There's a Song About This

   Seriously, there is.
   I ordered something and I had to go pick it up at the store. No big deal. I've doned that before. I can handle this.
   You may or may not know, the first semi-appropriate thought that goes through my head is probably coming out of my mouth. I say semi-appropriate because it might not always be appropriate words, but it relates to the situation.
   As I walk up to the counter and lay my drivers license down, the lady behind the counter says "I love you."
   Wow, this lady takes her work at pick up VERY seriously. So I reply, "I love you, too?"
   She picks up my license and is typing my name in and asks how she can help me. So I replied "don't tell my wife that you told me you love me?"
  She kinda laughed and told me she had my address. I told her it was too far away for her to go just to tell my wife. She said she had my phone number too. And how did I know she didn't know somebody from around there.
   I told her I wouldn't be surprised if she did. Then she said she didn't know anybody there, she grew up in Pennsylvania. 
  I told her my wife grew up in Pennsylvania so she asked what part. 
   I was putting my license back on my billfold as I told her just north of Pittsburgh. Natrona. Natrona Heights. Something like that.
   I look up and she's looking down shaking her head. I'm used to that reaction, but I had to find out WHY she was shaking her head.
   She grew up in Murrysville. Her mother was from Franklin Park. And her dad was from Alliquippa. All less than 50 miles from Natrona Heights.
   I walked out humming:

Thanks for Reading!

Thanks for Praying!

Thank You for Your Support!

   

I Am One!

   Well, technically one in four.
   When I went to my appointment I carried my support group with me. I've gained 3 since my last visit to the doctor. 2 that tried to take my spot at church, and one that Hannah gave me.(she's had it since Christmas)
   At least if I understood the nurse right. I could barely hear her when I answered the phone.  She said something about some kind of thyroidism and they were calling in 💊 for me. 

   So I looked up thyroid and radiation following cancer. And it said hypothyroidism was a 25% possibility following radiation. 
   Then I googled the symptoms:

• Fatigue- yep, had that one lately
• Increased sensitivity to cold - dunno, it's been 100° recently
• Constipation- not been a problem
• Dry skin- possibly
• Weight gain- yep
• Puffy face-sort of
• Hoarseness- yep
• Muscle weakness- yeah sorta
• Elevated blood cholesterol level- nothing new
• Muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness- yeah
• Pain, stiffness or swelling in your joints- oh yeah
• Thinning hair - possibly
• Slowed heart rate - yeah
• Depression - uh huh
• Impaired memory - I'm not sure
• Heavier than normal or irregular menstrual periods - pretty sure that's a no.

   If you want to know how I could have all these symptoms and not realize something was wrong. I've been trying to quit dipping. (I know I should have never started back, save the lectures) a lot of these symptoms are the same as nicotine withdrawal. I work a job that is physically demanding for 12 hour shifts. I average around 16000 steps(around 8.5 miles)per day.

   The good news is, they have drugs to treat that. I've started taking them. I think maybe I've been a little more energetic since I started taking them. 

   I have something that can be handled, something that can be treated and an appointment in 7 weeks to check my thyroid hormone levels in my blood. 

Anyway:

Thanks for Reading!

Thanks for Praying!

Thank You for Your Support!

Join Robinhood. Use my link. If you sign up, you get one share of stock, I get one share of stock. There's no guarantee of what the stock will be.

Get Stock, Help Nelson Get Stock

I'm a Patient Person

  

    Well, kinda. Not always. 
   I TRY to be a patient person. But sometimes it's so hard.
   Like today. I went and has a one year CT scan. I have to wait until Thursday to see the doctor and get the results. I'm praying they're good. I'm hoping they're good. But I won't know until Thursday. 
   If you've ever seen Airplane! (the movie) I'll probably be the Lloyd Bridges character by Thursday. "I picked a bad time to try to quit tobacco."
   I wish I could just go to bed and sleep until Thursday morning. But I'm not sure I could sleep 60 hours. Plus, I've got stuff I need to do. Stuff Yvette wants me to do. Stuff I want to do. 
   So sleeping for 60 hours is out. 
   Maybe I'll get a chance to go sow some seeds tomorrow.
   Or go spray something with roundup. 
   Or find an ax and chop down a tree. 
   It'd take my mind off the waiting.

