I am just sitting here drawing blanks. I came in with the intention of writing one of several thoughts, and lo and behold, I sit down and my mind goes blank.
Let's see.............. chickens all dead! Hooray!! Yeah! I know, don't be shocked. When the "universal mortality" is scheduled, it's a good thing! Last weekend was very busy, getting everything ready for the catch. I had several repairs that had to be done. A couple of cables had to be replaced on the feedline hoists, and Ian and I removed the garage style door on one of the houses, after a new rolling door had been put in. A couple of basic electric problems to fix. Some minor waterline issues to deal with, etc. Fairly standard, except that this is really the first time that these types of repairs were done completely without Bob's help.
Those would all have been a very "mild" saturday, except we spent Saturday morning butchering Bambi. Sorry, I shouldn't be so casual about it. I have never been particularly squeamish about where my food comes from. Dad, Mom, I think I should thank you for that. I don't take great pleasure in the process, but I am grateful that I have access, and knowledge to do the job.
Cousin Herman (related to Bob) loves to hunt, and really hates to eat game. He got a really nice 12 point buck, and called Bob and asked if they would like to have it. This was a really good looking deer. And he had been eating well. Fatter than we have seen in a long time. Bob offered to split with us, if we would help dress it. He is having more and more trouble with breathing, so some activities are just too much for him, and the dusty chicken houses are just flat out of the question right now.
So I got to help him skin, and butcher the big buck. I don't think I have ever seen such a huge neck roast on a whitetail, and we got two huge roasts. I am just guessing, but based on the hams, I would guess "Bambi" dressed out probably 70-90 lbs. I may be way low, or way high. I actually don't know what a big buck should weigh, but I have cooked some neck roasts in the last 10 years, and these were big by comparison.
Now if Ian and Ben can just get us a couple more. They have been very frustrated. The two times they went out on Saturday (youth hunt), we heard shots all around us, but the boys didn't see any of the deer that normally come around our place. Maybe this week.
I was going to write some thoughts on Monday about the anniversary of the Berlin Wall opening up, but we sold birds Tuesday a.m. and the prep is really a 24 hour process, so I really didn't have the time, assuming sleep was part of the plan. We have to work the feedlines empty starting 12-13 hours prior to catch, and get the feed completely away from the birds 8 hrs prior, so that they are completely empty when the trucks come. With 4 houses, this means every 2 hours, up until the catch begins. By the time catchers are gone, it will have been a 24 hr. process.
The catch started at 6 am, so I had to get feeders going at 6, which was almost exactly when I got home from school. Then, every 2 hours, some series of steps had to be done, so I ended up with a few hours of sleep between 2:30-5a.m. and the 2 hr. intervals to that point were broken up with short naps.
Anyway, birds gone, houses empty, now we get to start the process of preparing for the next flock. Bob still runs the tractor to clean out the litter, since he can run into the windtunnel created by the big fans. It pulls all the dust away from him, and the new tractor does not wear him out like the old one. (old... standard hard clutch. New.... hydrostatic transmission, much like yard and lawn tractors.) Then, I will go in with the kids (hopefully) and we will set water and feed lines, clean things, make minor repairs that crop up during the clean-out, and set trays and lines for the new flock.
This is the flock that requires a lot of prep. We try to tighten up the houses for the cold months, and that involves going through and tightening draw cables on the 100+ louvre covers, checking inlet curtains for holes and damage, tightening up fan shrouds, and setting double curtain materials in the oldest house. We may even be replacing a heating system, but Bob and I have not settled that one for sure.
I am sure none of this is terribly interesting to you, but I had some time to kill, and The video game to my right was not a "productive" kill. At least blogging serves a purpose to keep you all better informed about how we are doing, and sometimes allows me to express some creative thought.
Oh, and by the way, Justin must be doing either so well that he has no stand-out thoughts to send us, or he is struggling so hard that he can't find time or thoughts to fill beyond a 3 line e-mail. I love my son....I wish you could see the wry smile, as I type this. I know my son, and we will have to keep hounding him to get more info out of him. Maybe we will have to hold presents and goodies hostage. He can get packages filled with as much "loot" as he sends info. OOOOOHH! that was a great idea. I should write that down.........oh, I guess I just did! Nevermind!!!:)
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Economics of socialism. Can we afford it?
I have to voice some concerns. I know the majority of you don't need this little rant, but sometimes I just have to vent. And it is possible that someone will read this who may need it. Whether we need it just to know that we are not alone, or to maybe try and see things from a different viewpoint.
The big political news is, of course, the pending vote on the huge nationalized health care bill. Several things about that whole thing scare me. One: Having read......no! Having attempted to read several pages of that monster, I wonder what scary things get dropped into our legal code every day. Have any of you tried to read these bills?? The legal gobbledygook is mind boggling. References to paragraphs and subheadings, and code this, and addendum that, run in sequence as though it were a sentence.
