Male House Finch Perched in the Freezing Rain

Male House Finch Perched in the Freezing Rain
Originally uploaded by mightyquinninwky©™

Here's a shot taken during the freezing rain we recieved a couple of weeks ago. Not only was it rough on us weak humans but the wild animals had a time as well. Tree breaking everywhere and food sources under two inches of solid ice. Being the sap I am I made sure to put seed and food out for the animals every so often when I notice a thick layer of ice on it. Of course power went out, if someone sneezes hard the power goes out for a day, so you can imagine how bad it was when there is three inches of ice and three inches of snow. Especially in an area that comes to a stand still with only snow!! What kills me is the fact that KU over the years have laid off and refused to hire employees, no longer do you see KU trucks going around repairing the electrical infrastructure, more and more they wait for damage and half way fix it then and rely of less of their own employees and have to depend on private contractors. Instead of keeping employees to keep up our electrical infrastructure they lay them off and give themselves (the CEO and board) big bonus and cry poor when they are questioned about work crews. We used to have a couple of crews just for our county, but now they only keep one for the four county area. That is completely ridiculous...no wonder it took a week and half to get our power back and that was fast compared to a lot of people in this area. The people down the road were out for three weeks and some people in severely rural areas are still waiting. I understand the weather is out of their control and know that outages occur, but this aging infrastructure can't take anything anymore..why not bury the wires so trees and the such won't take them down, or have some sort of up keep so the lines won't fall at the drop of a hat, quite literally. Anyway I am glad the ice is gone, nice to shoot with my camera for a day, but tha enough for me. I love snow but the ice isn't even for the birbs =)...This year I am ready for spring..I guess being single again is making me ready for spring as well...a few of my fave bands are on tour and a concert or four would really put me in a better mood anyway... Oh, we had a wind storm a few days after the ice melted...it went from 10 degrees F to 60 degrees F in a couple of days with 50 mile an hour gusts..and of course no power at home or on campus (except for a couple of the classroom buildings) for a couple of more days. And USI had to have class....inbetween no hot water for a week and no power on campus during the ice storm and the wind storm..people were beginning to get a bit ripe..thank goodness the hot water is back... I personally used the locker room showers at the PAC..Physical Activities Center =)...just went into the weight room early in the morning and acted like I had a quick workout and took showers there....Where theres a will there is a way!! Hope everyone is doing well btw!!

If it were this easy.....

If it were this easy.....
Originally uploaded by mightyquinninwky©™

As I have said before, I am going back to school to get a degree in Education (Primary/Elementary) with a technology and special ed. endorsement. Anyway, this is my third time around and will be my second degree (AS in Liberal Arts from HCTC) and the many hours I received in Political Science and Psychology at the University of Kentucky. I am now attending the University of Southern Indiana and liking it quite a bit. I do feel strange being older than half my teachers, but thats the price you pay being a "non-traditional" student. Got to love the labels, they have to label you or they can't do a thing with you. They start labeling you when your a child and the labels morph and grow as you get older. Some people grow out of their labels, and unfortunately others grow into their labels. Labels can be very dangerous and very bad stumbling block along a person's path in life. Please remember that when you are labeling someone, if they don't fit the label perfectly, watch out, they may just grow into it. That can be a bad thing if its not a savory label.
But back to the point, I go off on tangents easily, school has become easier or I have become smarter. I really don't believe the latter, so the first option must be true. I have definitely become somewhat wiser, thank God. Everyone knows I have made enough mistakes in this life to be the wisest man on the planet; unfortunately I have to make the same mistake a few times to really learn the lesson. But back to the point again, they have really softened the classes in these universities compared to the first time I went (1988-1992). I have only taken off a few semesters between 1995 and 2007, I tried to take at least one class ever semester since 1992 and i think I only missed four. So I have seen the classes at a few different schools quickly lower their standards. This is a scary situation and the main problem is money. These schools are to the point of caring much more about tuition than turning out good graduates. Makes me think we all need help buttons, so we can have someone wiser and more intelligent than us, give us unbiased advice. Unfortunately that button doesn't exist so all we can do is try and make due with what is around us and try and make our little part of the world better. I used to worry about the worlds ills (and I still do), but I no longer worry about changing the world, I just try and change my little part of it and hope others will follow my lead... have a great week!! And may all the things you need, not want but need come to you and yours!!