Day 4!

It's the first Sunday of the fair and I don't remember any year when the weather has been more perfect. Yesterday there was some cloud cover which cooled things off but this is great!!
One big change this year, they have a new midway. You wouldn't believe some of the rides they've got. The midway is also very clean too, not something you usually notice at a state fair, but its really worth mentioning.
All the troubles from day 1have started to iron themselves out for the time. We are still having a few computer issues but the golf cart is working again and people seem to be enjoying themselves. The only golf cart trouble is the fact, everywhere we go we are in a hurry. On the grounds you can't get in a hurry because someone is going to get in trouble. I've seen the golf cart Nazi this year. He still looks like he's in a bad mood.

Need rank, file and SS# and your first born

It's the Missouri State Fair!! One of the busiest times of year for the radio station and a lot of other people through central Missouri. Yesterday we kicked off the event from the Red Roving Radio in front of the Pepsi grandstand. That's where the radio has been for more than 20 years during August. It's a little bit rough around the edges, but with a working air conditioner there's little that I'll complain about regarding the radio.
As for the rest of the fair, we have been working out bugs in the mechanical equipment. Yesterday all the broadcast equipment worked like a dream, two hours later the phone system did not. The rest of the day was spent trying to nail down the problem. This morning the phone was working great, an hour later, not so much. It's inconvienient yes, but it's also the state fair so you know problems are going to happen. Expect, know it and fix it and move on.
What's been the bigger challenge this year are the guards at the gates. You'd almost expect them to be dressed in military uniform firing warning shots in case someone should breach security. From the red zone to the side gate, don't get any idea that things are going to be easy if you misplace, forget or drop any form of ID or verification that you are working at the fair, never mind the golf cart, the logo shirt, the beads of sweat, or the worn drained, look of mechanical frustration accounting for the fact you've been here ALL DAY LONG.

When in Rome…

Roam and roam and roam. That's been the last 64 hours or so. On Sunday morning our group of more than two dozen traveled together one last time to the airport where we parted ways. The majority headed back to the States while five of us ventured to Italy!
We had a busy time of trying to see all the sights and we didn't get to all of them. Italy is certainly on the list of places to go again. We saw the highlights and this shot is one that caused several hours of roaming yesterday. We stopped to see the ruins, which is bigger than you could have imagined. Not just the stones, but just the park in general is also rather large. I slipped up to a hilltop to grab this shot through a chain link fence. After that I zigged when I should have zagged and lost the rest of the crew. After a long day of roaming around Rome, we all met back at the hotel within 15 minutes of each other.
Today is my first day to post in what really feels like ages. No internet access for me in Italy so I'm typing this after a long day of wandering airports. It's after 10pm in Washington DC, and it sounds like my flight may be delayed due to more rain.
It's back to work tomorrow. I'll have some follow up stories to pass along over the next few days too, so the adventure is not over.

Say it isn't so!!!

Caffeine is the friend of many, especially while traveling. We have early mornings, late nights, travel and meetings in between. That means caffeine is a necessity. I put away my fair share of caffeinated, carbonated drinks, though I promise I'm cutting back when I return. My caffeine drug of choice includes the wonderful little carbonated bubbles that tickle when you drink..ahhhh.. Great, now I really am thirsty.... Over the past couple of weeks I've encountered a problem in Europe. I prefer a fountain soda with over a chilled can or a bottle. Why, I'm not sure, but ice seems to be an under appreciated addition to beverages. You order a soda and receive a bottle and glass. Sounds nice yes, but I need ice too, something to slide down the glass while I take a drink and bop me in the nose. Without it, it's just not the same.
Aside from the lack of ice, on occasion there has also been a lack of beverage, with the exception of coffee. I don't drink coffee and I don't count pumped up hot chocolate, aka, cappuccino as coffee. However, I had no choice this week.

An early morning drive preceded by a late night and followed by a morning meeting means drowsy Janet.

My ALOT co-adventure taker Aubrey was in the same predicament so we made the leap. That's right; our first ever real cup of coffee, doctored up just a bit. You might notice the remnants of added ingredients. You should also know two sugar cubes and a chocolate cookie were sacrificed to this new creation of wonderfulness. Yhea, I'll admit it was tasty, but so was the saturated cookie that I added for a hint of chocolate. Years ago mom said you'll drink coffee when you're a grownup. I think that statement has led me to avoid the stuff out of denial. Now that I've made that step, geezz I already feel the pressure building.... Thank goodness I only drank half!!
So the journey that has led to so many adventures over the past couple weeks is sadly drawing to a close. Tomorrow we will enjoy a little time of relaxation before flying out on Sunday. Most of the group is heading back home, but a few of us will take a couple vacay days to head to another country....No meetings, no lessons, no "homework," no schedule and lots of fun! I'm so excited!!

Roughin It!!!

On the road you never know what kind of adventure you'll encounter, even where or who. That's the best part of adventures but when you don't plan ahead for some adventures, things can be less pleasant. For this trip abroad, something I didn't plan for… toilet paper.. That's right, I said it and now the world knows we've been roughin it for a few days. So what exactly do I mean… In the Czech Republic, it's not 2-ply, there's no aloe for soft skin, there's not even a hint of softness to a half ply. What there is.... brown colored hand paper towels on small roll disguised as a roll of toilet paper. A little bit of texture has been crimped into the paper, but there is not denying the course, rough, brown paper truth.
I realize it's not a dramatic adjustment, but it does make me feel very spoiled to know how special that roll at home is…

Guest Blogger Jesse

This morning ALOT Class XII member Jesse Heimer put some thoughts together about one of our daily adventures this week. Jesse is an agribusiness owner and pork producer from Taylor, Missouri.
When we departed the University I was expecting to arrive at a Czech farm that commercially produced rabbits for meat consumption. On this day, the surprise when our bus arrived was definitely for the good. Within our first 20 minutes at Rabbit, it was very obvious that we were bellied up to the table in a corporate boardroom where big decisions have been made to completely “close the cycle” in several sectors of Czech Agriculture. Rabbit is the second largest Agriculture Company in the Czech Republic that counts pork, poultry, layer, rabbit, dairy and crop production as sources of income in a company with four primary shareholders. Crops such as clover, wheat, barley, corn, and poppy seed dot the landscape of thousands of hectares and much of their production is used as feedstuffs for large-scale livestock production. While the fluid milk produced from 3,500 cows is sold to the market before bottling, 50% of the pork, chicken and rabbit products are sold direct in more than 150 retail stores – owned by Rabbit – across the State.

