Wednesday - evening

Just got back from taking the kids to the mid week kids service at church.  

Last night was probably one of the worst night's sleep I have had in quite a while.  I don't understand it but it always happens when I'm coming back to work? I don't sleep that night.  As it stands, I completely passed out on my bed with the kids watching TV (I have a giant screen tv in my room ), I just happened to wake up, look at the clock and say, what?@!! it's time to go to church!

Jeffries proclaimed that the US would fail in the Iran operation. What a miserable @$$.  I have been watching endless footage of this war and notable politicians from both sides making their statements and also watching Hegseth and whatever that crazy general's name is along with Trump.  

I absolutely despise war.  People die, a lot of people in most cases and it's not all military personnel, which is bad enough.  The bloodshed, the aftermath of broken families, maiming, the psychological aftermath, the potential for the incursion to grow well beyond what it initially started out to be.  I'm not particularly worried about it, I believe in God, Jesus Christ His Son and the blessed Holy Spirit and nothing is happening here that God didn't already know about long before it started.

He isn't surprised by it, shocked or otherwise shaken. Don't let your hearts trouble you.....be anxious for nothing (haven't quite arrived on that one yet) and a multitude of scripture that points to simply trusting in Him and living your days out before Him and having your peace from Him.  He transcends politics, the world and the enemy of our souls. I sort of wonder tho whether Russia or China might get involved since apparently this whole thing is going to end up affecting them through the oil supply chain.  

Who knows. If it's the end times, there is nothing stopping it.  I'm going to reading through the book of Revelations again, I haven't  been in that book in quite a long time.  Need to refresh my memory on certain things that will happen when it all goes down. It  may be the time now, it may not.  I just want to be prepared. 

Anyway, a resolution was introduced into the Senate attempting to limit Trump's authority to execute t he operation in Iran.  It was already shot down, voted on and gone. 

I have 4 lots available at the park and only one bite a few days ago but they apparently decided to stay elsewhere.  My rates are as low as I'm going and I've been through this before. Where I have numerous lots available and just waiting for  people to take them.  Might stay that way a month or longer and then all of a sudden, they all fill up. It was full for a very long time before these workers all lefts. That's just a park update. 

The group is talking about going to Gulf Shores for the group's summer vacation this time around. I've been there, it's probably nicer than Galveston beach.  It's quite the drive, however, comparatively speaking.  I wouldn't mind going on a trip to the mountains somewhere instead.   I don't need beaches, they're fun of course but I like staying in the mountains better, a thing I haven't done in ages.  ]

I'm going to be honest here and tell you that I really do not feel like traispsing back to Arizona.  It's just  a lot of money and time spent. I like seeing my mom and son  and I haven't seen my brothers in many years, but it's quite the ordeal.  Note that none of them are bothering to come out and see me. I give mom a break on that one, she's very old and getting around is quite a chore for her at this point. My son has talked about coming out and I have the door open for him any time.  That may or may not happen, but I only talk to my middle brother maybe once a year and the oldest a few times per year here and there.

Still, it was interesting that after all this time, he finally invited me for Christmas. Too late, of course and I already planned on being home here, but still.  I still wish I hadn't committed for going back for Easter, I just plain don't feel liike it.  Spend half a day at airports, stay in a house where the  occupant isn't really geared for company and then see people who may or may not care about me?  I could easily pass.  I'd rather  stay at a hotel as well and let mom sleep in her own bed. She insists I take over her bedroom but I don't like doing that, not at all.  But, she'd probably be upset if I stayed at a hotel so I don't  plan on staying more than 2 or 3 days at most.  

I don't know what else.  Oh, bicycles. Yup, I'm still doing it. 2 trips around the block now, I'm try for 3 tomorrow.  I did 2 today but I was tired so I parked the bike and went in and took a nap.  But I did it and I keep trying to extend it, not shorten it.  I can't say soon I can go further distances, the hills are killers. My legs feel like dead weights by the time I get back from a round, just hoping the muscles will get worked enough and build up enough to not feel so ridiculous.  

 Tuesday - mid morning

Sorry, but I'm catching up on sleep. I guess can never really "catch up" on it, but it feels good to get 9 hours worth versus 4 or 5.  Oh, yes, I slept in until after 9:00 am.  

