Couch Buddy

The evening fire had become rather large, with yellow flames spouting into the air, and making the fire warmer than anticipated for those of us who sat on the wooden benches surrounding the fire pit. The large fire was not my doing, as with a strong wind, I thought it best to keep the fire smaller. With that, I built a log cabin fire arrangement. I went to check the fire I had started a half hour earlier to heat up the sauna and came back to find someone had added at least four logs in a pyramid shape to make it much taller flame. The fire leads us to how we came to meet my brother-in-laws new couch buddy, on that second Monday night in September.

Wood carving of Fisherman
outside of Panda Palace

As we sat at the fire, a spark landed on the lower part of my forearm. Even though the temperature was rather cool, I had the sleeve pulled up due to the heat of the fire. A large group of elderly men were in the shelter right next to the fire pit, and one of them put the wood on the fire to make it a pyramid. They really should have known better, as they were celebrating their service years ago as counselors at a Boy Scout Camp in the 1960's. Located on White Sand Lak, the scout camp used lodging for a former Civilian Conservation Corps from the Great Depression, and at the time was a high adventure canoe base for the Boy Scouts. 

The CCC camp was established in 1933 and ran to late 1941, when induction for WWII took the manpower that would have been at the camp. It was known as the Crystal Lake Camp. The White Sand Lake Boy Scout Camp became active in 1940. Why the overlap in the record, I do not know, perhaps it operated with both boy scouts and CCC that summer, before the war kicked in. In 1944 it became a High Adventure Wilderness Canoe Base. At some point it was replaced, as the current high adventure base is near Ely, MN and the boundary waters. My two sons and I were part of a Boy Scout group that did the Boundary Waters twenty years past. My feet were in much better shape then.  

Over the past five years, my wife and I have joined my sister and her husband in a trip to Boulder Junction for a week of biking. We usually have done this for seven nights starting midweek after Labor Day, due to my twice a month Thursday meetings. This year we arrived Wednesday and departed the following Wednesday. Big Bear Hideaway, where we stayed, has an outdoor fire pit, and over the past five years we have met some interesting people who stayed in one or more of the other cabins. This trip, two to three of the other cabins were used during our stay. Some of that large group stayed at the large Kodiak cabin, others at a cabin on White Sand owned by a brother of one of the participants, and perhaps a few at other places. Of the whole group, there was one woman, which perhaps was a daughter or a wife of a participant. 

Me and a wood carved Bear at Panda Palace

You would think a former Boy Scout camp counselor would have had enough sense to not make a larger fire on a windy evening, but perhaps he forgot that part of the equation with fire building. I do know the person who added the wood to the fire was not the couch buddy, as someone else from the group came over occasionally to check on the fire, and with his interest he was probably the one. He had also been present when I left to check the sauna, while couch buddy was not yet present.

Couch buddy was rather tall, and got involved in a conversation I was having with another former counselor. The latter told me he had been to Little Bohemia and saw the room where John Dillinger stayed. The room was all shot up. I then noted that Johnny Depp, when starring in the film Public Enemies, had stayed in the Kodiak, the cabin some of the group stayed in, when filming in northern WI. He did not seem overly impressed. His buddy then goes into a detailed explanation of his life as a camera salesman and lighting technician. In his work as a lighting technician he mentored a man who went on to do production design for a number of movies, including The Help. He is currently doing so for the remake of War of the Roses. He went on and on. I finally found a way to get out of the conversation and use the sauna. At that point he wheeled into my brother-in-law, Rick, who seemingly heard is whole life story. Rick even knew that his new acquaintance lived in North Carolina and his wife had to drive 45 minutes to pick him up at the air port in a couple days. 

Wood Carving of a wolf

When we got back to the cabin that night Rick started to talk about us leaving him hanging with the Carolinian. At that point, my sister annoyed him, when she referred to the guy as his Couch Buddy. I am not sure that Rick wanted to invite him in to watch Monday night football, where they could pound down some beers together, although perhaps couch buddy had already pounded down a few too many Schlitz (Yes, they had Schlitz beer). In the conclusion of that game, we found out Da Bears still find ways to lose, except for the last game last year when they beat the Packers.