1900 PAGES worth!! What are they slipping past us, and themselves? Yes, taking control of a huge nation's health care system is no small task, but since those responsible are claiming it is not a takeover, just a clean-up, it seems like a huge pile of hard reading. Once again, I have not received comforting answers when asking my congressional reps if they have read the whole thing. They have not, and will not let constituents' opinions direct their congressional choices!! (what the ....what?!?) And they may vote as early as Friday?
Two: I do not trust those responsible, when they claim that the "government option" is simply to add an affordable alternative for those who can't currently find insurance through private firms. I have 3 chronically ill children. I know about the challenges of finding insurance. Justin (diabetic), currently has good coverage through an already existing Govt. program. CHIP has saved his opportunity to be on a mission. He would not be going, if not for that insurance. Benjamin and Ian (chronic IBD and autistic, respectively) are indeed on Medicaid, for which I am grateful, but if this newest monster passes, I trust the CBO and the BBB, which say that Medicare and Medicaid will see huge cuts to help "pay" for the "public option". By the way, CHIP is also through medicaid.
Michelle currently doesn't have coverage, a fact I hate, because my employer (Conway Schools, but indirectly the State of Arkansas) doesn't offer equal coverage, and increases this past year would have made my very small annual step increase actually go backward. The State pays about twice as much on "state employees" as they do for teachers, and they expect the districts to pick up any significant difference. Of course, the employee pays the bulk of the plan. State and district covered $131 for the employee (about half), but spouse and children have to be covered solely by me! Our family premium was moved up to $887/month! ($756 out of my pocket!)
Michelle's portion of that was bumping $400 for some reason, so we decided to drop her from the coverage and attempt to find something supplemental. We ended up doing a minor "self-insured" program.
Now we are facing the threat that if we continue being "self insured", we will have to pay a fine (called "public option", so that the Government can claim to be covering all uninsured persons). Right now, it isn't pretty, but we put aside $50-100 each month to cover Michelle's medical expenses, and, yes, we pray very hard that she will stay generally healthy.
And three: Like any major govt. program, the method of payment will be taxes. This is not a redirection of funds. The 800+ BILLION dollar program will be paid for in taxes and other fees, from both individuals, and medical industry companies. And keep in mind something I "ranted" months ago. When we raise the taxes on businesses and the wealthy people who create the businesses, if they want to stay in business, they will get their money from the end consumer.
Again, an illustration. Units, all units of purchase (gallons, pints, boxes, loaves, minutes, etc.) will not have to increase much to hurt us. If the taxes on a major corporation's UNIT supply go up significantly, because the Government feels they are making "scandalous profits", they can make that up by raising the price of each unit by a few cents. If each unit went up one nickel, not very many people would complain loudly. How much did we see gas, milk, cereal, bread, etc. go up last year, and no huge public outcry.? If an average family purchases 10000 UNITS per year (a very low figure), that nickel increase amounts to expenses growing by $500. Wouldn't seem like much, unless annual income was threatening to go backward. Oh, wait! Yeah, it would seem like much, since many people would need to work an extra week to make up that difference, and there are only 52 weeks in the year.
So a socialist government continues to raise taxes to pay for newer and bigger programs, to take care of the growing number of people who can't make ends meet, and those businesses, trying to stay alive, will raise the UNIT price, while attempting to maintain the cost/Unit, ie. wages utilities. and such. Vicious cycle, larger government involvement if not outright control. Businesses being "purchased" or taken over by the government(bailouts, with conditions naturally), attempts to portray a concept of "private ownership", but overt government influence on every aspect of economic life, both for the individual and the corporate world.
Any of this seeming familiar lately? It has been attempted in other countries, some of them for decades, and the outcome is less than desirable. Some of our friends who have worked this way for some time, are seeing so many problems, they are going to a system similar to what America has been up to this point. Germany, for example, has shifted very much toward a business friendly centrist/conservative government coalition, after many years of struggling with the financial burdens of a fairly socialist approach. At last check, Sweden still has a very socialist program, and a tax burden bordering the 70% range. A friend I knew years ago said you had to be so far in debt to be able to keep your paycheck, that your grandchildren might hope to pay it off, if they were not in the same boat.
When the government promises to take care of everything, someone will have to pay for it. Government officials will try to make it sound like the business owners who make big profits are evil, so they can convince the rest of us that it is OK to "take from the rich to give to the poor". Only problem, they are not Robin Hood, they are the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Let us work it out! When it costs too much, we the people, won't buy it! Those companies who want to stay alive will lower their prices to a point that they succeed. When we can't afford something needed, like health care, if left alone, someone will fill the void. It is not always perfect, or pretty, but it is going to happen. When we want something, we will find a way to get it! Keep the government out of the way! When the Sheriff of Nottingham gets involved, the Robin Hoods of the world will step in. By the way, consider that Robin was one of those "evil" wealthy people, who saw the suffering of the common people, and found a way to step in and help. The sheriff simply used the beggars to forward his own agenda and plots to control the country. WOW!
The big political news is, of course, the pending vote on the huge nationalized health care bill. Several things about that whole thing scare me. One: Having read......no! Having attempted to read several pages of that monster, I wonder what scary things get dropped into our legal code every day. Have any of you tried to read these bills?? The legal gobbledygook is mind boggling. References to paragraphs and subheadings, and code this, and addendum that, run in sequence as though it were a sentence.
