What About Me?

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A Small Town Country Boy Trying To Survive In Todays World

Monday, March 30, 2009

My New Neighbors

I have been watching 2 crows that have decided to build their nest in a tree in my back yard. It has been quite interesting to watch.

They started about 1 week ago and in the beginning the female was doing all the building poking and weaving the sticks to I guess build the base. The male would bring stick ad stuff to her and she would do the building. It was funny at first because some of the sticks he would bring she would discard and he would fly down and pick them up again and try to give it back but no she would not take them.

After the base was built then both have started to build with first one then the other busy weaving the branches in to form the nest. But I have noticed that the male will show up with his stick and hurriedly put it in and then when the female shows up she spends a little more time. Probably fixing his along with putting hers in.

The one real nice thing of them building their nest in my back yard other then the entertainment value is the fact that I have no branches laying on the ground in my back or front yard so that is quite nice for a change.

I was watching them today and started thinking that if I was being a normal human being I would be missing this entertaining real life documentary that is going on in my back yard watching some garbage on the TV.

It is what it is

Rod

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Explaination

As you have noticed I have not had allot to say lately just been posting interesting things or jokes I have found.

Well the truth is I have allot to say but it is not of the most positive matter and I don't want to rant at you so I have chose no to.

I guess basically I'm waiting to see what is going to happen with our world yours and mine. But don't worry I'm sure that things will change one way or the other and I will no longer be able to contain myself.

Don't worry I am fine just keeping quite...Unbelievable as that can be!

It is what it is

Rod

Friday, March 27, 2009

Do You Remember

What happened the year you were born, when your kids were born, any year that might have some importance to you.
You might be surprised at what you find out.

_1900_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1900.html )
_1901_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1901.html )
_1902_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1902.html )
_1903_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1903.html )
_1904_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1904.html )
_1905_ (http://www.infoplease.com/year/1905.html )
_1906_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1906.html )
_1907_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1907.html
_1908_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1908.html )
_1909_ ( http://www..infoplease.com/year/1909.html )
_1910_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1910.html)
_1911_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1911.html )
_1912_ ( http://www..infoplease.com/year/1912.html )
_1913_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1913.html )
_1914_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1914.html )
_1915_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1915.html )
_1916_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1916.html )
_1917_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1917.html )
_1918_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1918.html )
_1919_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1919.html )
_1920_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1920.html )
_1921_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1921.html )
_1922_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1922.html )
_1923_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1923.html )
_19 24_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1924.html )
_1925_ ( http://www.infoplease..com/year/1925.html )
_1926_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1926.html )
_1927_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1927.html )
_1928_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1928.html )
_1929_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1929.html )
_1930_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1930.html )
_1931_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1931.html )
_1932_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1932.html )
_1933_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1933.html )
_1934_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1934.html )
_1935_ ( http://www..infoplease.com/year/1935.html )
_1936_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/ 1936.html )
_1937_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1937.html )
_1938_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1938.html )
_1939_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1939.html )
_1940_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1940.html )
_1941_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1941.html )
_1942_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1942.html )
_1943_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1943.html )
_1944_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1944.html )
_1945_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1945.html )
_1946_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1946.html )
_1947_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1947.html )
_1948_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1948.html )
_1949_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1949.html )
_1950_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1950.html )
_1951_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1951.html )
_1952_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1952.html )
_1953_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1953.html )
_1954_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1954.html )
_1955_ ( http://www.infop lease.com/year/1955.html )
_1956_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1956.html )
_1957_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1957.html )
_1958_ ( http://www..infoplease.com/year/1958.html )
_1959_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1959.html )
_1960_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1960.html )
_1961_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1961.html )
_1962_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1962.html )
_1963_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1963.html )
_1964_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1964.html )
_1965_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1965.html )
_1966_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1966.html )
_1967_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1967.html )
_1968_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1968.html )
_1969_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1969.html )
_1970_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1970.html )
_1971_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1971.html )
_1972_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1972.html )
_1973_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1973.html )
_1974_ ( h ttp://www.infoplease.com/year/1974.html )
_1975_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1975.html )
_1976_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1976.html )
_1977_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1977.html )
_1978_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1978.html )
_1979_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1979.html )
_1980_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1980.html )
_1981_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1981.html )
_1982_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1982.html )
_1983_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1983.html )
_1984_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1984.html )
_1985_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1985.html )
_1986_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1986.html )
_1987_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1987.html )
_1988_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1988.html )
_1989_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1989.html )
_1990_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1990.html )
_1991_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1991.html )
_1992_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1992.html )
_1993_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1993.html )
_1994_ ( http://www.infoplease..com/year/1994.html )
_1995_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1995.html )
_1996_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1996.html )
_1997_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1997.html )
_1998_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1998.html )
_1999_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/1999.html )
_2000_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/2000.html )
_2001_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/2001.html )
_2002_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/2002.html )
_2003_ ( http://www.infoplease.com/year/2003.html )
_2004_ ( http://www..infoplease.com/year/2004.html )
_2005_ (http://www.infoplease.com/year/2005.html )
_2006_ (http://www.infoplease.com/year/2006.html )


