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| Can You Spare a Dime? |
| 04.21.05 (3:01 am) [edit] |
Today, President Bush signed into law, a sweeping reform of the bankrupcy law. It essentually makes it harder for people to declare bankrupcy to avoid paying debts.I have to admit not having read the 500 page document yet! "The act of Congress I sign today will protect those who legitimately need help, stop those who try to commit fraud and bring greater stability and fairness to our financial system," Bush said. The financial services industry says that it is too easy for people to escape debt by declaring bankrupcy. My take on this? It is too easy to get credit! Think about it... the credit card companies start at the high school and college age kids to get them "hooked" on credit. Hooked? Do I really mean HOOKED? Yup! They try to sign up these poor people as soon as they can KNOWING that most kids are not worldly in financial matters and if they can't pay, Mom and Dad will... Why don't we teach kids how to balance a checkbook? Why don't we teach them about savings and checking and interest? Have you received financial information about how to take out a home equity loan to pay off credit cards? Do you know how stupid an idea that is? Credit card debt is what they called un-secured debt. That is, you never put up anything (at risk) as guarantee that you would pay back the money. If you fail to pay, they can hound you, they can hurt your good name, they can take you to court... but that is about it. They cannot take your car, they cannot do much. Now let's look at a home mortgage. Now when you took out a mortgage on your house, you agreed that if you did not pay it off, the bank (or mortgage company) can move you out and then sell the property to pay off what is left on the loan. So if you don't pay your mortgage, you will lose your house. Now think again. Why would you convert a debt where they can't take anything, into a debt where you lose your house? So when you start to have financial problems, make sure that if nothing else gets paid, your house payments get paid first. Then you pay off your car and student loans, etc. Credit cards are the last thing you pay. Yes, they may still hurt your name and credit, but at least you will have a roof over your head and be able to drive to a job to pay off those debts. If you have lots of credit card debt, My favorite consumer advisor (clarkhoward.com) http://ClarkHoward.Com says to pay the minimum on each card and put all the rest of the money you can towards the card with the highest interest rate. Also, he says not to call and cancel a card which you still owe on. Many companies can raise your interest rate a lot higher. Just cut the card up and pay it off. When you get it paid off then close the account. Another thing to remember is that if you continue to carry a balance on credit cards, you are spending too much, not that you don't have enough cards.... |
| Headache Remedy |
| 04.20.05 (3:10 am) [edit] |
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Years ago I had just moved to Georgia and found I had a terrific headache. A co-worker suggested I take a headache powder. The term "headache powder" brought back visions of people in the 1800's or so, taking a "powder" for their headache. After looking and not finding something more traditional, I relented and took the powder. Unlike a pill, the powder takes a bit of getting used to. Although you can mix it with foor or beverage, you also can pour it on your tongue and wash it down with some water or soda. I opted to pour it on the tongue and wash it down with soda. I have to admit that after finding the cure a bit odd, it actually DID work and worked quite quickly. Being interested in contents of food and drugs, I looked at the ingredients and discovered why the Headache Powder worked so quickly. Look at this: Goody's Headach Powder contains 260 mg of Acetaminophen (equivalent to about 3/4 a tablet of Tylonol), 520 mg of Asprin (equivalent to 2/3 an Asprin) and 32 mg Caffeine (equivalent to the Caffeine in a can of soda). The caffeine helps the pain reliever to act quickly. Being ground up also helps it take effect sooner. As I say, powders can take a bit of getting used to, but they do seem to solve the problem of my headaches. --- Speaking of headaces, I know shopping for the right Mothers Day gift can be a headache. Luckily I solved that problem for you. Check out my Kona Coffee Special at ItsKona.Com which includes free shipping! For ground coffee go to http://www.itskona.com/catalo... and for whole bean go to http://www.itskona.com/catalo... |
| Famous Characters |
| 04.16.05 (11:46 pm) [edit] |
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So I'm helping a friend advertise some land he has for sale... geocities.com/shiv47 http://geocities.com/shiv47/ The property is in a rural part of the west side of the state near Cedartown Georgia, near Birmingham Alabama. The property has a stream on it and I always wanted to try prospecting for gold there, but alas, I moved to Hawaii before I could. I wanted to add some information about the area and did a serach. One interesting fact that popped up was that Sterling Holloway was bown in Cedartown. Now you have to be pretty old to know that name. Born in Cedartown in 1905, he went on to star in over 140 movies and 30 tv appearances. Most may remember his voice as that of Winnie the Pooh. He also performed in commercials, the original voice of the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee. Once you hear his quirky voice, you will not soon forget it. According to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB.Com) his personal quote was "If you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there." How true! Sterling died in 1992 but will live forever in movies and out hearts. I don't think Cedartown has changed all that much over the years, and certainly if you are in the market for land, this property my friend has, is a nice addition! |
| For what's it's worth... |
| 04.16.05 (6:09 pm) [edit] |
