How To Fix America's Voting System

 

                                                                                           

This picture is from the 2008 Presidential Election, what is missing?

                             

     It Is Time to Fix the Voting Problem in America

It seems anymore we have a problem with counting votes at every election. We need to fix the system and really it is not that hard. The proof of how asinine the present system can be was shown in the State of Texas. One county the size of some of our smaller states was/is only having one polling place. Many states are limiting and down sizing the number of polling places to try and manipulate the vote.

America is a nation of the people, by the people and for the people and should therefore afford the opportunity to vote to every citizen, The question is how to do it. I think I have a plan that not only works, it may even improve the system. From MY point of view, every school district in America should have a minimum of one polling place. It is based on a simple assumption. Where there are students, there are parents, and parents need a voice in their community to make sure it is run fairly. Each school represents a certain segment of the local society.

Each polling station should have a bipartisan polling board. I would recommend a board of six people, with one board director, elected and chosen by the board for no more than a two year term. Whether the board members are elected or appointed is one thing I have not worked out. I would prefer an elected board. Their job would be to make sure any issue that may keep a person from voting is resolved at the local level. The board could handle the registering of voters in their district.

This system accomplishes two things. One it generates more community involvement in the election process. And secondly helps eliminate the opportunity to manipulate the election in favor of one party over the other.

Many politicians, especially the career ones, will not like this idea. This system makes them accountable to their constituents. If they are not doing their job it may be made clear to those who have say as to whether they stay or go.

A law needs to be passed that anyone who intentionally interferes with a persons right to vote is subject to a $5,000 fine and up to 5 years in prison. That includes persons who pass laws to deny any citizen their right to vote.

The present system allows politicians that are so inclined to pass laws and place restrictions on voting without fear of consequences. That needs to be corrected and every citizens right to vote needs to be protected.

Why Elections Will Not Fix America

 

         What is wrong with this picture, taken on election day in 2008?

                         What Is Missing?

America Needs Hope And Mentoring Programs

The above picture was taken on Election Day 2008. To an observant person with an average memory something is missing. To a White Supremacist it is a perfect picture. In reality though it is a picture of what is wrong with America. It explains how we have gotten to where we are today. We have forgotten our history and what makes America Great, it is not Donald Trump, it is Hope. America has always had the hope and vision that a better day is coming.  Elections in America do not offer hope or change. We need a third party that is for America, and puts all Americans on the same level. The present system allows the wealthy to take all they can get and ignores the needs of those who are not wealthy.

The events of 9/11shook America to its core. It made us question our goodness and our greatness as a nation. It set the stage for a change I NEVER, thought I would see in the America I lived in. In July 2004 I saw a young man give a speech that summed up the hope of America, and that it was a hope for everybody. Four years later that man ran for President and succeeded. Even with portions of America denying his very existence.

I am sure where I live was not the only place that his posters were taken down. When Obama won the election, it stunned me. I think people believed and bought into his message of hope.

The past twelve years the Republican Party has been fueled by hate and a desire to undo anything that Obama did. Here we are in the middle of a pandemic and the Republicans are totally focused on getting rid of the Affordable Care Act, just as Democrats are determined to get rid of Trump. Have the Republicans solved “ANY” of America’s problems or offered their own solutions to the problems facing America. The answer is a big fat NO. Unfortunately for America, neither have the Democrats. Exactly why we need a party that is for all Americans.

America has been sold a bill of goods by the insurance companies. They have convinced America we can not survive without them. They charge you for insurance, and then they charge you a deductible to use it. The medical field is a job like any other, but insurance companies have learned to use it to empty American pockets. The pharmaceutical companies are so evil they have banned discounts for the government, even though it is one of their best customers. I learned this by dealing with the VA.

America needs solutions, not hate. America needs a health care program that takes care of each and every American, not just some Americans. Article One, Section 8 of the Constitution, gives the duty of the “welfare” of America to Congress, and I do not think they meant, food stamps. Welfare meant the needs of America, just like you take care of the needs of your family. Food, clothing, shelter, education, safety and even heath care. If Congress comes up short on any of these items they have failed their job.

