Venturing Out in 2025

Winter has officially ended and this week will also conclude my hibernation. Yesterday, dad and I took my first outing for the year by taking a trip to Des Moines for a model train show.

It wasn't anything spectacular and mainly had vendors selling used model trains and starter kits for kids. Dad and I did purchase an engine that we originally thought was new, but learned at checkout it had been used by the seller. He guaranteed it would work, so I eagerly waited to get home and put our new, modern, locomotive on the tracks. Unfortunately, all I could get get it to do was turn on the headlights and make noise.

Dad and I worked on reprogramming it, but we have yet to be successful in making it run. Hopefully it won't be a permanent paper-weight, but more investigation and testing will be needed. I guess it's a good lesson to not always trust used car, or train, salesman. 

My empty calendar pages end this week as well with my first doctor's appointment and speaking engagement both scheduled. Friday will again be the most challenging venue I currently visit. It is a school chapel, or Scripture teaching, for students from Kindergarten through 6th grade. For disability awareness talks, I normally just visit with 2nd or 3rd graders as that age group seems to understand everything the best. Trying to make a talk where Kindergartners will understand and 6th graders not get bored is a challenge. I pray God will use my words to help the students learn, but I never quite know how to best teach such a wide range.

Of course, I didn't get as much done during winter hibernation as I hoped. However, I can always continue with more writing and reading projects in the warm months as time allows. I am ready to get back into a busier quad life though, at least for now.

Earning my Name

When we're born, one of the first things our parents do is give our name. This is what we are know by for our entire life and that name, generally, never changes. As we get older and our personalty, likes, and interests form, we sometimes get a nickname. I have a cousin who goes by "Bubba" and it almost sounds strange to hear his actual name used.

I just normally stick with Joel and don't use a lot of alter personalities. However, I do also get referred to as the "Barefoot Preacher" and, as the address of this blog shows, "trainman" or similar variant. I have never preached while wearing something on my feet, so this name fits as long as I'm able to preach. The second name has been getting neglected for quite a while, making me start to wonder if it still applied to me.

When it comes to trains, I generally enjoy most aspects of the hobby. I like watching trains, doing model trains, discussing rail related topics, and some history as well. However, it is a hobby that is like all others and requires time. For me, it also requires assistance from someone else. 

Dad and I mainly enjoy the same hobby, but he has many different projects vying for his attention nearly simultaneously. As a result, it has been many months since we have done anything on our train layout other than occasional "testing" to see if engine sounds still work. It has been even longer since

Steel Highway's camera showing one of our sightings

we've gone on an official outing with the primary goal of seeing trains. Running errands to nearby towns that have active tracks may result in a train sighting, but not from seeking them. My family spends almost every evening meal with a camera from Virtual Railfan or Steel Highway Railcams in the background, but it isn't the same.

Yesterday, after literal years of hiatus, dad and I finally got to sit beside the rails and wait for trains. He had misplaced something while running errands the day before and retrieving it made a perfect excuse for leaving plenty of time to watch trains. In less than two hours, we saw four trains and part of a fifth we missed due to the classic railfan error of leaving a few minutes too quickly.

It was a cool day, but sitting in the van with the sun on us kept it from becoming too cold. We could have seen the same trains through live camera feeds at home, but it felt good to be out in person again and not have distractions and other interests interrupt.

In the quad life, or any life, it can sometimes be the calm activities that get neglected first, but provide the most benefit. I'm doubtful railfanning will be a frequent occurrence in 2025, but it at least happened once.

Dinosaur Mania

Around 2008, I started following creation apologetics. It opened my understanding of the Bible and God's design in the world. Since then, I have studied through online classes, multiple books, videos, and conferences. With this knowledge, I have taught a Sunday school class, preached sermons on creation, and helped teach others about God's world.

Last week, a friend notified me about a four-day conference going on at a local church. Looking at the schedule she sent and a recap of Sunday's message, it was a creation conference. Unfortunately, much of the church in America, and the Western world, have abandoned the truth of Genesis and embraced atheistic evolution. I was thankful to hear the conference was going on and local schools and churches were attending, but I wasn't planning to go. I figured I heard most of the material already and it was a ministry I hadn't heard about. However, Dad and I went to the final session on Wednesday evening that talked about dinosaurs and the Bible.

Arriving a few minutes before the session started, we looked at the church platform filled with replica dinosaur fossils. I haven't seen such a portable display before and was impressed with the number of artifacts. Dad and I found a place to sit in the third row from the front as the worship center quickly filled.

