Like a Good Neighbor

 

I don’t have a lot of neighbors. The joke around here is that if you live within 4 – 5 miles you are neighbors. Population density is pretty low. Most of my neighbors are seasonal so there is that. There is a full timer living across the street and I’m glad we get alone.

We aren’t “come over and have coffee” neighbors but that’s fine. We are neighbors who’ll pet your dogs and check in on each other during storms. Frankly, that’s a pretty good level to be at. My neighbor just offered parking space for my boat and trailer. That way it’ll be out of the way when my buddy shows up with his excavator.

Normally I get along pretty good with the neighbors. There was that one guy who was tweaked out on meth and got into huge yelling matches with his wife. I knew he wasn’t right in the head but we still got along well enough. The thing with meth heads is that you can’t trust them. Meth takes over. Well, the cops hauled him away and it’s been pretty quiet ever since. Meth has done some serious damage to rural America.

Funny thing. When the meth head was yelling his chickens would break out of the shoddy coup he built and all come over to my place. Chickens aren’t smart but they are smart enough to know when to get out of Dodge.

As much as I like my solitude it’s good to get along with folk. One winter my car slid off my driveway and into a ditch. The guy who lived down the road stopped when he saw I was in trouble. He apologized for not being able to stay and help as he had to make a doctor’s appointment. Instead he told me to go into his house and get the keys to his big 4X4 truck so I could pull myself out. That’s what I did. It’s nice to get the help and even nicer to be trusted.

-Sixbears

If you want to practice medicine

-work for an insurance company.

I finally let my doctors convince me to try a certain medication. I’d been resisting due to possible side effects. However, after months of other unsuccessful treatments it made sense to try the medication.

The only problem is that the insurance company refused to fill the prescription.

Am I surprised? Not at all. It’s par for the course.

So now I’m about to go with plan “E.” Plans A, B, C, and D failed.

Once again, I’m back to figuring my health issues on my own. That’s certainly not the first time that’s happened and won’t be the last.

-Sixbears

The Finest Chinesium

 

I’ve stocked up on items from China that will probably become pricey or even unavailable in the near future. There are a number of homestead improvements in process. It would be a shame to get halfway done and find materials unavailable.

There’s stuff that’s just no longer made in the US due to decades of off-shoring. That’s not reversed in a few months or even a few years. Frankly, China was willing to throw health and safety issues out the door to get business. Would you like a lead battery recycling center next door to where you live?

The roll out of tariffs has been nothing if not confusing. It’s like presidential policy is conducted by the whims of a spoiled petulant toddler who lashes out at perceived or imagined insults. It’s hard enough for the average Joe to plan. Imagine how hard it is for a large business to function in this environment. Just wait until the tariffs really kick in.

-Sixbears

Not as Expected

A buddy will be coming over with a small excavator within a week or so. With that in mind it seemed like a good idea to get my utility trailer out of the way. It’s been a few years since it was registered but it was used to move a load of pallets from the neighbor’s last year.

With the pallets unloaded the trailer could be moved by hand. A friend happen to stop in for coffee so he was enlisted to help me flip the trailer over on its side. That would leave plenty of room for the excavator to pass by.

The condition of the underside was a shock. The trailer looked good when upright on its wheels but the underside had serious corrosion issues. The drawbar was held on by one tiny strip of rusty metal. The frame was not so much steel but instead was made of rust and regret. It’s a shame too as the wheel bearings and tires had less than 100 miles on them.

The drawbar, wheels and axle were all that I was able save. The rest is either going to the burn pile or the scrap heap. Such is the way of all material things. The trailer served me well. It did everything from move dozens of cords of firewood, thousands of gallons of waste veggie oil and also hauled a small boat across half the country. Not bad for a trailer that cost me $50 and a mason jar of moonshine.

-Sixbears