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♦ SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2008
4A
OPINION
Crickets From The Crossroads
I’ll bet I’m not the only one who’s
been doing this: thinking about
what I could do to make some
money in these difficult times. I’ve run
several things through my mind - some
times at 3 or 4 a.m., and then, again, in
the cold reality of daytime.
I’ll think it up, speculate about it,
and try to figure out whether it may or
may not work. I have lots more ‘may
nots’ than ‘mays’, but I might now be
onto something. But first, let me tell
you some of the possibilities I have
rejected.
Judge Janice Spires told me, recently,
that Houston Probate Court had issued
more gun permits than at any time in
a one month period. Why? You figure.
But it made me wonder if the “gun
business” might be pretty good. Selling
guns that is.
Maybe, but there are too many people
already in it - professionals. I think it’s
out for me.
What about the newspaper business?
I’ve always thought I would like it,
and weeklies and bi-weeklies like our
Houston Home Journal seem to be
doing well. But, I don’t know anything
about running a newspaper, and I don’t
have the money to buy one if I did. It’s a
consideration for me. That’s that.
I might be able to start doing bank
ruptcy work as a lawyer. But it, like
divorce work that I do a little of, is
pretty depressing at times. I’ll think I’ll
leave the bankruptcy work to the bank
ruptcy lawyers.
Then, it hit me: the fish bait business.
I believe it’s good, now, and it can only
get better. Fishing is cheap recreation
(much less than going to Disney World),
and folks are going to start keeping the
fish to eat - much less catch and release.
Yeah, the fish bait business.
So far, I can’t help but believe it
would work.
There are lots of baits: Louisiana
pinks, night crawlers, meal worms,
minnows, etc., etc. But for me, at least
initially, I think I’d stick to baits I know
JHgTT] ' p "“ Sr "
%WW -• -=p
"Who would have thought the only bright spot
in this economy would turn out to be the price of gas?"
Having more courage than Angel(s)
One step at a time.
Actually, in this case, it’s
more like one “pull” at a time.
But the philosophy is the same. Move
forward. Take a chance. Don’t be afraid.
Be determined. See where it takes you.
That wisdom comes from the strang
est of places and moments in time:
Readiness Challenge. It was an Air
Force Civil Engineering competition.
Carpenters, automobile mechanics,
cooks and Public Affairs (me).
The final leg of the week-long com
petition - the culmination of months
of training - was an obstacle course.
And the final challenge of the obstacle
course: A 40-foot tower. And from that
tower to the ground - about 50 yards
: two metal cables. And below those
cables: A body of water running their
length. To complete the test was to
wrap your feet - or legs - around the
cable and then crawl upside down to
safety below. To fail was the obvious.
You fell in the water.
So it was as I made my way down
that just about exactly at the halfway
point I heard a small voice to my right:
“I can’t make it.”
It was the voice of Angel Menendez. I
had come to know Angel (a white man
despite his Hispanic-sounding name) as
a kindhearted young man (not married
a year at the time) - ditto for the rest of
the group of about 30. Sincere. Honest.
Hard working. Very good at his job,
Larry JM
Columnist
lwalket@whgh-law.com
something about (relatively speaking,
that is), and that’s red wigglers, Catalpa
worms, and crickets. Let me write
down what I know and how I see the
business.
Red wigglers - ‘Fessor Staples used
to grow and sell ‘em, and I helped
Pierce Staples count ‘em. Staples’ Red-
Wigglers written in red on a round
white carton box. One hundred to a box.
We counted ‘em, and the customer got
100 of the worms.
I’ll say more about bait counting
below.
Grandma and Papa Walker had a bait
bed about 25 feet from their back porch.
The bed was rich, moist dirt covered
with boards. It was moist because they
poured the dishwater and other food
remains on the bed. There were always
plenty of worms for the digging.
As you can see, I know lots about
worms and should be prepared for this
part of my fish bait business. Walker’s
Wonderful Wigglers written in red on a
round white box. Fifty to a box.
Catalpas are good bait, although there
are problems. Number one, I don’t
have any Catalpa trees nor any starter
worms.
Still, I believe I have solutions. I
sold a place in South Houston County
on Highway 26 to Charles Ayer. It has
several Catalpa trees on it (Thomas and
Shelby Arnold gave the baby trees to
Janice and me, and we planted them),
and the trees are big enough to support
a good crop of the worms.
Knowing Charles as the businessman
he is, I believe he would rent the trees
to me. Now, if I can figure out how to
Moncrief V J
Managing Editor »
donm@evansnewspapers.com |
which was as a cook.
But for some reason this was proving
to be too monumental a task.
“Come on Angel. You can do this,”
I said.
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
And so it began, as the two of us
hung there for what seemed like an
eternity.
I tried every trick I knew ... once it
became evident that just being sincere
wasn’t going to cut it.
“Are you going to let this old man
beat you?” (Him being in his early 20s ,
and me on the verge of 40.)
I tried guilt.
“You’re letting the team down.”
Anger (only feinted).
“Angel! You get your butt moving
now soldier!”
Nothing.
