Intruder Killed With Own Gun

Posted on Friday, September 5, 2008 at 9:20 AM

Although I applaude these people's tenacity and grit to fight back, I have to wonder if they had a gun in their home.  It would have been much easier to kill an intruder with your gun than to wrestle his from him.  However, the husband could have been reacting in a need to get to the intruder before he fired and didn't think about going for his gun.

Regardless, you've got to love it when people don't just let themselves be vicitmized and fight back.

FOX NEWS

BLUE MOUND, Texas —  When two gunmen smashed through the glass front door of her suburban Fort Worth home, Kellie Hoehn didn't think twice.

The 34-year-old mother of two grabbed a shotgun that had been pointed at her face early Wednesday, starting a struggle that ended with one intruder killed with his own weapon and another in the hospital.

"I wasn't going to let them get to my babies," she said, recalling the moment when she pushed up the muzzle of the shotgun, pointing it away from her children's rooms.

Although the intruders told her to keep quiet, she screamed for her husband. She told her 12-year-old son, who was awakened by the sound of the shattering glass front door, to get his 5-year-old sister and hide.

"It was like a horror movie," her husband, 32-year-old Keith Hoehn, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I thought I was a dead man. We're fighting for our lives."

With Kellie Hoehn clinging to the weapon's muzzle, her husband tackled the man who held the shotgun. She knocked the intruder in the head with a jar candle, giving her husband a chance to wrest the shotgun.

By then the tussle had spilled out onto the front lawn. Keith Hoehn shot one of the men who had a pistol, police said. Wounded, that man ran away.

Then the intruder who initially had the shotgun charged Keith Hoehn.

Kellie Hoehn told The Dallas Morning News that she screamed at her husband, "Shoot him, shoot him, shoot him."

Her husband fired the shotgun and the man fell to the ground. Then the shot man lunged a second time.

"Well, I shot him again, and I guess that was it," Keith Hoehn said.

Dakota Scott Benoit, 20, of Richland Hills, was pronounced dead at a hospital. John Garland Pierson, 25, of Haltom City, was in critical condition and in police custody at the hospital.

"I am not happy that someone is dead," Kellie Hoehn said. "But I am glad that my family is alive."

Police said Pierson was shot in the left arm and the bullet pierced his diaphragm and other organs but his condition was improving. He will face charges of burglary of habitation with intent to commit another felony, police said.

Investigators say the couple were just defending their family and probably won't be charged.

Blood for Guns

Posted on Thursday, September 4, 2008 at 9:05 AM

Lately I've been thinking a lot about 3-4 different guns I'd love to own one day, but knowing my frugality and practicality, I had a feeling they may never see fruition.  Our current arsenal is very practical.  DW has a small .380 pistol for her concealed carry, I have a small 9mm for mine, and we have a large .40 cal semi-auto I bought in college for "home defense" (i.e. - the first gun I go for if someone breaks in).  We also have a 20 gauge shotgun my dad bought me in high school, but that one was free, so still counts as practical.

But there are still some guns out there I need must have want that I can't bring myself to buy.  It's not the money.  We have that.  It's that pesky practical side that has kept me from having many of the things I've needed wanted, but fortunately has also kept me out of debt.

Then I had a brillant idea my wife had a brillant idea.  I used to sell plasma in college for a little extra spending money.  It was so easy!  You lay there for an hour watching TV while they extract the plasma, and you get paid $25-30 for it!  Plus it got me over any fear of needles.  I don't even get the least bit tense when I get a shot anymore.  Why not sell plasma again?  Just take one or two of my lunch breaks every week and earn some cash.  With a little patience, I could have the money for my guns, and not have to feel guilty about taking from the family budget.

Unfortunately, I learned the plasma center here in my town closed years ago.  PLAN FOILED!!!  Wait.  I also learned that a new plasma center is coming here.  The bad news:  it won't open for another year.  So, with much more patience than I had originally planned on, I will wait and bide my time looking at gun magazines and drooling.

I did have to concede some of my blood money to DW for her hobbies.  Even though I'm the one bleeding for it, she can't donate because she's always pregnant or breastfeeding.  It's a small price to pay to see her enjoy her hobbies without feeling guilty for spending the money.

My Kind of VP

Posted on Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at 8:55 AM

I may not vote for McCain, but you've got to love a VP-candidate like this!  A lifetime member of the NRA and avid hunter!?!  Not afraid to handle an automatic weapon!?!  If terrorists ever attack the White House I could just see her out there with the Secret Service laying down suppressive fire as they evacuate the President.  This picture was taken on a visit to Kuwait.  She got a chance to shoot a variety of weapons at the local range and an impressed Army instructor was heard saying:  "You’re pretty much hitting it dead centre.”  I wouldn't mind a VP like that.

