31 May 2010
A Break in the Weather

Right now it's 66°F outside - quite a difference from earlier today, when it hit 93°F. In fact this was the third day in a row of over 90° temps - very unusual for May in Indiana. Those kinds of temperatures, coupled with our [in]famous humidity (today it was only about 65% relative) always produce storms, and today was no exception. After the rains, the cooling sweeps in - hence our very conformable current temperature.

I did get a bit of new fence stretched (although not finally set) and Lorraine got most of the back yard mowed. The new fencing arrangement, with a double gate on the front pasture, will allow more of our fields to be cut for hay, and that's a Good Thing™. I'll finish it up tomorrow evening after work.

21:37 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

30 May 2010
Finished Shearing Sheep for 2010

Not as early as I'd have liked, but considering the cause of the delay, I'll deal with it.

All that remains to be shorn is the llama, Bill. He's always fun, but we'll manage.

20:04 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

29 May 2010
Wild Thing

I've mentioned my Blackie ewes, Mild Thing and her sister Wild Thing, before. But I've not talked about their shearing. But seeing as how I'm still recovering from shearing Wild Thing today, this is as good a time as any.

These two are out of a flock I originally purchased in Wisconsin several years ago. Wild Thing was known as "Pretty Girl" when she was younger, and she was a beautiful lamb. Mild Thing was unremarkable and unnamed. The two sisters stuck together like glue, which is fairly unusual in sheep. By the time they were a year old and had their first lambs, they were virtually identical in look and personality. And after several generations of lambs of their own, that personality was becoming distinctively nutty. A name change was in order. They became The Stupid Sisters.

Now, they weren't really stupid. Most sheep, despite their reputation, aren't. They just think different. And these two think real different.

Skittish doesn't really describe it, although skittishness is certainly a component. They're not aggressive in the sense of going out of their way to attack you, but they can surely feel their Wheaties and show some serious battle moxy in an attempt to escape or evade a perceived predator. And in their case, the shepherd is a perceived predator.

Shearing time is always fun with these two. We managed to do it over two weekends this year for the first time, as these two are really that inseparable. Last year they were sheared by Stuart, and he swore he never wanted to do them again. The year before that, Wild Thing ran us ragged while Mild Thing watched from a holding stall. When it came her turn, she stood perfectly. I even got her belly wool in the traditional way, turning her on her butt. I did have a lead and halter on her, just in case, but never used it until I went to lead her back to the paddock when we were finished. She bolted, literally knocking me off my feet and dragging me out of the barn! I should have been ready, because it wasn't the first time one of these two had pulled that trick. But she'd been so good, and so sweet while I sheared her that I'd forgotten. That's where their current names originated: I remarked that "This one should be Mild Thing, 'cause her sister must be Wild Thing!"

In 2007, our granddaughter Elizabeth had watched us shear these two and had called it "Grandpa's Sheep Rodeo". Indeed. But Grandpa won that year too, just like I did last year and this year, and every year so far.

Their fleece isn't anything special - Blackies have a double coat and a very coarse outer that has a tendency to felt. It is good for carpets and mattress stuffing, but that's about it. I've seen a very nice rug that was woven out of Wild Things fleece from 2007, and it was very nice indeed. But I probably wouldn't keep them around just for that - they really are the most cantankerous and hard to handle sheep in the flock.

I put up with them because they throw fine, fine lambs with apparently none of their psycho personality, and they are simply excellent mothers. I've heard it said that the first thing a lamb thinks about when it's born is how to die. Good mothering instincts are worth their weight in gold in sheep, and Wild/Mild Thing both have superb mothering natures. We've never lost a lamb out of either except 2008, when Mild Thing late term miscarried. I've never seen a sheep heartbroken before, but Mild thing was literally pining for her lost lamb for a couple of weeks, and had to be chased away from continually hanging out in the spot where she lost her.

These two, warts and all, are the core of the breeding program we've put together over the past few years. You know, the one I've not mentioned here before. But you'll be hearing about it as it comes to fruition. Suffice it to say that things are going along just fine, just fine indeed.

22:25 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

28 May 2010
The Fight to Save Small-Scale Slaughterhouses

It seems as though yet another attempt to destroy small farms is underway ...

This should be the slowest time of the year for butchering, but T&E Meats is booked months in advance, like the other small meat processing plants in my area. We're all working at almost full capacity to bring locally grown, pasture-raised, and humanely slaughtered quality meats to market. The local food movement and the bad economy have motivated people to return to their roots, but the infrastructure to support such a movement is threatened with extinction, and if we don't act now there's a chance the USDA will seal the deal.

(link) [The Atlantic]

via Overlawyered

21:35 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

27 May 2010
Mathematical Logic Finds Unexpected Application on Wall Street

This kind of math is way out of my league, but I have noticed a decided uptick in job postings for very high level math programmers in a Unix environment, all based in Manhattan for "major Wall Street firms". Perhaps they're looking for an implementation team for this insanity - who knows?

