Ya Know There Are Folks Who Won't Get This

But I don't know any of them.

This is the best of both worlds; a go anywhere luxury ride. Nothing outside will bother you; and all the toys you need inside.

Definitely win/win!

Cousin Throckmorton Checks in Again

Dear Cousin Red,

We missed y’all last weekend at Cousin Julie’s daughter’s weddin’. I figured it had to be somethin’ real important that kept y’all from bein’ here in the Holler for the social event of the season.

Cousin Julie went whole hog at this weddin’ thing. She and Jasper only had the one daughter at the end a’ all them boys, so she has been plannin’ this here weddin’ for better’n 15 years. And it showed. Some a’ them dec’o’rayshuns was 15 years old if’n they were a day.

But it was a nice time. Seems the bride was right fond a’ green, and choose it for the bride’s maid’s dresses. If she really picked that shade of fluorescent lime in shiny silk on purpose, somebody must be color blind. I still can’t close my eyes without seeing them dresses. I hear tell the man what took the pictures need his sunglasses because a’ the way the flash an’ them dresses kinda clashed.

They had the re’ceptsheon at the big barn up behind Granny’s place, and had Rembert’s do the caterin’. Old Jasper was in 7th Heaven. He hung out at the bar all night, pushin’ drinks on folks. ‘Have a beer’ he’d say; ‘don’t worry, it’s all taken care of’, just like he did when each of his sons got wed.

An’ he made sure ever’ybody got enough to eat. Ham, sweet taters, ears a’ corn and all. He was a’ passin’ out food like there was no ta’marra. An’ grinin’ all the while. ‘Eat it up folks’ he’d say; ‘it’s all taken care of’.

That party went on dang near all night. Eatin’, drinkin’, dancin’ and such seemed like it would never end. But ‘ventually it had to. I guess it was ‘bout 3 o’clock when the oldest Rembert boy finally shut down the bar, totaled up the damages and handed ol’ Jasper the bill.

He was dumbstruck. H’it hadden’t come to him until then who was actually takin’ care of this party. He was usta weddin’s; he just weren’t usta payin’ fer ‘em.

Ol’ Jasper had been havin’ himself one whale of good time ‘til then. Seein’ the cost of that high time sobered him up real fast. An’ then he started lookin’ for ways to raise cash to pay the bill. He didn’t know until then that all his charge cards was at the limit. Seems Cousin Julie bought all them fluorescent lime green shiny silk dresses on his Visa; the weddin’ dress filled up his Mastercard and the dec’o’rayshuns took care of the Discover.

First off he raided the weddin’ presents. Cash he could use, but it seems like Rembert’s didn’t wanna take the Walmart gift cards as payment. Then he had to start auctionin’ off the presents. I got a real nice toaster for 15 bucks; Granny bought herself a new cast iron dutch oven for 35 bucks and your Mamma bought some silverware. She said somethin’ ‘bout anuther weddin’ next month.

But Jasper got the bill paid. It took a while, and by the time he were done, them kids is startin’ life with ‘bout $150 in Walmart gift cards and 6 fluorescent lime green shiny silk dresses.

Ain’t it a Helluva thing, when the parents run up a big bill on a big party, an’ then stick it to the kids to pay the piper?

I guess it just comes natural like to Jasper. He was a Congressman.

Best wishes from all of us in the Holler,

Throckmorton Q. Sheisseschnitter

Oh What a Difference a Day Makes

I found this article while out and about on the web this morning.

I was born as a Capricorn, on the cusp of Aquarius. Now I'm a Sagittarius. Maybe. I never really felt like a Capricorn; I always felt like an Aquarius.

Today I found out I really am a Sagittarius? I don't think so.

Not that I believe in 'signs' and read my horoscope regularly. It's not exactly a proven science in my opinion.

But even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while. So I keep and eye on the Zodiac to just in case.

Just think of the implications. My wife was a Gemini; now she's a Taurus. As a Capricorn I could be compatible with a Cancer, which is close. As a Sagittarius, I am supposed to be compatible with an Aquarius; which she is nowhere near.

Well, I guess in some ways that explains a whole lot.

