Abandoned Farmhouse - NW Finn Hill and Urdahl Rd Poulsbo

While my son was brushing up on his batting for Little League this spring at a giant sports complex built in the middle of farmland, I walked across the road to acreage for sale. Set back on the property was this farmhouse... obviously abandoned and a little on the creepy side with the weather torn curtains and kicked-open door.
I have some sort of a weird obsession with old houses. They have stories in them that I want to know. There is something particularly disturbing to me when they are abandoned.
When I was walking through the weeds I thought : if my old house was in a more public place... in an area of development, it would have ended up like this. Once development starts on farmland, there is not alot of room for farming any longer. Some folks get cranky when they have to drive past cow smells, and no one likes the sound of roosters, especially the nutball type that sporadically crow 20 hours a day (which, honestly, seems to be the only kind I have ever had.) This vandalized building was once a loved home. There are chintz curtains moving against the broken glass, bright paint in the kitchen and still great condition furniture in the living room. Once an efficient working farmstead surrounded by level agriculture fields, it is now ready for the bulldozer and another big box store. This property is a stones throw from the Home Depot-Walmart-Starbucks-PetSmart-Office Max complex so I am sure the value is in development. And that is the rub. If I owned this, and it was worth 1.2 million as retail property and 440K as a farm... what would I do? What would you? I always like to think I would consider the longterm good of a rural community (which to me is more land, more agriculture - otherwise I would live in a city...) but self interest is a strong motivator.
For the record, I am not saying no to big box stores or to development, (stay tuned for my post of where I got a temp job) but am seriously questioning our need for a monster complex of them every 6.5 miles. I don't remember seeing "shopping" in Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Old House Histories

Photo: Lemolo Schoolhouse, 2011. I realize it is not really a 'looker' in this image... I will post more interesting photos when I find my elusive camera. One of the more interesting tasks of my previous museum job was helping visitors and researchers document building histories. Since moving to my old house, I have sporadically been searching for information on my property since a 1904 house in Washington state probably has some sort of provenance. I realize this is nothin' to folks on the East Coast or across the ponds toward Europe and Asia, but in our wet Northwest clime, 107 years is a bit of age. Things have a tendency to be torn down around here.... progress you know. Or, just molder away in the wet moist environment. Last week we visited a gal that just bought an old community schoolhouse located in Lemolo. I got a bit giddy with finding out information on her building... since old public one room buildings in Kitsap are torn down without a second thought - Grange halls, schoolhouses, churches have been bulldozed more often than not. And she actually likes her building - yay! To find material about her school and my home I made my first venture to the Poulsbo Historical Society and was pleasantly surprised by their knowledge and friendliness. They not only had citations of all available references from the local newspaper for the last several decades but also gave me names of oldtimers that live in the community and can share what they know. The other major resource is the Kitsap Historical Society which I only dealt with by phone or email after my first in person visit. They are still working on finding early schoolhouse pictures, but the stunner is that the director is the granddaughter of the man who built my house, if my house is really the Paulson home. Unfortunately, she has no pictures, but she does have tales. There is a part of me that does not want to find out the details of my previous house residents... since if there is something wacked I don't really want to think of it going on within these walls. BUT then again, this house has no bad vibes, even when it is really dark, and I am really tired, and the kids are with their dad. The only thing I have a question about is why every door has a lock on it upstairs, but am going to attribute that to this being (previously) a hundred+ acre farm that probably had farm hands and maybe boarders during the Depression and after. I did find out that there were extensive gardens, a dairy, giant chicken barn, and they sold produce to Port Gamble residents when Port Gamble was a monster lumber mill and community. I am going to search for the foundation of another smaller house somewhere on the property that the wife moved to when the husband died. Why didn't she stay in the "big" house?

Maybe she was like me, and hates cleaning floors. I often think of moving to a one room condominium with no animals and all white furniture when I become slower and longer in the tooth. I think it keeps me motivated and somewhat sane... to think there is an out to the endless maintenance I do. As far as I can see, the chickens are the only creatures earning their keep around here by supplying me with eggs. I was trying to talk Amanda dog into weedeating yesterday since my arm was sore. She just gazed at me with dog admiration, I told her that only goes so far, that unconditional love thing. She needs to start helping around here, and that does not include her yippy barking. I know when my neighbors drive by since I see them...I don't need her barking-yipping-noisy narration. Dogs.

The 4th and fireworks

Pic: The fearless fireworks watching cat Bella. (Can you tell we got her during a Twilight saga?)

Last night, Rose and I sat outside in our driveway watching the neighbors shoot off WAY LARGE fireworks, not the little "cones of sparks" or "happy pagoda house" that we used to do. The kind that shoot in the sky and force out an "ooooh" or "aaah" from your body. The bonus of living near a reservation (well, depending on if you like loud noises).... is all our neighbors spend oodles to buy big fireworks for the 4th, and then we get to watch them. Our chicken dog Amanda sat under our legs trying to bury her head anywhere. Our cat Belly sat in front of us and the horses stood next to us, watching the sky. Afterwards, Rose found the big dipper and then we spent a good ten minutes using the big dipper to find the north star and little dipper. We are not so quick in these constellation searches. As soon as we found the little dipper, a shooting star fell across our line of sight. We both laughed, Rose said it was the stars telling us 'good job' after our lame long search for the small dipper.
Yesterday was also the culmination of four BBQ's in three days. I am a little tapped out on burgers right now. I think I could eat the strawberry shortcake again, however.

Horses, Boys and Salons

Yesterday we took Strider into the vet to get a laceration three stitches. I thought once I fixed the dilapidated fence that the horses would float on a cloud of safety. Nope. Went out a couple days ago and Strider had a one inch cut under his eye. I cleaned it with betadine, put some antiseptic ointment on it and it looked good for about 36 hours until it started healing in the wrong way (the skin was aligning unevenly). I had previously scheduled a salon appointment at 4:15, and normally a 2:30 vet appointment would be fine since they are all in a five mile radius from my home. It would have worked until..... the vet was an hour behind schedule and the laceration took three stitches instead of one and Strider needed a tetanus update. When we left, instead of dropping the horse off, I drove the horse trailer and Wilder and his friend to the salon. We parked in a bank parking lot that was big enough for the trailer and horse and I gave Wilder my debit card to get cash out of the bank and while I ran over to the salon where I was 10 minutes late.When I was done and paying the gal behind the counter told me how mature the boys were and how they regaled her with horse stories and getting cash for the first time out of a cash machine at the drive through window. As we left the salon, Wilder's friend told me he "was not really a salon type man." When I looked at the magazines in the waiting area I could see why. Probably not so keen on the fancy hats of the royal wedding, how to keep their man satisfied and getting ready for bikini season. They are good sports.
My vet visit cost $229. Anyone considering horse ownership because it is "fun" and "you have always wanted to have a horse" needs to realize how dang expensive their upkeep is. And you can't scrimp, they are big creatures that take alot of maintenance and if defered can cause your horse to be good for nothing but the glue factory. Hooves, teeth, worms, vaccines... monthly, quarterly, annually. Dollars, dollars, dollars. Sorry this got a bit rant-y. My horseshoer just was out telling me horse ownership horror stories --he sees alot of them, and some are hard to hear.

