30 degrees F October 23, 2016

Coldest air of the season so far, at 8am this morning it was 30.4 degrees F.  Good frost outside, and the water hose had ice in it.

42.8 degrees F low during week of September 26 - 30, 2016

A couple of days ago I saw 42.8 degrees F on the thermometer at the farm in the morning,  that was at about 7:45 am (it might have been cooler earlier but I did not check), I think it was Wednesday September 28, 2016.  I threw a fleece jacket in the truck, turned off AC and turned on heat in the truck in the mornings.

It was 49 degrees this morning September 30, very nice weather, very clear blue skies during the day. 

49 degrees September 12, 2016

It was 49 degrees F at the farm on a beautiful and cool morning September 12, 2016.

Good grass growing weather, the horses are happy.

On Saturday the TN Vols beat my alma mater VT Hokies in the Battle at Bristol which set an all time US football attendance record with 156,990 fans in the stadium. 

On Sunday Stan the Man Wawrinka won his 3rd grand slam singles title at the US open with a win over Djokovic.  

May 15, 2016, 33 degrees F, light frost

Beautiful morning on the farm.  Light frost on top of the grass and on our vehicles.  We had a clear night, temperature was 33 degrees F this morning.

41 Degrees F May 5, 2016, Snow in the Smokies

This morning the temperature was 41 degrees F at the farm, and wet.
Wild blackberries are in blossom.
Many beautiful wildflowers are also blooming.

Spring snow in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park:
 http://wate.com/2016/05/05/spring-snow-surprises-tourists-in-great-smoky-mountains-national-park/

27 degrees F April 10, 2016

We had several days this week with frost in the morning, today was the coolest day however with a morning temp of 27 degrees F.  Dogwoods are starting to bloom here.

More snow Jan 23, 2016

We received another 3 - 4" of snow overnight and it is still snowing, and blowing.  I'm looking outside and the snow is going sideways.  Low temp this morning was 24 degrees F.

One of the outside animal water heaters developed a problem and is popping the gfci outlet, I'll be working to get that problem fixed. 

9 degrees F Jan 19, 2016 and snow Jan 20

Yesterday morning Jan 19 the temperature dropped to about 8.5 degrees F at the farm.  Today Jan 20 we had snow, about 3 or 4 inches, and the temperature stayed below freezing all day.  All local chool systems were closed.

coldest temps so far for the season, 12 degrees F Jan 11, 2016

This morning the temperature dropped just below 12 degrees F (11.7 degrees F) at the farm.  We have had a couple of mornings that hit 16 degrees F but this was the coldest so far for the season. 

19 degrees F on Dec 19, 2015

Low temperature this morning dipped below 20 degrees F for the first time that I'm aware of this season.

Everything outside is frosty white.

Forecast for the upcoming Christmas week however is for warm temperatures and rain. 

PIgeons as good as humans at detecting cancer

This week in the news there were a couple of articles about a research study that trained pigeons to look at medical images and decide if the images showed cancer or not.  Apparently the pigeons were able to read the images with accuracy equivalent to experienced humans.

I know that pigeons were trained previously in a similar way to use their eyes to find objects on the ocean surface from aircraft, for example finding survivors of an accident.

Here are links to a couple of stories from this week:
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34878151
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/nov/19/pigeons-can-identify-cancerous-tissue-on-x-rays-study-finds

32 Degrees F, First Frost of the season Oct 17, 2015

Clear beautiful sky and 32 degrees F at the farm this morning for the first frost of the season. 

52 degrees F June 29, 2015

Beautiful clear night, 52 degrees F this morning.  Felt really nice, put on a fleece to do morning chores. 

Jan 8, 2015: 3 degrees F this morning

This morning it was 2.9 degrees F at the farm.  I think we will go three or four days with the temperature staying below freezing.  Spring water flowing down the bottom of our driveway has created icy patches. 
Fortunately this morning it was sunny and clear with no wind. 

cold, snow, closed schools

Today is november 19, 2014.  Yesterday evening the temperature at the farm was 13 degrees F at 10:00 pm, this morning it was 10 degrees F.  

We have had small amounts of snow already on a couple of occasions, yesterday it caused the schools to be closed here.  

Yesterday the temperature did not rise above 30 degrees F.  Those days can be difficult because you need to make sure that all of the animals on the farm have access to nice clean water, not a block of ice.

Over the weekend I rescued one of our fourteen baby ducklings.  Ducks absolutely love water, even baby ducks.  However, if a baby duck jumps into a water pan and then lays down on a frozen surface, it will freeze to that surface.  Not good.  The ducklings are all doing well.

My journey to cast my vote with a real paper ballot in the mid term election on November 4, 2014

I exercised my right to vote today in the November 4, 2014 mid term election.  I was successful in casting my vote with a real paper ballot and placing it into a real ballot box.  

It was not an easy process however.  I requested a paper ballot in the August 2014 primary election and was told by the precinct worker who checked with the local supervisor that I could not vote using a paper ballot and that I must vote using an electronic black box voting machine.

A few days later I contacted the TN division of elections and asked directly if I could vote using a paper ballot.  I received a response from an election attorney in the secretary of state office a few weeks later, however the reply was not clear.  I followed up and waited.  I followed up again and received a clear response to my question.  The state was rather reluctant to provide a timely and clear answer to the simple voting question I had posed.

Here is the answer from the state election attorney:  The state prefers that voters use electronic black box voting machines if they are available.  However, the state will not deny someone the right to vote if they request a paper ballot.

Today as I checked in at the voting precinct I showed my photo ID, I signed my name several times, and I requested a paper ballot from the precinct worker.  The precinct worker told me no that I could not vote with a paper ballot.  I told the precinct worker that I had checked with the state and that I did have the right to vote in the election using a paper ballot.  The precinct worker called the local supervisor and he again said that I could not vote using a paper ballot.

I provided them with the name of the election attorney in the election division in the TN secretary of state office.   The supervisor tried to call the attorney but could not get through, imagine that happening on election day.  They asked me to wait and I did.  After about ten minutes the precinct worker took a call from the supervisor and then apologized to me and said that yes I could vote using a paper ballot and that my vote would count in the election. 

It took about 30 seconds for me to fill out the paper ballot.  Then the precinct worker had to get instructions on how to complete the process.  After a few more minutes I folded my ballot and placed it into an envelope and sealed it, and dropped it into the ballot box.

Success! 

Now why would anyone want to cast their vote using a hand counted paper ballot system?  The precinct worker thought that paper ballots were a terrible idea and that a lot of smart people had figured out the electronic black box voting machine system and that she placed her trust in it and in them.

I on the other hand prefer a simple system that does not require me to place my trust in a few smart clever people.

The simple fact is that you cannot verify a vote that is cast using an electronic black box voting machine.   Ronald Reagan once said "Trust but verify".

There are other good reasons to cast your vote with a paper ballot but this blog entry is already long enough.