bersaguy

I have never been in one of their stores and this is just another reason not to go in one!!.............JMHO

Picking up where kinda left off, by age 9 I was quite the business man with the help of Ollie (the old man) I was in the snapping turtle business, painted turtle business, Nightcrawler business and by then I was able to buy my first new rods and reels which we of course the Zebco 33 Classics. Next was teh Doe ball business. The old man showed me his formula for making Doe balls. 1 box of Wheaties, 3 eggs, water and vanilla extract all mixed together with fingers and rolled into doe balls the size of lare sewing thimble of a little bigger and the secret ingredient was the peanut butter. I would make them up during the week and freeze them for the tri to the river which was about 3 miles from my house. I had a cart I pulled behind my bike and I would get to the river about an hour early and use my Zebco's to cathc some of the bigger Carp that fed off shore. I was using Night crawlers on one pole and Doe balls on the other. I would normally have between 5 and 10 carp on a stringer and I had the Doe balls wrapped in wax paper and foil and when thhe men saw the big carp I had on my stringer they began buying Doe balls and night crawlers. After about 2 weeks I began selling the Carp and Bull heads I was catching also. Business was flourishing and then it happened. A drought and no rain began cutting deep into my Night Crawler business and this tiime it was my dad that bailed me out. He knew the owner of the Glen Eagles Golf Course and they watered every day so the golf club lawns where loaded wih crawlers and my father spoke with the owner and he got me permission the gather crawlers on the fairways but I had strict orders to stay off the greens. It was easy to catch crawlers there and I would get a 5 gallon pail full in a couple hours. Back in business! I was making really good money for a 9 year old boy but it was also a lot of work. I had a savings acount at the bank in town and I made sure at least 80% of my earnings after buying supplies such as Wheaties eggs and other necessary stuff got bought. My 3 older brothers never did anythinng except cut grass and it didn't pay that well. When I was 12 my father got hurt and was out of work for almost a year and my Mother got a job waiting tables in town to try and help pay bills. One night I over heard them talking and my father told my mother that if they didn't make a house payment soon they would foreclose on our home. Now you gotta remember we are talking the 1950's so a house note of $72.00 was a lot of money, especially feeding 4 growing boys and keeping them in clothes. There was a lot of passing down of clothes in our house to...lol.. My folks didn't know about my savings account but I had over $1,100.00 in it that I had saved up from age 8-12 by doing all the different jobs I had. I took my bank book to my parents and showed them what I had been able tosave up and they would not take it. They said that was my money and things would get better soon. My next trip to town I went by the Lemont Savings and Loan where I had my money. I ask my banker if he could help me out and he said he could. I took out $216.00 and he made three payments on the house. That caught it up to date. The following month I made that payment also. That Fall when school got ready to start I took out another $150.00 and gave it to my mother so she could buy us all new clothes for school which she did every year before school. In October of that year my father was able to return to work. My mother continued to work also part time to help get things caught back up. Yep, I can remember all of the good times and the not so good times of my childhood and I am thankfull fo all the memories of back then. I had one best friend that lived on our road and he was the one I hunted with that i have mentioned in previous posts. We shot trap together also. That was another joint venture for making money. There was a Supper Club which was a fancy night club type place that had a buffet on weekends. It was called Matts Inn and was always packed on weekends. About 3 times during the Winter months Matt would call one of us and place an order for 200 rabbits for us to get him. He paid $1.00 per rabbit. He could not charge for the buffet that night because he was serving wild game on it but he would have a cover charge to enter and the price of drinks went up and the food was free. Dave and I would get him 200 rabbits or very close to that many each time and take them to him all cleaned and dress and he would pay us accordingly to number of rabbits we produced. Dave still lives up there and we still talk often and most times about the days of our childhood.............

Next to oldest brother did something similar but he didn't slide across the floor cause it was carpet. He set the Curtains on fire when he did it. Needless to say it got crazy in a huurry but I don't remember any of it but just heard my mother mention it a couple times over the years. I'm not even sure I was born yet when he did that.

