Counting visitors to my blog

I just installed a new counter. I used to have one that worked really well. It was great. You could check who visited you and from where, but that site has apparently changed hands and my counter didn't show up anymore. Then a few weeks ago I got a hit counter from a different site and that one stopped working a few days ago. When I visited the site this morning and I wanted to re-install the counter I was shunted to some kind of advertising site. It is crazy. You can't visit any sites without being flooded with ads. Out of principal, I would never buy from these people. And sometimes you even get viruses or spyware. I'm constantly running adware to extract these invaders into my computer. I started the habit now of deleting my history every time I shut down my browser. It seems to work--sort of. There is always some stuff that manages to slip through. It is so annoying.

I got a different counter now. I hope it will work for a long time, because now I had to start again from Zero.

Why are there so many malicious people out there who want nothing but to create trouble and chaos? It is enough that we have to deal with those religious morons like ISIL who do nothing but commit atrocious crimes, murdering innocent people in the name of some ridiculous belief.  I wish there were a way to rid the world of all the criminals, Psychopaths, Fanatics, and the damned freeloaders who want to live off hardworking people's efforts.

Food for Thought

We had a rabbit for supper last night. It was delicious. Some people say rabbit tastes like chicken, but that is not so. Rabbit meat has a taste of its own. Rabbits breed like, well—like rabbits. If you have a pair in no time you have more. That’s why I don’t understand why rabbits are so expensive to buy, if you can find them in a store.

When I grew up in Germany we didn’t have much to eat. It was after the war and food was scarce. We were lucky in a way, because we lived in a small village. We raised rabbits for food. We also had a couple of goats for milk and butter and cheese. We didn’t own any land anymore, so the only way to feed the rabbits was to go and cut grass in the ditches. That’s what we fed them—grass. Hay in the winter. You couldn’t buy any fancy rabbit food.

The same went for our two goats. It was my job to take them down the road and let them feed on grass in the ditch.

That brings me to a new topic. It got me thinking of our Indigenous People, the ones who live on Reservations. They complain about the price of food and the little money they have and the poor conditions they live in.

Why don’t they raise rabbits and why don’t they have goats? It would create work for them and perhaps keep the young people from being bored. They’d need to built cages for the rabbits, they would have to go out and harvest grass to feed the rabbits. The cages need to be cleaned periodically. I know about that, because we did it. The goats eat pretty much anything. They supply milk and the milk is healthy, even for people with allergies. They would have butter and cheese. Of course, it would mean some work. You get nothing from doing nothing. They would not lose their welfare checks, because it would not be considered an income, but it would surly safe them money.

I never could understand why they don’t have gardens. A garden is great to have. It doesn’t cost much to put in seeds. It would keep them busy also with weeding and watering and picking vegetables, especially the young people and they would learn a lot and get plenty of experience how to take care for themselves when they grow up. Everything at a low cost and it is healthy to boot. I have a garden and it is fun and the vegetables taste much better than the bought stuff.

Or how about raising sheep? Or just keeping a few chickens for eggs and food? I’m sure there are many other things they could do to be busy and to raise their standard of living and keep the young people out of trouble. It would also give them confidence in their abilities.

Fixing their houses and painting them would also help.

Just thinking.

#Free Stuff

Sometimes I am baffled. I tried to sell a Home Theater System for twenty bucks. It is used, but not that old. We bought a new one a couple of years back, because this one doesn't have Blue Ray. There is nothing wrong with it. The whole thing is like new. 5 Speakers and 1 sub-woofer. Remote and manual included. I put it on Kijiji. I didn't get one call, not even an inquiry.

I want to get rid of it, but I don't want to take it to the dump. It would be such a shame, because it isn't broken. So yesterday I put it back on for FREE, hoping to get at least one call. Well, within in minutes of it going live I got the first call. I told the lady I'll keep it for her. No sooner did I put down the phone somebody else called. After that the phone didn't stop ringing and I also got a bunch of emails asking if it is still available. I took it off the market right away.

As I said, I'm baffled. People don't have twenty bucks or even ten, but when it's free they suddenly want it.


It snowed again last night. This morning everything was white, but the snow melted and it is almost gone now. What an April we are having! I guess, if it were warmer this would all be coming down as rain. So that way we are lucky. Can't keep the car clean with weather like this. The streets are always wet.

The birds are coming in huge flocks to the feeder; mostly sparrows, though. The ones this morning were quite small and I'm not quite sure if all of them were sparrows. I have a feeling they are just passing through. There must have been at least three dozen in the feeders, in he shrubs, and on the ground. Lucky for them, I filled both feeders last night.

#Gasoline Pricing

I am not a happy guy today. Yesterday, I filled up my truck. It was quite empty. I drove by a Domo Gas bar and saw the price of gas advertised at 83.9 cents, but I didn't fill up there, because I get my gas at the #Co-op. I'm a loyal customer. When I got there the price was 91.9 cents per liter. I filled up anyway. For $ 67.00.  Since I'm a member I get a rebate at the end of the year.

Well, when I drove by the same Co-op gas station a couple of hours later the price had dropped to 83.9 cents. That really pissed me off. Why don't all the garages drop their price at the same time? And why not early in the morning instead of doing it in the middle of the afternoon? I could have saved six bucks. Also, I think they should have some kind of 'Price-Drop' warranty. Next time I won't be a loyal customer and get my gas where I get the best deal.

How can they justify these huge fluctuations in the price anyway?

