Hosting Suspicious0bservers and The Mobile Observatory Project

      When our friend Pam first posted on Facebook that Suspicious0bservers' Ben and Kat Davidson had hit the road for a North American tour with their newest endeavor, The Mobile Observatory Project, we were surprised and pleased;  but as we had just begun our new endeavor(s): teaching ourselves web design, aggressively establishing social media and internet presence, learning about search engine optimization and how to be webmasters, painting our sweet new sign, prepping and painting the kitchen, and other assorted projects and side-emergencies, major and minor, I'm ashamed to admit we just didn't have time to look closely at what they were doing. 

      When we were finally able to go to The Mobile Observatory Project website, we saw the opportunity of a lifetime.

      Looking at their schedule, it seemed they had a three day gap between Madison and Minneapolis, so I took what I thought was a long-shot, and invited them to Cole Watch Tower. It was short notice, for them and us; barely two weeks to plan the logistics, and the kitchen still in shambles at that point.

(On a personal note, no rock star or celebrity on Earth has more of my admiration and respect than Ben Davidson. I don't go all fan-boy for anyone, but Ben (and I later found out, Kat, his lovely wife) isn't just anyone. These folks are my heroes.)

      Fortunately, they turned out to be extremely nice, down-to-earth people (the kitchen was still in shambles when they arrived), and I think they understood that this is what it looks like to live in a castle; just like royalty, but can't afford servants or staff.

Billy Jack, Nyoka the Jungle Girl, Ben Davidson, and Katherine Davidson

      I don't really know that I have too much to add to the discussion, that hasn't been well documented on their website and blog, but I would like to point you specifically to this page about Ben, just to show you that he and Kat (who is also a highly skilled professional that was on a lucrative career track) have taken on the modern gypsy lifestyle as a choice, renting out their family home, spending their savings, and relying on the kindness of others (there is no salary or health plan for traveling in your RV and teaching sound and scientifically-supported, albeit suppressed and socially unpopular concepts); and they do this because the information they're sharing is that important. 

I'll leave you with this story, which sums up how we feel about them, and why: We had been watching Suspicious0bservers' Youtube channel regularly for a year or so, and were already subscribers and fans, but there's often a defining moment when you see some act of integrity from someone, and realize they're family. Keep in mind that Ben had been getting up daily to produce a 2MIN news segment, because he was weary of the alarmism and disinformation that was the internet norm. He put the news out by 6 AM every day with no ads or monetization of any kind. He had a community of subscribers building that really respected his style, determination, and generosity. He had taught many of us about solar weather and some of its effects, but promised a short documentary with all the info and methods he employed in one neat package.

The anticipation was enormous in the community, and when he told us he would finally make a little cash from his efforts by offering it as a .99 cent rental on Youtube, we were happy to finally get a chance to give back; to reward all his hard work. Except...when it was done uploading, it wasn't a rental. Youtube had screwed the pooch and given his debut documentary away for free. Ben (I'm guessing reluctantly) put up a donate link for PayPal and just told us it was an option, not a requirement, and if we didn't want to, or couldn't pay, it was no big deal. He also let us all know, in the comment thread on the video, what he had collected; we were just genuinely interested and hoped to see him do well.

I think there's a good life lesson here: When you have the support of good friends and family, and have shown yourself worthy, good things happen for you. In the first 24 hours, over $5000. in donations came in. We felt honored to witness and be a small part of that.

Cole Watch Tower wants to thank Suspicious0bservers and The Mobile Observatory Project, and we urge you to get familiar with their message; it's empowering in a way you may have never known.

We also want to thank John and Stan for the cash donations through colewatchtower.org. It helped make their visit and time here possible. +Julie Schmidt, we deeply appreciate the news coverage in the Omro Herald. It was stellar for you to do that, especially on such short notice.

Eyes open, no fear. Be safe, everyone!

Content-driven?

      

      "We haven't been getting as many page views as we used to," was my casual remark to someone just the other day. "You haven't posted anything lately," was their reply. 

"Oh no! Are you telling me page views are content-driven?!?"

      So...I'll start this post with an apology to those of you who actually enjoy our rants and look forward to reading them, and maybe even offer a few lame excuses. We've had so much happening here over the last few months, it's tough to even form a cohesive narrative, so if it seems like I'm wandering off the beaten path, just know that's the nature of the beast that is Cole Watch Tower.

      This is our one of our busy seasons. Some of you know we prepare tax returns professionally from January through April, plus a few stragglers during the summer months. We have several catch phrases, one of which is, "We have two seasons here: Tax Season, and House Season." Both are brutal, and only fit for the likes of adrenaline-junky, challenge-craving lunatics like the keepers of the Tower....and they don't know to stay in their in their respective places. They tend to overlap.

      Currently, we're deep in the throes of House Season (our first full one since we took custody of this place), and it's had its filthy way with us. We've gotten fairly used to getting our collective butts kicked around here, but words really can't do justice to the ego-crushing humbling this place dishes out almost daily. Trust me when I tell you that nothing goes quite as planned here at the Tower.. We rarely, if ever anymore, find ourselves saying, "This won't take very long," or "This should be easy." That's just a fantasy we can't entertain after so many "easy" tasks turning into major projects.

All that said, we have taken on a few projects we already knew would be major undertakings, and we're finally ready to tell you about them. The next few posts will find us catching up on the events of this summer, or rather, catching you up on what we've been doing and where we're headed; and I promise you won't have to wait two more months to hear about it.