The speaker went on for about 90 minutes and, as I expected, much of what he said was very familiar. However, it's good to hear from multiple sources and some points were new to me. I knew about soft tissue, and red blood cells, being discovered in a T-Rex bone. However, I wasn't aware that a creation scientist wanted to do carbon dating on it and pay for the expenses. This would show the age of the bone and, most likely, that it's much younger than 66 million years. However, the offer did not go well with the bone's owner and very little of the originally live radio conversation could be played with children present.

Overall, it was fun to attend and let Dad hear some of the teaching he hadn't before. Unfortunately, a family with young children sat in front of us and their kids were allowed to run all over the building, including around the speaker. It was rather distracting, but hopefully they will learn from some of the children's resources.

This week, I plan to enjoy mainly at home. With the arrival of March, calm days are coming to an end very soon.

A Day Trip, and No More?

Last week Saturday, June 24, was the annual Galesburg Railroad Days in Galesburg, IL. Since 2021, it has become an annual trip that Dad and I make for a fun day of trains. We left home early Saturday morning and made the three-hour drive to get in line to enter the model train show.

Shortly after entering the college field house, a ticket number was called for the door prize. As dad looked at his ticket, the announcer red the same thing he was seeing. Therefore, we returned to the entrance to claim our prize, a full loop of track, controller, and short train set. It looked similar to what some people have around Christmas trees and is a great starter for those new to the hobby.

All week had been very warm in Iowa with Saturday not any different. The forecast for Galesburg that day was sun, thunderstorms, and a high of 91°. As we roamed around the building looking through various vendors, the heat in the crowded, non air-conditioned building continued to rise. After nearly two hours of looking at model trains, and carrying around our door prize, we purchased a couple good deals and departed.

Instead of returning on the route we had came, Dad thought it would be fun to go through Ft. Madison, IA. I liked the thought of watching trains in the river city, so we started to navigate to the town, with a very sparse map. Using our compass and guessing our approximate location, Dad picked roads that were going the correct direction. Unfortunately, my nearly 30 year-old van does not have good air conditioning. As we traversed very rural roads with nothing in sight except fields, I continued to be on the border-line of overheating.

It took nearly two hours to navigate the 70 miles between the two cities, but we made it. Our first stop was to watch a train we had followed into town. Doing so, we were also seen on Virtual Railfan's Fort Madison railcam and received an alert from my uncle of sighting us. Next, we found a local ice cream shop where I gladly ate a dish of plain chocolate ice cream to try to cool down. We stayed in the railroad magnet for about an hour before starting our remaining two hours home.

Finally, about halfway home, we ran into the thunderstorms we knew were coming. The downpour of rain sometimes made driving a challenge, but it provided a welcome decrease in temperature. After several hours of being too hot, it was nice to cool down. Unfortunately, my nearly healed final pressure sore did not fair well and nearly doubled in size. Therefore, some fun outings I had in mind for this summer have been delayed and will likely be canceled.

Living the quad life has challenges in many directions. I'm thankful I was able to spend time with Dad on a hobby we both enjoy. However, I should have been better prepared to deal with weather conditions and check my body more carefully before many hours in my chair. I do now have two more model train cars on my track and a kit to use in some way. Now, I look forward to a slow week for outings and more recovery at home.

Galesburg Railroad Days

Yesterday was the annual Railroad Days in Galesburg, IL. It is held the fourth weekend in June and is a great gathering of railroad enthusiasts. Dad and I enjoyed visiting last year and we decided to go again this year.

Since our previous visit, dad has done a fair amount of work on our train layout. When I have extra funds, I have been ordering train cars as well as some scenery items. Like with every hobby, you can spend as much time and expense as you want and can still do more. However, a mixed freight train I have been putting together is now the correct length for the size of our track. While we have supplies for scenery, it has yet to be used anywhere.

Therefore, I didn't have any certain items I was looking for and knew I couldn't get much for cars or engines. Dad and I have a constant debate between what era to model. He likes older era equipment from the 50's and I like modern items that are on the rails today. With our two interests combined, we have far more items to put on the tracks than space allows. I suppose we could fill every inch of rail we have, but then trains wouldn't have room to move.

Dad and roamed through model train vendors for about three hours. I did end up getting a few items, but restrained myself from getting much. We then got a very late lunch and ate while sitting by railroad tracks for about an hour before returning home. The two of us left home at 8:06 Saturday morning and returned around 7:45 that evening.

