Tractor Farm And Family http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/ en Sun, 20 May 2012 08:25:42 GMT vBulletin 60 http://forumimages.tractorfarmandfamily.com/misc/rss.jpg Tractor Farm And Family http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/ It happend once again http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14703&goto=newpost Fri, 18 May 2012 17:17:27 GMT Looks like someone high up the ladder at HP decided to reveal inside info once again. Story has now made the news. HP to layoff 20-30k employees. ... Looks like someone high up the ladder at HP decided to reveal inside info once again. Story has now made the news. HP to layoff 20-30k employees.

Seem to recall Meg Whitman saying she was going to run things differently. Now, same old same old.

HP hasn't had a decent management team since Dave and Bill stepped down. A once proud, highly profitable Co, that was rated at the top of the list for best managed Co's has a hard time now even making it to the mid point on the list. What a shame. ]]> Laptops to Desktops - The Computer Forum! Mickey http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14703 The 5 First Symptoms of SHTF http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14701&goto=newpost Fri, 18 May 2012 15:44:57 GMT Comment and observations from someone who lived through SHTF. When and if it does happen, I suspect many will not recognize it until it clobbers... Comment and observations from someone who lived through SHTF. When and if it does happen, I suspect many will not recognize it until it clobbers them over the head.

http://shtfschool.com/security/the-5...ptoms-of-shtf/ ]]> TFF Admin http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14701 Local police boost arsenals with free military weapons http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14700&goto=newpost Fri, 18 May 2012 15:19:37 GMT Meet the NEW face of terrorism. ... Meet the NEW face of terrorism.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/...s-1371137.html ]]> Off-Topic TFF Admin http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14700 <![CDATA["Old Butch" - the rooster]]> http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14699&goto=newpost Fri, 18 May 2012 14:49:06 GMT Old Butch

John was in the fertilized egg business.

He had several hundred young layers (hens), called 'pullets,' and ten roosters to fertilize the eggs.

He kept records, and any rooster not performing went into the soup pot and was replaced.

This took a lot of time, so he bought some tiny bells and attached them to his roosters.

Each bell had a different tone, so he could tell from a distance, which rooster was performing.

Now, he could sit on the porch and fill out an efficiency report by just listening to the bells.

John's favorite rooster, old Butch, was a very fine specimen, but this morning he noticed old Butch's bell hadn't rung at all!

When he went to investigate, he saw the other roosters were busy chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing, but the pullets, hearing the roosters coming, would run for cover.

To John's amazement, old Butch had his bell in his beak, so it couldn't ring.

He'd sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to the next one.

John was so proud of old Butch, he entered him in the Saint Lawrence County Fair and he became an overnight sensation among the judges.

The result was the judges not only awarded old Butch the "No Bell Piece Prize," but they also awarded him the "Pulletsurprise" as well.

:hilarious::hilarious::04::D:evilgrin10::conf13: ]]> Humor and Jokes TFF Admin http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14699 <![CDATA[Man Loses $22,000 In New 'Policing For Profit' Case]]> http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14698&goto=newpost Thu, 17 May 2012 03:28:55 GMT Read the story and watch the video. If this doesn't make your blood boil......you must not have much. :D

Also take note of the tatto covered, semi-literate freak job that is the cop who commited this act of domestic terrorism and highway robbery.

http://www.newschannel5.com/story/18...or-profit-case

http://whentennesseepigsfly.wordpres...ghway-robbery/ ]]> TFF Admin http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14698 Detroit groundskeeper turns in found gun and gets fired http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14697&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 20:32:44 GMT This poor guy finds a loaded gun while cutting a lawn for the city, and turns it in to the police. And his boss fires him and suspends the supervisor... This poor guy finds a loaded gun while cutting a lawn for the city, and turns it in to the police. And his boss fires him and suspends the supervisor for 30 days for knowing about the gun. More here:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/15...#ixzz1uzUE5NCS ]]> bontai Joe http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14697 Family Home Storage Center http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14696&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 02:00:12 GMT Our youngest was over today and he was telling us about this organization that's run by the LDS. Said it was open to the public 2 days a week. While we were out we decided to visit the center in Portland. Very nice people and showed us around and what they offered. Not a word about religion other than asking if we were a member of the church when we first arrived.

They offer a fairly large selection of food staples. Packaged in either #10 cans, foil packages or in bulk form. Most of the staples are good for 30 yrs storage. Prices didn't seem too bad considering the long term storage.

