a little backwards, but the newer spreader is a lot easier to operate, so Jacob wanted to drive that one...
That's all for now,
Andrew B.

Another very wet day...

2011-04-22T13:57:00.001-05:00

The past week has been nothing but a big wet mess! Today it is raining again, so we are all trying to work inside as much as possible... Here is a video clip I took a couple of days ago when Jacob and I went out to check cows:

Most of the snow has melted again, but that just means there is even more mud... We are praying for nicer weather, both for calving, and so we can get back to cleaning grain...
Thanks for stopping by!
Andrew B.

It Works!

2011-04-19T18:15:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning I put the rest of the plastic back on my new four-wheeler, and then started it up and took it out for a drive... Yup, I got it fixed and back in service! None too soon either, as the weather has turned our yard and cattle pens into one big slop hole, in which our other quad would be helplessly stuck... :-) We have already been using my new one to check the cows, so it is being put to good use. Four-wheel-drive is an increadable invention!
I got a little time this afternoon to take apart the (Bad) transmission that I had taken out of my four-wheeler, and found the following:

Here is a close up of the wrecked bearings:

Yup, that one's a gonner... The really stupid thing is you can't just replace the bearings as Honda doesn't sell individual parts for the transmission; You have to change the whole thing! Sooooooooooooooooo....... $1,305 and a lot of time, and I have my four wheeler working again! Sure hope it works for a long time... ;-)

Got to go,

Andrew B.

Cleaning grain...

2011-04-12T20:52:00.000-05:00

Yes, the season is now in full swing, and I am as busy as can be... I am staying with some friends while cleaning 6,000+ bushels for them, which is going to be a three-day-project… At least I am hoping to get done tomorrow, of I don't have any more trouble. I say "more trouble" because shortly after I got here yesterday, after I had run for about half an hour, the engine on my generator decided it didn't have to run anymore… the strange part is that it would start and run just fine for about 10 seconds, then it would simply peter out and die. I was thinking it was the injection pump, untill I called down to a place that works on injection pumps and the guy there told me to check the fuel return line... I did, and found out that a fitting I had thought was a regular elbow was actually a check valve with a very small passage way through it that was restricting the fuel flow! After removing that fitting, istarted the engine, and it ran just fine! PTL!
That's all for now, as I am trying to type on my iPod and it is a little difficult. :-)

More projects, and another episode of "New Wheels!"

2011-04-09T11:33:00.000-05:00

Hello all ye out there in Bloggerdom! Once again I have not posted in several days, (A little bit more than my 4.66 average... :-) ) and you might be wondering what I have been up to... I have actually been busy with several different projects, including working on my grain cleaner:

... and helping a lot with putting up the frame of our greenhouse:

As you can see we are building it right onto the South side of the storage shed we have been building, so we really only had to build three walls and the top...

Here is what it looks like from the top:

We were planning on putting on the plastic yesterday, but it was too windy out and would have been hard to get the plastic fastened down...

And here is my newest project:

It's a 2001 Honda Foreman 500 Rubicon, which I bought from a neighbor for $500... What's the catch? The transmission is bad... :-P You can see in this picture that I had already started tearing it apart:

The engine/transmission assembly is now completely taken out of the quad, and sitting on the bench in the shop in several pieces... :-) I already ordered the parts for it, but I probably won't get a chance to tear the engine apart the rest of the way and get it all put back together for a couple of weeks, as we will be very busy with cleaning grain starting Monday...

Of course we have also been busy with calving, and trying to keep up with tagging all of the calves... Here is a little video clip I took of Jacob and Cora just coming in from checking on the cows:

That's all for now, check back soon...
Andrew B.

I feel a bit "Foolish"

2011-04-03T22:31:00.000-05:00

Today I realized that I missed my 2nd "Blogger-versary"! It was on April 1st, which made me feel really "Foolish" ;-) So, here are a couple of interesting statistics about my blog:

157 posts, not counting this one,
156 returning visitors last month,
732 days since I started blogging,
7,036 page loads,

Now for the fun part:

732 days devided by 157 posts = 4.66 days average between posts.
7,036 page loads devided by 157 posts = 44.81 average views of each post.
7,036 page loads devided by 732 days = 9.61 average views per day.

Interesting, but you are probably wondering if I am "Doing" anything for my Blogger-versary. YES! I am planning on holding another giveaway this year, but have not yet decided what to give away... ;-) Last year's giveaway was pretty interesting, and I don't know if I'll be able to top it or not... In the mean time, I would like to give each and every one of you a little "Gift" -- Links to some of my favorite COMPLETELY FREE programs that you might find usefull! Here goes:

