Humpday Happenings...
Had some showers last night, so you know what THAT means in MY neighborhood, right?
Yepper...we got some good old PEACE AND QUIET for a change.
Amazing how those loudass boomcars never seem to want to blast their (c)rap music when it's RAINING. Must have something to do with humidity and speaker output....I'm no acoustic physicist, but whatever works is fine by me.
** Indiana FINALLY got around to sending out the property tax bills (shudders)...and, as has been the case for MOST of the 12 years we've lived in this house, the tax kept going UP.
Last year, we actually saw a small bit of a decrease, but that was due to a reassessment of our property.
About 3 years ago, OUR house was assessed around $74,300, and considering we got it from my wife's parents (on contract) for $40K, that wasn't a bad haul. The weird thing was that OUR house was also one of the HIGHEST ASSESSED properties in the area!
Must be that we OWN it...AND are WHITE (yeah, another case of "someone's gotta pay for the lazy asses living around you").
Now I pretty much expected to perhaps see the tax bill (this year) to be relatively STAGNANT, what with this property tax "cap" the Governor proposed, but I also recently read that property taxes (thanks to our mismanaged COUNTY of ALLEN) "could" go up as much as 29%. And if there is ONE THING I've learned while living in this city (Fort Wayne), it's to NEVER HOLD YOUR BREATH.
So I didn't, fully expecting more of the same tax BS this year.
Well, I opened this year's bill, and the TOTAL was....$243.00 (and change)...(pause for dramatic effect)......
WTF?????
This has GOT to be WRONG....it just HAS to be.
I'm used to seeing $600-$700 payments, totalling $1100-$1300 per year.
Someone MUST think we're another absentee landlord renting to drug-dealing trash or something.
This can't be right.
But there it is...plain as day...
Both the spring AND fall payments are each $121 (and change).
Well spank me rosy!
There IS, however, a "down" side to this wonderfully LOW tax bill...
(and you just KNEW there had to be, right?)
Our property has been RE-assessed at around $50,000... (another pause for dramatic effect)...
WTF????? (again)
So lemme get this straight. My house has "suddenly" become worth $20K (and change) LESS in ONE FRIGGING YEAR, than it has been all those OTHER years?
And considering the FACT that we had a $5000+ ROOF put on the GARAGE...AS WELL AS a $1200 FENCE replaced within this past year (which would normally bring UP a property's value), has actually contributed to a TWENTY-THOUSAND DOLLAR DECLINE in said value?
Wow...didn't know we could toss good money after bad THAT well.
Oh, wait...I know what caused the sudden "shift" DOWNWARD in property value...
It's all the LOW-CLASS BLACKS that moved into houses all around us. The empty houses remain empty for the most part (for years in some cases, so even that really has not changed).
That is the ONLY thing that has "changed" over the last year...the ONLY THING.
(finally..something no one can't blame on "whitey")
Now wait a minute...it "could" ALSO be that since THOSE people moved down here, CRIME has taken a nose UP as well...
Yeah, that's like the cart following the mule.
I suppose we can be called "lucky" for not being able to attract the white-trash METH-heads to the area...even THEY don't want to live here anymore.
Amazing..."we" (white, law-abiding homeowners) actually go and IMPROVE our property, and because of the further infiltration of these dubious ethnics moving in to recently created rentals...WE suffer (with lower tax bills).
It's GREAT on the one hand...but SUCKS on the other.
The house is STILL worth more than when WE bought it, but it's going to make selling it a wee bit more difficult (a lower asking price), don'cha think?
Now this could ALL be a mistake, and the county will find some way to bill us AGAIN, but given the circumstances around here with the way the area's changed in just the last THREE years, I'm not counting on it.
The issue now becomes one of "further improvements". Should we have those front steps replaced or JUST repaired? We should get a roof for the house to match the one for the garage (esthetically, as well as time and functionality...it's reached it's time for replacement - over 15 years), and do we go ahead and get new storm doors and a front door?
