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Saturday, August 21, 2021

Save the Planet, Save Your Money, and Save Your Back

 Growing oranges in Nebraska. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD_3_gsgsnk

Watching this video could change your life, and let you help save the planet and help your retirement plans. Seems like I am claiming a lot, but if this system was applied worldwide, it could do everything I said and more.

Peope would no longer have to pollute the atmospere to stay warn or cool. The neat thing about it is, It is God's Energy Option.  Yep that is GEO, but God's way/

If you find this post interesting PLEASE SHARE IT.  I am barely computer literate. I write my blog, but my daugher set it all up for me. I don't know how to share a message and make it go viral, but some of those reading this do, and I BEG for your help in spreading this message.

You owe it to yourself and the planet to watch this video.

Wednesday, August 18, 2021

COVID versus REALITY, Is it the Mark? Shot or No Shot

 COVID versus REALITY


Maybe the title should be Covid is the new reality. I wrote a post in May of last year called Koi My Last Trip. At the time I wrote it, I had no clue where the COVID Epidemic was headed. It had already altered my life, but I missed the true significance of it. 


At seventy-three I was thinking my age would be the issue. I have dodged COVID for the last year and found all kinds of excuses not to get the shot. However, it’s reality came home to me, in the last month. My best friend when I was growing up passed away from COVID. We had known each other since we were three or four years old. Like me he did not get the shot. I do not consider it the Mark of the Beast, but I do consider it doubting God will protect me. 


My first exposure to the disease was a surprise. It is shared in the link above. It gave me confidence God would and will protect me. Things went fine and until Donnie died it had not been personal. Yesterday that reality was changed. One of my great grand children came home from Head Start.  He was put on quarantine because he was exposed to COVID at school.


This event changed MY REALITY, I hadn’t got the shot, because I was not scared of dying. I still am not. I died twice back in 2004 and am still here. So dying is no big deal. Sooner or later it will happen. HOWEVER, this changed my perspective on the matter. Do I want to stay away from my grandkids till the quarantine is over? The answer to that is a big fat NO. So I made arrangements to get THE SHOT through the VA Thursday.


Biblically I do not think that the shot meets the criteria to be the Mark of the Beast. However it depends on how you look at it. The King James Version of the Bible says you will be required to take a mark in your hand, or in your head. However, the NIV version of the Bible says, on your hand or your head. To me the difference between in and on is very significant. Some time ago I was obsessed with the computer being the Mark. If you type Mark of the Beast on the search bar on my blog you will be able to read several long posts on the matter, from my point of view. You can have a card in your hand or a number memorized in your head and no one knows what it is but you. Whereas, on, can be seen by anybody. The social security number qualifies as being the number of your name. 


Some people’s point of view is that the World Wide Web is the Mark. You have a number to get on it and it is Your Number.. That view comes from the fact that in the Hebrew alphabet the sixth letter is the English equivalent of W. So if A is one and B is 2, and so on. The sixth letter is W. which means WWW is the Mark. 


In my opinion you can make it anything you want. For me it is looking at what is going on in the world. If you look and Daniel 12;4 it makes clear that the prophecy he was given would not be revealed until the end time. It gives two things that will happen and they did not happen until our present time in history. One is that knowledge shall be increased. Since the invention of the printing press in the 1400’s there has definitely been an explosion of knowledge. It is to the point today you can carry the whole world’s knowledge in the palm of your hand.  


The second part was that people would travel to and fro. That is another prophecy that has reached its fulfillment in this day and age. People traveling the whole world to spread The Word is totally possible in this day and age.


There is another verse that speaks into this time. It is in Matthew 24:22, “Except those days be shortened there should be no flesh saved.” With COVID being worldwide and constantly mutating it seems impossible to destroy, cure or eradicate the disease and given enough time it “could” wipe out mankind. I don’t even want to go into the issue of whether it is a manmade disease or not. That is totally irrelevant. The fact is it exists and it kills some and leaves some. Being born again and baptized does not seem to provide salvation from its effect. 


That brings me to another interesting point. If you continue reading, Jesus said that AFTER the great tribulation.of those days, verse 29 to 31 that he will gather His Chosen Ones and they shall be caught away. Verse 34 says it will all come to pass in one generation. So we might be listening for the sound of a  trumpet. 


The final thing Jesus says to the churches is in Revelation 3:20 is pretty clear. “Behold I stand at the door and knock.” 