Detail on a cabin at Big Bear Hideaway

The guy claimed to Rick he was the best tri-pod salesman in North Carolina. Rick said he knew why the guy was the best tripod salesman in NC, because people bought a tripod just to get out of the store and away from him. I wondered what it would have been like if my brother Greg had stayed. Greg and his wife volunteer at the Overture Center in Madison, and I figured he and Rick's couch buddy could have talked all night on lighting and sets for the varied productions he and his wife have seen at the Overture. Greg knows a great many people, and my wife figured he and Rick's couch buddy probably would have found someone they know within three degrees of separation. That may have meant Rick losing a couch buddy and Greg gaining one. That would be the same degree of separation to our family has to Al Capone. Our uncle, Joe Sweeney, dated Al Capone's niece and surely Al and the niece (Al's sister's daughter) had met and knew each other. Al Capone's mom lived only 550 feet away from where my mom grew up on Prairie Ave in Chicago. My mom said that Al's mom could be seen walking down the street to daily mass. She had much to pray for.

Table in Panda Palace

After evening turned to night, we are sitting in our cabin and see a person pacing back and forth in front of the windows that look over the gazebo and general gathering area. One corner of the cabin contains the office for Big Bear Hideaway, so we wondered if he was looking for the owner, who would be at home at that time of night. It was dark, and I at first wondered if it was Rick's couch buddy who was looking for him, then realized it was not someone I recognized. The guy got our attention and Rick went out to talk to him. It turns out he is at an AirBnB above the Aqualand Restaurant two doors down from Big Bear Hideaway where we stayed, toward the downtown of Boulder Junction. He and his wife had gone to sit at a table when the door locked behind them, and he did not have his cellphone which contained the passcode for the door lock. Rick and my sister helped him by contacting the owner of Big Bear, who contacted the guy who owns Aqualand, and eventually, after verification of name, address, mother's maiden name, first pet, and so on, the guy was able to get his code. He must have gotten in because Tuesday morning he was not seen still sitting at the table. 

Boulder Junction's streets are seemingly rolled up at seven pm, with almost all businesses closed but perhaps one bar. Being a restaurant, Aqualand was closed Monday, and add this to after Labor Day when it is common that other businesses, such as the ice cream shops, closeup for the fall-winter-spring seasons. A few remain open and I wonder how the apparel stores and other shops stay open with a penchant for shopping at Amazon. Boulder Junction is an unincorporated hamlet, with a population in 2023 of 221 persons. Yet, one would not know it by looking at their town hall/community center/library.  I have to say, low population, but high second home ownership, make for an interesting situation for ability to provide such services. The guy was probably looking for some sign of civilization and came upon the lights emanating from our windows. He was a former math teacher, principal and school superintendent in Michigan. It must have been a bad couple of days for the guy, the Lions lose and then he gets locked out of the tourist housing unit. Rick and I agreed that the worst part for the guy was yet to come, listening to his wife relive the incident. 

Wood carved lumberjack at Gazebo

The fire was dead by the time the Michigan guy showed up, put out by the former boy scout counselors. We had left the fire pit, to get away, in part from couch buddy, and the group of men who were now playing a game at the gazebo, which sits adjoining the fire pit. When I could see no activity at the gazebo I went outside to make sure the fire I had started in a log cabin shape, later changed by the former scout counselors to a pyramid, was fully out. As I type this, I need to ask Rick if couch buddy will be on his Christmas Card list for this year.          

Images date from 2021

 

Making Dinner

It came to pass, that on Labor Day weekend, I indicated to my spouse I would make dinner on Labor Day. Except for the mosquitoes, it was a nice weekend weather wise, from what I recall. It was a big deal, as I knew I was taking my spouse away from something to keep her busy. My wife really likes to keep busy and cooking is one way she does that, so I was concerned that making a meal for the weekend, would take away from her desired tasks. I know she can find meal planning and cooking tedious at times, but she also wants to keep herself busy, so it is quite a balance on her part. The last thing I wish to do is get her upset because she got bored in not being able o make a meal. She consented to my making dinner, and this is a story of that day. 

