Yes, you can break the bucket on a JD 400 loader

We had something like 10 inches of snow fall this week in Heyworth. Officially they are saying 5.5 inches, but they must live in town and measure under a tree. I'm doing my morning snow ritual of cleaning the driveway, going backwards up the drive with the blade, when WHAM! The front left tire was low on air, but it finally just broke the bead and fell off the rim. The tractor slid into the fence, and because I was going too fast (like 5 to 10 mph), when the bucket hit the fence post the bucket broke off the front of the loader.

I've ordered the two "handles" for the front of the loader that connect to the bucket. $87 bucks a piece. Ouch. They are cast iron, so no welding, not that there is much left of them to weld anyway. I also had to get the tire fixed...a nail...ARGH. So this snowfall cost me $200.

Sometimes I really, really hate living in the snow belt of Central Illinois.

Database of concealed carry owners?

The Bloomington IN Herald Times has decided that it would be a great idea to provide a database to the public of Indiana concealed carry permit owners.

Once again I question my decision to move to the socialist state of Illinois where you can't even carry ammunition without a permit and concealed carry is only available for criminals. But I digress...back to this liberal smear campaign...

Now the Indianapolis Star has joined in with their own concealed carry permit database. This is the equivalent of listing all of the Jews or Muslims that live in a neighborhood - Freedom on Religion is just as important as Freedom to Keep and Bear Arms. And yet would any organization think that it would be a good idea to present a database of all Muslims by community?

I used to check the Indy Star website weekly to see what was going on back in the Promised Land. Not anymore. Indy Star - you've lost my business. I won't be visiting your website so you won't be getting my web traffic for your advertisers.

If you subscribe to either of these newspapers, please reconsider whether it is worth getting watered down liberal news from such bigots.

If you want more information about the freedoms that are being impinged upon in Indiana, check out http://gunnuts.net/.

My Christmas Present

Did I ever mention how much I love my wife?!? Yes, I'm a helicopter owner again. This is a 2008 Experimental Helicopter, a lot like a Robinson R22. As soon as the weather breaks around here, I'll be moving it to the farm.