$161,200 Sweepstakes by the NRA…ending 02/28/2018..Review.

Younger me on top of a truck full of cattle feed.

This is a $161,000 sweepstakes consisting of $50,000 cash, Chevy Truck, ATV, off road stampede 900 and a trailer in prizes being put on by the NRA.  I don’t know if you like the NRA or not, but this is an excellent prize and it doesn’t cost anything to enter by the alternate method.  Personally I don’t have anything against the NRA but I am not a member of that organization.  I think people should have a right in our country to own guns provided they get proper training and can be responsible.  Self defense, recreation, collecting and hunting are legitimate reasons to own a gun.

I have used guns in the distant past for recreation and to kill farm vermin.  We gave our guns away to people who would better appreciate them and some of those people were members of the NRA.  I am too ill to have the energy to shoot anyways.  I believe that we already have sufficient gun laws in this country and I suspect that further attempts at gun control laws are merely a veiled attempt at eventual confiscation of all guns as was done in Australia and the United Kingdom.  I understand the feelings of people whose loved ones have been murdered or injured by a criminal using a gun and I have sympathy for them. I understand why some of these victims are angry at guns used for evil purposes.

Criminals using guns need to be put in prison for an appropriate length of time to prevent them from hurting more people and to rehabilitate them.  The death penalty by firing squad is appropriate for anyone that purposely murders another person while in their right mind. The death penalty won’t bring the victim back to life but it will prevent the criminal from killing someone else.

Anyways, I could use the truck and free cash so I entered the sweepstakes.  The alternate entry method cost is zero which is within my price range.  The following link will take you to the sweepstakes entry page.

via Official Entry | NRA Win This Truck Sweepstakes

$25,000 Home Makeover Sweepstakes by FURNITURELAND SOUTH …..ends December 29, 2017……Review.

Younger Judy and friend

$25,000 Home Makeover Sweepstakes by FURNITURELAND SOUTH …..ends December 29, 2017……Review.  This is a nice sweeps with an easy entry for furniture plus a designer consultation.  We could really use some new furniture especially our bedroom furniture.  It would be too difficult to sell the furniture to cover any prize taxes so there would be some effective tax cost for any furniture received but it still a very good deal if you win.  Just click on the link below to go to the entry page.

via Home Makeover

Exploding Circuit Board catches on fire!

 

Typical Circuit Board with Public Domain Image

A circuit board that catches on fire in your product does not make anyone happy.  I used to work at a company that had this unpleasant problem in a large electrical control panel for an industrial device involved with explosive atmospheres that was shipped around the world.  This problem made everyone very excited when it started happening on the clients factory floor according to what I was told.

I had never worked on that product line and was barely aware of its existence until my engineering supervisor called me and told me to immediately personally retrieve all of these circuit boards currently in our factory.  I was an electrical design engineer behind a desk at that company and had not yet had the privilege of interacting with everyone in the factory.  There were three boards in the factory at that time and it was relatively easy to retrieve the first two on the factory floor quickly with only minor violations of  factory protocol.

The final board was installed in a large six foot high electrical control cabinet that was packaged tightly in a strong 2 x 4 skid on the shipping dock by a waiting truck.  I asked the workers there if I could open the cabinet to retrieve the circuit board.  They all had a good laugh when I said that and one of them handed me a large crow bar as a joke.  Obviously, they didn’t know me that well. I used the crow bar to rip open the packaging and break the 2 x 4’s sufficiently to get the circuit board out of the cabinet. This rendered the product incapable of being delivered.  The dock workers seemed to be surprised at what I had done.  I returned the crow bar to them, thanked them for its use and wished them a good day.

A short time later there was a conference in my supervisors office about my unexpected actions during the circuit board retrieval.  Fortunately for me the workers had loaned me the crow bar so filing a grievance against me wouldn’t have been a desirable outcome.

My new assignment in life was to correct the defect in that exploding circuit board that a previous employee had designed.  I tested one and sure enough it started on fire when subjected to full heavy loads.  Eventually I figured out that one resister needed a massive increase in the amount of wattage it could handle and made a working model for mass production copies.  Who says that engineering can’t be fun?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$30,000 Mustang GT Sweepstakes by Hurst…ends 11/15/2017…Review!