I finally moved on. I heard the splash
not more than a few seconds later.
That moment in time pops into and
plays back in my head every now and
then. Maybe because I still feel like I
get some worms to get started, it should
work.
Again, I turn to what I learned from
my Walker Grandparents. I know, from
them, that you had to put some worms
on the trees at the right time if you
were going to have Catalpas in the
future. Janice could get a ladder and
get the worms off the trees. We will get
it done.
Then there are the crickets. This
might be my best bait - my best busi
ness opportunity. Let’s see, I’ll need
some of those big wooden boxes with
heat lamps and wire covers and glass or
plastic tubes for the counting (I wonder
who makes those tubes?). And, some
egg carton cardboard for the little crit
ters to hide under and do whatever it is
they do under the cartons.
My friend, Dick Weir, could help with
all of this. I think we’d need about three
big wooden boxes, initially, and until
our business grows. And, of course some
feed (chicken mash?) and water holders.
They’ve got to eat and drink. I’d also
want some boxes for our customers to
put their purchases in.
What do you think about a name
on the box: Catch ‘Em Crickets or
Crickets From The Crossroads. I think
I like Crickets From The Crossroads
the best.
So, there you have it. I believe that
the fish bait business has great poten
tial.
Still, there is one thing that worries
me. It’s the counting of the crickets for
the customer. I know. We’ll have those
little tubes. Fifty to a tube, and if the
customer wants a 100, it would be two
tubes, etc.
Still, I’m not so sure about those
tubes. Who decided that a particular
tube would hold 50?
Wouldn’t it depend on size of the
crickets and how much they were
moving around? Pierce and I used to
count the red wigglers, and if the box
said 100 of Staples’ Red-Wigglers,
See WALKER, page jA
failed him. And Thursday for some odd
reason was one of those days. Perhaps
most importantly, is when it comes it
always ends with an accusing finger:
Why didn’t you try to get to get him to
take it one step (one pull) at a time?
And then I’m always left wondering.
Would it have worked? Would it have
been the difference? Would finding the
strength to take it one step at a time
been what he needed that day to carry
on? Did taking the plunge still haunt
his memory today? Did it change his
future?
I don’t know.
There are others who know a lot
more about this than me, having faced
real tests in real life, not just a mili
tary competition with nothing really
at stake.
My life has been blessed (and just in
time for Thanksgiving to say so). Yet
the symbolism is great, as is the lesson.
(And we’ve all heard about taking it
one step at a time ... I’m going on the
straage feeling that somebody really
needs to hear it again this day.) And
it’s my prayer for you, for me, that
if - when - we ever do feel like we’re
hanging on for dear life, that we have
the courage to do what Angel couldn’t.
To reach out. Grab hold and pull our
selves forward. To brave what’s ahead.
To carry on.
If anything, just to see where it
leads.
"One voice con moke o difference"
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
HC Development Authority - the original
bailout
With the Treasury Department handing out end
less bailouts, people might get the idea that the
thought originated in Washington. Not so. Houston County
government originated a bailout for the Houston County
Development Authority in 2006.
The Houston County Development Authority is a sepa
rate governmental authority established by the state con
stitution.
The Authority says that whatever profits originate from its
operation belong solely to the Authority.
However, they are perfectly willing to give away or share
their debt.
Several years ago, the Authority built a speculative build
ing that it has been unable to unload. In 2006, the Authority
had a $2.1 million loan on that building. Remember that
the Authority holds profits from its operation are solely its
property.
To get rid of the $2.1 million debt the Authority had the
Houston County Commission add payment of that bad debt
to SPLOST 2006, which the voters were only to willing to
approve (I believe citizens like to tax themselves so they
can complain about the high taxes they pay).
County citizens paid the “spec” building loan but unlike
as in current federal bailouts they received no equity from
their investment.
Since residents have been so generous to the
Development Authority and since Georgia has experienced
a 23 percent decrease in housing values, I am looking for
ward to the County Commission bailing out homeowners
by reassessing home values to reflect that value loss and
providing much needed tax relief.
- David Wittenberg, Kathleen
Banks could lose just as much to the
poor as to the rich
Many conservative economists and editorialists
wrongly blame our current economic mess on sub
prime lending and borrowers who are poor. If firms hadn't
been forced by bureaucrats and social activists “to lend to
the working poor,” all would be well. Not true!
The Community Reinvestment Act, the 1977 law, the
purpose of which was to prevent redlining of mortages in
minority neighborhoods is the usual scapegoat of the Wall
Street Journal and its ilk. That “loaning to minorities and
risky folks is a disaster.”
The above faulty reasoning borders on the absurd if not
ridiculous.
Many large subprime lenders were not banks and thus
they were not covered by the CRA. Bear Stearns bor
rowed $33 for every dollar of its assets. Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac didn’t force highly paid CEO’s to authorize
“no-money-down, exploding adjustable -rate mortages.”
Banks lose just as much money lending to our rich as
they will on loans “to poor people of color" in Atlanta and
Harlem.
- Frank Gadbois, Warner Robins
You’re not quite finished
yet... Don’t forget to
VOTE
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