Infrastructure crumbling - blame Bush

Infrastructure still crumbling - Blame BHO?

"WASHINGTON – Tens of thousands of unsafe or decaying bridges carrying 100 million drivers a day must wait for repairs because states are spending stimulus money on spans that are already in good shape or on easier projects like repaving roads, an Associated Press analysis shows."

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090731/ap_on_re_us/us_stimulus_bridges

Latest contribution from the neighbors

Thanks for the contributions.

Latest embryonic letter to editor

"Editor:

Global warming has opened up miles of beaches for the public to enjoy in Wisconsin but they are off limits. The lackeys of the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce on the Supreme Court have ruled ordinary people only have rights to the water in the lakes but not the beaches even though the beaches were under public waters in past years. Just as the rich owners of local lake palaces unfairly made their money off the backs of ordinary people they also unfairly get exclusive use of the land between their lake palaces and the water. Ordinary people have to keep their feet wet.

President Obama has helped us keep gas in our tanks and pay our mortgages. We also need his help in reclaiming our right to walk and picnic the lakeshores of Wisconsin. The solution for those of us who cannot afford lake palaces is to organize squatting parties. Simply load your boat with brats and beer and motor over to the beach at one of the local lake palaces and have a squatting party. You can even leave your trash on the beach since the rich people can easily afford to have it carted away. With enough civil disobedience maybe we can get the White House to notice and help us reclaim what is rightfully ours. "

Addition to the F-W It List

In the future the F-Word It List will be know as the F-W It List. Here is the latest candidate: mice who build nests in your grill then try to collect on your fire insurance when you start the grill.

Two more versions of the same bowl design

Once again to meet both the needs of both the trailer market and the gallery market, TWW has produced similar bowls. The one on the top would go well in any doublewide. The one below can only be found in the finest collections. Mrs TWW added this one to her personal collection immediately on seeing it so it is not for sale.

Rhymes with Bucket List

Everyone has a bucket list or at least seen the movie. Well, to be different TWW decided to start a F-word It list. Now what can he put on his F-Word It List?

1. telemarketers
2. wood ticks
3. people who don't like his blog
4. snakes in the septic tank
5. tailgaters
6. people who raise his taxes
7. bowls that crack
   
8. censors who won't let him spell out F-Word on this blog
   

Eco roof job begun

Since one of the goals of TWW Enterprises is to save the planet TWW decided to help out by painting his roof white to reflect light back into space instead of heating up the planet. He got half of the way done on one side but now is looking for volunteers to help with the rest. Some in-laws are coming up in August so he is going to try to recruit them to help out.The funny colored clouds above the house are a common sight on GM and global warming is the likely cause.

Weather at the cabin

As a new service to loyal viewers we are experimenting with adding a weather link. Be patient.

Wrong kind of plumbing snake creates a mess

About two weeks ago TWW tried to take out the filter in his septic to clean it. Upon pulling off the heavy cover TWW found a snake sitting on top of the filter. You have to reach about four feet down into the hole to get at the handle and TWW was concerned about falling into the hole so decided to use a rake to lift the filter up. Bad idea. The filters are fragile and after getting the filter out of its enclosure the filter slipped and broke while the snake swam around it. Getting the mess out of the tank was an ineresting challenge - especially the snake. Above you see the original filter and the replacement one TWW had to buy. Today was time to put the new one in.


Yellow rope was supposed to help keep TWW from falling in.

Mission accomplished we hope. The next challenge will be getting the filter out next year. Don't you wish you lived in the country?

We just learned the septic in the space station has problems too and they can't just walk out to a tree and do their business: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g8gpZRl3t8mV2RxsVjIuPU75dJeAD99HQS7G0

TWW now thinks he is a trapper

Above is a trap with a name like 'Better Rodent Trap' or something like that. The peas and beans have been a disaster this year. They grew but the rodents who ate them grew and multiplied. Last year we got a bunch of peas and beans but this year we have not been so lucky. With the hopes of salvaging his gardens TWW shed his animal rights values and started trapping right in the gardens. Above are some of the peas that actually made it to adolescence. Below is a trap at work. This time it got a mouse but usually it is a small gopher who met its mark. TWW hopes his contribution to natural selection will result in gophers who do not eat gardens.

joke of the day

The people who manage our money want to hire a contractor who can tell them jokes. See:
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=3014e950a92dbb0f7e066f9e088a301f&tab=core&tabmode=list&cck=1&au=&ck=

Isn't what they are doing already the joke of the day?

