On or near the Prairie Garden Trust
Category Archives: Friends
Taking Henry for a ride in the Land Rover
I’ve had the Land Rover for four months and just got around to taking Henry for a ride. More of a photo shoot than a ride, really, but we had a good time. I’ll post some of his excellent photos tomorrow
RP’s 1971 Chevy pickup
Life-long friend Richard Peck (RP) with his 1971 Chevy truck. Almost certainly, at some subconscious level, this kindled the flame of my desire of an old truck. For reasons unknown, RP got rid of his truck. Like snipping off a couple of feet of your soul because you don’t need it anymore.
Set your map app for “avoid highways”
I’ve become acquainted with some really great people thanks to the Land Rover project. A few I’ve met, most I have not but feel like I know them. Charlie has been encouraging me to take some road trips in The Truck.
I took my Rover on a 4 day road trip up north to VT a few weeks ago. Had a blast – put about 400 miles on her and she ran like a top. I use a windshield mounted phone holder (suction cup) and set my iPhone’s Google maps APP to “avoid highways” and see a lot of towns/back country that way. Takes a lot more time but way more fun that trying to keep up with traffic on highways (and a lot more safe). forces you to slow down and actually see things you would otherwise blow past on a highway. This year was my 4th time doing the trip – you meet some great people and I stay at some nice Inns along the way.
That “slow down” thing is big zen mojo for me. Here are a few pics from Charlie’s trip.
Photo by Henry Domke (Prisma filter)
Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park
Barb and some of her garden club buddies visited Elephant Rocks State Park and Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park (photos) last week. A good time was had.

Teaching Chinese
One morning I noticed a gentleman sitting on the other side of the coffee shop flipping through a big stack of 3×5 cards. It was obvious he was using them as flash cards so I took a peek and saw what I assumed were Chinese characters (pictographs?) I introduced myself and asked about the cards.
The man’s name is Landis Duffett and he teaches languages at one of the local high schools. Beginning this fall he will teach a couple of sections of Chinese and he’s using the cards to get ready.
A couple of days ago we chatted for a bit about how he got interested in teaching Chinese; how the language differs from others (Spanish, French, Germans, etc); and the growing influence of China in all areas. The video runs just over six minutes.
Radio 2018 (KWOS Morning Shift)
Best job (most fun) I ever had was working at my hometown radio station. I think half of the dozen years I worked there were on the morning shift. But it’s been years since I listened to “terrestrial” radio and wondered what it’s like in 2018. So I asked my friend John Marsh if I could sit in a corner of the KWOS studio and watch him (and Dick Aldrich) do the Morning NewsWatch. Very different from 1973. Tightly formatted. All digital and computer controlled.

Prairie Garden Trust – Spring 2018
Nice walk with Henry — and new pup, Katy — this morning. The bird song was gloriously deafening.
George Tergin YouTube how-to videos
There is a YouTube video showing how to do just about any task or repair. Some of these are very well done and some are not. Because it is so easy to record a video and upload it to YouTube, there are some really bad ones. The two videos below are excellent and all the more so because they are first time videos. The two-part video demonstrates how to rebuild the diesel injector for a Ford 7.3 liter engine.
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George Tergin is a local auto mechanic and businessman. He’s a regular at the coffee shop where I hang out and has been advising me on matters Land Rover related.
The production values in these videos are really good. The sound is perfect; lighting very good considering the video was recorded at a workbench in his shop; George’s presentation was clear, concise and easy-to-follow. Really hard to believe he has never done one of these. There were some nice small touches like speeding up screw tightening.
Rebuilding a diesel fuel injector seems pretty technical to me. Lots of little springs and rings and everything has to be put together just so. Making this seem simple in a how-to video is a very good trick. Especially on your first try. Bravo George. (And those who helped you)



















