Kermit

Small green tree frogs sometimes find their way into our trailers while riding on a wooden pallet. They seldom survive because once they get cold (our trailer in in the lower 30's) they can not move.

Yesterday I found one on the floor that could not move but was still alive. I put him outside on the ground to warm up. As I moved across the ramp from one trailer to another, I kept an eye on him. Slowly he began to warm and get some mobility. After a few minutes he started to hop around and a few minutes later he was out of site.

I knew I would need to find him and move him across the road to the tree line if he were to survive. After I finished loading my trailer I couldn't see him anywhere. I moved one of the trailers back to its parking place and came back to have a better look.

After searching I still couldn't locate him. As I turned to walk around the other trailer, I spotted him. He has moved to the shade under one of my tires and I had run over him. Sorry Kermit, I did my best.

Flashback Friday

France

Today I will post a few pictures and comments about my trip to France.











Milk is found on the shelf with the other groceries. No refrigeration is needed until it is opened. Can't say it really tastes that much like our milk, although it was not too bad.














There were jars with veggies stacked 2 and 3 high, very convenient.












This is an ATM for renting videos. It was on the outside wall of the video store and could be used 24 hours a day. Insert your video store card, select your movie (using a browse or search ), pay with cash or credit card and be on your way in about a minute. Movies could be returned the same way and could be rented for as little as 6 hours. Inside the movies were rented by the day just like back home. The same rates did not apply inside. Daily rentals were much cheaper inside the store, but if you just wanted to grab a movie and view it and come right back you couldn't beat the price.





























































































ff

Talk is Cheap

He passed me in his Ford F-250 with a temporary tax showing he had purchased the used truck that very day.

When I pulled into the rest area just east of Texarkana, I noticed him getting out of his truck. Before he could walk the 150 ft to the vending machines, he had turned to look at his truck no less than 4 times. He was obviously very proud of it.

As I headed to the restroom, he was coming back to his truck (never taking his eyes off of it). I stopped him and asked about his truck (knowing he would like to talk about it).

His father and brothers both had diesel pickups but this was his first. It was a 2000 model that he would use to drive to work and pull a small horse trailer. After I bragged on his purchase, he was off to show his wife.

Upon returning from the restroom, I noticed a small car pulling up with its gas cap dangling. As I approached the driver, he was rambling in the glove compartment. He noticed me and rolled down his window and said, "Good afternoon young man". Yes, he was older than me (getting harder to find every day).

When I told him about the gas cap and the fact that it would cause the "check engine" light to come on, he laughed and said, "Heck, I knew that but would you believe I was just looking for the phone number of the rental car agency because the "check engine" light had just came on". He thanked me for saving him an embarrassing phone call and we both had a good laugh.

I love to talk to people and "talk is cheap". Cheap, heck it's free.

Accident

As I was leaving Little Rock today I saw a fool on a silver motorcycle doing a wheelie coming down the interstate. He was not even smart enough to be wearing a helmet like the guy in this photo.











Coming in this afternoon, traffic was stopped for a accident that involved a silver motorcycle. I wondered if it was the same one from earlier in the day.

Flashback Friday

I will start using "Flashback Fridays" to finish stories I have started and failed to finish or just update past stories.



FRANCE,

Zac had his "crew" over for dinner at his apartment on my last night in Le Mans, France.



We had time between his early morning class and late afternoon class to hop on the city bus and ride to the edge of town to do our shopping. I can't remember the stores name but it was a "big box super store", very similar to aWalMart Super Center.



What I found very interesting was the meat selection. It was displayed not unlike a fresh open air meat market. A large portion of the meat (and all the sea food) was not wrapped and placed on a bed of shaved ice. This was not in glass cases as in the US but on open beds as vegetables are displayed in America.

One large display caught my eye as the cuts of meat were large and a light pink color. When I asked, Zac laughed and told me it was "horse meat". I guess that explains the large ribs.Meat is very expensive in France and really used to flavor dishes.



We were having a pasta casserole for main dish, with a large salad and a pie size raspberry tart for dessert. The wine would be furnished by our quests.