There is one final thing I have seen from the Bible and it is only recently that I have come to an understanding from the Bible. I have gotten into several things over the last few years. I am fascinated by Koi fish and have gone to several Koi events. Also I have gotten into gardening and even have a greenhouse. However, being the world’s worst procrastinator I didn’t even get my garden out till August 1st of this year, but there is an irony in that. My garden site for next year was finished this past weekend, even though I doubt we will be here next year.


Based on my interest I have been following several blogs on YouTube.  One is Roots and Refuge and I really like the program. The lady who does it has several really inspirational devotionals. Her and her family just moved their whole farm from Arkansas to  South Carolina to start a new farm. I love her positive attitude and she has a tremendous following. I started following her Facebook page, Friends of Roots and Refuge and made a comment and her site has literally taken over my phone.  The other two I follow are Flower Hill Farm which is in upstate New York, and You Can’t Eat the Grass, which is based in western Canada. The latter two I follow because of my interest in starting a cut flower business.


Reading the post I have discovered something that I found interesting. Lots of people are having a tough time raising their crops this year. In Genesis 1:29-31 it says God gave us the right to use all plants bearing seeds. (Something that the Government needs to get a grip on, instead of wasting billions of dollars) Sorry, couldn’ resist it.  That is at the very start of the Bible. Well in the last book of the Old Testament. Malachi 3:11 says God will protect our plants. So if we are having growing problems (I am) we may want to examine our relationship with God.


Two other verses I think people should pay close attention to are Joshua 1:8, It says we are to study and obey God’s Word, It also makes clear we have to do the work.

The second one is in Malachi and God promises us and challenges us to follow His Word and that he will pour out so much of a Blessing we won’t be able to receive it all. That is in Malachi 3:10 right before he promises to protect our plants.


Reading all of Malachi might be eye opening. So will reading the whole Bible. Hosea 4:1-6 God makes clear His People perish for a lack of knowledge. He did not say the lost, or the heathens, he said His People. Time to seek the Truth.


Monday, August 16, 2021

GEO...God's Energy Option versus America the Wasteful



The World is in danger of extinction, because of the lack of understanding God’s intent for mankind. Mankind is supposedly interested in saving the World. In reality however many of the new “Green Energy Ideas” are just longer exhaust pipes on the same inefficient systems.


God gave us the earth to live on. Not to destroy it. He gave us earth, wind, fire, water, and the sun. Those are all natural things and if used properly they can save the planet. Most of the Green ideas are just other ways to get dollars out of people’s pockets and have little to do with saving the planet.


Instead of cars that run on electricity, with batteries that catch fire, and have a very limited range. How about an air powered car?  The link will take you to an alternative that is truly green. An electric car can take 7-9 hours to charge and has a very limited range.  An air powered car takes 4 to 5 hours with a home compressor. Away from home it still takes hours to recharge the system in an electric car. However an air powered car can be recharged in about the time it takes to refill a gas powered car.  It requires charging stations every 120 miles or so. Which is no different than having gas stations. To drive coast to coast would require about 25 service stops and 50 hours of driving for the 3,000 mile trip. 


The same trip in an electric vehicle would require almost 12  days in an electric powered vehicle. Fifty hours of driving and about 225 hours of recharging the batteries. If the charging stations were run on solar powered energy, then you have a green car. America is being sold a bill of goods on the efficiency of battery powered vehicles.


In most of the country putting a station every thirty miles or so would not be a big change. Most cities in the east are less than thirty miles apart.  If you have wondered why most cities further west are about thirty miles apart it is because twenty five to thirty miles was about as far as you could travel in a day on horseback. 


The technology to make the change already exists. Wind farms dot the landscape. It is changing the mind of the masses to accept it which is the issue. Changing would save immense amounts of energy. Unfortunately the system is very resistant to cny kind if change.


Another area that needs change is the American supply system. I love having a tomato in January and I spent much of my life hauling produce across the country and my over active mind said there has to  be a better way. It is only by the Grace of God that we are able to do so.


That is not a good thing though. God hates waste. You might read the 24th Chapter of Isaiah to see what is coming. While Isaiah said the world would be turned upside down. In this day and age scientists say it has already happened several times. In Matthew 24:7 Jesus said there would be earthquakes and that they would be the beginning of our sorrows. 


My youngest daughter Glenda, who was a devout Christian,  passed away eleven years ago this week.  My wife and I were sitting on the front porch and butterflies started landing all over us. It was right after her memorial service. It gave us peace.

A few nights ago I had a dream about my daughter. When I went to my Bible I turned to Revelations 3 verse 20 and it overwhelmed me with peace. To understand my peace, you would have to read my testimony. The verse says,”Behold I stand at the door and knock.”