Upstairs bathroom door

Pics: Top to bottom. Door lock with layered paint that needs to be removed. Interior of lock. Same lock with my specialized paint removal tool, a free plastic dinner fork.

I am beginning to tackle the upstairs bathroom remodel. I should probably call it a readjustment or finishing rather than a remodel, I am not gutting anything like I did downstairs.

First job is to paint the door. When I bought this home, most of the interior of my house was farmhouse white. Which is nice, bright and clean. Until kids or dogs or cats are involved. (Who am I kidding, me too.) I am liking more and more that trendy beige-y taupe paint color, I bet it hides everything. Nothing can hide on my white walls. Have a kid that doesn't wash his hands? Just look on the door edge. Have a cat that smooshes her nose on the edge of the kitchen door while waiting for her food or a dog that pushes open the bathroom door when you are 'busy'? Well, glory be, white lets you see all those lovely nuanced moments of everyday life. In two plus years the upstairs bathroom door is disgustin'. It does not help that everything white is painted in a flat chalky white that rubs off on you, and gets a smudge on it if you walk by. I used to think that they painted the house in a primer. Now, I just think they bought the dang cheapest paint they could find. If MacDonald's had paint available on their 99 cent menu I swear my house would be painted in it. Thank you MacDonalds for sticking to food products.

Back to door. Took off the hardware to strip the layers of old paint off. It looks like there are only three coats of paint on these, not including the black paint on steel that was the original color.

My handy trick for removing a million (or three) coats of paint off of metal is simple hot water. Hot water that you keep replacing to keep it hot and something to scrape the paint off. Here I am using a plastic dinner fork, but I have used a paint scraper, pottery tool (for detail) or a brass brush. I was smarter this time, and took a pick of the lock innards. I am not always so mechanically skilled to put things together correctly, the downside is I love taking things apart. I think those two are a lethal combination for having things work correctly, so pictures save my butt.

To see the downstairs bathroom door hardware finished product click here.

Betty MacDonald's Egg and I

A friend and I were up in Port Townsend walking through the shops. We went into William James, Bookseller (best bookstore ever) and both bought used copies of The Egg and I. Having never read this Northwest classic we thought it was high time to read it.
End result... it is a pre-Depression tale of : newlyweds move from the big city Seattle to the country and a chicken farm and meet stereotypical country neighbors and various wildlife all under the snowy flanks of the Olympic Mountains. It is definitely dated, has some things that made me cringe in my 2011 sensibilities, but she is a good writer and it was a quick read.
After it's 1945 publication, The Egg and I was such a huge hit that Hollywood bought the rights and made a movie. The road where they lived for four years - which gave her the fodder for her story - is now the Egg and I Rd. in Chimacum, Wa. I drive by it on my way to Port Townsend, and for twenty years just thought someone was a nutty fan of author Betty MacDonald and named the road for her book. Little did I know this was the road she lived on! Their little place is long gone, but I swear there are a couple old homesteads that fit the era and descriptions from her book --she did not have nice things to say about her neighbors. Funny, it is a road that looks and drives like a kajillion other roads around here, but now feels different because of those tales created 80 years ago.

Lawn tractor maintenance

Pics: Detail of the right side of my lawn tractor. See that thing with the black cap sticking out? I didn't notice it for two years-- the easiest oil change plug I have ever seen in my life.

Ours is a LA102 John Deere little green one I bought with the house. Or,more accurately, I paid the seller $650 for it when I got the keys to my house. The realtor would not give me the key if I did not give him an envelope with cash. It has been one of my favorite things... I use it to haul manure, dirt, and of course, mow the lawn. My fence building men even used it to haul the large batches of cement to fix the round posts.

I just spent 40 minutes crammed underneath it (I suppose I could have driven up a ramp or somesuch so I could fit better- I didn't) cutting off hay baling twine that had wrapped around the blade. After about 10 minutes of cutting through different colors....I realized what I was cutting was multiple layers of baling twine, and that stuff is tough. I did not think I had driven over THAT much twine. I will be more cautious in the future, this was grueling. I also changed the oil for the first time in two years. I feel shame in even typing that, I am one of those "hyper vigilant about oil changes" type of gal. I thought it would be really hard, really involved, with all sorts of special tools needed, so it took me about two years to get the gumption up to tackle it. (This realization does not bode well for my bathroom tile which is still undone two months after I put the shower in...) (hopefully, I will cut that two year timeline down to maybe one year for the tile)

When I sat down next to the mower, on my mat, with tools, oil and filter next to me I realized.... this mower does not even have an oil filter. And to drain the oil? Is the simplest little notched plug - no screw, no wrench needed - sticking out from the side of the engine. When I started it up with new fresh oil, I am fairly sure my greenie was purring. Note: I am sure you know this, but disconnect the spark plug wire or battery before hauling off on the blade to unwrap anything. You don't want to be startin' your mower engine when you have your arms and hands all wrapped around the blade.

Lastly, a follow-up note: Today I asked the Master Gardeners at the farmers market what was wrong with my peach tree (fungus/damn rain), linden tree (some sort of leaf eater), and was my mystery plant a weed (yes, a Class B noxious weed for Washington - wild carrot - more commonly known as Queen Anne's Lace.) I knew it was too healthy to be one of my 'real' perennials.

Garden - Land of Mushrooms

This dangerous looking mushroom popped up in my raised bed. With our moist-- who am I kidding... WET and cold spring I have seen more exotic mushrooms randomly showing up. Orange, white, lacy, round, toadstoolish, small, big, purple... all sorts of things are out there. They in particular like the horse manure compost. My mom used to mushroom hunt for morels and shaggy manes when I was a kid, but I also heard too many stories of someone eating the wrong ones. Those types are pretty much instant death. I will stick with my little package of button mushrooms in the store, thanks. (Note: This mushroom is a shaggy mane - the little 'shaggy' whitish mushroom next to the tall black topped stalk -- so much for the accuracy of my poison assessment, I am, however, still not eating it!) (Note 2: I did not like mushrooms as a kid, but these were pretty good)
The bottom right greenery is in my perennial bed acting very much like I planted it there. I am thinking it is a weed, but will wait a bit since I tend to just shove random things in this bed and honestly don't remember. Tomorrow is farmer's market day, and there are always master gardeners present. I may take this and a sample of my peach and linden tree leaves... some bug is doing strange things with those and I want to know if I should worry.