Anyway:

Thanks for Reading!

Thanks for Praying!

Thank You for Your Support!

Join Robinhood. Use my link. If you sign up, you get one share of stock, I get one share of stock. There's no guarantee of what the stock will be.

Get Stock, Help Nelson Get Stock

#MonarchChallenge Success

 I posted a picture on Facebook a few weeks ago, maybe on Instagram or Twitter too. I'm not really sure.
   This picture right here.

It's Jeremiah, Brayden, Gabe, Zeke and Zara with Bella. They are standing behind milkweed plants. I got the milkweed through myBASF. It's part of their Living Acres #MonarchChallenge  I learned about it because one of the Grills kids, Hunter, was in a video. (He's not a kid, he's grown man, but his dad was one of the Grills boys so he has to be one of the kids. I guess. I don't know.)
   I went and signed up last year. and then this spring I got an email saying that my shipment was on its way. I didn't video planting the little plants. I didn't take pictures of them after I had planted them. They didn't really look too promising to tell the truth. There were 18 of them. I planted 6 in each of 3 locations. Watered them. Then I watered them again about a week later. Then I watered them some more.The ones here in the back yard have done the best. There were actually 3 blooms. 
   But I never saw any butterflies around them. I was walking around the yard yesterday and I noticed there were caterpillars. CATERPILLARS were EATING on my MILKWEED

MMyILKWEED!!!! 

   How dare they? 
   I planted those for the Butterflies. The Monarch butterflies.
   Actually. That's what I hoped to happen. It's what was supposed to happen.
   That was the goal of the program.
   Monarch butterflies come from caterpillars. And MONARCH butterflies only lay their eggs that develop into caterpillars on milkweed. If you don't see them in that picture. I zoomed in for a closer look.

There are 4 of them in all. The 2 up top. And these 2. Happily munching away on my milkweed! #Monarch Challenge Success!

 #ForTheFuture


#TheyAreOurFuture





Thanks for Reading!
Thanks for Praying!
Thank You for Your Support!

   

Ag is in my blood, That's why there's calf poo on my arm

   Yes. 
Calf Poo. 
On. 
My. 
Arm.
   It happens. Especially if you work on a farm with livestock. You may be thinking to yourself "but he doesn't work on a farm, he doesn't have any livestock, how DID the calf poo get on his arm?" Those are very good questions. Let me explain.
   Zara had cheer practice at DCHS last Sunday night from 7:30-9:00. When I was taking her, there were 2 girls out in the pasture at the high school by a fairly new baby calf. As I was leaving from dropping her off, the 2 girls were moving across the pasture towards the rest of the herd and I noticed there were 2 women outside the fence. They were very noticeable because one of them was shooting white foam at the fence. (I stopped because, well, because that was interesting) 
I got out of the car and one lady said, "We're killing wasps!" I could thoroughly support that kind of behavior, cause I hate wasps. Then we talked briefly about the calves (one of the cows had just had twins the day before. A bull and a heifer. And the heifer was the one that was with her. The bull which is guaranteed to be okay is the one that wasn't with the cow. The heifer, which has a 90%+ probability of being a freemartin, was with the cow.)
   They were talking about getting the cow and both calves up to the barn. I went home and when I went to pick up Zara I saw them sitting in front of the barn. So I stopped to see how the calves were doing.
   They had gotten the bull up to the barn, but the heifer and cow were still in the pasture. They were waiting on someone to come from somewhere to help get them up. They asked if I wanted to get them up. Hmmmm.
   I went on home and asked Yvette if I could go back to the school and help them get the cow and calf up to the barn. Yvette said, "If you think you can help, go ahead"
   I put on my shoes and went back to the school. I introduced myself and told them who my child was that had had Ag class last year.  They wanted me to know that one of the cows was less than friendly. Her name is Loca and she lives up to her name. I said they should have named her Big Friendly Baby. And then the person they were waiting on showed up with somebody with them. So we headed out to the pasture. 
   It wasn't a perfectly smooth roundup. First they tried to bring the cows to the gate and slip a halter on the cow they needed. Her name was Maggie. Her daughter was named Edith. She was the white one (a Charolais. They were all white ones) She wasn't having nothing to do with that. (Ain't Nobody Got Time For That!)

