We are...

A friend of mine posted something on FB today about what Democrats stand for (It can be found here) and she commented that she'd like to see something similar from the Republican side.  I can't help her with that as I'm neither a Democrat or Republican but it did get me thinking about those of us in the middle....not fitting either side.  Here's my interpretation of being in the middle.

We’re not against helping those in need; we’re against supporting those who don’t want to support themselves.

We not against helping others in the world; we’re against being the world police.

We’re not against those who believe differently; we’re against beliefs being used as a political tool.

We’re not against our government; we’re against the manipulation of our government by anyone trying to pervert it to their advantage.

We’re not against anyone’s dream; we’re against the vilifying of the American Dream.

We’re not against immigrants; we’re against liars, cheats and sneaks.

We’re not against American values; we’re against any one group defining for all of us what “American Values” are.

We’re not against helping all Americans succeed; we’re against those who believe the government owes them.

We’re not Republicans.  We’re not Democrats.  We’re not part of the 1% or the 99%.

We are Americans.  This is our America.

And we want it back.

How crazy am I?

So I have two years left in my Fit by 50 (Fx50) goal.  I have been slowly but steadily losing weight since January but seem to have hit a plateau in the last month.  Been thinking about ways to get the weight loss started again.  There's still room to improve my eating habits without a doubt.  Don and I have talked about twice a week having salads for dinner and I think it's time we implement that.  It's time I got the bike out and got comfortable riding again.  One of my more insane thoughts though is to start training again for a 5K.  As some of you remember I started training for one a couple years ago but had to quit about six weeks in because of knee and foot pain from the arthritis.  I'm hoping weighing less this time will alleviate that problem, though the down side is my arthritis is worse than it was two years ago. :/  We shall see.  Now, to just start making this happen....I know me, I'm a planner.  Without a concrete plan things will just kinda drift along without any action taking place.  This means it's time to make a plan.

1. Monday/Thursday - salad for dinner (starting this Thursday)

2. Tonight - load some music onto my iphone for C25K.

3. Thursday - start C25K 

4. Add bike riding in by birthday, 9/21.

Here it is for now.  Start small and build on it.

In other news, I'm been approved to apply for a spot in the Excellence in Government Fellows Program.  This would be a great opportunity if I get selected.  I need to get to work on the essay questions for the application so I'm not rushed to get everything done by the Sept. 5th submission deadline.

I'm also toying with the idea of going back to school to finish my degree because, you know, I don't have enough other things going on in life.  This one is going to depend largely on money however.  I still need to get the AC/Furnace replaced before it starts getting cold so school may have to wait some more.

The garden is still giving us tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and finally beans!!  I'm loving making salads with veggies from the garden.  

There's other things rattling around inside my head but they'll have to wait for another time.
 

This, that and a bit of those

Can't believe we're just about to August.  I swear Memorial Weekend was just three weeks ago! Does anyone else sometimes get a little scared at how much faster time seems to go the older you get?

Anyway, Congress is about to go into their August recess which means things are about to get crazy on The Hill for my agency.  We do a lot of renovation work while the offices are empty.  It's full steam ahead 24 hours a day, 7 days a week while they're out.  Good news is this craziness doesn't really impact me.

Here's a question for everyone.  All other things being equal, would you give up a private office for a cubicle if more money, say $10K a year, was involved?  And I mean a TINY cubicle.  Cu7rious to hear what others think about this.

We found 40 acres out in Wyoming we're really tempted to buy for investment but just not sure.  Unfortunately it's not really suitable for full-time living as there's absolutely no source of water other than drilling a well.  There's no utilities to it either though that's more a minor issue.  The properties (there's several 40 acre tracts available) all border BLM land.  Anyone know anything about BLM land and living next to it?

I need to get studying for my PA license.  I'm scheduled to take it on the 10th.  And I really could use a couple more of my local homeowner friends who would let me use their homes for training.  If you've had any kind of damage to your home in the last year....water leaks, overflowed toilet, cracked tile, melted siding, spilt wine on your carpet....I may be able to help you get some money from your insurance company.  At the very least, we can review your policy to make sure you have the coverage you really need and aren't paying for something you don't need.