Rhododendron Garden, Garden Garden, Informal Horse Training.

Today I went up to Port Townsend and the Rhodie Garden,
Weeded the mini weeds growing in the raised beds with the broccoli and peas, and did some informal horse training with Bey. It may look like he is sauntering by, but he is actually being trained not to whinny like an insane horse when I remove his friend from his field.

Movie : Super 8

We went to Super 8 last night. It was a huge nostalgia flick for me... back to the 70's and a gentler time, where men are men and bottle feelings, Farrah Faucet hairstyles reined supreme in the younger set, cars were big, gas was cheap and kids had the attention span to do detailed things for hours without interruption. (film making, explosive creation, model building) I think I actually screamed in public during this movie. I actually can't be sure if it was me or the man next to me, I did startle at least ten times during this show. My point being it was action packed and thrilling and sweet and funny and I kept thinking "aw, I haven't seen a movie like this in eons." It is the summer blockbuster.

My son should not see this, he would bite his fingernails off. It was even a bit much for our newly minted 16 year old. When I said I could see it again she said it was so stressful, she couldn't. She is going on her first date today, and they are going to see Kung Fu Panda 2.

Car buying tales - Honda Fit and Civic

I get rather distracted when typing these continuation type posts. This is part two of three car buying stories.
The first was about my venture to buy a Ford Fiesta here. Next on our saga was trying to find a Honda Fit. I was sent to find a Fit, Fiesta or any cheap small car. The problem right now for these wee little Fit cars is Japan. As per the salesperson at the Honda dealership...hundreds of these minicars were swept into the ocean during the earthquake and tsunami and the plant has been shut down. They have become rare, so dealing on them is not likely. Instead, we looked at a Honda Civic, which there are tons of on the road, and sitting at the dealer. The price point we were looking to hit was around $13K, so we were looking at used 2008's.
Nice cars. The first we looked at was a stick, 29K miles, with a dead battery. The second was an auto with 36K mileage. We made an offer on the first car (after the battery was charged.) I asked to see any paperwork they had on it, and would the salesman explain the numbers on the shop report. What does a "5" mean for tread life left? What does a "3" mean for brakes, etc.
The sales fellow got very testy with me, like all these numbers were fine, the car was great, it is the best car in the world, number one seller, there were no problems, I was basically lucky to be in the running to drive one. When buying a new car for thousands of dollars it would really suck to have to pay right away for new brakes or tires. Hence my questions.
They couldn't get down to my price ( we were $300 off) so I drove home without it.
Pic: 2008 Honda Civic image courtesy Saku Takakusaki

Who are you?

In the upper left of this blog is a page counter that tells how many times the main page of lucky-days.blogspot is viewed. I know my mom in Michigan and I have not viewed blue shoe farm 2,444 times....or I hope we haven't.
Who are you all? Why are you here? Do you have a blog? Can I answer any questions for you? I am good at making things up.
Pic: Need any chairs? I am garage sale selling these this weekend...

Pissed Seattle Driving - Ranting Post

Not pissed like drunk, pissed like I get around inattentive unfocused illegal drivers such as those I drove with in Seattle for two hours.
Arghh. Any nostalgia I had for missing Seattle and it's amazing stores filled with junk I don't need, but boy, is it fun to look at; my old breakfast haunt Vera's in Ballard that I have been going to for 26 years and ordering the same thing all that time(it is not even on the menu anymore); or the hyper-eco bicycle backpack wearin' grannies standing in line in front of me at the coffee shop with their 'put-a-bird-on-it' wallets.... all these lovely Seattle moments have been obliterated by flippin' holier than thou must drive under the speed limit in all four lanes of the freeway cars. People! Move your damn car over one rippin' lane. I swear to god you will not be any less of a man, or woman, or whatever to get your car out of the fast lane when you are going 54 mph. I really promise. I think people who drive in the appropriate lane for their speed are HOT. I don't even care that you drive under the speed limit (well, most of the time) if you are in the furthest right lane for your rate of travel. Did you all even read the driver's education book? This may be one of those posts I should count to ten before posting... nah.
Question for Seattle : What the heck are you doing with traffic and your roads? I drove around through Tacoma to get to Seattle this morn, usually a leisurely hour and a half drive which was right on time until I hit Seatac... then the freeway stopped. No problem, I bounced over the highway 99 to take the back way. Absolutely stopped. No problem, I will get off of 99 and go along the waterfront. Stopped dead, me and about 30 semi-tractor trailers that were also not happy. Then, the waterfront road is closed, and we all get back on 99 (except for those semi's who were picking up loads on the waterfront) Geez Louwheezie, it was dadblame impossible to get into the city today. It took me 2.5 hours. I am going to kiss my front door when I get home. Land of quiet and low density and horses and yard that needs weeding. I can also tell my personality is beginning to match my county. I want my calm two lane roads again. Where traffic is (shock) 11 cars waiting for a light to turn. Pic: The only traffic in my neighborhood, the wait for the Sunday ferry back to Seattle. Which actually, looking at this, is a bit daunting and why if I ever have to go to Seattle Sunday afternoon I take the Bremerton or Bainbridge ferry.

Survived the birthday weekend

This birthday weekend was great, two days of parties, it did not rain, the grill worked, I had enough food and only one child went to the emergency room for stitches.
I guess actually that last one sucked, but keep in mind, only one child went to the hospital. It makes it sound so rough at my house. Yes, nerf guns and ping pong can get craaaaazy. He made it back in time for a burger and s'mores, so all was not lost.
My mom was here visiting from Michigan, and brought her local gal pals. She said she couldn't believe how many people showed up. I have not actually invited many people over since moving here. My house has been in various states of assembly and disassembly... so I think when I sent out the invite curious friends braved the weekend ferry and fees to visit. It was a blast but boy, today I am tired. Bonus: my flippin' house is clean!

