A Boat by Any Other Name

Give this a gander http://planeboats.com/Other%20Pages/Photos/index/boat%20index.html and then ask the question of how this made it past the land use process. Not a boat, really, not an airplane. So where does it go in the regs?

Forms When You Need One

So right in the middle of doing taxes you notice that you need a form. A form that you don't have and any place that has them is closed. Since these are federal forms you need only to look no farther than. Drum roll please. www.irs.gov and you can download any old form that they have.

If you need the PDF reader, in order to view and print the forms then go to www.adobe.com and download and install the free PDF reader.

Keep cool

None Dare Say Stick Em Up

Let’s talk about a real racket that City’s and towns across America employ to make ever greater increases in income. What could that be you ask? Good question. We recently got a flyer in the US mail extolling the virtues of keeping the lawn green and the other plantings “full of water”. Same day we received another little thing in the US mail called . . . Utility bill.

Seems that if we were to increase the amount of water we use well we get charged extra. So the city of Portland Oregon seeks to increase the amount of income by placing a higher premium on the very water used. And they even enclosed a little flyer about conserving water, right nice of them.

This is a racket then to wrest even more money from the population, yet the cost of water production for Portland does not increase. Portland does not have a fresh water treatment plant as such. It is pure and al natural. Which explains why my water filter under the kitchen sink is full if algae and moss. Sure I can change it but why bother, as it will just fill up again.
So I am doing my part, letting my lawn die a slow death, mowing the weeds to keep things neat and buying in wholesale into water conservation.

Yep, use not pay not. That’s how I see it.

Lets Buy a Ship!

If one has ever wondered how much a ship costs to purchase, new or used, or a tug boat or a car ferry or even a small submarine. I found this. http://www.maritimesales.com/Ships%20for%20Sale.htm . Not limited to one sort of boat either as they have barges and such. Seems odd that some west coast transportation outfits build new when good serviceable used ones are available. So dream of owning a vast network of water borne transportation vehicles or just poke around to see what the things cost.

Ever Wonder About Airplanes?

Did you ever wonder about airplanes, or the places where long ages ago they used to bring about so much promise? Delivering mail, taking passenger's to and fro, or providing education and employment to many?

Well to find a place where airplanes used to be, but may not be now then I suggest this place. http://www.airfields-freeman.com/ It is of a sadness to note that the airfield where Howard Hughes devolved the "Spruce Goose" is no longer there.

What about if you just want to see large airplanes, taking off, cockpit view out the front window, or a mess they make when they go boom or are mis-loaded. Well this is the place for you then. http://www.airliners.net/

Have fun and enjoy, Wish Sherman Happy 56 birthday today.

You Invited Them, so Clean up After Them

1. Just what is it we wish government to do for us? On the face of it this is a large question so I will break it down to something smaller. What triggers this is a note that the Chamber of Commerce in Friday Harbor Washington wants the town to make the town more like “Disneyland”. Their reasoning is that the businessmen feel that the town collects “enough” property tax money and sales tax money so the town can keep the town cleaner.
   
   Just how much is enough? Friday Harbor, like a lot of smaller community’s has a “you use it you pay for it” policy. So the businesses do not subsidies water, sewer, solid waste or storm water for residences and vice a versa. Property tax collected for the town is only a third or less of the tax bill, other things like schools and state and county roads are on the bill but not paid to the town.
   
   Friday Harbor http://www.fridayharbor.org/ does have the town budget available to view. It shoes income and expenses. Income is an educated guess built on a mopny model and the treasure can explain that to others. What is not said by the business men is if they have asked the correct questions.
   

1. Where does all the money go?

2.What service or group of services dos the business community wish the town to NOT do? That is what service does the town drop, fire, police?

3. Did anyone at the chamber actually read the budget? Not just the income part but the expense part?

4. Why would a retired person on a fixed income. About 3 percent of the 2000 population has an interest in providing a “Disneyland” atmosphere?

5. When did business in Friday Harbor become “too good” to pick up the trash of the tourists that they invite to the Town?

It seems to me that the Chamber did none of these things, at least none of them well. And gosh, ya know, if you invite the world then pick up the junk YOUR customers throw around and quit whining all the way to the bank.

That is how I see it from here.

Happy Fourth of July

We thank the members of the armed fources serving at home and abroad, the veterns both living and dead, for the willingness to provide us with freedom, liberty and security.

Happy fourth of July!