A little know fact is that under certain circumstances, you can borrow your own money for a small fee each year. Then you make periodic payments back into your 401K with interest. So you borrow your own money and pay yourself back with interest. The plan administrator takes a small fee for filing and paperwork. These truely are 401-K plans where you can manage the investments. In my case, I am the employer and the only employee.

You are limited to borrowing 1/2 the money or $50,000. If you are a sole-propriator with or without spouse and have no employees, the loan may be the way to go. I caution you to check with your tax person, but this may be for you.

You should know that the loan is limited in years and its length is based upon whether you are buying your 1st home or are using the funds for something else.

You also need to make sure tha tyou can repay on schedule, or the loan is considered an early withdrawal of funds. Again, check with a tax professional.

Anyway, I took a loan and am paying it back to myself. The compay I went with, PAI, thought my farm story was interesting enough to put in their internal newsletter so that their employees could read a personal story of one of their customers! They also sent along to me a nice framed thank you with signatures of some of the employees!

I would post a photo of that but since it contains signatures, I will not. However, I really appreciate the thank you and will hang it in the office here for all to see.

For information on the plan I signed up for, visit http://www.pai.com/FSP_plan4o...

After hooking it up, I will be able to submit my receipts so that I can get paid towards my expenses on my contract. We are talking over $10,000! I still have a day or so worth of work and then have t owait for the inspection and then about 5 business days for the money. THEN I go celebrate a small bit.

You can uimagine having lots of money spent and have to wait for it to come back. I'll be happy to catch up on my credit card payments and not worry about the mortgage for a while longer. Last time I was out $30,000, so this is not so much, but comes at a time more critical than before :-)

Anyway, so far, the 1600 trees are doing pretty good.

Flat rate boxes (and the cheaper alternative, envelopes) are a cost-effective alternative to other shipping methods. I can ship a couple pounds of coffee to anywhere in the US for just about $5. I can ship perhaps 4 pounds of coffee, some honey and a few calendars for under $10. The post office says "If it fits, it ships!" This is true, although we farmers push the envelope a bit, so to speak.

There is an upper limit on weight, but unless you are literally shipping bricks, I don't think it will be a limit for you.

The envelope is best for papers or a book; the boxes come in a few different sizes and are best fro odd sized or heavy items. I won't try to teach you all about this shipping option, but encourage you to stop by the post office and look at the sizes. There is a small box, one the size of a shoe box and one the size of a sweater box (the latter having a bit more space in it than the shoe box one).

You can buy stamps the right amount to paste on the boxes, but there is a secret I wanted to pass along. Go to USPS.COM and create an account and use a credit card to buy postage. You save few cents and lots of time. Here is how:

You access the site and log in. Either choose an address from your saved lists or enter the shipping information. Choose your shipping method, like the flat rate shoe box and then you print the shipping label on your printer. The cost is less than buying stamps at the post office. Although they make adhesive labels specifically for these types of labels, you can print on a regular white piece of paper. I do that and then use clear packing tape to tape the label on the box. It could not be easier!

You also save time, especially during holidays and you don't have to be a big shipper to do this. perhaps you are mailing Christmas ornaments to Mom, or a "C.A.R.E." box to the kids with all sorts of candy and stuff. Just pack the box, attach the label and head to the post office. Don't dispair that the line winds its way out the door and half way down the street. You don't have to stand in line to ship now! Just walk in past these poor un-technical people and go to the designated counter. In my post office it is the one that is at the end and unused. Ask your post office in advance if you like, exactly how they would like you to drop off your packages or envelopes.

You may notice that almost everyone in line is getting stamps or buying boxes. You already have stamps and a box (you Do know that the box was free, right?). Anyway, you place the box on the counter and point at the preprinted postage label. A clerk will look and nod that they saw you drop the box off and "whoosh", you are out the door. Average time in the post office to drop off a box or envelope, 1 minute! This is in contrast to the 20 minutes that others may be waiting. Oh, they may think you are cheating by bypassing the line, but in reality, you are being efficient and using the system to your advantage and the post office rewards you with a pleasant experience, a free box or envelope and a few cents off your shipment. I liken this to you going on a flight where you paid less than the person next to you. You did a bit of work up front and saved money. It s not your fault that others don't know the secret.

I suggest this process even for people who only send a couple packages a year. If your items fit in the box, the price is fixed. I have a tendency of buying gifts that will fit the boxes. However, I find that I send more gifts because the process is so simple now and I don't have to stand in long lines at the post office. The best part is saving that 19 minutes a week or so before Christmas.

