Saturday, March 31, 2012

More Junk or An Antique show

Cherry Pie, my mother and I went to a what was advertised as a large indoor flea market this morning. When we got there it was a combined antique/toy/doll sale. We wandered and wandered and looked at tin toys, iron toys, cars, boats, planes, submarines, soldiers and just about every old toy and antique ever made since moby was a minnow. This was not all bad as I'm always on the lookout for old motorcycle toys. WTH! I found old motorcycle toys alright. From 100 dollars all the way up to 380 samoleans. I wasn't carrying that much with me, hell, I don't have that much. So pass on the bikes. Move on to pocket knives. At pretty much any sale you can find a box or display of random stuff and find a knife or 10 in it. No different today except that I couldn't find any that really thrilled me and for the most part were overpriced.
While looking at the various toys and their price tags, it dawned on me that I shoulda took better care of my toys as as little demolition man.I saw quite a few of my childhood playthings sitting on shelves with very respectable price tags on'em. I did help my mom pick out a couple of nice things for her husband. And since I really like him and he IS a reader I'll not blab what the finds were. So Ha,ha he's not finding out from me.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Something Smells

The mainstream media has pulled all embedded reporters from Ron Paul's campaign. They claim he doesn't attract enough voters to warrant the reporters. Hmmmm. Mitt Romney came to Liberty, Missouri a couple weeks ago and spoke at a local college. Liberty is a bedroom community of Kansas City. The city limits touch. One side of the highway is Liberty and the other is KC. So, at this political rally at William Jewel College in Liberty, Romney attracted a whopping 500 people. A couple day later Ron Paul had a rally and over 2,500 folks showed up. Mr. Paul just had a rally in Wisconsin and drew a crowd of 5,200 people. More than 10 times what Mitt drew in Liberty. So, I ask, what smells about this? This is a perfect example of how the media picks the candidates and probably the president too. Face it, in this day and age if your don't have air time you don't have snowballs chance in hell politically speaking that is. It looks like Gingrich's campaign is imploding. He has laid off most of his staff. you don't hear a lot about Santorum now. But Mitt is all over the news. He has been anointed the chosen one by the media and the RNC.
When you evaluate the performance of Chairman Maobama and compare it to the views of the current repugnican candidates there is very little difference. The ONLY candidate that has a different, i.e. truly conservative and constitutional view is Ron Paul. The RNC is terrified of a true conservative and the liberal media is frightened he may make it all the way to the big race. Even supposedly conservative Fox News routinely falsifies debate scores, intentionally makes "mistakes" in reporting Paul's views and out and out black balls him. That is unless they want him to comment on the economy. Imagine that the guy they love to hate is their go to guy for economic information. I guess you CAN have your cake and eat it too.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Verizon Is At It Again

The little white truck of trepidation showed up yesterday bringing the latest offering from Verizon. Yes, the Five Spot they sent a few days ago went tits up. Opening the box reveal the newest electronic device they are trying to foist on us. Instead of sending yet another Five Spot they sent a Hot Spot. Minus any cable to charge it with. So after yet another call to Verizon and trying to make a"technician" understand the problem, Cherry headed off to the local Verizon franchise. These guys were great. They close at 8PM but stayed until they got the issue cleared up around 8:30 or so. They even GAVE her a cable. So cudos to the Franchise and a big ole YOU SUCK to Verizon.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Verizon STILL Sucks

We have been without Internet service for a coupla days. Thanks to our 5th Verizon Five Spot. This one has some ghosts inside that want password numbers that no one has assigned to it. Sometimes, like today, I can get it to work by not using the connection thingamajig but instead use the generice ATT wireless clicky thing. Anyway Unit Number 6 is on its way here. Verizon assures us it is made by a different manufacturer and all our problems will go away. Sounds kinda like unicorn farts smells like pixie dust to me.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Hey bidder,bidder, bidder

