Disclaimer: using faulted keyboard. Sometimes it works peerfectly other times it does double and triple e's and other such nonsense.

Anyway, went to job interview, store manageer wasn't there.  However, an inside sales manageer that apparently is thee gm's right hand man was there and we got into a discussion about not only business, but then family and life in general.  After about forty minutes of this,  the gm showed up and we headed to his office.  Not sure how we got into a discussion about the Lord/God and miracles, but we did.  Pretty much hit it right off with the two people I did talk to there.

I got a tour of the place, goodness.  It's a total disaster.  I didn't know our company allowed placees to look like that.  Dirty, filthy, unorganized.  I think the manager wants someone to help with that, but appareently no-onee there has such intentions.  Makes him look bad, frankly.  I know how corporate feels about such things.

Long story short, theey have 3 drivers. 2 of them have been there forever.  They have been with the company much longer than I have and they get even more paid vacation days off.  So they are always asking for time off - no big deal excepting that the third is a temp driver and he is not working out.  Our company uses temp agencies mostly to find new drivers to fill positions. /Sometimes you get great drivers other times?  lol.  This particular person has a CDL but.....he can't drive eeither a semi tractor or a bobtail but made himself sound like he was proficient in driving a tractor trailer rig.  I think they have other issues with him as well, they alluded to that but didn't go into it.  Well, yes, I am guessing because he won't pull orders.\ Many truck drivers get that idea in their heads because they are OTR and mostly what's expected of OTR drivers is to - drive. Not load or unload or pull orders or much of anything else.

The only issue is my pay, really. They will get rid of that temp driver but I am making more than your average driver in this company, or even above average driver.  I earned it, I certainliy don't feel bad about it.  I offered that I would be willing to take a pay cut, but not a huge one.  I left there shaking his hand, him telling me he would talk to the Ops manager and that he would try to keep my pay, actually.  It's a forty-five minute drive from Val's house, or somewhere around that. I could deal with that, at least for the here and now in order to be able to get myself out here.

So let's fast forward to the bonfire last night with the guests and kids and all of that. Well, started out with me coming over, getting everyone except Josiah .... well it started 2 nights about ago actually.  He was having a freaking cow that he was going to stay home and we were going to go get his gf without him. Just ridiculous, spiraling way out of proportion. Calm down boy, this isn't worth blowing up over. Spent time with Val after sending the kids upstairs - I started taking a much more authoritative role on this visit, telling kids what to do and not tolerating the bs - and decided we would take the kids to the pinewood derby without Josiah or the fourteen yeaer old brother = they willingly stayed home to clean up  - and then we would come back and I would get into pickup with him, go get the girl, get some diesel fuel for the fire and go to Walmart for the food and drinks for this affair.

Well, Joisah and I get along pretty well and kinda mess around a lot when we are actually in person, together, our personalities are far different but we don't clash.  So went and got the girl, met her mom, went to Walmart.  This was quite the adventure in itself, but anyways got everything and then went to Whataburger and got some burgers, ate them while driving to the gas station, got the fuel, got back and I......took a nap.  Takes me days sometimes to get back to normal after having had been up more than half the night such as occurred at that airport and missed connecting flight.

Got up from that, had Josiah dump a bunch of diesel around the edges of the huge pile of wood and junk, then had to listen to him complaining about how he wouldn't be able to get it started cause it wasn't gasoline.  Gag, dude, just light the cardboard on fire, this thing will take off. Yup, it did, sending up 15 foot flames and black, sooty smoke and got so hot that standing 25 feet away from it was too close. Guests showed up including a lot of teenagers.  Gf's dad came and I hit it off with him right off.  I'm pretty good about that anyway. A person has to be a real jerkoff for me to not hit it off with them pretty good.

Well a couple of hours of this - ladies talking with ladies, teens with teens and the dad and I talking and then? Suddeenly realized the teens had all disappeared. I mean, we looked all over the place, they were nowhere to be found and had not asked for permission to leave.  Actually, they were all looking at me - Josiah should have asked me permission to go wherever, and with that crew I would have said no, unless I go with you. Sorry, but I am not knowingly going to let a bunch of teen boys and girls go off into the woods by themselves doing God knows what and some of them being over there without their parents present.  So, everyone is calling and texting their kids, I was calling and texting Josiah without any response.  Not a good sign.  Started calling him. No reply.  I had a pretty good idea where they were headed, the big lake on the property next store.

5 minutes later, Josiah's reading my texts and going haywire, yeah we're coming back right now! Be there in 5 minutes.  Gf's mom going ballistic.  They get back and she approaches the whole lot of them, completely blows up. When I say blow up,I mean it was really, really bad. So farrrrr out of proportion for the "crime" that had been committed.  I couldn't believe it.  Unbelievable, really.  Kids were all white-faced.  Josiah started shaking. His gf was getting visibly angry at her mom.  After 5 full minutes of this, she commanded the whole lot of them to come over and apologize to me.  So they did ..... but I just blew it off. It's no big deal, you guys are all good.  Which they weren't Josiah was angry and sad and humiliated.  She took him to task in front of all of those people.

It took an hour plus for Josiah and gf to cool down, the mom to realize what an ass she had made of herself and go around apologizing to everyone and Josiah's older sister getting into the mom's face plus making comments to Val about me.  She is very disrespectful to me even though I have said nothing to her.  I thought the party was ruined.  This was really Josiah's party and all of his friends and he was so upset.  I dunno, but maybe an hour later, I took him aside, talked to him for a few minutes and then we threw some more wood on the fire.  A few minutes later, he appeared out of the house with his guitar and away we went.  Whole atmosphere changed and the party got good after that.

Went to bed, totally exhausted, never did get caught up from the first night's fiasco.  Forced myself out of bed this morning, came over, we went to church.  Good service.  Josiah playing with texting phone - put the damned thing away. At the end the pastor had these cards up at the altar.  If you feel compelled, come up, write someone's name on it and drop it at the foot of the cross and pray over that person.  I wrote the 3 names that came to mind - Josiah, Jacob and Nathan.  3 boys, 3 different sets of problems, 3 people to pray for.  Not that I haven't already prayed for all of them.

Unbeknownst to me, Jacob followed me up to the altar and I didn't realize he was behind me until I got back to the seat we were at and he was right behind me.  Got into the van, took the kids over to ex's house, dropped all 6 of them off there and then headed to Chinese restaurant, ate some food, came home, took a nap and here we are.  I gotta good feeling about the job, I think they want me just don't know about the money. They are going to call me this coming week with whatever offer they may have.

Val and I are spending time alone without the kids this afternoon and then go pick them up at eight, they have school tomorrow, no great plans tomorrow but probably i will do some work around here, no lack of that.  This place needs serious attention but the things I would like to see if I can fix are clogged up drains.

That's it and until next time....

G'day.

ben