Procrastination List

I haven't done one of these lists in a while, and as I sit here with my coffee, I can tell I am procrastinating.
All because what is on my list for today is to Clean. As in Clean my House. I have people coming over all weekend, so I am to make my house have no animal hair in the corners, make sure the newspapers (only cartoons from the kids) are not stacked next to the toilet, on the back on the couch, behind the couch, under their beds, and then maybe try not to stack my stupid paperwork. So in honor of all things organized, I am drafting a to-do list:
1. Clean floors. God, I hate to clean floors. I use the height excuse, I am 6' tall so the floors are realllllly far away and hard for me to see, let alone clean. And I know that is a lame excuse.
2. Finish stupid detail painting around doors. The problem with painting in the evening hours is maybe you can't see what you are painting and need to do touch-ups.
3. Clean out laundry room. For some reason our laundry room is the dump zone for saddles, garden seeds and gloves, horse medicine, baseball mitts, clean and dirty clothes - hopefully all separate from each other.
4. Cook prep for this weekends BBQ. This is actually the only fun thing on here. Except afterwards I would have to....
5. Clean the kitchen. What is it with white cupboards? I can wipe them down and then no joke, within 30 minutes there is coffee/butter/dog drool/honey dripped down a side of them or at least a droplet somewhere on their formerly pristine surface.
4. Deal with Wilder's baseball team. Figure out if I want to go for their jugular or let Wilder pull out of this team with minimal fuss. I am having a really hard time and vascillating between motherclaws extended defense of my son who is being bullied and the coaches (I keep typing couches) do nothing or just letting my son back out quietly and making damn sure he is on a team next year that understands the concept of TEAM- teamwork, sportsmanship, grace.... I don't really want the last memory of his 11 year old boy baseball career in Little League to be his mom going all ballistic.
This seems to be the age that alot of boys have very ugly memories of sports, it does not matter if they exceled or not at a sport. There is some boy pecking order that has to occur that some kids can handle, and right now, our youngster cannot. It kills me to see that, so I am trying to maintain a professional coolness to a very hot topic for me.
5. Finish the haphazard daughter mowing. I swear she drives our mower like she is racing, and sometimes that does not lend itself to a lovely mow job so I go behind and do the fine edging work at a slower speed.
6. Dust.
7. Move Christmas train and bag of ornaments downstairs to storage. I don't even want to talk about this, how when I was moving pictures in the living room last night I found it all still sitting next to the piano. Embarassing.

General news: newly wedded gal and hub are going on their honeymoon to Ireland and Italy. My mom is in town for the kids birthdays from Michigan, she wisked the kids to Sequim today for a daytrip so I could... what? Clean? ha.
I am going to docent volunteer at a local lighthouse. A very enthused bunch, which is cool to see. Lighthouses always happen to be in lovely areas, I am looking forward to learning about ships, boats, dinghys and other floating things. Have applied for two whole jobs! So exciting. I don't think I really know how to do this job hunt thing. I am wondering if I ever did? Will keep you posted.

The Birthday Season is Upon Us

My children were born 8 days, four years apart. That means this time of year is a fest of kid and family events. Since they have gotten older we combine their 'adult' party of family members into a picnic or BBQ.
Today will be spent cleaning my house and replacing my garbage disposal that got stuck when I dropped my whole change cup in the sink. And then turned on the garbage disposal. In my defense, I thought I had all the pennies and dimes out, but those dimes are tricky and it seems there are a few lodged in there. It has sat so long because I have a double sink, and just haven't been missing that extra side.
Now, however, thanks to helping hands doing dishes that forget we can't put water down that side, I have Blech, Gross, Ack, disgusting water sitting in that sink since it can't get down the drain.
Funny how this started as a birthday notice, and now has rolled into a gross house story.
I did finish painting the kitchen, entry and front door jambs. You ever paint and then look at the color and decide you don't like it? I am somewhat in that space. BUT hell if I am painting it all again. Everyone else seems to like it so I will leave it. It is a bit too sunny yellow for me. (And truth be told, that is what I wanted... "I want a sunny bright yellow")
Pic: Not sure if this is before we (meaning I hired Javier to do it in 12 minutes where it would take me 31 hours and three trips to the hardware store) put in the marble backsplash I got for free from Craigslist. I can't see the detail on it. Regardless, you can see my new sink with the now stopped up disposal.

Weird dinner, according to the kids

I have lots of nettles that grow in our chicken coop yard. I mowed most of them down last week, but went out this eve and picked some for dinner.
To describe them to my son who was hesistant to eat them I said they tasted 'green.'
They taste very fresh, and I like 'em.
I am still a bit wary about putting them in my mouth first bite. I can imagine nothing more unpleasant than having a nettle-stung tongue.
The only thing you need to do is steam them quick. The heat (or crushing them) instantly deadens the sting. Oh, and usually I just cook the leaves, not the stems, but I was putting these on a grilled sandwich so didn't mind them included.

Great and busy week!

It has been a busy week. We spent the day at Viking Fest in Poulsbo, the kids disappeared for five hours on rides, Geri came early from Seattle to watch the parade and eat ice cream, we hung with friends in on their sailboat and then walked the beach with dogs and other friends. We have been riding more, which is great for the fat horses. The second and fourth photos are an art walk we went on in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle with Eve and Paulo. Even though not traditionally gallery-like, the classic car restorers garage was one of my fave art pieces. Lovely, lovely cars. The window shot is a musician that had been playing in an antique store sitting on a padded toilet visible in the window. They were pretty good, not sewer like at all.
Thirdly, Rose is goofing off having a hilltop zen moment at the most amazing park on Bainbridge Island that has a planetarium, every kind of sport field imaginable, and a great big circle trail around the place. The boy bathroom had copious amounts of pee on the floor and that was not so cool, but otherwise an excellent park.

Finally, finally I got to go on the Navy destroyer Turner Joy which is parked, or anchored, as you grammatically correct people may choose to say, on the Bremerton waterfront and I have wanted to clamber all over it for ever. (It is open to the public and you can go almost everywhere on it, every deck, every level -- ROCKS.)

Craigslist for beginners : Not just for murderous thieves!