Left to right, Matt, Emily (the high school teacher), Emily, and of course Zachary.

The meal was a great success and the wine flowed freely (until we ran out after 3 bottles) and the conversation was splendid.

I commented on the 2 Emilies (both New Englanders) not having the Boston accent. They both ensured me that it was there but hidden.

When Zac and I started with the southern black mammy "hush your mouth" routine, they about fell out of their chairs laughing.

All to soon we had to say our goodbyes and I would not see them again. I am most appreciative of the hospitality they extended to me. A fine a group of young people as I have ever met.

PMSing

Things have not been going well in my little world and regular readers know I have been "on the rag" for some time.

There has been a big event looming for several weeks and yesterday "it hit the fan". I have two choices, take or quit.

Our company ( a division of a larger corp) has had a nice 401k package. With their match I have been saving over 20% of my pretax wages.

Yesterday we finally found out about our new retirement package from Prairie Farms (our parent corp). They have a "Thrift Plan" (similar to a profit sharing plan) that our 401k balances will be rolled into. We have no choice unless we quit.

Their plan is great for the younger workers (that they want) but terrible for older workers ( that they would rather not have [ and by the way, you will not see them hiring]).

Our 401k plan was with Fidelity and we had about a dozen choices where we could place our money. The money was placed once a month and "cost averaging" worked in our favor.

In the "Thrift Plan", one has to put in 2% of post tax dollars (can add up 6% more) to participate. That money will be sent to the plan manager once a month and once a year there may or may not be money added ( a percentage of your annual earning) by the company. You have no options as to how he will invest all monies in the plan ( your 401k money or the "Thrift Plan" money). It is put in one "blended vehicle" ( stocks and bonds). Even if you choose not to participate with new money, your old 401k money will be sent to the plan manager.

The 401k money (pretax) and "Thrift Plan" (post tax) will be separated within the plan as there will be no taxes due on the "Thrift Plan" money at time of withdrawal. You can specify which monies you want to withdraw at retirement age. You could use the two to minimize you taxes at retirement.

The problem (besides not having better control over you investments) for old workers and myself is that at only 8% maximum (and those being post tax dollars) and no guaranty of company money being added, it falls well short of my 20% retirement savings.

If company money is added, it will only be added once a year. Thus eliminating "monthly cost averaging". For younger workers or anyone saving a very small percentage it will be a winner for them. Plus you have to plan your retirement date after October 1 of your retirement year for fear of missing out on company contributions. One could retire several months earlier but it would be unwise to retire a month or two before a possible yearly windfall.

As for me, I will be screwed out of several thousand dollars a year, not to mention I have zero control of my retirement money.

I would like to work a while longer but don't like being boxed in a corner with my retirement savings.

A Taxing Matter

In Arkansas, one pays “sales tax” on every vehicle purchased until the purchase price falls below $2500. Years ago it was an advantage to buy a used vehicle ( assuming it had been titled in Arkansas at one time and the sales tax paid), because one didn’t have to pay sales tax on a used vehicle.

My 2006 Dodge was bought new 16 month ago and sales tax was paid by the original owner. I have just paid sales tax again when I titled the truck.. That amounts to over $4000 for the state in less than a year and a half. If this truck were sold a few more times in the next few years the state would receive more in taxes than the truck cost new.

Our city of Bryant, Ar. is one of fastest growing (if not the fastest ) towns in our state. In this small town there has been literally thousands of new homes built in the last 5 years and yet they are asking for a “millage increase”. Where does it all stop.

When I first started doing my mechanic work in the early 70’s there was no tax due on used parts or labor.

Our state is eliminating sales tax on groceries and immediately the price of groceries go up ( a coincident, I don‘t think so). People haven’t saved a dime but it just added more profit for grocery stores.

I guess I need to check my sugar as I can't seem to get off this soap box.

Unusual load

This picture does not really capture the image my eyes saw as I exited the interstate to drop a trailer at an Arkadelphia, Ar. truck stop.