Sorry for the side track, but it is part of what inspired me to write this post. I wrote a post called Worse Than Katrina. The link will take you to the story. I will warn you it is a long one. Driving a truck I had long periods to ponder the what ifs of life. Some of the stuff I wrote may seem extreme, but much of it has already happened. So it is based on fact, not fiction. It is partly  how I came to understand what I believe to be true. I sent copies of my post back then to President Obama and Vice President Biden. I didn’t even get the pretty picture they normally send you. The first pretty picture I got was from Ronald Reagan.


There is a part of the post I dedicate on how to reduce the tragedy that would occur if the events happened again in this day and age. I knew vaguely how to do it, but not totally. Recently though I watched a video on Growing Oranges in Nebraska and realized it told how to implement what I had proposed in my Worse than Katrina post. I provide the links to make it easier for those who really care to find the answers. 


If this man’s system was implemented nationwide it could save our country. Tomatoes and other crops could be grown year round and not have to be hauled thousands of miles. The energy saved by using God’s Energy System would be mind boggling. It can be put in as a retro part of the energy system much of America has, and can be done on less than an acre of ground. That is if you are willing to try it.


Just in the last two weeks I put in a single one hundred foot line behind my shop just to see how well it worked. In less than fifteen minutes I had a temperature drop from seventy nine degrees to sixty-six degrees. I have a three thousand square foot shop. My goal right now is just to make a six hundred square foot area in my shop  cool enough in summer  and warm enough to heat in winter to make  my craft area functional year round and give our pets a place to get out of the weather. At least to the point they don’t have to deal with the -20 degree temperatures we sometimes get in winter. The second reason besides having a craft room is I will have a place to start my plants earlier in the spring. I am the worlds worst procrastinator. My garden did not get out of the greenhouse till August 1st this year. 


In reality I don’t normally have a garden other than a few tomato plants. I do however start lots of trays of garden plants and take them to the farmers market and flea markets and sell them. At seventy-three and having been dead twice already. I have sort of lost my zeal to have a garden. However this year I have gotten inspired to start a cut flower garden and growing perennial plants that I can pass on to my twin great grand-daughters. They will be ten this year and they love helping me in my greenhouse and I have been teaching them crafts when we have time. Hopefully it will provide enough heat to warm the small three hundred square foot room I have partitioned off of my main shop for doing crafts.


When I had my heart attacks in 2004, my crafts helped me make enough to make ends meet. At least until I started getting my retirement income. Then my daughters inspired me to start my craft shop. I used to go to the local Amish auctions and buy the broken furniture and take it to my shop, repair it and sell it. It was something I really enjoyed doing. The link will take you to some pictures of some of the stuff I made. It also tells the story of how my daughters conned me into opening a shop. It probably kept me alive as I was depressed over having to quit trucking. 


With the help of my daughter I started my blog in March of 2011. I started this blog because it was a period of hard times in the country. I wrote a lot of posts on how to make money, and stretch the money you had.  Those posts can be found by typing MONEY on the search bar on my blog. My goal was to share my thirty years of knowledge gained from being self-employed.  


The rest of my posts are either faith based stories or trucking stories. Some of the stories are both. There are a good number of opinion and political posts mixed throughout the ten years of posts also.


Lately I have gotten into following several posts on homesteading and have come to the realization that there are many people who want a better life and are willing to put in the effort to get it. I recently ran across an editor’s post in a magazine and I agree with him. Many people have used the break in normal to escape the rat race.  They have used the time to develop their side hussel into a regular job. They will not return to working at several minimum wage jobs to survive. They are betting on themselves. That is why I still find hope in America. Thanks for taking the time to read my post. Hope it helps you in some way.


Wednesday, August 4, 2021

Alive By the Grace of God, 17 Years After My Death.

 Ever wonder why you are alive? At 73 and having been dead twice already, the thought of why has crossed my mind several times. In the course of my life I have seen four plane crashes. Two of them were close enough I could feel the heat. One of them because I took a day off. I delivered a load of spices from Nevada on Tuesday, when I should have been there on Monday. It has definitely made me wonder if God is trying to tell me something. That Tuesday was September 11, 2001 and I was delivering in Bayonne, NJ. As I left my delivery site and moved east to the waterfront and then north to get to the Interstate to leave. I noticed lots of people standing around and looking east. As I looked I saw smoke pouring out of one of the twin towers. Pulling to the shoulder the sound of sirens pierced the cab of my truck. 


