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Hey, wanna see what I look like these days?  I had to take a picture of myself for my online profile for school.  That's me, in the kitchen with my hair down. Which usually doesn't happen due to the fact that it gets in my face or gets eaten by geese if I leave it down.

School: Yeah, it's going pretty OK right now. I'm taking Pre-Calculus, Organic Chemistry and Engineering Fundamentals.  The last one is online. The 3 classes keep me plenty busy, thanks.  That and driving back and forth between Janesville, Beloit and Orfordville.   Once we get another car for me, I'll stop having to be in the van for about 3 hours a day driving 100 miles just to go to school.

I've got 3 options for cars: 1988 Mustang Convertible, 2001 VW Bug, or a 2005 Aveo.  Really? I want the Aveo. It's new but costs more than I'll be getting for financial aid this semester. Unless we can come up w/ about $2000 in financing, I'll be driving a Mustang Convertible. Which would sound more awesome if it were like a 1968 Mustang Convertible.  But then I would not drive it to school. I know how people drive!

The Geese, Ducks and Chickens: Ducks are learning how to mate, which apparently is done in the pool.  High romance it is not.  The female duck will only have patience for a fumbling mate for so long before she bucks him off and goes on her way.

They are getting along better with the geese, who have figured out they are now bigger than the ducks.  This leads to 'paybacks are a bitch.'   They run around bullying the ducks like the ducks used to bully them.   Eventually though, everyone settles down and they get their baths in, preening and grazing.

The geese are now at that point where they are getting full-swing into goose puberty.  The two in the pool; Sweet Pea and Percy are fighting.  Sweet Pea is our mermaid and insists on solitary time in the big pool.  Only once so far has Percy won the fights.

Fighting starts with words, then neck biting like you see here, then with wing flapping. They really don't injure each other while fighting. Oh some feathers fly off, but that's about it. The other geese sit around screeching while it's happening.  Kinda like a goosey chant, 'fight, fight fight!'

Oh by the way? Percy's a girl. I'm about 80% sure about that.  We're going to keep the names even when they don't hit the gender correctly. Percy has a big butt, small knob and no dewlap.  Which makes me think girl.  There are now 2 Bantam Hens sitting on 21 eggs. We call the the 'broody girls' and we should have little bantam chicks in a week. Dave found where the other hens were laying their eggs: On the tool bench and behind the pool pump.  So we have had laying hens for quite a while now, they just keep hiding them.  Which ticks us off because we built 2 very nice, large, comfy nesting boxes in the coop.

We've also been doing a bit of shooting. That is me with the shotgun.  You know, they don't kick if you snug that barrel right. into. your. shoulder.  We had some friends over to try out their AR and to give them some time with the semi-auto pistols.

I've learned a lot in the past few years about handling - and I mean SAFE handling - of firearms. I've noticed that once a person is taught the safe handling of a semi-auto. then learns to fire it...they aren't as afraid of them anymore.  Contrary to popular belief, a semi-automatic firearm does not just 'go off'' when sitting around.  I mean you really have to work at getting them to fire.

And there are 4 rules to firing a gun that many people just might not know:
1. Always handle it like it's loaded.
2. Never aim it at something you don't mind shooting
3. Always look past your target because the bullet will be most likely going past your target.
4. KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THAT TRIGGER unless you're planning on firing!

I don't know how many times I read news stories about people who 'accidentally' shoot someone because they don't follow these 4 simple rules.  Then again, stupid is as stupid does.  Guns aren't toys, they are protection.  You don't go swinging around a bat at your kid do ya? Then don't go swinging around a gun.