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[Ron61]

Victoria, TX

Immigration Changes help business

Victoria, Texas is a town about 80 miles west of Houston.

Local Hispanic leaders there, in opposition to pending Immigration Legislation, boycotted all Caucasian owned businesses in the Victoria area this past weekend as a demonstration of their20economic impact on the community.

The boycott was declared a success by the Hispanic community, noting that revenue in Caucasian owned businesses was down by 19%.

Business owners declared the boycott a success as well, pointing out that shoplifting was reduced by 77%, money orders sent out of the country were down by 97%, and the cost of daily clean-up and trash collection was down by 84%. Shoppers reported that they could actually hear English being spoken throughout the community for the first time in recent memory, and customers actually paid for purchases with real money, not government debit cards!

Ron

[Joe Wicked]

Got the 2nd tree done yesterday. Now what did not hurt yesterday morning hurts today and what did hurt, hurts more. At least it is done. I could not believe the difference in soil from the front yard to the back yard. The front was the same for the whole hole, but the back was easy to dig for the first 2/3 and then I hit a layer of clay that very hard. I ended up breaking my shovel handle. I had to borrow a shovel from my neighbor so I could finish. I got the first 2/3 done within about an hour and it took 2 1/2 hours to do the last 1/3.

[trularin]

That moving tree stuff will wear you out Joe. I play at having a small tree farm.

Excellent post there Ron.

I got the aluminum done on the seed barn. A friend gave me a steel roof for it, dang it that even nice. Now all I go to do is put it on.

That might be what you might want to consider on that roof for your house Ron. They are good for life.

Well, it was a balmy 70 on the way in this morning. Seems there are more people on the road...more than usual anyway.

Good Morning to you all.

[4RE KLR]

GMA everyone.

Nice pleasant morning out right now.

[Ron61]

Joe,

Glad the trees are done, and now you can start the recovery process. You should have rented one of those post hole augers as they do a pretty good job of getting through our hard pan. Just have to use a small one first to get the first hole through and then go to the larger ones.

Tru,

That sounds like a nice seed barn you built. The steel roof would be great here except for the sun and heat. My neighbor had a huge steel garage built and they said they won't use wood supports or anything because the heat can cause them to burn.

Ron

[trularin]

So they built it all with steel?

I have a rolled steel roof on the 52 foot barn. It really makes a racket when the rain ( or just about anything else ) hits it.

[Ron61]

Tru,

Yes his garage is all steel except the shelves he put in later. Trusses and everything else. And those walls do get hot in the Summer here.

Ron

[trularin]

That would have been my next question, did this person insulate the steel building?

That would be an oven in direct sunlight. Not sure I would want to be in the building.

[4RE KLR]

We use steel here on the roofs all the time with no problem. I do not think the wood would burn from just having a steel roof. I have seen attic temps well over 230* in the summer here with no ventilation.

The wood does dry out but if it caught fire because of attic temperature every house here would be up in flames.

[4RE KLR]

I know one thing, I am glad I am not digging through clay to plant trees in the heat.

When that clay gets hard it is like concrete, when it gets wet in it like butter, in that it is very slippery but still hard.


Joe,
Do some homework and look up "gypsum". Yes it is the same as drywall but this is in the form of little pellets. You put it on the yard, much as you would fertilizer and water it down. After a couple of treatments the yard will be much more manageable. I am not sure exactly how it works but an old farmer told me that many years ago when I was fighting the same thing. After I did it, we had the best yard in the neighborhood an no one knew why.

[Joe Wicked]

Thanks for the tip Steve. I will look into it. The weird part about the trees was that the front yard the soil was the same all the way down. It was dense, but I could dig it with a little effort. There was a lot of old vegetation in the clay, I attributed that to the fact that the land used to be a corn field and they plow the stocks in each year. The back yard was no vegetation in the clay and the first 2/3s was dense, but not too hard to dig. Then I hit the clay that Steve mentioned.

This weekend was nice and cool so it wasn't too bad. When I would get real hot and sweaty, I could take a break and cool off in about 15 min just by sitting down and getting a cold drink. I would not have attempted this if it wasn't for the rain we have been getting. The rain broke just long enough for me to get it done, and today it is raining again. I was supposed to mow the grass today when I got home, but I am not going to do it in the rain or just after the rain. I have a few spots of grass that have not yet fully come in, so it is muddy and I don't want to tear up the yard walking through it.

[trularin]

Geez Joe, how big are your holes?

Are we moving 12 foot or taller trees?

[Ron61]

Tru,

The garage is huge and I think they did insulate it. He has one 12' and 2 -- 10' roll up doors in it plus the regular walk through door. I wish I had a garage that big. I believe the low edges of the roof are around 16' from the ground. And he can't get his car and pickup in it because of all the boats.

Ron

[Joe Wicked]

Originally Posted by trularin

Geez Joe, how big are your holes?

Are we moving 12 foot or taller trees?

45" across and 20" deep. This clay is a mother b*tch. The trees are 8-9' tall and the root ball is 22" across X 18" deep. I went 2" deeper so I could put some of the fertilized soil down under the tree first.

Still raining today. I am welcoming the rain though. The heat was killing us and the soil really could use the water. Not to mention my trees.

[Joe Wicked]

Ron, I would define that as a shop. My uncle's shop has 2 20' roll up doors, but he has to get his flatbed 3 ton truck with a crane on the back in there for maintenance. It has plenty of room for a lot of vehicles. He does all the maintenance for his farm equipment, his Tree Farm Business, and his Land Leveling Business him and his Son run. It is a steel building as well, and there was not a lot of insulation needed. Something about the design of it keeps it cooler inside than you would think. Huge overhead heaters for the winter though. Nebraska winters get really cold.

[wtm442]

Joe
Sounds like you got the typical once over by the housing contractor. Just spread down as little good soil as necessary to make a lawn grow.

A 22 inch hole for a 20 inch deep root ball is not much. Hope the trees do well in their new location.

[Ron61]

Joe,

I just wish I had a garage or shop that large. It is green with white trim and looks good. Get rid of the boats and camper, put in a lift at one of the doors, and I could live in the rest of it. He has a ladder that he uses to get to his top shelves and cabinets.

Edit: Darn, I just brushed my teeth and either one broke or something came off. Doesn't look as if it was one that had a crown on it and I saw nothing in the sink, but it is just as if the outer edge crumbled and now I have to go to the dentist. I called Lorrie and the earliest I can get in is Wednesay morning. Anyway it is very sharp and rough and really cuts into my lip. Darn teeth are just getting to old. Guess the next trip is to the bank in the morning to see if they will finance the dental trip.

Ron

[wtm442]

Originally Posted by Ron61

Joe, I just wish I had a garage or shop that large. Ron

You mean that people actually have garages bigger than 13' wide by 23' long?
I'm gonna have to get me one of them big garages.

[Ron61]

Warren,

I would need a garage at least 75' long by 60' wide in order to not have it full of junk within a few months. My two car garage looks like a small bathroom with all of the junk I have piled in it. If I were young and building another home. I would have a HUGE garage with a small house attached.

Ron

[4RE KLR]

Ron,
If you would quit chewing on the rocks you would not have so much trouble with your teeth. I have warned you about that in the past.

But then again, after 2,800 years if you still have any teeth at all, you should be lucky.