Remembering the crash I saw in Evansville, IN on February 6,1992, I decided I needed to leave the area. Emergency vehicles would be gearing up to go help and they did not need people in the way. The Evansville crash was one where I was only a few hundred feet from when it hit the ground. I could feel the heat from the impact. The other crash I could feel the heat from was an F4 Phantom at Cam Ranh Bay, in Vietnam. His landing gear hit in the gravel a few feet short of the runway and a fireball rolled down the runway. Later we learned the pilot was flying blind because he had been shot and another pilot had been trying to talk him onto the runway. The fourth plane crashed into the Days Inn near the Indianapolis airport. I was only a few blocks away unloading.


So what does all that have to do with why I am alive. If you read my testimony it will explain some of the issues and why I feel so Blessed to just be alive. A couple weeks ago my youngest grandson Isaiah stopped by. He was on his way home from spending the week working at the local Bible camp.  I always enjoy any time I get to spend with any of my grand-children. We have seven and two great-grand-daughters.


In the course of making small talk I told him three of his cousins had been baptized on the same day at the same camp he had been at. All three were baptized on August 7th, 2007. To verify it I got out my old Bible. It was the one I received when I was baptized at a Bible camp in Michigan on August 7, 1961. This year will be the 60th year since my Baptism. The number sixty has a lot of significance in the Bible. 


Most people know that Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Something a lot of people don’t know is that the only ones who entered the Promised Land were those that were twenty years old or less when they left Egypt. The only exceptions were Joshua and Caleb. So most of the people entering the Promised Land were sixty years old.


They left Egypt shortly after the Passover. One had to wonder, was it a coincidence that Jesus was crucified at the time of the Passover. He ascended into heaven on the day of Pentecost. After reading the Bible for over sixty years I have always been obsessed with the day of Pentecost. There is a verse in Exodus 12;41 that made me wonder for years about its significance. When I look at the verse where it says God is the same today, yesterday and forever. Is there a significance to the meaning of the selfsame day.


If you read my testimony, you will see I volunteered for Vietnam because of an experience I had. I was to dumb to realize that God’s Will, will be done regardless of what we do. Two years later, having gone clear around the world and back I came to the realization of that fact.


It was during my running from God that I learned to drive a truck. Little did I know it would be the way I would make my living for most of my life. If you read the posts on my blog you will see that I believe God guides our steps. You will also learn that God has a sense of humor. That is something my life experiences have taught me.


In the vision/dream I had in my testimony, there are two things that make me wonder. When I meet that person will I recognize or know him? While I sincerely believe I will be here when the end comes, I also know I could be dead before I get up out of this chair. Over the last few years I have gone through some serious health issues that made me wonder about it all. In the vision/dream I was walking down a hill. From 2016 till 2019 I was on diabetic insulin and could not walk a 100 yards if I had to. Over the last three years I made several lifestyle changes, I got off of insulin and lost almost 60 pounds. The upside of that is that I would be able to be walking down that hill. 


Which brings me to another issue. While I definitely thought it was the end, I did not see either of us being caught away. Over the years of my reading I know the Bible says there is a generation born unto God’s wrath. In other words there is a generation  upon which God is going to pour out His Wrath. My question when I look at the world we live in today, are we that generation.


It seems to me we certainly could be. When I literally look at the ten commandments and the things the Bible says we are not to do. Get tattoos, I have one, we are not to make any graven images, I was a photographer for several years. If you know how the images are made, they are graven images. Body piercing, I don’t have any of them. We are not to shave our heads, I have nothing to shave. We are not to trim the corners of our beards. How can you shave your face and not do so?


So are we Christians literally or figuratively. Do we make the rules to accommodate our lifestyle or does the Bible mean literally what it says. My belief is God says what he means, and means what he says. We have make our minds up on that. At a low point in my life when I had lost everything, including my family. I turned to the Lord and as all I had was my time, I started tithing it to the Lord and spent two and one half hours a day reading the Bible. That is ten percent of a day. It was the best decision I ever made in my life. Three years later, I had back everything I had lost plus some.


There is a verse in the Bible in John 19:13 that says Pilot took Jesus into the place of judgment. Called the pavement and in the Hebrew Gabbatha. I chose that as the name of my company as that is where I made my living, on the pavement. My company was Gabbatha Interstate Freight Transportation or G.I.F.T. Enterprises. After my heart attack and as I was no longer trucking I changed to  God Is For Trusting. He has guided my path.


Many have problems deciding if they should follow the Bible or trust God. Well in Malacha 3:10 God challenges us to do what he says and that if we do he will open the windows of heaven. It also says we will not be able to receive it all. The choice to do so is ours. 