My fathers car.

$30,000 Mustang GT Sweepstakes by Hurst ends on 11/15/2017.  The sweepstakes prize  Ford Mustang has a little more horsepower than my old Maverick that I drove throughout high school and college.  I bet its more dependable too.  My parents bought the well used Maverick for $400 when I was 16 and it sort of lasted until I graduated from MSOE.  The emergency brake did not work, the tires were bald and the battery had to be heated up to start it in winter.  I couldn’t afford the parts to fix it. The main brakes partially failed once in downtown Milwaukee but fortunately I was able to coax it slowly back to the MSOE parking lot late at night without attracting any undue police attention or doing any damage. It was still running in 1985 so we sold it for $500 at my fathers farm auction.  At least we didn’t take loss on the deal.

Please leave a comment if you sign up for the sweeps on the link below.  I would like to know if you have any stories about cars that you would like to share.  I am always looking for guest bloggers too.

via Hurst Elite Series Mustang Sweepstakes Giveaway – HurstShifters

Gay marriage and Wedding Cakes….

…..I am in favor of allowing secular gay marriage in the United States but I do not recommend gay marriage because it is not condoned by the Bible.  Many secular activities are legal in the United States that the Bible does not condone. I am opposed to forcing people with religious objections to perform any type of services for gay couples at their weddings.  The state should not have the power to force conscientious religious objectors to perform actions contrary to their personal beliefs. Priests and Ministers are not forced to marry anyone that is unwilling to comply with their religion. How can you force a Muslim cake decorator to provide service for a gay wedding and do his best at the job?  Who decides if the service provided is equal to a non gay wedding and how much the legal fine will be if the service isn’t quite up to snuff.

I wouldn’t marry a man because I don’t have any sexual attraction to men so I’ll never have the chance to plan a gay wedding.  Although, a gay man once made a pass at me but he was barking up the wrong tree.  I was surprised at the time because I had no clue my friend was gay but I didn’t have any type of harsh response. After all, you really can’t blame him because I am quite the catch so I had to dash his hopes with some consideration.  I do consider homosexuality to be a sin but so are coveting, adultery, lying, taking God’s name in vain and many other things.  Everyone has sinned so why would I treat him any different than anyone else because I too have sinned.

I think it is unreasonable of any gay couple to pick on a religious cake decorator for the purpose of proving some type of legal point.  If I had to get married again I would be more concerned about picking a cake decorator that could get the job done the way I wanted.  There are plenty of cake decorators that are willing to decorate a gay cake and there are religions that have no objection to gay marriage. If I wanted to marry a man I would simply pick a cake decorator that I liked and was willing to serve a gay wedding.  No one should be forced by the state to do a job that is contrary to their religion just because the state thinks it knows what is best based on a secular philosophy.  Any Judge that fines a person for not doing their job because of a sincere religious objection is in the wrong and should be removed from office.

It is not fair to anyone to force religious people to act against their convictions or to force gays to act like they were heterosexuals.  What does it prove if you can force a person to do something against their will by threats?  Does it make the winner in the conflict feel good that they can inflict their will on the loser?  It doesn’t make the loser into a better person and it will simply cause them to get angry and take actions of a negative nature.

Instead of forcing people to act like we want with threats we should try to persuade them by reason or emotion to our point of view for their own benefit.  It is better to win a friend to your point of view than create an enemy or a martyr against your cause.  The ancient roman empire tried to eradicate Christianity with threats but instead Christianity essentially destroyed the great powerful roman system over a long period of time because it had a message people wanted to hear.  Even though ancient Rome had all kinds of legal homosexuality the Apostle Paul was still a Roman citizen and appealed to Caesar with his legal case.  I have never read that the Apostle Paul tried to prevent legal Roman non-Christian homosexual relationships. The cross used to be a threatening symbol of roman authority but now it is a powerful symbol of Christianity and the empire of Rome is just a distant memory.