I had suggested, and she concurred, that I would cook some steaks I received for father's day from my oldest son. We had two 1 plus inch thick bacon wrapped beef filets. I also cooked some potatoes that had come in the same father's day package. We finished it off with me having a salad and Mom Bear having her cucumber salad. We had been getting plenty of cucumbers and she desired to try to use them. She loves cucumbers, so I try to make sure to grow a sufficient number, although last year's crop was meager, quite the opposite of this year.

Everything comes down to timing and so it was with dinner. Rather than using our large gas grill, I chose to use the Weber Smoky Joe, a small grill perfect for two filets. Weather conditions can vary, and so can how long it takes to get the coals to their grey-white for grilling. I then had to try and time the start of the oven to 425 degrees, so as to be preheated when cooking the potato recipe. Each has a certain amount of time to cook (the potatoes longer than the steaks) or warm through, and each had a different internal temperature for when they were to be at their best, or for the steaks, the level at which we like them cooked. Each took a different amount of time, which added to the issue of timing, so as to have the food properly cooked, but then not sit and get too cold, or put in the oven and have the steak dry out and lose its juices.

I never would have guessed that trying to get a grill timed with an oven could be so perplexing. I made some comment that getting the timing right for the meal required quite a bit of planning. That of course got a big belly laugh out of my wife. 

I was happy to know that I got my wife to laugh, even it was at my expense. She is a first born child, and a no-nonsense woman. The latter may be due to the former.  Dinner turned out quite well, the steaks may have been on 30 seconds longer than they should have, but they were still in the appropriate temperature and color for medium rare. My mental gyrations on estimating timing for getting the grill coals to proper white-gray, and then timing of the preheat of the oven seemed to work. I am not sure when my next foray into the kitchen will come.

I am not sure when my next foray into the kitchen will come. I have to make sure my wife is in a proper state of mind, that she will not get bored from not cooking dinner. I had to write this blog post, as my wife said, "There better be a blog post about this!" 

Carrington

In the morning as the sun just rises above the trees and houses in the neighborhood, about 30 minutes after sunrise, a single beam of light reaches the backyard and illuminates Carrington. Carrington gleams in the soft, auburn colored early morning sun as the sun path struggles to illuminate the dew on the grass into a sparkle of lights. 

Carrington sitting in Butterfly bed as
morning sun illuminates his granduer

Carrington is a stainless steel two dimensional crane figure, in profile, with legs made out of rebar. My wife received Carrington as a birthday gift from her mother, and I placed it in the butterfly bed with an angle that points to the house such that Carrington does not follow the almost southerly line of the rock bed retaining walls. Rather, the figure faces just over 25 degrees off south to the east, which allows the morning sun, at this time of year, to shine off Carrington giving the creature a glow in the path of morning sunlight that sets it apart from the remainder of the backyard still awaiting nature's warmth. The sun still hits Carrington, but as we approach the Autumn equinox I will have to see how the changing sun's position alters the sun hitting the stainless steel, and reflecting the sunlight. With the sun, orientation is everything.

The sun will rise later and it will, day-by-day, for months decrease its height in the horizon. At some point the sun may fail to reach it with house and trees in the way, and with its angle partially off direct south. At direct south, we would not see it as well from the house.

Carrington

Carrington maintains a commanding presence above the plantings of echinacea, lilies, milkweed, rudbeckia, and hollyhocks which predominate the butterfly bed. The bed has gone through transition as the trees have gotten larger, providing more shade, and requiring movement of plants. The retaining walls were built in the fall of 1991, when my wife was several months pregnant with our first child. She would pick out the limestone rocks and I would move haul them into position. It has helped transform an otherwise mundane backyard with a slope running north to south into something more pleasing to the eye. In addition the upper bed, in particular, is a haven for pollinators.

