Tuesday - evening

Went to the washout today, no issues and left quickly. Got to the plant, they told me to watch for people because there are a lot of external contractors there but go ahead and back in.

A few hours later, I wandered into the control room. When are you going to get to loading my truck? They had said nothing to me about any issues at all. 

The man replied he was going to get to it "in about 45 minutes" I knew that was a lie. If they say 45 minutes, figure a couple of hours. I contacted my management, who contacted the factory rep and after quite a while, I got the story that there is a malfunctioning valve and they can't transfer the product to the outlet for our product. 

Why on earth wouldn't the workers tell me that? It was near 5 hours before they even started loading the truck and 7 hours before i got out of there. Yes, it took them 2 hours to load it.  Ridiculous.   

I didn't get home until 6:00 pm and I was the first load. You  know, the latest loading time should be 1000 am?  

Things weren't any better around here. A 24 inch water transmission line ruptured in town today effectively shutting down water for the entire city.  They shut the water treatment plant down, which shuts down the pumps which of course means no water supply.  They very quickly declared our town a "local disaster area" which apparently frees up money from the state and other entities to help considering there is no water to flush toilets, take showers, clean clothes - you know, the basics in life?  

The city immediately got bottled water over to the civics center and started handing that out until it  was gone. They said 8:00 pm, they were out before 5.  There are more truckloads coming. Bottled water isn't that expensive at  the stores, but  that isn't the point. People will panic buy and clear out the shelves quickly.  

Most business shut down quickly and kids were sent home from school before the morning was out. Well, yup, you can't have a school full of people without working toilets.  That would get nasty pretty quickly. 

The REAL problem here is our  water infrastructure and the fact that officials have known for YEARS that it's old, rusted, worn out, valves failing, pipes bursting, needs completely replaced.  In the last 3 weeks, we've had 3 major pipe bursts, but this one by far is the worst. 24 inch line is huge and a lot of water going  through it. 

________

It wasn't until 8:30 pm tonight that the school district finally made up it's mind about kids going to class tomorrow morning.  The city had to call out an out - of - town contractor to come in and do the repair, they are estimating that the repair will be completed mid morning. So, the school district said they are going to have class starting at 10:00 am.  I get that they need their money - the school district that is - from the state but at the same time, how on earth do you leave 1,000's of parents up in the air about whether they need to find someone to watch their kids the next day or not?  

But, that's what this town does and has done quite well since I moved here 11 years  ago.  Uh, make that 12 years and wow,  it doesn't seem like I've been here that long! 

Time to go to bed. 

 Saturday - morning

Day off, doing laundry and cleaning whatnot.  

I've never been charged to go to a person's birthday party in my entire life that I can remember, so it's a bit  disconcerting to have to go to one for the first time. Well, I don't have to go but I was asked so I'm going. It's $11 person. It's  not a great deal of money, it's the principle of the thing.  I would never dream of charging guests to come to a party, even if it's being held at a restaurant, which this one is.  We will gladly pay for our own dining experience, but I doubt anything but cake is involved in this offering. 

Why not just have it at your house like everyone else? Then again, these folks used to be a part of our group of families and bowed out after meeting other people that they apparently like more.  I don't hold that against them for the most part, but it's not like they are an integral part of any of our lives.  At all. 

That's at 2.  I asked if we are staying long and I got a "no" reply so I'm good with it.  Money aside, I don't tend to spend much time at b-day parties, as most people don't. Show up with your kids, sing happy birthday, slice cake, hand out presents and then go home.  It's a day off and I have cleaning to do plus the kids are coming home today. They've been gone since Sunday morning and the house has been magnificently quiet without them around, especially the younger one who is constantly screaming - and yes, I do mean screaming - about something. Usually something minor/petty as well.  

We are bracing ourselves for that, they will be back in about an hour and a half.  I love those kids but I definitely like it when we get a break from them. Grandma always wants to take them, sure!  They'll be gone for 2 weeks coming the beginning of summer.  Make that almost 3 with the church camp.  