The new phone is a beast. It makes my 13 look like a 4, a dinosaur, an ancient relic you'd find in the Smithsonian. It 's that much better. And yes, I checked it, it has 2T memory, contrary to what the liar on the phone told me a few days ago.

For some reason, a T Mobile "customer service" rep told me that 1T is as high as it goes. Surely he knows his own product line, so why would he tell a lie like that?  It said it plainly on the website that there were 1 and 2 T options. T meaning terabyte. But the guy was being a total @$$ anyway so there is that.  

I'm taking the 13 to the store today to turn it in. I got this new phone with a trade in - I don't need or want the 13, it's got issues.  I also want to get a screen protector on this new one and a case for it.  

In fact, I need to do quite a bit  today, got a late start on purpose, don't really care.  I'll be trucking the next several days I'm assuming, I'm hopeful the manager will take command again and get schedules back to normal.  Not that I have minded the time off, frankly.  I needed it.  Especially the sleep. There is something about having to go to work the next morning when going to bed at night that does something psychologically and causes me to have poor sleep. Because when I don't have to go to work?  It's usually very good sleep and large quantities of it. 

But yes, the Iphone will be the first order of business, can't have it in my pocket without a screen protector on it. I go through a lot of screen protectors.  

 Monday - late morning/almost noon

I went to the courthouse for jury duty at 8:30 am. Walking up to the courthouse, I saw a lady standing there with a pile of papers in her hand.  She greeted me and asked if I were there for jury duty? Yes ma'am.  It's been cancelled.  I'll give them credit for standing outside and not having a lot of people going through the security check including metal detector and wasting a bunch of time. It probably lets them out of having to pay us the grand, huge total of $20 for showing up.

Well, off to IHOP. I did that last time as well. Got out of jury duty and had breakfast there.  

After that, I went to the property to use the tractor to fix the driveway. The box blade wasn't hooked up and several pins were missing.  I was going to go to Tractor supply to get some, but I decided to go into the shed to look for my missing title for the Tundra.  It was sitting on the floor of the shed, out in the open.  That wasn't there the last time I was in there and I wondered who was going through my personal stuff? I will be going through camera footage to find out.

Anyway, I blew off Tractor  Supply and went straight back to the courthouse - the local DMV for title and registration is also in that building. I wanted to make sure someone wasn't trying some shenanigans attempting to effectively steal my vehicle or do whatever, someone had clearly found my title and for whatever reason, left it lying in the middle of the floor. 

That took a minute, as they say in these parts when something takes quite a while to get done. But, I have Texas title coming in the mail, got current registration and got new plates for the truck. I can start driving it again! As soon as I figure out where to drill holes in the front of the bumper to stick a license plate on it...they don't have front plates in AZ and the vehicles don't come equipped with holes for screws.  

Ugh, I guess I'm going to have to go to Auto Zone or Walmart and get a new license plate holder. Gag.  

Meanwhile, after making 2 calls to T Mobile today and being treated rudely by them, one of them obnoxiously so, I am in a chat with some person who is continuing to blame UPS and that I need to deal with them.  

Uhh, no. That's not the way this works. YOU sent the package, the onus is on YOU to deal with this. I already waited 5 hours on Friday for a package that  never arrived during the allotted time frame or 2 hours after it. The package showed up 10 minutes after we left  the house.  I am NOT wasting another entire day waiting for this package! YOU call them right now and verify the time this package is going to be here!  That person didn't like that at all and continued to dismiss it to the point I am now getting transferred to a manager. 

I also have been researching how to contact any kind of escalation team or customer complaint center. Do you know that T Mobile does not have anyone in corporate you can actually talk to to file a complaint? I don't believe I have EVER heard of  this with any major corporation.  I finally found an address in New Mexico to snail mail a complaint to, LOL! I haven't given up yet, tho.  I will continue to search. The corporate offices are apparently in Bellevue, Washington and I'm looking for numbers to talk to anyone there. Haven't found any yet. Dunn and Bradstreet may have a number  but it's locked. I'm not paying to find that out. I'd rather just switch to another carrier before doing that. 