It was a lot of driving for only four hours of doing what we had planned. It was still fun though and likely the only major outing I'll have this year. Dad has already discussed changes to make next year go better, but I was thankful I didn't suffer any major setbacks like last year. Now, I have a week to prepare for preaching twice next Sunday along with a busy work week. It is an interesting time of year for the quad life.

When Plans Plummet

My parents do a large amount of my care and covering hours that I don't have caregivers. For many years though, they have been able to take two extended, 7-10 day, vacations a year. In the evenings, when my parents usually help me, my grandparents and irregular caregivers helped cover the time. Now with both grandfathers gone, fewer hours for caregivers, and less help, it has become hard for them to get away for more than a day.

With fall approaching and the change in trees, mom and dad got it arranged to be gone for two days and one night. Only one evening needed to be covered and my regular day assistant would cover Friday and Saturday as her regular shifts. When the weekend's weather was predicted, it looked like a great time to be out.

On Thursday, Sara, my assistant had a bit of a cough, but nothing unusual for this time of year and allergies. Friday morning though, ten minutes before my parents planned to leave, Sara called that was ill and wouldn't be able to come. Therefore, at 6:00 in the morning, they unpacked the few bags they had and called to cancel the hotel reservation.

This isn't the first time plans had to be changed, but I always feel bad when it happens. I was sad that Sara wasn't feeling well, and more disappointed that mom and dad couldn't get a break from me. I'm very thankful for all they have done and instead of looking forward to retirement years, they are still stuck with helping me. It is a part of the quad life that has become familiar, but never gets easier.

Yesterday, the predicted nice weather continued. The three of us took advantage of it and went to northern Iowa to watch trains for a few hours. It wasn't close to a two-day get away, but at least they were able to get out of the house for a while.

Winter will soon be showing its ugly head again when we don't go out at all. Even though it wasn't planned, I'm thankful when I can get out to enjoy God's creation.

Modeling Bug

A few weeks ago, I made a video about how I do model railroading with my mouth stick. Unfortunately, it somewhat started an itch that I can't scratch.

I have enjoyed trains as long as I can remember and part of the fun is doing model trains. It's to get out by the tracks and go railfanning (watching trains), but weather doesn't always allow it. Therefore, working with small versions of them is the next best thing.

In junior high, my English teacher was also a rail enthusiast. He and I went out to watch trains several times in the summer, but he also formed a train club. A few other boys in my class were in it and we would spend time after school on Fridays putting together model trains that we could beg from our parents.

Mr. Muether was an excellent teacher and he did a great job of making it so I could interact with my classmates more and get to be an early teen. Some of the club's field trips, and rail camping, are fresh in my mind nearly 25 years after they happened.

Dad and I eventually built a train layout in our basement, just below my bedroom. He got the table top made, foam laid down, and tracks arranged with hills and curves. I don't remember how long that took, but the layout hasn't really progressed beyond that now for well over ten years.

Unfortunately, life can get in the way of things you enjoy and would like to do. With dad's busy work schedule and my very limited time up, we have extremely little time to give to our hobby. This current quarantine situation hasn't helped either. I could be in my chair likely by the layout right now instead of writing this. However, with churches doing online services, I have had a busy week helping organize and needed my sitting time to get work done.

Since making the video, I have been watching more model train videos and "window" shopping for items I like online. It's part of living a busy quad life and being sure to help others first. This week, and the next, look like they will still be at home. Maybe I'll get to scratch the modeling itch yet, but time will tell. I'm thankful to be safe at home and healthy and able to stay busy.

Airline Empires

While flat, I'm limited in how much I can do. I'm still able to watch YouTube and Pure Flix as well as play Farming Simulator, listen to an audio book, and read physical books. It's actually quite a list, but I still like variety as much as possible. Therefore, I added another casual game, Airline Empires.

Trains are my primary interest, but there are few games associated with them. Aircraft and the airline industry are a close second interest, so related entertainment is fun. Airline Empires is completely played through your browser, no downloads or costs involved. It's very simple with no graphics, action, or motion, just primarily spreadsheets and Google Maps. However, I am really having fun with it.

As the name suggests, you own an airline. At initial startup, you choose a plane to lease and what city to base your airline, anywhere in the world. My airline is called Air Canadia with bases in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada. After establishing your home airport, you pick where to fly, ticket prices, and what services to offer your passengers.

Destination Map

It sounds straight-forward, but you also compete with other players' airlines that may offer the same flights. Therefore, you have to adjust prices and keep the competition from taking your passengers, and profits. Expenses include aircraft leasing, and purchasing, as well as gate rental at airports, employee wages, advertising, etc.

