The journey continues...

Brian Bilbrey November 21, 2011

New Coffee Roasting Cart

So, I've got the week off, this week. And we're not going anywhere, so I have time for projects, mixed in with the schoolwork. The first project is to clean up and reorganize the woodshop a bit. To do that, I need to get the coffee roaster and vent hood off of my workbench, where it's lived for the last two years. I haven't minded much, because I've been too busy to do much woodworking, but you never know. Sitting in a box. I had components for a 6' tall slender rack, rolling or standing. An alternative is to build…

Brian Bilbrey November 20, 2011

What happens at UC Davis

is what happened at Kent State, and many other places. Democracy and peace and plenty is a momentary aberration: blind cruelty and painful existence is the normal human condition, and I think this experiment is almost over. Our republic's evolution into a police state is progressing, inch by inch. The beatings will stop when everything is safe. I wonder who it's safe for? In much less important news, I finished up the week's project for class and turned it in. Marcia returned from a weekend-long quilting retreat, and we watched the final Potter film tonight. I enjoyed it. * *…

Brian Bilbrey November 13, 2011

Another week spins by

Whoa! Really? Mid-November? Where are the years going? This week the 'A' for my Social Gerontology course landed at the Academic Records Office at UMUC (I made that name up, but it sounds good). Of course, the class wasn't about whole societies getting older, civilizations dying, etc. Mostly it was an overview of the field of research into anything nontechnical on the subject of aging. You could, I guess, call it Gerontology for non-science majors. As usual, I learned some stuff anyway. The biggest thing I learned, though, was this: To do well in school (as I didn't do the…

Brian Bilbrey November 11, 2011

Thank You!

It's Veteran's Day here in the US. While I didn't serve(*), I have nothing but boundless gratitude to and pride in our warriors! My thanks to those that serve now, that served in the past, and my moment of silence goes out to those who have fallen while in service to our country. . . . Thank you! [*] - I was a couple of hundred spots shy of getting into the Air Force Academy following high school, and college, rather than service, was the encouraged thing to do at my school. Things would have likely been different if there'd…

Brian Bilbrey November 6, 2011

Some Fallen Warriors Are Mothers

Really, there's nothing that should make the loss of any one of our young men or women any different from one another. This week DoD reported about Cabrera, Newman, Darrough, Eugenio, Gailey, Butcher, Cullers, and Vincent - all of these people gave their lives for our country. Each loss is deeply felt. But please, why are we sending young mothers into war zones? Nineteen year old PFC Sarina Butcher had a three year old daughter. Yeah, we have to follow our laws, and women fought for equal rights, including the right to die for their country in battle. The law…