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<title><![CDATA[It Is My Job To Exist As... - ...a shining beacon of hope in the heartland - Fotopages.com]]></title>
<link>http://cowboyjunkies.fotopages.com/</link>
<description><![CDATA[So what can I tell you about myself...if you really want to know, you can try one of my journals. Send me mail and I'll return to you a link to one of my personalities.
 email]]></description>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 May 2012 03:12:12 GMT</pubDate>
<lastBuildDate>Thu, 17 May 2012 03:12:12 GMT</lastBuildDate>

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<title><![CDATA[Happy Holidays from the Kansas Krew]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Well, I've now experienced a blizzard. We've had snow since I moved to Kansas, but not a blizzard and what started on Christmas Eve was definitely a blizzard. And not a bad one at that when you compare it to weather further north. It's not that we got any great quantities of snow; it's what the wind did with the snow we got. It's hard to tell the exact accumulations since in some spots it's only three inches deep and in others it's three feet deep. The driveway has a good eight inches and since four inches makes it impassable, we are housebound until the plow guy arrives.

We've plenty of wood for the stove and propane for everything else we need to warm. I don't think there's any worry of the power going out; it doesn't seem to be that sort of a storm and anything that might have had an impact on power lines went down in the great ice storm of 2007 so we're cozy. I thought I'd share some photos from Christmas Day and wish you all season's greetings.

Photo 1: My favorite shot of the snow we got back on the 10th.
Photo 2: The loot under the tree (quite a lot since we have the boy back in the house).
Photo 3: DJ, who has come through the fire and turned into quite a nice young man. Air Force bound in March!
Photo 4: Elmo all snuggled up in the blanket wrap from last Christmas. We never even got a chance to use it. The cats claimed it immediately upon opening last year.
Photo 5: This is a raised patio but the wind piled the snow up against the wall so unless you know it's there, the drop off is rather a surprise. Forget about negotiating the stairs.
Photo 6: Out front shortly after we thought the snow had stopped and decided to shovel a path 'round the house.]]></description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://cowboyjunkies.fotopages.com/?entry=1974040</guid>
<pubDate>Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Happy Thanksgiving]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[I have much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. I try to remember that every time I feel pissy about something.

Since the family was out of town at a football game, my friend Bonnie and I went to a local upscale restaurant that does a special holiday meal. It was divine. I think it should be my new holiday tradition to go there for Thanksgiving.

Happy Holidays!!!]]></description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://cowboyjunkies.fotopages.com/?entry=1974049</guid>
<pubDate>Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Eight is Enough?]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[I'd like to think that 8 squirrels is putting a dent in the population but if my previously espoused theory of there being 10 squirrels for every one I catch means there are 80 more to go...

This is the biggest one so far. He was so big that when I was lifting the cage in and out of the car his frantic scramblings almost shook it out of my hands. I swear he was cursing at me.

Mom, if you'd like to come for a visit, I can send some home with you.]]></description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://cowboyjunkies.fotopages.com/?entry=1949828</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Here is Six; Here is Seven. All Them Squirrels Can Go to Heaven]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[These are squirrels six and seven. Six has the river in the background, proof for Steve that I am letting them go. Seven is screaming bloody murder for someone to get him the heck out of this cage.

In case you were wondering, Febreeze does a wonderful job of covering the smell of squirrel farts in an automobile...]]></description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://cowboyjunkies.fotopages.com/?entry=1948748</guid>
<pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Number 5 is Alive]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Well, apparently the squirrels are so sick of acorns that they are willing to risk the cage to get the sunflower seeds.

This is number 5 in the back of my SUV just before I let him go at the boat ramp. You can see the lovely tall trees that await him through the side window.]]></description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://cowboyjunkies.fotopages.com/?entry=1948300</guid>
<pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[At War With The Squirrels]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[The war with the squirrels is escalating. Yeah, they were an annoyance when they stole my birdseed. Made me angry when they cut my phone lines and my power. But when they start eating my truck, I bring out the big guns. They chewed the wiring harness to the tail lights so badly and so close to the body of the truck that my mechanic had to remove the bed of the truck to repair the wires.