Butchering Day

Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 11:45 AM

Today was butchering day and DW and I woke up at 6 a.m. to start loading animals.  We were hoping to get done and have milked the cow before breakfast.  That didn't work out so well.  Hence, there will be no pictures of butchering day.  I was way too busy to think about pictures.

I had already backed the livestock trailer up to the pig pen so we could just open the gate this morning.  The idea was to lure the pigs into the trailer with food and shut them in.  It worked great last year with our other pig.  Well, we got one pig in no problem.  Ham, our Berkshire pig, is very friendly and followed us right in.  Bacon, our Hampshire, is more skiddish.  She wanted nothing to do with the trailer.  She would follow the food right up to it, and refuse to go in.

Obligatory head scratch....

Well, now what?  We tried to corner her a few times so we could get a rope on her.  I'm sure you can figure out how well that worked.  Pigs are surpisingly nimble and fast when they're freaked out.  There's a reason it's so entertaining to watch kids try to catch a pig at the rodeo...YOU CAN'T CATCH THEM!  Ok, so what now?  By this time it was 7:30 and the kids were up.  DW went in the house to get breakfast ready while I tried in vain to throw a loop around her neck for 45 minutes.  You can't properly rope a pig unless you're behind it.  She wouldn't ever let me get behind her because she wanted to keep an eye on me.  Ok, so what now?  We contemplated just taking her in later, but it's a 25 mile trip to the butcher, one way.  That's a lot of gas.  We tried one more time with food.  DW went in and got a bucket full of watermelon rinds, egg shells, and milk.  Pigs love milk, so it was worth a try.  I regained her trust by letting her eat a little of it, then I lured her towards the trailer.  She still refused to go in, so I threw some food on the ground right next to it.  Lucklily there was enough space between the trailer and gate for me to close it while she was preoccupied.  Then she was trapped, and had no choice but to go into the trailer. 

By this time it was 8:40.  The butcher said we had to have the animals there by 10:00 to have them processed that day.  I drove the trailer around to the cow pen and loaded Meatloaf, our Jersey steer.  Luckily, he went in the trailer much easier.  I ran inside to suck down some breakfast, and made it to the butcher by 9:50.  Whew!

These pigs are a month younger than our pig last year, so they're smaller.  That's good though, because our friends and family didn't want to buy as much pork as we had estimated, so it should work out fine.  We may not need to buy another pig next spring.  We'll see.

It was funny to see how much smaller Meatloaf was compared to some of the beef steers that were already at the butcher's.  They were probably close to the same age, but dairy steers just don't grow as fast or as big.  Plus, he was getting very little grain.  Next year's calf will probably be bigger because it is an Angus/Jersey cross.

So in a few days we'll have all the beef and most of the pork.  In 4-6 weeks we'll have the cured hams.

THIS YEAR'S LESSON LEARNED:  I read another person's blog that their pig pen has a smaller pen in it next to the door that includes their feeder.  The pigs get used to going in this everyday to eat, so the day before you take them in, close the gate at feeding time and they're trapped in the small pen.  This makes it much easier to load them into the trailer if they turn out to be reluctant.  Sometime before we get our next pig, I will build one of these.  It sure would have come in handy today, but all's well that ends well.

Plucker's Maiden Voyage

Posted on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 2:17 PM

Saturday was our scheduled poultry processing day.  We had 6 cockrels and 3 turkeys to process, and it was time to see what my new plucker could do.

Since I haven't included pictures of the completed plucker yet, here are some.

Here's a picture of "Death Row".  The 6 cockrels and the turkeys waiting for their turn in the chicken tractor.

The chickens were first.

The plucker worked well on them.  One thing that was mentioned in the instruction manual was that using the Whizbang on just one chicken wouldn't give you a very good pluck, but ours did well on just one.  I do have to cut the feet off of our birds before they go in the plucker because they'll get jammed into the feather discharge gap.  Since DW does that anyway before she bags them, it's no big deal to do it before they go in the plucker.  Other than that it worked like a charm.  The cockrels weighed in from 2.8 to 3.8 lbs dressed.

Here's the first turkey that was done.  I was glad to see that my turkeys fit into my chicken scalder with no problem.  I was worried they'd be too big.  The plucker worked great on them as well.  It plucked probably 95% of the feathers and I had to hand pluck the other 5%, which still saved me bundles of time and effort.  The plucker gets a little bogged down with the turkeys if they get a leg or wing wedged between the tub's fingers and the plate's.  That's really not a problem.  I just readjust the bird and fire it up again.  The motor gets pretty hot when it gets bogged down, but if I stop it as soon as I see it slowing down and readjust the bird right away, it's not a problem.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with this plucker.  It comes in most handy with the turkeys as plucking them the traditional way would be just tedious.  We decided not to keep any of the black turkeys whole for Thanksgiving.  Their black plummage doesn't make as attractive a carcass.  We don't care, but since we're taking this year's Thanksgiving turkey home for our whole family, we wanted it to look nicer.  We'll leave one of the white ones whole when we process them.  DW, is going to cut up the rest to make more room in the freezer.