Friday, May 14, 2021

Que Sera Sera...Something New

 

Que Sera Sera...Something New


Been a few months since I wrote anything on my diet post, but have had a bit of a revelation that got me over a hump or plateau that I fought for several months. It is a new concept to me, but it makes so much sense that I have to wonder with all the fad diets out there, that I had never heard of calorie density. The link will take you to a site on you tube and if you like it there are tons of posts. The key to it is learning to eat stuff that fills you up, but does not have a ton of calories. The video makes it clear.


There are a large number of people who have lost well over a hundred pounds and that is impressive. It has helped me to start loosing again, and believe me I was getting frustrated. I guess it don’t really matter. I am a bit of an end time Bible nut and I think that the 23rd of May which is Pentecost we are out of here. You can type Pentecost on the search bar of my blog and it will take you to several posts that explain why I feel that we may be near the end.


With Covid going on and Israel on the verge of total warfare. It is a possibility. Also our Congress had gone bonkers and a person was fired basically for telling the truth and refusing to believe the parties lie about the election. Anyhow a lot of things that say we are not living in normal times.


I have a new favorite meal that takes less than ten minutes to make. It is basically a chicken breast and a bag of frozen veggies in a gravy sauce with a ton of seasoning. The ingredients I use are.




1 Chicken Breast

1 bag of California Medley frozen veggies

1 onion

1can of mushroom stems and pieces

1 Bottle of Heinz Homestyle Chicken Gravy

Lawry’s Seasoning salt

Garlic Pepper seasoning

Minced Garlic

Oregano

Basil

Parsley

Salt

Pepper


Use the spices to your taste and substitute fresh veggies if you like. This will make two batches, at least it does for me. It helped me loose a pound a day. I am on a OMAD diet right now and that also helps to loose weight. OMAD is One Meal A Day. It works for me and I don’t feel starved. The key to success with OMAD is timing your meal to fill you up and tide you over till bed time. I do have coffee and toast for breakfast, so I am not a purist. I use butter and not margarine. You might watch the video on YouTube entitled, “Butter Makes Your Pants Fall Off” and you will find out fat is not what makes you fat. I always use Lard and not oils for cooking. Go to the link and watch it and you will see why. It is hard to watch because he does not look at the camera and that can be distracting, but he is not an actor. He is a person who has lost well over a 100 pounds and he tells how and why he did it.



Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Why A $15 Minimum Wage Is A Rip Off

 



 


Money, Who Turned Off The Flow? How To Turn It On


       Sometimes it is hard to decide which direction to go and what to do.  Especially when you are going through major changes like losing a job, ending a relationship or even discovering that though you still have a job, it does not make you enough income to meet your needs or pay your bills.  Sooner or later something has to give. It has been my misfortune to be in that position several times in my life.  Especially the one where I was working my butt off, but still did not have enough to survive on.

       My solution when I found myself in that situation was usually to find a second job or if that did not work, create one. The double income would usually make it to where I could meet my needs.  However I am retired now and looking at the job market from the outside.  A couple things struck me as I have watched my grand kids enter the job market.  They are not getting a fair shake for a couple reasons.  First there are barely enough minimum wage jobs to  go around.  Not that a minimum wage job is something to aspire to. The second is that the minimum wage has not even come close to keeping up with the cost of living.  When I entered the job market the minimum wage was fifty cents and hour.  Yes I am old, seventy plus some.  If you think that is bad my grandfather told me back during the depression he worked 12 hours a day and 6 days a week, that is 72 hours, for the princely sum of $3.

     Time to get back on track.  At the same time that the minimum wage was fifty cents a bottle of pop was a nickel and you got two cents back when you took the bottle back.  Also a candy bar was a nickel.  They still had penny candy that was three pieces for a penny and best of all gas was only 17 to 19 cents a gallon.  Not so anymore.  Well with pop at a $!.50 a bottle, that is 30 times what it cost way back when.  If you figure in the deposits it would be even more.  Candy bars have done about the same amount of increase.  Gas has had the lowest increase with only costing 23 times what it cost in the late 50's or early 60's.  That means if the minimum wage had just stayed even it would be between $11.50 and hour and $15 an hour.

      The price of gas has kept pace with inflation.  The seventeen to nineteen cents it cost way back then was roughly 34% of the minimum hourly wage.  So at today's prices it is still close to 34% of what the minimum wage "should be."  Most other things that people buy in the course of life have also gone up many times what they cost way back when.  The new price of a car has gone from the $2700-$3000 range into the $35,000 to $45,000 dollar range.  Oh yes you can still buy the low end cars at lower prices, but even they are many times what the low end cars cost back then.

