Good Eats

Up at 6 this morning, worked at the mall, we stayed busy this morning pressure washing sidewalks. Trash cleanup after lunch. After I got of I took my mountain bike back to Pearl to have it worked on. It is going to be ready Friday, we will see. Got home and cut up some okra and cooked them down with rotel tomatoes. Bridget cooked up hamburger patties and fixed a shrimp salad, cantaloupe for dessert. See you in chat.

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A Day Off

Well I have a day off, first I drove by the mall to see about rescheduling 10/5 so I can work an extra shift at the FD. Left there heading to Pearl to drop off my mountain bike for a gear adjustment, arrived at 9 and they open at 10 so I headed to S & S Apache RV center to pick up a 50 amp Power Grip male end for my power cord, they were out of them but have one ordered and will be in today, I left my cell phone number and still waiting for the call. Went to another RV center still no luck. Headed back to the bike shop arriving just before 10, one car in the lot already. Ten and nobody there, 5 after 10 and the other guy leaves. I walked down to the road to get the phone number and give them a call, no answer but did find out they are closed on Monday which was verified by the sign on the door, if I just knew what day of the week it was. Ran by the doctors office to get a prescription for my Crestor then to the house and cooked lunch. I cut up bratwurst, onions, peppers, celery then added pasta served with bread. Bridget came home for lunch. After lunch I drove to Canton for a haircut, back home for a nap. See you in chat.

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Still Tired

I ended up sleeping through chat last night, up at 6:15 this morning. Cereal for breakfast, shower and off to FD. Quiet day with only 1 call so far today, last shift ended with a total of 10 calls. As of our last call we have had 1,674 runs since Jan. 1, 2008. Started watching the race and remember only about the first half, woke up to find out JJ had won. We are grilling chicken for supper tonight. I am off tomorrow. See you in chat.

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7-5

Left the mall last night around 10:40p since I would be returning this morning, I was in bed and asleep by 11p with the alarm set for 6a, Fred usually sleeps to 5:56, you would think he would give me those extra 4 minutes but this morning he decided it would be nice to get up at 5:43 so I stayed in bed to 6:17 not able to go back to sleep. Got up, shower and breakfast and out the door. Arrived at 6:42 ready to work til 3p, but then I see the 3p relief man driving by before 8a, hmm ?, he tells me he has drill this weekend and won't be in until 5p. I got off at 5 and headed to the house. I'm in my recliner watching the last 2+ minutes of the Tenn/Auburn game, hope to stay awake to see the ending. See you in chat.

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Busy at the Mall

Got off from FD, had to pick up a trailer so I could caerry my lawn mower down to Crystal Springs to cut my mom's property then when I got home cut ours. That took up the morning then swapped vehicles out with Bridget. Off to the mall, working 3p-11p which is where I am right now. They are having live bands playing on the weekends. It has been very busy with lots of people shopping and walking around, most of the garbage cans were full, this is a good sign. I will be back here at 7a to work til 3p tomorrow. Won't make chat tonight so see you tomorrow night.

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1928

7 calls so far today, hoping for a quiet night. The high school had their parade this evening, we had a ladder truck and our first fire engine, a 1928 Boyer, in the parade. The Boyer (Duece Eight) broke down on the way back to the station so we ended up towing it. Hard to believe that a vehicle that is 80 years old would break down but things happen. Will be working the 3-11 shift at the mall tomorrow. Heading to bed.

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From The Dave Ramsey Website, Will This Work?

How We Can Clean Up A Lot of the

Economic Problems

Remember Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia, and other companies had artificially put assets on the books? They'd say something was worth $10M when they bought it, but eventually it decreased in value, and they never updated the value in the books. That was part of the fraud. Under current laws at that time, they were all convicted and put in jail for fraud.

Then we got all mad and made all these new laws that are coming out the wazoo called sarbanes oxley. It's a huge, massive law but the idea is that we were going to mandate ethics to corporate America because apparently they didn't have any, according to the Enron failure. It's now a total pain in the butt to execute it in a publicly traded company.

It didn't work because you can't cause ethics to happen. However, it does make each company each day restate what their assets are worth if sold on the market. This accounting procedure is mark to market accounting--you need to remember that. It's a good concept and keeps companies from having loaded balance sheets.

