Jack Manassas and Company

It's time for another break from the usual boring contents--This is a campfire story I told in 2009 at a Webelos-A-Ree campout in October--This is an annual campout that allows Webelos to visit a number of scout troops in the district, and see if they can find a scout troop that they would like to join.  We planned to have a campfire with skits and stories at our own campsite, but a hard, cold rain began in the afternoon.  We tied tarps to two sides of a camping shelter, and were gathered inside it, listening to the rain drumming on the tin roof.  Thunder and lightning echoed through the valley.  A campfire looked unlikely.  "Who has a story?" someone asked. "I do," I said.  "But I'm not entirely sure I _should_ tell this story." Just then, lightning hit close to the campsite, and a very heavy burst of rain drummed on the tin roof.  I looked around the shelter slowly. "Now I really don't know if this is a good idea.   But maybe i

October 23, 2015, Friday We went to Mount Rushmore this morning-an awesome sight!   The cost was $11 per car for admission, and the Golden Eagle yearly Park Pass does not apply to that fee. It was much more developed than Anne remembered, to her great disappointment. I didn't remember being there at all, until we took the pathway to the old viewing platform. I remember the stones of the old walkway, so this must be one of the places that I visited when I was five years old.      We accidentally went to the Crazy Horse Memorial, just down the road. The cost was $11 per person, or $28 per car. It was well worth the price! This site has a Museum of the American Indian, the great restaurant, information on the stone carving project (the 30 foot face of crazy horses complete, and his hand is almost complete), and much historical information.   The museum even has some of the actual beads that were used to trade for Manhattan Island, back when the Dutch were driv

October 22, 2015, Thursday We saw the Corn Palace. It was being redecorated on the outside.  We took pictures on the inside and the outside of all the corn art. Even though it was the off-season, and the eerily quiet, there were still quite a few visitors.   We passed through the Badlands, now a National Park.  Anne says it is very different from when she last visited, 30 years ago--But the Badlands are constantly washing into the White River on the plains below the Badlands Wall.  In 20 more years, what we see now will be washed away to reveal new stripes in the sediments.   Wall, South Dakota was just a little further.  We visited Wall Drug. They have really cleaned up the kitschiness from 20 years ago.  Many of the shops had impressive goods for sale, especially boots and other leatherwork.   We drove through Rapid City, South Dakota, and over the mountain to Keystone, a former gold-mining town. The Holiday Inn express is a huge hotel, and has huge room

Here, I take a break from the most boring blog on the face of the earth to post a campfire story, first told around a campfire to the members of BSA Troop 649.... Or WAS it just a campfire story?  You can be the judge.  And if you have the courage,  tell this story aloud, around a campfire some night when the sparks ascend straight up to the starry heavens.  If you are bold, act out the dance steps at the end--but without the knives!  And you may just learn some eternal truth that (you will see!) was hidden in plain sight all along... The Butcher Dance You have probably seen documentaries on public television stations.   They are certainly educational, even interesting, but I doubt they are your favorite programs.   Nevertheless, somebody has to make them.   There are people who spend a career doing nothing but making documentaries.   Some of these people specialize in a particular kind of documentary. Once upon a time, and not too long ago, there was a documentary mak

October 21, 2015 Wednesday Westward Ho! We repacked the car this morning in the parking lot. Thunderstorms threatened. We bought Rollin a takeout omelette from the Griddle Restaurant, and two dozen pastries for the dorm mates at 10th Ave., Rollin was still typing away in the living room. His final writings were due Wednesday morning, and he was up against a hard deadline. We dropped off food, said goodbye with hugs, and got on the road. Crossed the South Dakota Border into Minihaha County, then on to Mitchell, South Dakota, home of the Corn Palace, and stayed at the Quality Inn.  

October 19-20, 2015, Mount Vernon, Iowa We arrived at the Sleep Inn in  Mt. Vernon, Iowa without difficulty. We were unable to reach our son Rollin by phone--but he was in his dormitory at 10th Ave. Rollin looked terrible, the effects of weeks of intense study and a looming final exam. He was typing away the paper for creative writing.  He was two days away from his final exam when this picture was taken.  We stayed an extra day to cheer him up, got him some clothes, and had dinner with him a couple of times. He seemed much happier by the time we left. We usually don't travel further west than Iowa in a car. Tomorrow we take the plunge into the unknown. I have not taken car trip cross-country since I was five years old, and Anne has not taken such car trip in over 20 years. Trip was uneventful, except for the burning farmhouse we passed on the way out of town;

Turning the Chromalox Heater On and Off There is a space heater mounted on the garage ceiling over the workbench. It was installed by Anne's Grandfather, probably when the house was built in the 1970's. No instructions were available. I was able to turn the heater on, but could not immediately figure out how to turn it off again. We eventually found the fuses that controlled the heater and turned it off at the fuse box. Fortunately no important parts of the house were affected by this. After a week, I finally got it to turn off. I could find nothing online about this space heater or its controller, so here's my solution-- Here are the markings on the equipment; Heater element and case: Canadian Chromalox Company R: 73 240 Volts, 2000 Watts Cat No. CRT-4320 Controller/Switch Probably a “VCF Percentage Timing Input Controller.” If it is, the timer controller energizes the heating element for a certain perce