Shop Small Saturdays 2015

Shop Small Saturday is normally the day after Black Friday

I think to help our Mom & Pop Shops we need to not shop just the 1 day

To help our economy in CT let’s Buy Local & Buy American Made.

I know sometimes it’s faster & cheaper to run into a big box store, but there are many small shops that are reasonably priced & you can see if they are open to the lost art of haggling & get a better deal.

With some planning we can at least buy gifts for holiday giving from our local family owned businesses & crafts people in the state.

We can also buy more of our food locally at family farms. We have several pick your own farms in CT so you know it’s fresh since you & the family spent some fun family time picking the fruits.

So as we start wrapping up the school year & get ready for summer, let’s shop small CT. I hope that you’ll share the small shops that you find good deals & great services at with us.

#ShopSmallCT #ShopSmallSaturdays

2-22-14 Common Core Forum Portland CT

This video is a Live Stream of the forum in Portland CT Feb 22nd 2014 that was put together by parents fighting common core in CT

It has some glitches & the lunch break was recorded because the way that the setup for the Live Stream worked to turn off the stream for the breaks would have lost the connection that the Live Viewers saw

Ups & Downs of Traveling

I’ve been taking a series of classes down in VA over the past few months

It has been interesting comparing the other states to CT as I’ve driven along the way.

Of course there is the simple Nicer Weather (mostly nicer it did get a Freezing Spell halfway thru my first stay while CT & Boston had a blizzard) than CT this winter. Enjoyable as I started stripping off layers on the drive down & then not so fun adding them back on as I drove back home to CT’s cold winter weather.

As I hear talk about adding Tollbooths back into CT; all I can think about is how the career democrat politicians have all lied to us when they removed the original tollbooths after the terrible multi-car & truck accident years ago.

These career democrat politicians stuck us with both Increased Sales Taxes & Increased Income Taxes! These Career Democrat Politicians are Breaking their Promises to Our Hard Working Taxpaying Families!
#DemocratWarOnWorkingFamilies

They promised both taxes wouldn’t be raised again but all taxes HAVE Been RAISED, including adding on taxes to items that were not previously taxed like our clothes costing less than $50.00 which hurt poor families.
The INCOME TAX that was supposed to be temporary but instead has not only Not Gone Away but Has Been RAISED!

Currently we are blessed enough to live close enough to the Mass border that we have been going there to purchase both gas & cartons of cigarettes. Since we have been quitting smoking & the gas prices lowered in the state we have started buying our gas once again in CT. The only question is “How long will that last?” since the career democrats are hellbent on raising all current & adding new taxes once again…

It is clearly shown that the career democrats who have been ruling our state for so many years have not the slightest clue on how their meddling is so badly hurting our families nor businesses.
Those who are able to do so shop elsewhere to avoid our high taxes. We have been losing businesses & hard working tax paying families with each year as more taxes & fees & crazy regulations are added in CT.

Travelers should be wooed to our state to shop & visit our historical sites but our elected officials for as much as they travel on our taxpayer dollars they do not come back with ideas that can be used here in CT to bring in businesses or tourists or working taxpaying families.

In PA the Rest Stops are bright clean & scenic as well as being a safe place to pullover & rest on the long trip north or south.
In NY the rest stops aren’t quite as nice along 84 but frequent reminders to pull over to check the texts & double as state trooper roadside mini stations to be dispatched from.

Do you know that you can drive down to the DC area & back & only pay $1.50 in tolls from CT’s north most towns?

Our career democrat politicians want to drive away tourists who can & will tap the option Avoid Tolls on their GPS units or Google maps – Yes it might take you a bit out of the way but…

With beautiful countryside & clean rest stops along the way & even less traffic than going through NY/NJ turnpike systems; the extra miles & much less expense of tolls, it is well worth the trip.
The traffic avoidance alone it’s worth the extra mileage & will get you there in just about the same time but with less frazzled nerves due to the congestion & bad drivers at the many tollbooth stops.

Besides there are some nice family owned shops to stop & eat or shop along the way rather than the big box stores.

Can you guess where the most congested traffic always is on the way home to CT? Yes that’s right at the crazy mess of the tollbooth at the Beacon-Newburgh bridge where the tollbooths are!

