First and foremost, I'm a military brat.
I know, first hand, how things are on military bases.
How the chain of command can become a tangle of errors.
SNAFU, TARFU, FUBAR.
All those acronyms that shorthand military life.
Something that civilians will never understand.
What has happened to Army Lt. Katie Ann Blanchard is beyond comprehension.
This hate has to stop.
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES
Hate in America, Army Style
Write, email, call your congressman.
Ask Obama and Trump how this could have happened, as they both proclaimed support for our military.
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Saturday, August 19, 2017
Saturday, February 7, 2015
To publish or not to publish
Is there any question?
All of these years, decades now, of writing screenplays, tech manuals, songs, novels, notes, etc. Paper piled up in 4 drawer file cabinets.
The question now becomes how to publish. I've tired of the jumping through hoops, playing 'chase the agent'. Need I write my query in blood to convince thee of my will to write?
So, it's to the masses I turn.
Will they find me and if they do...will they read?
All of these years, decades now, of writing screenplays, tech manuals, songs, novels, notes, etc. Paper piled up in 4 drawer file cabinets.
The question now becomes how to publish. I've tired of the jumping through hoops, playing 'chase the agent'. Need I write my query in blood to convince thee of my will to write?
So, it's to the masses I turn.
Will they find me and if they do...will they read?
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Out With the Old and in With the BOLD
People who know me will tell you that I can be a bit, let's be gentle, intense, to say the least.
I have little time and less than enough patience for the routine, much less dull in life. Which is why I chafe at the amount of time and effort it takes to get an agent or a publisher for my writing work.
To say that dealing with the old school version of the publishing world is tedious would be polite on my part. I know that it has good reason to be the way it is. Truly there are many who would want to be published so as to reap fortunes and fame. Myself, I just want to write.
After years of doing other jobs, some of which I was good at, I realized that living your life while doing something you don't love is not a life. It's a job.
So, on into the new year.
Where I will rev up the marketing campaign.
You've been warned.
Have a Happy Holidays, for whatever reason you celebrate this season.
I have little time and less than enough patience for the routine, much less dull in life. Which is why I chafe at the amount of time and effort it takes to get an agent or a publisher for my writing work.
To say that dealing with the old school version of the publishing world is tedious would be polite on my part. I know that it has good reason to be the way it is. Truly there are many who would want to be published so as to reap fortunes and fame. Myself, I just want to write.
After years of doing other jobs, some of which I was good at, I realized that living your life while doing something you don't love is not a life. It's a job.
So, on into the new year.
Where I will rev up the marketing campaign.
You've been warned.
Have a Happy Holidays, for whatever reason you celebrate this season.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Agents of Change?
Having fun, sending emails to literary agents. Which seems to take forever.
Please bear with me, the Internet isn't as fast out here as it is in the cities. As I've mentioned before, I had better Internet access in the Netherlands, 10 years ago. Even my neighbors, who just moved here from Nashville, complain about the service. No, they're not on dial-up, cable's not available, so they're using satellite. Which is pretty slow out here.
Yesterday, heard Bob Edwards Weekend's final chapter of "The Future of Publishing" series. Which sounds like it's going to keep changing, now more rapidly then ever.
Wonder how it's going to affect literary agents?
Everyone in the publishing game is now having to deal with the Web. Twitter, blogs, e-books, websites, all things that didn't exist 10 years ago.
Is the best thing to have a daily video of you reading your book? A podcast for those who are driving or otherwise busy? Followed up by a link to your blog/website where a reader can download a PDF file of your lastest chapter? With a 'donate to the starving writer' button for that all important PayPal account?
Will the writer be able to directly access the reader, without the need for publishers, agents and managers?
Stay tuned, it's all changing.
Please bear with me, the Internet isn't as fast out here as it is in the cities. As I've mentioned before, I had better Internet access in the Netherlands, 10 years ago. Even my neighbors, who just moved here from Nashville, complain about the service. No, they're not on dial-up, cable's not available, so they're using satellite. Which is pretty slow out here.
Yesterday, heard Bob Edwards Weekend's final chapter of "The Future of Publishing" series. Which sounds like it's going to keep changing, now more rapidly then ever.
Wonder how it's going to affect literary agents?
Everyone in the publishing game is now having to deal with the Web. Twitter, blogs, e-books, websites, all things that didn't exist 10 years ago.
Is the best thing to have a daily video of you reading your book? A podcast for those who are driving or otherwise busy? Followed up by a link to your blog/website where a reader can download a PDF file of your lastest chapter? With a 'donate to the starving writer' button for that all important PayPal account?
Will the writer be able to directly access the reader, without the need for publishers, agents and managers?
Stay tuned, it's all changing.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
April Showers, a Bit LATE
For those of you who are wondering, yes, I survived the Great Flood of 2010.
There will be photos and maybe a video later.
Hope that all my friends in Nashville and Memphis are doing OK.
I don't even want to see what happened in those two cities. What I've seen on the Internet and TV has been too much.
Hang in there, it's got to dry out sooner or later.
There will be photos and maybe a video later.
Hope that all my friends in Nashville and Memphis are doing OK.
I don't even want to see what happened in those two cities. What I've seen on the Internet and TV has been too much.
Hang in there, it's got to dry out sooner or later.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
What's Down For Now
Me and "THE TREE"
It was a tremendous lightening bolt followed by a deafening crash of thunder that brought me out of the house and onto the porch last year. Bits of bark were scattered across the porch. I picked one up, it still steamed a bit.
Across the road, the large red oak had a stripe down it where the bark had been stripped off by the lightening strike.
My neighbor decided to have the tree cut down, since it was too close to their house and posed a threat of crushing it if it fell. A very real danger down here, since we have tornadoes and high winds in the Spring.
It's an old tree. We haven't been able to figure the age yet, but it's got to be close to 100 years old. I did a rough measurement on it and it's about 4 feet across and 80 feet tall. Or it was 80 feet tall.
So far, it's taken me over a week to cut the smaller branches off and work down to the big stuff. I'm talking limbs that are over a foot in diameter. Lots of tree left to process.
Most of it will wind up as firewood, keeping the old home warm when the cold winds blow.
The trunk, that's another story. I've always wanted to carve a large chair. Something about 10 feet tall, big enough for two people.
That or about a dozen nice coffee tables.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch...
This is a post to let you know that the posts that I've been meaning to post will be posted as soon as I've written them to the required posting minimum.
Do not confuse this with the current state of confusion regarding the unstated panic, fed by the fear of worldwide markets. A market cannot bite you, except in the wallet.
Remember, it's all paper money.
Unless of course, you're using plastic.
Normal posting will resume when everything returns to normal.
Whatever that is.
Do not confuse this with the current state of confusion regarding the unstated panic, fed by the fear of worldwide markets. A market cannot bite you, except in the wallet.
Remember, it's all paper money.
Unless of course, you're using plastic.
Normal posting will resume when everything returns to normal.
Whatever that is.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Ivory Tower Ignorance
You have to hand it to the news media. When they 'go to an expert' they try and pick a good one. This CNN article is correct, but it misses the point. Check out the link:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/09/eichengreen.depression/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
Here's my comment, don't know if CNN will post it:
More 'Ivory Tower' ignorance. Sure, all of his statements about government action/inaction are correct. The problem is that when people aren't working, they aren't paying taxes. The 'New Deal' had to create jobs before this country started to pull out of the Great Depression. You can 'create' all the credit, etc. you want, without work, you don't have product. People have to eat, have a roof over their heads and contribute to the country through their job before any of the banks, etc.really matter. All markets are based on product, not credit or paper!
Further thoughts on the situation;
It all comes back to tangible assets.
You don't acquire 'tangible assets' without work of some kind or being able to pay for them. Every market is based on either goods, property or a commodity. Goods (cars, boats, appliances, clothes, etc.), property (houses, buildings, real estate, etc.) and commodities (grain, livestock, minerals, etc.) have value dependent on demand. When demand is down, the value goes down.
Credit is based on the repayment ability of the person, company or government. It's determined by a risk factor. Good risk, then good credit. Bad risk, bad credit rating and then your 'perceived' value drops.
The current economic crisis is being solved by giving to the banks money that's going to be hard to produce, unless it's printed by the government. This will cause inflation, as it will take more money to buy any product, regardless of it's value. The government should be spending money on job creation, which produces taxes and spending on goods, commodities and housing.
This economic crisis isn't over by a long shot, it's just the beginning of the end game for many institutions.
Hang on! The roller coaster ride is about to get rough!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
NO BUCS
I've posted this on my other blogs.
Yes, I'm angry about this 'bailout'!
NO BUCS!
Welcome to the roller -coaster ride of Wall St. No suicides, homicides or bailouts allowed. Please keep your hands and feet inside the car, sticking your neck out is optional. Just as long as it’s not mine.
