Political Scene

Energized!
I have been calling the white house comment line.
I have been emailing my elected officials.
Most involved since Nixon was a two bit criminal.

The yard is looking pretty good. Still lots to do. Just finished planting a Baby Locust tree in a spot that will make it stand out. I want to dig up two Red River Birch and put in two Red Canadian Choke Cherry trees. I have one out in front and it will be a very nice addition to the yard. I have some sod to lay because of the new cement in front. Some of the curb, approach to the driveway and about 40' of sidewalk were relaced due to cracking and heaving. When the crew busted out the old cement I was shocked to see that some of it was about 8 inches thick. I had a sanitation truck come by and pump out our septic tank. The young kid was nice and explained that the company was trying to get customers as far away as Grand Junction, CO and Rock Springs, WY. As the kid was driving away I mentioned to Alicia that he was taking all our ++++ away - hehehehe. Today is weed pulling day.

Why I don't trust a democrat..........

I read the following and thought it said what I have been feeling for a long time about democrats.

"I have been reading many blogs in light of current events and have noticed that conservatives tend to support their beliefs with facts, while the liberal response is often emotional and irrational. Those they disagree with are not to be debated but are to be belittled, labeled, marginalized and hated. While conservatives routinely criticize their leaders, those on the left relentlessly close ranks to defend their side even during displays of blatant misconduct. Janeane Garofalo's rant on TV claiming that everyone who attended a tea party was a "racist redneck", and Perez Hilton calling Miss California a "Bitch and a c**t" because she holds the same opinion on marriage as President Obama are perfect examples. Not one word of condemnation was heard from the left. The left champions tolerance only when it suits them and exposes the reality that their opinions and beliefs are so feeble and indefensible that they cannot allow even an iota of truthful criticism."

I have felt for a long time that democrats love to hate "rich" people. Of course, the definition of rich is a moving target. Remember when rich was defined as one who makes over a million dollars, then $500,000, then $250,000 (as stated by prez "O") and then $150,000 in the last days of the campaign by Biden? This is class envy and hatred all at the same time by the democrats. Never trust a democrat.

The Bucket List

We ate at the Red Iguana today. I promised myself we were going to get out and do "something" today. Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives had highlighted this place and since it was in Salt Lake City somewhere I was going to give it a try. I could not see or hear anything else on the menu because one of the specials was tamales. It could be tamales filled with dirt and I would eat it. One of the nice things the waitress did - by the way the waitress was pleasant and quick - was bring a sample of the seven different mole (MOH-lay) sauces they are famous for. Two had chocolate in them -yuck. I was not impressed, but Alicia spread her wings and tried something. It wasn't very good because neither of us had tried anything like this before. I was happy as a clam with mine - mine was better than good - the sauce was spicy, but the hot did not linger on like a bad zit. We got there just after noon and there were about 10 to 15 waiting outside to get in. There was no waiting room inside at all - it was wall to wall tables and chairs. Our wait was about 25 minutes which was very pleasant as the sun was shinning and it felt great to sit in the open cool air. By the time we finished there was still a waiting line of 10 or less to get in. That place was hopping! Recession Hell! Red Iguana was packing them in and shoving them out as quickly as they could. As we left I glanced in the kitchen and there wasn't enough room to turn around for all the cooks, stoves, etc. I can now mark that one off my list of things to do. If we had company I would certainly take them to Red Iguana. Anyway, I felt the $13 for my plate was just too much as I did not have rice or beans with it. If it had been in the $8 to $9 range for the entree then I would have felt I got a good meal for a reasonable price. But that is the cost of eating at a DDD recommended place. Also, all the people coming to dine were white. Jack up those prices and only those who can afford it come. Before we ate we stopped by an open mall with the expressed purpose of shopping at a kitchen specialty store for a couple of items. We contemplated a couple of potential buys but came away with nothing but a side show of looking at some gay guys. I happened to mention my observations to Alicia and she responded with a comment that she concluded the same. I had to chuckle to myself when Alicia wondered out loud if there was a "community" of gays in SLC. I responded that they all group together like a school of fish. Why does it seem like all gays are rich? There has got to be some poor ones running around. I guess I don't shop at poor gay type stores or else I would say there are only poor gays. On the way home we stopped by Bed Bath and Beyond to exchange a garment bag which was short of some hooks when we opened the package - damn chinaman who can't package right. After a quick stop by a book store for Alicia we returned home and I crashed for a nap that lasted far too long. The previous night I slept six hours but felt like I was dragged though "no-sleepsville" streets for hours. I conclude the walking, sun, full tummy, etc. did me in. I hope your weekend is going well............