Here recently I began a record of my life to see how far back I could remember things in my life. Good bad and everything between. When I am just setting around kicking back I have began thinking about my life. Funny how CRS works. I realized that I can remember things all the way back to age 5 but can't remember a lot of what I did yesterday. I can remember getting my first polio shots and as small as I was back then it took 3 people to hold me down while the doctor stuck me in the arm. I was 5 and had to have them before I began school. I was 6 years old when I got to catch my first fish on an old cane pole the old man that lived next store to us had. He was 85 years old and lived in a 2 room cottage next to us. He owned about 5 acres next to us and had 3 big buildings full of stuff. I don't think he ever threw anything away. We had a couple Black dirt ponds about 5 or 6 acres in size about waist deep behind the house where we lived and they had Carp, Bluegills, Bullheads and Grass Pickerel fish in them and once in a while the old man or I would catch a Bass. I can remember that old man like it was yesterday. We became good friends and my mother was cooking for 4 growing boys with me being the youngest plus my father when he was home. He was a truck driver and not home a lot. Mother always cooked a little extra and every evening my mother would send him a plate of food for his supper. He had these beautful Flower gardens every year and people would drive out of Chicago to buy plants and flowers from him all summer on weekends. He also taught me how to catch snapping turtles from the dirt ponds with turtle lines. He built me a few cages to keep the big turtles in and people would come and buy them to eat and I could make extra money selling them. The bigger the turtle the more they paid and there was some I got 5 dollars for but they were almost as big as a number 8 washtub. Most of them I got 2-3 dollars for. He also showed me how to catch night crawler worms after each rain at night with a flashlight. He built me a worm bed of black dirt and screened bottom so we never had to dig worms when we went fishing. Just go get some out of the bed and go fishing. He also taught me how and when to catch the baby painted turtles which I was able to sell to pet stores in the area got 25 cents each. He taught me several ways to make money back then. On weekends African Americans would come out of Chicago to fish in the Desplaines River that ran through my hometown and they would buy night crawlers in Chicago and paid a dollar for 10 crawlers. I went up there where they were fishing and began selling them night crawlers 25 in a can for 50 cents. All the people on my road I lived on would save cans for me and soon the people would begin bring back their old cans and I would just swap cans with them for 50 cents. Oh well I know ya'll are tired of reading about my life as a child. You might find it fun to just see how far back you can remember in your life when your sitting around just kicking back............JMHO

Was spitting flurries here in Gallatin also!!!!

I thought a couple of them where ummm ahh ! buttocks but then I have been wrong about other things also and I will turn my cheeks on either sides of my nose but when it comes to the other 2 there will be a line drawn that it might not be to smart to cross. I think that is when the Tomahawks come into play..........JMHO

Thanks Toby and I got to meet your furry friend that is in your Avatar and he is a seat full for sure and tell your son I said hi to him. I am terrible with names so please forgive me on that.

Well got to meet Toby1304 today. Had a very nice but short visit with him, his son and his furry partner. He met me to pick up the 45 cal brass. Had a nice talk, Great folks for sure!!! Thanks for the brass purchase Toby Bersaguy

I was talking with a buddy this morning and he just stopped by wth a 10 lb bag of sugar for me. I told him I was going out to get some and he was already out so picked it up for me. Gonna make up some food and fill a few feeders and get them up...............

Well that is where it cannot be blamed on any contractor doing the work because he is doing it all himself and all he is doing is cosmetic stuff. Carpeting , new cupboards, sinks counter tops. toilets, new paint etc etc. Nothing electrical that would require a licensed contractor. My electrical contractor that went up to fix an imediate problem came back down and gave me a list of things that needed imediate attention and after making a few copies of it I passed one of them on to the last landlord before this one and he sold the place the following month. That told me all I needed to know after he had his contractor do an inspection. When I leave I will take this list up to the fire inspectors office and Codes. If they don't take care of it I have done my civil duty.

Gosh they are early this year. I guess I better go get 10bs of sugar and make up the food and get my feeders up tomorrow. We must be getting the early passer thru's going up east but the home birds will be right behind them.........

Well, lets get it all out on the table. The Landlord I had prior to this was told by me that he may want to take a look at the electrical issue before it became more than just an issue but a mess. He had someone come out and look at it. About a week later the place went back on the market and this guy that has it now bought it. Now do you honestly think the previous seller/Landlord told the buyer/this landlord about the issue. Of course he didn't because I'm sure this guy would not have purchased it. If I tell this guy all he is going to do is put it up for sale and pass it on to the next person until someone either fixes it or a fire fixes it. At least by telling codes and the fire inspectors it won't just get pushed off on someone else till it burns down. In all honesty the last landlord seemed to be a pretty straight up dude and I thought he would fix the issues is the only reason I told him about them. I learned by that one that you can't trust anyone to do what is right. The way I figure it someone will either fix it or bull doze it and build a new house here but at least it will get fixed

I just took down my seed feeders for winter feeding and got out my Hummingbird feeders out and getting ready to clean them up for this coming summer. I'm hoping to have a lot of birds this year. Last Fall I invested in 4 more new feeders when they went on sale so will have 10 up this year................