Most importantly, I would like to recommend AVG Free AntiVirus 2011. This is one of the few AntiVirus programs out there that is completely FREE! If you are getting tired of paying for protection for your computer, try AVG now! I have been using AVG for about 5 years now, and have had NO virus problems! Link to Download Page
Is your computer running slow? Getting error messages? Chances are your computer's registry is cluttered up with obsolete and invalid keys. I highly recommend Piriform's CCleaner, a FREE registry and hard drive cleaner. Reclaim your lost performance and hard drive space today!
I am sure you have all herd of Microsoft Office, the industry standard word processing and spreadsheet aplications. What you probably haven't herd of is OpenOffice, "The Free and Open Productivity Suite" No need to spend $150+ on Microsoft Office when you can use these programs for free!
This one has something for everybody: DVDVideoSoft's FREE STUDIO Want to download a YouTube video? Change that .WAV to a .MP3? Make a 3D Picture or Video? Convert a .MPG to a .AVI? How about burning a quick DVD? Watch that movie on your iPhone/iPod/iPad/Blackberry/Smartphone/MP4 player? Back up those precious photos to a CD or DVD? You name it, you can probably do it with this grab bag of multimedia programs!
If you have multiple computers around your house, and get tired of trying to keep those important files current on all of them, this one's for you! FreeFileSync, a simple but very effective program that allows you to syncronize several folders at once.
Have you ever decided to try renaming 50 files in order to make them easier to find? You probably found it was more work than it was worth... Here is a simple program that can make life a lot easier: AdvancedRename. Easily rename multiple files with just a couple of clicks!
Ever wonder how hot your computer is really running? Check out SpeedFan, a nifty little program that will monitor your computer's temperatures in real time! Or, if you have a newer Intel processor, you can also use RealTemp, another nice temperature monitoring program...
If you've been around computers for a while, you have probably seen a file with a .ISO extension. These are direct images of CDs or DVDs that you can use to burn another CD or DVD. Ever wanted to get at the contents of those .ISOs without actually burning them to a disk? Check out MagicDisc, a FREE virtual disk program that allows you to mount a .ISO image just like if you had put the CD in a CD drive...
Can't forget this one: 7-Zip, one of the best file compression programs I have used, and also completely FREE! Opens just about any compressed file out there... Can't get better than that!
For you gamers out there: Ever wondered what your favorite game would look like in 3D? Now you can find out! Armed with a simple pair of Red-Cyan glasses and the free iZ3D driver (Free for Anaglyph [I.E Red-Cyan] use), any DirectX powered game can now be viewed in 3D! Also works with Google Earth and other DirectX programs!

Of course there are many others, (iTunes, VLC Media Player, K-lite Codec Packs, Audacity, CPU-Z, Prime95, Windows Live Essentials, Microsoft Money Deluxe Sunset, etc...) but I have to stop sometime... ;-) I really need to get to bed now, so will say goodnight!
Andrew B.

Starting Grain Cleaning...

2011-04-02T12:18:00.000-05:00

Hello all,

I am sorry for not posting here for so long, but things on the farm have been keeping me pretty busy. We are getting into the calving season full swing now, so we have to keep an eye on the cows... We have already had a set of twins, both of which are doing quite well! Here is a short video I I took several days ago, when we only had three calves:

I have also been busy getting my grain cleaner ready for use, as there were still a lot of things to be fixed... I do have all of the cleaning machines running now, but there are still a couple of places where grain leaks out that need to be fixed. Here is a picture I took of my cleaner the other day:

Here is a picture of the control panel, with all of the start (green) and stop (red) buttons:

I did my first job of the year yesterday, cleaning wheat for our neighbors about a mile away. I was really happy with how good the cleaners worked: the grain was quite dirty going in, but I was literally able to clean it to food grade quality! That's 99.9% purity, or 1 weed seed out of every 1,000 wheat kernels! Now to get all of the leaks stopped up, and I will be ready to get to work full time... :-) Here is a picture Cora took of me yesterday:

And here is a short video clip she took with her camera:

That's all for now,
Andrew B.

Mom and Me…

2011-03-26T14:02:00.001-05:00

Another Picture

2011-03-26T13:58:00.002-05:00

Picture from the Circus

2011-03-26T13:58:00.001-05:00

We're at the circus!

2011-03-26T13:56:00.000-05:00

I am sitting in the arena of the Bismarck civic center waiting for the show to begin… I am sure there will be some pictures and maybe a video clip posted here in the near future… it looks like it will be a good show!
Andrew b.

The Kenney Family!

2011-03-13T09:48:00.000-05:00

Here is another video from the NDHSA Convention talent night. This is the Kenney family, whom I am proud to call my friends:

Enjoy!

Pictures of a frosty morning

2011-03-11T17:55:00.000-06:00

Hello!
With all of the excitement from the convention starting to wear off, I thought I would post a couple of pictures from after the convention. These pictures are of us loading up corn for sale:

Yesterday we woke up to a beautiful frosty morning:

Had to share those cool pictures!

Andrew B.

Problem solved!

2011-03-10T22:15:00.000-06:00

I apologize for the technical difficulties, but I believe I have the bugs worked out now. Lesson learned: Do not use SVRT (Smart Video Rendering Technology, a feature of PowerDirector that allows you not to have to re-render video if it isn't being changed...) when you want to upload to YouTube. Somehow it doesn't produce the correct bitstream or something... Whatever the reason, it works much better if you take the time and render the whole video, not just the parts that have changed... Anyway, enough technical mumbo-jumbo!
I did re-upload my first videos now, so if you had linked to my old ones, you will have to reset your links... I am also uploading some more videos to YouTube right now, however I don't know when I will get around to posting them here. You can always just check out my YouTube channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/ManofCourage18
Goodnight!
Andrew B.

Is it just me?