Carrington later in morning

With its neck outstretched to the southeast it presents a majestic appearance in the bed, with a understated air of sophistication. I was in a quandary as if it should be given a name and if so what to name it. I thought of simply calling it Crane, as I did the first couple weeks. Then, in order to keep the wife on her toes, I started calling it Crawford, but after two days, I thought people may think it too similar to the big red dog named Clifford. Crawford, I realized did not do justice to the sleek crane figure and I realized it was a name best left to a cuddly dog. I then came upon Carrington. It was not meant to be after the Carrington family in the old evening soap "Dynasty." Yet, that surname provides some snobbishness as if it is out of Downton Abbey. I never watched Downton Abbey but I have thought of tracking the snobbish, petty gentry of England. I did not pick it because of Dynasty, but due to its overly pompous British connotation.

Cranes in Lake Kegonsa Wetland
north side of lake, east of Fish Camp County Park
31 Aug 2025

In the Madison paper there is a cartoon called "Mendota Marsh" by the State Journal cartoonist. The cartoon has two characters Lewis Crane (you guessed it, a crane) and Oscar Fox (yes, a fox). Lewis is a long-time Madison resident who is the stereo typical pompous, self-important, imperious NIMBY, 60's like Madison resident portrayed by mane of long grey hair and a pony tail, and circular spectacles hanging on its beak. Lewis, in my mind, would not call them glasses, or eye glasses, but rather spectacles.

I think Carrington is in the best possible spot in varied our gardens, and its ability to catch the first glimmer of morning sunlight was simply happenstance. Yet, that happenstance allows an extra pick me up and smile to my face as Carrington reflects back the morning sunlight. 

Button

Buttons have become indispensable to many clothing items. Shirts, shorts, pants, coats often have buttons. Buttons are prone to falling off which require them to placed back on. This requires sewing. Sometimes they get lost. I am not sure how a clothing manufacturer decides when and when not to use buttons on say a pair of shorts. Often the shorts button at the waist band, right above the zipper. Some pants or shorts may have a clasp rather than a button. Sewing on a button can be a challenge.

A couple weeks ago, I faced the challenge of sewing a button at the waistband on a pair of my everyday shorts. When I was a child, my mom would have referred to them as play shorts, and I tend to keep that term to this day. It was a pair of cargo shorts, constructed of a rather heavy fabric which in itself posed some challenge. The button had been coming loose for a few days, and I suppose the belt I wear helped hold it in place. But, there was that day a few weeks ago that it came off. I was already in the basement, near my wife's sewing materials so I took the shorts off and had the chore of sewing on the button.

Shorts, after I finally got button on

I had already resewn the button on that pair of shorts two months earlier when my spouse was with her mother for a few weeks. Apparently, I did not do a very good job of sewing the button on at that time. I grabbed the same needle, which had used a couple months ago as still contained a bit of the thread I had used. I pulled out that small length and grabbed some new thread from the spool. To my surprise, I was able to get the needle threaded on only one try, so my confidence is up. I was, at that time, pretty proud of myself for such a great accomplishment. 

Next, came making a knot in the thread. Here I take both ends of the thread and attempt to tie them together. My confidence quickly dissipates as I had to make several attempts to tie this knot. Talk about painstaking task. When I finally had the thread knotted I had to sew the button on. The double or triple layers of fabric made going through the fabric rather difficult, not to mention trying to line up to go from the other side and making one of the three available holes in the button. The button had four holes, and even I was smart enough to know not to back through the same hole. I became smart and use the surface of her sewing machine table to place the needle on and pull the pants through the needle onto the button. After several minutes I am pretty happy with my success at this task. 

The next step is where I screwed up and I could only laugh at my incompetence. I had put the button on the inside of the waist band not on the outside. After all that effort, I had to cut it off, re-thread the needle, which took several attempts this time and then tie a knot in the thread once again and redo the whole sewing on process. 

I finally get the task accomplished and when I got upstairs my wife asked what I had been doing, I told her the button came off my shorts and I needed to sew it back on. Not only that I told her I screwed up and put it on the wrong side and had to redo it. She then asked if I had doubled the thread, to which I responded, of course, I had to tie a knot in the end, and to do that I needed two ends of a piece of thread. When she first asked, I wondered if she meant the thread should be doubled when threading the needle so I would have four rather than two strands of thread. She then went in to question, or really an explanation, of how I tied the knot. Her detailed question/explanation was confusing to my mind, and I realized that only a PhD in the physics of material sciences or my wife could understand. She went through it twice, and I said I simply took each end of the thread and tied the knot, which of course, took several attempts. Quite frankly, I think the thread has a bad starter, just like the problem my brother had with his Honda. 