Brayden met Maggie

Then we tried taking them across the pasture to go through the gate to go to the barn. We're stumbling around in a pasture in the dark. We sort of chased the cows. The grass was almost knee high and wet. Then the cows turned back and kind of chased us. (Remember, one cow is less than friendly. She's a white one. They're all white ones. You can't really tell which one the unfriendly one is, so...run) It only took 3 attempts to finally get the cow more or less where they wanted her. 
   They tried driving the cow up the alley with the calf outside the fence. She didn't really like that idea. So I did what I've done before that worked. I started walking the calf up the outside of the fence and talking to her and the cow. Mostly nonsense.       Talking about walking around and new adventures and her being like my children and my wife because we started on this trip to the barn and barely get started and she had to stop and use the bathroom and then we started again and she had to stop and use the bathroom again and how there used to be a character on tv with the same name as her and Rod Stewart sang a song years ago about someone with the same name as her mother and how nice it was going to be when she got to the barn. 
   When we finally got to the end of the alley they finally got the halter on Maggie I scooped Edith up on my arms and walked to the gate where one of the nice ladies opened the gate for me and then I sat down in the hatchback of a vehicle and I held Edith while the driver drove to the barn.

Reunited

I don't remember any of their names, and they probably don't remember mine. They didn't care about my name.. They didn't need my help. But I had a special skill that they could utilize. (20 years of marriage has taught me to take orders from a lady😉)
   The calves seem to be doing fine. But that's how I wound up with calf poo on my arms.
   It made me realize that I miss having livestock and at the save time made me realizeI don't miss stuff like that at all....

Thanks for Reading!
Thanks for Praying!
Thank You for Your Support!
   

Special

20 Years

   Sympathy cards may be mailed to Yvette if you wish.
   June 26, 2019 will be 20 years that we've been married. Anybody remember that day? I'm pretty sure she deserves everybody's sympathy for putting up with me for 20 years. Especially the last year. It has definitely been the most challenging. 
   So I'm getting her shelves. Don't tell her. I want it to be a surprise. 

   It's probably not exactly what she wanted for our anniversary, but she said she wanted shelves. So she's getting shelves.

   I've got an awesome wife. She's been fantastic for the past 20 years, I'm sure  she'll be just as fantastic for the next 80.

😃

June 26, 1999

As always:

Thanks for Reading!
Thanks for Praying!
Thank You for Your Support!

Join Robinhood. Use my link. If you sign up, you get one share of stock, I get one share of stock. There's no guarantee of what the stock will be.

Get Stock, Help Nelson Get Stock!

Happy Daddy's Day

   Yes, I said Daddy's Day.
   Probably because I didn't father any of these children. And someday I'm gonna take Yvette to paternity court and prove it. 
   But I Love Them, I put up with them, I frustrate them, they frustrate me; you know all that stuff that children and parents go through. All 7 of 8 or 9 or 10 of them. 
   12 if you count Kim and Denise, who were NEVER mine but effectively ended a date for me one night at Walmart by running up and hugging me and saying "Daddy, Mommy wants to know when you're going to pay the child support". I tried to explain to the person I was with that these were NOT my children to no avail. I didn't even get a handshake goodnight.😡
   But I digress. I was in Co-op at Newbern Wednesday looking for something for Yvette and I saw this:

   It's a hat like my Daddy used to wear when he(we) went to the field to drive tractors or chop weeds. That was back when we didn't spray everything and be done with it until harvest. 
   We sprayed some, we cultivated, and we walked the field using a hoe to get the weeds that the spray and the cultivator didn't get. The best part to me was the chance to get a drink when you got to the end of a round, eating lunch in the shade at the Williams place: potted meat and crackers, bologna sandwich, Red Bird imitation Vienna sausages. 
   Amazing what just seeing that hat brought to my mind. 
   But there's been a couple of things lately that made me realize I'm turning into my Dad. One was last week. I changed the oil in the car and when I got up from the ground Harold started laughing and said you're moving like Daddy. I said "I Love You". I think. I know it ended in You. 😉
  The other happened today at work. I was washing some of the grease and oil off of my arm and I looked in the mirror and saw a bruise. I don't think it was there yesterday. I don't remember hitting my arm on anything. Reminded me of all the times that Momma would ask Daddy what happened to his arm or hand, he'd look at it think for a couple of seconds and say "I must have hit it on something."
   He's been gone a couple of years now and I miss him, especially when I see something like that hat.