2011-03-10T10:35:00.000-06:00

Dear readers,
It appears that YouTube doesn't like the format I am uploading my videos with or something, as all of the ones I looked at have the audio screwed up, ie. not in sync, and crackling... Have you experienced this problem when watching my videos of the convention? I just want to make sure it isn't just my computer before I go and re-upload all of those videos...
Thanks for your input!
Andrew B.

"After The Party"

2011-03-07T17:19:00.001-06:00

I thought these three little ones were very cute:

This is the Skaar family's song:

Hope you are enjoying all this!
Andrew B.

Talent Night continued

2011-03-07T11:04:00.000-06:00

Here is the video of the music performed by a very talented young man by the name of Paul S.

An Announcement, and more video from the convention...

2011-03-07T09:55:00.001-06:00

Hello all,

For those of you who don't know this already, today is my sister Cora's birthday! If you would like to send her your well wishes, you can do so over at her blog.

As I promised, I will be posting some more videos from the convention throughout the week. Here we have the Litfin family's song:

More coming soon...
Andrew B.

The convention is over... :-(

2011-03-06T20:13:00.001-06:00

Once again, the party is over... Oops, I meant to say convention -- although there isn't a whole lot of difference! :-) We had a very enjoyable time, both visiting with old friends and getting to know some new ones. One of the highlights of the convention was the resurfacing of the Talent Night, something that used to be done 15 years ago, but has not been done recently. I will be posting several video clips from the talent night here in the next couple of days, so be sure to check back soon! We will start out with my good friends the Bartlett Boys:

Hope you enjoy their music as much as I do!
Andrew B.

First video post with my NEW Camera

2011-03-01T21:54:00.000-06:00

Hi all,
I had a little extra time this afternoon and thought I'd take a short clip of me playing banjo to upload to YouTube. Check it out in HD!

Andrew B.

A package in the mail...

2011-02-26T17:22:00.000-06:00

I got a package on Thursday that contained this:

Yep, that's right! ARB Productions will now be coming to you in HD! More to come soon...
Andrew B.

Calf sale!

2011-02-26T12:34:00.000-06:00

Last Wednesday we spent most of the day chasing, sorting, and loading last year's calves, in order to take them to the local livestock auction here in Napoleon. (http://www.napoleonlivestock.com/) The sale was actually on Thursday, but you pretty much have to get the calves there the day before the sale... Thankfully the markets are very high right now, so we got a good price. Here is a short video of some of our calves going through the ring and being sold:

New poll: Have you ever been to a livestock sale? Vote now!
Andrew B.

2011 Prairie Days!

2011-02-20T19:18:00.000-06:00

Here is a short promo video I just put together for the 2011 Praire Days hosted by our good friends the Dagleys. Be sure to check out the Prairie Days website for more info!

For Sale:

2011-02-20T09:39:00.000-06:00

For sale:
Computers:

Camcorder:

And Geese!

For complete listings, check out my page over on BisManOnline, the area's most popular (FREE!) online ad website: http://www.bismanonline.com/user_andrew
Andrew B.

New Wheels III: The Saga Continues...

2011-02-19T15:54:00.000-06:00

If you have been a reader of my blog for a while, you might remember a couple of my posts entitled "New Wheels". As a little recap, the first post in this series was back in May of '09 when I bought this:

You can read that post back in the archives here: http://andrewbornemann.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-new-wheels.html
The second edition in the series was when I purchased my pickup:

The rest of that post is here: http://andrewbornemann.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-new-wheels-2nd-edition.html

This post continues in that tradition, showing off the new wheels on the farm. There is one difference though; this time the "New Wheels" aren't mine, they are Dad and Mom's. Let me back up and tell you a bit of a story:

   "Once upon a time, in the sleepy little village of Kintyre, there lived a quiet little family..."

Well, maybe not that kind of a story, but it is a story none the less: For quite some time there has been talk around here of the need for another vehicle, since mother's business has been thriving in Bismarck, Cora is working at the nursing home, and the price of gas just keeps going up...   So when Dad was going to take a load of screanings into town with the old truck yesterday, and Mom HAD to go along, I got the sneeking suspision that something was in the works -- so I was only half surprised when they drove in with this:

Scroll down

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Correction: I was not at all surprised when they drove in with the "White Truck," as that is what they took to town. The one I was surprised about was this one:

It is a 2007 Chrysler Pacifica, decked out with most of the features you could want, including a DVD player, sunroof, heated leather seats, satallite radio... WOW! That is the nicest (and newest) vehicle we have ever owned! Here are a couple more pictures:

I am sure we will all enjoy it very much, especially Mom, who will be driving it the most... :-) Now the big question is what should we call it? We usually name our vehicles, as it makes it easier to know what people are refering to. Although the Pacifica is technically a Crossover, it actually looks a lot like our minivan, so we are going to have to come up with something to call her by. Have any suggestions?

Andrew B.

Moving hay home...

2011-02-19T10:36:00.000-06:00

Hello all,
I was just going through my pictures, and found this video clip I took a couple of weeks ago when we were moving hay home. We are going to have to get to work on that again, as we are starting to run out of hay at home... This video was taken with my iPod Touch, check it out in HD!

Andrew B.

