Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The Joys Of Dual Home Ownership
___________________________

I can say for certain that owning two homes is getting to be a pain. Working on the recently acquired house leads to neglect of the current home. We have had a bout of cool rainy weather lately which , as we all know, grows grass. So now I have my home , my new home, and my neighbors yard all wearing a 4-5 inch topcoat. To top it off, while mowing the new yard a couple weeks ago I hit something and knocked the fly wheel loose on my Toro. It's in the shop. The warranty will cover it. The Cub Cadet came down with an electrical version of the flu last fall and up to today I haven't been able to figure it out. A shop is coming to pick it up in the morning. So now we are "down" to the old Wheel Horse B-80. This tractor was given to me by a neighbor last spring. It has sat for over a year. Today I cleaned all the electrical connections, installed all new gas lines, cleaned the spark plug, filled it with new gas and some carb cleaner(B-12) and installed a new battery. A shot of ether to get it going and it runs like a top. Tomorrow it will get badly needed new front tires and a mowing we will go. After an oil change.


Treasures and Cleanup
___________________

We had another dumpster placed at the new home today. We have filled about 30 contractor bags with debris that needs to be hauled off. The bags won't come close to filling the dumpster so we are going to spend at least a half hour every night going through 27 years of accumulation to trim down the tonnage for the big move. I guess I'll have to get rid of some of my "treasures". My Grandfather always had the most amazing collection of hardware, parts, tools and useful stuff. I pretty much grew up in his garage. Sooooo.... I have built a pretty good collection of hardware, parts, tools and useful stuff. I have always wanted to be just like grandad and be the person everyone came to to get that "one" thing that couldn't be found anywhere else. I guess I'll have make my inventory a little on the lighter side. Until I get a garage extension built!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Jobs? Who's Got Jobs?
______________________

I keep hearing the Guvm't saying things are getting better but we can expect the jobless situation to carry on for years. Great. I have been without work for 1 year and 5 months. I have applied for and sent in resumes for hundreds of jobs and have not received one single call, letter or email for an interview. I have received 3 or 4 emails of denials. Those have been in reference to jobs on the lower end of my work history. Custodians, janitors, lawn care, warehouse. All those jobs have been kind enough to send emails saying overqualified, not qualified, or position filled. All the rest? Nothing, nada. How can the government say things are getting better when more and more people are losing their jobs and more and more people are losing their unemployment benefits? Every month results in a net loss in jobs, but the powers that be insist on claiming that all is better. I say bullshit! How can sales improve when more people don't have an income? Am I being dense about this or am I missing something here? I don't think so. I have a great resume, an outstanding work history and lots of experience and have never had a problem getting a job. But in this high unemployment scenario my background, skills and experience don't count for squat. What everyone looks for now is a portion of the resume that includes a diploma from a college. So in this environment I think the burden is on me to provide an income, not rely on a corporation to provide an exchange of labor for dollars. I have several ideas but they all require an immediate injection funds in one quantity or another and in this economy I am hesitant to start any sort of business. So I continue on, working at what ever I can get, doing whatever I can do and deciding on what direction to take in these difficult times.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Spring Has Arrived
___________________


With all the rain, floods, and tornadoes I guess we can say that spring has truly arrived. With the coming of spring another set of issues arrives as well. If you live in the area generally known as Tornado Alley you know what I mean. With little to no warning disaster can strike in a moments notice, day or night. Your home, with you and all your possessions, can be ripped off the foundation and tossed miles away. For those of you with little to no knowledge of the power of a tornado look at this picture of the remains of Greensburg Kansas after an F5 tornado hit this small town. Take a few moments and go buy a weather alert radio and set it up and listen to it. It may give you the short amount of time needed to get to the basement or cellar. If you don't have a basement or cellar determine the strongest place in your house or apartment to take cover in. Closets are usually a good place. Get on line and look at the many ways to reinforce a small room to make it a weather shelter. Next get a copy of any important documents and place them in a water resistant bag or container and keep it in your weather shelter. Keep you shelter stocked with a few supplies such as a flashlight, food, water and a radio. A gas shut off tool might be handy too. I remember, as a small child, the family rushing to the cellar at the coming a a dangerous storm. During one such adventure(to a little boy) I found a pound cake stored in the cellar. A few years later When the storm sirens went off,( actually the fire alarm) the family would all rush over to Granny and Grandpa's house. Panic? Worry? Naw, get out the lawn chairs and watch the clouds, play with the cousins, have a good time. The cellar was only accessed in a dire emergency. I met a man that had purchased, as surplus, a concrete telecommunications shelter, installed a FEMA rated door, and piled gravel half way up the walls to anchor it in place. That was his idea of a storm shelter. What are your ideas?

