Roll Tide Roll!!!

Today 8/30/2008, Saturday at 7:00 in Georgia, kicks off Bama's season against Clemson! The Tide is a 6 or 7 point underdog, but will prevail. Why you ask? Desire and new coaching.

He has a history of winning national championships at LSU! He has instilled in the Bama team the difference between losing and an also run. Winning, winning is first and there is NO SECOND choice. That is the DIFFERENCE.

Jeff the Knutt in the Ham

Obamo is SCARY!

Subject: Scary!!

Obama's 143 Days of Senate Experience
Posted by Cheri Jacobus
May 5, 2008 at 5:35 PM

Just how much Senate experience does Barack Obama have in terms of actual work days? Not much.
From the time Barack Obama was sworn in as a United State Senator, to the time he announced he was forming a Presidential exploratory committee, he logged 143 days of experience in the Senate. That's how many days the Senate was actually in session and working.
After 143 days of work experience, Obama believed he was ready to be Commander In Chief, Leader of the Free World, and fill the shoes of Abraham Lincoln, FDR, JFK and Ronald Reagan.
143 days -- I keep leftovers in my refrigerator longer than that.
In contrast, John McCain's 26 years in Congress, 22 years of military service including 1,966 days in captivity as a POW in Hanoi now seem more impressive than ever. At 71, John McCain may just be hitting his stride.




Think you know who this man is?
This possible President of the United States !! Read Below and
Ask yourselves, is this REALLY someone we can see as the
President of our great nation!!!!

Below are a few lines from Obama's books; In his words!

From Dreams of My Father: 'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'
From Dreams of My Father : 'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race.'
From Dreams of My Father: 'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.'
From Dreams of My Father: 'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.'
From Dreams of My Father: 'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself , the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'

And FINALLY the Most Damming one of ALL of them!!!

From Audacity of Hope: 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'

Sony 40" Bravia HDTV

Wow!

Dear friends and family,

Karen and I have looked at ads on the High Definition TV's for months but watching the prices in each Sunday paper. I told Karen that when I could buy one for $1,000.00, we would go shopping.

Yesterday's Sunday paper had an Olivia 42" 1080p from Target at $879.00 or close and we thought we would look at this one. Karen researched the different brands and had a great insight into what we needed and/or wanted. First, the picture on the Olivia was great as was the Sony sitting a few sets away. Looking at the specs, the Olivia had only 2 HDMI ports for your DVD recorder, home theater and the like acessories you may have to hook up.

The Sony was almost $1,200.00 but they had a 10% weekend off on this model plus if you put it on a new Target credit card, this got the set down to $1,079.00 just $79.00 over my target price. Again reading the specs, the Sony has 3 HDMI ports plus a PC input port that made it available to play movies or anything off my laptop.

If you have a laptop with Windows Media Windows version, it is designed to do this seamlessly. Another saving buying in Selby county rather than Jefferson or the townships of Hoover, Birmingham or even Vestavia. Two have 10% sales tax and one 9% so there again was another savings. We bought the one needed HDMI cable to add to the one we already had, plus $79.00 for a 3 year inhouse or pickup service policy. All this was available now with the 10% they had off for this two day weekend.

We set it up in a heartbeat and it is cruising along with me watching the Olypics basket ball and swimming as we speak. If you have not bought a large screen HD TV yet, the Sony comes with one of the highest if not the highest ratings of customer satisfaction and customer service records. Wish us luck! Now what to do with my 26" Sony sitting in the corner of the dining room, a great TV for someone who needs one that in almost 5 years it too has performed like a champ. Call me or email me! It is nice, but the bugger is HEAVY, so bring two burly men to move it.

News at 11:00

Jeff the Knutt in the Ham

Sold Home In Bessemer, Alabama

Sunday 8/17/2008

How to sell a home in the depressed real estate market

First, it takes some hard work and lots of imagination. You have to be patient but use all your inheriant skills in selling anything. I tried doing the FSBO thing, but admittedly I don't know the ins and outs and details in reaching the sale.

I listed the house with about 4 agencies before I found the one that really worked on this and had some real imagination in selling the home. Curb appeal is first, so we took it off the market while we installed 5 new double pane windows in the living room and dining room to help the appearance from the street.

We than cleaned it through out, removed any paint spots off the floors, polished the hardwoods and had drains replaced in the kitchen and both bathrooms plumbing renewed removing any chance of this going wrong.

When we then listed the home, we went up 4,900 dollars to cover these added improvements. The home does not have Central heat and air so we had an estimate of $7,000 on this and put this in as 'negioable'. This we felt would be something to intice a new owner and a discount we could play with.

The clincher was for my brother and I to agree to put up $500 each if a multiple lising agent sells the house, not our listing agent! This $1,000 cash created a lot of interest and the agent really trying to make that extra $1,000 bucks.

The seller found a 'first time home owner' and used the $7,000 for the central heat and air as part of their down payment to qualify for a bank loan. We then got a possible buyer with an 'APPROVED BANK LOAN' AND EARNEST MONEY ON THE HOUSE.