Remember, that it’s all about your perception of ‘credit‘. None of the ‘money’ on Wall Street is real, it’s all paper tiger trash. All tangible assets will still be there tomorrow. Your house and city won’t disappear overnight.
This ‘financial meltdown’ is being done to keep you from real issues; lost jobs, wage, health care, and pension erosion, immigration and the wars on drugs and terror. All of which have contributed to this credit, mortgage and bank dilemma.
The root causes of this crisis is deregulation by the government.
There is a simple solution to this problem. It’s listed below and will pay for itself.
1) Immediate levy of an 80% tax on all incomes over 10 million per year.
Tax rate to adjust down to 30% per $100,000. These rates to be in effect for the next four years. If you made big bucks, you should pay big bucks, no exceptions.
EXAMPLE: Rush Limbaugh will have to ‘get by’ on about $27 million from the $105 million that he’s paid. Either amount is ‘lottery’ money to the average American.
Big actors will ‘take home’ 4 million out of their usual 20 million movie salary. Tough, but they’ll survive. Sell a yacht or an extra house. Taxes were higher than this in the 1950’s for millionaires.
2) Immediate 10% reduction on all government contracts. No exceptions. ‘No-bid’ contracts to be reviewed for revision and imposition of limitations.
3) Immediate 10% reduction on all elected officials salaries in the government (Executive, House of Representatives and the Senate) Since they can’t do their jobs, they deserve a pay cut.
They’re lucky we can’t fire them outright.
4) Immediate yearly bonus cap for ALL employees, agents, managers or officers of companies, not to exceed 10% of annual salary. No adjustments or exclusions. This to include shares of stock or any other investment instrument.
5) Price gouging fine of 25%, minimum, on all excess profits from market manipulation for any ‘vital necessity’; such as: energy (oil, gas, propane, coal, electricity, etc.), food, health care and products, and clothing. A temporary price cap to be put into place as penalty for a 3-6 month period.
6) 90 Day moratorium on mortgage rates, to be extended as needed, on a monthly basis. This will allow the market to stabilize over the winter, which is a slow time for sales.
7) Minimum 50% equity share in every business that requests assistance from the government. Government to be first to recover investment when asset is liquidated or there is a return on profits.
8) Immediate freeze on stock market. Declare a ‘stock market holiday’ until 6 October for legislation to be enacted, based on proposed actions listed above.
IF no action is taken on a fair and comprehensive restructuring of the financial system, then:
ALL AMERICANS SHOULD STAY HOME ON 7 OCTOBER 2008 TO REMIND THE COMPANIES AND THE GOVERNMENT WHO REALLY RUNS THIS COUNTRY!
IT’S ‘WE THE PEOPLE’!
October 7, 2008, is the 243rd anniversary of the Stamp Act Congress. One of the first attempts to insure the rights of citizens of America. Look it up, read about it, learn our history.
TAKE ACTION TODAY; CALL, EMAIL OR WRITE CONGRESS!
We trust in our government to manage our money and provide for our security. When they don’t, we the people must assert our rights to demand proper service.
The proposal above is not perfect, nor complete. It’s an outline of what needs to be done, without putting the entire burden on the average American.
NO BUCS!
NO BAILOUT for UPPER CLASS SWINDLERS!
Please forward this email to all your friends!
30 September 2008 Thomas L. Segerson
Yes, I'm angry about this 'bailout'!
NO BUCS!
Welcome to the roller -coaster ride of Wall St. No suicides, homicides or bailouts allowed. Please keep your hands and feet inside the car, sticking your neck out is optional. Just as long as it’s not mine.
Remember, that it’s all about your perception of ‘credit‘. None of the ‘money’ on Wall Street is real, it’s all paper tiger trash. All tangible assets will still be there tomorrow. Your house and city won’t disappear overnight.
This ‘financial meltdown’ is being done to keep you from real issues; lost jobs, wage, health care, and pension erosion, immigration and the wars on drugs and terror. All of which have contributed to this credit, mortgage and bank dilemma.
The root causes of this crisis is deregulation by the government.
There is a simple solution to this problem. It’s listed below and will pay for itself.
1) Immediate levy of an 80% tax on all incomes over 10 million per year.
Tax rate to adjust down to 30% per $100,000. These rates to be in effect for the next four years. If you made big bucks, you should pay big bucks, no exceptions.
EXAMPLE: Rush Limbaugh will have to ‘get by’ on about $27 million from the $105 million that he’s paid. Either amount is ‘lottery’ money to the average American.
Big actors will ‘take home’ 4 million out of their usual 20 million movie salary. Tough, but they’ll survive. Sell a yacht or an extra house. Taxes were higher than this in the 1950’s for millionaires.
2) Immediate 10% reduction on all government contracts. No exceptions. ‘No-bid’ contracts to be reviewed for revision and imposition of limitations.
3) Immediate 10% reduction on all elected officials salaries in the government (Executive, House of Representatives and the Senate) Since they can’t do their jobs, they deserve a pay cut.
They’re lucky we can’t fire them outright.
4) Immediate yearly bonus cap for ALL employees, agents, managers or officers of companies, not to exceed 10% of annual salary. No adjustments or exclusions. This to include shares of stock or any other investment instrument.
5) Price gouging fine of 25%, minimum, on all excess profits from market manipulation for any ‘vital necessity’; such as: energy (oil, gas, propane, coal, electricity, etc.), food, health care and products, and clothing. A temporary price cap to be put into place as penalty for a 3-6 month period.
6) 90 Day moratorium on mortgage rates, to be extended as needed, on a monthly basis. This will allow the market to stabilize over the winter, which is a slow time for sales.
7) Minimum 50% equity share in every business that requests assistance from the government. Government to be first to recover investment when asset is liquidated or there is a return on profits.
8) Immediate freeze on stock market. Declare a ‘stock market holiday’ until 6 October for legislation to be enacted, based on proposed actions listed above.
IF no action is taken on a fair and comprehensive restructuring of the financial system, then:
ALL AMERICANS SHOULD STAY HOME ON 7 OCTOBER 2008 TO REMIND THE COMPANIES AND THE GOVERNMENT WHO REALLY RUNS THIS COUNTRY!
IT’S ‘WE THE PEOPLE’!
October 7, 2008, is the 243rd anniversary of the Stamp Act Congress. One of the first attempts to insure the rights of citizens of America. Look it up, read about it, learn our history.
TAKE ACTION TODAY; CALL, EMAIL OR WRITE CONGRESS!
We trust in our government to manage our money and provide for our security. When they don’t, we the people must assert our rights to demand proper service.
The proposal above is not perfect, nor complete. It’s an outline of what needs to be done, without putting the entire burden on the average American.
NO BUCS!
NO BAILOUT for UPPER CLASS SWINDLERS!
Please forward this email to all your friends!
30 September 2008 Thomas L. Segerson
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Ten Cents on the Dollar
Hurricane Ike’s winds swirled up dust, floated crumpled papers through the near empty parking lot. Saturday’s flea market was about shut down, tables covered with tarps, people throwing junk they couldn’t sell into the dumpster, other treasures reloaded into the trunks of sway-backed cars.
I was standing at camo-man’s table. We were discussing bicycle parts, what they were worth, is there going to be a market for them. Gasoline being five dollars a gallon.
An old man, hunched over with his arms wrapped around a ‘squirrel cage’ fan unit shuffled up to the table. He eased the unit down, put his hand on top of it.
“See you got yourself one of them.” pointed at the older unit that camo-man was using to keep himself and his wife cool in the sweltering heat.
“Yep, lot better than some box fan. What you want for it?”
“Like to get $25 dollars, it cost a lot more…brand new…lookit them wires, ain’t never been hooked up.”
Camo-man is looking the unit over. It’s as clean as the day it came off the factory line. “What voltage is it?”
“She’s 220, that’s why I can’t use her. Cost too much to put 220 in the house. Man wants $150 just to hook it up.”
Camo-man nodded, “Yep, mine’s 110, use it anywhere. Don’t really need it, but I might be able to use it for my wood-burning stove. You take ten for it?”
The old man shook his head, he was anxious. The unit probably cost at least $150 dollars new. I’ve had to work on more than one of them myself. The old man looks at me, “You interested?”
I shook my head, “We’ve got about eight of them on a shelf down in the barn.”
His eyes were full of doubt, “Yeah…?”
“My old man remodels houses, keeps everything. I’ve got rid of all the old heating units, took ‘em to the scrap yard in the past year, kept the fans. Almost always they’re still good. Never know when you might need one.” He nods, knowing that I’m out of the game.
Turning to camo-man, “You think you can go twenty on her?”
Camo-man looks over at his wife, she’s not committing or commenting, poker face. This is her man’s deal, she can berate him in private. He shakes his head, “I’ll give you ten for it, know it’s worth more, but I’ve got to be able to turn around and sell it if I can’t use it.”
