Annie told me that I should add pictures from the microscope to the website, so here I am! Here are a couple more from the prepared slides...



An insect leg, well, actually the foot. The hair is really cool!



A leaf cross-section near a stem area. You can not see them here, but in other areas, you can see the cells with the photoplasts that lead to photosynthesis.

Anyway, I love this stuff. Annie and I are going to take some water samples tomorrow to see what we can see. Oh yeah! I contacted the company that sold me the microscope, and they are sending me the correct software and documentation. I hope this changes the view that I see from the microscope camera because it is not quite what I see through the lens...





Dr. Hockanson, I presume?

I gave Annie what my warped brain thinks is a really cool present for Christmas: a microscope. I think it is awesome, and she seems to as well, but she might just be being polite. At any rate, we spent hours on Christmas Day looking at various things. Mostly, we looked at the prepared slides that were included as a free gift with the microscope. The scope can connect to the computer, but they neglected to include the right software, so I have to take care of that. However, I managed to find a driver that allows for a connection with another program. Here is a picture from the microscope and 100x magnification of part of a flea. Don't let this give you nightmares...



We are going to cultivate some water samples to see what we can see from things like the San Lorenzo River, and hopefully the ocean... This thing rocks...
Geek, and proud of it...

Merry Christmas!

This should be the second to last post regarding the Chickdominium. We have made great progress, and on Christmas Eve, the chickens moved in to their new abode. They do not have a pen, but it has been so cold and rainy, we figured they would appreciate a more cozy, rat-free environment now, rather than later. I have continued to spend my days working on the coop in Annie's absence. Everything seems to take me longer than it should, but we now have gutters, acrylic windows (completed before we moved the chickens), and the poop deck for the chickens to strut across on their way to the new pen.



I chose the acrylic windows so that they could get heat and light during the winter. I know... it is just a chicken coop, and they are spoiled. However, I thought this would help extend their laying time through the winter, and I do not want them to freeze when the temperature drops below freezing as it has in the past couple of weeks. As proof of their comfort in the new coop, we have had five eggs. I thought that the transition would upset them too much to lay, but there you go.

The storage area has turned out really well.



We can store two bales of straw in the straw bin (lower left). The feed bin (also lower left, but... er... lower) can hold 100 pounds of feed and about 15 pounds of oyster shells. On the lower right is an access panel to the waterer so we can clean it when necessary. The large cooler on the right stores the water. I plumbed it so that we can plug in a hose on the outside of the coop, open a valve, and fill the cooler. The cooler then gravity feeds water to the trough, which has a float valve to shut it off at the right level. I had a similar system before, but had to carry buckets all the time. This will be easier, and of course the cooler is twice as large as the bucket that I had in the old coop.

There are two access panels that stretch clear across above the food and water areas. These are to provide access to the nest boxes without having to walk in to the poop area of the coop. Granted, Annie loves to go in to the coop, and I understand why. Frankly, it is rather soothing to listen to the chickens when they are comfortable and happy. I walked in today and Lila Bird immediately 'assumed the position.' Originally, I found this endearing. After my friend Bruce told me that it meant that she expected me to mount her, it began to sicken me. At any rate, the chickens clucked contentedly while I looked around at how they were doing in the coop.



They have adapted beautifully. Lila Bird and Mickey both perch on the roosts mounted on the right. Mickey prefers the high bar. Unfortunately, Minnie likes to roost on top of the nest boxes, which are now covered in crap. I may need to build something to deter her from that activity...

At any rate, the coop is looking beautiful. I know it is much more than is necessary, but it has taught me a lot, and I like it... So, bite me.


Crowing...

I have forgotten how many times I have written about the chicken coop, but I have had several requests for updates. Well, we are making progress. We continue to make mistakes given the temperature and the fact that we have to often do our work in the dark given the loss of day-light-savings. That said, I am pretty pleased at what we have accomplished. Annie and I hope to move the chickens into the new coop by Christmas day. We have been challenged every step of the way! We were painting the walls during the cold snap, which resulted in me walking around with a flashlight and a paintbrush fixing the runs that happened because of the temperature. At any rate, here is a picture we took a couple of weeks ago.



We had put up the siding and roofing... actually, I had put up the roofing and siding because Annie was gone that weekend, or doing homework. I scared the crap out of myself when I almost fell off the tall side of the coop. I would assuredly broke my leg...

We have continued working when we could find time, and with the storms coming, I have been fairly aggressive on making progress. I finished the shingles last night at dark to fend off the rain expected last night, and woke up this morning to my surprise to find sunny skies. I foolishly decided I could get the trim pieces for the casing and get it in before the rain started again. While I was cutting the last pieces, it started raining. God has it in for me. Nevertheless, I managed to get it together well enough to finish. I will probably wake up tomorrow to see that the coop looks like it was crying given that it has been so cold that the pain hasn't completely dried, let alone cured. I tried, though, and I think it looks beautiful.



