Tick season offically begins! Wonderful!

Tick season has already begun down in southwestern Missouri where I make my home, and this year, they are forecast to be heavier than ever!

NOW! THERE IS NOTHING TO THE RUMOR THAT TICKS ARE DEVELOPING WINGS!

My goodness! We all have enough to worry about without having to swat these critters out of the air on some fine summer evening! (It would make for a great movie though)! This year, what you do need to think about are the varieties that may carry Lyme disease or the more dreaded Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever! Short of never going outside at all, everyone will need to be very careful to inspect themselves after romping around on their lawns or in our area forests. (Ticks can be found anywhere there are both deer and other small mammals, like mice, and we certainly have enough of both!

Scientifically speaking, our three species of hard ticks are mites with 8 legs, a small plate over their mouth parts, and skin so tough it’s hard to crush one. Adults are 1/16  to 1/4 inch long (about the size of a sesame seed). When engorged with blood, they swell up to about 3/8 inch long and turn gray. Ick!

Hard ticks suck blood, parasitizing mammals, including us humans. They cannot jump or fly but only crawl. Their foraging strategy is called “questing,” where they climb to the top of a grass stem or branch of a bush, hold on with their hind legs, and extend their front pair of hook-like legs, waiting for a likely host to brush by. Ticks sense exhaled carbon dioxide and emitted body odors, as well as vibrations and changes in light, which can alert them to a possible approaching meal. So, if you are a heavy breather and smell bad, be especially careful out there. (Taking a bath once in a while might also help with the ticks and your love life)!

If you are bitten, remove the embedded ticks promptly. You cannot make a tick remove itself; you must pull that sucker out. Use a good pair of tweezers. Lightly pinch the tick as close to your skin as possible (don’t squeeze the tick’s body fluids into yourself). Pull that little bastard straight out. Wash and disinfect the area; then apply antibiotics if you have some around. [Note: If the tick is still alive and you have people around you you don't care for...... just kidding].

Forsyth City-wide garage sale!

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On Saturday, May the 7th, the small town of Forsyth Missouri will be having their annual city-wide garage sale. Yes, lots and lots of folks will be setting up tables and booths in an effort to display all the junk they've managed to accumulate and which they now hope to unload on someone else for a small fee.

You never know exactly what you're going to find at any garage sale and therein lies their slightly weird attraction. (That is assuming you get to the event rather early as all the really good deals are long gone by the 9 o'clock hour)! And, it's best to also assume sporadic traffic jams on the one highway that runs through town for you people who have a job and need to get to it!

This year, I hope to find a parking spot just up the hill from where I live and maybe walk around for a bit to see 'the action'. I'm referring not to what's for sale, so much, as I am to the circus of people these events always seems to attract. You get individuals from all walks of life who, like moths to a flame, seem drawn to spend money on stuff they would pass by if observed on the curb on any trash day. But that's the way it is. And the stranger something it, the more attention it seems to garner. Take any old piece of rusting metal, call it an antique, and suddenly it's worth a lot of money! Yes, good old country fun is to be had all around!

Thankfully, there is a bar or two in town, where one can go after a day of browsing where you can get a cold beer and some grub. And, by some interesting quirk of nature, I happen to live right down the hill from John's Frosted Mug! See ya all there!

Picking the right handy person!

'Insurance? I don't need no stinking insurance!'

There's an old song by Kenny Roger's that went, in part...

You've got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run..

That little lyrical snippet is very apt when it comes to selecting a handy person to do work for you. I've found that, over the years, it pays to do a little checking and to look for signs of trouble before you ever hire someone for a project. Here are a few things that I've done and looked for in every repair person I've used or did not use....