In my Dave Ramsey financial peace class last night the topic came up about craigslist. There were tales of how afraid people are of it, how people get murdered all the time. I am here to dispel that myth. Yes, there have been deaths associated with it and you have to be careful when using it, but you should also be careful walking out your door in the morning. You are entering into a possible financial transaction with people you don’t know. If you are selling an item worth hundreds of dollars that you want cash for? Good lord be careful. The most we sold something for was a car for $12500 to a firefighter and his wife and we met at my bank. Most things I sell for $100 or less. One of the deaths was for a diamond ring worth $1000. If you are selling luxury items like that – gold, jewels,coin collections, grandma's furs, designer goods – don’t bring buyers in your home. If they are legit, meet at a jewelers to have the jewel assessed, the gold weighed. Those easily pawnable or resellable items you want to handle carefully, since they can attract a different buyer. Another sad death was a video game set. Once the buyer kid was ripped off of his money… he went after the kids who robbed him in his car, and got shot. The other murders were prostitutes who were advertising their services. Don’t go to someone’s house at night. Don’t sell or buy things that you can’t buy legally at the store. Talk to the buyer/seller on the phone. If you get a weird vibe? Don’t meet them, or meet them outside the police station.
This first section will be a description of some of the people I have met. Yes, at my house. Main safety tip? (besides not having people to your house…) when people email their response always use the craigslist anonymous email sorter rather than putting your phone or email directly in the ad -- this is your first method of screening. I generally don’t respond to people who have funky emails (hot4u@yahoo, cutepartygrrrrl@msn or sexxxymutha@gmail) figuring they are dingbats. The ones I always respond to? Ones that sound sincere, that give information, a telephone number, and their real name. Oh, and they get a response if they use complete sentences. Send me an email from a phone saying “i can pik up where r u” with no name is a guaranteed delete by me.
Have met some great folks: the young couple who were homesteading and hardworking and took down my fence to reuse on their sheep. The gal and her friend who lived on a hillside and dismantled other parts of the fence. The fellow who dropped off his tractor for two days at my place while he loaded his truck with my manure. He did large scale pepper growing so took every square inch. He also redesigned my manure storage, and brought me salsa from last years crop – he was a bonus! The gal who was so excited to get our vintage 60’s sofa for her 60’s house or the other gal who took our old dining room table to start her apartment. The woman and her daughter who loved the chandelier I bought BEFORE I actually had ownership of this old farmhouse--a chandelier in this house would be ridiculous so it hung in my garage over my minivan. The retired merchant marine interested in some lights that told me the whole history of our neighborhood community meeting hall and the couple who searched all of western Washington CL for just the right table and drove two hours from Olympia to pick it up a $45 table at our house. I have hired six fellows off of CL for general labor stuff I couldn’t do…. all honest, hardworking, got the job done quickly and with no fuss. Well, for full disclosure, the fellow who tilled my garden did a great job, but was a little sour alcohol-y smelling.
Sometimes I meet buyers or sellers in public places but usually I just leave the item on my porch with the instructions to put the money under the mat if they want the item. Never been ripped off. Craigslist is used TONS by all sorts of people. I have been involved in dozens of transactions and never felt unsafe, uneasy or threatened.
Coming up next: some craigslist scores I found.

Car buying tales - Ford Fiesta sales

I am going to list out my recent car buying adventure. I was told to try to get a) Ford Fiesta or a b) Honda Fit.

This first part will be about the Ford Fiesta.

A side note is that friends and family take me when they need a new car, since I enjoy the car buying process, and many times people hate it.

First tried to track down a loss leader car for this since it is new. These are the vehicles advertised in the weekend paper that they sell at a loss to get you in the door of the dealership, with the intent that you will upgrade the car or that they will be able to finance you at a higher rate. Either way this great deal car is to get you to the dealership where they can do their best to have you buy a more expensive car. Some of the snakiest dealerships use this tactic, so you have a lot of confidence and stick to your guns when buying one of these. If you can do that, you will get an amazing deal. My first two trucks - toyota and nissan - were loss leaders and both sold two and three years later for more than I paid new.

Since it was a Renton area Ford dealership with a nasty reputation that was holding the loss leader special the week I was looking, I ripped out the ad and took it to my local Ford dealerships in Kitsap. One of these dealerships was so low key, so calm and pleasant and straight-dealing that I would have bought the car in a heartbeat if I didn't feel I was overpaying. The problem with buying a car on a nice day in spring is that is car sales high season, with customers having their tax return money in hand. You want a different time of year for a better deal. Also, when trying to buy a gas miser car, do it when gas prices are lower. You want to aim to buy a car that is not 'in season'. A luxury vehicle when gas is expensive. A convertible on a rainy winter day. When buying a new car, I will pay about $500 more for no pressure. If I get pressure, I want a huge discount. The nice kitsap ford dealership could not get close to the $11499 loss leader price. They could do $13300.

I went to the other dealership. Had a nice salesman, with a crappy sales manager, that got in my personal space and told me I was wasting money by buying a car flatout. I needed to lease a car, that was a better return on my money. He was telling me that paying them thousands of dollars in car rent for two years on a car I will never own is better than car ownership. I am shortening what he said, he actually talked circles very rapidly and I tuned it out, since this is one of my least favorite sales techniques. Act like the customer is : your dumb daughter or wife, doesn't know anything and try to bully them.

Wrong on so many levels.

I worked a Fiesta for a couple of weeks, and could not get (what I consider) a deal at this point. The fleet lease Fiestas are coming back after use in June, then there will be deals again.

Went on to the Honda.

Pic: Ford Fiesta image courtesy www.treehugger.com

Horse Head X-ray

Had to take Bey the horse to the doctor today. He has been having a cough for a while, a snorky nose, and just feeling under the weather.

They drugged him, which is always hilarious seeing a thousand pound animal appear like he is drunk, or at least very very laid back, and then proceeded to take xrays of his head. Dang me for not thinking of taking pictures of this. It was pretty interesting. And, the garb we all wore for the radiation was intense --neck to knee coverage from awkward immobile giant gloves to neck wrap protection.

End result : we are awaiting the 'big x-ray doctor' at Pilchuck Animal Hospital to get back to us about possible strange things in Bey's head.

One thing that was funny was when I was looking over the doctors shoulder at an xray and asked : what are all those dark spaces? Her assistant Katie answered "all these horses have alot of blank space in their heads" ....and that was what I was seeing.

So all my energetic verbal negotiations when riding and philosophical talks with Bey obviously are going right over (or through) those vast caverns of emptiness in his head.

Baptist Church Visit

Yesterday I went to church with my great neighbors. It is a local baptist church, and reminded me of the church I went to growing up at times (Presbyterian.) I really worded that last sentence wrong, I was not growing up some of the time and not growing up the other part. You get the idea. Anyway, it was a bright clean church. And, yes, the baptists and presbyterians would say they are very different from each other, but the essence of the church was the same. The problem was what dawned on me halfway through the god talk. The pastor, a very nice man, who read well out of the bible, sounded like what I imagine George W. would from the pulpit. Literally I was sitting there one minute following along and then bam : this man kinda sounds like George W. I was not particularly fond of our previous president, so this was a hurdle.
My poor friend I saw afterwards had a trying time with me using her as a bible study sounding board. She is a bit more traditional than I, and has a hard time with me wanting to talk and question and hash things out. It is faith, it just is, you just believe, is her mantra. I had that with Santa and the tooth fairy. I need a bit more at this point in my life.
FYI - This post is a bit of a test, also, to see how google finds ads to run alongside a blog. (I am curious if the ads are tailored to topic....)

