On a whim, I decided I wanted to know what the world’s oldest company was.

“Kongō Gumi Co., Ltd. (株式会社金剛組, Kabushiki Gaisha Kongō Gumi?) was a Japanese construction company established by Korean people and the world’s oldest continuously ongoing company, operating for over 1,400 years. Headquartered in Osaka, the family-owned construction company traced its origins to 578 when Prince Shotoku brought Kongō family members from Baekje to Japan to build the Buddhist Shitennō-ji, a temple that still stands. These temples even endured Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995. Over the centuries, Kongō Gumi participated in the construction of many famous buildings, including the 16th century Osaka Castle and Hōryū-ji in Nara.

A 10-foot 17th century scroll traces the 40 generations back to the company’s start. As with many distinguished Japanese families, sons-in-law often joined the clan and took the Kongō family name. Thus, through the years, the line has continued through either a son or a daughter.

The company fell on hard times and went into liquidation in January 2006. Its assets were purchased by Takamatsu Corporation.[1] [2] Before its liquidation, it had over 100 employees and annual revenue of ¥7.5 billion ($70 million) in 2005; it had still specialized in building Buddhist temples. The last president was Masakazu Kongō, the 40th Kongō to lead the firm. As of December 2006, Kongō Gumi continues to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Takamatsu. It should be noted that Kongo family still continue to practice as carpenters.”

However, since this company was liquidated in 2006 (man that really sucks):

“Hōshi (法師, Hōshi?) is a ryokan (Japanese traditional inn) in the Awazu Onsen area of Komatsu, in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. Founded in 717, it is the world’s oldest hotel still in operation according to Guinness World Records [1] and the world’s oldest continuously operating company after the liquidation of Kongō Gumi in 2006.”

A woman down the street bought a good chunk of our chickens and we gave her our geese since she has a pond.

Unfortunately her dog killed every one of them overnight.

I’m not sure how it happened, I don’t know if he got into the cage or what, but she definitely should have been better prepared. It’s difficult to introduce fowl once a dog has already been established on the property. You either need to bring the dog up with the fowl or you need to work hard to retrain the dog that fowl aren’t toys or food. The latter is even more difficult since certain dogs are very predatory (huskies for one, I’d never own a husky and chickens at the same time).

My pittbull has never killed a bird. He has killed squirrels and chipmunks, which we let him do because we become overrun with them otherwise. And because we allow him to kill chipmunks and squirrels, he does kill any rabbits that get out as well, because they are furry and small, just like the squirrels. But rabbits hardly ever get out, and those that do usually stay out of our fenced in area where the dog’s territory is anyway.

In fact we’d let the chickens out to stretch their legs and eat bugs in the backyard quite frequently, with my dog at the same time, and he’d never even bother to look at them. He just doesn’t care, he expects them to be there.

Ah well, guess she learned her lesson. I hope.

I went through my todo list this morning, since I hadn’t visited it in a while, and surprisingly a lot of items could be marked off or deleted due to this move. I don’t have to put a new exhaust on the blue bronco, I don’t have to clean out the garage and basement anymore, I don’t have to straighten up my father’s room anymore, the construction projects to this house no longer need to be done.

It’s actually quite nice being able to mark all that stuff off. I love completing items on my todo list, it makes me feel happy and productive. I keep a list of all the things I’ve done at the bottom so I’m reminded that no matter how long my todo list gets, my done list is even longer.

I’m sure new items will be added once we have a place of our own.

Our driveway looks like a bunch of hillbillies live here, which I guess technically is true. We have junk piled up around the trailer to eventually load in. We have chairs sitting out there, a picnic table, old plows etc. My father and I were lounging out there last night listening to Hank Williams and singing along off-key rather loudly. The neighbors may think we’ve lost our minds, but it was good to relax and feel simple and content for once. I like that we can still laugh and be silly despite everything else.

I let our turtles go the other day. I took them to my nemeton and thanked them for spending so much time with us and to have a good journey.

The ex-husband also stopped by and picked up a few boxes of his things. And the Aunt and crew stopped by today to help dig up plants and flowers to take up and plant at their place for now.

I’m becoming increasingly more and more excited about buying a house. Simply the thought of having a house that isn’t condemned, doesn’t have so much work to be done to it, and being able to redecorate…it must have all of my girlie instincts kicking in.

So many neighbors keep stopping by after finding out we’re moving. Everyone is really upset about it, some even say they don’t know how this neighborhood is going to survive without my father. I just keep thinking to myself, all good intentions and no action.

I called the two gentlemen who stopped by and asked to buy my 1979 F-150 short-bed, and told them they could have it for $500, and they agreed It has a blown 460 engine (which only got 7 miles to the gallon anyway), flat tires, and needs some body work. Not to mention part of the frame was cut out by the previous owner to put the 460 in it (dumbass).

They will be setting up an appointment with my father sometime this week to stop by and pick it up. Which means I don’t have to pay $100 to haul it wherever we end up, nor do I have to worry about fixing it up or putting in a new engine. I can just be rid of it.

I’m curious, however… the guy I spoke with said he -really- wanted this truck. I don’t know what could really be so special about it except that it’s a short-bed, and 79 short-beds weren’t very popular and are kinda rare. It sorta peaked my interest in keeping it, but I wouldn’t have the time to deal with that anyway.

As much as I’d like to keep it and restore it, it’s just not worth it to me for several years. The bronco will come first as far as restoration, and that will take several years on its own.

Bye bye F-150, I will miss you.

Well, I am officially living out of a suitcase. Some friends came up yesterday and helped me pack and load a lot of my room and various things throughout the house. All that’s left in my room, besides a few small things to pack yet, is my bed, filing cabinet, and desk with computer. The latter two will be going with me over to my Aunts, but I believe she has beds we can use till we find a place.

My sister and I went through everything in the basement so almost everything I want is out of there. There are some canning jars, a chair or two, and my old kiddie rocker that I might pack up yet. The garage has everything out of it that I want.

So all that’s left is some odds and ends in the house, and a lot of stuff around the yard. It’s still probably a good weeks worth of work yet, but we have over 2 weeks to finish everything, so I’m happy with our progress.

And it has to be said that I have some amazing friends. I’ve never been the type of person that’s ever had loyal or helpful devoted friends. I’ve always been a loner, and even now I didn’t honestly feel like I had people I could count on or that would help me in such a way. But I’ve been proven wrong. I don’t really know how to react to it, since it’s not something I’m used to. How do you thank someone for lending you money? How do you thank people for helping you go through decrepit crap and packing up your stuff and helping move furniture? How do I let them know how much it is appreciated? I just don’t know, but I will figure it out.

In other news, we looked at three houses yesterday. The first appointment…the realtor never showed and the people had no idea we were coming. They had a recent death in the family so I didn’t want to bother them. I may reschedule or I may not. I like the location but the house…I dunno what shape it is in.

The second house needed a lot of work, but my father and I both agreed it was possible. I don’t really like the location, though. It’s not very rural.

The third house, which was the one I was the most excited about, was another shambles. I expected it to be, but not this much. The inside wasn’t so bad, but the outside was just rot.

My father also visited his sister up in Gettysburg yesterday and drove by a log cabin I had my eye on, but said that it was right on the main strip and not rural at all. These realtors are very deceiving in their pictures of these homes, because they really don’t look like they are shown to.

So we are still looking, but I’m taking my time. So long as we have a roof over our heads, then I should be able to take my time to find the right place.