As luck would have it, a few days later another pair of shorts, lost a button, and this time she was with me and volunteered to sew it on. She then taught me the manner to knot the thread. Because it was several days ago, I have forgotten how it is done, but involves licking the thread, wrapping it around the finger and some how magically the thread gets knotted. I tried it a couple times, and was successful on both attempts. I am 67 years old and I now find out an easier way to sew on a button? I will set aside the sanitary nature of licking thread, or you fingers. It is now a matter of remembering this detailed process when I once again need the skill. Of course, I spent several minutes sewing a button on, and she spent perhaps a minute. I am not sure how she can get the needle lined up so quickly with the available holes in the button, but she has some knack. 

The button for attaching clothing was invented in the 13th century Europe, although buttons for ornamentation go back much longer. Today, 800 years later we are still using the same method to attach a button. I wonder who invented the procedure to tie a knot in the thread. That is a game changer. Growing up, my mom had a device for a quick fix which placed a small plastic knob to attach a button, at least that it what I thought. When several kids at the same time have to get ready wearing good clothes, a button often came loose or off. It may not have look the best, but here we had a case of function over form.

Even though my wife is a seamstress, I try not to bother her with such an activity, in part to be self-sufficient. If it is some thing that would matter, like a dress shirt, I would probably have her sew the button on, but shirts seldom lose buttons compared to the button at a waist band that takes more punishment as the garment moves with the waist. Nonetheless, I think there must be an easier way to sew on a button than threading a needle, tie a knot in the thread, which seems finer than fishing line, and then sewing on the button and the alignment required. Who ever thought one could write nine paragraphs about a button?

The Text

I am not sure what we would do without the interconnected world in which we live today. Just think, we would not have to be so concerned about identity theft, fake news, or spamming. Spam is of course a highly processed meat made by Swift, but it also refers to receipt of unsolicited emails, texts or other methods of communication through our information super highway. Bad actors are always trying to scam their way to something by claiming who they are not. This is primarily a story of texts I received on Tuesday, August 12 regarding the Wisconsin Department Transportation.

I think we, at least our land line, is still on the state do not call list, but we still seem to get an high amount of junk calls. Right now our phone will tell us the number calling, or if entered, the person. If it is a number we do not recognize we let it go to voice mail, and if a real person of interest to us, they would leave a message. Somehow they use numbers of other parties. One time they even used our own home land line number to call us. It was quite a surprise when the phone called out a call from that number. 

Sample Text for toll
Source:  WI DMV

I think the first text I received from the "WIDOT," perhaps more than a year ago, was regarding unpaid tolls. Wisconsin, unlike our Friendly Illinois Brethren (FIB) does not have any tollways. The more recent texts were about penalties and fines with a final notice before having my license revoked.

I am not sure who they get phone numbers, or email addresses from, perhaps from varied virus' they obtain information, or maybe they have some random number generators. I seldom text, or receive texts so when I receive one it is usually something I need to attend to. Last week, Tuesday, I was doing to my morning stretches and I received a text from an unknown number regarding outstanding fines or citations from the WI DOT and perhaps even its division of Motor Vehicles (I seldom read the whole text knowing it is a spam scan or phishing), and it was the last day to pay up or I would lose my license. I had my phone nearby so I deleted and reported it as junk. It occurred again, a few minutes later, and I did the same thing. Later in the morning I went for a bike ride, and I received one while biking, as it showed on my watch. I know it would not be the DMV because they are not known for being efficient, plus they do not text. The DMV is old school, even if you wanted to pay your vehicle registration on-line, they have a surcharge. So, we pay the old fashioned way by check through the US Mail. Further, the DMV does not really fine people, most fines are related to traffic violations which arise through the issuing governmental unit. Nonetheless this could be quite a scam opportunity. WIDOT and its DMV has even warned people about this scam. 

