BAR S

The other day, I grabbed a couple packs of hot dogs at Fry's. I paid no mind to it - excepting the price, of course. Ummm, so I'm going through my fridge today - I wasn't and don't normally eat hot dogs - I love em' but they are full of cholesterol - and thought something looked strange about the package. I picked it up - unbelievable. They are now selling 8-packs of hot dogs. Not the 10-packs that have been around forever, a day and a half. Oh, and guess what, the price didn't go down, either.

Well, they've been doing the 12 oz packages of bacon for a while now - caught that one right off the bat - but this one took me by surprise. The boys eat multitudinals of hot dogs over here.

I spent the entire day on the back yard. Literally. The yard had some prep work that had to be done before even spreading the rock all over the place. Digging down some mounds and such so that the rock would appear level instead of having little humps here and there. Carrying the stuff by shovelfuls all over the place, then reverting to filling up buckets and carrying it that way. I have a little to go. I could use another - couple of tons anyway - to give more coverage, but it's good for now.

Tomorrow - gotta find the rest of the sod I need and then finish the remainder of the rocks.

Also want to get started on the trellises.

I've been busting @$$ all day long and - it felt good, actually. Don't know how that translates into Monday morning because I expect the pace to continue tomorrow. I have a party coming up and I want it mostly finished.

Speaking of that, the boys delivered about 125 flyers all over the neighborhood today. Yup, for the party. I've already got most of the meat at this point - 30 pounds of hamburger meat, some steaks I acquired not too long ago and the rest is only some brats and hot dogs with the bread. The rest is being supplied by various individuals and such.

I simply decided that there must be some tangible purpose for this party, and since I have wanted to start a Neighborhood Association for a long, long time now, this is the "Golden Opportunity". The boys said it was well received by anyone they actually encountered along the way, too.

Whatever. I'm burnt, toast and fried.

Heading to the bedroom.
'Nite.
ben

Moving Right Along...........

Went outside and started tackling the outsisde stuff early. First - to spray poison all along the fenceline - while trying not to get the stuff on my plants. Then everywhere else that I could get the poison at without compromising the plants.

Then, picking up stuff from projects and chucking it, removing a wire out of the chain link and getting the leftover stuff disattached to it. Spray more poison on the other side of the dog free zone, shovel up undesirable stuff on the ground where the rock will be spread, and then eyeballing my next project: putting up the 2 trellises.

Smell of poison in the air- I'm keeping the dogs inside for a while. Poison was my last resort - pulling weeds forever isn't exactly a fun "project" - it's never-ending and - just couldn't handle it anymore. Take my chances with just enough poison to hopefully kill off the weeds and no more.

The poison is basically in response to the fact that it is quite obvious the next door neighbors are not going to pull those weeds back there. The ONLY thing I could do is spray a partition between property lines.
Well, I could just go over there and ask if I could spray his property too, but - we don't get along so well and for various reasons that is a very long story that started several years ago that I most certainly do not want to go into right now.

Hmmmm. I gouged the side of my arm and didn't realize it. A huge chunk of cement out there - at least 150 pounds worth - that I finally decided to see if I could lift into the garbage can without breaking my back. To lift a chunk of something that large and that heavy - that high - meant having to use my forearms - not just my hands. Oh well - the chunk is now in the bottom of the trash can - good riddance to it.

I put the remains of the fire hydrant out front for bulk trash pickup - someone came along and took it for themselves. I presume for the scrap value of it - a couple hundred pounds worth right there.

My used car dealer neighbor is already leaving for the summer: a judge has ordered back up to Michigan. If he doesn't go, he'll land back in prison for another - year or 6 months, don't really know. He has been working on that old RV trailer I gave him a while back at a feverish pace for several months now. I will say he has done a fine job on it. I will also say that I have my doubts. He has a Porsche Boxster along with a Harley Davidson parked inside of it. Behind that, yet another trailer hooked to that trailer and another Porsche on top of THAT trailer. This train all being pulled by a 3/4 ton Ford pickup with a diesel engine. My doubts are about the pulling capability of that pickup truck in pulling the weight of 2 trailers, 2 cars and a Harley Davidson, and also the reliability of such a long setup cranking down the road.

Whatever the case, the trailer is not in my name anymore - it's all on him if something goes wrong. It is almost 8 o'clock - the 2 hour window they gave for arriving with the rock begins. It's VERY nice outside right now - in the high 60's I think, nice and cool. I am going to go out there and start digging holes, I think, for the trellis beams. Just 2 holes about 3 feet deep should do it. If only the temps could stay like this the year round..............

All I can say right now is that I am floating - getting by. The third tenant makes it possible to be able to say that with confidence - as long as I'm employed. With some of the money I am getting in a little over a week from now - I will be putting it in savings. Hoping at least $150 worth can get dumped into the savings account, the rest goes to - bills of course.

Ken has now decided he isn't going anywhere - plus he got promoted at his job and now has 5 working days back. They dropped a day per week off and that - I'm sure - is hurting him badly. Yet - he pays the rent religiously. It's like the first thing he does.

Mary has gotten much better at paying the rent as well. I have not spoken about Mary and all that happened because - there are too many holes in the story to make the other tenant believable. In fact - the other tenants' actions were egregious enough in itself. If you dont' like a person, fine - but - it just got too carried away. She was drunk the night a lot of that stuff happened and - I caught her in a big lie that she had been telling me since BEFORE the day she had moved in, cancelling her credibility factor and making her statements suspicious at best.

The newest tenant? Certainly no issues with her - I've asked her if she had any issues with any of us or anything going on around here - no is her reply. Well, I can't read minds, so I hope that's the truth of the matter. I have no idea how long she'll stay - but - considering her demeanor and low-key attitude - I would love it for her to stick around for quite awhile. Her dog is not an issue, either - he spends his days in her room when she's at work. A pretty nicely trained dog. No obsessive barking, nothing really.

I will be honest here and state that I will probably keeping 3 tenants in here for as long as it takes to get out of the hole and back ahead. That will stay that way until I get caught up on the mortgage. To do that - would either mean trying to save up enough to make 2 mortgage payments in one month - or - just keep paying it the way I am and by the end of summer, it will be down to around 20 days late. I am going to try to save up enough money - actually - but if I get that far ahead, I will not want to part with it - the saved-up money that is - and would probably opt for keeping it for an emergency.

The thought crossed my mind that I really don't have enough saved up in case of emergency. A refrigerator tanks, the dishwashers goes bye-bye - stuff like that. Fortunately, the AC has a full 5-year warranty on it - covering the expensive stuff - though I think the service charge is additional. I'm fortunate that I have enough knowledge of plumbing and electrical issues that if something developed - clogged pipes for example - I could fix that myself and spare the excessive charge of a plumber or elecrician coming out here.

I have gone on long enough with this one, and besides, I'm hungry.

Have a great Saturday!
ben