Monday, November 23, 2009

A Friend in Need.


Yesterday I noticed one of my temporary neighbor's pickup had Purple Heart license plates so I decided to walk over and talk to him. He was in Viet Nam at the same time I was, but was none too friendly so I just came back over here. About 15 minutes later I heard a knock on the door and it was him handing me a beer and he had a totally different attitude. I told him I had beer and handed his back and then we moved out the the nearest table which was shaded (Which was for the empty space next to this trailer.) We talked about our time in Viet Nam and it turns out he was a Marine and had been seriously wounded. He was sent back after serving 5 months there and seeing a lot of heavy action and then being wounded bad enough to be discharged.

Now... Remember the empty space I mentioned using the table for? An RV pulled up in it and neither the man nor his wife too friendly so we called our chat over and both went back to the RVs. This morning the guy next door had dead batteries in his pickup and when I told him I had a charger (which he didn't have or jumper cables either) he became a good bit more friendly. So did his wife. Anyway I let him borrow my charger and that didn't do the trick and he had already called the garage here to see if they had batteries, but they told him they had sold out during the chili cook off and hadn't gotten restocked yet. Anyway I got out the jumper cables and that didn't work so I told him to just let me keep the falcon connected and rev it up for a while to see if that would charge it and after about 10 minutes of that he got the pickup started. He wanted to know what type beer I drank, but I told him to forget it because I didn't help him out to get paid for it. He headed for Alpine after that to get a new battery or batteries since it takes two for a diecel. By now it was already 11:30 so... Looks like my  trip to the land will be put off another day. Or two or three or...

Update

I guess I got paid back for the help from another neighbor. I'd noticed an electrical company pickup parked two doors over and noticed that there was a bunch of scrap 3/4 inch PVC conduit under the trailer. I saw the guy sitting out as I was walking over to the store and asked him how much he would sell me some of the conduit pieces for and he picked up a hand fill of them and handed them to me. Said I could have them. I offered to pay him, but he refused. Now... You might wonder why I need a bunch of pieces of PVC conduit? Well I have something like 20 solar lights (The harbor Freight type) and it just so happens that 3/4 inch PVC is the perfect size for those to fit over. I needed to find some to stick those lights up on when I go out to the land next time so now I should have close to enough to do that and he told me if I needed more to let him know.

17 comments:

  1. Make no mistake, you reap what you sow - Karma;)

    I do hope you can make it out to your place and start some projects so you can get moving forward.

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  2. I call it "What goes around comes around" but I guess it all boils down to the same thing. That link you posted about Greening the Desert really has me thinking. May be a good ways down the road, but I guess I have the time.

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  3. Here's another link for ya. Considering a lot of the people around here depend on getting tobacco through the mail because of the much cheaper price this is not good at all. (Yeah I know. Some of you are down on smoking and smokers), but you might read this anyway?

    Mail Order Tobacco Illegal

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  4. Hey man! When you gonna come out to visit the Field Lab?

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  5. I don't know John. I need to find out how to get there to start with.

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  6. You called it right - what goes around comes around. Doing good for good's sake is the best policy.

    The Field Lab is easy to find - just go up to the Grub Shack, and hang around for a while. Sooner or later, either John will come in for lunch, or someone will be going out there that you can follow.

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  7. There is a lady out your way named Wretha, she also has a blog and she got into a lot of trouble with the government for ordering smokes from overseas.

    It's funny how a person's demeanor changes for the better when you are in a position to help them. You seem to be a very nice person so something good had to come your way.

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  8. Allen,it will probably be some time after the first of December before I try to make it to the Field Lab, but it is on my (some what loose) schedule.

    MsBelinda, I'd considered ordering cigarettes from overseas, but the two week delivery was what stopped me. That and not knowing whether I'd like them or not. The price was much better though. I didn't know you could get in trouble for that though.

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  9. My gramps used to get ciggs from over seas all the time. I dont think he cared too much if he got into trouble from the gubment anyway, he didnt pay taxes for the last 10 years of his life.

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  10. Look out OGT, they will probably try to make you pay his taxes. ;)

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  11. Tffnguy - Wretha got into trouble and wrote about it in her blog which they also shut down for a while. The cigarrettes were for her husband and the government confiscated them and then all sorts of government agencies started reading her blog.

    She has some program that tells her who visits her site. Homeland Security, Border Patrol, NASA, US Treasury and all kinds of agencies started appearing. Then she got a nasty letter from the government saying her cigarrettes were confiscated.

    This is her blog:
    http://www.off-grid.net/section/wretha/

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  12. Speaking of govenment; I guess it time to buy some more ammo while that is still legal... I will leave that topic alone for now...

    Now speaking of things that DO actually work like yourself and your many projects, I remember seeing ahile back of a neat greenhouse you had built. Is that something who brought with you and will you be setting that up soon? If so I saw this guy and wife up in Maine who garden year around and they have some good articles to help you grow food.

    fOUR seasons gardening PDF

    FOUR Seasons Farm website - good info

    I have way too much time on my hands latley and not enough work, so again I do alot of browsing - enjoy!

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  13. The greenhouse is still in Plano and will stay there. Nothing will likely ever be grown in it again though unless the step grandsons use it to grow pot in. I have a feeling there is a good chance of that.

    The first green house at the site reminds me of a structure I made in 97 when I was getting ready to paint the falcon. I couldn't get it in the garage with all the junk in there so bought a bunch of 3/4 inch PVC in 10 foot length and a bunch of 3/4 inch 4 way tees or what ever they are called. I glued two of the 10 foot pieces of PVC in to two opposing connections of the 4 ways to make 20 foot lengths. Then I cut a bunch of 2 foot pieces of 3/4 inch PVC and glued all of the 20 foot joints together with them. On each side of the driveway I drove 2 foot lengths of rebar in the ground slanted toward the driveway on both sides leaving about 6 inches of rebar sticking out. It made a structure that looked like that greenhouse when I stuck the legs over the rebar. I covered the whole think with plastic sheet and that was what I painted the car under. It did as I intended by keeping bird droppings and falling leaves off of the car when I painted it. I gave it to my uncle to use at his place in the country after that, but he didn't secure it to the rebar like I did and a big wind mangled it. Probably wouldn't hold up long here anyway with the high winds.

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  14. An amendment that would require congressmen and senators to take the same healthcare plan they force on us (under proposed legislation they are curiously exempt).

    You are encouraged to go on this Website and sign the petition (very simple - just first, last and email).

    To Petition

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  15. Thanks for the link. I went to the website and signed the petition. Not that it will do any good but it sure makes me feel better.

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  16. Might make them pay for their own medical instead of the tax payers doing it. That would be worth something. They can afford to pay for it to keep them selvs from stooping to the same level as us. ;)

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