Jim Mathers

A buddy of mine just stopped by to show me his new bike.  He’s sick and tired of the gas prices with no end in site so he bought a new bike today.  I guess I should clarify myself, he bought a new Harley.  What he really got is a 2007 Softail Classic.  It will get about 35 MPG in the city and over 50 MPG on the highway.  He got a heck of a deal on it since it’s not quite riding weather yet but I bet as gas keeps climbing and the temperature keeps rising, the prices for the bikes will too.  I’m not going to be surprised a bit if we don’t start seeing more and more bikes on the road.  I’m even thinking about maybe buying one.  Maybe.  If you’re thinking about a bike, check out a Harley.  That’s a real bike, not a toy.

Tags: General Interest, Outdoors, government by Jim
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Have you heard about the new Medical Research Center they are building in Kannapolis, North Carolina?  I have a friend that lives close to the new center and was asking her about it. 

She said it is on the old site where ‘Cannon Mills’, which later became ‘Pillowtex‘ used to be.  Cannon Mills was where not only both of her grandparents worked but many of her uncles and other relatives also.  Once Pillowtex bought them out, it was still a good place to work until the union came in.  That was the downfall of it all. (These are her words and not mine)  People worked hard for Cannon Mills and Pillowtex in the beginning of when they were taken over but once the union came in, they were told they didn’t have to work so hard and they got lazy (remember, her words and not mine). 

It all turned out to be a benefit to the medical research field but isn’t going to be much help to the people that worked for Pillowtex since most of them had just a high school diploma if that, and with age as a factor, retraining for the research field isn’t much of an option.  However, the research center will be a big boost to the weak economy in that whole area.  As I have repeated, those are the words of someone who lives there and not mine.  All I know is the Medical Research Center is going to be a major benefit to the field of medicine and any time people are helped medically, I’m all for it.

Then:     

Now:             

Tags: General Interest by Jim
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I may have studied it in high school but I was looking at my calender and saw that today is the day the revolutionary war began in 1775.  Everyone knows when it ended but I never really thought about when it started.  As long as wars typically go on, that one was relatively short in comparison to most. 

Here lately I seem to have become a bit of a history buff.  Might be from watching the History channel when there wasn’t anything else on but I have learned a lot from it.  That usually get’s me to searching the Internet for more information.  The funny thing is I hated history in school and now I find myself surfing the net for more and more information on history.  Go figure.

Tags: General Interest, Holidays, government by Jim
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Tax day didn’t get me this time. I barely beat the clock but I beat it just the same. I came out better than I thought I would. I was afraid I would have to pay big time but it wasn’t as bad as I was afraid it would be. I found an interesting article in the Washington Post that you might want to check out regarding taxes. Click here if you are interested in checking it out. The article focuses on gift-giving, estate planning and the new tax litigation. It might be helpful to you before the clock runs out.

Tags: General Interest, government by Jim
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I don’t know why I wait every year to get my taxes done.  The last week before the 15th, I run around the house like a moron trying to get all my information together to take to my CPA so she can do my taxes.  It might have something to do with not wanting to pay any sooner than I have to.  No kids and little or no deductions all add up to PAY Uncle Sam.  He’s not my favorite uncle this time of year, that’s for sure.

Tags: General Interest, government by Jim
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