With the addition of tollbooths the career democrat politicians are dooming our state to loads of increased debt & taxes that we do not need & can Not Afford!
Exactly why would any traveler come through CT with the highest gas taxes in the area?

#CallCTGeneralAssembly tell them #JustSayNoToTollBooths #CutSpending #StopAddingTaxes

PS: My Rant about More Gambling in CT is posted on another blog post which I’ll link back to here at a later date Life Calls so I must get to it

Driving in Winter – ugh I Hate Snow on the Roads

Yes it’s that bane to unicorn fart believers time of year – WINTER

When freezing temps & lots of snow is falling & we in the frozen lands ask “Hey can you send some of that global warming over here?”

I hate driving in winter during snow storms or afterwards when there is a hit or miss on will the roads being traveled be plowed & cleared.

Sometimes it can’t be helped people have to go to work & children off to schools & snow storms have their own schedule.

What is in your car as you’re driving around this winter?

I’ve been lucky to not have gotten stuck in the snow on the roadside but they have shown on the news this winter how others have not been so lucky.

I’ve done my best to stay off the roads when possible when snow is falling but a couple of times have had the unpleasant experience of being out when the snowstorm starts.

People yes we all want to get home & out of the snow but SLOW DOWN!
What good is speeding home to hit an ice patch & have an accident that causes not only you but everyone on the highway after you to spend an even longer time stuck in the cold in a traffic jam?
Saw that happen on my way home from DC earlier this winter.

Emergency Kit Backpack

Do you have a blanket or some sort of throw inside the car to reach for if you get stuck for an extended period of time out in the mess? If you have children then an old twin blanket for them in the back seat will reach across the seat to cover them all fold in half lengthwise to add warmth & a 2nd one for the adults in the front seat.

With it being winter try to never let the gas tank go below 3/4 full would be ideal but reality is not as easy to do as we’d like. The danger in letting the gas tank go below 1/4 is that in a traffic jam you could run out of gas or more common is that in this cold the gas lines will freeze. To help against gaslines freezing in the car adding some drygas to a full tank once a month has helped me over the years.

While it’s not snowing take a few minutes to gather items for your next trip out to the car
Snow Scraper with Brush – reminder the new law passed we have to remove car roof snow too
Extra Mittens to just leave in the car
Sunglasses – glare from the sun & snow means sunglasses are year round requirement for driving
Blankets or Throws – 1 for each row of seats
Flashlights & a RED film covering for signaling to show up against snow day or night
Some munchies to leave in the car like granola bars or protein bars that are wrapped & not affected by freezing or heat for a month
Candle in a Tin & Matches – hey save gas & battery life with a candle in a tin if stuck on the roadside adds a tiny bit of heat too
First Aid kit – pick one up at the store & add what you need to it & put it under the front seat

There are websites that offer more in depth details about what to have in an emergency kit for the car & home. One of the sites which I have been involved with is http://AroundTheCabin.com/Campfire This is where we can chat, ask questions & discuss all sort of different ideas about life in a world without electrical power or emergencies like Katrina / Sandy style events.
They start 8pm eastern Sunday through Friday nights & will be expanding their times on air as they bring on more hosts.

Save the Internet!

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Take Action & Call All of our congressional leaders #MakeDCListen
CT has a total of 7 members in the 2 arms of congress make a call to ALL 7
Or you can stop into their CT Office Locations to leave a Petition of your friends & family
Or if you want to brave the weather & can get a few friends to join you then grab some signs & walk around the block that the office is on & show your displeasure #OccupyCongress

We might be able to afford to be able to go down to DC to make our elected listen to us but we can each afford to call all 7 of our elected officials that are in congress & we should be able to make some time to also stop by their offices here in CT
If you want to call their DC offices & send faxes of the signatures that you’ve gathered in support of Free Speech on the Internet check the Sec of State website http://www.ct.gov/sots/cwp/view.asp?a=3179&q=515402

5 House of Representative
CT Offices

Larson
Connecticut Office
221 Main Street
2nd Floor
Hartford, CT 06106
860.278.8888
860.278.2111 (fax)

Courtney
Connecticut Offices
55 Main Street, Suite 250
Norwich, CT 06360
860.886.0139
860.886.2974 (fax)
* 2nd office Courtney
77 Hazard Ave., Unit J
Enfield, CT 06082
860.741.6011
860.741.6036 (fax)