PS. Check back later for some pictures of something Dad and Mom brought home yesterday...

Disclaimer:

2011-02-16T20:35:00.000-06:00

To all of my readers,

If any of you read the last post on my blog, the one entitled "Meet Elizabeth", you were probably a bit confused. And rightly so! My Mother, Dawn, sent out an e-mail to all of her contacts inviting them to take the time to read about her friend "Elizabeth" -- but seeing as I have e-mail posting enabled on my blog, and somehow that address found it's way onto her computer, POOF! Her e-mail got posted to my blog without her even knowing it... Oops! Needless to say, that e-mail address will promptly be removed from her address book!

To those of you who didn't read that post, too bad. It was a little embarrassing as it looked like I had posted it... :-)

Good night!
Andrew B.

NDHSA Homeschool Day at the Capitol

2011-02-04T16:54:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was the North Dakota Home School Association's "Homeschool Day at the Capitol", a mostly informal day for homeschoolers to learn about the legislative process, and a chance to visit with their legislators.
I don't have a lot of time right now to explain our whole day, but I thought I would go ahead and post the video that I took of Dr. Bartlett's introduction to the day, and the vender/presenter's introductions. Enjoy!

Disappointment...

2011-01-26T11:30:00.001-06:00

I have recently been trying to find a decent high-range consumer camcorder that fits my needs, (And budget) when I was pointed to the Canon EOS Rebel T2i video-capable DSLR. Yesterday, I went to BestBuy in Bismarck, and was able to get my hands on one for a while and get a feel for the camera. WOW! I have to say I was impressed! I had taken along a SDHC card so I could bring home some footage for comparison with some other cameras, and I have to say the footage is very impressive. The difference between the T2i and a Canon HF-M31 which I also got some footage from is like night and day... The HF-M31 had terrible motion trailing, and poor stabilization compared to the T2i... I thought I had found something, until I read the following sentences from http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Canon-Rebel-T2i-Digital-Camera-Review-21736/Video-Features.htm :
"However, the camera does have file size limitations of 4GB or 30 minutes — at which the clip will automatically stop recording when reached. You can begin recording again as a new clip, but you must press the record button to start recording again."
That sounds like an annoying problem, but something that could be dealt with. The real deal breaker came at the bottom of the page when I read:
"The T2i also suffers from overheating issues, which is something we've seen from most video-capable DSLR cameras. It is unclear how long the camera can record video before automatically shutting down due to sensor overheating, but we got an internal temperature increase warning from the T2i after roughly 45 minutes of continual use in video mode. When this warning appears, Canon recommends you stop using video mode on the T2i and let the camera rest, which isn't something you may necessarily be able to do if you're in the middle of an important shoot."

Ouch! That I could not deal with, as I do mostly event recording which often ends up being a couple of hours at least. O well, storing the footage from the T2i would have been a problem anyway, as it records at a bit rate of 47 Mbps! Even the standard definition footage is very large, at 22 Mbps it takes up almost as much room as most HD camcorders do! Needless to say, the quality is very good!
So now I am back to browsing the web for the best camcorders that don't cost a fortune, while trying to save up a fortune to purchase one! :-) The search goes on... Anybody have a good suggestion?
Andrew B.

Still time...

2011-01-24T15:36:00.000-06:00

Hi all,
Just a quick note to remind any fellow North Dakotans out there that there's still time to get an entry put together for the ND Teen Drivers Traffic Safety Video contest! The deadline isn't until February 11, so there's still time! Check out the contest page here: http://www.ndteendrivers.com/contest/ Be sure to read all of the rules, as you also have to hold some sort of "Traffic Safety Event"... And for any homeschoolers, yes you are eligible! Jacob and I have been working on our entry the past couple of days, and hope to get a little more footage today...
Andrew B.

If you would like to read...

2011-01-18T12:13:00.000-06:00

It seems I have hit a hot topic with my reference to the UNCRC. I have recieved another long comment from Come Out to Play, which due to the limitations of the commenting system of blogger, he has posted over at his blog: http://fairplayforchildren.blogspot.com/2011/01/man-of-courage.html If you would like to read what he has to say, just follow the link above... I will probably be posting another reply to him here in the near future.
Andrew B.

In Response...

2011-01-16T10:48:00.000-06:00

After my latest post, I received this comment from "Come Out to Play", (hereinafter referred to as COP):

"Hysterical bunk. Yes it helps protect children where it has been signed. (Like every other nation except the US and basket case Somalia who say they will sign when they can start acting as a nation again.) America is not good because it is out of step. You cannot say whether it protects kids in the States or not, you haven't signed it so you don't know. The Convention makes clear that PARENTS have the job of upbringing and guidance - the state is there to support that and to step in when parenting fails. It also says kids have rights like what they believe (a big no-no for some christians, muslims and others) and to be consulted about the things that matter in their lives. Oh, and to be protected against abuse, to have a decent standard of living, the right to a name and registration, to play, to be educated ..... dangerous stuff indeed - if you are someone who wants to run your family like a tyrant. Some seem to argue that children are property, to be commanded and forced at the complete whim of parents, others like me regard the choice to have children as a joyous right, then it becomes responsibility, it becomes holding a life in sacred trust. That is what is behind the Convention, the PRA talk hogwash and spread untruths and myths."

