My hiatus from BigBaldGuy, if anyone noticed, has been due to spending a lot of my time working on St. Mary’s website, as well as getting the site up for my new venture. Yes, I’ve been busy with other priorities but now I’m back. I thought the release of WordPress 3.0 would be as good a time as any to renew my commitment to posting regularly about my interests in all things geek, gadgets and social media.

The date of my last post on BigBaldGuy.com was February 17th, heralding the announcement of Google Buzz. At that time I was, and still am, excited about Buzz. It got a bad rap in the tech sector for the way it was rolled out within Gmail, but its features are awesome and getting even more awesome.

As you’ll see, I use Buzz primarily to share items of interest from Google Reader. I use a WordPress plugin called Google Buzz ER to share my latest Buzz in this blog. You’ll see the attractive widget in the sidebar, with its images and clear attribution with a link to the source.

Subscribe to my feed and come along for the ride. Feel free to share things you find interesting in your blog, and let me know when you do so I can be sure to follow you too. I’ll be spiffing up the site header with a nice image and I’ll be doing some design tweak over the next couple of weeks. I’ve learned a few tricks using my new theme of choice, Thesis 1.7. Highly recommended.

I’m very happy to be back!

There had been tornado warnings in the area yesterday with forecasted storms and strong wind. Up until mid-afternoon all we experienced was some light rain. Then it happened. The rain started to pour down and the wind was driving it through our valley diagonally. I grabbed the video camera and shot this video (watch to the end):

As I was returning the camera to it’s stand, I heard a loud crash. Turning around I saw one of our big oak trees down across the fence and on top of our little Boogey Lights trailer. I called Christine who was down at the barn throughout all of this. She said rain was actually blowing into the barn from underneath the sides. It was scary. When I told her about the oak tree she couldn’t believe it. We had recently had the tree guy here clearing that part of the property and he told us the tree was healthy. No one expected this to happen!

The Filas barked at the downed tree and then slowly ventured off the front porch to examine this giant intruder. They don’t like it one bit. The tree guy will be back soon to clear this one away and the firewood will go to a neighbor. Another $500 insurance deductible to pay to clear it, repair the fence and the trailer. Ouch!

Sadly we decided to sell Boris yesterday. Happily, he went to an awesome home that already has an active “work program” for 10 other dromedaries. Check out this video of these gentle giants who will be living with Boris at his new home. Click the YouTube logo to watch it on YouTube, where you can view it in high quality. It’s much better viewing that way if you have a high speed Internet connection:

Christine will tell you that Boris was MY camel, not hers, even though she was the one who cared for him and worked with him. I was the one who wanted to buy him when we attended the exotic animal auction in Cookeville, TN. I thought it would be real cool to have a camel, and it was! Boris was a hit at the Rhea County Fair and the Dayton  Christmas parade this past year. It was fun showing him and watching the reaction people had when seeing a camel for the first time. We even bought a tall trailer to transport him. We were determined we’d eventually be riding him and having him pull a wagon.

When we bought Boris we simply had no idea of the extent of commitment that would be required to raise a dromedary gentleman. Christine soon took over the day-to-day responsibility of caring for Boris along with her goats, mini donkeys, llama, etc, etc. Bless her heart, she’s such an awesome wife!

While we had a great time showing Boris off at community events and gaining local reputation as “the folks with the camel,” it soon become apparent that he was getting bigger and bolder. Boris would need consistent daily training if he was going to be safe to be around. Dromdaries are just too big to mess with if you don’t have them under full control. Grown camels are HUGE animals and they must be trained and respected.

Christine worked with Boris the best she could with the lack of reliable information on raising and training camels. It seemed as though the few self-proclaimed camel trainers you find online offer totally different opinions about camel behavior and training. I think Christine signed off her camel discussion board once and for all the other day by chastising many of the participants for acting like children in their attacks on other forum members who don’t agree with their techniques.