If you are in to emergency food storage this may be something to consider. There are these centers all over the country and I believe you can even order on-line for shipping. If you live close by the center near you may offer the loan of canners and canning supplies. Look over the link below and you should find a copy of their order form which includes prices.

http://www.providentliving.org/locat...26-1-4,00.html

Here is some additional useful info.

http://intelligentlivingpoes.wordpre...-pack-cannery/ ]]> Mickey http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14696 Bifocal Contacts http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14694&goto=newpost Mon, 14 May 2012 23:18:10 GMT I am doing a new experiment. ;-) I had this long "discussion" with the eye doctor about contacts and he may have won.:shocked2:

I used to wear regular contacts and then had reading glasses to go with them. Until my eyesight got even worse so now I am trying bifocal contacts. The problem is they aren't daily wear and would tend to get all gunky in a few days when they needed to last a month. So they said use special cleaner and now I do get more time out of them but it's not pleasant on the eyes.

The doctor said he had a new kind that would last a month and I wouldn't buy anything that is longer than two weeks. They were confusing the prescription over and over and pushing the month long. Then they insisted I try both again - well OK I'll show them right? :hilarious:

I put the month long ones in last week - take them out and soak them each night - that's a slight pain because I have to take it out of the bad eye first so I can see to put it away - take it out of the good eye and fumble to put on my glasses to get that one put away. I've got that pretty much down. However - I've been working out in the sun and dirt and rain and clippings all weekend and don't even know I have them in! Worked at the computer all day and while I still need low grade readers for up close work, 80% of what I read I can do without the readers so no more tilting my head back all day to see the screen! That has been the reason I wanted them but the bonus is I can really see! Everything is so clear and there isn't any tilting around to see up close. They are also tinted so I can see to put them in.:happy34:

I'll try the two week version tomorrow to see if there is a difference and get whichever is cheaper if they both work great. I think the month longs were alot cheaper.

Having such bad eyesight is a pain but I may have found the solution. Just wear my readers on my head (when they don't fall off some where!) and use them only for fine work.

The bifocal in bifocal contacts is a ring all around the edge of the contact so my eye just adjusts even if I am looking up at something! No more pain in the neck.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. ;-) ]]> Off-Topic Deberosa http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14694 Finally http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14693&goto=newpost Mon, 14 May 2012 20:41:37 GMT Wouldn't you know it, started planting on the hottest days of the yr so far.

After lunch yesterday went out and started planting. Worked at it a couple hrs till it got too hot and was about time to head over to the kids for Mothers day dinner.

Yesterday:
here's what I got planted Sun. Radishes, lettuce, carrots, Beets, Swiss Chard, Potatoes. Set the sprinkler out afterwards.

Today:
Went out after breakfast this morning and harvested some more rocks. Did the final tilling for another 20' section and started planting. Today, onions three varieties including Walla Walla's, some red and yellow keepers. Next got the GB's planted. Water going again. When I came in it was 81 and climbing.

With this heat wave we're having, ground has warmed up enough everything could be planted but a few starts in the green house are still too small. For sure I could plant corn as I switched over to an early variety. Reportedly 65 day, large ears and good taste. First yr for this variety and if it works out this could be the new standard bearer for here. Here is what I switched over to this yr. http://www.genericseeds.com/vegetabl...ous-corn-seeds

With the heat we're having, in the GH it's getting something like 110. Have got to water a couple times a day.

Time for a break. Wife wants to go to the grocery store today so that is what we'll be doing this afternoon. ]]> Garden Forum! Mickey http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14693 <![CDATA[If it weren't for Bad luck]]> http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14692&goto=newpost Mon, 14 May 2012 16:13:54 GMT Yep, it was one of those days, Fri. Was hoping to get some garden planted on Fri. Wanted to use my old GT with the tiller. It has been stored in a... Yep, it was one of those days, Fri. Was hoping to get some garden planted on Fri. Wanted to use my old GT with the tiller. It has been stored in a small shed since I moved here and hasn't been started.

Gave it a try and NO GO. Didn't take long to figure out points must be oxidized. Haul out a lot of tools to the shed. Went to work and that is when Murphy showed up at the door. Shed has no lights so is dim even with door open. Next, front of tractor is under a low laying shelf and is hard to work with that restriction. Got out the spendy FL shop light. Not that much light output and handle/balance makes for poor placement.