The old man looks down, shakes his head, “How about a TV, got a nice one, over in the car. Take $45 for it and throw in this here fan.”
“Naw, we’ve just about stopped watching TV. Nothing to see on it.”
The old man looks over at me.
I lean up against a metal support pole, shaking my head, “Stopped watching TV four years ago, gave my set away to a neighbor about three months ago.”
The clouds are closing up, blocking the light, shadows meld into a gray pall over the market.
Camo-man looks the old man in the eye, “I’ll tell you what, give you fifteen for it, but that’s all I can go.”
The old man looks defeated. He knows he’s dealing with his last chance. It might be the only money he makes today. He studies the table, then looks up, “OK, I’ll take it.”
Camo-man pulls out his book of a wallet, drawing out the tattered bills. He hands them across the table to the old man. Camo-man’s wife, behind him, looks with disgust at his back.
I clap Camo-man on the shoulder, “Catch you later, need to get back to the farm.”
He nods, “See you next week?”
“Yeah, tomorrow’s gonna be nothing but rain. I’ll get those bike parts together for you. Take it easy.”
I trudge over to my beat-up old truck. Slide behind the wheel.
Ten cents on the dollar. Is that all things are worth?
It could be worse.
We could all be using hand fans again.
I was standing at camo-man’s table. We were discussing bicycle parts, what they were worth, is there going to be a market for them. Gasoline being five dollars a gallon.
An old man, hunched over with his arms wrapped around a ‘squirrel cage’ fan unit shuffled up to the table. He eased the unit down, put his hand on top of it.
“See you got yourself one of them.” pointed at the older unit that camo-man was using to keep himself and his wife cool in the sweltering heat.
“Yep, lot better than some box fan. What you want for it?”
“Like to get $25 dollars, it cost a lot more…brand new…lookit them wires, ain’t never been hooked up.”
Camo-man is looking the unit over. It’s as clean as the day it came off the factory line. “What voltage is it?”
“She’s 220, that’s why I can’t use her. Cost too much to put 220 in the house. Man wants $150 just to hook it up.”
Camo-man nodded, “Yep, mine’s 110, use it anywhere. Don’t really need it, but I might be able to use it for my wood-burning stove. You take ten for it?”
The old man shook his head, he was anxious. The unit probably cost at least $150 dollars new. I’ve had to work on more than one of them myself. The old man looks at me, “You interested?”
I shook my head, “We’ve got about eight of them on a shelf down in the barn.”
His eyes were full of doubt, “Yeah…?”
“My old man remodels houses, keeps everything. I’ve got rid of all the old heating units, took ‘em to the scrap yard in the past year, kept the fans. Almost always they’re still good. Never know when you might need one.” He nods, knowing that I’m out of the game.
Turning to camo-man, “You think you can go twenty on her?”
Camo-man looks over at his wife, she’s not committing or commenting, poker face. This is her man’s deal, she can berate him in private. He shakes his head, “I’ll give you ten for it, know it’s worth more, but I’ve got to be able to turn around and sell it if I can’t use it.”
The old man looks down, shakes his head, “How about a TV, got a nice one, over in the car. Take $45 for it and throw in this here fan.”
“Naw, we’ve just about stopped watching TV. Nothing to see on it.”
The old man looks over at me.
I lean up against a metal support pole, shaking my head, “Stopped watching TV four years ago, gave my set away to a neighbor about three months ago.”
The clouds are closing up, blocking the light, shadows meld into a gray pall over the market.
Camo-man looks the old man in the eye, “I’ll tell you what, give you fifteen for it, but that’s all I can go.”
The old man looks defeated. He knows he’s dealing with his last chance. It might be the only money he makes today. He studies the table, then looks up, “OK, I’ll take it.”
Camo-man pulls out his book of a wallet, drawing out the tattered bills. He hands them across the table to the old man. Camo-man’s wife, behind him, looks with disgust at his back.
I clap Camo-man on the shoulder, “Catch you later, need to get back to the farm.”
He nods, “See you next week?”
“Yeah, tomorrow’s gonna be nothing but rain. I’ll get those bike parts together for you. Take it easy.”
I trudge over to my beat-up old truck. Slide behind the wheel.
Ten cents on the dollar. Is that all things are worth?
It could be worse.
We could all be using hand fans again.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Wet and Not Wild Weekend Ends
Some people look forward to the weekend. I know that I used to, but things change.
A farm has a magnetic ability. It attracts things. The various barns and buildings down here have accumulations of items that would boggle your mind. Everything from antique wooden crutches to an old fire department ambulance. The usual and unusual farm debris.
Game plan was to get some of the various 'collections' together and take them to the flea market Saturday. Sell what I could, talk with some of the other folks and drive home with an empty truck and a pocket full of cash. Call it 'Spring Cleaning, the Late Version'.
Hurricane Ike kicked into Texas, sending water and economic shock waves throughout the country. I was late getting to the flea market, but I could tell when I pulled in that it was not going to be a good day. The place was empty.
I made the rounds, talking to various vendors. People who sell livestock, used clothes, old books, everyone a specialist. The usually crowded aisles were quiet, no throngs of people, just scattered clumps of families wandering around the tables.
The frumpy woman selling used clothes shook her head. Nothing good about the day. I asked her if there was any particular sizes that she was looking for, what was selling. There's something depressing, end-of-the-line about used clothes. She wants more men's work clothes, in my size. I shook my head, told her that I wore my clothes out, then used the remains for cleaning car parts and farm equipment.
One of the livestock vendors cruised by on his electric cart, paused for a moment. He gave me that, "Where you been?" look. The semi-disgusted one. There are a couple of old animal cages sitting in the barn. I need to fix a hinge on one, put a brace on the other, been meaning to do it for a couple of months. He gets first crack at buying them. After he whirred off down the path, I excused myself. A late start and more people to catch up with.
Need any bicycle parts? There are probably 2,000 pounds of new and used stuff out in the barn. Almost all of it is thirty years old.
I stopped and talked with one of the old men who used to fix and repair bikes. Now he and his wife sell used toys and some bikes in their indoor booth. He didn't have any bikes today. Told me that he was getting out of the business. Too much work for too little profit.
I showed him the bike parts that I brought with me. Good stuff, but he had no use for them. Asked about the man who rented the next stall over. He also kept a few bikes for sale.
The old guy shook his head, "Closed down, going to fix bikes at home and try to sell them from his garage." He pulled out his wallet, gave me the guy's card.
He had another old man in his booth, who spoke up and told me about a guy who was now getting into fixing bikes, just down the road a few miles. Got his info, thanked the man, excused myself again and headed out the door. This was getting grim.
Went over to the tool man. New and used stuff, everything you need for the home or shop. I had three coils of used air hose. He had no use for them, but another vendor who was talking to him wanted to see what they looked like. Took him over to the truck, he inspected the air hose and we negotiated the sale. After we agreed on the price, he fumbled his wallet from his bib overalls, pinched out the bill and handed it to me. We did the "Thanks...I appreciate it. See you later." exchange as is common amongst country folks. He scooped the coils of rubber hose up and walked away.
It had been over three hours and I looked down at the ten dollar bill in my hand. With the dollar that I got from the used clothing lady for a pair of kids boots that I sold her, I had made $11 dollars. You could say that it wasn't worth loading the truck, much less spending the time and gas to make the trip. I got in the truck and drove over to see the camo-man.
He sells surplus military stuff. Knives, targets, old ammo cans. Friendly guy, everyone knows him. They stop by to shoot the breeze, catch up on the latest flea market gossip. Everyone talks about the weather, the usual farmer stuff. Now with the elections, add in the spice of politics.
Politics are pretty much a sore subject, with the economy doing its swan dive. Hurricane Ike was giving us some high winds, also pushing up gas prices. As the day wore down, prices keep moving up. Rumor? Fact? Fear? A man from Alabama told me that he had seen $5.99 per gallon at a station. Another just in from town said that it was up to $5.11 at one of the discount stations. There were no happy campers.
The forecast for the rest of the night was rain, high winds and possible tornadoes. We turned eyes toward the sky when gusts would knock things over on the sale tables. Spooky weather, odd clouds.
The lady across the aisle was selling DVDs and music CDs. I looked over her wares and made my big purchase of the day. Since there's no TV in the house, I watch a lot of movies. An old classic caught my eye, "The Last Time I Saw Paris". Something about it stuck in my head. I looked up and down the table, came back to it. Old movie, 1954, Elizabeth Taylor, Donna Reed, Van Johnson, Roger Moore, Eva Gabor, Walter Pigeon, a cast of great actors...shrink-wrapped in the world's smallest cardboard cover. All for a quarter, that's right, 25 cents American.
I asked the lady if the price was correct. She didn't know, it was her friend's DVD, but it looked right to her. You could tell by the 'period' in front of the 25. I dug a couple of dimes and five pennies out of my pocket, handed it to her and went back over to the camo-man's table with my new treasure.