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I investigated 6 or 8 SPAM messages I have recently received. These were all for medicine; viagra, etc. Although the information was cloaked, it appears that at leaset5 of them all resolved to the same company in Moscow! If someone would come up with a reverse search for domains registered by that company, they could block them all... My opinion is "Freedom of Speech also includes Freedom NOT to Listen..." |
| There But For the Grace of God |
| 04.12.05 (11:49 pm) [edit] |
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There But For the Grace of God, Go I Under different circumstances, you could be in the same sad shape as someone else. I was just reading about 25,000 panicked residents being evacuated from the slopes of a volcano on Indonesia's Sumatra island. The volcano has been rumbling. According to Reuters, "Vulcanologists said they could not confirm whether lava had actually spewed out. But smoke had billowed up to 1,000 meters (3,280 ft) high from the volcano's crater and ash had traveled up to 7.5 miles away". After the tsunami in December, now there is talk that the volcano *might* be ready to spew lava. The area has had natural disaster, political unrest and financial problems. They also grow coffee. The Pacific Ocean is a hotbed of volcanic activity and visitors should keep that in mind. Even Hawaii has volcanic activity. Actual lava flow has been pretty much continuous for the last 19 years. This means that pretty much any time you ventured to the southeast part of this island, you could see steam, glow and/or flowing liquid rock! Some times were better than ever and I can only speak of the four or five times I went to the volcano. I once stood not six feet from 2,000-degree lava and this was only a 15-minute walk from where I parked the car. Although exciting, I was relatively safe compared to being in the way of lava and having to flee. Here is a link to current info on the flow. http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilaue... Tonight here is the entry "0535 April 12 A single lonely stream of lava pouring into the ocean at Kamoamoa is all that the ocean entries have to offer this morning." Now let's see, what they mean is "Sorry to report that there is only 1 stream of 2,000 molten rock and it will have to do!" :-) Now if lava was not the only drawback to living near a volcano, there is the VOG (volcanic smog) comprised of sulpher and hydrogen and other gasses I guess. When the wind blows this way, you can get a sore throat and sinus problems if you are prone to that. Now I didn't mean to turn this into a "What's Wrong With Hawaii" rant, because remember, I CHOSE to live here and have no intention in moving. Not even after the earthquakes. Yes, earthquakes! What would a good lava flow be without an earthquake? Oh, the quakes are very small and many pass unnoticed. Perhaps Madam Pele is just letting off a bit of steam... I had a talk with some residents here and we talked about when my area last saw volcanic activity. There was a lava flow right near here in 1877. More recent flows occurred in 1926 and even 1950. They tell me that if a flow opens up, it may only be a mile or two wide on its way to the sea and that I should have a few hours to move... I joke a bit about it but really, the though of a flow or strong earthquake or even a tsunami is a possibility; rather a PROBABILITY. It is just a matter of time here too. |
| Updates, we must have updates |
| 04.10.05 (9:17 am) [edit] |
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Speaking of dates... I don't have dates here on the farm, but I DO have lots of other fruits. Just outside the door are a few mango trees and they are laden with mangos. When they drop, they will rot and the fruit flies will swarm near the house. Sigh.. someone was not thinking when they planted them that close. On the far end of the property are a few avocado trees and, yes, they are laden with avodados; perhaps a hundred avocados? I'm not sure of the type, but am sure they are not sharwill. There appear to be so many varieties here that I really have to pick a few and take them around to experts. I personally don't eat avocados but rather than give them away, I will try to sell them to someone at the farmers market. These things sell for something like $1 a pound in the stores. Of course, there is lots of competition. I attended a new farmers workshop on Saturday. ALthough some of the information was familiar to me, it was a great introduction for the new farmer and review for a more seasoned farmer. It covered starting a farm and how to pick a site. It went over the pros and cons to planting seeds or seedlings and how to ensure success. There were discussions about fertilizing and pruning. On a side note, a future class will be held about what information is needed on a coffee label. NOW they tell us :-) [frequent readers will get the joke]. We are trying to determine where to hold the second Cream of the Crop competition. Last year it was at the Kona Village Resort, but this year they are remodeling somewhat and that forces us to relocate. I have placed my farm income and expenses in the hands of a tax guy this year. Over the years I have done my own taxes, but this year opted to let an expert do it. Part of the reason is that I have changed to a leasehold property and now must depreciate items for the farm. One item the tax guy needed to know was how may macadamia trees I have. It seems that they started planting mac trees in rows but I'm also finding there appear to be rows missing and other trees doubled up. Some of those extra trees may be ones which grew from dropped nuts. Why is difficult to count the trees? Well, there are OTHER trees in the way and parts of the property are almost a jungle (that will soon be fixed). My best guess at mac trees is 10 per rom and 50 rows for a total of 500 trees. That is more than I had first guessed. My yield on mac trees has been good considering that they had not been cared for by the previous owner, but 3 days caring for the trees and having the nuts harvested ends up turning into 7 days of not doing planting of coffee. I have my weed mat down and