Category Archives: Rants and Raves

A Fight for our Right to… Chickens?

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White Chicken says what

Yep, that’s right. After the article in the paper came out about us and our chickens, we had a visit from the city Code Inspection office. Apparently we are only allowed to have ONE chicken because the code says you can only have one per 1/10 of an acre and we have .16 acres. That was not what we were initially told, but apparently that’s the case. No matter that we have an EMPTY FIELD behind our house. Or that there is a house on the other side of the fence with horses…no that would make too much sense to allow chickens in our backyard.

violation
The Chicken Ticket

So, now we are going to have to fight for our right to have chickens. Crazy. I wasn’t really even interested in this fight. I just wanted to be left alone, my property, my business. And get this, when I called the city to find out if we could get a variance for our chickens, they said it would be $300! It is considered a MAJOR variance. A major variance? For three little animals that weigh about 2 pounds each? And there are no guarantees that we would get it! And come to find out from this particular planner that there is NO limit to the number of dogs and cats a person can have as long as they aren’t breaking any other code violations like noise, smell, confinement rules, etc.

So compared to unlimited dogs or cats, having a few chicken hens doesn’t seem to hurt anyone. They are not noisy -the neighbors’ dogs are much noisier, they aren’t dirty -you can just spray the poop right off and it becomes fertilizer unlike dog poop, they don’t pose a threat to public safety as they can’t bite or kill anyone as dogs can. And each of these possibilities would already be covered by existing codes as they are for dogs and other pets.

Keeping chickens as pets has the additional benefit of food production and food security. I can’t see why anyone would think that having four backyard chickens is detrimental to society. If you support local food, environmental and economic sustainability, food security, healthy lifestyles and responsible pet ownership, please support us in being allowed to live in Greeley with our chickens.

We are going to fight this and we will need your help. If you are in the Greeley or northern Colorado area, we will be meeting next Thursday, August 20, 2009 at Ramseier Farm Park, 6:30pm to talk strategy. Please come if you can.

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Taking Risks

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I’ve been thinking about risk lately and what it means.

play_risk

I think it’s different for everyone and rightly so.  I for one take risks that some people don’t just because of my exposure to it.  Take flying for example.  I’d have no problem hopping in a small Cessna and taking off into the sky.  For others who haven’t had the flight experience they wouldn’t do it, it would be too risky.

Then there is financial risk.  Some people have way more experience than I do in the stock market and don’t even flinch when they move a large amount of cash around.  Or gambling, I haven’t ever won anything at a casino so when I see people betting $10 a hand at blackjack I just don’t understand it.  I can’t do that.

We have been thinking about another property in PR.  It’s a bit riskier than what we are used to due to price and the fact that we want to use it to start our own business.  We do have some experience with running our own small businesses and can see possibilities and want to give it a try.  Here is the catch though; give up our comfortable life to do it?   What if everything goes bad?  OMG OMG OMG.  We both have good jobs and the living is fairly easy except for what challenges we hold ourselves to.

I haven’t really ever failed at anything I’ve tried to do in life (except putting down linoleum in the basement which turned out better because we went with tile instead).   So even the things that I have failed at turned out…better.  Isn’t that odd?   I used to think landing at a strange airport with no plans in mind was ‘risky’ but now that I’ve done that (a few times) its no big deal.  Experience helps us feel more comfortable about taking risks.

I want to make a trip out to PR again here in a month or two to look around.  I think that I am ready to expand my experience in life again and become more comfortable with being an entrepreneur.   Besides IF we were to fail just think of how much more experience we would have when we try again!  I am already very comfortable with Puerto Rico due to the fact I’ve been there a few times.   I know what to expect.

I encourage others to comment about any risks you’ve taken and how it turned out in the end.

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New Frontier Bank Closes in Greeley

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Well we saw something you don’t see everyday.  The reason for the FDIC.  It took over as New Frontier Bank closes in Greeley (in Longmont and Windsor as well).
NewFrontier Bank
News Crews out Front

We do have an account there and a CD.  So we have some concern, but the FDIC had a spokesman out front today to assure customers that their money is safe.  It’s interesting that the spokesman they hired was a HUGE guy.  The guy was 7 feet of nicely prepared suit.  I started to think about why they had such a huge figure representing the FDIC?  Of course!  They want to appear as big and strong as they can.  Makes sense.  Rest assured citizen, your money is safe.

big-guy
You can see the huge FDIC dude on the right.

We drove by late last night on our way to get some pizza and knew something was up.  All the lights were on and there were a TON of cars around the parking lot.  This was about 10pm on a Friday night.  We also knew someone who worked pretty high up there and we were aware that this may happen but you never really expect it.

dr-evil
600 meeelion dollars

Turns out around $600 million dollars will be used to cover the losses of the bank.  That’s taxpayer money.

We needed to drop off some checks and other odds and ends at the bank this weekend and had planned on going to New Frontier. We ended up going to another bank as a result of it closing. We had some coin change to turn in which was an interesting journey in itself.  Their coin machine got jammed and they had to take it all apart while we stood and watched.  There was at one point 3 employees working on the change machine..lol.

Anyway, as far as New Frontier, and actually the  entire U.S. banking and financial system, we are witnessing history.  We knew a lot of customers and employees.  Family and friends banked there so its weird to see it make national news.  Something in our small backyard. Are these the Great Depression type stories we will tell our grandchildren?

The Interesting times we live in
Right click to save as MP3

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Blue Mustang of Death: Welcome to Colorado

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“Stare into my fiery eyes as I rear up on my hind legs and stomp you”, IT said. That’s what I first thought of when I saw IT:  The Blue Mustang of Death at Denver International Airport or DIA, now also known as Death Is Approaching.  Or maybe IT was just saying “Welcome to Colorado”.  We may never know.

When we came back from Puerto Rico, we noticed this big blue horse with red glowing eyes as we drove back home. A group of people have petitioned to have it taken down because some travelers are the anxious type, and like football fans, have their own superstitions. Especially when a neurotic and superstitious Denver Broncos fan also happens to be an anxious traveler. Is that a bronco or a…a… mustang?!!

It definitely is creepy, but cool in its own way. Without the glowing eyes, I don’t think it would have the kind of effect it has on people. Actually, it does kind of looks like the bronco at Mile High Stadium, only bigger and bluer, kinda like how Paul Bunyon liked his oxen.

bronco
Bronco Sculpture at Mile High Stadium `and`

blue mustang at DIA
Blue Mustang of Death at DIA

mustang-DIA Close up
Mustang Death Gaze

It also makes you wonder, what IS the difference between a mustang and a bronco*? Well, I have provided you that very answer in photo form. You can also check out a Puerto Rican bronco.

mustang-car
A Mustang `and`

old-bronco-car
A Bronco

But seriously -ok, not really seriously- but really, it seems like everyone has an opinion on this Blue Mustang near DIA. Apparently because the artist/sculptor was killed while making the beast, many believe it to be cursed. It also has another scary quality:  anatomical correctness. Have you ever seen a male horse’s anatomy? How about 5 times larger? On its hind legs? You get the picture.

The glowing blue monster has also brought out the aliens according to our local UFO abductees/conspiracy theorists. According to them, the Blue Mustang is the base for an underground alien city beneath DIA where strange creatures like Freemasons congregate.  For more on this, tune into AM radio at 3:33am on a Wednesday night or, read the New York Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/02/arts/design/02hors.html

*When I looked up the difference between a mustang horse and a bronco horse, there really isn’t much of a difference. They are both North American feral horses often of Arabian descent.

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