racechaser

BTW It amazes me that watching the news right now people in Houston are mad cause FEMA hasn't brought water and food yet. I thought for sure these people would have learned from watching LA after Katrina that you are responsible for yourself for the first 72 hours after a storm. Scott

I'm sure people all over America scratch their head at what Scott and I are talking about. I don't blame you at all. Here it is a cultural thing that must be broken and I really believe that Katrina did a lot to help that. In the year after the storm the workforce that was evacuated was unavailable to work so needless to say minimum wage went out the window.( It was a wonderful feeling to be able to show everyone that thought I was nuts for wanting to abolish the minimum wage that my idea wasn't flawed) People were making 9-12 dollars an hour at fast food places where $6.50 or so was top money. Young men and women were making 12-18 dollars an hour as laborers doing construction. One morning i had some errands to run after working nights. Usually at 4 in the morning people were on the street corners still hanging out. They weren't there and sure enough I was catching up on paperwork in my car when at about 6:00 AM masses of people were walking to work in hard hats. I myself was floored at the sight. I think it was just proof that if you pay a decent wage and teach a skill, most people will work. Scott

Anthony I'm sorry it took so long to answer your rebuttal but we just got power back yesterday. I basically agree with most of what you said in theory. I'm as conservative as they come. But the thugs you heard about are few and far between in comparison of the population. The 1% get the press and give the other 99% a bad name. I think everyone has a responsibility to better themselves, but when WE THE PEOPLE, have provided an endless list of entitlement programs to give to people it's hard for me to blame them for using them. Yes I am against welfare and food stamps and medicaid for prolonged periods of time. But the people on these programs haven't been "flying under the radar" everyone knows there is generational dependence on these programs. Let's hypothetically say somebody like the shingle manufacturers would pay the roof cleaners $6000.00 a month to stay at home and not clean roofs. A lot of people would take them up on it. Some would rather make twice that running a business. So let's say this goes on for 30 years. Can you be mad at the people taking the money for staying at home. That may be a poor example but just trying to get you to see that you have to understand that this is a mindset that has to be defeated. Scott Stone was dead on with what i was trying to get people to understand about the poor in NOLA. It is just hard for me to see the 1% ruin all that is good in NOLA. Just like Russ's story from Craigslist, most of what you read is not true. One interesting thing I saw on TV was a black author saying that it only took 3 days for the blacks to turn on each other in NOLA during Katrina while in white areas we were cutting our own trees, churches cooking for people and gathering clothes for those that lost everything. That just shows the problems with government trying to provide everything to people. When they can't provide for themselves they forget. Hopefully next year I won't be on family vacation and can show you around at NOLA 09' hosted by the Eckhoff family. Love to get a few people here early and go on a fishing charter. There is lot to see close by. Scott

- I did OK Beth. No electricity replying back on blackberry. We were without power for 27 days for Katrina and they are saying however long you were out then they expect equal to or longer this time. Downttown Hammond is coming on quickly but I'm the second to last meter before leaving Entergy boundary. I mean when you live in a place called Pumpkin Center, La you can expect to be last. Scott

Beth If your dad or Kate need anything have them call me. I forgot to drive by their house but that part of town fared well except for trees. If your stepbrother is deployed with LDWF somewhere and you want me to stop and check on them this weekend I'll be glad to.That is if he's like the typical dad and won't ask for help from anyone else. Scott

Well I really try not to post often here in case I get indexed into a thread that goes astray. But I have to set afew things into context. The first is the levees caused the flooding. They were built substandard to todays technology. How New Orleans Flooded Here is a diagram of how the levees failed in 05'. The corp came back and installed concrete on top of levee near base of levee so that overtopping would not wash it away. There are flood gates being built to block the surge from the lake and pumps installed in canal to pump water to lake. This was no new idea, it was on the list of things to be done for oner 15 years but the corp was underfunded. you see each of these floodgates were 6 million dollars each. Pennies compared to the 150 BILLION that was spent to rebuild from government. The people knew it needed to be done but had no control cause it was federal. These new floodgates will be the first line of defense and the levees the second line of defense. Point two is that New Orleans had never had a levee breach anything close to this before. So people were a little negligent in not leaving. BUT, and it's a BIG but, is that when you convince people in a metropolis that they don't need a car and should rely on a Mass Transit System you will have this problem.When you can go to work and the store and everywhere else for less than two dollars a day why own a car? Now how do the 100,000 or so people get out of a city when they don't own a car? Plus where are they gonna go? There were no shelters provided for them that they could have evacuated to that were just sitting empy. Point three is this happened to the poorest people in the city on the 29th day of the month. Like most people there was more month than money. Should they have savings accounts for emergencies?? Yes but that is a STUPID point to try to make so save it. What average American lower income level family anywhere in America has an adequate fund. Point four is that most poor people in NOLA earn minimum wage in the tourism and service industries. Yes there are a lot of leeches on the economy there but the majority are hard working, poorly paid people. It is not full of scum as many believe. They are black. They are very black. It is a cultural thing.It is not necessarily a bad thing as you may be led to believe. 85% of the people are good people that have been bred into a system that is truly hard to get out of. I have rental property in diverse neighborhood in Hammond where I live. In the middle of the day people(black men) will always stop me and ask I'm starting any work on my house cause they want a side job. Yes they are double dipping, they all are, but they are working and they DO WORK. Is it really there fault that for generations they have been bought off by a liberal party to buy their vote. Point five is that something like 80% of oil and natural gas come ashore in La. Who is going to work in oil and chem business and drive two hours to work so they are above sea level? And the port, where should we move the port to? Kinda hard to move the port when the deepest part of the river is NOLA.Where do you think the grain from midwest comes out through? There are many reasons to support NOLA so that levee failures don't happen again.There are European countries that are below sea level and protected themselves with levees and locks. They are not nearly as economically important as NOLA. And how about everytime California has an earthquake I say how we should let it slide into the ocean and cheer because it is full of gays and left wing whack jobs?? Would that be a fair characterization ANT? I mean I spent a week in L.A. in January of 06'. I rode subways, buses and and I know ya'll would have the same urban rescue problems we had. Scott

When they said that I'd have a little playmate I didn't think she would be THIS small....

here is a pic if it loads Scott bucket stand.bmp

this is a single version of what you want Hamby Dairy Supply : Milk Barn Supplies : Drum Pumps - Spigots & Racks : PAIL STAND FOR 5 GALLON BUCKETS Scott I'm sorry the link won't work. It's hambydairysupply.com -in the index look for milk barn supplies then follow other sub listings in the link above. Scott

Yes it is. We have done that for the last 5 years or so. It has really come a long way. Some really cute videos from around the world normally. Scott

And Why not an automatic tranny? I've used that as example to my wife for years but am dying to try on my next one. I mean they make manuals and sell all the parts. I bet that "Joe Scmo can't build a tranny" is like the biggest myth in car repair. I'm with you, I'm eager to try if time ever allowed. Scott

My dad has torsion springs on his boat trailer of his 23' bay boat and that has to be the easiest, sweetest boat I have ever pulled. It doesnt sway, bounce or do anything else but track straight. I don't know about on an equipment trailer, but on my next one I was going to investigate it I liked my dad's trailer so much. Scott

Well I had really put a lot of thought into spearheading an effort last year to help start a new org for powerwashing. As far as finances for starting a "not for profit" org that would be solely responsible to no other founder or distributor, I had a few ideas. Here is my best one and it is OUT OF THE BOX so don't start bashing it. You start a membership drive with stated GOALS for the org.You have bechmarks based on number of members in advance. You keep the dues very low to encourage participation like $35-50.00 a year at first. As the membership grows, the dues go up along with the services the org is providing. For example the first year you get logo use and web and BBS privileges. That is all that is promised until membership hits a predetermined number such as 500 members. At that time (as previously stated in your business plan and goals) the dues go up to $100 -125.00 dollars based on what was the next service you rolled out for the members that had to be funded. Eventually if you had 10,000 members across the country you could raise your dues so that you had money to run ads in industry magazines or heck maybe even an add in a major media outlet. But whatever your goals were, simple or extravagant, you would only charge dues based on what you were providing while still reimbursing BOD members for ligitamate and necessary expenses incurred. This plan would facilitate rapid growth so that you could see what your base would likely be after say two years. Nobody would likey wait to join as maybe under a normal start up. I think that the first year people are not getting much for their money. People wait till it's really showing signs of return for their money before joining. But if the dues are low in the beginning, more will join because expectations are low. That was my idea starting an Org with little or no money out of pocket. Scott

I think you need to find time in the winter to build it. Scott

So Rod what would your version be?? Scott