_____________

Many hours later.  The husband of the queen of the house showed up, I had no idea he was coming today until this evening..  Good to see him for sure, a missed fixture in the house, the youngest kid needs him around a lot more.  Some serious things happened today with that kid, very unsettling. Nothing I will go into here, but the psychologist has a lot to dig into in this person. Yes, he is seeing an actual psychologist, not a therapist or other related but lessor title of person who hasn't done the same amount of schooling as a certified psychologist.

Trust me, that kids needs it.

My phone - finally arrived today at around 7 pm.  Ridiculous nonsense.  I decided just a little while ago to go ahead and start the setup process. I was going to have them do it at the corporate store, but why? The only problem is, is that it's getting late and I had forgotten how long it takes to set up a new iphone and transfer the data from the old one.  I am trading that one in.  

But Iphone made a seriously nice upgrade on their phones, something I didn't know until just a few minutes ago. They got rid of that ridiculous charging cord with the thin end that goes into the phone.  Those things break easily, stop working and are garbage. Expensive garbage.  Now it's the USB-C cord, the type you find on tablets. So much better, something they should have done years ago.  

I'm getting so tired lol. I want this to be over with so I can go to bed. No work tomorrow. The manager has Covid and has been out for what, a couple weeks now?  So this lady is doing the dispatching. She tries, but it's not her area of expertise. I"ll have second load on Wednesday.  

Anyway, I'm getting offa here.  

T MOBILE RUDE CUSTOMER SERVICE

 This particular blog entry will be about T Mobile's treatment of it's customers and nothing else.   

To start, last week I decided to buy a new Iphone - Iphone Pro Max 17 with 2TB memory to be precise.  I went into the corporate store in town and as usual, they didn't have what I wanted.  They would have undoubtedly tried to pawn off a much lessor phone, I'm done with taking things I don't want and won't work for me. It's costly and you are stuck with it for quite a while.

I had already gone onto the T Life app before that a few days earlier and screen-shotted the price and payment plan I qualified for.  I just wanted to see if I could bypass all of that and get one that day instead of waiting for one to be shipped.

The app said the offer was no longer valid. So, I tried again, this time it showed $30 more per MONTH payment plus hundreds more down payment.  ???

I called them, we got that worked out and I ordered the phone to be delivered to my door. 

Friday, that phone was supposed to be delivered between Noon and 3:00 pm by UPS, a delivery service I absolutely abhor but that's a post for a different day for valid reasons.  They didn't show up, so we waited 2 more hours after that.  There were no updates on UPS system you join for them to send text messages about the delivery, of course they didn't bother to send any information on when, exactly, it would arrive. 

We left at 5, 2 hours after the promised delivery time and then, of course, the UPS truck showed up 10 minutes after we left.  

Insanity, they left a stick-it on the door saying it would be delivered the next business day that UPS is making deliveries.  Whatever.  The system finally updated and showed Monday (today) between 11 and 2 pm.  However, I called them that day about this, T Mobile that is.  It was a lady in the Philippines that had limited understanding of English, I tried to discuss it with them but to no avail, I finally ended that call.

Fast forward to today.  T Mobile sent the package, I'm landing this on their doorstep. I called them and got a person in America on the line.  The reason I called is because the delivery information had been removed and the tracking number was invalid on UPS site.  This man on the phone was probably top 10 of the rudest people I have ever encountered in customer service with some large corporation I'm dealing  with. The satellite companies are the creme de la creme of foul customer service, this comes close. 

He continually interrupted me. I would be in the middle of a sentence and he would just start talking over the top of me. After the third time, I raised my voice substantially and kept on talking but telling him about himself. I never interrupted him, why was he doing it to me? I asked for a manager. He said that wasn't possible.  Are you telling me you don't have a manager?  He wouldn't reply to that, just kept  saying I can't speak to anyone else.  I pressed him and told him he is too rude and I won't speak to him any longer , please connect me with a manager. 

He started in again and I just ended up hanging up on him.  He then had the audacity to call me back!  I flatly told him I HUNG UP ON YOU because I don't want to talk to you, you are rude and  obnoxious. I hung up on him again and called what is supposed to be a customer complaint center, which it was not.   

