Mark@Sea

Big thumbs up to Mary!

No way I could fill the thing in. It is a good 150x100x20-25 feet. Anyway, the wife says the sinkhole is too far from the house....

I don't care what he plays with - but if he's going to do it in public, I for one have no interest in watching.

With delivery/setup, it'll run about 3K. Then add a little for gravel underneath, and a bit of block work to build a stairwell down to it, and whatever its' gonna cost me for a heck of a lot of fill dirt.

Ralph, you couldn't reinforce your argument with a 4x4 and a roll of duct tape. If by some chance you come up with intelligent debate, you really should let us know. It would be a refreshing change from your usual mixture of insult, stale communist slogans, and debunked BS. The casual insult of TGO'ers was pretty much the last straw for me. Quit wasting my time, troll.

TAX FOUNDATION: Tax Burden of Top 1% Now Exceeds That of Bottom 95%. “Newly released data from the IRS clearly debunks the conventional Beltway rhetoric that the ‘rich’ are not paying their fair share of taxes. Indeed, the IRS data shows that in 2007—the most recent data available—the top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 40.4 percent of the total income taxes collected by the federal government. This is the highest percentage in modern history. By contrast, the top 1 percent paid 24.8 percent of the income tax burden in 1987, the year following the 1986 tax reform act.” Say, Ralph, what does that do for your "Welfare for the Rich" idea? Nice tantrum? A response that actually references real world results which are inconvenient to your argument is a tantrum. Well, doubtless flinging poo is easier than refuting facts. Say, when you come up with something more original than Obamas' latest talking points and 'the blame game', would love to hear it. From where I (and an overwhelming majority of citizens) stand, the health care bill is a trainwreck. Frankly, Congress seems to think so, too - reference the defeated amendment to require Congress and their families to abide by the requirements of the bill for their own healthcare. *come to think of it, 'the blame game' pretty much IS Obamas' argument. Biggest deficit in history? Blame Bush. Economy in the tank? Wasn't me! Healthcare problems? Its' those evil insurance companies. Energy too high? Those greedy people who insist on light and heat in their homes are at fault. Jeez, its' like listening to a broken record.

Diluted vinegar will remove bluing.

Incompetence at what, exactly? Political doublespeak? B.S? Her approval numbers in Alaska were extremely high, so apparently a lot of people were pretty happy with someone who tells it like it is, rather than soft-soaping their way out.

"Give back a little" of what? Oh, their income. What belonged to them to start with... Hey, anyone remember the economic conditions prevailing when Reagan took office? Stag-flation, high unemployment and so forth? So the result of Reagans' "welfare for the rich" was a robust economy, very low unemployment, and higher standards of living for all.... Recovery from the Jimmuh Carter era of "tax the rich to feed the poor". Oh, sorry, not supposed to remind anyone of Carter, his policies and the economic results, lest the O be compared to same... my bad. Does that make me a racist? Naturally, pharmaceuticals and insurance companies are the villains as well. That an overwhelming majority of medical advances are made by US pharmaceuticals (who have a financial interest in creating new solutions) rather than, say, french companies who can't sell new products for enough to recoup their investment - much less that evil 'profit' - has no bearing. Ralph, your numbers on foreclosures due to illness... I find two primary sources for them. An outfit in Canada that sells (wait for it) illness insurance, and "Physicians for a National Health Program". Would you have any better, more credible sources? Like maybe someone who actually works in the mortgage industry? I'm pretty sure that the majority of foreclosures are due to 1)loss of work 2)walking away from too much debt. At any rate, I've seen this argument debunked many months ago. Actually, my previous statement stands. You want something that belongs to someone else provided to you through the good offices of the government. You can't really pretty it up enough to disguise it as anything more than that.

Scares you too, huh ralph?

It's simple. He can't afford to pay for what he wants. Having the government force you to pay for him is the solution. Neater and less troublesome than mugging, I suppose, but can't see a practical difference in the results.

The Dems just aren't gonna stop until she is totally destroyed... "The independent investigator who has accused Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin of violating state ethics laws is a major donor to the Democratic Party as well as a partner in a law firm that represented Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Thomas Daniel was hired by the Alaska Personnel Board in late April to investigate several complaints against Palin, including one filed by an Alaska resident who claims the governor used her official position for personal gain by authorizing the creation of a trust to use as her legal defense fund. In a July 14 report leaked to The Associated Press and major news organizations, Daniel accused Palin of drawing improper gifts and unwarranted benefits. His report recommended that Palin refuse to accept payment from the defense fund and settle the complaint to avoid a formal hearing before the board. Palin's supporters say the governor, who will resign on Sunday, needs the legal fund because of a quirk in Alaska law that prevents state officials from defending the state's chief executive against ethics allegations. "The whole situation is nuts," said John Coale, a prominent Washington attorney who helped set up the legal fund, which so far has accepted $500,000 in donations. "Alaska has an ethics law that is unsustainable." Coale also accused the personnel board of being "either vicious or idiotic" to hire Daniel, whose law firm is closely tied to the Democratic Party. Daniel has contributed $3,500 in recent years to Democratic causes, including $1,500 to Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign in 2004 and $1,000 to Alaska Sen. Mark Begich's senatorial campaign last year. The law firm where he is a partner, Perkins Coie, serves as counsel of record for the Democratic Party and its candidates, and attorneys there recently represented Obama's presidential campaign."

