The "Front Yard Tyrolean Traverse"

Using a spare 13mm rope and some old climbing gear I put up this fun little prusik route[ prusik knot,used to ascend a rope] over the front yard. Some of the trees that I am using I planted a long time ago,so that is pretty cool. to do the whole route takes about an hour and a half. There are four "pitches"; a vertical prusik,one traverse prusik,another traverse,and a repel. Great fun!!!

Bare foot running.

So I started running bare foot and it's great! It's sort of like swimming in a way,your aware that you are bare foot all the time just like you are aware your in the water when your swimming. Or something like that! And people  notice you! You just know that you are the only one out there running bare foot . I never knew that running could be so much more then just exercise. I've been a jogger for twenty five years and this is just the cats meow!

Mountaineering in the pacific northwest with Ptarmigan Expeditions.

Climbing in the north cascades in small competent groups with a no frills affordable approach.

Weather ever changing.

The weather,I don't know maybe I lost it for a second there but I thought it would never end and that it was going to be like this forever. But its here so a climb of the mighty Mount Erie via one of the ridge and gully sections solo. Get used to scrambling with my mountain boots. Fun stuff.

Mountaineering in the North Cascades.

Another Spring in which to get ready to go climbing. Glad to have been running all winter and such. A few hours on some locale rock and a snow climb or two and we should be ready to go. It will be back to my favorite place,the peaks right around Mt. Baker.

Early morning view from camp.

Avoid Garnishment!!

Being poor and having a debt collector come after you is a devastating experience for thousands of people a year. One can only wonder at how much influence this has on alcohol and drug abuse and suicide rates. Often folks just give up or unduly blame themselves for the situation. While going into debt can have myriad reasons for happening, debt collectors are to willing to manipulate, abuse and falsify the law to collect on that debt. If you don’t know your rights as a consumer then debt collectors will take advantage of this. In fact that is the primary tool collectors have to use, your lack of information.
What I hope to do here is present some basic strategies on how to stop debt collectors from harassing, show that you can make money that is exempt from garnishment, and some methods on how to deal with collectors. All this information is going to be helpful only to those making @870.00 a month or less and people on fixed incomes like social security.
First some basic rules. Always communicate with debt collectors with certified mail. This way you have a record of all communications and information.
Debt collectors know all the laws and what income is exempt and what they can’t garnish, but they are not legally bound to tell you this information. If you don’t know what your rights are or, if you do and haven’t told the collectors, then debt collectors can do anything they can get away with to collect that debt. Once you tell them to stop and that you are excising your rights under the Fair Debt Collections Act they have to stop.
Never start a payment plan if your income level is exempt or you are on social security. A debt collector can garnish your wages or bank account if they want the full amount permissible by law [@25% of your net.] even if you are making less then 870.00 a month. You have to tell them what you make.
After six years most debt is considered to old if you have not made any payments within those six years. You have wait six years after the last payment for it to be “too old”.



Which property and income is protected from debt collection?
There are certain kinds of income and property that cannot be taken to collect a consumer debt. Income such as Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), GAU, private pensions, federal civil service pensions, Labor & Industries disability payments, and Unemployment Compensation cannot be taken to collect a consumer debt. Additionally, the greater of $217.50 per week or 75% of your net wages (gross pay minus taxes, Social Security, and other mandatory deductions) is exempt. THIS INCOME IS USUALLY NOT EXEMPT FROM GARNISHMENT FOR CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENTS OR TAXES.
If your income is exempt from garnishment, then you may wish to put the collection agency on notice to that fact. You could provide this information to the collection agency in writing, keeping a copy of the letter. For example, if your only income is Social Security, which is exempt from garnishment by federal law, then you might write the following: "My income consists only of Social Security, which is exempt from garnishment by federal law." You could also include this information with any of your other written correspondence to the agency, e.g., if you sent a "cease communication" letter. While this is not a defense to the underlying claim, it does provide the collection agency with knowledge that your only income is exempt from garnishment. If the collection agency successfully sues you and then garnishes your bank account containing exempt funds, then you may have a cause of action against the collection agency.
Property



Unlawful Practices
Both the Washington Collection Agency Act and the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act prohibit harassment, false or misleading statements and unfair practices by collection agencies. If you believe that you are being unreasonably harassed or misled by a collection agency, you have the right to bring a legal action against the collection agency. Again, if you win the case, the law gives you the right to collect damages and lawyer fees. The following are examples of violations, this list is not exclusive:
1. The collection agency threatens to tell your employer or neighbors about the debt, or actually does tell them about the debt.
2. The collection agency calls at unreasonable hours ( 9:00 p.m. - 8:00 a.m.) is considered unreasonable under the federal law; 9:00 p.m. -7:30 a.m. is consider "harassment" under state law).
3. the collection agency threatens to take action against you that it cannot legally take (for example, threatening to take money out of your Social Security check taking other exempt property, or threatening arrest, jail).
4. the debt collector communicates with the debtor or anyone else in such a manner as to harass, intimidate, threaten, or embarrass the debtor.
5. The debt collector communicates with the debtor or spouse more than three times in a single week.
6. The debt collector communicates with the debtor through the use of notices that simulate the form of government documents, or the appearance of a telegraphic or emergency message.
7. The debt collector is prohibited from soliciting a postdated check in order to threaten criminal prosecution. A postdated check may not be deposited by a collector before the date on the check. Additionally, a collector's acceptance of a postdated check violates the law unless it gave the consumer who wrote the check 3 to 10 business days notice prior to depositing the check.



