Weekend Update

Saw something interesting in the newsletter I get from AWS. Welding program that prepares you to be a fabricator on a NASCAR team. This is a sixteen week program. Info HERE. I took a short course on building stock cars many years ago in Mooresville. I knew I was facing a job loss at the school I was working at, so I decided to look into racecar work. As it ended up, I found another teaching position and the rest, as they say, is history. Not sure what I would do if I had the chance to do it over again. Anyway, the opportunity is there if you want to enroll.

I took the grandsons to Fair Oaks Farms Pig Adventure while they were here. That was an interesting outing. Fair Oaks is a working farm and tourist destination. Originally they had just the Dairy Adventure but now they've added the Pig and Crop Adventure. The Pig adventure starts with a short bus ride and then you do a self-guided tour that consists of looking down on the operation from behind glass windows. Insemination, birthing, raising replacement sows and weaning the remaining piglets off to be raised at another location.

I've got to hand to the guys who thought this up. It's an operational dairy and hog farm that has been sanitized enough that they can charge an adult $20.00 to see either pigs or cows in a modern operation. $29.95 if you wish to do both Adventures. After my heart attack I became a vegan but I've been known to cheat a bit on the meat - usually pork. My decision to forego meat was a medical one, not a philosophical one, but when looking down on the sows, I felt sorry for them. Their whole life is nothing more than living in a pen, giving birth to one litter after another until they get sent off to the slaughter house so we can all eat bacon or have a tenderloin sandwich at the fair. There would probably be a lot more vegetarians and vegans if people had a better understanding of commercial animal operations.

After the Pig Tour we went back to the Pork building on the main campus and the boys did the rope course, for another 5 bucks a piece, of course. The rope course was money well spent. The boys had a blast and then we finished off the trip with ice cream cones. They make the ice cream and a variety of cheeses on the premises. Everything is top quality but having grown up around farms, I couldn't help but think about P.T. Barnum saying there was a sucker born every minute. On the other hand, it's hard to knock Capitalism. Take the big risk and hopefully reap the reward. They seem to have found the perfect formula.

I'm heading to Indy today with Cuzzin Ricky for my Indy Racing Experience. Couple laps around the track in an Indy car built for two, weather permitting. Pretty pumped. I'll let you know had it turned out.