Oh, btw, the name of the rude employee was David with an alleged employee number of 122.  I don't really believe him, but  who knows.

I talked with another person and he said you can't talk to anyone in corporate and that you can't talk to anyone in their whatever center for making complaints! Are you serious?    

This company has low prices, that's a plus. They have decent cell service that has decent area coverage, that's also a plus. But you never really know about a company until there is a problem and the rubber meets the road.

I'm tempted to switch  back to either ATT or Verizon. 

A little while later --- they have an address in Albuquerque, NM you can send a letter to for customer relations lol!  What a joke!  

 Friday - evening

I barely made it through the day.  I mean, I understand the benefits of fasting, I have studied it to the Nth degree, but sometimes, you have to throw in the towel and say it's over.  3 full days is good tho, that's no calories of any kind. Just water, a little coffee (no cream or sugar or substitutes) and tea - no sugar or anything else in it.  

I actually hate coffee without cream so I've not been drinking that much and that's giving me headaches.  Caffeine withdrawals. 

2 more hours or so and I will be at 72 hours and that's just going to have to be good enough this time around.  The lady of the house is going on a 5 day fast a couple of weeks from now, I will very likely do it with her. The kids will be gone to grandma's and we will have peace and quiet around here.  For an entire week : )

Yes, I'm still cycling, I don't do that much, this area is hilly and it gets my huffing and puffing quickly.  I figure over time I will get into better condition and will start going on longer rides. For now? I'm content to do what I can without pushing it too much. 

Anyway, yes, I'm going out to eat in a bit, the lady of the house is going to a girl's night out decorating cookies for some event, not sure what, so I am babysitting. I'll drag the kids with me to eat, they love to eat out as much as I do. Well, maybe the youngest questionable on that, let's just say he loves to eat out if it's McDonald's or some sugar filled treat session.  His life revolves around treats. 

I have done very little besides trucking in the last 3 days because of this fast. The driveway at the park is in bad condition and I want to fix it before too long. Mainly, drag it with the tractor and then I'm forced to have them bring more gravel. It's just dirt mixed with gravel now, it kicks up a lot of dust and it's unsightly.  

I hate to spend the money, but it's a must do. 

$2,400 to the CAD property tax department, ie: school district.  Ridiculous.  I absolutely love how Texas politicians keep claiming they are "going to bring down your property taxes!" - it's a bold faced lie.  They have done NOTHING to do that and the county decided that since they didn't get their tax increase when we voted for it? They'll just decide that all of our properties are worth more. 

That's a lot of money.  It stings paying that stuff - but - as we all know, you never really own your property.  If you don't pay your property taxes, they come along, seize it and sell it at auction going for a fraction of what it's worth.  Well maybe not around here, last time I was at the tax auction they were bidding higher than the properties were worth, made no sense except they are able to jack up the prices of land.  

Whatever. I just despise governments taking more money than they need.  Any level of it. Limited government is a thing of the past.  This town as 22, 500ish citizens but they felt the need to build a brand new Junior high school - millions and millions of dollars.  Upgrade the streets downtown along with new sidewalks.  86k for new desks?! and on and on I could go. Meanwhile, the infrastructure is falling apart and the residential streets are in HORRIBLE condition.  

 Thursday - afternoon

I don't know how I could feel any worse. Ok, it's definitely possible lol I'm just saying this fasting is kicking my butt today. It didn't help that at  6:00 am, a loud knocking on my door followed with one of the kids  can't  find his backpack.  

It  woke me up out of a very deep sleep.  I'm sure I wouldn't have awakened for several more hours.  The worst part? I couldn't get back to sleep.  I tried, trust me. 

Anyway, fast forward many hours and I decided it was time to get a new phone. The ringer isn't working on mine and the microphone isn't working too great either. I've already dumped $400 into fixing that thing over the last few years, I've had that phone going on 5 years now? I think. 4 for sure.  It also doesn't have near enough memory on it.

That was the thing with my current phone.  I wanted 512 worth of memory, the store only had the 128 gigs option.  I bought that and later on totally regretted it.  Just not near enough memory and that phone was particularly cheap.  I decided today to go to the store and get a new one. 

