Sunday, October 30, 2016

With the new revelation of "5 digit number" of emails found on a laptop computer, we may see a reverse in the polls - of which I greatly distrust anyway - going for Clinton.  Even as of today, they are showing Clinton with only a few points lead which are in the margin of error meaning it's basically a tie.  Too bad the electoral college can just vote however they want to, in the end.

Well anyway.  In the midst of trying to get that trailer sold.  Getting lots of lowball offers on it.  I'm not going to sell it for less than $2,500 unless time marches on and it becomes obvious that I'm just not going to get that kind of money out of it.  But I've dumped so much into it, I would like to at least break even on it.  I'm going to hold out for a while and see if I can get anything close to what I want.  So far, the highest offer was 2 grand, the lowest was 750 and everything in between.  The interior of that thing is in excellent condition.  The only issue inside really is the cushions at the kitchen table which is a cheap, easy fix.  Well, anyway, Mark has done a good job of finishing the cleanup on it and he is dealing with it on that end.  I can only hope it sells soon.

Meanwhile, back at the "ranch".  I spent yesterday pulling the entire rear end of a 4 wheeler apart.  It was quite the chore because I kept getting stuck at points where something had to come off of something else and it's been on there so long, it took a lot of effort to get it off.  The huge axle nut was the worst.  It simply wouldn't budge. I spent an hour heating it up with a Map gas torch.  When push came to shove, I found a 5 foot long pipe, put it over a plumber's wrench, heated the thing up again and it finally gave way.  You have to screw the nut back to reveal a clip that has to come off to get that whole portion of it off of the axle.

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Well, I got out there today and got stuck on a giant C clip.  I bought a tool to spread it out but it wouldn't spread it far enough.  I ended up in a town 30 miles away to find something to use to getit off - and I might have got the right tool  - but it was getting dark by the time I got back and though there is good lighting out there?  I decided to stop.  I'll get it back together but I sort of figured it would require tools I don't have.  I used to have all of these kinds of tools and then some.  If you want to do mechanics, there is a minimum amount of tools you are going to have to have.  I am slowly rebuilding it to acceptable levels. I at least have a Map gas torch now, not as good as acetylene but it works well enough.
I do not have a bench grinder, mostly because there isn't a bench.  Well, there is one in their big shed but they filled it up with their personal stuff.  Really, in real mechanics, you have to have an acetylene torch and definitely a bench grinder.  And a press. And a lot of other stuff.  But I'm not into "real" mechanics anymore, not the scale I used to be at. However, I am considering a limited reemergence into it once I get enough tools and enough refresher into it

Aspyn is still in heat, but I have effectively removed Addler from her - for days now.  Whether she is pregnant or not, I was getting very tired of it.  Hump hump hump hump hump, endlessly.  He got the point, it took a couple days to get it through to him: Stop It.  Natural instincts, sure.  Does it take over their brains? Yes.  Do I have to put up with it? Absolutely not.  Addler has not spent a night in my bedroom in 4 or 5 nights now.  Aspyn is in there, he is not.  Just not going to deal with it when I need to be sleeping.  And yes, it will go on all night long, all day long.  It's unbelievable, actually.

Well enough. My computer must have a virus.  I don't need to search it out anymore, I know the symptoms.  I'm going to have to do a virus scan and get rid of whatever is attached itself to my files.



















Saturday, October 22, 2016

So, I am feeling better now so cleanup outside was on the list for today.  First I found another person to come over.  I put a post on a Facebook virtual yard sale group - where numerous people post  asking for people to come and work - and got a large number of replies.  The first one, though was the one I took as is customary on those venues to response to the first person.

Turns out it was a mama trying to find some work for her son who is too young to work at a fast food or similar place.  I kinda had my reservations because the work I wanted done is moving dirt and that is hard work.  But I decided to take a chance.  Do you get a spoiled brat that doesn't want to work or a person that has learned a good work ethic? Cause' that stuff is learned or not learned early in life and people have a rude awakening when the go out into the real world and find out that everyone - including employers - are not going to pander to entitlement, self-serving bs.