I have been playing now for about two weeks and find numbers and planning going through my head. Each game day takes 30 minutes in the real world. Therefore, one week passes in 3.5 hours, a month in 15 hours, and so on. Ordering a new plane can take 4-6 weeks for delivery. I don't want it delivered in the middle of the night and sit idle, costing maintenance fees, before I get to it. So I calculate when to order aircraft of different types so they become available at appropriate times.

As of this writing, I have 29 planes with only three owned. My fleet goes to 30 different destinations with a daily profit of over $7.3 million (I choose destinations carefully). It has been a fun venture, but doesn't take much time. The world my airline is in is at May 21, 1983 and goes to the end of 2010.

The quad life can be full of variety, and I'm thankful God allows me to stay active through various activities.

Traveling in One Location

I like to travel and see different areas of the country, even though it doesn't always go well. If I wasn't living the quad life, I've wondered what I would have done as a career. The two options that keep coming to me are railroad engineer or truck driver. For the past few weeks, I've been experiencing one option.

During my flat time, I have been watching an excessive amount of YouTube. I came across a channel called Big Rig Travels that follows a truck driver, Steve, on his travels. It's simply a camera mounted on the truck's dash with live video as he drives and sometimes offers commentary. Through this, I've been through a few southern states over to South Carolina then through the mountains to the Midwest and Wisconsin.

Office with a view

A three-day trip ended in central Washington state and as of this writing, heading toward Salt Lake City. Instead of just laying for multiple hours, I've been able to see many miles of travel and a variety of scenery and terrain. However, it's also ten or more hours of Steve driving alone with just a GPS talking back.

As my nickname implies, I'm very into trains and the railroad. As an engineer, a person works in one route, or section, going from point A to B and back again. Depending on the route, it could be very scenic or rather plain, especially after 40 years or more.

Over-the-road trucking allows a driver to see multiple areas of the country, but you never know when you will be home. For me, I could see it being a hard decision and could do a few years of both. However, that is not what God had planned for the life He gave me.

I'm thankful I can see God's creation through technology He has given us. Serving in the life I have has challenges, but I'm thankful for all I've been enabled to do and see. I will see where this week brings me both in real life and following along with others.

Toasty February

I don't believe that climate change is a direct result of man's activities. However, I'm greatly enjoying warmer winters. February in Iowa is usually very cold and I don't want to venture out unless absolutely necessary. This year has been great, so far at least.

Friday and today had high temps over 70° with multiple days in the low to mid 60's. Yesterday was nice enough to go out and do some rail fanning. Unfortunately, a four-hour stay only resulted in seeing one train that counted, but it was still a good day to be out. I can't say I remember being out in February with the van's windows open and having flies buzz around.

Often when I'm sitting and waiting on progress bars (such as now for a Farm Sim update), I will try a game or of online Sudoku. I am not very much into at some people I know, but it's a way to pass time and keep my mind somewhat active. Even just playing on easy mode, my times aren't all that impressive as you can see.

My main day assistant has a few games on her smart phone. When I'm biking, she will often bring up a couple few while my legs make their rounds. In the 1.5 minutes it takes her to do an easy game of Sudoku, I can maybe get one number. Farkle is more my style when waiting, very little thinking required and time isn't something that's counted.

Not much else has been happening in the quad life this past week. My day help for Monday isn't feeling well, so it will be a longer weekend away from work out of the house for my parents. The warm stretch is forecast to continue for a few more days and I'm hoping it will be warm enough to go bike with just shorts. My break away sweat pants work well, but it's a little strange taking half my pants off, and on, in the rehab gym.

Have a great week readers and I'll see what God has planned for the last full week of February.

Christmas Fun

A regular part of Christmas is putting up decorations. Some people go very extravagant with lights timed to music while others keep it more simple. My family does more toward the easier end.

For the first week of December, my primary day assistant was ill and couldn't come. Dad stayed home with me three of the four days she missed, so he had plenty of time to decorate. I did my usual train

tree in my room, but we added another train this year. A friend gave me a small set to go around the tree as well, so we have two train trees this year.

Decorating is one of the fun activities to help celebrate the season, and spend time with family. I saw a Christmas quiz that this week that had a few fun facts as well.

True or false: The Friday after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year.

Which U.S. state was the first to recognize Christmas as an official holiday? New York, Florida, Alabama, or Texas

What unusual thing do the lyrics of these three Christmas songs have in common: “Jingle Bells,” “Winter Wonderland,” and “Sleigh Ride”?