I wanted an Iphone 17 Max Pro with 2T memory. It's the best phone they have, I do believe or if it isn't, it's close enough.  They didn't have that or the 1T which I would have settled for. I just turned around and walked out, not going to be cajoled into getting something that doesn't work for me this time around. 

Why they don't carry the popular phones around I have no idea excepting those high memory versions are pretty expensive.  From my view of it, I'll keep that phone for probably 5 years, that seems to be my average, it will be paid off in 2.  It will have full warranty coverage that covers everything even if you drop it into a toilet or somehow smash it one the ground. I've done both.  

Once, the phone slipped out of my hand and landed right into the toilet. Another time, it fell out of my shirt pocket, fell though the holes in the tractor and I ran right over the top of it.  It actually worked after both instances lol.  

I'm thinking this phone will have a far superior camera on it.  Everything should really be state of the art.  

Anyway, I ended up going onto the website and trying to order one there, T Mobile had given me the full price on the internet a few days earlier, I was just wanting to check out if the store could give me anything better price or perks or whatever.  I had taken a screen shot of it and I'm glad I did. For, the cart was "old" and I had to start over.  The price went up $30 per month on the payments.  What?!! That's an extra $720 !

No, no and no. I ended up on the phone with them, we got the price back down - I don't know how that thing decided to change it like that - and I ordered it.  Should arrive sometime next week.

That was the extent of my day.  I am definitely following through with this fast, at least 3 days but shooting for 5.  It's  just a bit hellish atm, hoping to feel better tomorrow. I was going to go do work at the property but not feeling like this.

I load tomorrow and deliver Saturday and off until Wednesday. Necessary for I have jury duty on the 2cd.  I've been getting a lot of time off lately and I can't say that I hate it tho my paychecks are certainly suffering.  

We went from winter to near summer overnight.  It's in the 80's now with lows in the 50's.  Crazy.  I like the lows, not a fan of those highs. It isn't hot, particularly, but we're still in February lol

 Wednesday

Another night last night where my sleep was far from good.  Sometimes I wonder how I can be so wide awake all day long, driving and doing stuff after a night like that?  I will admit that when I got home from work? I crashed out on my bed. There was no one home, no noise, just some peaceful sleep.  

We didn't get on the bikes today - not enough time - but we should have time tomorrow.  As it stands, I don't have work tomorrow and I"m not sure when I'll be working again. They usually have something for me in the tablet after I am done with everything for whenever, even if it's not the next day.  Then again, the system is full up there.  I mean, there wasn't even enough room for another truckload after I was done and I know there was another one coming.  I hope they showed up late, they would have had to wait for several hours if they came any time close to after I left there.

I watched most of the SOTU address last night.  Ilhan and Omar acting like little kids who have been denied a sugary treat.  Really quite unbelievable that they are even allowed to act out like that in that setting.  Johnson said afterwards he was going to deal with them but Trump was - trolling them, my words not his -  and letting the world see how these people act out.  These are your elected "leaders". I thought it was a good speech regardless of the democrats refusing to applaud or stand for much of anything.  

I'm going to have to go drag the driveway again tomorrow, it's gotten really bad again.  There is no drainage along the hill side of it so the water just runs over the driveway whenever it rains.  It was something I was going to try and fix last time I had a mini ex- but then I messed up the existing plumbing and that ruined any chance of getting that done.

And NO, I am not renting a mini ex tomorrow.  I just want to spend a few hours dragging the driveway with the box blade and then I might have a couple of truck loads of gravel brought out.  Big if on that one, but the driveway is so bad right now, I'm not sure I have a choice. I had a company come out and tell me that they would charge me 19k to asphalt it, well not asphalt, some substitute stuff.  No thanks.  I'll spend $1,600 on gravel - which is only 2 truckloads - and just hope it covers it enough to  get it fresh and not have so much dust kicking up.

I've had 3 workers leave and another one told me today he is leaving soon for a new job in Dallas. I want to fix the driveway and then start running ads, I can't  have 4 lots empty. I have to at least try to fill them up.  I just think the condition of the driveway is so bad, it's a bad first impression on anyone potentially wanting to move in there. 

I'm not going to write much, I am really tired right now, a wave of fatigue just washed over me. Perfect time  to go to sleep. 

