CHAINSAWS AND PULL START LAWNMOWERS

*If you have ever had a back injury, this might be for you! Disclaimer: If you use this blog for advice and you get hurt, it's your responsibility. You would have to be crazy to take this advice. . .

HORTICULTURE - FOR BETTER OR WORSE
-----------------------------------------------

The Horticultural World has many offerings to use for your diversion and entertainment. However, there are some parts of this hobby that are not so enjoyable. Most people wouldn't like being in the dirt all day and having blisters from hard work, but some people actually enjoy this form of lifestyle. I like farming, and I know that it takes quite a lot of money to do this, but I would like to have something to eat occasionally.

Portion control - If you are not watching how much you eat, you can perpetuate a back injury.

Test trial - Go out to your garage, if you have one, or if not, ask to take over the mowing responsibilities at your apartment complex. Make sure you have a pull start on every machined tool you can find, and pull. If you are having trouble with your back, you will know it after trying to start unfamiliar lawn equipment. If the equipment is yours, you already know the score. The best part is, trying to figure out which neighbor it was that tuned your carburetor into a puddle maker inside your combustible engine.

Back to farming, if you like to eat and you don't have a back injury, that's great. It would be better if you didn't have one. Let's leave the farming to the experts here. I will probably have a lawn service do my mowing from now on anyway, while I figure out how to get hold of one of those super tractors that can pull up a huge tree stump out of the field. Ouch, and the medical bills are much more expensive after the damage is done.

Yours truly,

Bruce W. Raulston

THE BIGGER THE CITY THE MORE THE GAMBLE

Friends,

Have you ever looked at city life and thought?.... "There must be people in the city that want to move to the country, and people in the country who want to move to the city." Like everyone has a choice, and even famous people who don't want to leave the city have to leave because of the harassment they receive. Also, thinking like this becomes an extreme form of thinking too. It may become an absolute statement like, "Everyone must want to move to the country who live in the city, and vice-versa, everyone must want to move to the city who live in the country."

THE GRASS IS NOT ALWAYS GREENER
-------------------------------------------

Listen, if you were a cow, and some of us might feel like one from time to time, you would be ripping apart your neck to get to that fresh green grass that is on the other side of the fence because you are tired of your cohort who just laid a fresh pattie of crap where you liked to lay under the big oak tree you love so much. Well, it's not much different where you are probably living now, the only problem is, you can't get the Morris estate just because you have a tabby, and you can't take over the petting zoo and be a playmate pet if you are a guy, and be a penthouse pet if you are a girl, unless you cheat.

If you find these things, you are fortunate, but if you ask the average person they may say that even if they had something like that, it wouldn't last long, and it might cause more problems down the line.

So, in fairness to the people who have a certain lifestyle, I give some credit for a successful search, but honestly, you don't get paid money to curse the Governor to make people think you are the worst enemy, and the fresher the money is, the more authorities suspect you of being a counterfeiter.

Periodically, we all have some time to sit and think about life and where we are taking it, and some may call that leisure. If you had to take more then your usual share of leisure time, what would you do with it?

Now, if your leisure time were to extend far enough that you would not have any difficulties doing what you want, you would have people running after you with cameras, trying to figure out why you are so happy-go-lucky and fancy free. You wouldn't like that after about two months; or in some cases, people may last two years before they are tired of it.

You will get tired of it.

It's like a barbed wire fence to have fame sometimes, and everyone thinks it's so great. It is illusory that you will have so much fun and so many friends, and you have no idea what it costs you. If you want to be famous, work hard enough for it.

Take it from me, if you are well-known, it better be for a good reason, or they will tear you apart.

Thanks for your time,

Bruce W. Raulston

THE LONELIEST ITEMS AT THE STORE

Friends,

If you have the time and aren't rushed too much, you might want to investigate this archive at your earliest convenience. This is merely an overview of what I saw, but you can take some time and find out what only the grocery manager knows first hand.

POPULAR ITEM OR NOT
--------------------------

If you shop frequently and you have some extra paper, try listing the things at the store you find to be not selling so well and the possible reason.

When you go through the vegetable section at the store please note the acorn and butternut squash, and you might also consider the mustard greens also. These items might not be running off the shelves, but they are still good to eat. Of course, you might want to consider the papaya and also the horseradish. Anaheim peppers also need a customer or two don't you think?

Now off to the cheese selection you go, and what do you think of the great aromas you will find? The older the better in some cases but this gets a little extreme. Blue cheese is great on salads, and the more colorful it is, the better the smell right? This is the section that only the proficient in medicine do very well in, but you can try to peel off some wax if you want to experience the most of what the cheese selection has to offer. Aphrodisiacs? Maybe, but you might drive some people off when you try to explain yourself.

The specialty meats are some of the best offerings the store has to show a customer, and the better you are in the kitchen at home the more you can make out of it. Anchovy paste is what traditionally goes into Ceaser Salad dressing. The better you get at making it, the better you will look too. Now, everyone whose religion doesn't stop them from eating it, you have crab in the can, and sardines, smoked oysters and anchovies. Pizza was where the anchovies went when I remember their consumption, but where did sardines go into and what recipe calls for them? I believe if you can mask over the smell, you can get a fairly good meal out of sardines. Smoked oysters are really tasty, but if you put them in stuffing like the recipe calls for, you might not have any people over for Thanksgiving dinner again.

When it comes to crackers and cookies, the yellow colored ones seem to go the slowest, but there are enough selections of pre-made shortbread and specialty crackers to go with that clearance braunsweiger sausage you found on mark down. I like the Melba toast, and you know it tastes a lot like Captain Crunch™ cereal if you like milk, peanut butter and some honey. Honey buns are a nice staple and those pinwheel cinna-mini-buns are to die from. Take my word, when you go to the bagged chip aisle, don't forget the Bugles™ and the Corn-Nuts™.

