Wednesday

Last day of June.
I would like to hear - knowing it is impossible so a rhetorical question - a date/specific day when this oil gusher is going to be turned off? Anyone have an answer to that question? Does anyone not believe that there is enough oil down there to eventually pollute ALL of the water? You think millions and millions of gallons of oil is just going to stay in the Gulf of Mexico, that it won't eventually start heading out? If it ALL heads towards GoP's shores, the world should count itself lucky, really, the shorelines are already devastated.

I keep hearing that BP is the world's leader in knowledge about these things. Great, they haven't exactly done much of anything to stop this shit, there are other oil drilling companies and there are also companies whose sole business is to stop gushers. Is there not some other expertise out there, anywhere, that might have something to put on the table? Look, I am not opposed to drilling for oil, but what happens if this happens again? And again? Perhaps we should reconsider this technique of drilling a mile underwater and then drilling miles down under THAT. We can't exactly go down there and deal with it.

I'm getting a little spooked, I guess, about this gusher, I think a lot of people are. There is no end in sight. Meanwhile, apparently people are boycotting BP gas stations. I had no idea that Arco is owned by BP - plenty of those around here. I don't use Arco stations, if I were inclined to boycott them it would have zero impact on me. I don't use them because they charge 50 cents to use the debit or credit machinery to pay for your fuel - a thing NO-ONE else does around these parts.

Meanwhile, I remain amused at this guy who is relentlessly running an ad, day after day after day, attempting to sell his used, pre-formed ponds for $500. He has a large pond I would love to get my hands on. I really have no money for such right now - but for the right price,I would go through my change in my closet and come up with it. Yes, I have a lot of change in there. I'm guessing minimum $100, probably more worth. I have been saving it for a while now. I just empty out my pockets and dump it all in there. There are 4, good sized containers filled to the top with change, and much of it is not pennies.

He will not, however, come down to a good price. Well, I got him down to $150 for a 2 pond setup with the sump and bio filter. It's actually a killer deal, but - whatever. If I offer him $100 he will probably be insulted. At the same time, those ponds are just sitting there, in his yard, doing nothing and HAVE been since he started putting those ads up some 2 MONTHS ago. Lol.

No, money is tied up in bills right now. Better off leaving those coins in there for emergency backup if it becomes necessary. Actually, I am now seriously considering paying off one of the 401k loans and then getting a larger loan in it's place. Still in the consideration phase, I would rather not. If I can make it through the summer, my electric bills and water usage will go back down - shedding some $250 at least per month. No, more than that, minimum $300 down including water. I have 2 months of hell heat to go to make it to where the temps just start to creep back down. 100 degree days are far better than 112 - today's expected high - in terms of electricity used to cool the house.

The white flies are not gone - at all. The exterminator said when his man came out that they would put Dawn dishwashing liquid in the mixture and it would kill them off by suffocating them. Well, it didn't happen and those damned things are slowly killing off my lantannas. I bought a huge bottle of it on sale yesterday at Fry's - $2.99 was the sale plus a coupon I was given at the register. I don't know if the guy just didn't put enough of that stuff in the mixture or what, but I can't continue to watch my plants dying off. They are still quite salvagable if I can get those freaking flies out of there. I'll be doing that today or tomorrow when the sun starts going down, I want the moisture to get everywhere and stay everywhere for a while. In the direct sunlight, that stuff will just dry up - too fast - and I don't wonder if that's part of the problem.

I guess I'll find out tomorrow if this Army reservist is coming back or not, since I haven't heard a single word from her. I have had a dilemna in whether to return her mail or keep it for her waiting for her to come back. One of those pieces of a mail is an IRS tax refund that's been sitting there about a month now. If she doesn't return tomorrow or at least contact me, all of that stuff is getting returned to sender.

Umm, work day approaches and there is plenty to do. It's the last day of the month, so they will be pushing to get whatever is in the system - delivered and on the books.

Later.

ben