What about friends? As a Capricorn, my friends should have been Virgo and Taurus, Libra and Aries. Now they are supposed to be Leo, Aries, Virgo, Gemini and Pisces.

Hell, I am not sure who my friends were before; now I don't know if we are still compatible or not. I guess the next time we meet up I better know the secret handshake.

Or not. I don't plan my life around what somebody's interpretation of what the stars say i should do. But there are people who do.

I just wonder how many of them woke up today and finally understood the reaction to New Coke?

I found this post through Instapundit this morning. And although he is condemning the strategy that HR administrators use a degree from certain schools as a short cut to hiring, I have been making that same argument against a college degree for years.

20 years ago or so, when one of my brothers graduated from college, he was offered a job as a freight broker. The job consisted of planning load pickups and drop offs for truckers. He wasn't interested, but I was looking for job that wasn't physical (and was 9-5) and sent them a resume.

Although I had approximately 6 years experience in shipping/receiving and inventory control, they weren't interested. No college degree. Can anybody explain why I need a college degree to figure out how to load a truck?

I'll tell you why; a BA was a shortcut for HR. instead of checking references and job history, they just asked for a diploma.

Now it has apparently gotten worse. I guess since college degrees have gotten as common as high school diplomas used to be, now HR has fallen back to selecting a few schools to accept your degree from.

So the Harvard, Yale and Princeton crowd is now running the country.

And that is just working out SO well, ain't it?

NOTE: I had this post ready to go yesterday morning, and blogger ate half of it, so I had to finish it up and post it on Saturday. Friday got busy.

Housing Values Continues to Slide

I found this article through Instapundit (as usual). Its from CNBC, and it makes sense (not as usual). And (as usual) the comments are the best part.

And the most sobering. Like this one:

lfbowman1234 | Jan 11, 2011 12:15 PM ET

The whole economy is in a depression, if you take out the unemployment benefits and the student loan program. Realize the first depression didn't have 5 trillion of new government spending. We are really 10 times worse than the first depression. Illegals have replaced our work force, along with outsourced jobs. Pull out the flood of taxpayer money , then you could see how bad off we really are now. Local government will have to raise taxes by 100 to 400 percent, in the near future, to keep this boat floating. The Federal government will do the same with a VAT tax.

I think I'll keep that comment handy for the next time I am constipated; it clean scared the crap outta me.

And the commenter is correct. FDR did not have the political backing to spend more than the country's annual GDP in borrowed money in a year. Obama did; so he did.

There are two questions: what are the short term effects, and what are the long term effects?

Short term; did the massive spending keep us from going deeper into a depression, or did it prolong the effects of the recession, because the government borrowing blocked business from doing the borrowing and creating jobs?

Maybe a look at Europe, especially Germany, where the government left the economy alone to heal, maybe a good indicator?

Long term: we are on the hook for borrowed TRILLIONS. the cost of the repayment of this debt, Hell, just the cost of the INTEREST on this debt will cripple the economy for at least a generation, maybe two.

So, we and our descendants will be paying this money back for a long time.

Was there enough benefit for the spending to make the cost worthwhile?

In a word, Nope.

Even if there was a benefit from the spending, which I doubt there was, the cost will hamstring everything business tries to do in this country for the next 50 years. Job creation will be restricted because of the cost of an employee, mainly due to the cost of taxation. Borrowing for business expansion and homes will be curtailed because of the lack of money to lend. The Federal grants will dry up and local governments will be forced to either cut services or raise taxes. Guess with direction they will choose?

I hate to sound all gloom and doom, but that attitude is actually the best one.

I am disappointed less often.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

One of my little brothers turns 40 today.

It doesn't seem credible to me. I remember when he was born. He was the first baby I remember seeing fully develop, as it were, from the initial belly swelling to birth and growing up.

I watched him throw his oatmeal around the kitchen and climb out of his playpen. I saw him go to his first day of school. I was there when he bought his first car, and he and spent hours both getting it road ready and keeping it that way.

Dave was always a single focus, if you start it, you finish it, and do it to the best of your ability kind of kid, and that attitude has served him well into adulthood.