What about the furnace? Or the windows? What about some surveillance cameras?
Decisions...decisions.
Hey, maybe the Obamessiah can front us some "stimulus" loot...but I dunno about that. To me, it's like taking money from the MOB...LOL!
Time will tell, so stay tuned on this one, people.
** Another story I found that disturbed me in a much different way, was the one about the DoD wanting to CUT FUNDING for the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter.
Originally, well over 200 WERE to be produced, but that's being cut WAY BACK to under 100 aircraft (latest figures has it back UP to 187 planes...this changes faster than my mind).
Looks like Obama might get his way on this one.
Not a really "good" thing, (imho).
It's already passed in the senate.
--Here's the *411* on the aircraft from the Federation of American Scientists website:
http://www.fas.org/programs/ssp/man/uswpns/air/fighter/f22.html
--And here's the skinny on the DoD rulings:
http://www.dodbuzz.com/2009/07/14/obamas-test-the-f-22/
--Finally, here's the Washington Times' story:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/22/obama-wins-war-of-wills-to-halt-f-22-program/
Basically, these idiots in D.C. are saying that we really don't NEED this state-of-the-art fighter beyond what we already have (which ain't all that many, folks). Much better to waste that money for a lot more useless projects...like "socialized medicine", or some of Barney Frank's porkulus packages, or maybe even an EXTRA runway for John Murtha's "airport" in the middle of Nowheresville, PA (with all of TWO flights in and out of that place a week).
The DoD "says" they're going to concentrate on the F-35 JSF (joint strike fighter) instead...
Okay, now let me point out a few things...
Sure the F-35 is CHEAPER to manufacture, but, it's NOT a smaller F-22.
It's got ONE engine (as opposed to two on the Raptor)...you lose that...yer walkin' home.
It's not AS fast, nor AS stealthy as the F-22 (a damn fine fighter...it's close, but no cigar).
It doesn't have vectored thrust, like the F-22, ergo not AS good in a dogfight (it does OK, though).
Of course this means the creation of THOUSANDS of "new" jobs, according to politicians in favor of the cuts to the Raptor program.
First off, that's downright BULLSHIT.
The "jobs" will not be CREATED...they'll just be SHIFTED from one project to the other, so where, EXACTLY are ALL these "new" jobs going to be generated, hmm?
The people that will be "shifted" over to the F-35 program will no doubt have a longer stay at the factory, as several HUNDRED of THOSE aircraft will be slated to be built, and in THREE configurations to meet the needs of various armed services.
Funny thing...OTHER NATIONS are currently pursuing stealth technology and have some new planes on THEIR horizons...in other words, "they ain't sittin' on their hands", folks. And that means we might not have enough of the "right" aircraft to meet other hostiles when (and if) the time ever comes.
And people ask me why I never went into politics...
Simple...I could never become a CHRONIC LIAR and THIEF to the people that elected me.
Also, I could never become SO ignorant and SO arrogant as to dismiss that which benefits our nation.
The people can handle themselves fine...but the REAL job of government has been, and always will be to GOVERN THE NATION...
(that doesn't mean screw it the hell up, btw)
They take care of this country...all I ask is that they allow me the courtesy (and the right provided in our Constitution) to take care of MY OWN business WITHOUT interference by those elected to run my NATION.
And if that means that "we the people" feel the need for more than a hundred F22 Raptor aircraft to PROTECT this country from her enemies, then by God, get them built.
In a perfect world, we wouldn't need such devices, but by the looks of things, it's FAR from perfect, so let's do what's right for ALL Americans, as well as our allies. Our enemies aren't standing still...and neither should we.
Anyone who's been in combat will tell you...MOVEMENT IS LIFE.
And if we're NOT moving...we're DYING.
We just have to get moving again...and in the right direction.
It's not for the weak-minded or weak-hearted. It takes courage, like many things in life.
Time will tell if the politicians know what they're talking about.
And again...I won't be holding MY breath.
Stay safe out there, America.