Force Majeure Farm

Missing

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:13:00 +0000

The Coast Guard is a small service; it’s even smaller if you’re in aviation. By the time you’ve been in for a decade, you’ve run into the same people several times. By year twenty, every unit transfer seems like a family reunion. This was true when I was growing up as the daughter of a Coast Guard pilot and remained true during my own career. When a ship goes down, a small boat capsizes, or an aircraft disappears, chances are high that you either lost a friend or are friends with someone who is grieving.

Coasties are pretty special people – I’ll admit to only a small bit of bias in that statement. Our aviators are a particularly special breed. Remember the heroes of Katrina? What you saw was people responding in the way that is, for them, “ops normal.” The air crews are close-knit, highly competent, intelligent, and mission-focused. While they operate within the confines of highly-disciplined operational requirements, they also are some of the most compassionate people you will meet. Listening to a pilot talk a panicked boater through hoist procedures is a revelation in crisis communication.

Don’t take my word for how awesome our aviators are: this interview with Lieutenant Commander Che Barnes does a good job of representing the group. LCDR Barnes was the aircraft commander for the Coast Guard C-130 involved in a mid-air collision with a Marine Corps helicopter last Thursday. Nine people are missing.

Fair winds, shipmates.

Photo: evanflys.com

What we do, every day.

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:53:00 +0000

The Bonsai goats have figured out how to get through the fence and into the hay shed.....and repeat the feat several times a day. This is our life.

Circle of Life and all that crap

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 02:20:00 +0000

Kidding season started on Monday. To date, we've had 14 births and 12 have survived. I'm sorry to report that the kid in the last post died -- just too small to survive. It's twin is doing well, even though he's also pretty tiny. The second kid that didn't make it was a stillborn single, born to a first-time mother.

Things got really exciting on Thursday, when Shaggy went into labor. We went to check on her when we saw that she was standing off by herself, and sure enough we saw a little hoof peeking out. Ideally, a kid is positioned as if it were doing a swan dive, with both front legs and then the head delivering.

An hour later, Shaggy was lying on the ground and not visibly pushing. There was no sign of a hoof either. This was not good. After a quick consult with a fellow goat farmer and our vet to confirm the decision, we brought her into the "medical ward" pen for assisted delivery.

We don't have any pictures -- it took all three of us. The Admiral held her head and gave her a leg to push against. My husband (who has also had to do this on Monday) knelt beside her and talked with me through it. I eased my fingers and then a hand into the birth canal, trying to find a leg and the head. Closing my eyes helps to visualize, but was flummoxed when I found a leg but the head appeared missing. As I described what I was feeling to Chris, we realized that the head was actually tucked down toward its belly -- something like the lower left position in this illustration, but with the head down instead of to the side, and wedged under the pubic bone. I had to push the fetus back and down into the womb and then feel around for the underside of the neck down toward the head. Once I found the head, I had to push the body further back so that I could leverage the chin up past the pubic bone. At this point, my arm was buried nearly up to my elbow. Lining up the head and a foot, I delivered the kid just moments later. I was sure I had killed it, but it started breathing as soon as we cleared away the sac.

Feeling ill? You should have been there. Shaggy wasn't too impressed either. Thank goodness Chris was there, because otherwise I think I might have lost my nerve. The second kid was born on its own. When it came time for number three, my daughter and I repeated the process on our own. This time the kid's head was down and a leg was twisted over the head.

The brown goat is the firstborn; I'm holding the third in the next picture.

Shaggy is NOT grateful. In fact, she'd just as soon we didn't come anywhere near her kids. She is a very good mother and is also very territorial about them. I was reminded of this when she smacked me in the face with one of those horns shortly after delivering the triplet.

So...four lives saved. Meanwhile, I have taken on an ill-advised nursing project with 4 does from another farm. We don't really have the time or space for this right now, but I couldn't resist. We call them the Bonsai goats because, at the age of seven months, they are significantly undersized. Three seem to be responding to treatment, but the fourth was foundered and unable to walk shortly after arrival (she's the one on the lower right in the picture.) We capitulated to the inevitable today and euthanized her.

We have to take the bad with the good.