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

A Million Green Cards
__________________

Are you out of work? Unemployed? Under employed? You'll be glad to know the Obama administration has issued a million green cards. That's a million more folks trying to get jobs that the millions of struggling, unemployed, legal Americans are trying to secure. Be sure to thank them in the next election.


B.A.G. Day
________________________

Well Buy A Gun Day (April 15) has come and gone and I didn't buy any guns. Not that there aren't any I'm wantin' it's just that any new shooters don't fit into the tight budget. I think BAG Day is a great way to protest tax day. File your tax form, buy a gun. What a sweet idea! Mark it on your calendar for next year, April 15, buy a gun.


Taxation Without Representation
_____________________________

Every one knows that taxes are collected from your payroll. And you know about local taxes and state taxes and personal property taxes. But think of all the other taxes, sales tax on everything you buy, city stickers and gas taxes, FICA, unemployment taxes, environmental fees, universal telephone taxes. Fines and penalties are just another form of taxation. We will have the grandaddy of all taxes with the Health Care Bill. Add up all the taxes you pay in one form or another and I would bet you are missing nearly 50 percent of your hard earned wages. I have discussed this with may people and I'm shocked at how many folks think that's OK. I guess the re-education program has worked. How can a sane person think that it's reasonable or even legal to involuntarily surrender half of your wealth every year. The folks that think this is OK also think that it's fine to penalizes people that make lots of money. Unless it's themselves or their children. They think if you start a business and sell a product and even employ many people and eventually earn a tidy profit, you should be taxed a a rate of 50% or greater. They think it's all right to tax you for creating jobs, giving people the means to survive and making money for your own self. Without exception, everyone that has told me this is a Democrat. Surprise, surprise.

Friday, April 16, 2010

One Step Forward And Two Steps.......
_______________________________


That's what I feel like when working on this house we bought. I had the kitchen near ready to paint and then we had a driving thunderstorm that forced water through the semi-open outer wall of the kitchen getting the floor wet. Stop! Regroup! Move outside! So, I installed exterior sheathing over the "bump out" of the kitchen, got it sealed up and primed prior to the rain moving in last night. My father in law was in the kitchen working on the electricity and he comes to me and says, "you aren't going to like this but...." . We had to tear out the lower 4 feet of sheet rock to access the wiring as it appeared an idiot wired the place. So to make sure we had it wired right and safe we took out four feet of rock on two walls. Oh well, it had to be done. I sprayed the yard for offending weeds and dandelions. It appears as though the stuff I sprayed was plant food, judging by the number of weeds and dandelions that have sprung up. Well at least everyone says we will have a really neat house when we get done. It is a very unique structure for this area. Kind of a 1960's California contemporary style. We will keep moving along and one day we will be living in it. The semi-good news is a man called us and he and his business partner want to come by our current home with the idea of purchasing it to flip. We'll see how this works out.
80,000 For 2012
____________________


I found this over at the WMSA site. What does the government think we are up to? An 80,000 man brigade to cover any possible civilian unrest during the 2012 elections? What we want is a return to an actual constitutional government, with a strong emphasis on states rights and a limited power federal government. And given the 50/50 divide among the military as to who would and who wouldn't fire on civilians, 80 thou isn't nearly enough. Hit the polls hard, vote every socialist sounding a-hole out of office, vote in anyone that espouses conservative values and has the history to back it up. Oh, and just in case, keep you powder dry.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Holy Cow!
____________