The Single Mom Next Door

I have lived in Kitsap Co. almost three years. I have several acquaintances that would step in to help during an emergency. Also, neighbors that can pick up my kids from school if something happens or take them to baseball practice when I get delayed at work. But I don't have that nearby friend to call to commiserate on shoes, grey hair, grass allergies, paranoia and motherhood (those don't all necessarily roll together....although could on a rough day.) I still have my main Seattle friends as talking buddies and that is most evident when my cell phone bill arrives. There is a life I have thrown myself into here, that I didn't fully comprehend when I left the bounds of my 25 years with the kids dad. That of an easily identifiable and non-threatening wife and mother in a house with a volvo and minivan. Oh yeah, yeah, I am so much more than that, but for simple discussion we will talk of outward appearances. There is no thought involved to understand the life I used to lead. Kids in soccer, dance, piano. Worked part-time in a non-profit, and husband worked main-line business.
Now I live without a husband in a farmhouse on property. With two children and not working. Tell me what these words mean to you: Single mother. Unemployed. Living alone.
If that was all you knew... what do you see in your minds eye? Would you want your children playing with mine? How about inviting me over for dinner? Would I hit on your husband? Hit on your wife? Do I have a constant stream of unreliable men in my life and bedroom? Are my kids being exposed to drug and alcohol abuse? Am I on welfare?

I feel I have to explain myself more now. I have to gently move conversations to guide understanding of what I am doing, who we are, why we are here. So gently I go. Not necessarily patiently, but gently. I am the same woman, sort of.

Ilness floating around in the hail

Not sure where our spring is. I have not even started the garden. And it is end of April. Is is warm where you are? It hailed today, Wilder was sick the beginning of the week, Rose is sick now, and I am really trying to stay healthy. One of the horses is sick, the vet is coming tomorrow. When I write all this down it seems like everyone has come down with something.

For the record: the dog and cat are fine.

Cranky post - Not your elected officials fault

Yesterday I had hay delivered. When the fellow was telling me how much my total was... he added : and $32... for the governor. Today, negotiating on a car, when I was trying to push them on price... the salesman said... well, that $1300 dollars is non-negotiable that goes to Christine. (*Christine Gregoire is our governor) I got politely cranky, and said... actually it does not go to Christine. It goes to our state. Which we are all a part of and includes the road and ferry I would drive this new car on. And also funds things that all our elected officials have decided, no matter what party they belong to and many that were decided long before Christine got into office.
Whether you voted for them or not, they represent all of us. And believe it or not, if you call their office they will not ask your party affiliation, they will help in whatever way they are able. This hatred of politicians is ridiculous. Do you really think they are so much different than yourself? What the hell happened to everyone's civility? So I don't agree with how .000021% of the federal budget (or my state budget, county budget etc) gets spent so I vilify the individuals we elected? And go all wackjob about it? Spewing hate of someone I have never met?
I know I am also reacting to the birth certificate issue with Obama. Good lord people, this is what you have the attention span to care about? Not any of those wars we have stumbled into, not our spiraling debt, but a birth certificate? Arghh.

Options and Identity

Pic totally unrelated to topic: Next to the Edmonds ferry dock is an odd little wetlands of sorts. It is riddled with the noxious weed purple loosestrife in the summer.

This is what it is. I get my identity from my job. When I was an executive director or manager that was it. When I am not working, I still get my identity from my job - my mom job. When I am looking for work, it is a constant see-saw between keeping myself child focused or career focused. I can go for the higher paying fully sustainable income... with the subsequent dinnertime meetings and overtime or the easier less hours job that would require ex-husband financial assistance while the kids are still in school.
I see it has been good for my kids to have a parent more accessible and home as I have been since November (when I quit my job of eight years.) It feels like a pull between screwing my retirement and present independence for their home life stability. I actually have no problem with that at this point, I signed up for this mom job. It is just stopping me from moving forward. I want off the ex-husband gravy train. I spent many years paying to have other people help raise my kids at a preschool or after school program. It did some good things when they were excellent loving people and taught us all positive discipline and alternative ways of bringing up kids, but it was also crappy when they were unhappy gals in dead-end jobs that weren't particularly fond of small people. I see-saw alot on this topic.

Signs of a Good Blog : 500 words or less

One of the business bloggers had a list of the top 10 things (or top 3 or 5... my mind is a bit fuzzy now) you need to do to create a successful blog. What I recall : use readable fonts and colors, not too contrast-y, don't use black as a background... and keep posts to 500 words or less.

That last one is a corker.

I am so sorry you all are not reading a successful blog right now. Because, besides my sometimes repetitive, grammar challenged funky non-linear thinking I can roll into..... I am long-winded. There are stories out there, and I just gotta type the whole damn thing. Every stinky little nuance. Sorry. Pic: What I will never have alot of from blogging.

Drive-in in the middle of nowhere

We discovered the strangest thing when we were checking out the kids school options two years ago. In between the two schools down an unidentified dirt road was a perfectly designed drive-in 50's style diner. Literally, you are walking from the middle school to the high school down a rough gravel road, and boom, there it was behind a locked fence. I just stood on the other side and said : huh. Weird place for a restaurant. In the middle of nowhere, with no advertising on the main road, and no apparent business. It was a mystery until this year, when I was at school early to pick up Wilder and they were having a school emergency drill outside. It looked like it was going to be a while, so I wandered down the path and found the diner again. This time the gate was unlocked, great! I walked down to look in the windows. An energetic man and calm woman gestured me in. Before I knew it, I was getting a tour of the building... which was 10,000 square feet. Way way bigger than it looks on the outside. He had memorabilia from the last 100+ years laying about... on tables, on shelves. The owner told me he rents it out for events. There was a dancing room, game room, room with classic cars, soda fountain, juke box and booths. It was a surreal experience. I went home and looked it up online: http://www.mygirldrivein.com/ and saw what it looks like all lit up in neon. The owner created a diner on a rural patch of land to hold his personal collection. It has never been a working restaurant, nor a public museum. I will say it again: huh.

How not to use Facebook. Or, Just another way I know I am getting older.

We recently attended the memorial service for a family acquaintance. On a friends facebook page it says something like "My friend lkdjlk, Rest in peace," and then attached a music video. Three people "liked" that. Oh god please when I die don't have people "liking" it on a facebook page. I realize those folks were rating the video, not the death (boy, I hope they were rating the video) it just seems a very impersonal way to express sorrow for a devastating family loss.

Where on Earth is Wally World

Pic: All Wallyworlds are in great seas of asphalt... this photo is taken on the hill above Walmart where the Home Despot, Petsmart, Big 5 and Office Max sit. Also, this terraced height is a great place to view fireworks.


