Every morning my father and I watch “The Rifleman” while eating breakfast. It’s an old black and white western about a rather good looking “sod buster” named Lucas McCane who is a single parent raising his son Mark. He’s known as the Rifleman because he can draw and shoot his rifle faster than anyone with a side-arm.

Anyhow, the episode this morning had some wise words in it that I’ve been advocated in the fiscal sense, and is especially more important now with all the crazy economy recession talk.

“There’s something to be said for poverty. It shows you what’s necessary and what ain’t” - Grandpa Fogerty

Most people are in dire financial straights because they choose to be, knowingly or not. It’s your spending and saving choices that determine how rough things are for you. Even someone who doesn’t make much money could be very satisfied with what they have, and what they can make use of. It’s all about Living below your means.

I recently made a principal payment of $200 towards my car, after making a payment of $247 earlier this month for the regular monthly payment. Since I don’t trust any corporate companies, I called up just now to make sure they actually applied it to the principal, since it appears they applied it towards my future May payment.

Alas, they did not do as I asked, so the gentleman I spoke with said he would make a notation to have the amount reapplied to my principal amount.

It’s annoying because I specifically called and spoke with a representative last week named Germaine and asked for the specific principal payment location. I learned that because Capital One used to tell me that the principal payments had to be made to a different address or couldn’t be counted, despite my desire to have it switched over.

And I will probably call next week to verify that the gentleman I spoke with tonight actually did have the amount reapplied, since they can’t follow simple instructions. I imagine this will be a regular thing for a while.

I’ve decided to respond to some of the feedback that I’ve received from folks at Ecumenicon regarding my review of the conference I attended in March of this year. I’m not participating in their e-list discussion about myself and my viewpoints, but I do have some things to say and will continue to say as long as the flame war continues. And since this is a public journal, I have a right to say what I please on it for the world to see. And when people do search for Ecumenicon on the web, my site will pop up because I have a decent google ranking.
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This tends to be a difficult subject for several people, but was recently brought to my attention by a friend going through the same situation.

Would you Support Someone who won’t Support Themselves?

By that, I don’t mean that they “can’t” support themselves (even that can be argumentative depending on the situation), but I’m talking about blatantly ignoring responsibility and discretion.

For example, lets say you have a relative that despite being what is considered an adult (maybe in their late 20’s or early 30’s), but consistently goes from job to job. They do this because they don’t put forth any effort to keep their jobs, or maybe they don’t even have a job at all. They kinda float through each day, using credit cards, piling on their debt, with no plan to pay any of it back.

I actually have a friend with two sons that are exactly like this. They will get a job making $7/hour or so, and decide they are not making enough money so they just stop showing up. They never quit, they aren’t usually fired, they just stop showing up without even providing their employer with the common courtesy of letting them know. Their excuse is that they aren’t making enough money, and want to start out at a job making at least $15/hour. Never mind that one of them never graduated highschool and neither of them have bothered to develop any skill-set.

But the friend that sparked this article has relatives on the other end of the spectrum. People that are well into their adulthood, possibly 40’s or 50’s, and still spends money like it grows on trees. When it comes time to pay bills and take care of the important mundane things, instead they ask relatives for money. It is highly likely that they will be out on the streets, and then whose responsibility is it to help them? Should you spend your money supporting them? Should you give them a chance to turn themselves around despite their habit of falling into the same problem over and over again?

To be honest, I probably wouldn’t. I know right now I’m supporting my father, but he is on disability so he does have some income, and he does odd jobs for his own spending money. I know he’d rather be working so I’m more than happy to support him. But a relative or friend that wouldn’t support themselves, I see no reason to put myself into financial ruin over. It’s not my responsibility, and I have obligations to my own future, and my fathers care, neither of which I’m willing to risk on people that are completely capable of taking care of themselves but are too lazy too.

What are your thoughts? Are we automatically obligated to family?

