The Chatter Box (Ozark, Northwoods, California: transplants, zoning, work)

[Lake Junkie]

Dear Eric & Mrs...I'm hoping you will take the time to drive down to one of our coffee meets!!! It's a wonderful place to visit, anyway...home of Bass Pro & all...

Darlynn...such good news. Sending more prayers up as we speak...

And all of you...

Just trying to get back in the groove after knee surgery...even those little easy surgeries are a bugger, you know?
And right now figuring out how many weeks of cold we probably have left before SPRING arrives!

[Boof]

Originally Posted by Lake Junkie

Edited: Just trying to get back in the groove after knee surgery...even those little easy surgeries are a bugger, you know?
And right now figuring out how many weeks of cold we probably have left before SPRING arrives!

LJ,

Knee surgery? I didn't know you had to have surgery. I'm so sorry to hear that. It sounds like it went fairly well, and you're on the mend. Please know my well wishes are with you. For someone as active as you, it must be difficult to stay still. You take care of yourself, ok? And keep me posted on how you're doing.

Hugs,
Boof

[northbayeric]

Originally Posted by Lake Junkie

Dear Eric & Mrs...I'm hoping you will take the time to drive down to one of our coffee meets!!! It's a wonderful place to visit, anyway...home of Bass Pro & all...

Be assured that once we're settled, we're hopping in the car and doing just that! God willing, sometime later in the year!

And right now figuring out how many weeks of cold we probably have left before SPRING arrives!

Two weeks from Saturday we should get a definitive answer, isn't that right, Punxsutawney Phil? Punxsutawney Phil.com

Yikes, before I forget! Your surgery! Mrs. NBE is almost totally mended from her gallbladder operation from a few weeks ago, so you do likewise with your knee--take care of yourself! We all kneed you to get 100% better.

[mrsgenealogy]

Originally Posted by northbayeric

Well, when you can't "put another log on the fire," (man, that was such a classic Tompall Glaser song back in the '70s! ), the common thing to do is to go over to your thermostat and adjust it so you can get more comfortable. But hold on there, Buckaroo! You may not have any luck with that if you're in California during the hot summer months. What in the name of Sam Hill??!!you might be saying. Well, that's if and when a California proposal gets approved that would give state energy regulators the authority to regulate your thermostat without your consent during an emergency electrical shortage--you know, rolling blackouts-- and require new homes, substantially modified homes and other buildings to have radio-controlled devices that can adjust the thermostat from a remote location. Check this article out from the International Herald Tribune, California wants to control home thermostats - International Herald Tribune, and try to laugh, because I assure you it hurts too much to cry.

This article states that by next month, this should be a done deal. So...what happens when an elderly home-bound person has his or her thermostat adjusted by some California energy regulator when it's 113 degrees outside in the shade? As is often the case not just in Palm Springs, but up in places like Redding and Red Bluff? Friends, things are getting pretty darn serious out here....a $14.5 billion annual state budget deficit at a minimum, a mountain of bond monies that have to be paid back with interest, and now this proposal. Please wish me, bentaxlecrew and Cali Bassman much luck in heading your way to stay, and soon!

(Edit): One more fun thought: The actual annual state shortfall might actually be closer to $20 billion. If I'm not mistaken, that's about as much as the entire annual state budget for Missouri! That's how much red ink we're drowning in here in Cali!

Oh, man, Eric! That is so sad...and so maddening! It brings back memories that I'd rather forget! Oh, the stress of living in CA! And I remember when Arnold got in office and went to Sacramento for the first time, ready to take on the state reps and get the finances in order. He was quite unsuccessful and apparently, nothing has changed. I think Tom McClintock would have been a much better choice for governor since he is such a financial wizard but he didn't have the charisma that people were looking for in a candidate. Judging by the current Presidential election, I don't think we've learned any lessons, either.

How scary that they're considering such a thing as taking over the thermostats! What country is this, anyway???!! Pretty scary stuff!

Oh...I can't forget to comment on that song, "Put Another Log on the Fire"...

I never knew who sang it but he must have known my first husband. Hahaha! My sister and I have often sung it on the rare occasions we've gotten together over the years and others in the family usually chime in with the words that they know. It's a hoot to sing! Yeehaw!

[da jammer]

Hiya Boof! I surely did send you an email several days ago but dunno if'n you received it

hey check it out folks ...

Additional 44 Overstock.com $50 gift cards given away!


Shadowcaver got himself a $50 gift card from City-Data!!

wtg caver man

[kareybear]

Wow Boof is back and Da Jammer. How you all been? I am sorry I have hiding. So when is Spring coming LJ? I am glad your surgery went great but hang in there you will be walking very soon. Just don't over do it. Hang in there!!!

[Boof]

Originally Posted by da jammer

Hiya Boof! I surely did send you an email several days ago but dunno if'n you received it

hey check it out folks ...