   Last year Father's Day fell between losing the tip of my tongue and getting the diagnosis of what they wanted to do. This year, I'm working on father's day, which is much better than last year.

As always:
Thanks for Reading!
Thanks for Praying!
Thank You for Your Support!

Join Robinhood. Use my link. If you sign up, you get one share of stock, I get one share of stock. There's no guarantee of what the stock will be.

Get Stock, Help Nelson Get Stock!

   

Safe!!!! Natural!!!! Non-Toxic!!!! Weed Killer!!!

  CHEAPER Than Round-Up!!!!!!

   I might have been a little bored. I shouldn't  have bean, but I've been seeing this posted about lately so I figured I'd post something as well.

   For the past few years I've seen people share the natural weedkiller recipe posts every spring and summer.

  If you want something to turn something brown where it's not growing, it WILL work!!! I used it last summer!!!!
   See, I've proved it's effective. I used CAPITAL letters and EXCLAMATION POINTS!!! That proves it is true.
   Common Household Ingredients:
1 gallon of Vinegar
2 cups of Epsom Salt
1 cup of Dawn Dishwashing Liquid
   Start by heating the vinegar on the stove and stirring the Epsom salt in with a wire whisk. (Dang i forgot how bad vinegar can smell when it's being heated on the stove😝) Then let it cool down before putting it in the sprayer. Oops, I don't have a sprayer. So I went to town to get one. Hmmm. There a gallon of roundup ready to use for $14. The sprayer cost $15. So the ingredients are cheaper than round up, but it's gonna cost me more this time. But I'll have a sprayer that I can use next time.
   Then after you pour it in the sprayer you add the cup of Dawn Dishwashing Liquid..stir it up. Spray it on the weeds and the next day, they're dead. They looked dead. The leaves turned brown and fell off. But a week later they started to come back..so I bought more vinegar, Epsom salts and added the Dawn and sprayed them again. I was beginning to think I had fallen for some

   Well they looked dead, again. 2 weeks later they greened up again. So I bought more vinegar, more Epsom salt, and a new bottle of Dawn.  And sprayed them again.
   You guessed it. They started greeniing up. 😠.
  I went back to the store. This time I bought a gallon of roundup ready to use, sprayed the plants and they died. And that time, they stayed dead. 
   So yes the natural safe non-toxic weed killer is at least non-toxic. Non-Toxic means it didn't kill the plants. 

Thanks for Reading!
Thanks for Praying!
Thank You for Your Support!


   Join Robinhood. Use my link. If you sign up, you get one share of stock, I get one share of stock. There's no guarantee of what the stock will be.

Get Stock, Help Nelson Get Stock!

🏆 World's Greatest Mom! 🏆

   I had a fantastic Mom!
   She did the best job raising a trio of boys. 
   So when I found a wife I found a good thing.
   My wife is the best mom on the planet. She held our family together when I was falling apart. (Well they kind of cut me up, but you know what I mean)
   I don't know how she did it. I just know that she kept us fed, clothed, sheltered and transported.
   I definitely got a winner.

The kids are lucky to have a mom like her, and I am blessed to have her for a mother of my children!

Unfamiliar Territory

   I've not been here in a while. About 24 years to be honest. And I'm still a long ways from my goal. 
"What goal is that?", you might ask.
  Since you asked, I'll tell you.
   I set 3 goals after I finished my treatment. To get under 200 pounds. Then get to 180 and eventually get to my "ideal" weight of 165.
   I've reached the first goal. I'm under 200 pounds for the first time since 1995. I know it was then because that's when I started getting my teeth pulled to get dentures. Not when I got the dentures, when I started getting the teeth pulled. I gained weight while I was having teeth pulled every other week. 
   My next goal is 180. I haven't been at that weight since 1990. Around the time I start ed working at Venture I. Working right across the road from a store where I could go get food right as I left work in the morning. I went from 175 to 185 in a month. But I stayed between 185 and 190 the 3 years I was there.
   The next goal after that is 165. It's been 32 years or so since that weight.


