I'm Fighting........

...........to not eat anything for the rest of the day. I ate the second of 3 free sandwiches at Dunkin Donuts this morning: a Ham Swiss Flatbread Sandwich. 350 calories with 110 of those from fat.
That isn't TERRIBLY bad, but then, my manager was suggesting "breakfast burritos" this morning after I had already eaten that sandwich. I went. I got, well I ordered a taco salad. Instead, I got nachos heaped with cheese and sour cream. I ate half of it and forced myself to stop. I'm still guessing around 700 calories for that little dream of a dish, it WAS delicious, but I had opted for a taco salad to get less junk and more good stuff.

I'm at a minimum of 1050 calories today. I KNOW the Dunkin Donuts calories because it is listed online. I figured there was around 250 calories of cheese, 200 calories of sour cream, 3 - 4 hundred calories of meat, plus chips and everything else on those nachos. I would upgrade the calorie count I ate from it to a higher level, but remember I only at half of it and put the rest in the refrigerator at work. So, actually, a grand worth of calories is probably a good guess. But there was a lot of fat calories in that dish. I won't last today, I can feel it, so I am planning now what I am going to eat before 6 pm - a salad. Just a salad. No meat, vinagette dressing. Calories will be low, nutritional content will be good.

I would rather just say okay, eat and plan it ahead than give in the last minute and eat something - stupid. There is plenty of stupid stuff around here, btw. I may actually be going way overboard on the amount of calories I consumed on that nachos plate, but I would rather be exagerated in my guess than under. The scale at my branch is giving me wild variations on my weight, I can't rely on it as an accurate indication. I will be at the main branch tomorrow, that scale should be right on. Even if it isn't, as long as it is consistent, I can gauge my losses - or gains - with it. They say not to get on a scale too much, but I disagree. If I see that my weight is going back up, it will only motivate me to eat FAR less calories in the next coming days and say no to whatever temptations come my way.

And THAT'S the singlemost, largest problem I have with dieting. When you start dieting, what is the first thing that happens? All of a sudden, people who never offer you anything now are asking you to partake in donuts, junk food, McDonald's garbage. I LOVE all that stuff, yes I do, but it isn't ANYTHING that would be included in any concept of a diet.

Changing gears. The newest female tenant paid up her rent today. It is 3 days late. No big deal. I was thinking maybe letting her in was a mistake, but she got paid today and gave me her entire check. She's a waitress and waiter salaries are minimal, they figure you to make your money on tips. I was a bit surprised that she just handed it all over to me. She said this: "A roof over my head is more important than anything else". This is the kind of thinking that I like to see from tenants. When a person comes up to me and tells me they can't pay the rent, not-withstanding the fact that they have an expensive cell phone glued to their ear without ever missing a beat in paying that and having a vehicle that they are making the payments on and going out to bars and such, while telling me that?

I can only say that my good nature is getting less and less in such department. If you can't pay, then leave. I suppose in a true business sense, leaving emotion out of it is the best venue. But, I am something of a humanitarianist and that kind of thinking has never set well with me. Would the Lord throw that person out? Yes or no? I can't answer that question at times. Sometimes the answer is VERY clear, such as with Mary: GET HER OUT OF MY HOUSE AND NOWWWWWWW!!

Meanwhile, my quest with the ponds continues on. I determined that the 2 lillies were not enough. When they grow larger, sure, but for now? Gardener's World is less than a mile from my house, they told me on the phone last week that they have lillies for ponds. Okay. I went there. They had a small pond with some healthy looking specimens in there.

They first told me a price I wasn't interested in, their second offer caused me to buy 2 "clumps" as they call them. They go to the pond, stick their hand into that thick mess and pull out a clump of them. I actually got 3 clumps for the price of 2.
This is obvious something that is rarely ever bought - the pond was full of lillies and it did not appear that any had been removed any time in the recent past. Well, I also asked - no, not a big demand. Well, probably because no-one knows they have them. At the price I got them, they would sell out in no-time. I have no inclination of making this public other than this posting as I hope to eventually build a much larger pond and I will need to buy a dozen or more of them. In fact, I will want to buy out their stock.