The one thing this proves beyond a doubt is that stock exchanges have moved out of their traditional role as markets for companies to raise capital and morphed into casinos for very sophisticated high rollers, most of whom have armies of math and computer scientists to back their bets.

Is it any wonder the economy is slowly tanking?

In an unexpected development for the depressed market for mathematical logicians, Wall Street has begun quietly and aggressively recruiting proof theorists and recursion theorists for their expertise in applying ordinal notations and ordinal collapsing functions to high-frequency algorithmic trading. An ordinal notation system is used to name each ordinal in a certain initial subsequence of the countable ordinals; such systems have recently been applied by elite trading operations to the parameterization of families of trading strategies of breathtaking sophistication. Ordinal notation high-frequency trading algorithms, also called ordinal arbitrage systems, pit their strategies against similar algorithmic opponents on electronic exchanges for a few fleeting seconds, during which thousands of trades are executed, including exploratory trades that test the strategies of opposing human and machine traders.

(link) [Christian Marks]

17:06 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

26 May 2010
Weird Weather

It got warm early this year - we had several 70°+ days in March. The, earlier this month it cooled off. And rained. And rained some more. It was like April had come a month late. The last few days, however, have been more like August. Today's high reached nearly 90°F ... and the rest of this week is supposed to be more of the same.

We did get a popup thunderstorm tonight - this year has also been remarkably storm free so far (knock on wood). Global warming? Who knows - but I've lived here most of my life, and I can honestly say that the past year has seen some of the oddest weather patterns for Indiana I've ever seen.

22:13 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

25 May 2010
How to Create the Illusion of Low Taxes

No smoke or mirrors required - just some fun with math, and choosing what to call a tax.

To the surprise of opponents of big government, the U.S Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) estimates that taxes at all levels of government take only 9.2 percent of our income, the lowest rate since Harry Truman was president. USA Today and various news-media personalities, like Chris Matthews of MSNBC, have used this statistic to hammer those who complain about President Obama’s profligate fiscal policies.

(link) [The Freeman]

20:56 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

More homeowners choose to default on loans

I am so sick of hearing about "moral hazard" from people walking out on their underwater mortgages. All contracts have penalties written into them in case they're broken - mortgages are no different. If you're willing to accept the penalty, then the contract is breakable. Strategic defaults are not a menace:

The Mortgage Bankers Association, for example, strategically defaulted on the $70 million mortgage for its Washington, D.C. office building. Morgan Stanley did the same on a $1.5 billion mortgage on five buildings in San Francisco, despite raking in record profits last year. Neither was criticized for being immoral. Apparently, what’s good for Morgan Stanley or the Mortgage Bankers Association is good for America. Only the little guy must take his lumps for the common good.

I'm starting to seriously wonder if the housing market wasn't tanked intentionally by the large investment banks, hoping to scoop up deals from the resulting wave of foreclosures and defaults. Conspiracy theory? Maybe. But I'm not so sure anymore... the financial system has become a predator, and we're lunch.

"Strategic defaults" are on the rise as more borrowers who are underwater on their home loans decide it's not worth it to stay current on their payments each month. That trend could have repercussions for the housing market, and for borrowers, in the future.

(link) [Marketwatch]

18:03 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

24 May 2010
The Appraisal Debacle: How Not to Regulate

This was a part of the problem we faced recently, and overcame it only with lots of work and more than a little luck. It sure would've helped if the rules hadn't been changed in the middle of the game, so to speak.

Enacting rules to curb abuses arising during a housing bubble, which don't take effect until the succeeding financial crisis, can easily do more harm than good.

(link) [Yahoo! Personal Finance]

21:20 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

A Celebration of Duct Tape

Nothing wrong with duct tape - most useful stuff on the planet. Even when it comes to analogies: I've been known to wear the moniker of duct tape programmer with a measure of pride.

If the DIY community had a universal symbol, it most certainly would be a roll of duct tape. Inexpensive, abundant, strong, and ready to stick to nearly anything, this versatile DIY companion is a must in your DIY toolkit.

(link) [LifeHacker]

21:08 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

23 May 2010
From Dung to Coffee Brew With No Aftertaste

Despite my java addiction, here's one cuppa Joe I'll pass by without a second thought - aftertaste be damned...

Costing hundreds of dollars a pound, these beans are found in the droppings of the civet, a nocturnal, furry, long-tailed catlike animal that prowls Southeast Asia’s coffee-growing lands for the tastiest, ripest coffee cherries. The civet eventually excretes the hard, indigestible innards of the fruit — essentially, incipient coffee beans — though only after they have been fermented in the animal’s stomach acids and enzymes to produce a brew described as smooth, chocolaty and devoid of any bitter aftertaste.

(link) [New York Times]

20:56 /Humor | 1 comment | permanent link

Catching Up

Four more sheared this weekend, and a bunch of stuff planted. More to do on both counts, but we are catching up...

20:52 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

22 May 2010
Organic beef from a feedlot?

"USDA Certified Organic" is bureau-speak - which means exactly what the issuing bureau says it means, and that's generally not whatever you (or any rational individual) thinks it means...