Kidding Season Begins Anew

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:47:00 +0000

So far, 3 kids by 2 pm. One died at birth, and two have lived. This one has a mild case of hypothermia but should be back in the barn in another hour.

Meanwhile, I don't think we need to call in CSI to figure out who the culprit is here:

Good thing those dogs are cute.

The pain just me-eh-eh-eh-lts away…..

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 01:44:00 +0000

Quincy, Illinois Tea Party 9/12/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 03:13:00 +0000

We headed down to Quincy today to hang out with all the other right wing terrorists.

As unruly, dangerous mobs go, it was pretty disappointing.

These kids looked like they might be a handful.

Mom doesn't look too concerned, though.

I looked hard for counter-protestors. Only these three showed. They had folded up their signs by the time I got through the crowd. One said "Smash Capitalism." Another said something about fascism. The third said "You Gave Us Bush." They man in yellow had a cordial, but firm chat with them and ended by saying that he respected their right to have a different opinion. They shook hands, and the three young men disappeared soon after. I wonder if the kid in the communist t-shirt has ever actually talked to someone who has lived under a communist regime.

'nuff said.

This woman noticed my husband's Coast Guard ballcap and ran over to shake his hand and thank him for his service. Her son just entered the Marine Corps.

Andrew Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, and Candidate Bobby Schilling got a huge rise out of the crowd. Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit, was scheduled to speak but we had to leave before his turn. I go to his site several times a day, so this was truly disappointing.

You can see more signs and crowd shots at the Patriots on the Prairie Flickr set.

Headed to Iraq

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:52:00 +0000

No, not me, silly! I'm talking about six Iraqi Bundles of Love. This project was started by an Army officer in Iraq, who was moved by the absolute poverty of the people near his base in northern Iraq. He was struck by how completely every scrap of scarce material is used up -- paper, metal, packing material -- everything. And, knowing how we quilters and knitters tend to amass far more material than we can use in a lifetime, he dreamed up a little project with his wife to brighten the lives of local women and to do so in a way that won't cost anybody very much. The bundles are packed inside of UPS flat-rate priority mail boxes and are self-wrapped inside a large piece of fabric and some ribbon.

What's inside? Just about anything you can think off -- fabric, thread, needles and pins, ribbon, small boxes to hold notions, buttons, and patterns. The more I imagined the happiness and hours of contentment this material would bring to women who have nothing, the more I found in my sewing room that I could do without. My daughter helped to put collections of material together and we crammed everything in as tightly as possible.

Poor Major. He thought that he might get 50 boxes or so. He's already received several hundred, and I'm guessing that the numbers will jump significantly as the deadline draws near.

You can still join in -- the shipping deadline is 8 September. Priority Mail postage to APO's is discounted, so you pay only $11.95 a box. See the website for details, and leave a comment on any of the posts to request the address. You can see more pictures and information at the Flickr group and on the Facebook page.

Dog Stole

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:17:00 +0000

It's the latest fashion.

Some of the bugs have yet to be worked out, though.

Perchance to sleep

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:16:00 +0000

One cardboard box chewed to pieces.

One drainage ditch inspected.

One barn cat annoyed.

One ride in the tractor.

One minor accident on the kitchen floor.

One leather work glove hidden.

One wood pile sniffed out.

Really, it's all just so exhausting.

Puppy Love

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:56:00 +0000

We said we weren't going to do this again.

But I saw how much he melted over a coon hound puppy at a picnic in July.

I think they like each other.

Her name is Rosie.

How We Got Here

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:54:00 +0000

We've been asked how Chris injured his spine. Well, it's likely a combination of many things, but the surgeon who performed the cervical spine fusion in 2001 thought that a significant contributor was 12 1/2 years of this:

Ships don't just slide gently over the waves, not in these sea conditions. They slam down and shudder, sending the vibrations all the way up your spine. Some of that is mitigated now with anti-fatigue mats, but you can't avoid the cumulative effects entirely.

Treaty Violations and Imposing Sanctions

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:31:00 +0000

Anybody who thinks mice are cute never had one running loose in their house.

We have a treaty agreement, the mice and I. They don't show up inside the house and I don't kill them.

