Today

A typical day here at FMI...I am heading out of the office at 8:30 am to help my retired co-worker, Harry, change out a locomotive draft gear. It will take us a couple of hours to drop this 500 lb. friction clutch mechanism out from under the railcar. We believe that this draft gear is the reason behind some strange looking time history plots of train impact force vs. cushioning unit displacement shown during our last dyno-like train impact.

Enough of that work stuff. Christmas was a fun, not real fun for reasons I can't explain. Shalee and I could not spend it together, I am sure that didn't help. I received some great gifts and gave some too. Maybe the holiday just wasn't long enough.

I did get the chance to witness nature at its finest. My brother Josh shot a large white tail buck my last day out at, no longer, my parents ranch in the Texas Hill Country. We set out with a long range 22 caliber rifle and some other rifle unidentifiable to me. My little brother Jesse decided he wanted to carry a gun as well, so he did. It was a hand gun, some kind of glock with hollow point bullets...pardon my gun ignorance. Anyhow, it wasn't far until we stumbled on a couple of white tails enjoying themselves in the forest. The buck was resting on the brush while the little doe was munching on some grass. They are not real shy around the ranch, seems unfair from a hunting standpoint. Josh rested his arms on the fence with the rifle in hand, lining the scope up with the buck's back shoulder area. Oops, Josh forgot to switch off the safety. Now we are ready to shoot, bang! It's not the loudest rifle, in fact not loud at all. The buck stumbled steadily for 20 ft. or so and fell to the ground. Nice shot! At first I though he just wounded him, but luckily he went down. We soon approached the dear with caution, not really sure if he was dead or just in shock. Five minutes passed then the dear suddenly jumped frantically. My dad handed me the unidentified rifle and told me to hold it firmly againts my shoulder and put the poor fellow out of his misery. So I did. Did I feel bad for shooting this deer, no. I felt as if I was doing it a favor.

Now I can say that I have shot a deer before without remorse for his life. That was the highlight of my Christmas holiday.

my second post

thanks again jessi and dave for chillin' with us this weekend. We had a great time and wish we could do it more often.

The world sure does turn fast!

that's me! 

my first post in a klog

dont put the bent spring on your lip