Glass half full or half empty...

In today's economy, it is hard to believe that someone (besides the big bad oil companies) is honestly profiting from high costs. Today's farmers are seeing record prices for their crops because of a global demand that hasn't been seen in 40 years. As fuel prices increase 25% from a year ago, crop selling prices have increased 100%! Last year, corn was selling for $3 a bushel and this year it is selling for $6. So when all is added and subtracted, the net profit for farmers this year is 40% higher than last year. I don't know about you, but my salary hasn't increased 40% this year. Now might be a good time to get into farming if you have the knowledge and a few hundred acres laying around. As you can see my one of my previous posts, I have a tractor so I am ahead of the curve!

Chas

Indiana Jones and the Kindom of the Crystal Skull

Over the long Memorial Day weekend I had a chance to see the new Indiana Jones movie, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I have been a big Indy fan from the first time that I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark. The new movie was a good, entertaining movie from start to finish. It was a movie that Lucas should have made about 10 or 12 years ago because Harrison Ford would have had an easier time making it in his 50's rather than in his 60's. Indy has lost a step or two and his whip cracking has slowed but it wasn't distracting, it was what you would expect from a 60 something year old. The movie was less about the search for the crystal skull artifact and more about the past relationship with Marion and his new relationship with Mutt (Shia LaBeouf). A must see for any Indy fan. Hopefully the movie franchise will continue with the next generation of Jones boys.

Chas

Oil execs do the "Potomac two step" again.

Yesterday Congress called the executives from the large oil companies to once again answer questions on the rising price of petroleum based fuel. And once again the execs tried to spin the focus on "aren't you mister big oil man concerned with your fellow Americans increasing burden of spending more and more of their monthly budget on gas" to "if you let us drill more in the US, then there would be more oil available on the market to lower prices". Then they were asked if they could lower their profits of an average of 600 billion and they reply that they have to answer to their share holders.
One of the main reasons for the expedited rise in Diesel fuel price is that we are EXPORTING diesel to countries like China and India because they pay more for it than we do in America. Shouldn't we be first in line for the fuel? Any surplus can be exported at a higher rate. We are giving this great country away, bit by bit.
Another puzzling thing is the oil reserve. We have been pumping oil into it for decades, yet it never fills up? Who is at the other end draining it out. How big can the storage tanks be? Is this just a shell game? How stupid do they think that we are??

Chas

Would you like some skin with your coffee??

Coffee shops have been one of the biggest growth markets for the past 10 years. We all know that Starbucks is the biggest player. They put up coffee shops on every corner, in every strip mall and right next to the small independent shop trying to squeeze them out of existence. So in order for the little guy to thrive, they have to have either great coffee or a unique atmosphere. Up here in Northern California, there was a coffee shop doing business as "Hot Coffee". All of the baristas wear bikinis as a way of getting customers (mostly male) to frequent their establishment. Unfortunately, Hot Coffee has closed it's doors because quite frankly, they didn't have good coffee to go with their steamy decorations. I just saw on the net, that a town in Washington state has 2 independent drive up coffee houses that are trying the skin and coffee approach. One of them has baristas in bikinis while the other has baristas with pasties! The small town is trying to shut them down. I am sure that they will fade away in time because the novelty with wear off. Click on the link to see the story for yourself.

Enjoy,
Chas

Time to get started again...

Hey there,
After taking a little time off of the blogging, it is time to get back in the game. Those of you whom have read my blogs know that I talk about everything and Cigars. During this past winter, I decided that I needed to get a tractor to help me work my hobby farm. So after doing some research, I decided to go back in time and get a vintage tractor to restore and USE. I bought a 1952 Ferguson TO-30. It was in good running condition. All original and not "farmerized". I went through it, took it apart, painted it and got it into field ready condition with everything working as it should. It was a fun project and I learned a lot along the way. The main site that I used for reference, parts and great advice was yesterdays tractor co. This is one great site with some very helpful people. Check it out. Here are a couple of pictures of my tractor.

Chas