testing for function

Test from the Motorola Stylus 

Howdy blogger 

jist a bit of history 

I AM Guseast...

It's a fine evening for blogging!!!

Guillow's Balsa Models

The Joy of Flight

     Where would the modeler's joy be found if not for Paul K. Guillow? The offering of such a diverse array of airplane model kits is found to be quite pleasing and a pure joy to sort through whether on the Guillow's website Wow! or other places such as ebay. A long history of model airplane kit manufacturing holds the answers to every aviation enthusiast's desires from the Wright Bro's to the Jet Age. Currently I am finishing up a Cessna L-19 Bird Dog balsa model kit from Guillow's stock. Looking forward to moving right on into the Piper Super Cub 95 with hopes of running the Cox .020 Pee Wee engine on it for R/C. Well it will surely be quite the challenge as I simply am not 'in touch' with the smaller variety of model airplanes. Plenty of inventory to begin with though along with several plans for rubber powered balsa ships. See you in the sky!

Low and Slow and away we go...

Rolling Up a Little Hay

Back in July we purchased this old Massey Ferguson (Vermeer) "Giant" round baler just to have a baler for gathering up some of the grass where the livestock aren't grazing. The old baler was in working condition as it had rolled a few bales earlier in the season though it does need some new lacing on one end of a ten inch wide belt. A few minor fix its and it should be ready to roll up a few acres of grass.
So about ten days ago we cut a little grass in order to try the old baler and see where it needs any repair or adjustment and so forth. The next day we hooked up to the 966 Farmall and proceeded to roll some hay. This is really the first real work the old tractor has seen since we purchased it two years ago. Anyhow, the tractor and baler sort of match up well as the tractor has plenty of PTO hp (96) and is more than large enough to drag the old baler around.
The tractor performed well and ran like it did new in 1973 while the baler put up five nice rolls of hay. About halfway along, the old fan belt left the water pump pulley and fled the scene, in shreds. And this after I had run the tractor several hours prior to this event and called the belt good. Ofcourse, I hadn't operated the tractor at working RPM for an extended period until this day and it proved to be too much for the old belt. Found a replacement belt up in the shop and was back to baling soon. The old Farmall sounds 'sweet' under a load and blows a little black smoke out of the exhaust just like an old tractor should. What a day! Got to run the old equipment and bale a little hay!

Jubilee and Israel’s Inheritance

      As a season of Jubilee is upon us, we most certainly anticipate a land grab to be made by Israel at some point during the course of the next few months. Just as in June 1967 during the "six day war" Israel will find the path to expand its borders once again, of this I feel certain. 

Pietenpol Air Camper

How about that! A Pietenpol Air Camper in Peanut Scale by Peck-Polymers. An older complete kit picked up on eBay for a few bucks, Sweet! Rubber powered models are special, unique I should say, in that they tend to be on the small side yet at the same time portray scale flying examples. They prove to be quite challenging to build to scale form and most rewarding when they take to the air free from your grip.  Wow! Nothing better than a calm day enjoying model airplanes puttzing around the field. Fly them when you can and as often as you do think of freedom...

President Trump Visits Old Jerusalem

In A Historic First, Trump Visits Old City Of Jerusalem. From NPR http://n.pr/2qMdYdX

Tracfone Android

From the days of old, way back in the earliest times of using Tracfone. My desire to record notes of text on my personal device has driven me to search out the most suitable device offered by Tracfone Wireless. I have tried many, and while a couple of these trials have proven fair note taking experiences, it was finally the Android Smart phone which has stood the test and proven itself to be a craftsman's companion. When combined with Evernote, the smartphone becomes a vital tool in producing well organized works which are easily shared by email or on microblogging sites, personal blogs, and webpages. At the moment I use the ZTE Valet and although not the best that Tracfone offers it has proven mostly reliable and an excellent backup to the Samsung Galaxy S3 mini which is my full time phone. It appears that I'm headed for Windows as I recently purchased a Lumia 640 Dual Sim phone for work and personal combined, will be moving into it by year's end. Just rambling...

The Right of Passage

Know Your Rights

     Where do your rights begin and end? Easy, birth and death. From the very beginning of human history we find the right of passage given to man, that is, the opportunity to pass through this age of flesh and bone at least once. 

     The systemic flow of knowledge coupled with technological advancements has complicated the journey and forced many to end their travels sooner than necessary. To this I say, live simple and walk with your creator in so much as you take on in life be sure of your ability to handle the stress of any given situation and if after undertaking a task it seems to much for you to bear then back away and seek refuge in the arms of the Holy Spirit as comfort awaits you there. Man may dictate to you how to live within his society, but only God has the knowledge to prosper you as part of his creation, a functioning figure in the midst of His plan. 

Sultana

  

  Perhaps a lesser known tragedy of the American Civil War is the explosion aboard the Sultana, a steam powered paddle wheeler riverboat, while an estimated 2200+ POW Union Army soldiers were being transported upstate via the Mississippi river after being released from Confederate capture at the end of the war. It is estimated some 1800+ souls perished the night of April 27, 1865. Follow the link to view a full episode of PBS History Detectives which details and solves the mystery surrounding the fatal explosions aboard this overloaded riverboat.
PBS History Detectives Sultana
   
     An article here on the History website provides a deeper look into the Sultana on History

   

     Included here is a short video from a local news broadcast in Arkansas near the location where the remains of the Sultana lay buried beneath a bean field and a portion remaining submerged in an area of the river. I first learned of this event while reading Walter A. McDougall’s “Throes of Democracy”.