It is what it is


Rod

Thursday, March 26, 2009

The New Gold Rush

Read about this and thought I would share it.

Within an hour of downtown Los Angeles, people are seeking that one sure commodity

"I'm here to find gold," said Kevin Brown. "I'm a studio lighting technician in Hollywood, between the writers strike that happened last year, and the Screen Actors Guild, whatever they want to call it. Lately I've had to turn to having to do it for extra cash."

Geologists estimate that during the gold rush of 1849 in California, about 80 percent of the gold was never found. Today, with the price of gold soaring and the economy falling, the idea of panning, digging or diving for precious metal has become serious business.

"There's definitely gold nuggets down in the bottom here," Brown said. "Just a matter of getting 30 feet down lower than any old timer or modern prospector has done."

And, for people willing to put in the effort, it's paying off.

"I just wanted a little California gold. That's all I initially started at," said David Perkins, an unemployed aerospace worker from the South Bay. "And, one thing led to another, and within my first year, I actually picked up close to two pounds of gold."

Where's the best place to find gold? In the Mother Lode country just east of Modesto, Calif., experts say.

But prospecting is not easy money. It takes time and a lot of hard work. John Gurney, who came out to California from the East Coast to find gold, was able to pull out about $35,000 worth of gold nuggets over a couple of months. Then there was a dry spell -- and now, John is at it again.

"Some days you sit here and make two cents. Some days you make a couple of hundred dollars. I had one good day and made about $10,000," Gurney said.

This was another one of those good days. Gurney was able to recover several hundred dollars in gold nuggets from the river. And, after running the dirt through a sluice, he took the rest down to the river and sifted out the gold.

"See these two pieces," said Gurney. "They're just sitting right there."

California's second gold rush has also created at least one recession-proof business.

Keene Engineering of Chatsworth, Calif., makes the equipment you need to find gold -- from plastic pans to large commercial rigs. The owners say their business has doubled.

"There are hundreds of people coming in here to buy gold pans and sluice boxes, and take their chances of finding gold in the local hills and mountains," said sales manager Patrick Keene. "There is a whole new flood of prospectors and miners."

Gold also is found in Southern California along riverbanks in the San Gabriel Mountains. One hot spot is a canyon above Azusa, where the road is often lined with campers.

"Back in my childhood, I use to come up quite a bit with my parents," said David Perkins. "But not until I was in my early 20s did I know that gold was in the river. There aren't many places like this. Once more people find out about it, it's going to get really crowded up here this year."

When asked if prospectors give out the location of a really good find, Perkins responded, "If we're sitting on a good spot with good gold, we're going to tell you to go about a mile down the river and that's where you're going to find the gold."

It is what it is

Rod

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Could Not Help It

The funniest Staff Meeting Ever!

The boss of a Madison Avenue advertising agency called a spontaneous
staff meeting in the middle of a particularly stressful week. (This is
one pretty sharp boss!) When everyone gathered, the boss, who
understood the benefits of having fun, told the burnt out staff the
purpose of the meeting was to have a quick contest. The theme: Viagra
advertising slogans..
The only rule was they had to use past ad slogans, originally written
for other products that captured the essence of Viagra. Slight
variations were acceptable.
About 7 minutes later, they turned in their suggestions and created a
Top 10 List. With all the laughter and camaraderie, the rest of the
week went very well for everyone! The top 10 were:


10. Viagra, Whaazzzz up!

9. Viagra, The quicker pecker picker upper.


8. Viagra, like a rock!

7. Viagra, When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.

6 Viagra, Be all that you can be.

5. Viagra, Reach out and touch someone.

4.. Viagra, Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.

3. Viagra, Home of the whopper!

2.. Viagra, We bring good things to Life!


And the unanimous number one slogan:

1.. This is your peepee. This is your peepee on drugs

It is what it is

Rod

Monday, March 23, 2009

Conniving Old Women.....