For the answers, and more questions to stump your friends, download this free PDF from LivingWaters.com.

While we celebrate Christmas one day a year, remember the real reason to celebrate. It isn't to receive, or return, packages from people, but the gift of the babe in a manger that we may receive everlasting life.

With winter cold, I haven't had a very active quad life this month. I'll see what another week will bring!

Herb Gardening

This past spring I had the urge to try growing herbs in pots on the deck. I have done it before with mild success and it was fun. Therefore, I tried it again this year.

My mom found a bag online meant for use as a pot, and one in particular was deep enough to use for that purpose. So, I gave it a try instead of leftover flower pots from the basement. I planted, dill weed, sage, parsley, and chives.

Everything grew quite well and it was nice to be able to use fresh ingredients in our family meals. We mainly just used the chives and dill weed, but everything grew to good size. Unfortunately, I'm still learning what to do.

After cutting off part of the stalk for dill, my caregiver said it's best to just get the spice instead as cutting kills the plant. Sure enough, the one my family uses the most died off prematurely, but it was great while it lasting.

The fragrance after retrieving an item from the deck was very strong as well. If I wasn't hungry before, I was after smelling the aroma.

Unfortunately, I live in Iowa and colder temps have arrived. The remaining plants started to whither a few weeks ago and it was time to put away my green mouth stick. I think next year will see the grow bag in use again. Next time will be more items that I use and trying to keep everything growing all summer.

No matter the outcome, it was a good opportunity to get outside more and witness one of God's creations of simply growing plants. It's yet another reminder of how we depend on His creation to sustain us, even if just for flavoring the quad life lunch.

January Rails

With work being busy in 2015 and requiring weekend attention, I didn't get out to watch trains very much. Saturday was another nice day for January in Iowa so my caregiver and I went and did some rail fanning.

Just as we were getting to Ottumwa, a train was leaving town. When this happens I always wish I had been just a few minutes faster with my morning routine and caught the train on video. At least it was within sight and a nice greeting for the day.

After briefly checking out the Amtrak station, we parked at a place where two sets of track cross over each other and form a diamond. After about 30 minutes of waiting, a single loan train horn sounded in the distance. A few minutes later the lonesome call was heard again.

My ears listened attentively to hear it again, trying to determine which of the four directions it was coming from. My watch beeped at the new hour sounding like a trumpet blast as i continued to wait. Finally, the headlights of the train came into view and passed our location with the camera recording. The rhythm of the wheels pounding the cross over almost having a soothing feeling.

Shortly after, we quickly grabbed lunch and returned to dine by the rails so as not to miss anything. Unfortunately, the next two hours of waiting did not result in another sighting. With time up for taking care of physical needs, we started the 45 minute journey home.

Hopefully 2016 will allow for more time on the hunt for rails. Getting out to enjoy God's creation and anticipating oncoming trains is a fun part for this quad life. With a blizzard predicted for later this week, it will be a while again, but the year has just begun.

New Additions

Two weeks ago, I wrote about how my chair is showing its age during my biking sessions. I now have an upgrade thanks to these findings.

Late last week I received a new cushion for the seat of my chair. It's more basic than what I had, but it's a big improvement. My butt no longer sinks in with my legs going up to meet the seat. That means my feet now lay flat on the pedals and I sit higher in the chair. It's great to see my heals no longer floating in mid air, but now the upper half has problems.

I can barely reach the button that allows me to get my controls back in front of me and my side now rubs on the armrest more. One of three pressure sores is also now more irritated than it used to be, so it likely means the pressure in the seat needs to be adjusted.

When dad took the old cushion off, the glue from the Velcro fasteners was a gelled gooey mess. Also all the years of use had taken a major toll, so it was enthusiastically tossed in the garbage bin. I'm glad to see the change though and have been up in my chair a little more since the cushion has been on. This week's bike ride will be a real good determining factor for it. The other addition this week is a little more on the wet side.

My family and I are not pet people, but I do have a 45 gallon aquarium in my room. Probably 6-7 years ago we got three little orange platies for the tank. They apparently were very friendly as we haven't purchase any sense then and regularly have 30-40 fish. Since they have been inbred for so long, some have small fins, missing, etc., but it has been a tank of orange fish of various sizes. Saturday we purchased a couple angelfish, one light gray and two black.

Angelfish like to eat small fish, so we're hoping they will hope solve the overpopulation problem we've been having. After so many years of the same fish swimming around, it seems odd to look over and see something different.