The Twenty Year Construction of Bradna Rose

     A Schooner For East Texas

     After twenty years of building, John Vardiman completed his boat and saw it delivered to the Gulf Coast and planted in the water for the first time. Dr Vardiman was fifty-five years old when he started cutting oak trees to process into beams, timbers, and plained lumber for to construct his 41' 6" 37,000lb sailing vessel. The Bradna Rose was built  using G. Alden's Malabar II design as a guide. The full write-up is available in Wooden Boat Magazine from June 2014, www.woodenboat.com and here is a video story by Bob Phillips of Texas Country Reporter fame 

El Niño

Behold! An excellent article which explains the El Niño phenomenon and the effects it produces on a global scale. It appears to be in full swing this season...

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/11/-sp-el-nino-weather-2014

Shepherd's Chapel

     I have long studied with the Murray men from Shepherd's Chapel Church in Gravette, Arkansas, some seven years at least. Recently I turned on my old c-band satellite receiver to find no signal from Shepherd's Chapel. A visit to their website solved the situation, it seems the c-band feed ended back in August. Every type of feed is available though on the internet from their site:  http://www.shepherdschapel.com/index.htm
on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwX0AEx-qIhQ9kgtlNhyIXw

America, The Land of Dispair

     You may not see it from your point of view, but the "land that I love" is not the same land you grew up in, or is it? Change has come alright and long before President Obama came onto the scene. Each time a new president is elected he brings with him a wave of change, good or bad is left to you to decide. However, the progression of our 'modern society' speaks loudly and with clear definition. It's all about "ME" and my special interests, just how much sympathy can I draw from the poor saps across the land looking for a "worthy" cause to give their hard earned dollars too? Perhaps a bit more specificity is due as all "worthy" causes are not unworthy nor do they support striking against your neighbor and family in pursuit of "justice" for their livestock/pets and kids. 911 has virtually destroyed the American society, allowing for the ease of tattling and snitching on anyone who seems to be minding their own business while tending their own affairs without need of their neighbors help. Reports recently highlighted the undue amount of calls received by 911 operators on every type of situation imaginable, overloaded switchboards due to repeated reports from cellphone callers on the same incident as they simply keep calling until they see some response at the scene. There could be no easier way for the 'police state' to maintain control over the citizenry than to pit them against each other with the 'emergency' system of 911. Is it any wonder why the "terrorists" struck the twin Trade Towers in NYC on 9/11/2001? A complete mockery was made of the "emergency" call system that very day yet the citizens continue to allow it to operate as though it's the only way to get real help in an actual emergency. What has become of the land "of the people, by the people, and for the people" as it was established?

American History

     There is little that is more important for an American citizen to know than the history and traditions of his country. Without such knowledge, he stands uncertain and defenseless before the world, knowing neither where he has come from nor where he is going. With such knowledge, he is no longer alone but draws a strength far greater than his own from the cumulative experience of the past and the cumulative vision for the future.     JFK

     From the foreword in Volume 1 of The American Heritage New Illustrated History of The United States.   copyright 1963

     Of this I fully agree and wisely add that unless a man search farther into history and gain a knowledge of the early peoples and societies so richly spoken of in the compiled writings of the Bible, he stands even more alone and ignorant in this modern day of turmoil driven by forces much higher than his own. For you see, knowledge of the creator is all that will provide a man with genuine purpose while he walks this earth, without it he only has his fellow man to follow, and so much of that is his own foolish desires to build wealth and achieve success in man's society. Study all of history and assemble a vision for your own future, for History is the teller of the future.

French Florida in Georgia

Fort Caroline has been discovered in French Florida, being dated as the earliest effort at colonization in America.

Heritage Daily article

Income Gap? Always!

The Income Gap: How Much Is Too Much? http://n.pr/1hzu4Kg

     There have always been rich and poor, check the history books, and there always will be differences in both wealth and income. Some believe there exists some harmonious balance, some happy gathering between the floor and the balcony, to these I say it will never be found, and if it is forced into existence it will so quickly collapse. Check the history books.

The Fear of The Lord Yehovah is Not in Them

      A sure sign of the End of Days, when man takes his 'free will' past the point of its intended purpose.
http://thenewamerican.com/culture/faith-and-morals/item/16872-two-male-west-point-grads-marry-in-academy-s-cadet-chapel

     Half a dozen years ago it would have been unthinkable, but on November 2, two men who graduated from West Point were “married” to each other at the U.S. Military Academy's Cadet Chapel (shown) — the same sacred place of Christian worship that has held the funerals and memorial services of fallen soldiers and august military commanders.

“It's maybe one more barrier that's pushed over a little bit, or maybe one more glass ceiling that's shattered that makes it easier for the next couple,” one cadet  quipped before the controversial ceremony. Neither of the men is currently active in military service.

Obamacare

You have no idea what your insurance needs are so the Liberal Socialists Communists have begun to show you just exactly what your needs are, this is an excellent read especially for the liberals who believe they're doing an outstanding job ;)

A Washington Post article here will help you understand.

Model Airplanes

Back to the work bench. Yep it's been a long time since I smelled the epoxy and watched those servos move back and forth. It didn't take long to get back in the sport and start whipping the airplanes into shape. The Tecate is upside down in need of some fuselage repair after a stall and rough landing. The L-19 is going together well while the Astr-Hog awaits it's turn on the bench as we've barely begun assembling it. Can't wait to get them all together, the PT-19 and the Ace Alpha are in line as well. :)

Train on the tracks

     While snapping a few shots of the old yard engine at the Pittsburg, Texas Pilgrim Feed Mill, 

along came this BNSF freight picking up speed as the engineer fed the throttle to the three locomotives as they passed our position. The ground shook and the diesel smell filled the air as they rumbled on by.