The Bible  does not promote homosexual behavior and any Church that does is not Biblical in nature.  It is unacceptable to force a Bible based Church to marry two people of the same sex just as it is unfair to force anyone to attend a particular Church.  There are plenty of religions and secular businesses that will marry two people of the same sex and bake their wedding cake so why can’t gays choose these options instead of trying to destroy the financial lives of people who don’t share their belief system by using the court system?

It is not possible to force Christian business owners to love gays more by ruining their business and in the long run gays are hurting their own agenda by trying to make criminal examples of Christians and others that do not want to bake their cakes.  Personally if I had the skill to bake a cake I would make one for anyone that paid me enough money even if I disagreed with the philosophy behind the cake decorations but that’s just the way God made me.  Although, I would probably charge unreasonably extra for a Nazi or KKK cake.  If cake bakers must bake a cake for a gay couple does that mean they would be legally forced to bake a cake for the Nazi party?  All people should be free to chose who they work for and what they believe without being threatened unfairly by the law.

By the way, the man who thought I was gay and made the pass at me married a woman a few years later. I know the couple has at least one child and they seemed quite happy last time I talked to them eons ago.  I hope they have also put their trust in Christ which I believe is the only answer to any type of sin.  Sin can not be cured by government edicts and governments should not be in the business of telling anyone what type of cakes they need to bake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rat Story from the Farm…

Silos on our Farm

Rats love to climb into silos and eat corn silage.  Our silos did not have automatic machinery that would have sent silage down the chute to feed the cows.  It was necessary for a human being (me usually) to climb to the top and use a pitchfork to fork down enough silage to feed thirty cows.  That’s where I met the rats.

I went up the inside cement access tube ladder to the top and peeked in the top silo door dangling thirty feet in the air.  Two rats ran out past each side of my head close to my ears and down my body. They appeared to float down the thirty foot vertical cement access tube barely touching the sides with their feet.  It was kind of a mystical experience at the time that almost caused me to lose my grip and fall thirty feet after them.  My hand slipped slightly and my high school ring got caught on a nail sticking out of one of the silo doors/ladder.

It is a unique feeling to have a lot of your weight being held up by a ring attached to your finger.  It feels like your finger is being ripped off and that is why I never wear any ring including a wedding ring.  Years later I saw a man that had his finger ripped off by sliding down the side of a truck in Canada with a ring and this reinforced my desire to avoid wearing rings.  I do have a wedding ring but I am saving it for when I am buried.  Back to the rats.

The rats kept coming back in the silo to feed and I kept meeting them every day in the same manner.  I didn’t like this so I decided to kill the rats.  Easier said than done.  The damn things wouldn’t eat poison because they had so much silage to eat.  The cats were  afraid to go into the silage.  I tried to lock myself inside the silo with the rats so I could kill them but this was difficult because the rats quickly ran past me when I tried to put in the door behind me.  It was necessary to take a few weeks and lower the level of the silo so I could increase the number of doors in height closed behind me to trap them inside with me.  All the time while the level of the silo was being lowered the rats would continue to run past me down my body which feeling I did not like.

Finally there came a day when I was able to trap the rats inside the silo with me.  Time to die you dirty rats.  Heavy steam was rising from the silage making vision difficult and I held my pitchfork at the ready.  Rats are quick little devils and I tried many times unsuccessfully to club them with the fork but I couldn’t get them because vision was reduced by lack of light and silage steam.  Eventually I realized a quick swinging raking motion would cover more area quickly and this got the job done.  This primitive neanderthal like battle must have lasted an hour but I finally had something to feed our lazy scared cats.  The cats were quite happy once they realized what I had.  I felt kind of successful and happy afterwards.  It was a great victory to get those rats off my back.  The only good rat is a dead rat.

 

$71,000 Bass Boat Sweepstakes ending September 18, 2017….by Costa Sunglasses…

    $71,000 Bass Boat Sweepstakes from Costa.  I am sure that Costa makes excellent sunglasses.  Unfortunately, I can’t wear sunglasses unless they fit over my regular glasses.  I don’t like contact lenses.  The Bass Boat sweepstakes prize is beautiful and I would love to own it and learn to fish for quality fish.  I have only gone fishing for bullheads and carp in the rock river during my lifetime.  I would probably end up selling this great Bass Boat to pay for the taxes and use whats left over to pay down my bills.  That is a worthy goal from my point of view.  The link below will take you to the sweepstakes page.  Leave a comment on my blog if you win!

via Bass Boat Giveaway

Why do Republicans want Preexisting Conditions to Exclude People from Health Insurance?