Of course, it looks better in the dark!



Do I really have muscles there? Why do they hurt so much?

My neighbor calls our chicken coop building endeavor the 'ChickDominium.' I thought I would offer some pictures of how we have progressed. I know. It is just a chicken coop. However, it has been a good vehicle for figuring out what my capabilities are. I am fairly pleased, but realize this could not be a career option if I am part of the 6,000 people being let go from my company.

The walls are as straight and plumb as crappy, twisted lumber would allow, and I am not displeased. The chickens are always watching us work, and offering suggestions for amenities. However, they are not going to have a hot tub, nor are they going to have a worm-dispensing machine.

I hope we are able to finish the outside before the rains begin…

Master of the ChickDominium...

As John McCain just did, I concede the the election to Barry Obama. I have sincere hope in him. I believe that he has been very non-committal in his allegiances with so many of his early supporters, and maybe he will leave them all behind and become a great American president. Please, President Obama, hold people responsible... do not expect those who can or have been successful to hold up those who can't or refuse to be. I will not reference Ayn Rand's works, but will simply rely on the words of Rush, which created one of my favorite songs:

The Trees

There is unrest in the forest
There is trouble with the trees
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas

The trouble with the maples
(And they're quite convinced they're right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light
But the oaks can't help their feelings
If they like the way they're made
And they wonder why the maples
Can't be happy in their shade

There is trouble in the forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the maples scream 'Oppression!'
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights
'The oaks are just too greedy
We will make them give us light'
Now there's no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe and saw

Please, do not use the saw. Let the oaks thrive and create life for the whole forest...

Bracing my Self for the Legislative and Executive Branch's Liberal Domination... Next? Judicial, and then Reverend Wright is correct about what will happen to America...

Well, Halloween has come and gone for another year. Halloween was ushered in this year with our first storm of the season. The wind and rain are politely scouring the trees to remove the parts that are no longer needed, and the detritus covers the road, driveway and my deck. Unfortunately, it has put a damper on my weekend chicken coop plans...

At any rate, for the first time in years, Annie was not with me for Halloween night trick-or-treating. Nonetheless, we had our traditional getting up early and costuming. Annie was very pleased with the result:



For some reason, she really likes having black hair...

Left to my own devices, I decided to finally eat the rattlesnake. I fried it in a little oil with garlic, dried hot peppers, and lemon. I made a hollandaise sauce and served it over a bed of rice. Frankly, I think it looked quite good.



Unfortunately, it turned out there really was not a lot of meat there! It was really good, though. I wouldn't say it tasted like chicken. I can not describe it. I guess it tasted like rattlesnake!

Moodless

The diminishing daylight hours have not made it easy, but Annie and I are making progress on the chicken coop. Last weekend we finished assembling the timber for the foundation super structure. We leveled all the beams, mounted the front and back 2x8s, and it was beautiful. She checked the level many, many times. The center beam has a bow, and she kept going back to it with a shake of her head, telling me that it was not level. I picked up a bunch of pre-mixed concrete last Tuesday, and we mixed and filled half the concrete tubes until it got dark. We poured a half-ton of concrete. We finished our last tube with the headlights from the truck. The next day I finished the work, taking breaks from work for 20 minutes at a time. I was a sweaty nightmare, but I did not let anything from work slip. The end result was this beautiful picture of almost one ton of concrete in the piers. I know that they are not all centered but before you say anything, you can go screw yourself!



No, it is not crooked, it is just the way I took the picture. Annie was at her mother's when I did the next step. I put in the crossmembers to help support the floor. It came out ok, but I have some concerns.




I was careful to take the picture such that you can not see where I made mistakes. That is the art and craft of carpentry. It does not have to be perfect. Everything can be fixed. Yes, I know that the picture shows how out of alignment the right most pier is with the post, but it will be ok. Don't argue with me!

Today, I put the sub-floor on the structure. Holy crap. 4x8 tongue-in-groove plywood is not meant to be installed by a single person. I aligned and whacked as much as I could, but could not get the pieces to fit together. I was only off by a little more than an eighth of an inch, but it added up. I just abandoned the fitting on the last piece and turned it around. My neck hurts from balancing the pieces, and I am fine with the results. I can smooth it out later.



I have made the drawings for the walls, and am quite comfortable with constructing those. I do not know what I will do with the roof, though. I drew it, but am unsure how I will build it. Maybe Annie knows...

Turtle, not the Hare...

I don't truly believe that Annie remembers the time that her mom and I split much at all. She has vague recollections that spark certain feelings in her, but I do not think she remembers the details. Nonetheless, it was with a certain amount of pain that I read her latest assignment for a personal narrative, and the topic she chose. She had already edited the piece several times at school, and I was not allowed to correct or edit anything in her work...