I wish I had an Electric Car, but I don't have an extension cord long enough to reach from my house to where I'm driving. The batteries they use don't last very long. The designers and builders of electric cars still have a long way to go before they have one that will replace the gasoline driven vehicles. And, they need to be much cheaper to buy.

Solar energy is free and and we would not be held hostage by the oil companies any longer, but as long as the oil companies and certain other interests call the shots there will never be any electric cars. They'll see to that. Not until all the oil wells have run dry.

Good night. I hope I can sleep.

#The Revenant

Last night we watched the movie 'The Revenant'.

Wow! What a movie. So different from the stuff we usually watch on TV these days. No cops and robbers; no martial arts; no zombies, either. And no stupid jokes. This movie was deadly serious. I'm sure glad I'm not an actor, especially one starring in a demanding movie like this one. I was getting cold just watching it. It makes one realize how violent humans are, how violent the history of humans is. There is very little that is nice and comforting in this movie.

I can only recommend this movie, but don't watch it if violent movies disturb you. The Revenant shows the stark reality of human nature and strips away the thin civilized veneer we wear and hide behind.

Go, watch it.

Obversations in the Mall

Last week I was sitting again from 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM in one of the Malls trying to sell raffle tickets for my hunting and fishing club.

Selling tickets is a waiting game—waiting for somebody to stop and buy one. It reminded me very much of the times when I sit in my deer-stand waiting for a deer to come by. Both activities can be quite boring. From my deer-stand I don’t see much most of the time, perhaps a coyote or two and the odd bird. The highlight is the moment when I see a deer and get a chance to shoot at it. Should I be successful then that’s it. The wait is over. Time to pack up.

Not so in the Mall. I get a thrill every time somebody stops and buys a ticket. But that’s not where it ends. Contrary to my deer-stand, where not much happens the majority of time, the Mall is a busy place.

Shoppers as well as non-shoppers walk by my desk (deer-stand) all day long. And I watch them. As I watch, my thoughts take me back to a different time and place—to the time when I was young.

We took pride in our appearance. We wore nice, clean clothes. We polished our shoes. We had descent hair styles. (Forget about the way the Rolling Stones and some of the other bands in those days looked!). I am disappointed how our youth and some older people walk around. Ill-fitting clothing, holes in their pants; some don’t even look clean. Purple, blue, and green hair; unkempt hair and ridicules hairstyles. Even though it is still winter outside, some walk around in flip-flops on their feet; some were sneakers without socks; some sneakers are filthy with laces untied. Shirts not tucked in; mismatched colors, and more.

However, I have to admit that my disappointed and judgmental feelings disappeared when one of them stopped for a little chat and actually bought a raffle ticket.

I guess, these are just different times and as long as we all get along it doesn’t really matter how we look and what we wear, as long as it isn’t a bomb strapped around our bodies (Sorry, couldn’t help myself. Had to sneak that one in). Perhaps young people are more tolerant than us old fogies and that is a good thing.

There is hope after all.

#Snow, Snow, go away, come again another Day—like in November

Will this winter ever end? Most of the snow was gone—for the second time. This afternoon it began snowing, very gently at first, with barely visible flakes. Now the flakes have grown and they are coming down. Everything is already covered up again in a white blanket. And this is supposed to go on until tomorrow with high winds tomorrow. It’s a good thing I still have gasoline in the snow blower.

I know this is April 1, but this is not an April-fool’s joke. I wish it were.

I’ve been sort of busy already planning my garden. All the seeds in my containers, mostly peppers, have sprouted and I’ve moved them onto a shelf under a fluorescent light. I’m keeping the light close to the plants, because I don’t want them to become leggy. If they do become leggy, it is not a tragedy. Peppers are like tomato plants. You can bury the whole stem in the soil and let only the part with the leaves stick out. The buried part of the stem will develop roots.

I didn’t know that until only a few years ago. Every site tells you to plant them to the level they are in the pot when you buy them (or grow them yourself). In fact I read on one of the sites that you cannot bury the plants deeper than to that level. That is false. Because most of my home-grown pepper plants have always been leggy, I buried the stem deep and never had problems with that.

Keeping the light close to the plants so they don’t stretch toward the light and keeping them cool helps to stunt them. Also, either using a fan to blow air across them or just blowing across the plants a few times a day causes them to grow thicker stems. It simulates the wind outside.

Having a garden is a lot of work. You have to water the plants and you have to pick the weeds that always make an appearance, but it is also fun. Nothing better than picking your own sweet tomatoes, beets, beans, and peppers. Lettuce grown in the garden is pesticide-free and I don’t have to worry about maybe eating some kind of bacteria that will make me ill.

It also provides plenty of entertainment. You have to fight off the rabbits, deer, voles, mice, and other rodents. Birds also like to help themselves to certain vegetables.

Ants make their home n the garden to milk the aphids that invade your peppers. You become innovative and cunning, trying to fight off the unwelcome intruders into your paradise. There are hardly dull moments. But a garden also offers you pleasing things like watching the bees and small insects flitting from bloom to bloom for the nectar, in turn pollinating your plants. There are beautiful butterflies and their caterpillars. Sure, the caterpillars nibble on some of the plants, but that’s okay. I plant enough for them.

So all we need now is for it to stop snowing and for the snow to melt again. We need plenty of sunshine to dry the soil so I can get into my garden. I’m already looking forward to that. After all, the calendar says it is springtime. 

 Is it?