Anyway, this 15 year old was good as gold.  He worked literally all day long, only stopping a couple of times to take short breaks and eat a  - peanut butter sandwich.  That was his lunch.  I immediately figured these were probably poorer people and that came out in the wash later on.  How about this?: this boy has never seen his real father, who lives in a town about 80 miles away.  Whatever, obviously bad stuff going on there, not my business.  They live in a trailer park maybe 15 miles from here.

Well, while this kid was doing this, the next door neighbor's son and 2 of his friends come meandering over to the fence.  They trashed my Honda 300EX quite a while back, I got disgusted with it, just left it sit in the driveway.  They decided they were going to come over and fix it.  Oh really?  Well be my guest, yins the ones that broke it.  They literally spent the entire day trying to get the thing going.  They fixed the oil leak, put oil in it, got  the thing running after numerous attempts, but then I pointed out the chain situation. When they had taken it, some adult had "fixed" it by destroying the chain tensioner.  Literally broke the thing. So, they were riding it around with a chain slapping around and spinning off.

Whatever the case, the never were able to resolve the broken chain tensioner. They tried taking the chain up to the Honda dealer and having a link removed.  Well, the dealer took out two links, not idea whose fault that was, the kids giving them wrong information or the mechanic.  Anyway, then the went all over the place looking for extra links since the Honda dealer didn't give them the links back and were closed.  They were determined to get the thing working - I mean, I had given up on the thing.  I didn't want to touch it after I saw what they had done to it - though what happened to it is really a long story and wasn't actually the neighbor kids' fault, but, he was definitely responsible for it.  That was agreed upon before he took it.

It was only today he finally took responsibility for all of that.  They finally gave up near darkfall. The kid that was working stayed until 6.  We feed him dinner. Which he was all-too-happy to partake and after I asked if he wanted more, he said he would like to take some home.

Now, the fire department showed up.  Yup, just now, while writing this.  I was burning leaves out back - have been since this morning - I was informed that it was okay to do that i city limits.  But, I thought, I bet this was called in on the sheriff's house next door.  The kids were out back pouring gas all over the place and lighting it up.  But I admitted I was burning leaves, though the flames were out, it was just smoldering.  They came out back, saw the smoke, no fire.  One of them talking about writing me a ticket.

Well, they had come out a month ago or so while I was at work, declaring to the lady tenant that we had a fire and it needed to be put out. Uhhh, we aren't burning any fires here. It was the next door neighbor kid, had a fire going, somebody called the fire department.  Gag.  In Phoenix? We could have a fire anytime we wanted.  Anyway, I pointed to the fire in the sheriff's back yard.  Oh.  Oops.  They gonna write me a ticket but no him?  I didn't say anything about that, I just pointed out the fire and how it was started, how they had come out here before and blamed us for a fire that wasn't ours to own, and probably that was who the call was actually on. Oh, we're going to go over there, too.  Yeah, right, I thought.  "I'm sure you know **** (name of sheriff). Oh yes, we know him.  The talk of tickets disappeared, informed me I had to get a permit to burn and that was the end of that story.

Don't even try to tell me there isn't a good ole' boy's club going on in between officials like this. I've seen it repeated here for a while now. I don't really care, either, it's life but funny how they were going to write me a ticket until they saw what was going on next door.  I would have called them out on it if they had done that - written me a ticket and not the neighbor for the same exact thing - and I would have pushed it.  Trust me, I have no patience for this kind of foolery.

I dunno what else.  Oh, yes, the RV has been moved to my property in Phoenix.  I have placed an ad, but it is a repost of an earlier ad.  I need to start a fresh one, reposts never get much attention.  I'm not going to settle for anything less than $2,500 for it.  I've just spent too much getting it fixed up and moving it down there and it's definitely worth that much money.  If/when it gets sold, I'm going to fix that Jeep my friends the homeowners here gave me, put a hitch on it, get a trailer and yes, I'm going to go riding on my 4 wheelers. Well that's my tentative plan.  I dunno what I will actually end up doing, but that Jeep is just sitting there.

I'm still watching a few NFL games, but I've mostly grown repulsed by the protests with the kneeling s***, the NFL can go bake.  They can force players to stand if they want to, their stand is costing them money. The NFL won't admit it, but the 11% decline in viewership is definitely related to the boycott.  The NFL is not untouchable, but the NFL put out a message to the teams saying everything but the boycott is the cause of it, they'll weather the storm, yada yada yada.  Yeah, well, when you see some whiny little rich boys out on a field kneeling and dissing our flag and our anthem, they can got rot.  I hope the percentages keep going down in viewership. Get that number to 30 percent and they will have no choice but to tell these a-holes to stand or get out.  Sorry, but this stuff pisses me off.

