macarose

It started to rain exactly at the point when the last raffle prize was picked. We ended up winning two raffles as well. For $5, it was a helluva day.

We entered our two kids into the spaghetti eating contest. One boy and one girl. The boy was the ONLY one who ate neatly and with a fork. But he lagged behind the surrounding girls who were using their fingers with aplomb. However our daughter more than made up for it with her hollow leg and insatiable spaghetti eating skills. She won the competition. They gave her a nice watch, a towel that said "Top Noodle 2011", and a $10 gift certificate at the olive tree. A lot of nice cars were at the event as well. I thought I had revisited my old New Jersey upbringings with all of the muscle cars o

This is a 'really' big pet peeve of mine. The speed limits are set artificially low in this country. Travel around the world a bit and you will soon find out that the comparable American road (barring traffic) is anywhere between 10 mph to 25 mph lower than anywhere else. At least compared to most European and Asian countries I have visited in my travels. It works against the well being of the general public in several ways. First off, by setting speed limits to an artificially low level you encourage a general disregard for the law. Speed limits are put in place to keep folks safe. No

I think the state needs to build this 18 year old a swing that faces a brick wall.

I just look at it as a game. If you do, it ends up being fun and competitive at the same time. Most everything I deal with is a game, a system, an opportunity. I just have to figure out all the little levers first.

Lots of things big and small. 1) Everything is unplugged in our house when we don't use it. 2) We have lightbulbs within an arms length of access. If we only need one light, we use that. 3) Lots of light curtains to bring in the light. I think we got them from target. 4) Computer is always in saver mode. 5) We tend to hang out together quite a lot. So there rarely is a need to have more than one light in the house. A lot of other stuff as well. Gotta go. Someone at the door.

This is the fifth month in a row we have been able to keep our electric bill to under $20. One more month and it looks like we will have officially reduced our electric consumption to less than half of the 2010 time period.

So let's see if we can make this a nice list... 1) Sell the golf course 2) Eliminate double dipping 3) Eliminate most SWAT purchases and other related weaponry I seriously doubt that the police are anywhere near the front of the back as it relates to cuts. However I can see Cobb reducing the number of tag and title offices and perhaps it's time we let folks 'keep' their plates in the long-term and simply do the advalorem and other related taxes online. One other item that may need to be put onto the table is streamlining the use of technology as an administrative tool at the Cob

Congrats on the move. Always good to hear from you.

Okay, here's one. I hum sometimes. Not the musical and sonorous type. My humming is guttural in nature and usually takes place when I'm in an intense state of concentration. If you ever watch the movie, "The Flamingo Kid", the main character's humming at the dinner table is an exact example of what I do at those moments. I don't do it in front of other people... other than my family. This used to be a very big problem when I was in school at a young age. Both my kids do it at home as well. But not in school so far as we know. No, I am not autistic and I am most definitely not aff

That is a tough question. An amazingly challenging one to consider. I do believe the fellow owes the government a refund IF he is not willing to serve in a productive capacity. The CO status has degrees to it. Nuclear Weapons. Biological Weapons. Missile Systems. Conventional Arms, etc. Also a matter of who are the recipients of such weaponry (soldiers, citizens, nations, etc.) Serving your country does not mean advocating a blind faith in following orders. But it does mean you have to be willing to defend and/or kill to one degree or another. I can see objecting to a scale of killing

What an awesome and wonderful thing to share. Beam with an ear to ear grin. You deserve it.

37.

I don't many of you understand this... The job market is going to remain highly compressed due to... 1) Cheaper high level and low level labor overseas. 2) A mediocre level of export. 3) A continued reduction in personnel needed to run businesses. This is not a Rep or Dem issue. It's the fact that the Western world is now counterbalanced with billions of folks in Asia and beyond who are well-educated, ambitious, and have access to the same tools and resources. You can't beat those folks by just being a consumer. You have to produce something the world wants. That's not an eas

Long response here to a lot of great posts. Couldn't agree more. But I've always figured that the real edge to it all is to enjoy what you do while finding a way to sustain it for the long run. My work with auctions and cars has given me more opportunities to play than I ever imagined as a bored high school junior reading auto magazines in the back of the class. I have traveled around the country for two years straight auctioning off cars at various auto auctions. Every place I went to I had great food, great entertainment, and they treated me like a king. It was very hard to lea

I actually try to combine the two with my work as an auto journalist. http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/author/steven-lang/ In early March I'll be headed off to Sarasota for a few days for a conference. When I travel around the east coast I usually bring my family for the ride. That is so long as the kids don't have school. I have traveled to Europe. But not as much as I would like. We do have a time share from Myrtle Beach which we inherited 15+ years ago from my wife's family. The price of it is getting outrageous and I'm seriously contemplating a lawsuit. It started out ar

This guy has me beat... http://www.blip.tv/file/4556283/

I started off as an auto auctioneer and also have my own car lot in Hiram. Safe to say, I have good relationships in the business. Termite we do ourselves at this point. HVAC we keep properly maintained and our unit is very easy to service. If I ever have an issue I ask a neighbor. We also minimize our HVAC expenses by keeping everything well insulated, using ceiling fans, and keeping lower (winter) or higher (summer) temps during the year. Between heat and electric we average about $125 a month. Sometimes it's less than $100. Water is $15, Trash we share with a neighbor ($7.50), Prope

Paid off my mortgage. It's done. No more, and we'll never have another one again. If what I write below seems a bit self-absorbed I apologize in advance. I'm simply in the moment. The path to getting the mortgage out of our family's life came through thousands of little steps. Oh hell, I'll just be honest with you. I'm a frugal zealot. A tightwad, and I'm fortunate enough to have married another one 11 years ago. A lot of folks seem to enjoy Clark Howard and David Ramsey on the belief that they espouse frugality and the tightwad way of life. I like certain elements of their shows. But

Now that's something I can definitely associate with.

I have to catch the next cafe get together. Community for me is a lot of things. I have my neighbors who I have known now for about 15 years. Many of them help pick up cars for me at the auctions. Others I've bought cars for, had beers with, and listened to the assorted trials and tribulations. I also have some activities nearby. A good friend of mine gets together with me for trivia on Wednesdays. I also have poker on Fridays. In the work world I have been running my own businesses for quite a while and see a lot of familiar faces over the course of my week. Sometimes we sit and talk.

I would be in for a team. What are the age requirements?

Go on Medicaid or pay out of your axe.

My family has a $10k deductible plan at the moment. It cost $3,000 a year for my wife, myself and our two kids (10 and . We tend to be extremely healthy folks. But even with that, I fear for any time I may end up dependent on the whims of a health insurance firm who is in the business of saying 'no'. If you asked me about the one thing that could make me ever leave my entrepreneurial pursuits, it would be health care. I have even considered exploring the path of 'dual citizenship' due to the horrendous inconsistencies and abuses within our health care system.

Congrats! May your heart last as long as 10 Chevy trucks built on a Wednesday!