I walked in the house today and saw a letter from the Texas Department of Public Safety.  I immediately knew what it was about, I did not know whether it contained good news or bad for me.  What kind of background check takes 5 months? Even if it IS a federal background check.  I didn't open it, I felt it to see if i could feel a card in there.  Yes, I felt something in there.  Getting a little excited, I opened it up.  And there it was, in all it's plastic glory.  A Texas License To Carry Handgun, otherwise referred to here as LTC.  I spsent a few dollars on this and I spent some time on this one.  I find it amazing that I got a passport in a fraction of the time it took to get this thing.

Next?  Look at articles on handguns that are good for concealed carry.  I have no intention of open carry, at all.  I didn't bother to do much research, I wanted the license first.  Then, when ti was taking forever to get  it, I definitely decided to put any handgun purchase on hold.  My next door neighbor should have some good input on what's a good concealed carry handgun and where to buy them.

Anyway, all of these things I wanted in terms of "endorsements" are finally over. The LTC, the passport and the X/tanker-hazmat combo endorsement for my CDL.  What else is there? I dunno, but those were the things I wanted and now I have all of them.  I feel this LTC as a major accomplishment considering what I went through to get the thing and all the time I waited afterward to actually receive it.  On another note, I would have probably gotten this license at least a month earlier if it hadn't been for the instructor of the class' screwup in not dating the forms before sending them into the State.  They sent mine back to me a month or more after that guy sent them in.  I called him and he looked into and found that he had not dated ANY of the participants in that class that day. Well, I said, you are likely in for a lot of phone calls!

Okay, well this makes me happy. Kind of feel like an elite group.  How many people are actually willing to go through all of that? How many people will fail the background check anyway?

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Wrote that days ago. Sunday evening.  Drama here yesterday. The lady tenant was outside smoking and apparently went over to the neighbor's house to tell a man sitting in front in his pickup that his truck's fumes were bothering her and to please shut it off.  The next thing that happened is a bit murky, but apparently the  neighbor's son came over and she shoved him for some reason.  She claims he startled her.  I dunno, but I was sitting here, in the living room, watching tv when the son's dad calls, who is also a deputy Sheriff and was on duty.

He was extremely agitated and started right in on it - me not having a clue what he was talking about.  I missed all of that excitement but, I invited him to come over and confront on it if he felt that strongly about it. I went out there for this one, as she was sitting out front.  I warned her he was coming. Anyway, he comes up in full uniform and basically reads her the riot act, including threatening to haul her off to jail for harming a minor, I guess. The boy wasn't hurt, I"m sure of that, but this was daddy in a law enforcement uniform making his intentions clear.

I dunno what she thought she was doing.  When he left - leaving a strict warning that if she touched his boy again, she was going to jail - I also confronted her. She has no business confronting neighbors on anything.  If there is an issue, you come to me and I will deal with it.  She was very apologetic at least, though she lied to the officer and he called her out on it, which agitated him even more, and agreed that she wouldn't do that again.  Yes, please don't.

I texted the guy and told him I was sorry for her actions and please let me know if she ever does it again, I will find new tenants.

After that, I called her out on her involvement with my dogs.  I'm not sorry.  She has literally taken them over to the point they are about half interested in my arrivals back home from work.  I watched this on Friday and became internally agitated, as I have been watching this for a while. She has no social life besides whoever it is she is talking to on the phone, so her daily life while I am going is interacting with my dogs all day long.  Addler is my dog, I went to great lengths to get him and I'm not going to have some complete stranger come and steal his heart away simply because I am gone all day long at work.

That didn't end too well either, but I was glad I confronted her on it.  I made it plainly clear that she could have her dog living with her here before they moved in here.  But, she sent the thing off to someone she knows in Dallas and I thought at the time, I wonder if she's going to make my dogs her dogs?  Of course. It isn't the end of the world but I have initiated "healthy boundaries".  My dogs are my dogs.  She was giving them treats - treats that I paid for - and giving them to them without my permission.  I limit dog treats for one reason: too much makes them fat.  That's what really started irritating me is when Addler started putting on the pounds.  Another thing that aggravated me is his usual self of running around all over the place all day long was transformed into him laying in front of the door, waiting for her to come and likely, bring him in.  I haven't been able to verify the second part of that, but from the way he's behaving I have to guess that it's true.

After that, she started texting me, to which I totally ignored.  We're all of 40 feet apart, if she wants to discuss this, it's going to be in person.  I was fully prepared to engage her on it the next day, it was Friday this occurred, btw, not yesterday as I had originally reported.  Because this is day 2 and she is acting like nothing has happened but there is one important difference: she is no longer interacting with my dogs.  I have my doubts the same will hold true when I am gone, but she knows my feelings about it now.  She's not my lover, we aren't dating, we aren't married, she is a tenant living here. She is a sweet lady but this was going too far.

Well, as I said earlier, Sunday night.  I didn't get much done this weekend.  I have had lackluster energy ever since getting sick. This happens to me every single time I get sick.  I might get better but my energy takes forever to come back.  It's go to work, try to make it through the day and then come home and do nothing beyond what I have to. I hate it, but it's been that way with me all of my life.  I still wish someone at work would have said this sickness is being spread around, I would have taken special care to wash my hands and stay away from those people.  I've got a lot to do around here but I"m not going to push it.  I'll be trashed on Monday morning and it will be a very difficult day.

I am lucky that I got the truck loaded and ready to go for Monday though.  I literally have nothing left to do but throw more strap over a pallet, fire up the truck, get my paperwork and leave. It's at least a 4 hour trip - going back into the Army Depot again - it's and hour and ten minutes there not counting any stops, it's an ordeal getting into the place.  A back ground check and then driving 20 mile an hour. this place is HUGE.  Miles worth of military equipment, lots of armored personnel carriers.  Cool to see them up close.

My mother has decided that the move from her home of 25 years was a mistake. Well she thought that a while ago but got over it.  She bought a 4 bedroom home on a large piece of land, I'm not sure what she was thinking.  What did she need such a large home for? She's 81 years old.  A 2 bedroom house on a small plot of land would have been much more suited for her but I kept my mouth shut.  Well, she already has the house up for sale, already has offers on it and already looking for a new place.

Well, I can't do anything about any of it.  I hope she gets the place she needs in short order and gets this over with and beyond it.  She also wanted to get the 5th wheel off of her property and sold, but it's turning into an ordeal.  I may just go back for a few days to deal with it myself. I'm not in a huge hurry to deal with it since she's busy with the house, but she is insisting on moving on with it.  I have basically decided to get it dragged down to the valley where it will be much easier to sell and she won't have to deal with it, my landlords at my house will sell it for me.

Anyway, that's about it. A little bit of drama, the regular grind at work and stuff going on with my mom.