Well at least the owner of the company I quit cares about his reputation.  I contacted the comptroller twice in 2 days time period without any reply.  After emailing the President, I got a reply back from the comptroller - we mailed your paycheck out yesterday.  Uh huh.  Whatever, I need that money in my account. Switching jobs isn't exactly cheap if you don't have a paycheck coming in each pay period.  Which I should have if they would have sent it out promptly, instead of 2 pay periods later.

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That was yesterday. Hoping that check arrives today.  Just would like to get it deposited in the bank since next week, who knows what's going to happen.  They have a lead on some trucks just over in Shreveport, allegedly.  I'm supposed to show up for work 8 am Monday. I'm definitely going to need to get into a truck and get rolling cause sitting around here ain't making no money.  That's proper English, btw.

I still have a lot to learn tho. In fact, none of us newbies are cleared to load a truck.  That's much more technical stuff that the trainer said we would learn at a later date.  Doesn't really make a heck of a lot of sense to me to have us going clear to Amarillo and not have a trailer available with which to do a mock filling on and learn how to operate the thing.

Whatever. I suppose I should drain my mind of this stuff for the weekend and chill.  Well, not really chilling tho.  I'm going to put that new smoker together and I'll probably rake up some leaves since the back yard is looking pretty - leafy lol.  I'm hopeful the smoker assembly isn't going to require 100 screws with nuts and washers, like, hopefully it's partially preassembled and not that much to do to put it together.  And since I'm hoping that, it's likely going to take hours lolol.

Oh, now I know why my 4 wheeler wouldn't start last weekend.  I filled the tank up several weeks ago.  Like several gallons of gas.  All I"ve done is run the thing for a few minutes here and there to make sure it will, indeed, run. Welp, obviously someone took the gas out of it.  That should have lasted for months just running it like that.  It's bone dry.  There are only 2 guesses.  Either the neighbor kid stole it or one of the people living here was broke and took it  out of there. I'll pick the kid next door, these people here wouldn't do such a thing without telling me about it.  Not to mention they aren't that broke.

They do need to start saving for moving tho.  Not that I really want them gone.  But, my friends that own the house are dreaming of the day when they can get out of Georgia and get back here.  He put in for a job transfer back, of which they haven't gotten a reply, but they are definitely looking for a way back here.  I don't blame them. I wouldn't want t live in Atlanta, either.  I despise that place.  Just another big city with a lot of crime.  Driving through there recently, a lot of traffic as well.  Especially bad - as in any large city - is rush hour traffic.

I did offer to help them physically move their stuff.  I have a pretty good sized trailer that would hold most of their things, a couple of trips worth would do it.  That saves them the expense of having to rent a truck and having to get it done in X amount of time.  But still, they are looking to rent their own place, which usually means first and last months rent or some combination that allows for a deposit.  Turning on utilities and getting sat TV and internet service.  I think with all of their disabilities they may qualify for rental subsidies tho.  People like this, especially Donny, is where I can see society needs to have a safety net and step in and help when necessary.  He has serious health issues.  There is not way either of the can work jobs, that's just out of the question. I could see her possibly running an Ebay business, but she didn't sound too interested in it when I mentioned it to her.  I'm not sure how computer savvy she is.

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Got the smoker put together.  A few parts were missing, that, upon digging in the giant box, found them.  Parts that should have been in their plastic shrink wrapped cardboard.  The directions said to season the thing, so I put some charcoal and some mesquite in there and fired it up.  This thing is crazy nice!  It requires a fraction of the amount of charcoal as many other styles, heats up quickly and keeps a good temperature for a long time. Like 4 hours the last I checked.  Of course, smoking is a drawn out process so you want it to be able to maintain a stable temp for an extended time.

It is a nice unit for the price.  I figure if I keep the cover I bought for it over it while not in use, it should last for quite a while.  I mean, I just didn't want to spend $500 on a smoker.  For that kind of money, I could buy a welder and make my own.  Someday, I will have a shop with a welder and an acetylene torch set up, among other things.  "Someday" I'll be retired or dead and won't have the grind of working anymore.  Until then, I am resolved to a life of working away, attempting to gain enough to get a distance between poverty and a decent standard of living.  I have to say honestly, that sometimes I don't want to do anything. Just quit, go find a cave and live in it. 

But I figure cave dwellers have it harder than truck drivers, so I'll pass on that one, lol.  I have up close and personal view of what it is to live off of the government.  They have enough to live off of if you are doing it the way they are, but it's hardly a desirable lifestyle and neither one of them - room mates - want to live in the condition they are in.  The guy would far rather be working - he spent his entire life working his ass off and making excellent money only to lose it all to unfortunate circumstances.

That's kind of what gets me going about working all your life, saving up your fortune and then what?  You die. Someone else gets it and you are in a grave.  I really must get my entire focus back on the Lord.  I have been distracted and I have been paying for it.  You get this empty feeling, like you are missing something in your life.  I figured that one out quickly.  People equate a relationship with the Lord to religion.  I can tell ya, there is a vast difference between the two. 

Well not going to get preachy here.  I can think of numerous things that I could be doing with my life that would serve the kingdom more than working a job and what?  Just living?  It doesn't really offer an fulfillment.  At least on the mission field - even tho I was working my @$$ off and not getting paid for it - I had a great sense of fulfillment, belonging and the realization that I was doing something for the Kingdom of Heaven.  Even after I left the mission field, I was heavily involved in evangelization. It was the first divorce that threw my life into upheaval and I'm afraid I've never really resurfaced from it.  I'm treading water, I guess I would call it.  Certainly not walking on it.

Well, enough.