I had a great time at the Trillium Gathering this year, like every other year I’ve gone. This is by far the best festival/event I go to throughout the year, mainly because it’s so close-knit and the people are so wonderful. The theme of this year’s festival was to honor the Nature Spirits of that land (more specifically the Shenandoah).

Caryn and I arrived early on Thursday, about 2pm or so. We had a meal-plan setup for Thursday night and Sunday morning during setup/tear down of our camp so we didn’t have to mess with fixing meals at that time. The meals are usually done by Mountain Rhythm Cafe and these guys are amazing. They do everything organically and the food is phenomenal.

Friday was a day of workshops. I attended a workshop on Biodynamic Farming which was pretty interesting, and another which was a ritual to meet the Sidhe done by Ian Corrigan (at least I think that’s what the purpose was). I like participating in rituals done by Ian because he’s very well-versed and well-spoken. He is able to really set up the unified group mind when he talks.

Friday night was the bardic circle which I was asked to open. I played a few songs, and the circle was a little slow getting people involved, but I didn’t go back to camp until 2am because it turned out pretty amazing. A lot of drumming, and more singing of songs that I haven’t played in years, and tons of mead. I actually got the chance to sing one of the chants duet-style with Ian while he sang harmony. -That- was actually a lot of fun.

Saturday I participated in a workshop on Peak Oil, but slept through a workshop done by Skip because of my shenanigans the night before. The Peak Oil workshop was really interesting, and had a lot of discussion about climate change and our role in it, which I’ve always been fascinated with. The woman who presented it and I spoke about a workshop I was setting up on Disaster Preparedness for the Grove. Apparently it’s what her husband does for a living so I’ll be able to email him with any questions or tips that he can provide.

Saturday night was a communal potluck with a concert by Liafel, whom played all of my favorite songs. This was followed by an impromptu drumming circle around the bonfire till 2am when the rains came. And boy did they come. This morning was pretty miserable tearing down everything in the rain. I’m still shivering because the cold just soaked into my bones from being wet.

I was really happy to be able to say more than hello to Chronarchy, and spend a little time with Art and his wife. I also got to see more skin of the ADF leadership than I think I ever wanted, but as Chronarchy says, it -is- ADF.

The only complaint I really had about the weekend, which I think others did too, was some obnoxious drunken behavior by one of the participants. But what are you gonna do.

I just got home from the ADF Trillium Gathering (review to follow) and just checked my email.

Apparently the open “no bs” review I gave for Ecumenicon was Googled by some folks involved with Ecumenicon and was not taken very well. Thus I am called a snob, and like I pretend to know more than I do, and a few other stereotypes I didn’t understand. My blog was even linked to all of these people (I don’t think they know I was forwarded some of these emails from someone I met at Ecumenicon this year), which to be honest it was an open review so I’m not concerned about that. What does concern me is these issues are being discussed and I am be bashed in their inner circle, and only one person has the inclination to come to me about my concerns (to which I am thrilled and will respond to below). You can’t run an organization and ask for feedback, and then bash the people that don’t give you the feedback you wanted. Ask for “positive feedback only” if those are the results you want.

I didn’t bash anyone in the review, but I’m certainly going to point out the weak spots when I see them. That’s what constructive criticism is supposed to be about, or so I assumed.

Does this change whether or not I’d go to Ecumenicon next year? No. If I like the programming, I’ll most certainly go. Will I vote to sponsor the conference in the Grove next year? That will take some serious thought process on my part.

Now the teacher that responded with positive questions on how I could help with the programming of her class, that was really impressive, and probably the main thing that would definitely have me pay money to go back (unlike the bashing).

The only two main suggestions I would have for the Palmistry 101 classes are 1. Focus solely on one type of Palmistry (I was getting confused with the different types, Runic, I-Ching, etc), and 2. Add more about interpretation and maybe do a sample reading on one of the students and ask everyone else what their interpretations of that reading were. That would have been really helpful, and give the students a chance to glimpse into an actual reading.