Parents Split,
by Annie Hockanson

Once a long time ago my parents got divorced. They were in a room arguing. I was sitting in the living room listening. I cried a lot. I took the news very hard. My dad and I were very scared and worried. I felt bad for my dad and I think he felt bad for me too.

Later on my mom was gone. My dad and I were crying by the time she was gone. The next day I had to go to Pre-school. I was still crying. My dad dropped me off. When he got into the gray truck and drove away I waved goodbye while tears were going down my cheek. He waved back to me. I felt sad because my dad was leaving me at school.

Finally, it was nap time and I went to go get my special Snow White pillow out of my cubby. I still was crying. I wasn't so sure about dad but I think he was probably crying also. Dad was calling a lot to see if I was ok at times but usually I wasn't. Then Pre-school was over. I was happy when my dad came to pick me up. I wasn't crying because he was with me. I will never forget that time because that was the time my mom left.

Some of the details are wrong. Annie's mother and I did not get divorced right away, and Annie was not aware of our argument on the day her mother left. She was sleeping in her crib, which had been converted into a 'daybed.' In fact, we didn't even really argue. I had woken early and made a big breakfast, which she climbed out of bed long enough to eat, and then went back to bed. I cleared the table (wow, I forgot that we actually used to eat at the dining room table!), and brought in the tools and lumber for our project that we had both agreed would be tackled on that Saturday, with the expectation that the following day would be a 'play day.' I sat on the side of the bed and told her that I didn't think she really wanted to be there, or with us as a family, and maybe she should go stay with her parents. To my stupid surprise, she agreed.

Sorry, my memory ran away with me. At any rate, when I called the pre-school during the day after our typical horrible morning separations, which left both of us in tears, and I waved to her until I couldn't see her any more, narrowly missing parked cars, she was fine. She was laughing and playing with everyone. I admit that her personality changed significantly during that time, but it is what it is.

She has pieced this together from her own recollection of feelings, and I am surprised that she even chose this as her topic. I also worry that her mother is painted in sort of an bad light in this narrative. I have never suggested to her that her mother did anything wrong, but rather that this is just what happened. I have even told her I think I am better off in some ways with her mother having left. Still, she seems to have this feeling of... what? Betrayal? Abandonment? I don't know... I hope she does not truly remember the pain she describes.



Confused...

I am not really good at dedicating lengths of time towards play. Annie and I play in between activities that are more like work, but I have never been really good about taking a large block of time (days) and just playing. I constantly think about the work that has to be done. When I picked up Annie today, her maternal grandparents asked if I had made any progress on the bathroom. I responded with the fact that the bathroom is on hold until the chicken coop is done. Annie commented that we have a lot of projects to do around the house. She is not wrong...

I have wondered at times if I am negatively impacting her with all the work we have to do. At times like today, I do not think so. We moved the beams for the chicken coop up today, and leveled one into place. She was a great help sliding pieces of wood under the beam and checking the level for accuracy. Afterward, she drilled the holes for the bolts in the boards that will form the end caps. Annie and I share a lot of learning traits. She watches, then she does, and figures out the nuances that way. The 2x8s were on saw horses, which were a bit tall for her to get her muscle on the drill, so I had to help push, but she was all over it. I had her choose the bit, and went through how to choose the bit so this bolt would slide through the board. With help, she picked the bit, and I put it in the drill. I drilled the first one, and she watched me with an expression of complete absorption. The first six holes, I cleaned out the hole with the bit, and she always checked the holes to make sure the bolt slid through properly. After that, she said she wanted to do 'that part,' too. 'That part' being the cleaning of the hole. So, from that point on, she finished out the holes, and did a spectacular job.

A very good friend of mine once asked me why I put time in to a vegetable garden. Granted, we have not done that in two years, but we are very skilled at horticulture. My friend suggested that for many of our vegetables it would be probably cheaper to buy them when the time involved was considered. I was in shock. For me, there are few things more personally encouraging than seeing something I have worked on come to fruition, and even conclusion. His response to that answer was that I would be one of the few that would survive if everything went to heck, and we had to rely on that sort of function to survive. Well, in light of recent events in our economy, I think we might be really close to that. I have watched Annie's college fund dwindle to nothing. I do not know if my retirement fund will recover. That said, I have a phenomenal job. I make a good living, and we can do the things we need to. We just have to work hard to make things happen the way we want.

Annie will grow up knowing how to do everything necessary to manage a home. She will never look at tools with trepidation. If it has to be done, she'll do it. That is my gift to her. She will be one of the most independent women I have ever met. I am sure of it. Her choices will be made strictly from her heart with the requisite balance of the mind. I am so proud of my little girl.

Thank you, God. You may have crapped on me at times, but you managed to get one thing right...