Sunday, May 31, 2015

One less law for a few days.

      Well looks like we get till later this week free from the patriot act. Over the years I don't know what has been the most distasteful every word it contains or The name " THE PATRIOT ACT". If there ever was an action by our government more insulting to the founders of our countries principles I don't know what it was.
    Ok maybe the establishment of the federal reserve but that's a set of encyclopedia's in itself .

    I for one would like to thank Rand Paul for stalling it and letting it expire . Now I don't think it was just because it sucks mule @#$$ I understand it is political grandstanding. If the man wants to uphold the constitution ,abolish the Federal reserve and a few thousand other things to bring us back to a GOD FEARING, CONSTITUTION FOLLOWING nation for political gain I am all for it . If he can  be a pain in the ass to the powers that control our nations capital all the way to the White house and take control back from the unelected hands he has my vote.

     Ok maybe  I am dreaming, if he is a contender and for the people I am sure we will find out he slept with a 3 legged donkey in collage while doing crack. OR he will meet with an untimely death . Who am I kidding the fire died with the last signer of the Declaration Of Independence.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Prepper barter items for frugal preppers.

    Ok I am trying to relax between loads of BBQ so a change of pace this post Last week I saw a couple of posts on survival sites on barter goods. Some Items listed were kind of pricey to toss in a box for someday . So I got to thinking what I had multiples of and what I need to add that are frugal and will have bang for the buck.
   Before I go  on AMMO in my opinion is not a barter item. The other thing that is not a barter item is Toilet paper. I have yet to meet a man that would face his wife and say use a leaf I traded butt wipe for __________ .They will not understand I don't give a damn what you barter for!!!

     Most items I have are dollar items or a little more or can be broke down from bulk for trade. I advise a small kitchen scale or a hanging farm scale to make honest trades both ways.
 
Salt its cheap and will be needed in large quantity's .
Sugar, cheap cant be grown and last forever.( honey is pricy)
Coffee any way (green, ground, instant) worth the cost.
Tea individual size qt.size
Spices all kinds in different sizes unground if you can find.
Over the counter meds and pain meds bulk to be broke down
LED Flashlights from dollar tree
Solar path lights, light and battery for a buck at dollar tree.
Bleach
Vinegar
Coco  powder, chocolate syrup. Pricy but bang for the buck
Hot chocolate packs just add water 6.99 for 72 at Sam's
Alcohol or more sugar if you make your own :).like me
Liquid soap in bulk or make your own
Canning lids lots and lots
Fishing hooks bobbers, lead weighs and spools of line
Plastic sheeting ,  2.98 for 20x50 Walmart.
     
    This isn't a complete list but  it is a cheap list of items that should trade high compared to cost . Yes some pricy items and fuel will be in demand  but I cant afford the inventory cost.

     If you have bulk items be sure to have zip lock bags for the dry goods and save empty 1/2 liter water bottles for liquids.

     You may have some personal preps that you may barter if long term but that wasn't what this list is. I also left out gold silver due to it isn't frugal :).

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Every one is at the lake .But me

      Friday I watched as campers and boats and flat trailers with totes and grilles headed up the road to the lake. Everyone was headed to camp or stay with friends at the lake it didn't seem to matter who what or how the road was packed . School let out Thursday and with the long weekend everyone wanted to be away.

      In years past traffic was never this heavy but the last 3 years the lakes seem to be the go to getaway for more folks . It seems that the longer trips are not  in the budget but the lake and river is still doable. Even us we plan on going to a friends next week to just getaway and use her yard as a camp site. All  it will cost me is a gallon of moonshine and her and my wife are a hoot when they get plastered .

    My BBQ grill hasn't cooled down since Wednesday night and I see no relief before Monday. So far I have worked my way through 4 cases of butts and 1 of ribs . I have sold butts headed to the lake ,river, Smokey MTs and Florida. I appreciate people thinking enough of my cooking to take it on vacation to me it is a great compliment .I still have 2 days of cooking left to go and I have to go and dress 12 butts and 6 racks of ribs for tomorrow . Next week is my turn at the lake . Then I have 2 weeks scheduled for Big Lagoon mid June .

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Learning from the pro,s

      I got my new internet yesterday about 4 and spent last night just playing . Today I decided to be a little more serious in what I was looking at  . For 12 years I have been doing my roadside BBQ and for where and what it is I have a decent loyal customer base but there is always room to learn. Now I have no desire to do competition BBQ  its a rich mans game I do want to see some of their tips and tricks on cooking.

    Before a 7 minute YouTube clip took me 45 minutes to view but now I just watch . For some this is old hat to me its WOW. So I sat and watched BBQ cooking ,meat trimming ,seasoning blends and different sauces from some award winning restaurants' and competition teams. Some of what I saw was very useful such as holding quality till serving time. Have you ever noticed rush time food is better than when a restaurant is dead . That's where hold practices come in. Learned a few sauces I will be trying out . I make 1 sauce now but want to add 1 spicy and 1 sweet for folks .