How This Affects Us Today

However, it's part of what's caused this in the news now. Merrill Lynch was sitting with $30 billion tied up in sub-prime loans with houses. Stupid! They get what they deserve for doing that, and I'm with you on that. Those houses didn't become worthless all of a sudden because those people couldn't sell their bonds. Since they couldn't sell them, they basically gave them away for 22 cents on the dollar. Now do you think all those houses lost 80% of their value underneath that deal? No, they didn't, so they gave them away for 22 cents on the dollar (about $6 billion total) because there was no market for them. Nobody wants to buy sub-prime bonds because they suck. They're junk bonds. But at 22 cents on the dollar, it's a bargain because even if you foreclosed on every one of the houses in there, you'd probably get $20 billion back out of $30 billion, and so the company that bought those for $6 billion got a deal! But there's no market for them. That's where these companies are stuck. They can't sell this stuff, but accounting-wise, they've had to mark it down to market and it's frozen the marketplace.

Economist Wesbury is saying that if we change that one rule and don't force them to mark down to market value and just let them hold on to all the stuff, and say just on sub-primes for this period of time you can change that rule -- a temporary change -- that'll free the market up. It's seized right now; it's frozen. This will thaw it out and get it going again. He says that'll solve 60% of the problem ... and I think he's right.

That one accounting rule is what made Merrill Lynch sell out. That one accounting rule is what's driving other ones into the dirt. Would you rather let them change their accounting rule or loan them $700 billion for us to buyout their bad paper?

I'd rather them work their own crap out than change the accounting rule.

I don't like giving them any money or any help with my tax dollars. But I'd rather see that than see the whole thing turn completely upside down in a fruit basket turnover than have a whole meltdown or something and freak out here in the middle of the election season. Why don't we just take the FHA insurance program and extend it across these sub-primes? What that means is that you and I are guaranteeing the lender that they're not going to lose as much or any money on those mortgages. Now I don't like guaranteeing them, but I like it better than buying them. In other words, instead of $700 billion in tax-payer debt going out there to bail out these companies, just extend the insurance out. You could probably do that for less than $40 billion. It's like a 95% savings!

If the government insured those mortgages, they would then be marketable. And could sell them. And the companies would stay afloat. And we, the people, don't have to get into the mortgage business. Now we're going to get in there a little bit because of the insurance on those getting foreclosed on. But foreclosures aren't causing this. This is being caused because these companies are frozen and seized up. We've got to let some of the steam come off and put some oil in there to get this thing moving again. We can do that without going into debt $700 billion.

Here's Your Plan

Call your Congressman. Call your Senator. Tell them to change the mark-to-market accounting law and to extend insurance but extend no loans. If they extend loans - if they borrow the money on the national debt in order for us to all go into the mortgage business a trillion dollars - you're going to fire their butts and send them home.

I've talked with several people today, and it's on the tables in Washington, but it's not something you're going to see on TV. If you'll let your Congressmen know you know about this and that you'll vote against them if they don't vote to change the mark-to-market law and you'll contribute your money to make sure they never serve in office again. That's what you need to tell them early and often.

If you're pissed, this is the time to step up and do something about it, America! You can stop this! It's being railroaded down your throat, but you can stop them if you call them in mass starting now. READY ... SET ... GO!

Contact:

• Your representative
• Your senators
• Senate committee

Early To Bed

For some reason I have been tired all day, same ole day with nothing exicting. Will go to bed after supper unless I get a burst of energy. I work at the mall tomorrow til 3p.

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Double Shift

Up at 6:20, had breakfast and showered then off to work at FD, I am working a double so I will get off from FD Wednesday morning at 8am and head to the mall job. Usual day with nothing exciting, we did have an automatic fire alarm and the homeowner thought she had a fire in her attic, it was a malfunctioning detector. See you in chat.

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Overslept

Didn't set the alarm clock because neither of us had to work today. We rolled out of bed at 9:56, usually out by 6 for work. Had breakfast/lunch then watched the race. JJ finished 5th. Worked on Bridget's laptop as it only had a black screen, so on my laptop I googled HP with black screen. Ended up unplugging the power cord, removing the battery and waiting 5 minutes. Put it back together and updated some of the programs. I am using her laptop for this post. Bridget is fixing dinner even as I type, don't know what it is but it smells good. See you in chat.

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Happy Birthday Jenny

Happy Birthday Jenny, yes my friends, chatroom Jenny is 24 today http://elevenfootrv.blogspot.com/ . We had a chatroom birthday party for her tonight.

Got home this morning from FD, we had creamed eggs on toast with bacon. After breakfast we went to Lowes so Bridget could pick out the cabinet and trim colors for the kitchen, then to Walmart for groceries, Bridget usually does this but I went with her today. I hate going to Walmart, I think everybody in town was there.

