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I thought this morning I would post one of my newsletters in entirety so you could get a better feel for what a BMN is. After today I'll leave a link where you can read my newsletter at my site and save space here. Thank you for letting me post here these last few weeks while I rebuilt my site. When I have a newsletter pertinent to the topic here I be sure to post in in my diary. Brian
It'll take me a minute to link the images
January 28th 2008
Good morning
I hope everyone had a great weekend.
Saturday was much the same as other Saturdays, we watched movies and munched on snacks all day and well into the night. We still do not have running water, but it appears to have been raining all night long. Perhaps this will be enough to thaw the frozen underground pipes. Yesterday after our marathon couch potato routine we got up early and got after our weekend chores. I installed the new battery I bought on Friday, in the Blazer. I also need to pull the starter out of the Blazer and clean it, but that will wait for warmer and drier weather. I threw a new headlight (floorboard mounted) dimmer switch in the Rabbit, it now has headlights, yea! I also fixed the shop vacuum and used it to clean the hay from the trunk of the Rabbit. The VW did belong to a rancher.
The story on the ShopVac is kind of funny. Back when we had running water and the French drain was frozen, dearest Nell thought the drain fixed itself and let one of the drains go, which wound up on the floor instead of draining. Quick response team member Nell R used the ShopVac to suck the water off the floor. That was fine, but then she put the vacuum outside and the water froze solid inside. I brought the vacuum inside the next day and set it near the wood stove to thaw, which I guess it did, but I forgot all about the water inside when I went to use it on the Rabbit. It worked great for about ten seconds, then dirty brown bubbles began to blow out the back. What the...? Oh yeah, the water was still inside or at least some of it was still inside. Funny I hadn't noticed the weight difference. I hung the paper filter on the clothesline and dumped out the little bit of dirty water that didn't get pumped into the trunk of the Rabbit. It actually worked great.
This morning I have traveled around the world using the Internet. First, a trip to the Netherlands to take a tour of a 150 year old wind mill.
This is from http://greenbits.com
Visit to Veldkamps Meul'n in Bellingwolde
Today I went back to Bellingwolde to make pictures of a windmill there that is still in operation.
The miller, mr. Enkie Kok allowed me to go all over the machine, built in 1855. It's a 20 meter diameter 4 bladed rotor in the 'traditional' dutch design but this one has a good number of peculiarities.
For instance, it has remote controlled brake flaps and a friction based hoist to haul the sacks of grain from the ground floor to the mill stone level.
Here is an outside view of the mill. It's a huge structure, the only building taller in Bellingwolde is the church. You can clearly make out the altitudes of the various floors in the mill, not all of them are 'full standing height', so it's pretty easy to bust your head on some 150 year old oak crosser.
In dutch we call this a 'boven kruier', the yawing part is only the very top section, the yaw beams and gear are at the back of the mill, you can just make out the yawbeams sticking out left and right of the head of the mill.
Contrary to the 'fieldlines' windmills this mill carries sail on her blades for extra power during low wind, but if the wind is up then the mill works just fine on the flaps alone.
Power is regulated by turning the flaps flatter (more speed) or coarser (less speed).The other millstone assembly.
This one was rebuilt and is not currently in use because one of the pin gears is not on it's shaft. This mill was built up to be working on both stones at the same time, maintenance was alternated between the stones so the mill was ready to work continuously.
Continue the tour here http://greenbits.com/User+Pages/jam/Visit+to+Veldkamps+Meuln+in+Bellingwolde
See beautiful images of huge wooden wheels and cogs, all still in operation.
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Then I went south to the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua to see the people of blueEnergy. Their mission is to provide sustainable, low-cost energy to communities in need.
See their site: http://www.blueenergygroup.org/ I think you will agree this is a seriously FEEL GOOD project.
This is an amazing website and I know you will have as much difficulty leaving as I did.
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But back to Las Tusas Ranch I came. I have a newsletter to produce.
Over the weekend, I've worked diligently on my web pages and forum pages. I'm having a heck of a lot of fun adding content and new categories. As Hugh points out on the forum, it seems like Brian is talking to himself again. True, but we are just starting out and it takes a while to get the ball rolling. Plus, as forum administrator it is my intention to make categories which are inspiring to write in. I hope this helps. But you never know, we are a very small group and it will be wonderful if we have a lot of forum activity, but it can't be expected. Other groups I belong to have thousands of members, and a small percentage of those write in regularly. We are okay with our group size, we are already used to the fact that not every one writes in. Yes the web based list server may change things, but only slightly I suspect. I have talked to quite a few BMNers, who haven't been on-line lately, and hadn't seen the notice that I am ending the send from home newsletter and going with the web send newsletter. What will happen when these people get back on-line and the BMN isn't there? I don't know, it is beyond my control.
I know there are many here who have remained tight knit. We'll stay this way, through the web site mailing list and the new forum pages. Plus I tell people about my web page every day. Our group will continue to grow, though not in leaps and bounds.
I have no idea what the message meant from the Website over the weekend. Perhaps Adam will enlighten us.
Today I go to Mora to the dentist to pick up my new upper partials! How exciting. I don't know what is happening with the lower partials, but this should be the beginning of a bright new grin for yours truly.
Brian Rodgers
Contents
Letters
RE: testing subscribers - what about obscenity, personal attacks and photography?
Hey!! How come I didn't get a response from a moderator on the new forum about my complaint about the post which is photographic??? Huh??? Surely you're not going to allow photographers to post photography on this nice family-oriented new forum??? Huh???