We discussed bicycle parts. He's into riding now, trying to lose weight. I left a couple of new bike seats and other parts with him. Just to see if he could move them. Never hurts to expand the inventory.
There was nothing else to do. The only traffic was from other vendors, trying to sell their wares in a last ditch effort to make a few bucks, pay for the gas it took to drive to the market.
I headed for the house. It looked like rain and the mood was more down than up.
A tropical depression, an economic depression and general social depression.
The three together don't make for a wild weekend.
One thing about being on the bottom.
You can only go up from here.
A farm has a magnetic ability. It attracts things. The various barns and buildings down here have accumulations of items that would boggle your mind. Everything from antique wooden crutches to an old fire department ambulance. The usual and unusual farm debris.
Game plan was to get some of the various 'collections' together and take them to the flea market Saturday. Sell what I could, talk with some of the other folks and drive home with an empty truck and a pocket full of cash. Call it 'Spring Cleaning, the Late Version'.
Hurricane Ike kicked into Texas, sending water and economic shock waves throughout the country. I was late getting to the flea market, but I could tell when I pulled in that it was not going to be a good day. The place was empty.
I made the rounds, talking to various vendors. People who sell livestock, used clothes, old books, everyone a specialist. The usually crowded aisles were quiet, no throngs of people, just scattered clumps of families wandering around the tables.
The frumpy woman selling used clothes shook her head. Nothing good about the day. I asked her if there was any particular sizes that she was looking for, what was selling. There's something depressing, end-of-the-line about used clothes. She wants more men's work clothes, in my size. I shook my head, told her that I wore my clothes out, then used the remains for cleaning car parts and farm equipment.
One of the livestock vendors cruised by on his electric cart, paused for a moment. He gave me that, "Where you been?" look. The semi-disgusted one. There are a couple of old animal cages sitting in the barn. I need to fix a hinge on one, put a brace on the other, been meaning to do it for a couple of months. He gets first crack at buying them. After he whirred off down the path, I excused myself. A late start and more people to catch up with.
Need any bicycle parts? There are probably 2,000 pounds of new and used stuff out in the barn. Almost all of it is thirty years old.
I stopped and talked with one of the old men who used to fix and repair bikes. Now he and his wife sell used toys and some bikes in their indoor booth. He didn't have any bikes today. Told me that he was getting out of the business. Too much work for too little profit.
I showed him the bike parts that I brought with me. Good stuff, but he had no use for them. Asked about the man who rented the next stall over. He also kept a few bikes for sale.
The old guy shook his head, "Closed down, going to fix bikes at home and try to sell them from his garage." He pulled out his wallet, gave me the guy's card.
He had another old man in his booth, who spoke up and told me about a guy who was now getting into fixing bikes, just down the road a few miles. Got his info, thanked the man, excused myself again and headed out the door. This was getting grim.
Went over to the tool man. New and used stuff, everything you need for the home or shop. I had three coils of used air hose. He had no use for them, but another vendor who was talking to him wanted to see what they looked like. Took him over to the truck, he inspected the air hose and we negotiated the sale. After we agreed on the price, he fumbled his wallet from his bib overalls, pinched out the bill and handed it to me. We did the "Thanks...I appreciate it. See you later." exchange as is common amongst country folks. He scooped the coils of rubber hose up and walked away.
It had been over three hours and I looked down at the ten dollar bill in my hand. With the dollar that I got from the used clothing lady for a pair of kids boots that I sold her, I had made $11 dollars. You could say that it wasn't worth loading the truck, much less spending the time and gas to make the trip. I got in the truck and drove over to see the camo-man.
He sells surplus military stuff. Knives, targets, old ammo cans. Friendly guy, everyone knows him. They stop by to shoot the breeze, catch up on the latest flea market gossip. Everyone talks about the weather, the usual farmer stuff. Now with the elections, add in the spice of politics.
Politics are pretty much a sore subject, with the economy doing its swan dive. Hurricane Ike was giving us some high winds, also pushing up gas prices. As the day wore down, prices keep moving up. Rumor? Fact? Fear? A man from Alabama told me that he had seen $5.99 per gallon at a station. Another just in from town said that it was up to $5.11 at one of the discount stations. There were no happy campers.
The forecast for the rest of the night was rain, high winds and possible tornadoes. We turned eyes toward the sky when gusts would knock things over on the sale tables. Spooky weather, odd clouds.
The lady across the aisle was selling DVDs and music CDs. I looked over her wares and made my big purchase of the day. Since there's no TV in the house, I watch a lot of movies. An old classic caught my eye, "The Last Time I Saw Paris". Something about it stuck in my head. I looked up and down the table, came back to it. Old movie, 1954, Elizabeth Taylor, Donna Reed, Van Johnson, Roger Moore, Eva Gabor, Walter Pigeon, a cast of great actors...shrink-wrapped in the world's smallest cardboard cover. All for a quarter, that's right, 25 cents American.
I asked the lady if the price was correct. She didn't know, it was her friend's DVD, but it looked right to her. You could tell by the 'period' in front of the 25. I dug a couple of dimes and five pennies out of my pocket, handed it to her and went back over to the camo-man's table with my new treasure.
We discussed bicycle parts. He's into riding now, trying to lose weight. I left a couple of new bike seats and other parts with him. Just to see if he could move them. Never hurts to expand the inventory.
There was nothing else to do. The only traffic was from other vendors, trying to sell their wares in a last ditch effort to make a few bucks, pay for the gas it took to drive to the market.
I headed for the house. It looked like rain and the mood was more down than up.
A tropical depression, an economic depression and general social depression.
The three together don't make for a wild weekend.
One thing about being on the bottom.
You can only go up from here.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
We Are Having FUN, yet...
Sure, I'm late, you're always on time, right?
The past few days leading up to this full moon tonight have been anything but dull.
Got to bed early Sunday, going to get up real early on Monday and get a good start to the week.
Which worked out OK, except that I overdid it out in the sun. I have a couple of projects that I want to paint this week, since the rains have stopped and the humidity is lower. I dehydrated myself and wound up going back to the house and working on a request for a writing project.
At about supper time, I decided that going to the store would be a good idea. Get all the necessary things, be able to stay at the farm for the rest of the week and just work. Did the mad dash into town, got most of the things that I needed to sustain life on this planet and came home. Pretty exciting, huh?
Read a few pages of "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond. Award winning book, but I've had problems with reading it through. I'll get to that in a later post. Decided to hit the hay earlier than usual and get a really good start on Tuesday.
A couple of ticks found their way into my bed and latched onto me. Let's say that they chose a very intimate part of my anatomy to drill into. The pain woke me up abruptly, just after midnight. Being half asleep, I immediately itched the area and made things worse.
I've had to deal with more ticks, chiggers, fleas, spiders and snakes down here in the past few years than I've seen in all my life, prior to moving here. It almost makes me want to move back to the city. Then I talk with friends of mine who live on farms in other locales and they don't have half the problem that we have around here. I'm convinced it's living in the swampy bottoms of this area.
Since these two ticks had attached themselves on the inside of my thigh, right next to those private parts every man considers to be his jewels, I immediately dug out the first aid stuff. Then spent the next two hours cleaning, disinfecting and taking all the preventive measures that can be taken at home. Most of you out there would go to the doctor or run to the hospital. That's your option, it's not for me. I won't go into how to take care of a tick bite, you can find plenty of info about that on the web. It's the way it heals that's important.
I stayed up until almost 5AM, put hydrogen peroxide on the bites and working on writing, doing research on the Internet. Until I wasn't able to keep going and finally had to head for bed and a nap. No more dogs in the house after this incident.
Tuesday? Tuesday was such a fiasco that it's not even going to be written about. Let's just say that every woman I talked to, it didn't go well. I even managed to make some people mad using email. I stayed at the house and worked on my writing, including the now later than usual next installment for the "You Wanna Be In Movies" series.
Even when I write, I still want more time to write more.
No matter what, I'm going to walking funny for the next couple of days.
I wonder if anyone buys ticks on eBay?
I could make a fortune.
The past few days leading up to this full moon tonight have been anything but dull.
Got to bed early Sunday, going to get up real early on Monday and get a good start to the week.
Which worked out OK, except that I overdid it out in the sun. I have a couple of projects that I want to paint this week, since the rains have stopped and the humidity is lower. I dehydrated myself and wound up going back to the house and working on a request for a writing project.
At about supper time, I decided that going to the store would be a good idea. Get all the necessary things, be able to stay at the farm for the rest of the week and just work. Did the mad dash into town, got most of the things that I needed to sustain life on this planet and came home. Pretty exciting, huh?
Read a few pages of "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond. Award winning book, but I've had problems with reading it through. I'll get to that in a later post. Decided to hit the hay earlier than usual and get a really good start on Tuesday.