Watched all but the last lap of the Busch race, Directv showed up in time to turn of the satellite to change out the dish from a 3lbn to a 5lbn so we now have HD. When the TV came back on the race had been over and I don't know who won, will have to google it. Then looked on my bill and find out they have been charging me for HD since March 2006 so I called CS and talked with 4 different people, I was hung up on once, hopefully accidental disconnect on their end but finally will be getting a $300 credit. I was in chat when I realized I had not posted for today.

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Not Happening

The weekend trip will not be, maybe some other time. Have not heard from Directv so I guess they will show up tomorrow. Slow day at the FD, caught up on paperwork. Bridget had a Dr's appoinment today, he changed her meds. See you in chat.

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Weekend Trip??

The movie was great, will probably go see it again when it comes out at the theaters on the 26th. Briefly on chat last night after the movie but had to go to the mall this morning at 7 which meant getting up at 6. Nothing special at the mall today, took a nap when I got home. I read that most full timers take naps during the day and I don't know if what I am doing is practicing for full timing or tired from working so much. We were going to Roosevelt State Park this weekend but the fine people at Directv have rescheduled a dish install for the 20th between 4p-8p. I have been added to the call if cancel list, maybe they will call tomorrow. See you in chat.

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A Night At The Movies

A movie set to be released on September 26th called Fireproof will be shown at the Mississippi State Fire Academy. They are having a cookout starting at 5:30 for fire fighters and their families. Bridget and I will e attending so I am posting early today. Mall was a normal day, Lynn should be back tomorrow. I will read blogs until Bridget gets home then we will head out to MSFA. Hope to make chat tonight.

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Nothing

Missed chat last night, started watching a movie at 7 and fell asleep. Up at 6 this morning, the usual and off to FD. Nothing of interest to report so see you in chat.

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Shift Schedule Change

Originally scheduled to work 3-11 at the mall but Lynn's (The Boss) dad passed away yesterday and he called to see if I could fill in for him from 7-3 which I did. I had to call one of the guys to reschedule him to the 3-11 shift them call in payroll and some other office stuff. All taken care of. Lynn's father had been in the hospital since Thursday, he had been ill for a while. Rest of the day went smoothly. Read blogs when I got home. That's it for now.

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A Lazy Day

Had a few late night calls, got home and Bridget cooked up eggs, sausage, toast and coffee. Read blogs and surfed the internet. Took a nap to catch up on lost sleep, woke up just after the race had started. Grill brats at 2pm for lunch and had macaroni salad as a side. Watched the rest of the race, I usually fall asleep during the race. JJ finished in second and is tied with Carl Edwards for the points lead for the championship. Read more blogs after the race. That's it for now, been a lazy day.

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Visitors From Texas

Usual morning at the fire station. About 4pm one of the local hotels called and asked if we could come by and wish a Happy Birthday to a firefighter from Texas who just found out he had lost his house back in Port Arthur. The guys loaded up in the engine and stopped by Walmart to pick up a birthday cake to take with them. It was a family of 10 out of Texas and Louisiana. His father retired FD and he was retiring next year. They were run out of town by a hurricane last year on his birthday also. We were cooking red beans and rice and invited the family back to eat supper with us at the station. They arrived at 6:45 and after the blessing began loading up the plates. RB&R, garlic bread, drinks and 3 types of pies for dessert. They were very grateful that we would do this, we just let them know we are all family and were sure they would have done the same for us.
Bridget talked with her kinfolk in Warren, TX and they were out of power and had 2 windows broken, vinyl siding damage and other minor damage. They are located about 45 miles north of Beaumont.
Hope that our Texas Dreamers made it though Ike without to much damage.
We also had a FD softball tournament which started at 9a and ended at 8p, our team took second place.

See you in chat.

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Quick Day

Busy day today, started at 6am, shower, breakfast and off to the mall. Worked on replacing ceiling tiles in two of the businesses due to roof leaks. Allot of cutting down tiles and cut outs for sprinkler heads. Repaired a trailer tongue jack, cleaned out one of the service areas, built and painted a table for the landscaping crew, let the table umbrellas down. Busy days go by faster. The wind is starting to pick up, 10mph with gusts to 20mph. Tomorrow they are saying sustained at 15mph gusts 25-30mph. We only had a light sprinkle of rain this afternoon. They are saying this storm is the size of Texas. Our prayers go out to those in the path of Ike.
Birthday party for our son and BIL at there home. May not make chat tonight, depends on when we get back, they live out in the county on 5 acres.

