The Riley Factor #104

The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
August 4, 2011, Issue No. 104
(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit to print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)

Riley -- The hot days of July are a bit rough on The Riley, with his long golden coat.  Swims are more frequent, but the pond water is so warm, swims are becoming more like baths.  As the goldfish in the lower pond grow in size, Riley has taken to the occasional fishing trip ... so far, the big one has still only gotten away.

Planting and Plowing -- We spent two of July's hottest days rebuilding the small hay wagon.  Lloyd Vanalstine lent his shaded and fan-equipped garage for the construction, and painting was done in the back yard under the pine tree.  The two new larger hay wagons went back to Elam Miller for painting, as they were picked-up early (just after being built, but before painting) for use during the late June haying.  Next up - combining the wheat.

Horses -- Rio and Lady are still much fun to be around.  They love attention and are fond of placing their considerably-sized noggins on our own heads or shoulders, especially on Susan's (she's just the right height).

Herd of Three -- Eli, Michael and Raphael stood out in the pouring rain on July 29, the first real rain, except for a couple of hour-long showers, that we have had since June 29, a full month.  On the hottest of days, they spend days in the barn or under the overhang and nights outside in the pasture.

Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- On Stevie's last visit, she wandered off to Pet Smart or Pet World or Pet Something and bought 40 two-inch goldfish, and added them into the upper pond.  A day later, the newbies were seen happily swimming.  The 48 large goldfish that we put in the lower pond in April 2010 have multiplied like bunnies, now numbering a couple of thousand at least.  When we feed them late each day, they surface and roil like a (tiny) shark feeding frenzy.  More and more of the little black ones are turning their natural orange color.

Fowl Weather -- The 9 turkey chicks are growing, about tripled in size since their hatching on July 12.  The 23 chicken chicks (all hatched around July 1) are running around like 23 miniature penguins ever seeking their escape, like Hogan's Heroes (Susan is Hogan, I play both the parts of Colonel Clink and Sergeant Schultz).  The mother who hatched one chick strolled into the back yard one afternoon with the little one in tow.  The 3 chicks who were naturally hatched by mother hens sitting on their eggs spend 100% of their days staring at their respective mothers and following them within a foot of the hens wherever they roam.  All 32 chicks love it when Susan picks-up and hugs them, often falling asleep in her hands.

Visitors --   Brother Greg and 11-year old daughter Kelly flew-in from sunny south Florida for a July 25-29 first-time visit to the NY Compound.  Stevie joined-in for the family fest.  We traveled to Niagara Falls for a day of sightseeing, and also to Amherst MA another day to wander around UMass and visit with my aunt Phyllis and my cousin Tom, who is a manager at the University of Massachusetts Library.  We also worked-in a trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, and visits with Annie Kanagy and Lloyd Vanalstine.  A great time was had by all.  Greg's wife Christine was busy spending the week in Toronto on business.

In early August, Stevie returned and kidnapped Susan for the long-spoken-of mother-daughter voyage to ... Niagara Falls, Susan's first time ever visit to the Falls.  Armed with passports, they ventured to the Canadian side, did some Falls hiking, and dined on Canadian cuisine.  A good time was had by both, eh?

Blog -- The Riley Factor's own official blog site is located at http://the-riley-factor.blogspot.com/.  It contains all issues to date.  (If you actually spend the time and do this, you may need more help with your life than we are able offer....  But we digress.)

Quotes of the Month --

     California has made as many mistakes as Yogi Berra reciting Shakespeare. -- Gordon Gekko, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

     You're only as good as your last at-bat. -- Tom Comer (no doubt sourced elsewhere)
    
     You want to walk off the stage while they are still clapping for an encore. -- Jerry Seinfeld

     The definition of 'insanity' is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. -- Albert Einstein
    
     Never spend all of your income.  Always put away a large chunk for use in the future. -- Stuart Varney, FOX Business Channel

     Poor people are not poor because rich people are rich. -- Star Parker, Center for Urban Renewal Education

     Don't trouble trouble, until trouble troubles you. -- Ward Cleaver, to June, when discussing whether to have a talk with The Beaver

Facts of the Month --
  States with 10 highest tax burdens paid by residents (income tax, sales tax, property tax):
   10.  PA      5.  RI
     9.  ME     4.  WI
     8.  VT      3.  CT
     7.  MN     2.  NY
     6.  CA      1.  NJ (highest in the U.S., also 3rd worst business environment in U.S.)
     (Editor's note: it's hard to believe that MA is not in the top 10 highest taxed states)

  States with lowest resident tax burdens:      10.  NM      5.  WY
     9.  LA       4.  TN
     8.  SC      3.  SD
     7.  NH      2.  NV
     6.  TX       1.  AK (Alaska residents actually receive a check from the state for their share of oil company taxes, rather than paying income or sales taxes)

     $50 dollars saved per week (or $2,600 saved per year), earning 5% per year, grows to $325,000 in 40 years.
Commentary of the Month --

                    on the monstrosity of government controlling citizens

     If it were just economic, we would survive, but it is not. We have now in place the apparatus to take our relatively benign Fascist State to the next stage of its inevitable evolution, a far more intrusive police state. There are no rules now, except that which the state will ultimately impose. The Empire is destroyed but does not yet know it and there will very likely be war as our outposts around the world are probed during the chaos. -- Tim Straus, Eastons Point Capital

                    and, on government's increasing financial regulation ....

     The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”) is now the law of the land. This Rube Goldberg monstrosity offers 2,319 pages for lawyers to explain; 243 rulemakings for regulators to conjure up, and investment managers and bankers to worry about and lawyers to interpret; and 67 studies to ensure that no professor or graduate student goes hungry. This opportunity (to fix Wall Street) was squandered and used instead to publicly vilify and to punish Wall Street firms by creating a bill stuffed with virtually every item on the Democrat Party’s financial markets regulation wish list. Dodd-Frank also promotes a wide variety of public policy objectives that have nothing to do with the cause of the crisis or the failure of AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers.  Dodd-Frank is almost twice as long as the NASA operating manual for the space shuttle (which is 1,176 pages long). How can a law 2,319 pages long possibly make any sense? What were these people thinking? -- Ron Resnick, Counsel Works

In Memoriam ...

     Arthur Joseph Fuchs, August 4, 1920 - December 1, 2001
     Barbara Arlene Paige Fuchs, April 26, 1922 - July 23, 1978

          " ... He noted that first came the date of birth
          And spoke the following date with tears,
          But he said what mattered most of all
          Was the dash between those years.... "
                                                from The Dash, Linda Ellis

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