Yes they are responsible for national defense and the budget also, They are given the responsibility to tax and create the programs that provide the above mentioned items. However, for the last twelve years Congress has failed in it duties, with a capital F. They tax to give big breaks to the rich and corporations on the backs of the middle and lower class Americans.

With the economy in chaos because of Covid 19, millions of Americans are slowly sliding into a financial abyss. More and more people are loosing their homes, and apartments. We are right back where we were in 2008 when the housing market collapsed. The Federal Government has failed to act. They say it is not their responsibility. Excuse me Congress, but it is not only your responsibility, but your duty under the Constitution to fix the problem, and believe it or not there are ways to do so.

America needs a third party that puts Americans and America first. Systemic Racism is rampant in America, the pandemic has proven that issue. One other problem that needs to be addressed is the immigration problem. Immigrants are not evil, we are a nation of immigrants. If a person is willing to risk all they have in order to come here to start a better life and lift up their family, they are not evil. In this day and age some who come may be evil, and it is our responsibility to weed them out. We need to create a more effective work program that lets those willing to do the jobs that most Americans won’t, come perform those much needed jobs like field hands.

My wife is an American born Mexican. Or as I call her, a Texican. There were thirteen kids in her family and they all worked in the fields as laborers at some point in their lives. Yet as they have all gotten older, they have all found what I call a normal job. None of them work in the fields anymore, but somebody still needs to do that work.

Mexicans have survived and thrived doing work that blacks will not or are unwilling to do. It is not an easy life. Many live along the Mexican border in Texas and come north every year doing field work. Farmers need them and often do not report the illegals among them. Many farmers use unscrupulous tactics to take advantage of the Mexican laborers. It is not uncommon practice for farmers to hold 20% of their pay till the end of the season. As most are paid by piece work. If the crops run out, and there was not enough work to keep them busy the farmer will force them to stay to get their 20%. If they move to better crops and more work elsewhere, they loose a considerable amount of money.

The recent pandemic has shown the unfairness in America’s healthcare system, minorities have been effected at a much higher rate. Yet in most cases they have no recourse. Many of the meat packing plants are full of minorities. They are forced to work in an environment dangerous to their health. They are deemed as essential workers, but they are not afforded the protections they deserve and need to work safely.

I invite you to read my blog at the following link. https://carpforamerica.blogspot.com/2020/07/carp.html This post outlines the needs and platform of a 3^rd party and while I want to see it implemented and at 70+, I no longer have the fire or the zeal to push it, but I can share how to do it.  I invite you to subscribe and follow my blog so you will get updates when I post them on issues concerning our rights to vote.

America needs a mentoring program for race relations. When in the Army I spent several months as the only white person in a 12 man room. I learned a lot of things about being a black American, that I would never have learned without that expeience. Most of America's race problems are from a lack of communication. When we see white cops, killing black citizens we are seeing a lack of respect for our fellow Americans, because they can get away with it. They are using their authority, to avoid responsibility for their actions. Authority needs to also require accountability.

Why can they get away with it, because of a lack of peer pressure to do what is right. It is something that is taught. When in the Army at Ft. Bragg, I went to the store to get milk with a friend of mine and his wife. While he went in to get the milk, his wife baby and I sat in the car waiting.  A black man walked past the car and the wife, started telling the baby who could not even walk yet, say N----- Johnny, this went on and on till her husband returned. I for a long time blamed it on the fact they were from Alabama. 

After my months in the room as the only white boy, I found it is taught, it does not just happen. Even when I was growing up I experienced it in a different way. My Dad took me to the Indianapolis 500 time trials and we had to drive thru a very dark part of Indianapolis and I remember my Dad making me roll up the windows and lock the door. His actions puzzeled me. My home town only has a few hundred blacks in the whole city. Our high school had over 1200 students and only five students in the whole school were black.

 Why I found my father a World War II veterans actions puzzeling was that he had me do his good deeds so to speak.  We had one elderly black lady in the whole neighborhood and her husband had died. My Dad sent me to mow her yard whenever it needed it, as he did for several other widows. 

If America wants to cure the problem we first need to admit there is one. I remember when I was stationed in France and went to Paris that Blacks, Whites and others mingled and interacted and race was not a barrier or a problem. At least I didn't see it. 