From the distance of the interstate, my eyes could mainly see just the pipes on the trailer. It looked like several rows of pipe stacked vertically. Defiantly now the normal way to haul pipe. It made for a very unusual looking load.

The pipes were welded to sheets of expanded medal. I didn't see the driver , so I couldn't ask if he might know what they were going to be used for.

September book review

My September book review is a little late this month because, heck you don't want excuses.

"CASH OUT"
A novel by Paul Boray.

A bookie is robbed of $300,000 and his girlfriend badly beaten and raped by a Chinese gang that tells him he is going into early retirement or else. He contacts ex-cop John "Tomb" Tomie to help get even with the gang and recover his money (he offers "half" to Tomb). Tomb enlists a former cop on the Chinatown beat to help.

This novel has several twists and turn, some you see coming and some you don't. When I was thru with it, I had to recall some small details earlier in the book to see how the ending could be "the end".

The first person that shows an interest in this book will receive it free by e-mailing me their "snail mail" address. I will send it media mail to said address. Don't be bashful, I think you will enjoy this book and my book shelf is running over.

Mortgage bail out

The pres outlined plans for a mortgage bail out of some homeowners.

I don't think so!

There are exceptions to every rule but I don't see why the government (a.k.a. you and I) should bail out people that bought more house than they could afford on an adjustable mortgage just because the interest rates were at an all time low. Historical lows rates means it is a given that your payments WILL go up.

More importantly, we are bailing out the mortgage companies that made these inadvisable loans. I own some financial stocks so I am "cutting off my nose to spite my face". Decisions should be made by what is right, not what is beneficial to me. To me THIS is just not right for a government that can't pay it's own bills.

Your opinions you vary and I respect the fact that we can have different opinions.

OK, I will get off my soapbox for now.

I'm getting smarter

I really must be getting more intelligent in my old age. I know it must be so because my son asks me questions and seeks my opinion a lot more than he did 10 years ago.

Intercourse for lunch!

I got your attention didn't I? Read on and I will explain the title of this post.


After leaving Zac's place we headed east to avoid the construction we had encountered on the way in from Pittsburgh.


Tuesday morning to started our journey south. A little before noon, Judy asked, "How about Intercourse for lunch?". I responded with, "Sounds good to me!", and we headed out into the country. About an hour later we were in Lancaster County, Pa. home to a large Amish community.






















































The name of this little Amish hamlet is....................









































































Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

Almost a great idea

We had a "non-skid" bedliner installed under our tonneau cover on the Dodge. While there I spotted these little jewels.















They are tie-downs for the bedliner.















They fit in the grooves of the bedliner.

When you rotate the "eye" with the bar that is included, a cam closes the jaws to hold it in place. Great idea but they are not adjustable and my non-skid bedliner has smaller ribs than a normal one and they will not grip it. Darn!

Road Trip

We loaded Zac's stuff under our new tonneau cover Friday night because Saturday is my longest day at work and we wanted to get an early start Sunday morning for our trip to State College, Pa.



Our planned route would take us thru Memphis and Nashville, Tn., Louisville, Ky., Cincinnati and Columbus, Oh., Wheeling,WV., Pittsburgh, Pa. and finally State College, Pa. The first leg of our trip would be about 1070 miles.



After helping Zac, we would use the rest of the week for our vacation by driving south thru the Smoky Mountains.



Sunday morning we fueled the truck and was on our way by 7 am. About an hour later Zac called and said he and his mom were just leaving ( 2 hours earlier than I had predicted). I set the cruise control on the posted speed limit of 70mph ( I rarely drive my little S-10 over 65 mph) and let the Cummins diesel rumble east.

This was our first "road trip" in our Dodge 3/4 ton and we found the ride to be rather nice for a large truck and the room inside compared to our S-10 was amazing.

I always have an ice chest in our truck and on vacation we carry picnic supplies as well as our drinks ( sodas and lots of water). We stopped east of Jackson, Tn. at a rest area and had a picnic lunch. The hour or so it takes to spread a table cloth and prepare proper sandwiches ( as compared to having just meat and bread) always is time well spent as it fuels our bodies and gives us a much needed break. A sandwich with all the trimmings and chips just taste better at a picnic table than it does at the kitchen table. I called Zac and told him where we were, he and his mom were grabbing a fast food burger in Jackson and would pass us before we had finished our picnic lunch.

