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!