If I Were President

I was sitting in the living room this morning drinking my coffee and watching the news.  It all seemed to be bad and most of the stories had something to do with what the President should or shouldn't have done.  I thought, "maybe I could be a better President".  Granted, I'm a conservative with a Biblical worldview.  I also feel the Republican party is soft when it comes to pressing the issues they get elected on.  My ideas concerning business are vastly different from the majority of the Republican Party as well.  Both Democrats and Republicans have a tremendous amount of money thrown at them from corporations.   Their loyalty to the American citizen, with his empty pockets, has to be questioned. 

Having said that, let me give you my thoughts on occupying the oval office.

If I were President...

I would fight to end abortion from day one!  If congress fully supported me, it would be illegal by the end of my first day in office.

The United States border would be secured quickly.  It would be guarded by troops and the most sophisticated equipment available.  

All those who are in this country, illegally, would have ninety days to leave.   After that, they would be transported to the nearest border!  Being born on or above American soil would NOT grant you citizenship.  You may become a citizen through proper channels.

Full employment would have a high priority in my administration.  The jobs vacated by illegals would immediately be filled by Americans.  I would encourage grants to businesses for hiring additional workers and moving jobs back from overseas.  There would be supplemental pay for older workers.  This would encourage those nearing retirement to leave early, thereby opening up additional positions for our graduates.

Companies who have moved offshore would find their products can no longer cross the border without additional costs.  If you sell it here, it must be made here!  Greed must take a backseat to the American workers.

I would encourage the rewriting of Corporate laws so that shareholders no longer come first.  Corporations would have to be responsible to the communities where they are located and must demonstrate how they have "assisted" that community and state through various and diverse projects.  CEO's and corporate hierarchy could not be paid more than a proper multiplier of the lowest employee's wage.  Corporate greed must be "reined in" if America is to succeed.  I would strongly encourage business to also end the process of exorbitant bonuses to management.  Those bonuses drive worker abuse through unneeded stress and change the focus of the business to a numbers game.

I would strongly discourage corporate mergers.  Bigger is never better.  It always costs jobs, raises product costs to pay for the lawyers, and destroys competition.  I would strongly encourage new business startups and mid-size business grants for additional production and jobs.

I would vastly change the IRS.  America needs a flat tax and a simple tax code.  When it's simple, there will be less abuse and no confusion.  Anywhere from 8 to 10 percent seems like a good number to start with, but it would have to be capped based on income.  Some could afford 10 percent, while others could not.

Congress would also have to send me a balanced budget every year.  We must pay the debt down and become self sufficient.  Our financial system has had too many pigs at the trough for too many years.  Things will change.  There would be no spending based on "buying votes".  That will be illegal and some Congressmen would find themselves behind bars for stealing taxpayer dollars.

I would put America back on the gold standard and audit the Federal Reserve!  I would tell the European bankers that the dollar will be in great demand very soon and it would be in their best interest to stand back and not interfere.  

We would slowly ween most non-handicapped citizens off welfare.  If you are able to work, we will find a satisfactory job where you can work and earn a salary.  People who earn incomes tend to be happier and less of a burden on society.  This would also help the crime rate in most of our larger cities.  

The Department of Education would be closed and those responsibilities handed off to the various states.  We would have fifty laboratories of the best and brightest in education.  States could work with each other to choose the best methods for learning.  Education is always best when left to the local and state level. 

My environmental protection would be very strong.  We only have one place to live and we will keep it clean and healthy.  I would reexamine "fracking" very closely.  If ground water is being contaminated, I would stop the process through executive order. 

The process of solar radiation management, also known as geo-engineering, would halt.  The process sprays too many chemicals on our citizens and is changing the ph balance of our soils.  

My administration would take an "America First" policy.  If you want to be our friend, that's great.  Want a Jihad, we'll give you one that will not be "soon forgotten".  We would fully support Israel with no reservations.  We would not discourage Israel from dealing with ANY of her problems and would be standing as backup if needed!  It would be a tag-team you will only fight once.

I would encourage congress to pass "term limits" laws for all offices.  Our founding fathers never intended for political dynasties to develop. We need fresh faces and fresh ideas in Washington.  The best way to do that is through limiting our politicians terms in office.  Judges also need to be limited in their time of service.  There should be NO lifetime appointments!

America was founded on Christian principles and the majority of our founders were believers in the Bible.  The organized effort to destabilize religion in this country would cease.  You don't have to be a Bible believer to live here but you would never be able to force your non-belief on others.  The efforts to remove religious symbols, religious activities, and religion in general would not be tolerated.  Everyone has a right to worship as they please and your rights end where theirs begin.  With that said, mosques tend to be places of terrorist education and religious subversion.  They would be watched closely for signs of trouble and closed down immediately at ANY incident involving injury to others or American property!  

America has always been a "melting pot" and a good one.  We've been made stronger with legal immigrants who wished to live here peacefully and meld into society.  They learned English, started businesses, raised children, and helped others.  I would be very intolerant of terrorists who come here with the intention of transforming America into their third world country.  You would live longer staying in your own country during my administration.

Hope this hasn't been too hard on you liberals.  American history shows the ideas that work and that lift up the populace to prosperity.  Your ideas have moved us down on every list imaginable.  Help us rebuild America to the power and prestige she deserves.  She can once again be a light to the world for freedom, bravery, and democracy.  

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,

and to the republic for which it stands,

one nation under God,

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Butterflies and Blooms

At our home in Cullman, Alabama, my wife planted two flower beds for Stephen & Liz's wedding.  Those flowers have thrived this summer and have become a favorite of butterflies.  This is the new bed beside the garden during late May.

and here it is today.

The flower garden at the front of the house originally began like this

and here it is today.

One of my favorites is a cleome named "sparkler blush".  It has a different look depending on the sky. In daytime it is usually just a pretty white.

In late evening, as the sun sets, a strong pink circle appears around the top.  I didn't get a photo of the blooms open, but here they are closed with their pink showing.

Another of my favorites is the crocosmia 'Lucifer'.  It has been a favorite of the local hummingbirds as well.

The butterflies have loved the flowers as much as we have, probably more, since they have provided  nectar for mealtime.  This is a female eastern tiger swallowtail, the designated butterfly of the State of Alabama.

The male eastern tiger swallowtail looks much different.

Becoming a "butterfly watcher" is pretty easy.  We did a little research and found out how much we didn't know about the beautiful creatures.

Here is a video from "Smarter Every Day" entitled Butterfly Farming is Amazing

And another about the beautiful scales on their wings  The Magic of Butterfly Scales - Part 1

The Internet is full of websites on butterflies.  One where I found a lot of information was The Butterfly Website.  Another good one is Butterflies and Moths of North America.

The Huntsville Botanical Garden has a great 9000 sq. ft butterfly house.  A visit to the Purdy House is well worth the admission price to the gardens.

Most butterflies have a very short lifespan, only 2-4 weeks.  It seems to me in that short time, they should be appreciated and admired.  Why not make a butterfly garden in your backyard and enjoy the visits from one of God's beautiful creations?

Gatlinburg vs. Blue Ridge

Once a year, we usually take a family vacation.  Usually it is to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  We love the mountains and especially the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.  Last year, after thinking that we needed to try someplace new, I suggested Blue Ridge, Georgia.  Everyone pretty much shot it down quickly, because "we always go to Gatlinburg."  I kept at it for a good while and over time, most everyone accepted the challenge to try Blue Ridge.

Since we live in Central Alabama, the distance wasn't much different.  Blue Ridge is about an hour closer but with less interstate driving.  I studied the different routes and decided to go through Cleveland, and therefore Ocoee, Tennessee.  It was a good choice because we stopped at the whitewater launching area and watched the rafters take off on the rough water.  I think I'll add whitewater rafting to my bucket list.  It looked like a lot of fun.  We were pressed for time so decided to push ahead to McCaysville and south to Blue Ridge.

Our base camp was a cabin, on a hilltop, just a a few minutes north of the city.  The VRBO listing is 188378 so you can check it out.  It was one of the nicest decorated cabins that we've stayed at.  It has a neat outside fireplace on the deck and sleeps ten.  The view was badly obscured by leaves since it was August.  We unpacked the cars and settled in for an evenings rest before our first day downtown.

Sunday morning, we decided to take the short hike to Long Creek Falls.  It is a popular thirty minute hike to see two falls which total about fifty feet.  It was a bit of a disappointment, but nevertheless a good outing.  I found my first annoyance with the Blue Ridge area though.  Signs and good directions are sadly lacking.  We took two of the driving tours and almost everything on the map was unmarked, difficult to find, and no pull-off parking if you did manage to stumble upon it.  The historical society along with the county and state need to get busy.

That trip also led me to my second disappointment, closed businesses.  At lunch, it was somewhat of a challenge to find restaurants open, along with several of the attractive stores.  We found a local Bar-B-Q that was open and enjoyed the outside seating.  Odd business hours seemed to be the norm here.  Monday, we came back to town only to find the same problem.  So, if you plan on shopping, Friday and Saturday are your best bets, other days may be iffy.

Sunday afternoon, we drove over to McCaysville and tubed the Toccoa River with Rolling Thunder River Company.  My wife and I had pink inner tubes with a back rest, which was pretty nice.  It was a nice hour and a half trip down the lazy river with just a few rapids.  We enjoyed that so much we went back again Monday afternoon and tried their competitors Toccoa River Adventures.  No back rest with their big yellow tubes but it was fun.

Tuesday morning, anxious for another hiking adventure, we took off for Amicalola Falls State Park.  This is Georgia's most visited park and the 729' water falls is the tallest in the Southeast.  It was pretty but due to the trees and the continuous climb, it's difficult to see the entire water cascade.  The park was crowded, mostly with Atlanta folks.  

Disappointed with downtown Blue Ridge, on Tuesday afternoon, we drove over to Ellijay, Georgia, and did a little antiquing.  The prices were average with several nice stores.  We didn't find any closed or with odd hours.  We ate at a nice little sidewalk cafe.

Now, the quick summary of my city vs. city.  

Blue Ridge views - Severely lacking.  Very few mountain vistas.  The ones you do see are not as high as around Gatlinburg.

Blue Ridge Historical Sites - Very few and hard to find.  Gatlinburg excels in this area.

Blue Ridge Shopping - Okay, but I wasn't impressed.  The odd store hours was a big turnoff, along with public restrooms.  They were almost nonexistent.  Again, Gatlinburg wins this one hands down.

Pet Friendliness - Finally,  Blue Ridge wins one.  Almost every store we went in has water bowls and treats for your pet.  I don't think I've ever seen that in Gatlinburg.

Trying not to let my own opinion influence the others, I took an informal survey after we arrived back home.  It was 100% for another Gatlinburg trip.  Blue Ridge was a nice change of pace, it just hasn't quite arrived yet.

Weed Eater Woes (Part Two) - Highway 157 Hardware, Cullman

 In Part One, I told you about the problems getting our Sears Craftsman C3 replaced and how difficult it is to do business with Sears.  Today, I want to back up in time and discuss our other weed eater, the Stihl FS-35.  With it, I discovered the difficulties of keeping a two-cycle engine running using ethanol gasoline.  Every season, it needed a carburetor kit before it would even begin to think about starting. 

Ethanol is yet another one of those things that our congress has done for us, that we didn’t need.  Corn should never be mixed with fuel.  It was just another opportunity for a ton of taxpayer money to be exchanged between our politicians and corporations.  All the while putting additional burden and expense on us.  I finally learned that purchasing a fuel stabilizer helps with the problem but is certainly not a permanent fix.  That would come through “Term Limits” which the American public hasn’t embraced yet.  Fixing Washing would correct a tremendous number of our troubles, but I digress.

This year, like the last three, I needed the Stihl to be worked on.  Since we were working in Cullman so much, I decided to use a local merchant there for the repairs.  157 hardware was close, so I took it along with my son’s Ryobi weed eater that we had borrowed to help us get ahead for the season.  They kept them both for about two weeks and called to say they were ready for pickup.

As my wife pulled in on a Saturday morning, she noticed a Sheriff’s deputy car parked out front.  She went to the counter, they pulled the ticket, and said the charge was $85.00.  She paid the bill, and then the guy said, “I hope they’re here, we had a burglary last night”!  He went to the back and returned with the Ryobi but not the Stihl.  Obviously, the thieves know a good weed eater when they see one. 

 So now, we’re out $85.00 plus a weed eater.  I suppose the correct amount would be $70.00 since that’s the amount charged for the stolen one.

