Winterfest

Another Winterfest come and gone....

Our annual trek up to Ron's house for his Winterfest party yielded the usual awesome food, ample adult beverages and tons of laughs and good times. This was the 7th official year that he's hosted the party, basically a mid-winter cure for cabin fever. Lemme tell ya, if you go away from Winterfest hungry, sober and angry, it's yer own damn fault. Plenty of good stories told, and we even had time for a low-stakes game of Hold-'em.

Even though some of us were nursin' hangovers this mornin', we spent the afternoon blowin' shit up. A buddy of ours had a clay-bird thrower and figgered we outta burn some gunpowder. It's a damn shame that I wasn't prepared for that kinda thing, or I woulda brought more guns and ammo to play with. As it was, we had five shotguns and four pistols at our disposal, so we made the most of what we had. Wish I'da had the foresight to take some video and pictures, but shit happens. Regardless, we had a damn good time.

A weekend well spent in  food place with good friends... never a bad thing.

Wednesday Grind

As much as I hate to do it, my Wednesday and Friday music segments are gonna have to get tabled for the foreseeable future. Postin' links and video are a bitch to do on this phone, which is currently my only source of internet. I also don't have reception at the new job for the rare occasion of havin' nothin' else to do, and by the time I get home, I have other things that need attention.

I'm just as bummed as the two of you are, trust me. I love me some good heavy shit on a Wednesday.

In the meantime though, the fine folks over at GGDF can sate your metal desires...

The adventure continues...

A few quick and random observations from my first two days at the new job...

- Gettin' up at 5am for anything other than huntin' is for the birds. I don't much care for goin' to bed by 9pm either. Although doing both regularly will make gettin' up to hunt easier.

- My skills (or lack thereof) with a skidloader need to improve, quickly.

- I'm havin' severe withdrawl of the internet in general and blogs in particular, both readin' and writin'.

- I'll like my new boss a lot better when I don't have to rely on him to answer questions to shit I don't know.

- Neccesito apprender hablo Espanol (or somethin' to that effect).

- My brain and body are gettin' a major wake-up call. After essentially spendin' my whole life as an 8-5 desk jockey, all this walkin' will hopefully whip my ass into shape. On that note...

- I don't have time to snack, somethin' I did faithfully to pass time in the office.

- It doesn't matter how large a farm is... Somethin' is still bound to be redneck-rigged together.

- Feedin' newborn calves ain't as fun as it looks like. Neither is bein' shoulder-deep in a cow's ass to make sure she's indeed pregnant (weird cow fact: you can feel an unborn calf through the intestinal wall).

- Irate cows are much better than irate people.

- I miss my old co-workers. I sure as shit don't miss my old job.

Movin' on

Startin' Monday, I'll be takin' on life's next great adventure. I accepted a position as a Dry Cow Herdsman at Mason Dixon Farms, one of the largest dairy farms east of the Mississippi. In simple terms, pregnant cows stop gettin' milked a few weeks or months before they have their calves. Those are the animals that I'll be responsible for, anywhere from 200-600 animals at any given time.

For many years, MDF has been on the forefront of technology and research in the dairy industry, as a Google search will quickly reveal. As large as it's become, however, it's still a family-owned farm. After spendin' the last few years jumpin' through hoops for some faceless bobblehead in Denver, it'll be a nice change of pace to regularly exchange pleasantries with the head men.

This'll be quite a jump, as my professional life to date has more or less revolved around newspapers, computers and design. All things considered though, it's significantly more money, access to thousands of acres of prime huntin' land, and hopefully more physically and mentally stimulatin' that what I've been dealin' with here. I've never been entirely comfortable in an office environment, so hopefully this job will feel more at home for me. I've worked with some great people here and I'm sure to miss them,  but I sure won't miss all the corporate bullshit that came with it.

I apologize in advance, because my postin' (and readin') of blogs might go a little light for awhile. I won't be spendin' much time at a computer with my new position, which is a blessing and a curse.

Friday Honky-tonk

There ain't much better than ol' Junior Brown with a guitar. I could listen to him pick for hours...

Recorded live in Michigan in 2003. You won't find a studio cut anywhere that I could find, but you can find a similar live track from '05's Live at the Continental Club.

Spring Hill Song Dogs, Part 2

More photos from they coyote-huntin' gang up around Ron's house. As of Sunday, they were up to 16 dogs for the year. Keep it up, fellas!

Makin' the rounds on Facebook....

Some things I thought I'd share with you.

Some humor, from Hoagy:

The Pope and obama are on the same stage in Yankee Stadium in front of a huge crowd.

The Pope leans towards obama and said, "Do you know that with one little wave of my hand I can make every person in this crowd go wild with joy? This joy will not be a momentary display, but will go deep into their hearts and they'll forever speak of this day and rejoice!"

obama replied, "I seriously doubt that! With one little wave of your hand.... Show me!"

So the Pope backhanded him and knocked him off the stage!

AND THE CROWD ROARED & CHEERED WILDLY and there was happiness throughout the land!

And a more serious matter, from Jaclyn: