Yesterday we went to the air show at Shaw AFB, just up the street. They have the show every two years or so in the interest of community relations. There are a lot of things to see and it’s very exciting for everyone. Usually the day ends with a show from the Thunderbirds, the Air Force demonstation team and yesterday was no exception.
There were also other flight demonstations, from the C-17 cargo aircraft to old P-51′s from WWII and an exciting demonstration by the Shaw Air Force Base Viper-East F-16 team. In addition to the overhead flights, there were static displays of all sorts of aircraft, both old and new, as well as military vehicles and weapons. All of the military services were represented in one form or another as were the reserves, guard and Civil Air Patrol.
The kids were all having a great time climbing in and out of the displayed aircraft like the KC-135 refuler, C-17 Cargo aircraft, F-15 fighter, and numerous other fixed wing and rotary wing (helicopters for you civilians) aircraft. I think one of the most popular displays, judging by the line, was the US Army Virtual Warfare display. In this display visitors were taken inside and divided into teams. Each team was given a mission (HMMWV or helicopter) and weapons (laser guns). They were then placed on a virtual reality battlefield and got to experience what it was really like in the field.
The best part of being there was seeing all of the red, white and blue around you. It gives you a great feeling of pride to not only be on the base, but to see and talk to the troops attending the festivities, as well as those who were working to make it a great day for all. There is nothing like being around thousands of people who love their country and the military who keeps them safe.
If you’d like to feel some of whatwe felt you can go to www.shawfest2010.com and follow some of the links to the photo gallery that is there.
Posted by Tom S on Apr 12, 2010 in
Health,
Home & Family Every time I get ready to go in the back yard to clean it up, my wife shakes her head and says something like “Oh baby”. That means she thinks I made a bad decision. Well, maybe I did but I’m determined to see it through and make the yard look better.
The decision we are talking about concerns taking down two big oak trees in the backyard. They had been expanding in recent years and the roots are spreading and were getting closer to the septic tank and side of the house. Besides that, they seem to attract ants and then the ants come to the house looking for food. When you track them back to the source they are climbing the trees. The trees provide so much shade that I can’t get grass to grow in a large part of the yard. Then there are the leaves always falling in the pool and bugs falling out of the tree. Once a squirrel fell in and my wife and I had to rescue him (her?). Then there is the bird poop landing on the deck (I wonder if that is where they got the term “poop deck”?). Anyway the trees had become a problem and we decided to have them cut down.
When we first moved in here, we had several trees cut down and it cost about $100.00 a tree. So when I decided to get three estimates I was surprised to find that $1,000 for both trees was the lowest of the estimates. This included cutting down the two trees, grinding the stumps to below ground level and hauling off the wood. Well, we were expecting a lot less so I asked what it would cost if they left the wood and I took care of it myself? The guy who wanted $1,000 said he’d take off $400. One guy said he would charge more because he wouldn’t have the wood to sell. I didn’t bother to ask the last guy, because I had already decided not to do business with him (he was scary). I told the first guy to go ahead and cut ‘em down and I’d take care of the wood. He said he would change me for cutting them down now and I could call when I cleared the area and he would come back and grind the stumps. So the deal was made.
I watched while they cut down the trees and moved the branches out of the way. It seemed fairly straight forward and besides I had cut down 10 trees myself back in 1974-75. It wasn’t that hard and we had burned what was left. So I figured I could take a couple of days off from both jobs and take care of it over a long weekend. I went and purchased a chain saw and two spare chains. Then it started to rain and even while it was still raining my son found a new house and we spent a couple of days moving him in. So I had two days to work on the felled trees.
This is where everybody started telling me “You’re not as young as you used to be”. After the first two days I was barely able to walk or lift my arms. I had so many cuts on my arms, I was weak from loss of blood. My new hip was killing me and the plates in my left foot were a constant reminder of other bad decisions. So what did I do? I kept working and now we (my wife felt sorry for me and is helping out) are about three quarters done. When we started you could barely get around the yard because of all the branches lining the fence. All that remain are a few branches and the trunks of the two trees.
I saved $400. Well, $250 if you take out the cost of the chain saw. OK, $200 because I bought the spare chains, oil and gas, but that’s still $200 I wouldn’t otherwise have, not to mention the exercise I’m getting.
So if you need some firewood, let me know and I’ll save you some. If you could use a log about 30 feet long and three feet around, come and get it, there are only two left.
Posted by Tom S on Mar 18, 2010 in
Current Events,
General Info,
Home & Family Well, we are down to the wire on the health care fiasco. Like it or not, a decision is likely to come in the next couple of days. The voices of the people have become too confusing and our representatives have once again decided to ignore us. They have also ignored the fact that the only thing that needed reform was the cost of health care. There was no need to redo the entire system, we only have to control, lawsuits, prescription costs and provide additional competition, in the form of the ability to get insurance in other states.
But I didn’t come to talk about health care, although you still have time to contact your representatives and tell them how you feel. I want to talk about the second most important issue today, that’s right, Home Insurance.
Why do we pay home insurance for 17 years and then the first time we make a claim our rates go up. Well, actually it was the second time, but the point is, why? Both claims were for under $2,000 and I will pay for them in only four years because my premiums went up by $700 a year. Now I can’t even search for new insurance because every company I talk to stops the discussion after asking how many claims I’ve had in the last three years. I guess two is the magic number.
It’s not like they did any work. All they did was send an independent adjuster here, who was in the neighborhood anyway (according to him). He wrote down a bunch of numbers and sent them to the insurance company, who sent me a check. I had to do all the work to correct the damage. Who pays for my time?
I think this sucks!! I wonder if they will lower my rates after I’ve paid back the money they paid me for the claims? I think not!! In fact, it’s almost guaranteed that my rates will continue to go up every couple of years. So after we finish talking about health care reform, we can jump on the housing insurance industry. Then we can go after car insurance, because I have a beef with them too, but we’ll save that for another post.
