Everyone seems to be getting tired of being violated by Verizon Wireless. People are leaving them faster than political cronies line up for free government money. The downsize for those of us who just want a phone instead of an identity theft enabling device is that we have to learn how to use a new phone. Why? 3G devices can still be locked to a carrier and all the documentation about how to unlock them is quickly being purged. I could have kept my original phone, but Verizon wanted to screw me one last time.
Doro PhoneEasy 626
The software is always a bit different between phones, even if it is the same OS. My new Doro phone doesn’t let me assign different ring tones for different contacts. While it does let me copy ring tones onto the phone it doesn’t allow those ring tones to be used for alarms. It also only allows for one alarm. You have to set “reminders” for everything else. No, you cannot use your own ring tones for those either. The battery life is also about 2 days shorter on my new phone too. This also doesn’t appear to be a rugged phone. I seriously worry about the first time it is dropped onto concrete. Oh, and there is a bug with current Debian distributions which does not recognize the device when plugged in. You have to find a machine obsolete enough to run Windows if you want to copy something to it.
I figured out how to do the things I usually do and the list of things I no longer can. The one thing I never messed with was the camera. Yes, I used my other phone to take pictures for this blog as well as my other blog, but with the Mint 18/Debian bug of not being able to recognize the device storage, was not in any hurry. I mean, how far does a person have to travel to find a machine obsolete enough to still run Windows?
Politicians representing wealthy people (which is pretty much every Democrat and Republican these days) consider where I live part of “The Fly Over States.” Nobody is rich enough or interesting enough for them. Unless they come to collect tax dollars, we don’t really serve a purpose to the political machine. No great canyons, no mountain ski resorts, nothing of interest. That changed a bit, for me at least, during the first full week of December, 2016.
Bald Eagle
I was driving through the little town of Campus, IL on my way to Dwight, IL. There at one of the entries to the Alliance Grain elevator, not 15 feet off the road was a Bald Eagle. Just standing there on the ground watching the cars go past. I quick pulled into the other entry and dug out my phone. I spent a few minutes navigating the menus and cursing Verizon for being the living embodiment of evil until I “thought” I had figured out how to take a picture. Quick pulled back on the road going the other way driving slow. Thankfully there was no traffic. When I got right across from the eagle I stopped and pulled the phone out of my shirt pocket then was thwarted by my camera control software. The eagle sat there looking at my like I was an idiot, then it spread its wings and flew off majestically.
Yes, I had to link back to another site for the Bald Eagle image. There is some theory one or more of them are living in some woods not too far away. The grain elevator had recently hauled away the corn piled outside during harvest so there was probably a good supply of suddenly homeless rodents to dine on.
Canadian Timberwolf
I’m not a birder by any means. On a farm there is always some kind of wildlife or another around. Not all that long ago there was a Canadian Timberwolf running around. I asked the vet in case it was someone’s pet, but he said there were none in the area according to his records. It very well could have been a wild one because the coyotes gave it a wide path.
That being said I always do tend to notice when hawks or eagles move into the area. We’ve had several mated pairs of different species living in the area for decades now. They’ve adapted to farmers and pheasant hunters. The hawks will circle in the air following a combine through a field snatching up the petrified bunny or pheasant flushed from cover by the harvesting process. One can always tell the part(s) of a field which happen to have quite a few field mice because after you make spring tillage pass you can look back and see the hawks on the ground feeding. If it is a particularly large infestation they will sit their in the tilled piece waiting for you next pass, then hop right over into it, snatching up all of the dislodged mice. If there are no rodents or the hawks/eagles are elsewhere it will be the ordinary birds following you around snatching up dislodged worms and bugs.
On more than one occasion, ahead of a bad storm, we have had the great big door of our largest shed open moving equipment in and out. Never saw or heard the Red Tail hawk come in. Didn’t know about it until a day or two later when we went back to the shed for something. Apparently enough sparrows and other birds get in under the door and gaps in the gravel long the walls to keep the thing well fed. You walk in, turn the lights on, then hear this thudding against the roof. It has happened enough that when I hear it I just walk over and hold the button to raise the big door so the thing can get out. Sometimes they will fly out while you are there, other times you need to leave for a while.
Before we built that shed it used to happen in the smaller shed I built. That had sky lights so they could sit on the bottom of an A frame keeping warm when the sun was out until someone opened the door.
Like I said, they’ve adapted. When they no a storm is coming they seem to fly around looking for a shed door that is open and ride it out inside. Can’t blame them. The plains don’t have vast stands of pine trees for protection. We do have an ample supply of rodents and large fields were they are exposed much of the year not to mention creeks and ponds to drink from, so, once they figure out who open what shed door at least every other day, it becomes a real hospitable place for them.
While have not talked to other farmers about it I cannot believe our sheds would be unique. I can believe they would not go into a “short” shed for fear of being trapped. The shed I built has 14 foot high clearance and the newer shed has 18 foot clearance if I remember correctly. I doubt they would ever hide out in a shed shorter than 14 because that would be a bit too close to humans, at least for most of those birds.
Having said all of that though, on more than one occasion in my life I’ve been pheasant hunting with a party and seen a hawk/eagle take a hen pheasant we flushed while it was in flight. Humans are only allowed to shoot the male ring neck but the hawk/eagle is allowed to eat anything it wants. The older it is the braver it is too. I need to take a camera if I ever go pheasant hunting again. One day we were hunting in a line and a bird got up close. I called hen and people lowered they shotguns. Before the bird finished flying across all of us and while it was well within range, a hawk/eagle nailed it. I mean it was like it waited for us to call hen then came in to claim breakfast. As I said, at least out here, they’ve adapted to humans.
So, politicians will continue to treat us as “The Fly Over States” because we don’t pay big enough bribes, yet the symbol of American freedom and integrity chooses to make a home in “The Fly Over States.” Is anyone surprised they don’t willingly take up residence in Washington, DC.?