Our visit began with a quick video orientation of the company and was followed by an up-close and personal tour of one of their chicken slaughter facilities. Like many of our experiences in Europe, there were stark contrasts between our tour of this facility and our tour last year of PSF in Milan…and the contrasts don’t begin and end with one slaughtering pork and the other poultry. For starters, I’m referring to loose reigns on security and safety as we meandered through the shackles of chicken. For the first time in all my experiences of touring slaughter facilities, we were allowed to take photos and many occasions we didn’t need zoom. At PSF, every square foot was occupied by assembly lines, processed meat, packaged good or at the very least, employees. During our tour today I was amazed at the amount of unused space in all facets of the facility. In addition, a large percentage of the chicken was finished for retail sale at this facility which resulted in several meat products we don’t see in America.

We didn’t stop at poultry. Our next stop was at one of several dairy farms within the company where a DeLaval milking ‘robot’ is used to milk cows with precision. We observed what many feel is the future of milking as the laser lined up each cup I was impressed. More was to be learned about dairying at another stop so we stepped into the adjacent wheat field and fired questions at Rabbit’s director of crops. When asked about GMO’s he replied, “If everything is perfect with regard to fertilizer, etc, we don’t think we need GMO’s” but in the same breath he stated he would like to use GMO’s but cannot. Perhaps the starkest contrast to America with regard to crop production is their disregard for soil conservation. We haven’t seen a terrace since arriving in Europe and its very obvious when looking at the direction they’ve planted corn, the average farmer here isn’t concerned.

After several kilometers of poppy seed fields, potatoes and of course wheat, we arrived at the largest dairy farm within the Rabbit system where more than 1,000 cows are milked. This particular farm has a new free-stall barn which resembles an American barn in type and nearly in size. The stalls are bedded with recycled manure that is generated by an on farm separator. All manure on the farm ends up at the separator which sends the liquid to an enormous storage tank and the solids are left to heat naturally until the bacteria is killed and is ready to be used as bedding. Arguably the most impressive sighting on the farm was the silage pile. This wasn’t an ordinary silage pile and everyone who touched it agreed…it was the most packed pile of silage we’d ever seen. A true farm boy enjoys the aroma of silage and this group from Missouri spent plenty of time admiring this work of art.

Our tour ended back where we started and we were treated to a delicious lunch which included Czech beer. In fact, all meals here include Czech beer and the calorie overload continues. The centerpiece of lunch was a chicken kabob that is sold in Rabbit retail stores and in this writer’s opinion, its worth buying for another meal. After lunch another question and answer session ensued with none other than the Director – or equivalent to CEO – Mr. Jandejsek. He spent his entire day with our group and we were treated like royalty. With the translation help of PhD student Jan Hucko, our appointed translator and tour guide, we asked questions until we were too full of food and information to ask anymore. He explained that Rabbit was acquired because rabbit meat, the only animals grown and processed then, was a way to reach Western markets and take advantage of higher currency. In the first year, the company employed 23 people and had gross sales of $1.5 million. Today, twenty years later, the company employs 2,000 people with gross sales over $350 million. Sitting around the table many of us listened and watched with admiration as a humble man explained his vision for Czech Agriculture, yet I couldn’t help but realize we’ve seen this before. In America, we’ve seen integration in all facets of agriculture and most often it’s ridiculed, downgraded and beat up at the coffee shop and in the press. But here in Czech land, Rabbit is prospering with a ‘closed cycle’ and their future looks bright.

This day was the perfect experience for a group of agriculture enthusiasts from Missouri. We were exposed to all aspects of Czech agriculture, all under one roof as we’d say in America and it was truly enjoyable. We all left with something learned and for this writer, it was exactly what I hoped to see half way around the world.

We had a little free time over the weekend to take in the sights and sounds of Prague. Aubrey Famuliner, a farmer from Carrollton, and I felt it our duty to help the local economy with a little shopping. Part of our group left the dorms for another adventure and we decided that a couple independent girls can figure things out in a country where we don't speak, read or write the language. We took off for the bus stop with a little bit of drizzle coming down. With the bus stop quickly in view, the drizzle became a heavy sprinkle. During a 15 minute wait we decide it's a good time to document our adventure. When the bus arrives, we consider that it may be on the wrong side of the street but it's raining, it's the right number, the bus is dry! We agree the passing scenery does not look familiar but the bus turns into a loop to head back the other direction.
What a relief… that is until the bus driver motions us to get off with the rest of the passengers…. Looking at each other with a little concern we stay put until the bus driver turns off the engine.















Janet: "It'll all work out"

Aubrey: "We're screwed!"

Aubrey hustles to the front to have a conversation with the very nice Czech-only speaking driver who appears to chuckle. You can't help but hear his thoughts of crazy American girls! Through the global gesture of tapping his watch we realize it's break time.
Whew! So, about one mile away from where we started we wait for the break to end. Finally more people board, the bus starts and off we go down the road past the bus stop where it all started.