Additional 44 Overstock.com $50 gift cards given away!


Shadowcaver got himself a $50 gift card from City-Data!!

wtg caver man

Jams!!!!!!! So good to hear from you! I'm sorry, but I didn't get your email. Please send it again. It should be in your sent folder, so you won't have to remember what you wrote. I always enjoy getting little messages from my pals. I hope you're doin' good and enjoying your expanded kingdom. Congrats on being a Moderator....I'm not surprised tho......you were destined for great things!!! ^^^^5

Isn't that wonderful news for Da Caver??? I'm so excited for him, cuz he really deserves it! Thanks for the link. I'm sure we all want to celebrate in his new windfall. Yeah Caver!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by kareybear

Wow Boof is back and Da Jammer. How you all been? I am sorry I have hiding. So when is Spring coming LJ? I am glad your surgery went great but hang in there you will be walking very soon. Just don't over do it. Hang in there!!!

KBear,

Great to hear from you! Glad to see you're still kickin' around the forums. I'm fine, for now (thx for asking). As long as my doggie remains on the upswing, I'll be ok. I'm looking forward to the OTFCC gathering tomorrow. It sure would be nice if you could make it sometime. How are you, by the way? How's your new puppy doing? Are you settling into life in MO a little better now? I know I am. I just love it here. Now if I could just find a job that I can do from home, I'll be set!!! But, I digress.

Hope everything is going well with you and your family. Take care.

Boof

[da jammer]

Well Boof I hadn't seen you log on for awhile so I sent it via the email system instead of a DM which doesn't save em...bummer. I just dropped you a note hoping you, your family and puppy dog Maggi were all doing OK, chit chat along those lines. It sure is nice seeing back amongst the MO crew postin' away

[Darlynn0217]

Please buy their house(s)! Please buy their house(s)!

We'll roll out the red carpet for ya!

Yep, Arnold is on the "poop" list, isn't he?

I hear that they are "a picketing" in his yard already!

[northbayeric]

On our upcoming late-March trip, we'll just be there five days, so we won't be able to drive all the way to SW MO this time. But I'll keep you posted on our relocation progress! My wife has only seen St. Joseph in pictures, so we're going to spend most of our time there, and spend one day at the Powell Botanical Gardens just east of Kansas City.

Someone come in and stop me if I rattle on too much about California stuff. Mrs. G., I was among the 13 percent who felt the way you did and supported Tom McClintock for Governor in 2003 when ex-Governor Gray Davis was recalled. Tom has a separate website at Tom McClintock's Citizens for the California Republic where he documents in painstaking detail how bad off we're getting here, whether it's our budget, poor roads and highways, shortage of energy production, and more. I remember watching the 2003 gubernatorial debate with him, Arnold, Arianna Huffington, former Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and Green Party candidate Peter Camejo. McClintock just steamrolled over all of them with his grasp of the issues. Back then you heard quite a bit of "Well I think McClintock would make a great governor. But there's no way he'll be able to win, so I'm voting for Schwarzenegger instead." And then some were just starry-eyed at the idea of a Hollywood celebrity (and native Austrian) like Arnold becoming governor.

When McClintock ran for Lt. Gov in 2006, he openly supported Schwarzenegger and said positive things about him while acknowledging that he disagreed with him on some issues. Schwarzenegger never returned the support or helped McClintock in his race for Lt. Gov in any way. He lost by a pretty narrow margin overall. Now, even though they're both Republicans, McClintock doesn't even try to hide his contempt for Arnold any more--and I think for good reason.

The latest main issue is Arnold's support of four California Indian gaming propositions on our primary voting ballot that would add 17,000 additional slot machines and basically not permit any real state government oversight of the specific casinos on the propositions, or any of the other Indian casinos in CA. I expect all four will be defeated. But it's frightening that A) our budget is so horrendously out of balance; and B) that Arnold is pleading with the CA voters to pass these measures so the government can collect additional gambling revenue. He, the state Senate and Assembly Democrats, and even some Republicans are clueless about how to get us out of our budget mess. Create even more gambling addicts who will cause even more family breakdowns and commit crimes--to try to balance our budget? It's insane!

Lake Junkie will probably remember the State Highway 128 exit near Geyserville, CA. There is a casino there a short distance from Highway 101 called River Rock Casino, where they just cut right into a hillside to build it. Now that it's been open six years, they want to greatly expand it. Highway 128 is a narrow two-lane road that can't handle large volumes of traffic. The casino is a total eyesore. We can't get out of here and moved to Missouri fast enough.

I just write these California horror stories for one simple reason: DON'T LET ANY OF THIS HAPPEN TO MISSOURI. It's too special a place to be driven into the ground by immoral and/or grossly incompetent public officials.