The politicos warned that the election of a new president results in some testing of boundaries and treaties to see if we're still serious. I guess this guy thought he'd test this boundary. In response, I signed the order for the ultimate sanction.

America still stands strong!

The Frog Prince Came To Visit

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 02:12:00 +0000

We put him to work

200 bales worth of work.

But he didn't seem to mind.

As my mother would say, he's a tall drink of water.

What We Did For Our Summer Vacation

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:50:00 +0000

It's been a tough year at Force Majeure Farm. I haven't said much, as we're not big on sharing our problems with the world. However, our recent experience with back pain, back surgery, and the aftermath indicates that it isn't necessarily easy to find information and resources, especially for people who are tall and for people who are in farming. In that light, we've decided to share what we've learned in hopes that we can make things easier for the next person that comes along.

It started a year ago, as painful hips. A visit to the doctor ruled out arthritis, so my husband was referred to a specialist. A spinal x-ray confirmed the problem in the spine -- bone spurs and the L4 vertebrae that was sliding forward and pressing up against nerves and crowding the spinal cord. For future reference, this is NOT what the spine is supposed to look like:

The first steroid injection into the spine worked, for about four months. The second did nothing. My husband kept the farm going out of pure grit, but by June he couldn't walk further than 200 feet and was dragging his left leg. Hay baling nearly killed him. The next appointment with the orthopedic specialist was scheduled for July 11th, but we called and insisted (okay, begged) on being seen earlier. That appointment was July 2nd at 2:30; the doc took one look at him and -- I kid you not --by 2:32 we were on our way across the street to the hospital. Chris spent the next week in pelvic traction and was referred to a neurosurgeon who (bless him) came in over the 4th of July weekend to look at him. Two weeks later, on the 17th of July, Chris spent 7 1/2 hours on the operating table as the surgeon worked to remove significant bone spurs from L4-S1, fused the L4-L5 vertebrae, and restored the lumbar curve:

That hardware you see is permanent.

Here's the rub: lower back surgery has a fairly high failure rate. We signed at least three acknowledgements that he could actually end up worse off. It is for this reason that every other alternative should be tried before surgery. Once we started looking for information about lumbar surgery, the news was even more discouraging -- lifetime limits on lifting more than 50lbs, no lifting and twisting of anything whatsoever -- and, in general, no doing anything that might resemble farm tasks ever again. The idea that we might not be able to keep our livestock or our farm property is a pretty tough prospect. The little handout they give you at the doctor's office about back surgery isn't much help in addressing long term issues. With a little research and planning, though, we located ideas, equipment, and resources that made us a little more optimistic about the outcome of the surgery:

First, we realized that we couldn't be the first farm family to grapple with disability. Sure enough, between some internet-based resources and conversations with some friends, we've came up with some solutions to try for caring for our herd.

Second, we recognized that Chris' height (6'3") might require some particular equipment. We went to the local medical supply company ahead of time to size things up. It's hard for an otherwise healthy and active man to prepare for his own disability, but it turned out to be a very important part of his recovery process.

Third, we didn't just accept the referred neurosurgeon and his recommendations at face value. Armed with information about the qualifications he should have, I looked into his background to ensure that we were satisfied with his experience, qualifications, and malpractice history. Further, we researched the surgery enough to be able to ask intelligent questions and inquire about the latest pain management medications. His willingness to look into a new drug that was just released this past spring gave us an even better sense of confidence in him.

I'll post more in detail about all of these lessons learned in upcoming posts. Meanwhile, at just over 3 weeks post-op, so far so good.

OCS Class 1-86

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 01:58:00 +0000

A friend recently sent me some long-forgotten video from officer candidate school. I'm the third one from the right.

I Am....The United States Coast Guard

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:22:00 +0000

Happy Birthday, Shipmates.

Train vs. Tornado

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:36:00 +0000

Two years ago, we took Amtrak to the west coast. Somewhere in Iowa, we came to a stop and idled for an hour in order to let a severe storm pass ahead of us. Seeing this, I'm sure glad we did. The action starts about 1 minute in.

