Beau Jackson

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, so I thought I’d give a personal update.

We’ve been working like mad on the Spindle And Wheel website and hopefully the work will pay off.  My last post said we had just topped 1000 visitors.  Sometime tonight or tomorrow morning we should top 9000 and we’re over 450 registered users, so it’s been exciting for us to say the least.  We’re actually making a bit of money on the Google AdSense ads.  I’ve been learning a lot about Joomla (the CMS we use for the site).  I’ve written four modules for it, and today finally figured out how to get a module in the admin control panel.  It takes a little hacking, but my module shows up now.  Lot’s of learning, which is what I enjoy most about computers and software development.

On the home front, we’ve been watching a goat for some friends who went to Canada.  It didn’t seem like any big deal since we’re already set up for sheep.  They dropped her off and said something like “oh, and we think she might be pregnant…”.  She had her baby around midnight that night, so I guess she was.  So now we’re goat sitting two goats.  Speaking of which, I work with a guy who raises goats.  We had a little pot-luck at work and he brought some meat balls made of chevon (the fancy name for goat meat).  It was REALLY good!  This goat had a little buck, which they probably won’t want to keep, so maybe they’ll let us have him to butcher in the fall.

I’m firmly convinced that I work for the best employer in the area.   A couple of weeks ago the director of the services group (the group that helps our customers customize our software for their business) stops by my desk and hands me this envelope tied with a ribbon.  Inside is a certificate for a three-day all expense paid vacation for two to the tune of $1500!  I about crapped my pants.  Why did I get it?  For doing my job.  True, my job required me to stay very late a few nights helping to customize a tricky piece of software, but really “thanks for helping out so much” would have been enough.  I’m not turning down the bonus though. ;)

So even though we could go anywhere in the continental U.S., we’re actually staying here in Missouri.  We’re packing up the horses and going on a week-long trail ride down in Eminence.  It’s a package deal that includes three meals a day plus lots of great entertainment at night.  We’re really looking forward to it.  The kids are going to stay with Allena’s folks.  It’ll be the first time we’ve taken a vacation without kids EVER.

William is now a little crawling maniac.  We call him “the pillager” because he plunders and pillages Allena’s basket of yarn, and pretty much everything else he can get his hands on.  He’s on the brink of pulling up on things to try and start walking.

What else?  I traded a computer to a guy I go to church with for a roto-tiller (thanks for the parts Mike!).  Yes, I know I said that roto-tillers are for wimps and that I tilled my garden with the tractor.  I stand corrected.  We have a big net fence all around the garden to keep chickens and sheep out, and I can’t get the tractor in there right now.  The tiller works great, and the garden is not so weedy any more in the part that hasn’t been planted yet.

My truck is running really rough (gotta get a clutch into it and maybe replace the head gasket) and I need to get the hay mower and the hay baler functional (pray for me on that one – doesn’t seem like there’s ever time).  Lots of other chores too, that just seem to always get put off until they can’t be anymore.

That’s about it…but that’s probably more than you wanted to know anyway!

So, we finally got our Spindle and Wheel online magazine published.  Previously it was just a few tutorials, but now there are articles and patterns and all sorts of stuff.  Allena made a few strategic posts on other blogs, and got the author of those blogs to add a link to our site, and as of 11:30 today, we have had over 1000 visitors and 40 new members sign up!!!!!

We’re so thrilled we’re just constantly refreshing the page to watch the visitor count go up. :)

We got up this morning to five horses (not ours) wandering around our yard.  We got them fenced up in one of our pastures.  One of them has a brand, and that makes it traceable, so probably not a good idea to buy that one.  haha

Actually, they most likely came from a neighbor down the road.  We went down there this morning to tell them, and there were five more horses standing around in the road.  Nobody was home, so we left a note.  If we don’t hear from them in a day or two, does that mean I can keep them?

I’m a geek, and as such I occasionally read Slashdot.  Today I followed this link to an article about a bill to outlaw genetic discrimination (like by insurance companies).

So, I’m reading the article, when all of a sudden, this big picture of some stupid looking dude slides out of the top of the screen and covers what I’m reading.  My immediate thought is WHAT THE F…cough, er, um…HECK!  The goofy guy disappears back into the top of the screen, only to slide out on the left side and cover what I’m reading AGAIN!  This is so much worse than a pop-up that I can’t even describe my irritation.  It wasn’t triggered by anything – I didn’t hover over the actual ad on the right side of the screen, or click or anything.  This goofball just appears out of nowhere.  I was so disgusted that I didn’t even finish the article.

You know the worst part?  I’m guessing marketing people will really LOVE this and we’ll start seeing this crap EVERYWHERE.

Ok, rant done.  You may now return to your normal lives.

I have these rubber-soled moccasins – there sort of my indoor/outdoor house shoes.  I wore them outside last night, and stepped in something so I left them out on the deck when I came in.  This morning I slipped them on and felt something in one of them.  I took it off and shook it out and there was a DEAD FROG in my shoe!!!  YUCK!  If a cat loves you, they’ll bring you “trophies”, but I sure wish they’d just leave them by the door, and not in my shoe.