Monthly Archives: August 2012

Off the Grid

Posted on by
Reply

DSCN0260

For a guy who makes fun of global warming, you’d think I wouldn’t have all of this renewable energy at my house.

With wind and solar energy being my  only source of electricity, and passive solar and a wood stove my choice of heat, I’m an enigma to a lot of people I know.

No, we didn’t get rebates, tax credits, or any government help when putting up our system. As a matter of fact, the government just makes it harder to do a renewable energy system. (But we can talk about that another time.)

Our tracking system for the solar panels is gas operated, and uses no electricity. The kids love “hanging on the panels” like playing on a swing, to move them on cold mornings. A bucket of rocks is faster and easier.

My son Caleb, and I installed the entire system by ourselves. It works beautifully, running a well pump, computers, and lights all over the house and garage.

Come by sometime for a tour. We’d love to show you how you can lead the way in your community using alternative energy sources.

This has nothing at all to do with global warming.

Bear Country Ranger School

Posted on by
1

DSCN0902[1]

“Where do you go to school?

“’Bear Country Ranger School’.”

“Where’s that?”

“Marble, Colorado.”

So goes the conversation between my children and other people several times a year.

“Bear Country Ranger School” is the name of our homeschool. We’ve graduated 2 students from the school, and are gearing up for another full year.

Bear Country Ranger School was founded on the idea that parents can do a better job of teaching their own kids than a public school full of weirdness, distractions, and political correctness.

We teach courses you wouldn’t find in a public school in Chicago.

Bear Country Ranger School meets all the requirements for education, yet has the agility to tailor courses for the students. We use some of the most recent innovations in technology (wind,solar,custom built computers), and bring it all home in a earthy, patriotic, non-hippy atmosphere.

Excuse me, but our mascot is outside of the door right now.

Go fetch the shotgun.

UFOs in the Cave

Posted on by
1

DSCN0872[1]

If you take  cave tour with me at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, you will see these signs in various places. I’m not exactly sure what they mean.

At first I thought they meant “No bloody hands in the cave.”

I realized that the owners wouldn’t put stuff on the tours which would scare kids, so I concluded that the sign meant “Don’t cut your hand on the stalactites.” That almost made sense until I realized that the picture is not of a human hand.

It is obviously the hand of some mutant creature from another planet. It’s unearthly.

The only conclusion that I can come to is that the sign means,”Don’t cut your alien fingers in the cave.”

Ever since then, I’ve been looking for traces of UFOs in the cave.

I’ve noticed the Sharpshooter photographers acting a little odd lately.

The lights are acting weird in Kings Row, and the bat is a little rambunctious lately.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go check out those stalactites. I think behind them I see a set of antennas

Hacker in My House

Posted on by
1

DSCN0922[1]

My two sons, Joshua and Caleb are shown here building our new family “super” computer. Caleb has been a geek for several years now (wiring our new house starting when he was 12 years old), and Joshua is his protégée .

When I was drawing “Camp Pinetar” a daily comic strip, I had a character named “Hacker”. You can see him spinning around on the globe at the top of the page.

Caleb wasn’t born yet, but little did I know that I would have my own real hacker in the house.

What gives me the right to call my son a hacker?

Caleb works for U Test. He is what is called a “White Hat Hacker.” The people who work for U Test are given prototype electronic devices, and software programs, and told to try and break into them.

Caleb found several weaknesses in one of the Droid prototypes, earning him a nice check.

Caleb tells me that our new computer has the second fastest processor in the world.

I have a feeling that he’s saving the fastest processor in the world for his computer.

Now, back to Net Bios…or not.

Cowboys Hate Forest Fires

Posted on by
Reply

DSCN0263

This summer there were some crazy big forest fires here in Colorado. You know about the homes destroyed, and people displaced.

Locally, people were getting a little testy as we all expected something to catch on fire at the drop of a hat-or cigarette.

This sign was hanging at a ranch near Redstone, Colorado.

The guy who put the sign up was serious about fires. I couldn’t print the other sign he had.

Don’t mess with cowboys when it comes to fires.

El Kabong with a shovel.