Cartoons again

Lately I've been under the gun to get my equipment ready for inspection. Every 3 years the Forest Service contracts are renewed and this is the year. I haven't been signed up for 3 years so we had lots to do. Inspection was on the 6th. It was very thorough and the guys knew what they were doing unlike in times past. They found a few issues that we are now dealing with. One of them I was glad they found as it was something I didn't see. The other issues were stupid in my opinion. They were things I would have dealt with before a fire anyway that I just didn't get done in time for inspection. I still have months before any fires happen but in there goofy system, I have to be ready NOW. The inspector will come up again the 17th to check on the issues they had and I will be ready. When I was working at the airport I was reminded of all the regulations they had with aircraft and it seems to be moving into this arena too. More very year, it would seem next to impossible to get into this business now if you had never done it before. I guess that is good if you are already in it. I have paid a substantial amount of cash just to stay in it on the chance that we have fires. So far though, it is looking like it could shape up to be a fire year. Time will tell but it has been a dry winter and we haven't had lots of rain this spring. I didn't take lots of picture but here are a few.

Cartoons

The United States Border Patrol is asking citizens to keep on the lookout for a red 1951 Chevy that they suspect is being used to smuggle illegal immigrants across the border from Mexico and into points along the U.S. Border. If you see the vehicle pictured below and have reason to believe that it is the suspect vehicle, you are urged to contact your local police department or the U. S. Border Patrol.

Mass. Senate Race

I never imagined that I would be very concerned about who was senator in the state of Massachusetts living clear over here in Montana, but the result sure was a relief to me! According to Yahoo News, Scott Brown has defeated Martha Coakley for the special election held to decide who replaces Kennedy. What a significant election this was. There has not been a Republican senator in Mass. since 1972! Only 12% of register voters in Mass. are Republicans! I believe this really says something about what Americans think about Obamacare and other ridiculous ideas of our President. Not that I think Republicans are so great, but our Government, (especially the current administration) has gotten a long ways away from doing what the people want them to do. For too long they have been pushing their own agendas without giving a hoot about the people. My hope is that this was a wake up call. That could be just a pipe dream, but I'll continue to hope that this country doesn't self destruct. It isn't rule by Republican or Democrat that I desire, it is rule by the people that I desire again for this country.

Above: Do you think that Obamacare would help Uncle Bobs teeth?

Poverty, Riches, and Hillbillies

As I was building a roof rack for my Suburban today, I couldn't help but laugh to myself. You see, we are getting ready to go on a trip to visit family. I am checking the suburban over and trying to figure out how I'm going to haul all our stuff. It isn't so much the stuff I'm hauling TOO the relatives but the stuff I will be hauling BACK! I have a larger than average family with 5 kids and they always get mountains of gifts from Grandparents. This will be our late Christmas trip so I must prepare. Anyhow, having such a large family means I have to so often use my imagination and some redneck engineering. A large family means that sometimes (OK, almost always) you must do things on a budget. Because of this, we often end up looking like the Beverly Hillbillies. So I am building this luggage rack out of some odds and ends I found around my house. This consists of some old bed frames, some round tubing, and some concrete reinforcement re bar. Trying to do it as quickly as I can, I'm not spending lots of time making nice welds, even cuts, perfect square corners, or nice paint jobs. My wife comes into the mans domain where I am building and says, "What is that?!" I say, "It is our new roof rack." She says, "Whats wrong with the space pod?" (The space pod is the roof luggage carrier that resembles a space craft) I say, "Nothing dear, we will be using that too." I can tell by her voice that she isn't impressed with my creation. I thought about wrapping it in Duct Tape to look like a Red Green invention. So we will go on our trip with what looks like a bed on the top of our car to carry luggage in. Other times I've carried motorcycles and ATVs on the top of our cars and trailers and many other hillbilly looking methods. I'm beginning to think that maybe we ARE hillbillies! After all, I don't have any desire to seek after riches, drive fancy cars, make big house payments, use lots of credit cards, etc. In fact, my desires are to get off the grid, stay debt free, and live in Alaska. I do my best to live a backwoods simple life. I raise my kids to be the same way. I burn wood for all our heat, we butcher 90% of our own meat, turn off the TV for long periods of time, I keep our trips to town down to a minimum, home school, build buildings like in the picture, carry a rifle and/or handgun where ever I go, and many other hillbilly things. Funny thing is, I feel like I'm the richest man alive. Some would call me poor because I sometimes look poor. I don't mind, how I look to others makes no difference to me. A week ago two of my sons and I had rented a table at a gun show and one evening after it was over for the day we went out and got into our vehicle with an odd colored door and numerous dents. Next to us where numerous fancy new pickups along with high payments. One son says, "We might look like hillbillies but I bet we are better off than most of these other people. Not too many people of your young age have the means that you have." I was proud that what I have tried hard to teach was getting through. You see, we have tried hard to stay debt free and sometimes you don't always look like everybody else. I've done the high payment thing with houses and cars. It just isn't worth it. My cars are paid for, my house is paid for, my clothes are paid for, and my latest kid is almost paid for. I get to watch my kids grow up, I get to spent lots of time with them, my marriage is good after 18 years, our health is good, and we are happy. Man, if this is what being a hillbilly is, than give me more! You see, riches are so much more than just money, and poverty is so much more than just a lack of money. And that my friends, is today's lesson.