I remember when we set up his pool at his house. There is not another pool that level with in a hundred miles, and that one is level by accident. A 1/16th of an inch was not close enough, and it shows in the final product. Most pools you can see they aren't level, because the water is always level. Full of water, you can see this pool is level. The extra effort paid off.

It seems like only yesterday he was 15 and I was 25; working on his mini-bike. Or he was 20 and I was 30, putting a new front suspension under his Cutlass.

And now he's a member of the Over The Hill Gang.

Where did the years go?

Next thing ya know I'll be a grandfather and over 50....

Oh Yeah.

Happy Birthday Dave!

SNOW DAY!!!!

Not that it means the same thing as when I was a kid. I don't get the WHOLE day off, but I do get to work from home, so no fighting the traffic and slick roads.

Of course, it also means I have to be cooped up inside while the kids are outside making merry in the snow. All day I will hear the sledding reports and the blow-by-blow of the snowball fights, and not get to participate.

I do get to participate in the tracked-in snow, the piles of wet clothes and cold drafts caused by the back door being constantly either open because somebody is going in or out, or because whoever went in or out just flat left the door open.

I stepped out onto the back porch and took a couple of shots with the camera this morning; this is one of them. Snow is pretty when it's falling.

Provided I don't have to go any where in it.

Ready For the Next War?

I found this article through Instapundit this morning, and I have to disagree with the premise of the article.

Two things I will say first: One- Air Power was developed to save men on the ground; and Two- The Military always plans to fight the last war.

The article talks about how the Air Force budget is being cut, and air power being returned to the Army because that's how it works best in Iraq and Afghanistan. Fair enough. Local theater rules.

But to use the War on Terror as a basis for determining the future of the entire military force set up is crazy.

What will the next war be?

If we are again taking on a rogue regime in a low tech area, then this plan will work, just as it has worked in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But what if we're not? What if we are fighting China or Russia?

Sure carpet bombing in a limited war, like the War on Terror, is not an acceptable option. Does that mean we will never be in a situation where massive conventional bombing will be required?

Control of the air means control of the ground. We didn't over run Iraq in 36 days because our Army and Marine Corps was invincible (although they are incredibly capable); we did it because we controlled the air.

Look at it this way. One of the things that made space travel semi-affordable was the space shuttle; a reusable space vehicle. Think of an F-22 as a reusable cruise missile. A cruise missile is a great delivery option for a nuclear warhead. No crews are put at risk, and the cost is less than the risk of losing a plane and crew.

But to drop a conventional weapon that way doesn't make fiscal sense.

You also miss out on the psychological impact of men on the ground seeing a sky dark with bombers, each delivering a 40 ton payload.

Reducing our "need" for the technology of bombers and fighters also reduces our technological and manufacturing edge, something else I have been fighting agaisnt for the last few years.

Our military needs to be ready to fight any war; both the last one and the next one. The way Obama is going I wonder if we will be ready for ANY war.

Watched Any Good Home Improvement TV Lately?

Something I noticed the other day was that although the cable channels like DIY and HGTV still air shows like Property Ladder and Flip This House, they aren't making any new episodes. Basically because there is no more money to be made in short term housing investment, as a rule.

Instead, what they showing as the new Get Rich Quick scheme shows? Have you seen the one with the two guys and a truck who roam the country grubbing around in old barns and dingy basements looking for semi-buried treasure?

What about the one (or two or three) about the guys who buy abandoned storage sheds and seem to make a fortune digging through cardboard boxes?

Or how about the one where folks bring their old junk to the pawn shop to try and make a few bucks?

Do you see the pattern here?

Instead of investing in junk houses to make a quick buck, now you invest in REAL junk to make a quick buck.

I don't doubt folks can do it, I just doubt any Joe off the street can walk into a barn full of junk, identify the diamond in the rough, buy it cheap enough to make a few bucks, and then find the buyer the current owner couldn't.

Take the guys on American Pickers. PLEASE! I love the show, hate the guys. I don't know whether it is their accents, their attitudes or the way they interact with each other, but I tend to watch AP in spite of the guys, not because of them. That being said, I completely respect the knowledge they have acquired over years of doing this kind of work. And not just in one or two areas of expertise, but several. They are passionate about the items, but dispassionate enough to assess both realistic value to a final consumer and to themselves in a purchase price.

