I am still trying to get all the ducks in a row, for the move to TN, but again things thwart me. I think it is going to happen, but as yet no solid confirmation - things that should have been sent around and dealt with at the finance place were interrupted by the OKC area tornadoes - their building was badly damaged, and so were a lot of their computers..... Presumably the back up was in the same building, because they are having problems with my loan.

Then to cap it - the excursion, that will be used to tow a trailer with our stuff in it, died in Utah, being driven by a friend for their move.. they promise to get it fixed, but I will have to pay for it - my truck, my dime. This will seriously deplete the funds necessary for the exodus. I feel the urge to scream.

The Mack Camper is sitting, ready and willing, but as yet, no destination. Tornadoes do a lot of damage to things you don't realize until it messes up something you had no idea was in that area, until a tornado wipes it out.

 

Theo, I appologize for being ignorant, but I thought you ALREADY lived in Tennessee no?

-The Great

 

Clint - Theo WAS in Tn, a few years ago. Now he's on his way back

 

From 2000 to 2005 I lived in TN. Then I moved around a lot - Indiana, Arizona, Nevada and Washington - Washington was three times each for about 18 months. Now I am retired, no longer covertly looking into things, and looking for a nice place to settle - hence back to Tennessee. I would be there, already if the office of the loan company had not been in the way of a passing tornado. The seller has been paid, and left, but I do not have right to be there, as they can't find my documents - if they let me in, I wouldn't have to pay them, and they don't want that. So I wait for either the document to generated again, and go through hoops, or a new loan approved. Murphy works very hard to make my life interesting.

 

I understand the moving part Theo... we move every 3-5 months for work. So where are you right now? And you are just fueled up ready to bolt as soon as the loan company figures everything out? ALso, did I read something about your Ex being broke down in Utah? Whats the story there

-The Great

 

I spent from 1968 to 2011 being overtly covert and unknown. Therefore I tend to not give out much information. The xcursion broke down in Utah, and took $785 to make it go again. Part of the problem was the previous owner being somewhat stingy on repairs, the rest due the worn out ancillary equipment.

Had you have paid attention to the posting made by me over the last week, you would know where I was. . .

 

If it was in the BS thread, I do not recall reading where you were. Only thing I think I remember you saying was about snakes in your Colorado Ranch. Plus I don't tend to pry in other peoples business unless it is brought up. I do pray that you get everything sorted in due time. I am sure it is frustrating.

-The Great

 

Theo, I just read the whole "Where is THeo thread". I read you bought a cabin in Rogersville, TN and have been living on a homestead in Washington.... I think that about sums it up, unless there was something that I missed. I just didn't read the whole thread before because it looked like it was from 2006.... my bad

-The Great

 

$785, wow. That would wreck my piddly budget for months

 

Didn't do mine any good, but for a change something worked well - went to the post office, to get the mail (PO Box) and there was a check for $485... from something I had overpaid for a year.

piddly budgets suck, don't they. I have always thought that being a millionaire would be a good way to go - I have worked nigh on every day of my life, and still can't pay the bills easily. I suppose I shouldn't have so many bills.

 

Millionaires get where they are by being penurious - I have studied that before.
I have a neighbor with huge flatscreens all over in their house, which they have extensively expanded, a pool, a winnebago class 'C', and a side yard that is about 3/4's of an acre alone - and all I ever hear from them is that they don't have any money...

Yet they go to Talladega every year for the big race.

I don't think I'd want to be like that either.

Every time I have helped them out with my tech skills (finding electrical problems in the RV for example) all I ever got out of it was a belated: "Uh... Gee thanks..."

Cheap buggers.

~Yet still I help, just in case. What I myself have done is try every way I can to be self reliant, and dispose of anything that seems to me a waste of money.
As a result - I make a much better pizza than dominoes! (often with fresh veggies from the garden)

ON THAT: Look for frozen bread dough at the grocers, it's the same the stores use to make their own french bread - and you know how light and fluffy that comes out. Use THAT to pre-bake a pizza crust, and the rest is simple simon.
A package with five rolls of dough (fit for making 5 loaves of french bread) is four dollars. Instead of making bread though - roll it out on a 16 - 18 inch pizza tray, you'll be amazed

I have ruthlessly shut down anything in the house that uses power if it isn't essential. I have one window air unit I run, with an extra small back-up unit in place of the central air that I will one day rip out of here entirely.
The satellite boxes I shut down almost immediately I came home, and hunted down everything that has a "Stand By" power mode (such as TV sets, since how many can I watch?) and unplugged the ones I do not use.

The list goes on...

Last month my power bill was one hundred dollars even

I'm in a position now where I will not get rich any time soon - but I AM gradually gaining where before I was down to my last ten bucks at the end of the month every time
For Sissy to be growing food is an excellent thing indeed, consider the price of tomato's alone

May I suggest that Ducks have better eggs than chickens, and they are notorious for patrolling garden areas and snapping up snails and other pests...
(They are also one of the loudest natural alarm systems you could ever want, second only to geese - but geese are vile tempered creatures)

The great peking duck (moderately large white ones) are generally flightless, and can be eventually befriended if you find the right treats to toss to them


~Just some ideas...

 

Dutch, that is like the 2nd or 3rd time I have read you mentioned having Ducks patrol your yard..... What all do they eat? How hard are they to maintain? are there any downsides to owning them? And do I need to keep them fenced in?

-The Great

 

Ducks can usually find most of their own food - but they eat chicken feed that is scattered by hand. A bag of food that weighs about twenty to fifty pounds will last a good long while and cost about the same as cheap dog food or less. You take only one or two handfuls and throw it - just like chicken feed. They will peck it up from the ground. They also need water like anything else.

Ducks that are not flightless (like Mallards) you have to clip the feathers of one wing to keep them on the ground, but the ones I mentioned will happily just waddle around on the ground, or paddle through a pond.

Neighbors will sometimes complain about the noise they make, and the chicks (if you fail to collect eggs regularly) may become a target for predators, especially hawks. They should have a place to get UNDER -like a low shed, or a back deck.

Once they become accustomed to where you keep them they will generally stay put. A fenced yard is a good idea though. Since they won't fly if you clip them, or because they are not a variety that does, a low fence of any kind is plenty.

I will say that if you make a pond for them - it will also become a source of bucketfuls of liquid fertilizer if it isn't very large! But that too can be beneficial.

Fence them into a garden area and they will supply all the fertilizer it may ever need.

If you have enough land you may be able to attract a local duck population by just feeding them and providing favorable nesting areas, chicks from a feed store are generally very inexpensive though, and domesticated birds that don't fly are preferable
You can probably buy at least two for less than five dollars!

Better yet, look around locally and you may find someone with extra chicks they need to give away.

In winter they may need a "Duck House" to keep warm, with straw to nest in

~They are pretty much hassle free pets

DO NOT under any circumstances let them get anywhere near wet cement!!! They will eat it - and it will kill them. The reason for this is because they usually eat some amount of dirt or gravel to aid in digestion, but their "CRAW" was never intended for concrete. Long ago I lost one of my favorite feathered friends when I tried to make a small concrete pond for it.

I had trained that bird to come right up to me and sit in my lap when I was sitting cross-legged by giving it small pieces of figs from a tree in the yard. I don't know what it was about figs, but that little bird got hooked on them like cocaine! It used to follow me around like a puppy...

 

Still hanging in.. Things are looking better... Getting there soon.

 

Rog! Woola will be here, and so will I.