I just wanted to get rid of the texts, so when I completed my bike ride and had gotten my cell phone out of its pouch I keep it in when biking, I again deleted and reported it as junk. Almost instantaneously I received another text on the same  matter. I did the same thing--Delete and report. I thought it may be the end, but it was not, I received four or more texts on the same issue. It is heartening to know I am so important to them. Clearly, the report as junk was not doing much at this point. After the several texts of the DMV message I received one final message from the group which read--"PISS OFF". Apparently, they did not like my attitude and desired that I simply succumb to their demands. I deleted and reported that text. It is even more heartening to know that the person, or device sending the texts got as annoyed as I was. Heck it even read my mind as to near what I would have said if I had responded.

It must be a rather sophisticated operation to know when a text was deleted, to resend the message, until its last one. It was, in my opinion, annoying. I just hope that with them having sent that last text, that I have seen the DOT/DMV spams texts because they were pissed off. Although, I am not sure how many groups or individuals are doing the same text scam.

Historical Rhyme?

On a cool and cloudy early fall day, typical of weather in England for that time of year, a British Prime Minister debarked a plane from Munich and proclaimed that we had "Peace in our times."  That statement, made on 30 September 1938 by Neville Chamberlain has gone into history as one of the worst leaders in a time of crises. His comment was on an agreement known as the Munich Accords which was between the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany and ceded the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany for no further German military action. Interestingly, Czechoslovakia had no representation at the negotiating table or a say in what the Western powers, mainly the United Kingdom, concluded. This coming Friday, President Trump, who has made several promises of ending the Ukraine War on day one of this term, will meet with Russian President Putin in, of all places, Alaska. Trump has suggested a land swap may be involved. Will history repeat, and if not necessarily repeat will it rhyme?

Neville Chamberlain meeting Adolph Hitler

While history does not necessarily repeat itself, it certainly rhymes (Mark Twain). Circumstances in history differ, although outcomes may be similar. As of Sunday, August 10, there are contradictory reports if Ukrainian  President Zelenskyy will attend. Trump is a developer, and hence he thinks in terms of land and buildings. Perhaps he is thinking of a golf course. Alaska is an interesting choice since the United States purchased what we know as Alaska from Russia in 1867 for the then high price of $7.2 million ($.02 per acre in 1867), which in 2023 dollars would would be about $129 million. The purchase was highly ridiculed, and termed as Seward's Folly (after Secretary of State William Seward). I can see Putin bringing this up to Trump in suggesting countries grow in land by conquest, by purchase and by "discovery." No more land is being made.  All lands have been "discovered", leaving conquest or purchase as options for territorial expansion. Countries no longer seem interested in sale since, the sales typically involved colonies or territories often far from the country who claimed governance. In 2014 Russia "annexed parts of Ukraine, mainly Crimea. Eight years later, Russia invaded Ukraine. 

Chamberlain announcing his ill-fated agreement

The United States grew by varied manners, including purchases-the Louisiana and Gadsden purchases, beyond that of Alaska, come to mind. The US also had the idea of protecting our borders by the tenant of Manifest Destiny, where the Pacific Ocean was viewed as our destiny. Putin's desire for parts or more of Ukraine lie with a similar desire--that of a buffer between the Russia and the NATO countries of Europe. If this shows one thing, it is how valuable land is, even in modern times. With fast paced weapons today, I am not sure how such a buffer will work, bur for some reason, Putin thinks it is needed. Like the Sudetenland, which was composed of ethnic Germans, including much of Dolni Chrastany were my Havel line migrated from to the US in 1868, there exist areas of ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine The Havel ancestral village of Ratiborova Lhota, even though closer to the German border, was not part of the Sudetenland. After WWII, Czechoslovakia undertook ethnic cleansing of the remaining ethnic Germans in parts of the country, including Dolni Chrastany. German settlers of this area of Bohemia likely started in the mid to late middle ages. Further resettlement of varied ethnic groups occurred in depopulated communities following the Thirty Years war (ended 1648).