If you believe that your rights under the Washington Collection Agency Act, Consumer Protection Act, or Fair Debt Collection Practices Act have been violated, or you are sued on a debt you don't believe is valid, you should contact a lawyer. Agencies which take complaints about violations of the Fair Debt Practices Collection Act and the Washington Collection Act are:
• Department of Licensing
Collection Agency Board
PO Box 9034
Olympia, WA 98507-9034
• Federal Trade Commission
915 Second Avenue, Room 2806
Seattle, Washington 98174

Mail to the Attorney Consumer Resource Center nearest you:
Bellingham - Island, San Juan, Skagit and Whatcom Counties
Address:
103 E. Holly Suite 308
Bellingham, WA. 98225
Telephone: 360-738-6185
Fax: 360-738-6190
Kennewick - Southeast Washington
Address:
500 N. Morain St. Suite 1250
Kennewick, WA. 99336-2607
Telephone: 509-734-7140
Fax: 509-734-7285
Seattle - King, Snohomish, Clallam and Jefferson Counties
Address:
900 Fourth Ave. Suite 2000
Seattle, WA. 98164-1012
Telephone: 206-464-6684
Fax: 206-464-6451 Spokane - Northeast Washington
Address:
West 1116 Riverside
Spokane, WA. 99201-1194
Telephone: 509-456-3123
Fax: 509-458-3548
Tacoma - Pierce, Mason, Grays Harbor and Kitsap Counties
Address:
P.O. Box 2317
Tacoma, WA 98401
Telephone: 253-593-2904
Fax: 253-593-2449
Vancouver - Thurston, Lewis, Pacific, Cowlitz, Skamania, Clark and Wahkiahum
Address:
1220 Main St. Suite 549
Vancouver, WA. 98660-2964
Telephone: 360-759-2150
Fax: 360-759-2159



The federal Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) restricts an aggregated percentage of how much can be withheld from employee pay for certain types of debts. Other laws cover different types of wage attachments, such as federal tax levies.
For debts such as unpaid credit card balances, medical bills, and student loans, federal law allows weekly garnishment up to 25% of disposable income (what is left after deductions required by law) or the amount by which disposable income exceeds 30 times the federal minimum wage, whichever is less. At the federal minimum wage of $6.55 ($7.25 beginning July 24, 2009), at least $196.50 per week is off limits to creditors.
So now that it is past July 24, 2009 the amount off limits to creditors is $ 217.50 per week or 435.00 bi-weekly. So you can work and probably afford a chapter 7 bankruptcy. These are all ways to stop debt collectors from taking what little money you have and applying it to solving the issue. For a lot of low income people bankruptcy might be the only way out of credit card debt.


The best defenses are a tight offensive and never have those words been truer then when it comes to dealing with debt collectors.
The minute you get something in the mail from a collector, like a collection notice you should,
; draft a letter declaring wage or Soc. Sec.
; make copies of collection notice and dated letter
; mail copy of notice and letter, certified mail, to HQ of collectors.
; start a file and keep all communications and mail receipts , letters and notices in it for future reference.

You can also send them pay stubs and who your bank is so that you have proof that the collectors know your finical status.
A debt collector who is coming after you knows who you work for and what your account is in the bank. This is easy for them to do and the law is on their side. If the only money coming into your bank account is the money you declare, and you let them know this, it makes it a lot harder to garnish your bank account. If they do they will most likely have to release it, and that will cost the collector hundreds of dollars. Once a collector knows you don’t have to pay they will move on and try to sell your debt to another collector. Once you have a system in place to stop them, the more debt collectors that are told to stop, the less you hear from new ones.
The more facts you make known is that much lack of information collectors can use against you. This is a sample letter declaring that your wage is protected by law.
Date:
To whom it may concern
RE: account numbers
I, [your name], am exercising my rights under the Federal Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. My only income is protected by law.
I am paid twice per month. My net pay is$000.00[zero hundred and 00/100 dollars], see enclosed pay stub. This is my only income.
My only employer is [your employer and employer address].
75% of my bi-weekly income of $000.00 is below the $435.00 legal minimum so all my income is exempt from garnishment.
My bank account is Whatever Bank# account number.
Please cease all communication with me.
Your name.

Always send your certified letter to the corporate headquarters, or to the law office it came from. Never send it to the address you use to send a payment that is just a payment center. The letter you send comes to the attention of the lawyers you need to send it to corporate.