 Monday -  night

 My nice little 2 days off  relaxation event is over.[po Well, okay, it's officially over when I have to get up in the morning to go work. 

I was going to go do some work on the expansion today, but the temps were in the low 30's so I just stayed home most  of the day.  In fact, I stayed home ALL day excepting late afternoon when I took the oldest child to guitar practice.  It's only 30 minutes and I just sit out front in the vehicle playing games on my Switch 2.  

I mean, I did do laundry and cleaned the kitchen and did some cleaning in my room, that counts for something, right? 

I also rode the new bike around the block again. I'm halfway through it and my legs feel like iron weights, it reminded me of cross country running. I took that for 2 years in jr high school and was skinny after those 2 years were over. I never got fat again until my late 40's, I slowly started putting on weight until what I am now.

I have motivation to keep bicycling.  The kids are all over it and won't let me get away with saying no, not that I have tried. It's only been 2 days but I foresee doing this long term  and hopefully reaping some cardiovascular benefits and as I start getting into better shape and going on longer rides, losing some fat.  Right now, I get winded pretty quick and my leg muscles are definitely  nothing like they used to be lol.

I've seen people who started riding bikes, overweight and probably not in good health, who stick with it and over time they lose a ton of fat.  I don't know what hit me. Oh yes, I remember now. The kids wanted to start riding around the block and they wanted me to come with them. I don't have a bike.  Go get one!  So I did.

Might be one of the better money expenditures I have made in a while.  

Other than that, there is nothing much else going on. Well there's always politics. Very focused on what's going on in Mexico right now. I wouldn't have traveled over there as a tourist before that powerful drug cartel leader was killed, now? I doubt I will ever go to Mexico again.  I spent a LOT of time over there in the 80's and 90's.  

Anyway, time flies when you're enjoying the last remnants of a couple days off. time for bed. 

 Sunday  - morning

My goodness, it's been a minute since I've posted. I haven't even posted the details of the little trip we took. 

I took the kids to Dallas, got into this really nice hotel and we spent the afternoon in the swimming pool and the hot tub. Indoor, of course.  Played some video games and ate at a restaurant connected to the hotel.  Not bad, a bit pricey.  

The next day, I realized the place we were going doesn't open until noon.  So, we played video games and went out to eat.  IHOP to be precise. We were just enjoying ourselves. Back to the hotel, it started raining pretty heavy. The venue is indoors so that didn't matter too much excepting getting into the facility in the ice cold rain. 

We got in there and you enter the facility through an actual Boeing 737.  The shell of one of course, it was pretty cool but they actually made you go through a real metal detector.  The tickets were pricey, I spent I think around $250 for the 3 of us.  You know, I always forget to check the reviews before going to a place like this and I really should.  There are enough negative reviews on this place that are pretty much in alignment with each other that I would have had a second thought about paying that much for the experience. 

Basically, this place is a mini city with all kinds of businesses along actual rock paved streets, well some of it is asphalt or appears to be anyway.  The kids go into these businesses and they get a somewhat hands on experience what it would be like to choose a career in that profession.  I had some reservations right off the bat, the ad says up to 14 years old.  Most of the businesses were all closed and after I checked the reviews, many people complained that a lot of the stuff wasn't open and for the price of the tickets? That is unacceptable.

There are a couple of things that would be interesting to older kids, most of it is really designed for toddlers up to maaaaybe age 5.  It was really disappointing to be honest. I mean, from the ads, you'd think this place is rocking and has fun activities going constantly all over the place which is complete and absolute fabricated lie.  The oldest boy liked the thing where you go around a map up in the air with a harness on.  It's a thing where you're holding onto whatever is around you and you are trying to walk across a cable, stuff like that. I got pics and video of him, he was visibly afraid but, that's what makes life interesting sometimes.

Another attraction which looked really cool was only opened up a couple of times while we were there and only allowed 4 people at a time.  It was a sort of rock wall climbing thing and it went up really high. We never got to go on it, we waited and then found out it only accommodates a few kids.  That was really lame.  Another popular attraction the kids waited for quite a while only to have other kids cut in line in front of them.  They had their version of fast passes - which we couldn't get because it was sold it when I went to buy them - so they just got to cut us. 

