Shari’s Gone Country

Recently I installed OIOPublisher and have been testing it. Coincidentally, my web host chose to do a major server migration from Canada to Texas, so I’ve been “laying low” waiting for them to work out all the bugs. It looks like the dust has settled just in time for an advertising special.

So… you can advertise with me for as little as $2.00 for 14 full days. You can have the 125×125 spots or you can have a text link spot. I accept Paypal as well as Entrecard credits. If you choose to pay by EC, your ad will cost you 200 EC.

Now, if you really pay attention, you may want to snag a “subsription” ad to lock in your price.

To purchase an ad, click on the “advertise here” links.

I know, I’m digressing from life on the farm, but it’s a necessary side trip, not some rabbit trail.

Have you been to Change.gov yet? President-elect Barack Obama sincerely wants to hear from you. He wants to know your concerns, and your vision for our country.

I don’t care if you voted for him or against him, this guy is asking for our help. For the first time im my lifetime (some 62 years), the guy in charge really wants to know what we think… and I believe if enough of us tell him, he’ll get it!

So far, I’ve relayed my feelings about this “bailout” stuff, telling him he needs to put it directly into our hands, so WE can get out of debt and become more prudent about credit. I explained that keeping us in debt is like servitude and that’s a very dangerous, depressing position.

I’ve also laid out my vision for energy independence for rural America, based on the old REA concept. As I flesh out my vision, I’ll blog about it here, and maybe you can help me promote the whole idea.

So, here’s what you need to do… go to Change.gov and give him a piece of your mind. Lay out your vision on any of the various areas you choose. It could be energy, the economy, health care, education, security, or our “worldly” image. Then, come back and tell my you’ve been there.

If you want to share what you told him, I’m happy to let you do so in the comment section. Who knows, I may even pick up and write about it.

Ok, I know, this is highly unsual for me, but I’m really pissed off about the latest “bailout” by our lame-duck Bush administration.

Paulson has put together a plan to give over 700 Billion to lenders to free up consumer  and automobile credit. Yep, let’s make the money available to the lenders so they can trap more Americans in a crushing debt load.

Wake up, you idiots! It’s NOT MORE DEBT we need, it’s RELIEF from the crushing debt load!

Here’s what I believe should be done.

1. Take the bailout money and pay off each individual’s credit card debt. Then close every credit card account that individual has. No more consumer debt, period!

2. If there’s money left, pay off as many primary atuomobile loans as possible. Change the rules so that each individual may only finance 90% of their first two vehicles. DO NOT allow “roll-over” loans that place an individual upside down in their loans.

3. Instead of taxing profits earned on interest from savings accounts, remove that tax to encourage savings. Perhaps even allow a deduction for at least 50% of what you save each year.

By doing these things, most Americans will see an immediate minimum increase of at least 18% in discretionary spending. That should provide enough for people to pay their mortgages.

What will it do to our economy?

In the short term, it will hurt retailers. However, as we return to a “cash-driven economy” business expenses for credit card processing will drop at leat 3%. American Express charges at least 5% for allowing their customers to pay with a credit card.

As more people have money in their hands, they’ll understand better what they can spend and what they can’t spend.

It will help keep the flood of imports at bay if we don’t have credit to buy stuff we don’t need.

As long as week meekly put up with “it’s ok to be in debt”, we’ll be slaves to our government. Of course that’s what our government wants, for us to be dependent so when our rights are dimished in the name of “security”… it’s ok, because our government said so.

Am I just nuts, or do you feel this way too, but can’t get anyone to listen to you? Fire away in the comments!

If I sounded a little evasive in the past posts, it was because Bev and I were working on some real surprises for both Mom and Cindy. I couldn’t post them as the family in Ohio reads our blog, and that would have blown the secrets.

Bev picked up Mom and Cindy late Friday afternoon and got back here in time for an “Arby’s” dinner. Both were dog tired having been en route since 4:30AM EST. Not being regular fliers, they encountered issues with security and ended up checking a bag for an extra $25. Seems “Bennett’s Chili Sauce” and “Paco Hot Dog Sauce” are both considered liquids. Never mind they were in completely sealed containers. Let’s just say Cindy wasn’t a happy camper!

Wouldn’t you know it… the buttons on Mom’s top set off the scanner. So did the metal in her knee replacement. For whatever reason, Cindy got pulled out for “personal scanning” once at Columbus and twice at Cleveland.

Once home, we began to reveal all the surprises…

First, Bev had shampooed the living room and dining room carpets. She also shampooed the carpet in Mom’s room.

