Hello from South Carolina

Discussion in 'General chat' started by Benjy136, Jun 5, 2012.

  1. Benjy136

    Benjy136 Junior Member

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    After reading the report, If he was climbing the fence to escape, he was not surrendering, as they would like to say, just because his hands were up. You have to have your hands up to scale a fence. I wasn't there. I don't know all the facts. I'm sorry that he was your friend, though, and if you saw him killed, it must have been a really bad time for you. In my short brush with the "Mob" I was never witness to any killing, though I have been the object of severe hospitalizing brutality. That was bad enough
     
  2. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    Uncle I think you and I think mostly alike.
     
  3. Benjy136

    Benjy136 Junior Member

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    That is comforting, Brian.
     
  4. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    All good things must come to an end. Today was my last day working for the council. The truck and I are going to a job that pays a better rate and is closer to home. An extra 2 hours work per day plus Saturday work. The new hourly rate for the truck is another $15 per hour on what the council are paying. If you times that by 50 hours per week that's an extra $750 plus a saving of about $200 per week in fuel. Then 1 hour per day travel time is around another $600 per week. The truck will be parked about 2 minutes away from the job and access to water 5 minutes away. At the moment I am doing around 150km per day. Seems to make sense to flick the council. There is also around 6 months work too.

    Now my problem, Post Office. There is none near by and I start and finish outside Post Office hours. I cant drop the parcels in the post boxes as there is 1.5 metre fall. That could damage the containers and piss off the woodies and worms. I wont be posting before next Monday now so have some time to nut out a plan.

    I have been run off my feet still lately. Seems I get on here around almost bed time. I have a spare hour tonight but am tired so might get an early night. Out tomorrow night for dinner.

    Take care
     
  5. Benjy136

    Benjy136 Junior Member

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    That's the "other side of the coin"syndrome, Brian. You should be getting some suggestions from some of your countrymen who have encountered similar problems. My mail-carrier here and I are on good enough terms to work out a solution, but I'm not familiar with the system in Oz.

    What is puzzling me now is Wynonna, our only surviving Wyandotte. She is sleeping somewhere other than the "Big House". She comes sashaying up to meet me when I let the Australorps out in the morning. She follows me to the feed trough as I pour in some scratch or mash or kitchen scraps, doesn't eat, follows me back to the hen-house where I open the little door for the other girls and then joins them as they go up to the trough to eat with them. Veeeeery Interesting. I've looked for her after dark in all the hiding places she might be, to no avail. Guess I'll go out today and see if I can find a nest somewhere.

    The fog was thick enough this morning to think about using a machete to cut through it. I'm making my fourth trip to the auto mechanic today. My power steering went out and they changed the pump. The new pump caused the line to leak. They replaced the line and it blew the seal in the gear-box. Now all the fluid has leaked out on the ground overnight. I'll fill it up and give it back to them and tell them to keep it 'till they've got the bloody thing cured. If it wasn't McDonny, I'd have given him a piece of my mind, not that I've got that much to spare, if you were to ask Willie. I can still drive either my pick-up or Willie's SUV, but the Jeep has a good gas-to-milage ratio. It still smells like burnt cigarettes, as I've never emptied the ash tray. Just a reminder of what my lungs must have smelled like. Lord knows, I still want to snatch Donny's wife's "smoke" from her mouth and have a drag. That'll never happen, though, unless I lose my mind completely. Donny has a hole in his throat with a valve in it. Sometimes he has to "talk" with a tablet and writing implement, and she tried to quit, but says she can't. Too much stress at the shop, she says. That, and his semi-invalid mother.

    Well. I'd better be off now. Fog's lifted and they'll be expecting me there.

    Love's the answer

    Uncle Ben and
    Auntie Willie
     
  6. Benjy136

    Benjy136 Junior Member

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    G'Day Mates.

    Another foggy foggy morning here for the chooks. Wynonna didn't show up this morning yet. When the fog clears I'll keep an eye out for her. Never did find her hiding/sleeping place. She hasn't looked like the happiest of the flock since the Aussies got big enough to hold their own. It may even have been them that booted her out of the "Big House". They all seemed to get along at the trough, though. The girls are giving the garden a pretty good workout now. They've cleaned out the area where my tomatoes were planted after the dead vines were pulled up.