Many of the facility workers were unhappy people who couldn't crack a smile if their lives depended on it.  Not all of them of course, but enough so that it was also mentioned in some of the reviews of this place.  I'm glad I didn't buy the fast passes tho, they wouldn't have been worth it.  You know where they spent the most time in this place? At our end of this "tour" where we found a room with a sand box and toys laying around. Not a structured business place like the rest, the kids played in the sand box for a long time.  

Oh, they did have a snow globe building thing. You actually build your own snow globe. The kids liked that but it was a $15 per person fee.  Anyway, after the sandbox they had had enough and wanted to leave. I couldn't blame them so we did.  I offered to take them somewhere else but they insisted they just wanted to go swimming again and get into the hot tub. Okay! We spent another afternoon in the hotel pool room and they loved that.  

That was Valentine's day and we went to the hotel's other restaurant for dinner. Very ritzy establishment with a pricey menu. Plain ole' steak? $57!  We didn't order steak lol.  People were all dressed up - we were not lolol.  They escorted us to a table in the bar area, very nice area I wondered why they hadn't taken us to a regular table but didn't ask.  The food was excellent even if high priced.  The Japanese style noodle soup - like what you'd see Naruto eating - was very good. I'd go back to that place just for that.  It was a HUGE bowl of it, too.  

After dinner, we spent the evening doing what else? Playing more video games.  That was it, we went home the next morning and went about normal Sunday activities. 

I never did get sick. I'm referencing the fact that the kids got very ill and then after they were almost better, mom got ill as well.  It never touched me thankfully.  

I also haven't seen hide nor hair of that other driver that was continually butting in front of me.  The washout people said the other day that "we haven't seen him in a while". I don't know if he quit or got reassigned.  Work has been a mix.  Several days ago, I was at the loading plant. There was a truck already there, not one of ours, parked in a loading bay that is right in front of ours. It was a bit ridiculous, for it was over 2 hours before they got it loaded. During that time, a giant crane came in and planted itself right smack dab in the middle of the driveway.  Another truck also came in to get loaded, which they did while I was still waiting.  

I was getting annoyed. They always  make excuses but I don't believe any of it.  They schedule trucks to all come in at once on some days and it's the luck of the draw. If you happen to get there first,  you get loaded first.  I did not and I ended up waiting over 3 HOURS before they even started loading me. It was 4 plus hours before I was out of there.  My manager had contacted the rep for us there at that plant, he said they were "loading me now". Uhhh, nooooo, they aren't doing any such thing, I don't even see them anywhere.  That was after the truck got out of the way and the crane finally was done.  It's funny that they would schedule a crane to install equipment at the same time as they have a bunch of trucks scheduled all at once to get loaded.  

That's poor management but they don't give a hoot.  

2 days ago, I was back in there and I still had to wait an hour and 40 minutes to get loaded.  Why? Because they were offloading another truck at another bay nearby and for whatever reason, were in some elongated conversation about whatever.  It made no sense, for the loader guy could have come over and started loading me.  That was confirmed after I asked him about it. "Ohhh, we were just discussing specs of the product"..which was already being unloaded! Why did he have to waste my time over there talking about it? If it's being unloaded already, it must be within specs or they wouldn't be unloading it in the first place. 

Yesterday was uneventful. No one butted in front of me in Gurdon and I got it done quickly, unlike other days such as 2 times ago when the loading plant didn't get the hatch on correctly and it was leaking air pressure. I spent 2-1/2 hours unloading because I couldn't get the pressure up above 25 psi.  

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Many hours later and tired, I'm going to bed.  We went to church, did our Applebee's ritual, went to the coffee shop to get the lady of the house something, home, got on my new bike and road around the block. I'd say it's about half a mile.  The first part, easy. Second part, easy. Third part? Up this long, steepish hill. I was totally winded by the time I got to the top of it an admittedly stopped once.  I am way out of shape but I knew that long before getting on that bike.  The kids want me to go bike riding with them and it's a perfect opportunity for cardiovascular workouts along with fat burning.  I'll just do the around the block thing until I don't feel so winded from it and expand from there.  

No work tomorrow, it's still early tonight but I"m sleepy and getting offa here.  

s