Whew! That's quite a strong comment, but I think it is one which deserves a little analysis. Just exactly who is "Come Out to Play"? If you look at his (I don't know the gender of the commenter, so I use the term "his" figuratively) User Profile, you will see that he is from "Llandestyn : Powys : United Kingdom". I thought so... Someone running down the USA is probably not from here. Also, if you click on the link to go to his web page, it takes you to http://www.fairplayforchildren.org/, an organization dedicated to "Promoting the Child's Right to Play since 1973 in the UK and Worldwide according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child." HA! I found out who you really are! So the big backers of the CRC have to send out their 'COP's in order to silence the opponents of their agenda with a pre-written form to copy and paste onto the blogs of every single objector their trolls can find... It's a little annoying! Anyway, we'll humour 'COP' by responding to his comment below:

"Hysterical bunk." -- That is your opinion, which you are entitled to, at least here in the USA. "Yes it helps protect children where it has been signed." -- Yes, certain portions of it do protect children. Nobody is saying that children should be mistreated. "(Like every other nation except the US and basket case Somalia who say they will sign when they can start acting as a nation again.) America is not good because it is out of step." -- Not good because it is out of step? The whole basis of our country is "Out of step" with the rest of the world, that's what makes our country great! Of course to those of you who can't stand the thought of people thinking for themselves and governing themselves, and want to set up the One World government, being out of step is terrible! "You cannot say whether it protects kids in the States or not, you haven't signed it so you don't know." -- No, I haven't signed it, and don't intend to. Have you signed it? Also, just because you sign something doesn't mean you know everything in it... "The Convention makes clear that PARENTS have the job of upbringing and guidance - the state is there to support that and to step in when parenting fails." Yeah, that's what I'm scared of. The state already has too much power. "It also says kids have rights like what they believe (a big no-no for some christians, muslims and others) and to be consulted about the things that matter in their lives. Oh, and to be protected against abuse, to have a decent standard of living, the right to a name and registration, to play, to be educated" Nobody is arguing that children shouldn't have a name, shouldn't be able to play, shouldn't get an education, etc. What we are arguing is who should have the authority of making those decisions. As long as the parent's aren't abusive, or totally incapable, the responsibility is the parents. Period. As for beliefs, nobody can make anybody believe anything. We can only try to impress others with what we believe. That being said, it is ultimately the responsibility of the parents, not the Government, to decide what children are taught. "..... dangerous stuff indeed - if you are someone who wants to run your family like a tyrant." -- There are already laws on the books to deal with people like that. "Some seem to argue that children are property, to be commanded and forced at the complete whim of parents," -- Who is responsible for raising children? Who pay the bills, take care of them when they get sick, who provide children with shelter and food? Who is ultimately responsible for their actions? Is it not the parents? In a way, children are the property of the parents, in that the parents are completely responsible for them. "others like me regard the choice to have children as a joyous right, then it becomes responsibility, it becomes holding a life in sacred trust." --Good for you! If only the rest of the world took the high calling so seriously... "That is what is behind the Convention, the PRA talk hogwash and spread untruths and myths." -- The PRA is not an organization, it is a proposed amendment to the constitution. If you are referring to ParentalRights.org, all I can say is once again, that is your opinion, which you are entitled to. Until you give me some good hard proof, don't call anybody a liar.

In conclusion, I have to say that 'COP' didn't offer anything more than an opinion, one which holds little bearing on us here in the US of A. He doesn't know any more than we do about how this treatise would actually effect us in America.
What are your thoughts? I would love to hear from you on this topic!
Andrew B.

The Child Documentary

2011-01-15T22:32:00.001-06:00

Here is the offical trailer for "The Child" -- Read post below for more information. Enjoy!

Another week gone by... -- "The Child"

2011-01-15T22:14:00.000-06:00

Where does time always go? I don't know about you, but it sure seems to fly by awful fast for me...
Today we got around to watching the documentary, "The Child". (www.thechilddocumentary.com) I found it very informative, and more than a little unsettling. At our time in history, with the removal of God from the public schools, the proliferation of the Humanist agenda, and the increasing size of Government, etc. the rights of parents to raise their own children the way they want to is in dire danger. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNCRC, is a very dangerous document seeking to give the government more power to dictate to parents what they can and can not do. Although the thought of the "Rights of the Child" sounds like a very harmless concept, the UNCRC doesn't really protect children, it protects the "Right" of the government to interfere for what THEY decide is the "Best interest of the child." Please consider checking out www.parentalrights.org, signing the petition, and signing up to host a screening of "The Child" in your neighborhood.
Best get to bed,

Andrew B.

18 Rules for Good Riting

2011-01-06T09:56:00.001-06:00

Hello!
I was reading through a book I got from the library, and found this good advice. Thought I would share it with you:

"18 Rules for Good Riting:

Each pronoun agrees with their antecedent.
Just between you and I, case is important.
Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
Watch out for irregular verbs which has cropped into our language.
Don't use no double negatives.
A writer mustn't shift your point of view.
When dangling, don't use participles.
Join clauses good, like a conjunction should.
Don't use a run-on sentence you got to punctuate it.
About sentence fragments.
In letters themes reports articles and stuff like that we use commas to keep a string of items apart.
Don't use commas, which aren't necessary.
It's important to use apostrophe's right.
Don't abbrev.
Check to see if you any words out.
In my opinion I think that an author when he is writing shouldn't get into the habit of making use of too many unnecessary words that he does not really need.
And, of course, there's that old one: Never use a preposition to end a sentence with.
Last but not least, lay off clichés."