Paranoid or statistic. Pretty easy choice, I think.

Looks like the barger and sons shelter will do the trick. Now trying to figure out where to put it.

T-mobile, a pair of G1's. Good net, good apps, good prices. Battery life is the suxxxx.

Sue's home shotty is an exposed-hammer coach gun. Simple, works, is safely loaded, no slide to pump, no safety to disengage, just rock the hammers back and ride. Mine, well, I have a Remmy model 11 (18 inch barrel) in the hidey hole, a Winny 1300 somewhere convenient downstairs, a model 500 in the home office and a '97 riot clone in the bedroom. Not that I bought 'em all at once, but as opportunities to get one on the cheap pop up, I try to take advantage. One in the hand is a heck of a lot better than one in the back of the closet in the upstairs bedroom on the other side of the house. My one experience with home invasion (long time ago, and not in TN) left me with the overriding consideration being how many seconds it takes to get it in your hands. If it is more than 10, you might as well not have it. * yeah, I know that having all the same model would be a lot better in terms of training, but it didn't work out that way. The pump guns have an empty chamber, saftey disengaged, just pump and go. No kids in the house. The Remmy is even easier, it is an early model with the large safety inside the trigger guard - remembering to disengage it is very easy. ** ten seconds is a long, long, long long, looooong time, in some circumstances.

I have a couple caves on the property, but they are (apparently) to small for entrance. It'd take a lot more time, work and money to make them into what I am looking for than is practical. One is halfway up the side of the cliff, so thats' out on account of I'm too old to play tarzan anymore. A sinkhole is what is left after the cavern collapses. There may (probably) or may not be another cavern below. Certainly cracks and crevasses where the water flows. This one is very old, and apparently stable (LARGE trees in the bottom). I'd love to get in there with a backhoe, as there is still a small entrance on one end (been a lair for a momma fox as long as I've lived there). Unfortunately I must have left my backhoe in my other pants... Looked at the barger and sons storm shelter, which may fit the bill. I'm going home for the weekend ( a guy here on the ship would like some coleman lanterns, I'm going to rebuild a few and bring them back down for him) and will be looking around for a better site for it. Needs to be close to the house, needs to be 5+ feet underground. Biggest problem is that just a few feet down you hit rocks. Big effin rocks, the size of the garage, some of them. Easiest solution is find a spot down the side of the hill and bring in a bunch of fill dirt. Spot the shelter and backfill the heck out of it.

It's probably 100 feet across, maybe 20 feet deep at one end. That'd take a lot of filling.

Got a phone # or e-mail? I have a fair sized sinkhole on the property. Figured I would put it in along one side and cover it up. It'd be at least 5 or 6 feet deep, maybe more. I could use block to build a passageway.

I've wanted a good storm shelter for years, and now Sue is getting into canning - very enthusiastically. I need a temperature stable shelter of some sort. Like a root cellar, I suppose... So I'm thinking the best way to go is a buried shelter. Something pre-fab would be preferable. I've thought about buying a conex box, or going with (don't laugh) the biggest pre-fab septic tank I can find. A very large hole I've got... and I've heard that for optimum temps it should be 8 to 10 feet down. Any suggestions, thoughts, or points of contact for something like this?

Mike, I'm asking $175 ea. for the piettas, does that sound like a good price? You're the Remmy guy...

Will post pics tonight. As of now, my brother-in-law adopted the '51 reb navy (you can just leave that one here, he says...). Got a strong interest in the stainless '58, but nobody loves the pietta blued / fake ivory (I think it is PVC, actually) '58's.

She got her HCP, but will she register on TGO? Nooo.... so I feel schizoid when I see her post under my login at home. Glad she doesn't have a taste for practical jokes!

Thanks everyone for the things you have said. No time to think,just act. Mark drilled into me the importance of practice and I did just that. Never would have believed I would actually have to pull while in the drivers seat but practiced pulling from the seat without looking at it, everytime...just before I left the house. Today,never left his eyes,just put my hand,where I always keep it and next thing I knew,it was in his face. Never paniced...just did the routine. I can't thank Mark enough for keeping on me about this. He saved my life today. I have had a carry permit since July 2005 and just went to the DMV to renew last week. $50.00 well worth spending!