Well there's nothing like a salesman handing me a spiff for doing something for him that has been - irritating - him for quite some time.
It has been annoying me too, but I thought the parameters were different than they actually were.
The situation is all the mud up against the main building.  It has been there since before I started working there. It is what meets customer's eyes when they want to go in and talk with a salesman, inside salesman or management.  It's pretty ugly.

What I didn't know was that there is concrete underneath all of that mud.  I had thought it was - for whatever unknown reason - that it was dirt there from the beginning.  Well, the salesman in question had asked the other driver to clean it up and he would buy  him lunch for a week.  I got involved with it out of having not much of anything else to do and because when I found it was concrete underneath there, well. I would have cleaned that thing out of there a long time ago.

And also, because I KNOW what kind of job the other driver would do. And that preconceived notion was not off.  He emphatically stated he was going to stop at a certain point and that would be that.  Fine, I said, but I'm going as far as the concrete goes - which got deeper and deeper and deeper.  At the end of the line, it was covered with  a foot of mud.  It hadn't been cleaned in 6 years, hence the situation at hand.  Well, I got out the pressure washer and cleaned out the other side - which wasn't as bad bud still ugly and then helped him shovel.  But, he refused to go any further with it than what he said - which didn't phase me at all.

I continued until it was all exposed and then found a pipe that had been installed to drain it out into the grassy area next to it.  Well, that pipe was only 4 feet long and it was completely clogged.  Dug that out, dug out a new ditch - 14 feet long, put in a new pipe and then dug out a channel beyond the end of the pipe.  Down yonder, there is a large pipe going underneath the parking lot and the street and clear to the other side draining out into the woods.  Got that installed and then did the litmus test  Will it drain? Took the hose off the pressure washer, put it in the concrete and then turned it on full blast.  It was awesome.  I like when I do something and it - works.  It drained that water out the other end of the pipe and then continued on down to the other pipe and out.  Backfilled the ditch, stamped the grass back on top of the pipe and that was that.

But that wasn't the end of this project.  Everybody parks right in front of all of this  it is under a huge canopy - trashed, has been since I got there as well. And the other end of the concrete - which pours out into the driveway in front of the will call warehouse.  Totally covered with dirt and mud as well.  Looks like hell.  This consumed almost the entire day.  I can tell when they like something I'm doing in the yard because they will not give me any deliveries.  Lol.  Except one, which was a huge emergency.  A contractor had broken pipe that delivers water to an elementary school - whoops!  Got that out there quick, not that far away and back to the yard and back to the mud elimination project.  Well, unfortunately, the water hose and the hose on the pressure washer combined wasn't enough to cover the entire parking lot in front of the will call.  I got as much done as I could, plus dug out a ditch to drain the water.  The will call manager told me there is a grate and pipe underneath the grass there - somewhere.  Uh huh.  This is how far they let it go. There is NO visible grate, it's all grass.  Yeah.

Here's the kicker.  The salesman didn't buy me lunch. He came out, handed me 4 20's and said thank you, to which I said thank you back! Lol. Not like I wasn't getting paid by the hour to do that stuff as it was! That was a nice bonus. But I didn't feel right taking all of it so I said I would give half to the other driver.  He said no, he'll take care of him, too, but.....Ohhh, I think I'll give him half what I gave you.  Okayyyyy. But don't tell him!  Sure enough, the other driver comes up later saying he got $40.  Did he give you the same?  I didn't want to lie, so I said, yeah, he gave me enough to buy lunch for a week as well.  That driver would have gotten all pissed off, raised a stink, yada yada yada.  He didn't question it, got all happy and that was that.

Meanwhile, I finally and I do mean finally found a site to print out a reply to the divorce paperwork. You know, it makes a big difference what exact wording you put into a Google search. I knew that and I kept trying different things.  I don't even know what I put in there, I just know I finally found a site run by - whoever - .org site - that had everything on there I was looking for.  Yes!  I can file - have to go to courthouse and  I'm relatively sure it's going to cost to file, but whatever, too much to potentially lose here if I don't and get a default judgement against me, I am specifically referring to the massive amount of credit card debt that she had accumulated long before we were married.  I am not paying for that.  I want that in the divroce decree.

Gonna take a day off, I think to file that, even though I'm sure it will only take a few minutes.  Well I'm not sure, I just want a day off. In fact, I think I will take time off Thanksgiving week whether I go home or not - no-one has claimed it but 2 people have it the week before and after. Well Thanksgiving week at work? Pretty boring. Same with Christmas.  Booooorrrrrrring.  Contractors take 2 WEEKS off during the Christmas season in these parts. I'm not kidding. Never heard of such a thing until I came out here.  Actually I don't know what to do.  I want Black Friday off - but maybe that's not really important this year.  My son is still in Portland.  I won't see him if I go home on Thanksgiving. Have to confirm that with him but pretty sure he's going to be gone for another month or so.

Winter's coming. Not fully prepared  - yet.  Will be after this weekend. Though my new rubber boots showed up today in the mail. I need new thermals, a couple sets.  And a couple hats.  Oops...just ordered the hats.  I'm not going to freeze this winter as much as I did last winter.  The wet feet were the worst. Rubber boots will eliminate that problem.

Allergies kicking my butt today.  Just non-ending. To think I had overcome allergies almost completely until I moved out here. Gag.

Oh, the reason I keep posting pics  of potential Great Dane pups and adult dogs on my Facebook wall? I'm friends with my landlady and I know she sees all of my posts. She hasn't said anything more about it, yet, I just know they want to get rid of a dog before I can have one over here. The pics serve as a reminder : )

I have other things to say, but this blog is not the appropriate place to say them.  No biggies.