Monday, June 8, 2009

Monday

Took a trip in the semi out to Florence today - a nice little drive - delivered some concrete meter boxes - well, delivered a LOT of concrete meter boxes - and then came back to the yard. There were no more deliveries. I ended up going through locations in the warehouse to make sure that each item we sell is in the place that the computer says it is. We are doing our semi-annual inventory soon, we always go through locations to make sure they're correct, and we usually also do a pre-inventory count to see if the actual numbers on the shelf are the same as the what the computer says we have.

DirectTV - after QUITE a lot of talking back and forth - I was not giving up unless they hung up on me - actually has agreed to replace the receiver for free. That's the one Mary took and that I have filed a police report about. They are allegedly calling back tonight - it was getting far too late last night, after ten o'clock which is well past my bedtime - to get the serial number of the unit that was stolen. I asked them to give me the serial numbers of all the boxes so I could eliminate the 3 remaining ones and therefore come up with the box that is missing. I need this to give to the police.

Anyway, quite a lot of persistence - while still being polite - got me something out of that. I am all about saving money wherever I can right now - always I am really, but even more-so now - and certainly having to replace something that was stolen from me is not something I really wanted to have to do out of my own pocket. I give no kudos to DirectTV until I actually HAVE the receiver in my possession.

A name from the past surfaced last night - Anthony. Seems he is still getting drunk and still starting trouble. He starts fights with everyone and then has father steps in - who is a hothead himself - and I can only imagine the outcome of that. They are out-of-work and I am sure the situation over there must be quite "pleasant". Michael is spending all of his time over here at this point - apparently the end-of-school is also the end of the restrictions.

I strongly suggested yesterday to both Caleb and JD - Caleb's friend - that they get up off of their lazy @$$es and start looking for a job. Sure, jobs are not easy to find, but I notice that the grocery stores are still hiring teenagers for bagboys and such. The point is to at least TRY to find something. They both had their excuses - which I basically ripped apart at the seams and fed to the garbage disposal - and told them both to get out there and start filling out applications. Both had this idea that parents/grandmothers were going to go find a job for them. WHY on earth would they want to do that? I mean, if you happen to know someone that needs someone - great - but I would far rather see them put their toes into the water and start feeling this stuff out for themselves. It's a whole new realm, no doubt, and maybe a little scary, but it's past time for both of them to start getting a taste of reality.

Ummm, new renter moves in tomorrow. I have nothing more than to print out a rental contract and find the keys from Mary, the rest is done. I'm going to have to think about building a regular closet in there - but for right now - the guy is happy enough to get the room and doesn't care about a closet - his words, not mine. I already have a check from him - I'm not cashing it until he actually moves in.

Nothing much else. Have some beef that I am going to form into hamburger patties and go outside and do some grillin'.

How are you doing? Hope everyone is well.
ben

2 comments:

becomingkate said...

I can't recall Caleb's age, but Em is 12. She suggested recently that she quit her paper route (pays $150/month) and make money from babysitting, but her expenses don't allow that.
She sat down with Jamie yesterday to budget both summer camps (Bill and I paid for that, but she needs spending money) the anime convention in Edmonton in August (she pays Jamie's BF for the gas and hotel and needs a costume) and she still has to buy food and sundries for her guinea pig and buy minutes for her phone.
If we did it for her, she'd never learn a work ethic.
Good luck with Direct TV!

BenB said...

Hi Kate:
Caleb turned 16 in May. He has been doing odd jobs at people's houses and friend's places for years - but he's now at the age where he can - and should - work at a place that requires a bit more discipline and a lot more commitment. I sent him on his way to his mother's house a little while ago informing him that he will be looking for a job - and when was he going to do it? Tomorrow. Told him to shave his face and dress up for the affair - not going to make a good impression showing up in shorts and a t-shirt with stuff written all over it.

I didn't know kids could do newspaper routes anymore. I thought all of it was done by adults now? It sounds like you have a good grip on making her learn things early - the best way to do it. If/when Caleb finds a job, he's going to find out that some of that money is going to go for him buying his own clothes - and I will be talking to his mother about forcing him to pay for his own cell phone. He has learned quite a lot of discipline through JR ROTC - I'm hoping it pays off in the "civil sector".
ben

 Thursday - evening - iPhone entry  I was beating the tires on the trailer with a hammer this morning and one of them reported back with a “...