 Thursday - evening

The woes of having the receiving plant having half of their system's tank capacity shut down.  Normally 2 tanks that can hold 6 truckloads a piece, one has been drained and they are waiting on it to dry out and then they will chip it all down to the metal.  I was informed 3 more weeks before it's back up online.  I arrived at 10 am and there was not enough room for my load.  

I didn't start trouble with them. I didn't get angry, in fact, I just brushed it off. I have my Switch 2 with me, I played games for an hour and 15 minutes before the glue pit manager came pounding on the truck window and said "It's ok now!".  Music to my ears, I got out and got started.  My fortune  today - blessing - is that it only took an hour to offload.  

That was it. The other driver had already been there and gone, but I knew that so no real complaints.  The manager said he was going to ask them to have us come later on second load.  I texted my manager and conveyed the message, they don't need to tell him now.  They can and will, of course, but at least my manager is prepared for it.  It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't take so long for them to clean out those tanks....

I sort of have the next 2 days off. I say sort of because even tho I don't have a load tomorrow, I have to take the trailer down to the washout.  They informed me the caked on, dried out product on the ceiling of the tanker is so bad now that it's starting to fall off. If enough falls off, it will clog the drain and I won't be able to drain out the tank. So, I am taking it down there and dropping it off, coming straight back up.  I can simply pick it up on Sunday when I'm headed down to load.  It takes half a day to chip that stuff out of there.  I am not waiting.  I have to go down that way to get loaded anyway.  

 Wednesday - afternoon

It was raining when I got up at 3:00 am and it basically hasn't stopped since.  Torrential downpours on and off going down to Nacogdoches and then Lufkin, when it wasn't a downpour, it was at least medium heavy rain. Difficult to see anything, night time, it wasn't fun.  I was given the option yesterday of going in super early or just sticking with the second load.  I opted for super early, I got done today at around 10:40 am.  

I came home and went back to bed lol. The rain drops falling on things outside making  the pattering noise was soothing and I've been listening to it all afternoon.  Rain is supposed to stop in the next 30 minutes, total drag.  I like doing much of nothing with the excuse that it's pouring rain outside. 

2 days ago....

I arrived at the washout at a little before 8:00 am, I was first load. I was not informed of any special circumstances so I became very unhappy very quickly when I saw the same driver who has stepped on my toes many times now? right there ahead of me.  I immediately contacted the manager. I don't care if he doesn't like hearing about it.  It turns out, this driver was supposed to at AT the plant, not the washout, at 8:00 am.  No sympathy, I told my manager he needs to tell this dude to wait and not even go to the plant until after I arrive.

The driver's phone was going straight to voice messaging and texts were being ignored.  The manager tried, I'll give him credit for that, but then he said "I've got bigger fish to fry" and that was the end of that. Dismissive and curt, I get tired of his attitude, he is very reactionary and gets into his emotions instantaneously in situations like this.  

I get down to the plant and of course the other truck is in the bay. They hadn't even started loading him yet.  A few minutes later, he pulls out. I know he wasn't loaded for sure the way he was zipping around the plant making turns like that.  I had a hard time believing the manager grew a set and actually told him to get out of the way. 

As it turns out, he did not.  The plant told him to take that trailer out of there, it is out of inspection.  Lol, I laughed out load. Serves him right, no sympathy from me. He would have had to have driven it clear up to El Dorado to get the inspection, taking 4 hours? or more, I don't remember, it's a pretty long haul because El Dorado isn't anywhere near any interstates and the speed limits getting there are 55 mph excepting towns where it goes down as low as 30 mph. 

