Guilt-Free Eating

Since I've decided to turn Hometown into a cult of personality blog, it's important that any unsuspecting victims who wander through here are aware of the what and why of my diet. We're all narcissists now anyway, otherwise Twitter and selfies would not exist. Would they?

For the past 3 months, I've been subsisting (well, apparently, since I've lost only 7 pounds) on a, 99% of the time, vegetarian diet. Initially the reason was to lose weight and 7 pounds is better than nothing. But, this is an inactive time of the year and that was mostly during the cookie season. So many cookies between Thanksgiving and New Years! So we'll see how it works out when the freezin' season is over and gardening begins. Aside from wanting to appear buff for the beach this Summer there are health considerations. With that in mind I'll throw in a plug for Forks Over Knives, a DVD full of vegan propaganda, if you'd like some convincing of the health benefits. I love to eat meat. Bill Clinton Loves to eat meat. If Bill and I can do it, anyone can become an herbivore. But don't think just of yourself, or in this case myself, since this is my cult here.

You don't have to have the sensibilities of a PETA devotee to appreciate that animals raised for food in this country don't have the best lives. Bluntly stated, they're tortured from birth to death. Buster's Law does not apply to them. I've known that for a long time, but have happily rejected the cognitive dissonance. Admittedly this was not my overriding reason for the change in diet, though, and I'm not going to try to shame anyone into giving up meat. And besides, those animals are getting their revenge through the saturated fat, hormones and antibiotics you're ingesting. So, rather than harp on how cruel we are to these creatures, I'll get back to why it's important for you, my "follower," to abstain.

I want to live in a country and a world that's not polluted beyond hope of renewal. I've moved beyond the urge to copy and paste large swathes of the internet and basically claim it as terra incognita. So, just go to the link. In short, as your beloved leader, I implore you to make this planet healthier for me and for yourselves as well.

 

 

Live Free or Get High

It's a little to the east of Hometown, but just gotta give a thumb's up to the legislature in New Hampshire.

The New Hampshire House of Representatives became the first U.S. legislative body to vote in favor of legalizing marijuana for recreational use. The measure passed a preliminary vote by 170-162 on Wednesday; it now heads to committee and then goes back to the House floor for a final vote before heading to the state Senate. 

The bad news is:

The state Senate, however, has a conservative record on marijuana legislation votes: Last year, it rejected a bill that sought to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana, the fourth time it has done so in the past five years.

What's more, New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan, a Democrat, told local ABC affiliate WMUR-TV on Monday that she would veto the recreational marijuana bill if it ever reached her desk.

You're definitely a buzzkill, Maggie. You're just like your ma and pa. 

Support The Underground Economy

I am a former homeowner and soon to be homeowner again. When leaving my former house I left a lot of stuff behind. As an apartment dweller there's not a great need for things like extension ladders. Now that the renting phase is coming to an end there is a growing need for tools. It would have been inconvenient to have lugged them around, but I don't want to pay full price either. The solution is, of course, to seek out those who are in the position that I was those long years ago and find garage sales.

Besides the natural benefit of paying less for the replacement tools than I would if buying them new is the feeling of helping out those who need to shed some possessions before moving on to the next phase of their life's adventure. There is also the thought of keeping solid waste out of our landfills. And last, and not insignificant, is robbing the taxman of some money. Despite my filthy, degenerate liberalism, I do still try to avoid taxes whenever possible.

Today's haul brought me a miter box and saw, a prybar, hammer, speed square, combo square and mattock to join my previously acquired hacksaw. Not really sure if I will need the mattock but I've got it if I do. Gardening is to be a big part of the next part of my life's adventure. I had a small hammer, screwdrivers, pliers, tape measure and some small stuff. My house-to-be is on the small side and is going to need at least a shed built and I'd like to add a small woodframe greenhouse as well.

OFF POST TOPIC: My office here is having a "contest" to pick the most favorite book. My five nominees (mostly first things that came to mind) were:

1) 1984 - George Orwell
2) Player Piano - Kurt Vonnegut
3) It Can't Happen Here - Sinclair Lewis
and to avoid going all dystopian all the time
4) The Deep Blue Goodbye - John D. MacDonald
5) Single and Single - John LeCarre

The only one I have much hope for is 1984. The others are a little obscure. Could have gone with Slaughterhouse Five, Elmer Gantry and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or some such. There are brackets and additional voting though.

Regarding MacDonald, anyone who has missed the Travis Magee novels should really give them a try. His is the lifestyle I envy most, though I could never bring myself to live in Florida so will have to keep my derelict self abiding here in the empire state.  

Coming Home For a Stay

I'm back once again from fighting for the forces of nihilism against all that is good and decent in the world. It's a dirty job and you get a lot of slime on you. Hoping to make this as permanent a vacation as the one I'm attempting to take from my former position of baker extraordinaire at Price Chopper supermarkets. Yes, now it can be told. Anyway, if I write much here, I'll attempt to focus on the local and justify my use of the Hometown label.

I'm presently attempting to move from being a renter to homeowner. In that effort, I went to my local bank where I maintain a checking account and told them I was interested in obtaining a mortgage. The loan officer finding that I had no real estate agent informed me that she knew several in the area and would have one of them give me a call. That seemed very helpful until I found that the agent she had call me was her husband. They all got the heave-ho, although my measly checking account is still with them. Conflict of interest much?

Moving on from there in my quest for financing I landed at Wells Fargo here in Glens Falls. I do have an IRA that is held by them so I thought it appropriate to approach them for the loan. Since I am presently unemployed I expected that they would laugh in my face at my request for funds. If only! They took my application seriously and also took $381 for an origination fee. I thought this was moving along nicely in my direction.

Then a week ago the agent in the GF branch requested copies of my 2012 tax returns which a week previously the Saratoga branch had told me would not be required. Along with the question of how often my former company pays out on my pension, this set off some warning bells. I took a lump sum on the pension so that was a one time good deal. Quite sure that answer didn't help.

Thankfully, I do have (hopefully) sufficient funds to enable me purchase the house I'm looking at outright which I should have done in the first place saving time and money. I have eschewed the rock and roll lifestyle for the cheapskate lifestyle for some time now. So, Wednesday this week I called the GF office to try and get some idea of the verdict on my application. Thinking the agent must have been busy on the previous day, I called and left another voicemail on Thursday morning. That afternoon I gave up on him and called the Saratoga branch. They informed me of the death of my mortgage request.

The moral of this story is that if you can possibly afford to pay cash, pay cash. If you need a mortgage avoid Wells Fargo. BTW, the paperwork went out today to move that IRA to a financial institution with more class.

Live cheap, live well!

UPDATE: Today is Saturday and day 4 of Wells giving me the silent treatment. Not that I expect them to call me on a weekend. But, my real estate agent called yesterday and I talked to her about going forward with financing the purchase on my own. Happened to mention the $381.98 I paid Wells. She reminded me that they  had given me a prequalification on the mortgage. Yes, that's right and then denied me it. So, Friday afternoon I called and requested my money back (to another, number 3, voicemail). I'm really having a ball with this. Anyway, $370 was for an appraisal. Not sure why they would appraise a house that they're not giving me a mortage for. And $11.98 was for a credit report. I want the money back for that, too. The credit report said I pay my bills and they still denied me the mortgage so apparently it's worthless and they can pay for it. I'm calling my legal team of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe on Monday.

I don't think prequalification means what they think it means (or it doesn't mean what I think it means).