My Grandfather and friends

Preexisting conditions cost a lot of money to treat and insurance companies will be more profitable if people with these conditions can be excluded from getting health insurance.  After all why should healthy people pay for the treatment of people with preexisting conditions?  Wouldn’t it be less expensive if we just let them exhaust all their own personal resources and then die because that will finally solve the problem? Didn’t they really cause their own sickness with their unhealthy lifestyle choices so it’s their own fault anyways?

You can always count on some Republicans for their overwhelming compassion and to help their big donors like the insurance companies.  I know medical treatments cost money and that someone needs to pay that cost but anyone can get an illness that will devastate their personal finances.  Guess what, sometimes it is necessary for an insurance company to pay the big bills because that is why everyone pays them a premium.  No insurance system will be perfect but even people who have been blessed by God with good health are not immune to a sudden illness that can wipe out their personal finances unless they have insurance. What is a fair solution to this expensive  problem?

Most modern first world countries have national health insurance run by the government and that is one solution to the problem that seems to work well for smaller countries.  Unfortunately, the government of the United States is large, bloated, unwieldy and it stinks.  Obamacare is a prime example.  I think that private enterprise insurance companies are still the best choice for the United States but they need to have regulations that force them to be fair to everyone.  The national government needs to regulate insurance companies because this issue crosses state lines.

I think that the following insurance ideas should be made into law.

1.  Anyone should be able to purchase critical health insurance at a price they can afford including people with preexisting conditions.  Poor people will require a net subsidy in some cases so rich people will need to subsidize them indirectly through taxes.  The alternative would be to let some poor people die and I find that concept unacceptable to me as a Christian.
2.  Mental health, Vision and Dental care must be included in all basic health plans. People can’t work without these necessities.
3.  Veterans should have their health care paid for life by the people of the United States.  Veterans have made a sufficient contribution to our society to deserve this service.
4. Luxury health care items such as noncritical plastic surgery, fat reduction and acupuncture should not be part of the standard health care insurance program but they could still be purchased on a pay basis.
5. All federal employees including the Congress of the United States and President shall have the same health plan as the people of the United States.
6. Everyone should have the same limits on the total cost of the critical health care they receive but no one should be allowed to suffer and die if it can be prevented. That includes Republicans, Democrats and people like me that think all political parties are full of crap.
7. You don’t have to purchase any health insurance you don’t want and you can choose the basic plan you want from any private company.
8. Anyone who works full time shall be provided with an option for a basic health insurance plan by their employer.  People who can’t work due to disability or can only find part time employment shall be provided a subsidy for basic health insurance on a sliding scale.
9. Insurance companies can’t charge extra for preexisting conditions.
10. Health insurance regulations shall not force providers or consumers to do anything against their religion.

 

These ten conceptual regulations combined with free enterprise competition will work to keep prices in check and improve quality of care for everyone.  Let me know what you think and leave a comment for everyone to contemplate.

 

 

 

$35,000 Ford Mustang GT Sweepstakes…….ends May 31, 2017

…..$35,000 Ford Mustang is a good sweepstakes grand prize.  I signed up for the sweepstakes easily.  I would probably trade it in along with my Kia Soul for another car because Judy wouldn’t let me keep it but I still dream of owning it.  There are some second prizes that may interest other people but they involve traveling so I would probably pass on those.  Just click on the link below to go to the entry page.

 

via FireKeepers Casino 400 Ford Mustang GT Sweepstakes – Michigan International Speedway

$10,000 Cash Giveaway from Sheplers …Sweepstakes…ends August 8, 2017

  I have never shopped at Sheplers but they seem like they sell excellent boots and and clothing that I would like to own.  In addition, I would be happy to win the $10,000 sweepstakes and could put that money to good use. If you are interested just hit the link below and it will take you to the sweepstakes page.

via Sheplers $10,000 Cash Giveaway