A buddy of mine bought some real good tickets to concerts at the Houston Rodeo which is currently under way. But his mother has become ill and he will not be able to attend. He has been asking around to see if anyone would be interested in purchasing them from him, actually at this point he would be willing to just give them away so as not to see them go to waste. I personally would love to go, but it is too last minute for me to make arrangements. Even though I am self employed and have a bit of flexibility I still have obligations to meet that I need to tend to.
I haven’t been to a rodeo is a long time. There really isn’t a big call for rodeos up here in Maine, so the choices are pretty limited. But I have been to a few, out of state, and they really are a blast. Something that a lot of people are in to and I’m glad that they are still popular. They are usually affordable and you definitely get your monies worth, the events go on for a good long time and there is a lot going on all the time.
The Houston Rodeo is offering entertainment after the rodeo and has plenty of top name performers lined up this year. I looked it up online and they have Gary Allen, Keith Urban, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson and many more performing this year. Maybe next year, if I get my ducks in a row I’ll see about attending. It should be a blast.
It wasn’t very long ago that I heard that asbestos is still actively mined in some countries. I think I was told that Canada is one of those countries. I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but I was certainly surprised to hear that because asbestos is so closely linked to Mesothelioma Cancer. When my wife was working for the phone company, one year her boss put her in charge of an OSHA inspection that included inspecting the building that she worked in for asbestos. That was when she learned that exposure to asbestos could cause Mesothelioma.
Since then we’ve learned a lot about how millions of people suffer, and die from that horrible cancer. I just can’t imagine that any country would allow mining of asbestos to continue! But apparently asbestos is found in lots of things – from insulation to car brakes! I would think that the scientists could come up with a different product that works as well with fewer health hazards!
I’m thinking about taking some courses at the local community college. I’d like to learn more about the technology of the Internet. I’ve noticed that I feel rather out-of-place among many of the folks around here lately. I need to learn how to geek-speak! Apparently more and more geeks are moving out here because their jobs do not require that they live in a specific city. So they move out to a rural area where they can live a really nice quiet life and yet make enough money to do it in style.
I noticed a few weeks ago when I attended a dinner party at one of my customer’s houses that a lot of people were talking about computers. They were using terms like dedicated hosting and network servers and bots and I realized that I was falling behind on my knowledge of the technology that is running the world. I think I’d like to keep up with it all, so as not to fall behind and feel totally technologically challenged!
Part of growing up includes buying a car. What an irritating process buying a car is! Especially buying from a dealer. When you go into a dealership and the salesman asks you if you have a trade-in, the smart thing to do is to say no, that you are paying cash! If you say you have a trade-in, and say that you brought it with you they are going to ask for your keys so they can give you a trade-in value estimate. Well, once you hand over your keys, you are at their mercy until they agree to give your keys back to you! The last time that happened to us, my wife got irate that they weren’t forthcoming with the keys so she told the salesman that he had five minutes to return the keys or we were leaving anyway, since she brought another set of keys with her! She got her keys pretty fast then!
Another important part about buying a new car is getting car insurance. One should have a good idea how much the auto insurance is going to cost! Take some time to shop around for cheap car insurance. I can remember the last time I bought a new car that the cost of the insurance went sky high! That was an unpleasant surprise and now I’m careful to shop for that before I commit to buying the car!
I’m quite annoyed that several businesses that I’ve worked for over the past year have not yet sent out the 1099s to me. I’ve called them and asked for them, and they tell me that the information has been sent to their accountant and all I can do is wait. Well, I called the IRS to ask them what I should do, and the IRS told me that the deadline for 1099s to be mailed out is actually March 3, so I guess I shouldn’t panic until about March 10. I’m just discouraged because my business is a corporation and I have to file my taxes by March 15th! That does not give me much time to get my taxes done!