Points located below the intake manifold. Not wanting to take everything appart I didn't completely remove the intake, work space is tight. I ended up taking the point completely out to take to shop for better working conditions. Got down there and noticed the points spring was missing. DAMN!! walk from shed to shop >100', grass. What's the chance of finding a small spring in the grass? May have an answer, have an older mower with B&S engine, may be able to use the points spring. Got that engine partially disassembled to point noticing the engine was new enough to have electronic ign. Up to the house. Spent more than and hr checking and of the few small engine shops with-in maybe 20 mi, no one has a set of points and if they did, price was >$22. What next???

The wife being the kind of person she is she said she'd go look for the spring. Funny, she didn't even asked what it looked like. :( She was looking while I was still making calls.) I went outside and here she comes, she found the spring! :D:happy34: How's that possible :conf5:

Long story short, got things put back together and engine started right up and ran perfectly. Have done this once before, took no more than an hr and today, about 4hrs. :frown:

But Murphy wasn't done with me. Had plans to go for a drive with the kids Sat and take in a small tourist train ride. Decided to take the camcorder. Got it out, plugged in the charger, opened the tape transport door and sat the camcorder down on the nearby table. Turned around to get a new tape, and THUD! camcorder laying on the floor (padded carpet). Murphy helped out by insuring the camcorder landed on the open transport door. The mech is jammed but good and one link in the mechanism is bent and not in proper place. Ya don't want to know what was said next. Got on the net looking for camera repairs. Went to Canon site and clicked through the various pages. Looks like there is a flat rate for repairing the camera, $230.

To add insult to injury, I had gotten the still camera out and got it all ready to take. Sat it on the ledge next to the back door so I wouldn't forget it. Kids were late so it was a rush to get going. I forgot the camera.

And for good measure, Murphy had one more chore to do. Passenger side seatbelt on our son's car jammed in the retracted position. Made some attempts to no avail. DIL almost wouldn't get in the car but finally talked her in to it. Murphy departed and rest of the day was great.

SO! other than that, how was the show Mrs Lincoln? Hope your week end went better. ]]> Off-Topic Mickey http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14692 Grab hold of your check book http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14691&goto=newpost Fri, 11 May 2012 17:00:17 GMT Was watching business news last night and caught an article that may be of interest to some. After the market closed yesterday, JP Morgan/Chase... Was watching business news last night and caught an article that may be of interest to some.

After the market closed yesterday, JP Morgan/Chase announced they've lost 2 BILLION dollars in trading in last 6 weeks. CEO said due to sloppy and stupid decisions.

Several Fed agencies and administration have been asked to comment, but nothing.

If you do business with this company, you may want to keep a close eye on what is happening.

Here's one news article from this AM. http://www.cnbc.com/id/47377555 ]]> Mickey http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14691 A dougster moment http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14690&goto=newpost Thu, 10 May 2012 18:59:31 GMT Had one of those Dougster moments that only Doug can have.

Yesterday placed an on-line order from B&H for a new printer. Something didn't seem quite right with the transaction as I never received anything from either B&H or PayPal.

This AM for some reason I decided to check status of our checking account. Nothing about charge from PayPal but did notice a charge from some outfit for a purchase that was twice the cost of what I purchased from B&H. Scramble time.

Several hrs later after talking to B&H, PayPal & our bank think I have things straightened out. For some reason the printer purchase transaction was never completed according to B&H and PayPal, so need to place order again. Had to go down to our local bank branch. They were helpful. Had thoughts that false charge was somehow connected to printer purchase. Looks like that wasn't the case. Bank spoke with the Co. who charged my account. It was for some computer equipment but nothing I ordered. They had all my banking account info but ship-to address was for a town located near Seattle. Also turns out the order was canc. I will be credited for the charge. Did canc my cc/debit card and had a new one issued. Still wondering how my info was gained by whoever placed that order. I rarely use my card and normally on-line purchases placed through PayPal which is my wife's name.

Think things are straightened out now but am concerned where my account info was hacked. Numerous accounts need to be notified or my card change. ]]> Off-Topic Mickey http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14690 Time to make a change http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14689&goto=newpost Thu, 10 May 2012 16:40:15 GMT This past week my ole faithful Canon printer became ill. Printhead is clogged and I've not been able to correct it. Think I've had this printer for about 10 yrs as there is a tag on it saying I replaced the printhead 5 yrs ago. (take note I worked for HP for many yrs and my son currently is an eng for local HP printer div)

I think I have to place the blame for the printhead problem. I refill my cart and save a lot of money. I have to take the blame for this problem as I was aware the the ink changes over time and shouldn't use ink over a yr old. I think the ink I now have I bought just before we moved almost 2 yrs ago. So if you refill also, keep in mind not to let your ink get too old. ]]> Laptops to Desktops - The Computer Forum! Mickey http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14689 <![CDATA[Amazon "Free" Shipping Blues...]]> http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14688&goto=newpost Tue, 08 May 2012 11:07:49 GMT Warning: Rant Mode on! :angry19:

Ordered an item from Amazon last Tuesday morning. Went out of my way to make sure it was "In Stock" and "Ships from and sold by Amazon.com" in order to avoid any out-of-stock waits or third-party hassles.