When I see the peaceful protests going on, I realize there is hope for America. One thing we need in America is accountability for every life.No one is above the law, especially those who administer the law. The idea that a law enforcement officer can take a life and is above the law is absurd. It may happen, but not when a person is shot in the back seven times from point blank range, or when a man is running away from law enforcement. He is not a threat, he is scared and in this country he has every right to be. Which is a sad thing to say.

Minimum Wage versus A Living Wage

 

Minimum Wage versus A Living Wage

Are you surviving or just living day to day. In In May of 2012, I wrote my first article that took on a life of its own. Meaning I did not push it but it was very popular and may have even been part of the movement to create a $15 an hour minimum wage. Over the years I have studied the matter and really a $15 an hour minimum wage does not put a person ahead. It simply means you are living at a level, equal to what was needed to survive in the late fifties and early sixties.

In reality a “Living Minimum Wage” is more like $30 an hour. With millions of people unemployed and the government having turned its back on the average person. Survival may turn into the pictures we used to see in the history books of the Great Depression. Like I said in the linked article it took three years for the economy to hit bottom and it stayed there for years.

The thing that helped keep the economy going after World War II was not only the booming demand for American products, but a major investment in the national infrastructure called the Interstate Highway System. It created jobs and it was basically completed in the late 70’s. The government quit spending and we have been struggling to survive every since.

The Constitution gave three jobs to Congress in Article 1, Section 8.. they are to pay all the debts and levy taxes and duties, provide a military for our defense and provide for the welfare of the nation. In my opinion, as I understand what the Founding Fathers wrote about, that meant provide for the needs of all citizens. Congress is obligated to not only create programs, but to fund and administer them.

When a person has a family, they provide, shelter, food, education, healthcare, security for them. The government should provide no less and should make sure every citizen has the opportunity to have those needs met. Regardless of their color, religion, nationality, age or gender.

It is my belief that the present two party system has failed America and it is time to create a 3^rd party that meets the needs of America, puts all Americans first, and does not allow discrimination or favoritism of one person over another person. It is a party for all Americans and puts America first. All created programs must treat and be of equal value to all Americans.

It is the duty of the government to meet the needs of all Americans equally. The present system has failed America. Certain injustices existed in the Constitution when it was written and passed so we could become a nation. I believe they knew at the time that down the road some adjustments would have to be made, to Make America a nation of the people, by the people and for the people.

One of those inequities at the time was a necessity. The electoral college was a necessity at that time because it took months for some representatives to return to their homes and share the decisions they took part in. That is no longer the case and the last two times it has been used it did not allow the will of the majority to be put in place. In this day and age certain parties manipulate the system to push their will down the minority’s throat.

The House is to make sure each state gets to put in its fair share of representatives. Once the representatives work out the details it is the duty of the Senate to make sure every state gets its two votes, which is equal to all states.

I invite you to read the link in this paragraph to see what I envision a party that represents all Americans. It is called CARP, which is an acronym for the Constitutional Anti-federalist Reform Party. A party that puts states rights first, and demands equality for all. I hope you will take time to consider what it says. Some of it may seem a bit radical, but it answers the problems facing America today.

Hard Times Are Coming, Dealing With Murphy's Law

 

Welcome to Hard Times or Dealing with Murphy’s Law

Most of this post was written nine years ago right after the 08 crash and while a lot of people were still hurting. The goal was to share my life experiences to hopefully help some one going thru hard times. Back then there were 14 million unemployed. Right now we are looking at forty million unemployed and many of these posts may help someone who is struggling. I changed the titles on some to help people know what the post was/is about.

One of the keys I stressed back then and will to this day. Time is money and if you wait till it is gone and your credit rating is trashed it may be to late. Survivors take action to save their situation. They don’t wait for things to happen, they anticipate and realize there is an extreme cost for procrastination.

I have been writing for nine years and I went back thru my posts and copied the links to all the ones I thought might help people. If something here helps you, pass it on. Sharing is Caring. The way things are looking, America is only going to survive if there are a lot of caring people. Back in the 80 to 82 recession I was working my way thru college tending bar. Several farmers around where I live found some of their cows butchered on the side of the road. In other cases homes were broken into and their food stolen while they were gone. This recession/depression may be much worse than that one was back then.