We had a lot of rain on and off Saturday, Sunday, and today... almost 2 inches worth.  Our grass is greening up nicely and the cows are grazing a lot again.

Tomorrow is butchering day.  We'll be taking the pigs and steer in for processing.  I'll post pictures of that soon.

Spyware and Chicken Pluckers

Posted on Friday, August 15, 2008 at 10:09 AM

I finished my tub-style chicken plucker and have been unable to post about it because of some stupid spyware program that is on our computer.  I'm posting this from work.  If you ever see anything called "Winreanimator" come up on your computer telling you you have viruses and you need to by Winreanimator to clear it, DON"T DO IT!  It's a total scam. 

Anyway, I'm getting some Norton Anti-Virus updates to clear it, so we should be back up soon.

Hopefully I'll have pictures of the chicken plucker up.  We will be christening it on Saturday with the processing of three turkeys and 5 cockrels.  I'll be sure to post about that and how the plucker performed.

I'm still amazed that the building process turned out so well.  I honestly didn't expect everything to work right the first time I flipped the switch, but it works beautifully.  It's a testament to the instruction book that tells you how to build it.  It is very well written and clear. 

I'm already getting requests to use it from friends.

Playing Chess

Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at 8:47 AM

When we were first married, the wife and I used to play chess a lot.  I had a very nice marble chess board I bought in Mexico and I wanted to learn how to play.  At first I used to whoop her at the game, but right around the time our first son was born, she started getting good and actually winning games.  That's when we had to put the chess board away.  Not because she was getting good, but because our son started standing up and knocking chess pieces off the board.

So there it sat under some cabinet in a box for the next 5 years.  The other day I came home and it was set up on the kitchen counter.  DW had been doing some cleaning and organizing and had found it.  Now we have a nice big kitchen counter to play on that the littles can't reach.  I was officially challenged, and the games began.  For the last two weeks we've been playing constantly.  As soon as one game is finished, we start another.  It can take a while to finish a game.  We make moves here and there as we're making our way through the kitchen.  DW has to remind me constantly (much to her annoyance) that it is my turn.  She said I should just assume anytime I walk into the kitchen that it's my turn to move.  It gets her frustrated that I'm at work all day, unable to move so she can continue the game.  She's contemplated taking a picture of the board and making me e-mail her back my move, but she has yet to do it.

I have to admit that the girl is quite good.  I've only won 1 of 4 games.  I've come to realize that she is much better at developing strategies and tactics.  She is able to slow herself down and really think through her moves.  I tend to get impatient and move too quickly without thinking it through all the way.  It's not easy for me to slow my brain down and plan a strategy, so this is good for me.

The only reason I beat her the last time is because she got a little cocky and tried a more aggressive and quick strategy.  Chess really is a slow, thinking game.  If you try to rush it you'll make mistakes that can cost you the game. 

We have a running score sheet tallying how many games each of us has won, and we plan on always having a game going.  It's just another fun thing to do as husband and wife, and although I'm losing quite a bit to her, I enjoy it.

Plucker Progress 2

Posted on Sunday, August 10, 2008 at 6:19 PM

This doesn't look like a lot of progress, but trust me, it is.  I've been working on this plucker almost every night, and the last few steps have been tedious and time consuming.  But they're over.  Now to move forward.

This is the plucker plate that will spin inside the pastice barrel and do most of the picking.  I had to cut it to size with my jigsaw and then drill seventy-two 3/4 inch holes.  That was the tedious part.  I went through a whole 3/4 drill bit and had to buy another one before I got them all drilled (apparently no one in this town sharpens dull drill bits).  Then I painted it with Rustoleum to ward off rust.

Then I had to attach the featherplate shaft and start pulling the rubber fingers into all the holes.  That takes some muscles and I'm still not done.

 Lastly I drilled out the holes for all the fingers that are supposed to go into the barrel (50) and pulled the fingers through them.  I couldn't load a picture of them.  I'm not sure why.

Only a little bit left!

Gun Posters

Posted on Friday, August 8, 2008 at 1:36 PM

I found a website with lots of these posters and thought I'd share my favorites.  Enjoy.

Plucker Progress 1

Posted on Sunday, August 3, 2008 at 9:52 AM

I dove into building my plucker this Saturday and made decent progress.

This is the plucker barrel I cut out to size with my jigsaw.

The frame the entire assembly will be attached to.