I have not mentioned shipping times. Shipping a package to or from Hawaii can take a long time, if it goes by boat. Luckily, flat rate boxes ar priority mail and go by plane. Average time from anywhere in the US to anywhere else in the US is 3 to 5 business days! Although it can take a bit longer during holidays, still, that is fast!

You can get boxes and envelopes at the post office. If you ship a lot, you can go to USPS and order them (free shipping to your home or office). You can buy stamps at regular price to attach, but bty printing the label and postage at the USPS site, you save a few cents each and get free delivery confirmation. You can also add insurance if you wish, although out of hundreds of shipments I have only lost 2 shipments and they were too inexpensive to have worried about the cost of insurance.

As you can tell, I'm on the bandwagon for this and have been since they developed this flat rate priority shipping system. It is similar to FedEx and UPS but at a lower cost and certainly appropriate for businesses and home use.

Give it a try!

Although it means a stone marking a mile in length, it also is a defined as a significant stage of life or a point of progress. In Hawaii a persons first milestorne is their 1st birthday. It marks a point where a child has passed enough childhood that they have an excellent chance at life. The first 8 weeks of a puppy is similar. The first few miles of a cars life is spent in slow, deliberate driving to preserve the vehicles new parts.

A couples milestone are measured in hours, then weeks, months, years and decades of being together.

My milestores are smaller and less important in the scheme of things, yet are milestones none-the-less.

The number of visitors to my blog is aproaching 50,000, my truck is about to roll over at 100,000 miles and as of 2pm today, all 1600 coffee trees I have to plant will be in the ground! Yay!

After removing the plastic bags and trash the workers should head down to road to their next job; one I will not have to pay for :-)

Although only half of what I would like to have planted at this time, it is still a major milestone! After years of planning, many thousands of dollars and countless man-hours, the farm is half planted. I see a few trees which will need to be replaced, but so far, very few have failed.

The water system is working and I have already drained the bottom tank of water. Alot of that went to water trees above ground, which dry out quicker then those in the ground. I hope to reduce the water useage now and rely on drip irrigation. I still need to connect the tanks to the house to catch rainwater, but in the meantime, I have rainwater which partially filled the tanks, just from rain hitting the top of the tanks and dripping through the shade cloth.

I still need to find a source of money to pay off the bills from construction, but soon I will have all the coffee I can keep up with. After the second half of planting, I will need to hie people to help me here. So far I already have pickers asking if I can schedule them!

As you can see, I'm certainly not done and in hindsight the whole project should have taken months instead of years, however expect the second half of the farm to be completed soon after I start. I know who to call, what to expect and how much it should cost. Many of the parts needed have already been purchased and paid for.

I plan to celebrate this current milestone and start working on part-2, but first, a short intermission :-)

The removal of the macadamia nut trees and subsequent planting of new coffee trees makes this project almost pau (finished).

Beginning about 8am or so, workers will finally begin planting 1600 trees. I already test planted 7 trees and tested the whole system including weedmat, water distribution and logistics.

I have staged trees and driplines, weedmat and even staged the smaller trees to the top of the property. I still have some things to do early in the morning, but they are fairly simple. I'll leave instructions for the guys to start and will return about noon to help out.

You know, in hindsight, knowing then what I know now, this should have been a few weeks work :-)

I thank all of you for letting me share the trials and tribulations getting to this point. I should be able to get back to regular scheduled blogging where I chat about living in Hawaii.

The condos are quite different and not up to the same standards as many of the other places these same people may stay in. In other words, the units are nice but not THAT nice.

Yesterday a couple came, checked in and went to their room. They soon came back and talked with my co-worker. Later I heard that the wife was almost in tears. They had no car, and were expecting an all-inclusive resort where there would be restaurants, massage rooms I guess, etc. Without the car they would not be able to easily shop, etc. The wife kept saying that the condos were just not what they expected. I'm sure because Sunday is Mother's Day that she was hoping to be pampered, etc.

The husband has some medical issues and we quickly got them some snacks and directed them to local restaurants. I also found them a convertable deal at $200 a week compared to the cheapest economy at $400 a week. I also drove the gentleman to the airport after my shift was over. The airport is 6 miles the other direction from my way home.

I think the earliest they can contact their timeshare reservation company is Monday and by then it may not make sense to pack up and move somewhere else.

Our boss is away and I don't know if he could make any other arrangements for them, but at least Cali and I are doing our best to make the guests feel comfortable and welcome.

I watered all 1600 plants that are still above ground awaiting planting.

Then I moved all of the weed mat material and staged it across the new planting area. I decided upon weed mat rather than constantly using Roundup near the new trees. It will help keep weeds at a minimum and I won't have to mow as much.