Whatever.  This election cycle is also growing very old.  Let's get the election over with and then? everyone can complain about the outcome.  If Trump wins, there will be rioting.  If Hillary wins, there won't be rioting but I'm betting the Convention of States idea is going to become much more popular.  Talk of an uprising but so far, just talk.  Really.  I'm not sorry to say there is no way Hillary Clinton should be in the running. How do Hillary supporters simply ignore all of this endless junk that has been coming out against her?

Dog situation starting to level out. After confronting the lady tenant about her over-involvement with MY dogs, she all but stopped all of it.  Addler is coming back around to me.  Heck, I just spent the entire day outside with both of my dogs and that was cool.  However....I didn't know Aspyn wasn't spayed when I got her. Umm so she is 8 months old, in heat and I"m afraid I'm going to have Great Dane/German Shepherd mix puppies coming.  I don't really want that, at all and I only noticed the heat part when I noticed drops of blood on the floor. I'll wait until I see whether she's pregnant or not and then have her spayed.  I don't need or want puppies, thank you.  Too much work.

Not much else.  Continued dire warnings about the economy. Now a warning about a new world currency.  I would call it speculation but a few have accurately predicted previous disasters. Speaking of predictions, the dude that has accurately predicted presidential election outcomes for the last 30 years - in a row - has said his model shows that Trump will win the election.  I would very much like that to come true, but only because in my view? Hillary is a disaster in the making.  I don't have the unction to write out my reasons why now.  I have been working all day long, it's almost 10 pm and I'm done for the day.


























Sunday, October 16, 2016

I walked in the house today and saw a letter from the Texas Department of Public Safety.  I immediately knew what it was about, I did not know whether it contained good news or bad for me.  What kind of background check takes 5 months? Even if it IS a federal background check.  I didn't open it, I felt it to see if i could feel a card in there.  Yes, I felt something in there.  Getting a little excited, I opened it up.  And there it was, in all it's plastic glory.  A Texas License To Carry Handgun, otherwise referred to here as LTC.  I spsent a few dollars on this and I spent some time on this one.  I find it amazing that I got a passport in a fraction of the time it took to get this thing.

Next?  Look at articles on handguns that are good for concealed carry.  I have no intention of open carry, at all.  I didn't bother to do much research, I wanted the license first.  Then, when ti was taking forever to get  it, I definitely decided to put any handgun purchase on hold.  My next door neighbor should have some good input on what's a good concealed carry handgun and where to buy them.

Anyway, all of these things I wanted in terms of "endorsements" are finally over. The LTC, the passport and the X/tanker-hazmat combo endorsement for my CDL.  What else is there? I dunno, but those were the things I wanted and now I have all of them.  I feel this LTC as a major accomplishment considering what I went through to get the thing and all the time I waited afterward to actually receive it.  On another note, I would have probably gotten this license at least a month earlier if it hadn't been for the instructor of the class' screwup in not dating the forms before sending them into the State.  They sent mine back to me a month or more after that guy sent them in.  I called him and he looked into and found that he had not dated ANY of the participants in that class that day. Well, I said, you are likely in for a lot of phone calls!

Okay, well this makes me happy. Kind of feel like an elite group.  How many people are actually willing to go through all of that? How many people will fail the background check anyway?

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Wrote that days ago. Sunday evening.  Drama here yesterday. The lady tenant was outside smoking and apparently went over to the neighbor's house to tell a man sitting in front in his pickup that his truck's fumes were bothering her and to please shut it off.  The next thing that happened is a bit murky, but apparently the  neighbor's son came over and she shoved him for some reason.  She claims he startled her.  I dunno, but I was sitting here, in the living room, watching tv when the son's dad calls, who is also a deputy Sheriff and was on duty.