When we still lived in Seattle, I would take the kids up to Port Townsend for the day. Port Townsend which was saved the wrecking ball and still retains its Victorian seaport downtown because for decades it was underpopulated, with no industry other than the pulp/paper mill and maritime. So, accordingly, why would development bother to tear down all the late 1800's structures if there was no money to be earned. The towns I see in the NW that still retain a beautiful historic downtown are the ones that had "no value" to construction investors during the hundred or so years following their original construction. Anywho off the soapbox...
We went up to Fort Worden, my fave park. While we were walking to the batteries, there was a fellow that pulled up and opened his trunk. He pulled out airplanes, as in the kind that make the buzz noise and fly around your head by radio control. I thought it a bit wierd (pedophile! luring my sweet children with his buzzing airborne thingies!) but calmed down enough to let the kids fly one of his planes. (This was when I was still a revved-up city gal, and pointless pursuits that took alot of time were suspect...now I realize they are a vital part of life and accept his 'grandfather' excuse for having the planes)
Flying the planes was a blast. I asked him : where do you get this sort of thing? Meaning the cheaper (19.95) easy to fly ones that could withstand Wilder divebombing them to the ground, vs. the lovely large $200 big planes, that could not. He answered : Wally World. I asked if there was one nearby, he said no, not in PT, but there was further on down the road.
When I got home I looked in the phone book for Wallyworld or Wally World. There was no such listing. I searched all of kitsap county for a hobby store starting with W. Went to the library to search local phone books since I lived in King County...did not find it. Could not figure out where this mysterious Wallyworld was, thought I got it wrong.
About a year ago, someone referenced Wally World as in : I need to get to Wally World. The context of the conversation was that they were going to WALMART. I had a huge Aha moment at that point, it was very refreshing. Now, I know you smart readers already had this figured out, but it took me 5 years. I remember asking a storekeep in Silverdale where Wallyworld was, and they literally turned their head sideways, like an attentive dog to a strange noise. Like I was trying to pull their leg. Yes, I can be clueless.

Bullying on the Baseball Field

Wilder is on the local little league team. Most of the other team kids are smaller/younger than him and he recently went and sang at their elementary school in choir. At the last game he had to endure razzing about how he 'sings like a girl.' And he was pissed. They also do 'cup checks' which he doesn't like (I'm not sure anyone would like that.) They fight, swear and push. He still is loving baseball, but beginning to dislike his teammates. I heard stories from Wilder's dad a long time ago about his experiences on the Little League team of bullying. He didn't play after one season because of it. I feel a mantle of mother bear coming over me, where I want to rise up and defend with very sharp words. But there is another side of me that realizes this is being a boy, at least in this community, and Wilder has to learn to handle it somehow. The loud, rude, bullish building a little boy facade of fearlessness that will turn into a man facade of fearlessness. Key word is facade, it will be covering little boys fears and rage. My job is to make sure Wilder is safe, and that he does not ever have to wear that facade as a man. Funny to say, since being female really I have no idea some of the issues he will face, but being his mom I know that I need to do my best. Raising these babies is not always easy. Sometimes it is a dance, and I don't always get the steps right. Rose sat down with me last night across the dining room table and we had one of those conversations you only have with a teenager. As in, what you are not saying is more important than what you are saying. THAT is a tough conversation to have, I am not always smart enough to keep track of exactly what we are saying vs. not saying.

The New Horse Fence!

Here is a pic of our new fence and gates. It is not quite done, I still need to run a 2" band of hot turbotape along the top. Note the horse that is actually located behind the fence, not leaning over the knee-high (former) field fence. I threw a before picture in there, too. Can you find it? I was teasing the fellows who built it that they built me a horse fortress. And compared to what was there before, it is.
I have 6"-8" treated round corner posts, 4" treated field posts, and 4' Red Brand non-climb horse fence that I could not find anywhere in my county except at Lowe's. Go figure. Total cost of materials was around $2000. Labor was another $1800. Much better than the $9,997.00 I was quoted and yes, horses are an expensive habit.

Pictures top to bottom: 1. Old fence and Strider. See that it is below his knee? Yes, I have placid horses. 2-4. New fence.

When your camera is taken over by an 11 year old

I went to my trusty Pentax to get some before and after photos of the (wicked old) and (lovely new) horse fence. What I found was about 200 photos of legos. Wilder mentioned he wanted to use my camera for some stop-action storylines of his sets - I just didn't think it would be such a prolific number. The blurriness could add action to the story... or... it is hard for him to hold a big camera, a bunch of lego dudes and then press the shutter button. He really needs to find his own camera again!

Fencing update 1

Last week I had a sweet couple with new sheep dismantle and take 400' of field fencing, posts and barbed wire.
Then Alex and his crew of one began digging fence post holes. I was thoroughly freaked out when they were digging near the marked buried electric wires. They were very patient with me, explaining why they were not concerned. They are all alive today, so I guess I can stop worrying. They dug 62 post holes, I can only imagine how they felt that evening. Today they are bracing corners, to prep for the big fence pull.
This is the part that stopped me from doing the fence myself. Physically pulling 120-310 lbs of 48" non-climb fencing taut between the posts. It takes some brawn. I have brawn, probably more temperamental brawn than actual muscle brawn, but this fence would have been the end of me.
Thank you Alex of 4seasons in Poulsbo.

Fencing options and craigslist

Good lord have I loved enough on Craigslist? Case in point. Bathroom: Bought a load (about 25 pieces) of Restoration Hardware fixtures for $180. Did my 'new' bathroom fully with them, and sold the extras back on craigslist for $215. Worked out that I got all my bathroom fixtures (retail value $1400) for free! Horse fencing: My first quote to replace the fence was $10K for 700 feet of fencing. Since that seemed like way too much money... I decided to do it myself. Went and picked up the fencing (five rolls of 120lb fencing) and then realized there is no way in hell I can lift these puppies and pull them tight. Got another fence quote - $9000. Still crazy overpriced. Next fence quote - $2000 with $1400 dismantle cost of the old fence. Called some different licensed fellows who quoted $150 to take the fence out. Posted the whole lot of old fencing on craigslist.... and have someone coming this morning who will take it all down and haul it away for free to reuse it to contain their sheep. The power of craigslist is great.
Curious? See the finished fence project here....

The season of driving

My son has started baseball season. Rose is doing piano and art, and finishing up drivers education. That means every flipping day except for Wednesdays.... I am in the car with one or two kids taking them somewhere in the 4:30- 7:30 range. It is not as bad as Seattle, since there is no traffic to sit in, and stoplights I can count on one hand. It is just a lot of driving. I want my car to last to 200,000 miles before it is replaced, so am keeping an eye on the accumulating miles.
This commuting blows the sit down dinner to hell. Unless we go out to dinner, and that plays havoc with Dave Ramsey's envelope budgeting system (since I am still working out the kinks within our monthly budget.) An upside is there is driving bonding/talking/sharing from the kids trapped in the car with me....

