I'm kind of slacking on posting because I have been too busy.  Yesterday - April's fools day and Easter - basically did me in.  It started with me getting up early and finishing moving my stuff out of the now-old bedroom and into my new one.  Then, the cleaning people showed up and did their thing.  Not long after, Taylor arrived and shortly after that James in the U-Haul.  They had far more stuff than I had remembered. They had obviously picked up quite a bit of stuff since they had moved to Atlanta. The U-Haul James arrived in was much larger than the Uhaul they left here in 2 years ago.  The thing was packed from front to back, floor to ceiling.

But, we had to wait for them to finish cleaning.  I was busy trying to fix a clogged up drain. Of which, on and off, I worked on the entire day.  I snaked that thing out 3 times, the last time going about 15 feet into it.  There is not way, I thought, that this drain could still be clogged.  None of the rest of the house was clogged up and 15 feet? I must have gotten to a tee, because I couldn't go any further.  I almost panicked when the snake wouldn't pull out of the drain for the fact it was in there so far and around so many turns.

We tried Drano after that to no avail and then this stuff that's basically sulfuric acid after that.  I was stumped.  I threw in the towel, declaring that I had given up after fooling with it all day long.  Then, a friend of Taylor and James came over and we were discussing guns - the favorite topic of everyone around here, and no, not on a political basis, these people just love guns.  It came up about the sink and I offered everything I had done.  This guy said, well just the vent stack, it might be clogged up.  It never even crossed my mind to see if the vent was clogged up.  We decided to do that the next morning since it was already late at night.

Meanwhile, there were a large number of people that had shown up to help move and so, Rene cooked a huge dinner.  A whole ham and a whole turkey that I had bought earlier in the year on sale.  I figured we needed to eat that stuff before it started to get the freezer burn taste.  I made a big pot of home made mashed potatoes - turned out really good actually.
_______________________

Well, after an excellent night's sleep, I'm feeling much better.  That stuff really took a toll on my body.  I'm not 20 years old anymore, lol.  I have clothing to go through, kind of let that build up in my closet, no point in keeping clothes I don't wear anymore.  Anything in good shape I'll take to Goodwill, the rest is getting chucked. 

Oh, finish the story I started above, I got distracted yesterday.  I'm not really the big eater I used to be and Rene and Donny don't eat a whole lot either.  But I knew these people are all younger and would likely have huge appetites, hence the reason I wanted both a ham and a turkey for Easter celebration. I wasn't wrong, either.  They devoured that entire turkey.  I mean, I spent 30 minutes cleaning off the tidbits and came up with a nice amount of leftovers, but the "real" meat of it was entirely gone. They went through 2/3rd's of that ham.  And half of a huge pot of mashed potatoes. It was amazing seeing them eating all that food. 

Besides that irritating drain clog, the day was a success. We got all their stuff moved into the house.  I got all my stuff moved into my room, laundry done.  We had a couple beers that night - well they wre doing shots but whatever.

Then yesterday, after discovering that the vents were clogged and that fixed the problem, a huge monkey off of our backs.  Plumbers aren't exactly cheap. Even the "cheap" ones are charging a $60 fee just to walk through your front door and at least $100 to clear out the drain.  I'm not complaining about plumber fees, they have to earn a living, just right now, spending money is not on my list of things to do.  As it stands, I'll get my $800 back for front the rent money today and the $500 I loaned James and Taylor to get over here. They borrowed money from a relative but the check didn't actually clear until today.  They wouldn't have been able to make it back here without the funds I loaned them. 

I've been off work far too long, that's gonna hurt in a few weeks, but it is what it is. I needed the time off, just not getting paid for it.  That will eventually change and I will get $24 hourly wage for comp time.  Right now, I'm gonna hit the road tomorrow morning and ask her to keep me as busy as she can for a while to get back ahead. I would really like a run to Brownsville and spend 2 days waiting for  a trailer and get all that detention pay.  But, I have no control over where I'm going unless I happen to be sitting in her office and she asks me where I would like to go, throwing out available options.

Yesterday was leftover day, but I can see that cooking is no longer optional. Rene change her stance on it, she says now "she'll cook sometimes".  I'm just blowing that off and treating it like she isn't going to cook at all.  That way I won't think, gee, she's coming to cook today.  Instead, I'll have to pull out the cooking hat again and starting thinking in those terms. James and Taylor are good cooks too, but they just don't like to do it  I remember now that I would clean up if they did the cooking lol. 

But, James is getting his Texas license and then, he'll be applying at a place he's already talked to and then off to trucking school. He'll be gone a long time.  At least two weeks to start with, maybe a short home visit and then out on the road.  But probably longer.  However long the school is at the compound, that's how long he's going to be gone. I think it's a month and then you get paired up with a trainer and sent out on the road for a while to learn the ropes.

______________________

I got my wish. A run to Brownsville. I can only hope there won't be any trailers waiting and that I'll have at least a 24 hour wait for one to show up. That would be dreamy like, the pay for waiting is substantial and worth it.  I've been off work for a while now, I will need the cash once I get a full paycheck again. 

Anyway, it's a lazy day today.  Thundershowers, rain pouring, dogs wanted inside. I was enjoying the rain but I decided to come in and watch a movie. I haven't had a TV in my room in almost 2 years. I could have had it installed in that other room, but I just said no to it an hanged out in the living room instead if I wanted to watch the news or a movie.  Not into much else on TV, but it's a nice diversion for today.