DeLauro
Connecticut Office
59 Elm Street
New Haven, CT 06510
203.562.3718
203.772.2260 (fax)

Himes
Connecticut Offices
211 State Street, 2nd Floor
Bridgeport, CT 06604
866.453.0028
203.333.6655 (fax)
* 2nd office Himes
888 Washington Boulevard, 10th Floor
Stamford, CT 06901
866.453.0028
203.333.6655 (fax)

Esty
Connecticut Office
114 West Main Street
Old Post Office Plaza, LLC
New Britain, CT 06051
860.223.8412
860.225.7289 (fax)

2 Senators Blumenthal & Murphy
CT Offices

Blumenthal
Connecticut Office
90 State House Square
10th Floor
Hartford, CT 06103
860.258.6940
860.258.6958 (fax)

Murphy
Connecticut Offices
One Constitution Plaza
7th Floor
Hartford, CT 06103
860.549.8463
860.524.5091 (fax)

We MUST ALL Do Our Part Regardless of party this is not good for ANYONE in the USA or the World

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2015 What is Coming This Session?

Jan 7th 2015 was Inauguration Day in CT
For our Governor & his democrat crew a victory party
For the people of CT the mood was a bone chilling freeze as the icy hell that blasted us in the weather

Jan 6th was an awful reality check after the celebrating by the country over the republicans taking back the senate…
On the 6th our hopes were dashed as the congress re-elected the speaker even though the public opinion was against him for the many times that he went against republican values in the last session.

The week for CT just seemed to get worse with various press conferences from DC & CT
Each one of those meetings means that not only will the Federal Gov’t be adding taxes
But our CT General Assembly will also be there adding to our misery as Gov Malloy touts spending sprees with toll booths being forced back onto us

Oh & by the way we’re supposed to be stupid enough to believe that we need to change our State Constitution to make certain that our Transportation Fund Taxes (which was their excuse for the raising the gas tax again) will now go towards actual transportation work – you know like they were supposed to go to in the first place but instead went towards pet projects that benefited the crony friends…

#HandsOffCTConstitution I hope is the new viral hashtag this session – there is no reason for the state constitution to be changed to ensure that tax money that is assessed is spent on the purpose that we were told that the tax was being forced upon us

While the rest of us have to tighten our belts the “Special Friends” of our state leaders all get to party with super raises – oh & some of those raises are not only outrageous in cost but they are backdated. Yes dear taxpayers we not only got hit with RetroActive Taxes we now get to pay for RetroActive Pay Raises.

Watching the inaugural activities on tv Dannel Malloy was sworn in for his 2nd term & reports on tv were that at least 1/2 of the seats were empty

Sadly I fear that our General Assembly is still one party ruled & the democrat crazy spending will continue along with more losses of our freedoms

Movie Released Online

Staff members have decided to release the rough cut of the movie they were working on early
2 hours 30+ minutes of rough product

MLK Day 2015 Thoughts

While people debate if Martin was republican or democrat or communist & his message has been hijacked by the rioting masses in Ferguson

I think we need to be reminded it’s the signs such as the one here that Martin was marching against & for the ability for men & women of color to go in not only to stores & schools & businesses to shop & work their way up to owners without being judged by the color of their skin.

We can celebrate that our nation has come such a long way that we have elected a man whose skin is black even though he grew up much differently than the majority of american born blacks whose heritage include slaves (he does not share that heritage his father was a rich African & his mother was a rich white woman whose family may or may not have owned slaves in their history).

What is sad is that instead of celebrating how far our country has come & all of the advances our country has made in ending slavery (which is still in operation today in African & Middle Eastern countries) there are so many men & women who are creating division. Even sadder still is they are profiting on creating that division & feeding the fires of division.

Al & Oprah toss out the race card at personal slights but where they NEED to speak up & against such as the damage that Common Core is doing to the young black men & women in school while making elites like Bill Gates richer they refuse to speak out against.

We have a rich history of being Victors in spite of the odds that had been placed in our way yet that is not celebrated. Men & Women like Ben Carson & Star Parker should be held up & promoted by those who have the spotlight instead they are torn down because the agenda that is being pushed & there is no profits being made by promoting getting a good education & owning your own business as these examples of overcoming great odds have done.