The light cover over the kitchen sink broke and fell into the sink (it was plastic), so we bought a nice new double-bulb light and cover. It took both of us a couple of hours to get that job done. The guy who wired this place didn’t believe in giving even an extra inch of wire anywhere. While we were at it, we took the time to identify each circuit at the panel, something that hadn’t been done since we bought this place.

While we were washing the drapes and sheers, the basement sump pump conked out. Normally, all we do is suck up the water in the sump using the shop vac, clean the pump and things work. Not this time… the pump was down for the count, and it’s only a year old. Thankfully we still had the receipt and it has a two-year warranty.

But wait, there’s more… The shop vac drowned! Yep, it gave up the ghost, too. This wasn’t totally unexpected as it was better than three years old.

So, here we are on Tuesday night, literally “dead in the water”!

Wednesday afternoon, Sears showed up to power clean our heating/air system. Again, this was a job that should have been done three years ago. Boy, did they ever find stuff! The real telling item was the Pepsi can with an expiration date of Oct 2000.

Fortunately Thursday was the routine Senior Bus Shopping trip in St. George. Bev and I bought a new shop vac… 16 gallon contractor rated. We returned the sump pump to Ace Harware, who gave us a new one, with no hassle. We also picked up the case of furnace filters we’d ordered a week earlier.

Once home, we installed the new sump, and dumped the water from the dead shop vac into the sump hole. It was sure nice to see that sump pump working away.

The next two projects to help the sump include building a filter for the laundry water and re-routing the sump line. Whoever built that line didn’t understand how water flows. I counted at least six 90-degree elbows. When we rebuild it, there will be no 90-degree elbows. That will lessen the strain on the pump and prolong it’s life.

I worked all day Friday with the new shop vac, cleaning the ceilings, walls and fireplace hearth. Even though the “duct guys” kept much of the mess from the main floor, there was just such a build-up it had to be removed. After a final dusting and vacuuming, the house was presentable for Mom and Cindy.

One other thing… the hard drive on Cindy’s computer has gone bonkers. She knew it was on it’s way out, so no surprise. We ordered her a new one that should arrive sometime today. That gave her time to completely re-do her room over the weekend.

About the fish… I had my first walleye Saturday night. We had a big “fish fry” to celebrate their safe return. And, there’s enough walleye and perch in the freezer for five or six more fish dinners.

Last Friday evening, we finally got Mom and Cindy off to Ohio. They’re spending a full two weeks there as they pay their respects and bid farewell to Cindy’s father (and Mom’s former husband). Bev and I went with them as far as St. George, where we all had dinner at the local I-Hop before they boarded the shuttle bound for Las Vegas.

They left Las Vegas at 1 AM local time, headed for Houston on the “red-eye”. After a couple hours in Houston, it was off to Columbus where there was a big surprise for them. The one thing we didn’t realize is that they were flying in relatively small aircraft. That meant they got to check their carry-on luggage for free.

We were tracking their progress on the Continental Airlines page when Bev realized they had left Houston 12 minutes early and were going to arrive even earlier in Columbus. Time for a quick call to Lauren, who would be picking up Mom and Cindy. She lives about 10 minutes from the airport.

The big surprise for Cindy was that Shawn (Cindy’s son and Lauren’s fiance) was also on hand to greet them. He lives at Put In Bay and Cindy didn’t expect to see him until later, maybe at the first memorial for her father.

I gotta tell you, it’s sure quiet around here without either Mom or Cindy.

The dogs figured out very quickly that “morning” no longer comes at 5:30 as they are quiet until we’re ready to get up around 7 AM. They also don’t get real demanding about “treats” everytime they come in from a potty or play break.

Cindy offered me her bed while she’s gone. It’s a huge change from the hide-a-bed… bigger, firmer, and much warmer (flannel sheets and a couple of comforters). Oh, and the dogs have ALWAYS consider her bed as “theirs”. The first night, the dogs didn’t even let me get clear into bed before settling in, leaving me less than half the bed, and no room to turn over.

There’s still 8 days left until Cindy and Mom return from their trip to Ohio. By the time they get back, they will have held two memorial services (one on the mainland and one on South Bass Island), visited virtually every relative still in the area, and even returned for an overnight trip to Put In Bay, with dinner at Tipper’s, the main restaurant on the island.

The only thing we still don’t know is how much fish Cindy will bring home. She’s tasked Shawn with catching both walleye and perch to bring home. Word has it, there is none in the freezers at Shawn’s place.