Three mischievous Grandmas were sitting on a bench outside a nursing home when an old Grandpa walked by. And one of the Grandmas yelled out saying, 'We bet we can tell exactly how old you are.'

The old man said, 'There is no way you can guess it, you silly old biddies.'

One of the Grandmas said, 'Sure we can! Just drop your pants
and we'll tell you your exact age.'

Embarrassed just a little, but anxious to prove them wrong, he dropped his pants

The Grandmas asked him to first turn around a couple of times and to
jump up and down several times. Then they all piped up and said, 'You're 87 years old!'

Standing with his pants down around his ankles, the old gent asked, 'How in the world did you guess?'

Slapping their knees and grinning from ear to ear, the three old
ladies happily yelled in unison - - -

'We were at your birthday party yesterday!'

Gents beware..

It is what it is

Rod

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Spring Has Sprung?

Where?

We have had the most interesting weather since it has officially been declared spring. Wind, rain, snow, sun all on the same day and sometimes all at once.

Maybe it is just that I have been able to see it this year compared to years past. Don't know for sure but it has been interesting.

Take today for example. Started out looking like it was going to be fairly nice with a broken cloud cover but no mother nature had other plans.

It started out with a light fog that lifted and then came back from the west but look to the east and the sun was shining. But the fog prevailed and set in for a short while but then a cold north wind came up and blew that out but it brought rain and then snow. Yea!

I guess I'm just ready for winter to be over been reading about people already starting gardens and able to go out in the nice weather and here we are still having winter like conditions.

Well what do I expect living in Oregon. The saying here is only two types of people try to predict the weather here...Fools and Newcomers.

It is what it is

Rod

Friday, March 20, 2009

State Of...

Now with the extra time I have on my hands I have been doing allot of reading about the economy and the TARP payments and of the fiasco going on with AIG. Basically what I understand from what I have read is that the economy is at almost the same levels just before the depression. Is it going to happen again...who knows. But let us hope that it does not.

Now my parents were born at the end of the depression so they do not remember it at all. So that leaves my grandmother. But she was raised on a ranch her parents had homesteaded so except for people always stopping by the ranch for work she had no other way to tell that there was anything different.

On the other hand my wife's parents do remember the depression and they were effected by it greatly. Her dad probably had it the worst as they were in Oklahoma when the depression started and headed west and were basically fruit tramps moving up and down the west coast where ever there was fruit to be picked.

He has told me that when they did have any money to buy food that it was usually beans and they would cook them plain most of the time. The first few meals would just basically be the water from the beans and as they added water to them and recooked them they would eventually just have a kind of mush to eat.

During the winter time when there was little to no food they actually had rock soup. His mother would put on a big production even going to the trouble to wrap it up like it had came from the store so they would think it would be great.

The only time they were able to eat enough was when they were picking fruit and then it usually made them sick. Only occasionally did they ever have any meat or milk and everything they owned could be put in or on a old car that they had.

One thing I always found interesting was that they still to this day like beans. When I first met them there was always a pot of beans on the stove and my father in law would eat some every meal. Still would except for health reasons. I know for a fact that when ever we go to visit them that there will be a pot of beans ready when I get there as I like them also and that is his excuse to have some.

So maybe as a suggestion you might want to ask any old timers you know about what it was like then and how they survived just in case. You might be surprised what you can learn.

It is what it is

Rod

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

It Figures

After I wrote my post yesterday I thought I would go ahead and answer the phone today no matter what the caller ID said. Might give me some good things to rant about.

Guess what...

Only got 5 calls today.

And only one was from a creditor...

It is what it is

Rod

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Hard Times

I was reading Johns blog today and this is what he had to say.

Now, I wish to remind you: Don't give up! I know these times are hard, especially on families where one or both have lost their jobs. It leads to breakups, many a time. But I wish to tell you... don't give up! Better times will come. Stick together, right now, no matter what.

Now I feel that he pretty well covered it with that statement.

So what do you do. It gets real depressing getting calls all the time from bill collectors but they are just doing their jobs also. But it does irritate me when it is one that has got federal bail out money. And some of the things they say. Do you really need to have health insurance? Well yes I do I have pancreatitis And it can flare up at any time leading to time in the hospital and numerous other expenses. Not even wanting to consider what the bill would be for meds. without insurance.

So we have started screening our calls because all it does when we answer them is either depress us or piss us off and we don't need that at this time. So if you call us it had better say your name or we don't answer it.