I selected "Free" Super Saver Shipping... my other options being:

1-day shipping for $20.01
2-day shipping for $11.49
Standard shipping for $5.58

"Super Saver" shipping is actually noted as being slightly more costly than "Standard Shipping"... but then it is zeroed out with a credit. "Super Saver" shipping, in this case, used something called "Fedex Smartpost", which is a combination of Fedex and USPS handling. Fedex picks it up and delivers it to your local post office. Ultimate delivery to the house is by USPS.

So far, so good... but here is where things get squirrelly:

I had confirmed by phone that the item was, indeed, in stock (as reported on-line) and would be shipped from Amazon's Nashua, NH warehouse. Even if sent by horse-drawn cart, the item would arrive in Dougsterville, MA within 2 business days... so why pay for any sort of premium shipping? :conf5: Right??? :conf13:

But come to find out, Amazon purposely delays shipping of the item if shipping via the "Super Saver" option would allow it to arrive before 5 to 8 business days. They are apparently doing this to make you pay more even if it is totally unnecessary given the close shipping location. :mad:

In my case, they purposely delayed shipping for at least 5 full days even though the item was in stock and ready to go just 60 miles away. :frown:

Tracking shows that Fedex actually handled it reasonably efficiently once Amazon put it in their hands. It was shipped on Sunday afternoon and it arrived in Dougsterville very early the next (Monday) morning. But then it appears that the USPS dropped the ball. :rolleyes:

Fedex Smartpost apparently allows the USPS quite a lot of time to make that final home delivery. One would think that a package at the post office very early Monday morning would arrive here at Dougster Manor later that same day. Nope. :o

Turns out that the USPS has until Wednesday evening to deliver my package. In fact, it appears that the delay is, again, intentional and by design on the part of Amazon. And, of course, we will be off on our little mini-vacation by then (leaving Wednesday morning) ... so now we won't have the damn thing in hand until Saturday. :mad:

The lesson learned: Amazon Super Saver shipping is now being purposely delayed at the source in order to get you to spring for some form of paid shipping. To the best of my knowledge, it was not that way in the past. Anything time sensitive, like the item I just ordered, cannot be counted on to ship immediately even when (especially when?) they say it is in stock right nearby. :rolleyes10:

Needless to say, this has pissed me off bigtime and will make me think twice about ordering anything from Amazon just because they offer "Free" Super Saver shipping. In this case, it looks like I could have done a lot better going with an alternative source. :o

Buyer beware. I sure will be in the future. :rolleyes:

Note: Rant mode off. :angry19: Thank you for listening. ;) Returning to regular postings. :)

Dougster ]]> Off-Topic Dougster http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14688 Time so say goodbye http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14687&goto=newpost Sun, 06 May 2012 17:44:46 GMT Yesterday afternoon was a miserable time for us. Some may recall I recently mentioned our dog wasn't doing very well. Her body had been giving up for quite some time now. Having great difficulty getting up and walking, appetite wasn't very good for last couple months. Over last couple yrs she had lost at least half of her peak weight.

Fri evening she was unable to stand/walk long enough to make it to the garage where she sleeps. Still was unable to get up at first yesterday morning. The time had come for us to relieve her of her pain. Know she was in pain but she never let out a peep.

Was able to get her out doors with the aid of her leash to encourage her. Got her over to a secluded spot and got her relaxed. Said our good byes and it was soon over.

I was so worried she wouldn't go instantly but that was not the case. Don't mind saying we couldn't hold back the tears. Don't know why people can get so attached to their pets, especially their dogs. It will be a long time before we think about another dog.

Our cat, Skeeter, was best buddies with Roxie and we know he is going to notice something different, his buddy is missing. This morning Skeeter is acting funny and we're sure he knows something isn't right. They have been the best of friends for nearly 8 yrs and was not an unusual sight to see Skeeter laying down between Roxies legs. They were together yesterday morning.

Good bye ole buddy. :frown:
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]]> Off-Topic Mickey http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=14687