[lateStarter]

Getting the wood stove (Jotul MF3) installed this Friday! Recent bad economic news pushed my wife to decide that it might be a good idea to use what little money we have left to purchase some things we need but might be be able to buy in the near future - either because the price went up or the money disappeared into a black hole. She also has her eye on a Honda Generator (EC2000 I believe).

I know it is a little late for this year, but at least we will get it broken in for next year. Still chilly enough to get some use for another month. I already have enough wood for next year...

[flapjax]

I'm no longer "Coal" but "Heavy Crude". w00t!

Congrats, Pops! I'm still trying for one of my own.

[RedStateGreen]

My daughter got second place in her school's chalk art contest! This is the third year she's entered, and she was really surprised and happy about placing.

My husband has decided that things are not going to be "just fine". With that in mind, he's started talking about conserving, and has decided to lose weight.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'I') finally got to Saline Valley.

Sometimes I feel like I'm a personal mission to be sure I use up my share of oil visiting as many beautiful places as possible before the oil runs out. I rented a 4wd in LA on sunday and drove to Saline Valley, in eastern California near Death Valley, where there is a beautiful hot spring overlooking the salt flats. Legend had it a bevy of naked hippie girls once lived there in an old school bus, and they were so bored they would joyfully greet the weary traveller and soothe his soul. I'm must report the naked hippie girls are not in residence but the valley itself is absolutely incredibly natural, undeveloped except for tiny hardscabble mines, and beautiful.

[jasonraymondson]

I had sex with a beautiful redhead last night, tonight I have a date with a really cute blonde studying economics. I expect she will part with her knickers as well.

But no children will be conceived as a result of these unions.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'I') finally got to Saline Valley.

Sometimes I feel like I'm a personal mission to be sure I use up my share of oil visiting as many beautiful places as possible before the oil runs out. I rented a 4wd in LA on sunday and drove to Saline Valley, in eastern California near Death Valley, where there is a beautiful hot spring overlooking the salt flats. Legend had it a bevy of naked hippie girls once lived there in an old school bus, and they were so bored they would joyfully greet the weary traveller and soothe his soul. I'm must report the naked hippie girls are not in residence but the valley itself is absolutely incredibly natural, undeveloped except for tiny hardscabble mines, and beautiful.

[PenultimateManStanding]

Ah, what a cute little kitty cat! Makes you want to rub that fur! The Cat Came Back

[Jotapay]

I'm above ground today.

[jasonraymondson]

Last night did not go as a I expected, but I did buy a scratchers ticket this morning and won 50 dollars. First scratchers I have bought in years.

[wisconsin_cur]

libraries see resurgence

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')A woman in her 50s dropped in after work at the East Meadow Public Library and applied for a library card. She confided to a librarian, with a smidgen of embarrassment, that it was her first library card since childhood.

“Now I don’t have to buy my books,” she told the librarian, Jude Schanzer. “This is how I’m cutting back.”

Ms. Schanzer, East Meadow’s director of programming, tells the story to illustrate one upside to the economic downturn: Libraries are booming.

[Caffeine]

Lots of the books I read just don't seem to be available via the public library system. There are also lots of books that supposedly have 'one' copy at a distant branch, but nobody can actually find the book at that branch.

That said, I think it's great that people are going to the library more.

[wisconsin_cur]

I learned a new Kris Kristofferson song today ... well it is good news for me.

youtube

[Blacksmith]

Hey I'm looking down at the grass growing, or in this neck of the woods it will be growing in about two weeks.

Disclaimer: In no way does anything I post on this form meant to suggest doing anything which may be in violation of the laws of Canada. This includes but is not limited to suicide, euthanasia, murder premeditated or otherwise, robbery, any confidence scheme, racism, trafficking in banned substances, public nudity, traffic infractions or spitting on the sidewalk. I furthermore dissociate myself from any other post on this sight which might suggest or advocate any action which is in violation of the laws of Canada.

[WildRose]

I am finally working from home! This has been a long time coming. No more driving to work - just a walk downstairs and I'm there!

[RedStateGreen]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('WildRose', 'I') am finally working from home! This has been a long time coming. No more driving to work - just a walk downstairs and I'm there!

[RedStateGreen]

My daughter and her fiance found a runt bunny near his garbage cans a couple of days ago. It looks like it's maybe three weeks old, and I honestly didn't know if it was going to make it. But it seems to be eating!

He's out of town this weekend so now we have four rabbits here. A regular rabbit motel.

[stonecypher]

I can't afford new yarn to indulge my crochet hobby, so I buy bags of mismatched and used skeins at the thrift stores and end up engrossed in the challenge of designing and making fashionable hats and scarves with what I have to work with.

So I'm unwinding a tangled, dusty skein of this dreadful 1970s-era orange-colored stuff, and my fingers feel a metal rod. Cool! I pull it out and discover a serviceable metal crochet hook to add to my collection.

Ah, but it gets better. Whoever shoved the crochet hook into the skein threaded A DIAMOND RING onto it, too! (Probably seeking relief from swollen fingers while crocheting.) A local jeweler appraised it for me free, saying it was worth about a grand and had probably been created in the 1930s.

Yes, I did the right thing and called the thrift store to ask where they got their yarn donations and whether they could track them, and the answer was NO WAY, as they come to my store from all over the West.

Best good news I've ever received from spending $2.99!

[WildRose]

Thanks, RedStateGreen and Shanny. I am really loving working at home. It's great for family life, as I can work around everyone else, any time of day or night. I can walk my puppy anytime, or do my laundry during breaks.

stonecypher - An interesting story! Things like that sure don't happen every day.

[RedStateGreen]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('stonecypher', 'I') can't afford new yarn to indulge my crochet hobby, so I buy bags of mismatched and used skeins at the thrift stores and end up engrossed in the challenge of designing and making fashionable hats and scarves with what I have to work with.

So I'm unwinding a tangled, dusty skein of this dreadful 1970s-era orange-colored stuff, and my fingers feel a metal rod. Cool! I pull it out and discover a serviceable metal crochet hook to add to my collection.

Ah, but it gets better. Whoever shoved the crochet hook into the skein threaded A DIAMOND RING onto it, too! (Probably seeking relief from swollen fingers while crocheting.) A local jeweler appraised it for me free, saying it was worth about a grand and had probably been created in the 1930s.

Yes, I did the right thing and called the thrift store to ask where they got their yarn donations and whether they could track them, and the answer was NO WAY, as they come to my store from all over the West.

Best good news I've ever received from spending $2.99!

[vtsnowedin]

Tomorrow I rejoin the ranks of the regularly employed. I'm going to collect some Obama bucks while working on fixing up some of the local infrastructure. The cash flow will help to improve the doomsteads financial position.
Congratulations to those with babies and marriages. We are planning a wedding here also. Or at least the women are. They do not seem to value my opinions on the subject.