And I do honestly feel the class did it’s job by opening my interest in Palmistry, and I’ll definitely be doing my own research. Perhaps I will even email them to compare notes and ask questions.

The saddest part about all of this, is all the work I did on their website, which didn’t even compare to the cost of the conference, but I did so as a donation because I wanted to support their cause. I’ll probably still lend a hand now and then, but my desire is certainly disappointed.

I found this particularly useful for me, because there was a great video I wanted to download (without having to install something to play the .flv files) to use in one of the workshops I am writing up. Instead, since Youtube is trying to place higher quality videos on their site, you can now hack download Youtube videos in .mp4 format.

Note: This is actually against Youtube’s terms of service, just so you know.

Anyhow, by going to this link in Firefox, and dragging the “Get Youtube Video” link to your bookmarks toolbar so you can click on it when on a Youtube video you are interested in downloading. It creates a “Download the .mp4″ link on the info of the video, and you “Save link as” and save the .htm file to wherever. Then just right click and rename the file so the extension is .mp4 instead of .htm. It works great and I now have my video for my workshop presentation

Steps again:
1. Go to this link in Firefox.
2. Drag “Get Youtube Video” link onto your toolbar at the top of your firefox browser
3. Go to a Youtube video
4. Click on said link you just placed on your toolbar
5. Right click on “Download as mp4″ link and click “Save link as”
6. Save the .htm file somewhere on your computer
7. Rename the .htm file to .mp4 and you’re ready to go.

My bosses gave me a sizable donation for my birthday which I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with yet. I’m being fairly strategic about it since I hate spending money, period.

Saturday I had a small cook-out because everywhere was calling for 80% chance of rain, thunderstorms, apocalypse etc, and my house is ridiculously small so if it were to rain I didn’t want it to be uncomfortable overcrowded..

Did it rain? Of course not. I should have taken bets with my co-worker.

We had steamed crabs, shrimp, played a few drums. That’s all I asked for as gifts, steamed crabs and drumming I got a few other things as well, but I never want my friends to feel obligated to buy me a gift. That’s silly.

Later that evening we discovered that a Wild Turkey had flown into one of our open coops. We caught it yesterday and placed it in one of our covered coops with a male turkey to see if we can get some turkey eggs. I always wanted to raise broiler turkey’s to be honest. I guess this is Mother Nature’s way of saying give it a try.

Dad and I finished planting potatoes on Friday, almost 4 rows worth. That’s going to accumulate a lot of fuckin potatoes. But I told my friend Anna to come up and help dig them up and have her fill since I know she loves potatoes and loves participating in CSA’s. Only this would be free Or at the very least, bartered for some bars of her homemade organic soap or shea butter smear that I love. Plus it’s a way for me to hang out with her more.

I’m going to send out my letter today to the lawyer about the property. Supposed final draft below:

“Dear Mr. Scott,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my offer for the Allen L property on XXXXX Road for $100,000. I am indeed aware that the property was appraised at $200,000, and understand the circumstances in which executor Larry is obligated in this matter. I would like it to be known that the offer of $175,000 is very much appreciated.

I would like to make a counter-offer of $150,000 for the property in “as is” condition. As I am sure you are aware from the appraisal you sent, the housing on the property is in very poor condition. Examples of just some of the repair issues, which are not mentioned in the appraisal, include the old and new termite damage along the front floor joists (which I had inspected in 2005 under my previous employer, Terminix International). I would also note the sewage tank, which has not been checked, emptied, or maintained in the last 29 years.

I only mention these items to demonstrate that, despite the amount of repair needed, my father and I are still very interested in acquiring the property. Given its condition, and the current state of the real estate market I believe this to be a fair offer.

I hope you will consider my offer of $150,000 an acceptable compromise to suit both of our needs. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to doing business with you.”