Sudetenland areas

No one ever asked those ethnic Germans in the Sudetenland if they desired to be with Germany or remain in Czechoslovakia. Tensions were brewing in Czechoslovakia after WWI due to the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire which was a German speaking empire with Austrian leadership. Having been ruled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire for years many Czechs felt put upon. 

Magenta Line shows Sudetenland border by 
Ratiborova Lhota (out) and Dolni Chrastany (in)

History, like Trump, is intractable, and there are always unintended consequences. Even though Chamberlain proclaimed "Peace in our time," less than a year later Hitler invaded Poland which is the event which triggered WWII. Peace did not hold, and the second world war was the result. The Munich accords are often claimed to be an act of appeasement to Hitler to satisfy his desire for "lebensraum", which translates to living space. More space for the German race, if you will. Territorial desires and war have a strong relationship.

Russian Language main language in Ukraine
Certain areas have over 75% Russian as first language
Source: CNN

President Zelenskyy has stated that Ukraine will not cede land to the aggressor, which makes some sense, as there may well be no guarantee what Russia will do next. Just as Hitler reneged on the Munich Accords, Putin could well renege on any agreement. It is clear the Russian annexation in 2014 did nothing to satiate Russian desires for additional territory. Jeffrey Sachs, a professor at Columbia, believes that Ukraine is a proxy for a war essentially between the US and Russia, and the war must stop. Yet, would stopping the war cease imperial ambitions of Russia? Although, I wonder if it is not more Europe vs Russia as it is Europe who has the most to lose with Russia on its doorstep, but as usual, has relied on US military and monetary support. Most European nations are siding with Ukraine.

No one really knows the mind of Russia, and what is desired. Is the world, as Pope Francis often suggested, already in a WWIII due to the varied complex conflicts around the world? The situation could get much worse if an agreement is reached without the consent of Ukraine. Czechoslovakia did not consent to the Munich Accords, although they capitulated to follow that decision, and within six months Hitler invaded the Czech portions of the country. Starting in September 1939 Hitler invaded Poland, then France, Belgium, Netherlands and more. The invasion of Poland is considered the start of WWII when the allies realized they were required to band together to stop the German aggression. The Munich Accords led to WWII. Perhaps due to hubris, world leaders often fail to realize the potential pitfalls and unintended consequences from a deal that excludes the invaded party. An poor agreement could result in more and greater conflicts. Where will NATO take a stand if Putin decides to move into the Baltic region, or perhaps Central Europe?

Hopefully, Trump understands that history rhymes, and he does not repeat the mistake of Neville Chamberlain in 1938, if not he may well be remembered as the next Neville Chamberlain. 

The Cloud

Storm clouds gathered quickly and appeared overhead obscuring a blue sky that once held promise of a beautiful day. Signs of nature are often used as a metaphor for life. Today, when clouds are discussed, it is often not in relation to weather, but to "using the cloud" for your data. The use of such terms, "storing data in the cloud" often obscures the actual facilities behind the whole term. Data, is not stored in some obscure location, like a cloud, but rather in a data center.  Due to artificial intelligence, data centers are becoming more and more common place. The storm clouds gathering overhead are the metaphor for the environmental costs associated with data centers.

Fitchburg, WI Data Center

Language is important as it provides a true description. Use of "the cloud" is not unlike the use of "solar farms" both seem to represent something innocuous, but in fact have true impacts. (To me, solar farms and the cloud are misnomers.) Solar farms are power producing facilities, not farms. They, are very land intensive, and rather than doing the smart thing, using rooftops, over parking lots, or as they do in Japan--over detention ponds, in the United States good farm land is used. Data centers are land extensive, too. As a nation we tend to think land is abundant, which leads to significant land use issues, mainly urban sprawl. The whole idea of "cloud computing" leads to more resource use, in a time when we should be concerned about climate change.

Buildings near Fitchburg Data Center

At least four major data centers are in-line for the state of Wisconsin, according to a Google search, which presented itself as using AI (see below). 

