That damned truck is at it again. It started well and then nothing when I turned it off. I am not sure what I did wrong or if it is a gremlin. It acts like one of those intermittent problems that shows up only once in a while and I am going to go out and start the diagnosis all over again. The good thing is that I have the time to fix it and money to pay someone else if I can't.
My new cell phone is turning out to be a pain in the butt. It appears that the last person that owned it was deeply in debt and has legal firms and finance companies chasing her. I have politely told them all that if they don't stop calling my next call will be to the Attorney General's Office as I have registered this phone on the "No Call List" and I damn sure don't owe anybody anything. Well, between property taxes and insurance it does feel; like I am renting this house. Throw in Income taxes on all the sources of revenue and I feel like I am renting my life from some form of Government. I Owe, I owe, it is off to pay I go.....
Once again, the County Commissioners are telling us the truth and it is a lie. They are saying that they will not raise the Mill levy this year. Most people don't have a clue what the mill levy is and how that contributes to the taxes you pay. Simply put, the mill levy is not the source of the amount you pay. The formula is the amount they need to run the Government the next year divided by the value of the houses determines the mill levy. If the value of the houses in a county is raised by the appraiser, the mill levy will not go up but the amount of money generated does. Do you remember that letter from the county that told you what the appraised value of your house was last year? That's what you need to watch. In spite of the fact that most of us aren't getting more income, the Feds tell us the cost of living is not on the rise. I would challenge them to come here and watch the rising costs and see if that isn't a surprise to them. The only bright ray of sunshine is that at least for now, the monthly outgo is less than the income for Rabbit Run Farms.
As soon as the latest upswing in the roofing business calms down, I am going to talk to a couple of the roofing companies about redoing the roof on one of my rental houses. It is in serious need of a redo and I'm afraid it will also include a tear off of several layers of old shingles. It wasn't a hailstorm, just old age. I guess I will have to sit down and figure out how to expense that cost against rent for a year or two. I have been trying to save up enough money to reroof but that is somewhat offset by the insurance and taxes that will be due this fall. Oh well.
 |
| Even the wild life here are eating well. |
Yesterday I listened to the radio and I am now more confused than ever about why people are rioting. I do understand that the people near St; Louis are up set that after a fight, the young black man put his hands up and got shot anyway. I won't go into the reason for the shooting only to talk about the resulting looting and protests that occurred afterwards. The talk show host in his almost 99% Brilliance ( Bravado times Bullshit in a lot of cases) tried to equate it to the frustration classes of people feel against the Government. Someone else then asked how about those people that tear up cities when their sports teams win a Championship? Are they so happy they cry? Does athletic excellence bring out the high strung action? I am a lot more of the Martin Luther King side of the house that points out that when the Government does stupid things, they should be protested against but violence only begets violence. If a Governmental agency is so out of control that it shoots it's unarmed citizens, what do you think they will do when you rush down to Wal*Mart and start looting? I have been exposed to tear gas in my Military training and do not want to have it used on me.
The Government is right out there issuing mixed messages to our Military. They have started Reduction in Force (RIF) boards and have raised the standards for retention in the military and they are out there picking a fight with ISIS. I am afraid that our good intentions are being overwhelmed with our inability to pay for all the things we have done in the past. A year or so ago, I had a heated discussion with our 'Nother Daughter about the state of our economy. I expressed doom and gloom and she was just sure that there is enough money out there to pay for it all and it is just the way money is reported that is the problem. One her last visit, we all had a good laugh at all the goofs of our Government and her faith is not nearly as strong. I wonder if the Trillion dollar label not the billion dollar label is finally starting to get her attention? Probably now that she is working hard to be that great middle class and feeling the squeeze at the end of the pay period has her attention. She got trapped by the age old tale. I want a dog, I get a dog, I now need a house with a yard, I buy a house and now I have to continue to pay for it all. Dogs are the source of unconditional love but they are also the way our veterinarians make a living. They are the back bone of home ownership and have led us to more and more debt. A lot of the costs in life comes from the simple, I want a dog idea. Don't get me started on the idea of cats as pets.
Does it seem to you that I am losing the reason for paragraphs a little more each time I write? I started that last paragraph with the reduction in the Military forces and ended it with Cats. I have a little bit of run off in my mind when I write. Kind of like ADD that does get carried over in the writing. Two cups of coffee will do that to you. Perhaps it is my wanting to insert pithy stuff that is the cause.
Oh well, I need to get on with the important things.
MUD
No comments:
Post a Comment