Saturday

[altivo]

Gary was in Chicago again today, so I did all the animal chores, plus grocery shopping and making supper for when he got back. It got warm enough for some of the ice to get rotten and slushy in spots. I found that shoveling it away didn't help, because water would fill in the gap and that was sure to freeze back to mirror surfaces before morning. So I took a rake and roughed it up, leaving the slush where it was lying. Hopefully that will make for a less slippery surface come morning.

Time to collapse now.

Comments

Off topic

[quickcasey.livejournal.com]

No need for dial up;

http://www.wildblue.com/

[silver-kiden.livejournal.com]

can you not put salt down to stop it from freezing? if not, try sand.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Salt is an environmental contaminant. It kills grass, shrubbery, and trees, and gets into the ground water. It's also bad for the horses' feet. It dries them out and can lead to cracking. We only use it as a last resort and as little as possible. Salt also has limitations. it really doesn't help much (or at all) when the temperature gets down below 20°F, which is where we've been much of the time lately.

We do use sand, kitty litter, or wood shavings where possible.

Re: Off topic

[altivo.livejournal.com]

But a whopping installation fee and an ugly contract. We have another problem with satellite, though. It's called "trees". The satellite connections require a direct, unobstructed line of sight from antenna to the spacecraft, and they are fairly low to the horizon here. A dish could not be mounted anywhere on our house or garage to get that line of sight. Instead it would have to be several hundred feet from the house, which poses problems for cabling and signal strength. I estimate a total installation cost of well over two thousand and a reliability of only 80% or so. Wireless would be more reliable and less expensive, but still has the same problem. The direction for the antenna is different, and anywhere we put it, chances are tree growth would obstruct it within a few years.

Re: Off topic

[bonnie-tiler.livejournal.com]

Yes, I can see your problem. Not a very impressing speed for that amount of money either...
We have the same problem here, but luckily our telephone land line have been able to let us have broadband connection at 7Mb/s downstream using ADSL.
Our government has gone out and made it an issue that every household should have access to broadband by a certain date ( can't remember when..)it has turned out almost effective.
Dialup was three times the price when we had it, so it's been a real good deal for us.

Re: Off topic

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yes, I understand that many European nations have made a point of requiring that broadband access be available to ALL citizens. Unfortunately, in the US everything is determined by capitalist profits. The government will not force the telephone companies or other providers to offer more than minimum voice service. So broadband is only available in urban and suburban areas unless you just happen to be lucky.

Where we are, the phone company resents even having to provide voice service. They keep saying they have no plans to offer DSL. There is no cable television, so that mode is also unavailable. The only way to get even partial broadband is wireless or satellite, and the only way to make sure those work from here is to put up a very tall (30 meters or so) antenna tower.

[saythename.livejournal.com]

Raking the slush out, I've never done that, usually I
put down salt or sand and let the earth take care
of it, though I don't have a farm so what do I know?

Hopefully Gary gets back 'k.

Re: Off topic

[quickcasey.livejournal.com]

I can fix that. I'll be right over with my chainsaw! I may need a ride to the emergency room, however. Unless you get get rid off all that gravity while I'm up there.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I don't like using salt because it's hard on the horses' hooves and accumulates in the soil and groundwater. That's not good for grass or other plants. We do use sand or kitty litter when we can.

This particular bad spot is right outside the Dutch doors from the boys' stalls. They go in and out there daily. They are also smart about ice and very cautious when it is icy out, you can see them taking little baby steps and moving very stiffly. Still, it's best to avoid a serious fall. Tess got loose and tried to cross the creek last winter when it had solid smooth ice with several inches of powder snow on it. She fell hard. Fortunately, she wasn't hurt and got right up, but it was scary.

Re: Off topic

[altivo.livejournal.com]

If I could get rid of gravity I'd just float up a 100 foot tower. ;p

The thing that really bothers me is the cellphone-like contract. It goes 24 months and you have to pay it all, even if the service turns out not to work well. And they won't guarantee that it will work. Absolutely anything can be written off to "circumstances beyond our control" and you are still expected to pay for 24 months of service just to get out of the contract. Sorry, that's where I draw the line. We ran into the same thing with a local wireless provider. I wanted them to come test at our house to make sure their signal would get through. They wouldn't do it unless I agreed in advance to let them install their equipment and signed the 24 month contract. No way guys. I don't buy a pig in a poke, especially not at those prices.

Re: Off topic

[altivo.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, I have a 50 foot tall dead oak tree that needs removal...

We'll even provide the chain saw.

[saythename.livejournal.com]

Hmm. You know those metal tread things
they put down to move wheeled vehicles
through mud? The thingies with holes in
them? Would that be too hard on hooves?

Or maybe, this summer, just get a bunch
of bags of Sackrete or such and lay
out a "Hoss Runway".

Just brainstorming.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

The metal treads would be worse. Metal is very slippery under hooves, even if it has dimples or holes in it. Concrete isn't the best either. Hooves evolved for sand, grass, or fine gravel.

The best fix would be having the whole paddock graded so it drains better. Major expense there. We get this problem on two or three days in one out of maybe three years. Unfortunately, it looks like the next storm that has us in its sights for tonight is going to cause a repeat given the current 34 degree temperature.