This all took place on April 5^Th, 2014.  I made several calls and went by the store several times to check on the situation.  I called the sheriff's department and gave them the serial number, which the deputy said would be put into the national database.  I stopped by the store again in early July and was told the thief had been caught in Mississippi with over $300,000.00 of stolen equipment and my weed eater would be returned soon.  With my patience wearing thin, I stopped by again, the first week in August and spoke to the owner, Mr. Harris.  He said the insurance agent had been slow to get back with him, but should have everything handled the following Monday.  This was on Saturday, so I gave him my home number along with a cell number if necessary.  I’m still waiting for a call.

Just like with Sears, it truly boggles the mind to think that a business would treat it’s customers in such a callous, uncaring manner.   As a customer, I will not be taken for granted.  You cannot be mean, ignorant, or uncaring and expect me to give you more money!  You also shouldn’t expect me to remain quiet and not tell others what happened.  

Businesses like Sears Roebuck and 157 Hardware are good examples of what’s wrong with our economy.  They need to remember who allows them to stay in business, the customer.  If you’re willing to sell a product, have enough faith in it, to have a easy return/repair policy.  If you discover a defective product, replace it immediately.  If you lose a customer’s merchandise, replace it.  Above all, be nice.  Most of the employees I talked to about my weed eaters just wanted me to go away!  Treat your customers like that and they will!

The following quotes are from a Forbes article, “40 Eye-Opening Customer Service Quotes”. 

Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. ~ Bill Gates

The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best but legendary. ~ Sam Walton

Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong. ~ Donald Porter

A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Sept 6, 2014 Update...   Went by 157 Hardware today to check on the insurance progress.  They said everything had been settled and presented me with a brand new Tanaka string trimmer.  I had never heard of the brand but in reading internet reviews they seem to be well made and the reviews were good.  I've already burned a tank of gasoline with it and it handled the worst I could throw at it.  I'm impressed!  Thanks go to Johnny at 157 Hardware in Cullman, Alabama.

Weed Eater Woes - Part 1, Dealing with Sears

Several years ago, my wife wanted me to mow the grass.  I refused, saying that it didn’t need it.  She said it did!  My argument was that if I couldn’t easily see the strip where I had just mowed, it didn’t need it!  The disagreement went on so long that, I got a “fine, I’ll do it”!  She has been taking care of the yard work ever since. 

Now, I have to tell you that I appreciate it greatly and am willing to get her any equipment she needs to accomplish the task.  Trim work with a string trimmer is also very important to her.  I bought a Stihl FS 35 to use, but after using it a while, she didn’t like it.  It was too heavy.  So we researched battery operated trimmers and chose the C3 from Sears.  It worked great for a while, but the batteries started losing their charge too quickly.  We upgraded to two lithium batteries and that seemed to do the trick.  Then “it” happened.

She came in one day and said there was a crisis.  I jumped up and said “What”?  “My weed eater quit working”!  I looked at it, changed the battery, but still no heart beat.  I declared, “looks like its dead”!  She said, “I’ve got to have a weed eater”!  I was working the next day and couldn’t take care of the problem.  We were long past the warranty period, so I suggested she to go to Sears and buy a new one.  Crisis solved, for a while.

She went to sears and they showed here the combo pack with a blower & weed eater.  They were both at home when I arrived that evening.  Everything was okay for about four weeks, then it was deja vu all over again!  “David, my weed eater!”  I heard her shout one Friday afternoon.  I said, “No way, its brand new”!  “Yep, its dead” she said.  I changed the battery, no luck.  I said, “you’ll have to take it back to Sears and get another one.  It’s still under warranty”.  Appeased again,  she actually waited almost a week, till I was off on a Sunday to accompany her.  She did call Sears on Friday, and was told to bring the whole combo with the battery, back to the store and they would replace it. 

Sunday afternoon, we drove over the Riverchase Galleria Mall and the Sears store there.  We had to park in the parking deck and carry everything in, dividing it up between us.  We had already thrown the box away.  We went to the first desk in 'lawn and garden' and explained the situation to an employee there.  He said, “yea, no problem.  Take it to K**** at the other cash register and he’ll take care of it.”  I said thanks, and we carried everything over to K****, told the story again about D** telling us to bring everything back to replace it.  He looked at us and said, “I don’t know why he told you that, we can’t replace it until it goes to the repair center.  Shocked, I said “Okay, where is that”?  He said, “Do you know where Oxmoor Rd. is in Homewood?”  I think I repeated “Homewood?!”  more as exasperation than a question.  I saw fire in my wife’s eyes and knew right away that I needed to protect this man from an angry white woman?