We always picnic lunch or grab a burger and try to have a nice evening meal if time and place permits. That meal came at Cincinnati, Oh., I then took a wrong turn that added about 25 miles to our trip.

We stopped for the night at Columbus, Oh. (over 800 miles for the day) and Zac and his mom were spending the night in Wheeling, WV.

Pittsburgh to State College is under construction so we decided to grab a burger for lunch when we were about an hour out. Zac called and they were there. He was not a "happy camper". He had to rent his place without ever seeing it in person ( he would be sharing a townhouse with 2 other people) and he informed me that it was in total disarray.

Jeff (the lessee ) had not been there all summer and the other guy would be moving out before school started. He had been letting other people crash at the house all summer and it was a total pigsty. He could care less ( I'm sure his mama didn't raise him that way) as he had already been returned his deposit and would be gone in a week. Add that to the fact the guy that was renting Zac's room still had his stuff stored in the living room as his new place was still occupied. It literally looked like a "crack house". The guy seemed nice enough, just a slob.

When we arrived, Zac was just returning with cleaning supplies. Being a fastidious person, the house would get a transformation in the next 3 hours.

After our cleaning and straightening the place was looking better and as soon as the extra stuff is gone, it will be fine.

After unloading our truck, Zac and I picked up a bed that he had purchased earlier in the day and and then unloaded his Santa Fe. We all had pizza at Pizza Hut and back to Wally World pillows and a few other things he needed.

His mom would be flying back on Thursday so he was in good hands. After our goodbyes, we were off on the rest of our vacation. Being a college town we found the motels outrageously high ( little did we know that was Pa. in general), so we drove east before spending the night.

!@##@$%^% blogger!!

I'm so sick of blogger loosing connection and not "saving" my posts that I am about ready to give up blogging altogether.

Tired- Big Time

I took this picture thru the windshield of my work truck on Friday before we left on our trip to Penn State.

We are home after moving Zac to Penn State and traveling on to eastern Pennsylvania, before heading home thru the Smoky Mountains. We traveled 2800 miles.

When I rest up I will tell you all about our trip. BTW, the truck was great and averaged about 21 mpg. Very pleased with it.

Ram it !

After having a little "fun" at new car dealerships and getting close to the best price possible (their best price vs. my "I will buy today at this price"), I knew about what a new truck was going to cost me.

After taking everything into account, I had decided on a Dodge Ram 2500. A lot of things went into this decision but the Dodge just scored higher overall than a Ford F-250. Sorry but I just could not see myself driving a "butt ugly" Chevrolet.

Since I really didn't want to buy from a large dealer, I figured I would drive out of town on Tuesday (my only day off other than Sunday) to a smaller dealership and try to buy (if they would come within $250 of the big dealer price) my truck. Any dealer can get the truck I wanted.

I was looking at either a Bright Silver or Slate Grey truck as they seem to look the best with the minimum amount of chrome that comes standard on a truck. The red and dark red look rather "bland" on the lot. White was out of the question as it looks like a company truck and always will.

One last check of the newspaper on Saturday revealed a 2006 Inferno Red(dark red) for sale "by owner". The price seems right and I made arrangements to see it on Sunday afternoon.

Knowing this was not my preferred color, I wasn't expecting much but the owner said he had added a few extras in the 15 months he had owned it. The best part was it had never pulled a heavy load. He ran a lawn mowing service and pulled a 16ft trailer loaded with his equipment.

When we rounded the corner and saw the truck, it just "jumped out at me". He had added just enough chrome and tinted the windows to really bring out the dark red color.

When I saw it I said, "Well there is the piece of crap". I was joking but my wife thought I was serious since I had stated I didn't want a red truck.

We had a chance to look it over before the owner came out. It was nearly perfect. A couple of small scatches and a very small bb size dent in the rear bumper.