A couple of ticks found their way into my bed and latched onto me. Let's say that they chose a very intimate part of my anatomy to drill into. The pain woke me up abruptly, just after midnight. Being half asleep, I immediately itched the area and made things worse.
I've had to deal with more ticks, chiggers, fleas, spiders and snakes down here in the past few years than I've seen in all my life, prior to moving here. It almost makes me want to move back to the city. Then I talk with friends of mine who live on farms in other locales and they don't have half the problem that we have around here. I'm convinced it's living in the swampy bottoms of this area.
Since these two ticks had attached themselves on the inside of my thigh, right next to those private parts every man considers to be his jewels, I immediately dug out the first aid stuff. Then spent the next two hours cleaning, disinfecting and taking all the preventive measures that can be taken at home. Most of you out there would go to the doctor or run to the hospital. That's your option, it's not for me. I won't go into how to take care of a tick bite, you can find plenty of info about that on the web. It's the way it heals that's important.
I stayed up until almost 5AM, put hydrogen peroxide on the bites and working on writing, doing research on the Internet. Until I wasn't able to keep going and finally had to head for bed and a nap. No more dogs in the house after this incident.
Tuesday? Tuesday was such a fiasco that it's not even going to be written about. Let's just say that every woman I talked to, it didn't go well. I even managed to make some people mad using email. I stayed at the house and worked on my writing, including the now later than usual next installment for the "You Wanna Be In Movies" series.
Even when I write, I still want more time to write more.
No matter what, I'm going to walking funny for the next couple of days.
I wonder if anyone buys ticks on eBay?
I could make a fortune.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
It's NOT On The List
You ever make a list of things to do?
Recommended by people who 'get things done', for those of us who are constantly getting interrupted by other events.
Had a list made out, sure I was going to mark off each and every one of those items before the end of the weekend rolled around.
Wrote a post for the blog, didn't post it, needs work. Saturday, worked up at the tractor shed, trying to get a project ready to paint. My father shows up with a truckload of appliances. Nice day, sunny day, few clouds, 20% chance of rain.
Except those clouds weren't told about it. After getting the washer and dryer unloaded, I find myself in the middle of a thunderstorm. Rain hammering down on me as we try to wrestle a large refrigerator from the back of one truck onto another, without an appliance dolly. Don't ask.
Drove the truck and the now soaking wet refrigerator into the tractor shed. Parked it to let it dry. The fridge has got to be moved again anyway, so why unload it? Stood in the door and watched the 100% downpour soak everything in sight, including my painting project. Oh well, there's always next week, when it dries out. Which will be about the same time that I dry out.
Mom would never let me play in the rain, but I seem to spend a lot of time working in it.
Then I got a phone call about another project...
Which put everything planned for Sunday on the back burner.
The first thing that I'm going to do on Monday is burn last week's list.
If I can find it.
Recommended by people who 'get things done', for those of us who are constantly getting interrupted by other events.
Had a list made out, sure I was going to mark off each and every one of those items before the end of the weekend rolled around.
Wrote a post for the blog, didn't post it, needs work. Saturday, worked up at the tractor shed, trying to get a project ready to paint. My father shows up with a truckload of appliances. Nice day, sunny day, few clouds, 20% chance of rain.
Except those clouds weren't told about it. After getting the washer and dryer unloaded, I find myself in the middle of a thunderstorm. Rain hammering down on me as we try to wrestle a large refrigerator from the back of one truck onto another, without an appliance dolly. Don't ask.
Drove the truck and the now soaking wet refrigerator into the tractor shed. Parked it to let it dry. The fridge has got to be moved again anyway, so why unload it? Stood in the door and watched the 100% downpour soak everything in sight, including my painting project. Oh well, there's always next week, when it dries out. Which will be about the same time that I dry out.
Mom would never let me play in the rain, but I seem to spend a lot of time working in it.
Then I got a phone call about another project...
Which put everything planned for Sunday on the back burner.
The first thing that I'm going to do on Monday is burn last week's list.
If I can find it.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
You Wanna Be In Movies, Part Six
Tell me that you don't wanna be a star. Tell me all about how you're ready for a life of obscurity. Tell me that deep inside you don't nurture the faintest hope of one day seeing your own smiling face looking down on you from a billboard as you walk down Hollywood Boulevard.
OK, maybe you'd rather be a politician instead and follow in the hallowed footsteps of our great leaders. We are currently a bit short of great leaders. Most of whom have passed from this plane of existence. You can do either act, all you need is drive, ego and maybe a bit of luck.
The one thing that you'll have to do in either case is sell yourself. This might require a bit of soul-searching, if you' re the reflective type or just the willingness to sell your soul, if you're the me-first type.
No problem in either case, just bring plenty of ego. Lots will be used up, if not crushed in some cases, but fans will resupply you with heaping helpings of adoration. Always an ego booster. Did I mention all that free nookie? Ask Bill.
After arriving on the set Sunday afternoon, I began to meet my fellow actors. We eyeballed each other as we sat under the off-white canvas of the large tent, scattered amongst the tables, filling in our paperwork for the casting company. Everyone a bit nervous, an undercurrent of tension vibrated in the tent.
It was a small cast, only 18 of us. Which raised the hopes of everyone. With that limited number, the possibility of being in a scene with one of the stars went up, astronomically. We ranged in age from young college studs and lovely coeds to retired teachers and your dissipated scribe. In general, a cross-section of middle America, Southern style. Which was a good thing that none of us had speaking roles. Since we were in a movie that was supposed to represent a time and place a bit further north, like around Chicago.
Although there were many from the south, a good portion of us had moved back or relocated here from other parts of America. I didn't get to know everyone, so there will be some who won't be covered. My apologies to all concerned.
The retiree from California, the retired teacher from right up the road, but who has travelled the world, the young mother who left her babies at home, but still had that star-struck gleam in her eyes. A young couple, married for just over a year, excited that they were going to be in a film.
A middle-thirties actor, back home after a stint as a struggling actor, but reticent about himself, acting totally bored by the entire ordeal. An ex-military man, who could have made a career of the service, but got out, now working in a hospital. Just the edge of doubt about him, as if he questioned whether he had done the right thing. He always talked about how exciting the military life had been, when it wasn't full of crushing boredom, sitting around the base.
A smattering of college/post-college boys, all unbounded energy and studly attitude. A business yuppie, briefcase, cellphone, trying to be Wall St. while located about 500 miles too far south of the real deal.
The politician, as I dubbed him, who really is a waiter in life at a local restaurant. When he isn't strumming his guitar, crooning for the ladies. Never leave your props behind. Somehow he managed to drag his guitar onto the set. He played it while we got our haircuts. He played it while we ate. He played it standing in the middle of the parking lot. The ladies loved it, the men just wanted to kill him.
So, we have our basic cast of characters. The 'background extras'.
Tomorrow, the stars.
All the world's a stage, as the great bard, William Shakespeare tells us.
Just don't trip up when you walk out upon it.
A pratfall could ruin your makeup.
Not to mention what it'll do to your ego.
OK, maybe you'd rather be a politician instead and follow in the hallowed footsteps of our great leaders. We are currently a bit short of great leaders. Most of whom have passed from this plane of existence. You can do either act, all you need is drive, ego and maybe a bit of luck.
The one thing that you'll have to do in either case is sell yourself. This might require a bit of soul-searching, if you' re the reflective type or just the willingness to sell your soul, if you're the me-first type.
No problem in either case, just bring plenty of ego. Lots will be used up, if not crushed in some cases, but fans will resupply you with heaping helpings of adoration. Always an ego booster. Did I mention all that free nookie? Ask Bill.
After arriving on the set Sunday afternoon, I began to meet my fellow actors. We eyeballed each other as we sat under the off-white canvas of the large tent, scattered amongst the tables, filling in our paperwork for the casting company. Everyone a bit nervous, an undercurrent of tension vibrated in the tent.
It was a small cast, only 18 of us. Which raised the hopes of everyone. With that limited number, the possibility of being in a scene with one of the stars went up, astronomically. We ranged in age from young college studs and lovely coeds to retired teachers and your dissipated scribe. In general, a cross-section of middle America, Southern style. Which was a good thing that none of us had speaking roles. Since we were in a movie that was supposed to represent a time and place a bit further north, like around Chicago.
Although there were many from the south, a good portion of us had moved back or relocated here from other parts of America. I didn't get to know everyone, so there will be some who won't be covered. My apologies to all concerned.
The retiree from California, the retired teacher from right up the road, but who has travelled the world, the young mother who left her babies at home, but still had that star-struck gleam in her eyes. A young couple, married for just over a year, excited that they were going to be in a film.
A middle-thirties actor, back home after a stint as a struggling actor, but reticent about himself, acting totally bored by the entire ordeal. An ex-military man, who could have made a career of the service, but got out, now working in a hospital. Just the edge of doubt about him, as if he questioned whether he had done the right thing. He always talked about how exciting the military life had been, when it wasn't full of crushing boredom, sitting around the base.