This morning Cherry Pie and I got up and went to the huge consignment auction In Holt Missouri held at Old Bills Mill. The mill is actually the old grain elevator in town. It must be a hundred or more years old. The attached listing is not a full bill as they were taking consignments up to the day of the sale. I think this is the third or Fourth annual auction. This year it was absolutely HUGE. They had everything from rabbits to dozers. Mowers, bikes, junk, guns, tools hardware, the list goes on and on. We brought home a very nice brass light light to hang in the entry way. We have been pricing big lights for this duty and they all start about a hundred and go up from there. I ended up getting it for 35 dollars. I saw a structural foam garden cart this I really wanted. We had already been there 2 and a half hours and it looked like the cart was 4-5 hours away! My knees and back were killing me by that point so I turned my bidding number over to my sister in law as she was supposed to be there for a long time to bid an a corn planter for her hubby. She didn't make it long enough for the cart or the planter. The auction company was running two rings and they really needed 3 or 4 to speed up the process. There were at least a thousand people there today. I was bidder 519 and a lot of folks signed up after me. Add in the looky loos and the number really goes up. In this rural part of the country a big auction is as much entertainment as a place to get some real deals on many things. Contrary to the last few action I have been to the prices were really low today. We'll see about going next year and make a plan to last longer. Holt is a little bitty town and the auction is held on a Sunday so, there isn't anything to do or go to or see. Nothing has change since I grew up there except more people. So, plans have to be made. Maybe a picnic dinner in the adjacent park and some lawn chairs to ease the day. Hopefully the next auction will be as good as this one was.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Let It Rain, Rain, Rain

Here it is, Friday, already. The fifth freaking day of rain.My yard sits lower than the ones on either side of me. As a result of that my yard is starting to look like I'm starting my own wetlands. OMG! Don't let the EPA find out about that. You would think that the developer of this addition would have made his own lot(this house was the developers own home) the same elevation as the others but no he made it at least 2 feet lower and put in a little swale on the north and south sides, to carry water to the street. Since this place was built in 1960 the yard has heaved in many places and the swales don't do the job they ere intended to do. We will have to eventually re-grade the yard and install some drain tiles to help carry the water away. Until that happens though I'll keep the boots handy and keep an eye on the sump pump.
Woke up with a major back pain, so I sit here attempting to type, while slightly overcome by the morning chemical cocktail. The spell check is getting its use this morning. I've got a Dr. office visit today to discuss various thing and see about some X-rays. So, have a great day!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Candidates

Last night Cherry and I went to a candidates forum. This forum had the hopefuls for school board on one side of the podium and the hopefuls for city council on the other. This politico shindig lasted 2 and a half hours. It was an open forum where you raised your hand to speak and a gentleman would bring a microphone to you. So after all the questions and all the protracted answers, what did I come away with? As there were only a couple of instances where the answers had any substantial difference, I'd have to say there wasn't a nickels worth a difference between the lot of them. One guy clearly had a good education and like to flaunt it with quotes from historical characters such a Shakespeare, Grant and I don't remember all the others. One guy is a complete political virgin and kinda aw shucked his way through it. I did come away with a sense that a couple of them may have more understanding of the needs of the time and had a distinct desire to better the school and or city. One question did raise my ire though. A question was raised to the city council candidates, would they support a city ordinance to ban smoking in all restaurants. Each and every one of them answered with resounding YES! I am not a smoker and have never been a smoker. I just have to wonder, with all the evidence that soda pop leads to dental decay, morbid obesity, contributes to diabetes and the artificial sweetened ones have lead to a host of medical issues, would they support a ban on soda pop in all restaurants, gas stations and grocery stores? See what I mean, this is the proverbial slippery slope. When ever you let any government decide what is good or bad for you in one instance then that opens the door to do so in all other instances. If a business wants to forbid smoking in their establishment that's their right. But to have government ban it is a direct cut at your freedoms. So what do you do? Hold you nose and pick the most favorable? In a few weeks we'll see how the newly elected want to change our lives,

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

How Does Verizon Suck?