All the nuts and bolts for the plucker laid out in pretty rows.  I'm not actually OCD like this.  I had to sort them to make sure I had everything.  DW is OCD (not really) and was drawn to my work bench when she saw all the pretty organization.  Ohhh....

This is the used motor I bought from a local shop.  The plans call for a 3/4 hp motor.  This one is 1.5 hp.  It was the only one they had in stock, and was a REALLY good price.  I figure more horsepower can't be bad.

This is the flanged shaft and 16" pulley I purchased online.  A fabricator in town wanted twice the price I paid online to fabricate one.  Again, I got a good deal.  Underneath the pulley and shaft you can see the plucker plate that will actually spin inside the barrel.  This is an expensive part of the plucker, but luckily my FIL had this steel plate sitting around, and donated it to the project.  His "pack-rat" tendencies have saved me a lot of money of the years.

That's it for now.

Pics from Around the Farm

Posted on Sunday, July 27, 2008 at 9:31 AM

DW took some good pictures while she was out feeding the animals the other day, so I thought I'd share.  These were taken with our new digital camera as our old one bit the dust. 

Our Jersey steer, Meatloaf.  DW refuses to work with him anymore as he has gotten too aggressive with her.  It's not that he's dangerous, he just doesn't respect her and therefore it is impossible for her to move him.  He's taken to trying to butt her whenever she's around.  So, I put him up at night.  He's beautiful, but we will not be sad to see him off to the butcher in a couple of months.

Our beautiful Jersey milk cow, Pumpkin, taking her evening meal.  She's the sweetest cow we've ever worked with.  She's also the prettiest.

These are some chicks we just hatched for a friend who wants to increase her flock size.

This is Silver, DW's new favorite rooster.  She has been handling him a lot and loving on him whenever she can, hoping he won't be aggressive like our last two roosters were.

Our white turkeys, still growing fine.  We had to pin them up as they kept ranging into our neighbor's yard and fields.  Maybe they're big enough now to not be able to fit through the fence.

One of our younger Buff Orpingtons.  Isn't he gorgeous?  This one's probably slated for the frying pan.

Momma chicken with her little chick.

One of three broad-breasted bronze turkeys.  These will be processed in about a month or so.

Our two dirty pigs, Ham and Bacon.  These girls will be taken to the butcher the same time as Meatloaf is.

And now some garden pics.

Winter Squash

Building My Own Chicken Plucker

Posted on Friday, July 25, 2008 at 7:50 AM

For Christmas DW bought me a book called "Anyone Can Build A Tub-Style Mechanical Chicken Plucker".  Catchy title, right?  What is a tub-style mechanical chicken plucker?  Here's a picture of one. 

It is a plastic tub with a bottom plate that spins.  You put the chickens in and the rubber fingers on the plate and sides of the tub strip the feathers right off.  Why not buy one?  Well, this particular model will run you about $2000!  Whoa.  I don't like handplucking chickens, but two grand?  You can save a substantial portion by building your own.

My FIL actually built me a chicken plucker pictured here.  It works great and strips the feathers right off those birds.  I am extremely grateful for it and love it.  There are two slight draw backs.  One is that, even with gloves on, if one of those fingers hits your finger, it hurts.  Secondly, it takes about 4-5 minutes for me to pluck a chicken with it.  That beats the 45 minutes it takes me to handpluck a chicken.  However, I have a bad back, and after about 30-45 minutes of holding that chicken up to the spinning fingers my back starts hurting.

So what does a tub-style plucker offer me?  Speed.  The plucker I'm going to build can pluck 4 chickens at a time in 15 seconds.  That's 1200 percent faster than my other plucker!!!  I could pluck 50 chickens in 12 1/2 minutes vice 4 hours with the other.  Plus, since I don't have to hold the bird to pluck it, no back pain.  It's a beautiful thing.

Here's a picture of the Whizbang Chicken Plucker (that's the inventor's name for it), and one of the inventor himself. 

I was going to take my time building it, but we've got a batch of chickens and turkeys coming due for processing, and I really don't want to hold up a 30 lb turkey for 5 minutes at a time in order to pluck it.  I've gotten the green light from DW to put the new plucker on the fast track to completion.  It will still probably take me a month or so to build, but I can't wait to get started.

I'll post pictures as I make progress, without revealing exactly how to build the thing.  I don't want the inventor to be out any money because I gave away the plans.  He's a homesteader just like us, and his book is becoming more and more popular amongst my fellow weirdos.

Chloe's New Home

Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 8:30 AM

Here are a couple of pictures of Chloe at her new home in New Mexico.  I know what you're thinking.  Where in New Mexico is it that green?  They are lucky to have their farm in the Rio Grande Valley where the water from the river can be used for irrigation.  It's a beautiful homestead and I know Chloe is in "fresh grass heaven".