 As always:
Thanks for Reading!
Thanks if You Watch
Thanks for Praying!
Thank You for Your Support!

Join Robinhood. Use my link. If you sign up, you get one share of stock, I get one share of stock. There's no guarantee of what the stock will be.

Get Stock, Help Nelson Get Stock!

Genealogy - My Heritage

IThis isn't my great-grandfather's church. This isn't my grandfather's church. 

This isn't my father's church.

This isn't the church of my childhood.

    Yet, it is. Physically. And even that has changed. 

   The activity center/fellowship hall didn't exist when I was a child. The basement and the classroom where we have Sunday school class didn't exist when my father was a child. The sanctuary where services are held didn't exist when my grandfather was a child. Cool Springs Cumberland Presbyterian church didn't exist when my great grandfather was born.

   As far as congregationally goes, my first cousin 3 times removed (great grandfather's first cousin) is listed on the plaque in the vestibule as the minister when the church was organized in 1891.

    Denominationally, my 1st cousin 4 times removed (great great grandmothers first cousin) organized 4 or 5 churches. And my great great great great grandfather was a pastor who preached at several churches back on the 1840's.

   I'm not sure where this was intended to go when I started it, but I know when I was younger I remember hearing about a church getting rid of its pastor because his wife had an affair. Another church getting rid of an elder because their child ran into trouble with the law. Another church that told a pastor if his wife took an outside job, they would let him go.
   At camp, we used to sing "they'll know we are Christians by our love"
   Watching the news, listening to reports, seeing what's going on in the church world; sometimes I wonder now as I did then, where is the love?

This Is Parenting

   This morning, Brayden said "I'm hungry"
   I, of course, said, "Hi Hungry, I'm Daddy"
   Brayden then said, "I want cereal!"

   I told him that he needs to ASK for cereal if he wants cereal.
   He sighed and asked for cereal.

   Then I thought, cereal sounds like a good idea. Maybe I should have cereal, too.
   Frosted Rice Krispies looked appealing. But so did Froot Loops. Oh, and Golden Grahams.
    And we have ALL 3 in the pantry!

   That's what was left. 3 boxes of cereal. Made 1 bowl. I have teenagers.
   On the positive side, I got 3 boxes cleared off the shelf. 

As always:

Thanks for Reading!

Thanks for Praying!

Thank You for Your Support!

Join Robinhood. Use my link. If you sign up, you get one share of stock, I get one share of stock. There's no guarantee of what the stock will be.

Get Stock, Help Nelson Get Stock

What The ?????

   WHOOOMPH!

I looked at the clock, 5:57.

   That's sort of what it sounded like when the house woke me up. Whatever it was it shook the house.

   Reminded me of when the limb fell out of the neighbor's tree onto our roof. Except this time we still had electricity.

   "IS THAT A TORNADO?" Yvette asked me nervously. 

   Then the bed started shaking and I asked her if somebody was washing clothes cause sometimes one of the kids will over load the washer and it gets out of balance and it will vibrate. 

   Nope, nobody is washing clothes.

   Checked at the end of the bed to see if the 100# dog is laying touching the bed and scratching behind her ears. That will make the bed shake. No Dog.

   Open the front door and go outside and the neighbor across the street is looking out their door.

   So I go back inside and post on Facebook asking if anybody felt any shaking. 

So then I go to check CERI. Nothing is showing there yet cause it's on a delay. Finally it shows up:

   Then I read that it was a 3.6. Since there was nothing else I could do, I went back to bed. I read this afternoon they've upgraded it to 3.7. 

As always:

Thanks for Reading!

Thanks for Praying!

Thank You for Your Support!

Join Robinhood. Use my link. If you sign up, you get one share of stock, I get one share of stock. There's no guarantee of what the stock will be.

Get Stock, Help Nelson Get Stock

It WAS Beautiful

   Maundy Thursday was dark  and rainy. Good Friday was cold and rainy. Saturday warmed up and the sun was shining for the Easter Egg Hunt. 
Then Easter Sunday. Resurrection Day. 
   Here's the entire service.