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No Cabinet Work

Plans were to clean on the kitchen cabinets to get them ready for paint, that didn't happen. When I got home from the FD, I had a fax from the business I am trying to get set up as an Amsoil retail outlet. As I was doing that Matt (Fire Chief of Flora) and asked what I was doing for lunch. He is a sergeant on my shift and is building a house outside of Flora. I ended up driving to Flora for lunch with Matt, Marc (Another Ridgeland FF), and 3 other Flora volunteers. I had the lunch special of country fried steak, rice and gravy, corn, field peas, cornbread and tea. Everyone else has chicken or hamburgers with Cajun fries and tea. After lunch and visiting we drove out to Matt's house. Beautiful house on a hill facing a pond, huge oak trees on the west side. Got back home and replaced the ice maker line that broke back in June while we were at Branson at the RV Dreams rally. Bridget has been on my about having ice, so that's done. Then I took a short nap. Robert and Terry have birthdays coming up, Robert's the 14th and Terry's is the 12th. Party will be on 12th at Annie and Terry's. We will go shopping this evening at the mall and visit Maggie Moo's for ice cream after shopping. I did not make it to chat last night. The FD Internet just wasn't cooperating, I guess they will eventually get it working correctly. Hope to make it to chat tonight.

To end my 9/11 post

A Fireman's Prayer

When I am called to duty, God,

Whenever flames may rage;

Give me strength to save some life,

Whatever be its age.

Help me embrace a little child

Before it is too late

Or save an older person

From the horror of that fate.

Enable me to be alert

And hear the weakest shout,

And quickly and efficiently

To put the fire out.

I want to fill my calling

And to give the best in me

To guard my every neighbor

And protect his property.

And if, according to my fate,

I am to lose my life,

Please bless with your protecting

My children and my wife.

- Author Unknown

Never Forget

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Nothing Going On

Slept in til 6:20a, showered, breakfast and off to work. Normal day at the FD with nothing exciting to report. I have tomorrow off from both jobs. Will try to get some more of the kitchen cabinets cleaned so I can paint them. See you in chat.

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Birthday Party Tonight

Mall at 7 after getting up at 6, showering and breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast, and fresh cantaloupe. Busy today on the pond filters and pumps. Ended up draining then cleaning the fountain at Biaggi's with bleach to get rid of the algae.
The filter pump on the interactive fountain has a leak on the discharge side so the water is being pumped out of the holding tank, this will have to be repaired before we can use the filter pump.
Been reading blogs and Dee reminded me of a birthday party in chat tonight, it is Sandra's birthday, Happy Birthday Sandra.
See you in chat.

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Usual Day

Up at 6 and at the mall by 6:30 after shower and breakfast. This morning we had to have the clock tower barricaded by 7am. Contractors were setting the cap with cranes. Usual day with clean up, we did get a Billy Goat Friday. This is a drivable vacuum, kind of like a stand up riding mower except it vacuums, it also has a detachable hose. This should help out allot with clean up. We are having problems with the interactive fountain, the drain pump is not draining.

I also have another side job, I am an independent Amsoil dealer http://www.lubedealer.com/jhatch/ and spent the afternoon working on setting up a retail account with a business in Brandon. Hope to have that done by Friday.

Have been catching up on blog reading, internetless since last week. See you in chat.

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Great Three Day Weekend

Friday
Got off from FD at 7am and headed to the house. Had grits and toast for breakfast. Hooked the truck and trailer up, finished loading the trailer, loaded the dogs and on the road by 8:15 heading to Tunica. Called Dortha and let them know we were en route. They were at the Audubon RV Park just of I-55. Made it to the office of Sam's Town RV Park and were told your friends got here about 10 minutes ago. Checked it and headed to the site, Mark and Dortha were setting up their beautiful Phaeton. Backed in next to them and set our 5'ver up. After we were both set up, we looked over the new Phaeton (inside and out) what a nice floor plan. They are heading out Sunday to Red Bay to have some minor warranty work done. After chatting a while, Mark came up with a great idea, let's go to Paula Deen's Buffet. It was around 2:30ish and my breakfast was long gone. We all jumped in their Jeep and off we went. I must say if you are in the area, this is a must eat at location. The buffet was kept fresh and the food, all of it, was outstanding. After eating everything I could see, we headed into the casino. My luck would stay the same as always so with in 15 minutes my $20 was gone, I ended up watching Bridget, Mark and Dortha. We got back to the RV park a little after 5 and decided to take a nap. Layed down at 5:20p. We were going back after our nap but I forgot to wake up. I did wake up at 10:20p and watch some Jay Leno, back to bed at 11:20p, I think my 80-90 hour work weeks caught up to me.