I hope that you will take a few minutes each day to thank God for the strides that we have made here in the USA. You have been blessed to live here in this country instead of any of the others where slavery still reigns & women are not allowed to be educated.
Celebrate the USA where people can own land & they have the right to protect their homes & family because in too many countries people are not able to do either.
Celebrate because it is quite rare in other countries for poor people to be obese or have a closet full of clothes.

Celebrate that Black Americans come in a Rainbow of colors due to our history & that We Have Overcome because most of the glass ceilings have been removed if we take the time to research & do the work that is required we do not have to flip burgers for minimum wage we can Open Our Own Restaurant & Own Our Own Businesses.

Stop buying into the racist group think the communists are striving to force upon us that actually keeps us down & drags others down that have managed to get out of the plantation ghettos. Instead work to fight against those who promote servitude & slavery under a new name…

I Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr’s fight by choosing to pick up the mantel & join that long line of civil rights fighters that he was just one member of but too many of our young men & women do not seem to know the stories of. I fight the new slavery of ignorance, where the Constitution is held as a document of enslavement rather than celebrated as a document of FREEDOM & LIBERTY that it is.

EarthQuakes in CT!??! Jan 2015 Get Prepared

LOL my cousins that live in Cali are laughing at us here in CT

While Cali is known for it earth movements & what we have been experiencing here in CT would not phase my Cali Cousins we here in CT have been feeling the earth move & it is unnerving to most of us who haven’t had the “fun” of feeling these “small quakes” (yes my cousins are calling these small since they have these & barely blink)

Apparently 2015 is going to be the year of earthquakes for CT? This month of Jan so far has had 13 quakes & counting in the Moodus & Plainfield areas in the past 2 weeks so it’s averaging 1 per day & the people in the area are so nervous that the state talking heads held a meeting to reassure the people that the state will be ready for whatever emergency will happen

the people in the surrounding area came together to ask questions because too many people haven’t the slightest clue on how to be prepared for emergencies

Thursday morning I called the insurance company to find out if we were covered in the event of an earthquake doing any damage up in our neck of the state… good thing to know is that just like flooding homeowners insurance does not cover EarthQuake Damage

The Insurance Agent & I had a few laughs about how everyone has been just waiting for Cali to have that 1 big quake & it falls off into the ocean but no one has considered that the east coast from CT to DC could just as easily have a quake & fall into the ocean instead

So bottom line for homeowners you might want to check with your insurance company to see just how much an earthquake rider will cost to add onto your policy – the actual cost is not much but the deductible is a bit different than a regular policy as they do not give you a dollar figure but a percentage of the home’s value to rebuild it.
$51 per year was going to be the additional cost to add onto the current homeowners policy but our company has a 15% deductible which means that we’d have to come up with $24k out of our pocket & the insurance company would pick up the costs after that – bit daunting but when considering that if we didn’t have any coverage that it would be 100% out of pocket cost it’s worth seriously planning to add on to the insurance policy.

I hope that people will take a few minutes to walk around their home & talk to their family members about the items they have up on the walls & how to secure things so it’s not so likely to harm the small sized people in the home.

Learn at least basic first-aid & pack a small suitcase or backpack to grab & go as heading outside so that if the house is a total loss you have at least a few clothes & important documents because you possibly might not be allowed back into the house for a few days until the authorities give the ok that it is safe to do so

Stay Safe & Get Prepared – It’s better to Have & Not Need than to NEED & Not Have in Emergencies

CT has Highest Hotel Tax in Nation

With the holiday season upon us it’s prime traveling time as families reunite

I was talking with friends while waiting for my son’s flight to come in & this article came to mind about the taxes on the hotel rooms.

With the elections now over & the “Malloy Math” finally being admitted that CT is in the red zone; the questions now turn to what new taxes will be applied that won’t be called “tax increases” because they weren’t taxed in the first place or will they merely ignore the “promise” to not raise taxes?

“Connecticut’s hotel lodging tax was the highest in the country in 2013…
Connecticut’s estimated taxable room revenue last year was $693.1 million, the 10th-lowest in the country”

Well, why vacation in CT if it’s the most expensive place to travel??!

This is a good example of why tax increases ultimately are counter-productive.
It’s the spending, stupid…

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20141009/NEWS01/141009925/1004?utm