He was extremely agitated and started right in on it - me not having a clue what he was talking about.  I missed all of that excitement but, I invited him to come over and confront on it if he felt that strongly about it. I went out there for this one, as she was sitting out front.  I warned her he was coming. Anyway, he comes up in full uniform and basically reads her the riot act, including threatening to haul her off to jail for harming a minor, I guess. The boy wasn't hurt, I"m sure of that, but this was daddy in a law enforcement uniform making his intentions clear.

I dunno what she thought she was doing.  When he left - leaving a strict warning that if she touched his boy again, she was going to jail - I also confronted her. She has no business confronting neighbors on anything.  If there is an issue, you come to me and I will deal with it.  She was very apologetic at least, though she lied to the officer and he called her out on it, which agitated him even more, and agreed that she wouldn't do that again.  Yes, please don't.

I texted the guy and told him I was sorry for her actions and please let me know if she ever does it again, I will find new tenants.

After that, I called her out on her involvement with my dogs.  I'm not sorry.  She has literally taken them over to the point they are about half interested in my arrivals back home from work.  I watched this on Friday and became internally agitated, as I have been watching this for a while. She has no social life besides whoever it is she is talking to on the phone, so her daily life while I am going is interacting with my dogs all day long.  Addler is my dog, I went to great lengths to get him and I'm not going to have some complete stranger come and steal his heart away simply because I am gone all day long at work.

That didn't end too well either, but I was glad I confronted her on it.  I made it plainly clear that she could have her dog living with her here before they moved in here.  But, she sent the thing off to someone she knows in Dallas and I thought at the time, I wonder if she's going to make my dogs her dogs?  Of course. It isn't the end of the world but I have initiated "healthy boundaries".  My dogs are my dogs.  She was giving them treats - treats that I paid for - and giving them to them without my permission.  I limit dog treats for one reason: too much makes them fat.  That's what really started irritating me is when Addler started putting on the pounds.  Another thing that aggravated me is his usual self of running around all over the place all day long was transformed into him laying in front of the door, waiting for her to come and likely, bring him in.  I haven't been able to verify the second part of that, but from the way he's behaving I have to guess that it's true.

After that, she started texting me, to which I totally ignored.  We're all of 40 feet apart, if she wants to discuss this, it's going to be in person.  I was fully prepared to engage her on it the next day, it was Friday this occurred, btw, not yesterday as I had originally reported.  Because this is day 2 and she is acting like nothing has happened but there is one important difference: she is no longer interacting with my dogs.  I have my doubts the same will hold true when I am gone, but she knows my feelings about it now.  She's not my lover, we aren't dating, we aren't married, she is a tenant living here. She is a sweet lady but this was going too far.

Well, as I said earlier, Sunday night.  I didn't get much done this weekend.  I have had lackluster energy ever since getting sick. This happens to me every single time I get sick.  I might get better but my energy takes forever to come back.  It's go to work, try to make it through the day and then come home and do nothing beyond what I have to. I hate it, but it's been that way with me all of my life.  I still wish someone at work would have said this sickness is being spread around, I would have taken special care to wash my hands and stay away from those people.  I've got a lot to do around here but I"m not going to push it.  I'll be trashed on Monday morning and it will be a very difficult day.

I am lucky that I got the truck loaded and ready to go for Monday though.  I literally have nothing left to do but throw more strap over a pallet, fire up the truck, get my paperwork and leave. It's at least a 4 hour trip - going back into the Army Depot again - it's and hour and ten minutes there not counting any stops, it's an ordeal getting into the place.  A back ground check and then driving 20 mile an hour. this place is HUGE.  Miles worth of military equipment, lots of armored personnel carriers.  Cool to see them up close.

My mother has decided that the move from her home of 25 years was a mistake. Well she thought that a while ago but got over it.  She bought a 4 bedroom home on a large piece of land, I'm not sure what she was thinking.  What did she need such a large home for? She's 81 years old.  A 2 bedroom house on a small plot of land would have been much more suited for her but I kept my mouth shut.  Well, she already has the house up for sale, already has offers on it and already looking for a new place.

Well, I can't do anything about any of it.  I hope she gets the place she needs in short order and gets this over with and beyond it.  She also wanted to get the 5th wheel off of her property and sold, but it's turning into an ordeal.  I may just go back for a few days to deal with it myself. I'm not in a huge hurry to deal with it since she's busy with the house, but she is insisting on moving on with it.  I have basically decided to get it dragged down to the valley where it will be much easier to sell and she won't have to deal with it, my landlords at my house will sell it for me.