We have been customers of Verizon for many years maybe as much as 20. When we moved to this new home the only economical way to get Internet service was through Verizon, using one of their 5 Spot devices. We are now on our 5th on in just over a year. After Cherry was on the phone with a support tech for over an hour on Saturday evening ending with Verizon evening agreeing to send us ANOTHER 5 Spot. We hooked it up and sure as shit it would not work. She spent another hour Monday evening with them. They finally got the thing to work. Tech finally said that the local towers are being overloaded and doesn't know of any plans to put additional ones up. So bright and early this morning I plot may ass in front of the computer, turn the wireless device on, give it a couple of ticks and opened the manger. That program wanted a pass word number to log on. I entered the number on the back of the device and got a message saying in effect go fuck yourself. So After leaving it alone all day I snuck up on it, removed its back and removed the battery and Sim card. I let it set for a while re-install the parts, opened the manager, turned the thing on and Holy Cow!, we have the Internet. This unit is a 3G model. Verizon is a couple months away from having 4G in this town. Yet you can buy the new 4G unit. After 5 Of the POS 5 Spots you would think they would hand us a new 4G unit, right? Wrong! After this one goes tits up and believe me it will, we are cancelling Verizon Internet and most likely their phone service as well.

So, in parting, I say this, Verizon, go fuck your corporate selves. Take every broken 5 Spot you have and lube them with the sweat and frustration of your past clients and firmly ram them up your corporate asses. We have paid you morons good money for 20 years and you respond with this kind of customer service. What does one of the new 4G units cost you? What 45-50 cents in Malaysia or China or what ever shit hole you have them made in. You would rather keep sending us these non-functional units over and over. Thanks for Nothing.

Monday, March 19, 2012

No Games Here.

Complements of Zoomie. Thanks Friend!

Cheap Date

This past weekend was made of several different activities. Saturday morning as usual, Cherry Pie volunteered at a local food pantry. While she was there I got to use the riding mower I bought last fall. Middle of March and I had to mow the damn yard! That afternoon we did a little bit of nothing. But on Sunday we went to an expo center in Kansas City that was having a sale of baby items by a group called Just Between Friends. We had never heard of this group but Cherry found an ad for it. She loaded up on gently used and new baby clothes and shoes for Diamond at very low prices. Think of it as an huge upscale garage sale. From there we went a little further North to Platte City for an antiques sale. The organizers do a deal with the school district and set up the sale in the gymnasium and hallways of their high school. Very clever off hours use of the building. We saw all kinds of antiques for sale we even saw many items that we had never seen before. I spotted a unique item that turned out to be a shepherds stove. It had a little tank for the base and a rectangular, short chimney with glass sides and a wire grate on top of it. Very cool little stove. Another unique item was a butter working table. It was wedge shaped with short sides and had a slight downward angle to it. Fastened too the table with a pivot at the bottom was a giant rolling pin. Like 3 foot long. the sellers knew what it was but had no idea how it was used.
I started drooling over a collection of straight razors. I can't remember if I blogged about this but I got tired of the exorbitant prices of replacement blades so I found an old straight razor in my knife collection, ordered a nice strop and some shaving soap and have never looked back since. We didn't buy anything but had a good time and at 3 bucks entry it was cheap entertainment. When /if we ever get some more money coming in I will be buying some non electrical powered antique items that would make life easier in a grid down situation

An Executive Order. So F'n What!

There are literally jillions of folks writing about BHO's latest Executive Order. So I will limit my comments on it. However, while I do not like this gassbag and don't believe he is eligible to be President I will say that pretty much every past President for the last oh, 15 or so positions has written Executive Orders that make one want to shudder. So take this one with a grain of salt, check your preps, keep your mouth closed about them and go on with life. If the .gov takes over your employer you may still have a job. If they take over the agriculture of the nation we may have a problem, if they try to disarm the American public then both we and they have a problem. Keep you powder dry my friends.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Introducing.....

I've written about becoming a grandfather last fall. Well, here she is, I"ll refer to her as my little Diamond. Grandpa and Grandma, being the biker types, got her that little out fit for Valentines Day. She is our pride and joy! If we only lived closer.

Spring Has Sprung!

Went out this morning and saw the tulips had bloomed, the sun was shining and the grass is getting shaggy. WOW! What a beautiful day it has been. The temperature got up to 81 and I've had shorts on and been bare footed all day. The windows have been open all day and now that night has fallen there are cool breezes washing the winterness out of the house. Tomorrow portends to be a copy of today.
The only way to make the day better is if I had my HD ready to ride. I gotta get that critter fixed AGAIN. Or if the mushrooms would pop up. It's getting close!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Oh Bloody Me!