Please get the sour cream with the seal attached to the top of the tub, and if you eat the plain flavored yogurt in the quart sized tub, don't pick a fight with me unless I had one too.

Thanks for your time,

Bruce W. Raulston

HOW BIG OF A BANDAGE DO YOU NEED?

Friends,

When you go to the store, do you ever stop and think about getting band-aids™ or ace bandages™? There's reason why those things are by the pharmacy in fact, and you may be better off having those things handy at your home in case of a minor scrape. I was always bumping into things, and no matter what happened, there was always the comfort that came along with having self-medicating remedial items at home.

HOW LONG A BANDAGE?
---------------------------

No matter how often you look where you are going or clear the path to the shed or garage, or even closet for that matter, you are bound to kick the small corner of the wall between the bathroom and closet, or slide off the side of the staircase and scuff up a little. We are designed to withstand this, and the pain sensation is a good reminder that we are fallible, with very little time until we find it out. If you are wise, and you would like to think you are, you will have at least a large band-aid™ in your medicine cabinet.

How long a bandage do you need though?

"I'm looking at a possible twenty foot bandage that I will possibly need on my fractured leg, and I am not sure if it is even going to be long enough. I didn't have any pain when I walked to the drugstore, but I was sure tired when I got back," quoting myself as thinking right now.

You can really cut off the blood flow with a bandage that has elastic thread in it.

It's like the socks that you get when they were really pressed for time producing them, and ran the machine twice as fast and made the socks twice as narrow.

I am going to forgo the bandage here. I hope you get the intent of this story.

Have a good day,

Bruce W. Raulston

LIFE - A CHESS GAME? - I'D HOPE NOT

Friends,

It's inevitable that we find similarities to board games in our lives. You can't really choose what game others play in fact, and most would balk at your implying that a "game" is involved.

WHICH BOARD GAME ARE YOU ON?
---------------------------------------

Nowadays, you have certain responsibilities you rely on for your comfort, but have you ever realized what comfort there is in recognizing your surroundings as a board game? Competitiveness is a fact of life and you should embrace it like you would your shaver or maybe even a golf bag sometimes. Everyone realized the complications after a loss, whether it was planned or not. "This is not a game," is what I usually say, but it isn't true in all cases.

Can you amalgamate your surrounding to streamline your efforts? Try...

1) The Knight comes out to fight and seeing there is not anyone to match him, rests a while.

2) The Bishop darts out to find whether or not there is guilt or a moral contest, but is humble.

3) Everyone relates with the Pawn in that you're small in comparison to others, but decisive.

4) The Castle is difficult to move but extends all around, and takes what it sees.

5) The Queen is very willful and defiant, but not everyone recognizes her until it's too late.

6) The King is poised, noble and protected, but for how long, and for what does he stand for?

7) All games have icons, vestiges, points of reason, and even purpose.

When you go about your daily activities, could you use this interpretation in your routine?

Your friend,

Bruce W. Raulston

WRITE YOURSELF A WILL - DON'T DIE INTESTATE

Dear friends,

When you see your family and friends, and you have something you want to say, but you can't actually put it into words in one setting, you may need to consider a will.

WRITE SOME WILLS
----------------------

You will find that most people rarely think about this extremely personal action, and there are many options for people who have never thought of this act. It is very obscure and portentous but wills are a part of everyday life. Your act of volition says volumes about you everyday; in what you wear, drive, eat, and how often you bathe even; so it is very important that you present your will as a remedy in case something happens. Most people start to think about this in their thirties, and it doesn't take that long at all to satisfy this thought. You need to remember that everyone has personal possessions, even a person who is considered hapless, so you should think of these things as a remedy within yourself. This is a personal decision you make to relate to those around you what you intend to do, and what you desire to have done.

Remember:

1) Preparing a will can be a personal event for you in your leisure time.

2) Researching forms at the library doesn't take that long.

3) When you write a will, you will make a better life, and you can make your wishes privately.

4) Oftentimes people die intestate, so keep this in mind.

5) If you intend to live to a certain age or if you have a desire for a long life, make it known.

6) Just because you want to live longer, doesn't make you selfish, and you are entitled.

7) Write a small synopsis for yourself, so you will have these things in mind.

Thanks for your time.

Yours in public service,

Bruce W. Raulston

PROVIDENCE DESPITE THE CONDITIONS

Everyone has heard of the "lying attorney" defense, and it is sometimes screamed outside the courthouses of this country, but some of the defenses like this which cause argument, and conflict, can be avoided with preparation.

BE PREPARED
---------------

So you have some difficulty understanding the ins and outs of an agreement huh? Tell you what, if you have problems understanding why it is so difficult to have an expected end at court, it is intentional. If you want to have some mental strength left at the end of the week, listen carefully.

1) If there is anything in an agreement that you do not understand, address it immediately.

2) Do not sign an agreement if you feel you have been coerced into doing so, and never make a verbal agreement with someone alone in passing since there is not any controlled way to verify you did so, and people who are in it for the quick remedy are not going to comply with your wishes later on in most cases.

3) You have a defense in court if you are coerced, and whether or not a local court agrees with your logic, you will have a chance to appeal any decision made if you seek it, whether or not it is a qualified judge or not. Remember this.

These are some guidelines to agreements, and can be helpful to you in case of an emergency. This is not however a substitute for legal advice, but it can be a general rule for you to follow in any situation involving agreements.

Have a good day.

Bruce W. Raulston