 Easter Service 2019.

The prelude, the cantata, the sermon, the postlude. Every part of the service. Beautiful.
   There were 80 people there. They came from 3 corners of the state. And from the middle of the state. And one from out of state. A 90+ year range in ages.
   BEAUTIFUL.
   Then we came home and while we were gone, singing about the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, these had showed up:

   It was a beautiful day!
   I am so thankful for the opportunity to be here to celebrate another Easter with my family and with my church family. I look forward to many more. 

As always:
Thanks for Reading!
Thanks for Praying!
Thank You for Your Support!

Join Robinhood. Use my link. If you sign up, you get one share of stock, I get one share of stock. There's no guarantee of what the stock will be.

Get Stock, Help Nelson Get Stock!

Upon This Rock

   That was the title of Today's Cantata.
Upon This Rock. And since I helped do some of the decorating I snuck something in.

  That red rock next to the fake rock. It came from I think it was my great great grandparents place in Mississippi. Some of Mama's kinfolks for sure. 
We were visiting down there for a family reunion 40 or so years ago and we went to visit somebody's homeplace. I think it was my great great grandparents. They weren't there anymore, but the house was still standing. 
  Mama said she wanted to take that rock home with her, so I picked it up, we put it in the trunk, and took it home.

   Peter was the rock we were singing about. But I couldn't resist sneaking that rock onstage.

As always:
Thanks for Reading!
Thanks if You Watch
Thanks for Praying!
Thank You for Your Support!

Join Robinhood. Use my link. If you sign up, you get one share of stock, I get one share of stock. There's no guarantee of what the stock will be.

Get Stock, Help Nelson Get Stock!

Coming Up

  

 This coming Sunday would be my mother's 80th birthday. It's also Easter Sunday. Cool Springs Cumberland Presbyterian Church will be having our Easter Cantata. 
   My mother loved flowers, she loved music, she loved to sing, she loved her church and she loved her family. Claudine Minton has commented a few times on how proud my mother would have been to hear Yvette singing in the choir. And how proud she would be to have her grandkids at church.
   I bet she'll be proud Sunday looking down and listening to us singing with Yvette, Zeke, Zara and Gabe all in the choir and all members of her church family.
   I'll post the link after the performance, but I need to quit writing. Dang Allergies!
   

As always:
Thanks for Reading!
Thanks for Praying!
Thank You for Your Support!

Join Robinhood. Use my link. If you sign up, you get one share of stock, I get one share of stock. There's no guarantee of what the stock will be.

Get Stock, Help Nelson Get Stock!

15 Years Ago

   A child was born. With some amazing dimples.

As time went by, he grew. And so did his hair. The dimples remained the same.

   It's been an adventure . The hair still grows faster than any normal human being. And the dimples remain the same.

   Happy Birthday Gabe!

Devastated 😞

   You've applied for a job. You've spent hours polishing your resumé. Reading the information on how to make YOUR resume stand out. You carefully word your cover letter outlining why you think you want to work there. The attributes that you bring to the job. You submit it and you get a response.

  

  That was the final response. Their initial response (see below) was for me to fill out an application. But it's not an online application. I had to print it out, fill it out, then scan and email it back or take it on to their place of business.

    Then the waiting starts. And you wait. And you wait. You get diagnosed with cancer. You have surgery. You go through radiation and chemotherapy. You plant flower bulbs.You wait 3 months after treatment to have a follow up PET scan. And you've been applying to other jobs. The bulbs you've planted bloom.
   Because when I got that email, I didn't recall applying with that company. I had to go back and find where they had contacted me before.
   

      11 months. 11 months I waited only to be rejected. Devastation. 

   Not really. You've read what all has happened. You've seen the pictures of the flowers. Women have gotten pregnant and given birth since then. It's a good thing I wasn't sitting around waiting on that job.

Anyway:

Thanks for Reading!
Thanks for Praying!
Thank You for Your Support!

Join Robinhood. Use my link. If you sign up, you get one share of stock, I get one share of stock. There's no guarantee of what the stock will be.

Get Stock, Help Nelson Get Stock!

Things I've Learned

   So far I've learned a few things in the past month. 