She said, “How long is this going to take”?  He said, sensing his immediate danger, “If you’ll take it downstairs to our merchandise pickup window, they will send it out for you and you won’t have to drive to Homewood.  That will be quicker, because they have a truck leaving in the morning.  The turnaround time should be about a week.  And all they really need is the weed eater, not the blower.”  I said ok, and we went downstairs to the merchandise pickup window.

We walked in there and a guy asked us our problem.  We told him the story and he said, “we don’t do that”.  About that time, a lady came out and he told here the story, and she said, “we don’t do that”.  "Did they fill out the return paperwork for you upstairs?” She asked.  “No, they just said to bring it to you for the truck in the morning.  She said again, “We don’t do that here.”  She said, “Do you know where our store on Oxmoor Rd. in Homewood is?”  She said  I said “No, but can’t you send it out on the truck for us?  She said, “We can, but it won’t leave here till next Saturday”!  At this time, my wife who had been fuming and was about to explode said, “I can’t wait till Saturday.  I’ve got to get this fixed now.”  I said, “Okay, tell me where it is.”  She went back in and brought out a map.  My wife asked why the other three people we had talked to didn’t tell us all this.  The lady said that not only could they not replace it right away, it had to be returned three times to the service center before we would get a new one.  We also found out the location in Homewood was closed on Sunday. 

She would have to return it on Monday, while I was at work.  That night, I helped her with the directions and we discussed the best time to leave to beat the Birmingham traffic congestion. 

The next day, I got a phone call from her about 10:30 in the morning.  “You’re not going to believe this” she said.  I took them the weed eater and said we were told to bring it there.  The lady said, “We don’t do this here.  You need to take it to our location on Lakeshore rd, behind Jim and Nicks Bar-B-Que.  I think I said, “Unbelievable”.

That location ended up being a merchandise pick up point as well.  The real location was across town.  The lady asked her for the store’s return paperwork and of course we were never given any.  "We don't complete that here, you'll have to return it to the store." My wife said, "look, everyone we talk to sends us somewhere else.  Can you not take care of this?"  She referred it to a supervisor nearby who said it was okay to complete the correct paperwork and send it off to the Chattanooga repair center.  

So the weed eater got sent off for repairs and they took our number to call when it was returned.  It took about two and a half weeks before we had a message on our answering machine that the weed eater was ready for pickup.  The message didn’t give the pickup location, so we called the last place and they advised it wasn’t there, it must have been sent to the Galleria store.  We got in the car and drove over to the merchandise pickup location, gave them our return pickup paperwork and the information that a call said it was ready.  The lady went in the warehouse but came back out empty-handed.  “Its not here” she said.  My question was, “where is it”?   She said she would call the other location.  

I watched her talk on the phone a few minutes then she came out again saying, “its not there either.”  I said, “Do you have a supervisor I can talk to”?  She said yes and went to get one.  We waited a while and a lady walked up about the same time that the first one with the paperwork came out another door and explained to her our problem and added the information that the other location had located it and found it marked “non-repairable”.   The manager took the paperwork and disappeared into a nearby room.  I assumed she was making calls to get approval for a replacement, from a high-ranking manager.  No one gets to make decisions anymore in our “micro-managed corporate world”.  After several minutes, she came out with the statement that “we’re going to give you a new one”.  We walked pretty silently(thank goodness) up to the 2^nd floor to receive a brand new C3 weed eater.  I thanked the manager for her help and we left the store, glad that the ordeal was over. We never did get an “I’m sorry” from anyone or an answer as to why everyone had a different story to give us.

As soon as we arrived home, I unboxed the weed eater and got the battery and charger out to plug it up for a complete charge.  No lights…  I plugged it into another socket, no lights…  I put the battery into our first charger, lights worked okay.  Unbelievable!  I went upstairs and said, “you’re not going to believe this”.  She said, “Does it not work”?  “No, its okay, but the battery charger is dead on arrival.”  She suggested we take it back.  I said “No, I don’t have the desire to go through that again”. 

I know that we probably won’t shop at Sears any longer and I understand now why their business seems to be struggling.  Customers are like your teeth, ignore them and they’ll go away.  Treat them right and they’ll stay with you for the long haul.  The other comment I’ll make here, is that quality of merchandise counts.  If cheap labor and cheap parts push the profit margin to the roof, it will do you no good because the product won’t last.  Customers will return it and poor quality control takes away your profits and your customers.  Sell a quality product, and take care of any customer that has a problem, period!  It's just good business.

