Good morning, y'all. It was 49° with a dense fog when I got up this morning. I had a sesame bagel and a coffee , then showered and dressed. We were at the gas pumps at Costco at 0910. $2.00.9/gallon. down our way, (20 miles distant), the cheapest is $ 2.17.9...Not for nothing, there is nothing here to justify the higher price point. Most retailers near costco are around $2.05 Cash, $2.15 credit....
another rip off. To paraphrase Blondie, One way or another Jersey's gonna get ya!!! In any event, we spent $300, on Staples, personal care, food and toys. (Christmas is coming,eh?). I'm running out of storage space, but... if
Terry's friend Murphy has his way, he will shut the state down again like last march...I'll be able to ride out the shortages. Ultimately, we will use everything so...
Later today, I plan on taking advantage of the sunny, mild afternoon to get rid of some of the accumulated storm debris, load up the truck so I can make an early run to the dump tomorrow. After that...energy level permitting, I will continue the "improvements" to the layout.
That's just a few of the reasons that our taxes are low, less government. And a lot of oil revenue from state owned lands.
Willie: Oil revenue helps alot, but when there is less pie to divide, money goes further.
My old fire department covers a still densely populated urban area with a ladder truck and two engine companies. They just got a grant to allow the hiring of 8 additional firefighters to bring these companies back to full strength. They just replaced a piece of equipment purchased in 1993, with a new truck...they bought a Demo, at a decent price from Seagrave. They learn to do more with less...
The local fire district, here in Howell, owns enough equipment (that rarely if ever is used) each with every bell and whistle possible...More equipment than the City of Bayone...Money is no object...It's Jersey.
Those ******* manufacturers keep on coming out with stuff that I never even knew I needed...
Ken: How 'bout that? I have been quietly buying up one or two of each issue, as I have a need for Tank cars, for Acid, LPG, Caustic Soda, Chlorine, Lead, Lube Oil and Kaolin Slurry. Between Tangent, BLI, Intermountain and Atlas, I pretty much have been able to retire all the oversized Blue Box tanks I initially planned on using. Received a B&O - Chessie Tangent Caboose for a birthday gift....Hope he slows down....I consider myself lucky, that the lines I'm modeling didn't offer Flex-i-flo service. Those cars are nice and required personal restraint...
Got off reasonably with a plumber fee of only $160!
Willie: Good price. Our local water utility offers insurance to "protect" us homeowners from similar problems. for a small monthly fee, added to our monthly water bill. Annualized premium is $156.00.....I'll take my chances at those prices.
These pictures show the structure before detailing and before I put the roof ridge and rooftop sign on.
Willie: Looks great.
We too were dropped by an insurance company after filing a claim
Willie: The Insurance Industry is the least regulated industry in the nation...they spend a lot of money in state capitals, to
insure that they can punish you for having the audacity to submit a claim. When my employer provided health insurance - administered by a major player in the health insurance field...reached the level where I had fulfilled my annual family deductible, each Explanation of Benefits Statement contained an admonition about the severe consequences of
"Insurance Fraud". Think they got it wrong. The Insurance carriers are the ones guilty of fraud.
No TV or online news apps are residing on my IPad. I have started to relax.
Tom O: I hear you..there is no need for the media to be so involved in formenting unrest and stress. Just report the facts, not speculation, cut the drama, and keep your opinions to yourself. remember the movie "Network"? Prophetic. I avoid watching and limit my sources reading. Not worth it.
I believe my next photo-op will be at the out-of-town staging area. I would would like to give that cartoon-cop some heavy exercise; get him out of that fancy new cruiser. He has made me angry enough to make him work for everything he wants to steal from the innocent people.
Lee: That Special Agent really got under your skin... The high quality of your photos was worth it. I know that there are a lot of "reasons" for his actions, but a summons? Way too much in my opinion. Reminds me of PRR Police Sgt. Fiorio, back when I was a kid. He would constantly chase us from a lot we used to play ball, because it was adjacent to railroad property...just because he could. Never once did he detain us or write a summons. Weird thing was he worked night and day, because he would show up at any time.
This is the new Squirt 81, a Seagrave with 35' squirt. Not officially in service, it was brought in to the scent of a auto salvage yard fire involving 40 vehicles. Master streams were used to knock down the fire. It was a good test of the new truck.