1. Background check – there's a wealth of information to be had, at reasonable cost, on the internet to make sure a person that is otherwise a complete stranger is on the up and up.
2. Check around town to see what kind of rep the person has – if that person has screwed someone, the word will be out and pretty easy to find.
3. Interview the individual to get a feel for how well they understand your needs. This would also include the person being able to fill in areas you might not have been aware of – A sure sign the the individual is experienced wit the type of work you are asking them to do!
4. Make sure that the individual is insured – Ask to see and verify that their coverage is current.
5. Ask for three references. If the person is vague in this area, drop them like a hot potato.
6. Make sure that the individual shows up at agreed upon times, ready and able to do the work requested. Check to see if their vehicle is in good shape and has advertising on the side..
7. Ask for a business card and or email address.
8. Ask if they have a web presence... or alternatively, ask how long they've been in business.
9. Ask for a work order to be made out for each project – this paper should indicate the exact nature of what is to be fixed, what the materials will cost the homeowner and the estimated amount of labor to be incurred.
10. Make sure that you know exactly who will be involved with the project and stipulate where the person or persons are allowed to go and where they are not allowed to go on your property.

If you do these ten checklist items each time, you might find that getting someone who meets all the criteria to be a little bit few and far between. But, understand that the ones that do meet with your approval process are likely to do a good job, safely and at a fair price!

All those little charges do add up. Don't they?

Recently, I received my water bill and was confused. (Not an unusual condition for me to be in). This bill came from a small town called Forsyth located in southwest Missouri. (I would assume that it is typical of most water bills in other towns and burgs of similar size).

Now I think my little town has about 2,419 citizens with about 2.1 people living in each dwelling (source: http://www.city-data.com/city/Forsyth-Missouri.html). That means about 1200 homes, give or take, pay water bills whose amounts depend on some formula developed by some bureaucrat some time ago. Following is a section taken from Forsyth's web page (http://www.cityofforsythmo.com/page9.html)....

My questions are simple - 1) What formula was used to justify the cost of the infrastructure and its expansion and maintenance? 2) What do the Primary fee and sewer fee cover and why are they there? and 3) Where do the taxes go? Why are they even there?

Being a simple man, I am almost always perplexed at how we humans seem to make a game out of what and how we charge our fellow humans. (The problems starts at the top of the pile with the IRS. The federal internal revenue code is 2,412,000 words long and federal tax regulations are7,655,000 words long. And this does not include the substantial body of tax-related case law that is often vital to even fully understanding this unholy mess)! What we need and must do is to begin the work of making more simple that which is currently complex. And we can start that process at the local level with something as basic as a water bill!

Spaghetti meal offered at the Mug!

Forsyth MO. - A great plate of spaghetti and meatballs is what I would call one of the true comfort foods to be had in this life. Add in a salad and a roll for $6.50 and what you got is a must have meal and a great price! All of this can be had at the Frosted Mug on Sunday, May the 1^st! The price was verified by the staff, but you might want to call 546-4149 just to make sure! John's Frosted Mug is located at 15861 US-160 in Forsyth Missouri!

River Run Park looking great for Spring 2016!

Just as 2015 was a wet year with widespread flooding of the park system in and around Bull Shoals, so then has 2016 been pretty much the opposite with the rain drops few and far between. As of April the 28th, 2016 the river level was at 658 feet msl which is a bit on the low side.

Both River Run and Shadowrock Parks looked to be ready to go for what I feel will be a signature year! Shadowrock Park already had quite a few RV's there when I visited on April the 21st! Spring is a great time to come out to this part of southwest Missouri to camp walk fish or do all three!

Etc...Etc. A small shop run by great owners!

Forsyth MO – I recently had the occasion to stop in at an establishment by the name of Etc...Etc, a small shop 'with a little bit of everything'. The establishment, which  is right next door to the Chamber of Commerce, is owned and operated by Matt and Irma and has been in operation for some time and is popular with many of the locals due to the very affordable price points that can be found there. The shop offers a broad array of clothing (men's and women's on down to infant-ware) not to mention just about everything else under the sun. I was impressed with their jewelry display not to mention assorted kitchen appliances, Amish jams and jellies and all sorts of Bric a Brac! I understand that they also can do alterations and have a great selection of prom dresses!! While I was there, I purchased a large jar of Black Raspberry jam to take home.

The place is called Etc...Etc, and it's located at 16071 US Hwy 160, and while I wasn't sure of their store hours, you can give them a call at (626) 518-2103 to find out.