Wednesday
Got home late yesterday from work. At noon an "emergency" came in and some valves had to be delivered to a water company in Coolidge. That got me home at around 4:30.
Do we need to get deficit spending under control? Obviously. Bring down the national debt? Of course. Should we just ignore the millions of people that are going to be affected by the complete loss of unemployment benefits?
Not so fast. I know people that get those benefits, it's ALL they have. The people that I know aren't sitting home watching soap operas or playing on video gaming consoles during the day, either, they are either hitting the streets putting in applications or online doing the same. There are entitlement programs that need to go entirely, there are others that need to be scaled back, but this?
I can't agree with. The news is saying that jobless benefits begin to run out today. If we're going to bail out banks and become part owners of car dealerships, the least we can do is help those that will have nothing at all if these benefits aren't extended.
This isn't about saving someone's Christmas, if you are on unemployment benefits, I'm sorry, but buying Christmas presents shouldn't even be on the list of things to use that money with. No, it's about keeping the lights on, buying food, pay the water bill, putting gas in the car to go and try to find work. I don't believe that, when we voted a few weeks ago and sent a clear message about runaway spending, it included ending the jobless benefits. GOP prolly should rethink the stance if they are going to oppose it - those that are unemployed might remember it in 2 years and give the same bashing to the GOP as the Dems just got.
Uhh, some pretty bleak news in there. Think I'll give it a pass. I have a lot of driving to do today. Jobsite in Florence - a huge order building a small hospital out in the middle of nowhere, at least that's what I call it. 2 tripper. Well, 3 tripper, really, but I won't be able to get 3 trips done in 1 day. The truck is already loaded and ready to go, get that pipe out there, get back here, load'er up again, back out, and then if there's time, downtown and then back to the yard.
It's a good day when I'm busy at work. Even better that it's the first day of the month and we are already going to be doing an 80k order. That gives a nice jump start for the rest of the month, which it will need, because Christmas time is traditionally very slow even in the best of economic times for our company.
My Cyber Monday scouring didn't result in me getting anything but 2 sweaters for the dogs. It's cold out there - 30 something degrees right now - the Danes are going to have sweaters. Probably arrive sometime next week. I am putting the Windows 7 quest on hold. I have bills to pay and Christmas is approaching. Plus, I was shorted on rent by one tenant - the one who got a job and then lost it because she didn't wake up in time to get there......because........she spent the previous night at the casino.
Well, I got half of it from her. She offeredt to do work around the house for the rest of it - not. I need the money, not work. You want to work, yes, PLEASE go find a job.
G'day.
ben
8 comments:
Times are really tough. The news seems a bit more promising recently...more new jobs are being created than expected. Let's hope this trend accelerates next year.
S
After all the crap that has taken place over the past years that led to this mess with unemployment, I think the government should extend benefits. I agree though, it's not about Christmas trees and presents, its about keeping food on the table. I thnk the government has a responsibility. And I don't care who caused what mess and what side of the political world one is on. There is a level of responsibity to our people.
How's it going, Scott? How's the missus? The news did have a slight trickle of hope that more jobs were created, I saw that in the news as well.
Amen sister, I couldn't have said it better. Look at the nonsense with AIG and the government shelling out billions of dollars in that mess alone. How many people are going to end up on the streets if nothing is done? GOP didn't say they were opposed to it, they said they were opposed to more deficit spending. This is one case where I am all for doing whatever it takes until the economy improves enough that the unemployment rate isn't sitting at 9 or 10%, it's sitting near 5.
ben
Thursday
I'm standing in awe of the fact that it IS Thursday already. Where has the week gone? Oh, yes, work has been very busy and keeping me late. Today will be no exception. I was supposed to make 2 trips to Florence yesterday, but, I ended up driving everywhere BUT a second trip there. No, that trip is this morning. Back to the yard, load up for 2 other deliveries and then done. That should take a good part of the day.
Another whammy coming our way: the end of the Bush tax cuts. Or not. Who knows. The bickering in Washington never ceases to amaze me. GOP says extend it to all, Dems say not to the rich, I say shut the bleep up and do what's right for America. The "rich" continue to say that if those tax cuts aren't extended, then it will restrict their ability to pursue hiring more workers. The Dems believe that the rich - shouldn't be rich I guess - sock it to them.