Veggies and Pressure Cooking

A couple weekends ago went to an extension office class on how to use a pressure cooker. I have always been a bit wary about these, thinking they were going to explode all over my kitchen sending carrots, beans or tomatoes to my ceiling... and taking my eye out. I thought I would get the how-to from the professionals.
The end results : I took home two jars of carrots, and the desire for a pressure cooker. I have a ceramic top stove, so need to get a stainless steel one. Supposedly you cannot can or pressure cook on a flat top stove. HA. You can do it all, although I do freak a bit about the weight I am putting on it. I also bought this stove last year with one 'superhot' element (my terminology, not the stove manufacturers marketing) that should be fiery enough to get the pressure up on the cooker.
Wondering what the nuclear rain that is falling in our state will do to the planting this year, but really, what option do we have?
Bought some seeds from a new company...Comstock, Ferre and Co., that I got a gorgeous catalog from at the Kitsap Small Farm Expo. I also decided I would buy for interesting names this year. First seeds : Lazy Wife beans. Next in line : Pink Girl, Black Sea Man, Shiny Boy. I will just like seeing the names at the end of the rows...
Couldn't find any Grumpy Lady Peas or Feisty Woman Peppers. Maybe next year.

Financial Peace according to Dave Ramsey

When I first started this blog (or more accurately, when Rose signed me up for a blog) I had no idea there was this whole bloggy world out there. In the beginning I spent a lot of time searching other blogs to see what was going on,what is this blogging. I think Rose mostly signed me up so she would not have to listen to all my stories.

There is a funny midwest gal - www.coalcreekfarm.com - that I found when following the links from a house restoration blog. On her site she had a corner about managing finances, how they were doing it. She talked of going to this financial peace university with her husband, and called the guy that did it Damn Ramsey. There is no Damn Ramsey when you google, but there is a Dave Ramsey. I visited the website, and got a couple cd's off of ebay of him talking. This month I signed up for one of his local classes (he is not there, they are usually facilitated by churches.)It is only the cost of the books for the class. I bought mine off ebay for 40, you can get them through the church or website for around $100. You go watch a video for an hour, then discuss for an hour. These classes are all over. It is a great thing for couples, and would have been helpful for Dennis and I at any point in our marriage. Budgets, retirement, debt, basic how to manage money presented in an empowering easy to digest entertaining manner. The energy is high, the people are kind, and boy, do people get in financial hot water. I am lucky that at this point we have no debt other than the house I am sitting in, but that was not always the case. I am taking the class so I don't ever live in debt again, especially since my income is going to take such a hit when the divorce papers are signed. Rose and I were talking about a Toyota Highlander commercial that she likes, and I do not. It is a young kid telling his ma, and his carpool ma, what a cool car the Highlander is, and how it fits him since he is cool. And their old minivan is not cool. It makes wanting something for how it looks legit in a kids eyes. I am trying to teach the kids want vs. need. It is a challenge.

Woodpecker alarm clock

There must be a load of insects on the north side of my house. About once a week I wake up to a woodpecker pounding his little head on my house right outside my window. It is really loud, and wakes me right up. Better than my alarm clock since I can't womp that bird on the head to turn it off for ten minutes. I have been working on getting Amanda dog to chase away woodpeckers, but I don't think she knows what I am saying. Being that she is not a typical dog and befriends fowl, felines and foes.

What I did on a Saturday night

Ready for it? I sat here and got a trojan virus off my laptop. Oh yeah, I know how to have a good time.
If you go on the internet at all you should have a malware search and destroy program loaded up on your system. I use the donation or free Spybot by Safer Networking, but Malwarebytes or any of the other free or low cost one will do. Just make sure it is an approved malware killer and not actual malware you are loading.
I have been scanning this week and notice every other time a keytracker trojan virus pops up. I delete it (quarantine) and then scan again. When I do it is no longer there. Until next time, and it pops up again. Obviously, that virus was sitting somewhere on my computer.
A cnet.com forum had a similar question... the answer they received was to run the F-Secure Online Scanner to find and clean that puppy out. Another freebie. I downloaded and ran it from
www.support.f-secure.com. It only works on Internet Explorer only. You have to load ActiveX, which I personally hate. Or I hated on my old computer. Then do a full system scan which can take hours, and clean the results.
After running that, I have been checking spybot for something wicked to pop-up and nope. All clean. (At least for now.)

Gushy Post on TDAmeritrade

Part of my visit to the financial advisor Irene was that she did a step-by-step blow by blow detailed account of how to proceed with my sloppy retirement accounts.
The first step was to open ROTH IRA's through Vanguard, TDAmeritrade, or wherever.
I liked Vanguards website, but she highly recommended TDA so I thought I would start with them and if I didn't like them, just switch out.
My first instruction from Irene was to open a non-deductible IRA account. That was #1 on the list "Open an IRA" .
I set up an account and funded it and then was sitting on some sort of stock buying page. Huh? Went back and saw that I had opened an individual investment account. I messed up my first instruction, the very first thing the website asks you is: what type of account do you want to open? My choices : individual, joint, or IRA. My instructions :open a damn IRA. My fingers and brain : opened an individual.
Dangit. So talked to automated TDA fellow Tom who told me to open another account and just transfer the funds. I did not want a fee assessed, so called the 800 number for a person to confirm since I seem to be a little "following instructions challenged" this evening.
A pleasant fellow answered the phone who gave his first and last name. He walked me through all sorts of things on the website, and we chatted of security password software, his wife, Trader Joe's, family and medical research. He clarified what I needed to do, and in what order. He is sending me something to sign, as I send him off other signatures.
This was the most amazing introduction into sending your money off into the internet ether. He was helpful, patient, and answered all of my repetitive sloth-like questions about what the heck I was doing.
If I just had someone calm and knowledgeable like that all the time about everything...
"OK, now I opened the leaking generator and fuel is shooting across the yard, what do I do now?"
"I just hit my truck with my minivan, is it better to pay out of pocket or tell insurance about this and file a claim?"
and it would all be taken care of with a signature and a pleasant conversation. My life would be so much easier. Who can I talk to about this?

PT or Port Townsend Fort Worden

We took a trip up to Fort Worden for a game of nerf wars. It was a moment of dry skies. Someone who is taking drivers education got to get behind the wheel for a bit while the boys climbed. Normally she drives with her eyes open and hands on the steering wheel.

Staying the course in chickenworld

This will be the first spring we bring no new chicks to the place. My girls are laying great guns, their fence and roof are both bad, so need to focus on that rather that cute little peepers. It will be so hard walking by the chicks at the feed store... especially if they get in russian orloffs or lakenwelders. I will be strong.
Pics: Five chicken butts are enough for me. 1 buff orpington (favorite breed to date, round, happy, friendly, quiet, crazy egg layer), 3 golden laced wyandottes (round, busy, friendly but not overly so, cautious, good flyers) and 1 welsummer (loud, slimmer more dainty chicken figure, narrates all your movements with a wary tone and warning-- as if saying "I don't know about that, I don't know if you should be doing that, Be careful there", humorous, good flyer)