We have chose to consider this as a early retirement or at least that is what we are calling it. Makes things better if you can at least try and laugh at them.

So if your in our situation where both are unemployed do not blame your old job. They are just trying to keep the doors open them selves it was a business decision nothing personal. I knew that I was probably going to be laid off long before it happened. I could see the steps they were going through to cut costs and they had got to the point where seniority did not matter any more it was how can we operate at the lowest cost possible. So that meant that middle, upper management was going to get cuts and they trimmed the fat.

So do I believe things are going to get better for me... Yes I do.

Depending on what happens with the mass of paper work I have filled out and sent in to various government agencies I believe I have a plan for what ever the out come. So plan ahead look in the mirror so to speak and look at the worst case and you will be able to figure something out.

I have heard the horror stories of marriages breaking up and people committing suicide and just going off the deep end because of this. I personally can not even fathom that. Maybe they need to start a blog so they can rant at who ever all they want...works for me. Just remember this.

Bad things happen to good people to and you don't always have control over it happening.

It is what it is

Rod

Monday, March 16, 2009

Cead Mile Failte

(A Hundred Thousand Welcomes)

St. Patrick's Day, is Ireland's biggest national holiday as well as a holy day. It marks the anniversary of the death of the missionary who became the patron Saint of Ireland.

He was born in Wales around AD 385. His given name was Maewyn. He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries across the country. He also set up schools and churches which would aid him in his conversion of the Irish country to Christianity.

May St. Patrick guard you wherever you go
and guide you in whatever you do.
And may his loving protection
be a blessing to you always.
~Irish Blessing~

It is what it is

Rod

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Starting Young

Was talking with a friend today and the subject came up about working when we were kids. I started at a very young age (11) where as they did not start until they were 14. The difference was that I lived in the country and they lived in a city so if the laws were the same they were not enforced here.

My first job was working on a farm changing hand lines that they used to water the crops with. We were paid 5 cents a pipe and if we stayed all summer we got a 1 cent per pipe bonus. If we did any hourly work the pay was $1.75 per hour. so on a good day I might make 5 dollars, but back then that was good money for a kid.

Well as the years went by I got paid more and I was able to change more pipes so my daily income rose. Also with age I was able to do more tractor work so there was less down time.

I always had new motorcycles and nice cars nice clothes it was great but we worked our butts off doing it. One year my brother and myself and a friend decided we were going to make a bunch of money that year so we took on more work at other farms in the area. Well everything was going fine until my brother hurt his knee and could not work for 4 weeks.

I will never forget that 4 weeks. We would start work at first light and if we had a good day it would not be totally dark when I got home at the end of the day. So we were working 14 to 16 hours a day 7 days a week. Made good money for that 4 weeks but had no life at all.

So I started working on farms when I was 11 and stopped when I was 18 so spent 7 years changing pipe. Kids around here now a days would not even consider doing that kind of work, it is beneath them.

The first farmers I worked for were two old bachelors who were both in their early 70's at the time just could not give it up. Quite the characters they were and actually made work kind of fun. They did not throw anything away they had barns full of junk and their houses were also interesting. When they sold the farm and we helped them move there was news papers in their houses 20 years old.

Well I could go on for quite some time on this subject but won't. I do believe that kids should be able to work as it will instill good work ethics in them.

It is what it is

Rod

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Shocked

Yesterday I was a little bored so I was doing a little surfing and found this.

This totals up to $332,308,777,500.00

When is this going to stop?

What truly amazes me is that some of the banks are listed more than once!

So what does a small town boy think about this? Ok I will tell you.

Well first go here.

At the time that I wrote this it said 305,996,225. So you do a little division and come up with $1,085.99 for every living body that is a resident of the USA. Not citizens but residents so this takes in everyone.

Ok now go here and you will see that 24.5% of the population is under the age of 18 so that would leave us with 231,027,150. Ok now a little more division. and you come up with $1,438.40.
Now refer back to here And you will see that 12.6% of the population is over the age of 65 so that would leave us with 192,471,626. Time for some more division and you come up with $1,726.53.

Now if you go here you can see how many Tax returns were filed for 2006 and that is 136,100,000 so if you use that figure you come up with $2441.65 that is everyone that filed their returns for that year so the number could be lower.

Now using the number of tax returns filed is probably the more accurate number as it would represent the number of tax payers in the USA.

I have some comments that I could make on some of the names listed but I have decided that it would not be the right thing for me to do at this time. You can make your own opinions you do not need mine. The shock factor should be enough.

It is what it is

Rod