OMG, big thanks to my friend Carol who shared a link to Community Forklift.  That place is a DIYers dream!!  For those who don't know Community Forklift is like a HomeDepot except everything in it has been donated.  It's a 35,000 sq ft warehouse filled with just about any kind of home item you can imagine...windows, doors, lighting and plumbing stuff, cabinetry, appliances, flooring, lumber, even an old bank safe.  Yes, most of it comes from people who have renovated so most of it is used.  Yes, you have to look over things to check for damage and such.  But there is still TONS of things that are in great condition and the prices are incredible.  We have been trying to find a replacement bedroom door.  Not easy in an older house where none of the doors are standard size.  It would have cost us over $100 to special order one at HomeDepot.  We found one at Community Forklift for $18.  Picked up a tall pantry cabinet that matches our kitchen cabinets for $20.  It is a fun place to just go wander around in and look for treasures if you like this kind of stuff.

I suppose I've babbled long enough.  How are you all doing? 

Asking a favour....or two

This post is pretty much for the local folks, but you can still read even if you don't live around here.

Don and I have started a business.  We are currently working on getting our Maryland Public Adjuster (PA) licenses.  I have to be honest, when the opportunity first presented itself I had never heard of a public adjuster.  So for those of you who were like me, here's the Reader's Digest explanation.  You know that guy from your insurance company who comes out to your house after something has happened to look things over and tell you how much your insurance company is going to give you?  Well, a public adjuster does the same thing EXCEPT we work in the interest of the homeowner, NOT the insurance company.  Truth is, insurance companies will rarely give you all the money you're entitled to per your policy.  They rely on the fact that very few homeowners ever read their policy or really understand what's in them.  That's where PA's come in.  We represent the homeowner in claims to their insurance company.  We know what's in the policy and we negotiate to make sure the homeowner receives all the money and services they're entitled to. 

There's a couple of other very important things we do.  First off we educate people about homeowners/renters insurance.  We explain what the types of insurance are and what types of coverage someone might or might not need. And second, we offer totally free reviews of homeowners/renters policies to educate them about what their policy really covers and maybe make recommendations about things they might want to add or delete from their coverage.


....and this is where the favour comes in.  Before you click off now let me say this.....the favour will cost you nothing but 30-60 minutes of  your time.  We come to your house so you don't even have to go anywhere.  And we are not selling ANYTHING.  And no, your house doesn't need to be all cleaned up and prettified for us to come.

One of the requirements for me is to complete some training reviews of homeowners/renters policies.  It would be me, my trainer...and probably Don...coming to your house to take a look over your policy and, if you wish, we will take a look at any damages you might have in your house (or personal property if you're a renter) to see if it is something your insurance coverage would pay to fix or replace.  Whether you want to file a claim is totally up to you. You're under no obligation to do anything.  

I'm looking to get my training reviews completed within the next couple weeks.  So, any of my Maryland friends interested in having a policy review done and willing to let me use them to learn on????  I would really appreciate it.  If you are willing to volunteer shoot me a message or send me an email.  usnbrat03@gmail.com   

Such a great feeling

We had a busy and productive weekend.  Saturday had us heading up to some friend's home to visit a gun store and do some canning.  Found a nice little .22 that fits my hand.  And before everyone starts telling me .22's are useless, my options in handguns are very limited due to my short, stubby fingers.  There are few handguns made that I can reach the trigger on.  Thank you to my Dutch ancestors for that.  So anyway, after the gun shop and some lunch we swung by the farmer's market and picked up 2 bushels of tomatoes.  

The plan was to can all of them at her place but we were just a little late getting started with the whole process so we ended up just canning her bushel.  She ended up with 7 lovely quarts of tomatoes.