Some questions for Supreme Court candidate Sonia Sotomayor

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:50:00 +0000

The ~~circus~~ hearing for Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court starts today. I hope that she is asked some good, thoughtful questions designed to elicit equally good, thoughtful answers that will help the Congress to cast some good, thoughtful votes. Somehow, I doubt that will happen.

Here's a list of questions that would be a pretty good start.

I suppose you expected something mature and thoughtful from me today. Not.

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:35:00 +0000

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:44:00 +0000

Having grown up with a father who is an engineer (afflicted with the aeronautical variety), I can attest to the unique perspective from which such creatures view the world. It turned out to be a blessing for me in the long run, as I have made something of a career out of translating between engineer/geek speakers and regular people.

For those of you who have not been blessed with an engineer in your lives, here's a peek into their minds:

Frog Prince: Coxswain Under Instruction

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:14:00 +0000

Having failed to scare him off with some basic goat wrangling, the Frog Prince has returned for a couple of weeks to visit the Admiral and to do some work around the farm. I'll be posting some pictures so that his parents (Frog Queen and King?) can verify that we haven't killed him.

When we told Frog that we were mowing today, he probably didn't expect this.

After a few moments of instruction (press down on the clutch, engage the PTO for the mower, increase RPM's to about 1500, let off the clutch slowly....), he was ready to take off.

The Admiral hasn't pulled the mower before, so she got some instruction as well.

Trimming the pasture encourages new growth, which the goats prefer. We've got chicory mixed into this field, which they really enjoy.

The bucket stays up for better visibility. No, you can't ride in it.

Next lesson: cleaning out the barn with that bucket.....

It Gets Worse

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:54:00 +0000

I came home from a meeting to find that I'd lost my place on the couch:

Apparently, he couldn't see the TV from the floor.

Now the next question: where's he sleeping?

I'm a world-traveled, well-educated, reasonably sophisticated person. I also organize goat slumber parties.

Conceding Defeat

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:17:00 +0000

What kind of people bring livestock into their house?

First I drew the line at the back door.

Then I drew the line at the kitchen, and only for treatment of hypothermic newborns.

Then I drew the line at bringing the preemie into the house overnight.

Now, our purebred buckling is ill. He's recovering, but still has to be hydrated by tube feeding. (Wrestling a feeding tube down a goat's gullet was NOT in the brochure).

Then he got heat exhaustion, because he's still dehydrated. So.....

The songs on Guitar Hero haven't seemed to bother him.

All I can say now is: Thank goodness we don't raise cattle.

The Stoning of Soraya M.

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Fri, 15 May 2009 12:24:00 +0000

This is the life that women have handed to them across vast swaths of the world.

More here:http://www.thestoning.com/.

Swine Flu Information Sources

noreply@blogger.com (Sassenach) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:13:00 +0000

Updated: 4/27 9:20 am I've been tracking sources for information about swine flu for the last 24 hours and am posting here some links that you may find useful. I'll update and bump the post as I find new resources.

The single best source for rapid dissemination of objective information about the spread of the disease is at Veratect's twitter feed.
Veratect is a biosurveillance company that has been tracking this outbreak since 30 March. They've posted a timeline, along with an excellent article about the operational irrelevance of academic definitions of pandemic phases and severity. If you are at all interested in the subject of biosurveillance, I highly recommend adding their blog to your feed reader.
A unofficial Google map of swine flu cases (confirmed and suspected) is being maintained by a biomedical research worker, with contributions from users.
Here's Google's Flu Trends Map, which is sort of an indications and warning based upon certain search terms that have been identified as useful advance indicators of flu diagnosis. How the surge in interest in swine flu may or may not skew this is unknown.
The CDC's official page for updates on swine flu (and other pandemics) is here: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/ They have some useful information and links to other information, but frankly their information dissemination is on a significant time lag to Veratect.
HealthMap tracks information on all disease outbreaks from a variety of sources. Use the menus on the left side of the screen to narrow down your results. They also have a Twitter feed.

Other useful & interesting information:

The Center for Biosecurity has Risk Communication Before and During Pandemics, the text of a speech given in 2005 by Peter Sandman, a risk communication specialist.

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