Summer Summer Time

Well the summer is here.  It's pretty much the best time to "Back 'er Down."  The main reason being it gets so freaking hot here in my neck of the woods and you don't want to do much of anything else!

The garden continues to do well, and some of the earlier crops are starting to phase out.  We got enough potatoes to have a nice stockpile and to be able to share some with neighbors and co-workers.  So far we have been able to put up 47 quarts of snapbeans as well.  Since that is about the only veggie that my kids will eat those will go rather quickly.  Those two particular crops made up 1/3 of my entire garden and now its time to start planting something else in that dirt.  I'm thinking butterpeas, pumpkins and sweet potatoes are in order.  We will start breaking and processing corn this weekend.  The deer nipped a few ears but I still think we'll have a nice harvest.  Looks like we might just have some watermellons ready for the 4th of July as well.  I'm stoked about that!

I recently got my hands on a couple of new toys.  I know....I'm supposed to be saving money and living like a hermit right?  LOL!  I never said that ;)  Saving money is useless and counterproductive if you don't enjoy at least some of it.

The first toy is a boat.  B.O.A.T=Break Out Another Thousand.  Well... not really in this case ;)  My mega purchase was just a little 12 ft jon boat for the river.  I got the boat, motor and trailer for $600 and so far I'm very pleased with the purchase.  It's not really pretty and the motor is 40 years old (really...40) but it runs and it floats which is what I need.  I was able to take my 4 year old on a trip up river for the first time a couple of weeks ago and MAN, what a great time he had!  I'll make a river rat out of him yet!  It wasn't until a fishing trip this past weekend that I realized just how slow a 40 year old motor is.  My friends with a much more modern Yamaha were literally 3 times faster, lol.  I just kept telling myself...."Alex, it's a $600 boat."  I'm fired up about it and I think it will end up being of the cheapest forms of entertainment for me and my boys as the years go on.  Camping trips on the sandbar are definitely in our future!

The second toy is a new cell phone.  It's a Droid Eris in fact.  I got a little ribbing from my friend over at Kurt Busch Nation about that.  Not exactly a "Back 'er Down" kind of device for sure!  The wife and I have been thinking about new phones for a while.  We were Alltel customers for years and are now Verizon customers after the recent merger, so they have been throwing the kitchen sink at us with offers for almost a year now.  After some patience we found that we could get a pair of new Droids for $79...both phones...not $79 each.  Not bad for two phones of that caliber huh?  They really wanted us.  Why not?  We had been loyal Alltel customers for 10 years and always paid on time, lol.  That was fine because we have been pleased and figured not to go anywhere anyway.  The kicker came with the service plan.  Over 10 years we had peace mealed plans, lines, additions, promos, free stuff and discounts into a crazy looking plan.  It looked strange, but it worked for us and it was cheap.  I asked if we could leave our plan the same.  After laughing at what we had on file, and getting the approval of a manager, they agreed to leave us as we were.  So there you go.  $79 an the wife and I are pimping with a pair of Droids.  That explanation was just for you Cinde T :)

Thanks for the kind emails and Facebook messages that many of you have sent.  It's comforting to know that I'm not alone in this pursuit.  These are uncertain times.  Many people think our country is a sinking ship.  Some people are talking about how to right the ship.  I prefer to think about how I can get my family and friends safely on the lifeboat.  That sounds like a good blog in itself.....;)

Ya'll take it easy.

Later,

Alex