I gain several things by not just walking away. I gain the fact that I am going to know I was the one that turned his property in to Codes and maybe now even a fire inspection because maybe he will learn it's not right to mess over people just for profit and if the Codes does force him to do the repairs all of the greed of future profits will be spent for a while rewiring the entire complex and last but not least it will be a safer place for people to live in in the future. So yea, I could just walk away but I'm not going to.

Thanks Dave and I figure it out why I had not been getting any replys back. My CRS has been working overtime recently. You know that box in the message that says topic that you have to put something in before you send the message or it won't send it. Well the 4 folks I thought I sent messages to. Well I decided I would write these people again and when I opened up their message section there was the message I thought I had sent still waiting for a dummy to put something in the topic section. I added to that box and sent the original messages on. Maybe now they will write me back.............

One thing I would never do is vandalise any landlords property regardless of notice or no notice. I have to much class for that. When I leave here the cottage will be as good or better than when I moved in it. I have lived in places that had some really bad landlords but I still never damaged the property other than normal wear and tear. I have never mentioned doing any type of vandalism to this mans property. That has already been done by people working on the units. My reporting the issues found by my Electrical Contractor to the Codes department is actually doing a servce of preventing what could turn out to be harmful to any future tenants that may be living here when the fire burns them down. As far as extra time needed I have already checked and found out that the courts will give me an extra time up to 60 days in which to complete my move but won't be necessary.

Thanks Erik but I keep thinking I sent a few people messages and not got answers back but I can't find the ones I sent either so not sure I even sent them. Getting old is hell when you get CRS!!!

Well I need to renew HCP before June 18th but just got new DL so I won't do anything till I actually get moved and then will do change of address on both I guess. Hope I can do it all on line.

How do I find my messages I have sent? All I can find is ones I received.

Well I guess I need to get mine done before I have to move. Do I need to do a change of address when I move? If so can that be done by mail or on line? I guess I will need to change my DL to huh?

They are all in the attics in the two front units and not mine. This unit was built later and has it's own 200 amp breaker box and it's own meter base and weather head. The ones up front share 1 and it powers two boxes. The original glass fuse box in house built in 1945 and then the addition added in mid 60's which does have a 200 amp box.

Thanks CZ. I am going to be moving into a cottage about thr size of this one right behind my daughter and SIL's house so as he gets it back ready to live in. It has sat empty for about 15 years so it's gonna need a little Tender loving care before I can move in it but I could have moved in it 15 years ago and not been paying rent all these years. I just didn't want to live that far out in the country back then but I guess now that I am older I'm ready for some country life. I can set up a range out behid the house and burn some powder when I get ready to get some practice in. Can't do that here. They both work so getting the cottage ready will take a little while but I have that time here. Land Lord told me it would probably be late summer early Fall before he would be getting around to me.

Ok, the buyer has passed on the 10mm so if anyone that is planning on ordering any brass from me would like to have the 10mm brass they can have it free of charge wih their order. I found a few more pieces so now the number is 88 pieces.

Well according to my Electrical Contractor I won't have to do anything negative to my cottage. He said when Codes gets done processing all of the electrical disorders and dangers that are already done by previous additions contractors and not putting new service in but tying into the electrical system that was installed in 1945 will be more than enough to get the property condemed. He said he counted at least 20 to 25 hot wires exposed and not connected to anything. He tested them to see if they were hot and was shocked to see them all were hot. Then we have a building out back that is powered by one of the units but not on any breakers of fuse panel in original house so that means it is tied into a hot wire system feeding it with a direct hot and ground that is hooked in before any safety protection of fuse or breaker. Oh well, I will move when I am told to move and leave ths night mare to a really nice guy that deserves what follows.

Oh, don't get me wrong CZ. I plan on being very nice to him while I am still here. I will pay my rent on time and give my SIL time to get my new place fixed back up after being empty for about 12 years. I am not a vindictive person that would tear the place up and do all kinds of damage to it when I leave. SIL said it might take a couple months with the hours he is working. The Landlord has alrady told me it might be late summer early Fall before he will be serving me and then I will have another 30-60 days to vacant. I will do all my pay backs after I have vacated the place when I give all the violatiions that exist at this address to Codes and let Codes deal with him. I have learned just today that Codes folks here are not really nice people so as I have said Paybacks can be a Bitch You are correct, this is his property and he can do as he pleases with it but that does not mean I have to like it...............