A smattering of college/post-college boys, all unbounded energy and studly attitude. A business yuppie, briefcase, cellphone, trying to be Wall St. while located about 500 miles too far south of the real deal.
The politician, as I dubbed him, who really is a waiter in life at a local restaurant. When he isn't strumming his guitar, crooning for the ladies. Never leave your props behind. Somehow he managed to drag his guitar onto the set. He played it while we got our haircuts. He played it while we ate. He played it standing in the middle of the parking lot. The ladies loved it, the men just wanted to kill him.
So, we have our basic cast of characters. The 'background extras'.
Tomorrow, the stars.
All the world's a stage, as the great bard, William Shakespeare tells us.
Just don't trip up when you walk out upon it.
A pratfall could ruin your makeup.
Not to mention what it'll do to your ego.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Word on the Writing Life
I have been emailing another writer, trying to figure out why a local writing group is heading towards dysfunction city.
Just an acute observation, take it with a slug of vinegar.
There are usually three kinds of writers;
those who talk about it,
those who try to do it
and those who get it done.
Everyone has their 'life'.
For some of us, writing is our life.
Everything else is done just to pay the bills and get more writing time.
Just an acute observation, take it with a slug of vinegar.
There are usually three kinds of writers;
those who talk about it,
those who try to do it
and those who get it done.
Everyone has their 'life'.
For some of us, writing is our life.
Everything else is done just to pay the bills and get more writing time.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Swamped in Cherry Bottom
What a week. I planned on having at least three more posts up, but there has been more work and unexpected incidents. Will have the posts on the feature film up this weekend.
This past Monday was a 20 hour day. Farm life is simple, you 'make hay while the sun shines'. Grab a five hour nap and get up to do it again. Unless you have about three inches of rain, then you deal with the problems that causes. Like a leaky roof. It's an old farm house, so it comes with it's share of character.
Some of my tardiness can be laid off on the fact that I got a nice, second-degree burn on the palm of my hand over the weekend. Hadn't gas welded anything in awhile. After I welded up a broken handle on a rototiller, I went to move it about five minutes later. Without my welding gloves on. It's a lovely, silver dollar-sized burn, right where your palm folds over when making a fist. Yes, it hurts and it bleeds nicely also. Didn't hurt the rototiller at all.
All the wet weather has given the bugs and varmints impetus to harass people. When the Wisconsin Wildman showed up the other day to scream about politics, we stood in the driveway and talked about current events for a while. My ankle started to itch, raised my pants leg and found six ticks! WW was standing there in t-shirt, shorts and sandals, he just looked at me, "Why aren't there any on me?"
"Hell, I don't know, maybe they like that cruise ship soap that I'm using, maybe they like the taste of me." It ended the conversation, then and there. He jumped into his truck and I went into the house. I was now itching, just south of my navel. Where I found that I had five more ticks, one of which had already hooked into me. They wanted to have my genitalia for breakfast. Not the way to start the day.
Later in the afternoon, working in the tractor shed on a piece of farm equipment, I walked outside, looked up the lane towards the old log cabin. There was a stick next to the school bus, just past the dump truck. Which wasn't there five minutes earlier. It didn't seem to be a car part from my father's esoteric collection of motor vehicles. He also has an ambulance. I have no problem with prop cars when I want to shoot a video!
The stick moved, raised it's head. Hmm, a serpent in the lane. Not good. I walked over towards it. Got about twenty feet away from the sucker. He was stretched out, digesting his meal of chicken eggs. My neighbor had told me that she didn't get any hen fruit that day, which didn't make any sense. It did now.
From a distance, it looked like a chicken snake. Which, surprise, surprise, eats chicken eggs. This one was about five feet long. He pivoted his head towards me. It was more triangular than I liked, so I went back and got a pistol. I prefer a shotgun when dealing with snakes, but you use what you have.
Now, I know that all of you gun control people out there are probably screaming about this, but how many large snakes have you faced in your life? I get to deal with about three a year, sometimes more. This was the second one this year, the first was a small copperhead that wanted to bite me when I opened the door to the tractor shed. I crushed his head with my boot heel. Remind me sometime to tell you the story about the python.
Most snakes take off and run when they see a human or a dog. Not this one. He just stayed there, sunning himself. I was about twenty feet away, had to call Thor back. He wanted to inspect the reptile. I stood next to the dump truck, getting an angle that would lessen the possibility of a ricochet hitting any farm equipment. The first round hit him about four inches behind the head. He coiled up, wanting to fight. I put two more rounds downrange, hitting him right behind the head and then a head shot. Now he was flipping around, snakes will do that for hours, even with a kill shot. I walked closer, missed, hit with the next round and then missed again as he flopped some more.
Thor was wanting to get in on the action, but stayed back after I called him off. He could sense the danger and tried to stay between me and the snake. I walked over and poked the snake with a tree branch. It was a water moccasin, also called a cottonmouth. One of the few snakes that are aggressive and will come after you. Nothing like a poisonous reptile in the driveway.
I went and got the neighbor, to get his opinion. This was the first cottonmouth that I had seen in a long time. Snakes vary in color, due to age and injury. I pried his mouth open and we both looked at those needle-like fangs. I picked him up and threw him into the back of an old pickup truck. Want to get a photo later.
We got another couple of inches of rain yesterday and that slowed me down. The electric system is so funky that I can't use the computer during a storm. We either get an electrical surge or a power outage, either one kicks in my battery back-up and throws me off the internet and the computer. Spent most of the day reading a book, "Free Lunch" by David Cay Johnston. This book should be required reading for everyone in the country. Especially in an election year.
I won't even go into the emails that I should have answered earlier this week. There are a couple of people out there who are probably wondering what I'm doing. I try to answer my emails immediately after I receive them, unless they require research or other work. Will get those caught up ASAP.
It's Friday, wonder what the weekend is going to be like.
Probably just another boring day in the country.
This past Monday was a 20 hour day. Farm life is simple, you 'make hay while the sun shines'. Grab a five hour nap and get up to do it again. Unless you have about three inches of rain, then you deal with the problems that causes. Like a leaky roof. It's an old farm house, so it comes with it's share of character.
Some of my tardiness can be laid off on the fact that I got a nice, second-degree burn on the palm of my hand over the weekend. Hadn't gas welded anything in awhile. After I welded up a broken handle on a rototiller, I went to move it about five minutes later. Without my welding gloves on. It's a lovely, silver dollar-sized burn, right where your palm folds over when making a fist. Yes, it hurts and it bleeds nicely also. Didn't hurt the rototiller at all.
All the wet weather has given the bugs and varmints impetus to harass people. When the Wisconsin Wildman showed up the other day to scream about politics, we stood in the driveway and talked about current events for a while. My ankle started to itch, raised my pants leg and found six ticks! WW was standing there in t-shirt, shorts and sandals, he just looked at me, "Why aren't there any on me?"
"Hell, I don't know, maybe they like that cruise ship soap that I'm using, maybe they like the taste of me." It ended the conversation, then and there. He jumped into his truck and I went into the house. I was now itching, just south of my navel. Where I found that I had five more ticks, one of which had already hooked into me. They wanted to have my genitalia for breakfast. Not the way to start the day.
Later in the afternoon, working in the tractor shed on a piece of farm equipment, I walked outside, looked up the lane towards the old log cabin. There was a stick next to the school bus, just past the dump truck. Which wasn't there five minutes earlier. It didn't seem to be a car part from my father's esoteric collection of motor vehicles. He also has an ambulance. I have no problem with prop cars when I want to shoot a video!
The stick moved, raised it's head. Hmm, a serpent in the lane. Not good. I walked over towards it. Got about twenty feet away from the sucker. He was stretched out, digesting his meal of chicken eggs. My neighbor had told me that she didn't get any hen fruit that day, which didn't make any sense. It did now.
From a distance, it looked like a chicken snake. Which, surprise, surprise, eats chicken eggs. This one was about five feet long. He pivoted his head towards me. It was more triangular than I liked, so I went back and got a pistol. I prefer a shotgun when dealing with snakes, but you use what you have.
Now, I know that all of you gun control people out there are probably screaming about this, but how many large snakes have you faced in your life? I get to deal with about three a year, sometimes more. This was the second one this year, the first was a small copperhead that wanted to bite me when I opened the door to the tractor shed. I crushed his head with my boot heel. Remind me sometime to tell you the story about the python.
Most snakes take off and run when they see a human or a dog. Not this one. He just stayed there, sunning himself. I was about twenty feet away, had to call Thor back. He wanted to inspect the reptile. I stood next to the dump truck, getting an angle that would lessen the possibility of a ricochet hitting any farm equipment. The first round hit him about four inches behind the head. He coiled up, wanting to fight. I put two more rounds downrange, hitting him right behind the head and then a head shot. Now he was flipping around, snakes will do that for hours, even with a kill shot. I walked closer, missed, hit with the next round and then missed again as he flopped some more.
