High finance, travel, intrusion?

Mama, Grandpa, Victoria and I were concocting a plan to buy a large trailer in West Virginia and haul hay from there to Texas. Norman found a 40 foot gooseneck trailer which would haul 400 bales of quality WVa hay which could be sold at a substantial profit here in Texas. While we considered the idea that trailer sold but another came up for sale. It is 24 feet long; half the capacity. At $1000 per round trip the idea quickly faded away.


Victoria was seeing the money at the end not fully realizing the expense it would take to get there. Even with the large trailer, it was a break even proposition after three round trips. Any less than three trips and there was significant money lost. Bear in mind that we would have had our own store of hay, the trailer and equipment purchased, but at no real financial gain for the wear and tear on Grandpa over the course of 6000 plus miles traveled. Once again, what sounded good in theory did not play out the same way on paper and could have been much worse in practice.

As it turns out, Grandpa is talking about going to WVa this weekend to get some hay and equipment as well as retrieve a lot of items we could use on the farm which are in storage in Point Pleasant. No, the trip will not generate any cash; it will consume it, but we can use the items here and cancel the need for storage there. If Grandpa can find the right sprayer, my plan for him and Victoria to earn money on the side while building our Amsoil business will come to fruition.

There is some urgency to get some good quality, less expensive hay since the vet suggested to Victoria and Mama that the horse – named Sweet Rain – needs about one half bale of hay per day to build her back up; at $12 per bale that equates to $200 per month which is not in our budget at the moment. Such are the pleasure of equine ownership. I do know that on a diet of hay her poop will not be nearly as attractive for the dogs to eat as it is when she is eating sweet feed. Between the two Great Pyrenees and Victoria’s little dog, there is not much manure to clean up.

After some discussion between Nate and Cori, it had been decided that now is not a good time for them to travel over to the farm. Vacations are great but they are a huge expense. I calculated that I have spent between $70,000 and $80,000 on vacations and travel since Mama and I have been married, averaging around $2500 per year (which is a very conservative estimate). That’s a lot of money and the day of being able to afford it may rapidly be coming to an end. I have no regrets. We have great memories of times on the road and to not have made those trips would have been foolish since the money would have been spent elsewhere with less lasting results.

My children are looking forward to tax time this year since they each expect a sizable return. But as it turns out, I am among the rich this year and will be called upon to pay my fair share. I am hoping to get by with less than $14,000 over and above what has been taken out through the year, but that is something our accountant will have to tell us.

For those of you who are going to get most if not all of your federal taxes back this year, consider the fact that someone will have to pay for all the things that are being given away by our government. This year, it will be my turn to help.

Speaking of our benevolent government, I heard a story on the news yesterday of a five year old child who had her lunch confiscated by government officials as she sat to eat it in the school cafeteria; talk about traumatizing! It was deemed to fall short of the USDA guidelines for nutrition. She had a turkey sandwich, a bag of chips, an apple and a banana. Her parents were subsequently sent a bill for the “required intervention”.

Lest you think that that is an isolated case a caller told of a letter he received from the school principal alerting him that chocolate pudding would no longer be acceptable for inclusion in his three year old daughter’s lunch according to USDA guidelines. She is in the Head Start program.

It is one of the many things I am thrilled to be supporting with my tax dollars.