We needed camel training intervention, so we called a friendly camel man we had met at the auction when we purchased Boris. Scott Allen sat next to us at the auction and provided excellent bidding advice. We won the bidding for Boris at a price he assured us was a good deal. Scott told us that we’d be needing help with Boris and made sure we knew he could provide it when the time came. Well, the time had come and we gave Scott a call.

We arranged to bring Boris down for a 30 day boot camp at Scott’s farm in Cartersville, GA, Pettit Creek Farms, to work and train with his 10 other camels. Yesterday was the day and we headed south to Georgia with Boris in tow.

On our way down to deliver Boris for his month of training, we discussed whether or not we wanted to sell him to Scott. We’d already planted the seed with Scott about possibly buying him and he was definitely interested at the right price. Of course we knew we’d take a loss on Boris to make Scott an offer he couldn’t refuse, but we also knew that continuing to keep Boris would be expensive and time consuming. It would be sad to see him go, but we knew that it was probably going to be best for him to have a home at Pettit Creek than with us. We’d play it by ear and see if we wanted to invest further in Boris for our own use, or sell him at a loss to Scott.

When we arrived we unloaded Boris and Scott tied him inside a big stall. He told us that Boris needs to learn to be tied and be happy about it. We then went to the back of the property to retrieve 5 males, 2 of whom would be harnessed and pulling a wagon after lunch. They followed right along for a long walk from the back of the property to the front. Scott tied them to his camel hitchin’ post, where they’d stay until after lunch.

Until we visited Scott and his family at Pettit Creek Farms in Cartersville, GA, I was skeptical that anyone in this country really knew how to train a camel to behave, let alone to work. Now I’ve met someone who truly does know how to do this and do it very well. Scott loves his 10 camels, but not in a mushy, gushy way. He doesn’t kiss them (as we did Boris) or dote over them. No, Scott’s their boss. As with everyone living at Pettit Creek – kids, grandkids, employees – the camels pull their weight. Scott’s “no pet” policy provides no room for slackers. Everyone has a job, including the dogs.

We then went to lunch at a memorable diner in Cartersville, where we ate at the former “colored” counter that seats 3 off the kitchen. We had a burger swimming in beans and cole slaw. Yummy, but definitely something you eat with a fork, not with your hands. This was a memorable lunch experience in a true hometown joint with history and tradition.

After spending time with Scott and meeting his family we knew that the best thing for Boris was to live at Pettit Creek. He’d be under the care of a family that knows and loves camels and is doing some very interesting work with them. He’d have lots of buddies and he’d never be bored. This is the kind of place I’d want any camel to be. I got an email from Scott this morning telling me he woke up at 2AM thinking about getting started with Boris today. He just loves working with camels and couldn’t sleep with a new student on board. Now that’s passion.

Boris will soon learn to use his strength and other camel skills to actually be productive, rather than standing around all day munching hay and tipping over water buckets. He’ll pull wagons and manure spreaders, he’ll even be saddled up and ridden caravan style with 5 other male dromedary workers. Scott’s son is now working on a harness for 6 camels to pull a hayride wagon and other farm implements.

Boris will never again be bored and we’re so thankful that we were able to know him for the 6 months or so that we owned him. I’m really looking forward to visiting Pettit Creek Farms this summer to witness his progress. I want to ride that wagon that Boris and 5 other dromedaries are dutifully pulling to the commands of the driver. That will be a wonderful day.

We’re both sad to see Boris go, but we now know that camels need a job to be happy and Boris just got hired by the best.

Today I begin my preparations for tomorrow’s colonoscopy. It’s not a fun prep, but it’s absolutely necessary for the surgeon to get a good look at my inner plumbing. Nothing to eat today, other than clear liquids. The worst part is the solution I start to drink at noon that will keep me very close to the toilet for the rest of the day. It’s all part of the cleansing process for this important screening procedure that seeks to find any evidence of colon cancer or its humble beginnings in the form of polyps growing in your colon.