So if you buy pricey organic beef, it comes from cattle that spent their lives on pasture, rather than crowding into a feedlot, right? Not necessarily.

(link) [Chicago Tribune]

13:09 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

The Crisis and It's Resolution

Blogging has been light of late, in case you haven't noticed. Two weeks light, plus one day - longer than I've ever gone since starting this thing without a new post. There's a reason for this.

You may recall some of the financial troubles that have beset us over the past few years. Due to these, last September we started the process of attempting to get a mortgage modification with a local agency in Lafayette. A complete and utter waste of time - they did nothing other than fill out forms and tell us to "be patient". We later went direct to the "Hope for Homeowners" line - getting in response a "debt management plan" that would've have saved us approximately $25 per month from a very rude "councilor, and a warning to "be patient". Further investigations along the governmental line proved equally futile.

We tried adding to income - we rented some pasture space last summer to some folks training herding dogs. That turned out to be a complete disaster - we made a little bit, but it sure wasn't worth the hassles we had with unexpected parties, gates left open and constant confusion and interruption. Egg and fleece income did remain steady though - that and the petting zoo really deserve most of the credit for keeping us going last year.

Things were falling further and further behind - we never got to the "30 days late" marker on the mortgage, but we were down by 14 days on it, and eating a lot of canned tuna. We had canceled our cell phone in October when the contract ran out - we were running out of things to cut. By January of this year, things were grim indeed.

About the only silver lining in the dark cloud of a 10% mortgage is the tax refund - all that interest is deductible, and consequently we get a rather hefty refund check. This year we used it to pay off Lorraine's car - eliminating a car payment. Then we took a spiritual tack - on Disting (February 2nd, aka Groundhog Day, Candlemas, and lots of other names) we did a landnama - both of us, walking the entire circumference of the property carrying fire and the Hammer, claimed the land in our names and asked Thor to ward our stead.

Three days later, we got our first surprise. And they haven't stopped.

When March rolled around, we got a notice from the bank holding our mortgage that they'd over calculated the amount needed for escrow - this reduced our mortgage payment by nearly $40. The snow melted and warm weather rolled in, reducing our gas usage (and our bill) considerably. Not having a car payment was surely helping as well - for the first time we began to see some light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, and were pretty sure it wasn't an oncoming freight train. Additionally, we discovered that too much state income tax was being withheld - that added another $20 per paycheck to the take home.

Then an ominous notice from my employer on April 5th - a company wide meeting, mandatory attendance, had been scheduled for April 12th. We all knew sales were nominally down, and we all feared the worst. Never mind that the 12th was a Monday, and that almost all companies lay off or present bad news on Fridays. Never mind that no other signs of impending doom were present - everybody assumed that bad news was coming.

Surprise! The company had done well enough over the preceding year to feel confident in restoring 5% of our pay cut. Not only that, but they were issuing all employees a check for the 10% they withheld over the course of the past year as a "bonus"! A tax benefit somewhere, I'm sure, but unbelievable nonetheless!

The only thing that had prevented us attempting to refinance the house at a lower rate had been a lack of cash to pay for the refi and necessary fix ups. We were scared to death that the appraisal would show a loss of equity - given the margins we were working on, this would kill the deal. So the challenge was to use the windfall to start the process and improve the property enough to get a better value on the appraisal - it had to come in at least $200k (which was it's apprised value in 2005, and $20k more than it's supposed appraised value in 2007 - thanks to the bank screwing me on th refi to get my ex off the note). Could we do it?

Lorraine scrubbed - I scrubbed. We had the trim painted, the garage painted and the sofets and fascias repaired. We fixed dings in walls and ceilings - all the little things that dwellings accrue over the years by simple use but which we had not maintained due to lack of funds. The yard was trimmed and damage from last years repeated snow plowings were fixed on the driveway. We even cleaned out the basement and attics - we did everything we could think of to make the house look as presentable as possible.

It worked. The appraisal came in over what we needed, essentially showing no loss of value despite the horrid housing market. Friday last, I got a new mortgage at 5.675% - not the best rate available, but given the circumstances more than acceptable. It dropped our monthly mortgage payment from it's all time high by nearly $700. We already have money in savings for the first time in almost three years. Living here is affordable again.

So that explains the lack of posts - too busy to write, think or do anything. We've almost recovered - the garden has been tilled and will be planted tomorrow, and we only have seven sheep left to shear. We'd hoped to have both those tasks done by now, but, ya know, the wait was worth it, all things considered.

We're gonna be here for a long time.

12:28 /Home | 2 comments | permanent link

07 May 2010
A Disgusting Little Email Making the Rounds on Wall Street

Class warfare, anyone?

This hideous little piece of class warfare is supposedly making the rounds on Wall Street today. Its Us-Vs-Them theme is sickening. The lobbies of JPMorgan and several other banks were flooded with protesters downtown yesterday, I'm guessing that this was written by a frustrated Wall Streeter in response to the populist uprising.

(link) [The Reformed Broker]

21:44 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link