Anyway, that's about it. A little bit of drama, the regular grind at work and stuff going on with my mom.



















Monday, October 3, 2016

Okay. Well I got to work today feeling extremely cruddy.  I didn't sleep a wink last night. I've had those shots of steroids before without any side effects, not this one.  I feel funny and it kept me awake all night long.  I took out a delivery and after I was done with it, wondered how I was going to make it through the rest of the day?  I didn't. 2 hours into work I went into the manager and asked for the rest of the day off, I just can't do this today.  We were very slow, so it wasn't putting anyone out.  Went home and just laid in bed for a long time.  Eventually got up, went to the election office and registered to vote = I thought I had but apparently I hadn't finished the process so I decided to go straight to the place that would take care of this, which is all of a mile and a half away.

The nice thing about living in small towns is that nothing is very far away. At least, if it's in the town.  If it's in another town, then you are in for a drive.  I then went to the ATT store to find a cheap phone for my landlords in Phoenix. I had no idea they were shelling out upwards of $80 per month for cards to refill the phone.  Pay as you go stuff.  Expensive, especially as much as they have to use it when they are trying to rent out a room. I can get a phone with text/calling only, unlimited for $20 bucks a month.  Well, they said at the store that the lowest priced phone that would work with my plan that I could get there was almost $300.

No freaking way.  I know  I can get a phone for around $40 that serves the purpose they need, just to make calls and texting.  But, several of those cheap phones will also get you on the internet if you are in the range of wifi.  I blew them off and went to the post office to send the home owners here their mail.  Which next time I want them to tell me what they actually have to have sent and what can just be thrown in the trash.  I don't even get my mail from Phoenix anymore, they just go through it and tell me what it is and now I just have them read it to me over the phone.

Anyway, then she - the lady running my house over there - sent me an email saying she had to pay to have Sophie put down - I originally got that dog but they wanted her when I left and it was going to be too much to take her out here.  I didn't exactly get the dog in good condition, she had extreme hip problems at an early age and it finally caught up to her.  Then she said she had to buy pond fish food and something else of which I don't remember and she is broke, oh the other thing was the excessive phone stuff - can you please give me some guidance?

Well, it was $280 worth and I figured that the only thing I could really do is excuse the debt considering what they have done over there in keeping the place in good condition and immaculately clean.   I'm not saying that is an easy thing to do - give up that much money as I have things I need to do with it but - I can live without.

There isn't much else.  Kinda sucks that I am still being held back by this sickness but it's definitely the injection and whatever side effects and once that passes I should be fine.  If I can get any sleep tonight I should be okay for work tomorrow though.

Well, I'm fading here, time to stop this.














Sunday, October 2, 2016

I don't have much opportunity to speak to the cop next door, but when I do, it's pretty interesting stuff.  He pulled over a car going 91 in a 75 zone today and was talking to the driver.  Black lady, very well dressed, very articulate and intelligent and good kids in the back seat.  Well, he says, turns out, she had warrants out for her arrest.  He had a wedding to go to, but something she said got him interested in looking it up and proving it.  She said she hadn't had a ticket in 20 years.  When he went to look it up, he found the lady had 2 warrants for assault and battery a few towns over.  Pretty much ruined his wedding plans, lol, as she went to jail and he babysat kids for 2 hours waiting for relatives to show up and get them.

Then we got into Obama, Trump and Hillary. Lolol.  Okay, well I won't go into that, but he did say something that has been surfacing everywhere: where are all of these people that are talking about Hillary?  In real life? I don't meet any of them either.  On the internet a different story but still.  Hillary and how wonderful she is isn't the talk on the streets, it's always Trump.

The cop neighbor likes to tell stories of his arrests and tickets.  I don't see him often, he's got 2 jobs and a family.

Anyway, the shot I got yesterday? I've hardly coughed at all today.  Really. I've had these shots before but I didn't really think it would work that well this time for some reason.

I did nothing today. Really. Well one load of laundry that I just now remembered needs to be dried and watered the new grass and that was it.

And now?  I'm done.

 Thursday mid-morning No point leaving here until around 10:00 am.  The load time is 1 and I can show up maybe an hour early without them ge...