I'm off to give blood. Working on my 2 gallon pin. See ya!

Lotta What's

What's important to me...


What I believe in...
What I've had. Actually I've had 4 generations of these. 1967, 1968, 1975, 1983. Why I let them go I don't know. The '67 was a real beast.
What I really want...

What I spend my money on. Yeah, I have a lot of knives, guns and a money gobblin' Harley


What really gets my attention, fills my mind...


Disclaimer: All images found widely on the public Internet, available to anyone. This constitutes fair use. I own none of the items shown. The images are merely used as examples.

Monday, March 12, 2012

WTF To Do?

I got nuthin' much to post. After the tree episode and a few other activities I have lost many hours to the sleepy nothingness of a chemical cocktail. This is really strange as I'm a big guy who can hold his liquor very well. But toss a few pills down my neck and I'm in lala land. Four blood pressure pills (that aren't doing their job very well), an anti-inflammatory and a muscle relaxer are the morning norm. If I sit and watch the news or sit here at the computer I generally nod off. Throw a pain pill into the mix and fugetta 'bout it. I'm out. Out for 2-3 hours and afterwards I'm a little groggy and have slightly slurred speech. And as I found out this week after an email I sent, I can't type worth as damn. I have managed to keep the house clean and cook a few meals for Cherry Pie though. I really hate this cycle. I take the pills and I don't get much done. I work at something or do a lot walking in an effort to keep my weight in control and get something done around the house and I have to take more pain pills that induce more nothingness. So I try to balance it out. Sometime it works good and sometimes not so good.
I promise the next post won't have any wine to it.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Thar She Blows!!!

Last week we had weather that went from warm and sunny to cool rainy. On Tuesday night we had a pretty good thunderstorm. We awoke Wednesday to a very hard wind blowing.
Out side one of the living room windows we had a blue spruce tree of about 30 feet. I watched the trees blowing in the winds and gusts of the day for a while. This spruce was really bending in the breeze. About four feet up the trunk it was moving off vertical by a foot. Then when the gusts came it went even further. I took a shower and when I came back to the living room to check on the tree I saw that it was leaning at a 45 degree angle. I went out side and found that the roots had finally let go on the upwind side and the tree toppled.
I dug out my chainsaw, A Husky model, and found that I was out of 2 stroke oil, gas and bar oil. The two chains I have were both dull. Then I couldn't find I chain sharpening stuff. Ahh the joys of moving. The next morning I got oil, gas and bar oil. I picked the least dull of the chains put it on and adjusted it. Then came the fun part, starting a saw that has set for at least two years. I cleaned the plug and air filter. I filled the tank with gas. I put the choke on. I pulled the rope and then pulled it some more. On the tenth pull it started! It ran rough for a while but soon smoothed out. I got it all cut up and then move all of it over by the driveway. Saturday my father-in-law came over with his ton truck and my brother-in-law and I loaded it up. It was a pretty high load but it all went on one truck.
Now the house looks funny.We haven't lived here for long but we grew accustomed to seeing that blue spruce at the corner of the house. Oh, well, this just helped speed up the landscaping plan.

Friday, March 2, 2012

It's Sunny, No, It's Raining, No, It's Snowing, .....

We have had great weather this week. Monday night brought a large thunder storm and Tuesday brought very heavy winds but the temperatures were great. Thursday was within a gnats ass of 70 degrees. This morning brought a slight amount of rain and right now it is snowing it's ass off. This is the heaviest snow we've had all winter. I had plans to do some work out side but the snow has made the ground to wet to get traction with my garden tractor. You see, the high winds earlier this week up rooted my 30 foot blue spruce tree. So, after digging out my chainsaw and finding all the stuff to go along with it I cut up the tree on Thursday and moved it out of the fenced in front yard to the open yard next to the driveway. All that has resulted in me being a little foggy this morning what with all the pain meds I had for breakfast. My Father-in Law is coming over Saturday morning with his ton truck to haul it all off. My morning plan was to hook the garden tractor to the root wad and pull it the rest of the way out of the ground. So much for that plan. Maybe I'll do some tiling instead. Or have a drink or two. We'll see.