Gray and cold for this time of year in the Era of Global Warming. We finally know the secret. This is all caused by computers. See the July 13th entry on this guy's blog: http://www.drroyspencer.com/

Here is a picture of how the computers are making it cold:

If you want to know about the science used to justify making your electric rates higher and forcing you to drive a small car where you cannot carry enough stuff to the cabin, this guy's blog is worth your time.

(photo was e-borrowed from Spencer's blog since it will not mean any hits on his blog since nobody reads this one)

Fence contest - TWW's family loses

Winning entry


Runner-up

Another crackpot letter to the editor in the making

Editor:

As the country rushes into the era of hope, change and runaway spending it's useful to look back at how it might have been. Twenty years ago Reagan with help from the Democrat party passed a Social Security reform bill to save the program. Reagan conveniently forgot his free market values and signed the reform at the time. But instead of investing the extra social security tax we had to pay, the government spent it all. Just think if that extra money had been invested say in home mortgages. Sure some of it would have been lost with the housing bubble bursting but that is better than all of the money gone being spent by the government. But true hope and change may be on the way. After initially, poohpooing George Bush's ideas on saving Social Security by investing the money in the stock market, the Democrats have come around and started doing just that with the recent purchases of GM, Chrysler and bank stocks. Capitalizing on this momentum there is a second way we can help save Social Security. The government can take the returns on investments from the Social Security trust funds in education and infrastructure and put that money back into the trust funds so it can be invested again or used to pay recipients like any normal pension fund would do.

Cheaper than college

In the past you could spend thousands on getting a four year liberal arts degree and end up as a food server after graduation or you could work as a food server right after high school and be money ahead. The difference was self-image. A four year college degree is a license to look down on people without one. But thanks to modern technology and low cost Chineese labor you can skip college and still look down on people for less than $100. The answer is to buy a tree stand. From your lofty vantage you also can hold your nose in the air and look down on the unwashed masses of people who walk by the tree stand burdened by college loan repayment.

Another half-baked, crackpot TWW Commentary on Gov-plan Gap Insurance

As the people in Washington rush to pass a sickcare reform bill none of them will read before voting on we often hear about Medicare being the gold standard in sick care. Surveys show many consumers are happy with Medicare and it is only the doctors and hospitals who whine about low reimbursements limiting their profits. But lost in the current debate is any mention of Medicare going broke and the need to carry Medigap insurance coverage. Though hard to understand for many people (like this writer), the government website on Medigap policies says under Medicare you pay for 20% of services (first $135 are free), first three pins of blood, and so on.

When the government rolls out the Government Plan (Gov-plan) people may be surprised. There may be fines for people who choose not to have health insurance. Financing of the plan may be as shaky as Medicare unless taxes go up but more important there has been no mention of private insurance companies selling Gov-plan Gap policies. You may end up having to pay for insurance you don't want then when you use the new insurance plan and you may wish you had a Gov-plan gap insurance policy as well like the seniors do but for now those policies don't seem to exist. Welcome to the era of hope and change.

Pay attention to the debate and you may know more about how reform will effect you than the people who vote on the bill without having enough time to read and understand it.

Trails in the woods

Miss Firefly 1968 left for Denver by way of Fleet Farm this morning so TWW assumed he could cut trails in the woods without worrying about the woods burning up with him in it.

If it has no function then it is art

Miss Firefly moves to BANANAland today

After winning the Firebug reality TV contest at BANANAland Miss Firefly is moving to BANANAland where she has won a four night's stay. Below are her new quarters. Even out in the woods the only thing short of all the comforts of home is a bathroom door.

Visit by Miss Firefly 1968

GM was happy to get a visit by the 1968 Miss Firefly this week. Above are a few pics as she struts her stuff.

more global warming news

The first fire for the 2009/2010 heating season happened on the evening of June 31st. We had to keep MLA happy. She was threatening to move to the other guest house early even if the bathroom was not done since she was freezing to death at GM.