Whether it's a higher view in my chair or a different one in the tank, it has been another busy week in the quad life. We'll see what comes up in another seven days, or less!

Saturday Cancellations

For about the entire week, I had planned on going rail fanning (watching trains) this past Saturday. The weather prediction looked good for being out and my day assistant was scheduled to come. Not only that, but I was going to have a guest.

A couple months ago I found out one of the boys I work with at church likes trains. Most parents gladly take free offers to lose a kid for a few hours, so we had it all arranged for him to come. All week I was planning what to do with my apprentice and let him have a fun day. Unfortunately, none of it happened.

After returning from an appointment in Des Moines Thursday, my caregiver started doing my regular afternoon routine. However, my body decided I needed a restroom faster than usual. The problem escalated overnight and all day Friday. There was no way I could drive an hour from home and be outside for several hours. The surgery two weeks ago was supposed to have fixed the problem, but apparently not.

Hopefully another time will work out. I would love the chance to pass on rail knowledge and pretend to be a parent for a few hours. The weather man says we should have a cool summer, so I hope he's right. I did at least get out and take a roll on the bike path by the dam near town. Another rail fan I follow on YouTube also posted a few videos from Saturday. One of them is posted below.

The other Saturday development is with my night nurse. Despite running five miles a day, she experienced heart trouble and will be off for a couple months. At least she only did one night a week, but the agency couldn't cover the shift. With more time to search, the next few months should be easier to cover.

In the quad life, uncooperative bodies aren't always fun to deal with. Through the years I have learned to be thankful when plans do work and make the best of it when not. I'm praying that my body will start behaving again and current plans will become reality. We will see what the week brings.

Morning Catches Evening

In high school I started to read the Bible mostly every night, but slowly. I just one chapter every night, no matter where it ended. After graduation I increased to two and eventually three chapters at a time. This is a habit I continue to follow today, nearly fifteen years later. There are nights I miss, if I'm too tired or we get a late start for some reason, but I generally get my nightly reading in.

A few years ago, a friend wanted to get into regular Bible reading and maybe we would get the Bible read in a year. I did a little searching and found the reading plans at Bible Gateway. We looked over the options and picked one, but we were already behind starting in February. Simply reading two days' worth at a time would get us caught back up though.

Unfortunately, the busyness of life got to my friend's schedule too much and I lost my reading partner after a couple weeks. I didn't see a good reason not to continue, so I just keep going with online reading in the morning and the physical Bible before bed.

After the first year, I encouraged another friend to read along with me online and it proved to be a learning experience for both of us. We did different plans for three years until I took 2013 off to read daily articles by Answers in Genesis. However, I took up the morning reading routine at the beginning of this year.

My nightly reading started with Genesis 1:1 in early December 2013, with my morning reading doing the same on January 1. I have stayed about the same distance apart in my readings for several months, but my morning reading has been catching up to nights since June. It looks like this week, in the last half of Isiah, my morning plan will catch, and pass, my night schedule.

The NIV Bible was revised in I believe 2011, and that is the NIV that Bible Gateway uses. I don't like how some words are translated, so I switched to NKJV online. My Bible is the 1984 revision of the NIV, so it has been interesting comparing the translations. I also have a hard time concentrating when reading and my mind tends to wonder off. Going through an area again has been helpful for spots I missed as well. By next week, it looks like my morning will be in the lead, and we'll see what else comes up in the quad life.

Trains

This year so far has been very warm compared to usual. It was a nice change, but I still didn't get out on my own very much. Fortunately, this past Saturday was decent weather, I had a nurse, and both parents had their own plans. Therefore, I was finally able to get out and go to the tracks for some rail fanning (watching trains).

I like going rail fanning with my father, but it's much more fun when it's just my assistant and I. Depending on where we go, I can get out of the van, get sun on my legs and feet, and enjoy being out. For the past several occasions, I have also gotten into putting trains on video and then post them to my YouTube channel. My camera is pretty basic, it's one I got for free for doing a multitude of online surveys. It won't be creating anything worthy of an award, but it does the job.

For some reason, it's a challenge to get my father to film trains. His preferred method of rail fanning is snoring in the van's front seat, so a video would require a conscience effort. I think it's mainly just a different style of preference, and age.

Last night was an unexpected pleasant evening and meeting at home. Two ladies from church came to discuss a project we're working on and I was up in my chair wearing a button shirt, khaki pants, and barefoot. To my amazement, my parents never said a word about my feet and I was allowed to keep them bare all night. It was a nice change, hopefully one that will stay at least until next winter.