Here she is with her new herd.  The lady who purchased her owns a Hereford cow and calf, a Holstein/Jersey steer, a Mini-Jersey bull, a Jersey heifer, and now Chloe. I'm guessing Chloe and the heifer will be the family milk cows.  I'm glad we were able to sell to these people.  They are into sustainable farming like ourselves, and want to hand milk.  It's not easy to find a cow that's used to hand milking, so I'm glad we were able to provide one to them.  I think she'll be very happy there.

The bovine next to Chloe here is not a calf, it is a Mini-Jersey bull.  Never heard of a Mini-Jersey?  I have known about them for a while.  I don't know how they're miniturized, but it probably includes something like that shrinking ray from "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids".  The owner was hoping that this bull would be able to breed Chloe.  Hmmm.  I'm not seeing it.  Can bulls be trained to use step ladders?  Actually, the owner mentioned that a neigbor of her's has an Angus bull, so Chloe will probably get to be friends with him.

Doesn't it look in this picture that Chloe's giving him the "I don't think so pal", look?  Ha!  She is a big girl.

Farewell Chloe

Posted on Friday, July 18, 2008 at 8:45 AM

Well it's official.  Our first cow Chloe is on her way to sunny New Mexico as we speak.  Everything worked out to get her on the road yesterday, though I can't say it worked out smoothly.  DW has the grass stains and scraps to prove it.  I was hoping to get some pictures of her getting loaded, but you'll soon find out why that very quickly became a low priority.  Keep in mind, the following story was related to me by my wife, as I was at work.

The very patient and nice shipper had been waiting at our house all day (I'm sure he was being paid to be patient), eagarly anticipating a 2:30 arrival of the vet and a 3:00 departure for New Mexico.  At 2:15 my wife put Chloe in the stanchion and fed her a little grain to keep her happy.  The vet had to check the site of the TB injection to make sure it turned up negative.  At 2:30 the vet had yet to arrive and my oldest son was instructed to go give her an armful of hay to tide her over longer.  At 3:00, nary a sign of the vet was to be seen.  Obligitory head scratch....  I called them yesterday and set up a 2:30 farm call.  Is he running late?

DW places a call to the vet's office and is informed that the receptionist thought we were bringing the cow by the vet's office so they could look at her there.  O.K.?  I discussed that as a possiblility, but specifically said we needed the vet to come out here.  Whatever.  So, time to load up the cow.  Had my mother-in-law not been present this might have gone much worse, as no one would have been watching the kids.  DW saunters out to the barn, puts Chloe on the lead rope, and let's her out of the stanchion.  Needless to say, she was not thrilled about being the in the stanchion for the last 45 minutes.  Her threat radar is on as all of these events are quite unusual for her.  But she sees the bucket of grain my wife is holding and obediently follows.  Around the car port they go when Chloe spots fresh grass.  RUN, RUN, RUN, eat, eat, eat....while DW tries to use her 110lb frame to jump start a 1000 lb cow.  Finally she starts moving again.  They round the cars and suddenly the stock trailer and shipper come into view.  I'm convinced at this moment that an "Oh, no you don't!", in the correct combination of "moos" and snorts, went through her head.  She had not seen the shipper arrive last night, and did not like the look of this situation. 

RUN, RUN, RUN!  At this point Chloe's speed accelerates past DW's top speed, and DW eats dirt.  Not only this, but her stubborn nature refuses to allow her to let this cow get away.  There she goes, dragged across the yard like a panicked water skiier who refuses to let go of the rope when they fall.  Just at the moment DW decides to let go, Chloe gives it up and stops.  Wife regains composure, looks around embarassingly to see if anyone witnessed her moment of grace, and spots the MIL and all four kids staring wide-eyed at her through the front door glass.  Chloe gets her second wind.  RUN, RUN, RUN!  Luckily, she throttles back a little and DW is able to keep pace whilst holding the lead rope.  She heads for the barn...something familiar and safe.  DW can tell she's headed for the pasture, and refuses to be dragged around anymore.  She wisely throws the lead rope around a post and brings panicked cow to a halt.  Just as she's getting her wits about her, she notices with horror that the cow's halter is about to come off.  If she slips out of that thing we'd be lucky to catch her by dark. 

Keep in mind, this is a very good natured and loving cow.  But she knows somethin' ain't right, and she's in "wild animal" mode.  DW calmly tightens the halter while the MIL runs out to help, kids watching wide-eyed from the back porch.  The rest actually goes pretty smoothly.  With the MIL holding the grain as an incentive, and DW back on the lead rope, Chloe walks calmly to the trailer.  The predicted initial refusal to enter the trailer occurs.  She does, however, see the heifer calf she'll be sharing a stall with and becomes extremely curious.  She loves calves, and is probably ecstatic about having one of her own in March.  MIL lifts one front leg into the trailer and Chloe's love of grain and extreme love of cute calves takes over and she enters.