    Now not everything I saw has a place but I liked seeing it and can see why it worked for them . That's one thing I learned at an early age was " more than one way to skin a cat" . I like to cook my butts 8 hours low and slow no smoke and 4 to 6 with smoke  at the end. What I saw says I am backwards ( no surprise there ).I did learn a better trimming method from one video .

   Even if you are good at something if you get a chance to watch some one who is accomplished in that field take the opportunity you may learn a few tricks. Pro,s  learned from others so you can learn from them and most have websites and You Tube channels so you can do it from home.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Back online !

      Last week my Hugh,s net crashed . I just got hooked up on    U -verse  today and I am like a kid in a candy store :).

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Tax sale was a bust !

     Well me and my son attended the Blount county tax sale yesterday. We had a short list of 6 properties that we wanted to bid on . All but one was empty lots the one had an old mobile home that was in teardown condition/salvage . The highest tax bill was 145$ most were around 95$ each . We left with high hopes of being able to make a claim on up to 4 even if we had to pay a premium on a couple . A premium is anything above tax that the county gets but doesn't have to pay interest on .

      OK I am no expert but say a property has a tax and cost of 100$ but sells for 300$ . On the 100 you earn 12% from the property owner or 1% per month but the remaining 200$ earns ZERO . So on a couple I was prepared to pay 4 times the tax  and write the premium off if we got a deed in 3 years or make a 3% return on the amount if it was repaid . Ok that was my plan .

      When we got to the court house to register there was about 20 others waiting . Of the crowd I knew 5 to be multie millionaire's at that time and told my son 2 were going to picking and choosing what they bid on the other 3 would be looking for cheap places to park money. At this time I felt confident . By the time of the auction we were seated in the room with 12 millionaire's  5 attorney's and 5 representative's of investment groups and trusts. A total of 35 bidders and only 98 property's .

       Well when the bidding started I found out that there was a lot of money that these men were willing to park with the county for low return . Most of the parcels went for 8 to 12 times the tax owed  or less than a 1%  return . A few went as high as 20% of appraised value. Most of what we had come to bid on went for 6 to 8 times the tax owed . The one with the old trailer went for 1150$ which was 8 times tax  and 15% of appraisal.

      Looking back maybe I was to frugal and cheap with what I had planned on spending or the % of reclaim is such that these premium's are justified . Next year I will attend again and be prepared to select 2 to gamble on . Three years ago a friend picked up 6 liens 4 for tax only 2 with less than 100$ premiums each and got title to 2 this year. That year there was no money there. This year I know I saw 5 men all worth 20 million plus and that don't count the investment groups.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Staying connected.

       Ok if your reading this you have some sort of internet connection . I started with dial up in 1996 yea good old AOL . In 2003 I got  Hugh's satellite internet .As I write this I am still using Hughs net . Now don't laff but I can only download at 100 kps and max allowed a day is 250 Mbytes . Last month my nabor  had a Uverse tuck in his drive. So I asked the installer what he was doing ? I got a weird look and he said installing internet at my Nabors .What speed will it clock at his house I inquired his reply was 12 to 15 megs a second. Hmm I got online and check my address. Hmmm NOT AVALIBLE ! ! so back over I go and ask is his line on that junction pole yep sure was mine is to can you check my address  sure . Well you have the same speed available. Can I get connected ,you have to call and schedule it but it on the pole . I thank him  go in an call ATT  finally get a person and get told its not available . Now hold on is it available at ____ and _____ or _____ ? yes sir. All those addresses and mine come off the same pole and box why cant I get it? NOT IN THE COMPUTER , That call got me nowhere the next 2 ended the same. I have 3 ATT wireless connections showing on my Wi Fi (all password protected}and them telling me I cant get it.

 Last week I called got bumped around then I found a lady that went the extra mile got her boss to override the computer and now I move into the twentieth century on the 19th .She said on a box rated for 24 lines and 6 with service already it was silly not to change the computer .

   I am looking forward to the new service  I may finally be able to watch you tube and other stuff without having to nurse my daily allotment. Now if you live in the middle of nowhere Hugh's net is a good alternative but here I can do better for less 52 vs. 60 a month.

    Tomorrow I will tell you my adventure with ending my Hugh's net service. LOL

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Its yardsale season Time to hunt.

     A quick post with the nice weather yard sales are popping up everywhere  . If your like me you have plenty of junk but some thing are to good to pass up. Today I stopped at one before I went to sell BBQ and picked up 2 nice kitchen aid mixing bowls a large and a small for a buck each. When I got to my BBQ spot there was a yard sale to the side of my spot (the man had asked last week if id mind) and so I tried to buy 2 ammo boxes but not for sale .He had his tools in them . I did find a military  not duffel but personal effects bag for 3 bucks . I have one that I store camping cloths and odds and ends. Be selective and yard sales can be bargains , remember Shop Quality or its just their junk is now your junk .