Anyway, they are back to shuttling. This is a situation where one of the drivers was climbing over parked rail cars at the delivery plant and both the plant manager and plant safety manager saw him doing it, was kicked out and never let back in. So, they worked a situation where this dude could still load but then drop the trailer in Shreveport and go back and load again, while another driver takes it up to Gurdon. They haven't asked me to do that at all and I want nothing to do with it.  I had to pick up an empty there one time, their parking area is WELL out of the way of anything, it adds a lot of time. 

So tomorrow, I am having to wait until after that driver leaves the delivery plant, but, the manager said I could arrive there at 10 am. Which isn't terribly bad, tbh.  It could be a lot worse. 

Now?  I am told that my trailer needs an entry and it will take 3-4 hours. I'm referring to a person actually getting inside of the trailer to chip out the glue that has dried to the ceiling.  It's a tedious process and it definitely takes a lot of time.  So after this load, that is what I will be doing I guess.  

Definitely taking my Swtich 2 (portable gaming console), food and drink with me on that one.  Not tomorrow tho, I deliver tomorrow I am assuming it will be on  Thursday and I dunno if they'll have me load on Thursday as well.  We're talking 7 hours round trip just for that entry plus at least 3 more hours if I have to go load. A longer day, but I'll do it if they want me to. 

I've been enjoying today after getting home. A very long nap, then some games, some  tv, more games - listening to the rain which is starting to subside unfortunately.  

I've also been watching the war.  The cluster bombs the Iranians and Hezbollah dropped were sick. That stuff has been banned from any war theaters forever, but we all know Iran doesn't care about the rules of war. They are also targeting neighboring countries, a stupid move that will just bring even more military might into the theater against them.  Apparently there is some elite group of military personnel guarding the new supreme leader or whatever his title is - Israel promised to kill anyone that was elected, I'm waiting to see if they can actually carry that one out.

That will take some serious insider info, they must have spies in those ranks.  I'm sure they're going to try to take him out regardless.  Then there's the Iranians targeting ships in the Straight of Hormuz.  They don't really care about civilian lives as plainly evidenced with Iranian government killing as many as 30,000 of it's own people who were protesting.  

_____________

Long interlude it's time to go to bed. No super early rise but I still need some sleep lol. 

 Friday - evening

The folks are here - grandma and grandpa and the oldest brother - half brother that is.  

I had no idea they were all coming, I thought it was just grandma coming to get the boys for the spring break and taking them home for the week.  Anyway, I asked my friend - the "man of the house" I suppose you could call him since he's the father, what we are doing for dinner? Oh, well I think we're either going to Applebee's or Chili's.  Oh? Is this a family thing only?

He got a look on his face and got disgusted for he knew what I was referring to instantly.  No, we aren't doing that anymore, I had a conversation with "her" - the grandma that started all of this nonsense with me.  The most notable time was when I had just arrived back at the park from trucking, was fixing to come home and got a call from one of the kids. 

Are you going out to eat with us? The grandma was standing there, the kid was on speakerphone and told him and therefore me "NO, we are going as a family ONLY".  Notwithstanding the fact the parents here consider me family.  I took great offense at that but I let it go as best as I could and said something like, oh really?  Ok then, I'll do something else.  When my friend was at their house for a month or longer getting his CDL training up there, he apparently had a discussion with them about it.  

I don't need to go today, that's a fact. I just want to to insert myself, not in a boisterous or "loud" type of way, just being there. I'll happily pay my own meal and drink.  

I was planning on getting some work done at the park since the kids will be gone.  However, it is going to rain.  Gag.  Ahh, well the forecast has changed, perhaps Tuesday and Thursday I can get something done. Perhaps not. The temps are perfect for outdoor work, that's what I can say about that.  I still have 4 lots available, I have them listed on my facebook business site but I'm not really thinking about advertising via pay ads until that driveway is fixed, that is what I want to get done as well as some work on the expansion.

I have work tomorrow - up to Arkansas to deliver the load, Sunday off - tho no kids to take to church, I'll probably go but skip Applebee's and save the money.  Then work Monday and Tuesday and who knows what after that. 

 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!