Gasoline

[fritz]

Good idea on the sheep lawn mower. It could even fertilize the lawn at the same time.

 

The local town does not have a strict ordnance on animals, but if you have a neighbor that does not like them, he may object. There was a little old lady who had a large lot and kept a cow for milk. Her neighbor complained to the city council about the cow mooing early in the morning. Seems he liked to sleep late.

 

I would rather hear a cow moo or a rooster crow than a damned dog constantly yapping. My son moved to a nice neighborhood in north Austin with tall privacy fences around the large lot. But it seems his neighbor has a dog that gets the yapping fits all the time. Good fences do not necessarily make good neighbors, when the neighbor has a dog like that.

 

I bet the neighbors would rather he get a sheep. At least they are a little quieter.

And I would rather step in sheep turds than dog poop any day!

 

fritz

[FC]

A lot of you are old enough to have seen some really hard times, but most people in this country have not. There is a silver lining in all of this. There are a lot of spoiled Americans who have not a care, have more than they need, do not know hardship, and are in for hard times. These are the times when a nation grows, not financially, but morally. It is going to bring about change. We are already seeing things like the 70's: gas lines, inflation, and there will be less jobs. It will make people depend on friends, family, and yes, even their creator. I was starting to get a sense that much of America was getting to be a pretty, hollow shell, like Paris Hilton. My grandparents knew the depression, and they brought up their hard times more than once. They had something many people now do not- grit, hard work, and determination to not be poor again. Is God getting our attention yet? Maybe not quite yet.

Hard stuff to put into words.

[fritz]

Speaking of the Great Depression, my father was in the prime of his life--27 years old and working the land with mules. In a way he was better off than those who depended on a city job for food.

 

Even during WW2 he was farming the land. But now with a tractor, and while there was gas rationing, he got coupons enough to buy the gas he needed for the tractor. It was a necessary occupation, and the government needed the food and fiber for our troops at war.

 

But those days changed his life forever. He never wasted anything. In a way, I sometimes wish we could have had more leisure time. But we did what was necessary, not only for the family but for the country.

 

He died before seeing the hard times come again. But he was always expecting it to happen again, and was prepared. How many people today are prepared?

 

That is going to be the toughest thing for many people. They have allowed themselves to be vulnerable to this type of hardship, and are not prepared in any shape or form. When they lose that good paying job, what will they do?

 

I read about the effect that the artificailly low interest rates set by Mr. Greenjeans has done to many people. They borrowed more and more, hell the government was just about giving the banks money to loan out. The banks could get money from Mr. Greenbacks cheaper than offering a decent rate for savings accounts.

 

People took advantage of it (at the constant urging by the banks to borrow more and more). Now the day of reckoning is coming. The ability to repay even the low-interest loans is putting a strain on many people, so what is Mr. Green doing to "help"? Cut the interest rates even more!

 

If Uncle Sam don't own you yet, it ain't because he is not trying. To "help" of course.

 

Sometimes it's just better to not do anything and let the natural selection process work. Enough of this monkee business with the money supply.

 

fritz

[Sailormilan2]

Gas here hit $3.10 yesterday while I was at the pumps. I watched them change the signs.

The Gov. and State Atty General are talking about investigating the oil companies for price gouging and price fixing. Kalifornia gets next to none of its oil and fuel supplys from back east so the disaster back there shouldn't have affected us that much. I guess some people are calling for a State of Emergency here in Kalifornia due to the high price of gas.

Like that will do anything.

[FC]

I seem to remember that when Nixon put price fixing into effect the gas was suddenly not there to sell. I hate gouging too, but remember shortages of darned near everything, like toilet paper and gas.

[jasonthehunted]

saw the cheap stuff at 3.06 this morning, and now its dropping for some reason, 2.79 this evening, what happened? what did I miss?

[Jimro]

Ya know, watching all this going on TV I told my wife, "This is why we have rice and beans in the basement, a well stocked first aid kit, and plenty of ammo."

 

I guess growing up learning the value of hard work, and of being prepared has been a blessing to me. Lived through two floods now, not flash floods, just the gradual kind that sneak up on you and isolate you from the world for a couple days. When it happens again, cause it always does, we will be ready. I don't know if it will be earthquate, hurricane, tornado, flood, fire, famine or pestilence, but it's best to be prepared.

 

Jimro

[Guest MorgansBoss]

I to find it interesting as did the fellow from CA. that you folks in the south who obviously get your oil from the gulf ports affected by this thing have cheaper fuel than those of us who do not get our oil from the gulf. Something is very wrong with this picture!

[fritz]

Mrs fritz brought out something that many people today seem to be ignorant of.

 

The Red Cross (and other emergency agencies) have been spreading the word for over 40 years----every family should have enough food, water, sanitary supplies, etc. for 36 to 48 hours after a disaster. That is a fact!

 

This may not be the right place to post this, but I got the idea for it from one of the previous posters (about being prepared for a flood, etc).

 

Mrs fritz remembers the Red Cross telling people this ever since she was a child. She continues today, as a nurse, to try to get people to believe this. It has happened before, and it WILL happen again.

 

It is a damned shame that there are so many people in this country that think that the government HAS to help them immediately in any disaster. I guess that is why they never heeded the advise that the Red Cross (and other emergency agencies) have been preaching for over 40 years.

 

While I'm on the subject, I find that in this particular disaster (due to the enormous size of it, I guess) it was wrong for the emergency preparedness people to house all the refugees in places like the Superdome and the Convention Center without having the necessary supplies like water, sanitary supplies, etc. in place. Cots are not as much a priority as the basics of food and water.

 

The agencies in NO did not have this in place, and they are at fault for this lack of preparedness. There must have been some place where they could have stored these items in advance.

 

I bet they will in the future.

 

fritz

[TwistJG26]

I hear what you are saying, Fritz, but try to tell this to the Bush haters and all they can do is retort that YOU are blaming the victims.

[Guest MorgansBoss]

FRITZ (or Mrs Fritz)

 

Thanks for reminding us all of this vital advise! Brought back the memory of my dear mother. Like many during the height of the cold war (60's) when I was but a tyke she took a red cross home safety (or whatever it was called) course - basic first-aid, basic emergency kit / supplies, etc., etc...and a bound book with a big red cross and a picture of a nurse on the cover. I well remember the canned food, bottled water, matches, balnkets, etc. in our cellar. Not a bomb shelter per se but just emergency supplies in a safe place. I particularly remember helping change them out once a year or so to keep em fresh and ready. Thank God we never needed them!

 

We don't ususally keep a lot of canned food. My wife and I prefer frozen. Guess what I bought a bunch of at the grocery store four days ago??? Spam and all!