For right now? I say extend it for everyone at least temporarily and then they can sit there and argue and fight amongst themselves til' some kind of agreement is made. I AM glad that there is a tourniquet to the money-let in Washington with GOP taking back the House, I figured that the best that was going to become of it was that NOTHING would be able to happen, however, I think the GOP has it mixed up. Americans that are unemployed and only have unemployment benefits probably want those benefits lengthened and Americans like me that are employed but working less hours probably don't want to see even MORE money going to taxes.
There's my beef with all of them. We ALREADY pay too much in taxes but the GOP is standing thee saying we are going to have to cough up even more? SCREW that. I have to live within my means, everyone else has to live within their means, but the Federal government? Oh no, just take more from the people. I most certainly did NOT vote the way I did so I could see my taxes raised.
Talk about raising the age to receive Social Security benefits and other "entitlement" programs. Great, take away a portion of my retirement, but do it now, I mean right now, cause if that's the way it's going to be, it will light a fire under my feet to do a LOT more to prepare for retirement. I'm already considering having more taken out for 401k even though I can't really afford it. It's almost at 10k now, breaking in to the 5 digits is a good motivator in itself to save even more.
Well enough about that. I left this morning - it must be in the low 40's outside anyway - the dogs escorted me to the gate as they do every morning and then, before I even got in the car, they beelined for the doggy door and inside the house. Duke was cold this morning IN the house, I can't imagine what he was experiencing outside.
I dunno what else. Lots of stuff on my mind. Nothing that is overwhelming, just a lot in there. Don't really feel inclined to speak about some of it on the world wide web, either, so it will just have to stay in there. Lol. I am going to try to finish the electrical project this weekend and then get some Christmas lights up out front. I would also like to get a Christmas tree, but this year, I want a smaller tree. A big tree takes up too much space in the living room and also blocks my view outside. My traditional thought of having a giant tree is fading. I might even opt for a living tree and plant that sucker after Christmas is over.
The female trailer tenant says she doesn't really get off on Christmas anymore and that she used to. Well, I suspect, that's because she has gone from living with a high income job to being homeless and then, living in an old trailer. She gets on my old computer every day and fills out applications. She says she will take a job anywhere, anything to get some income. I'm sure they don't want to live in that old thing the rest of their lives.
I am, however, going to do my best to get them both in the Christmas spirit. Putting up a lot of nice looking lights is the first step. They have been eating the ham and turkey for nearly a week now. I bought all of that stuff so they haven't really had to spend any money on food for a while now. I am going to take $30 of the money they give me for rent this month, get a movie theatre gift card and give that to them. It isn't a question of need - they are always going to be in need until they get a good flow of income - it's a matter of getting a different perspective on things. When you are broke and living the way they are right now, I can understand why things might not seem so bright and cheery.
Anyway, the work day is here, I'm outta here.
G'day.
ben
We are in for a bumpy ride. The economy is picking up but jobs are NOT following as quickly.
Friday
I was pulled over in the semi yesterday by AZ DPS officer. These are the guys whose almost sole job is to pull over commercial vehicles and do inspections.
And, as is their custom, they will always find something wrong with your truck so as to either write up a citation or give you a warning.
I was given 2 warnings yesterday, thanks a lot, there goes my bonus next month, next?
The first warning, and this after the guy spent 40 minutes inspecting the truck, the tractor and the load to the nth degree, was for a strap that had a slit in it. After looking at the strap, I concluded that it was still legally usable. 3/4's of an inch. Further, the cargo that that strap was tying down? Had TWO straps on it. In the case of that cargo, which was a crate holding 3 small check valves weighing at most 500 pounds, ONE strap was legally enough to secure it. The cargo was over-strapped - a thing of which the officer complimented me on and then gives me the warning.
Whatever.
The second warning irritated me. You see, this officer followed me for almost 10 MILES before he pulled me over. Why he did that, I have no clue. He handed me the warnings and I looked at the second "infraction". It said I had followed too closely to a tractor-trailer rig in front me.