Things covered in this post include bankruptcy. Been there, done that. Living in a car, and finding a home for nothing down, Been there, done that.  Buying property at tax sales and getting money when you don't have a job of source of income. Starting your own business and dealing with banks. Some of the do's and don'ts.

Hope something here helps someone.

#1 Money Basics, Eating out for 4, for less than $10

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2013/02/budgeting-basics-eating-out-for-4-for.html

#2 Organizing Yourself to Survive Hard Times

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2011/03/marshalling-your-resourses-for-fight.html

#3 Finding a Home, When You Don’t Have a Job

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2011/03/stopping-bleeding.html

#4 Business, Banks and Survival, Lessons Learned The Hard Way

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2011/04/business-banks-and-bankruptcy-from-my.html

#5 Alternative Ways to find a House.

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2011/04/finding-house-working-smarter-not.html

#6 Business, Banks and Bankruptcy

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2011/04/business-banks-and-bankruptcy-from-my.html

#7 Other ways to find a house.

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2011/03/stopping-bleeding.html

#8 Dealing with Taxes and the IRS

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2011/04/businesspricing-dealing-with-taxes-and.html

#9 Live One Month a Year Free. (This will take some sacrifice, but it is worth it.)

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2011/09/live-one-month-year-for-free.html

#10 Getting Financial Security by Spending Your Money Wisely

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2011/09/spending-your-money-wisely.html

#11 Getting Financial Security by Starting Your Own Business (Not for Everybody)

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2011/10/job-solutionscreating-your-own-success.html

#12 Great Idea, but Are You Self Employable

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2011/10/great-ideabut-are-you-self-employable

#13 Investing for Retirement versus Reality

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2011/10/investing-for-retirement-versus-reality.html

#14 Time for a new Game Plan for America

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2011/10/time-for-new-game-plan-that-creates.html

#15 Getting Your Loan

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2011/10/getting-your-loan.html

#16 Cost of Driving, How to save a bundle

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2011/10/cost-of-driving-see-chart-below-it.html

#17 Money, Do you work for it, or does it work for you

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2012/01/money-do-you-work-for-it-or-does-it.html

#18 MONEY, Learning to make it work for you, Killing the Debt Beast

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2012/01/money-learning-to-make-it-work-for-you.html

#19 Money, Are you underwater on debt, when is it time to bail out.

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2012/01/money-when-you-are-underwater-on-debt.html

#20 MONEY, Starting over with a direction and a plan.

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2012/01/money-starting-over-with-direction-and.html

#21 The Secret to Getting is Learning to Give.

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2012/01/money-secret-of-getting-is-learning-to.html

#22 Dump the Gas Hog and get a new car free.

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2012/01/money-dump-gas-hog-and-get-new-car-free.html

#23 How you get the free new car.

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2012/01/money-how-you-get-free-car.html

#24 How I went from $150,000 to nothing in a heartbeat, and back

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2012/02/moneyhow-i-went-from-150000-to-nothing.html

#25 From Trash to Treasures, with Pictures

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2012/02/from-trash-to-treasures-with-pictures.html

#26 Eating the Bear

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2012/04/eating-and-bear.html

#27 MONEY, Who Turned Off the Flow and How to Turn it Back On

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2012/05/money-who-turned-off-flow-how-to-turn.html

#28 MONEY, Victory over $tuffiti$, (How to get money when you have little to none)

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2012/06/money-victory-over-stuffitis.html

#29Living Money vs Working Money (How to make it work for you)

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2012/06/moneyliving-money-working-money.html

#30 Real Estate.. Rentals vs Storage

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2012/12/moneyreal-estaterentals-versus-storage.html

Fixing the Economy, T-Rump and the Republi-can'ts Absurd and Insanely Weak Argument

     T-Rump and the Republi-can'ts Absurd and Insanely Weak Reasoning on refusing to spend more than a trillion dollars to fix the ecomomy. With a Federal Debt of over 24 Trillion dollars, does anyone think they have any clue of how to fix the problem. In the last 11 1/2 years they have done nothing but fight to undo anything that has been done. They have not fixed the immigration problem, the healthcare problem the infrastructure problem, just to name a few things.

