January 13, 2012 A New Year

Hello everyone, I'm very sorry about the lack of any new posts. I had a few issues to resolve. I'm through deer hunting for the season, my final tally was two deer. A nice doe (photos on the last post) and I dropped a button buck in its tracks. Unfortunately though I didn't get anything with the gun (we had bad weather and then scope troubles). I know now what I need to do to be better paired for next season. A special thanks to all of those involved with the hunting process: friends, family, and nurses. Thank you very much for making the hunting season possible.

I recently had a wonderful lunch with some of my old coworkers, both current and retired. I want to thank all who attend; Sam Garich, Scott Miller, Larry Moss, Anita Fischer, Jeff Walker, Gary Hall, Larry Gessel, Larry Augustine, Bill Skinner, Nelson Lang, Diane Zimmerman, Nate Long, and Teresa Wallace. And I want to thank Diane Zimmerman very much for making it possible. Thank you everyone for coming.

I've started my online courses at UND (The University of North Dakota) and so far things are going smoothly. Though I'm only enrolled in two courses and one's a self paced portfolio on my work and educational experiences. The other course I have to keep pace with the on-campus class to an extent. I'll have the entire semester to work on my lab project for it. I'll keep posting updates about my progress.

I've got a new addition to the family. He's about five or six weeks old. Larry took his brother who looks almost identical except a little more black (his back is in the picture). He's the perfect lap kitty, lays around lazy all the time. Larry's kitten (who he's named Chester) is rowdy and rambunctious. The only problem is I can't think of a name, any suggestions?

November 12, 2011: Two Years in the Making.

It's been two years since the accident and I'm finally back in the game. Although it isn't a trophy buck it's still a trophy to me. A nice mature doe at 25 yards with a crossbow isn't bad. It's been a lot of work to get this far, and I still have a long ways to go. Much thanks to those who made this possible (mainly: Steve Beck, Larry Moss, and Shyrick Raber but also many others). I thank everyone for the words of encouragement that have gotten me this far.

Thanks, AWB. (I will post again within a few days, I'm tired and need to catch up on some rest.)

Monday, September 26, 2011

Hello everyone, another update from the country. Leaves are definitely changing, many are dying and falling off. And that means one thing... hunting season is almost here. And I'm almost ready or at least the equipment is. I still need to put a flat shed roof on the blind but that's the only major part. Everything else is painted and ready for the camo material/burlap and it should be about ready to go. The picture published here illustrates what the rear facing walls would look like. I'm not planning on "hunting" out of those windows but if we look behind us and see one we can open the window and take the shot. There will be many other window panels made for specific locations, but we won't know what we need till we get there. And currently "there" is one of two locations due to the lack of traction the four wheeler gets when pulling a trailer uphill in the wet clay; one spot on my farm and one spot on my buddies farm. I have a feeder at my spot but on buddies farm there are some horses and I don't have a solar fence charger. If I get a side-by-side utv, I would be able to go anywhere on the farm. I might have a chance to get one later this fall, any suggestions? I have been selected to participate in a hunt for the disabled in Zanesville hosted by Whitetails Unlimited. I don't have many details yet except that I have to be there at 6 AM and "there" is over an hour away. I've got a little over two weeks and depending on what equipment I need I should be ready for it. I'll post another picture of the blind once we have the roof painted and on.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Hello everyone, another update from me. My health has been well and I have not been suctioned in over a month. It's nice to finally have some reasonable weather outside but it'll only be for awhile
I was able to find a small utility trailer as a base for my hunting blind, it'll have 5 foot walls and will use a truck topper as the roof. There will be an opening all the way around the blind with an assortment of “standard size” panels, for endless window configurations. We still have a bunch of painting yet to finish, but it's coming together. For any local readers: I'm looking for a small truck topper roughly 60 inches by 8 feet, if there are any out there get a hold of me. A special thanks to those that have helped thus far: My Dad, Keith Malone, Larry Moss, Steve Anderson, Shyrick Raber, and Melissa McKown. As you can see in the photo I'm still missing a few key parts and a little bit of paint. But it will give you an idea of what I'm building.

I found an online bachelors degree in mechanical engineering and it's ABET accredited, it's offered through the University of North Dakota. I've been accepted and I'm waiting to hear back on what class transferred. It takes about 6 years to complete but if a good number of my credits do transfer I should have only a few years left. Even though it's an online program it's still structured in semesters, where I must keep pace with the regular on-campus class. I had a few delays in the paperwork so I'm not sure it is everything will be completed by the time fall semester starts, August 22. But if all else fails everything will be completed by the time spring semester starts. And having a little extra time this fall to hunt wouldn't bother me at all.

] Take care everyone and I'll post again in a week about the University of North Dakota. Thanks for reading, AWB

Friday, June 17, 2011

Well it's been a long month for me. My trig class started occupying most of my evenings and weekends. Which was cool and kinda the point, to figure out how to do the simple things again like math. I was doing great in the class one of the better students. Unfortunately though I got sick with pneumonia and was hospitalized for a week and spent a week at home on oxygen. So I missed the last week of class and the finial, but my grade was averaged to that point and giving as my finial grade. Which was a solid B and good enough for me. As for the pneumonia, I have recovered from the worst of it. But the loss of apatite and sleep for a week has left me weakened especially my half diaphragm. I'm not able to cough as hard, thus I can't always clear my lungs/throat. Other than the whole pneumonia thing I've been in pretty good health. The spring has been pretty hard emotionally though, the clock tics to slowly sometimes.

I was also wondering if there would be any volunteers from the power plant who might be willing to build a small hunting blind. I have some ideas and would be able to pay for materials. Please contact me if interested. Any help would be great.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Hello everyone. I got busy and lost track of time for a little while, sorry about that. Things are going good here. The weather has finally has gotten good enough I have been able to get out and about in my 4x4 chair. I made another attempt at getting into the woods but the trail needs some work before I can get very far. I was able to get down onto Whipple Run, the little creek behind my house. I've been going down there since I was a little boy, and I've been finding arrowheads since then. Even paralized and in a wheelchair I'm still able to find arrowheads. I think it's part of a scraper blade, not sure though. My class has been keeping me very busy, but I've only have a few weeks left. I'm doing good in it, but it's been hard leaning how to communicate my ideas for someone else to write. But of course that was the idea behind taking the course in the first place.
Shilah turned a year old this past week, and she's not sure what to think about the creek. She''s not very fond of the deep water, I know that for sure. I'll get a good photo of her on here real soon. On a sad note Sebastain hasn't been around for awhile. He was a six year old tom cat though. He was a good cat and he's be missed. Any name suggestions for another male tabby? I've always had a cat and I still have Dewey but he's got an attitude (but don't all cats) and doesn't hang around people very much, he loves Shilah though. Well I got class tomorrow. Till next time, thanks for reading.

Hello everyone. Things have been pretty busy around here lately. I enrolled in a trigonometry class at the local community college. It's true, if you don't use it you loose it. But I feel the accident didn't cost me that much, I would be having the same troubles even before. Spring finial sprung here in Ohio, a welcome event. The woods are just starting to bud out and turn green. Shilah's almost a year old and the cats still rule the house. A photo of Shilah at her best.