Thought that was too good to pass up, hope you enjoyed it!
Andrew B.

Want to win an iPad?

2010-12-31T17:03:00.000-06:00

Just a quick note to point you to the good folks over at Persevero Films, and their fundraiser for their film project "Jimmy Valiant: Scions of Danger" If you donate as little as $1 dollar to their campain before midnight on the 1st, you will be entered to win one of two Apple iPads! Hurry, less than 31 hours left! Here is a little video from their site to get you interested:

Join me in helping them reach their goal of $30,000 by tomorrow night!
Andrew B.

What if...

2010-12-26T16:00:00.002-06:00

... the Lord had been born in the year 2010? Here is a little video that portrays what it might have been like. Enjoy!

(I did not make this, only found it on YouTube... :-) )

Finally a little time to build--

2010-12-19T18:24:00.000-06:00

--with my Legos! I took a little time yesterday to build myself an all Lego iPod dock! Here are a couple of pictures:

I haven't had time to build with my legos for a long time, but hopefully I will have a little more time in the future...

Mom is calling me to go help with dishes, so I have to go.

Andrew B.

The Spirit of Christmas

2010-12-16T15:28:00.000-06:00

As I am sitting in front of my computer listening to Christmas music, I start to ponder the question "What is it about Christmas, that special something that makes people more happy than any other time of the year?" I am beginning to think that it is the joy of giving, that happiness that comes from making somebody happy. Here is a little example:
Last week I was standing in line at the local Walmart, waiting for the slow moving traffic of overloaded carts to pass through the line in front of me... After a long wait, it was finally my turn. After ringing up my comparatively small purchase, the cashier told promptly told my my bill: $22.20. OH NO! I only have a $20 dollar bill with me, so I desperately try calling my Dad who is sitting out in the car waiting for me, only to get a busy signal... What should I do? I hear a voice behind me ask "How much do you need?" I turn around and very sheepishly say $2.20. The kind stranger promptly pays the extra money! I offered to run out to the car and get a couple of dollars to pay her back, but she replies with a big smile "Don't worry about it, it's Christmas time!" What can I say? I walk out of the store marveling at the change that comes over people at this time of year.
I think that deep down everybody enjoys giving, enjoys helping out our fellow men. The problem is that from the day we are born we are bombarded by a society that only thinks of self, a society that measures one on the scale of how much they posses, not how much they do for others. But at this one time of year, people are expected to give of themselves, to help other people, to make others feel special. A time of year when society itself takes a turn and preaches the exact opposite of what it is used to. Why would a predominantly God-less society continue to celebrate the Lords birth in such a way? The only reason I can think of is that they actually enjoy the feeling of making others happy! What do you think? Let me know!
Andrew B.

Quick update.

2010-12-12T12:10:00.000-06:00

Hi all,
Just a quick update of what has all been going on around here... On Friday, Dad, Mom and Jacob went to Bismarck to run a bunch of errands, and to bring home the truck which is finally fixed. YAY! Yesterday we spent most of the afternoon watching Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park", which was pretty good... Today we are just working on odds and ends, although one of the projects on my list is to finish our farm's logo and label for the grain we are planning on selling, and work on designing a website for our farm. :-) That should keep me busy for a little while...
Best get to work,
Andrew B.

Blog updating, again...

2010-12-08T10:07:00.000-06:00

Hello everybody!
Today is a nice cold "Almost Winter" day here in ND, the temperature is currently 6.3° outside with a light breeze from the East. There must have been fog again overnight, because everything is covered with a good layer of frost... :-) It is really quite beautiful, but sitting here in front of my computer and looking out of the window, I am rather glad to be inside!
As the title of this post implies, I have just finished updating several parts of my blog. Be sure to check out my updated list of favorite books and movies on my profile page, as well as the updated list of blogs I follow. ----->
Yesterday we all (Except Cora, who had to work...) went to Bismarck. Mom had a bunch of sessions to do at her office, Jacob and I were hoping to be able to skate/play hockey at one of the rinks up there, and Dad had to go talk to our banker in Mandan. Unfortunately we weren't able to skate up there, as they were just in the process of flooding the rinks, which will then need a couple of days to set and then a couple more layers besides... Maybe next week... :-) I have been pondering trying to get a Homeschool Hockey League going in Bismarck, if I can find enough people who would be interested... Readers, what do you think of that idea?
On the joys of a NEW computer:
For those of you who have been reading my blog for quite some time, you probably know that I enjoy working with anything electronic, especially computers... And you probably also know that I recently built myself a new one. :-) Here is a report of what I have been doing with it, and how I am enjoying the great increase in speed.
I have been working on editing some video that I took last summer of our friends, the Dagley's, "Prairie Days". (Keep posted for clips from that...) Now, as anybody who has worked with video before will know, rendering video takes A LOT of computer power, and the amount of time it takes to render a video is directly proportional to the speed of your processor... Now for the fun stats: My old computer took a little over a minute to render one minute of standard definition video. My new one takes about 9 seconds! My old computer rendered one minute of 1080P HD video in about 12 minutes (!), while my new one can do the same task in a minute and a quarter! As you can imagine, that drastically cuts down on the amount of time required to work with video files. :-)
That's all for now,
Andrew B.