    Does anyone out there know how Goji berries fare with Chooks in the area? I've planted three of them under protection of a removable cage/cold frame that is about a half-meter high, by half-meter wide and about two and a half meters long. It is metal conduit bent into arches forming the support for a sort of tunnel with plastic netting to protect the plants from the birds and augmented with translucent plastic during the sub-zero nights. The ladies don't bother the blueberry bushes but they were pretty well grown before the Chooks were introduced to the garden. Even the tomatoes that were still bearing this fall when I turned the girls loose did fine as long as I kept the fruiting vines tied high above their heads and picked the fruit them before Full ripeness. They've never bothered the kiwis, but I don't leave them in when the grapes are in their prime. They have a good appetite for both seedless and seeded grapes. They keep scratching the mulch off the Yac(k)on I got from ECO (bless her sharing heart) If we have a normal Spring this coming year I may even dig some to try on the dinner table this Fall. I'm presuming that is when you dig them.

    It's time to whip up some breakfast for my sweety-pie, so I'll pop in later, hopefully.

    Love is always the answer.

    Uncle Ben and
    Auntie Willie
     
  7. Benjy136

    Benjy136 Junior Member

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    Hello again. One more mystery solved. There is a niche in one of the "Bale-house" walls with a cache of about two dozen (whatever that is in Aussie lol) eggs, a black A. setting on them and poor Wynonna pacing back and forth on the ground below begging for her clutch back. I have to dispossess the both of them by filling in the niche after removing the clutch. They'll never hatch into chicks since the rooster's gone. I keep thinking back to "Jurassic park", though, and.........No. We won't go there. Break 'em and the compost pile will take care of them. Willie never saw Jurassic Park so I had to explain the "Nature finds a way" quote. Anyone who missed the movie raise your hand and I'll explain lol.

    Love,
    Benjy
     
  8. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    Harvest time for Yacon is after they flower.

    Two dozen is known as a 'shit load' in Australian. :) You can put them into a bucket of water. If they float - compost pile. If they sink - omelette. (If they float halfway - perfect for throwing at pesky neighbours who have their music up too loud after midnight.)
     
  9. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    Don't you just love how Eco comes out with things. Yep I would say 2 dozen is a "Shit load "of eggs. I didn't think they would go clucky without a rooster. I need to learn more about chooks.

    Out last night. Our daughter in law had her birthday. I had to work late and didn't get there till 7.30. We didn't eat till about 9 pm. Then home by a few minutes to 10 with just enough time for a dash to the chemist for my diabetes drugs. The door was locked but they let me in. I would be happy to not take them or the other stuff they say I need as a preventative. If I drop dead then my time is up.

    I started the new job yesterday at the sub division they are doing. It was just a cleared paddock and the scrapers were removing the top soil. My job was to kill the dust. Not much chance as it was all turning to bull dust and you couldn't see the machines. Just the engine fan on the truck was whipping up the dust and was hard to see where I was going. Lucky I have cameras on the truck as I couldn't see the water spraying out the back in my mirrors. Two trucks struggled to wet everything. Every 20 minutes I would put out 15,000 litres and have to go and refill with recycled water. Gee if the council were selling the stuff they would make millions of $$$. The line up of trucks and the rotations they were all doing we must have pulled out millions of litres the last couple of days. I suppose it is better than pumping it out into the ocean.

    Ok team bed time for me.
     
  10. Benjy136

    Benjy136 Junior Member

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    You Betchum, Brian. That ECO makum heap big happy noise from smiling mouth here. Me think she keeper for site.

    And Pako, don;t get pissed off for the "Little Beaver" vernacular. I'm one sixteenth native-American on my mother's side and can, in good conscience, have a little humor here. Thank you in advance for the leeway.

    And ECO, I just don't relish having to disinfect all those eggs, as, by now, they have an eggload of shit (lol) amongst them, and will probably be fairly messy at the bottom, at least. In addition, we have more than enough fresh eggs in the fridge. I'm having to make several egg-inclusive dishes to keep up.

    Today is my older-by-two-days-and-two-years brother's birthday. As soon as it gets late enough in his time zone I need to call and wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Oh-oh. Looks as though that time has crept up on me so I'll sign off for now and make that call. He should be up by now in Texas.

    Love from
    Uncle Ben and
    Auntie Willie.
     
  11. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    Today I got wet. Yep it bucketed down just as we pulled into the shopping centre car park. The little umbrella was a waste of time so I let the wife have that. Funny thing at home we got very little. The rain seems very patchy but give the grass a sniff of rain and it greens up. A week ago it was just dead and crunchy under foot.

    All the bumps and the rough ride at the new job is giving all my muscles a work out. Yesterday I was struggling to get out of the truck each time I had to reload. Stiff as a board. Once I get going I walk ok but then I stop and next time start I am stiff again.