    What is sad is when you project the annual income levels of the minimum wage.  If you take the 40 hour week times 52 weeks per year.  The annual wage for a minimum wage worker back then was just a whopping $1040 dollars.  That is versus the present working minimum wage that would get you an annual salary of $15,040 per year.  While if adjusted to the rate of increase of the cost of living.  That wage would bring you $31,240.  Sounds incredible but what is considered a middle class wage today is in reality only a  minimum wage job.  My method for figuring this rate out is not very scientific.  Basically what I did was take what the buying power of my wage back then could buy and what it can buy now.  In other words an hours pay would buy me ten bottles of pop out of a machine.  The same pop today would cost $15 and the same for the candy bar.

        What does all that mean. It means the buying power of American wage and therefore the standard of living of the average American has diminished greatly.  It means the middle class wages have been diminished also.  Your labor does not get you the buying power it did back then.

       So when today's youth go to work they are only making twenty-five to thirty to percent of what my generation did.  So now they need two and a half jobs to just break even.   They can forget getting ahead.  That is why my grandchildren have been urged to get a good education or create their own job.  The odds of getting ahead on a minimum wage job are slim to none. Even if you are a master at managing your money.


      It is about knowing that when life gives you a bunch of lemons you learn to make lemonade.  Use what you have to work with to your advantage, especially your brain. I entered the work force in my early thirties.  Not that I was privileged or anything like that.  I just spent thirteen years of my life in the Army making up my mind what I wanted to do. The military taught me a lot of skills which I was able to translate into jobs in civilian life.  Just writing this blog is one example.  My last year in the Army was spent writing for the Command newspaper in Panama.  That job became available not because of my writing skills, but because my Commander saw some of my pictures displayed for a photo competition I entered and he liked them.  He needed a photo/journalist and I had half the skills which were learnt from my hobby.

     This story is not about me though.  It is about the American working class and the fact they are being bent over and having it stuck to them.  They in general do not even realize it.  The only way you are going to get ahead in the world we live in today is create your own job.  You have to figure out what level you want to live at and go for it to make that kind of money.  You say but I do not have the skills to do that.  Well you better learn to grab hold of the shirt tails of someone who does and be the ultimate good worker for them. Giving them a full hundred percent of your support.  Even entry level management jobs in today's market are really only at where the minimum wage "should be."

     The only and best way I know of to get ahead is to learn to let your money work for you.  Instead of you working for your money.  Basically it is learning to see opportunity when it knocks and taking full advantage of it.   When you get that tax return invest it.  You have to look for a "real deal."  What is a real deal, something you can buy for 10 to 20 percent of its actual value, OH YES, AND IS NOT HOT.  You can find the deals if you take the time to look.  They are out there.  Then advertise the item through some form of free advertising.  Something like Craigslist or if your town or county has one, an online yard sale site.  If you do it a few times and turn the profit back into the business it will not take long to get to where it actually makes you some income and an easier life.

     One bit of advice.  Do not use advertising media you have to pay for.  I use the local newspaper to go find yard sales and deals.  It costs as much as $40 to put an add in the paper.  Often times that is more than a lot of people make off their yard sale.  It is bad enough to sell stuff that you no longer need at a loss, but to make the loss even worse is sad.  I understand that things wear out and kids grow up, but often when I look at yard sales I see lots of stuff that people are selling that I am sure they bought it on a whim to start with.

      Another place to look around is for stores that have super clearance sales.  I do flea markets and farmers markets to sell stuff myself.  I generally enjoy it.  I have found that there are a couple of chain stores in my area that when they need to clear shelf space they sell stuff.  Brand new still in the box and at 10 to 20 percent of the marked value.  If I buy a $10 item for a $1 and sell it for $4 the person buying it gets a good deal and I am multiplying my money,  which means my money is working for me.  It is not rocket science but it works.

      Here is an example.  You see a deal on a riding mower for $200 and you know it costs way over a $1000 new.   So you buy it and sell it for say $500.   You just made $300 for a couple hours of wheeling and dealing.   That is what a minimum wage job pays for forty hours of work and you did not pay taxes on it.  Of course I advise you if you get into it big time to keep track and pay your taxes.   The government does not like getting ripped off.  That is their job.

Sunday, February 28, 2021

My Experiences With Racism, over 73 years, It is a Two Way Street

 

My Experiences With Racism, over 73 years, It is a Two Way Street

America has had a black President and a now has a Black Vice President. If race is the problem how did they achieve success. Really if you look at those two examples there is something that stands out. It is about attitude. Both of these individuals are first generation blacks in America. They do not have a link to the four hundred year history of race in America. They were also raised by families that told them they could be anything they wanted to be. They were never told to mind their place. If they were, they did not buy into it.


