The apartment building in the foreground is the same as the two in the background, except it fell over just before it was opened for occupancy. Building codes in China may need a little upgrading.
I worked on the shower trailer for a few hours before and after lunch. I just decided to work through what turned into a steady drizzle. I got about half of the shower board up on the walls, focusing on the six pieces that have difficult curves and angles. I made a template out of painter's masking paper, transferred it to the shower board, made my cuts and then made corrections as I dry fit. When everything was good I put on the edge molding and glued it in place.
I really want to have this project done in the next couple of days. I'm cutting the 4x8 sheets in the garage and need that to be clear for the truck when Leroy is cone with it. And I'm eager to start work on the Mustang (Sally), which means getting this trailer out of the way.
I've mentioned that for a variety of reasons I have reservations about the wisdom of a project like this. So as I worked I kept telling myself, "I'm doing this for Jeezus, not homeless guys living on the public dime. Trying to do my best work, although a pro would probably turn out a nicer product.
At the goat conference a week ago I learned a lot about goat anatomy, including that they have very small brains located in the back of their skull. That didn't surprise me.
They are not the brightest creatures God made.
It's tempting to treat them like dogs because they're similar in size and shape, but they're nothing alike. Dogs respond to verbal cues and commands, learn from positive and negative consequences, and can be trained using the pack dynamic.
Goats care about two things: feed and self preservation. They seem to have no memory of what did or did not work last time, so training them seems all but impossible. Stella will push her way into the kids' feeder area to get at the alfalfa but can't remember how she got there and so can't get out. If I scold her or yell at her when she's doing something like trying to break into that area...no response whatsoever. But even a light tap with a short board on the top of her head has her cowering in the corner.
They're "bonded" to me because I bring the kids bottles and give all of them alfalfa and grain. Beyond that I might just as well be a 2x4.
Goats are cousins to sheep, which are even dummber. There's a good reason God chose to describe his people as sheep.
Remember that the next time you're pretty impressed with yourself.
Ben Stein said a lot of Americans see the media "as an unelected aristocracy."
Yep.
Add most Hollywood folk into that group and you know why we're not watching the Oscars tonight.
Yesterday I was thinking about cooking, food, and the differences between us. On a scale of "foodie-to-meh" I'm way to the meh end. If it's edible I'm fine with it; eating is a pragmatic activity. Pam is NOT a foodie but cares a lot more about cooking new and (hopefully) interesting meals. She scours recipe sites for a things that looks good and gives many of them a try. At any given time you'll find pages on the counter or on top of the microwave of recipes she's printed out to try out.
What's weird is that I grew up in a home with a great cook and baker who always set great meals on the table and did so on a budget. Except for the Brussel sprouts I don't remember anything that wasn't very good, and we always had a choice of at least two options for dessert - pies, cakes, cookies, pudding - all of it made from scratch.
Pam grew up in a meh house when it came to food. After we'd been married for a few weeks I asked Pam why we never had fresh (cooked) veggies for dinner. We always had canned vegetables. Turns out she didn't know you could have fresh cooked veggies because she'd never had them growing up. She honestly did not know how to prepare fresh vegetables.
It's all worked out. I eat well and I appreciate that when we go out to eat we can go someplace very ordinary, always cheap, and devoid of ambiance. We've found a couple of local joints that serve up good cheap food at crazy low prices in a very rural setting. We once counted five different types/models of chairs in the fairly small dining area of the nearby Countryside Grill where we order the same very good 3-topping small pizza every time at a cost of $10.20, including a $2 tip.
I write this right after finishing dinner: fresh broccoli cooked just right - not too tough but not mushy either - a baked potato, and a pile of...hamburger, green onions, chopped onions, and maybe one or two other things I didn't notice or don't remember, topped with a dollop of sour cream.
Just fine.
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