On the water lines for each area I have saddles with a PVC sticking up. Those have caps on them right now so I could test the water pressure. You could call them "risers" or "stubs" if you wish, or not call them at all. I have assembled a right angle connector and nipple with a short piece of non-drip line to them and also attached a valve. I threw each one in the trench where the risers are now. When the drip lines are rolled out, I will cut the riser, attach this adapter and hook the hose to them. Then I just turn on the valve and water flows to each row of trees. A photo would help, but I'm sure you don't care that much. Suffice it to say, It's lots of work.

I also positioned the drip line around the property. That is when I realized that I only took delivery of 4,000 feet of dripline and for Monday I need 8,000 feet. I called the supply company and reviewed invoices. When I first spoke with them I was planting 5 acres instead of about 2.5. We specified out all the dripline I needed and to get the best price, it looks like I paid for it all. No wonder my costs were high. They have thousands of dollars of dripline of mine stored out there. I would rather have the money at the moment, but that explains a lot.

I have drawn up a diagram of the planting area, complete with rows and columns (using Excel). I colored each of the rows where the short trees are going. The total trees on property to plant (if some trees did not die) are 1642. There are holes already for each one.

Also I am writing up instructions for the workers.

"Instructions he said?"

I have not yet mentioned it I don't think. On Monday, while I am working 1/2 a day in town, workers will descend upon the farm and begin planting the above mentioned 1642 trees! Yes!!!!!! Finally!!!!! All the delays and all the work will soon come to a head. I have dirt and the rest of the drip line scheduled to be delivered Monday early. The workers will be here and will start rolling out the weed mat, cutting an X where the holes are, putting dirt and fertilizer in the holes, followed by coffee trees. Then I can roll out the drip lines, attach them to the risers, charge the water pipes with pressure and slowly, very slowly, drip water at the base of each tree. Many of these trees have already blosomed and that means that they should produce SOME cherry this year. Just how much remains to be seen because there is a period where the trees will die back from transplant shock, perhaps. Time will tell.

I still have an issue with a vlve that isn't working, I still need to decide how to fill the trench (hint: the problem would be solved if I had money to throw at it). I still need to hook the controller up to the lines rather than do things manually.

The remaining issues will not be difficult nor time-consuming; the bulk of the planning and work having been done.

Could this project been done a lot sooner? Yes, ABSOLUTELY! I could start over and have it done in weeks instead of years not that I have been through it. I can tell you though, that there is a pride that I was able to juggle things and work though problems and make lots of decisions. I just wish I was a year earlier. I am running out of money and the income from the new trees would have saved the day. Still, the hope of cherry this year means new coffee to sell and next year should be a bumper crop!

The workers will start Monday and work Tuesday too I'm sure. I don't know how fas the work will go, but somewhere about Wednesday I hope to have a nice celebration; perhaps at the brew pub. You may not realize it, but the world does NOT revolve around coffee. Just my little part of it here on the Big island!

I had suggested that hosting company to many of my neighbors and we were all in the same boat, having problems and getting no help.

This is not good when you are trying to run an internet business.

I looked around and finally found a reliable hosting company and became a reseller. I could control prices (keeping them low) while tailoring plans so that my neighbors did not have to pay for services they would not use.

In this economic climate, many people want to start a personal business or perhaps start chat forums or host a photo site. The hosting plans are very low cost and the helpdesk very responsive!

You are welcome to visit http://Planet-Aloha.Info for more info.

I stopped by Sandra's on the way home because she had a dog (Emily) ready to deliver this weekend. However, Emily did not get the info and was going into labor already. The Xrays a few days earlier showed 8 or maybe 9 puppies. The first puppy was delivered after 10pm. A few more followed, but not on any patrticular schedule.

I stopped back there today and there were 9 puppies, none in many hours, but Emily was still panting. Sandra had Emily scheduled for another Xray, to make sure there were no other puppies. This is because Emily should not have been panting. As we got her out of the whelping box, she had a couple contractions and out came a puppy! Amazed because it had been a long time coming, Emily start nursing that one. The other puppies were still in a box awaiting a ride with Mom to the vet.

15 minutes later she was still panting, got up and popped out yet another puppy! That was number 11. I hated to leave incase there was an encore, but leave I did.

Photos of the new puppies will be uploaded on on her AlohaLabradors.Com site soon and I'll post a link here soon. In the meantime she had already taken deposits on 4 or 5 puppies before they were even born. These puppies have a champion father too! I expect all to be sold soon. By the way, they are yellow and black Labradors.

I was supposed to be at my high school for a reunion this weeked but had to cancel that trip.

I continue to work on the farm and hope to have big news soon. Of course, I have been saying that for years...