In fact that seems to be something I have noticed in Senate Testimonies over the last few years. It seems immigrants care enough about America to get involved. Dozens of people I have witnessed speaking are either immigrants themselves or first generation immigrants of America’s immigrants. They see America as a land of opportunity, something many Americans no longer see in America, mainly because it is to easy to just complain.


The most recent election in America and all the Black Lives Matter protests may be an indicator that blacks in America are no longer buying the lie that they are inferior. The election in Georgia gives the best example. Georgia went from Red to Blue. Not only that they proved in the runoff race, that Black Votes Do Matter. Thank God for this. We just suffered through four years of hell because blacks failed to take part in the 2016 election.


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 is 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 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. My black 1st SGT thought I was a racist and put me in that room as a punishment, but it turned out to be a  blessing in disquise. It was one of several times in the Army when people tried to punish me that it backfired.

I was at Ft.Campbell, KY before I went to Ft.Stewart, GA. My 1st Sgt thought he was sending me to Vietnam as most ot the units on the   base were going to Vietnam. The reality was that the Army was moving their fixed wing aviation school to Ft. Stewart and I was sent there as a parachute rigger to do flightline inspections of the pilots emergency chutes. Turned out being a Blessing in disquise. Without turning this post into a novel, I just want to be on the record that it seems everytime someone tried to stick it to me in the Army, it turned out to be a Blessing in disquise.

I learned a lot of things about being a black American, that I would never have learned without that experience. 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 human life, especially of our fellow Americans. Mainly because they can get away with it. They are using their authority, to avoid responsibility, for their actions. Authority needs to also require accountability.

If America wants to cure the problem, the first thing we need to do is 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.

My first experience with racism came in April or May of my tenth grade year in high school. I was taking a printing class and had to manually set type. I had a piece of type and looked at it and could not make up my mind if it was a “j” or an “i” and I started saying Enee, Menee, Minee Moe and suddenly realized the person at the table face to face with mine was our schools star athlete a senior, and he was black. I stopped what I was saying. He said, “Finish it.” and I did. I have never forgotten what he said. “Words have meaning, and they have consequences” Two months later I dropped out of high school and joined the Army. I remember setting on the back steps of my barracks a week or so into basic training and four or five guys were talking. As I listened it was like they were speaking a foreign language. Little did I know that a year down the road I would get a crash course and learn that language.

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 know for a long time I 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. We had to drive thru a very dark part of Indianapolis. I remember my Dad making me roll up the windows and lock the doors. His actions puzzled 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 puzzling was that he had me do his good deeds so to speak. We had one elderly black lady in our whole neighborhood and her husband had died. My Dad sent me to mow her yard and shovel her snow, whenever it needed it. As he did for several other widows. While I would never call my father a racist, stereotypes definitely effected his decision process.

While living in that twelve man room I got a date with a local girl. Her Dad was the head of the local bank. He and I tried to make small talk while we were waiting for dinner. I bought up the subject that I noticed almost all the blacks in the community lived in run down shacks, but had brand new and really nice cars in the drive way.  They also had really nice color TV’s which I could see from the road. I asked why didn’t they fix up their houses. They evidently had money. The banker made it clear to me that they could buy anything they wanted, but they would never get a loan from him to fix up their property. Because then they would want to sell their house and move, possibly, in next to him. That was not happening. The supper was very good, but the atmosphere was very chilly. Needless to say that was my last date with her. She was still very friendly, but I got the understanding I was not welcome to come back to his house.

Sometime later I went to the enlisted club on post and had a learning experience. We had to be in uniform to attend the club. I was the only active duty paratrooper on the post. The other one lived off base. Anyhow I got called out by a black guy who wanted to start a fight with me. I said fine, but lets take it outside. As we went outside several of his friends fell in behind us. When we faced off outside several of his friends circled us. I was sure I was gonna get my ass kicked regardless what happened. BUT, All of a sudden another group of blacks came out of the club and formed a circle around his circle. It was my room mates. One of them stepped forward and said, “If you want a piece of his ass, your going to have to whip us too.” Suddenly it all just cooled down. When we got back to the barracks I got tagged with my new nickname, I was the cotton tailed nigger.

