I know it’s been a while, but you know how it is when you got to put the barn in order for the winter, get all the crops in, do all your canning and “putting up.”

Finally, I’m done!  Whew-ee, me and Hazel Mae been so busy, but now it’s the slow season.  Well, not really slow.  Still got to milk the cows, keep them fed, take care of the other animals.

It won’t stop til I do, and I’m not in any rush.

But, a little slower than harvest time, so now is a good time to think about our thoughts again, you and me.

Time to think about the New Year, the future.

Time to set our goals.  Don’t want to get to the end of next year and be in the same boat then as you are now, do ya?

I’ll betcha there are things you’d like to be better.

Want a new car?  How you gonna get it?  What’s your plan?

Want to pay off all your credit cards and bills?  How you gonna do it?  Maybe get a second job?

You know, me and Hazel Mae each got 2 part-time jobs that we get paid cold, hard cash for.  We been saving up so that one day we can sell this farm to some younger farmers who love to make food for others, just like we do.  That’s one of our goals, to retire a little and live the soft life.  Well, maybe it is.

The only problem with saving so much money (which you can do, too, if you just save it and don’t spend it. That’s the trick.)

The only problem is, the mattress is getting so dang lumpy!  Them quarters and nickles is especially hard to sleep on.

If I wasn’t so chea, I mean, frugal, I’d just drive that mattress right down to the bank and ask them to count it all up and give it back to me in the largest bills that they can.  Then I could stick all them large bills back in the mattress and home I go!

That would help my back alot!  Our mattress would be much more comfy again.

But, I don’t want to spend the gas, just now.

But, back to you.

So, what else do you want for your New Year?

A better job?  What’s your plan?  Need some more college or something?

A nicer wife or husband?  What you gonna do to make that happen?  Maybe you have to be nicer first?  Do ya think?

What is the better life that you have in your dreams?

Now, how you gonna make it happen?

You deserve to have dreams and you deserve to make ‘em happen.

I like you.  You’re good folks.

I have faith in you.

Go on now, be safe, and have a good New Year.

Making the World a Better Place by Typing One Letter at a Time,

Luckey P. Haskins

If the companies who package big stuff like mulch would pack it dry, instead of wet, there would be lots of benefits for us all.

• Easier to haul.
• Uses less gasoline in the truck that ships it to the store.
• Weighs less in my truck, so truck uses less gasoline.

When I orders liquid minerals that I take to supplement my good health (and you should too,) if those companies would ship a concentrate instead of 16 ounces of water with a teaspoon of minerals and flavors, that would be good, too.

• Costs lots less to mail.
• Uses less gasoline for mail carrier and shipping.
• Takes less space in my pantry.
• Easier for Helen-Jean, my wife, to carry into the house.
• Less waste for the trash pile or recycle bin.

Over and out.

Luckey Haskins, Saving Gasoline For You

Today I got a big complaint to share with you.

An arm of Our Great Government, which I love so dearly, is messing us up!

You probably already know that the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is not always looking out for our best interests.  Although they say they is.  Sometimes they is looking out for the interests of Big Business. 

Big Business (mostly here I mean the Big Pharmaceutal and Drug Companies) seems to have lots and lots of input and money they “share” with the FDA, if you know what I mean.

But, now the FDA – Whoa! I just realized what that means - Food and DRUG ADMINISTRATION.  Now, that, Friend, truly is scary!

Back to my thought, before I forget it.

The FDA has approved “irradiated” produce.

They say it is “safe” (they have said that before about lots of things, until they learned better about them after it was too late) and won’t hurt us.

They say!

Here’s part of the problem with that.  Radiation (yup, the same stuff we worry about from nuclear power plants and basements and x-rays) kills fungi, parasites and bacteria that might cause food to spoil and cause disease. 

It also kills lots of the good stuff in food, too.

Radiating fresh food kills stuff that we need to stay healthy.  It kills good nutrition that you are supposed to be getting in your fresh produce.  Knocks it clean out.

And, it don’t kill all the sickness, anyways!  Lots of viruses just plain cannot be killed by radiation.  They is going to be there, anyway.

Me and lots of other farmers work hard to grow produce for you that is healthy and gets to market fresh.  It makes them and me happy to see you eat healthy, getting all the nutrients you need. 

Now the FDA is stomping on my toes, and your toes, too.

Seems there was an outbreak of salmonella lately and hundreds of peoples got sick. 

So, you asks me:  Well, wouldn’t irradiating spinach and lettuce have saved them?

Nope. 

Here’s why.  The SOURCE of the salmonella was traced to a farm in MEXICO.  They are not going to be radiating our produce there, now, are they?

And, to add insults to injury, our good old FDA is not only choosing to use a new-fangled, high-tech and expensive “solution” to a problem that’s hardly ever a problem, but get this:  They are thinking about removing the labeling requirements on irradiated food.

Trying to pull the wool over our eyes, once again.  Them sly dogs.

That’s the way I am seeing it today, and thanks again for listening.

Your Friend,

Luckey Don’t-Want-My-Food-To-Be-Radiated-or-Yours-Either Haskins

Sorry I been gone so long, but dad gosh it all, it’s summer.

Summer means I got to milk the cows, tend the garden, keep plucking the eggs right out from under the chickens and plow the fields.

We got to put up tomatoes, pickles, jams and sauces.  Working busy as little ants, getting ready for the winter.

Mostly ‘cuz we like to eat.

Saw a sign the other day.  It said  ”We Grow. You Eat.”

I like that concept alot.

Yessiree.

If they would grow it, and give it to me for free, I sure would be happy to eat it.

But, ’til then, I got work to do!

And I love it!

Keeps me stong and fit, gets me out in the blue sky sunshine every day. 

Gets me real food, too. 

Real food made from real stuff that really grows.  Not some made-up factory stuff like those gosh darn big food companies try to pass off to us as food.

So enjoy your day and keep busy like them little ants.

And eat your fruits and veggies.  They’s real, mostly.

Until next time,

Luckey Haskins, Working for Food ‘cuz That’s the Smart Thing To Do

 Want to change something around you, but don’t know what to say or how to ask?

Well, friend, maybe this couple of little stories will be just the ticket to help you get round the bend.

When I was a little child, I remember my daddy took me to a diner.  It was one of those with a long bar and round twirly stools to sit on. 

Well, I guess he had a bad headache this day, or maybe he just didn’t like the music.  Or maybe he just thought it was too loud for his taste.  He got up, walked over to the jukebox, pulled it away from the wall, turned it down, and came back and sat down with us.  No one seemed to mind.

That was probably the minute when I realized that we can take steps to take care of ourself, and not be at the mercy of someone else.

Today me and my nephew, Caleb-John, went to one of those really fancy restaurants to get some good food.  We took ourselves to Red Lobster.

We ordered some tasty sounding stuff, and we were eating our biscuits (I love those biscuits) and I was thinking, my ears are feeling like they are not happy.  And then, I was thinking, this music is really loud.  And then I told Caleb-John, my nephew, that I didn’t like it that the music was so loud. 

And he said, so ask the waitress if she could turn it down.

So, I did.  And she said she would try.  And I said, if you have any problem, just send the person in charge of the music to come and talk with me.

And, get this, there’s always a good part to my stories, ain’t there?  So, get this.

She comes back and says, “That’s as low as it goes.”  Don’t that beat all? 

“That,” she said, “Is as low as it goes.”

So Caleb-John sets down his biscuit (he loves those biscuits, too) and he says, Well, then we don’t need to eat here.  If it can’t be turned down, we can leave.  And he said it nice, but he said it firm.

And the waitress said, well, wait, I will go talk to the manager.  And pretty soon, she was back standing next to our table and listening while someone turned the speaker off, I guess.  Apparently, there were a bunch of speakers in that restaurant.

And that was good.  That made us happy.  Now the music was “background music” like it should have been in the first place.

Background music.  Even if it’s not your favorite music, you can deal with it if it’s not in-your-face music.

We was going to eat good food.  We wasn’t going to a concert.

So, you can do gentle, firm things to make your life the way you need it to be.

And, you will be happier.

Good luck to you.