More snow!

2010-12-04T09:44:00.003-06:00

It's beginning to look like Winter around here! I know it's actually still fall, but when there is 6+ inches of snow on the ground, it sure feels like Winter! It reminds me of the saying:
"There are four seasons in North Dakota; Almost Winter; Winter; Still Winter; and Road Construction!"
We were up in Bismarck again yesterday, moving Mom's office from one room to another larger one in the same building. We were also hoping to be able to get our truck back from the shop, where it has been for the past three weeks! It went in with a transmission problem, and after we got it back the first time there were several other problems with it, so it went right back... They thought they had it working finally, but after they took it out and drove it a little, they found more problems... ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! The whole situation has been frustrating, to put it mildly...
It looks like it is going to be a nice day out today, maybe we will be able to have some fun outside! The sun is shining, there is a light breeze, and the temperature is 16°! Just right for snowmobiling... :-)
That's all for now,
Andrew B.

First post from...

2010-11-30T17:53:00.002-06:00

... My NEW computer! Yup, I finally got around to building myself a new computer! :-) I just got the package from Newegg this afternoon, and I already have it up and running... Now comes the fun task of migrating all of my files and settings from my old computer to this one... ;-) In case any of you are interested, here are the specs:

ASUS P7H55-M Motherboard
Intel Core i3-540 dual core processor at 3.06 Ghz, W/Built in graphics
4GB DDR3 RAM
Western Digital 1TB hard drive
585 watt power supply
More to come... :-)

I am having a blast!

Andrew B.

Snowmobile video:

2010-11-29T11:17:00.002-06:00

Here is the video of us with the snowmobile; Enjoy!

Pictures, as I promised!

2010-11-29T09:26:00.008-06:00

Hello again!
Sorry I didn't get around to posting these yesterday, but I guess today will have to do... ;-) First off we have a picture of the building as it is now:

Going back a couple of days, here we are getting ready for Thanksgiving:

Cora made these wonderful Pumpkin Pies:

I arranged the cracker and cheese platter:

Some of our decorations:

Our patio door full of Stickies:

Ready for a Feast!

The day after thanksgiving we had a funeral to go to here in Kintyre. It was for an elderly neighbor of ours, who had been having health problems for quite a while... After the services, we stayed for lunch, and got a little time to visit with some of our other neighbors. Here are a couple of pictures of us and the Svanas children:

Olivia, age 10:

Sophia, age 9:

Cora holding Mariah:

And Me with Josiah: (Isn't he cute?)

We finally have enough snow to dig out the snowmobile and see what she can do...

We decided to try towing a sled behind, and Jacob was the first volunteer! Watch out puppies!

After going around the yard several times;

We decided to go out in one of the fields where we would have a little more room:

What fun! Cora took a couple of video clips as well, which I will be uploading shortly... Keep tuned for more fun!

Andrew B.

Snow geese?

2010-11-29T08:59:00.002-06:00

Here is a little clip I took of our geese the other day, Enjoy!

12 days between posts...

2010-11-27T20:25:00.002-06:00

Yikes! Must be getting forgetful in my old age... ;-)
I have been busy with the normal farm chores, and just keeping up with the day to day things, as well as all of the "Partyin' " that comes with Thanksgiving... :-) Last Sunday we went to Bismarck to be with my Bornemann grandparents, then on Thanksgiving day one of my Mom's brothers and his wife came to visit...

(Later)
I guess I will have to postpone the rest of the details (and pictures) until tomorrow...
Andrew B.

Birthday Recap

2010-11-15T08:52:00.004-06:00

Hey Everybody!
Yes, I am still going to blog now that I am 20! :-) Although as you can see, it probably won't be any more frequently...

Friday night, after my last post, we had supper and then I was allowed to open the rest of my presents. First a picture of my cake (and me):

Here are some pictures of a couple of my presents:

PenDragon!

Another new board game!

A rifle case and a shotgun case!

Saturday, we got church done before lunch so that we would have time to play my new game, Agricola! It is a very complex strategy/resource management game, just the kind I like! It took us about three hours to play, but I think it won't take quite as long next time as we now know how to play... We even had enough time to watch "PenDragon" in the evening.

Yesterday we worked the calves, pictures to come...

That's all for now,

Andrew B.

No Longer a Teenager!

2010-11-12T19:08:00.003-06:00

Today I turned 20! Wow, Time sure flies!
So far it has been a good day, although the party is just starting now. :-) Dad was trucking all day, and just got home a couple of minutes ago so our party had to be this evening... I did already get one of my presents from Cora, which was a music CD made by some friends of ours. (The Waddingtons) (Thanks Cora!)
It is our tradition around here to let people off of their regular chores on their birthday, so it was nice to have a little break! I did help a little with cleaning the house, so that we would have some time to play a couple of games. ;-)
Just havin' fun today!
Andrew B.