1. I CAN still work. 16 months not working had me wondering if I was capable or not.
2. Working 3rd shift isn't as easy as it used to be. Especially if you're watching a Brayden after you get off until your wonderful, very talented, and sexy wife gets off from substitute teaching.
3. My children are loud. Very loud. Especially when you've been up since 10 P.M. the night before and they get home from school at 4 P.M.
4. It's hard to get to sleep at 4 P.M. when your loud children gets home and Brayden is excited because Zekie is home from school.
5. Having a hard time getting to sleep at 4 P.M. is not good when you have to get up at 10 P.M. to go to work at 11.
6. I don't know how single parents manage to live working. I would have to spend half of what I was making to be able to pay for daycare so I could have slept during the day.
7. I had applications put in at several jobs before I got that job. And I got an interview for one of them. I went and did an interview and while I was doing orientation I had my phone turned off in the car charging.
8. When I finished my orientation and got in the car to start home I saw that I had a new voicemail. I checked it on my way home and it was a voicemail asking me to contact them for an interview.
9. Putting in 250 applications and getting no responses is frustrating.
10. Getting 2 positive responses in 2 days will give you a morale boost.
11. My wife and children didn't know that elephants can't tapdance. There's even a little taken when I informed them of that fact. 

   They seem to be shocked.

   Or maybe they had just never thought about that. I dunno.

As always:
Thanks for Reading!
Thanks for Praying!
Thank You for Your Support!

Join Robinhood. Use my link. If you sign up, you get one share of stock, I get one share of stock. There's no guarantee of what the stock will be.

Get Stock, Help Nelson Get Stock!

Research Request

   I've seen several people commenting about statements a certain young congresswoman made. I've seen her insulted, belittled and made fun of. 
   I've also seen invitations for her to visit farms. (If she takes anyone up on the invitations, she'll be attacked for spending taxpayer money.)  

   Some things I've observed.
   The average weaning weight has increased in cattle over the years.
   Rolling averages in dairy herds have increased over the years.
   Days to market have decreased for swine, poultry and beef. 
   Feed efficiencies have improved in almost every area of livestock production that you can find a study for.
   Yield per acre has increased in every crop that I can find comparisons for. 

   The thing I can't find is fuel used per acre farmed. So if anyone would have fuel records from their farm and the acres  farmed with that fuel. I'd really appreciate you letting me know. 



As always:
Thanks for Reading!
Thanks for Praying!
Thank You for Your Support!

Join Robinhood. Use my link. If you sign up, you get one share of stock, I get one share of stock. There's no guarantee of what the stock will be.

Get Stock, Help Nelson Get Stock!

I've Got a Request

  I grew up on a small farm. We raised crops. We had livestock. I had some chickens and sold some eggs when I was in high school. The eggs I sold paid for the food the chickens ate. But it wasn't going to ever turn into a very profitable business. It would have taken a lot more chickens and eggs to pay for housing for the chickens.
 Fast forward a bit. For years I've been reading about the disconnect between consumers and farmers. Usually written by someone in the farming community. 
   They've brought up good points. Many people being 2 or more generations removed from the farm. They've never been on a farm. They have an idealized concept of what farms are like. 
   I could accept that. I lived in town. I'd let people like that. They lived in town, they left to travel to bigger towns. It was easy for me to understand how people could be that disconnected.
   Most of the blogs that I've seen that farmers do spend most of their time defending their practices or defending farming. 
   "If you have questions about food, ask a farmer"
   This implies that farmers are the experts on production. Yet these same farmers will knock/denounce/ridicule/make light of studies or surveys published by experts. 
   What I would like to see is information.
   
   If you have access to a farms records from the past, I'd like to make a request. I would like to see 4 numbers. The number of gallons of fuel used in the past and the number of acres farmed then. The number of gallons of fuel used now and three the nof access farmed with that fuel. 
   This is an unscientific survey. Thanks for Reading. Please respond.

As always:
Thanks for Reading!
Thanks for Praying!
Thank You for Your Support!

Join Robinhood. Use my link. If you sign up, you get one share of stock, I get one share of stock. There's no guarantee of what the stock will be.

Get Stock, Help Nelson Get Stock!