    Today was Woodie Day ( No Uncle) and I harvested thousands of babies. I need a few more sales again as they are starting to build up in number again. They are all growing so fast and are becoming overcrowded in some tubs. I have 1 kg going Monday but really need 3 or 4 kg's to go. This week should see some more orders come in. I took down one of my ads I had as numbers were dropping but they are rebounding very fast. Over Christmas I will get my son to feed them every 3 days instead of everyday now. Just need to slow them up a little while I am away.

    Hey remember the woodies the ate through the flywire? Well some had escaped into the car and now and then I would find one. I kept my mouth shut but today I was collecting the cash and food from the pet shop. The wife came in shortly after not very amused as a Woodie ran over her foot in the car. Yes I was in deep shit. When I got home I cleaned everything out of the car and vacuumed it out. I got about 8 woodies in the vacuum. Another one later on the mat and one more on the door step later. I put fly spray in to drive them out. What amazes me is apart from the bit of food the grandson drops there is no moisture in the car. Last weekend the car was locked in the full sun and it was cooking in there but they still survive.

    Speaking of the grandson,we went to what him at his soccer practice this morning. His was a bit shy at times but still got into it. Then he points and yells out " That's my Grandad" yeah I felt 10ft tall and very proud of him. Not sure how much you can love a little kid but I just love him. Happy to see him go home though lol. Just full on with no off switch. His birthday is soon and he will be 3.

    Take care
     
  12. Benjy136

    Benjy136 Junior Member

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    Yes, Brian. The little boogers can be a hoot. (the Grandkids. Not the Woodies). Mine are all grown and I don't see them except sometimes on holidays. Willie and I will sometimes pull out respective pictures and have a few laughs when the pics jog old memories. My brothers live so far away I have nephews and nieces I've never seen. Any reunions of our family have been sporadic and mostly unplanned, and never all inclusive. I might drop in on kinfolk while on tour and spend a few hours. Willie is unable to take any long flights and, outside of going to town, I don't go anywhere without her. I thought about going to a class reunion this year, but that was in upstate New York, and although she urged me to take the trip, my heart wasn't in it. I guess we"ll just watch old home movies and reminisce and/or make a few new memories. I keep telling her we're not old, just pleasantly aged like fine wine, or perhaps, she corrects me, more like good crumbly cheese.

    Enough!! Enough of the of the denigrating metaphors. We've got a lot of good productive years behi....I mean ahead of us. We're just going to fly off to the farmer's market today and pick up some North Carolina sweet potatoes for the table today as we didn't plant any this year and the ones left from last year are sprouting half-meter long vines already. So just wish us "bon voyage" and good hunting at the market. .........Adios,...... Aurevoir,,....... auf Wiedersehen.

    Auntie Willie and Uncle Ben
     
  13. Benjy136

    Benjy136 Junior Member

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    She woke me this mornin' with a great big smile.........It was "Happy birthday Darlin'. You've gone another mile......I thought I was dreamin' and I opened up my eyes......"Gotta free the Chooks" I said. She said "I realize".......But "bring your arse back to bed when you're through with that......We could do some...talkin'....And maybe more than chat..................Another year has passed me by.. Or maybe I've passed it. With CRS it's hard to tell..That's Can't Remember Shit.

    G'day Mates. It's that "Day That Will Live In Infamy" (FDR. 1941) Ten years earlier My blessed mother dropped a bundle in the hospital elevator. I was never told weather we were ascending or descending, but I would rather imagine we were going up. That was on the Island of Galveston, Texas 83 years (Whatever that is in Aussie?) ago.

    The world was a different place then, though it was on the cusp of "The Great Depression" I remember, as a child the government giving away commodities to the "less fortunate." When I was about 7--8 we lived on Staten Island. One of the five boroughs of New York.. My Dad had left Ohio where he was a Vaccum tube expert on a top secret project that would later become a "Weapon of Mass destruction". His leaving was unauthorized. He was a fugitive, and of course, would not apply for the stuff. He had made a wagon out of parts (packing crates and such) we picked up at the port of embarkation, where I later shined shoes for the sailors. My Dad, by the way, was in the USN in WWI. I'll try to stay on track here. We would go to the buildings where they dispersed the commodities. Next door was a vacant lot where the recipients would discard whatever they didn't want. I remember the Govt. gave away five-pounds of cheese, Whole wheat flour, white flour, powdered milk,one-pound blocks of oleo (not colored. looked like lard), sugar, and that's all I can remember right now. We would go there and fill up the wagon with discards that were perfectly good, just unwanted. Dad did odd jobs and kept a low profile. I remember at one time he even ran an out-door fruit and vegie stand (or was it a push-cart?) A lot of stuff kinda blends together. I remember we moved to NYC in a six-story apartment bldg. and my Dad, who played the violin (and several other instruments I didn't know about 'till I was grown) would bring the family up on the roof and he'd play the violin and Mom would sing to us younguns. My favorite was handed down to her from her mother, POOR BABES IN THE WOODS. She also sang a Native American (we called it Indian back then) song that I committed to memory, but never wrote it down and, sad to say, it is now just a memory of a memory.