One of the big guns is a Crosman 2240 single shot .22 CO2 pistol. I'm still practicing with it so that I don't have to waste more than one piece of lead bringing the damned rodents down. Much as I hate them I don't want a lingering death with suffering to answer for when I pass from this world to the next.

So we're trapping the little nut savers. Live trapping and relocating. Much as I would love to shoot the ba$tards, if I can catch them live and move them out of the neighborhood, I will.

The first day I set the trap (with some yummy-licous sunflower seeds) I caught THE ONE. I'm sure it was the one that was eating the truck because I placed the trap right at the bottom of the tree where I found pieces of wire. That's it, truck safe. Mr. black-beady-eyes and I took a ride to the river...and I let him go. I reset the trap but with all the noise he made while he was stuck there, no one braved the trap again and it sat empty but for the night I caught a baby oppossum.

Well, for every one squirrel you see there are ten you don't. And it wasn't long before gosh darn it, more wires were being chewed. So I put the trap out again...and caught another. Over the river and through the woods we went. Trap reset and dag-nabbit, we caught us 'nother one.

So far I've relocated four. This is number four. He is pissed.]]></description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://cowboyjunkies.fotopages.com/?entry=1946952</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[How to Crash a Network]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[You don't even have to be tech-savvy to do it and I guarantee it can bring a network to a grinding halt in less time than it took to post this.]]></description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://cowboyjunkies.fotopages.com/?entry=1922984</guid>
<pubDate>Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Sort of a contest]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[I have a friend who's off doing something noble in a foreign land. Unfortunately some of the photos she's sending back of the trip beg for less-than-noble comments.

This is here for the rest of our friends to look at and hopefully (please) submit captions for the photo.

Begin now. I'd like to have it captioned and hanging in my work space for a short time before I...well, before I do whatever it is I'm going to do.]]></description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://cowboyjunkies.fotopages.com/?entry=1620842</guid>
<pubDate>Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Inquiring Minds Want to Know!!!!]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[JP asks: Are you blogging somewhere else, or just lost your enthusiasm here?

Neither. The little part-time job that went full time has turned into overtime (not legal overtime, just more hours than I wanted or bargained for) due to rapid, sustained, phenomenal company growth.

I barely seem to have any time to do the solitary things I enjoy. That's not to say I'm not having the occasional good time, I am. But the outside-of-work activities all involve pairs or groups of people. This is a good thing. It's been a rough couple of years. Death and illness have been constant companions and those are things that go better when the burden is shared. Thank god for friends and family. We've managed to have fun too; it hasn't been all darkness and despair.

Hopefully work's juggernaut of growth will level off, I'll get someone else trained in the tasks only I can do and then I envision being able to eke out a little more me-time to go with the other good times.

About the pictures:

The horseshoe pit at City Park. Yes, we've had a bit of rain.

Yes, we had a real tornado but it breaks my heart to look at the destruction. This is from the day before all hell broke loose in MHK.

Elmo, the cat that thinks he's a dog. Dallas will believe he's a dog as soon as he can lift that toy in his mouth.

Hope you are all well. I miss you.]]></description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://cowboyjunkies.fotopages.com/?entry=1579345</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[My Life on the Dry Erase Board]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[It hangs in the kitchen, this half note-pad half cork board creation. This is where the grocery reminders get listed; the good-bye you were sleeping notes get written; the travel check list gets posted; and, of course, the while you were gone this happened happenings are documented.

Someone in my house thinks the deer are cute and need dietary supplements or they will starve. I think the deer have been around longer than the people and are in no danger...of starvation. But Bambi just might get shot if he eats one more plant...]]></description>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://cowboyjunkies.fotopages.com/?entry=1474244</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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