Native Son
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I'm sorry I didn't see anything about this. I have made the forum unmoderated. The only thing I will do at first is to watch for the users list Spammers and kick them. Brian
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new pledge
I pledge allegiance
to the satellite dish
of the United States of Entertainment
and to our high speed connection
for which it stands
one nation, under myspace
with blueray and youtube for all
Joe VR
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Depressed Candidate Runs Attack Ad About Self
January 28, 2008 | Issue 44*05
WASHINGTON--In the midst of a fiercely competitive presidential race with no clear Republican front-runner in sight, an increasingly depressed Mitt Romney shocked political insiders Monday when he released a new national attack ad targeting himself.
The ad, which is scheduled to air across the country this week, features an unshaven and visibly crestfallen Romney taking himself to task on a number of key campaign issues, including health-care reform, illegal immigration, and "what's the use of even trying anymore?"
Enlarge Image Depressed Candidate
The ad features the former governor of Massachusetts drowning his sorrows in junk food and whiskey.
"Mitt Romney says he's a candidate for change. He says he's a candidate Americans can finally trust," begins the self-destructive television spot, narrated by Romney himself. "But in 2004, this so-called Washington outsider approved nearly four separate tax hikes. And do you know why he did that? Because he's a big fat disappointment, that's why."
"Ugh," the television spot continues. "I'm going back to bed."
The ad goes on to list many of Romney's alleged failures as governor of Massachusetts in bold white text scrolling over a black background, set to the sound of soft weeping.
Running 60 seconds, including 15 full seconds of long, world-weary sighs, Romney's latest ad is reportedly his most ruthless. Blasting himself for a wide range of political shortcomings, from cutting back on education spending to being unable to remember the last time he took a shower, the Republican candidate is said to hold nothing back.
"Strength, commitment, hope for a brighter future--you're looking at the wrong goddamn guy," asserts the television spot, as a still, unflattering image of Romney is struck with a large red "PATHETIC" stamp-graphic. "Do you know what I did yesterday? No, not campaign. I ate a gallon of ice cream. That's right, the whole damn thing."
"Is this who you want running your country for the next four years?" asks the damaging spot. "Someone who can't even run a simple microwave without crying?"
In addition to verbal jabs, Romney's ad uses several visual aids to call his character into question. Moments before the ad's conclusion, an onscreen chart helps viewers tally the number of times the Republican candidate has lain awake at night reliving past humiliations, while a 3-D computer model illustrates just how low Romney has reportedly sunk as a "relentless failure" in the past month.
Video footage from a recent Republican debate is also shown, though much of its audio is drowned out by Romney, who criticizes himself throughout, saying, "Nice answer, jerk," and "God, you really don't know what the hell you're doing up there, do you?"
"I'm Mitt Romney," the television spot concludes. "And sadly, I approve this message."
Though early reaction to the attack ad has been negative, with many calling it unfair and even senseless, Romney has thus far stood his ground, claiming that the American people deserve to hear the truth.
"The men and women of this great nation have a right to know what's really going on out there," Romney announced as he stood behind a series of campaign posters bearing his new campaign slogan, "Anyone Else," late Monday afternoon. "If that means telling them that sometimes I lack the strength to change my clothes for three, even four straight days, then so be it."
According to MSNBC chief political analyst Barbara Schleisser, Romney's self-directed smear campaign is likely to hurt the Republican candidate's chances.
"In today's well-informed society, attack ads rarely work and often do more damage to the person running them than his or her target," Schleisser said. "Then again, you can only hear someone call himself a worthless sack of $#|+ so many times before you start believing it."
Despite the controversy the ad has created, many staunch Romney supporters said they were not swayed by Romney's televised condemnation.
"I don't care what Romney says, I still believe Romney is the best man for the job," said Phillip Walker, a Florida retiree. "If anything, Romney's despicable last-minute tactic has only further convinced me to vote for Romney."
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2008 January 28
oversized image made into a link
See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
A Solar Eclipse Painting from the 1700s
Painting Credit: Cosmas Damian Asam; Digital Image Copyright: Jay Pasachoff
Explanation: Is this painting the earliest realistic depiction of a total eclipse of the Sun? Some historians believe it is. The above painting was completed in 1735 by Cosmas Damian Asam, a painter and architect famous in early eighteenth century Germany. Clearly drawn is not only a total solar eclipse, but the solar corona and the diamond ring effect visible when sunlight flows only between mountains on the Moon. The person depicted viewing these eclipse phenomena is St. Benedict. Roberta J. M. Olson and Jay Pasachoff have hypothesized that Asam himself may have seen first hand one or all of the total solar eclipses of May 1706, 1724, and 1733. Many facts about our astronomical universe that are taken for granted today have been known -- or accurately recorded -- only during the last millennium. Asam's painting currently hangs in Weltenburg Abbey in Bavaria, Germany.
Tomorrow's picture: open space
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Project Pup A repowering job for a Isuzu pickup
From http://toughguyinc.com/isuzu12708.aspx
Here you can just see a mess. I know it looks like h*ll now, but it's kinda a slow process. I have to make everything fit first, and then go back through and tidy it up. You can also see the new location for the fuel filter in the lower right. Thats the original air cleaner bracket. Ironically enough, the new air cleaner will mount there also.
.JPG)
Here's the new dual 9" electric fans.
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image size rules really do apply to you please follow them. under 150KB and less than 640 x 480 pixels thank you.
Kurt
