What Was I Thinking?

Why CD’s

I walked into my family room the other night and there was a copy of the book Divinci Code sitting on the coffee table. I have found that over the years I have a threshold for hype, and once I have determined that there is too much hype I immediately lose interest. Divinci Code has crossed the hype line. I have not read the book and will not go to see the movie. The book does not belong to anyone in my house, but is in the process of being read by at least the second person in the house. That got me thinking about copyright stuff, and now I wonder why we at least feel guilty about downloading somebody’s music but to lend out a book gives us no problem. We have libraries full of books to be lent and enjoyed by more than one person; I know that I should not make copies of any book and redistribute it to anyone, but I don’t mind lending it to somebody else to enjoy or learn from. So now I wonder about the whole music argument, will the artistic industry collapse if we load our Ipod’s with music from someone else’s library of music? Have I missed a step in this process? Would music artist’s stop being artist’s faster than author’s would stop “authoring” So now I’m a little stuck, is this an ethical question or a financial one? If I ever did anything creative enough for people to enjoy and they would be willing to spend money on, maybe the answer to this question would come to me easier.

It Feels Like Cowboy Season
For the past twelve or maybe thirteen years I have been able to go down to the Elford Ranch and spend a few weeks doing cowboy things. Sorting pairs, loading trucks, losing count of how many cows are in that bunch, brandings, spending time with people who are just such hard working good people! It has become a part of my year that I really look forward too. I have learned a lot of valuable lessons over the years. I know that I can go at least 12 hours without a drink of water, and now I know where the hose is in the pump house. I have learned how to keep my butt from slapping into the saddle so that by the end of the day I can still sit down at the supper table. I have learned that the peace and quiet of sitting in your saddle and following cows all day gives you a chance to organize your thoughts. I have seen it rain so hard you can't see fifty feet, and the next day be overwhelmed by the beauty of the view as I look across miles of grass that has looked the same for hundreds of years. I know why cowboys wear big hats, long sleeve shirts, and high boots with big heals, (and that is why they don’t like to walk anywhere). I love cowboy season!

Wrong name.
I should have thought more before I named my blog, now everybody knows that I don't think very often. Darla, Joel's girlfriend is staying with us for a while, she is from Saskatchewan, grew up on a farm and didn't know how to drive a standard, a very unusal set of circumstances. (How does a farm girl not learn to drive a standard?) Last night she wanted to go a friend's house to watch movies, she seems to not be all that interested in NHL playoffs, whatever. So I told her she could drive the Firefly, it's a standard, she declined, I told her I could teach her. Then I thought of last summer when I was teaching Brianne how to drive the same car. What was I thinking? Brianne has not quite yet got over the experience, it was tramatic and I found out that my moustache is intimidates her, (maybe that should explain the first twenty years with Brianne). It only took a few minutes and Darla had it all figured out, I hope the tires last the summer.

It just needed a big hammer.
We have to replace the brakes on Joel's truck, a job I have never done before. Joel bought the apropriate book so we have the needed manual, then we bought the needed tool for getting the drum removed. We could not get the first one off so Rick came over an pulled the first one off. The NHL playoffs are on so our time has been limited, but the truck is safely parked on jack stands in front of the garage door. So after two weeks we have one drum off, slow progress, but it is progress. We decided to tackle the other drum last night as soon as we got home from work. There is this little hole on the inside of the wheel and inside that little hole is where this little bent tool is placed and there is a small wheel that you turn with the tool this releases the shoes from the drum, and don't forget that you must push this little arm back so that the little wheel is able to spin and there is no room to work or to see what you are doing. Everything in the area that needs to be worked on is either steel or close to concrete. (skin is neat stuff, it just about always grows back) After a lenghty time of taking turns to spin this little wheel we seemed to be getting no where, the drum would not come off. Just as the frustration level was about to reach the limit, I saw the big hammer just laying there, I honestly didn't think it would help the drum but I thought it might make me feel better, so I hit it with the hammer and it came free. So of course now I'm on the look out for what other problems can be solved with one blow from the hammer.