Sunday, August 11, 2019

Liz Writes Life 8-7-19


August 7, 2019

Liz Writes Life

Election

The ballot for the special primary election for the empty CA. Dist. 1 Assembly seat arrived in my mail box last Friday. I really hope Patrick Jones garners enough votes to be in the top two, so he will be in the run-off (final) election for the assembly seat in November. In my opinion, he has the most experience having served on the Redding City Council for two terms and a term as Redding Mayor. He believes the Klamath hydro-electric dams must be saved and is a strong 2nd Amendment supporter. Jones has also been involved in his family’s private business for 40 years. He has been to Siskiyou Co. several times to learn about our issues, which has me convinced he will fight for Siskiyou Co. in Sacramento.

POW

Erin Ryan, staff for CA. Dist. 1 Congressman Doug LaMalfa, attended the Scott Valley Protect Our Water meeting on July 25, 2019. She said that LaMalfa voted against the H.R. 3877 Bipartisan Budget Act, even though it passed the House, the U.S. Senate and President Trump signed it into law on Aug. 2, 2019. LaMalfa explained his stand:  While there are important portions I agree with in this bill, like eliminating the threat of a shutdown or default and an agreement to prevent the inclusion of partisan ‘poison pills’ into future appropriations bills, the amount of funding allowed under this deal is simply more than the United States can afford. America has a spending problem and it needs to be reined-in so that our children aren’t the ones paying the price.”

There has been quite a bit of talk about the federal government’s trillions of debt, which as of Sunday night was measured at $22,022,779,932,477 by the debt clock. This equates to over $67,000 of federal debt per person in the United States. I really don’t understand all the implications of this much debt and I do know that not passing a federal budget also causes a crisis. But, I do appreciate that Doug LaMalfa believes in limited spending. How does this problem get fixed? Elected officials must have the fortitude to reduce the size of bloated agencies and federal over-spending. That is truly the predicament. Not enough have the guts to do the job!

On another issues, Doug was pleased the FAA announced grant funding for Northern CA. airports in Plumas and Modoc Counties. He serves as a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and pushed for funding to aid rural communities and their general aviation airports, which also enhances safety and service provided by our airports.

Garden

The tomatoes made a liar out of me and I didn’t mind. I was shocked to find five more red tomatoes last week, which I didn’t think would happen ‘til mid-August! So, I ate another bacon and tomato sandwich! But, in picking and trying to eat a cucumber each day, I am frustrated they are still bitter. The plants look great, so the leaves liked all the extra fertilizer and dried milk I gave them. So, it was very embarrassing to finally give up and go to the store to buy a cucumber to make a cuc and tomato, with red onion, salad – but it was worth it!

Two weeks ago, I decided it was time to pull the pea plants, which makes one less batch of irrigating to do. And, several days ago, I decided I wanted a few potatoes to fry-up. Started scratching the soil and ended up with about three pounds. This plant had dried-up (even with irrigation) and I only wanted a few potatoes, so I didn’t dig very deep. Oh, and the rhubarb looked like it needed thinned, so I pulled out about 10 pounds of stalks without over doing it. Both plants actually look very healthy after they were thinned a bit.

The maroon-colored elephant-head amaranthus are four-feet tall and starting to look impressive; and the volunteer four o-clocks have started blooming. They will likely all be white trumpets as they have reverted. Velvety purple morning glories are climbing the fence.

Bee and bumble bees love the hollyhocks, ornamental oregano, red bee balm and dahlias. Two female hummingbirds scrap and dive-bomb each other, while sipping on the blooming flowers. They are so feisty in their battles, but will hover quite close to me when I am irrigating. They are amazing!

Scams

I just hate scams and was pleased Sheriff Jon Lopey sent out a news release warning the public about phone calls that claim to be from the Social Security Administration or law enforcement agencies that are either demanding or expecting money as donations.

Scammers try to protect themselves and frequently tell victims to pay in prepaid gift cards, Bitcoin or bank wire transfers. Don’t do it!
In May and June, I received a lot of calls from someone telling me I was in big trouble for not paying on my student loan. I never obtained a student loan! So, I hung-up and because the calls were on my cell phone, I blocked the number. But, they just called on another number. I am getting to where I don’t answer unknown long-distant calls on my cell phone.

Sheriff Lopey reminds everyone to simply hang-up and then call your local law enforcement agency and report. Do not believe you can fix any kind of financial problem over the phone!

I must admit that I did not call the sheriff’s dept. and report the calls. Oops! Law enforcement does need to know just how many people are being targeted. So, I promise to call if you promise to call. OK!

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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