Thor was wanting to get in on the action, but stayed back after I called him off. He could sense the danger and tried to stay between me and the snake. I walked over and poked the snake with a tree branch. It was a water moccasin, also called a cottonmouth. One of the few snakes that are aggressive and will come after you. Nothing like a poisonous reptile in the driveway.
I went and got the neighbor, to get his opinion. This was the first cottonmouth that I had seen in a long time. Snakes vary in color, due to age and injury. I pried his mouth open and we both looked at those needle-like fangs. I picked him up and threw him into the back of an old pickup truck. Want to get a photo later.
We got another couple of inches of rain yesterday and that slowed me down. The electric system is so funky that I can't use the computer during a storm. We either get an electrical surge or a power outage, either one kicks in my battery back-up and throws me off the internet and the computer. Spent most of the day reading a book, "Free Lunch" by David Cay Johnston. This book should be required reading for everyone in the country. Especially in an election year.
I won't even go into the emails that I should have answered earlier this week. There are a couple of people out there who are probably wondering what I'm doing. I try to answer my emails immediately after I receive them, unless they require research or other work. Will get those caught up ASAP.
It's Friday, wonder what the weekend is going to be like.
Probably just another boring day in the country.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Cranial Density
I read the comment sent to the blog last night, went to their website.
It's the usual, 'You don't live right' situation.
No names given for the author, but some hints. Anyone who uses 'SCOTUS' in their messages, usually has had training or works around the legal system. For those of you out there who don't know, SCOTUS is the abbreviation for Supreme Court of the United States.
Is our mystery guest, who has gone to plenty of websites and blogs to log their anonymous comments about the Jehovah's Witnesses, a lawyer in hiding? Methinks it's possible.
You know the line from Shakespeare's play, "King Henry VI , Part II" about lawyers?
Dick.
The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.
There are HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of bogus lawsuits in this country. Who brings them? People who are able to find a lawyer who'll take the case and file the lawsuit.
What about the TENS OF THOUSANDS that die at the hands of 'skilled professionals' in our hospitals every year? This is documented and a much larger problem.
How about the tens of thousands that die on our roads, because of drugs, alcohol, driver error or mechanical malfunction (another driver error)?
What the anon commentator doesn't want to face is that life isn't perfect.
The question is, how thick is your skull?
'Alas, poor Yorick...'
It's the usual, 'You don't live right' situation.
No names given for the author, but some hints. Anyone who uses 'SCOTUS' in their messages, usually has had training or works around the legal system. For those of you out there who don't know, SCOTUS is the abbreviation for Supreme Court of the United States.
Is our mystery guest, who has gone to plenty of websites and blogs to log their anonymous comments about the Jehovah's Witnesses, a lawyer in hiding? Methinks it's possible.
You know the line from Shakespeare's play, "King Henry VI , Part II" about lawyers?
Dick.
The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.
I don't agree with that sentiment. I know some good lawyers. I have also known some who should be in jail. What bothers me, most of them are not interested in settling things, they just want to drag problems out to increase their billing hours.
The ongoing rant from 'Anonymous' is that the Jehovah's Witnesses are letting people die, because they don't allow blood transfusions. They also don't respect confidentiality situations in work relations. If they find out that another Jehovah's Witness has 'sinned' and it's on the record where they work, they report it to the church. Which can lead to the 'sinner' getting booted out of the congregation and the church.
I don't understand the problem here. If they are willing to let themselves die and their kids also, wouldn't that reduce the number of them that this anonymous commentator is worried about? Anon complains on their site about the THOUSANDS of court cases that are brought because of this religion. So what?There are HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of bogus lawsuits in this country. Who brings them? People who are able to find a lawyer who'll take the case and file the lawsuit.
What about the TENS OF THOUSANDS that die at the hands of 'skilled professionals' in our hospitals every year? This is documented and a much larger problem.
How about the tens of thousands that die on our roads, because of drugs, alcohol, driver error or mechanical malfunction (another driver error)?
What the anon commentator doesn't want to face is that life isn't perfect.
The question is, how thick is your skull?
'Alas, poor Yorick...'
His skull an empty shell
full of naught but air
no thought flits there.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Why Be Anonymous?
It's a sign of bravery, it's the signature of the strong. The song of those who sing with purity and knowledge in their hearts.
OK, cut to the chase. People who post comments using either 'Anonymous' or any of it's derivatives or, better yet, a pseudo-intellectual, tough guy or bogus handle are....what's a good word here?
Wimps? Wussies? Chickenshit? Gutless?
All of the above!
Don't give me the, "I have to do it to protect my identity, 'cause my boss will fire me." OR the "It's my right to make a statement without having to reveal who I am". Lines of the lame.
You can tell, because they usually write garbage.
(Yes, I could be more emphatic about this, use stronger language, but why? It doesn't impress anyone. I didn't really want to use 'chickenshit' but that's got a special, barnyard connotation.)
You're just kidding yourself, "anon".
Try to learn to stand up for what you believe in and express yourself in a respectful manner, all the while owning up to it in public.
Yeah, takes guts, but you can do it.
After all, if you wind up breeding and have kids one day, you might want to tell them about it.
Hard for the little tyke to believe it when the comment is signed, "Anonymous".
Unless, of course, that happens to be your family name.
OK, cut to the chase. People who post comments using either 'Anonymous' or any of it's derivatives or, better yet, a pseudo-intellectual, tough guy or bogus handle are....what's a good word here?
Wimps? Wussies? Chickenshit? Gutless?
All of the above!
Don't give me the, "I have to do it to protect my identity, 'cause my boss will fire me." OR the "It's my right to make a statement without having to reveal who I am". Lines of the lame.
You can tell, because they usually write garbage.
(Yes, I could be more emphatic about this, use stronger language, but why? It doesn't impress anyone. I didn't really want to use 'chickenshit' but that's got a special, barnyard connotation.)
You're just kidding yourself, "anon".
Try to learn to stand up for what you believe in and express yourself in a respectful manner, all the while owning up to it in public.
Yeah, takes guts, but you can do it.
After all, if you wind up breeding and have kids one day, you might want to tell them about it.
Hard for the little tyke to believe it when the comment is signed, "Anonymous".
Unless, of course, that happens to be your family name.
End Times, Books and the Internet---------Part Two
I should have known better.
Never bring up religion, politics or sex. It ALWAYS gets someone angry. No matter how you present your topic.
I received a comment, which won't be posted, about how I would "enjoy" a website listing lawsuits concerning the Jehovah's Witnesses. Since the person who sent the comment used the 'anon' signature, I won't post it.
You don't have the guts to sign your name, why should I post your stuff?
First off, I don't 'enjoy' any lawsuit. Been there and done that. I don't think anyone 'enjoys' going to court, no matter what the reason. It goes back to what I mentioned in the previous post. No respect. People who don't respect the law or other people, wind up in court. Sometimes, people who do respect the law wind up in court.
We can get into a long debate about 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' here. One of the freedoms guaranteed us is religious freedom in America. The problem is, too many people want to tell other people how to live. They don't stop at what you do, but how you do it, where you do it, who you do it with, and what you wear when you do it.
It's none of your business, how another person lives their life, as long as they respect your rights and your space. Step over the line, try to tell them how to live? Who gave you the right to do that?
Judgmental situations arise every day. We all judge people and events, not knowing all the facts. I have worked with Jehovah's Witnesses at different jobs. Guess what, they are people, just like anyone else. They just have a belief system that's different to the point of bothering those who are more sheep-like than others.
Ever notice that people who have a firm belief are never afraid to express it? Doesn't matter if they are a scientist, a religious leader or a politician. They are SURE that what they are saying is correct, until proven wrong.
Now the key word here is BELIEF. This is where the tribe empowerment comes into play. All those folks who back you up reinforce what you think is correct.
Remember, they burned people at the stake a few centuries back, because they believed that the earth orbited around the sun. At that time, the people with the torches were sure that the sun orbited around the earth. Some even thought that the earth was flat.
Which brings us back to that other thing that I mentioned in the last post, perspective.
I don't know it all, neither do you.
It's always best to try and get some perspective to any situation.
What I do know is this. When it comes to my body, it's none of your business how it's treated and cared for. You aren't paying for it, so you don't have any say in it.
As for people who refuse blood transfusions, I'm one of them. No, I'm not a Jehovah's Witness.
I'm a person who's worked in a hospital and seen doctors, nurses and others make mistakes. Some of which killed people.
Why do you think that doctors and lawyers have 'practices'?
It's because they're still learning on the job.
Never bring up religion, politics or sex. It ALWAYS gets someone angry. No matter how you present your topic.
I received a comment, which won't be posted, about how I would "enjoy" a website listing lawsuits concerning the Jehovah's Witnesses. Since the person who sent the comment used the 'anon' signature, I won't post it.
