In the 2006 State of the Union Address, President George Bush called for America to wean itself off foreign oil by the year 2020 through the use and promotion of biofuels.  The surprise result of this announcement was that OPEC, a normally conceited and self assured organization, squealed in terror.  What would happen to economic and political stability in the Middle East with no oil sales? Most significantly, why did OPEC laugh at alternative energy in the 70's, but is skittish about it now? Is this a sign that the time for alternative energy has finally come and poses a threat to the traditional energy sources?

This proclamation was all very well and good.  In fact, it was desperately needed.  However, I had already made the decision a month before to wean myself off foreign oil by the end of the year!

News (6/28/07) -- Yeah, I know... the Forum is busted again. Lemme get some other stuff taken care of first, then I'll see about updatng this site.

News (3/31/07) -- You know what? The banks have been strangling me! How the heck did that happen? Stellar credit rating and my income is less than my outgo! I'm in the process of refinancing the house so I'll once again have some cash to throw around on my crazy projects and home improvement schemes. I'm about to plant the next crop of sugar beets (on time this time I hope), but I'm also looking for another job though and that can interfere with my schedule. This season the farming will definitely be automated to a certain degree. Stay tuned for the Farming section! Oh, and Jack's recovery is going great. He'll be considered 100% in two more weeks.

News (1/29/07) -- Jack had his knee surgery on 1/18 and he's recovering quite nicely! I took the week after his surgery off to keep an eye on him, but didn't get much else done during that time. The surgery put my budget back quite a bit, but I'll be planting a new field or two of crops to support the next round of experiments. Stay tuned!

News (12/10/06) -- My dog may or may not need knee surgery, so much time has been spent the past month or so becoming an expert in canine knee problems. This has put many of my projects on hold or at least slowed them down quite a bit. I still have a backlog of material for the website however, so hang in there!

Some pages still under construction.

Check back frequently!

Updates:

10/15/06: Ethanol Conversion section completed for now