Pictures are family meat butchering, building a hillbilly building, and a nice Montana sunset.

More humor

Whats this you ask? Well, it is the money we would have saved had we not elected Obama for for president! ;-}

Our cat sleeps about 20 hours a day. He has his food prepared for him. He can eat whenever he wants, 24/7/365. His meals are provided at no cost to him. He visits the Dr. once a year for his checkup, and again during the year if any medical needs arise. For this he pays nothing, and nothing is required of him. He lives in a nice neighborhood in a house that is much larger than he needs, but he is not required to do any upkeep. If he makes a mess, someone else cleans it up. He has his choice of luxurious places to sleep. He receives these accommodations absolutely free. He is living like a king, and has absolutely no expenses whatsoever. All of his costs are picked up by others who go out and earn a living every day. I was just thinking about all this, and suddenly it hit me like a brick in the head, Holy Cow, my cat is a democrat!

Merry Christmas!

Well, it has been a long time since I've posted on here. Maybe now that winter is here I will more often, hold the applause please. It has been very busy here and I don't often feel like sitting here typing at the computer. I was looking at some pictures on the computer this Christmas Eve and I found myself thinking about the time that has past us by. Thinking about the past is something everybody does sometimes. Some people have a past full of regrets while others have only a few. While I would like to say that I have no regrets, that simply wouldn't be true. The good news is that we can change all that right now. Jesus was born on this earth over 2000 years ago for the express purpose of setting us free from guilt and condemnation. Both here on the earth and in the afterlife. It is as simple as asking for forgiveness and accepting what He did for us on the day of redemption. This is what I did almost 17 years ago and I can remember it like it was yesterday. All that weight of condemnation was lifted off of me and I felt like (and indeed was) a new man. It is the one decision that I can assure you that you will never regret.

Looking at pictures of the past also reminded me that we have such an important job as parents. The uncertainty that we face on this earth today will only be changed by parents doing their job. The state we are in right now is a direct result of parents NOT doing there job. Most parents let the world raise their children. The world shapes every part of them. The public school system has much more influence on their lives than the parents do. Most parents hardly even KNOW their kids or know what the schools are teaching them. The Bible tells us to train up a child in the way they should go and they will not depart from it. Why have todays and yesterdays children departed? Because they were never taught the way they should go. You don't have to teach a child to be disobedient, they are born knowing how. You have to TEACH a child to go the right way. Let us as parents endeavor to teach our children to CHANGE the world, not follow after the world. This will not be easy to do, nothing worth doing ever is, but this is what a parent does. If you not willing, than don't have children.

Well, I just now do my job as a parent and put some children to bed. Merry Christmas!!!!!