The Odds Are Awesome and In Your Favor
Statistics totally support this early detection method as the best way to identify colon cancer before it becomes fully developed and spreads throughout one’s body. In fact, according to About.com, “when diagnosed early, 90% of colorectal cancers are completely curable.” The really cool thing is that if they find no polyps during the procedure, you don’t need to do it again for another 10 years. That’s right, you’ll have peace of mind for the next 10 years that this form of cancer is not within you.

We Humans are Excellent Rationalizers
I’m sure there are many people who know they should get a colonscopy, but they rationalize reasons for not doing it. Why would smart people not embrace this medical procedure that’s widely available, relatively painless (they put you to sleep for the procedure) and every bit as important for both men and women as a mammogram is for the early detection of breast cancer?

I believe people avoid the procedure because they’re afraid of learning they have cancer or they just hate medical procedures. As a result, they prefer to believe that because they have no pain or other symptoms, they must be fine. Whatever the motivation, many people rationalize their avoidance behavior and put their proverbial head in the sand when it comes to a relatively simple screening procedure. In fact, some good friends told us last night at dinner that they’d been avoiding the procedure for years, and these are smart people. In spite of our urging them to do it, they basically said they would not.

Staying in Shape is Hard, This is Easy
Many of us, myself included, know that we should be getting more daily exercise, eating better and doing the other things that contribute to a healthier lifestyle. However, we often struggle with our fitness because it requires discipline and commitment. It’s hard to do!

Like diet and exercise, a colonoscopy is also something that many of us know we should do. The difference is that it’s EASY to do! Unlike keeping a healthy diet and regular exercise program, this is simple. Even if you struggle with your weight and exercise habits like I do, you can easily eliminate one major health risk through this simple procedure. Most of us will get peace of mind that you don’t have colon cancer, whereas others will catch it early enough to treat it.

Git ‘er Done!
If you’re 50 or over and haven’t had one, do yourself a big favor and schedule a colonoscopy. It’s one of the easiest things you can do to stay healthy and prevent the onset of one of the most dreaded diseases of our time. A half day on the toilet and another half day in the hospital is really a very small price to pay for the knowledge that you’re in good health. And if something is discovered, your odds of beating it are excellent. So pull your head out of the sand and get to it!

A *very* brief post to wish you a Happy New Year from East Tennessee. Wishing you a healthy and prosperous 2009!

Merry Christmas! Yes, it’s still Christmas for us Catholics. We celebrate the Christmas feast for a full 12 days, ending with the Epiphany of our Lord next Sunday. This is the period of time the well-known song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, celebrates.

We’re enjoying a lazy, relaxing day today having attended vigil Mass last night. I got my 2 miles in on the treadmill this morning, updated the web site and now I’m making one of my favorites, turkey soup! It’s finally the end of the line for our delicious Christmas turkey. The soup smells so good you might even be able to smell it in the video! (some day, I suspect). Watch below to catch a whiff!

Our neighbor gave Christine a personalized gift for Christmas that’s as creative and unique a gift as I’ve ever seen.

She took a picture of each of our male and female peacocks and placed them on the top of two small boxes. Inside each box was a pair of handmade earrings made from their feathers.  She found the feathers on our barn floor.

Are these cool, or what? Click on the picture for a larger image.

Yum! A 19-pounder for 5 of us. Should be enough, don’t you think?

The “after” picture coming in about 4.5 hours.

Merry Christmas

I’m downing my third Chimay Belgium Trappist Ale, a Christmas gift from our office manager Peter. I believe it’s only appropriate to drink an ale made by Trappist monks on Christmas eve, don’t you?

We attended the Christmas vigil Mass today and we’ll be cooking the turkey in the morning. Friends will be coming to share the day with us tomorrow and it’s going to be just perfect. The only thing missing is the kids and grandkids. Maybe next year.

Have a wonderful and blessed Christmas. I hope you and yours have an absolutely perfect day.

Peace of Christ,
Scott

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