The owner had added several hundred dollars worth of extras to the truck.

He had tinted the windows, added chrome door handles and tailgate lever, a chrome bug shield, a tinted sunvisor on the windshield and black mud flaps. He had also added a high dollar K&N lifetime reusable air filter. Not sure I would have added everything but it sure made the truck stand out.

We talked a little with the owner and everything was to my liking but when he offered to let me drive it, I declined. Before leaving I asked for his bottom dollar and he said $400 less than the price in the paper. His lawn care service was a second job and just needed "pay off" on the truck. I gave him the usual "I will be back to you" and we drove off.

Since I didn't drive the truck Judy figured I was not interested. Not the case, I saw no reason to drive it because it anything was wrong I would just have it fixed because it was still under warranty.

I had written down the serial number because I wanted to check it out at the dealership the next day. They told me it had only had the a/c vent door replaced and a recall on the fuel system fixed.

After talking it over we decided it just made better sense to buy this truck because it was 25% less than the best price I could get on a new one.

I called him on Monday and said we wanted the truck. Really thought it would take a few days to purchase it as it was financed thru Chrysler Credit and it sometimes takes a few days to get all the i's dotted and t's crossed.

He called Chrysler for the "payoff" and needed $153.28 more than he had quoted me for his bottom dollar. I said, "no problem" as I knew he was needing out from under his payments.

Judy and I when shopping for the stuff we needed to add to the truck. It HAD to have running boards so Judy could get in without a step stool. We also wanted a bedliner and a fiberglass lid (tonneau cover). We found the running boards and bedliner in stock but would had to order the tonneau cover. It had to be ordered by Wednesday noon for delivery on the following Friday. Without actually owning the truck (things can happen), everything was on hold. It didn't look like we could get everything done before we go on vacation.

But on Tuesday by 4:30 pm the truck was ours. Wednesday morning before work we head out to Goss Campers for our running boards, bedliner and to order our tonneau cover. While we are at it , we might as well add chrome wheelwell moldings. Peggy (the owner of Goss Campers) said if for some reason our tonneau didn't come in, she would put a black one on for us to use until we returned from vacation.

The tonneau cover arrived on Friday and we are now packed to head for Penn State Sunday morning.

The truck is a 2006 Dodge 2500, 4dr, diesel, automatic with the tow package. It has all the usual "bells and whistles" you would expect on a nice truck. The only thing it did not have was the extending tow mirrors.

The color is called "INFERNO RED".

"Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder", but we think it is gorgeous.

We sold our 1995 Mercury Sable that we have owned for 12 years.

Hope the Dodge is as dependable.

We will be gone for a week and will catch up with everyone when we return.

I have been trying to save a draft on this for a week.

Problems

Blogger is giving me a headache. I have been working on a draft for to days and it will not "save" or "post". I'll see if this post works.

Canada bound update

I have received three e-mails from Jerry the biker. His last stated he had to cut his journey short because of a doctors appointment ( he had mentioned his medical history to me) that he thought could be rescheduled but couldn't.

He had made it to Lexington, Ky. and had biked over 1000 miles. He was disappointed about having to stop but looking forward to completing his adventure at a later date.

I will be traveling in that part of the country next week as I am helping Zac move to Penn State and Judy and I will just make a vacation out of it.

It will be our first trip in our new truck. Oh, haven't told you about that. Another day another post.

Convoy

When I hear the word "convoy" I think of the 70's song by C.W. McCall about renegade truckers barrelling down the highway.

Today there will be a different kind of "convoy", these log trucks will form a convoy to head for the Georgia Pacific mill at Crossett, Ar.

This is a national campaign to raise money for "The Children's Miracle Network". Arkansas always ranks near the top or top of all states for moneys raised.


























This is part of the 16 trucks (from just one community) that was sitting over the weekend to gain awareness for the program.













Each load has a sticker to designate the contractor donating the load to the program. This is a great program and raises millions of dollars each year. You can learn more about it at their web site.
http://www.logaload.org/