senior moment

friday, march 5th, 2010

for the longest time now, I've had the uneasy feeling that 2010 is going to be a worse year that either 2008 or 2009 were. 2009 was my worst year. And the more small business owners, like myself, whom I talk to, concur that it was also their worst year.

We have a stock market which is over-inflated by 6,000 points, and we're still shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs each month, businesses are closing, there's talk of confiscating our IRAs/ 401Ks and paying us an "annuity" instead, confiscatory UN gun control in the USA, unionizing-by-force all businesses, forced substandard health care... the list is so long my poor mind reels from it all.

Then, through the clouds, I saw a blue patch of sky and the sun came out briefly, and I thought, "God will get us through all this crap. After all, America was founded as a Republic, not a democracy or Marxism/fascism/communism, under the ideals and auspices of Christianity." I suddenly realized that wasn't "God's Job"; it was our mess and we had to fix it ourselves. Time to isolate the filthy, hate-America progressives/ liberals, line them up against a stone wall, and shoot them all. Problem solved. All unions must be disbanded, their leadership and members stood against a wall, and shot. Problem solved. We must restore The Constitutional Republic, IMO.

Around The Garden Center.™

From all Net weather channels/ weather map indications, it looked like it was going to be an even worse Blizzard that I & II were, and it was for folks in northeast PA, NYS, lower New England and northern NJ, but we escaped with 5-6" and a lot of blowing a drifting snow. Thankfully. Mercifully, there were no power outages in the York County (PA) areas, and the Net performed just fine, keeping all of us in touch over the two-day period. I kept watching the weather sites' maps, and it looked like we were going to get 5-6" of snow, and not the 6-12" predicted. The storm had already moved northeast of York (PA) and we'd get spared the main brunt of it. The wind howled all night long, with gusts recorded up to 66mph. I was up at 6am to feed & water the cats, and one plow had been through our street, so far. It was still snowing horizontally. I decided to stay inside for the day, since Rt24 would probably be drifted shut in some areas, as usual. Best to let Penn dot do their job and stay off the roads. I had all the provisions I needed; I was well-stocked.

I called Mom & Dad to see how they were doing, and the front door was drifted shut, though he could get out through the attached double garage door. The VNA and PT were scheduled to arrive late morning and work with Mom, so he'd let them in the garage, and then begin clearing the driveway with the JD snowblower. I felt better knowing they were warm, safe and being taken care of.

By Saturday morning, it was snowing again and I made the decision to stay home, as the Nor'easter was still with us, bringing more snow down from Northern PA and NYS. And 1-3" were forecast. I'll meet-up with Arthur on Monday around 10am, and we'll start plowing and shoveling, all over again. While trying to shovel my condo driveway on Saturday morning, I slipped and fell on my butt. Since it's a south-facing driveway, the sun will melt 99% of the snow. I threw a little snow-melter out, just for good luck. Did I mention that I've had enough of Winter?

I was up at 7am on Sunday, to water and feed the cats, and it was still snowing lightly. I checked the weather maps and news, and went back to sleep until 11:30am. Then out to food shopping and some errands. I stocked-up my condo pantry with over $478 of canned goods, mostly in 2-or-3-for-1 sales. I'm now back to a 3-4 month supply. I called Mom & Dad on Sunday afternoon, to chat and see how they were doing. They're doing fine. I told them that Arthur & I'd be going into the Complex on Monday morning, to clean-up the drifts, and open the place-up, as well as get GH5 watered. I called Jennifer to meet us there to do that. FX-TV's "Armageddon" was on from 6-9pm, and I DVR'd it; a fantastic movie!

By 10am on Monday, Arthur had the front driveway opened-up, as it had closed-off with 2-4ft drifts. Amazingly, the parking lot and steps were still clear. Perhaps the massive piles of snow surrounding them had prevented any accumulation; that's what I'm guessing. Jennifer was also in to try to get water to partially-collapsed GH5, but none of my previously-working water tripods were working. Could be sediment blocking the spinner heads or the 15-18-yr old units were just inoperable and I needed to buy new ones. I called around to several suppliers, and they quit carrying them years ago, due to lack of demand. Looks like we'll just have to repair them, or drag hoses from GH6 to GH5 and get the watering done. Or I'll be facing massive Jap Maple etc losses in the Spring, when we bring the plant materials out of the 5 Quonset Hut GHs.

***Winter Watch Warnings*** were already up for Wednesday, dammit, and this is NOT what we need, right now. 1-3" predicted; shit, I hope not.

"24", Season 8, Episode 10 was another spellbinder; I watched last week's Episode 9 to bring me up to speed. Wow! dear Heavens-To-Betsy, I love that show!