Weed Eater Woes has a part two, and that will be my next blog.

Rest for the Weary

If you’ve read the previous blogs in my remodeling series, you know we’ve been working on a fixer upper since last October.  We originally planned to spend at least a year or more, getting it to the point it is in today.  Things jumped into the fast lane in January, when our son, Stephen, announced that he and his fiancee, Liz, had decided to have their wedding at the Cullman house.  Not only that, the wedding would take place on May 31st, only 4 months away!  I think everyone panicked except me.  I thought we had plenty of time to get everything done.  I was, of course, wrong!

It was planned as an outdoor wedding so there was quite a bit of pressure to get the yard right.  By “right”, I mean tolerable.  The lawn had been badly neglected so I knew there wouldn’t be lush green grass for everyone to walk on.  I made a valiant effort in sowing a 50 lb. bag of seed over two acres for four weekends in a row, but it just didn’t happen.  The temperatures stayed cooler for longer this spring and there were heavy rains after every seeding.  Seeds float well, so I have some beautiful grass coming up on the lower end of the property.

I ended up lowering my target to removing all the honeysuckle, poison ivy, and tree stumps to avoid trips and rashes.  We accomplished that goal pretty well but it was still a lot of work.  We put up an arbor under a tall sycamore tree which just happened to have a climbing rose-bush that had miraculously survived the overgrowth purge.  I found the arbor to be an amazing “female magnet”.  As the guys worked on the house or yard, you could quite often look down at the arbor and see a group of ladies discussing how to decorate it.  Countless hours seemed to go into that process for a fifteen minute ceremony.  Another thing I noticed as the ladies worked on the arbor, the most minute changes or additions had to “sit” and wait a period of time for approval.   The arbor came together beautifully for the wedding, but was only finished the day before!

  

It was really the first time the house had “guests” so we had list after list of small things to get done.  Things like putting door knobs on bathroom doors, placing light fixtures in multiple rooms, painting walls, putting baseboards down, etc.  We even cleaned and painted the two car garage as a backup just in case of bad weather.  In the end, we pulled it off with only a slight case of exhaustion.  We even coined the time change of “A.W.”  Next May will be year 1 A.W. (After Wedding).  If you would like to see a short video summary of the wedding, click here!

Judy and I have taken these past two weeks trying to rest and recuperate.  It’s difficult to adjust to the “empty nest” lifestyle but I’m quickly getting the hang of it.  I do know we have a spare bedroom that is the cleanest I’ve seen it in years!

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the work and wedding.  The list is long and I’ll not name anyone for fear of forgetting even one.  But from the bottom of our hearts, Judy and I appreciate all the help.  For all you other empty nesters out there, “Let’s party!”

Thanks for stopping by!

Need a Good Plumber?

I’ve never been much of a plumber.  I can do the simple stuff but usually have to do it twice due to leaks.  Plumbing is just one of those jobs where you need someone who has the tools and the talent to get the job done.  Sadly, some plumbers are driving BMW’s because of overcharging their customers.  Don’t you just hate to see those news clips where they remove a spark plug wire from a car and take it to a mechanic to get it fixed.  Hidden cameras then reveal their outright lies on what parts the car needs and the outrageous cost.  It may surprise you that there are ethically challenged plumbers who do the same thing.  I think it is a reflection of removing Christian teaching from society.  Truth just isn’t important to most, especially where financial opportunity exists.

About the same time we were getting estimates on our roof, I called nine different plumbers from “Angie’s List” for what I considered a small job.  We needed a water heater replaced and moved about ten feet to a new utility room I planned to remodel.  The washer and dryer connections would be moved as well.  Of all those called, only one called and set up an appointment for an estimate.  I won’t mention any names here, but only call him “Mr. Plummer”.  He came out and crawled under the house, looked at what needed to be done and gave me the following report; Your toilet in the rear bathroom is a mess, it needs to be reworked too.  The washing machine drain is tied into the septic system, we can redo that and give it a separate drain out the side of the house.  You can call when you’re ready to have that done.  For just the work here, it’ll be about $2000.00.  But that’s only if you make a new opening on this side so I don’t have to crawl so far.

