BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

Dateline: Pullman, WA, October 29,2006

I'M RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT!

My ONLY plank is:

No more switching TO/FROM Daylight Savings Time!
All states will be on permanent Daylight Savings Time.

If you like this - Write my name in for PRESIDENT

PHOTO OF THE DAY - 10/28/2006

From The Archives
Honolulu, May 2004

(CLICK photo for a larger image.)

PHOTO OF THE DAY: October 27, 2006

The "Official" R J Ranch windsock is finally in place on the barn/hanger.

(Upon seeing the windsock, Jacquie asked, "What's that written on the side?" I replied, "R J Ranch." She looked at it again and said, "It probably should have said 'Buy Viagra'".)

Time To Think About Your Vote

The voting time is just around the corner. I urge everyone to make the effort to cast your vote ... Your future happiness and way of life may depend upon it.

You may know, if you've followed the news, that the control of the entire congress seems up for grabs. The Democrats are said, jokingly, I'm sure, to already have ordered the champagne and noise-makers and the Republicans are saying that it's probably "in the bag," for them. Actually, neither party really has a clue as to what will happen.

Let me give you my simple voting suggestion:

What is the worlds greatest challenge? I think it's the immediate and growing threat of terrorism. Oh sure, global warming "may" be a threat many years from now, but even that is debatable. There is NO debate about terrorism!

At no time in my lifetime have I seen anything, excepting WWII, (When I was a young boy) that could actually alter the way we live as Americans. The current threat is REAL and IMMEDIATE. It cannot be minimalized or "wished away."

So here's my voting hint:

Think about the terrorists: Think about Iran; Think about North Korea; Think about Hugo Chavez; Think about al-Qaeda; Think about potential suicide bombers; Think about the folks that would love to see us "cut & run" in Iraq.

Now, if it were possible for those people to vote in our election, who would they vote for????

You vote for the opposite candidate!

(Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out, does it!)

PHOTO OF THE DAY - October 20, 2006

Just Before Sunrise

CLICK photo for a latger image

PHOTO OF THE DAY: October 19, 2006

NEOPOLITAN SUNSET
Tonight's sunset at the R J Ranch.

The bottom layer is the shadowed wheat field.
The next layer is the wheat field lighted by the late evening sunlight.
The next layer is the wheat field after being "disked."
The top layer is the remaining dark storm clouds, after today's rain.

(CLICK photo for a larger image)

Ps: This is now my new desktop wallpaper!

NO HUNTING

We have posted "NO HUNTING" signs all around the R J RANCH property. You'd be amazed at the number of people that drop in and ask if they can hunt on our property. Just driving in, they pass two very conspicuous NO HUNTING signs. I don't get mad about them asking, in fact, I am glad they do. We're always friendly and neighborly about it. If Jacquie isn't around, I usually blame her for the no hunting: "My wife just doesn't like hunting." I'm sure that when I'm not around, it's: "My husband just doesn't like hunting."

Today, we raised the bar: We were working on the barn, this morning, when we heard the distinctive noise of a 4-wheeler buzzing around our property line, on top of the hill - out of sight. Since there is nothing but wheat fields from our property line back, they had to be checking out the tree and brush area on our property for game. (It's also clearly posted.) Jacquie spotted them, at the property line, appearing to be looking down into the thick tree and underbrush area.

I told Jacquie, "I'm going to have a little fun." I quickly pulled the helicopter out of the barn and fired it up. They must have heard or saw me do that, so they skedaddled out of there, but not before I got the chopper airborne and like a Forward Air Controller in Laos, I located them over the next ridge and made it quite clear that they had been spotted. (I wish I had one of our "target marking rockets" that we used in Laos!) They had their orange hunting vests on and the only reason for them to be where they were was to hunt for deer on our property. (We had been warned by the previous owner that hunters might come sneaking on to our property from over the hill.) I bet they don't try that again! I’m still laughing about what they must have thought.

Ps: Our neighbors told us a couple of weeks ago that there seems to be a rumor going around that there is a HUGE buck deer hiding out in the thick treed area of our property ... and everyone want to shoot it. Oh well ...

PHOTO OF THE DAY - 10/11/2006

Early Morning Contrails

5:55AM

(CLICK photo for a larger image)

From The Archives

ELECTRIFYING!

On the right is "Ol' Yeller," the 100% electric powered 1979 VW Rabbit that I drove around California (But, not very far!) for a couple of years and later sold it.

On the left is my 1986 VW Cabriolet that I plan on converting to full-electric power as soon as I "get-to-it." Additionally, because we have so much sunlight here, I'd also like to recharge the battery pack with a solar cell panel, thereby making it fully self-sufficient.

Right now, it's sitting in our barn gathering dust ... and dripping oil.

PHOTO OF THE DAY - 10/5/2006

FOGGY MORNING SUNRISE

(CLICK photo for a larger image)

What is a BILLION?

The next time you hear a politician use the word "billion" in a casual manner, think about whether you want the "politicians" spending your tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

a. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
b. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
c. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
d. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
e. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the
rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans. It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division:

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu, is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number, what does it mean?

a. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you each get $516,528.
b. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787.
c. Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D.C .. HELLO!!! ... Are all yourcalculators broken??

This is too true to be very funny:

Tax his land,
Tax his wage,
Tax his bed in which he lays.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes is the rule.
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirts,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.
Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he tries to think.
Tax his booze,
Tax his beers,
If he cries, Tax his tears.
Tax his bills,
Tax his gas,
Tax his notes,
Tax his cash.
Tax him good and let him know
That after taxes, he has no dough.
If he hollers, Tax him more,
Tax him until he's good and sore.
Tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in which he lays.
Put these words upon his tomb,
"Taxes drove me to my doom!"
And when he's gone,
We won't relax,
We'll still be after the inheritance TAX!!
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax),
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax),
Liquor Tax,
Luxury Tax,
Marriage License Tax,
Medicare Tax,
Property Tax,
Real Estate Tax,
Service charge taxes,
Social Security Tax,
Road Usage Tax (Truckers),
Sales Taxes,
Recreational Vehicle Tax,
School Tax,
State Income Tax,
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA),
Telephone Federal Excise Tax,
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax,
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax,
Telephone State and Local Tax,
Telephone Usage Charge Tax,
Utility Tax,
Vehicle License Registration Tax,
Vehicle Sales Tax,
Watercraft Registration Tax,
Well Permit Tax,
Workers Compensation Tax.

COMMENTS: Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago And there was prosperity, absolutely no national debt, The largest middle class in the world and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What the hell happened?????


Ps: Yesterday, I bought some fuel for the R J Ranch chopper at the
Ellensburg, WA, airport. To my surprise, the following taxes were added:

1) Fuel Federal Excise Tax: $3.72
2) Washington State Aviation Tax: $2.11
3) County "Flowage" Tax. (Whatever the hell that is!): $1.15
4) Sales Tax: $6.11