am ready to order dirt to start the seedlings. I also heard the county will be offering free mulch and the free mulch includes free delivery... You have to love that! I am about ready to buy a refrigerator and stove but had hoped to have had the kitchen remodeled by now. For some reason I just don't feel the need to push things along too quickly now that I live here. I am content enough to just sit home, mainly because every time I go into town I end up shopping and that costs me :-) I replaced the spark plugs in my truck and it looks as though I just gained a few miles per gallon of gas. With our gas prices here, that can be a great savings. That is the same reasoning that will help me save on electric costs with the refrigerator. Here I will not buy the cheapest unit, rather I will buy the one which has the best efficiency. Yesterday I took some photos of coffee products at my neighbors farm. I have vbeen working on her website for here and it is just about ready to go live. I have a friend coming to visit at the end of the month and am doing a bit of painting. That is all for now. Not exciting, but certainly not dull. |
| A followup |
| 04.06.05 (1:26 am) [edit] |
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The wedding went well. SOme visitors from Nawlins (New Orleans) asked for help setting up a wedding here in Kona. We held it at the Royal Kona Resort and due to heavy rain, we moved everything inside an hour or two before the ceremony. They seconds before the Justice of the Peace was to start, we noticed that the sky had opened up and the sun had come out. We quickly ran outside with the ocean as a backdrop and started. I took many photos and started the video camera. Because of the change in locations and the timing, I was able to get the video fine, but unfortunately, the audio left much to be desired. The bride and groom have the text of the ceremony and lots of special photos, so that should help. Please note that I did the photos and video as a surprise and the couple had not asked for anything like that. Still, I would ahve felt betetr if I had an external mike for the camera video... I recently applied for a soil conservation program. One item which may be partiallt reimbursed is water catchement tanks. Their suggestion is for me to install 3 tanks for holding rainwater in the amount of 90,000 gallons! Although many of us felt this was a lot of water to hold in case of drought, others have done the math and say this is not an excessive amount of storage. Now I have to decide if I want 3 tanks of 27 feet by 7 feet tall on the property. I pay up front and after installed, the government will subsidize part of the cost. Although the tanks add to myproperty and make it more valuable, I hate to tie up $24,000 for a few months. Next to the garage I've cut down the trees, killed the weeds and grass and put weed mat on the ground. This completes part 2 of my preparations for the "nursery". Part 1 is still in progress. I have an offer to loan me pots for my starter plants. I need to build or fabricate tables and shade them from direct sun. In these pots I'll add soil and fertilizer to grow about 3,300 plants from seed. There are two styles of pruning coffee trees. The first is what you would expect; prune each tree of specific limbs. ALl of the trees remain growing and are carefully pruned. You might assume that at least 1/3 of each tree is removed; perhaps more. This is performed by someone who is very well trained in coffee trees and pruning methods. The second style of pruning is easier to do and yields about the same results. It involves going to every third row of trees and chopping them back completely. This might be done by an untrained laborer with a chainsaw! Although the second style sounds weird, it actually works quite well. The limbs regrow and the tree yeilds the same or possibly more coffee than if it had been pruned by standard methods. You don't need special pruning skills, the rows can be closer together (because you always have 2 rows and a space, 2 rows and a space) and if the leaves had developed any disease they will soon be removed from the tree! Thus if you know you are planting with the BF method (the second one), you only start by planting 2 rows to start and plant the third row the second year. I have to do a bit of research to find out why they down't just plant row 1 the first year, row 2 the second and row 3 the third. ANyway, you can't prune a row the first year and you also can't cut two rows at the same time; so you have to stagger-plant them. So anyway, my next project is to get soil int he pots and seeds in the soil. Then I have a year to get the 5 acres cleared and begin planting. There is another decision I have to make. It involves whether i clear the 5 acres of all macadamia nut trees or leave them and plant coffee inbetween. Leaving the trees offers protection for the coffee from direct sun and helps shade them; however, it also raises the possibility of diseases that effects bot the nuts and coffee. Also, if I leave the trees, they are harder to remove later and not damage the coffee trees underneath. Then there is the drip irrigation or mini sprayers or raised sprinkler debate. The drip lines use the least water, but must be moved as the trees grow. The mini sprinklers still do well, but cannot keep up when the trees get larger. The overhead sprinklers use more water and setup costs, and also allow more evaporation, but can work better on coffee. Sometimes I think that the work will be easier than the decisions :D I have a gathered all of my recipts and invoices and will be meeting with the tax guy on Thursday. It appears that my initial though that much of my business would be on schedule C is incorrect. ALso I need to have the guy determine the correct schedules for the items I need to depreciate. I am staring to replace some rotted wood and paint some of the porch. I'm helping another neighbor get her own website running and a friend start a personal page. I am also helping with the next "Cream of the Crop" competition (which I won an award at last year). Lots of projects and less free time. |