I should have known better

Were you ever in a place that seems determined to run off business?. After I stopped by the FSA office the other day I had to go to Terre Haute.  I should have gotten a can of pop in their break room, but I decided to stop at the TravelMart by the interstate.

I should have known better.

First you pull in to see this sign

OK, 2 signs.  One saying trucks HAVE to go around the building this way. The person who put the sign up is obviously not a NASAR fan because you are circling backwards.  It just ain't natural.  Then there is the 5MPH sign.  Ever try and run a semi 5 MPH?  Or most any stick shift car for that matter?  You circle the building to find this nice big parking lot .... blocked off with railroad ties.

The clear area in front is the access to the fuel pumps.  I wasn't in a big truck, but I do have a couple.  And I have spent a lot of time in trucks.  So it makes me wonder where do you park a truck anyway?

And as you leave you have to dodge these !@#$!@$!%%^^! truck tires stacked in the middle of the driveway

Oh, and gas was about 20 cents higher than in MARTINSVILLE!

I didn't take any pictures inside.  But there are signs like WIPE YOUR FEET! and RESTROOMS FOR PAYING CUSTOMERS ONLY!

I almost commented to the gal at the cash register, but I decided what I was being tempted to say was not a good Christian witness. But I should have know better than to stop there anyway.  I've been there before.  This is where I went to back out of a parking space and as I turned ran the front of the Dodge over a truck tire placed over a hole in the lot and tore my front license plate off.  That was after getting !#$$@% about the condition of the restroom.

It's like these guys are trying to give me a reason NOT to stop there.  Next time I'll just drive back downtown and see Old Dad.  At least he is glad to see me.

Spring has sprung, Fall has fell, Winter's here and ....

...  Wanda, you got your snow.  Happy now?

One of the places we seem to frequent more than normal this year is the West Union Cafe.

People tend to develop habits. You know that someone will probably be there mid afternoon or certain evenings.

 And you discover you have become predictable when you stop mid afternoon to catch a landlord drinking coffee and Heather asks if we're coming in tonight like usual?

By the way, I saw her one day with her hair down and almost didn't know her. 

Or you set down and Savannah brings you unsweetened tea without asking.

 BTW look closely over Heather's shoulder on the wall.  Yes, that is a picture of Dad

Kaycee asked for a picture of him for the memory wall she wants to make.

 

And on the way out don't forget to look at the bulletin board to find important information.

It's a good place to eat.

And if you're a regular you can narrow down when I was there to within 2 hours and one of two days.

(They put the salad bar out after 2 PM on Fridays and Saturdays)

I'm both overjoyed and heartbroken ....

 

One of the most difficult things I ever did was leave Johnson City, Tennessee and head for Illinois, leaving my little girl on the campus of Milligan College. Milligan is a good college, but it was 500 miles from home and my little girl wasn't old enough or ready for it, regardless of what the calendar said.

To be honest, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to forgive Milligan College. Because my little girl thrived in its environment. She loved the mountains. She grew into a beautiful, well educated, big hearted, young woman. And she stayed in east Tennessee.

It has always been interesting visiting Jill. She has friends with names I recognize. For instance one time when were here she took us to dinner with some of her friends at Jim's house. I am familiar with his work, but when he writes for Christian Standard magazine he uses his full name.

She bounced around several jobs. Not necessarily “normal” jobs. Things live working with an adoption agency finding families and homes for kids. Eventually she ended up working for East Tennessee State University as a grant manager, responsible for … well, I'm not not going to try and explain because I'm not sure I fully understand it. I'm just proud of her for what she does.

A couple weeks ago she got her Masters degree from ETSU. This weekend we returned to Johnson City for a very different reason. I'm both overjoyed and heartbroken. Because we came back to Hopwood Church, on the campus of Milligan College, for Jill's wedding.

 I'm overjoyed because Jill has married a very special guy, one I am convinced God was grooming just for her. I'm heartbroken because he lives in the mountains of North Carolina.

So in the morning we will head north, although it will be a little different than 15 or so years ago. Because we're probably leaving Johnson City for the last time. We won't have much of a reason to come here again. Jill will be in the mountains of North Carolina. And while I will be heartbroken to leave my little girl behind, this time I'll be leaving her in the care of a great guy.

'Course, he still isn't nearly good enough for my little girl.