I learned a couple things living in that room. I asked why they always went everywhere in pairs. They explained that a lone black man walking in Georgia was an invitation to be assaulted if not killed. I also learned that they felt they had a station in life and they should not feel they could get ahead. If I did nothing else in the time I lived in that room. I told them that was bull crap. They were entitled to anything any other American had. If they did not stand up for their rights they were only hurting themselves. Over the time in that room I did acquire a couple changes in my life. I like bright colored clothes and most of my CD’s are soul music.

Almost ten years later I was stationed in Germany and one of the black soldiers in my squad was charged with drug possession. It was all a set up. My superiors wanted to get rid of him because they considered him a trouble maker. I refused to press the charges. So they moved him out of my squad and charged him anyhow. I went to his trial as a character witness. I knew I was cutting my own throat when I did it. I told my wife that if I testified my career was over.

I went to the trial and they would not let me testify till after he was sentenced. Then it was to vouch for his character. The judge asked me what happened and I told him. He smiled and looked at me. Then he said I have had six people tell me their stories and I realize yours is the truth. It makes sense of all their stories which were missing one thing or another. So instead of kicking him out of the Army which is what my superiors wanted, he fined him $25 and dropped all other punishments. My superiors were livid. I paid for it when I left Germany a few months later. They gave me two efficiency reports to ruin my career. They forgot one thing. They had promoted me to Staff Sergeant half ways between the two reports, A couple years later when I volunteered for a qualitative management discharge, I counted on the same blindness that allowed the two reports to be put on my record, to be equally blind in reviewing my record. All one has to do is look at my record and ask, If he was such a bad soldier, WHY did You promote him. It worked for my good when my health declined and I decided to leave the service. I have the efficency reports from Panama that show there was indifference to my condition. It was not till many years later that I found out what had destroyed my health to the point I could not do my job anymore. To my leaders I was just malingering. My MOS proficency test which is also in my record shows otherwise. After Vienam when the Army started downsizing, I volunteered to go to the infantry. Little did I know what was happening to my body.

Actually that turned out to be a Blessing in disguise. A year and a half later after reenlisting for six years at Fort Campbell. I ended up going to Panama, I volunteered for the Qualitative Management Program and used those two reports as part of reason for my request. I had also received several reports in Panama saying I was physically unfit for my job. However I had good reports and ratings at Ft.Campbell, between my return from Germany and my assignment to Panama. Just as I suspected the review board never caught the little glitch on the efficiency reports. For some reason I could not handle the heat in Panama and could not physically do my job. My father came down from the states and we went sight seeing. I could not keep up with him. It was then I realized I had a problem. I could not do the two miles in eighteen minutes for my physical. I was a miler in high school and ran five minute miles, so I knew something was wrong but I did not know what until almost thirty years later I found out the problem. I had been exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam.

The reason My father came to visit me in Panama was that in World War II he had been at the Normandy invasion and at the end of the war he was in Tokyo Harbor tied up close enough to the USS Missouri to watch the surrender ceremony. In the process of going to the Pacific Ocean they only kept a skeleton crew on his ship and picked the crew back up in California. It allowed the sailors a chance to go home and see their families. So he missed the trip through the Canal and wanted to see it. We had a neat thing about our birthdays. I was born on December 7th the day World War II started. He was born on August 6, the day they dropped the bomb on Hiroshima and technically ended the war.

In July of 2010 I went to a 4th of July celebration at my best friends home. Most of the guest were retired military. One of them was a retired Air Force Colonel who had worked in claims and compensation before he retired. In the course of our conversation the subject came up that I had had a heart attack in 2004 and had a defibrillator. He informed me that all I had to do was file a claim. Based on my condition I was automatically qualified for Agent Orange Compensation. In January of 2012 I decided to file a claim based on our conversation.

In October of 2013 I started receiving my Agent Orange Compensation. It was not till four or five years later I realized I had been ripped off for about half of the compensation I should have gotten. I received a copy of the Nehmer Claims compensation guidelines and realized I should have received compensation from the time the claim was created. As I was under VA treatment at the time. Actually they owe me back to when the Diabetes Claims were started. If they want to be technical my letter to request discharge under the Qualitative Management Program made clear that I wanted out for health reasons, Even though I did not know at the time what caused those problems, so technically they owe me from the start of it all.

After leaving the Army I did not really feel like I had wasted thirteen years of my life in the Army. I learned to drive a truck in Vietnam while driving OJT for three months. It got me a job in civilian life. I did it till I had my heart attack caused by the Agent Orange, but I do feel cheated out of what I was entitled too. Which is part of why I felt compelled to write this post for my blog. I intend to send a copy of it to my Congressman and see if he can get me what I am entitled too.