Luckey Haskins, All in favor of being assertive, but not aggresive, say “me.”

You can call to opt out at 1-888-567-8688 or opt out of prescreened offers of credit at https://www.optoutprescreen.com

While we are at it, if you want to stop telephone solicitations, call 1-888-382-1222 from the number you want to restrict.

You can opt out of a lot of junk mail by writing to Mail Preference Service, P.O. Box 643, Carmel NY  10512 or www.the-dma.org/consumers/offmailinglist.html for the online form.

 It’ll take a while for any of these things to stop, and some might not stop completely, but it will be a help.

You’re welcome!  Enjoy the view.

Loving peace, justice and the American Way, except for sneaky credit card tricks,

Luckey

 Today I got something very important to share with you about the shenanigans of those credit card companies, like Chase Bank.  Listen up, because knowing this may just about save your life–as well as your hard-earned money.

I been reading about this, but now, it has hit home!

Remember my nephew, the smart one?  Not only is he smart, he is really smart!  He is starting his own business.  Is that smart, or what?

So Ernie, my nephew, was helping get up the money to start his new business by using his credit cards.  Don’t seem like a bad plan, does it?

He used some really cheap interest rate special promotion offers that his Chase Bank credit card company gave to him. 

He was also smart enough to sign up for the credit card company to automatically take the minimum payment out of his bank account each and every month, so he would never have a late payment.  That way his really cheap special promotion interest rate would never go up, because that’s what it said.  It was a forever rate, as long as you did not pay late.

However!  He also used a special promotion rate check that had a “limited time” special low interest rate and then it would go to Ernie’s regular rate, 9%.  Well, he figured, that’s not too bad.

So, all of a sudden, Ernie looks down at the bottom of his credit card statement (he’s really smart, so he always checks his whole statement, top to bottom–you should, too) and it says, get this, it says, you ain’t gonna believe this, 23.9%!

The special interest rate limited time check that would go to his regular rate of 9% was 23.9%!

So Ernie calls the credit card company and the nice woman says, basically, “Ernie, we’re trying to help you out here.  If you don’t make any late payments for the next few months, call us back and maybe we can lower that rate for you.  We want to help.”

And Ernie says, “I never have had a late payment, because it automatically comes out of my bank account and goes direct to you.”

And she says, “Well, that’s the problem.  You’re not sending any extra money.”

And he says, “What?”

And she says, “If you send extra money, and keep calling us back every month, maybe we can lower that rate for you.” 

The nice lady at Chase Bank says, “The reason we raised your rate was to help you, so you will pay us back faster.”

Don’t that beat all?

Never been late, good customer, smart.

Know what that looks like to me and Ernie, don’t you? 

The bank has figured out a way to make more money by forcing people to pay off their “special promotions cheap for the life of the credit card advance” loan first.  Then the bank raises the rates of the part that get paid off last.  That way you pay more interest than you ever imagined! 

(Credit card companies can do that, you know.  They apply your money to your lowest interest balances first, and your highest interest balances last.)  (They can do just about any dang thing they want!)  (That is why you do not want to be in debt to them!)

Fortunately, this story has a happy ending.  Ernie has enough cash in the bank to pay off that Chase credit card and put an end to their foolish ways.  I told you he was smart.  He got prepared before he started his new business.

Is your story going to have a happy ending?

The best way to have a happy ending is to not use credit cards, and if you have to (not dinner at a fancy restaurant or some expensive new purse or something), I mean IF YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO, then pay that puppy off just as quick as you can.

And if you think your credit card company is doing something unethical, like charging you 20% interest, find out who your congressman or woman is in Washington DC and write them.  That’s what they are there for.

Thanks for letting me help educate you on this very important topic so you don’t get taken advantage of!  They should have teached us this in school.

Have a great day and listen to Dave Ramsey on the radio or read one of his books.  He’ll help you get out of debt.

Pay Cash!

Luckey Haskins, Friend of the People

1. Eat healthy. More carrots and greens, seeds, nuts and beans. (hey – that’s a pretty good rhyme!)

2. Get sunshine. Makes you healthy. Let ‘er shine on your bare skin and in your bare eyes. Just no sun burns, please. Thank you.