Alan was in on Tuesday, sick as a dog with "something viral", and by the end of the day, I had the sweats & chills, was shaking like a leaf, and had my parka on most of the afternoon. I sprayed the office air with Lysol® right after he left. Even with the heater running full-blast, I was cold. Dad left early, followed by Jennifer and then I bailed at 2pm. My cleaning lady & her husband were just finishing-up when I pulled up to the condo. I noticed that gas prices in the York (PA) area were about ready to break $3 over the week. Unleaded Regular (87oct) now at $2.69, Unleaded Premium (89oct) now at $2.79/gal, and Unleaded Super Premium (92oct) at $2.99/gal, with Diesel also rising to $2.79/gal. $7.00/ gal gas? Some people want it that way.

The York Water Co had made an appointment with me for 12:45pm on Wednesday, to change-out my basement water meter. They claimed that it was a 10-yr procedure, but I hadn't had mine done in 20-yrs, so it was time to do so. I left early and was at my condo by 12:20pm, and by 1:45pm, no one had showed-up or called, so I called their offices. They'd moved the appointment to Thursday, without telling me, and if I hadn't called, I would have never known. I guess I'm supposed to be "clairvoyant" or something. So I finished-up the "Media Reviews" page on gdnctr v3.

Where's The US Debt Clock, right now? Surprised? Inflation/ deflation is coming, then a real depression. Get ready!

Chris, the York Water Co tech was at my condo at 12:30pm, to change-over the analog water meter for a new digital version, and had it done in >15 minutes. He has an FFL (Federal Firearms License) and auctions estate and private firearms, knows my GC&N well, bought his 15-yr old Jap Maple, which was crushed and trashed by the heavy, wet snows, and will be back to get a replacement during our April 17th Open House. Small world.

The "Virtual Cabin"™: A Novella.

After I shoveled my driveway, and waiting for the 2-3ft drifted-over road to be cleared, and I headed-off to "The Cabin" for a few days of R&R, reading, relaxing, sipping 50-yr old Brandy and smoking real, hand-rolled Cuban cigars (don't ask). I took Jenny (aka "Mrs Mutt") along, and my Kimber, my 11-87 Remy AutoLoader 12ga, and my AR-10 .308cal (7.62x51mm NATO) rifle, just in case the Holtzapples showed-up again. I was prepared.

I pulled the Jeep into the lean-to, right next to the kitchen's side door. I drew my Kimber .45, chambered a round, checked for broken or jimmied windows, entered the cabin and checked all rooms & closets with my drawn Kimber 1911 .45cal; all was quiet, to make sure it was "unoccupied" and safe for me. The snow depth was now at 18-24", and with all the blowing and drifting, it'd gotten worse. I had to do some shoveling to get inside. I have Accu-Trac on the 2002 Jeep; no sweat. I quickly unloaded supplies as temps began falling into the teens. The LPG-powered generator kicked-on with the flick of a switch, so I decided to get the oversized hearth fire underway. I noticed additional truck tracks to the 2 x 1,000gal LPG tanks on the side of the Cabin, so I knew I'd just had another 500-750gal fill-up from Roy's Gas Company in Adam's Junction. Nice. His last bill was around $890, so I knew I'd be good to go for a few more months, at this rate of visitation and usage. Jenny was happy to get me back for a few days.

The Cabin warmed-up quickly, and I went out to the back porch to gather a load of split-wood, and logs for the massive hearth. I soon had that fire underway and went to the pantry to get some food for Jenny. I refilled her two dry-food bowls, wet bowl and water bowl. She was satiated and curled-up on the Kodiak bearskin in front of the fireplace. I settled into my comfy chair and picked-up "Unintended Consequences" to finish it, for the second time. One of the best books I've read in years. Thanks, "flytosail"! I also brought the Michael Savage Series — "The Savage Nation", Liberalism Is A Mental Disorder", "Political Zoo" and "Psychological Nudity" — to add to my piles of reading material.

I made a filet mignon, baked potato, sour cream, baby peas and grilled asparagus for myself, for dinner. I re-checked my ammo supply for my Kimber .45cal and Remy 11-87 Auto-loader, and all was in order. I had a message on my cellphone from my security company, Choice One, to meet with me at my office next week, to discuss a security system for "The Virtual Cabin", and I called them back to confirm the appointment. I want this done and ASAP. The Holtzapples are a dangerous bunch, and I'd just as soon as shoot and kill them, as spend $5-7,000 to protect The Cabin, but that isn't an option, right now. That will come later, I'm sure.

It was still snowing outside, here in the Southern Poconos, by 6pm, blowing and drifting, so I put another log on the fire. I went over to the large bay window, and looked around for any intruders' tracks; there were none. I had the Sheriff's office and cellphone numbers in my cellphone speed dial registry, but I truly hoped I'd have the opportunity to face and kill the Holtzapple Clan filth, without calling-in any outside help. I had plenty of firepower and would relish the chance.