     Their last great magic act was to increase the national debt by 5 1/2  trillion dollars to give tax breaks to the wealthy and big business. How can a bill that increases the national debt by that much be considered a tax cut.  It is totally absurd.

     I don't know who created the magic number of $600 in unemployment compensation, but I did figure out how they arrived at that number. Six hundred divided by forty hours equals $15 an hour. A minimum wage that does not in reality exist. I personally see it as an attempt to buy votes in the coming election.

    They do not need to increase temporary benefits that they can not sustain.  They need to create a job program tied to repairing the infrastructure that will create jobs and revenue in the form of taxes on the wages earned from it. The links I give later share several ways to solve the problems facing America.

     With forty million Americans unemployed, that is forty million non taxpaying workers that are going to need to eat. They better start building soup kitchens and figure how they are going to feed all the hungry unemployed. By election time if something is not done, America may find itself in the middle of a revolution. T-Rumps actions are stirring the discontent.  

    I spent all my electives and free time in college studying the Great Depression and what caused it. All my life growing up I listened to stories from my parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles telling me of the hardships of the Great Depression. My goal in studying the Great Depression was to understand what actually made it happen. My conclusion was that it was a lot of misplaced and misguided decisions that were often too little, and too late.

    The enclosed link takes you to my party platform with solutions on how to fix our broken two party system. It gives possible and workable solutions.

https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2018/01/how-to-fix-america.html

      The solutions in this post could fix some of the problems facing America. One of them is already being used because of the situation with COVID. Home schooling may be a long term solution, it was offered as an idea almost nine years ago. As we head into the abyss of a 2nd Great Depression these solutions while hard, may be the only alternative.  The first Depression was caused when Hoover refused to acknowledge there was a problem, until it was to late. He was a Republi-can't and T-Rump is following in his footsteps. The sadest part of writing this for me is that I have always been a lifelong Republican. The last main stream candidate I voted for was Ronald Reagan in his first term, every since then I have actually voted independent, because I could not live with either of the party choices for President.

 https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2011/04/national-debt-what-ifs-and-seven.html

 

Time to Amend the 2nd Amendment

       It is time to fix the shooting and gun problem in America. When the Constitution was written it was not perfect and there have been a number of Amendments to fix the problems in the Constitution. In fact there have been Amendments that created problems worse than the problem they were passed to protect Americans from. Prohibition is the perfect example. It took an Amendment to create it. When the chaos it created proved worse than the problem it was supposed to fix they passed another Amendment to repeal it. 

     America did not become a nation of drunks. Many will argue with me but I will argue that the 18th Amendment is part of what caused the Great Depression because of all the businesses that it put out of business. The loss of income finally reached its peak when the markets collapsed.

     Amendments have been used to end slavery, give the right to vote and then give the right to women to vote. It is not a perfect system. The 2nd Amendment is revered as one of the original guaranteed rights. It should never be abolished, but it should be modified to solve problems that the Founding Fathers could never have envisioned when they originally wrote the Constitution.

    The attack on the NRA tells me that we need to pass an amendment that lines out that our Constitutional rights to guns may not be taken away. You can have your AR-15 and fill the air with lead, but I will take my bolt action 50 caliber sniper rifle and make every round count. Read the link at the end of this post and see what the difference is between Constitutional guns and Recreational guns.

    The Amendment I am proposing does not fix all the problems, but it is a big step and I include a couple laws that need to become Federal Laws. They should make the crime of indiscriminate murder of Americans so high that it is a capital offense. 

    The following link will take you to a post on my blog that lays out how and why the Amendment should work. https://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/2018/02/solving-shooting-problem-in-america.html

 

 

Koi My Last Trip?

  

My Last Trip?

About three years ago my wife and I received a present from our children and grand children that was meant to offer us more entertainment choices. As we cut back on our satellite TV programming to reduce expenses. They gave us a ROKU unit. It opened a whole new world to me. It did not take long and I was hooked on YouTube. My wife doesn’t care for YouTube, but I can spend hours watching how to programs.