My First Responder class is progressing slowly.  One of the reasons it was moved from West Union to Robinson was because the instructor was on duty or on call there.  So we are meeting at the ambulance base.  But when the instructor has a run the class gets cancelled, so we are going long on the schedule. 

Some of the "clinical activities" really frustrate me.  I guess too many years of holding vibrating steering wheels and wrench twisting and beating on things.

 

My fingers just don't have the  sensitivity to find a pulse.  I just don't feel it. 

I had trouble taking blood pressure, too.  I was looking on Amazon and found a Sphygmomanometer (run THAT through your spell check) and stethoscope set that wasn't too expensive so I splurged and bought them so I could practice. Marge would like the color...

I don't think I'll make it as a Doctor ... or Nurse ... or Paramedic.  Because I put the cuff on my arm and pumped and listened and released and I just don't hear the sounds well enough to check blood pressure.    That or I'm dead.   But at least as a First Responder instead of an EMT I may not need that ability very much.

I'm making a First Response kit for my truck.  You can buy one for $100 or so, but I decided I could build one that suited my needs better for less.  But what do I put everything in?  I can uy a genuine First Responder bag for $35 or more .. or go to Walmart and buy a 6 can cooler with a hard liner that will hold everything I need for $5.98.

Any guesses which I bought?

Now I just need to stock it.

Our latest chapter is Emergency Responder childbirth training

MORE information I hope I NEVER need

I think once this chapter is done all we need is CPR certification (or re-certification for most of us in class) and do our finals and we're finished.  The finals may finish me alright.

Merry Christmas

Jim and Heidi can't travel home this Christmas, so Friday we went to Madison, WI to spend the weekend with them. Perhaps the most eye opening part of the whole visit was a trip to the grocery store. I know, "All you can talk about is a trip to the grocery store ?" There is a lot more that I consider private. And besides, this was kind of eye opening for me.

When you use the term "organic" around most farmers you can kind of sense the hair stand up on the back of the neck. For most of us in production agriculture this is like a slap in the face. It's like saying everything you have been doing is wrong. That discussion will have to wait. I am talking entirely about consumer perspectives.

If you are unfamiliar with Madison, it's a long way from the Wabash River bottoms. The metro area is probably over a quarter million people. More Volvos and Toyota Prius than I ever saw in one spot. The kids took us to a store called "The Whole Foods Market". It is a national chain of 310 stores (www.http://wholefoodsmarket.com/company/) specializing in "organic and natural". I'm not going to argue organic versus anything so don't write. The point is consumers are willing to pay for it.

Fascinating place for a country boy. My wife said she had never seen that many kinds of granola ... in bulk

And coffee as well

And produce wasn't just displayed, it was arranged

Yes the carrots are carefully arranged in a circle. And cooler upon cooler of cheeses.

So what has this to do with corn and soybeans down in the river bottom ? It convinced me there is a market for things like this. It may be a niche market we who are now the smaller farmers need to consider working in. Oh, the store also had some prepared foods

edit: THERE I got the correct photo
I liked the cookies

Yes, I know it has been 2 weeks

If you are one of the 4 people who follow my blog regularly you have noticed it has been 2 weeks since I wrote anything.  I know, it isn't farming season  But it seems like most of my spare time has been taken by the First Responder course I am taking.

It isn't that difficult.  It's just been 30+ years since I studied this hard.  To be truly honest, I have never studied this hard.  I think my brain is too overloaded with useless information.  Or just doesn't absorb like it used to.  And the schedule of classes Tuesday and Thursday evenings doesn't give me much time mid-week to get ready.

Let's see, what has been happening? I have some things going on I can talk about and some I can't talk about right now.  A normal week this month involves 3 lawyers, 2 estates (make that 3 estates.  I got a call this evening asking to help set a value on some equipment), 3 different trusts.  I am beginning to think my son in law is pretty sharp.  He told his dad he didn't care if he left him anything when he passed on.  But if he did he wanted it left to him alone, not him and ...

What else has been happening?  We (mostly Aman) have been insulating the shop.  See the farm page at www.BumpusFarms.us or my AgTalk+ blog at http://agtalkplus.com/?q=node/22574 for more on that.  Between normal Christmas activity, getting ready for a wedding, and getting ready for a new grandkid, and all this other stuff I'm about run ragged.