What a week it's been! Unemployment came to an end, so we are taking a pretty good cut in our salary. Contrary to what the pseudo president has to say, the job situation is NOT getting any better. I need to put up my flyers for lawn mowing service to try and generate a little income but, everyone is mowing grass at this time. I had to change track on the house we bought as the kitchen wall has developed a leak from where the drunken/high past owner tore off the siding and installed foam insulation but no exterior sheathing. So...that's what I'm doing now. Maybe I can get back on course and get the plan of attack going. The good news is that we applied for a grant and found out that we have been approved. This will go a long way towards improvements in the new place. Cherry Pie had to go to the county assessors office this morning as they have been taxing this property as a 153,000 dollar home. She took pictures and the papers showing that we paid 27 thousand for it. The county is going to lower the assessed rate. So, I'm mowing the first paying yard of the year and I hit a freakin' I beam that was driven into the ground and cut off just about at grass level. The mower has another bent crank. ^#^%*&%&&! Thankfully, when I bent the crank last year I had a new motor installed and it renewed the warranty on the mower. So it shouldn't cost much but labor. To top it off both of our cell phones went on the fritz. Mine started showing a white screen and when in that situation, would not let you use the phone. In addition it started calling people on it's own! It called my niece and an hour or so later it called my mother with NO assistance from me, so tonight we had to get new phones. What a hassle. As I said, what a week it's been.


What's Been Going On?
___________________

With all the work and running I've been doing I haven't even listened to the news. The only thing I've heard is Barry has bowed to another world leader. Does he feel subservient to all the leaders of the world? Is he a boot licker and a forelock puller as well? My gosh, he's supposed to be the leader of the most powerful nation on earth and he freaking bows his way around the world.

What I've Done
__________________

The question is asked frequently both here and on another site, what have you done to improve you preparedness? Well to tell the truth with our income short and getting shorter, we haven't done much for a while. On this latest trip to Sam's Club, we laid in an extra case of TP and 2 extra cases of paper towels. That is all we could do but those thing do come on handy and do have a place in anyones inventory. Oh, I almost forgot, I started turning up a garden spot at the new house. Maybe I can get it done in time to put potatoes in the ground. They should have been in already but in this area it has been too wet and muddy. I also have a 1/2 dozen tomato plants coming from a friend so at least we'll have taters and 'maters.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Guns Galore
_____________

I walked into a gun shop the other day, you know, just to look around, and I spied a Winchester 1897 pump sitting in the used rack. While it had very little original blueing, it was not pitted all to hell and functioned fine. Price? 350 bucks. Most of these gems have been snapped up by the cowboy action shooters so this one was a surprise. I mosey down the line a few steps and lo and behold what do I see? A genuine Colt Mustang! Good condition with a couple of scratches on the front strap but no other damage. The slide pulled back slick and smooth. Price for this beauty? 600 dollars. I thought long and hard about this one. Long and hard. Let's see the Caddi needs work, the truck needs work, the Harley is sitting in pieces, we are still pouring dollars into the new property, my unemployment is coming to an end, I don't have any guns I want to sell or trade so, no little shooter for me. On with the tour, down in the black rifle territory, I found a way cool Ruger SR-22 and next to it, a Smith and Wesson M&P 22. At this time I think rimfire tacticool rifles are da bomb as centerfire ammo is so darned expensive. I spent an hour and a half lookin' and talkin' guns so all in all it was a really good morning.

Monday, April 5, 2010

He's from Where?

___________________



I know it's been a few days but I just had to get this out before I go back to sheet rock repairs.

In a remarkable admission during a speech, Michelle Obama came out with a shocking revelation. Confirming the claim of all those "birthers" that are constantly derided in the media, Presidential Wifey says that Kenya is Obamas home country! Take a gander at this video while its still available.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk3OMRqO7aY&feature=player_embedded



Wow! Did she say what I thought I heard her say? Will this get any traction in the the lawsuits that seek to compel Obama to actually show proof of citizenship in the USA? So, it turns out that he wasn't born in Hawaii like he says and Hawaii says and all those libtards say. No wonder the Big O has spent over 800,000 clams to hide his birth records.



This is what Kenya has to say about the whole issue.