The fun does not end there, however.  Upon arrival at the vet and a thumbs up on her health is accomplished, the vet returns to the recesses of his office to do the paperwork.  Thirty minutes later DW is informed their fax machine is on the fritz.  Five minutes later she is informed that they are talking with New Mexico (rules about transporting cattle, getting permit number to transport,etc.) and it will be just a few more minutes.  "A few minutes" turns into 30 more.  DW at least gets to see "the bionic dog" while she's waiting.  A 16 year-old Boston Terrier is being seen.  This dog is literally on life support.  Blind and deaf, this poor animal has to be carried around because it can't walk (at least not well).  The vet is explaining to the owner how they are literally just piecing this dog back together.  Oh well.

Finally the health certificate is done, signed, and Chloe is on the road.  The poor shipper is 2 hours behind, and will likely not make it to Amarillo like he wished.  Oh well, again.  Chloe has a new home, and DW has some grass stains and a few scraps to remember her by.  We really did love her, and don't blame her for being freaked out. 

Hopefully we'll get some good pictures of her at her new home to post.

Sold! (...sort of)

Posted on Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 3:25 PM

As you may already know from my wife's blog, our cow Chloe is FINALLY pregnant.  After two tries at AI and one try with the bull, she finally got bred.  Two days before we even got the results in we had a nice lady from New Mexico calling to inquire about her.  As soon as she turned up pregnant the lady claimed her for her own.

We are hoping to get her shipped to NM tomorrow, but things are getting a little hairy.  The shipper who's coming to pick her up will be here Thursday at an unknown time.  The problem there is that the vet has to come by on Thursday at 2:30 to confirm that her TB test is negative.  She can't be shipped to NM without a negative TB test and current health certificate.  We're hoping everything falls in place nicely tomorrow for us to get her on the trailer and on the road.  I would hate for this lady to have to pay another shipper to come take her to NM.  I'd also hate for her to determine it's not worth the cost and cancel the purchase.  Fingers crossed.

I'm sure if the sale falls through we'll get her sold soon.  We've had several people ask about her.  We will miss old Chloe.  She was our first cow and the one we learned on.  She's really a sweet cow, and despite her slight "kicky-ness" in the stanchion, she was wonderful.  We wish we could have kept her.

Hopefully we'll get some good pictures of her departure and the new owner said she'd send a few of her trampsing around her new stomping grounds.

D.C. vs. Heller

Posted on Friday, July 11, 2008 at 12:03 AM

The Supreme Court recently ruled on the D.C. vs. Heller case.  Heller, a special policeman living in Washington D.C. challenged the handgun ban in the district.  He tried to register to keep a handgun in his home for self-defense, and was denied.  It is also illegal in D.C. to keep a long gun in the home unless it is disassembled, or secured with a trigger lock.  These laws have done little to limit crime seeing as how D.C. has among the highest murder rates in the country.

This ruling by the Supreme Court was HUGE!  It's the first time the Court has ever officially determined that the Second Amendment is an individual right and not tied to service in a militia.  Some people are skeptical about just how much this is really going to help reducing gun restrictions and ensuring gun rights.  They may be right, but it effectively ends the debate between the militia right vs. individual right camps.  What it doesn't do is say definitively how much power the states have to regulate guns within their own borders.  It addresses federal power only.  States are still free to restrict guns as much as they can get away with under their own constitutions.

I had a friend give me a copy of the majority opinion.  It was a long read, but an excellent one.  It beautifully lays out the historical arguement for an individual right to keep and bear arms, and shoots down Justice Stevens' dissenting opinion point by point.  Below are some points that I thought were outstanding:

1.  The right the keep and bear arms is a natural (God-given) right, not a privilige given by the Constitution.

"The very text of the Second Amendment implicitly recognizes the pre-existence of the right and declares only that it "shall not be infringed".  This is not a right granted by the Constitution.  Neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence."

2.  The whole reason the militia is mentioned in the Second Amendment is because citizens needed to use their natural right to bear arms to form militias that could oppose threats, even from their own government.  If the federal government disarmed the people, they could not form militias to oppose it.

"That history showed that the way tyrants had eliminated a militia consisting of all able-bodied men was not by banning the militia but simply by taking away the people's arms, enabling a select militia or standing army to suppress political opponents.  This is what occured in England that prompted codification of the right to have arms in the English Bill of Rights"

"The prefatory clause does not suggest that preserving the militia was the only reason Americans valued the ancient right.  Most undoubtedly thought it even more important for self-defense and hunting.  But the threat that the new Federal Government would destroy the citizens' militia by taking away their arms was the reason that right was codified in a written Constitution."

Self-defense was the central reason for the right's existence.  The fact that the militia is mentioned in the Second Amendment is only because the right of self-defense had little to do with the reason the amendment was written.