We now have had the home inspection and the house passed with only two repairs needed and they are about done. We now have a closing date of August 27, 10 days from now and brother and I should get about $65,000 out of this with expenses taken out. A good but hard job.

jeff the knutt in the ham

New and small accident

Well, let's call it luck. Good or bad, let's call it luck. I got her new tag on Friday and the next day, a truck forced her off the road, luckily she was not hurt.
But, she had to dodge the truck and unluckily, scrubbed the edge of a drainage or sewer ditch.

The car was not damaged or not much. She scrubbed the tires and yes, the expensive rims making her new car not so new anymore. She was so upset, and Jeff did not treat her right. It was not her fault, but she felt I blamed her! Not so. So Jeff is taking her car Monday to Town and Country Ford in Bessemer and fixing or replacing the rims and alignment to get it back to NEW condition and apppearance.
That is what I DO! Jeff the Knutt in the Ham

Barney caught me at the AG Food Show

You see the picture and information about the AG Food show in the picture and commentary below. Now they had the police car from Mayberry, 60's Ford, radio, whip antenna, siren and red flashing light. I got a friend to take the picture just before Barney pulled out his one bullet and hauled me off to jail....Jeff the Knutt in the Ham

Associated Grocers of Alabama Food Show

Above is a picture of my booth at the Associated Grocers of Alabama Semi-annual Food Show at the BJCC (Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center) in Birmingham, Alabama USA. I am the key account manager and represent my company in AG. This is a booking show where we demonstate, show, and sample our product(s) to customers and take booking orders over the next 3 months.

Bertalyn (Birdie) is my demo lady that samples and feeds our customers and unfortunately, lots of the other vendors at the show. We sampled our Smoked Bratwurst, Cheesy Brats, and all Beef and Pork skinless hot dogs. They literally eat us out of house and home. It is hard work but really fun but don't tell my company that as they pay me to do this twice a year.

We just concluded the summer show and I'll have another in January 2009. This was one of the hotest days of this summer, high of 97 and heat index of 105-107 due to high humidity. This keeps customers away and in air conditioning plus $4.00 or almost per gallon for gas kept some distant customers away.

Hope you enjoy my pictures and I'll try to post some others....Jeff the Knutt in the Ham ;)

New 2008 Ford Escape "TAG"

You can see the new Ford Escape has the Town and Country Ford tag on the rear. I failed to inform you that this is a CPO (Certified Pre-Owned" almost new 2008. That said, it is a what is called a "program car", one that comes off lease early or traded in on a newer vehicle.

I had assumed the new 2008 tag for this car would be like on a new car, usually less than $20.00. What a shock I got yesterday getting the required Alabama tag!
Two hundred fourteen dollars and seventy seven cents. $214.77! Luckily I keep several $1,000 in my checking account to take care of everyday expenses, but this surely knocked a hole in my budget for August. And....I have to pay a whole year that expires April 2009, and that is not 12 months. Welcome to the tax happy state of ALABAMA!
Jeff the Knutt in the Ham

New 2008 Ford Escape

August 7, 2008
Good evening my invited and casual reader,
I think the smile on my wife Karen's face speaks volumes. I bought her a new 2008 Ford Escape from Town and Country Ford in Bessemer, Al last Saturday. She even got to drive it home and it is now almost a week later and I have yet driven it. I drove a demonstrator about 2 weeks ago and loved it. Karen had seen one just like this on our last trip to Mobile, Al and loved the little smaller SUV than a Ford Explorer.
She has not had a new car since she bought her 1991 Honda Civic and I could never talk her out of it. We still have it and it is a great car, a 4 door, 4 cyclinder with 103,000 miles and gets 35 mpg, and we have not decided what to do yet. It may make a high school or college student a great economical car to drive to school and we figured we could get more selling it than trading or just about giving to the dealer.
I'll take a pix of the Civic and post it later with it's story. Enjoy Karen's new adventure as she is extactic about her new car. Rejoice dear heart....
Jeff the Knutt in the Ham

ZEIGLER SALESMEN (RETIRED) BREAKFAST

Hope you enjoy looking at some great friends and people I worked with and for over some of my 40 plus years with R. L. Zeigler Co., Inc. We had about 14 at breakfast at the Cracker Barrel in Bessemer, Al USA. The lady standing waiting on me is my sweet wife, Karen. We had somewhere to be with family at 10:00am and we had to leave early. Enjoy and comment if you wish.....
JEFF THE KNUTT IN THE HAM

Retired Zeigler Salemen, having breakfast together at the Cracker Barrel in Bessemer, Al USA. These were and are great friends and we have continued to stay
in touch over the years. Enjoy! Jeff the Knutt in the Ham

I retired from my company after 42 years and here are some of the grand guys I worked with over many years ago. Yours truly is first on the left, I think!
Jeff the Knutt in the Ham