Not Crazy At Last

Since early Friday morning (or was it late Thursday night?) I have been suffering with a strange and mysterious stabbing pain that seemed to travel around the left side of my head like a FEDEX truck on its busy route the night before Christmas. After visiting two doctors on Saturday and the dentist on Monday I took one last chance on the medical community by visiting my "regular" PA, Travis Schelling, this morning. Travis happens to be female who has demonstrated an ability to give me medical advice that has proved to be better in every conceivable way in comparison to several doctors I had visited before taking my first chance with her. I did not know up front on my first visit with Travis that she was a she. However, it did not take me long to find I hit the mother lode and can't think of why I would want to change. In the succeeding years she has been --- ok, back to the story. My symtoms have been odd, puzzling, and at times supernatural. After telling Travis of my symtoms and a short timeline of what had been happening she examined me for a moment or two. All in all it took her about 3 minutes from the time I started my tale to her announcement that I had shingles. I was much relieved to hear that my malady had a name and that I would not need a couple of guys in white coats and a net to escort me to my final resting place in the looney bin. She even took pains to examine my scalp several times and confirm more than once that I had shingles. I think she was more interested in advising me more than once that what she was looking at was in fact shingles. However, she also took pains to tell me that shingles usually affects only one set of connected nerves. Yet, my symtoms were showing I had more than one set of nerves being affected. She also indicated that she had never seen shingles that presented itself in the mouth - my gums and tongue were showing signs of shingles. So my rash was scattered around several different areas of my scalp as well as around the left corner of my mouth. She cautioned me to keep an eye on the appearance of the rash around my eye. Such a rash would mean my eye could be subject to attack by the virus and result in blindness if not acted upon immediately.

So here I sit with two additional medications to go along with the two I got on Saturday from the ER Doc (for pain and discomfort). I have been home after only two hours at work (and the time to visit Travis and get the medications). I will be at home tomorrow as I will be contagious until Wednesday evening. I don't want to scatter my illness around plus it will give me some time to catch up on administrative home matters that have been laying around as a dead cat on the road.

Immediately after leaving Travis I called Nicole, the dentist (to spread the news of my illness), work, and then Alicia to get whatever sympathy she could give while in the midst of dealing with here "students."

I have received two checks ($10 and $13) from unclaimed property owners I contacted.

We stopped by Nicole's tonight to celebrate Alicia's birthday. We brought a ice cream cake from Baskin Robins with Happy Birthday Grandma on it.

A purpose has been discovered...........

What was I going to do in retirement? That was a nagging thought that crossed my mind more than once.

Well, I discovered it!

Background. Each state has something called "unclaimed property" (UP)which will give me the opportunity to match up people with their valuables. Actually, UP is also known as abandoned property. It could be cash or the contents of a safe deposit box. Most likely it is cash. What is the origin of UP you ask. It could be as simple as a refund/rebate/deposit which the company can not get to you. For example, you have a deposit with the utility company. You move and the utility company can not determine your forwarding address. The company holds the funds for a given period of time a specified by the state. Once that period of time has been reached the company forwards the funds and information to the state UP office. They inturn account for the UP and post it to a database which appears on the web.

The web is where I became aware of UP. I was working on a project at work and discovered my retirement project. It is a project which has so many benefits. Matchng people with their money and giving me something to do in retirement and making me some money all at the same time.

However, there are some strange situations that can arise trying to match money with their owners. For example, I call the Hixson Funeral Home in Leesville, LA to give them the good news. I was barely into my speech when the lady said they were tired of crank calls and hung up on me! I thought - "WAIT! I am trying to give you your money!" Well, I cranked up a letter with the necessary information and sent it to them. I started the letter out with, "You can't hang up on me this time." Another example - I contacted a doctor here in Utah and the guy sent a letter back saying he didn't own any property at the address in the UP database as he only rented there. I fired back a letter explaining the situation to him in more detail. I did get an insight into how strange this might seem to someone - receiving a communication about UP - so I will include a definition of UP in my letters and hope for the best.

It is interesting to surf the various states UP databases You can see some very strange and interesting things. For example, California is holding money for the internal revenue service, NASA, DEA, Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines, Utah, etc. I found a record for Michaeline (only $4).

I won't run out of people and money to match up as across the US there are literally millions and millions of records worth billions and billion of dollars.