    Wow! I wasn't meaning to write a bio. A couple of tears told me to jerk myself back to the present, so All in all, at 83, in spite of so many things going to pot in the world, I have made a world of memories and memories of a world I can still get emotional about.

    Love is the answer, Always

    Uncle Ben
    and Auntie Willie
     
  14. songbird

    songbird Senior Member

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    Happy Birthday Benjy. : )

    i enjoy stories about the old times and during the Great Depression about how people managed to get along, and during the dust bowl too.

    my grandma often talked of toast with lard as a meal as that was all they had other than a few potatoes quite often.

    our recent mini-depression was not much in comparison to what happened back then.

    hope the sweet patooties were available and in good condition.
     
  15. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    Happy birthday my friend. May we share many more.
    Take care.
     
  16. Benjy136

    Benjy136 Junior Member

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    Thank you, Songbird.

    Except for all the other problems that go along with a depression like the "big" one, we could use one good one right now to bring down the obesity in this country. If you had a nickle in your pocket you didn't buy a candy bar or a sweet roll. You could go to a bakery and buy a couple of "day old" loaves of bread and maybe trade one of them for something to go with it. Minimum wage protests? If you had any kind of job you gave 110% effort with the hope that you could keep that job for another day, week? month? If you were able bodied and could land a job with the WPA ( a work for pay government project) you had it pretty fair back then. You didn't get paid by the Govt. to sit on your arse and smoke weed. Those were hard times and families helped families and friends were true Friends. Your word was your bond I don't remember our doors being locked. Ever. Neighbors looked after neighbors. The young boys and girls, Blacks and whites didn't run the streets at nights looking for excitement, and if any one of the youths got into any kind of trouble, they learned young that the whole community was to be dealt with. Not just the police and not just their parents, but the whole neighborhood knew they'd crossed a line and they had to EARN back the respect they'd lost. Of course you had rogues, but they were the exception and not the rule.

    My meat loaf is done, so I've got to get on the salad and stuff. Thanks again, Songbird.

    Uncle Ben
     
  17. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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    Well gang, I do not have good news again.

    Tomorrow, starting at 4am, I am under a storm warning. 40 to 50mph winds... ..SUSTAINED, with 70+mph gusts.

    Friday, EEG to find out why I am having seizures as of late. So far according to my journal for the doctor I have had over 25 in 1 day.

    Nothing is getting done here. :( However, that's winter for you.

    The only 2 pluses side so far, in 10 days my 3 standard mulberry trees ship. Oh and my Union rep called, they are picking up my healthcare premiums and so forth next year.





    Happy belated bday Ben
     
  18. Benjy136

    Benjy136 Junior Member

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    I believe, Packo, I mentioned earlier somewhere that my Grandmother's seizures were contained as long as we kept candy out of her diet, and she ate healthful foods. I don't have any idea what your medical problems are. With her it was epilepsy. She did fine with raw sugars and fructose in the apples and berries on the place, but couldn't abide with candy bars or even refined sugar in coffee or tea. I understand there are a multitude of conditions that can cause seizures of, actually, different sorts. And take everything with a grain of salt that you hear from those guys in the medical profession. They're still learning conflicting things from us guinea pigs. I wish you the best and hope you have someone other than a pill-pusher who is concerned with your health..

    I can offer no advice concerning that "big Blow" coming your way. You've done all you can to prepare for it. I've been in the middle of Blizzards in the Catskills, Hurricanes in Louisiana and South Carolina, Twisters in Waco, Texas and South Carolina, Sandstorms in Texas and Floods in Pennsylvania and Arkansas. If you've done all you can to prepare, all there is to do is batten down the hatches and hunker down, my friend.

    I'll have to close for now, Packo. Get back with us when the storm passes on and let us know what that EEG turns up Friday.

    Love is the answer

    Auntie Willie and
    Uncle Ben
     
  19. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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    I can say without a doubt it has nothing to do with diet, or sugar. That was our first thought, but the log of them confirmed it.
     
  20. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    We got a good storm yesterday. No damage at home but good amount of rain. Plenty rain means no work yesterday or today. Just add water to the grass and up it comes . Just finished mowing the front yard . Lunch then I tackle the back yard.
     

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