I have always loved to travel, Three of my children were born overseas while I was in the Army. Two in Germany and one in Panama, When I left the Army I drove a truck, which I learned how to drive OJT in Vietnam. For twenty years I was and over the road trucker and drove all the continental U.S. and most of Canada. I was hooked on travel by my father. We went to Colorado when I was fifteen and drove to Alaska in 1964. Later in life he actually tried to go to Alaska by boat. He was a Navy veteran and was at the D-Day invasion. and ended the war in Tokyo harbor tied up close enough to the USS Missouri to watch the surrender ceremony. He spent much spare time taking classes on boating, but seems to have missed the class on tides. Fortunately I had joined the Army by then.

Having been forced to retire at fifty-seven in 2004 I sort of missed traveling. My love of travel was satisfied by the videos I watched. One in particular was a program on raising and buying Koi fish in Japan. I started watching a channel on how to build ponds. It became an obsession with the idea of having a pond for raising Koi. It even started influencing my travel decisions. I took a vacation to North Carolina and visited Koi Farms and bamboo farms. I like bamboo as it is useful in making crafts that I like to do. My vacation ended at the Atlanta Koi Show over Labor Day weekend.

Most of the trip was based on visiting sites I had found on YouTube. Thanks to getting my Agent Orange compensation in 2013 I could afford to travel again. My goal for several years was to go out west to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.

After canceling three years in a row because of forest fires. I finally in 2017 went east instead and up thru Canada via Niagara Falls. Then across Canada reentering the U.S. into Maine. From there I went to North Carolina via New York City and Washington, D.C. to watch a skydiving competition for jumpers over sixty, While I don’t jump any more I did during my thirteen years in the Army and figured I might meet some old friends. From there I found my way home through the Smokey Mountains

In 2019 I made a trip to North Carolina and the Smokies. It was a very laid back and leisurely trip. I slept in my van and dined mostly at Waffle Houses along my route. The first night out I spent with my son-in-law in Cincinnati which allowed me to tour the awesome place he works as a design engineer, which got me the bonus of a free breakfast. That evening I stopped at the rest area on the West Virginia Turnpike. As I could not make up my mind what the healthy choice was I allowed a truck driver to go before me. He paid for my meal and we had a very nice visit.

My first stop had been intended to be Beni Hanna Koi in Carney’s Point, NJ but to save time I shortened the trip when the lady who answered the phone and told me they were going to be at the Atlanta Koi Show. I had not heard of the show, but I altered my travel plans and spent the weekend in Atlanta. I ended up meeting Mat McCann in Atlanta and getting a wealth of knowledge about Koi

The first place I went in North Carolina was not open. So I altered my plans accordingly. After seeing several ponds first hand I started getting a better idea of what I wanted to do. Several of the ponds I visited were home based business’s run buy people who were and are dedicated to promoting Koi fish.

As I am not a very organized planner, most of the places I visited by just calling as I got in their area. The first place I visited was East Coast Koi, in New Hill, NC the owner Bobby Wang is a Taiwanese native who moved to America in 1977 and has a pretzel business which is how he makes his lively hood. Koi are his hobby, but it is a very serious hobby. He raises and breeds Koi on his home property which is a very impressive and well laid out operation. He is very kind and was very helpful in sharing and answering the questions I asked of him. He had several ponds in his barn and several above ground swimming pools that he used for holding his fish. He also has a several acre pond. That is how I found out about him. YouTube had a video of the harvesting operation at his pond. I wanted to go back a month later for that event but my resources did not allow for it.

My next stop was Marsha & Lou’s Koi in Mocksville, NC. It is another home run operation. My only regret is the pictures I took inside her shop did not come out for some reason. I bought a beautiful shirt from her when the only one she had happened to be my size which is 3X. Yep I are a fluffy fellow. I have lost fifty pounds over the last year and a half though. Marsha was awesomely helpful and her and Bobbies inside ponds inspired me to figure out how to make my own.

My last stop in North Carolina was at the Haiku Bamboo Farm near Hendersonville, North Carolina. They raise and sell bamboo products. The store is worth a side trip, call and go to the store though. The farm is on top of a mountain and if you don’t have a four wheel drive you may not want to visit it. The road into it is one lane and a couple miles long. When I finally got to the gate I had to back up almost a quarter mile to find a place to turn around. When I finally got off the mountain I had to drive several miles before I finally had phone service and found out I had passed the store on my way in. He has lots of really neat hand made bamboo items for sale.

