Montana Webmaster

08/27/2026

HOW MUCH EFFORT DOES IT TAKE TO REMEMBER YOU?

This lady at the Hamilton Farmers Market had aprons with an amazing feature: the ties run through from the neck to the waist, allowing you to pull it down and have more to tie in front. No more putting a knot in the back of the neck.

The problem is "who is she?" How can I send a link to my cooking friends and family? There is a little tag on the apron. I can see it if I enlarge the photo. But, the URL doesn't exist and I can't find any other mention of Wild Turkey Acres, except a boarding facility in California.

Artists, musicians, craftsmen, etc. love to make their product. They are proud of their products. But, often, they don't see the other side of the sale.

If you know this lady, can you put in a good word for her here? Are her products found in other venues? Thanks!

08/20/2026

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS WASTE WOOD .. only wasted wood

From high value trees torn down in a wind storm to paper products, it all has a second, and a third life. Here is a beautiful example.

08/17/2026

PAYING ATTENTION TO YOUR SMALL COMMUNITY MARKETS

In a city, there are many options. Not so in a small town. When a business that operates in a large city opens a branch in a small town. They need to make some cultural adjustments.

I found myself headed down Hwy 93 without cash for trip to farmers market with some friends. My credit union has a branch in Stevensville, so I took a side trip. There were cones across the entrance and exit, so I figured they had paved. I parked my car and walked to the ATM. Another lady was ahead of me walking, as well. We both looked up and down the ATM machine. It was off with no sign.

The things is, it was market day in Stevensville too. These small markets depend on cash. If there were two of us there in a 5 minute period of time, how many other people tried to use that ATM?

I was ashamed of my credit union that day.

08/12/2026

WHAT IS DOROTHY HINSHAW PATENT UP TO THESE DAYS?

The delight of still being in contact with Greg and Dorothy Patent is their joy in the world around them.

In the distant past, some ancestors of migrating Canada geese got lost and landed in Hawai'i. These became the ancestors of the beautiful Hawaiian bird, the nene.

08/11/2026

Today we’re featuring Eye of the Explorer: Views of the Northern Pacific Railroad Survey, 1853-54 by Paul D. McDermott, Ronald E. Grim, and Philip Mobley.

Eye of the Explorer “reproduces all seventy of the lithographs that appeared with Stevens’s final congressional report, published in 1860.” These images offer a remarkable look at how the northern West was documented more than 170 years ago.

08/08/2026

06/21/2026

THE LEAK GENERALLY HAPPENS AT A CONNECTION.. Your business may be leaking customers at the order delivery or pick up step. Not because the product is bad.

A friend was doing all the food for a family and friends gathering at a public park. My task was to pick up the cupcakes from a home baking business. It took me almost 2 hours to pick up the cupcakes. It normally takes about 45 minutes for me to drive to that location.

The pickup location was in a neighborhood with a strange layout and addressing. I couldn't find the home business after about 20+ minutes of driving around. I looked up their phone number online and called them twice. No answer. So, I tried finding the location it from another direction. Another 20+ minutes of driving around, but this time I did find it.

The most interesting part of this struggle was the reaction of the business owner, "We can't answer our phones on a Saturday." Then don't take any orders to be picked up on Saturday.

But, there was another piece. The business owner had given my friend her cell number, but I didn't have it. Should the business owner have assumed that I would have the cell number? The number they have in their Google Business listing is the one that was not answered.

This type of situation is a place where a business owner has the opportunity to think of a solution. It's a break in the pipe. Her reaction was that I should take up the issue with my friend who should have given me the cell number.

I would not do business with her again. She needs a plumber.

06/13/2026

SUBSTACK SECURITY

One of my clients, who has a Substack account, asked me why one of his followers had to put in a code, sent to her email, to make a comment.

Here is the reason from Substack: "Substack prompts for a sign-in or verification code to comment because you must be logged into an active Substack profile to leave a comment. This one-time code (OTP) replaces traditional passwords, acting as a security measure to verify your identity and prevent spam or bot activity on the platform."

All the platforms are tightening up on security. Now that hackers have learned to use AI, the attacks have increased exponentially. Sad for all!