I gave him a Dr. Pepper and we talked about it for a while.  In that conversation he said he wanted to begin working more in the Birmingham area because city people just pay more for work done at their houses.  He said the country folks here just won’t pay it.  I thanked him for coming and determined that after he left, I’d crawl under the house and investigate my plumbing “problems”.

I carried my camera with me and took numerous pictures of the pipes and bathroom drains.  I noticed immediately that the washing machine drain went in the opposite direction of the septic tank.  That alone was enough for me to forget that estimate. After taking it over with my wife, we decided to put off the plumbing job till later.  We could manage without it till our money supply got a little better.  I guessed that he was very high on his estimate, but I didn’t know just how high at the time.

Fast forward four months, I started calling plumbers again.  I had one to tell me that he was just too busy and to call somebody else or call back in the fall.  Another said he didn’t want to come out to look at it, but would just say it would cost between $500.00 and $900.00.  My last call was to Bark-ley plumbing in downtown Cullman.  Brady and Tim were at the house within a couple of hours.  I explained what we needed and brought out my pictures of the pipes in the crawl space.  I asked if he saw anything under the bathroom that needed attention, and the answer was “no”.  Tim still crawled underneath and looked at everything taking a few more pictures with his phone.  The estimate was $200.00 for materials and $600.00 for labor.  Brady also said he would try to beat that price if he could. We set the appointment up for a week away since I still had to raise the floor about two feet.  Water heaters don’t hang well in mid-air.  I wanted to do a good job on the floor but it would still be somewhat temporary, since I have to remove the outside siding, re-insulate, and rewire the entire room.  We were just tired of not having hot water, along with all the upcoming activities.  I’ll blog about those maybe next week.

Tuesday morning, Brady, Tim, Matt, and Nick showed up at 8:30 ready to go to work.  It’s unusual to see two plumbers let alone four.  I was suddenly seeing $$ signs.  Brady and Tim just showed the other two what needed to be done and turned them loose on it.  They worked all morning and finished by early afternoon.  I was impressed with the work that Matt and Nick did and they were able to answer all my questions.  I meant to take some pictures while they were under the house but had too much going on.  Hope the following will suffice…

And last but not least, let me add a picture of Matt and Nick.

The final bill ended up being $750.00, which was great in comparison with my first estimate.  If you need a good plumbing contractor, I would definitely recommend Bark-Ley!

Clearing the Land

There are a variety of ways to clear land but it really boils down to two.  You can hire it done by spending a lot of money, or you can “do it yourself”.  The DIY method involves hard work, long days, and sore muscles.  It is much cheaper but takes longer.  We choose the latter method and spent about three months working each weekend to make the place “presentable”.

My plan was to work outward from both structures, the house and detached garage.  We would cut the heavier timber with my chainsaw and the little stuff with loppers.  Matt, our oldest, preferred the axe method and cut many the old fashioned way.  I took a few swings and decided to stick with the saw.

Where feasible, I burned off the ground debris afterward.  We put all the heavy stuff in burn piles for disposal.  Those became somewhat numerous because of my caution to burn them.

I would only burn when it had rained or was about to rain.  I had no desire to meet the volunteer fire department while uncontrollable flames were in the area.  Both sides of our acreage are covered with pines and therefore, pine straw.  It burns very fast and very hot, and being a former firefighter myself, I was aware of the dangers.  None of the fires got away from us, but I’m sure the neighbors were annoyed from the smoke.

We kidded everyone that our work days were from sunup to sundown and that was usually the truth.  When the sun set, we stopped for lack of light and literally “crashed” because we were so tired.

We finally reached the point where I needed someone with a tractor and bush hog for the final cleanup, since I had neither.  I sold my tractor and all the attachments when we moved to Birmingham, so I needed to hire someone to mow.  I searched Angie’s list, the Internet, and asked the locals.  One business kept popping up and it was “Man With A Tractor“.  Intrigued, I sent a text to the number saying I needed about three acres mowed.  In about ten minutes, Allen called me with an estimate and the day he could be there.  That’s the way I like to do business!

He did a great job mowing and even relocated a large pile of rocks with the front end loader, to the rear of the property.  I was planning to move those with a pickup truck, so it was a big help!

I would suggest that if you need mowing or clearing done in North Alabama, Allen is your man.  You can contact him at 256-653-1145.