Finally I went to the Atlanta Koi Show and stayed there for two days and met tons of really neat people and harvested a ton of information on growing Koi. The vendors were all very helpful and overwhelmed me with things I had never considered.

While there I found out about My Front Yard Koi Farm in Sellersburg, Indiana only two hours from my house. I stopped by there on my way home. It was a very nice facility. They had several ponds out front and a very well stocked store with all kinds of supplies and ornaments.

Upon my return home I started watching pond building shows with a new understanding of what I needed to know. At some point I found out about an organization located in St.Charles, Illinois. Much to my pleasant surprise I found out they offered classes in how to build ponds, In January I signed up for me and my grandson to go to the 16^th and 17^th March class. The Friday before the class everything got canceled because of the Corona Virus.

With nothing else to do. I decided to go ahead and visit Aquascapes headquarters. It was a very worthwhile visit as I picked up the items I needed to build my own pond. They gave me the grand tour. It is one awesome facility. You can tell pride and craftsmanship went into every detail of their operation. With the impending shutdown of everything in Indiana at least now I know what I will be doing. I will be attempting to build my pond and get my greenhouse up and running.

As a person who has had several bouts of pneumonia, COPD, and Agent Orange my lungs only operate at thirty to forty percent capacity. At seventy-three getting the virus would be a death sentence for me. As long as I have others to do my shopping for me I can stay on my property out in the woods and hope and pray nobody brings the virus my way.

I just checked and this post was started on March 24^th of this year. The delay has provided several details I did not have when I started which is a Blessing as I was trying to figure out how to end this tale. I already know that I will be writing at least five more stories about my trip if I live long enough. One on each place I visited, but this weekend made me wonder if I will have time.

In June of 2015 I wrote a post called Coming Full Circle. Over this Memorial Day weekend I had an experience that made me wonder if I am right. Around Easter I always get the feeling the Rapture is near. With this Corona Virus my life has definitely changed. My wife and I take care of our twin, eight year old Great Grand Daughters. Their Mom brings them at 3AM five days a week and we keep them till she gets off at 1PM. With school being out our schedule has changed a lot. I have definitely gotten a lot of time off. We started taking care of them five years ago because I got convicted by the verse in 1 Timothy 5:8 which says that one who does not take care of their own is worse than an infidel. Taking care of the girls allowed their Mom to get a job and get our of government housing.

Getting back on track, we went to my grandson’s wife’s grandparents house for dinner and a visit. Over the course of the event her grandfather Kenny and I found out we had the same job in the military. Not only that but in 1965/1966 we had been stationed in the same unit at Ft. Campbell, KY. While we were not friends our paths definitely crossed. There were 240 people in our unit. Her grandmother was just getting over a case of the Covid virus. My Grandson’s wife is in the Air National Guard, where she is learning to be a nurse, she had just returned from a month long commitment working with a Covid testing unit. So in spite of my hiding from the virus for several months I was exposed indirectly to the virus, which made me realize how easy it is for people to get the virus. I ended up spending the night at my Daughter’s house in Corydon, IN.

Getting back on track again, but on the other rail of this post I went to the My Front Yard Koi Shop on my way home and picked some butterfly Koi fish for my aquarium. Something I got into since returning from my trip. While there I met a Koi Event judge because of the T-shirt I was wearing, from the Atlanta Koi show. We had a nice visit and he connected me with a local Koi owner. Yesterday I went to see his pond. It is pretty awesome.

So I traveled across half of America to find what I was looking for right where I started. I was an over the road trucker for twenty years. There are about fifteen houses on the road I live on. About nine of us are truckers. I don’t really know any of my neighbors even after living here since 1987. The irony is that the three I do know I met on the road by making small talk on the CB radio in other states. I guess that is the way life is.

Sunday is Pentecost this year. If the rapture does not happen, or the Lord does not call me home I will be writing stories about the different parts of my trip. It is too much to put in one post. I have a post called When God Answers that explains why I think we may be neat the end, but that may come from reading the Bible too much. Either way I want to thank each and every one who has taken time to read my posts over the years.

Guess I will have to add the rest of the pictures later as I can't seem to get them from my phone to my computer.