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Farmers getting caught up in politics and getting the short end of the stick for their product is nothing new.
The small farmers especially, are always facing financial crisis thru no fault of those own. My father was the best "Penny pincher" of anyone I know --- however, when the crops failed and we had to sell off milk cows because he couldn't afford to feed the herd we had, he almost lost the farm my grandparents bought twice.
As it were, he ended up leasing our farm to the Big Guns, who owned several hundred acres, got his Master Journeyman Certificate and started driving 35 miles thru a few small towns to get to the metro city where he worked as a journeyman machinist for a company that made parts for heavy road construction equipment.
Thank goodness dad managed to hang onto the farm and my younger brother now owns it, so third generation. He continues to lease it out to the Big Gun farmers who do a great job of managing the land.
If you really want to know how the farmers have been beat down and the smaller ones perpetually at risk of losing family farms, it's pretty simple to either watch "Rural Evening News" or "Ag Report" on RFDTV or read the recaps on their RFDTV web site.
Those who have never farmed, please don't speculate, do the "I think", or read what Wall Street street thinks. Nobody gives a flip about Wall Street when they are about to lose their farm due to politics or inability to recover from crop damage or failure, and they have no way to pay bills -----
Now I went and done it! To answer the question, "What do retired people do?" I just filed a Declaration of Candidacy to run for the city council. The non-partisan election is two months away. The neighbors read one of my periodic "letters to the editor" the other week and have strongly urged me to run.
There's a lot of grumbling around about the very rapid urban growth in the area. I'm running for two reasons, to be of service and to give voters a choice. If voters are happy with the current direction of the city, then by all means re-elect the current council. If they think things need to change, then I offer a choice.
Now I went and done it! To answer the question, "What do retired people do?" I just filed a Declaration of Candidacy to run for the city council. The non-partisan election is two months away. The neighbors read one of my periodic "letters to the editor" the other week and have strongly urged me to run.
There's a lot of grumbling around about the very rapid urban growth in the area. I'm running for two reasons, to be of service and to give voters a choice. If voters are happy with the current direction of the city, then by all means re-elect the current council. If they think things need to change, then I offer a choice.
Kudos to you for doing this. Nice to give voters a choice of someone new. We need that at all levels of politics
I think back wistfully to the days when I went trick or treating in the small town in central New York where we lived. Popcorn balls, caramel apples, homemade cookies, etc. Never had to be concerned with getting anything dangerous. Different times.
You still don't. The only thing that's changed over the years is the amount of paranoia involved in receiving such items. There has never been a documented case of a child being poisoned by Halloween candy given to him by a stranger. (There was one case where a father tried to poison his own kids.) There are only a handful of cases going back to the 1950s of a sharp object being placed in an item.
Still, madman, a handful was enough to scare parents. In a lot of places, the switch was to giving out candy at schools. That works well as there are games also but somehow it's not the same as seeing the kids dressed in their costumes, going door to door.
Still, madman, a handful was enough to scare parents. In a lot of places, the switch was to giving out candy at schools. That works well as there are games also but somehow it's not the same as seeing the kids dressed in their costumes, going door to door.
That is the reality. I'll bet that if I handed out popcorn balls or homemade cookies that a lot of them would get tossed out (not that I am going to make 500 popcorn balls).
Jim, did you ever tell the story of how you came to find this place, how it came to be? I follow this forum and know you were very unhappy where you were, the late night parties, noise, etc., and then one post told of you moving. Did I miss something? I would love to hear how this came to be, it sounds like your own personal paradise (along with your dog). I am very happy for you, BTW.
Jim, did you ever tell the story of how you came to find this place, how it came to be? I follow this forum and know you were very unhappy where you were, the late night parties, noise, etc., and then one post told of you moving. Did I miss something? I would love to hear how this came to be, it sounds like your own personal paradise (along with your dog). I am very happy for you, BTW.
I did, sort of...I think. Maybe. Found it through a friend who lives in the non disclosed town it was in, at about 7,500 feet in the foothills, somewhere in western Colorado. Talked to the owner, nice guy, retired lawman, just wanted to move to his hometown in another state.
My niece (one of hundreds) is a real estate agent, because I am considered middle poverty income for Colorado I qualified for a no down, low interest loan). House payment including insurance and taxes are less than what I was paying in rent. First payment due October.
In town, off the Main Street, which coincidently is named Main Street, corner lot, grass trees raised bed vegetable garden, fence in back yard, wood burning fireplace. Neighbors are nice, local kid mowing my lawn for me, a friend delivered 5 cords of firewood, for a steak dinner. People walk or drive by and wave and say hello. Kids walk by after school to pet my dog. "What did you learn today in school"? "nothing". Yup, school hasn't changed.
Deer sleep in the front yard which annoys my dog to no end because I won't let him chase them. He lays on the porch (yeah front porch, rocking chair), with his head in his paws glaring at them. They ignore him and me and anyone else who wanders by. No, I don't feed them it's against the law.
I can and do walk to "town", sit at a local café outside with the dog and have coffee and a sticky bun. Me and a few other cranky old guys make fun of tourists.
Anyway, not the town I wanted to retire to, but this was my second choice and it's growing on me. It'll be paid for somewhere around 2050. Just about the time Zefram Cochrane starts to invent warp drive.
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