I sat back down to do some reading, sip some Brandy and have a smoke; not a Cuban Cigar this time. As I started to drift off to sleep, I closed the fireplace damper halfway, got ready for bed, and turned out the lights. I felt Jenny jump up at the foot of the bed, curl-up and also go to sleep.

By Saturday morning, I decided it was time to drive into Adam's Junction, and meet some more neighbors in the local stores. Jenny dutifully came with me, on a leash, with her new ownership tags, now belonging to me. We walked down the west side of Main St, met and introduced ourselves to each store owner, all of whom remembered me from the Town Hall Meeting, a few weeks ago, when I faced-down jack-booted, DHS punks. They were all appreciative of what I'd done and took note of my ownership of Jenny, and offered coffee and sweet rolls. By the end of the west side of Main St, I was bloated from all the food. I figured that I'd make the rounds of Main Street's east side, as well as Broadway, in the coming weeks, as I couldn't hold anymore pastries, and didn't want to be inhospitable, if they offered them to me. Jenny even got a few doggie treats, too.

I spent $125.43 at The General Store, and went through the Ace Hardware Store and spent another $67.50, to get what I needed for The Cabin. We left for The Cabin shortly, and settled into our bearskin rugs and comfy chairs. The wind had settled-down outside, the snow squalls and showers were moving through, so I decided to fire-up the grille and make a couple of 10oz Allen Bros Filet Mignons; a half for Jenny and the rest for my sliced steak sandwich in Crusty French Bread, for Monday at work. I threw another two split-woods on the hearth and it roared back to life. I kept reading "Unintended Consequences" and was almost finished, as I drifted-off to sleep, snug in my Afghan quilt.

I woke-up Monday morning at 5am, shaved, showered and dressed and headed back to "reality"; I had a 20ac Complex to plow/shovel-out and conduct business. Jenny's bowls were filled-to-capacity, and I'd be back to see her in a day or so. The Choice One Security Company was scheduled to come next Tuesday to wire-up The Cabin and the driveway would have to be done in the Spring, after the new 18-24" of snow melted and the ground thawed-out. No problem.

I was back at the GC&N Complex on Tuesday, taking care of business. I had an appointment with York Water Co, at 12:45pm on Wednesday, to have a 20-yr old water meter "changed-out" in the basement of my condo. I'd come in, open-up, and leave at 12:10pm, to meet the tech at 12:45pm, and stay home for the rest of the day. Dad would close-down. York Water Co fucked-up: they set the appointment for Wednesday instead of Thursday; IDIOTS! So I had to do the whole thing over the next day. Blech!

By 4:30pm on Tuesday, it was raining and sleeting, as the Winter Storm moved-up from the south, slightly impacting us. Forecasts were for a "covering of 1-2". I had my doubts, as the closer we were to the Mason-Dixon Line, the less the snow dropped. We got wet streets; that was all it amounted to.

Fonts For You™.

Many Journal entries are best viewed in the Charrington Roughened and the Orlando typefaces. You may already have Century Gothic on your Windows-XP machine, and that's almost always used for the body copy or subheads, so grab it, if you don't already have it; you're reading it now. They're free from my website. Grab 'em! Save them to your HD, and install to C:/Windows/Fonts (folder), thru your WIN XP Control Panel > Fonts > File > Install New Font. Simple stuff; just takes a few minutes.

Here are a few others, which have been used in my Journal: Papyrus and Acoustic Bass, and Caesar Regular and Carleton and Charrington Strewn and Catherine. If you get and install them, you'll see how much nicer these pages are to view and read. Plus, they add to your repertoire of available fonts in MS-Word, as WIN-XP System Fonts, so you can use them for your daily documents.

Here's a new one, for your Windows/Fonts folder: Sketchy.

Some People Just Need Killing.™

It's not my intention to be the judge here — that's God's "job" — but rather to "hasten the meeting" so that He can send the following subhuman filth to the "Fires of Hell", "River or Lake of Sulphur", or whatever He deems appropriate. I'd gladly/happily volunteer, at no cost to any of my Hard-Working, Fellow US Taxpayers, to gladly/gleefully/happily headshoot these murderous, lowlife dirtbags of all stripes — their skin-color doesn't matter to me, at all — and rid American Society's innocents (especially our precious children and the frail, defenseless elderly) of them, once-and-for-all. And yes, I'd rather see one innocent man convicted and executed, than 10 murderers/robbers/child rapists-murderers freed, to rob, rape and murder again. Hey; call me an "Old Fashioned Conservative"! Too harsh? Nah. Just RIGHT!

Thanks for making my week, Texas! "The state of Texas has executed a Dallas-area man convicted of fatally shooting a Brazilian engineer. Thirty-two-year-old Michael Sigala received a lethal injection Tuesday night for the August 2000 fatal shooting of 28-year-old Kleber Santos, whose job had brought him to Texas shortly after he was married. Santos' wife was also killed in the attack at their apartment in the Dallas suburb of Plano." (Hat-tip to Tom S.)

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