3. Walk a lot. Roll from your heel to your toe, each foot. Just keep walking and walking. Do you remember Forest? Forest Gump? Just keep walking.

4. Laugh a lot. Find something funny, dangit! Make it really funny, not hurtful funny. Hurtful funny ain’t funny at all.

5. Get enough sleep. Not “pretend” enough, REAL enough.

6. Give someone a back rub and get a back rub. Or an arm rub. You pet your dog, don’t you? He likes and you like it. Are you getting the idea, yet?

7. Stretch your body just like a cat or dog do when they wakes up. Get long and lean.

8. Don’t do anything behind your wife or husband’s back that you would not do in front of their face(I heard Dr. Phil say that, and he is durn sure right!) (Keeps the home fires burning without getting into hot water.)

9. Keep learning. Just like me. You can never be too smart for your own good. I think.

10. You’re going to make a difference no matter what you do, so choose a good difference to make. One you would be proud of. Choose one that when you die, you will be happy you did it.

Good luck with these ten tips. They can make your life better.

Glad to help.

Love,

Luckey

So, here we all are, already.  Winter’s coming to an end–I can tell because I smelled a skunk already–and I saw a ‘possum waddling–and a fly–and some crawly bugs.  Yup!

Spring is almost ready to sprung.  It is time to get ready to enjoy the rest of your life!

The way I see it is, if we have to be here anyway, well, then, we might just as well have a good time.

Sometimes the absolutely best way we can have the best time of our lives is to do something for someone else.

Could be for anybody.

Don’t matter if we know them or not.

Just being nice and helping anyone at all makes us feel all warm and fuzzy, kinda like that caterpillar I saw last fall.  It looked all warm, wearing that fuzzy coat.

And, just like that caterpillar, and every other caterpillar, you and I can come out of our cocoons and spread our wings!  We can fly all around landing on this person and that one and show them how beautiful we are and how beautiful they are, too.

We all are beautiful, you know?  I know for sure you are.

We all have our own ways and our own looks and so much stuff stored up just waiting to burst out and share with other people.

Just like me.

You can be just like me, if you wanta.

Never, never, never give up!  Never!

(Some famous guy said that.  I figure he was pretty smart.)

Go on, you beautiful butterfly, you.

Go help someone.

And enjoy the rest of your life!

Since I learned so much stuff about this here internet from my nephew, I want to share it with you all.

First off, I learned how to Google stuff.  I Googled me, Luckey Haskins, my very own name, and guess what?

Lots of people have the same lucky name I do!

I guess more than one momma and poppa named their baby boy this great name.

Even a band or two is named after me.  Well, I think they are.  Maybe they are named after some other Luckey Haskins.  But, it could be me.

Lord knows I’m old enough!

And that makes me happy.

Makes me happy that some band is named after me and makes me happy that I’m old enough.  That sure does beat the alternative.

‘Course, everything makes me happy.  I’m a happy man.  A lucky, happy man.  Got lots of love, lots of laughs, lots of hugs, and brains.  Good looking, too.

I got two good feet and every day I plop them plain down on the good earth, and I am grateful that I am still here to do that.

Because I got stuff to share with you.

So I learned how to Google and how to Search and how to Click on them news reports.  Some of them are just plain silly.  Gives me a chuckle.

And you know what my daddy always said?

A chuckle a day keeps the doctor away.

And I do believe it.

Chuckling and laughing and moving and walking and rocking, those’ll keep you young!

You know what Charlie Brown said, don’t you?  If you want to be depressed, you got to stand the right way.  He stood there with his head hanging down, all depressed and everything, because if you’re gonna be depressed you got to do it right!

So if you want to be happy, you know what to do, right?

Right!

Just lift up your chest and your chin and slap a big old grin on your face.  If you want to be happy, you got to act happy.  If you act happy, you will end up happy.

Just like me.

And it helps if you can tell a good joke or story, too.  Especially a funny one, or a feely-good one.

I got to go now, but I got to tell you, I love you.

Can’t hardly wait to talk again.

Luckey P. Haskins