Farm News 01-06-08

Sunday morning, after chores, 49°

Barn News

Friday, I drove into my drive and there was a Bald Eagle, sitting in a tree beside the house! Finding an eagle in the yard is definitely a nice surprise.

Marriage is Safe, We've Put God in Charge

We Kansans have protected traditional marriage by passing an amendment to the state constitution stating that marriage is only between a man and a woman. Now we need to extend that protection by requiring prayer before sex. If everyone had to get down on their knees and pray before fitting their genitalia together we would eliminate abortion, AIDS, and sexually transmitted lice. Godless atheists would be forced to either accept the TRUTH or quit reproducing.

Next, maybe we can protect our heritage by passing another constitutional amendment making Kanzan the official language of Kansas. There are many people in this state who would have us designate English, the language of a foreign country brought here by illegal immigrants, as the official language of Kansas. Would they have us preface all official documents with, “Cheerio, old pip, here is another royal decree?”

A Fate Worse Than Death

Several years ago I boarded an airplane in Kansas City bound for someplace in California. The plane was almost filled with two tour groups, both bound for New Zealand. One was a group of senior citizens. The other was a group of high school students. The only thing that plane lacked was a group of Palestinian terrorists. That trip helped convince me that air travel is a very bad idea. Airbus is appropriately named.

Actually, I think bus travel is superior to air travel, except for the amount of time involved. Travel by bus, round-trip, New York to San Francisco and back, is $204 by bus and takes three days each way. By plane, the rates are, of course, all over the spreadsheet, but $390 seems a possible amount, and the trip takes about six hours of air time. Time on the ground is too variable to estimate. On a train, the trip takes about two days and costs about $330.

I like riding on trains, but AmTrak is a disaster. I would like to go to Portland, Oregon, to visit my grandsons. I can get on a train in Kansas City and go to Los Angeles, change trains, and then get off in Portland. To return, though, I have to board the train in Portland and ride to Sacramento, California. There, I would change to a bus and ride to Stockton. In Stockton I would board another train and ride to Bakersfield, where I would again change to a bus and ride to Los Angeles, where I would again board a train and finally ride all the way to Kansas City. If you don't understand the reason for that, ask AmTrak.

My number one grandson would like to take a road trip with me next fall. He lives in Portland, so I considered driving to Oregon, picking him up, and then returning by a scenic route. Portland, Oregon, and Kansas City, Missouri, are about 1820 miles apart. My old car gets about 30 miles per gallon, so it would use about 61 gallons of gas to make the trip one way. If travel costs the equivalent of about $3 per gallon, then driving one way would cost about $183 plus food and lodging. If he takes Amtrak from Portland to Kansas City, then the ticket cost is $206. That isn't too much money, but it might be even more efficient if I met him somewhere in between.

The AmTrak web site is colorful and uncluttered, but it is not easy to use. You can't type 'Kansas City' as a destination, you have to use 'KCY'. Finding that Kansas City is KCY requires going through two separate screens. Once you have the proper abbreviations for your start and destination, you frequently find that it is not possible to travel between those two cities. Sometimes the route is available, but only in one direction.

It isn't easy to find a list of stations along a route and then pick the one you want, but it is possible. Once you have done that, though, you have to remember the abbreviations for the stations and re-enter them on another screen to calculate the fare and find the schedule. The whole process is about as cumbersome as they could make it. If any railroad execs read this, may I suggest, please, that you contact the people at Google Earth and ask them to create a new system for you?

A Reader Writes

Thank you for sending Farm News to us.  We always enjoy reading it.  Especially interesting 
was the info about the ISS.  I've wondered about it and saw the last 
photos taken from it, but I really don't know much about it.  It is 
interesting that we should be able to see it the last day of the month, 
tomorrow, but I think I'll sleep in and stay up late dancing and having 
it, or do you keep track?

Even though you live only a few hundred miles from me, we can't necessarily see the ISS at the same time. The NASA web site has a way to tell you when you can see it, but I prefer Heavens Above which seems a bit friendlier. Also, I use Google Desktop and the sidebar has a gadget that will show you where the ISS is at any time. Let me know if you want me to write a longer article on spotting the ISS.

The Iridium satellites produce some spectacular flares which can occasionally be seen during the daytime. Check it out at Iridium flares. I haven't seen an Iridium flare, yet, but I'm going to start looking. Iridium flares are very local so you will need to register with Heavens Above to find a time when you might see one.