1900 PAGES worth!! What are they slipping past us, and themselves? Yes, taking control of a huge nation's health care system is no small task, but since those responsible are claiming it is not a takeover, just a clean-up, it seems like a huge pile of hard reading. Once again, I have not received comforting answers when asking my congressional reps if they have read the whole thing. They have not, and will not let constituents' opinions direct their congressional choices!! (what the ....what?!?) And they may vote as early as Friday?
Two: I do not trust those responsible, when they claim that the "government option" is simply to add an affordable alternative for those who can't currently find insurance through private firms. I have 3 chronically ill children. I know about the challenges of finding insurance. Justin (diabetic), currently has good coverage through an already existing Govt. program. CHIP has saved his opportunity to be on a mission. He would not be going, if not for that insurance. Benjamin and Ian (chronic IBD and autistic, respectively) are indeed on Medicaid, for which I am grateful, but if this newest monster passes, I trust the CBO and the BBB, which say that Medicare and Medicaid will see huge cuts to help "pay" for the "public option". By the way, CHIP is also through medicaid.
Michelle currently doesn't have coverage, a fact I hate, because my employer (Conway Schools, but indirectly the State of Arkansas) doesn't offer equal coverage, and increases this past year would have made my very small annual step increase actually go backward. The State pays about twice as much on "state employees" as they do for teachers, and they expect the districts to pick up any significant difference. Of course, the employee pays the bulk of the plan. State and district covered $131 for the employee (about half), but spouse and children have to be covered solely by me! Our family premium was moved up to $887/month! ($756 out of my pocket!)
Michelle's portion of that was bumping $400 for some reason, so we decided to drop her from the coverage and attempt to find something supplemental. We ended up doing a minor "self-insured" program.
Now we are facing the threat that if we continue being "self insured", we will have to pay a fine (called "public option", so that the Government can claim to be covering all uninsured persons). Right now, it isn't pretty, but we put aside $50-100 each month to cover Michelle's medical expenses, and, yes, we pray very hard that she will stay generally healthy.
And three: Like any major govt. program, the method of payment will be taxes. This is not a redirection of funds. The 800+ BILLION dollar program will be paid for in taxes and other fees, from both individuals, and medical industry companies. And keep in mind something I "ranted" months ago. When we raise the taxes on businesses and the wealthy people who create the businesses, if they want to stay in business, they will get their money from the end consumer.
Again, an illustration. Units, all units of purchase (gallons, pints, boxes, loaves, minutes, etc.) will not have to increase much to hurt us. If the taxes on a major corporation's UNIT supply go up significantly, because the Government feels they are making "scandalous profits", they can make that up by raising the price of each unit by a few cents. If each unit went up one nickel, not very many people would complain loudly. How much did we see gas, milk, cereal, bread, etc. go up last year, and no huge public outcry.? If an average family purchases 10000 UNITS per year (a very low figure), that nickel increase amounts to expenses growing by $500. Wouldn't seem like much, unless annual income was threatening to go backward. Oh, wait! Yeah, it would seem like much, since many people would need to work an extra week to make up that difference, and there are only 52 weeks in the year.
So a socialist government continues to raise taxes to pay for newer and bigger programs, to take care of the growing number of people who can't make ends meet, and those businesses, trying to stay alive, will raise the UNIT price, while attempting to maintain the cost/Unit, ie. wages utilities. and such. Vicious cycle, larger government involvement if not outright control. Businesses being "purchased" or taken over by the government(bailouts, with conditions naturally), attempts to portray a concept of "private ownership", but overt government influence on every aspect of economic life, both for the individual and the corporate world.
Any of this seeming familiar lately? It has been attempted in other countries, some of them for decades, and the outcome is less than desirable. Some of our friends who have worked this way for some time, are seeing so many problems, they are going to a system similar to what America has been up to this point. Germany, for example, has shifted very much toward a business friendly centrist/conservative government coalition, after many years of struggling with the financial burdens of a fairly socialist approach. At last check, Sweden still has a very socialist program, and a tax burden bordering the 70% range. A friend I knew years ago said you had to be so far in debt to be able to keep your paycheck, that your grandchildren might hope to pay it off, if they were not in the same boat.
When the government promises to take care of everything, someone will have to pay for it. Government officials will try to make it sound like the business owners who make big profits are evil, so they can convince the rest of us that it is OK to "take from the rich to give to the poor". Only problem, they are not Robin Hood, they are the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Let us work it out! When it costs too much, we the people, won't buy it! Those companies who want to stay alive will lower their prices to a point that they succeed. When we can't afford something needed, like health care, if left alone, someone will fill the void. It is not always perfect, or pretty, but it is going to happen. When we want something, we will find a way to get it! Keep the government out of the way! When the Sheriff of Nottingham gets involved, the Robin Hoods of the world will step in. By the way, consider that Robin was one of those "evil" wealthy people, who saw the suffering of the common people, and found a way to step in and help. The sheriff simply used the beggars to forward his own agenda and plots to control the country. WOW!
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