Sunday Don and I started out making mulberry jam.  We discovered this spring that there's a couple mulberry trees that overhang the property and one drops tons of red mulberries.  We think the other tree is white mulberry.  Once the berries started to drop Don spread out a tarp under the tree so we could collect some.....it was an intense battle with the birds.  I'd cleaned them and stuck them in the freezer until we were ready to can them.  I was a little nervous since my only other attempt at making jelly had been a total fail.  You know those gel candles you can buy?  That's what the consistency of my first attempt at jelly was like.  Smelt good though!

Anyway, I started cooking up the jam using a recipe I found on the internet.  Can you believe the Ball book doesn't have a recipe for mulberry jam??  It looked good and tasted like jam so I'm hoping when we open a jar to try it won't require a wick and lighter to use.  

Once the jam was done....I just love the sound of popping canning lids....we started blanching the tomatoes.  I felt a bit ghoulish peeling the skins off!  We decided the best use for us would be to quarter them and can them in pints.  That's more the amount we use for cooking stuff.  They were sure pretty cooking up in the pot.

The canning went smoothly even though it was only the third time I'd ever pressure canned.  We are now the proud parents of 14 pints of freshly canned tomatoes.

In a couple weeks I think we're going to go pick green beans to can.  Then in the fall we're going to whip up some apple butter.  Also getting ready to start firing up the dehydrator to test out with some vegetables.


I really do love canning.  There's something extremely relaxing and satisfying about the whole process.
 

Your history may not be my history

Nielsen did a survey recently of TV's Top 20 most powerful moments based on people who watched, remembered the event, remember where they were at the time and discussed the event with others.  Here's their results.

1. September 11th tragedy (2001)
2. Hurricane Katrina (2005)
3. O.J. Simpson verdict (1995)
4. The Challenger space shuttle disaster (1986)
5. Death of Osama bin Laden (2011)
6. O.J. Simpson white Bronco chase (1994)
7. Earthquake in Japan (2011)
8. Columbine High School shooting (1999)
9. BP oil spill (2010)
10. Princess Diana's funeral (1997)
11. Death of Whitney Houston (2012)
12. Capture and execution of Saddam Hussein (2006)
13. Barack Obama's acceptance speech (2008)
14. The Royal Wedding (2011)
15. Assassination of John F. Kennedy (1963)
16. Oklahoma City bombing (1995)
17. Bush/Gore election results (2000)
18. L.A. riots (1992)
19. Casey Anthony verdict (2011)
20. Funeral of John F. Kennedy (1963)

I'm have to admit, all in all I'm pleasantly surprised by the list.  I was expecting a list of a bunch of meaningless celebrity moments.  That said, there are still a few things on here that make me go, "really??"  So I've decided to do TV's Top 15 Most Powerful Moments as I see it.  One caveat...I pretty much grew up without TV so if it happened prior to 1978 I probably didn't see it on TV.

1. September 11th attack (why sanitize it...call it what it is)

2. Tearing down of the Berlin Wall (I cried watching it...never thought I'd see it in my lifetime.)

3. Sabana Seca, PR terrorist attack (1979) (I lived through it)

4. The Challenger explosion

5. Reagan being shot

6. The First Royal Wedding....Diana & Charles

7. Cincinnati riots (2001) (I was living there)

8. Thailand Tsunami (2004)

9. LA earthquake (1994) 

10. Final shuttle mission (getting to watch it from Goddard mission control helped make that pretty memorable)

11. Columbine High School shooting

12. Princess Diana's funeral

13. BP oil spill (2010)

14. Oklahoma City bombing

15. LA Riots

And a bonus one: The Final MASH.  Yeah, I know it's a TV show but it meets all the criteria for me.

There are things that didn't make the list.  It's not because they aren't memorable to me but because I didn't actually watch them on TV.

So what about you? What are your most memorable TV moments?

 

  

Photos

I was out the other day taking some nature pictures.  It was nice.  I've not gotten to do enough of that this year.  I did a little playing around with my photo editing software too.  And yes, I do know that one of these things is not like the others! ;)