Proposed Data Centers in WI, July 2025

The table above is self explanatory. The missing element is how many square feet the build out of the data centers will be, from which we could calculate efficiency of land use using the common Floor Area Ratio. Although, data centers are composed of servers which can stack high, but for some reason, they do not go more vertical. When doing economic development, the number of jobs produced is often looked at. The DeForest site anticipates 425 people to work there, but that works out to less than one person per acre. I suspect that the some  Community Supported Agricultural centers have more jobs per acre, at least seasonally, than will that data center, but they are not as fashionable as data centers.  Clearly, they should not get funding for so few jobs given how much acreage is used. Data Centers do not need many people, just a few per shift to make sure the servers function properly.

Do data centers represent storm clouds brewing over 
Wisconsin farmland?

Data centers, or server farms (as they are sometimes called), may not be large employers, but they do use generous amounts of two critical resources--water and electricity. Here is the rub, the data centers produce significant amounts of heat, and require cooling every day of the year, every hour of the day, or as the old worn saying goes 24/7. Regardless of how cold it is in Wisconsin on that January night the data center is still cooled. Most are cooled using water. The data center in Fitchburg is an extremely heavy water user. The proposed center in Port Washington is proposed to use air cooling in a closed loop system, but whether or not they will is still a question.

The University of Notre Dame has its own data center and it heats a joint greenhouse operated by it and the City of South Bend, as a method to use the waste heat. I proposed that for the Fitchburg facility but was shot down and the then mayor gave no backing, lest we do something the business did not want to do. The Fitchburg center is in a business park, and the adjoining buildings could easily be heated. The reason they said, was security as a proposed tier 4 data center. Well, that was a lie, because they are a tier 3, under which it could have been done. Just an excuse, or a bait and switch.

What they all use, regardless of how they are cooled, is electricity. Tons and tons (or Kilowatt hour upon kilowatt hour) of electricity which makes the power company very happy--high energy user. They also require backup generation, which means either diesel or natural gas powered generators, almost combustion turbines. This means high energy use and a lot of noise. The Fitchburg data center partnered with MGE which allows MGE to use their generators for peak hours when extra electric generation is required. My wife and I subscribe to SmartHours through Alliant (MGE is the Fitchburg data center provider), which allows them to turn our air up, or heat down when a peak event occurs. Last week we had at least three such events from 4 to 6 pm. It makes me wonder why we try to conserver when data centers clearly chose not to use cogeneration to heat adjoining buildings. The company building the Port Washington facility has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030. I am not sure how they will make that happen. 

Cooling towers, you can see the fans
Large generators, are rectangles south of building

But, beyond water and electricity, they could build better--build in existing urban sites that have been abandoned, think the former GM Janesville Assembly Plant. They could build in disadvantaged communities to add tax base, think Detroit or Northeast Wisconsin. Yet, the rich communities keep getting more rich. A letter to the editor in the Wi State Journal suggested the centers use the land of the old two year UW system campuses that are closing. They will not produce much employment per acre, which raises the question of efficiency. Data centers, in my mind, do not get high marks for efficiency of resources, land use or employment. We have to get away from the idea that our land is an unlimited resource. 

Former GM Assembly Plant site, Janesville, WI

There is a certain irony here, that in a time when we should be conserving resources due to climate change, artificial intelligence is demanding so many important resources in the form of data centers. Four large data centers and that is just in Wisconsin at this point in time. I wonder if there will develop a glut of data centers as the anticipated demand does not materialize.

With good land use decisions, data centers could
represent a clearing of sky following a storm

At least the data centers are in the US, one of the places which has the high demand. Too often the US externalizes its demand for materials--cobalt for batteries in African mines, or copper in South American mines. Green is more than clean energy. It is wise and appropriate efficient land use. It is choosing careful building materials, it is reuse, reduce and recycle. It is being cognizant of what is used. What we have to realize is that storm clouds are approaching in the form of data centers, which with better land use, air cooling, and renewable power could perhaps become cirrus clouds. The "cloud" is a figure of speech that white (or green washes) the impact. We need to be cognizant of the impacts of "the cloud!"

Images from Google Maps, Google and DCI Map