Saturday
Woke up at 8:20a, 14 hours of needed sleep. Got up, showered and got ready for the day. Took the truck down to fill with diesel and grab a bite. Ended up at Krystal located in the gas station, this is not the place to eat. Back at the trailer we meet up with M&D, headed over to the River Museum then over to the outlet mall. I bought a wallet and Bridget bought a purse from the leather shop. Lunch was at Church's Fried Chicken then back to the trailer and watched a football game on the outside TV. The weather was nice, a little on the cool side but great football watching weather. Mark grilled pork chops and Dortha cooked up a rice and a vegetable dish. A wonderful meal with friends. The show we were going to see started at 7pm so after eating we got ready to head over to the casino. Roddy Carington was a great show with the exception of the drunk sitting behind us that kept talking. Security was called to remove them along with their camera, no photography allowed. After the show we meet up with M&D in the casino. Bridget ended up giving them the rest of her $20 so we ended up watching M&D. In bed at 11:20p.

Today
Meet up with M&D at 8:15a for the breakfast buffet at Sam's Town. After overeating we walked back to the RV park and said goodbye's. M&D were heading to Red Bay to Tiffin Motorhomes for repair work, nothing major. Bridget and I headed back at noon.

After arriving back home and unloading the trailer I was getting online but Internet was still down. I called AT&T and after about an hour with them on the phone I ended up reconfiguring my entire PC, now everything works again.

We had a good time this weekend and enjoyed spending it with Mark and Dortha. Look forward to meeting up with them in the future.

See you in chat.

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Rain Again then Sun

Did not get to post or chat on Wednesday-Internet down at the house, probably flooded. So Wednesdays post:

Rained all day again, worked at the mall til 3pm. When I got home I hooked the trailer up to pull it out so it could be loaded for our trip this weekend. This was done in the rain, did I mention it rained all day. After I get that done I go inside and say to myself, self, it's hot in here. 82 degrees inside, 76 degrees outside and the A/C is set on 74 degrees. I'm thinking this can not be good, all the inside stuff is working properly so I go outside in the rain and check the outside unit, fan is not running. The fan motor is so hot I can't touch it, this is actually a good thing. I remove the electrical cover and energize the contact switch, compressor comes on fan does not. That is why it was a good thing. Fan motor $60, new outside unit $4,000. To late for a fan motor so we opened some of the windows for the night. My plan was to replace it on Monday after we get back from Tunica. The boss spoke up and said it will be fixed tomorrow, I said "yes dear". Had a little rain blow in through one of the windows, 6pm weather said rain was going to stop around 8pm.

Todays post:

At FD today, like most FD's the guys have side jobs. Mike Bullock is getting off at 8am, care to guess what his side job is? I asked him if he was doing anything today and he said no, what you got. Which I replied with the fan motor on my condensor is out. He said no problem so as of noon the boss has A/C again.

Usual calls today, EMS and fire alarms. For some crazy reason yet to be determined, one of the six tornado sirens decided it would activate so we had to turn the breaker off to it, repairman will be out as soon as possible.

Bridget will load the trailer this evening and we will leave out between 8-9am for our 2-3 hour drive to Tunica. We will be meeting up with Mark and Dortha http://rvingwithpoppa.blogspot.com/ for the weekend. They have their new 40' Phaeton they are checking out for any problems. Hopefully there will not be any. They are staying around this area for a short while so if needed can return to the dealer for adjustments or whatever.

Sun came out for a little while then clouds again, see you in chat.

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Rain, Rain and More Rain

Been raining for days now, hope it ends soon. Working the mall 3p-9p today, will be back tomorrow from 7a-3p. Our RRT has not been deployed but is still on standby. Haircut today and while I was in the barber shop one of the customers became ill and was transported to the hospital by ambulance. Heading to the house here shortly, may not make chat tonight.

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Happy Labor Day To All

Well it's labor day and Gustav has made landfall. Our Reginal Response Team (RRT) has been activated. We have a Ford F350 towing a boat, rescue truck, and an 8 man team on standby for possible deployment to southern Louisiana in the morning. Right now in Ridgeland it is 79 degrees with winds from the East at 17mph gusting to 28mph. Tornado warnings have been numerous in our area since after noon. No touchdowns as of this writing in our area. Forecasted for 100% rain today and tomorrow. Unlike Katrina we were spared from Gustav.

I have the morning off and will go in and work the 3p-11p shift at the mall tomorrow.

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