BUNK. I asked him WHERE this alleged activity took place. He told me where SR87 meets SR387. Yes, there was a tractor-trailer rig in front of me, yes I had PLENTY of room in front of me. The officer allegedly clocked me at 2.57 seconds distance behind the truck.
First off, the truck in front of me had started slowing down to turn off of SR87 onto SR387. He did not slow down using the footbrake, he began braking using the engine brake. When a truck in front of me does that, it takes a second to recognize that that truck is slowing down - the brake lights do not come on with the engine brake.
Second, this DPS officer was sitting in his pickup about 300 feet off the road semi-facing south. We were coming from the north. At the point where this officer would have been able to see both trucks, I would have been going between 10 and 15 miles per hour. That's right, the driver of the truck in front of me slowed WAY down, he was going maybe 5 mph when he made that turn, I was just rolling behind him waiting for him to clear the road.
I got into a discussion with this officer about that one. That will not look good to my company, following too closely that is. I stated to him the same thing I already wrote: by the time he would have been able to see me, I would have been going no more than 10mph. He stated that "he didn't know how fast I was going". PLEASE.
Don't tell me they don't have a good estimate of how fast a vehicle is going - that's a 6th sense they get after being out there for a long time, looking at vehicles and estimating pretty close how fast they are going. The fact that he stated that he didn't know how fast I was going was what got me going. He KNEW how fast I was going and IF I had been less than 3 seconds behind that truck, it was because we were going SO slow, even if that driver had slammed on his brakes I would have been able to stop before hitting him.
I brought that up as well. He didn't have an answer for it. I then told him these warnings were going to cost me my bonus. He looked at me in shock, but there was no retraction. If they had been citations I would have seen the guy in court, guaranteed. With warnings, I don't know that you can fight them because that's all they are: warnings. At the same time, I lose an entire week's worth of pay that I would have gotten next month for being a safe driver, which I still conclude that I am regardless of this guy's warnings.
Nice way to start the day, it was around 7:00am when this occured. After leaving, I go to the job site with the load and find no supers or foremen there for this company. Only workers. That can sometimes be a bad thing. Well, I was delivering some pipe (as well as a lot of other stuff on the truck). There were 2 different kinds of pipe - different ratings on it - that look EXACTLY the same as each other.
I pointed this out. This is class 52 pipe, this is class 350 pipe, don't mix them up. What do they do? Mix them up. I pointed it out for about the 5th time when another guy walked up, who got into an argument with the backhoe operator, who started yelling at another guy, who started yelling back.
I might have found these morons entertaining, throwing hard hats down, kicking dirt, hurling insults at each other but the encounter with the DPS officer had put me in a bad mood. Watching a bunch of clowns get into a pissing match wasn't top on my list of things to do.
That is what happens when there isn't a forman or a superintendant around to monitor them. I noted on the paperwork that the pipe had been mixed together. This because the super will eventually call and ask where his class 52 pipe is. It is thicker walled pipe and can take both more water pressure internally and also more abuse from traffic above it underground. Mostly, I think it's used to cross underneath roads. Then back to the regular class 350.
Whatever the case, it costs more. At least the pipe is marked, albeit you have to know where to look. I showed this guy - this was like the 5th time now - where the markings were on the pipe, where all 5 sticks were.
Got that truck unloaded and got the bleep out of there.
That was it. There were other deliveries but they had to get out so salesmen ended up delivering them. By the time I got back, it was almost time to go home - I am over hours and had to leave early yesterday and will have to leave early today as well.
And with that, the weekend is almost here.
The news is rife with garbage. "New report: Dream Act to cost taxpayers billions". No kidding? What, is this supposed to shock anyone? Is there ANYTHING that the government does that doesn't cost a buildingful of money?
Pollution. We get these advisories every winter. Pollution settles into the valley and doesn't go anywhere. Pollution advisories are issued - they are expecting this year to be particularly bad for whatever reason. Nice, breath in that wonderful, polluted air. Just another reason I would love to leave the Phoenix area permanently.
Whatever. No plans for the weekend besides usual stuff. Still responding to respondants who are interested - referring to "Plenty of Fish". One of them looks intriguing at least.
G'day.
ben
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