3.  In challenging the district's assertion that long guns are sufficient for home defense, and hence handguns can be banned, Justice Scalia writes:

"It is enough to note, as we have observed, that the American people have considered the handgun to be the quintessential self-defense weapon.  There are many reasons that a citizen may prefer a handgun for home defense.  It is easier to store in a location that is readily accessible in an emergency; it cannot easily be redirected or wrestled away by an attacker; it is easier to use for those without the upper body strength to lift and aim a long gun; it can be pointed at a burglar with one hand while the other dials the police.  Whatever the reason, handguns are the most popular weapon chosen by Americans for self-defense in the home and a complete prohibition of their use in invalid."

4.  Legislatures or judges cannot change the interpretation of a Constitutional amendment simply because they think it's original meaning no longer applies.  In this case, Justice Stevens (dissenting) proposed that since gun violence in America is a problem, and because the D.C. law is limited to an urban area, and because there were similar restrictions in the founding era (Scalia shoots down these supposed "similar restrictions" earlier) the "interest-balancing" inquiry results in the constitutionality of the handgun ban.  Here's Scalia's response:

"We know of no other enumerated constitutional right whose core protection has been subjected to a freestanding "interest-balancing" approach.  A constitutional guarantee subject to future judges' assessments of its usefulness is no constitutional guarantee at all.  Constitutional rights are enshrined with the scope they were understood to have when the people adopted them, whether or not future legislatures or (yes) even future judges think that scope too broad."

And then my favorite quote:

"Undoubtedly some think that the Second Amendment is outmoded in a society where our standing army is the pride of our Nation, where well-trained police forces provide personal security, and where gun violence is a serious problem.  That is perhaps debatable, but what is not debatable is that it is not the role of this Court to pronounce the Second Amendment extinct."

Amen.

Poor Young Girl

Posted on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 8:09 PM

Picture with me for a moment, if you will, a poor young girl living in a small, one room house in the middle of the woods.  The house has no electricity, running water, or bathroom.  The family routinely goes without fresh fruit, and must draw water by hand from a stream near their house to wash with and drink.  Cooking and heat can only be done by a woodburning stove.  This little girl owns but one pair of shoes, passed down to her from her older sister.  She does not wear shoes in the summer or spring because her family can not easily afford new ones.  In order for them to last as long as possible, she can only wear them in winter.  She owns only two dresses, one to work in and one nicer one (meaning one she wears less often) for church and special occasions.  They cannot afford store-bought clothes, so her mother must make them.  They can not afford to buy much cloth, so the dresses are only replaced when they are outgrown or thread bare.  Her father can not afford new boots so he works in old boots full of cracks and holes.  When she outgrows her shoes one winter, the family must cut open the sides of them so she can wear them until a new pair can be purchased.  She lives too far from any town to go to school.  She must be taught by her mother.  Although her mother was once a schoolteacher, they have only her old outdated school books with which to teach them.

This poor little girl didn't get much for Christmas this year.  The only thing in her stocking was one piece of peppermint candy and a pair of mittens her mother made.  There were no toys, save a simple rag doll her mother made her from pieces of scrap cloth she had left over from sewing.  Prior to receving this rag doll, she had no doll of her own and had to wrap a corn cob up in a left over cloth to pretend it was her baby.  She had no swingset, or even a tea set.  She and her sister would sit in their attic and use pumpkins from the garden as tables and chairs.  Their one prized possession was a chipped china tea cup with the handle broken off that they must share together.  There is no T.V. or radio.  To pass the long, cold winter months, she and her sister must either play quietly with their crude toys, or look at the only two books the family owns:  the Holy Bible, and a book on animals their father was passed from his father.  Evenings are spent sewing, talking, and listening to their father play the fiddle, if he's not to tired from the days farming.

Do you feel sorry for this girl?  Would you hate to grow up as poor as that?  Would it surprise you to know that this little girl is among the happiest and most content I've read about?

If you ever want to feel thankful for what you have and reminded of how blessed we are, I highly recommend reading the "Little House On The Prairie" series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  They are a semi-autobiographical portrayal of what life was like for her growing up in the late 1800s.  The books are not depressing, and do not give you even the slightest inkling that Laura was an unhappy girl.  In fact, they are a beautiful look back at how simple life once was, and how content people can be with so much less. 

I love reading these books to my children.  They remind us of how blessed we are to have what we have, but are also a stark reality-check of how spoiled we have become in this country.  We have no idea what true poverty is, and how content people can be  having next to nothing.  Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful that we have the standard of living we have in our country.  The problem is that Americans think hard times are paying $4.00 per gallon for gas, having to shop at Wal-mart instead of the mall, and not being able to go out to eat every weekend. 

