Thom and Dar's Sabbatical Journal

I'll bet you've noticed some changes going on with our website and blog during the past week or two. Here's the story of what I've been up to. Over the past 3+ years our website (www.tdhoch.com) has been the focus of our online presence. It included a total of four pages (front page, links page, about us page, and a maps page), and a menu that included links to our online photo albums and our blog -- The RV Sabbatical Journal. It worked well, but the downsides are that it involves a monthly charge for the web-hosting service, and requires a separate software program (an HTML editor) on each computer that I used to update the site. Our blog, The RV Sabbatical Journal (tdhoch.blogspot.com), has always been generated with simple online blogging software -- which is out there, somewhere, on the internet, on a server owned and operated by somebody else -- which means a lot less work and expense for old Thom when it comes to keeping the software up-to-date and functioning

"Apply ice pack to the affected area for 20 minutes every waking hour for the first 24 hours". This was among a series of instructions on a post-operative care sheet provided after my tooth extraction procedure yesterday. Others including "fluids are important", "cool fluids are best", and "take pain medication" indicated to me that perhaps a couple extra "brew-skis", well chilled, would be just what the doctor ordered. When I returned home after my 3pm procedure yesterday, I chilled on the patio while the local anesthetic wore off and reflected on the previous couple hours. I'm not strong when it comes to anything dental or medical. I've been known to "self-anesthetize" (pass out) before, during, or after procedures that even girls and small children can handle with class and dignity. That's right Bunky... I'm a big wuss. I had nothing but the best in an oral surgeon. He had more initials after his name

Oh yes! It was quite a weekend here in our little home town of Beaver Dam. And the weather-gods provided nearly perfect early summer conditions for it all. The local Chamber of Commerce's Taste of Wisconsin was held Saturday afternoon on a blocked-off portion of Spring Street in downtown Beaver Dam. The focus was craft beer and craft cheeses -- dozens and dozens of them, all from the State of Wisconsin. And what an interesting collection of tastes it was. Nothing bland or pedestrian was permitted -- no Velveeta or Cheese Whiz or Bud Lite. From what I could observe, the attendees were mostly daring adventurous types who savor bold gustatory sensations. And they pretty much got what they were looking for. Smiles and good-natured conversations all around. It was a great way to spend a summer Saturday afternoon.  And Sunday was Father's Day. My Mom & Dad hosted a small family gathering at their home to celebrate a couple birthdays in addition to the father's day t

I wonder what's going on inside? Is anybody home? A family of hungry swallows hamming it up for the camera. Click on 'em for a larger pic. There's more going on at the farm than one might imagine... if you only look closely. T

More of the same... that's what's been going on with our anxious explorers the past week or so. Visiting with family, pecking away at projects and to-do's, and generally enjoying the slightly wetter than normal summer so far. This morning Dar found a strawberry patch and brought home a flat of same. I love eaten' em, not so fond of pickin' em. I thought some of you might enjoy seeing the finished "patio" that we built alongside the bus-house parking pad here at the farm. This is mostly Dar's work... I was employed as grunt labor only and told to get out of the way when artistic or aesthetic decisions were made. Photos can be enlarged by clicking. On Thursday morning we made our annual visit to Chili John's Cafe in downtown Beaver Dam. I've written about this local institution before so let me just say that it's been in continuous operation since 1920 -- certainly the longest continuous running restaurant in Beaver Dam. It'

Those of you around Beaver Dam know we're still here. But others could be wondering why we disappeared from cyber-space the past week or more. No excuse... just working on other projects. The Journal and website sit out "there", become over-ripe, or maybe "stale" would be a better word, and readers drop off -- tired of checking and finding the same old stuff day after day. And that's just the way it is when we're at an extended camp and the weather is so conducive to outside projects. Ah, but today, Tuesday, the weather finally cooperated and we couldn't get outside to do anything if we had wanted. The high temp was in the 50f's, it was windy, rainy, blustery ALL day. The furnace got a good workout, as did all 3 of our PCs. It was an inside day from morning to night. One of my inside projects is backing up more than 5 years of photos and videos onto a WD Elements 500GB portable external drive. We had photos stored here, there, and elsewhere o