And that is where I have my problem with these kind of shows. How many of us can separate ourselves from the things we are passionate about enough to be realistic about their real value?

As Shakespeare said it: 'Therein lies the rub'. I can see folks who will think they do what these ignorant guys on TV do, and spend a lot of time losing a fortune. Just because they are completely enamored with early 21st Century rustic pottery doesn't mean its worth a cart load to every body (or anybody) else.

Just like these same folks saw a show once on flipping a house that suddenly made them experts in the real estate market- just before the crash.

The problem is these shows don't show the years of bad decisions and self education that goes into making money off of junk. The learning, often the hard way, about what it costs to restore or rehab, or even properly clean an item. They tend to short change the hard work that goes into getting rich quick and easy.

I guess that is the problem I have with these types of shows in general. They minimize the work, and only show the glory. Which I can kind of understand.

Hard work doesn't make for good TV, does it?

Housing is Due for a Regression

My old internets buddy Sippican Cottage has a new gig at Rightnetwork, and has a new post up over there that I very highly recommend, as opposed to his other writings, that I only highly recommend.

I have mentioned before my thoughts on the housing market, and the linked post does a good job of linking current events with the current housing situation.

Talk about your Modern Frontiersman; Mr. Sullivan has recently moved from the civilized state of Massachusetts to the wilds of western Maine. The conversion has been interesting reading, to say the least.

Starting The New Year With a Bungle

Well, Hell.

Today is January 8th, and my New Years Resolution to put up a post everyday is shot to Hell and back already.

But the bright side is I am only 7 posts behind!

Its not that I haven't had a lot to say; I have. These are historic times we are living in, and very pivotal for the future of the country. This is, I think, literally our last chance to return to our original Constitutional form of limited government. If the leftists win now the change will be forever.

Its just that since early December I have been busier than a one-armed paperhanger, as my Dad used to say. When I do have a few minutes to sit and write, I am usually both pyhsically and mentally spent. Not a condition conductive to turning out readable prose.

Today I have the morning free. I got up early enough that that the rest of the house- including the Young Un'- are still fast asleep. I have free time AND mental capacity! Hallelujah!

Where to start?

The seating of the 112th Congress. This is hopefully the turning point. My fervent hope is that the next two years don't turn out to be political theater. Yes, the House will vote to repeal Obamacare, and the Senate probably will as well. And Obama will veto it. And the Senate will not have the votes to override the veto. Obama wins.

All of the leftist programs Obama could not get through the Congress he has implemented by Presidential fiat. The House and maybe the Senate vote to defund those new programs. Obama refuses to sign the new budget; showdown ensues. When a government shut down looms, who blinks first?

I seriously think that will become the nexus of the 3rd American Revolution. It depends on who blinks first. We need to make sure Congress knows we have their back; let the government shut down, We need to also let Obama know who's side we're on in that battle. I doubt he will care; we're just ignorant rubes after all, and we have no idea how much better off we'll be after the Beneficent Obama runs our entire lives for us.

That will also be the point when we see if Congress is just paying lip service to a smaller government, or is really behind the concept of reducing Federal power.

There are a lot of new, non-political faces in the House, so maybe we have a chance.

The hard part will be the wait, while we see.

I forgot to mention that I really like this image of the historic hand-over. You can see teh gavel pass, but not Pelosi's face; its a win-win!

Hi Folks, Remember Me?

It has been a while since I have had time to post. Work has been crazy, and Christmas prep has been worse.

See that toybox? I figured I could get it done in about 10-15 hours. It took over 50.

It took awhile because it is built out of a sheet of oak veneer plywood and solid oak. Oak takes a while to work because it is so hard. But I had to use oak; this box is for my grandson. It had to be able to take abuse; after all, I raised his daddy, I know how rough he will be on his things.

But it had to be done for Christmas. And it was.

Almost.

I still need to put another coat of polyurethane on the lid and sign and poly the bottom.

Then it will be done.

And I can start in the OTHER Christmas projects I have to finish.