Monday, October 8, 2018

Congratulations to Brett Kavanaugh!

He stood up to left democrats, just the same as Clarence Thomas did, endured the hell of being accused of unthinkable acts and now is already sworn in.  Dems pipe dream of impeaching him? Maybe if they actually do win enough seats to take control, I have serious doubts that's going to happen and I am relatively comfortable with the idea that by the time the next election after this one occurs, they won't care anymore. Hirono and all the rest of them are still wanting "justice" and impeachment! lolol

So enough of that.

Monday morning.
I have a run to go on but they are replacing the windshield in my truck this morning so she gave me a really late load time - not really in love with those but it is what it is.  Would rather have the second or third load.  But, this particular plant has changed everything, having us just drop and hook and leave immediately after getting there, basically.  It's still a 2 day trip, there's just too much traffic and slow areas you have to go through to get it done in one.  Well, I dunno, I could probably get very close.  That last trip I caught up with another driver so that really added minutes to the drop and hook time.

How do you catch up to a driver that is going the same speed and left 2 hours earlier than you?  Lol.  It's about 680 miles round trip.  I have made 677 miles in a day's driving with this company and that was not on a day where I had to load the truck.  That was a wake up, start driving and get as much as you can get done day.  In this trip, even tho it "technically" would be doable, you've got 2-1/2 hours at the loading plant and at least 30 minutes at the receiving plant.  Plus a forced 30 minute break and 20 minutes to fuel. There's almost 4 hours, which eats into the 11 driving hours, which makes a one day trip - impossible.  Okay, the plus side is it's more miles than Cheniere which is almost always a 2 day trip so in that regard I guess it's better. 

New tenant is allegedly moving in today.  He has said that twice now but then said he had to do "other" things.  The only reason I"ve let it go this long is because he put down a deposit to hold the room.  But, if he does not move in today, I will let him know that if he doesn't drop the rest of the rent off by tomorrow, he will forfeit his deposit and I will find someone else.  Several people have expressed high interest in the room. That's the point of a deposit, you are guaranteeing you are going to move in and if you don't, you understand you will lose that deposit.  I'd rather not have to go that route but there is a maximum amount of days that deposit covers for monthly expenses and after that, I run short.  Meaning pay out of my pocket and no thanks. 

My mind got all tangled up again in the thought of having a larger rental property with either mobile homes or small apartment complex.  I'd really love to get out of trucking eventually and just have rentals bringing in the dough.  Or perhaps a scaled back trucking version to supplement my income.  I suppose I'd have to be an owner operator to be able to do that tho.  It would be cool to work that out with current company, stay here long enough to get into that position, but I doubt they'd allow a "part time" driver.  And all the rules they have implemented - and a lot of stuff.  Lol.  I think next month marks a year, I will be taking my paid time off and will spend that time travelling and also thinking about my next move, if there is one.  I won't have enough money saved up to do anything about getting into a larger rental property for at least a couple of years.  And, I'm still trying to get my credit score up - I have no idea how long that is going to take. 

It's been quite a while already and still in the fair range.  It just went up 6 points, but that isn't enough to really do anything.  I really need to be in the good range to be able to qualify for some sort of loan for a venture such as that plus a significant down payment and I may need to take some business courses. 

Online, thanks.  I can't do mortar based college with this driving job - or any other driving job for that matter.  Just doesn't work.  It would be far better for me to be in a classroom, if I do decide to do that I'll have to find the motivation from within to stick to it and get it done. 

Yes this little venture is still very much in my mind, I have to find a way to get it done.  Save save save to start with, I have already upped that significantly starting last night.  I've just reduced my expenses and I expect to reduce them even more with getting rid of all of those movie channels over there.  That is around $60 per month and that money is going to be needed to cover the increased gas bill come this winter.  Going to have to discuss the temp everyone can handle having it at over there and definitely asking that no one uses space heaters.  It would be cheaper to just heat the entire house up to a higher temp with natural gas than sucking up huge amounts of electricity in those heaters. 

I think what I'm going to do is attempt to schedule a BBQ over there on some weekend and we can all discuss ways to save money while still being comfortable.  I've found that if you don't have that discussion, the people who aren't paying the electric and gas bill pretty much don't care how much excess they use, cause they aren't responsible for the bill.  Heaters, window ac units, leaving computers one, running hot water and not using it, stuff like that. 

Life goes on.  I wish I owned the property I'm living at so I could do some major improvements to this place. But, I'm not dumping money into a place I don't own. The only exception has been my bedroom and especially the bathroom that had an old toilet that was leaking, the sink was disgusting and the shower valves were leaking. All of that replaced/fixed at my own expense.  I just couldn't live like that.  They aren't making enough money to do upgrades and repairs such as that and I've been here a while, so I figure I"m getting my money's worth out of it.  I''m still paying all the bills over here besides the mortgage, which sounds excessive but it really isn't that bad now that we negotiated the Direct TV bill down to $94 per month - it was at $215.  My cost is around $450 per month but it will go up in the winter with increased gas use to heat the place.  I do hope they will consider pitching in for that, after $500 per month I kind of think the price tag is a bit excessive.

The flip side is living with friends and we all get along, we never fight, we take little snips at each other but all in good fun.  Still, I think $500 is a good ceiling to place my "rent" at, which is having all the bills coming out of my account automatically.  James took a huge pay cut in moving back here and finding a new job. Steady employment, some weeks he gets a lot of OT, but on those weeks he doesn't it's pretty slim pickings.  But they're both employed so at least they're making it.

Well I still have a couple of hours before I have to leave lol. I'm burnt out on news - its the same stuff day in and day out. Kavanaugh this and Kavanaugh that. Dems are looking for "revenge".  No surprise there.  And of course all things Trump, which Kavanaugh is a by-product of.  It's just getting boring and I have started tuning alot of it out now that the hearings are over and done with.  Perhaps the next new outrage the democrats invent and dump on it's constituents I'll take a look at - it seems this crap happens on a weekly basis. 

With that, I'ma end this one and make some breakfast. 

G'day. 






















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