You don't have the guts to sign your name, why should I post your stuff?
First off, I don't 'enjoy' any lawsuit. Been there and done that. I don't think anyone 'enjoys' going to court, no matter what the reason. It goes back to what I mentioned in the previous post. No respect. People who don't respect the law or other people, wind up in court. Sometimes, people who do respect the law wind up in court.
We can get into a long debate about 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' here. One of the freedoms guaranteed us is religious freedom in America. The problem is, too many people want to tell other people how to live. They don't stop at what you do, but how you do it, where you do it, who you do it with, and what you wear when you do it.
It's none of your business, how another person lives their life, as long as they respect your rights and your space. Step over the line, try to tell them how to live? Who gave you the right to do that?
Judgmental situations arise every day. We all judge people and events, not knowing all the facts. I have worked with Jehovah's Witnesses at different jobs. Guess what, they are people, just like anyone else. They just have a belief system that's different to the point of bothering those who are more sheep-like than others.
Ever notice that people who have a firm belief are never afraid to express it? Doesn't matter if they are a scientist, a religious leader or a politician. They are SURE that what they are saying is correct, until proven wrong.
Now the key word here is BELIEF. This is where the tribe empowerment comes into play. All those folks who back you up reinforce what you think is correct.
Remember, they burned people at the stake a few centuries back, because they believed that the earth orbited around the sun. At that time, the people with the torches were sure that the sun orbited around the earth. Some even thought that the earth was flat.
Which brings us back to that other thing that I mentioned in the last post, perspective.
I don't know it all, neither do you.
It's always best to try and get some perspective to any situation.
What I do know is this. When it comes to my body, it's none of your business how it's treated and cared for. You aren't paying for it, so you don't have any say in it.
As for people who refuse blood transfusions, I'm one of them. No, I'm not a Jehovah's Witness.
I'm a person who's worked in a hospital and seen doctors, nurses and others make mistakes. Some of which killed people.
Why do you think that doctors and lawyers have 'practices'?
It's because they're still learning on the job.
End Times, Books and the Internet
I was looking for something to read the other day. My house is full of books and magazines, most of which I had read. I was looking for something with quality.
Found my old set of "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare". A two volume set that I read many years ago. It's a Book Club set that was printed by Nelson Doubleday. There's no printing date, so I don't know the year I got them. They have to be at least forty years old, as I started reading them in grade school. I drag them out every so often to read.
It got me to thinking about what people read these days. After seeing the latest news that about 30 percent of our high school students drop out. Hearing tales from my neighbors of their kids quitting school. They aren't doing it to work, they just want to hang out and be 'cool'.
Mr. Shakespeare definitely influenced me. We studied his stuff in high school, saw "Romeo and Juliet", the movie, when it came out in 1971. I was in Europe at the time, so it may have come out in the USA earlier. A writer still being read and having his work made into films, centuries later. It gives you an idea of the power of the word.
The next day, I went out to get the mail. As I walked back to the house, a car pulled in the driveway. An older man and two teenage girls. I turned around and went to their mini-van to find out what they wanted, figured they were lost or selling something.
The old man asked me if he was still in his county, I told him that the line was up the road. He was out of his assigned territory. No matter, he wanted to talk.
They were Jehovah's Witnesses. When he started to ask me if I was concerned about it being 'the end times' I knew where the conversation was headed. My question took him by surprise, "You're a Jehovah's Witness, right?" He nodded.
He asked me if I watched TV. I told him, "No." Which shocked him.
"How do you get your news? You read the newspaper?"
"No. If you believe in the Bible, why do you watch TV and read the newspaper?"
That got his attention.
The local Jehovah's Witnesses quit coming around here about a year ago. They found out that I would talk their ears off. What they heard they didn't like. This guy was more tolerant. He got back on the 'end times' thing.
I asked him about the Mayans. They predicted an 'end times' a couple of thousand years ago. He had never heard of them. I suggested that he might want to read up on them. Do something new, like look at things from a different point of view.
So, I asked him about the Internet. He confessed that he had just bought a laptop about two weeks ago and was now going to get on the Internet to see what it was about.
One of the questions that I ask is "What church or religion is mentioned in the Bible?" In any group where I mention this, most don't want to discuss it. Probably because they aren't Jewish. I'm not Jewish and the Jews that I know usually don't want to discuss the Bible either.
The second question that I ask is, "What did Jesus do between the ages of 12 and 30?" There is no mention of this time period in the Bible. He had no answer to this one either.
I asked him if he knew that other groups had records of Jesus visiting them. Didn't know about it and acted like he really didn't want to hear it. Ignorance is bliss.
We briefly got on the topic of how reading a book leads people to believe what they read as being the only way something can work or how something happened. I tried to bring up the perspective of the author.
It was getting obvious that this was one of those 'can't see the forest for the trees' deals. When you get too close to something, you lose perspective. People join groups, no matter what they believe in, whether it's a drug gang or a political party, so they can feel like they are part of the tribe. It's a sense of empowerment. I'm now part of a larger group and that gives me the power of their numbers. They believe in the tribal power.
Too many things are written with an agenda that has no relation to the truth of the matter. People who are unwilling to search for the truth on their own, will always take the easy road and believe what they are told.
Which brings us to the situation we are in today, worldwide. There is no trust between people, locally or nationally. Respect has gone out the window. Why should anyone respect the rights of other people. As long as they can get their way, they don't care if you suffer for it.
The irony is that in the end, we all suffer for it.
As for the 'end times'?
Well, everything ends, sooner or later.
Just like a book.
Found my old set of "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare". A two volume set that I read many years ago. It's a Book Club set that was printed by Nelson Doubleday. There's no printing date, so I don't know the year I got them. They have to be at least forty years old, as I started reading them in grade school. I drag them out every so often to read.
It got me to thinking about what people read these days. After seeing the latest news that about 30 percent of our high school students drop out. Hearing tales from my neighbors of their kids quitting school. They aren't doing it to work, they just want to hang out and be 'cool'.
Mr. Shakespeare definitely influenced me. We studied his stuff in high school, saw "Romeo and Juliet", the movie, when it came out in 1971. I was in Europe at the time, so it may have come out in the USA earlier. A writer still being read and having his work made into films, centuries later. It gives you an idea of the power of the word.
The next day, I went out to get the mail. As I walked back to the house, a car pulled in the driveway. An older man and two teenage girls. I turned around and went to their mini-van to find out what they wanted, figured they were lost or selling something.
The old man asked me if he was still in his county, I told him that the line was up the road. He was out of his assigned territory. No matter, he wanted to talk.
They were Jehovah's Witnesses. When he started to ask me if I was concerned about it being 'the end times' I knew where the conversation was headed. My question took him by surprise, "You're a Jehovah's Witness, right?" He nodded.
He asked me if I watched TV. I told him, "No." Which shocked him.
"How do you get your news? You read the newspaper?"
"No. If you believe in the Bible, why do you watch TV and read the newspaper?"
That got his attention.
The local Jehovah's Witnesses quit coming around here about a year ago. They found out that I would talk their ears off. What they heard they didn't like. This guy was more tolerant. He got back on the 'end times' thing.
I asked him about the Mayans. They predicted an 'end times' a couple of thousand years ago. He had never heard of them. I suggested that he might want to read up on them. Do something new, like look at things from a different point of view.
So, I asked him about the Internet. He confessed that he had just bought a laptop about two weeks ago and was now going to get on the Internet to see what it was about.
One of the questions that I ask is "What church or religion is mentioned in the Bible?" In any group where I mention this, most don't want to discuss it. Probably because they aren't Jewish. I'm not Jewish and the Jews that I know usually don't want to discuss the Bible either.
The second question that I ask is, "What did Jesus do between the ages of 12 and 30?" There is no mention of this time period in the Bible. He had no answer to this one either.
I asked him if he knew that other groups had records of Jesus visiting them. Didn't know about it and acted like he really didn't want to hear it. Ignorance is bliss.
We briefly got on the topic of how reading a book leads people to believe what they read as being the only way something can work or how something happened. I tried to bring up the perspective of the author.
It was getting obvious that this was one of those 'can't see the forest for the trees' deals. When you get too close to something, you lose perspective. People join groups, no matter what they believe in, whether it's a drug gang or a political party, so they can feel like they are part of the tribe. It's a sense of empowerment. I'm now part of a larger group and that gives me the power of their numbers. They believe in the tribal power.
Too many things are written with an agenda that has no relation to the truth of the matter. People who are unwilling to search for the truth on their own, will always take the easy road and believe what they are told.
Which brings us to the situation we are in today, worldwide. There is no trust between people, locally or nationally. Respect has gone out the window. Why should anyone respect the rights of other people. As long as they can get their way, they don't care if you suffer for it.
The irony is that in the end, we all suffer for it.
As for the 'end times'?
Well, everything ends, sooner or later.
Just like a book.
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