Done Combining!

2010-11-09T17:50:00.003-06:00

We are finally done with this year's harvest! We just finished combining the corn, and it is already trucked into the yard and stowed safely away in the bin. And just in time, as it's supposed to start raining and snowing tonight! We were able to get done a lot earlier this year than last year, mainly because we had a lot of sunflowers last year...
That's all for now, but hopefully I'll have more time to blog soon...
Andrew B.

Happy Birthday Jacob!

2010-11-05T12:07:00.001-05:00

Today is Jacob's 15th birthday! Hope it is a happy one!

My first Pheasant hunt.

2010-10-30T17:00:00.004-05:00

We just got in from our first ever Pheasant hunt! Here are the results:

It Came!

2010-10-28T12:03:00.002-05:00

My new iPod that is! It arrived in the mail this morning, and I have been playing with it ever since... ;-) Here are a couple of pictures I took with it:

And even some video clips! Here is one from the front camera:

And here is one from the rear camera:

More comming soon...

Andrew B.

Back to building!

2010-10-24T21:40:00.002-05:00

Yup, we're still working on that building... Today we finally got started putting down the plywood for the floor in the loft. We didn't get a whole lot done, as we spent a good part of the day working on the truck: changing oil, changing a tire, fixing a leaky air line, trying to straighten out the bumper frame where he hit a deer a couple of days ago... Now tomorrow he's back to trucking sunflowers to Enderlin... That means I'm in charge of the building again! Not sure if I like that or not. :-)
Yesterday we had an unexpected visit from a friend, but you can read all about that over on Cora's Blog... Always fun to have friends visit, even if it is because of an unfortunate event. Making you curious? Just go read Cora's post... ;-)
Today I finally ordered a new iPod touch! Can't wait for it to get here... :-) I was running out of room on my old one, and I like all the improved features on the new ones, so it was time to upgrade. Anybody else out there have an iPod touch 4G (or iPhone 4G for that matter)? Trying to find someone to try out FaceTime with... ;-P
Best get to bed,
Andrew B.

Back to work...

2010-10-20T17:31:00.006-05:00

Well, you probably allready know that Dad and Mom are now back from their vacation, and it's back to work for us all! If you would like to see some more pictures/updates from their vacation you can read Mom's blog or Cora's blog.

Yesterday and today we worked on our storage shed some more, making good progress once again! We finally got all of the joists put up, and got the stairway built too! Here are a couple of pictures I just took:

The view from the top of the stairs looking East:

Looking South:

I guess supper is waiting for me, so I had better go,

Andrew B.

Grain cleaning

2010-10-15T11:33:00.000-05:00

Hello all!
The past couple of days I have been busy with some late season grain cleaning jobs, so haven't had time to post... However, I will enjoy having a little more spending money... :-)
Dad and Mom have been having a good time in San Fransisco, and Mom has been keeping up with her blog so be sure to check that out!
I am sitting on the grain cleaner right now, writing this on my iPod, so even though it is 11:30 as I am writing this, it won't get posted until I get home. Maybe I will have time to post more tomorrow...
Andrew B.

Sent from my iPod

Man of Courage

For sale: SOLD!

Where does time fly?

Plenty of projects, and very nice weather!

My Friends;

Two milestones

Thanks BisManOnline! -- Prayer request

It Rained!

A Christmas present to myself!

Happy (belated) Birthday Mother!

Shop with indoor pool!

The sweet smell of success...

What we have been doing in our shop...

Our New Shop!

Enough reading for...

So much to be thankful for...

A party, beer, a hot car, and the police!

The consequences of carelessness...

Almost done...

Busy with work...

Excelsior: Ever Higher

Pictures from the Threshing Bee!

2011 Braddock Threshing Bee

A long overdue update... :-)

Success!

Rain, rain and more RAIN!

HELP! My computer is getting slow!

A lesson in HD...

First cutting of Alfalfa, DONE!

New wheels! Episode 5...

A couple more videos and a new poll...

Prairie Days 2011: Saturday continued...

A week ago... (WARNING: Long Picture Post!)

Back to work...

Prairie Days 2011: Saturday!

It Works!

Prairie Days 2011: Friday

Back to normal...

One Week Till Prairie Days!

Project MPG: An introduction and first steps...

Pictures!

Projects, and the results of a large wind.

Finally a little time to slow down...

Mid May already!

Another very wet day...

It Works!

Cleaning grain...

More projects, and another episode of "New Wheels!"

I feel a bit "Foolish"

Starting Grain Cleaning...

Mom and Me…

Another Picture

Picture from the Circus

We're at the circus!

The Kenney Family!

Pictures of a frosty morning

More videos:

Problem solved!

Is it just me?

More convention videos

"After The Party"

Talent Night continued

An Announcement, and more video from the convention...

The convention is over... :-(

First video post with my NEW Camera

A package in the mail...

Calf sale!

2011 Prairie Days!

For Sale:

New Wheels III: The Saga Continues...

Moving hay home...

Disclaimer:

NDHSA Homeschool Day at the Capitol

Disappointment...

Still time...

If you would like to read...

In Response...

The Child Documentary

Another week gone by... -- "The Child"

18 Rules for Good Riting