Meanwhile, I am going to be thinking about what I can do to shade the ponds. It is obvious - to me if no-one else - that the summer sun glaring down on them is going to heat them up considerably. I have nursery grade screening, I could put up something temporary and not spend ANY money - which right now is probably a good idea. I dumped that week long tenant's money onto the power reader, I am also dumping today's rent from the lady tenant on there as well. I want to get that thing up to $400 on there and keep it there. That way, if some kind of problem occurs, I don't have to worry about electricity.

Also, now that I'm discussing things, I could also get another pond, add that much more water to the system. I would not have to buy any more filters or pumps than that of which I already have. More water equals longer time for the AZ heat to heat it up. The waterfall is a huge priority at this point: the cooling effect it will have is tantamount to either having hot pools of water or at least moderately cool. Oh, I can get another pond for $20. Lol. People are dumping those things like flies - and even more people are picking them up as they are listed.

Tomorrow I am headed to the far southeast valley and am hoping to find some good sized rocks/almost boulders on a particular stretch of road that is out in the middle of nowhere. Many areas of the desert are loaded with rocks. I really do not want to waste my 4 days off in NOT getting this done or at least getting a very good start on it.

Meanwhile, the trailer tenant is still in the hospital and probably will be for several more days. I am going to offer to bring him home - he is in a hospital some 20 miles from here. Taking a bus in his condition is a ridiculous notion and I don't mind going and getting him. He is in extreme pain - well he is unless he pushes the button. Pushing the button releases pain medication and the pain - poof - disappears. Well of course it does!! I am also looking for a queen sized mattress - they are on an air thing and it keeps leaking. I don't want to pay for it, I have no finances to spend on such things right now, I continue to look on the free section of Craigslist for one.

Ummm, so that's it, I think. I have totally forgotten about dumping Direct TV and going with Dish Network. I actually like Direct TV much better than Dish Network, but I want a deal and Direct TV isn't going to give me one - their standard modus operandi. Don't give existing customers who have been with them for a decade any deals, only give the deals to new customers. What utter stupidity. Seriously. It may BE a pain to switch to a different company, but for reduced costs and brand new equipment, who cares? Intend on "contacting" them through my account after I finish this entry with a final appeal before I make my contact to Dish Network.

2 more days. Just 2 more days til' 4 days off. Next time? I'm taking 3 days off so I can have 5 in a row. At least, if I can get it. I will work the Memorial Day stuff before and after that holiday and going for the throat on July 4th - 3 days plus 3 days.

Done.

ben

Wednesday

Another jetliner crash? Absolutely incredible - all killed excepting a 10 year old boy. You know, I read the news in the morning online and some of it is pretty hair-raising stuff. This talk about Iran, North Korea and Syria being a new axis of evil is just that kind of thing. But - evil not only exists in this world, it is bred, raised and nurtured by people whose intentions are - evil, frankly. When I look at the president of Iran, that's exactly what I see (and hear): and evil person with ill intent. I definitely do not believe sanctions against these nations will EVER work.

They will continue on with their mission to build nuclear weapons and then....what? Blow up the earth? It is conceivable that a rogue nation such as Iran will not care what the consequences of using such a weapon are and I state that because they believe they are on God's side and the rest of us are vermin, rodent-like trash that needs to be eradicated from the earth.

3rd day of this work week and my hopes are dashed yet again. No trip to the mountains. In fact, I will only be driving around town doing pickups and deliveries. I am hoping for a trip to the mountains to get some more rocks for my waterfall and lining the pond edges. However, tomorrow I am going to the far, southeast valley and I know a couple of places where I might be able to find some cool rocks to pick up and bring back with me off of the Indian Reservation.

Of course, the question that evolves in my mind after making such a statement is: is that legal? Can you take rocks - plain old rocks - from the Indian Reservation legally? I have NO idea, but I will be looking after work online to find out or possibly call the "legal department" of the Gila River Indian Reservation to find out. Last thing I want to do is end up in an Indian Reservation jail.

Anyway, work day is here already,

c'yall later!

ben