'Tis another Birthday!

Five years ago, a gal of the Bandy family was born into this world on September 25, 2002...

A little lady by the name of Ruth Esther...





Happy Birthday, Ruth!!

Epistemic Probability

First off, let's define the term so no confusion enters our minds:

epistemic probability (n): the likelihood that a statement is true, given the total evidence available to you--that is, given all of your background beliefs and experiences

henceforth referred to as "EP"

So I was reading part of my logic assignment last night and the section about EP came up after the first few pages elapsed, followed by some exercises one might do (thankfully no required exercises for this week *cheers for Prof. Erhard*). The exercise was the following:

Provide two statements to which most people would assign the following measure of EP...then a sample exercise and the correct answer, etc.

Well, the first thing on the list just happened to be "Certainly true." "Hmm," I thought, "what could be a nice example for this problem. Oh, I know...Republicans are better than Democrats. Yes...a perfect answer." The ramifications of this statement were rather obvious; the, ah, entertainment overall overrode this. But I realized a requirement for this statement to be true: "which most people would assign the following measure of EP." Not to be caught totally off-guard, the 2004 elections came to mind. George W. Bush won, did he not? And! with a majority vote in both the popular and electoral. We shan't, however, deal with current polls or such matters showing America to be non-approving of Bush...

Continuing on this line of thought (i.e., interesting and controversial), another example came to mind: the North beats the South any day, or...I don't think I'll go any further. ;)

(disclaimer: no, I did not submit these examples as an assignment)

And so go the fields...

After months of seeing only corn behind our house, the farmers proceeded to harvest their crops starting this week along our way of the prairie. Though I guess that means we'll be blinded by on-coming cars in the evening when playing outside...hm, oh well, I guess there's advantages and disadvantages to a situation like this. ;) Yet, overall, it's nice to know we've now countless acres to enjoy...


now to your center, folks, we've the combine, with a row of bushes hindering our sight. we apologize...it was the photographer's fault


watch closely as it approaches, making sure nothing is left behind and wasted, except, of course, for the corn that is left behind


we believe, at this point, the farmer wonders why on earth this kid is taking pictures of him


behold, my readers, the combine in all its glory

Quote of the Day

"Man shall not live by bread alone...

Eggplant Parmesan has taken over."

Labor Day

So, while the event of my little sister pinching my leg transpires, I now am able to post. :D (or, for a better explanation, Ruth sits at my feet with some hair pincher-things, squeezes my leg with them and asks, "Does this hurt, Ashton?" "Yes, Ruth, it hurts!")

Yesterday, we were all invited over to the McDonald's house for a blessed day of fellowship and working...unfortunately, though, I was unable to get pictures of the working part, so you'll have to visit Tiffany's or Jessica's blog for more information concerning that subject. ;) We spent most of our day cleaning up around the yard, setting up scaffolding, taking down trees, setting up fences, and stuff along those lines. And then, in the evening, we celebrated Mrs. McDonald's birthday, complete with banana pudding and a single candle on top. :D

Pictures of our evening:


Tiffany taking a picture of me, taking a picture of her, etc.


Melissa reading to Naomi and William


making the banana pudding


The Banana Pudding


beware the two fly-killers, armed with hidden fly swatters and purple-hued sunglasses


Grace, Sierra, and Jessica...all laughing at some random comment ;)


presenting The Banana Pudding unto the birthday lady


posing with the presents