Newsflash: Farmer Ridicules CNN

In a surprising turn of events, a local farmer from rural Leonard, TX is heaping ridicule on the mighty CNN for a seemingly insignificant oversight. After reading this article on some out-of-place icebergs, the barely literate farmer claims, "I guess CNN could use some farmers in *they're* editing room."

What set this farmer off were such seemingly simple sentences as these:

"The currents that have taken the icebergs so far north mean that their now doomed to melt in warmer waters. NIWA estimate that the bigger icebergs will last between six and eight weeks depending on where they go." (bold text added by the editor)

In other news, Piggy Smalls is scheduled for an afternoon flight at 2:00 EST to celebrate his pre-Christmas roasting.

The cows & goats & kids (same ol, same ol)

The other day at Dairy Queen, the kids were super excited to see pictures on the wall of all their friends and of their T-ball team from the year before. The local DQ is the team sponsor.
Today, while Jessica entertained a whole gaggle of women for a baby shower in the house, we spent most of the day outside pruning trees. Once we were done, we called the cows/goats over for a snack on the leaves from the removed branches.
The goats (especially) seemed very appreciative of the snack.
Later, we headed up and gave the cows a bale of hay and the kids took the opportunity to get a real close look at the cattle. I don't think they have ever been this brave about it before. In the picture below, you can tell Sterling is not quite comfortable with that cow right behind him, but he makes a genuine effort at a smile.

This little guy is not eating hay yet, but he wanted to see what is going on in the hay ring.

A Video Worth Watching

Wow!

Random Photo Updates

I haven't really been inspired with any insights to share, so here are some random photos from my cell phone that I have taken over the last week or so...

The little bull formerly known as "socks" is now officially "boots" (thanks Nancy). Here he is hanging with mama and the little bottle calf Sammy. Note that even though Sammy is probably something like 6 months older, it is evident (from their comparable sizes) that the milk straight out of mama is mo' betta for calf growth.

Sammy = black calf born in mid-May

Boots = white calf with brown boots born in mid-Sept

In this shot (destined for the classics file) unkigiash introduces his girlfriend and his dog to his steer.

Yes...Jack is excited to see Justin....but no, it is all good clean fun - no funky business. The interaction between the two dogs could be compared to an 80 year old man with a 2 year old kid crawling all over him and pulling on his nose hair. He took it well, but seemed dumbfounded by the impetuousness of the young whipper snapper while simultaneously enduring it and yearning for some peace and quiet.

Jack = Unkigiashes dog

Justin = Our livestock guard dog

A view of southwest TX or S. NM or something....somewhere between Dallas and Phoenix. Unfortunately, out of the whole trip, this is the most scenic portion. I came to the conclusion during the drive that the USA should just give that entire portion of the country back to Mexico.

What is there to say about this? We were headed out (on a 45 minute trip to G-ma's house) and Ginger refused to leave her worms...

Unkigiash Visits!

He is here in TX, and hath brunged baggage!

Observe!

This is his friend Kristen or Christin or something. They are here to party for the weekend and they brought their dog too.

A little something for those with debt and Netflix

Disclaimer - this is something I stumbled upon in my files which I obviously copied from somewhere probably here:

Then think about this fact. If you cancel a $20 monthly bill and instead apply that $20 to your credit card bill (that has a balance of $5,000, a 12% interest rate, and a $100 minimum payment), you’d turn 302 payments of $100 a pop into 55 payments of $120 a pop (I used the minimum payment calculator to get this number). Your credit card balance would disappear in about four and a half years instead of twenty five years, just by getting rid of that Netflix account.

WOW! Gives you a new appreciation for keeping those little monthly recurring expenses low doesn't it. This applies to more than just CC debt (think about car loans, home loans, student debt, etc - although these tyopes of loans typically have lower interest rates and thereby would demonstrate a less drastic effect) and Netflix isn't the only culprit in the game of little monthly recurring expenses (think about cell phones, extra bandwidth for your internet service, cable TV, etc.)

Anyway - just some food for thought.

Fiscal Policy

While going through some old paperwork today, I was surprised to be reminded of the full extent of the foolishness of my former ways. I had forgotten both the quantity and the gravity of stupid financial decisions I used to make. As I went through old statements and receipts, I found too many over-the-limit fees, finance charges, late fees, etc. It really was surprising because Jessica and I have basically been running without any of that sort of thing for so long. We do use credit cards, but we pay them off every month. I am a regular follower of the folks over at the "Get Rich Slowly" blog and the author there is always talking about avoiding those types of stupid charges and I don't really ever give it much thought, so it was kind of interesting to look back at the old statements and see that I too used to be a victim of poor financial management.

Looking back, I can't really recall any sort of magical moment that changed me other than getting married to Jessica. She was absolutely mortified at the debt she "inherited" when we were married. I had racked up about 10 or 14 thousand dollars (pathetic that I can't even remember how much it was) in student loans. I can't think of anything else that might have triggered the change. My wife was my financial salvation. Until today, I have taken that for granted with an attitude that "we" have had good luck with maintaining our finances. Turns out, I just have a good leader to follow and she does a great job of keeping on top of all the bills. She is a fantastic money-manager.

Thanks Jessica!

For those of you who don't have a handy Jessica around to whip you into shape, the Get Rich Slowly blog has all the info & techniques you'll need to get started on your own. Not to steal GRS's thunder, but I summarize their formula as follows:

• Retreat from "consumerism"
• Eliminate debt
• Develop and follow a budget
• Save up a rainy-day fund
• Save up for big purchases (rather than going into debt to buy)

We're still working on getting a real solid handle on a some of these so I am not trying to hold us up as the shining example or anything (we still have debt, we still have an addiction to consumerism (although it is a bit easier to fight since we live so far from the centers of it,) our rainy day fund is currently anemic, etc.) but I can see the logic in the techniques and aspire to someday have complete control over our finances.