What if your father worked his fingers to bleeding planting a wheat crop meant to give you enough money for food for the winter?  What if that wheat crop was eaten by locusts and your father had to leave for 4 months and walk (that's right, walk!) 200 miles to find work enough to feed you?  What if your whole family nearly died of malaria from mosquitoes and your older sister was blinded for life by scarlet fever?  What if you had to quit school at age 13 to go to work as a school teacher on the freezing plains of South Dakota to send that same sister to a school for the blind?  We don't know what hard times are.

These books are really enjoyable and show you just how much pleasure can be had from the simple things in life.  They may highlight just how spoiled we are here in America, but they also make us thankful for what we have.  They help me keep perspective on just how little we could live on if we had to, and what the most important things in life are:  God, family, and faith. 

Success!

Posted on Tuesday, July 1, 2008 at 7:49 AM

Not in breeding Chloe.  Just in drawing blood from her.  We were only 1 for 4 before today, and even on the one successful try we barely got enough to send in for testing.  This time was wonderful.  I only had 10 minutes to get it done this morning before I had to go to work, and I was not optomistic. 

First off, I thought I was going to have to walk around in the dark pasture trying to find Chloe, and once I did, I'd have to herd her in while trying to herd Pumpkin out of the barn.  Nope!  There was Chloe standing right there in the barn, and Pumpkin is out in the pasture.  I just closed the gate so she couldn't escape.  Then I tried enticing her with some grain in the stanchion.  She was tentative, to say the least.  You could see the conflict in her.  Her addiction to grain vs. knowing something unpleasant was going to happen if she stuck her head in that stanchion.  For the last 9 months, everytime she's been put in the stanchion she's either been AI'd, palpated, or had a needle stuck in her tail.

Eventually the grain addiction won and she sauntered into the stanchion.  Then I expected all kinds of dancing as DW tried to find the vain.  Nope!  She stood like a champ.  Not that she was enjoying it, but she stood perfectly still, which is very helpful when you're trying to find a 1/4 inch vein with a 1/8 inch needle.  DW didn't hit it right away, but didn't have to search long.  For future reference, her tail vein is to the right of where it's supposed to be.  I'll file that one away.  We got more than enough blood in no time, and let her out.  She sauntered out of the barn obediently while Pumpkin sauntered in for her morning milking.

It was just one of those mornings where everything falls into place perfectly.  That means she's got to be bred, right?  We'll see.  I'm mailing in the sample today.  We should know in about 5 days.  I have to admit I did not think we'd get any blood out of her given our past track record.  I even considered calling the vet yesterday to schedule him to come out this week.  I love Biotrack!  Not only can you test your cows 2 months before you can with palpation, but it's only $2.25 per sample, plus shipping.  Palpation costs at least $17 plus another $25 just to get the vet to drive out here.   You can ultrasound at 30 days bred, but it's still $8 plus the $25 "driving fee".  The only advantage to ultrasound is that an experienced technician can tell the sex of the calf.

Let's just pray she's bred, I can sell her, and then we never have to worry about it again. :-)

I Married Annie Oakley

Posted on Monday, June 23, 2008 at 10:54 AM

DW went to her concealed handgun class this Saturday.  She really didn't want to spend 12 hours away from us, but it helped that her mom and a bunch of ther church friends were doing it too.  They went out to the shooting range first thing and not only did she qualify but she scored a 232!  That's a high enough score to qualify as an instructor.  What's even more amazing is that she did it with a TINY .380 pistol.  Small pistols are notoriously inaccurate, especially the further out from the target you move.  She did have a few shots low on the target (ouch!  poor criminal) but every shot hit it.  I'm not ashamed to say she scored better than me when I qualified.  I only got a 210.

She was very proud of her shooting skills and new license (well, she sent off for it.  It hasn't gotten here yet), so I hung her target on our closet door.  Now she can see it everyday and be proud. 

I love that my wife is not afraid of guns and wants to be good at using one.  She is not squimish or timid about defending her home and family.

More Rain - God is Good

Posted on Friday, June 20, 2008 at 10:05 AM

We had another rain storm come up out of nowhere last night and dump another half inch on us.  There was only supposed to be a 10% chance. 

The funny thing about all of this is that I prayed for rain this week.  Like I said before, I don't have NEARLY as much at stake as the farmers around here.  I just want some nice grazing for my 3 cows.  But what I find so awesome is that both times it has rained this week, God literally pulled it out of nowhere.  We had barely any chance of rain, and yet it rained.

I think it's just neat.  It's yet more evidence to me that God loves to show how faithful he can be if we're just faithful in asking.  I might have thought it unlikely he would make it rain this week, but he showed me he can do anything, including pulling rain out of thin air.  I guess that's literally what the water cycle is, but you know what I mean.

God is good.